The Red Bull Holden champion headed to Victoria in the lead, but leaves in fourth after a race one penalty stripped him of a podium finish.

He never got going on Sunday, finishing ninth in the second 250km race.

The results leave him 76 points behind Ford rival Scott McLaughlin (797), who continued his love affair with the island track by claiming a pair of victories.

Whincup's fellow Commodore drivers David Reynolds and Shane van Gisbergen have a slender hold in the top three as the series moves to Perth on May 4-6.

Whincup, the most decorated driver in Supercars history with seven titles, has belief he can respond with 12 events for the year still remaining.

"We've got a good crew with an excellent car and a lot of components that are good right now, so we'll regroup and move on from Phillip Island," Whincup said.

"It's not our proudest result, but we worked hard and pushed as hard as we could.

"We were miles back after Adelaide (500) and got going again and now we're miles back here so we'll fight back."

Whincup finished second in Saturday's race, but his 38-second penalty for turning off his pitlane speed limiter proved extremely costly.

It dropped him back to 14th, meaning van Gisbergen earned a podium with Nissan veteran Rick Kelly.

The severity of the penalty was unexpected, according to his Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton.

"He saw the wrong cone, turned it off, realised his mistake, turned it back on," Dutton told Supercars.com.

"There was nothing underhand and that might not mean much to everyone, but to me it is a difference."

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. Scott McLaughlin 947 pts

2. David Reynolds 887

3. Shane van Gisbergen 849

4. Craig Lowndes 813

5. Jamie Whincup 805

6. Scott Pye 745

7. Chaz Mostert 695

8. James Courtney 678

9. Fabian Coulthard 662

10. Tim Slade 626

Australian Associated Press