Craig Lowndes qualifies fourth at Bathurst
8/10/2004 22:31 (Press Release) -
CAT FPR Falcon driver Craig Lowndes has qualified fourth ahead of tomorrow's top ten shootout for the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst today. The 30 year old triple Champion's effort has placed Ford Performance Racing (FPR) as the top Ford qualifiers at this most prestigious of V8 Supercar rounds.
Lowndes' performance was outstanding, given that he had dropped to 9th by the closing stages of the highly competitive 45 minute session. Lowndes' fastest lap time of 2:08.3637s was less than three tenths of a second behind today's fastest driver and 2003 winner and polesetter Greg Murphy in a Holden. Murphy was followed by Jason Bright and Steven Richards.
Ford Credit FPV Falcon driver Adam Macrow set his fastest ever Bathurst qualifying lap time of 2:09.6453s that placed him 23rd overall out of the 35 competitors, but an error during the session forced the exclusion of his qualifying lap time. (Macrow missed a random vehicle weigh in). This exclusion has relegated Macrow and his double British Touring Car Champion team mate Alain Menu to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday's great race.
#6 Craig Lowndes - "We managed to get the best out of the car today. It was our goal to make the top ten and we achieved that strongly in the closing stages, so I am very happy with our effort. There is no doubt that Rob Benson has done a terrific job with our engines even though he has only been with us a short time, we have improved a lot and after a tough season it is good to be in strong shape here at Bathurst."
#6 Glenn Seton - "That was a sensational effort by Craig and the team, placing us in a strong position for the top ten shoot out tomorrow. It is good to see that the car has got the pace to run with the top competitors this weekend and place us in a challenging position to try and win this race."
#5 Adam Macrow - "The car is great, I think we are in very good shape for the race. The car is well balanced, it is neutral on its tyres, the engine performed well and it was great to set a solid two minute, nine second lap here. I was trying very hard on that lap and it got a bit ragged. I'm disappointed about my regulation weighbridge error during the session.Alain and I will have a lot of work ahead of us from the rear of the grid on Sunday.
#5 Alain Menu - "Adam did a good job in qualifying, unfortunately it was to no avail. This will leave us with even more work to do than we were expecting for this race, but we are still determined to gain a top ten finish."
FPR Chief Engineer, John Russell - "Great effort by the team to be the fastest Ford at this the holy grail of Australian motorsport. Craig dug deep and rewarded the team with 4th place on the provisional grid. Adam drove a spirited session, posting a time only 1.6 seconds off pole, but sadly was excluded due to a misunderstanding with the officials at the pit lane scales. Race
preparation continues with the team determined to capitalise on this strong start."
FPR returns to Mount Panorama for the fifth and final practice session at 10:00am before Sunday's Bob Jane T-Marts 1000. Craig Lowndes will be competing for a higher starting position on the grid in the top ten shootout which starts at 3:40pm.
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