V8 Supercars

Lowndes Clean Sweeps the Coates Hire Ipswich 300

TeamVodafone’s Craig Lowndes has made a clean sweep of the Coates Hire Ipswich 300, winning all three races at the Queensland event.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd, Lowndes chalked up his 80th career victory after holding off a hard-charging Tim Slade in the final race on Sunday (August 21) to walk way with a perfect weekend.

“It’s our home track and the guys did a sensational job here,” said Lowndes.

“We had great strategy going on and again to our guys, thank you it was a fantastic day.”

Lowndes won the first two races of the Coates Hire Ipswich 300 on Saturday (August 20), which both took a 22-lap sprint format, before heading to the top of the podium on Sunday’s (August 21) 65-lap shoot-out.

As was the case last year at Queensland Raceway, Dunlop’s SP Sport Maxx ‘Sprint’ tyre was the only tyre in use for qualifying and racing, with each driver having seven sets of new softs to use over the weekend.

Lowndes’ win has sealed the 2011 Manufacturer’s championship for Holden; the red lion claiming 15 of the season’s 17 races. However, the driver Championship is still well and truly alive with Whincup’s series lead reduced to 98 points over teammate Craig Lowndes.

The V8 Supercar Championship Series heads into the season of endurance, with the L&H 500 Phillip Island next month.

Coates Hire Ipswich 300

Race 16 – V8 Supercar Championship Series
1 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes
2 Lucky 7 Racing Tim Slade
3 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup

Race 17 – V8 Supercar Championship Series
1 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes
2 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup
3 Lucky 7 Racing Tim Slade

Race 18 – V8 Supercar Championship Series
1 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes
2 Lucky 7 Racing Tim Slade
3 SP Tools Racing Shane van Gisbergen

Tags: Coates Hire Ipswich 300, Craig Lowndes, Dunlop’s SP Sport Maxx ‘Sprint’ tyre