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LOWNDES AND WHINCUP WIN THE SUPERCHEAP AUTO 1000
Monday, 9 October 2006
An emotional Craig Lowndes broke down when he received the inaugural Peter Brock Trophy after a nail-biting victory in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mt Panorama.
Lowndes became the first Ford driver to win at Bathurst since 1998, made doubly special with the late Peter Brock a mentor for a young Lowndes when he started his career.
His father was a mechanic and close friend for the nine-time Bathurst winner whose recent death was honoured in a special tribute before the 161-lap race this morning.
Lowndes (Betta Electrical Ford), with co-driver Jamie Whincup, was near the front of the field for most of the highly charged race. They held off two-time winner Rick Kelly, partnered by older brother and defending champion Todd, after a frantic final seven laps following a safety car period.
Young Queenslander James Courtney, who was paired with veteran Glen Seton, held off Stone Brothers Racing team-mate Russell Ingall and Luke Youlden, finishing side-by-side.
Ford filled three of the top four spots at the Great Race dominated in recent times by Holden, who had to be content for the next four minor placings.
Lowndes, who won at Bathurst back in 1996 with Greg Murphy as a young Holden driver under the guidance of Brock, said his second win at Mt Panorama was extra-special.
“It’s been a pretty moving weekend and for Ford it’s been a long time coming. I couldn’t do it without this whiz-kid beside me. He’s a little gem, “Lowndes said.
“For us it’s a dream come true. It’s always going to be special to have your name on it and to be the first is that little bit special. There was always going to be memories and emotions flooding back across this weekend. It was fantastic to have the Brock family here.”
Lowndes said it was an emotional start to the day when he drove Brock’s 1972 Bathurst winning Holden as part of the Brock Tribute.
“To know the history of what he (Brock) achieved here. We all know how tough it is to win this so for him to win it nine times over the course of his career. It was very emotional and very tough this morning to go out on that grid. All the emotions flooded back. It was very emotional for me knowing we had 161 laps to do.”
Lowndes said his team manager asked him if he wanted to swap from the opening stint.
“I just drew on that strength, put my head down and got the job done.”
Lowndes also extended his lead in the V8 Supercar Championship to 37 points from Rick Kelly in what is shaping as a two-horse championship race with Whincup in third place 456 points from Lowndes ahead of defending champion Russell Ingall, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards.
As often the case, Mt Panorama was no friend to the favourites with poll setter Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) crashing out after 500m and by lap-28 Sandown winner Jason Bright (Ford Performance Racing) joined him on the sidelines.
Any hope Skaife had of winning the first Peter Brock Trophy was gone on lap one.
After a horrible start Skaife found himself from pole position to the middle of the pack before an accident on top of the mountain involving young Jack Perkins.
"It's the most disappointing thing to ever happen in my career. I don't think I have ever wanted to win a race so badly in my life,” Skaife said.
"I don't think I have ever wanted to win a race so badly in my life. This is my 20th year and I have never thought we were in with such a great chance. We knew we could win. That's the most heartbreaking thing.
"The clutch was slipping, even in fifth gear. It would not have driven up the hill. Jack Perkins could not see me, and he came up and apologised later. He was in tears and apologised to me.
It was not his fault at all.”
Perkins said that for some reason Skaife appeared to slow down.
“All of a sudden there was just about a stationary red car that had nowhere to go,” perkins said. “It’s the most disappointing thing to happen for all the team and the guys.”
The incident following a steering failure at Sandown means Tander’s Championship hopes have been severely cruelled.
A different fate awaited one of the other race favourites in Bright and Mark Winterbottom in the FPR Falcon. Some degree of engine problem forced them out of the race.
“It’s pretty disappointing but that’s why this race is so hard to win. It’s one of those things. We’ve had perfect reliability all year and all of a sudden it happens,” Winterbottom said.
“But we will fix it, get up to Indy and try to win that.”
The other major defection was four-time Bathurst winner Greg Murphy (Supercheap Auto Racing Holden), who looked to be righting his awful season to lead for much of the opening 100 laps before team-mate Cameron McConville crashed out on top of the mountain.
The attrition in a hot day in Bathurst was significant with only 17 of the 31 starters finishing the 161 laps.
Lowndes held a handy six-second advantage until the 10th and final safety car period following an off by Jason Richards gave the chasers a final chance, led by Rick Kelly.
“I knew he would attack early. He had the pace down the straight but we had the pace across the top. We had to just keep gaping him. Our boys did a fantastic job. We worked pretty hard all weekend to have a good race day.”
Top 10:
1. CraigLowndes/Jamie Whincup Betta Electrical Ford 6:59.53
2. Rick Kelly/Todd Kelly Toll HSV Dealer Holden 6:59.54
3. James Courtney/Glen Seton Jeld-Wen Ford 7:00.03
4. Russell Ingall/Luke Youlden Caltex Racing Ford 7:00.03
5. Steven Richards/Paul Dumbrell Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden 7:00.04
6. Paul Morris/Steve Ellery Sirromet Wines Holden 7:00.07
7. Tony Longhurst/Steve Owen Autobarn Racing Holden 7:00.11
8. Nathan Pretty/ Paul Weel Supercheap Auto Holden 7:00.13
9. Alex Davison/Grant Denyer APVC Racing Ford 7:00.13
10 C Baird /J Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford 7:00.16
Series point after nine rounds:
Lowndes 2538, Rick Kelly 2501, Whincup 2044, Ingall 2012, Winterbottom 1983, Steven Richards 1862, Garth Tander 1848, Jason Bright 1714, Paul Dumbrell 1696, Steven Johnson 1693.
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Lowndes became the first Ford driver to win at Bathurst since 1998, made doubly special with the late Peter Brock a mentor for a young Lowndes when he started his career.
His father was a mechanic and close friend for the nine-time Bathurst winner whose recent death was honoured in a special tribute before the 161-lap race this morning.
Lowndes (Betta Electrical Ford), with co-driver Jamie Whincup, was near the front of the field for most of the highly charged race. They held off two-time winner Rick Kelly, partnered by older brother and defending champion Todd, after a frantic final seven laps following a safety car period.
Young Queenslander James Courtney, who was paired with veteran Glen Seton, held off Stone Brothers Racing team-mate Russell Ingall and Luke Youlden, finishing side-by-side.
Ford filled three of the top four spots at the Great Race dominated in recent times by Holden, who had to be content for the next four minor placings.
Lowndes, who won at Bathurst back in 1996 with Greg Murphy as a young Holden driver under the guidance of Brock, said his second win at Mt Panorama was extra-special.
“It’s been a pretty moving weekend and for Ford it’s been a long time coming. I couldn’t do it without this whiz-kid beside me. He’s a little gem, “Lowndes said.
“For us it’s a dream come true. It’s always going to be special to have your name on it and to be the first is that little bit special. There was always going to be memories and emotions flooding back across this weekend. It was fantastic to have the Brock family here.”
Lowndes said it was an emotional start to the day when he drove Brock’s 1972 Bathurst winning Holden as part of the Brock Tribute.
“To know the history of what he (Brock) achieved here. We all know how tough it is to win this so for him to win it nine times over the course of his career. It was very emotional and very tough this morning to go out on that grid. All the emotions flooded back. It was very emotional for me knowing we had 161 laps to do.”
Lowndes said his team manager asked him if he wanted to swap from the opening stint.
“I just drew on that strength, put my head down and got the job done.”
Lowndes also extended his lead in the V8 Supercar Championship to 37 points from Rick Kelly in what is shaping as a two-horse championship race with Whincup in third place 456 points from Lowndes ahead of defending champion Russell Ingall, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards.
As often the case, Mt Panorama was no friend to the favourites with poll setter Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) crashing out after 500m and by lap-28 Sandown winner Jason Bright (Ford Performance Racing) joined him on the sidelines.
Any hope Skaife had of winning the first Peter Brock Trophy was gone on lap one.
After a horrible start Skaife found himself from pole position to the middle of the pack before an accident on top of the mountain involving young Jack Perkins.
"It's the most disappointing thing to ever happen in my career. I don't think I have ever wanted to win a race so badly in my life,” Skaife said.
"I don't think I have ever wanted to win a race so badly in my life. This is my 20th year and I have never thought we were in with such a great chance. We knew we could win. That's the most heartbreaking thing.
"The clutch was slipping, even in fifth gear. It would not have driven up the hill. Jack Perkins could not see me, and he came up and apologised later. He was in tears and apologised to me.
It was not his fault at all.”
Perkins said that for some reason Skaife appeared to slow down.
“All of a sudden there was just about a stationary red car that had nowhere to go,” perkins said. “It’s the most disappointing thing to happen for all the team and the guys.”
The incident following a steering failure at Sandown means Tander’s Championship hopes have been severely cruelled.
A different fate awaited one of the other race favourites in Bright and Mark Winterbottom in the FPR Falcon. Some degree of engine problem forced them out of the race.
“It’s pretty disappointing but that’s why this race is so hard to win. It’s one of those things. We’ve had perfect reliability all year and all of a sudden it happens,” Winterbottom said.
“But we will fix it, get up to Indy and try to win that.”
The other major defection was four-time Bathurst winner Greg Murphy (Supercheap Auto Racing Holden), who looked to be righting his awful season to lead for much of the opening 100 laps before team-mate Cameron McConville crashed out on top of the mountain.
The attrition in a hot day in Bathurst was significant with only 17 of the 31 starters finishing the 161 laps.
Lowndes held a handy six-second advantage until the 10th and final safety car period following an off by Jason Richards gave the chasers a final chance, led by Rick Kelly.
“I knew he would attack early. He had the pace down the straight but we had the pace across the top. We had to just keep gaping him. Our boys did a fantastic job. We worked pretty hard all weekend to have a good race day.”
Top 10:
1. CraigLowndes/Jamie Whincup Betta Electrical Ford 6:59.53
2. Rick Kelly/Todd Kelly Toll HSV Dealer Holden 6:59.54
3. James Courtney/Glen Seton Jeld-Wen Ford 7:00.03
4. Russell Ingall/Luke Youlden Caltex Racing Ford 7:00.03
5. Steven Richards/Paul Dumbrell Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden 7:00.04
6. Paul Morris/Steve Ellery Sirromet Wines Holden 7:00.07
7. Tony Longhurst/Steve Owen Autobarn Racing Holden 7:00.11
8. Nathan Pretty/ Paul Weel Supercheap Auto Holden 7:00.13
9. Alex Davison/Grant Denyer APVC Racing Ford 7:00.13
10 C Baird /J Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford 7:00.16
Series point after nine rounds:
Lowndes 2538, Rick Kelly 2501, Whincup 2044, Ingall 2012, Winterbottom 1983, Steven Richards 1862, Garth Tander 1848, Jason Bright 1714, Paul Dumbrell 1696, Steven Johnson 1693.
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