Bright takes thrilling Race 11 at Winton

Jason Bright has taken a thrilling Race 11 under threatening skies at Winton Motor Raceway.

While the rain did not arrive until after the race, Bright stormed through the field in the final ten laps – taking the lead from Jamie Whincup with just four remaining.

Starting from eighth on the grid, Bright played the long game on strategy, not making his first stop until Lap 25 (four laps after Whincup), before stopping for the final time with just 20 laps to run.

While Whincup, Garth Tander and Michael Caruso dominated the majority of the race, Bright’s strategy meant that the Team BOC Holden passed all three of his rivals in the final five laps.

Whincup and Tander held on for second and third respectively, after shadowing each other throughout the 67 lap event, while Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Caruso, Craig Lowndes, Steven Johnson, James Moffat and Steve Owen rounded out the top 10.

Pole-sitter Mark Winterbottom led the early laps, before Whincup and Tander made it past the factory Ford driver on Laps 12 and 13 respectively.

Tander’s first pitstop came on Lap 21, two laps after Whincup’s, and saw the Toll HRT Commodore rejoin behind the two Fujitsu Racing Commodores.

Lee Holdsworth and Caruso played the ‘under-cut’ strategy throughout the day, pitting earlier than their rivals in order to gain track position.

Tander was the fastest man on track in the second stint, moving past the Fujitsu entries on Laps 25 and 26, before eventually taking Whincup on Lap 31.

TeamVodafone turned the tables however when the pair pitted together 14 laps later, with Tander rejoining behind Whincup and the ever present Caruso.

Caruso’s strategy hurt in the closing laps, allowing van Gisbergen and Coulthard to move by – with the Bundaberg Holden snatching fifth place at the finish line.

Winterbottom struggled with tyre life all day and finished a dismal 19th, one place behind Ford Performance Racing stable-mate Paul Dumbrell.

Fortunes were even worse for fellow FPR pilot Will Davison, whose race was effectively over on the third lap when he spun in the mid-pack at Turn 7.

The incident caused the race’s one and only Safety Car, and saw the cars of Todd Kelly, Russell Ingall and James Courtney also suffer significant damage.

CLICK HERE for the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship points standings after 11 Races.

See below for the full Race 11 result

Pos	Competitor/Team	Driver	Vehicle	Laps	Race Time
1	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:15.5814
2	TeamVodafone	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:17.1800
3	Toll Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:18.5452
4	SP Tools Racing	Shane Van Gisbergen	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:18.8437
5	Bundaberg Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:27.1401
6	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Michael Caruso	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:27.1606
7	TeamVodafone	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:31.8691
8	Jim Beam Racing	Steven Johnson	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:32.9092
9	Jim Beam Racing	James Moffat	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:33.1378
10	VIP Petfoods	Steve Owen	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:43.1635
11	Pepsi Max Crew	Greg Murphy	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:48.0821
12	Mother Energy Racing	Jonathon Webb	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:52.0889
13	Lucky 7 Racing	Tim Slade	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:54.0071
14	Jana Living Racing	Jason Bargwanna	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:55.1803
15	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:55.5533
16	Irwin Racing	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:56.3219
17	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:40:56.3534
18	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Paul Dumbrell	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:56.7817
19	Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	67	01:40:58.8762
20	Stratco Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:41:06.0142
21	Wilson Security Racing	Tony D’Alberto	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:41:15.9350
22	Gulf Western Oil Racing	Warren Luff	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:41:29.2144
23	Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing	Karl Reindler	Holden Commodore VE2	67	01:41:31.4675
24	Trading Post FPR Falcon	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	61	01:41:07.4827
25	Toll Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VE2	60	01:40:41.6235
DNF	Triple F Racing	Dean Fiore	Ford Falcon FG	15	24:05.0146
DNF	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Holden Commodore VE2	2	3:00.7803