Perhaps the motorsport gods added wings to Jamie Whincup’s wheels.

But after the perfect start to his V8 Supercar title defence at the Clipsal 500 on Saturday, Whincup instead credited more earthy characteristics – team strategy and personal pride – for a remarkable drive to end a difficult personal week.

Holden’s Whincup secured a thrilling last-lap victory as Will Davison’s ailing Ford ran out of fuel with three turns remaining on the Adelaide street circuit.

Following the death of the three-time V8 champion’s father David last Sunday, Whincup put aside all emotion for a drive he considers one of his best among his 53 race wins.

Starting from sixth on the grid, Whincup drove phenomenally once he took the race lead on the 52nd of 78 laps.

He broke lap record after lap record for 15 laps until he made his final pit stop.

That left Davison in front, and his Ford Performance Racing team attempted the high-risk strategy of letting him run to the finish without a final fuel stop.

With Whincup mowing him down rapidly, Davison’s car started to cough and splutter on the second last lap.

Eventually, Whincup passed his Ford rival on the final lap – Davison just managing to cross the line in second place before his last wisp of fuel evaporated.

“I’m one of 48 people at TeamVodafone, and I pride myself on making sure I don’t bring my personal issues to work,” Whincup said of any emotion he felt this week.

“I go about my business and I owe it to the other guys to put in my best performance every time I go out there.

“I don’t like making bold statements in the emotion of it all, but I believe that’s the best race I’ve ever been involved in.”

The contest was eventually decided by when, how quickly and how often the protagonists made their pit stops.

And as so often happens, Whincup’s TeamVodafone came up trumps – bringing him in early on a three-stop strategy of impeccable timing.

Holden’s Garth Tander finished third, with Whincup’s team-mate Craig Lowndes fourth.

Several big crashes at the high-speed turn eight marred the race, leaving many teams facing working overnight to fix destroyed cars for Sunday’s second 250km event.

Holden Racing Team face a desperate race to get James Courtney’s car repaired after the 2010 champion wiped out the left-hand side of his Commodore in a huge lap-four incident.

Holden duo Jason Bright and Taz Douglas also crashed.

Bright was taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays after complaining of a sore shoulder following his crash.

Ford driver David Reynolds also had a huge turn-eight crash midway through the race, leaving his Bottle-O Racing team an all-night job to repair the car.