Jamie Whincup has made history at Phillip Island, becoming provisional 2014 V8 Supercars Championship and taking his title tally to six.
Whincup started on the front row alongside main title rival Mark Winterbottom, and while the Ford driver got the jump off the start, four laps complete and Whincup was out in clean air.
From there he led a flawless race, earning the points to create a 461 point gap – with only 450 left to be awarded this season. He will be awarded the Championship trophy at the V8 Supercars grand finale in Sydney next month.
The Red Bull Racing Australia team was ecstatic as the #1 Holden Commodore crossed the line, with teammate Craig Lowndes finishing second.
Winterbottom also stood on the podium in third.
“Points wise it’s all done but we’ll keep our heads down,” Whincup said at the end of the race.
“That trophy is going to be sweet at the end of the year… It’s a bit of a fairytale really to win the race and win the Championship.”
Team boss Roland Dane was emotional after the victory and praised the level of competition in V8 Supercars.
“The level of competition keeps increasing. This year we’ve had a fight-back from a lean spell, and the level of competition is intense now… to come out on top again is a testament to the amount of work these guys do,” Dane said.
The first few laps were intense in the 100km race, and a battle between Garth Tander and Todd Kelly for fourth was a highlight mid-race.
But all eyes were on the Red Bulls, as Lowndes also battles to move up to second in the title fight before the final event next month.
“It’s been a great day. I think the main focus for the team was to clinch that Championship,” Lowndes said.
“Jamie did a great job – he was going to be hard to beat that race, we pushed him all the way to the end… to win a Championship on a [race] win shows his credibility and commitment to what he wants to do.”
Holden Racing Team’s Tander notched up his second fourth-place finish for the day ahead of Kelly, with Race 33 winner Scott McLaughlin sixth, and Michael Caruso, Rick Kelly, Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat cracking the top 10.
Others to note include Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen 16 and 18 after being involved in a clash in qualifying.
The V8 Supercars return to the Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400 tomorrow for qualifying and 200km of racing.
