Mark Winterbottom, fighting a bout of glandular fever, needed a painkilling injection before he drove the Ford Performance Racing Falcon to victory on the Gold Coast yesterday.
Winterbottom’s slick blue V8 proved too quick and nimble around the concrete street circuit to edge out Toll Holden Racing’s Garth Tander and Jim Beam’s James Courtney.
But the weekend did not turn out so well for championship series leaders Jamie Whincup and Will Davison, who stumbled on a dramatic final day at a track that punished the smallest of driver errors.
Winterbottom kept a cool head on a day cabin temperatures soared to more than 50C, as drivers behind turned the race for podium places into a demolition derby.
“That was awesome. To have a car that can finish around here despite banging every panel on every tyre wall shows what a great car we’ve got,” Winterbottom said.
“It was a tough weekend of racing. The doctor gave me my final jab this morning so to finish in the way we did here ranks very highly in my career.”
“It was one of the toughest races I’ve ever had but if you keep pushing hard you forget about the pain. I was having trouble feeling my legs towards the end,” Winterbottom said.
“It’s a massive relief to know the car was quick enough to win. Now we expect to be there for the rest of the year. The longer the race went the more it turned into a physical and mental battle. I just kept pumping the pedals to get a feel of my legs and stay clear of Garth (Tander).” The Australian
Whincup’s TeamVodafone partner Craig Lowndes started the day from second on the grid, and steered his Triple Eight Falcon to victory.
Lowndes finished 2.2 seconds ahead of Winterbottom, while Tander’s rich vein of form continued with third place.
The wreckage strewn around the track on Saturday looked like being repeated when Fabian Coulthard and Cam McConville made contact on the opening lap and speared into a thick concrete barrier, which crumbled under the impact. Coulthard’s Falcon and McConville’s Commodore were badly damaged, and the race was stopped to remove them from the track.
Joy turned to despair for Jason Bargwanna after starting from pole position for just the second time in his career. A spark-plug lead came into contact with his Commodore’s exhaust after the first safety car, and it forced the Sprint Gas Racing driver into the pits.
‘‘As soon as I got on the gas after the restart, she just dropped on to seven cylinders, and that was the end of that,’’ Bargwanna said.
Lowndes started from second place on the grid, and had the better start, but Bargwanna said his Holden ‘‘had the pace to go with him’’ before disaster struck and left him fighting his way through the field. He finished the first leg of the race in ninth, and was later caught in a tangle with Steve Richards and Whincup that ended his day on lap 16. Sydney Morning Herald
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