Whincup wins first race of V8 Supercar season in Abu Dhabi

In his 100th championship start, Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup, secured the win in the first race of the 2011 V8 Supercar season – his third victory from as many starts at the Yas Marina circuit.

Craig Lowndes had secured pole position for the Yas V8 400 with team-mate Jamie Whincup lining up second, but it was Alex Davison of Stone Brothers Racing starting from third, who was the big winner from the start getting the jump on both Vodafone-backed cars as Lowndes faltered on the line.

Davison's lead was soon cut-short though as Whincup wasted no time in catching up and passing before the end of the opening lap. And just as he had last year, Whincup streaked away, winning by a massive 13 second margin, and leaving Lowndes in the sister car trailing in seventh place.

Davison eventually won the battle for second, having duelled with Mark Winterbottom in the Ford Performance Racing car for most of the race. After the first round of pit-stops, Winterbottom had gained the advantage, but an error in the pits in the second stop handed Davison the second place and his first podium since Hidden Valley in 2009.

At the other end of the grid, Davison's younger brother Will, lost control of his Ford Performance Racing car on the first lap, hitting a trackside sign and spinning back onto the track. Incredibly, the entire field managed to evade him. Emerging unscathed, Will Davison recovered from last position to come home 12th.

With Winterbottom taking third, Stone Brothers Racing team-mates Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade rounded out the top-five, the first time in the Stone Brothers V8 Supercars history that three of its cars have finished inside the top five in a race.

It wasn't such a great day for reigning champion James Courtney and his new Toll HRT team, after a collision on the first lap with Brad Jones Racing driver Jason Bargwanna, forced him into the pits to repair a broken steering arm. He was to eventually finish second last, four laps down.

Speaking after the race, Jamie Whincup said: “It's been a big week. We come here each year and seem to get off to a good start. There's a lot going on behind the scenes and trying to keep these soft tyres alive and my car seemed to do it better than most.”

Race 1 Results (43 laps)

Fastest Lap: Jamie Whincup, 1:57.8540