R2 RACE 1 - A perfect ten for Lowndes
19/3/2000 1:59 (Jason Whittaker) - Craig Lowndes boasts a perfect ten from ten race win record at Barbagallo Raceway following his victory today in race one of the WA round of the Shell Championship Series.
Lowndes must love his trips to Perth, having taken a clean sweep of the three-race Shell Series rounds in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
"It's a nice record to have I guess. Maybe tomorrow I can stretch it to twelve," said Lowndes.
The Holden Racing Team reigning champion, stole the start from his polesitting teammate, Mark Skaife, and the HRT duo rapidly pulled away from the pack.
"Craig got a bit better traction than me off the line, and that gave him the lead," said Skaife. "Our cars felt very good from the start and, being teammates, we were able to not fight and pull away from the rest who were busy fighting amongst themselves."
Local hero, Valvoline Cummins Racing's Garth Tander, tried to make an impression on the HRT leaders, but his efforts were in vein as the powerhouse team of V8 Supercar Racing took another 1-2 finish.
"They got the jump on us for the first few laps. I think I took it a bit too easy at the start. I was conscious of looking after my tyres and went into conserve mode too early instead of attack," said Tander.
Castrol Holden's Russell Ingall fought his way back to fourth at the finish after slipping to sixth off the start, while Tander's teammate, Jason Bargwanna, stole fifth place from Paul Radisich on the last corner to complete the Holden top five.
Radisich's Shell Helix Racing Falcon was followed by Mark Larkham's Mitre 10 Ford. Tony Longhurst impressed with eighth in the Caltex AU Falcon, followed by Steven Johnson in the second Shell car.
Paul Morris celebrated his exoneration from a reckless driving charge arising from the Hot Wheels Races at the recent F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne with his first Shell Series top ten finish in the Big Kev Commodore.
John Bowe suffered power steering failure, forcing the CAT Racing Falcon to retire, while John Faulkner and Paul Romano retired after excursions into the sand.
Faulkner's clash with Craig Baird's Pirtek Ford saw the safety car called on for two laps, but the HRT pair remained all conquering, sounding an awesome warning to the field that the team of 1999 has lost little for 2000.
Races two and three will be held tomorrow with Perth fans keen to see their 22 year old hope, Tander, upset the HRT parade. Ford fans continue to wait for their drivers to make an impression on the Holden dominance which has seen the lopsided race win ratio grow to 34 to three in the Shell Series since the beginning of 1999.
**TOP 10**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
3rd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
4th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
5th JASON BARGWANNA (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
6th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
7th MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon
8th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
9th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
10th PAUL MORRIS (Big Kev Racing) - VS Commodore
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