Racing for a new crown
Lowndes returns to favourite track to chase win
GOLD COAST’S Chaz Mostert smashed a Queensland Raceway practice-lap record yesterday to emerge as the man that could make the twoway fight between Red Bull and Penske a battle of three.
Throwing a spanner into the title fight by emerging as a genuine force, Mostert showed genuine speed to blitz the heavyweights with the fastest ever practice time at Ipswich.
The Prodrive Racing Australia gun has become the dark horse in a championship dominated by DJR Team Penske and the Holden Red Bull Racing Team. The Ford flyer’s time of 1.08.99 beat the old mark of Will Davison in 2013.
“The car felt pretty good for most of the day,’’ Mostert said.
“The first session we tried some stuff and weren’t that comfortable and really it still didn’t feel that great in session two. It honestly didn’t feel like one of my best laps.” THE Emperor of Ipswich is back and ready to break his Supercars drought.
Craig Lowndes will be gunning for his first race win in more than a year at this weekend’s Ipswich Super Sprint.
The six-time Bathurst champion has never gone through an entire series without a win, and Queensland Raceway is the perfect track to get atop the podium.
Lowndes, 43, is the most successful driver in the history of Supercars racing at QR, with 12 wins and claiming 15 podiums from his past 19 races.
The Triple Eight Race Engineering legend and Garth Tander are the only drivers in this year’s field to have raced at all 21 rounds at QR since 1999 (double rounds in 1999-2000).
“It’s our test track so we’re expecting to do well,” he said.
“We had a great run there last year (third and first). The layout on paper doesn’t look that technical but you have to make sure you get every corner right to maximise it.
“If we can get the car as good as it was last year I’m sure we’ll be in for a good showing.
“This time last year was our last win. We’d like to try to break our drought.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do but we’re really confident we can turn things around.”
Lowndes, running seventh in the championship, has struggled in qualifying this year. The 20-year veteran has battled with a change of tyre, but former driver Russell Ingall said Lowndes was still a championship force.
“He is still a serious driver,” Ingall said.
“He’s one of the best racers in the field, if not the best, as far as passing cars and going to the front. But you’ve got to qualify at the front. You’ve got to start at the pointy end.
“If he can get his qualifying performance more consistent and start at the front he will win races. If you win races, you will win championships.
“It’s one part of his craft that he used to be so good at. The tyres are a lot different to what Craig used to run on.”