LAUNCESTON, Tasmania — Recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images AsiaPac photo —
On a day when fans and drivers alike were preparing for a celebration of Craig Lowndes’ milestone 100th V8 Supercars Championship (V8SC) victory, a different piece of history was written instead at Symmons Plains Raceway.
After Lowndes helped turn around outside polesitter David Reynolds on the opening lap of the 200 km, 84-lap Tyrepower Tasmania Super Sprint finale — and was assessed a drive through penalty as a result — his teammate Jamie Whincup seized command of Race Six of the V8SC season, only giving up the lead during the race’s two green flag pit cycles on the way to his second victory of 2015.
The win was the 91st of the six-time champion’s historic career, breaking a tie with Mark Skaife for second on the series’ all-time wins list, and his 11th career triumph at Symmons Plains.
“It’s amazing how it turns around,” Whincup said upon climbing from his car. “The weekend was dominated by Lowndesy — I would have loved to have seen him get the three-peat — but he obviously had [his] altercation in turn one [which allowed us this opportunity.”
“We were behind the eight-ball all weekend — not a bad weekend, we were still there or thereabouts, but I can’t believe it. To be standing on the top step of the podium again, I’m really, really happy.”
After his disastrous opening to the 2015 season in Adelaide, Chaz Mostert rebounded and continued Ford’s early-season resurgence with his fifth straight second-place effort (following four-in-a-row at the non-championship Albert Park round), and Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the podium finishers.
In a nonstop, green-to-checkered event, Lowndes pushed back to sixth following his opening lap penalty, but said there was more he could have given the car and was frustrated with ‘giving up the race’.
“We threw it away,” a gutted Lowndes said. “We got a bad start and the clutch went away from us, and then we had a little overlap — I was probably a little too aggressive — and I turned it in, but it understeered wide and tagged the back door of David [Reynold’s] car. So I copped the penalty — it was deserved — and we went on. The good thing out of it was we had a fast car, so that’s the one important thing we can take out of the weekend.”
Despite Lowndes’ misfortune on Sunday, the weekend was still a clean sweep for Red Bull — with Lowndes taking all three poles and he and Whincup splitting the three wins between them — to give the team six straight race victories at the fast, sweeping Tasmanian circuit.
“We had a real thumper here last year as well, and we thought, ‘Ah, how in the world are we going to be able to repeat that?'” Whincup chuckled. “We managed to do it, even though it was the exact opposite of a year ago, when I was really quick on Saturday and Lowndes got me on Sunday. Obviously the cars are really quick again, so it’s really nice — going into a big five week break — to go away with a win.”
The two pit cycles of the race came fast and furious — the first just after lap 25, and again at lap 48 when Whincup began the charge and led everyone down for their set of soft tires. But, despite the Ford teams’ extra efforts, attempts to stay out just a little bit longer and Mostert trimming the lead to just under two seconds with about 20 laps to go, no one was any match for Whincup in the end, who beat the defending Bathurst 1000 champion to the line by 3.495 seconds.
Behind the podium, series stalwarts Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom rounded out the top five. Lowndes, Scott McLaughlin, an impressive Andre Heimgartner, Fabian Coulthard and championship leader entering the event, James Courtney, completed the top ten at the finish.
With his Sunday win, Whincup assumes control of the points standings by 19 points over Courtney, with Lowndes a further four points back in third.
The V8 Supercars Championship resumes May 1-3 with the Perth SuperSprint from Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia.
For more information on the V8 Supercars Championship, visit http://www.v8supercars.com.au/.
RESULTS: V8 Supercars Championship; Race 6; Tyrepower Tasmania Super Sprint; Symmons Plains Raceway; March 29, 2015
- Jamie Whincup
- Chaz Mostert
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Garth Tander
- Mark Winterbottom
- Craig Lowndes
- Scott McLaughlin
- Andre Heimgartner
- Fabian Coulthard
- James Courtney
- David Reynolds
- Jason Bright
- Todd Kelly
- Rick Kelly
- Dale Wood
- Lee Holdsworth
- Nick Percat
- Scott Pye
- Michael Caruso
- Tim Blanchard
- Ash Walsh
- James Moffat
- Will Davison
- Tim Slade (DNF)
- David Wall (DNF)
