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Craig Lowndes made the best of another dramatic sprintĀ at Hidden Valley to record his 100th career V8 Supercars Championship race win.
Starting fifth in the soft tyre race, Lowndes exited Turn 1 in the lead after contact between front-row starters Rick Kelly and Fabian Coulthard.
Coulthard had out-dragged the pole-sitting Nissan to the first corner only for Kelly to tap the rear of the Holden, sending both to the back of the field.
Further contact later in the lap between Andre Heimgartner, Will Davison, Jamie Whincup and Nick Percat then triggered a Safety Car to collect the Super Black Ford.
Lowndes controlled the restart from Tim Slade before pulling away to a comfortable victory.
Symbolically for the #888 Holden, the win came in the 888th ever ATCC/V8 Supercars Championship race.
“It’s quite incredible weāve been close in the last couple of rounds,” said Lowndes.
“This one is obviously something really special for me. Thankfully Sladey let me get a gap and I could just manage the car.
“It is a credit to the guys. It’s been a fantastic career, it’s been amazing to work with these guys for such a long time.
“We had a bad run in Race 1 and I didnāt think it would happen but all the stars aligned.
“It was 888th for V8 Supercars our car is 888, its an amazing feeling.”
Slade held off a determined Chaz Mostert for second while Scott Pye carved his way to a season-best fourth for DJR Team Penske.
Shane van Gisbergen, James Courtney, Mark Winterbottom, Garth Tander, Scott McLaughlin and David Reynolds completed the top 10.
Van GisbergenĀ and Courtney traded places on multiple occasions without incident, despite their clash in the earlier heat.
Those to strike trouble further back included the two Erebus Mercedes-AMGs, which collided mid-race, sending Will Davison into a spin.
Result: V8 Supercars Race 14, Hidden ValleyĀ
| 1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 27:50.5225 |
| 2 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 27:52.3616 |
| 3 | Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 21 | Ā 27:52.9674 |
| 4 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 21 | Ā 27:54.4101 |
| 5 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 27:55.8491 |
| 6 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 27:56.5551 |
| 7 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 21 | Ā 27:56.9140 |
| 8 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 27:58.2504 |
| 9 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 21 | Ā 28:00.7656 |
| 10 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 21 | Ā 28:00.9707 |
| 11 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 21 | Ā 28:02.0039 |
| 12 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 21 | Ā 28:02.6571 |
| 13 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 28:05.8291 |
| 14 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 21 | Ā 28:06.1826 |
| 15 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 28:06.4791 |
| 16 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 28:06.9250 |
| 17 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 21 | Ā 28:09.9834 |
| 18 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 21 | Ā 28:10.3641 |
| 19 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 21 | Ā 28:20.5181 |
| 20 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Ashley Walsh | Mercedes E63 AMG | 21 | Ā 28:21.3942 |
| 21 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 21 | Ā 28:43.0622 |
| 22 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 18 | Ā 28:32.9793 |
| DNF | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | Ā 9 | Ā 16:19.3303 |
| DNF | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | Ā 1 | Ā 1:24.2389 |
| DNF | Super Black Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG/X |
VIDEO: Craig Lowndes reflects on scoring 100 V8 race wins
