Craig Lowndes has completed TeamVodafone’s preparations for today’s first V8 Supercars qualifying session by topping Practice 5.
Having sat out this morning’s first session while co-driver Mark Skaife completed laps, Lowndes sat atop the Practice 2 times for the majority of the 40 minutes.
The reigning Phillip Island and Bathurst winner lowered his 1:33.70s best effort to 1:33.47s inside the final five minutes, which was enough to withstand a late final flyer from Nick Percat in the #2 Toll Holden Racing Team entry.
Jason Bright (Team BOC) showed strong form to record the third fastest time, ahead of Lee Holdsworth (Fujitsu Racing) and Todd Kelly (Jack Daniel’s Racing).
Jason Bargwanna and Paul Dumbrell both had hairy moments in final practice.
The Jana Living Commodore sailed off the road at the Southern Loop (Turn 2), with Bargwanna skipping through the gravel trap before narrowly avoiding contact with the outside wall.
Dumbrell however was not so lucky, with The Bottle-O Falcon head-butting the outside tyre barrier at Siberia after doing some gravel surfing of his own. Dumbrell drove back to the pits after the incident, with his Ford Performance Racing showing no visible signs of damage.
Taz Douglas had his first run in place of Tony D’Alberto at Wilson Security Racing – ending the session 25th fastest.
The V8 Supercars will return to the circuit at 11:25 this morning, with those nominated as Driver A facing a 20 minute qualifying session for this afternoon’s Qualifying Race A.
CLICK HERE for the full Driver A and B lists
See below for the full Practice 5 order
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.4692 |
| 2 | Toll Holden Racing Team | G.Tander/N.Percat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.6657 |
| 3 | Team Boc | J.Bright/A.Jones | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.7657 |
| 4 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | L.Holdsworth/G.Ritter | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.7880 |
| 5 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | T.Kelly/David Russell | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.8241 |
| 6 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | W.Davison/L.Youlden | Ford Falcon FG | 1:33.8723 |
| 7 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | M.Winterbottom/S.Richards | Ford Falcon FG | 1:33.9244 |
| 8 | TeamVodafone | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.9274 |
| 9 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.0120 |
| 10 | Pepsi Max Crew | G.Murphy/A.Simonsen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.1043 |
| 11 | Stratco Racing | D.Reynolds/T.Blanchard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.1364 |
| 12 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | P.Dumbrell/D.Canto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.1881 |
| 13 | Lucky 7 Racing | T.Slade/D.Gaunt | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.2525 |
| 14 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.2670 |
| 15 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Cameron McConville | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.2861 |
| 16 | Jana Living Racing | Jason Bargwanna | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.3814 |
| 17 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | R.Kelly/O.Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.5072 |
| 18 | Triple F Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.6464 |
| 19 | Irwin Racing | A.Davison/D.Brabham | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.8141 |
| 20 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | M.Caruso/M.Marshall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.8312 |
| 21 | VIP Petfoods | Paul Morris | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.8953 |
| 22 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.0630 |
| 23 | Jim Beam Racing | J.Moffat/M.Halliday | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.0879 |
| 24 | Bundaberg Racing | F.Coulthard/C.Baird | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.1747 |
| 25 | Wilson Security Racing | Taz Douglas | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.2690 |
| 26 | Mother Energy Racing Team | Richard Lyons | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.3254 |
| 27 | Jim Beam Racing | S.Johnson/D.Besnard | Ford Falcon FG | 1:36.1038 |
| 28 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | W.Luff/N.Pretty | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:37.0229 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Phillip Island Race Guide
