Jamie Whincup has put his Bathurst disappointment behind him with a commanding win at the Castrol Gold Coast 600.
The six-time champ trumped teammate Shane van Gisbergen – who he is chasing for the championship – by nine seconds after 102 laps on the Surfers Paradise streets.
But Van Gisbergen continues to maintain the Championship lead by 148 points and with two rounds to go, is in the box seat to take his first ever Supercars Championship.
Jumping in the car on lap 63 after co-driver Alex Premat was forced to double stack early, van Gisbergen powered through the field to finish second and secure the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
Whincup proved too strong, he and Paul Dumbrell taking their first win of the enduro season – Whincup’s eighth victory on the Gold Coast and 101st career win.
“I was a co-driver today, PD’s 60 laps at the start set the race up and I continued on with it,” Whincup said.
Dumbrell started from ARMOR ALL Pole Position, which gifted them pit priority over Van Gisbergen’s co-driver Alex Premat. The Kiwi speared through the field setting the fastest lap on 88.
“Pretty cool, we did that the hard way again,” Van Gisbergen said.
The safety car appeared on lap 16 for Super Black Racing’s Richie Stanaway in the wall, forcing Premat to double stack and drop down the order to 11th.
The Volvos took a different strategy option staying out early and stopping under green conditions on laps 35 and 36 to switch their primary drivers in as soon as possible.
Scott McLaughlin dove onto the podium after an incredible pass on Mark Winterbottom and huge lock up on lap 96.
Prodrive team boss Tim Edwards wasn’t impressed, saying “it doesn’t matter what I think” when asked about the pass.
Winterbottom ultimately finished fifth behind Craig Lowndes, with Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler finishing seventh, which Reindler described as “feeling like a win” after an engine issue put them out of Bathurst on the first lap and Holdsworth severely injured earlier this season, forced to sit out three events.
David Reynolds’ co-driver Craig Baird was involved in an incident with Aaren Russell early, promptly earning a drive through penalty and putting them out of the race after qualifying fourth.
The Supercars race again in two weeks’ time at the ITM Auckland SuperSprint from November 4-6.
