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Race Result: Chaz Mostert has won his third race of the season and completed a clean sweep of race wins for Prodrive at the Queensland Raceway on Sunday.
After landing his 8th pole position of the year, with another great lap on the hard tyre, Mostert would lead from virtually start to finish to win his first 200km race of the season.
He would win ahead of Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom who rounded out the podium.
These three are firming as the leading contenders for the title at the end of the season.
At the start of the race, it was an all Prodrive front row, as Winterbottom qualified second behind his team-mate.
This time however, which hasn’t been normal, Mostert got the jump at the start of the race as he led ahead of Winterbottom.
Lowndes lost position to his team-mate Whincup but gained the position back on lap 5.
He would then overtake Winterbottom in the first round of pit stops.
Winterbottom would pit first on lap 11 and put in a fair amount of fuel.
On lap 14 and 15, when Mostert and Lowndes pitted, they would both come out in front of Winterbottom by putting in less fuel and using their track position to gain an advantage.
These positions would not change for the rest of the race as Mostert and Lowndes moved away from Winterbottom.
Mostert would also increase his lead incrementally over the next few laps on Lowndes to set up a winnable margin.
When the final stops occurred between lap 30 and 37, all drivers went back onto the soft tyres, and were able to make them last for the rest of the race.
The abrasiveness, and potential wear to the tyre, didn’t happen and drivers were able to comfortably finish the race.
This didn’t create good racing in the final 20 laps as the leaders remained in their positions.
David Reynolds, who moved to 4th early and stayed in that position, had a very uneventful race as he took some big points for the race.
Behind him it was Garth Tander and James Courtney who finished 5th and 6th after poor qualifying positions.
The only drama in the final few laps came from Todd Kelly who had an engine failure.
His emotion was there for all to see as he repeatedly swore and punched the steering wheel. That is how important races are to the drivers. Every spot is important and finishing the race is vital.
Winterbottom now leads the championship by 256 points with the next event to be held at the Sydney Motorsport Park in three weeks.
Race Preview: Can Mark Winterbottom complete the clean sweep and win Race 20 of the V8 Supercar Championship? Find out as The Roar live blogs Race 20 from Queensland Raceway from 12:00pm AEST with qualifying for the afternoons race.
Yesterday was dominated by Winterbottom who won both races to extend his streak to four wins in a row.
He will be looking to complete the streak which was last done at Queensland Raceway by Craig Lowndes in 2011.
If he wins five in a row it will be the first time that has happened since 2008 when Jamie Whincup won seven in a row near the end of the season.
Winterbottom yesterday also extended his lead in the championship to 265 points ahead of Craig Lowndes, who also had a solid day.
The Red Bull Racing driver finished third and second respectively to keep the margin from blowing out after the dominance of Winterbottom.
It was a day to forget for Fabian Coulthard though who dropped to sixth in the standings from third with two finishes outside of the top ten in yesterday’s races.
He, along with others, will be looking to bounce back today.
Today sees 200km of racing with a 20 minute qualifying session determining the grid. The soft and hard tyre will be used meaning strategy will be very important in the race.
In the previous races, at the same distance with the same tyres, you could use your soft tyres for longer. That meant you could start with the soft tyre, and finish with them, after a stint with the hard tyre.
With the temperatures at Queensland, and the abrasiveness of the surface, that may not be possible.
Will teams run the risk, or play conservative with the soft tyre? That will be an interesting part of the day.
If a safety car also comes out in the final 30 laps, and drivers leave the soft tyres until later in the race, it could be a fascinating race to see some come racing to thee front with the advantage.
It could be a great race for strategy. Based on yesterday it looks like Prodrive Racing, Red Bull Racing, and the Holden Racing Team are in contention for the win.
Others, including DJR Penske, Erebus, Volvo, and Nissan showed some pace but it remains to be seen whether they can do it for 65 laps.
This race is important for Red Bull Racing. Another win to Winterbottom, and a mistake from them, could give them an advantage that will be hard to chase.
They need to bounce back and win today to gain the momentum back in their quest for the championship.
You can catch all the action here on The Roar as they try to do it.
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