V8 Supercar: Nissan/Volvo clash hands Whincup win

Jamie Whincup claimed his second win of the V8 Supercars weekend at Ipswich's Queensland Raceway after erstwhile race leader Scott McLaughlin was shoved off-track by Michael Caruso.

McLaughlin led proceedings from the off, beating fellow front row starter Caruso as they entered Turn 1 for the first time, and was in command of the race until it reached mid-distance.

The Volvo driver then began to lose pace and was forced to hold off his determined Nissan rival, but their battle reached a disappointing conclusion on lap 23 of 33 when Caruso punted McLaughlin in a desperate move at Turn 6. The Kiwi then dropped down the order to finish 19th, while Caruso was issued with a drive-through penalty for his misdemeanor and fell to 24th.

"I don't blame the bloke for having a go," said McLaughlin at the finish. "It's just racing and I would have done the same. Everyone makes mistakes."

Their pain was Whincup's gain as he inherited the lead and cruised to his ninth win of the season, ahead of Triple Eight teammate Craig Lowndes, who had a fairly anonymous race.

Chaz Mostert claimed the final podium position having disposed of Shane van Gisbergen and Rick Kelly, who all finished ahead of championship leader Mark Winterbottom in sixth.

The FPR Ford driver started 11th and made little gain in the first third of the race, but as others appeared to struggle on the soft Dunlop tire, Winterbottom was largely unaffected and began making his way through the field.

Saturday's results mean he still sits at the top of the standings, but his advantage has been halved from 96 to 48 points heading into Sunday's final race of the weekend.