"We had a tough first couple of day here but the last two days we have improved," noted Courtney. "In the end we had a couple of positive races and we have come away with a good straight car which we can now concentrate on making faster. We struggled with front braking performance in the heat today and the engine temperatures were up so we spent a bit of time looking for cool air. But everyone out there was in the same boat."
Of the rest Cameron McConville and Steven Johnson came in eighth and ninth, with Craig Lowndes, Fabien Coulthard and Lee Holdsworth in tenth, eleventh and twelfth respectively.
In total 25 of the 28 starters were classified at the finish, with Whincup and Winterbottom - mentioned previously - the first two to go out, followed by Paul Morris a few laps later.
"After our mishap in qualifying we decided to save our best tyres for the last race," said Whincup. "I got a great start and the car was excellent. I passed Mark (Winterbottom) but he ran me a bit wide then I had contact with him while trying to get back on the track. He just didn't give me any room. It is disappointing and while it is not a championship round we still wanted to come away with a good result."
The V8 Supercar Championship now continues 'proper' next month when the series heads to New Zealand for the Hamilton 400 on April 18-20.
![Garth Tander - Holden Racing Team [pic: HSV Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/404645.jpg)
