A helping hand from his team that saw Jamie Whincup pull aside in pit lane, has assisted Craig Lowndes win Race 28 of the championship today at the Sydney Telstra 500.
The win was critical for Lowndes in his ongoing battle with Mark Winterbottom in the V8 Supercars title. Lowndes also becomes the first repeat race winner at the Sydney Olympic Park circuit.
“It’s a credit to the team, and I have to thank Jamie really, because not having to queue in pit lane really helped us” said Lowndes.
“With the heat today, I was expecting worse conditions but in that middle section just before the series of safety cars my feet must have been 105C degrees because they were burning!”
Winterbottom was 9th at the end of a race that saw teams literally limping to the line, all but out of fuel.
This has handed Lowndes second place in the championship over Winterbottom by just three points, ensuring TeamVodafone’s fight for a 1-2 Championship finish will go on to the final race of the year.
Pole-sitter Tim Slade led a majority of the race but ran wide in the late stages, handing Lowndes a lead he would not lose.
“It’s a great day … pole position and a second,” said Slade of his best race result to date this season.
“I’m kicking myself a little bit for throwing it away there at the end. It’s hard to be in front and saving fuel and get all your markers right every lap.
“It’s still a great result for the team and I’m pretty stoked.”
Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney also had to conserve fuel in the closing laps and finished third, picking up his first podium of the season.
“It’s been a long time between drinks but it’s good that I’ve finally got a podium this year,” said Courtney.
“The guys did a great job. I started to get a bit emotional there at the end when I had to back off and let the guys go, but it’s still great to come home in third.”
Tekno Autosports Jonathon Webb finished fourth, while Jamie Whincup (who started 14th) recovered to finish 5th after having charged through the field to as high as second before his pit stop.
Rick Kelly showed good pace to finish sixth, ahead of his Kelly Racing teammate Karl Reindler. James Moffat, Winterbottom and Michael Caruso rounded out the top ten.
Caruso’s Fujitsu Racing teammate Alex Premat put in a solid and controlled drive to be fighting well inside the top five for the majority of the race, however he fell victim to the Sydney heat with 15 laps remaining.
He was conscious as he was dragged out of the #33 Fujitsu Racing Commodore by medical staff and is being treated for dehydration.
The Sydney circuit is renowned as one of the toughest on the calendar and it proved that again today. Just 15 of the 28 drivers finished on the lead lap.
Several drivers were forced out with broken steering and mechanical issues, including Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison and Lockwood Racing’s Fabian Coulthard.
Shane van Gisbergen made an early exit from the race after Tony D’Alberto made contact with the #9 SP Tools Falcon.
van Gisbergen was then involved in one of the more bizzare on track incidents we’ve seen in V8 Supercars. The kiwi was trying to limp back to the pits but his broken steering sent the #9 Falcon colliding into the medical car.
