Craig Lowndes

V8s: Back-to-back wins for Lowndes!

 

Chequered Flag

What a weekend for  Craig Lowndes at the Coates Hill Ipswich 300!

The Team Vodafone driver took his fifth consecutive win at Queensland Raceway this afternoon, in a definitive and honestly one could say, annihilating performance (other suitable adjectives include conclusive, dominating…you get the picture).   Check out my initial post at Richard’s F1 here!

Race 17 began with FPR on pole and Winterbottom lead for the first few laps, however Lowndes quickly took the lead late during turn six in a deep braking manoeuvre and led comfortably for the rest of the 65 laps.  In facRace 17 startt, the biggest issue Lowndes had towards the end of the race was traffic! Life is good for a race driver when all you have to deal with is traffic…of the cars you are lapping!

Winterbottom held onto the second spot though and cruised in 2 seconds after Lowndes, while Whincup was a little further back, 14 seconds behind.  Will Davison, Fabian Coulthard, Russell Ingall, Shane van Gisbergen, Tim Slade, Michael Caruso and Steve Owen made up the rest of the top 10.

Jacques Villeneuve again found the 24th position, after contact with David Wall on the opening lap sent him seeing daisies, spinning more than a few hundred degrees on the grass.  It was unfortunate for the former F1 driver, who was looking to improve a little more significantly on his Townsville appearance. 

The top two teams ran a similar strategy, both pitting in laps 9 and 38. 

Reynolds also struggled early on with a puncture which set him back to finish with the wooden spoon, while Rick Kelly also ended up at the wrong end of the grid table after he had to pit a third time towards the end of the race.

There were only two cars that didn’t finish the race; Webb and Holdsworth both struggled with mechanical issues and in fact led to a fire in the IRWIN car. 

Burnout timeIt was an interesting race with a great crowd, a few snags to see and some decent overtaking at the beginning, and what it does mean is that TeamVodafone now has won six races, after FPR’s seven race streak at the beginning of the year.  Didn’t hurt to see a few burnouts either, now that TeamVoda didn’t have to worry about conserving the engine…

What will Sydney hold?  Do you think TeamVodafone will keep dominating? Do any of the other teams have it in them to challenge the mighty top two?  The Championship moves to NSW and Sydney Motorsport Park later this month.  Stay tuned!

Craig Lowndes


2012 V8 Supercars Coates Hire Ipswich 300 – Race 2 Result (65 laps):

Driver Entry / Team Laps Result
1. Craig Lowndes Holden Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing 65 1:18:23.0855
2. Mark Winterbottom Ford Orrcon Steel / Ford Performance Racing 65 + 0:01.9759
3. Jamie Whincup Holden Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing 65 + 0:16.1453
4. Will Davison Ford Trading Post / Ford Performance Racing 65 + 0:23.7223
5. Fabian Coulthard Holden Lockwood Racing / Brad Jones Racing 65 + 0:32.5279
6. Russell Ingall Holden Supercheap Auto / Walkinshaw Racing 65 + 0:33.3190
7. Shane van Gisbergen Ford SP Tools / Stone Brothers Racing 65 + 0:34.6744
8. Tim Slade Ford Lucky 7 Racing / Stone Brothers Racing 65 + 0:36.1075
9. Michael Caruso Holden Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport 65 + 0:41.4618
10. Steve Owen Ford VIP Petfoods / Dick Johnson Racing 65 + 0:55.2013
11. Steven Johnson Ford Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing 65 + 0:57.2685
12. Michael Patrizi Holden Tekno Autosports 65 + 0:57.7027
13. Tony D’Alberto Ford HIFLEX Racing / Tony D’Alberto Racing 65 + 1:06.2307
14. James Courtney Holden TOLL / Holden Racing Team 65 + 1:07.7522
15. Garth Tander Holden TOLL / Holden Racing Team 64 + 1 lap
16. Todd Kelly Holden Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing 64 + 1 lap
17. Jason Bright Holden Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing 64 + 1 lap
18. Dean Fiore Ford Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing 64 + 1 lap
19. David Wall Holden Wilson Security / Brad Jones Racing 64 + 1 lap
20. James Moffat Ford Team Norton / Dick Johnson Racing 64 + 1 lap
21. Karl Reindler Holden Fair Dinkum Sheds / Kelly Racing 64 + 1 lap
22. Taz Douglas Holden Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 64 + 1 lap
23. Alexandre Prémat Holden Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport 64 + 1 lap
24. Jacques Villeneuve Holden Pepsi Max Crew / Kelly Racing 64 + 1 lap
25. Rick Kelly Holden Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing 64 + 1 lap
26. David Reynolds Ford The Bottle-O Racing Team / Rod Nash 62 + 3 laps
  Not Classified        
DNF. Lee Holdsworth Ford Irwin Racing / Stone Brothers Racing 55  
DNF. Jonathon Webb Holden Tekno Autosports 54  

A double-billing of F1 and V8s at Abu Dhabi!

Yassmin Abdel-Magied

V8s: Lowndes takes Pole at 2012 Coates Hire Ipswich 300

Lowndes

Bouncing back from engine problems in practice this morning, Craig Lowndes has scored pole position for Race 16 at the Coates Hire Ispwich 300 with a record breaking lap.  Check out the initial post of Richard’s F1 here!

An engine change allowed Lowndes to take his fourth pole of the season after sitting out the final practice.  Whincup was less than two tenths behind his team mate for a TeamVodafone front line and FPR took out the second row; Winterbottom and Davison in third and fourth respectively.  Coulthard, Van Gisbergen, Reynolds, Ingall, Caruso and Holdsworth made up the rest of the top ten. 

David Reynolds had done quite well and sat at the top of the grid until the final green tyre runs, but like IRWIN Ford, weren’t able to hold onto pole position.  Lowndes’s time came in the dying minutes of qualifying, and Winterbottom completed his last lap after the chequered flag.

Villeneuve is giving himself a little bit of a challenge in his bid to do better this race, but he avoided the bottom spot by pipping David Wall by a few thousandths (31 thousandths, to be exact!) of a second.  

Race 16 will take place at Queensland Raceway in a couple of hours time, 16:05 EST. 

Stay tuned for more race reports!

  Driver Entry / Team Result
1. Craig Lowndes Holden Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing 1:09:2218
2. Jamie Whincup Holden Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing 1:09:3795
3. Mark Winterbottom Ford Orrcon Steel / Ford Performance Racing 1:09:5060
4. Will Davison Ford Trading Post / Ford Performance Racing 1:09:5676
5. Fabian Coulthard Holden Lockwood Racing / Brad Jones Racing 1:09:6480
6. Shane van Gisbergen Ford SP Tools / Stone Brothers Racing 1:09:6865
7. David Reynolds Ford The Bottle-O Racing Team / Rod Nash 1:09:7106
8. Russell Ingall Holden Supercheap Auto / Walkinshaw Racing 1:09:7174
9. Michael Caruso Holden Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:09:7293
10. Lee Holdsworth Ford Irwin Racing / Stone Brothers Racing 1:09:7338
11. Dean Fiore Ford Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing 1:09:7339
12. Tony D’Alberto Ford HIFLEX / Tony D’Alberto Racing 1:09:7632
13. James Moffat Ford Team Norton / Dick Johnson Racing 1:09:7645
14. Jason Bright Holden Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing 1:09:8001
15. Tim Slade Ford Lucky 7 Racing / Stone Brothers Racing 1:09:8280
16. Steven Johnson Ford Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing 1:09:8508
17. Rick Kelly Holden Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing 1:09:8619
18. Garth Tander Holden TOLL / Holden Racing Team 1:09:8652
19. Alexandre Prémat Holden Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport 1:09:8722
20. Steve Owen Ford VIP Petfoods / Dick Johnson Racing 1:09:8783
21. James Courtney Holden TOLL / Holden Racing Team 1:09:8846
22. Jonathon Webb Holden Tekno Autosports 1:09:8924
23. Michael Patrizi Holden Tekno Autosports 1:09:9696
24. Todd Kelly Holden Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing 1:10:0071
25. Taz Douglas Holden Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 1:10:0932
26. Karl Reindler Holden Fair Dinkum Sheds / Kelly Racing 1:10:3348
27. Jacques Villeneuve Holden Pepsi Max Crew / Kelly Racing 1:10:7275
28. David Wall Holden Wilson Security / Brad Jones Racing 1:10:7306

Check out the ultimate Bathurst 1000 package!

Yassmin Abdel-Magied