GOLD COAST, Qld—Ford Performance Racing has climbed onto the top step of a V8 Supercar championship podium for the first time this year after Mark Winterbottom claimed victory in the Super GP event on the Gold Coast.
Winterbottom, who finished in the top two in every one of the four 150km at the Surfers Paradise street circuit, crossed the line ahead of Holden's Garth Tander and Ford's James Courtney in Sunday's second and final event.
It completes a remarkable comeback for the Ford driver, whose Bathurst campaign two weeks ago ended when his Falcon caught fire in the early stages of the 1,000km endurance event.
Tander also enjoyed a good weekend, with three top-two finishes to keep his narrow championship hopes alive.
Tander's HRT teammate Will Davison had a difficult day on Sunday, finishing 21st and 10th in the two 150km races, but has narrowed the gap on championship leader Jamie Whincup to just 32 points.
Whincup recovered well after crashing out on the final lap of Sunday's first race, climbing from 23rd on the starting grid for the second event to finish sixth.
Stewards are likely, however, to investigate an incident between Whincup and Holden driver Jason Bargwanna, who secured his second career pole for Sunday's first race earlier in the day, which could potentially cost the TeamVodafone ace some points if he's found guilty of any wrongdoing.
"Jamie's obviously on some sort of mission to wreck everyone's day out there," Bargwanna told the Seven network.
"That was just out of control."
Second event pole-sitter and Sunday's race one winner Craig Lowndes suffered a drive-through penalty following an incident with Holden veteran Russell Ingall at the start and had to settle for a 13th place finish.
That incident sparked farcical scenes where Lowndes, who fell to third after his sluggish start, was allowed to retake the lead as marshalls ordered the field to reassemble in their starting grid positions behind the resultant safety car only to fall to the back of the field when he received the penalty.
The V8 Supercars' next leg is at Phillip Island in Victoria from November 5-7.
V8 Supercar Challenge Race 4 Results
Race 4 (34 laps)
1. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1hr16mins2.2312sec
2. Garth Tander (Holden) 1:16:04.8065
3. James Courtney (Ford) 1:16:08.1524
4. Jason Bright (Ford) 1:16:11.8342
5. Steven Johnson (Ford) 1:16:12.0672
6. Jamie Whincup (Ford) 1:16:12.4602
7. Greg Murphy (Holden) 1:16:13.5367
8. Jason Richards (Holden) 1:16:14.8898
9. Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:16:15.1732
10. Will Davison (Holden) 1:16:16.3142
11. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) 1:16:17.6582
12. Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 1:16:18.0977
13. Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1:16:24.8991
14. Michael Caruso (Holden) 1:16:27.6690
15. Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:16:28.6262
16. Tony D Alberto (Holden) 1:16:30.9799
17. Alex Davison (Ford) 1:16:33.2265
18. Jack Perkins (Holden) 1:16:33.5708
19. Dean Fiore (Ford) 1:16:42.1562
20. Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 1:16:42.3879
21. Tim Slade (Holden) 1:16:43.4351
22. Mark McNally (Holden) 1:17:01.7919
23. Jason Bargwanna (Holden) DNF
24. Steven Richards (Ford) DNF
25. David Reynolds (Holden) DNF
26. Russell Ingall (Holden) DNF
27. Michael Patrizi (Ford) DNS
28. Cameron McConville (Holden) DNS
29. Fabian Coulthard (Ford) DNS
V8 Supercar Challenge Race 3 Results
Race 3 (34 laps)
1. Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1hr13mins55.2217sec
2. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1:13:57.4557
3. Garth Tander (Holden) 1:13:58.8328
4. Russell Ingall (Holden) 1:14:01.4744
5. James Courtney (Ford) 1:14:06.6642
6. Steven Johnson (Ford) 1:14:11.0837
7. David Reynolds (Holden) 1:14:12.9497
8. Jason Bright (Ford) 1:14:16.1826
9. Jason Bargwanna (Holden) 1:14:19.6956
10. Jason Richards (Holden) 1:14:20.5966
11. Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 1:14:21.3436
12. Steven Richards (Ford) 1:14:21.7587
13. Tony D Alberto (Holden) 1:14:22.2851
14. Greg Murphy (Holden) 1:14:22.7213
15. Dean Fiore (Ford) 1:14:30.7615
16. Alex Davison (Ford) 1:14:31.1380
17. Tim Slade (Holden) 1:14:35.9239
18. Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:14:36.3596
19. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) +1 Lap
20. Rick Kelly (Holden) +1 Lap
21. Will Davison (Holden) +3 Laps
22. Lee Holdsworth (Holden) +5 Laps
23. Jamie Whincup (Ford) DNF
24. Michael Caruso (Holden) DNF
25. Mark McNally (Holden) DNF
26. Michael Patrizi (Ford) DNF
27. Jack Perkins (Holden) DNF
28. Cameron McConville (Holden) DNF
29. Fabian Coulthard (Ford) DNF
