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Bahrain's dust and blistering winds over the weekend was no match for V8's untouchable Jamie Whincup as his winning streak continued at Sakhir.
He triumphed in race three and four of the V8 Australia Supercar Championship Series at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Whincup, the reigning V8 Supercar Champion and Team Vodafone Holden's 2008 and 2009 series champion, had already taken Abu Dhabi's opening 'Yas V8 400' by storm just a few weeks ago winning races one and two with Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom constantly in a close second.
It was no different in Bahrain as Winterbottom finished second once more and there was another case of dŽjˆ vu as Stone Brothers Racing's Shane van Gisbergen took third spot as he did in the neighbouring Gulf state.
In last weekend's opening race Whincup secured a superb-pole-to-flag victory, 3.4152 seconds ahead of Winterbottom.
Whincup's teammate, Craig Lowndes, took the final podium place despite starting from eighth on the grid.
Whincup had a rough start at the beginning of the next encounter dropping down to fifth position giving Winterbottom all the encouragement he needed to rush ahead of the 29-car field. In the meantime, Toll Holden Racing Team ace Garth Tander got tagged by Winterbottom's teammate, Steven Richards, as the racing demons made their way through the first turn scattering the field.
Further back, Lowndes pulled clear of Jim Beam Racing's Steven Johnson and Paul Dumbrell of the Bottle-O Racing team, following a skilful takeover manoeuvre to move to 10th place on lap 16.
However, Lowndes's success was shortlived as Dumbrell's number 55 car muscled past on lap 18.
The heated three-way battle managed to gain valuable seconds and caught up with Richards on the main straight, leading to a neck and neck clash which ended when Lowndes managed to sneak in on the inside corner of turn 13.
Meanwhile, Motorsport Holding's former champion and Jack Daniels Racing Rick Kelly edged his Holden past the Stone Brothers Racing- SP Tools Ford of Van Gisbergen to move to fourth place on lap 22.
However, following a pit stop, Van Gisbergen exited in-front of a furious Kelly.
Whincup had his hands full with the unwavering attentions of Winterbottom, who had narrowed the gap to mere inches and attempted to pass at every opportunity. The usually flawless technique of Whincup seemed to falter for a moment on the sharp turn 11, where he shot wide due to an overt use of his breaks, almost giving up the lead.
Meanwhile, Gisbergen's Ford Falcon FG, Lee Holdsworth's and Kelly's Holden Commodore VE pulled ahead of the competition in a furiously paced race for third place with Gisberben emerging as the front runner following several skillful passing maneuvers on turn 13.
Whincup and Winterbottom pitted on lap 28 and following a manic tyre change and fuel injection, exited. Just as it looked as if Winterbottom was to pull ahead as he sped down the pit, Whincup's Holden Commodore nipped in-front, narrowly avoiding a collision in a slightly controversial entry to stay in front.
The V8 Supercars move on to Adeliade for the Clipsal 500 set to take place on March 11-14.
