Jamie Whincup recovered from an early spin to win a dramatic second V8 Supercars race at Symmons Plains.
The reigning champion started fifth, quickly moved up to third behind battling leaders Craig Lowndes and Will Davison, before putting himself back to fifth again with a quick lap nine spin when right on Davison's tail. Davison (Ford Performance Racing) got ahead of Lowndes (Triple Eight Holden) at the first pitstops, but they remained inseparable until colliding at the hairpin on lap 30, causing race-ending damage to Lowndes' car.
Although Davison was able to continue in the lead, he began to suffer from brake problems in the second half of the race, with his teammate Mark Winterbottom, the recovering Whincup, and Stone Brothers Ford driver Shane van Gisbergen all eventually overtaking him.
Winterbottom's shot at victory ended when he stalled pulling away from his second pit stop, handing the lead to Whincup, who then maintained a steady gap over van Gisbergen to the finish.
Points leader Davison held on to third ahead of Tim Slade in the James Rosenberg/Stone Brothers Ford, while Winterbottom's pit issue dropped him to fifth.
Sixth- and seventh-place qualifiers David Reynolds (Rod Nash/FPR Ford) and Garth Tander (Holden Racing Team) clashed early on, with Tander suffering a further delay in the closing stages when he tangled with Kelly Racing's Rick Kelly.
Results - 84 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 1h17m26.3867s
2. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 5.0004s
3. Will Davison FPR Ford + 6.6828s
4. Tim Slade Rosenberg/SBR Ford + 7.7663s
5. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 9.2429s
6. Lee Holdsworth Stone Brothers Ford + 10.6119s
7. Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Holden + 19.7796s
8. James Courtney HRT Holden + 24.4142s
9. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden + 27.6165s
10. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 28.5769s
11. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 34.5423s
12. Steve Owen Dick Johnson Ford + 35.1267s
13. Alexandre Premat Garry Rogers Holden + 37.9073s
14. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 38.4144s
15. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Ford + 42.2498s
16. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 42.9788s
17. Michael Patrizi Tekno Holden + 43.1857s
18. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford + 48.0102s
19. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford + 48.9916s
20. Taz Douglas Dumbrell Holden + 49.3727s
21. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 1 lap
22. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 1 lap
23. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden + 1 lap
24. Karl Reindler Kelly Holden + 1 lap
25. Russell Ingall Walkinshaw Holden + 2 laps
26. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 12 laps
Did not finish:
David Russell Kelly Holden 77 laps
Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden 29 laps