Jamie Whincup takes home win at GC600 to seal V8 Supercars’ Enduro Cup

JAMIE Whincup has extended his lead in the V8 championship after winning the Gold Coast 600 with Paul Dumbrell.

Trent Young claimed his third win of the Aussie Super Cars series this morning. Picture: David Clark

JAMIE Whincup has extended his lead in the V8 championship after winning the Gold Coast 600.

Whincup led from almost go to whoa after overtaking pole sitter Scott McLaughlin early in the race and holding on to the lead for the remainder of the 102-lap event.

McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat come home second from Michael Caruso and Dean Fiore, with both co-drivers sewing up their first V8 Supercars podiums.

Congratulations Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell - PIRTEK Enduro Cup Champions #V8SC #GC600 pic.twitter.com/F7uQXllUEP

— V8Supercars Official (@v8supercars) October 26, 2014

Race win and Pirtek Enduro Cup for jamiewhincup! #redbullracingau #v8sc #gc600 http://t.co/uyXYmkXWBD

— Red Bull Racing AUS (@redbullracingAU) October 26, 2014

“It’s always extra special to do it at home,’’ Whincup said.

“This is one of the highlights of my year, the Gold Coast event.

Jamie Whincup celebrates winning the Gold Coast 600 at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. Picture: Getty Images

“The car was fantastic. It was an unbelievable event and there's nothing better than taking home that No. 1 surfboard.’’

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOLD COAST 600

Whincup also paid tribute to co-driver Dumbrell, who helped him across the line and played a massive part in the pair taking out the Enduro Cup for events at Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast.

“How good was this bloke, it’s been an absolutely flawless performance for the last three rounds.’’

Dumbrell was thrilled with the win, saying he had had “so much fun’’.

“To pair up with JW (Whincup) and the whole Red Bull Racing Australia team.

“We always have this car pretty quick, obviously it was a disappointing one at Bathurst but we bounced back and got the chocolates.’’

Paul Dumberell celebrates with Jamie Whincup after the pair won the Gold Coast 600 this afternoon.

4.15pm — Jamie Whincup has won the GC600 and celebrates with a couple of on-track burnouts.

Will Davison has conquered his mechanical woes and is back out on track in a bid to be classified as a race finisher.

3.45pm — Mark Winterbottom is having front tyre trouble as he tries to negotiate his way through the field.

3.30pm — The carnage continues with a third restart looming after James Moffatt put his Nissan into the wall at turn 11.

It will be the third restart in the past hour.

Watch the video below.

[VIDEO] SAFETY CAR - Moffat Car 360 into the wall at turn 11 #V8SC http://t.co/m6ZV7lJ109

— V8Supercars Official (@v8supercars) October 26, 2014

Garth Tander’s right wheel has punctured and he will hit the pits, continuing a poor afternoon for the Holden Racing Team.

Jamie Whincup will start ahead of Scott McLaughlin and David Caruso on the lap 70 restart.

2.45pm — V8 series leader Jamie Whincup leads the Gold Coast 600 as the race restarts with 60 laps to go.

Shane Van Gisbergen has been given a black flag after the safety car restart and has served his pit lane penalty.

James Courtney is battling car problems and believes the steering arm may be broken.

James Courtney’s car is being worked on furiously by mechanics as they attempt to fix a steering problem to get him back on track. Picture: Adam Head

The safety car is back out with small debris littering the track. Cars are taking the opportunity to head into the pits.

1.45pm — With 90 laps to go, Whincup and Dumbrell lead from McLaughlin and Premat, who started on poll and Van Gisbergen and Webb.

Scott McLaughlin started on pole but was quickly overtaken by the team of Whincup and Dumbrell.

1.30pm — The V8s have not even started and Steve Richards has a title already.

Richards’ fifth place in the final Porsche Carrera Cup round this afternoon was enough for him to seal the series, a feat his famous father Jim Richards also achieved.

Despite the Porsche series being raced around the world, it is understood no father/son combination had clinched titles before Steve Richards made it a family affair today.

Steven Richards with father Jim Richards. The pair made history today when Steven won the Porsche Carrera Cup to ensure they became the first father-son pair to lift the trophy in the category.

Gold Coaster Ryal Harris has claimed Round 7 of the V8 Utes series after winning Race 3 this afternoon to claim his second event of the weekend.

Harris won the opening race yesterday and was sixth in race two behind Rhys McNally.

But his win in race three was enough to seal the round.

Harris wins race 3 and round 7! We suspect that he'll be in fine form at the after party tonight! #V8utes #GC600

— Aus V8 Ute Racing (@V8UtesAustralia) October 26, 2014

The V8 Utes squeeze through the first chicane during today’s race through the streets of Surfers Paradise. Picture: Adam Head

1pm — KIWI Scott McLaughlin pinched pole position on his final flying hot lap in qualifying for this afternoon’s Race 2 at the Gold Coast 600.

McLaughlin grabbed his eighth pole position of the season, pushing his Volvo to the limit to post a time of 1min 11.0273 to edge out Red Bull Racing’s Jamie Whincup (+0.1250) who leads the V8 Supercars championship.

Just snuck into P10 for today's race, looking forward to racing this afternoon #GC600 #V8SC pic.twitter.com/5cuAPG7M3X

— James Courtney (@jcourtney) October 26, 2014

Awesome to get our 8th pole this year! Time to go nab one of those boards. see how we go today, will be going hard! pic.twitter.com/HYdcfFAhHp

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) October 26, 2014

Craig Lowndes in action qualifying through the streets of Surfers Paradise. Picture: Adam Head

Craig Lowndes (+0.2449) and yesterday’s winner in Race 1 Shane van Gisbergen (+0.2471) will share the second row of the grid.

Will Davison, David Reynolds, James Moffatt, Tim Slade, Chaz Mostert and James Courtney round out the top 10.

Ford’s Mark Winterbottom again missed the top 10 but that didn’t stop him yesterday when he climbed from 11th on the grid to a controversial fourth after having third place stripped for an illegal manoeuvre at the final turn.

After winning yesterday’s race, Shane van Gisbergen is in form again today, forcing his way to the second row of the grid for this afternoon’s race.

Grid (top 10) for Gold Coast 600 Race 2 (1.55pm start)

1 Scott McLaughlin (Volvo) 1:11.0273

2 Jamie Whincup (Holden) +0.1250

3 Craig Lowndes (Holden) +0.2449

4 Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +0.2471

5 Will Davison (Mercedes) +0.3922

6 David Reynolds (Ford) +0.4444

7 James Moffatt (Nissan) +0.4959

8 Tim Slade (Holden) +0.5019

9 Chaz Mostert (Ford) +0.5329

10 James Courtney (Holden) +0.5613

11am — The V8 Supercars are set to take to the track for qualifying ahead of today’s final enduro race.

The drivers are looking forward to the new day.

New day... What's the #GC600 going to provide today? http://t.co/Hda3eAI5Hu

— Will Davison (@will_davison) October 25, 2014

David Reynolds car is ready for action after an outstanding effort from the Bottle-O Racing team repaired the Falcon shared by Reynolds and Dean Canto after Reynolds went hard into the concrete at turn 12 yesterday smashing the front of the car.

Reynolds Falcon ready for action: Team works miracles again, with Bottle-O Ford to race today.> http://t.co/KqikxwbHyJ #V8SC

— V8Supercars Official (@v8supercars) October 25, 2014

Want to see what the drivers will face when they head around the Surfers Paradise street circuit?

Go on a hot lap with Gold Coaster Rick Kelly in his Nissan Altima.

9.30am — TRENT Young has won the opening race of the day in the third event of the Aussie Racing Cars series.

The Young Racing team member beat Tyler Greenbury and James Abela home to claim his third victory of the weekend from three races.

The final race of the Aussie Racing Car series will be held at 10.45am with Young holding an almost unassailable lead.

Trent Young claimed his third win of the Aussie Super Cars series this morning. Picture: David Clark

Rhys McNally won the second race of the V8 Ute series, with the third race at noon set to decide the GC600 round after Ryal Harris won yesterday’s race.

Gold Coast driver Ryal Harris in action in the V8 Utes series this morning. Picture: David Clark

The Porsche Carrera Cup round will come down to the final race at 12.30pm after the opening two races were split.

David Russell won the first race yesterday ahead of Steven Richards, Nick Foster and Shae Davies, with Foster taking today’s race from Richards, Davies and Russell.

Adelaide girl Stella Badenoch has started her Miss V8 duties this morning after being crowned the winner last night.

Miss V8 Supercar winner Stella Badenoch doing a pit walk. Picture Glenn Hampson

She admitted to be “overwhelmed and emotional” last night after being announced the winner.

The 20-year-old, who works at Pandora, claimed the coveted trophy with Sydney’s Cassandra Dimitriadis taking the first runner-up and Coolangatta girl Gemma Rose the second runner-up.

“I hoped that I would win it but I never really thought it would happen,” she said.

It was the second time Miss Badenoch entered the competition after finishing fourth last year.

The winner of the 24 finalists takes home $20,000 in cash and prizes, an overseas trip and becomes the face of the Miss V8 Supercars magazine for the next year.

Fans take the opportunity to check out the V8s at close range during a pit walk this morning. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Hundreds of fans took to pit lane to walk through and check out the V8s ahead of their practice session this morning.