Lowndes on course to end long title drought
at Surfers Paradise HOLDEN veteran Craig Lowndes believes he’s in the best position to end his 14-year wait for a fourth V8 Supercars crown after moving ahead of teammate Jamie Whincup in the series standings yesterday.
Lowndes moved clear of four- time champion Whin cup by winning an actionpacked 300km race on the Gold Coast, taking a 36-point advantage with five races left in the year.
Whincup’s hopes of a thirdstraight title took a huge hit on a horror day when he had to start 25th after being penalised for causing a red flag in the qualifying session.
He then failed to drive a lap in the race when co-driver Paul Dumbrell first collided with Holden Racing Team driver Greg Murphy and then had to withdraw after their Commodore stopped in the middle of the circuit.
Lowndes, who hasn’t won the title since 1999, feels a re- versal of fortune on the Gold Coast puts him in with his best shot at ending the championship drought.
‘‘A couple of years with the lead in the championship and went out the backside in second,’’ he said.
‘‘Where we are right now is fantastic — best shot I’ve had in a long time.’’
In a dramatic race where only five cars finished on the lead lap, Ford’s Mark Winterbottom backed up his Bathurst 1000 victory to move within 49 points of the championship lead by finishing third.
The Ford Performance Racing driver held off a challenge from Tony D’Alberto in the last few laps to earn a podium finish behind New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen despite hav- ing to pit midway through after a window popped off his Falcon.
‘‘Yeah, don’t know what happened, it just popped out,’’ Winterbottom said.
‘‘I can’t believe the car finished, the track is just brutal.
Whincup will earn a shot at redemption in today’s 300km race but said his day had been far from enjoyable.
‘‘We’ve taken a big hit but we’ll come out tomorrow and see what we can do,’’ he said.
Today’s race is at 12.15pm.