Jamie Whincup wins Symmons Plain opener

Jamie Whincup has extended his record of success at Symmons Plains after taking victory in the opening race of the Tasmania SuperSpring.

Whincup had qualified second behind team-mate Shane van Gisbergen after the first of Supercars’ new look qualifying sessions, but emerged from the race with a twelve Symmons Plains win to move up to third in the championship standings.

Van Gisbergen had held the lead when the lights went out at the start, with Craig Lowndes making a strong start from the second row of the grid to jump ahead of Whincup.

Just six laps had been run before Van Gisbergen elected to pit, and he would slip down the order when his rivals then made their stops later on – with Whincup jumping to the front after the stops had taken place.

From then on, he wasn’t headed as he picked up his second win of the campaign.

“The crew gave me an absolute rocket today, it was so fast,” he said. “It was a really intense at the start there, SVG pitted early and I just bolted to try to get track position, came out with a good lead and was able to control it from there.

“Fingers crossed the rain stays away tomorrow, we’ll just keep our head down. I’m a long way back, that gearbox that blew up in Adelaide really hurt, so I need every point I can get right now.”

Although Van Gisbergen held second after the stops, he soon started to slip down the order – with Lowndes getting ahead into second easing away from the second of the Red Bull Holdens.

James Courtney, David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard would also get ahead of Van Gisbergen before the finish, with the points leader forced to settle for sixth spot.

Scott McLaughlin was amongst those to run into problems with an electrical sensor costing him straightline speed, resulting in a ninth place finish, whilst Chaz Mostert failed to finish due to damage picked after contact with Rick Kelly.