Steve Richards wins in Darwin

A stray red Holden flag failed to stop Ford's favourite team from sweeping to a quinella and painting the Top End a deep shade of blue in the V8 Supercar round in Darwin yesterday.

Steven Richards, who has been in the shadow of his teammate Mark Winterbottom, finally consolidated his position at FPR to record his first round win for the team.

It also doubled as Richards's first round win since Perth in 2006.

On a day when it counted most as the spectre of the Ford sponsorship money row continued to linger, FPR nailed a one-two with Winterbottom securing second spot ahead of reigning series champion Garth Tander (Toll Holden Racing Team).

It was arguably the most important result of the English-owned Melbourne squad's six-year existence in the V8 category after Ford announced that FPR and Stone Brothers would be the only teams offered financial support from next year.

FPR had the most to prove and it delivered, with Richards overcoming a controversial defeat in the second 42-lap heat to Tander.

Officials called a safety car so that a Holden flag which had blown on to the main straight could be removed at a time when Richards had forged a cosy 3.5sec lead. On the restart Richards's gearbox jammed spearing into the first turn left-hander, forcing his Falcon to run wide.

This allowed Tander to sneak through along the inside with seven laps remaining.

Richards softened his initial reaction to the incident after winning the race, explaining that driver safety had to be considered paramount.

Winterbottom was sporting a broad grin, which is rare for a beaten driver, but he was clearly chuffed about FPRs one-two punch and the fact that he managed to hold his lead in the series.

He moves to 1402 points, 68 ahead of Tander after assuming the lead for the first time in his career after the Sandown round in early June.

“Leading is one thing but to back it up is another and if I had gone away from here and lost it I would have been disappointed,” Winterbottom said.

Triple Eight Team Vodafone had a forgettable round with Jamie Whincup, third in the points on 1276, scrambling to fourth overall for the round.

His teammate Craig Lowndes put together some solid runs in the first two heats.

However his engine expired in a plume of smoke on the last lap of the final heat when he was running fourth.

Whincup had a tough day in the office, often having to counter-attack.

The Gold Coast-based racer was involved in an incident with Tander when fighting for third spot with eight laps remaining and was shuffled back to ninth.

Tander is relishing the challenge at his new digs at HRT (shifted from HSV Dealer Team) and admits the competition has risen again over last year.

“It gets tougher every year and there are plenty of good teams and driver combinations on more weekends than others,” Tander said.

“It's certainly very tough and whoever wins this one at the end of the year is going to deserve it.”

Ford's other nominated factory team, Stone Brothers Racing, was not without its share of problems, with young gun Shane Van Gisbergen and James Courtney toughing out 10th and 11th positions overall for the weekend.

Courtney clawed his way back to finish seventh in the final heat.

Round result: 1 Steve Richards (Ford Performance Racing), 2 Mark Winterbottom (FPR), 3 Garth Tander (Holden Racing Team), 4 Jamie Whincup (Team Vodafone), 5 Russell Ingall (Super Cheap Auto Racing).

Series points: 1 Mark Winterbottom (FPR) 1402, 2 Garth Tander (HRT) 1344, 3 Jamie Whincup (Team Vodafone) 1276, 4 Rick Kelly (HSV Dealer Team) 1208, 5 Steve Richards (FPR) 1123.