Whincup and Lowndes reflect on wins together over a decade apart

The opening race of the Gold Coast race weekend was won by Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, giving the two most successful drivers in Supercars history their first win driving together since completing the Triple Eight “three-peat” of Bathurst victories in 2008.

Touted as the main focus in the “Dream Team” of Triple Eight in this year’s endurance races, the two experienced drivers made their second start of 2019 together today after last sharing a car at the 2009 Bathurst 1000 as having main drivers paired together was banned from 2010 onwards.

Lowndes was able to hand the #888 car to Whincup in the best possible position to fulfil the dreams of the team after converting a front row start into the race lead, driving a clean opening stint for clear air.

Despite pressure being applied on Whincup thanks to team-mate Shane van Gisbergen behind him on fresh tyres towards the end, the cars were told to hold their positions, giving Whincup his 115th race victory and notching Lowndes’ tally up to 108.

Asked by TouringCarTimes in the post-race press conference about how it felt to win a race together after so long, Lowndes said it was easy to drive again with Whincup and to be able to play a team role to assist his long time team-mate’s championship battle.

“For me it’s really good,” Lowndes said. “We’ve got great history and have been team-mates together for a long time, we know each other’s driving habits and we like the car similar to each other.

“We’ve got a very good thing going especially at this part of the season. Championship, for me in my role, is to just support Jamie, which is great; I think for me, to be able to contribute in these three races is very important.

“I think Jamie has moved up some sports in the championship which I think is great. He’s three rounds behind Scotty (McLaughlin) with two and a half rounds to go so he’s still in with a shot!”

Whincup joked that he wanted to win a race with Lowndes to be able to compare their successes together over a decade apart, as well as saying that while the category has changed over the years, their approach ultimately hasn’t.

“I really wanted to get a win,” Whincup said.

“I just wanted to get a photo from 2008 and now we can have a photo from 2019; we’ll put them together and tell the grandkids how good we were!

“The game has moved forward; the game’s so much different now to what it was in 2008.

“We’ve evolved as the category has evolved, there’s not one particular thing that we’re doing differently or better but the simple concept that made us love go-kart racing when we were ten years old, just going out there and racing your mates, trying to beat them to the finish line, is still alive and well now.

“That’s why we do it, it’s as simple as that; it’s a fun activity to try and beat your mates.”

Whincup and Lowndes now sit third in the Enduro Cup standings after a fourth place finish at the Bathurst 1000 prior to this weekend’s Gold Coast round. They’ll have a change to take a double this weekend with tomorrow’s final race starting at 1500 local time.