WHINCUP RETURNS TO FAMILIAR GROUND

Jamie Whincup returned to the top step of the Supercar podium for the first time in 2019 with victory at the opening race of the Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint from Will Davison and Chaz Mostert.

Scott McLaughlin grabbed pole position for the race and was joined by Whincup in a last minute dash to the flag to pip Will Davison by 1000th of a second. That proved to be a pivitol moment for the Red Bull driver, who capitalised on the front row start and side-by-side with pole McLaughlin through turn 1 and took the lead on the approach to turn 2. McLaughlin was hung out wide on the exit of the corner and dropped to 3rd as Davison dived past on the run to the turn 3 hairpin.

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Whincup established what proved to be a race winning lead during the opening stint of the race, while the Shell V-Power team elected to stop McLaughlin early and brought their driver back out in clear air. The move paid dividends as McLaughlin seized 2nd from Davison with the undercut, while Chaz Mostert hovered just behind the pair.

McLaughlin struggled to make an impression on Whincup’s lead and surrended a podium finish to the Tickford Racing Mustangs of Davison and Mostert. Todd Hazelwood and Anton DePasquale clashed at turn 2 late in the race with the #99 forced over the kerbs and across the gravel in a wild ride. Hazelwood was handed a 15 second penalty for the incident, while Tim Slade was left to watch the final laps of the race stranded inside his Freightliner Commodrore at the exit of Snake Gully.

“I’ve been reminded, especially the last couple of months, that I haven’t had a win for a while, so it’s certainly fantastic to get a win,” explained a satisified Jamie Whincup.“A big thanks to the Holden supporters for hanging in there, we’ve had a bit of a drought, it’s been a tough run, but we’ve been chipping away.

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