FPR Ford driver Mark Winterbottom Wins the V8 Supercars weekend with a commanding victory in race three. Winterbottom’s victory on Sunday – ahead of James Courtney and Tim Slade – was also Ford’s first win for the season. Five drivers were given drive-through penalties for speeding in the pit lane, including Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard, as they were challenging for the race lead.
McLaughlin started from pole – becoming Volvo’s first pole-sitter since returning to the championship – and charged off for an early lead ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen. But Van Gisbergen’s Holden struggled for pace and kept the field from making up time on McLaughlin until Winterbottom make a successful pass on lap four.
Winterbottom made up the 3.5-second gap on the leader, shadowing McLaughlin’s car for several laps before finally passing on lap 20 of the 67-lap race. Aside from spells behind Van Gisbergen when the drivers’ pit strategies gave him the edge, Winterbottom was never headed from that point. His strongest challenge came from Coulthard, who was within a second of the Ford driver for much of the race until his penalty with less than 20 laps remaining.
Results – 67 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford 1h36m23.4427s
2. James Courtney HRT Holden 9.4911s
3. Tim Slade Rosenberg/HRT Holden 10.7745s
4. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 19.7578s
5. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford 20.4569s
6. Chaz Mostert FPR Ford 23.9138s
7. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 25.3679s
8. Michael Caruso Nissan 27.1194s
9. James Moffat Nissan 27.4023s
10. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 31.8740s
11. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 33.6164s
12. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 34.1966s
13. Todd Kelly Nissan 37.2907s
14. Rick Kelly Nissan 37.5238s
15. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes 39.3781s
16. Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 40.7056s
17. Nick Percat Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 52.0213s
18. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes 56.1455s
19. Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford 57.0234s
20. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden 57.8328s
21. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford 1m14.7652s
22. David Wall Dick Johnson Ford 1m17.9054s
23. Garth Tander HRT Holden +2 laps
24. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo +2 laps
25. Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden +3 laps
