Surfers V8 Supercars: Lowndes takes championship lead with win

Lowndes' Triple Eight team-mate Jamie Whincup was deposed from the top of the points following a disastrous day.

First Whincup crashed in opening qualifying, leaving his car 25th on the grid.

Then his co-driver Paul Dumbrell collided with Greg Murphy early in the race, ending their day.

Amid abundant crashes and divergent fuel strategies, the Tekno Holden of Shane van Gisbergen and Jeroen Bleekemolen led into the closing stages, but with Lowndes bearing down on them.

A quicker final splash-and-dash fuel stop by Triple Eight got Lowndes out ahead of van Gisbergen, and despite a brief attack from the Kiwi, Lowndes was able to pull clear.

Bathurst winner Mark Winterbottom brought a damaged Ford Performance Racing Falcon home third under big pressure from privateer Tony D'Alberto, having overcome a qualifying error and a drive-through penalty for his Ford's side window coming adrift.

Winterbottom's FPR team-mate Will Davison collided with his brother Alex, who drives for the affiliated Schwerkolt team.

IndyCar and sportscar star Ryan Briscoe teamed up with V8 veteran Russell Ingall to complete the top five.

Brad Jones Racing was among those having a miserable race. Jason Bright failed to make the start as his car could not be repaired in time, despite a huge effort, following a big Friday practice crash for co-driver Andrew Jones, while Fabian Coulthard smashed his Holden's suspension on a kerb when running third late on.

Results - 102 laps:

Pos  Drivers                    Team/Car                        Time/Gap
 1.  Lowndes/Luff               Triple Eight Holden        2h12m10.6077s
 2.  Van Gisbergen/Bleekemolen  Tekno Holden                    +8.7147s
 3.  Winterbottom/Richards      FPR Ford                       +12.7185s
 4.  D'Alberto/Reid             D'Alberto Holden               +13.0949s
 5.  Ingall/Briscoe             Walkinshaw/HRT Holden          +18.2438s
 6.  Davison/Owen               FPR Ford                       +26.1082s
 7.  Wall/Pither                Britek/BJR Holden              +32.1098s
 8.  Reynolds/Canto             Rod Nash/FPR Ford              +33.4826s
 9.  Mostert/Wood               Dick Johnson Ford              +35.2332s
10.  Webb/Lieb                  Tekno Holden                   +35.5273s
11.  Kelly/Reindler             Nissan                         +35.9623s
12.  Holdsworth/Baird           Erebus Mercedes                +38.1138s
13.  Pye/Morris                 Dumbrell Holden                +51.9615s
14.  Premat/Ritter              Garry Rogers Holden            +54.4094s
15.  Slade/Brabham              Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes      +55.0207s
16.  Fiore/Halliday             Dumbrell Holden                   +1 lap
17.  Kelly/Russell              Nissan                            +1 lap
18.  Tander/Percat              HRT Holden                       +3 laps
19.  Blanchard/Walsh            Dick Johnson Ford                +5 laps
20.  Davison/McIntyre           FPR Ford                         +5 laps
21.  Engel/Johnson              Erebus Mercedes                  +6 laps
22.  McLaughlin/Perkins         Garry Rogers Holden             +10 laps

Retirements:

     Moffat/Douglas             Nissan                           97 laps
     Coulthard/Youlden          Brad Jones Holden                83 laps
     Caruso/Gaunt               Nissan                           60 laps
     Dumbrell/Whincup           Triple Eight Holden              21 laps
     Courtney/Murphy            HRT Holden                       18 laps