Lowndes drives into Holden history

Craig Lowndes has equalled Mark Skaife’s record as the most successful Holden driver of all time with his victory in today’s 200km race at Queensland Raceway.

The win further cements his incredible record at the circuit, becoming his 12th victory since 1999. The win is his 105th career win, and his 80th for Holden, which equals him with Skaife as Holden’s most successful Supercars driver.

The TeamVortex racer got away to a blinding start from second on the grid and never looked troubled on his way to the chequered flag, 2.6015sec ahead of teammate Jamie Whincup.

 “We sort of click around this place,” Lowndes said.  “It’s not often you get a really nice, easy car to drive in a race like that. It was really important to get a good start and we did that.

“Jamie did a fantastic job keeping everyone at bay … it’s a credit to our team.”

Whincup and teammate Shane van Gisbergen were close behind early, but it turned sour for yesterday’s winner when he took a gamble pitting and stacked behind Whincup under green conditions.

Scott Pye has fired into the tyres and anticipating a safety car, the Red Bull Holden pulled into the lane. But Pye was able to drive out as van Gisbergen sat stationary and dropped down the order. He finished 12th at the end.

Prodrive again were strong, with Chaz Mostert taking third and defending champ Mark Winterbottom fifth.

Michael Caruso’s Nissan split the pair.

Click here for full results.

Whincup continues to lead the Championship from van Gisbergen by 110 points. Mark Winterbottom is 120 adrift of the lead in third, with Lowndes fourth and 150 points behind the six-time champ.

Click here for Championship points.

The Supercars head next to Sydney Motorsport Park from August 26-28, the final sprint round before the Pirtek Enduro Cup begins.