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Jamie Whincup won immediate redemption from his embarrassing Gold Coast flop by bouncing back to snare the first V8 Supercar race at the Phillip Island 300 on Saturday.
The Ford star’s victory gives him some breathing space at the head of the series, extending his lead over Holden rival Will Davison who finished in second spot, 1.8 seconds behind Whincup.
A miserable weekend at Surfers Paradise last month, including ramming his Falcon into a wall, had whittled Whincup’s championship lead to a mere 32 points from Davison going into Phillip Island.
He trailed Davison at the start of Saturday’s 22-lap race when polesitter Jason Bright was swamped off the line but slipped past the Holden ace shortly after and was able to maintain a comfortable edge.
Even when the safety car was called out following a nasty incident between Craig Lowndes and Todd Kelly which allowed Davison to close, Whincup pulled away again when racing resumed.
It means he has extended his lead to 44 points going into Sunday’s 200km event at the Island, with just two championship round left after this weekend.
Team Vodafone boss Roland Dane admitted Whincup had lost focus on the Gold Coast but the Ford pilot said he had regained his confidence and was pleased his win had come at a track which had painful memories for him.
“I’ve had a tough run at the island over the years, I think GT’s (Garth Tander) got me three years in a row down here so it’s nice to get a victory,” Whincup said.
He admitted though to struggling for pace before the safety car slowed down the field because his tyres had become too hot.
“They then cooled down and I was able to get a gap right at the end so that was nice.”
After his disappointment at the Super GP meeting, Whincup opted out of this week’s exhibition Race of Champions event in Shanghai to devote all his attention to the Phillip Island round.
“It was the right decision. Actually it doesn’t matter what happens tomorrow, it was the right call at the time to concentrate on this weekend and not be distracted by the Race of Champions,” he said.
“I feel gutted that I didn’t get that opportunity – or that I decided not to do it, fingers crossed I can get another opportunity in the future”
Davison admitted he could not hold off Whincup despite jumping away at the start.
“I just didn’t quite have the speed and Jamie was putting a fair bit of pressure on and I saw him disappear out of my mirrors and wasn’t going to fight it to hard.
“If I didn’t have the speed to drive away I was just going to try to drive my own race.
“It was a great haul of points but the main thing for us to work on is making the car faster over the run. It wasn’t ideal … it’s hot and it was very, very slippery out there.
“But I’m hopeful we can do our homework tonight and make it a bit kinder tomorrow and attack a bit more,” he said.
“We’ll come back fighting, there’s still a lot of races to go so the main focus is a fast car and winning the best way which is just pulling away in the front.”
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