The door remains open for Ford's Mark Winterbottom to make a run at the 2012 V8 Supercars championship after claiming the Perth round's opening race yesterday.
Winterbottom's success ensured Ford had claimed five of the first seven races of 2012.
But Holden's Jamie Whincup kept his title defence hopes alive by reclaiming the series lead from Winterbottom's unfortunate teammate Will Davison.
Whincup moved to 917 points with his second placing.
In contrast, Davison (866pts) limped into 25th following a sensational first-lap collision that damaged his suspension and took out pole sitter Garth Tander.
