Jamie Whincup has led home team-mate Craig Lowndes in Race 12 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Barbagallo sealing a Red Bull Racing Australia clean sweep in the Chill Perth 360.
Whincup survived a mid-race trip through the sandtrap, before going on to snatch victory from Lowndes following a late-race restart.
Polesitter Whincup and Mark Winterbottom, who had split the Red Bull duo at the start, relinquished their lead to Lowndes after both were caught out by the coolant dropped by Maro Engel’s SP Tools Racing Mercedes. The pair skated off the track on lap 15 rejoining in sixth and ninth respectively.
Whincup promptly pitted for new tyres, and when the safety car emerged three laps later after Michael Caruso’s Nissan Racing 360 Altima lost a wheel, the Series leader capitalised, emerging from the pitstop cycle second behind Saturday’s race winner Lowndes.
At the second of two Safety Car restarts with just 11 laps to go, after a collision between David Wall (Wilson Security Racing) and Russell Ingall (Supercheap Auto Racing) left both cars beached in the sandtrap, Whincup pounced on Lowndes to take the lead, the chequered flag and his second win of the round.
A gear lever issue had left Jason Bright in 12th at the start of the race, but the Team BOC wheel-man soared through to take the final podium spot ahead of Pepsi Max Crew FPR’s Will Davison.
David Reynolds, Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, James Moffat, Garth Tander and debutant Chaz Mostert completed the top 10.
Hampered by a wheelnut issue during his pitstop, Winterbottom found himself in 21st, but the Pepsi Max Crew FPR driver made a solid recovery to take 12th.
Whincup now leads the championship by 65 points from Will Davison.
The Championship next heads to Austin, Texas for its USA debut at the Circuit of the Americas in two weeks time.
