hero-img

Top Performer: SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin

22 Jun 2015
Lowndes cracked the hundred, Reynolds broke a long drought, Mostert into fourth in the points - who was your best in Darwin?

Craig Lowndes cracked the hundred, David Reynolds broke a drought stretching back to October 2013, Chaz Mostert jumped into fourth in the points - there were plenty of strong performances over the hectic weekend at Hidden Valley.

Three different race winners, three different ARMOR ALL Pole Position winners - Prodrive Racing was still up the front, but the focus was on Mostert and Reynolds rather than Championship leader Mark Winterbottom.

Add some speedy Nissans, and showings from DJR Team Penske and Brad Jones Racing and there is plenty to look out for at the upcoming Castrol EDGE Townsville 400.

Who was your top performer from the weekend?

Craig Lowndes - Red Bull Racing Australia - finished 18th, first and 15th

While two of the three races garnered ordinary results by his standard, Saturday's win was one of the great moments in V8 Supercars.

Earning his 100th victory in the sport - and being the first driver to do so - saw Lowndes and his Red Bull team emotional in the post-race celebrations.

He had been gunning for it since Tasmania, and it came to be at Darwin, a track he has generally performed well at.

The team admitted an error in strategy on Sunday. But how can you go past that win by 1.839sec over Tim Slade, on soft tyres on Saturday?

David Reynolds - The Bottle-O Racing - finished 16th, 10th and first

He hadn't seen a race win or a pole position since 2013, and yesterday over 200km Reynolds delivered.

He has been close at Darwin before but never crossed the line first until yesterday - and it wasn't without its challenges with a deflating tyre forcing him to run 59 laps on soft tyres.

The win elevated him from ninth to seventh in the Championship and puts him ahead of Jamie Whincup and Garth Tander.

Reynolds was quickest on Friday, setting a new lap record on the recently resurfaced track, and while it was surpassed on the weekend, he hit back in Sunday qualifying and can now call himself the quickest man around Hidden Valley with his 1min06.2526.

Chaz Mostert - Prodrive Racing - finished first, third and second

Mostert recovered from his Winton worries and conquered his bogey track, making the podium in each race.

The strong and consistent performance saw him move from eighth to fourth in the Championship - he even earned a few positions overnight on Saturday, after front-runners were docked points for on-track incidents during the chaotic races.

He didn't earn another pole position but still leads the count with five P1 starts.

Rick Kelly - Jack Daniel's Motorsport - finished third, 21st and 13th

Saturday's second race is surely one that got away for Rick Kelly, who tangled with Fabian Coulthard at the first corner after earning pole position and nabbing the lap record at the time.

Reynolds took that back in yesterday's qualifying - and while it was only a mid-pack performance for Kelly during the race, he managed to set the race lap record with a 1min06.8659 on soft tyres.

The Altimas weren't expected to perform well at Darwin with its long straight - but Kelly came out firing and led home teammates James Moffat in a Nissan three-four-five in race 13 after he qualified seventh.

Scott Pye - DJR Team Penske - finished sixth, fourth and 16th

Pye backed up his Winton form on Saturday with two top 10 results, equaling his career best finished of fourth in the second race.

The 25-year old felt the team made progress, and while he was hampered by a slow start on Sunday, showed he and the FG X can perform with the year's best results.

Pye has jumped up a position in the Championship, sitting 24th after missing a complete points round at the Clipsal 500.

Who do you think was the best performer over the weekend at the SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin? Vote and comment below.

Related News