Dunlop

20 Millionth Fan, Frosty on Pole and Skaife and Lowndes Join the Immortals at Bathurst 1000

THE 2010 BATHURST 1000 WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY WITH MARK SKAIFE AND CRAIG LOWNDES BECOMING IMMORTALS OF AUSTRALIAN SPORT. TEN YEARS SINCE THEY DROVE TOGETHER WITHOUT LUCK, THEY ARE NOW THE SUPERCHEAP AUTO BATHURST 1000 CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIFTH AND SIXTH TIMES.

In what was a huge weekend of milestones, the V8 Supercar Championship Series also celebrated its 20 millionth fan to walk through the gates in just 14 years of the sport in its current format, which is widely recognised as the world’s premier touring car category.

Back on the race track, Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom got off to the best possible start as he snared pole position with a fastest lap time of 2.07.53 seconds in the Top Ten Shootout.

However it was Lowndes and Skaife who went on to take the chequered flag in a dramatic 1-2 finish with TeamVodafone team-mates Jamie Whincup and Steve Owen, and Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander and Cameron McConville third.

It was also back to back win for Lowndes and now part-timer Skaife after the ‘old dogs’ won the first of the prestigious season of endurance races at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island last month.

“Not to be able to do it back then and come so close, so many times, and then to have a 10-year break – to get the old band back together – it’s pretty special,” Lowndes said.

The praise went both ways. Few people have driven more miles on the mountain than Skaife who said Lowndes’ effort was amongst the best he had seen.

“I have every faith in CL and how he drives the car but it is still nerve wracking. The last 15 or 20 laps is as anxious as you ever get in this game and we all know how cruel this mountain can be,” he said.

Bundaberg Red Racing’s Fabian Coulthard didn’t even do a full lap after a massive rollover crash at 290km/h in what offers an important lesson about the significance of maintaining your car’s tyre pressure.

The problem originated on the starting grid when Coulthard’s Holden clipped the car of Jason Bargwanna. The contact broke the valve in Coulthard’s left rear Dunlop slick, which lost air on the opening lap and was eventually unable to withstand the load placed on it in its deflated state.

SUPERCHEAP AUTO
BATHURST 1000
Race 18 – V8 Supercar Championship Series
1 TeamVodafone      Craig Lowndes / Mark Skaife
2 TeamVodafone     Jamie Whincup / Steve Owen
3 Toll Holden            Garth Tander / Racing Team Cameron McConville

Tags: Cameron McConville, MARK SKAIFE