V8 Supercars
The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Australian motorsport’s biggest event, took place at the historic Mount Panorama and delivered all the action and drama that was expected with Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife in the TeamVodafone Triple Eight Holden Commodore proving victorious once again as an endurance team.
Coming off the duo’s impressive win at last month’s L&H 500 at Phillip Island, Skaife and Lowndes again showed their wares putting in a stellar performance from start to finish.
Jamie Whincup and Steve Owen’s second place ensured a one-two finish for TeamVodafone with the Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore of Garth Tander and Cameron McConville rounding out the all-Holden podium.
The win gave Skaife his sixth Bathurst title and Lowndes his fifth with only Jim Richards (seven) and Peter Brock (nine) having held the trophy more times.
The race also resulted in a new record for the 161-lap event of six hours 12mins 51secs, beating the 1991 record of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife in the Nissan Skyline GTR of six hours 19mins 14.8secs.
The race broke its fair share of hearts too with the polesitting Ford Performance Racing Falcon of Mark Winterbottom and Luke Youlden collecting a wall through The Cutting after the right rear tyre delaminated and Fabian Coulthard’s Bundaberg Red Racing Commodore being reduced to a mere cage after his 290km/h crash coming off The Chase on the opening lap.
Championship leader James Courtney finished his day in fifth allowing Whincup to close the gap to only 125 points.
After round ten, the driver standings are as follows:
1. James Courtney 2323
2. Jamie Whincup 2198
3. Craig Lowndes 2039
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