Photo by: Edge Photographics
TeamVodafone take historic 1-2 victory at the L&H 500
As if written for the big screen, Sunday’s L&H Phillip Island 500 race produced blockbuster-quality racing with an action packed finish, TeamVodafone emerging the hero of the day with Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife conquering the 500km race and ahead of teammates Jamie Whincup and Andrew Thompson.
With Andrew Thompson starting fourth off the grid and Mark Skaife behind in sixth, it was misfortune for Nick Percat that gave TeamVodafone a clear run at the start line.
The #88 Commodore flew off the line with precision, so much so that officials investigated Thompson for possibly jumping the start but threw the claims out as they agreed it was just an ‘exceptional start.’
On Lap 50 Skaife came in, swapping with Lowndes. Thompson came in the lap after, handing the car over to current Championship point’s leader Whincup.
The battle really began to heat up in the final 30 laps of the race with Shane Van Gisbergen on a mission to gain the top spot.
With a tyre related issue slowing the Ford driver down, Lowndes was able to extend his lead as Whincup caught up and passed Van Gisbergen to move into second place.
Only one yellow flag was presented during the entire 113-lap race, a pair of large birds slowing the high-speed race for a brief moment before being shooed away.
With Skaife taking out his 90th race victory and Lowndes’ 5th consecutive win, the L&H 500 domination couldn’t be sweeter for TeamVodafone, Whincup still leads the V8 Supercar Championship Series, only 92 points ahead of teammate Lowndes.
TeamVodafone’s endurance co-drivers look ahead to the biggest race of the year, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 which will get underway from October 6th – 9th.
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