Vodafone duo dominate race 1 at Bahrain

TeamVodafone has continued to dominate at the Gulf Air Desert 400 in Bahrain today with drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes recording their first ever one-two in qualifying before going on to finish first and second in the opening 32-lap V8 Supercar race.

While it was Lowndes who recorded the fastest time in yesterday’s practice sessions, teammate and current Championship leader Jamie Whincup completely controlled today’s qualifying, recording the fastest time in each of the three sectors while Lowndes consistently maintained second.

Putting last years dissapointing result well and truely behind him, Whincup’s performance today was faultless. A fantastic start saw him able to build an immediate gap and the fantastic pit strategy that played out for both he and Lowndes ensured the 25 year old was never under threat from any other competitor.

In recognising the amazing job his team has done in preparing the #88 TeamVodafone V8 Supercar for this event Whincup acknowledged that the car was the best he had ever driven.

“I am so proud to be part of TeamVodafone right now,” said Whincup. “It was a great day for the team and I really didn’t expect to have that pace throughout the whole race.

“This is the year of achievements and to get our first one-two in qualifying is a big deal.

“I am now in situation where I am going to have to change my win or bust theory, we are in a very good position championship-wise and I would be crazy to jeopardise that,” he added.

While Whincup was racing in clean air and open space at the front of the field a slow start saw Lowndes envolved in a stouch for positions with Garth Tander, Todd Kelly and Steven Johnson during the opening laps of the race.

Lowndes eventually reclaimed second thanks to a sensational compulsory pitstop on Lap-9 by his hardworking team.

“I got a terrible start,” said Lowndes.”I was actually afraid that I had fried the clutch, which did start to become an issue late in the race.

“I had a great battle with Garth (Tander) and Todd (Kelly), but it was the awesome pit strategy which got me back out in front of Todd.

“To be honest it kind of got a bit boring after that I just sat behind Jamie for the remainder of the race,” Lowndes admitted