Photo: TeamVodafone

Craig Lowndes decimates gap with triple at Ipswich

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Craig Lowndes has taken three wins from all three races at the Queensland Raceway in Ipswich, whilst dramas for Jamie Whincup saw the points leader finish in 10th place.

The two Triple Eight Holden drivers had locked out the front row, but on the green flag sighting lap Whincup’s Commodore struggled to get away.

The points leader pitted with a throttle problem at the end of the lap which was resolved as the team discovered part of an engine cover had been left in the car, but the 28-year-old was then hit with a drive through penalty for speeding on his entry to the pits, which put him almost a lap down.

Craig Lowndes then led from Tim Slade, the 26-year-old Stone Brothers Racing driver who has been on impressive form all weekend.

Jason Bright made good progress, moving into the top three in the Brad Jones Racing Commodore, but retired with a problem with the left-rear soon after the second round of pit stops.

After the second stop, Tim Slade was right with Craig Lowndes, the two on their own over thirty seconds ahead of Shane van Gisbergen’s third placed Ford Falcon. The two would battle for the remainder of the race, but the win would go to Lowndes by 1.074 seconds.

James Moffat in the No.18 Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon put on an impressive charge. After qualifying in 11th, the 27-year-old from Melbourne worked his way through the order, passing Fabian Coulthard and Garth Tander on lap 52, and eventually passing David Reynolds for fourth on lap 61, chasing down Shane van Gisbergen to the finish to try and take the final spot on the podium.

Garth Tander, after qualifying in just 19th place in the Holden Racing Team Commodore went on to finish in sixth, grabbing a good result on a bad weekend for the team, with team-mate James Courtney finishing just outside of the top ten in 12th after a recovering Jamie Whincup passed him with two laps to go.

Lowndes’ win with Whincup finishing tenth sees the championship points gap reduced to just 98 points heading into the endurance events at Phillip Island next month and the Bathurst 1000km.