A stunning pass by Shane van Gisbergen in the penultimate lap has meantJamie Whincup will have to wait at least one more day to celebrate 100 Supercars wins.
Whincup was just minutes from achieving the milestone after sneaking into the race lead on lap one.
But van Gisbergen was determined to spoil the party, diving at turn six and ultimately winning the 120km sprint by 0.82sec.
Craig Lowndes was the first to have a good go at Whincup in the closing stages, but a lock-up at turn four left him vulnerable to van Gisbergen and to finish third.
The result means another podium lock-out for Triple Eight, with team boss Roland Dane declaring they are all free to race despite tense images in both garages.
“We allow them to try and race but we’ve got different strategies and Jamie had the pick, Shane’s was in the end better,” Dane said.
“We had the Prodrive cars behind us who did a great job – everyone else was nowhere.”
Van Gisbergen was thrilled to take his first ever victory at Queensland Raceway, which edges him closer to Whincup in the championship.
“It’s great to be here – a one-two-three is fantastic. These cars are amazing. I was surprised they pitted as early as they did,” van Gisbergen said.
Whincup has played down the significance of 100 wins, and said the story today was not enough pace at the end of the race.
“I was going for the win, that’s what it was all about,” he said.
“Got a good start … to win races you have to have car pace and we just didn’t have enough today.”
Mark Winterbottom was the first rival home, with Chaz Mostert tucked into fifth after a late tyre change.
The start of today’s race was delayed after Cameron Waters suffered a driveline issue and stopped on track.
Fourth Prodrive entrant Chris Pither had ARMOR ALL Pole Position, but dropped back through the field after an early wrestle with Mostert.
A tap between Fabian Coulthard and Michael Caruso was the start of a tough day for the Nissan driver, who suffered from a bad tyre change in the pits.
And despite racing the clock to make the grid, Scott Pye did finish after his practice crash, coming home 21st.
Whincup continues to lead the Championship from Shane Van Gisbergen by 41 points, with Winterbottom in third and 93 points behind.
