After more than 500 man hours to repair the extensive damage caused to his TeamVodafone V8 Supercar at the season opener, Craig Lowndes will be back behind the wheel of chassis 12A for the inaugural Hamilton 400 street race, to be held in New Zealand next weekend.
Lowndes' Ford Falcon sustained substantial rear end damage in an on-track altercation during the final leg of the Adelaide event, forcing him into the team's spare car for the second round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series at Eastern Creek Raceway in March.
The vehicle has undergone a massive rebuild which included repairs to the roll cage and replacing the rear chassis rails, boot floor, rear wing, boot lid and rear quarter panels.
Lowndes admitted his confidence was renewed with the knowledge he was returning to the newer chassis and said he was also looking forward to the challenge of setting the car up for a brand new circuit.
“I have a good feeling about next weekend,” said Lowndes. “Because we have had such a big break between rounds and I am going to a brand new circuit with a virtually new car, it feels a bit like we are heading into the opening round of the championship all over again.
“New races are always exciting, as no one team has an advantage, we are all in the same boat and success will come down to team work.
“Both Jamie [Whincup – my team-mate] and I will arrive in Hamilton early next week so we can walk the track a few times and get a good idea on the surface conditions. We will then try and cross reference what we think it resembles with the data we have from either Indy or Clipsal, to give us a base set-up ahead of Friday's practice.”
Jamie Whincup meanwhile will be out to strengthen his championship position; the 25 year old currently leads the V8 Supercar Championship Series on 540 points and is 108 points ahead of his nearest rival, Holden driver Rick Kelly.
“Next weekend we arrive at a brand new track which means a level playing field for all teams,” Whincup added.
“Team work, especially between the driver and engineers will be paramount in practice, to set the car up for the new conditions.
![Craig Lowndes - Team Vodafone Falcon [Pic credit: Edge Photographics/Ford]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/414958.jpg)
