Winterbottom snaps winless streak in Race 9

Mark Winterbottom snapped a near eight month victory drought by holding on in another thrilling V8 Supercars finish at Barbagallo.

As expected, the 200km Race 9 proved a battle of tyre strategy on the high degradation Perth layout.

Winterbottom and eventual second place finisher Scott McLaughlin ran two-stop strategies, while the bulk of the field opted for three.

Starting third, Winterbottom had slipped back to sixth off the start before the different strategies began to unfold.

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Front-row starter Craig Lowndes eventually emerged as the best of those to run three-stop strategies, but found himself stuck behind McLaughlin who overtook the Caltex Holden as the final stint began.

McLaughlin and Lowndes both had tyres that were seven laps newer than Winterbottom’s for the run to the flag, allowing them to rapidly cut into the Ford driver’s margin.

Winterbottom appeared to be dealt a major blow when he lost time as Aaren Russell unlapped himself with five laps to go, but held on to win by 0.3s regardless.

“I thought we were in trouble before the start with a set of tyres short,” said Winterbottom, having used two sets on Saturday while trying to recover from an early off.

“It’s awesome after yesterday, where I drove horribly. I hope that redeemed it.

“I thought Aaren Russell ruined my race there, it cost two seconds, I thought it was over.

“But by the time they got to me they weren’t on new tyres and Scotty was pretty nice to me as well.”

McLaughlin, Lowndes and eventual fourth place finisher Shane van Gisbergen had arrived onto the back of Winterbottom with two laps remaining but could not find a way by.

Rick Kelly and Chaz Mostert were among the front-runners throughout on their way to fifth and sixth respectively.

Garth Tander, James Courtney, Michael Caruso and Will Davison completed the top 10.

Jamie Whincup came home 11th after pitting early at each of his three stops proved costly.

Although initially vaulting him to the front, the six-time champ subsequently had older tyres than his rivals for much of the race and fell down the order.

Lee Holdsworth, Fabian Coulthard and James Moffat were the only drivers to join Winterbottom and McLaughlin on the two-stop strategy, but all finished down the order.

Lowndes has jumped to the top of the championship standings with a 42 point margin over Whincup.

McLaughlin has dropped to third while Winterbottom, who became the eighth winner from nine races, has moved to fourth.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Race 9

1	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:22:22.8550
2	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	83	01:22:23.1617
3	TeamVortex	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:23.6339
4	Red Bull Racing Australia	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:24.2332
5	Nissan Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	83	01:22:24.5719
6	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:22:28.0176
7	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:28.2851
8	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:29.3123
9	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	83	01:22:29.9848
10	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:32.6087
11	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:40.9470
12	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:41.2196
13	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:46.0786
14	Super Black Racing	Chris Pither	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:22:46.6303
15	DJR Team Penske	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:22:48.5162
16	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:22:50.4992
17	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Moffat	Volvo S60	83	01:22:52.9899
18	ABRO/Repair Management Aust	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:23:00.4501
19	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:23:02.2693
20	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Nissan Altima	83	01:23:05.7926
21	Erebus Motorsport Penrite	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:23:06.7519
22	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:23:07.4353
23	carsales Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	83	01:23:08.8178
24	Plus Fitness Racing	Aaren Russell	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:23:21.7463
25	ABRO/Repair Management Aust	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore VF	82	01:22:55.2303
26	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	82	01:23:16.5456

Championship Standings

1	Craig Lowndes	894
2	Jamie Whincup	852
3	Scott McLaughlin	846
4	Mark Winterbottom	816
5	Shane Van Gisbergen	803
6	Will Davison	756
7	Garth Tander	709
8	James Courtney	678
9	Rick Kelly	621
10	Michael Caruso	615
11	Todd Kelly	571
12	Chaz Mostert	563
13	Jason Bright	540
14	Tim Slade	519
15	Fabian Coulthard	511
16	Scott Pye	499
17	David Reynolds	496
18	Lee Holdsworth	480
19	James Moffat	471
20	Nick Percat	459
21	Cameron Waters	445
22	Tim Blanchard	332
23	Chris Pither	313
24	Dale Wood	313
25	Andre Heimgartner	266
26	Aaren Russell	231