Photo: supercars.com.au

Jamie Whincup wins red-flagged race in New Zealand

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Jamie Whincup took an important victory in the first V8 Supercars race of the weekend in New Zealand at Pukekohe, beating pole-sitter, title rival and team-mate Shane van Gisbergen by close to seven seconds.

The race was red flagged on the first lap after a major crash for Jason Bright. The Brad Jones Racing driver tangled with Chris Pither, with Bright crashing into the barriers by the pits.

Pither was given a drive-through penalty for the incident and finished a lap down in 24th position while Bright retired and will miss the second race.

The race was restarted with the order in the top unchanged on lap six. Scott McLaughlin claimed the final podium position for Volvo in third and reigning champion Mark Winterbottom came home in fourth for Prodrive Racing Australia, with the duo trading paint in the earlier stages of the race.

The Holden Racing Team duo of Garth Tander and James Courtney finished fifth and sixth while the Nissan Motorsport duo of Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso rounded off the top eight.