Craig Lowndes has won his 86th V8 Supercar race today at Sydney Motorsport Park in a day that changed the complexion of the championship battle.
Having started sixth, the TeamVodafone driver used his incredible soft tyre form to win the race, however dramas for former championship leader Jamie Whincup in the closing laps saw the points battle turned on its head.
Mark Winterbottom finished second and Will Davison third but it was the dramas for Whincup that made the major difference.
A delaminating rear tyre in the closing laps saw Whincup battle to reach the flag – dropping to just 23rd position at the end of the 36-lap race after having run as high as fourth.
Whincup made a slow start and dropped down the order, but was battling with good friend Will Davison for third place within sight of the flag before the tyre dramas struck.
By finishing second Mark Winterbottom assumed the championship lead for the first time this year and both Lowndes and Will Davison (3rd) also closed in.
Lowndes pulled more than 100 points from Whincup today, having entered the round more than 250 points behind.
“It’s great for Team Vodafone,” Lowndes said.
“We’ve been working hard to get to where FPR have been and the results have shown that. It’s a credit to JJ (Engineer, Jeromy Moore) who has given me a great car to drive.
“I was disappointed after qualifying but it’s great to turn it around. This is a part of the year I really enjoy and the car and team are performing really well.”
Garth Tander used strong soft-tyre pace to charge through the pack to finish fourth, displacing fellow Walkinshaw Racing team mate Russell Ingall in the closing laps.
Tander started 13th but ran his hard tyres well into the race, giving him a shorter final stint on the softer tyres that he used to his advantage to charge through the field.
Ingall was fifth and James Courtney sixth in a promising day for the factory Holdens.
Shane van Gisbergen, Michael Caruso, Jonathon Webb and Jason Bright completed the top 10.
Webb started from second but gambled on running his Soft tyres early in the race, making a perfect start and escaping to a near 10-second lead before stopping on lap 13.
However, a slow stop saw Lowndes close in on the Tekno driver and slip past soon after – car #888 having made a storming start to fight his way to second in the opening laps.
Webb slipped down the order on his hard tyres towards the end, but did secure the new Sydney Motorsport Park V8 Supercars lap record; the new benchmark standing at 1m30.9405s.
Lowndes has now won four of the last six races stretching back to Darwin’s Skycity Triple Crown in June; with Winterbottom’s relentless consistency helping him take the points lead for the first time.
The top 4 cars are now covered by just 162 points ahead of Race 19 tomorrow.
