TeamVodafone's Jamie Whincup was the big winner of the Trading Post Perth Challenge taking his second win of the weekend at the Barbagallo Raceway.
Whincup overcame a strong challenge from Brad Jones Racing's Jason Bright to win the final race and increase his lead in the Championship to 142 points over teammate Craig Lowndes.
The Championship leader trailed Bright in the early stages of the race but was able to overcome the winner of Race eight with a better pit stop. And this time he managed to hang on, taking the win by just under one second
“That win was a really special one,” said Whincup.
“Brighty had unbelievable pace on the soft tyres. My boys did a fantastic job in the pits, and I had nothing left there at the end.”
“Perth has been a bogey track for me for a long time … we had some success here a couple years ago but now I think this track is awesome!”
Garth Tander finished in third place salvaging a result for the Toll Holden Racing Team after a disappointing weekend.
Lowndes was fourth, ahead of Toll Holden Racing Team's James Courtney, while Jim Beam Racing's Steve Johnson just edged out SP Tools Racing's Shane van Gisbergen in a frantic dash for the finish line.
Jason Bargwanna of Jana Living Racing, Tim Slade of Lucky 7 Racing and Pepsi Max Crew's Greg Murphy rounded out the top ten.
The next round is at Winton Raceway in Victoria from May 20-22.
Race 9 results:
Pos | Entrant | Driver | Vehicle | Fastest Lap | Fastest Lap Time | Race Time | Laps | Points |
1 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Commodore VE2 | 3 | 00:56:7291 | 49:04:0396 | 50 | 100 |
2 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Commodore VE2 | 3 | 00:56:4952 | 49:04:9747 | 50 | 92 |
3 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Commodore VE2 | 28 | 00:56:8647 | 49:09:2628 | 50 | 86 |
4 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Commodore VE2 | 24 | 00:56:8741 | 49:14:5408 | 50 | 80 |
5 | Toll Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Commodore VE2 | 24 | 00:57:0557 | 49:19:9519 | 50 | 74 |
6 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Falcon FG | 4 | 00:57:2789 | 49:20:1735 | 50 | 68 |
7 | SP Tools Racing | Shane van Gisbergen | Falcon FG | 28 | 00:57:3134 | 49:20:1927 | 50 | 64 |
8 | Jana Living Racing | Jason Bargwanna | Commodore VE2 | 26 | 00:56:8033 | 49:24:5327 | 50 | 60 |
9 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Falcon FG | 28 | 00:57:1932 | 49:24:6537 | 50 | 56 |
10 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Commodore VE2 | 4 | 00:57:3067 | 49:26:7089 | 50 | 52 |
11 | Irwin Racing | Alex Davison | Falcon FG | 3 | 00:57:2229 | 49:38:5676 | 50 | 48 |
12 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Commodore VE2 | 25 | 00:57:0396 | 49:39:0963 | 50 | 46 |
13 | Bundaberg Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Commodore VE2 | 28 | 00:56:8264 | 49:40:7798 | 50 | 44 |
14 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Paul Dumbrell | Falcon FG | 25 | 00:57:3401 | 49:40:9063 | 50 | 42 |
15 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Will Davison | Falcon FG | 4 | 00:57:4721 | 49:44:5165 | 50 | 40 |
16 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Commodore VE2 | 27 | 00:57:1502 | 49:45:1220 | 50 | 38 |
17 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Commodore VE2 | 28 | 00:57:0225 | 49:48:3243 | 50 | 36 |
18 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Commodore VE2 | 28 | 00:56:7255 | 49:51:9126 | 50 | 34 |
19 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Commodore VE2 | 26 | 00:57:3527 | 49:52:8056 | 50 | 32 |
20 | Wilson Security Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Commodore VE2 | 2 | 00:57:7421 | 49:53:6227 | 50 | 30 |
21 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Falcon FG | 28 | 00:57:3723 | 49:54:0174 | 50 | 28 |