Whincup triumphs in Symmons Plains finale

Red Bull Racing Australia completed a clean sweep of the V8 Supercars races at Symmons Plains, with Jamie Whincup taking out the 200km feature race.

Whincup made the most of early trouble for team-mate Craig Lowndes to record a commanding win, moving to the top of the championship in the process.

Eventual sixth place finisher Lowndes had received a drive-through penalty after a tangle with Reynolds at Turn 2 on the opening lap.

The Bottle-O Ford pulled ahead off the start before being tagged into a spin by the Red Bull Holden.

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“It’s amazing how it turns around,” said Whincup post-race.

“The weekend was dominated by Lowndesy… I can’t believe I’m on the top step of the podium.

“The cars are quick and it’s really nice going into a five-week break with a win behind us.”

The Lowndes/Reynolds incident also saw Shane van Gisbergen and Will Davison make contact, damaging the steering rack on the Erebus Mercedes.

Van Gisbergen went on to finish third behind Whincup and Chaz Mostert, who had used strong strategy and soft tyre life to move up from sixth on the grid.

Garth Tander secured fourth on an otherwise tough day for the Holden Racing Team that saw erstwhile points leader James Courtney manage just 10th.

The top four finishes ran with the bulk of the field in choosing to start and finish on their single set of soft tyres.

Fifth placed Mark Winterbottom was the first of those to run the alternate strategy; starting on hards before double-stinting his softs to the end.

The strategies played out without the interruption of a single Safety Car throughout the 84 laps.

David Wall and Tim Slade were the only two retirements, with the former out early thanks to an engine failure.

Slade meanwhile appeared set for a 10th place finish when forced to pit for fuel in the dying stages.

Whincup then took the flag before Slade reached the pit exit, ensuring the Supercheap Holden was scored as a DNF.

The V8 Supercars Championship now takes a month break before heading to Barbagallo in Western Australia on May 1-3.

RESULTS : Race 6 – Symmons Plains

1	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:15:21.0174
2	Pepsi Max Crew	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	84	01:15:24.5124
3	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Shane Van Gisberg	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:15:36.3799
4	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:15:36.9946
5	Pepsi Max Crew	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	84	01:15:45.5638
6	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:15:47.9369
7	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	84	01:15:49.0545
8	Super Black Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Falcon FG/X	84	01:15:52.6108
9	Freightliner Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:15:53.2287
10	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:16:01.4236
11	The Bottle-O Racing Team	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG/X	84	01:16:02.0494
12	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	84	01:16:13.2222
13	Nissan Motorsport	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	84	01:16:13.5095
14	Nissan Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	83	01:15:22.4010
15	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:15:22.6229
16	Walkinshaw Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:15:25.1174
17	Repair Management Aust Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:15:34.0710
18	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:15:38.0834
19	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	83	01:15:49.7961
20	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:15:56.7310
21	Erebus Motorsport V8	Ashley Walsh	Mercedes E63 AMG	83	01:16:03.8630
22	Nissan Mororsport	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	82	01:15:28.0273
23	Erebus Motorsport V8	Will Davison	Mercedes E63 AMG	65	01:16:16.3293
DNF	Supercheap Auto Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	82	01:14:13.5516
DNF	Wilson Security Racing GRM	David Wall	Volvo S60

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jamie Whincup	483
2	James Courtney	464
3	Craig Lowndes	460
4	Garth Tander	457
5	Shane van Gisbergen	456
6	Mark Winterbottom	433
7	Fabian Coulthard	403
8	David Reynolds	303
9	Rick Kelly	299
10	Chaz Mostert	296
11	Jason Bright	284
12	Todd Kelly	260
13	Scott McLaughlin	231
14	Andre Heimgartner	223
15	Dale Wood	219
16	Tim Slade	208
17	Nick Percat	208
18	Lee Holdsworth	193
19	Tim Blanchard	189
20	James Moffat	181
21	Will Davison	159
22	David Wall	158
23	Michael Caruso	155
24	Marcos Ambrose	125
25	Ashley Walsh	103
26	Scott Pye	103

Standings