Jamie Whincup marked the 10th running of the Watpac Townsville 400 by taking his 10th race win at the Reid Park Circuit. The Red Bull Hokden Racind driver took the lead from pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin on lap two and controlled proceedings for the balance of the 70 laps, leading by more than 10 seconds for the bulk of it.
“It was a cracking day today – really, really good,” commented Whincup. “We’ve been chipping away at performance for a month or so now and we’re starting to get results for it. The car was absolutely fantastic, (Race Engineer David) Cauchi and (Data Engineer) Romy (Mayer) gave me a rocket today, which is fantastic.
“Our pit stops were good, we were able to lead from the front and to be coming here for ten years and have ten wins at this place is unbelievable. It’s a great feeling but I just want to keep it under wraps and see what we can do tomorrow.
“The lead was just pure pace, our car was hooked up really well, Cauchi and Romy did an awesome job with the set-up and we were fast. To win races you need a fast race car, we had that and we maximised it.”
Thid home was Whincup’s team mate Shane van Gisbergen. “Qualifying was awesome today, that’s been our biggest weakness and the focus the past few weeks. We’re trying to understand the tyre and the best way to make it work and I think the signs are good now.
“All three cars were top five which was awesome – it’s a credit to the guys and girls who have done some great work. In today’s race, my car was really good but obviously the car 1 boys and girls have done an excellent job on their car. We just need to try and make some improvements to my car and I personally need to get a bit quicker.
“Overall, I had a pretty good day – we had a good race with Craig (Lowndes) and Scotty (McLaughlin) and that was probably the entertainment of the race. It’s tough, it’s a physical race but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Scott McLaughlin 1904
2. Shane Van Gisbergen 1752 -152
3. David Reynolds 1544 -360
4. Jamie Whincup 1492 -412
5. Craig Lowndes 1482 -422
6. Scott Pye 1342 -562
7. Fabian Coulthard 1340 -564
8. Rick Kelly 1276 -628
9. Chaz Mostert 1175 -729
10. Tim Slade 1169 -735
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Shell V-Power Racing Team 3244
2. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Whincup/SVG) 3244 -0
3. Walkinshaw Andretti United 2497 -747
4. Erebus Motorsport 2341 -902
5. Brad Jones Racing 2325 -919
6. Tickford Racing (Mostert/Winterbottom) 2278 -966
7. Nissan Motorsport (Kelly/Heimgartner) 2121 -1123
8. Garry Rogers Motorsport 1670 -1579
9. NISMO (Caruso/De Silvestro) 1625 -1619
10. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Lowndes) 1482 -1762
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