TeamVodafone has ended the opening day of practice for the L&H 500 at Phillip Island on top of the time sheets.
Craig Lowndes ended the third and final session of the day as the fastest man – outpacing the team’s sister entry of Jamie Whincup/Andrew Thompson by 0.31s.
Lowndes set the 1:33.22s benchmark on his first run, with track conditions contributing to a lack of fast times as the session continued.
The David Reynolds/Tim Blanchard Stratco Racing Commodore was third fastest, ahead of Jason Bright/Andrew Jones (Team BOC) and Shane van Gisbergen/John McIntyre (SP Tools Racing).
Two red flag periods punctuated the session, with the Alex Davison/David Brabham IRWIN Racing Falcon suffering a mechanical issue on its out-lap, and the Orrcon Steel entry of Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards stopping on the track after striking a rabbit.
See below for the full Practice 3 result
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.2171 |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | J.Whincup/A.Thompson | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.5301 |
| 3 | Stratco Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.5847 |
| 4 | Team Boc | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.7475 |
| 5 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:33.9253 |
| 6 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:33.9551 |
| 7 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.0298 |
| 8 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | P.Dumbrell/D.Canto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.0577 |
| 9 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | W.Davison/L.Youlden | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.1225 |
| 10 | Bundaberg Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.2647 |
| 11 | Pepsi Max Crew | G.Murphy/A.Simonsen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.4777 |
| 12 | Toll Holden Racing Team | G.Tander/N.Percat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.5886 |
| 13 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.6563 |
| 14 | Jana Living Racing | J.Bargwanna/S.Price | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.7829 |
| 15 | Toll Holden Racing Team | J.Courtney/C.McConville | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.9030 |
| 16 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.9205 |
| 17 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | R.Kelly/O.Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.0041 |
| 18 | Triple F Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.0902 |
| 19 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | M.Caruso/M.Marshall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.1181 |
| 20 | Wilson Security Racing | T.D’Alberto/D.Wood | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.1633 |
| 21 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | K.Reindler/D.Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.2115 |
| 22 | VIP Petfoods | S.Owen/P.Morris | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.3311 |
| 23 | Irwin Racing | A.Davison/D.Brabham | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.4110 |
| 24 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.5004 |
| 25 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.7191 |
| 26 | Mother Energy Racing Team | J.Webb/R.Lyons | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.8249 |
| 27 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | Warren Luff | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.1492 |
| 28 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:36.1949 |
For more on the L&H 500, see Speedcafe.com’s V8 Race Guide below
