Mark Winterbottom secures Jason Richards Memorial Trophy at Auckland

The final race at Pukekohe park raceway today went caution-free and saw Mark Winterbottom standing victorious in more ways than one way when the checkered flag flew. Along with winning his third race in his last five attempts, he also leaped out in front of the championship standings by over 100 points and was credited with earning the highly sought-after Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.

The race did not get off as planned when 2nd place starter Tim Slade reported clutch issues. The initial start was aborted and Slade was forced to start from the pit lane. When the race finally went green, it was Volvo's Scott McLaughlin leading the train early. His fellow Volvo though, driven by Robert Dahlgreen, was having a difficult time deep in the pack and went for a spin eight laps into the race.

After 43 laps of racing, McLaughlin lost the top spot on pit road. Mark Winterbottom was the new man out front and his Ford was untouchable. As stated before, there were no major incidents in the race with Reynolds suffering a left rear tire failure and Jamie Whincup pushing around a tire bundle after cutting turn five being the most notable moments.

When the checkered flag flew, Mark Winterbottom had a massive seven second advantage over Scott McLaughlin. Chaz Mostert took the final spot on the podium and was followed by Van Gisbergen, Caruso, Bright, Davison, RKelly, Coulthard, and Whincup. It was the 26th victory of Frosty's career and he is now the series points leader going into Perth in a few weeks.