Premat, Courtney lucky to escape clash with no serious injuries. Source: John Morris / Supplied
THE GLOVES are off in the V8 Supercars championship with the four contenders turning the title fight into a bare knuckle brawl on a brutal day at Phillip Island.
Holden charger Jamie Whincup won the four-way fight by out punching his rivals in a V8 classic that has all but ended Will Davison's championship chances.
Garth Tander won the first installment of the Sargent Security 360, but who cares?
The race to open the penultimate round of the championship was all about Ford Performance Racing's (FPR) Winterbottom and Davison and their fight with Red Bull Racing's Whincup and Craig Lowndes.
Relive all the action in stunning High Definition tonight at 7:30pm EDT on SPEED (Foxtel/Austar channel 512)
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And it was the man hunting his fifth title who went on a mission, fighting his way from 15th to 5th before passing Winterbottom on the final lap to steal back the championship lead.
Whincup was the big winner, taking back the title lead from Lowndes and showing Winterbottom who is boss with his last lap lunge.
Davison and Lowndes both lost out, finishing 17th and 8th respectively thanks to some rough treatment by rivals.
The spectacular race that might just have helped decide the championship saw Holden driver James Courtney involved in a sickening high-speed collision with French driver Alex Premat.
As the championship contenders sorted themselves out with Will Davison the first to fall when he was spun by Shane Van Gisbergen and sent back to 24th, Premat dangerously skidded across the grass, his brakes useless, and collided with Courtney in what of the hardest hits in memory.
The side on side impact saw both cars implode on impact with Courtney's car launching into the air before they speared off the track.
The battle up front was equally brutal.
The race opened in thrilling fashion and did not relent for the entire distance.
With four drivers fighting it out for the closest championship in V8 Supercars history, Lowndes landed the first blow by taking pole position winner Mark Winterbottom on the opening lap.
Opting for low starting tyre pressures, Winterbottom sunk to thrid place when Garth Tander gunned him down.
Whincup had suffered a huge blow in qualifying when he could only drag his Red Bull Racing Commodore to 13th place.
The four time champion was given little hope, but showed his incredible talent by dragging his way to seventh after just a handful of laps.
With Davison gone thanks to a hit that led FPR boss Tim Edwards to call Van Gisbergen "stupid" and an "idiot", the battle up front reached fever pitch as the half-time break loomed with Lowndes and Winterbottom declaring war.
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With his tyres now up to pressure and carrying a fist-full of speed, a Winterbottom attack at the last corner on the last lap and sent Lowndes into the grass and back to 15th.
Lowndes was filthy at the half-time break with his championship put in doubt by the collision that also saw Winterbottom drop back to 4th and put him within just three places of his bitter championship rival Whincup.
So was team boss Roland Dane.
"It was one of the silliest moves I have ever scene," Dane said.
"He could have gone on side-by-side and been on the front row for the restart. It was academic because there were no points on offer for that part of the race.
"The tracking was bent out from the contact."
Investigations were launched left, right and centre following the first stint that set the scene for an explosive follow up.
Courtney's crash almost overshadowed the championship fight with the Penrith raised star in the worst position possible when the Garry Rogers Motorsport car speared into his drivers door.
Unable to get out of his vehicle because of the huge damage, Premat had to lift Courtney had through the passenger door.
Premat and Courtney discuss their massive accident. Source: Getty Images
The former champion slumped to the grass before being escorted back to the medical centre. Courtney was cleared of broken bones but has soft tissue damage to his right leg.
Relive all the action with SPEED's Live Blog of Saturday at Phillip Island!
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