Red Bull Racing Australia have wrapped up the 2014 V8 Supercars Teams Championship with two top ten finishes in today’s curtain closer at Phillip Island.
The 200km race saw JDub start from pole position, but the No.33 Volvo and No.2 Holden edged in front in the opening corners to put him back to third.
“We didn’t quite have the pace that we had yesterday,” he said. “We got out-powered down the straight off the start and then got passed by Garth Tander which put me in third and then jumped by Mark Winterbottom in the pits which put us back in fourth. We fought on and tried to get the last podium spot but we just weren’t quite quick enough in the end.
“All in all it was a very memorable weekend, one we will remember for a long time and we still got some fantastic points from today, so an awesome team effort. Today also sealed the V8 Supercars Teams Championship for us so we’re all proud of our efforts and looking forward to the Sydney 500 in three weeks.”
Meanwhile, Lowndesy made great gains in opening stint, coming from 15th to eighth before a safety car was called. The whole field pitted and unfortunately the Red Bull Holden lost track position as it stacked behind its teammate.
“Our car was good in qualifying, I just made a mistake on the second set of tyres which was my last run and just locked up a tyre and ran a bit wide,” he said.
“It was a little disappointing because the car was much better than we qualified. It was always going to be a tough race starting from 15th and the safety car came out at the wrong time for us. Stacking in pit lane was inevitable in that situation, it probably would have been worse if we were closer to Jamie but we were able to manage the gap a bit better.
In true Lowndes style, the three-time series champ fought through the pack to finish 10th: “I had a good battle with both Rick Kelly and James Courtney, it was a fun race and we finished 10th which was a good solid day.”
Red Bull Racing Australia now heads into the last round of the season, the Sydney 500 in three weeks’ time, with both championships provisionally in the bag.
