Winterbottom takes points lead with second win

Mark Winterbottom moved into the lead of the V8 Supercars Championship with back-to-back race victories on Saturday at Barbagallo.

The Pepsi Max Ford driver again made the best of the start before pulling away from Jamie Whincup to lead every one of the 25 laps.

Whincup struggled for pace throughout but still managed to hold off Fabian Coulthard, Chaz Mostert and Craig Lowndes to secure second.

Winterbottom now leads Whincup in the championship by a single point after eight races.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
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“That was awesome; the car was really good,” said Winterbottom.

“It’s nice to be on pole and use your speed. The boys tuned her up in the gap between races and it was really nice.”

Despite a number of close battles, passes again proved few and far between among the top 10 as drivers concentrated on making their tyres live for the entire 60km journey.

Scott McLaughlin’s rough season continued when he, after running 14^th early, was forced into retirement with a throttle problem.

Countryman Shane van Gisbergen meanwhile came home last after re-using his tyre set from the earlier race in order to save an extra set for Sunday.

Teams will run both the hard and soft compound tyres during tomorrow’s 200km race, which will conclude the UBET Perth Super Sprint.

Result: V8 Supercars Race 8, Barbagallo

1	Pepsi Max Crew	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	25	24:34.8717
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:37.7903
3	Freightliner Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:38.1228
4	Pepsi Max Crew	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	25	24:38.5186
5	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:39.5597
6	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:39.7903
7	The Bottle-O Racing Team	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG/X	25	24:42.1443
8	Nissan Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	25	24:46.2479
9	Erebus Motorsport V8	Will Davison	Mercedes E63 AMG	25	24:46.5647
10	Supercheap Auto Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:47.2543
11	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:47.5371
12	Nissan Motorsport	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	25	24:50.0219
13	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:50.7590
14	Walkinshaw Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:52.0018
15	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	25	24:52.4845
16	Super Black Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Falcon FG/X	25	24:52.7586
17	Repair Management Aust Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	25	24:56.3100
18	Erebus Motorsport V8	Ashley Walsh	Mercedes E63 AMG	25	25:00.0125
19	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	25	25:02.1554
20	Nissan Motorsport	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	25	25:04.0556
21	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	25	25:06.6959
22	Wilson Security Racing GRM	David Wall	Volvo S60	25	25:06.9178
23	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	25	25:20.6363
24	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	25	25:34.4890
DNF	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	11	11:13.2711