Lowndes dominates race one
Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes dominated the first race of this weekend's Sprint Gas V8 Supercar Manufacturers Challenge at Albert Park
Lowndes lost out at the start to Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom but took the lead back when Winterbottom ran wide at turn three on the opening lap, running away from the rest of the field from there, winning by nearly six seconds.
Winterbottom finished a comfortable second as Holden Racing Team's Will Davison finished third, holding out attention from Jim Beam's Steven Johnson and Team BOC's Jason Richards.
Davison's team-mate Garth Tander was involved in the battle in the early laps, running fourth, before losing out on lap four as Johnson and Richards forced past. Late in the race he slowed before retiring with less than two laps remaining.
While Tander slid down the order, Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup headed the other way. Starting 15th, he fell back to 17th on lap one but then charged his way up the order, taking seventh place from Shane van Gisbergen with three corners remaining on the final lap.
Marcus Marshall showed his qualifying effort wasn't a fluke, finishing in 12th place.
There were incidents down the order, Alex Davison spinning Greg Murphy while Russell Ingall ended up stuck in the gravel in the same incident, while Steven Richards and Rick Kelly both had offs after Richards apparently ran into the back of Kelly, Kelly retiring soon after.
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Craig Lowndes Ford 29:53.5736
2. Mark Winterbottom Ford + 5.7659
3. Will Davison Holden + 9.4610
4. Steven Johnson Ford + 10.0543
5. Jason Richards Holden + 10.5411
6. Fabian Coulthard Ford + 15.2910
7. Jamie Whincup Ford + 18.4052
8. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford + 19.2725
9. Todd Kelly Holden + 21.8781
10. Paul Dumbrell Holden + 22.4705
11. Cameron McConville Holden + 25.4080
12. Marcus Marshall Ford + 27.5098
13. Jason Bright Ford + 30.8537
14. Alex Davison Ford + 34.4660
15. Jason Bargwanna Holden + 39.6898
16. James Courtney Ford + 40.1010
17. Tony D'Alberto Holden + 40.8528
18. David Reynolds Holden + 41.4724
19. Steven Richards Ford + 41.8481
20. Michael Patrizi Ford + 42.7292
21. Jack Perkins Holden + 44.9592
22. Greg Murphy Holden + 48.7623
23. Tim Slade Holden + 56.3308
24. Dean Fiore Holden + 57.3227
25. Michael Caruso Holden + 1 lap
26. Lee Holdsworth Holden + 1 lap
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Make Laps
Garth Tander Holden 13
Rick Kelly Holden 6
Russell Ingall Holden 5
Dale Wood Holden 4
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