Lowndes Fastest in Qualifying

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       -