Mark Winterbottom continues to dominate at Albert Park, leading home his Pepsi Max Crew teammate Chaz Mostert for their third straight 1-2 finish at the street circuit.
Again ‘Frosty’ pounced out of the two-by-two formation, set for the rolling starts unique to this event, and while Mostert was monstered initially by Holden’s Shane van Gisbergen and James Courtney, he recovered quickly and climbed through for another second at the Australian Grand Prix support races.
“Really good race, got a good start and we’ve been trying to work the starts to our favour. I saw Chaz in third and thought, ‘have I done something wrong with the start?’” Winterbottom said.
“Great for the team, a 1-2 again… it’s just nice to have wins again.
“Chaz could’ve got past then if he wasn’t so friendly with his teammate. But we’re sharing results… which is good to see.”
Mostert was pleased with his FG X, and knows he will also be in the hunt for the event win tomorrow.
“The car’s been mega this weekend… got the lights on, tried to chase teammate down and it was good to finish on his tail again,” the #6 driver said.
Van Gisbergen and Courtney’s Clipsal 500 battle was reversed through today’s race, with the Holden Racing Team driver looking for a way past and onto the podium.
Tim Slade came home fifth, recording his best finishing position at Albert Park, and Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander, Rick Kelly, Nick Percat and Craig Lowndes completed the top 10.
The pain continued for Scott McLaughlin and Dale Wood after yesterday’s clash. Wood was in the garage early with an oil leak, while McLaughlin’s Volvo ended up stranded off the circuit with no radio communication back to his Volvo team.
Tomorrow marks the final race for the V8 Supercars and will decide the event winner. The starting grid will be determined on combined points earned this weekend.
For the past three years, the same driver has won the first three races but failed to cross the line first on Sunday – stay tuned to see if Winterbottom can break the trend.
