V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup used one of his favourite stamping grounds on Saturday to extend his lead in this year’s title race.
The Holden star claimed his fourth win from seven starts in Townsville to open up a 61-point lead over Ford rivals Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison – easily his biggest margin so far in the 2012 championship.
Winterbottom, who had to settle for second in Saturday’s 200km race at the Reid Park street circuit after a braking error allowed Whincup to pass him late in the race, has leapfrogged Davison to second on the championship standings.
But Whincup’s fourth race win of the season is surely an ominous sign for his rivals as the three-time champion begins to use his winning knowledge to pull away, not that he expects the Ford pair to give up easily.
“It’s dog eat dog and I think that’ll continue right until the end of the year,” said Whincup.
“I feel like we have picked up a little bit but I’m sure they’ll pick up again and we’ll have to go again before the end of the year.”
Garth Tander gave his beleaguered Holden Racing Team outfit a rare moment of happiness with a third place finish on a day where the biggest loser was clearly Davison.
The Ford Performance Racing driver, who went into the previous round in Darwin on top of the standings, now finds himself in third after struggling his way to a 12th place finish on Saturday.
His struggles were just one of several talking points from an action-packed race where ex-Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve made a bright start before an engine problem forced him out of the race in the 18th lap and Whincup overcame late fears over his fuel levels to seal the win.
Winterbottom now has a points advantage over his teammate but insisted being ahead on the standings wouldn’t mean getting preferential treatment just yet.
“We love to share the results,” Winterbottom said.
“He (Davison) had a bad day but there’s no priority, it’s way too early in the championship for that sort of stuff and a DNF and you go from a championship fight to third or fourth.
“It could change quite quickly. Until the enduros you don’t really know where you’re at.”
The action continues in Townsville on Sunday with another 200km race from 3.35pm.
