Craig Lowndes victorious in Queensland V8 Supercars race one
Craig Lowndes claimed victory in the first race of the V8 Supercars' Queensland Raceway weekend
The former champion had earlier assisted his Triple Eight crew in performing a rapid engine change on his Holden following practice, then went on to take pole position.
Lowndes held the lead at the start and then kept Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom at a safe distance throughout to secure his second win of the year.
Championship leader Jamie Whincup lost a lot of ground with a clutch problem at the start, then made an early pitstop and switch to soft tyres. That strategy did not get him back into the lead battle but did bring him through to third place in the second Triple Eight car.
Whincup finished just ahead of Fabian Coulthard and Russell Ingall as they claimed season-best results in fourth and fifth.
Title contender Will Davison (FPR) also ran an early-stop strategy but had to settle for sixth.
Results - 45 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden 54m57.5057s 2. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford + 1.7195s 3. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden + 9.3808s 4. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden + 11.7625s 5. Russell Ingall Walkinshaw Holden + 16.7409s 6. Will Davison FPR Ford + 17.2574s 7. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford + 28.1550s 8. Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Holden + 33.3410s 9. Tim Slade Rosenberg/SBR Ford + 37.6012s 10. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford + 37.6473s 11. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford + 38.7749s 12. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden + 39.1884s 13. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden + 43.2342s 14. Karl Reindler Kelly Holden + 43.6254s 15. James Courtney HRT Holden + 45.5176s 16. Steve Owen Dick Johnson Ford + 47.4832s 17. Michael Patrizi Tekno Holden + 53.9232s 18. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford + 56.1401s 19. Alexandre Premat Garry Rogers Holden + 57.7828s 20. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden + 58.6279s 21. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden + 59.6638s 22. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford + 1m04.4913s 23. Taz Douglas Dumbrell Holden + 1 lap 24. Jacques Villeneuve Kelly Holden + 1 lap 25. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Ford + 1 lap 26. Lee Holdsworth Stone Brothers Ford + 1 lap 27. Garth Tander HRT Holden + 5 laps Retirements: Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden 35 laps
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