Barbagallo V8s: Winterbottom hangs on to win Sunday thriller

With an extra stop propelling Craig Lowndes to victory on Saturday, three-stopping was clearly the popular option for Sunday’s 250-kilometre race.

However, the top two finishers both gambled on a two-stop strategy, led by by Winterbottom who had to put in a monster 30-lap stint at the end on his way to victory.

Winterbottom spent much of the race near the front, but it wasn’t clear whether or not he was genuinely in contention.

He pitted on Lap 28, again on Lap 53, and then set about trying to hold on to the lead the pit-stop cycle handed him to the end.

It worked… just. Despite having to contend with Aaren Russell bizarrely trying to un-lap himself in the closing stages, which held Winterbottom up, he still came home just 0.3s clear of Scott McLaughlin and Craig Lowndes.

“That’s awesome,” he said.

“ I thought we were in trouble at the start of that race [as we were] a set of tyres short, but we just held on.

“Yesterday I drove horribly, I hope I redeemed something today.”

McLaughlin finished second, having also two-stopped. Unlike Frosty, however, McLaughlin made his second stop on Lap 60, effectively giving him the same rubber condition as the three-stoppers for the final stint.

It was an impressive piece of strategic work by Volvo GRM, and it almost resulted in a win.

“I got to Frosty and I had nothing left,” explained McLaughlin.

“It’s been a hard week, a lot of people talking about where I’m going, but this weekend is for the team.”

Lowndes was third, having scrapped with McLaughlin until the end. The veteran went for a more traditional three-stop, and spent much of the race locked in battle with the likes of Rick Kelly and Shane van Gisbergen before McLaughlin popped out in front of him.

He did have to hold off van Gisbergen at the same time as he was fighting with Mclaughlin at the end, but narrowly managed ti grab the last spot on the podium, forcing the Kiwi to settle for P4.

Kelly finished fifth, dropping off slightly in the closing laps, while early leader Mostert struggled to match the front-runners as the race shook out and finished sixth.

Holden Racing Team pair Garth Tander and James Courtney finished seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of Nissan’s Michael Caruso and Tekno’s Will Davison.

The biggest loser strategy-wise was Jamie Whincup. The #88 Commodore was in the mix early on, coming and going from the lead bunch as he continuously run short stints.

His final stint was no longer than the leaders, but by then he’d already slipped down the order, and ultimately came home 11th.