A bold tyre strategy and some superb defensive driving have allowed Ford’s Mark Winterbottom to extend his V8 Supercars championship lead.

Winterbottom overcame a poor qualifying display to win Sunday’s 200km race at Hidden Valley in Darwin, climbing from 10th on the grid to secure his fourth win of the year.

A fast-finishing Shane Van Gisbergen threatened to snatch the lead on the final lap of 69 but Winterbottom held off the Holden driver to claim victory.

Holden’s Jamie Whincup, a double race winner on Saturday, finished third.

Having come into the Northern Territory with a 101-point lead over Holden’s Craig Lowndes, Winterbottom is now 161 points ahead going into the next round in Townsville.

Lowndes, who had earlier secured his first pole in Darwin since 2000, finished a lowly 17th after damaging a tyre following contact with Ford’s Chaz Mostert midway through the race.

Whincup moved up to third on the championship standings, leaping above Fabian Coulthard after the New Zealander struggled to a 22nd-place finish and the defending V8s champion is 186 points behind Winterbottom.