Flashback: last-lap Winton thriller bathed in controversy

Of the 66 championship races held at Winton Motor Raceway, few rivalled the tension of the 2004 race, which marked the first win for Cameron McConville.

The Victorian circuit, which will host next weekend’s fifth round of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship, hosted a wet thriller 17 years ago.

The day featured a first-time pole sitter in Craig Baird, red flags and high-profile incidents, but it was the final-lap overtake by McConville on Rick Kelly which created the most drama.

On the final lap, McConville swooped on Kelly at the penultimate corner to claim his first race victory.

Kelly came onto the radio immediately and protested the move, claiming McConville made the move while yellow flags were out.

Eventual champion Marcos Ambrose and five-time title winner Mark Skaife both struck drama in the race, as did Greg Murphy.

WATCH: MCCONVILLE'S CONTROVERSIAL WINTON WIN

It left Jason Bright with the series lead, with Ambrose, who finished 26th, dropping to fourth.

Murphy led comfortably from Russell Ingall with 15 laps remaining in the 100-lap, 300km race.

However, Kelly and McConville swept in front when both Murphy and Ingall bowled a wide at the final corner.

Debris ruined Murphy’s race, with the reigning Bathurst 1000 winner dropping down the order with an engine drama.

Earlier, both Ambrose and Skaife made mistakes at the same corner within minutes of each other.

Ambrose then spun off into the infield, and after being stuck for what seemed an eternity, he got out of his Falcon and let air out of the tyres.

Skaife was punted off by John Bowe, who received a drive-through penalty.

However, the most memorable moment was the race’s last, with McConville muscling past Kelly for his first ever win.

"In my position there was a hole and I took it," he said of the yellow flag drama.

"As far as I am concerned I waited for the green flag to come out and I didn't pass until I saw that green flag.

"Rick wasn't covering the line close enough at the time.

"I had a fair bit of luck go my way today. That was the most I've ever had at stake in the closing laps.”

Nine years later, McConville opened up to Supercars.com about the remarkable finish, which came in arguably Winton’s most dramatic and controversial race.

"Three laps to go I was writing the speech for second and thought, this is great; I’d qualified 10th on my home track, second will be great,” he said.

"And then on the last lap I came into the sweeper and I realised I was a little bit closer than I had been the other laps.

"So I thought, I’ll just put some pressure on him on the last lap… more for a bit of fun, not even remotely thinking I’d be able to inherit the lead on the last lap, or bluff him into a mistake… but I thought I’d try.

"We came into Turn 10 and I got a good run. Brad Jones’ car had been stopped because it had ran out of fuel; it was a real fuel economy race as well to a degree, and Brad was stopped on the right so there had been yellow flags for a while.

"Being the last lap, and I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this, I’d completely forgotten about the yellow flag!

"Rick braked, sort of mid-track… he’d obviously been thinking, ‘It’s yellow flag zone I’ve won, and I’ll just bring it home’.”

McConville duly celebrated crossing the line first, but Kelly was irate.

"When his brake lights came on I was still 100 percent throttle. So I effectively just kept my foot down for that poopteenth longer and went to the right and then braked,” McConville continued.

"Before I knew it I was alongside him, and I was like, ‘Holy s**t, I’m past him!’

"And I came onto the straight absolutely pumped, flashed the headlights and saw the GRM guys on the side and I was thinking, ‘How could he have left a hole like that?’ He just seemed to brake early.

"On the cool down lap I could see him swerving at me, throwing his fists everywhere and I thought, ‘Uh oh, maybe there were still yellow flags out at that point’.”

McConville celebrated on the podium, but he didn’t exactly enjoy the experience, fearing the victory would be taken from him.

WATCH: THE LAST RACE AT WINTON IN 2019

"When I got out of the car, Rick came up all animated, [saying] ‘You passed me under yellows’… and to be honest at the time I thought I had, and it was going to be the most embarrassing moment.

“[Colin Bond, then Driving Standards Observer] sat down and freeze-framed it. When they freeze-framed the video I was right alongside his front wheel, at the green flag point.

"You go back a frame I’m not alongside him, you go forward a frame, I’m past him. And they got a line out on the TV screen and said, ‘You’re pretty much bang on, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, it was well calculated’.

"And I went out of there and breathed the biggest sigh of relief."

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to Victoria for the Winton SuperSprint across May 28-30. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo with highlights on 7 and 7 Plus. Check out the weekend schedule here.