Mark Winterbottom and Richard Lyons have won Race 22 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Surfers Paradise
Mark Winterbottom and Richard Lyons have taken Ford Performance Racing’s first win of the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship at the Armor All Gold Coast 600.
Winterbottom overtook the long-time race leading #88 TeamVodafone entry of Jamie Whincup and Sebastien Bourdais with a bold out-braking move with just eight of the race’s 102 laps remaining.
Seemingly content to extend his championship lead, Whincup cruised home to finish in second place, while Lee Holdsworth, Greg Murphy, Rick Kelly, James Courtney, Steve Owen, Russell Ingall, Todd Kelly and Tim Slade rounded out the top ten.
The issue of kerb hopping dominated the race, with the new-for-this-weekend bollard and sensor combination proving highly controversial.
Several cars received drive-through penalties in the first stint of the race, prior to the electronic sensors being turned off.
With teams and drivers unsure of the change, confusion reigned as drivers began almost straight-lining the Turn 1/2/3 and 6/7/8/9/10 chicanes.
In a repeat of yesterday’s race, Sebastien Bourdais led away from pole position, and was not headed for the duration of his stint.
A tremendous start from fifth on the grid saw Andy Priaulx jump to second at the first corner, with the Briton dropping just 2.6s to Bourdais before the Frenchman pitted when the driver-change window opened on Lap 34.
Priaulx headed to the pits to be replaced by Whincup just one lap later, with the team deciding to short-fuel the #888 car to return Craig Lowndes to the track marginally in-front.
Whincup was soon back ahead thanks to a bold move at Turn 12 on Lowndes’ out-lap, while Winterbottom was a full 20s behind the squabbling Vodafone entries by the time the Safety Car appeared for debris on Lap 44.
While the leading contenders did not pit under the yellow, Mika Salo brought the Trading Post FPR Falcon into the pits to hand over to Will Davison. The Finn had endured a left-front puncture while running in fourth position on Lap 32 – two circuits shy of his minimum required distance.
Whincup continued to hold Lowndes and Winterbottom at bay after the restart, with strong opening stints from their respective co-drivers seeing Greg Murphy, Lee Holdsworth and Alex Davison filling the remainder of the top six.
The front-runners used the race’s second Safety Car on Lap 54 to make their second and final stops, with Lowndes the big loser (falling to 12th place) having been forced to que behind team-mate Whincup.
The five-time Bathurst 1000 winner struggled for speed during the remainder of the race and would eventually finish 20th, thanks in part to a third pitstop for tyres with less than 15 laps remaining.
Jason Bargwanna and Will Davison assumed the top two spots having decided not to pit under the Safety Car, but would find themselves well outside the top 10 by the time they made their final stops on Laps 84 and 87 respectively.
The third stint of the race was all about the battle between Whincup and Winterbottom, with the Ford driver taking more liberties with the kerbing than his rival as he looked for a way by.
Despite encouragement from engineer Mark Dutton to use more kerb on the backstraight chicane, Whincup finally succumbed to the speed of his rival at Turn 11 on Lap 94.
Holdsworth and Murphy fought a similarly spirited battle for third, with the Fujitsu and Pepsi Max backed Commodore trading positions several times over the final 50 laps.
Rick Kelly and Jorg Bergmeister stayed out of trouble to take fifth in the Jack Daniel’s Commodore, while James Courtney had to be content with sixth after co-driver Darren Turner received a contentious kerb hopping drive-through towards the end of his stint.
The Borris Said/Steve Owen, Jan Magnussen/Russell Ingall and Richard Westbrook/Todd Kelly Commodores also received penalties (all three for diving infringements) on their way to seventh, eighth and ninth respectively, while Helio Castroneves and Tim Slade took 10th despite breaking an anti-roll bar early.
Five cars failed to finish the race, with the James Moffat/Joey Hand and Marino Franchitti/Warren Luff entries both enduring mechanical issues.
Team BOC’s day ended thanks to an unfortunate incident with the WesTrac Falcon at Turn 12 – Gianni Morbidelli making head-on contact with the #8 Commodore while looking for a place to turn around following a spin.
The hardest luck story of all belonged to The Bottle-O Racing, which saw its international star Christian Klien make heavy contact with the outside wall at the back chicane following a touch from Jan Magnussen on the opening lap.
Front-row starters Ryan Briscoe and Garth Tander also had a difficult run, with the Toll HRT Commodore breaking an axle during the IndyCar driver’s opening stint. With the offending axle replaced, the pair finished the race 20 laps down in 23rd position.
The combined results from the weekend’s races sees Sebastien Bourdais take the Dan Wheldon Trophy.
The V8 Supercars Championship continues at three weeks time at the Symmons Plains circuit in Tasmania.
See below for the full race result
1
Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
M.Winterbottom/R.Lyons
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:08.1572
1:11.3618
2
TeamVodafone
J.Whincup/S.Bourdais
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:09.7136
1:11.2264
3
Fujitsu Racing GRM
L.Holdsworth/S.Pagenaud
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:11.2614
1:11.5300
4
Pepsi Max Crew
G.Murphy/O.Gavin
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:16.8560
1:11.4242
5
Jack Daniel’s Racing
R.Kelly/J.Bergmeister
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:19.4365
1:11.6639
6
Toll Holden Racing Team
J.Courtney/D.Turner
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:20.1081
1:11.4998
7
VIP Petfoods
S.Owen/B.Said
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:21.6450
1:11.1808
8
Supercheap Auto Racing
R.Ingall/J.Magnussen
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:23.0963
1:11.0795
9
Jack Daniel’s Racing
T.Kelly/R.Westbrook
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:23.4926
1:11.3129
10
Lucky 7 Racing
T.Slade/H.Castroneves
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:23.7146
1:11.4850
11
Stratco Racing
D.Reynolds/A.Tagliani
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:25.2390
1:11.4621
12
Jim Beam Racing
S.Johnson/D.Mueller
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:25.7292
1:11.6283
13
Mother Energy Racing Team
J.Webb/G.de Ferran
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:25.8078
1:11.3920
14
Trading Post FPR Falcon
W.Davison/M.Salo
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:27.8610
1:10.0851
15
Bundaberg Racing
F.Coulthard/P.Long
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:29.9115
1:10.6150
16
SP Tools Racing
S.Van Gisbergen/E.Pirro
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:35.2921
1:10.4412
17
Jana Living Racing
J.Bargwanna/A.Simonsen
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:47.1937
1:10.6329
18
Irwin Racing
A.Davison/M.Lieb
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:51.5961
1:11.6034
19
Wilson Security Racing
T.D’Alberto/V.Liuzzi
Ford Falcon FG
02:14:52.1149
1:10.8161
20
TeamVodafone
C.Lowndes/A.Priaulx
Holden Commodore VE2
02:15:01.2709
1:11.0606
21
Fujitsu Racing GRM
M.Caruso/A.Farfus Jr
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:47.7245
1:11.8587
22
Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing
K.Reindler/F.Giovanardi
Holden Commodore VE2
02:15:06.6059
1:13.2228
23
Toll Holden Racing Team
G.Tander/R.Briscoe
Holden Commodore VE2
02:14:27.1564
1:11.5843
DNF
Jim Beam Racing
J.Moffat/J.Hand
Ford Falcon FG
01:54:42.4298
1:11.5764
DNF
Westrac Racing
D.Fiore/G.Morbidelli
Ford Falcon FG
01:10:11.7701
1:13.4850
DNF
Team Boc
J.Bright/S.Sarrazin
Holden Commodore VE2
01:11:49.3570
1:13.0062
DNF
Gulf Western Oil Racing
Marino Franchitti (GBR)
Holden Commodore VE2
39:40.4682
1:14.4973
DNF
The Bottle-O Racing Team
Paul Dumbrell
Ford Falcon FG
See below for the updated championship points
Pos
Driver Name
Total
1
Jamie Whincup
2517
2
Craig Lowndes
2374
3
Shane van Gisbergen
2009
4
Mark Winterbottom
1966
5
Garth Tander
1956
6
Will Davison
1847
7
Rick Kelly
1845
8
Lee Holdsworth
1590
9
Alex Davison
1535
10
Jason Bright
1519
11
Greg Murphy
1516
12
Steven Johnson
1480
13
Tim Slade
1475
14
Fabian Coulthard
1446
15
James Courtney
1317
16
Michael Caruso
1282
17
Steve Owen
1280
18
Russell Ingall
1196
19
David Reynolds
1192
20
Jason Bargwanna
1154
21
Jonathon Webb
1118
22
James Moffat
1115
23
Todd Kelly
1073
24
Paul Dumbrell
1012
25
Tony D’Alberto
877
26
Karl Reindler
868
27
Dean Fiore
863
28
Warren Luff
654
29
Mark Skaife
532
30
Nick Percat
527
31
Richard Lyons
511
32
Allan Simonsen
509
33
John McIntyre
393
34
Andrew Jones
385
35
Steve Richards
366
36
Cameron McConville
358
37
Luke Youlden
344
38
Andrew Thompson
334
39
Tim Blanchard
288
40
Sebastian Bourdais
288
41
Paul Morris
268
42
Jack Perkins
255
43
Greg Ritter
243
44
Dale Wood
236
45
Marcus Marshall
229
46
Oliver Gavin
222
47
Owen Kelly
220
48
Daniel Gaunt
219
49
Jorg Bergmeister
207
50
Simon Pagenaud
207
51
David Russell
202
52
Shane Price
197
53
Nathan Pretty
192
54
Michael Patrizi
187
55
David Wall
185
56
Darren Turner
165
57
Richard Westbrook
150
58
Gil de Ferran
150
59
Craig Baird
148
60
Boris Said
147
61
Matthew Halliday
137
62
Augusto Farfus Jr
132
63
Jan Magnussen
129
64
Alex Tagliani
120
65
Joey Hand
120
66
Emanuele Pirro
114
67
Dean Canto
109
68
Taz Douglas
93
69
Marc Lieb
87
70
Dirk Muller
69
71
David Besnard
66
72
Christian Klein
60
73
Vitantonio Liuzzi
48
74
Sarrazin Stephane
42
75
Fabrizio Giovanardi
39
76
Marino Franchitti
0
77
Grant Denyer
0
78
Cameron Waters
0
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