Jamie Whincup reclaims V8 Supercars series lead

V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup has responded in emphatic fashion to win today's 220km race at Sydney Motorsport Park and reclaim his series lead.

V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup has responded in emphatic fashion to win today's 220km race at Sydney Motorsport Park and reclaim his series lead.

The Holden ace, who lost his championship lead to Ford's Mark Winterbottom after a disastrous 23rd place finish yesterday, was barely headed in today's race to record his first victory at Eastern Creek.

Whincup jumped teammate and pole-sitter Craig Lowndes at the start and put together a near-flawless drive to post his sixth win of 2012 and move back ahead of Winterbottom in the standings.

The result means Whincup now leads the Ford Performance Racing driver by just one point going into the crucial endurance period of the season.

Today couldn't have been any more different behind the wheel for the three-time champion from yesterday's outing when he botched his start and then fell to the back of the pack when a tyre started to delaminate in the final laps of the 140km race.

Lowndes added a second to his win in yesterday's race for a solid weekend result that keeps him right in the championship hunt while Winterbottom came in third.

Winterbottom's Ford teammate Will Davison, the other member of the championship-chasing quartet, finished fifth to stay third in the standings ahead of Lowndes.

The championship's next race will be the first of two endurance events for the year, the Sandown 500 on September 16.

AAP