Motorsport: Whincup's handy lead

Defending V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup withstood the challenge of his Holden rivals to take maximum points from the season-opening Clipsal 500 weekend.

Ford driver Whincup got his title defence off to the best start, adding a race two victory yesterday to his race one win on Saturday. Despite losing his lead on the opening lap to Holden's Garth Tander, Whincup grabbed back control on lap 14 of the 78-lap race and maintained his advantage.

Holden Racing Team new boy Will Davison capped off an excellent debut weekend with second place, with his teammate Tander third.

Team Vodafone's Whincup now holds a handy championship lead after the opening event of the 14-round series.

Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom had problems in race two, spinning early in the race and spending the rest of his Sunday in and out of the pits before finishing 24th.

New Jim Beam Racing recruit James Courtney was also in the wars. First he was docked 10 championship points by stewards, blamed for a race one incident on Saturday which caused Holden driver Paul Dumbrell to crash. Then he crashed his Ford in yesterday's warm-up. He eventually finished 26th.

Whincup leads the title chase with 300 points.

- AAP