Lowndes wins Bathurst, Mclaughlin third
Craig Lowndes has had a dream farewell as a full-time Supercars driver by winning his seventh Bathurst 1000 yesterday, alongside New Zealand-born Steven Richards.
Lowndes, 44, had already confirmed this will be his final year in the main game, although he’ll look to come back as a codriver.
It had been an emotional week for Lowndes as he took it all in, but surely he must have thought there was only an outside chance of him winning the Great Race once again as a primary driver.
However, win it he did, driving a solid race where he stayed out of trouble and was backed up by superb co-driving stints from Richards.
This was Richards’ fifth victory at the Bathurst 1000 and he’s now just two behind his legendary father and New Zealand motor racing icon, Jim Richards.
It won’t go down as one of the most exciting races at Mount Panorama, with Reynolds, who started from pole position, looking dominant until he was overtaken by Lowndes with 27 laps to go.
The drought for a New Zealand primary driver to win the race continues, although Scott Mclaughlin made it onto the podium for the first time in his career, finishing third with Alex Premat, behind Scott Pye and Warren Luff. Shane van Gisbergen finished fifth, Chris Pither sixth, Fabian Coulthard ninth, Andre Heimgartner 16th and Richie Stanaway 22nd.