Garth Tander has taken out a bruising first race of the V8 Supercars round on Phillip Island.
In a race which featured two yellow flags and a heavyweight dust-up on the last corner before the halfway break as all four title-chasers were wounded, Holden driver Jamie Whincup returned to the top of the championship standings.
Tander steered clear of the mayhem to score his first win since Townsville in July and first on the Victorian island since 2009.
Fellow Holden pilot Fabian Coulthard was second while Ford’s Alex Davison completed the podium.
Whincup took control of the title race by finishing in front of his rivals in fourth, well ahead of his grid position of 13.
A dogfight between Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom defined the first half of the split race.
Winterbottom, starting on pole, was second to Lowndes by the first turn and fell to third on lap two – but the roles were reversed on the final corner.
Brought back to the pack by safety cars, Lowndes found himself on the outside of Winterbottom and ended up in the gravel.
During the race split, Lowndes said he thought they’d be able to race two abreast but Winterbottom was thinking of the championship.
“You don’t want damage but at the same time you don’t want to let him win… you’re not gonna back off,” Winterbottom said.
The biggest beneficiary was Tander, who skated through to the front, leaving Winterbottom in fourth and Lowndes back in 15th.
While Tander didn’t look back, Lowndes could only finish in eighth, while Winterbottom was fifth.
Earlier, a nudge from Shane van Gisbergen all but ended Ford driver Will Davison’s championship hopes.
Davison was turned around by van Gisbergen, labelled an “idiot” by Ford Performance Racing team boss Tim Edwards.
Whincup won out, slinking inside of the two to climb to sixth.
After the race restarted, Frenchman Alex Premat found himself careering through the gravel and crashing into the driver-side of James Courtney’s Holden.
Such was the damage, Premat had to help a clearly shaken Courtney out from the passenger side.
