Lowndes Fastest in Qualifying
Craig Lowndes set the fastest lap of the weekend so far to be fastest in qualifying for Sunday's Super Cheap Auto 1000 at Mount Panorama, Bathurst
1996 Bathurst winner Lowndes continued his run at the top of the times by setting a 2:07.1322 to be fastest going into tomorrow's shootout which will decide the top ten grid positions for Sunday's race. Lowndes is well placed to break the manufacturer's victory drought at the track, with Ford taking its last win at Bathurst in 1998.
Second fastest was four-times Bathurst victor Mark Skaife in a Holden, followed by reigning series champ Marcos Ambrose in his Ford. Fourth fastest was 2000 Bathurst winner Garth Tander in a car he will be sharing with 2003 and 2004 Bathurst winner Rick Kelly, while fifth fastest is Kelly's co-driver for those two wins, Greg Murphy, in a Holden.
The remainder of the top ten is completed by Steven Richards, Jason Richards, Russell Ingall, Glenn Seton and Jim Richards, with a sprinkling of race wins in that group - two wins for Steven Richards and Ingall, and six for Steven's father Jim.
A couple of teams have been disappointing, with Steve Ellery in the sister car to Lowndes back in 16th, nearly two seconds off the pace. Even more disappointing is the car of John Bowe and Brad Jones, down in 26th place, 3.3 seconds off the pace after being regular front runners in recent years.
Qualifying, Super Cheap Auto 1000, Mount Panorama, Bathurst, Australia:
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Craig Lowndes/Yvan Muller Ford Falcon BA 2:07.1322
2. Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 2:07.5333
3. Marcos Ambrose/Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA 2:07.7357
4. Garth Tander/Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 2:07.7622
5. Greg Murphy/Paul Weel Holden Commodore VZ 2:07.8709
6. Steven Richards/Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VY 2:07.9291
7. Jason Richards/Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VZ 2:08.1325
8. Russell Ingall/Luke Youlden Ford Falcon BA 2:08.2643
9. Glenn Seton/Dean Canto Ford Falcon BA 2:08.3326
10. Jim Richards/James Courtney Holden Commodore VZ 2:08.4261
11. Cameron McConville/Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VZ 2:08.7164
12. Jason Bright/David Brabham Ford Falcon BA 2:08.7959
13. Greg Ritter/Cameron McLean Ford Falcon BA 2:08.8407
14. Steve Owen/Matthew White Ford Falcon BA 2:08.9035
15. Steven Johnson/Will Davison Ford Falcon BA 2:08.9187
16. Steve Ellery/Adam Macrow Ford Falcon BA 2:08.9688
17. Jason Bargwanna/Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 2:08.9762
18. Max Wilson/Tony Longhurst Holden Commodore VZ 2:09.1330
19. David Besnard/Craig Baird Ford Falcon BA 2:09.1772
20. Paul Morris/Paul Radisich Holden Commodore VZ 2:09.2243
21. Mark Noske/Tim Leahey Holden Commodore VZ 2:09.3515
22. Alain Menu/Matthew Halliday Ford Falcon BA 2:09.6180
23. Alex Davison/Allan Simonsen Holden Commodore VZ 2:09.7065
24. Anthony Tratt/Tony Evangelou Holden Commodore VY 2:09.9967
25. Tony D'Alberto/Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VZ 2:10.3515
26. John Bowe/Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 2:10.4709
27. Alan Gurr/John Faulkner Holden Commodore VZ 2:10.5187
28. Lee Holdsworth/Philip Scifleet Holden Commodore VZ 2:10.6179
29. John Cleland/Dale Brede Ford Falcon BA 2:10.7695
30. Mark Porter/Kayne Scott Holden Commodore VZ 2:11.3887
31. Christian D'Agostin/Matthew Coleman Holden Commodore VY 2:11.4367
32. Jose Fernandez/Damien White Ford Falcon BA 2:13.8347
33. Owen Kelly/Mathan Pretty Holden Commodore VZ 2:18.8718
Marcus Marshall/Alex Tagliani Ford Falcon BA -
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