With the Championship finale looming, TeamVodafone pulled out all stops and put their best foot forward, Jamie Whincup leading home a TeamVodafone 1 – 2 with Craig Lowndes taking the chequered flag 7 seconds behind his teammate.
Earlier in the day Whincup secured pole position while Lowndes prepared to start Saturday’s race in sixth. With two drivers penalised for separate on-track incidents, the #888 driver was elevated to a second row start for Race 23.
Whincup got too much wheel spin off the start, affording Mark Winterbottom the race lead. The TeamVodafone driver regained the lead when Winterbottom suffered mid-corner understeer on Lap 11.
While Whincup cruised to victory teammate Lowndes had a battle on his hands during the early stages of the race trying to pass Shane Van Gisbergen and Will Davison. The #888 pilot moved ‘The Giz’ to fourth on Lap 24 before getting the upper hand on Davison on Lap 42, to finish behind his teammate in second.
Saturday’s Falken Tasmania Challenge race saw Whincup accomplish another career milestone, taking his 30th pole position and his 50th V8 Supercar race win.
The Falken Tasmania Challenge will conclude tomorrow with Qualifying for Race 24 at 12.30pm (AEDST) ahead of the final 200 km race of the weekend at 3.35pm (AEDST).
TeamVodafone’s live race day blog from the pit garage will commence on www.teamvodafone.com at 3:35pm (AEDST).
For regular news and updates, head to www.teamvodafone.com
Top Ten Race 23 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series Results – Falken Tasmania Challenge
1: Jamie Whincup
2: Craig Lowndes
3: Garth Tander
4: Mark Winterbottom
5: Will Davison
6: Alex Davison
7: Shane Van Gisbergen
8: Fabian Coulthard
9: Michael Caruso
10: James Courtney
V8 Supercar Championship Series Standings
1: Jamie Whincup, 2667 pts.
2: Craig Lowndes, 2512 pts.
3: Shane Van Gisbergen, 2105 pts.
4: Mark Winterbottom, 2086 pts.
5: Garth Tander, 2085 pts.
6: Will Davison, 1958 pts.
7: Rick Kelly, 1908 pts.
8: Lee Holdsworth, 1647 pts.
9: Alex Davison, 1637 pts.
10: Jason Bright, 1549 pts.
