Holden's Jamie Whincup reclaims V8 Supercar championship lead with Darwin win

JAMIE Whincup scorched back into the V8 Supercar Championship lead with a chaotic win in Darwin's Hidden Valley race.

Jamie Whincup

JAMIE Whincup scorched back into the V8 Supercar Championship lead on Saturday, out-blasting Ford rivals Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom.

In a typically chaotic Hidden Valley race, the Holden top gun endured cabin temperatures higher than 50C in his Commodore as he fended off the challenges of the Ford Performance Racing pair and stole a narrow advantage in the title chase.

Nemesis Davison started from pole position after stunning qualifying speed, while Whincup plummeted to fifth place off the start line and was forced to draw on all his skill to claw his way into the lead and power away to his third win of the year.

Ending FPR's seven-race winning streak, he put Team Vodafone back on top in an intriguing war between two mighty teams.

"I wouldn't say it has been a tough start to the year," Whincup said.

"But we have certainly had our challenges and we are working through them.

"All of our fans and sponsors have been asking what has been going on.

"At the end of the day we are just working hard to improve in every area that we think we are weak.

"Today was a good step forward in that regard."

The track temperature was a blistering 32C and it took only three laps for tempers to boil, with Michael Caruso spinning out of control before being shunted by David Russell.

With David Reynolds out in front, Craig Lowndes became an innocent victim and veered off the track.

Whincup charged through the field, taking Winterbottom on lap 14 before superior tyre life on both the soft and hard compound rubber saw him rocket past Davison.

"The car was very good," Whincup said.

"It didn't matter what tyre it was on, it was set up perfectly. I wouldn't say it was a guess, rather an educated decision.

"The engineers came up with the right setting and the combination was great.

"It was the perfect job - the car was by far the quickest I've had this year."

After scorching times in qualifying, the FPR cars struggled to match the tyre life of Whincup's Triple Eight-built weapon.

Davison was gobbled up by Whincup and was forced to fend off teammate Winterbottom in the final stages of the 120km race.

"It is all super close at the moment," Davison said.

"It is nice to get this sort of result (second) when you don't get the car quite right.

"We had the one-lap speed, but that is quite different to getting the race distance set-up right.

"The conditions here are super-hot and very hard on the tyres and we didn't have the longevity of Jamie and some of the other guys."

Triumphant team boss Roland Dane applauded the competition and both his drivers, with Lowndes fighting back from 20th to fifth.

"It is a red-hot Holden v Ford battle at the moment," Dane said.

"It is a great battle between two top teams and hopefully it will be all year.

"That is what we are in the sport for.

"Of course, we want to win, and they want to win too, and I think we will both be pushing hard."

Winterbottom fought off the effects of a virus to snare third and remain in touch with Whincup and Davison in the championship.

The battle in Darwin will continue today with a 200km race.