Surfers V8 Supercars: Lowndes takes championship lead with win
Craig Lowndes moved into the V8 Supercars championship lead as he and Warren Luff won a wild Surfers Paradise opener
Lowndes' Triple Eight team-mate Jamie Whincup was deposed from the top of the points following a disastrous day.
First Whincup crashed in opening qualifying, leaving his car 25th on the grid.
Then his co-driver Paul Dumbrell collided with Greg Murphy early in the race, ending their day.
Amid abundant crashes and divergent fuel strategies, the Tekno Holden of Shane van Gisbergen and Jeroen Bleekemolen led into the closing stages, but with Lowndes bearing down on them.
A quicker final splash-and-dash fuel stop by Triple Eight got Lowndes out ahead of van Gisbergen, and despite a brief attack from the Kiwi, Lowndes was able to pull clear.
Bathurst winner Mark Winterbottom brought a damaged Ford Performance Racing Falcon home third under big pressure from privateer Tony D'Alberto, having overcome a qualifying error and a drive-through penalty for his Ford's side window coming adrift.
Winterbottom's FPR team-mate Will Davison collided with his brother Alex, who drives for the affiliated Schwerkolt team.
IndyCar and sportscar star Ryan Briscoe teamed up with V8 veteran Russell Ingall to complete the top five.
Brad Jones Racing was among those having a miserable race. Jason Bright failed to make the start as his car could not be repaired in time, despite a huge effort, following a big Friday practice crash for co-driver Andrew Jones, while Fabian Coulthard smashed his Holden's suspension on a kerb when running third late on.
Results - 102 laps: Pos Drivers Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Lowndes/Luff Triple Eight Holden 2h12m10.6077s 2. Van Gisbergen/Bleekemolen Tekno Holden +8.7147s 3. Winterbottom/Richards FPR Ford +12.7185s 4. D'Alberto/Reid D'Alberto Holden +13.0949s 5. Ingall/Briscoe Walkinshaw/HRT Holden +18.2438s 6. Davison/Owen FPR Ford +26.1082s 7. Wall/Pither Britek/BJR Holden +32.1098s 8. Reynolds/Canto Rod Nash/FPR Ford +33.4826s 9. Mostert/Wood Dick Johnson Ford +35.2332s 10. Webb/Lieb Tekno Holden +35.5273s 11. Kelly/Reindler Nissan +35.9623s 12. Holdsworth/Baird Erebus Mercedes +38.1138s 13. Pye/Morris Dumbrell Holden +51.9615s 14. Premat/Ritter Garry Rogers Holden +54.4094s 15. Slade/Brabham Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes +55.0207s 16. Fiore/Halliday Dumbrell Holden +1 lap 17. Kelly/Russell Nissan +1 lap 18. Tander/Percat HRT Holden +3 laps 19. Blanchard/Walsh Dick Johnson Ford +5 laps 20. Davison/McIntyre FPR Ford +5 laps 21. Engel/Johnson Erebus Mercedes +6 laps 22. McLaughlin/Perkins Garry Rogers Holden +10 laps Retirements: Moffat/Douglas Nissan 97 laps Coulthard/Youlden Brad Jones Holden 83 laps Caruso/Gaunt Nissan 60 laps Dumbrell/Whincup Triple Eight Holden 21 laps Courtney/Murphy HRT Holden 18 laps
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