Title race on!
Craig Lowndes is rarely without that famous smile of his. After his clean sweep of all three races at the Coates Hire Ipswich 300, his smile was as beaming as ever.
Lowndes moved to within 98 points of teammate Jamie Whincup in the points after a flawless weekend at Queensland Raceway, claiming his first win of the season on Saturday, going on to add the second and third in very quick succession!
Meanwhile, Whincup was left to lament his luck after the team left a cover on the engine trumpets before the start of Sunday’s race, causing him to crawl through the warm-up lap and enter the pitlane as the race started. Adding to his misery, he received a drive-through penalty for speeding in pitlane. He salvaged 10th but could only look on as Lowndes claimed the spoils.
Behind Lowndes the young guns of V8 Supercars got one over the veterans with Tim Slade scoring two seconds and a third – his first podiums in the series – and Shane van Gisbergen, James Moffat and Dave Reynolds following home on Sunday.
Their charges provided the crowd with plenty of excitement on Sunday, as the rain clouds that had unloaded their contents in the morning threatened throughout the race.
On Saturday they were treated to the innovative back-to-back race format, with just 15 minutes between the two sprint races.
It proved popular with fans, who got to enjoy two race starts, no pitstops to confuse the race order, and close action throughout. Held in glorious sunshine, in stark contrast to Sunday’s race, it was hardly surprising Saturday’s crowd appeared to surpass Sunday’s mark.
Also, the 15-minute gap gave fans just enough time to grab another XXXX GOLD before the next start – their own pitstop for refuelling. No wonder they liked it!
The V8 boys may have been well behaved in the first race, knowing they would have such a small window of time to repair any damage, but they made up for it in the second race with James Courtney and Todd Kelly piling into Alex Davison, causing carnage.
The support categories proved as popular as ever, with the Australian Superbike riders looking like rodeos as they tried to control their bikes on the incredibly bumpy track. Elsewhere, the Fujitsu Series resembled a demolition derby at times and the Aussie Cars provided a farcical race start when driver and category manager, Phil Ward, parked at the front of the grid to protest track conditions.
There was plenty to take in for those in attendance.
Now the V8 Supercars heads into the endurance events, as the title race really heats up. Meanwhile, Craig Lowndes is still smiling…
