Lowndes wins race one scorcher

Despite temperatures reaching 35C outside the cars, and much hotter inside them, Lowndes dominated the second half of the race in his Ford despite several safety car periods to take victory. Second place was Rick Kelly in a Holden while third place was taken by Lowndes's young Triple Eight teammate Jamie Whincup who spent the closing laps looking for a way past Kelly.

While it was a happy day for Triple Eight, it was a disappointing day for Holden Racing Team. With both cars starting on the front row and Todd Kelly leading Mark Skaife in the early laps, the duo looked headed for a 1-2 finish.

But Todd Kelly lost out in the pit-stop shuffle during a couple of safety car periods just before half distance to finish a bruised and battered sixth, while Mark Skaife's day ended in the wall at the sweeper thanks to a suspected left front suspension failure during a safety car period. Heavy damage to the car leaves Skaife's participation in doubt for tomorrow's race.

Another car in doubt for tomorrow is James Courtney's, the rookie crashing at speed at the same corner as Skaife just a few laps later, with similarly heavy damage as a result. Meanwhile Courtney's Stone Brothers teammate, reigning champion Russell Ingall, finished ninth despite an incident at turn one at the start which saw him pit at the end of lap one.

Not all teams had a bad day, with Super Cheap Auto Racing having something to celebrate with fourth for Cameron McConville and fifth for Greg Murphy, the duo having started the day in 21st and tenth respectively.

Steve Owen's participation tomorrow is in doubt after crashing late in the race and being taken away in an ambulance with heat exhaustion.

Pos  Driver                   Car
 1.  Craig Lowndes            Ford Falcon BA
 2.  Rick Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
 3.  Jamie Whincup            Ford Falcon BA
 4.  Cameron McConville       Holden Commodore VZ
 5.  Greg Murphy              Holden Commodore VZ
 6.  Todd Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
 7.  Steven Richards          Holden Commodore VZ
 8.  Garth Tander             Holden Commodore VZ
 9.  Russell Ingall           Ford Falcon BA
10.  Steven Johnson           Ford Falcon BA
11.  Paul Morris              Holden Commodore VZ
12.  Paul Dumbrell            Holden Commodore VZ
13.  Jose Fernandez           Ford Falcon BA
14.  Will Davison             Ford Falcon BA
15.  Andrew Jones             Holden Commodore VZ
16.  Max Wilson               Ford Falcon BA
17.  Warren Luff              Ford Falcon BA
18.  Lee Holdsworth           Holden Commodore VZ
19.  John Bowe                Ford Falcon BA
20.  Dean Canto               Holden Commodore VZ
21.  Alan Gurr                Holden Commodore VZ
22.  Mark Winterbottom        Ford Falcon BA
23.  Paul Radisich            Holden Commodore VZ
24.  Marcus Marshall          Ford Falcon BA
25.  Jason Bright             Ford Falcon BA
DNF  Brad Jones               Ford Falcon BA
DNF  Steve Owen               Holden Commodore VZ
DNF  Jason Bargwanna          Ford Falcon BA
DNF  James Courtney           Ford Falcon BA
DNF  Mark Skaife              Holden Commodore VZ
DNF  Jason Richards           Holden Commodore VZ