Jamie Whincup is right in the Championship hunt after a solid victory on the streets of North Queensland, ahead of yesterday’s winner Garth Tander.

It was Red Bull versus Holden Racing Team, the fierce factory Holden rivals, after the final pit stop – there was a spritely battle between the two, but Whincup managed to secure the lead and sail away to a 3.34 second lead.

Tander gave him a tap from behind as Whincup cemented the lead, to the #1′s amusement.

“GT’s an old pro – I knew he could play a few games and I could play them back,” the Red Bull racer said.

“We certainly did it the hard way not stopping on lap one – it was qualy lap after qualy lap,” Whincup said.

“We just haven’t had tyre life, we’ve struggled Sunday afternoons – but today we’ve picked it up. It means a lot more than just a win.”

The defending Champ qualified on the front row for the final, 250km race of the weekend at the Castrol Townsville 500 – Driven by TAFE Queensland.

While the field got away more cleanly than yesterday, a lap one scuffle between Jack Perkins and Dale Wood called out the Pedders Chrysler Safety Car. While many of the front runners decided to pit – FPR and HRT stacking their contenders – Whincup stayed out and opted for a different strategy to tackle the 87 laps ahead of him.

Pit stops played out, some stops selecting to go for the three-stop strategy, including van Gisbergen and TEKNO Autosports.

Whincup has cemented his position second in the Championship chase, with just a 96-point gap between he and Mark Winterbottom.

It was a horror day for Craig Lowndes who has tumbled to sixth in the points after an engine drama made it a long 88 laps, weaving in and out of the pits.

But post-race, he could only praise his teammate, despite finishing 23 and having a post-race investigation of the team’s pit stop procedure hanging.

“It’s fantastic to see Jamie up on the podium, it’s sensational and lifts the team up,” Lowndes said.

Winterbottom had an impressive recovery after again qualifying outside the top 10, coming home sixth and maintaining his points lead.

“You salvage what you get and sixth position – we did pretty well with that one.”

After the podium finishers, it was James Courtney, Nick Percat, Ford’s Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert, Scott Pye, Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin and Erebus’ Will Davison.

Others to note include first Nissan Michael Caruso 11, Fabian Coulthard 14, and pole man Jason Bright 17 after a pit lane penalty.

Results - 88 laps:

Pos Driver               Team                    Time/Gap
 1. Jamie Whincup        Triple Eight Holden    1h54m24.2583s
 2. Garth Tander         HRT Holden             +0.9616s
 3. Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden           +19.9939s
 4. James Courtney       HRT Holden             +20.3357s
 5. Nick Percat          Walkinshaw/HRT Holden  +21.0419s
 6. Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford               +26.9148s
 7. Chaz Mostert         FPR Ford               +27.4999s
 8. Scott Pye            Dick Johnson Ford      +30.6811s
 9. Scott McLaughlin     GRM Volvo              +36.7411s
10. Will Davison         Erebus Mercedes        +38.4091s
11. Michael Caruso       Nissan                 +38.5167s
12. David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford      +44.9368s
13. Tim Slade            Rosenberg/HRT Holden   +50.8930s
14. Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden      +51.3950s
15. Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes        +51.9984s
16. James Moffat         Nissan                 +52.3193s
17. Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden      +56.1783s
18. Rick Kelly           Nissan                 +1m03.4298s
19. Todd Kelly           Nissan                  -1 lap
20. David Wall           Dick Johnson Ford       -1 lap
21. Russell Ingall       Dumbrell Holden         -1 lap
22. Robert Dahlgren      GRM Volvo               -1 lap
23. Craig Lowndes        Triple Eight Holden     -8 laps

Retirements:

    Dale Wood            Britek/BJR Holden       0 laps
    Jack Perkins         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford     0 laps