Red Bull Racing Australia came charging out of the starting blocks at the Ipswich 400, clocking up a front row lockout and two 1-2 finishes in today’s two 100km races.
The day started with a pole position for Craig in the No.888 Holden, his team-mate right on his heels in second. Lowndesy had the jump off the start and pulled a clear gap, but Jamie’s speed and tyre life proved stronger and he took the lead with 10 laps to go.
“Our car was good in the first race today and we were in the fortunate position of being able to control the race,” said Jamie.
After a horror weekend in Townsville, Craig’s confident the team is back on track: “We struggled with pace in race one today and I made a mistake exiting turn six which allowed Jamie to pass me but it was great that we had a one-two finish for Red Bull Racing Australia and I was happy with my bounce back after Townsville.”
Starting third and fourth respectively for race two, Jamie and Craig were left to settle into their positions for the majority of the race, but a tangle between the two leading cars ahead saw them each move up a spot. A black flag and pit lane penalty were then handed to Car 36, which gifted RBRA the second 1-2 finish of the day.
“We didn’t quite have our way in the second race and we didn’t have the pace but we kept our heads down and we were pretty lucky that there were tangles up ahead,” said Jamie.
“We were very lucky to get to the end of the race with a few little issues going on behind the scenes. The engine fuelled up a couple of times and I had an issue with the brakes coming out of the pits but we managed to hold on.”
“The whole team did a great job today giving us a double one-two finish which is giving us some good momentum and confidence. Tomorrow will be a whole new ball game and you’ll start seeing some varying strategies to make the most of the different conditions and race format,” said Lowndesy.
Qualifying for tomorrow’s race starts at 12.55pm QLD time, followed by the 200km race at 3.50pm. Click here for TV times.
