Jump to Comments

Ford’s Mark Winterbottom dominated the V8 Supercar round at Barbagallo.

The man known as ‘Frosty’ won all three races as his rivals failed to match his pace.

HRT’s Garth Tander finished second for the round after finishing third in the opening race and second in the other two.

His team-mate Mark Skaife was on track for a good result after finishing second in the opening race, but a collision with FPR’s Steven Richards in the second race sent Skaife slamming into the wall.

Skaife later said the impact was one of the biggest in his career. The damage was so severe that he was forced to watch on for the third race, with his HRT machine judged to be damaged beyond repair.

Jamie Whincup, driving a new Triple Eight race car after trashing his last one in qualifying at Hamilton, was able to bounce back with a third place for the round.

Lowndes was fourth for the round in the other Triple Eight car, with Rick Kelly coming home in fifth in the HSV Dealer Team car.

Winterbottom said his FPR race car was perfect.

“We just had the best car this weekend. Sometimes it all just goes your way,” he said.

“It happened at Bahrain last year and here today but it can’t always be like that.”

The young racer predicted he would be even stronger later this season.

“I’ve always said the best rounds are still to come. Perth, in the past, has been Holden territory so to knock them off here is a big achievement. They’re all good rounds for us to come now so we’re in a great position,” he said.

Tander’s second place was enough to push him into the lead of the championship, but he would have preferred to be on the top step of the podium.

“We weren’t quite that good all weekend, but we battled away so second is quite a good result,” he said.

“It’s good to be in the points lead, but I’d be happier if it was December.”

Steven Richards finished seventh for the round and is now fifth in the championship, but said he would have done much better if he had not collided with Skaife.

Referring to what he called “a bit of stupidity,” Richards appeared to place the blame at Skaife’s feet.

“I knew he was there, so I gave him plenty of room to get around that left-hand kink.

“But he was battling on the outside of the track in the rubble and I went past him and found myself spinning and rotating into the wall.”

Richards sustained a flat tyre, but had it changed and fought back to finish ninth in the second race and then move up to seventh in the last race.

“I’m frustrated though. We could have been fourth in the championship, instead of fifth, and closed the gap right up,” he said.

Skaife was gutted by the crash.

“Today is high on the scale of disappointment,” he said.

He was not about to apportion blame, but indicated he felt he was not in the wrong.

“Yesterday Garth Tander and I raced through the same section of track side by side and only touched mirrors. For two cars to get through you have to give each other room, but today with Richo there wasn’t as much road,” he said.

“We touched wheels which is why the bump that put me into the fence was so violent. It was as big a hit as I’ve ever had side on – massive – and it’s done huge damage,” he said.

Barbagallo Round 4 Results

1 Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF – 300

2 Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore – VE, 270

3 Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF – 236

4 Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF – 234

5 Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE – 210

6 Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF – 202

7 Steven Richards, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF– 200

8 James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Motorsport Ford Falcon BF – 154

9 Fabian Coulthard, Glenfords Racing Ford Falcon BF – 138

10 Andrew Jones, Team BOC Holden Commodore VE – 132

19 Mark Skaife, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE – 92

 

Race 1

1 Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing, Ford Falcon BF             

2 Mark Skaife,Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE 

3 Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE 

4 Steven Richards, Ford Performance Racing,Ford Falcon

5 Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone, Ford Falcon BF      

6 Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team, Holden Commodore VE 

7 Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone, Ford Falcon BF      

8 Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing, Ford Falcon BF      

9 Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE 

10 Cameron McConville, Team WOW, Holden Commodore VE 

 

Race 2

1 Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF

2 Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE 

3 Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF      

4 Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF      

5 Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE 

6 Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF      

7 James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Motorsport Ford Falcon BF      

8 Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore VE 

9 Steven Richards, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF      

10 Shane Van Gisbergen, SP Tools Racing Ford Falcon BF      

 

Race 3

1 Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF

2 Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE 

3 Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF

4 Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF

5 Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF

6 Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE 

7 Steven Richards, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF

8 James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Motorsport Ford Falcon BF      

9 Fabian Coulthard, Glenfords Racing Ford Falcon BF      

10 Cameron McConville, Team WOW Holden Commodore VE 

 

 

 

2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series Points

1 Tander 896

2 R Kelly 882

3 Winterbottom 872

4 Whincup 776

5 S Richards 721

6 Lowndes 711

7 Davison 640

8 Holdsworth 626

9 Courtney 577

10 Coulthard 569