Motorsport: Winterbottom wins once again

Mark Winterbottom extended his V8 Supercars winning streak. Photo / Getty

Red-hot V8 Supercars driver Mark Winterbottom extended his V8 Supercars winning streak to four races with back-to-back successes at the Ipswich SuperSprint in Queensland today.

The Prodrive Racing Australia driver held off championship rival Craig Lowndes in the second of two 20-lap races to extend his lead in the title standings to 265 points.

Winterbottom had earlier dominated the first race of the day, snatching the lead off the line from team-mate Chaz Mostert before streaking away to victory.

It means the 2013 Bathurst winner has now won eight of the past 13 races as he closes in on a maiden V8s title.

"Any win in our sport you've got to celebrate and, to get four in a row... I've never won four in a season, let alone four in a row," Winterbottom said. "It's a great run we're on the moment."

Lowndes, who snatched third on the final lap of the opening race, finished second to ensure he maintains second place in the standings.

"We tried to pressure him as much as we could," Lowndes said. "He made a couple of little mistakes but not enough to get past."

Volvo's Scott McLaughlin secured his first podium of a difficult year by finishing second in the opening race, but fellow Kiwis Shane van Gisbergen (4th and DNS) and Fabian Coulthard (11th and 16th) endured frustrating days and Coulthard dropped from third to sixth on the championship table.

The Ipswich SuperSprint wraps up today with a single 200km race.