Winterbottom wins race, JR Trophy

Frosty and Ford have done it at the ITM 500 Auckland – won the race, the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy and extended the Championship lead.

Mark Winterbottom has continued his winning streak, victorious for the second time this weekend and winning the 200km battle, worth 150 points.

The solid result sees him take home the coveted trophy and extend the Championship lead from a marginal two to a healthy 107 points over Craig Lowndes.

“What an awesome race, the car was really good,” Winterbottom said.

“I had a bit of a bodgy start (from fourth) and trucked on through…

“A 100 point lead, that’s cool! I wanted to lead going out, not just halfway through.

“I feel honoured to win (the JR trophy).”

Scott McLaughlin and his Volvo started from ARMOR ALL Pole Position and while he led early, Winterbottom and his Pepsi Max Crew jumped the ‘blue beast’ in the pits and sailed away for an eventual 6.9809sec win.

“Two poles, we didn’t win but I had a lot of support from the fans and really appreciate it,” McLaughlin said. “I watched Murph (Kiwi Greg Murphy) on the hill and used to cheer him on and now there’s people cheering me on!”  

Once again Winterbottom’s teammate Chaz Mostert appeared on the podium, finishing third and turning around what started off as an unfortunate weekend.

“This time we got to show our speed and pace,” the young gun – who contested his first V8 Supercar races at Pukekohe this weekend – said.

“Frosty’s set the pace and we’ve got car 6 up there too, how fantastic is that!”

Yesterday’s winner Shane van Gisbergen, Nissan’s Michael Caruso, Jason Bright, Erebus’ Will Davison, Rick Kelly, Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup completed the top 10.

Others to note include Garth Tander 12, James Courtney 14, David Reynolds 17 after a great start and setback with a punctured tyre, and Lowndes 20th – another tough day for the Red Bull Racer.

Click here for full race results.

Click here for complete Championship points.

The V8 Supercars will next hit the track at the Perth 400, from May 16-18 at Barbagallo Raceway.