MIXED FORTUNES FOR LOWNDES IN BAHRAIN

Craig Lowndes Race Report, 1 March 2010

Craig Lowndes continued his strong form from Abu Dhabi during leg two of the Middle Eastern tour, running consistently within the top three all weekend in the Gulf Air Desert 400 in Bahrain.

The #888 TeamVodafone Commodore was quick right out of the box with Craig dominating the practice sessions, despite having less running time than some of his championship rivals. Craig finished the practice sessions clearly ahead of his teammate Jamie Whincup in what was a perfect start to the weekend.

Craig’s good speed continued into qualifying, making the shootout for the second straight event and eventually started the race in seventh position. Once the race started Craig moved forward steadily showing great pace throughout. A late battle with Mark Winterbottom saw him finish in third to take his second podium finish for the year. In Race 2 Craig started well, but was forced to avoid some first lap dramas, dropping him back a few places. Late race clutch and engine problems forced Craig to nurse the car home in 12th.

“We’ve had another positive weekend here in Bahrain and it’s nice to know that we are in a solid position heading to the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. For me Race 1 was a good race. We struggled slightly in the shootout, but made up spots to take another podium. I was expecting more of the same in race 2 and the car again felt strong. It’s disappointing to have a mechanical drama, but on a positive at least we were able to salvage some points today,” Craig Lowndes explained.

THURSDAY

Thursday practice proved that the speed of the TeamVodafone Commodores in Abu Dhabi was not a one-off, with both Craig and Whincup setting the pace for much of the sessions. Craig used his experience to learn the new circuit and ended the combined sessions with the quickest time.

“It is a great start. It is nice to come out and top the timesheets in practice as it gives us a lot of confidence heading into qualifying,” Lowndes said.

“I am 90 percent satisfied with the car balance but there are definitely areas we can still improve on. The new section of track is quite technical and it is easy to get sucked into some of the corners and run wide.”

FRIDAY

Craig carried his speed from practice into qualifying for Race 1 and set the early pace with a solid first lap. The nature of the new Bahrain International Circuit layout meant that drivers would only get two attempts to make it into the shootout during the 20-minute session. A late flying lap ensured Craig would make the shootout, finishing just behind Whincup in second.

In the shootout, Craig produced a reasonable lap, albeit slightly slower than in qualifying, to start the afternoon’s race from seventh position.

In Race 1 Craig made a good start and avoided some early incidents to gradually move forward through the pack. The #888 TeamVodafone driver executed some great passing moves to move into the top five by his first stop.

A slick first stop from TeamVodafone saw Craig jump into third position behind Mark Winterbottom. The two drivers battled heavily mid-race before both made their final stop with just over 10 laps to run.

The two resumed their battle following the second stops and in the end Craig settled for third position and another strong finish.

Teammate Whincup dominated the race, while Winterbottom finished just ahead of Craig in second.

“Coming back through the field is not ideal but thankfully this is a track that lends itself to passing,” Lowndes said.

“I am delighted with another podium however I am disappointed with my top ten shootout result and it’s something we need to work on over the next few races.

“Another poor top ten run made our life difficult but again the guys came up with a car that was quite aggressive and allowed me to attack a few people.”

SATURDAY

After another strong run in Race 1, Race 2 looked to provide another opportunity for Craig to grab a healthy swag of points.

Track conditions changed overnight and everybody was forced to adapt for qualifying. Craig posted a solid late lap to ensure another top 10 starting position, ninth, for Race 2.

Craig made an ordinary start and was forced to take evasive action in turn one to avoid an incident. The excursion cost him a few spots and again forced him to fight back through the field. He continued to make up ground throughout the early part of the race, before a clutch issue stopped his charge late in the race.

His task was made evening harder when he began to experience some engine dramas with just a handful of laps to go and eventually finished down in 12th after some early promise.

“I got caught out again with my qualifying position and then a bad start put me back in the trouble zone, where I had to go around everyone at Turn 1 to avoid an incident,” Lowndes said.

“My car balance was good and the first pitstop was great. I was really starting to pick off a few cars in front.

“I started to experience a problem with the clutch just before the second pitstop which got worse as the race went on and made down changing gears extremely difficult.”

2010 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after two events)
1. Jamie Whincup, TeamVodafone, 600
2. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing, 543
3. Shane Van Gisbergen, Stone Brother’s Racing, 471
4. Craig Lowndes, TeamVodafone, 447
5. James Courtney, Jim Beam Racing, 420
6. Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, 392
7. Lee Holdsworth, Garry Rogers Motorsport, 372
8. Steven Johnson, Jim Beam Racing, 296
9. Michael Caruso, Garry Rogers Motorsport, 294
10. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing, 270