23 Oct 2011

Whincup extends lead in V8 Supercars

11:22 pm on 23 October 2011

The Ford driver Mark Winterbottom won a controversial Australian V8 Supercar race at the Gold Coast as Holden's Jamie Whincup extended his championship lead.

Winterbottom secured his first win of the year after passing Whincup for the lead on the 94th of 102 laps in the 300km race.

But Whincup was the big winner of the weekend, emerging with a 143-point lead in the championship standings ahead of team-mate Craig Lowndes.

The 37-year-old three-time champion's horrible weekend finished in disappointment once again as he could only finish 20th to hand the championship initiative to Whincup with three rounds remaining.