Mark Winterbottom now sits third in the championship after a consistent performance at Phillip Island.
Things weren’t as smooth for Chaz Mostert or Cam Waters who both had punctures to their front right tyres in Races 6 and 7 respectively.
SATURDAY
Mark Winterbottom finished fifth in Race 6 at Phillip Island after starting the race from the second row. Winterbottom re-joined the race in provisional fourth after the pit stops, before Fabian Coulthard passed the reigning Champion after he locked the brakes at the bottom of Lukey Heights.
Despite starting from 21st on the grid, young-gun Cameron Waters was able to make up three spots in Saturday's race to finish 18th.
Chaz Mostert had a heartbreaking end to Race 6, suffering a punctured tyre half way through the last lap. Mostert was running in third until the puncture.
DRIVERS VIEW
Mark Winterbottom - #1
Qualifying: 3rd
Race 6: 5th
"Race 6 wasn't too bad. The car had a few little issues so the guys had a late night tweaking her up which I'm sorry for but we had to address it because it's cost us a little bit of time. We’ve had to change the engine overnight and we'll go again in Race 7. It is what it is, it's not a mechanical thing, it's just wasn’t running right so they'll fix it and we'll make the car a little bit better and go again tomorrow. We've got a quick car on one lap which we proved in qualifying but we just have to make it better over the distance. We had an average race and we finished fifth."
Cameron Waters - #6
Qualifying: 21st
Race 6: 18th
"It was a bit of a battle from the start. I made a mistake on my fastest lap in qualifying and that cost us probably about 10 places so that put us back. The race was okay, we were able to make up a few spots but still not as far up as we'd like. We definitely have a few things to work on. We're not quite where we want to be so we'll work on that for Race 7."
Chaz Mostert - #55
Qualifying: 2nd
Race 6: 23rd
"It was simply a puncture in the end. Half a lap from home to get a third place so I'm a bit heartbroken but we still got across the line which is the main thing and still got some points. Disappointment but we'll go and fight again another day."
Tim Edwards - Team Principal
"There was a lot to take from Race 6 which is the main thing. Obviously not the finish we wanted for Chaz but there's nothing we could do about that one. There are a few issues to address obviously before Race 7 but we'll look at those, make the appropriate changes and go again. There are definitely some good signs there so we'll take those and work on the negatives. Frosty did a great job to hold onto fifth in the end there against some tough competition."
SUNDAY
Mark Winterbottom finished second in the final race at the Phillip Island SuperSprint, moving up from fourth with just laps to go. Winterbottom maintained sixth position after the first stop, moving to fourth after the second. A mistake by Jamie Whincup and Scott Pye from second and third place at turn 12 allowed Winterbottom to move past both drivers to take second.
Cameron Waters endured an unlucky race seven after a stellar start from 18th position. Waters moved up towards the top ten before tyre problems hampered his race position. Further tyre problems ended Waters challenge after puncturing the right front on the main straight. He re-joined to finish 23rd after an additional pit stop.
Chaz Mostert was forced to fight his way back into the race after being spun at turn four from 14th. Mostert was able to move through the field, crediting good car speed and clean pit stops.
DRIVERS VIEW
Mark Winterbottom - #1
Qualifying: 3rd
Race 7: 2nd
"The car was actually best in the last stint which was nice. It was a good result for the car speed that I had. P2, I'm wrapt. You've got to be proud of the team and the mechanical side of the car. We've maximised everything we had so it's a good day. Our qualifying speed has been great. Our race pace has been down a little bit. We've got work to do in the workshop and we can actually concentrate on development. I'm looking forward to the next one. Perth has been good to us. Hopefully we can get back up again and start winning races."
Cameron Waters - #6
Qualifying: 18th
Race 7: 23rd
"I got a really good start and was running well on that first set of tyres. When we put the next set on the car just felt really weird and I wasn't really able to do anything. We struggled a bit so we pulled those tyres off and found that there was a few broken cords in that tyre set. We pitted early because we were really struggling and put another set on and then had the failure down the front straight. It was a pretty massive moment but we were lucky to keep the car off the wall and straight. There wasn't much we could do about it but we'll have a look at everything at the workshop and see where we can improve before Perth."
Chaz Mostert - #55
Qualifying: 14th
Race 7: 8th
"Tough weekend for us. We were in the podium position in Race 6 which would've been cool if we could have converted it but it wasn't meant to be. In qualifying we just didn't put it altogether and lost our way a little bit which hurt us with starting position. Whenever you're staring mid-field there's always the risk of getting hit or getting turned around and sure enough that happened to me at turn four and I went to the rear of the field but I had good pace which we used to get back up to eighth which I'm really surprised about. I'm looking forward to the next event now and we really need to start picking up some form now if we want to get back up into the top ten of the championship. I'm willing to work hard and the team's willing to work hard so we'll see what we can do."
Tim Edwards - Team Principal
"It was good to see Mark make the most of that situation towards the end of the race and get on the podium and get a good bag of points too. It's good to see him sitting third now and not too far off the lead as well. Our next event is Perth which has been kind to us but that said we've still got a few things to work on. We're not too sure what happened with the punctured tyre on Cam's car. It could have been caused by anything so we'll definitely have a look at that."
PHILLIP ISLAND SUPERSPRINT RESULTS – RACE 7
1) Scott McLaughlin – Garry Rogers Motorsport
2) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team
3) Scott Pye – DJR Team Penske
8) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
23) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 651
2) Scott McLaughlin – Garry Rogers Motorsport: 636
3) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 627
16) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing: 392
18) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing: 367
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Triple Eight: 1196
2) HRT: 1003
3) Prodrive Racing (Australia): 994
13) Supercheap Auto Racing: 407