Holden teammates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes sealed a three-race clean sweep of the V8 Supercars round in Perth last weekend.

Whincup did not have the best start this year, accounting for just one win from nine races before last week. Since the advent of the new car of the future formula, the Triple Eight Holden team struggled to regain the dominance that earned them three championships in as many years, until Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup clean swept all three races at Barbagallo raceway in Perth.

Lowndes finally became the all time greatest winner of Touring car/V8 Supercar races with a record-breaking 91st victory in taking Saturday’s two-part Super Sprint, with Red Bull Racing team-mate Whincup in second spot.

Earlier on Sunday, Whincup claimed a comfortable victory in the second race when he took the chequered flag less than 1 second over Holden driver Bright and Ford’s Mark Winterbottom.

While pit stops for new tyres weren’t compulsory in either race, the abrasive surface of the Barbagallo track meant the soft-compound rubber designated for the three race event wouldn’t last the full racing distance. An early stop for fresh tyres in Sunday’s opening race was key to Whincup’s victory.

Starting from pole in the second race, Whincup took the lead early but lost it soon after on lap 16 when he and Ford driver Mark Winterbottom clashed and took an excursion through the sand at the final turn after drifting on leaking engine coolant from Maro Engel’s AMG Mercedes. After recovering from sliding off the track, Whincup immediately pitted for new tyres and rejoined in second place behind Lowndes when a safety car was called out, bunching up the field with 10 laps to go.

At the race re-start, Whincup powered past Lowndes and never looked back to take victory by just under two seconds for his third win of the year, regaining top position on the V8 supercar Championship points table.

The next V8 Supercars championship event is the Austin 400 at the Circuit Of The Americas from Austin, Texas, on May 18-19. It is the V8 Supercar series debut race in the USA.