TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup has claimed second in Race 13 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway today.

The defending champion started off the front row of the grid after qualifying second for today’s 42 lap race.

Despite not getting the best of starts, Whincup retained second but could not gain any additional spots during the pit stop and returned to the race following Winterbottom.

Team-mate Lowndes slipped a spot at the start but then progressively gained places throughout the race finishing seventh, earning valuable points in the championship race.

Both drivers were concerned about tyre degradation given the warmer conditions and the longer race for tomorrow.

“We didn’t get the best start and we need to fine tune our set-up so we can pick up the pace tomorrow,” Whincup explained.

“All in all, our race was strong, we fought hard and showed great teamwork.

“We didn’t have as much pace as we had last year. The tyres were too hot and I think whoever can keep them the coolest for the longest will definitely have an advantage tomorrow,” he said.

After using two sets of his green tyres in qualifying, Craig Lowndes was forced to run the Shootout on used rubber and ended the session ninth.

Lowndes got a good start but was shuffled back at the first turn and ran on his worst set of control tyres. After the pit-stop, he was able to make ground and finish seventh.

“We have now run the worst of our tyres and the car balance came good towards the middle of the race, which meant we could attack,” Lowndes said.

“I had a great battle with Tim Slade and James Courtney but as the tyres went off I just couldn’t find a way around them.

“The biggest plus for us is that we have now used the odd batch of tyres and we have all good tyres for tomorrow,” he continued.

Tomorrow’s on-track V8 Supercar action starts with qualifying at 12:00pm followed by Race 14 at 2:35pm.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Series Race 13 Results – Hidden Valley Raceway

1. Mark Winterbottom, 150pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 138pts
3. Shane Van Gisbergen, 129pts
4. Jason Richards, 120pts
5. James Courtney, 111pts
6. Tim Slade, 102pts
7. Craig Lowndes, 96pts
8. Paul Dumbrell, 90pts
9. Todd Kelly, 84pts
10.Garth Tander, 78pts

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Standings – After Race 13 of 26

1. James Courtney, 1578pts
2. Jamie Whincup, 1491pts
3. Craig Lowndes, 1341pts
4. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1283pts
5. Mark Winterbottom, 1206pts
6. Garth Tander, 1194pts
7. Lee Holdsworth, 1149pts
8. Rick Kelly, 1142pts
9. Michael Caruso, 1089pts
10. Steven Johnson, 983pts