Lowndes keeps Vodafone on top in Practice 5

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

 
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Phillip Island Race Guide