Lowndes: Qualifying is Crucial

Craig Lowndes knows the midday 20-minute qualifying session for tonight’s opening race of the Sydney NRMA Motoring & Services 500 could determine his chances of beating Red Bull teammate Jamie Whincup to the V8 supercars Championship.

Lowndes believes he can out-race Whincup in the 250km twilight race, but knows that ability is of no value if he can’t start the race close enough on the grid to do so.

Underlining that concern, Whincup led the timesheets after Friday practice on the challenging concrete-lined Sydney Olympic Park while Lowndes was seventh and more than five tenths of a second slower, citing brake issues for his Holden Commodore VF in the 90 degree turns that dominate the 3.42km track’s final sector.

And across the season Whincup is the fastest qualifier in the entire V8 Supercars field, with a 5.32 starting position average, while Lowndes is only fourth on a 6.94 average.

Whincup leads Lowndes by 20 points in the closest finish to the V8 Supercars Championship in its history; there are a maximum 300 points up for grab over the two races, which means FPR Pepsi Max factory Ford drivers Mark Winterbottom (-124 points) and Will Davison (-223) also are in contention.

If Whincup wins he joins Mark Skaife, Dick Johnson and the late Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan with a record-equalling fifth Championship. If Lowndes wins it will be his fourth but first since 1999. It would the first title for either Winterbottom or Davison.

“If I am nervous about anything it would be qualifying,” Lowndes admitted. “I know how good Jamie is with qualifying and if we are not in front of him we need to be beside him or close to him.

“I think we can out-race him, it’s just a matter of being close enough to be able to do that.”

If Lowndes can’t get close to Whincup on the grid it may mean he has to stack at pit stops as the leading car in the race gets pitlane priority.

Lowndes’ engineer Jeromy Moore has declared this week he will avoid stacking Lowndes at all costs, but strategy experts at rival teams say it simply may be unavoidable.

Whatever the scenarios and concerns, the ever-smiling Lowndes is approaching the race with his usual attitude.

“I am excited. It is a great opportunity for me after 14 years to win the Championship again,” he said.

“We don’t discount Winterbottom by any means,” he cautioned. “If either of us or both of us have a bad day it gives him a great opportunity to leapfrog into second or the lead.”

Lowndes said he was confident he and Moore would arrive at the right set-up to give him the best shot at clawing to the front of grid for Saturday evening’s race – with a little bit of help from Whincup!

“We struggled a little bit at the beginning but got our head around it towards the end,” Lowndes said. “Obviously Jamie being fastest we have got some good data to look at.

“In turns nine, 10, 11, 12 we lack a little bit and it’s mainly under brakes. But through the earlier part of the lap the car flows really well, so we are not too disappointed at all.

“I’d like to be closer than where we are but we know where we are lacking, so it’s not like I am searching to find where it is. I know where it is. For me it is just a matter of getting my head around what I need to do.”

And Lowndes says the novel twilight race, which starts at 5.10pm ADST, holds no fears for him.

“I think the only thing we need to be aware of is the sun coming down and glare. I don’t think there is going to be a problem in terms of losing daylight vision though.”

Lowndes revealed Sunday’s mid-afternoon start and the high temperatures forecast to go with it appealed to him more.

“Sunday is going to be hotter I believe so I will enjoy that more,” he said. “I believe I am more heat tolerant than a lot of other drivers.

“Last year we had a very hot day and I managed to get through it and won the race, so I am really looking forward to the hotter day.”