Lowndes wins first V8 Supercars race of 2012 with late charge at Hidden Valley
Craig Lowndes claimed his first victory of the 2012 V8 Supercars season with a late charge in the second Hidden Valley race on Sunday
An early safety car period led to a variety of strategies being deployed before the race came down to a three-way battle between Triple Eight Holden duo Jamie Whincup and Lowndes, and Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom. Lowndes was able to hunt down and overtake both his rivals, passing Whincup into Turn 6 three laps from the finish.
Winterbottom struggled with tyre life having pitted earlier than the Triple Eight cars, but hung on to claim the final podium spot ahead of Michael Caruso's Tekno Holden.
Fabian Coulthard (Walkinshaw Holden) completed the top five, while polesitter and pre-Hidden Valley championship leader Will Davison was passed for the lead by FPR team-mate Winterbottom early on and then lost a lot of time when he had to queue behind his stablemate in the early pitstops behind the safety car.
Like Winterbottom, Davison struggled with tyre wear later on and could only finish sixth.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden 1h29m04.4833s
2. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden + 0.9377s
3. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 16.2887s
4. Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Holden + 16.7152s
5. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 21.6881s
6. Will Davison FPR Ford + 27.9640s
7. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 31.3922s
8. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 36.1837s
9. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 47.8074s
10. Tim Slade Rosenberg/SBR Ford + 52.2200s
11. James Courtney HRT Holden + 54.2307s
12. Lee Holdsworth Stone Brothers Ford + 56.2878s
13. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 57.0151s
14. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 58.0180s
15. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden + 1m02.9936s
16. Taz Douglas Dumbrell Holden + 1m09.0984s
17. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford + 1m13.6966s
18. Michael Patrizi Tekno Holden + 1m19.1132s
19. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 1 lap
20. Alexandre Premat Garry Rogers Holden + 1 lap
21. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Ford + 1 lap
22. Steve Owen Dick Johnson Ford + 2 laps
23. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 2 laps
Retirements:
Karl Reindler Kelly Holden 45 laps
James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford 44 laps
David Wall Britek/BJR Holden 13 laps
David Russell Kelly Holden 7 laps
Russell Ingall Walkinshaw Holden 0 laps
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