Motorsport: Whincup takes race two

Jamie Whincup has won the second V8 race at the ITM 400 at Pukekohe, with local hope Fabian Coulthard failing to capitalise on pole position after an unfortunate error at the start.

Starting on the front line for the first time in his career, Coulthard jumped the start, edging ahead of the start line before the green light.

Coulthard incurred a ten second penalty for the mistake, which ended any chance of a Kiwi quinella after Scott McLaughin historic victory in race one.

Carrying the penalty, Couthard nevertheless held the on track lead around the 2.90km circuit until the 23rd lap, when he was passed by Whincup in a brilliant maneourve.

It is Whincup's first victory of 2013 and also his first at Pukekohe across his decorated career, which has seen him take the overall championship title on four occasions.

Will Davison finished in second, followed by Garth Tander, Jason Bright and David Reynolds.

There were several stoppages throughout the race, as drivers consistently found the dirt forcing the safeway car onto the track. It stopped any momentum and effectively split what was already a short 100km race into several sets of sprints.

Van Gisbergen, who started 11th on the grid finished in sixth place while McLaughin came in 24th. Fellow Kiwi Jonny Reid took 22nd position.