Fresh from Ford's domination of the opening points races in Adelaide, and the non-points outing as Grand Prix support at Albert Park in Melbourne, the V8 Supercars headed to New Zealand for the second running of the Hamilton 400.

The vastly berated qualifying format which was used in the Adelaide round, had been altered for Hamilton. Each race would feature its own qualifying session held during the morning of each race day.

Mark Winterbottom struck first blow as he looked to make up for the disappointment of his poor end to 2008. He claimed pole position by the slightest of margins from Jamie Whincup. The time difference between the pair was some 0.007 seconds. Winterbottom set about taking the lead into the first corner, and looked to have the advantage over Whincup. That was until Whincup seized the opportunity midway through the first lap, as Winterbottom was only inches wide. 2008 champion Whincup made a superb move to claim first place, and from then on he held on to claim the third win from three races this season. Numerous cars ended up in the wall as per the running trend at Hamilton. Tony D'Alberto, Greg Murphy and Tim Slade all had their races ruined by the same section of wall, and the safety car was deployed on numerous occasions throughout the race due to such incidents. One of the most fierce battles on track was a lengthy one between Jim Beam racing team mates Steven Richards and James Courtney. Marcus Marshall made very heavy contact with the tyre bundle at the chicane, which caused another safety car intervention. Marshall caught the bundle with almost the centre of the car, and was lucky to be able to keep moving. Whincup crossed the line first, followed by Winterbottom, with the first Holden of Lee Holdsworth in 3rd.

The second race saw Steven Johnson and James Courtney occupy the front row, but Whincup would again take the flag in what is a perfect start to his title defence. Even as far as mid way through the race, Whincup was seemingly out of contention. However, a series of fast laps prior to, and after his pit stop saw him gain a massive advantage over the Jim Beam racing pair of Johnson and Courtney. Whincup's team mate Craig Lowndes made a similar mistake to that of Marcus Marshall in race one. He made heavy contact with the same tyre bundle, as the car was unstable from the high kerb nearby. His car launched into the air, and as it landed the front left suspension broke, forcing his retirement. Whincup took his fourth victory from four, and was followed by the impressive James Courtney and Steven Johnson. Lee Holdsworth was again the best performing Holden driver, as he finished fourth.

Next weekend sees the World Rally Championship move to Villa Carlos Paz in Argentina. Sebastien Loeb will be looking to continue his domination of the series, and his rivals will be hoping for a rare mistake from the Frenchman, which will allow them to close up.

Results

  Touring Cars

    V8 Supercar Championship

      Race 1 Final Positions (Top 10)
        1. Jamie Whincup
        2. Mark Winterbottom
        3. Lee Holdsworth
        4. Will Davison
        5. Steven Johnson
        6. Fabian Coulthard
        7. Rick Kelly
        8. Todd Kelly
        9. Alex Davison
       10. Jason Richards

      Race 2 Final Positions (Top 10)
        1. Jamie Whincup
        2. James Courtney
        3. Steven Johnson
        4. Lee Holdsworth
        5. Fabian Coulthard
        6. Michael Caruso
        7. Will Davison
        8. Greg Murphy
        9. Garth Tander
       10. Alex Davison

      Driver Standings
        1. Jamie Whincup             600 Pts
        2. Lee Holdsworth            498 Pts
        3. Will Davison              483 Pts
        4. Steven Johnson            462 Pts
        5. Fabian Coulthard          354 Pts
        6. Jason Richards            324 Pts
        7. Rick Kelly                315 Pts
        8. Garth Tander              285 Pts
        9. Shane Van Gisbergen       282 Pts
       10. James Courtney            272 Pts (inc. 10 Point Penalty)
 
      Team Standings
        1. TeamVodafone              801 Pts
        2. Toll Holden Racing        768 Pts
        3. Jim Beam Racing           744 Pts
        4. Garry Rogers Motorsport   687 Pts
        5. Brad Jones Racing         555 Pts