Mark Winterbottom has claimed the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy after beating Scott McLaughlin to the finish line in Race 13 of the V8 Championship. 

Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom became the second winner of the prestigious Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, after taking two race wins at Pukekohe Raceway for the fourth round of the V8 Supercars Championship.

Winterbottom defeated young-gun Scott McLaughlin, overtaking McLaughlin in pit-lane to win Race 13 of the championship.

Chaz Mostert also gained his first podium with Ford Performance Racing, finishing in third place with his new team.

Despite McLaughlin taking two pole positions over the weekend, he was unable to grab a win in front of his home New Zealand crowd like last year.

Front-row starter Tim Slade qualified second for Race 13, but due to a clutch failure the Supercheap Auto Commodore only managed 21st.

Craig Lowndes‘ championship also took a beating, with the Red Bull racer only finishing in 20th position.

Shane van Gisbergen fell shy of another podium finish in front of his home finishing fourth, with Michael Caruso, Jason Bright, Will Davison, Rick Kelly and V8 Champion Jamie Whincup rounding out the top ten.

Winterbottom was also able to grab the championship lead after Saturday’s race results, with the number 5 Falcon driver currently in first to Craig Lowndes by 107 points, with Fabian Coulthard third and Holden Racing’s James Courtney fourth.

“What an awesome race, the car was really good,” Winterbottom said.

“I had a bit of a bodgy start and trucked on through…

“A 100 point lead, that’s cool! I wanted to lead going out, not just halfway through.

“I feel honoured to win [the JR trophy].”

The next round of the V8 Supercars Championship will see the drivers head to Barbagallo for the Perth 400, on the 16-18 May.

Race 13 results

Position	Car	Driver	Team	Car
1	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG
2	33	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60
3	6	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG
4	97	Shane Van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods	Holden Commodore VF
5	36	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima
6	8	Jason Bright	Team BOC	Holden Commodore VF
7	9	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG
8	15	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima
9	14	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing	Holden Commodore VF
10	1	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF
11	222	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing	Holden Commodore VF
12	2	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF
13	16	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG
14	22	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF
15	4	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG
16	360	James Moffat	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima
17	55	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Ford Falcon FG
18	18	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN	Ford Falcon FG
19	23	Russell Ingall	Repair Management Aust Racing	Holden Commodore VF
20	888	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF
21	47	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing	Holden Commodore VF
22	21	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB	Holden Commodore VF
23	34	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60
24	7	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima

By Loren Hazelwood @LorenHazelwood

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