SUPERCARS: Tasmania Race One
Triple Eight Racing team-mates Jamie Whicup and Craig Lowndes take a 1-2 at Symmonds Plains.
Jamie Whincup took victory at the first race of the weekend in Tasmania, with a perfect drive from start to finish as tyre wear shocked the teams.
Starting second on the grid, along side the other Red Bull car of Shane Van Gisbergen on the front row, Whincup almost lost the place to team-mate Craig Lowndes as he got off to a flyer from fourth. SVG shut the door on Lowndes and Whincup managed to hold second with a better drive out of one. It was a Tripe Eight 1-2-3 early on.
Van Gisbergen came in on lap six with tyre degradation though to be low around Symmonds Plains. Whincup and Lowndes chose to go longer before their start.
Van Gisbergen also had to fight Scott McLaughlin to hold position after the pit stop, with Shell V-Power's stop being one second quicker than that of Red Bull Racing. However, after some tight wheel to wheel racing down to the hairpin, warm tyres on Van Gisbergen's Holden Commodore saw him hold off the Ford Falcon.
Van Gisbergen's early stop was a strange decision, as he was leading the field in clean air with fresh tyres at the start, but the pit stop saw him come out into a battle, slowing him down.
Lap 11 saw both Whincup and Lownes both pit. Whincup held net first while Van Gisbergen took Lowndes down the inside of the hairpin to take a net P2.
On lap 23 Scott Pye pitted from the lead. It was a quick stop that might have seen him remain in contention but he stalled as the car dropped and lost huge amount of time.
Meanwhile Lowndes kept the pressure on Van Gisbergen, with his fresher tyres giving him an advantage.
There was more pit stop drama on lap 24, as Chaz Mostert's car came in on fire. The pit crew then couldn't get the left rear wheel (the one closest to the flames) changes.
Mostert bailed from the car as the cabin filled with smoke and foam from the extinguisher, however the team managed to get the fire out and the wheel on meaning he could jump back in and get on his way.
Back on track James Courtney made some nice moves to get past McLaughlin and Van Gisbergen for a net P3. Van Gisbergen's tyres were starting to give up and Fabian Coulthard took his chance to pick up a position, giving him a net P5. David Reynolds also saw his way past Van Gisbergen for a net P4.
It was found that tyre degradation was double what was expected, explaining the steady slide down the leader board for Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin.
On track leader Will Davison eventually made his stop on lap 38 meaning the race took its normal shape, with the net positions translating to actual track position.
Whincup's dominating win headed an all-Holden top three, with Lowndes and Courtney rounding out the podium. However, pole sitter Van Gisbergen could only manager sixth.