Frosty the showman with Winton win

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MARK Winterbottom roared back into championship contention with the man they call "Frosty'' breaking Ford's 163-day winless drought with an emphatic victory at Winton Raceway.

Written off as a pretender following a slow start to the season, Winterbottom rocketed up to second place in the championship by blasting past Scott McLaughlin on lap 10 before holding off Holden's James Courtney and Tim Slade to score Ford's win since the Gold Coast 600.

Winterbottom made the most of a horror weekend for Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup with Red Bull Racing Australia slumping to their worst ever race weekend with both drivers barley managing to scrap into the top 10.

With Fabian Coulthard and Lee Holdsworth winning the first two races, five times series winner Whincup fell to fifth in the championship with his hopes of breaking the all-time championship record bruised by the surprise packet Winton weekend.

Winterbottom, who roared past Shane Van Gisbergen and McLuaghlin before his sole challenger Coulthard was taken out by a pit-lane penalty, claimed he was on track to finally win his first title.

Mark Winterbottom driver gets a kiss from his son Oliver after winning race 9 at Winton. Source: Getty Images

"You have to get points when the other guys struggle,'' said Winterbottom.

"They (Red Bull) don't struggle very often. They only have one or two bad rounds a year and you can't afford to have a bad round with them. You just can't catch them if you don't make the most of it. It was great that we could bounce back the way we did.''

Winterbottom rose from qualifying ruin to stun the field in a Ford that was regarded to be the slowest manufacturer on the grid. Ford Performance Racing's unspectacular start to the season looked like it would continue when the reigning Bathurst champion qualified for the first race in second-last place. He set up Sunday's gritty triumph by ploughing through the race one field to finish ahead of his Red Bull rivals.

"We dug deep to come back from 23rd,'' Winterbottom said.

"It didn't look like we were going to have a good weekend. We managed to 7th and then second and first. We were able to maximise how points for the weekend.''

Winterbottom admitted he thought his first race win would not come until after the Perth round when the team is due to receive several upgrades and a rare track test day.

Winterbottom was so dominant that he was only ever truly challenged by Holden's Coulthard. Source: Getty Images

"We are P2 in the championship,'' Winterbottom said.

"And I really didn't think we would be here yet. It is the best position we have been in at the start of a season and we have some good things coming. I really just thought I would be trying to survive these first few events and get to Perth. We have a big test and some new bits coming so I was expecting to be genuinely quick until then. We are in a good spot.''

The weekend that saw Mercedes win their first ever race ended with a safety car-free race dominated by Winterbottom, who was only ever genuinely challenge by Coulthard in his ever impressive Brad Jones Racing Commodore.

"It is disappointing that he was penalised,'' Winterbottom said.

"Because he was quick and I wanted to race him. That didn't happen but I am sure I will have the opportunity to race him soon.''

Coulthard was one of four drivers to be slugged with a black flag for breaking the pit-lane speed limit.

"They are the rules,'' Winterbottom said.

"We are warned and it is black and white. He was trying to make up time on me and he got caught. We all know what the penalty is.''

The series resume at the end of the month with an ANZAC day race in New Zealand.

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