Whincup back on top in NZ

Jamie Whincup

Six-time Champion Jamie Whincup returned to his winning ways this weekend at the ITM 500 Auckland, taking out the coveted Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.

While he might be out of contention for this year's Championship, Whincup showed he is still a force to be reckoned with after a commanding victory in today's 200km feature race at Pukekohe Park Raceway.

"It was a great day," beamed Whincup.

"Yesterday was the best day I've ever had in New Zealand, and I topped it today."

Whincup is now the third man to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, named after the late Kiwi driver who succumbed to cancer in 2011.

Whincup leads

Whincup admitted to being emotional after the win, as he and ‘JR' were teammates at now defunct Tasman Motorsport in 2005.

"For me, it's all about the JR Trophy. We were teammates, we were good mates, first podium, first Bathurst podium," Whincup said.

"I haven't won much this year, but it's a good year knowing the JR Trophy is in the cabinet."

Second place man Lowndes was lucky just to be on the track after his rear tire exploded yesterday sending his car crashing into the pit straight wall.

His car was taken to a local smash repair shop before returning to the track where his team worked through the night to repair it.

"This second place is all about the team," Lowndes said.

"They did an all-nighter and it's rare to get a car that's stripped apart then runs faultlessly.

"My number one (mechanic) said he fell asleep in the shower!"

Start

DJR Team Penske driver Scott Pye finished third, taking his first career podium, and the first for the team, in the process.

Making it even sweeter for Pye was that he did it in front of team boss Roger Penske.

"There's a big part of me that is saying that it was great that he (Penske) was here to see that," said an ecstatic Pye.

"He was extremely happy. He had a big smile on (his face).

"To get the champagne, I hope the boys really appreciate that, because when we reflect on where we have come from this year, it is a big turnaround.

"I am excited about the future and looking forward to seeing what we can do next year."

Drama hit Championship leader Mark Winterbottom, who spun on lap two and re-joined at the back of the field.

Winterbottom carved through the field and managed to come home 11th.

He continues to lead the Championship, now by 239 to Reynolds with Lowndes one point behind him in third place.

V8 Supercars now head to the WD-40 Phillip Island 400 on November 20-22.

Results

Pos	Driver	Entry / Team	St.	Laps	Race Time
1	1 Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	2	69	1h 18:57.1973
2	888 Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	10	69	1h 19:1.2610
3	17 Scott Pye	DJR Team Penske	3	69	1h 19:8.0040
4	55 David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team	4	69	1h 19:9.8984
5	23 Michael Caruso	Nissan Motorsport	5	69	1h 19:10.3180
6	33 Scott McLaughlin	Wilson Security Racing GRM	1	69	1h 19:14.2810
7	14 Fabian Coulthard	Freightliner Racing	6	69	1h 19:19.5356
8	18 Lee Holdsworth	Preston Hire Racing	16	69	1h 19:24.5600
9	97 Shane van Gisbergen	Team Darrell Lea STIX	8	69	1h 19:32.1646
10	2 Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team	14	69	1h 19:36.9240
11	5 Mark Winterbottom	Pepsi Max Crew	9	69	1h 19:37.5854
12	3 Tim Blanchard	Team Cooldrive	21	69	1h 19:41.7734
13	7 Todd Kelly	Nissan Motorsport	20	69	1h 19:42.2700
14	99 James Moffat	Nissan Motorsport	7	69	1h 19:44.2920
15	22 James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	15	69	1h 19:49.4297
16	9 Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8	13	69	1h 19:51.5430
17	15 Rick Kelly	Nissan Motorsport	17	69	1h 19:52.3720
18	8 Jason Bright	Team BOC	12	69	1h 20:3.7030
19	21 Dale Wood	GB Galvanizing Racing	25	69	1h 20:3.9766
20	34 David Wall	Wilson Security Racing GRM	24	69	1h 20:4.2120
21	111 Andre Heimgartner	Super Black Racing	23	68	1h 18:58.0713
22	6 Cameron Waters	Pepsi Max Crew	11	68	1h 19:21.2550
23	47 Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing	19	68	1h 19:32.6934
24	10 Ash Walsh	Erebus Motorsport V8	22	67	1h 20:10.3413
DNF	222 Nick Percat	Repair Management Australia Racing	18	6	06:38.5055