Craig Lowndes didn’t find this race as easy in comparison to previous races over the last month. He climbed from ninth on the grid to finish fifth – a credible result – and one where he finished ahead of championship leader Russell Ingall.
"The car was really strong and had plenty of traction it was just the challenge of overtaking Skaifey that made this race slightly frustrating for me," Lowndes said.
"I really enjoy a good dice for spots but with only two opportunities to overtake on this track you need to be on the ball 110% to get past Mark.
"The new surface is great for racing, I am confident that starting on the third row of the grid tomorrow I can get the power down and gain places before the hairpin, and hopefully we won't have another procession like today.”
Paul Dumbrell continued the solid form of Team Perkins Racing by finishing sixth. After a string of lacklustre results Dumbrell qualified in the Top Ten Shootout and backed it up with a solid sixth placing.
Jason Bright climbed from eighth to seventh after the first 100 kilometres but found it difficult to get a good balance in his Caterpillar Falcon and was caught up in several early incidents resulting in bent steering.
"We didn't get the balance quite right for the race and as a consequence we struggled early and I was hit by at least four cars, which bent the steering," said Bright.
"Despite this, we settled into a strong race pace but it wasn't what the car was capable of due to the steering damage. We know that we have a very fast car here and I'm looking forward to proving this in the races ahead."
Russell Ingall had a good start to the race – getting as high as sixth – before settling into a conservative points-scoring mood and finishing eighth. He maintains a good championship lead – and barring any major incidents in the remaining races this weekend, he could very well increase his championship lead.
"We definitely had to work for that result and it was not that great," said Ingall.
"While saying that, the Caltex Falcon is still in one piece and we only lost a handful of points to Marcos. We have some searching to do tonight and hopefully that will find us a bit more speed.
