Motorsport: Whincup extends title lead

Jamie Whincup drives the Team Vodafone Holden. Photo / Getty Images

Holden's Jamie Whincup is threatening to blow open the tightest V8 Supercar championship in years after a perfect start to a title-defining weekend.

Whincup won the first of three sprint races at Barbagallo Raceway on Saturday to extend his championship lead over a chasing pack of six headed by teammate Craig Lowndes.

The two-time champion claimed pole position, conserved his tyres during the 50-lap race, had a sizzling pit stop and was never headed to beat Lowndes and Ford's Will Davison.

Whincup remains the only multiple race winner in 2011, with five different drivers taking out the opening seven races.

Critically, Whincup has now won three.

The Team Vodafone driver also proved his toughness of mind and focus, putting aside a disastrous round in rainy Hamilton a fortnight ago to win so decisively in Perth.

Whincup boosted his championship lead to 110 points over Lowndes, who heads a group of six drivers within a standard race victory of Whincup.

"We were pretty disappointed in New Zealand, so it's great to bounce back," Whincup said.

Most intriguing of all the sub plots this weekend is Lowndes emerging as a championship challenger for the first time since 2006.

Lowndes moved up to second place with Holden's Rick Kelly sliding to third overall after finishing ninth on Saturday.

He also clearly has a fast car, taking time off Whincup in the last few laps of the race.

"We're in a great position now in the championship, and the next couple of rounds that we go to have been pretty kind to me in the past," Lowndes said.

Pivotal to Whincup's win was a good start.

He cleared out early in the race, opening up a 12-second lead before pit stops came into play.

Whincup waited until lap 28 to make his stop, picked up four tyres and came out ahead of Lowndes to maintain a lead he never surrendered.

Races two and three are scheduled for Sunday.

Grid positions will be decided by a different qualifying session on Sunday morning.

A driver's fastest lap will determine his starting spot for race two and his second fastest lap the grid position for race three.

- AAP