Winterbottom christens milestone with extended record
Mark Winterbottom delivered a smart return on his 50th round in Team 18 colours, and extended a unique run of form.
Winterbottom finished ninth and sixth at Surfers Paradise to move into ninth in the points standings.
The 2015 series champion brought up 50 rounds with Team 18, having joined in 2019.
After a challenging Bathurst, Winterbottom arrived with a 100 per cent finishing record on the Gold Coast.
Winterbottom, who won in 2009 and 2011, extended his perfect record to 37 finishes from 37 race starts.
Tim Slade (23 from 23 after Sunday) was next on the list.
Winterbottom scored his first top 10 since Sandown in August with a run from 13th to ninth on Saturday.
The 41-year-old backed it up with a run from 12th to sixth on Sunday.
Critically, he dodged the early drama in Race 32, with six cars crashing out on the spot.
Key to Winterbottom’s performance was a late pass on former teammate Cam Waters.
Winterbottom burgled Waters at the final corner, although the concertina saw teammate Scott Pye turned by Will Brown.
"We finished and survived which was great,” Winterbottom said.
"There was so much carnage today, Qualifying is so key and my kerb strike put me into 12th which was average.
"I made a mega start, worked my way back up and had really good pace.
"I was passing cars and coming through even until the last couple of laps with Cam to get sixth.
"A solid day, to move from 12th to sixth was great.
"The car is straight, a couple of doors will get changed and a few stickers and then we go for one more in Adelaide.
“We scored a good bag of points and we made positions, so all in all it was a good day.”
The 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will conclude on the Adelaide streets in December.
