Bottle-O racer David Reynolds has held on to take his first race win since 2013 at the SKYCITY Triple Crown.
Reynolds started from ARMOR ALL Pole Position – also his first since ’13 – but was beaten to turn one by Fabian Coulthard.
Freightliner Racing’s Coulthard made an error that allowed Reynolds to slip by for the lead 12 laps into the 70-lap 200km dash. Reynolds also veered off-track mid-race avoiding Michael Caruso’s Nissan. He redressed and rejoined behind the Altima, but it was a critical moment of the race, with race control deeming it acceptable.
He ultimately crossed the line first by 0.87seconds ahead of stablemate Chaz Mostert and Coulthard and was pleased and relieved to take his second career victory.
“It’s a relief really,” Reynolds said.
“We had a puncture and we were really fast on the hards, [so] we had to do 60 laps on softs, [which is] unheard of really.
“Awesome to drive the Bottle-O car …after yesterday we turned it around and won the race.”
The 200km race is filled with strategy options, but all cars except the two Volvos started on the soft compound Dunlop tyre.
Red Bull Racing Australia tried to roll the dice and complete the race on the soft tyres, but both drivers – who qualified 12th and 15th – completed 46 laps on the soft before suffering delaminations and having to pit and see the results go begging.
For Craig Lowndes, who is now 95 points off the Championship lead, it was a far cry from the high of his 100th race victory yesterday. And for Jamie Whincup, it’s made his Championship fight-back that little bit tougher.
Pepsi Max Crew’s Chaz Mostert had another strong run, after elevating to fourth in the Championship after penalties overnight, and came home second, with Coulthard behind and recovering from two first lap incidents yesterday.
Mostert’s teammate Mark Winterbottom came home fifth to extend his Championship lead, and had some kind words for his winning stablemate: “He’s a good dude, a good driver and he deserves a win.”
It was a a good performance from Nick Percat in seventh, and James Courtney, Jason Bright, Tim Slade and Dale Wood completed the top 10.
