Motorsport: Bright grabs win as Whincup boosts lead

Jason Bright driver of the Team BOC Holden celebrates after winning race 11. Photo / Getty Images

Fast-finishing Holden driver Jason Bright took victory in today's V8 Supercar race at Winton, but Jamie Whincup tightened his grip on a third championship.

Bright flew home late on better tyres to pass Whincup with three laps remaining in the 67-lap event and beat his Holden rival, with Garth Tander completing a Holden 1-2-3.

Whincup's second place followed on from a win in Saturday's opening race in northeast Victoria.

He extended his championship lead to 262 points over Team Vodafone teammate Craig Lowndes, who finished seventh on Sunday.

Whincup looked set for another win after some pit stop heroics put him into the lead on lap 43.

Trailing Tander as both cars went into a pit stop together, Whincup's Team Vodafone were able to get him out ahead of his rival.

But Bright's Team BOC, using a different pit strategy, had their driver flying late on soft compound tyres.

First, he passed Tander as dark clouds and heavy rain threatened, then Bright caught Whincup to grab his second win of the season.

Whincup has won five of the 11 races held this year.

But defending champion James Courtney's difficult season continued as his hopes of back-to-back V8 titles all but vanished.

After a tough qualifying session on Sunday morning to clock only the 20th fastest lap, Courtney was caught up in a seven-car pile-up on lap three.

It left his Commodore badly damaged.

After his car was patched up, he re-emerged seven laps down and well out of contention for the race, eventually finishing 25th.

He trails Whincup by 618 points in the championship race.

The next races in the series are scheduled for Darwin from June 17 to 19.

- AAP