"It's probably a bit soon to say, but I was in front of Skaife and got tagged from behind and slid," a frustrated Richards reported, "It's hard to say exactly what led to it. I'm unbelievably disappointed about it because good points have gone begging when we have an outstanding car."
“Today is high on the scale of disappointment," Skaife agreed, "Yesterday, Garth and I raced through the same section of track side-by-side and only touched mirrors. For two cars to get through, you have to give each other room but, today, with 'Richo', there wasn't as much road. We touched wheels, which is why the bump that put me into the fence was so violent. It was as big a hit as I've ever had side-on, massive, and it's done huge damage.”
With Skaife out and Richards having to battle back from 20th - the Castrol-backed Ford got as high as ninth - TeamVodafone took full advantage, with Jamie Whincup completing the podium and Craig Lowndes adding to his solid weekend in fourth.
“It is a huge sigh of relief, finishing on the podium this round after qualifying down as low 22nd,” Whincup admitted, “I am very lucky to have good car and a great team who worked extremely hard to get me back up the front. It was a good result for the new car and it was great to be back on the podium and gaining momentum."
Rick Kelly completed the top five for the HSV Dealer Team, but admitted that 'it is a bit unfortunate that I made a couple of mistakes that put me two spots back'. The former champion came home ahead of Will Davison, James Courtney - who enjoyed a happier race than on Saturday - and brother Todd.
![Mark Winterbottom - Ford Performance Racing [Pic credit: Ford/Edge Photographics]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/417041.jpg)
