Mark Winterbottom dominated proceedings at Queensland Raceway on Sunday, giving Ford Performance Racing a comfortable lead in the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
The 27-year-old scored two wins, and his third round victory this year, with a power-house performance that started as the flag dropped for the day's opening battle.
'Frosty' beat fellow Ford driver James Courtney off the line in this morning's race and effectively led every lap after that.
He withstood a determined attack from Russell Ingall in the day's final race but the Orrcon Steel Ford Credit Falcon powered away in the second half as Ingall's tyres faded.
"We've got the points ticking away but we'll still be going for race wins! I've got a bit of confidence now," said Winterbottom. "In 2006 [Jason] Bright had the pace on me and in 2007 I had the raw pace but I made a few stupid mistakes. Now I've got the perfect combination and we're leading the championship!
"We've got a strong car, a strong team; it's all gelling and I feel like this is my time. I don't feel the pressure too bad because I've been doing competitive sport since I was five years old.
"Everything I do is competitive; I thrive on it and the pressure. It's great to be leading; it's a privilege and I'm enjoying it."
Steve Richards' weekend in the sister car meanwhile was over-shadowed by an incident with Mark Skaife in this morning's opener.
The Holden driver out-braked himself into the back of the Castrol FPR Falcon, spinning Richo down to 12th. He recovered to finish seventh and looked good for a podium as he sought to take advantage of the lap one haggling in the second race of the day.
As the pack bunched, Richards went wide at turn three but was again tagged and fell down the order to 18th, eventually finishing 11th.
"My race weekend has been a bit disappointing," Richards admitted. "The car clearly had good pace and as the fuel was going off it was just getting better and better. It seems that every time we make progress we end up having to recover from one situation or another.
