Maiden win for V8 tyro
V8 Supercars young gun Chaz Mostert has posted just the second race win of his short career after denying veteran Craig Lowndes a slice of championship history at Barbagallo Raceway this afternoon.
Lowndes, 39, was aiming to post the 16th victory of his career at the Wanneroo track to break a long-standing record held by former rival Mark Skaife of the most wins at a single V8s circuit.
But 22-year-old Mostert stepped up to spoil the party, passing Lowndes on lap 39 of the 200km race and holding onto the lead after pitting twice during the Perth 400 marathon.
It was the youngster’s first race victory of the season and his maiden triumph since joining Ford Performance Racing at the end of last year to replace the outgoing Will Davison.
The win lifted him to eighth in the championship standings.
Lowndes, who had earlier qualified in pole position, held his nerve and the lead going into the first corner of the 83-lap race, but did not have the pace to see off Mostert.
The three-times V8s champion finished 2.1744sec behind Mostert to cap off a strong weekend for the Red Bull Racing driver after winning the round’s second race yesterday.
Ford’s Mark Winterbottom claimed the final place on the podium to maintain a strong series lead of 101 points ahead of second-placed Lowndes.
Defending champion Jamie Whincup and Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard rounded out the top five, with Jason Bright sixth.
The result left Whincup further adrift of rival Winterbottom, capping off an indifferent weekend for the man who has won five of the past six championships.
Barbagallo’s typically abrasive surface caused no shortage of tyre carnage, with WA’s Garth Tander and championship contender James Courtney both victims.
Tander’s rear left tyre punctured on lap 39, ruining his hard work after the 37-year-old had climbed from 17th on the grid to as high as ninth.
He eventually finished the race 22nd.
The same tyre on Courtney’s Holden punctured four laps after Tander’s misfortune to similarly hamstring his shot at a podium finish.
