Winterbottom improves V8 lead

FORD’S Mark Winterbottom has hailed his victory in the 200-kilometre race in Darwin as his best V8 Supercars moment.

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 22: Mark Winterbottom driver of the #5 Pepsi max Crew Ford celebrates in parc ferme after winning race 19 for the Triple Crown Darwin, which is round six of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Hidden Valley Raceway on June 22, 2014 in Darwin, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

FORD’S Mark Winterbottom has hailed his victory in today’s 200-kilometre race in Darwin as his best V8 Supercars moment.

The Ford Performance Racing star climbed from 10th off the grid to claim his fourth win of the season and extend his championship lead to 161 points.

Choosing to start on grippier soft compound tyres enabled the 2013 Bathurst champion to charge through the field early.

A safety car 25 laps into the 69-lap race threatened to scupper his strategy but Winterbottom held firm, claiming the victory despite a last-lap battle with a fast-finishing Shane van Gisbergen.

The win means Winterbottom, whose 101-point lead had been whittled down to just 65 following yesterday’s pair of 100km races, heads to the next round in Townsville with an extended margin.

“Incredible race, I think that’s the best moment I’ve had with my team,” he said.

“Bathurst last year was huge but to hold on, that was a really cool win. It’s hard to do and all the boys, they count down the laps — 10, nine, eight, all the way to one — it’s pretty intense.”

Van Gisbergen rebounded from a poor outing in Perth last month to secure second while defending champion Jamie Whincup backed up his two wins yesterday with a third.

That result has lifted Whincup above Fabian Coulthard and into third on the championship standings, 186 points behind Winterbottom.

Chasing a fourth-straight title, Whincup was pleased to be firmly back in the championship hunt.

“All in all, a good weekend for us on both compounds. We’ve got some work to do but, all in all, good weekend and we’ve made a step up from Perth,” Whincup said.

Lowndes, who started the race from pole position, could only come in 17th after puncturing a front tyre during an incident with Ford’s Chas Mostert midway through the race.

It was also a tough day for Holden’s Coulthard, whose championship hopes took a hit as he finished 22nd following a bungled decision to pit during the safety car period.

The New Zealander drops to fourth on the standings, 247 points behind Winterbottom.

The next stop in the V8 Supercars championship is the Townsville 500 from July 4-6.

Lowndes says his seesawing Darwin weekend was an extremely frustrating experience. The 40-year-old began the Darwin Triple Crown brilliantly, claiming back-to-back second places on Saturday to move within 65 points of Winterbottom.

He then snared his first pole in the Top End since 2000 for today’s 200km race before a damaged wheel following contact with Chas Mostert changed everything.

“We took 40 points out of him (Winterbottom) yesterday and now we’ve lost 150,” Lowndes told AAP.

“It seesaws. The way the races are, we’re good with the shorter races and, the longer race, we failed.”

With each Sunday race worth double the points of a Saturday victory, Lowndes says it’s clear where he needs to lift his game. “He’s got good longevity on that soft tyre — there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“They’ve obviously worked pretty hard for it so that’s something we need to improve on. We’ve got good car speed in basically most areas but the longevity is still suffering a little bit.”

AAP