TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup has extended his championship lead to 122 points after taking victory in Race 22 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Phillip Island International Raceway.

Whincup won yesterday’s 100km race and backed it up this morning with pole position for today’s 200km race.

The defending champion got his best start of the season and virtually controlled the race from start to finish, the only glitch a miscommunication with the safety car at the conclusion of his second pitstop.

“Obviously I am extremely happy with the weekend,” Whincup said. “I came here with a massive job to do and feel like I executed it well.

“We had momentum against us coming into the round and needed to lift our game and we did just that. Our car speed, reliability and pitstops were top notch this weekend.

“While we have regained some points and momentum, there are still four races to go and 600points up for grabs,” he continued.

Teammate Craig Lowndes qualified 12th for today’s 44-lap race and bounced back from a bad start to finish the race seventh.

“I had a very rocky start,” Lowndes explained. “I got way too much wheel spin and lost about nine positions.

“The car was much better than yesterday and our strategy and pitstop were fantastic. I managed to leap quite a few positions through the stops.

“It was a great finish to a tough weekend and I am really looking forward to going west,” he added.

While Lowndes and Whincup head home to continue their preparation for the BigPond 300 at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway on 20 – 22 November the TeamVodafone crew will remain at Phillip Island to prepare the teams two V8 Supercars for their journey west.

Top Ten V8 Supercar Race 22 Results

1. Jamie Whincup, 150pts
2. Rick Kelly, 138pts
3. Garth Tander, 129pts
4. James Courtney, 120pts
5. Jason Bright, 111pts
6. Shane Van Gisbergen, 102pts
7. Craig Lowndes, 96pts
8. Paul Dumbrell, 90pts
9. Fabian Coulthard, 86pts
10. Michael Caruso, 78pts

Top Ten V8 Supercar Championship Standings

1. Jamie Whincup, 2905pts
2. Will Davison, 2783pts
3. Garth Tanders, 2565pts
4. Craig Lowndes, 2292pts
5. Mark Winterbotton, 1964pts
6. Steven Johnson, 1961pts
7. Rick Kelly, 1925pts
8. Lee Holdsworth, 1817pts
9. James Courtney, 1790pts
10. Shane Van Gisbergen, 1679pts