Lucky seven for Lowndes after Reynolds suffers cramping
MOTORSPORT: Craig Lowndes achieved a fairytale Bathurst 1000 win in his last full-time drive at Mount Panorama, partnering with Steven Richards to achieve a stunning seventh triumph in the great race.
Lowndes capitalised on an unfortunately-timed cramp to race leader David Reynolds, which denied the pacey Erebus Motorsport team a huge chance to retain the Peter Brock trophy. The 44-year-old Lowndes overtook Reynolds for the lead with 27 laps remaining, cruising to victory ahead of fellow Commodore drivers Scott Pye and Warren Luff. DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat were third.
With a boisterous crowd – totalling more than 206,000 across the weekend – chanting “Lowndesy, Lowndesy, Lowndesy”, their hero admitted his emotion.
“It’s almost like the ‘06 back again I think,” he said, referring to his 2006 triumph which came just weeks after his mentor Peter Brock’s death.
“I didn’t have any air in the coolsuit for the last three stints.
“Richo and I came into this weekend with a lot of confidence off the back of Sandown. But you never know.
“We didn’t have the speed at the start of the race but we were hoping it would develop and the track would come to us. And it did.”
The success ties Lowndes with Jim Richards, the father of his co-driver Steven, on seven wins and leaves him behind only Brock, the King of the Mountain, who has nine.
Reynolds’ pace had looked too much for veteran Lowndes as he steadily increased the gap at the front of the race.
But then heartbreak came for the sport’s larrikin, struck down with cramp with a little over an hour of racing to go.
Reynolds opted to continue but he spun his Commodore’s wheels in pit lane, bringing a drive-through penalty. Their dream was over and the title once again belonged to Lowndes and Richards.