Slade put his BJR Freightliner Commodore on pole by less than one hundredth of a second for Saturday’s race, ahead of V8 champion Mark Winterbottom, and led from start to finish to secure his first ever Supercar win after 227 starts in the series, in a faultless drive.

Then, to show it wasn’t a fluke, he drove the race of a champion to win by over six seconds from Winterbottom despite starting from fourth in Sunday’s feature race.

The results show that Albury-based BJR might have pulled off the biggest heist of the year by signing under-rated speedster Slade.

Slade’s dominance at the team’s home race at Winton this weekend confirmed what many suspected – he is championship material.

It was a stellar performance on Sunday which moved Slade to seventh in the championship standings.

Without the benefit of an inside front row start, Slade had to drive his way from fourth on the grid to the front. Even an untimely safety car that didn’t quite suit the BJR star’s strategy couldn’t stop him.

“Finally –  man, what a feeling,” Slade said.

“I didn’t really know what to do – I’ve watched it plenty of times!

“I can’t thank everyone at BJR enough … you’ve got to be in the right situation with the right equipment in this sport, I finally feel like I’m that situation again.”

Team boss Brad Jones was nervous for Slade as watched on as his new driver delivered the team their latest win and their first for 2016.

“It was a very mature drive. When you’re heading to your first race win, the internal pressure you put on yourself is massive but he didn’t make a mistake, he held the gap he had over second and drove it like a veteran,” he said.

“Getting this win should now release Tim to relax, get used to winning and step up to level that his ability says he should be at. This will be the making of him.”

There were emotional scenes as the team celebrated after the race with Slade himself not holding back as the emotion of achieving a significant milestone in his life washed over him.

For Slade, it’s been a long journey having entered V8 Supercars seven years ago, and he was glowing about the team that brought him first win.

“Lots of teams say they’re like family but these guys really are. They’re all mates and honestly enjoy each other’s company,” he said.

“It’s just a great place to be and I hope to here for a long time. Ever since day one I have genuinely loved my time at BJR and spending time down in Albury.”

Albury’s David Reynolds drove arguably the best race of his career to finish sixth after starting 17th.