Team Vodafone title contenders Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup did not get off to the start they would maybe have wished for in opening practice ahead of this weekend's Falkan Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway, but the pairing remain confident there is more to come.
With both electing not to bolt on new tyres for the session, it was Lowndes who fared better, lapping seven tenths shy of the leading pace and four tenths adrift of key championship rival Garth Tander to sit eighth on the timing screens, with a grip-less Whincup six places – though less than a tenth of a second – further back in 14th.
“The car was quite reasonable when I first went out,” Lowndes affirmed, “and we worked on balance throughout the session. We found a good balance before we went to our P2s, and we went to what we believed was a good qualifying package but just didn't get the time gain that we hoped.
“Despite this I was still happy with the car's balance and I could position it anywhere on the track. We have a lot of useful data to go through tonight and I am very confident that on new tyres we will get a lot more out of the car.”
The three-time V8 Supercar king currently sits 20 points behind Tander in the title chase, having been overhauled by the Toll HSV Holden ace last time out in Bahrain, whilst Whincup lies third, nine points further in arrears. The 24-year-old was a top five contender throughout much of practice, and insisted he was not concerned by his subsequent slip down the order.
“Unfortunately our tyre bank is a bit bare,” the Melbourne native admitted. “We had low grip but consistent P1 tyres, then we rolled the dice and went with our P2s to try and give us some more grip for a couple of laps, but we actually ended up with less grip. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race and trying to get some points back.”
