Lowndes Keeps His V8 Supercar Championship Series
Hopes Alive At Phillip Island
Release Date: 26/11/2005
www.v8supercars.com.au
Queensland’s Craig Lowndes kept his V8 Supercar Championship Series title chances alive when he took out the first of three races in the BigPond Grand Finale at Phillip Island today.
The Betta Electrical Ford driver, who gained his fifth pole of the season, was pushed back to third before forcing his way to win the first of three races at the last V8 Supercar Championship Series event of the year.
His race victory closed the gap to leader Russell Ingall to 41 points with two races remaining tomorrow that have 128 points on offer, 64 in each race.
Ingall (Caltex Ford) kept out of trouble to finish fifth today and one step closer to his first Championship crown. His Stone Brothers Racing team-mate Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Ford) finished third in today’s opening race to ensure Ford remain in the top three places in the Championship.
Tasmanian round winner and form driver Garth Tander (HSV Holden) was the meat in the Ford sandwich, finishing second today.
Ingall has 1810 points after today’s race, with 41 points back to Lowndes, 82 to Ambrose, 138 to Todd Kelly and 152 to Mark Skaife, who had another disappointing day on his favourite track, finishing15th.
The normally aggressive Ingall faces a nervous day tomorrow in search of his first Championship.
Ambrose believes the championship is firmly in the hands of his team-mate Ingall.
Tander had the dream start jumping both Lowndes and Ambrose on the front row, before pitting early. Lowndes stalled coming out of the pits to enable Ambrose to jump him, with the pair pushing ahead of Tander who had a slow out-lap.
Lowndes put the pressure on Ambrose, slipping through on Lap 15 while Tander also edged past the defending Champion who suffered from tyre issues late in the race.
Rick Kelly continued the strong form from the HSV Holden team in fourth ahead Greg Murphy.
BigPond Grand Finale, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Round 13
Race Day: Saturday, 10:40-11:25 Race Duration: 20 Minutes
Qualifying
Pos / Car / Team / Driver / Vehicle / Laps / Fastest Lap / Fastest Lap Time / Gap
1 51 Super Cheap Auto Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VZ 13 7 1:33.2878
2 6 Ford Performance Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA 14 11 1:33.3008 0:00.0130
3 888 Team Betta Electrical Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 10 7 1:33.3460 0:00.0582
4 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 14 7 1:33.4863 0:00.1985
5 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 13 13 1:33.6467 0:00.3589
6 24 Team Perkins Racing Steven Richards Holden Commodore VZ 14 14 1:33.7256 0:00.4378
7 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 11 2 1:33.7832 0:00.4954
8 16 HSV Dealer Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VZ 10 9 1:33.7845 0:00.4967
9 23 Dodo Racing Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VZ 13 7 1:33.8150 0:00.5272
10 9 Caltex Racing Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 14 11 1:33.8695 0:00.5817
11 2 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VZ 15 11 1:33.8961 0:00.6083
12 50 Super Cheap Auto Racing Paul Weel Holden Commodore VZ 15 14 1:33.9390 0:00.6512
13 3 Dodo Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VZ 14 10 1:34.0041 0:00.7163
14 11 Team Perkins Racing Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VZ 15 14 1:34.0923 0:00.8045
15 5 Ford Performance Racing David Brabham Ford Falcon BA 16 7 1:34.1200 0:00.8322
16 021 Team Kiwi Racing Paul Radisich Holden Commodore VZ 16 8 1:34.1507 0:00.8629
17 88 Team Betta Electrical Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 16 14 1:34.2246 0:00.9368
18 67 Sirromet-Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VZ 15 14 1:34.3204 0:01.0326
19 33 Repco Valvoline Cummins Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 14 3 1:34.3896 0:01.1018
20 20 Larkham Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 15 7 1:34.4010 0:01.1132
21 18 Westpoint Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA 16 16 1:34.4141 0:01.1263
22 10 Larkham Orrcon Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 16 8 1:34.4770 0:01.1892
23 45 WOW Sight & Sound Max Wilson Holden Commodore VZ 15 13 1:34.4920 0:01.2042
24 25 Fujitsu Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BA 15 7 1:34.5090 0:01.2212
25 17 Westpoint Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 15 15 1:34.5257 0:01.2379
26 48 WPS Racing David Besnard Ford Falcon BA 15 14 1:34.6671 0:01.3793
27 12 Team BOC John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 7 6 1:34.8744 0:01.5866
28 8 WPS Racing Craig Baird Ford Falcon BA 14 7 1:34.8874 0:01.5996
29 7 Autobarn Racing Owen Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 14 5 1:34.9223 0:01.6345
30 52 Fujitsu Racing Matthew White Ford Falcon BA 16 14 1:35.0476 0:01.7598
31 34 Repco Valvoline Cummins Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 14 14 1:35.1275 0:01.8397
32 21 Team BOC Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 14 14 1:35.1546 0:01.8668
33 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Holden Commodore VY 8 7 1:35.2325 0:01.9447
34 44 Go Talk Simon Wills Holden Commodore VZ 10 10 1:35.7031 0:02.4153
BigPond Grand Finale, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Round 13
Race Day: Saturday, 11:40-12:10 Race Duration: 30 Minutes
Top 10 Shootout
Pos / Car / Team / Driver / Vehicle / Laps / Fastest Lap / Fastest Lap Time / Gap
1 888 Team Betta Electrical Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:33.2826
2 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:33.2884 0:00.0058
3 6 Ford Performance Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:33.4077 0:00.1251
4 16 HSV Dealer Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 1:33.4950 0:00.2124
5 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 1:33.5635 0:00.2809
6 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 1:33.6085 0:00.3259
7 51 Super Cheap Auto Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 1:33.6101 0:00.3275
8 9 Caltex Racing Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:33.8626 0:00.5800
9 24 Team Perkins Racing Steven Richards Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 1:34.2467 0:00.9641
10 23 Dodo Racing Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 1:34.3097 0:01.0271
BigPond Grand Finale, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Round 13
Race Day: Saturday, 15:40-16:25 Race Duration: 100 Klms
Race 1
Pos / Car / Team / Driver / Vehicle / Laps / Race Time / Fastest Lap / Fastest Time
1 888 Team Betta Electrical Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 23 37:30.4916 5 1:34.6779
2 16 HSV Dealer Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:33.3138 2 1:34.8049
3 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 23 37:39.1339 6 1:34.7061
4 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:42.1792 4 1:35.1420
5 9 Caltex Racing Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 23 37:47.2869 5 1:35.2618
6 51 Super Cheap Auto Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:48.3437 4 1:35.1782
7 021 Team Kiwi Racing Paul Radisich Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:51.4189 15 1:35.6951
8 88 Team Betta Electrical Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 23 37:51.9302 7 1:35.6996
9 11 Team Perkins Racing Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:53.4706 4 1:35.4835
10 50 Super Cheap Auto Racing Paul Weel Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:54.7884 4 1:35.5461
11 5 Ford Performance Racing David Brabham Ford Falcon BA 23 37:55.5580 8 1:35.5221
12 23 Dodo Racing Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:56.4473 7 1:35.9355
13 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 23 37:57.6964 4 1:35.3866
14 67 Sirromet-Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:04.9255 4 1:36.1297
15 2 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:06.1200 4 1:35.8989
16 20 Larkham Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 23 38:06.7568 5 1:36.1022
17 3 Dodo Racing Jason Richards Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:07.4540 4 1:35.6540
18 33 Repco Valvoline Cummins Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:08.1120 3 1:35.8565
19 10 Larkham Orrcon Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 23 38:09.1708 4 1:36.0837
20 45 WOW Sight & Sound Max Wilson Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:12.0213 3 1:36.0002
21 25 Fujitsu Racing Steve Owen Ford Falcon BA 23 38:19.5410 4 1:35.8519
22 17 Westpoint Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 23 38:19.6269 4 1:36.3828
23 12 Team BOC John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 23 38:20.2910 14 1:36.4891
24 21 Team BOC Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 23 38:20.8303 9 1:36.3867
25 34 Repco Valvoline Cummins Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:23.9349 7 1:36.7944
26 7 Autobarn Racing Owen Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:24.3507 18 1:36.5214
27 24 Team Perkins Racing Steven Richards Holden Commodore VZ 23 38:36.1483 5 1:35.4360
28 52 Fujitsu Racing Matthew White Ford Falcon BA 23 38:51.6846 16 1:36.6223
29 18 Westpoint Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA 22 37:44.1863 10 1:36.2202
30 8 WPS Racing Craig Baird Ford Falcon BA 22 38:23.1331 5 1:36.4432
31 6 Ford Performance Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA 21 37:31.2192 4 1:34.8217
DNF 48 WPS Racing David Besnard Ford Falcon BA 15 27:09.1084 4 1:36.9913
DNF 44 Go Talk Simon Wills Holden Commodore VZ 12 38:51.4832 4 1:37.0024