Champion-elect Jamie Whincup has notched up his 88th V8 Supercars win - and lucky 13th for the year - in the opening race of the season-ending Sydney 500.
The Red Bull Racing driver started the first of Saturday's two 125km races from second on the grid, but got the jump on Erebus Motorsport's maiden polesitter Will Davison.
Whincup was quick to capitalise on his flawless start, sprinting out to a 2.5sec lead by lap four and looked certain to stay in front for the entire race.
But two safety cars helped push Holden rival Tim Slade to the lead, making for an entertaining battle before he eventually surrendered to Whincup with 10 laps left.
"We want to round the year off as well as we possibly can, so a perfect start with a win in race one," said Whincup, who will be officially crowned series champion for a record sixth time in seven years on Sunday.
