An all-action opening race in the Gulf Air Desert 400 has turned the V8 Supercar Championship title battle into one to lose for Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup after he secured the opening win of the wee𝔍ken♛d in Bahrain.

Whincup tౠook the victory in a tempestuous first race in the Middle East but the main talking point of the race came follo꧋wing a clash between rivals Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander, who now how work to do to try and close the gap to the Ford man out front.

The action erupted mid-way through the race when Winterbottom ploughed into Tander, spinning the Holden sღtar and earning himself a drive-through penalty. It meant both are now even more points behind Whincup in the Championship; Winterbottom 147 points and Tander 164 points.

They pair were hea𒈔ding into the slowest turn on the track and Winterbottom lunged on the inside. Winterbottom shunted Tander sideways and left himself in trouble. Both got re-started, Tander joining back in before Winterbottom was given a drive-through penalt🐠y.

"I haven't seen the visioꦉn, but from what I'm told he may have run out of brakes or something else ... maybe ability," Tander fumed. "He needs to learn if you want to fight for a cham♌pionship you need to play percentages and that's not how you do it."

However, Winterbottom countered that he had tried to avoid a collision but his rival had s🌟lowed too much.

"There's not much you can do; you try your best to stop," he said. I could have rolled off the brake and banged into him but I almost came to a full stop trying to miss him. If I had whacked him up the arse then it would be cut and ꧃dry but he was slow when I was trying to pass him. I tried my best to miss him."

This happened after Tander was already bruised and baꦐttered from an opening stoush with Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes. At one point Lowndes pushed into Tander so hard the Holden driver bounced in almost a full car width. Tander pushed back and the battle was on.

Jack Daniel's Todd Kelly joined in with a brave inside move that earnt dividends when he snuck through down the inside 💖of the melee. While all of that was happening Jim Beam's Steven Johnson got around the outside.

"I don't mind getting passed𓆉, but how about having a🐎 bit of professional courtesy and leaving a bit of room when you do it?" Tander said. "Todd [Kelly] and Craig [Lowndes], when they came past they just drove into the side of my car. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, getting back up the front and racing some of those guys."

But Lowndes said hard racing was hard racing.

"If it was anyone else we wouldn't be talking about it," he said. "I tr꧙y to treat him the same as anyone. I'm not here to up🌄set or change the Championship, just to win races."

Kelly and Lowndes round up and got through Johnson soon after a saf🧸ety car. Then Johꦗnson found himself under huge pressure from Tander, no doubt still fuming from his dice with Lowndes that ultimately cost him three places.

Lowndes got back into second courtesy of the pits when the slick Team Vodafone crew g🎃ot he and Whincup out like greyhounds on both stops. That put Kelly in third with Johnson yet to pit.

🐻A safety car came soon a🐷fter while Glenford's Racing's Fabian Coulthard was recovered from a gravel trap to bunch the field up once again.

Soon after that hell broke lose again. A safety car mix up meant another re-start and another incident wh🌸ich ultimately pushed Tander back five places through no fault𓆏 of his own. Jason Bright was served a pit lane penalty for the incident.

All that timꦑe Whincup was getting further and further away.

"I was eyes f♐ront 100 per cent of the time but I was certainly aware of what was going on behind me, it was dogfight after dogfight,ꦍ" he said