Lowndes leads record setting Sandown practice
Friday 13th September, 2013 3:33pm
Author: Stefan Bartholomaeus ©

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Lowndes 344x199 Lowndes leads record setting Sandown practice
Craig Lowndes

Craig Lowndes’ bid to equal Peter Brock’s marker of nine wins in the annual pre-Bathurst endurance race is on track following a record setting Friday practice.

Eight cars eclipsed Will Davison’s practice lap record for the V8 Supercars at Sandown in the closing minutes of the third and final session of the day.

Will Davison had sat at the top of the order when the chequered flag flew, only to see Lee Holdsworth and then Lowndes lap even faster.

Lowndes’ time of 1:08.93s eclipsed Holdsworth’s effort by just 0.028s.

Davison, whose car was steered by co-driver Steve Owen in the final minutes, ended up third ahead of Scott McLaughlin, Alexandre Premat, Mark Winterbottom, Garth Tander and Alex Davison.

The 2013 specification ‘Car of the Future’ has proven slower than its predecessor throughout much of the year, with resurfacing of several corners clearly contributing to today’s speed.

Lowndes has won V8 Supercars’ annual 500km endurance race eight times in the last 17 years, tasting success at Sandown (1996, 1997, 2005, 2007 and 2012), as well as in the years it was held at Queensland Raceway (2000) and Phillip Island (2010 and 2011).

Brock meanwhile won each of his nine trophies at the Melbourne venue.

A final practice session will take place on Saturday morning ahead of a 20 minute qualifying session and two 60km qualifying races.

See below for the Practice 3 result







1 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VF 01:08.93
2 Lee Holdsworth Mercedes E63 AMG 01:08.96 00:00.03
3 W.Davison/S.Owen Ford Falcon FG 01:09.02 00:00.08
4 Scott McLaughlin Holden Commodore VF 01:09.03 00:00.09
5 A.Premat/G.Ritter Holden Commodore VF 01:09.05 00:00.12
6 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 01:09.06 00:00.13
7 G.Tander/N.Percat Holden Commodore VF 01:09.22 00:00.29
8 Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 01:09.33 00:00.39
9 Jason Bright Holden Commodore VF 01:09.43 00:00.49
10 David Reynolds Ford Falcon FG 01:09.44 00:00.50
11 J.Courtney/G.Murphy Holden Commodore VF 01:09.47 00:00.53
12 R.Ingall/R.Briscoe Holden Commodore VF 01:09.51 00:00.58
13 S.Pye/P.Morris Holden Commodore VF 01:09.56 00:00.62
14 Tim Slade Mercedes E63 AMG 01:09.57 00:00.64
15 R.Kelly/K.Reindler Nissan Altima 01:09.64 00:00.71
16 Tony D’Alberto Holden Commodore VF 01:09.64 00:00.71
17 S.Van Gisbergen/ Holden Commodore VF 01:09.65 00:00.72
18 J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell Holden Commodore VF 01:09.67 00:00.73
19 Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VF 01:09.69 00:00.75
20 Maro Engel Mercedes E63 AMG 01:09.72 00:00.78
21 J.Webb/M.Lieb Holden Commodore VF 01:09.75 00:00.82
22 David Wall Holden Commodore VF 01:09.79 00:00.85
23 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon FG 01:09.86 00:00.93
24 M.Caruso/D.Gaunt Nissan Altima 01:09.89 00:00.95
25 Todd Kelly Nissan Altima 01:09.93 00:00.99
26 T.Blanchard/A.Walsh Ford Falcon FG 01:09.94 00:01.00
27 J.Moffat/T.Douglas Nissan Altima 01:10.04 00:01.11
28 Dean Fiore Holden Commodore VF 01:10.26 00:01.32

Only counts if you win it at the same track.
And Brock won 9 times in a shorter period of time.