Lowndes wins tight race 2

Lowndes beat the Toll HSV Dealer Team duo of Rick Kelly and Garth Tander to take his first race victory of 2007, his first win since the emotional triumph he scored at Bathurst last October with teammate Jamie Whincup.

Behind the top trio was a group of four closely-grouped cars, Jamie Whincup heading home Mark Skaife, Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison, the top seven places covered by less than five seconds.

The start of the race was also a close battle, initially looking good for Mark Skaife but as they headed into turn one it was four wide as the Holden Racing Team and Toll HSV cars entered side-by-side. Somehow they all made it into the turn, Skaife ahead of Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly, before Todd gave his boss a nudge in the rear bumper.

Skaife fell from first to third as Todd Kelly took over in the lead ahead of Craig Lowndes who snuck through as Skaife and Rick Kelly lost two places each, Garth Tander fifth and Jamie Whincup sixth.

However, there was chaos further back in the field exiting turn one as James Courtney was spun into the tyres by Steven Johnson, his weekend over after damage for his car in practice and Ingall's in race one.

Shane Price was also out after he spun and collided with Courtney. The safety car made an appearance before setting the field free as they began lap six.

Again the leaders pitted early, Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly on lap six, a slower stop for Todd costing him a place to his younger brother. Lap seven and Lowndes and Skaife were in, Lowndes out ahead of Rick Kelly while Skaife pulled in just behind his teammate.

Lap eight saw Whincup pit, resuming between the two Kelly brothers. Tander ran two more laps before he made his stop, slotting in between Rick Kelly and Whincup.

Of the drivers who had pitted, Lowndes led Rick Kelly, Tander, Whincup, Todd Kelly, Skaife and Steven Richards in a closely-bunched group. A couple of drivers involved in race one incidents decided to run long before making their stops, the move paying off as they resumed just behind the leading pack.

A mid-race safety car period for debris on the track compressed the field which had only slightly spread apart anyway, the only change having occurred when Skaife dived past teammate Kelly on lap 22.

Over the closing laps the top five remained closely bunched but unchanged, while just behind them action was taking place. Todd Kelly fell from sixth to eighth as the fresher tyres of Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison moved them from ninth to sixth and 13th to seventh respectively.

Pos  Driver                Car                   Laps
 1.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon BF         42
 2.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE    42
 3.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE    42
 4.  Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon BF         42
 5.  Mark Skaife           Holden Commodore VE    42
 6.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon BF         42
 7.  Will Davison          Ford Falcon BF         42
 8.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE    42
 9.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon BF         42
10.  Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE    42
11.  Dean Canto            Holden Commodore VE    42
12.  Steve Owen            Holden Commodore VZ    42
13.  Paul Morris           Holden Commodore VE    42
14.  Max Wilson            Ford Falcon BF         42
15.  John Bowe             Ford Falcon BF         42
16.  Jason Bargwanna       Ford Falcon BF         42
17.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VZ    42
18.  Alan Gurr             Ford Falcon BF         42
19.  Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VZ    42
20.  Simon Wills           Ford Falcon BF         42
21.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE    42
22.  Fabian Coulthard      Holden Commodore VZ    42
23.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon BF         42
24.  Jack Perkins          Holden Commodore VE    42
25.  Andrew Jones          Ford Falcon BF         41
DNF  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE    25
DNF  Jason Bright          Ford Falcon BF         20
DNF  Russell Ingall        Ford Falcon BF         16
DNF  James Courtney        Ford Falcon BF
DNF  Shane Price           Holden Commodore VE