Lowndes leads Holden whitewash in Symmons Plains practice

Craig Lowndes has made the perfect start to a potentially record setting weekend for the Red Bull Holden driver by clocking the fastest time in Friday practice at Symmons Plains

The 38-year-old, who will take the all-time win record from Mark Skaife if he can score a victory in any of the three races this weekend, set the quickest time of the day after the chequered flag fell in Practice 3.

Lowndes’ 51.38s effort saw the #888 Holden jump from sixth to the top of the order.

Lowndes’ team-mate Jamie Whincup and Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard were second and third respectively having also found themselves at the top during various stages of the final minute.

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Standout rookie Scott McLaughlin was fourth after setting his best time midway through the 30 minutes.

A red flag following an incident between Maro Engel and Michael Caruso at the Turn 4 hairpin had set-up the final flurry of fast times, with the field turned green again with just four minutes remaining.

The Red Bull Holdens had both appeared from pitlane with new soft compound tyres moments before the red flags flew.

James Courtney and Jason Bright were fifth and sixth at session’s end respectively, ensuring Holden drivers locked out the top half dozen places.

Mark Winterbottom completed a solid day’s work in seventh ahead of Alexandre Premat, Dean Fiore and Scott Pye.

Several at the bottom of the order, including the Norton Nissans of James Moffat and Michael Caruso and the Dick Johnson Racing Fords of Tim Blanchard and Jonny Reid, ran only on the hard compound tyres today.

A fourth and final practice session will take place tomorrow morning ahead of qualifying.

See below for the Practice 3 result

1	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.3794
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.4449	0:00.0655
3	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.5363	0:00.1569
4	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.6007	0:00.2213
5	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.6110	0:00.2316
6	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.6589	0:00.2795
7	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	0:51.7853	0:00.4059
8	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Alexandre Premat	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.7861	0:00.4067
9	Dodo Insurance Racing	Dean Fiore	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.7922	0:00.4128
10	ekol Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.7923	0:00.4129
11	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.7986	0:00.4192
12	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	0:51.8022	0:00.4228
13	TEKNO Team VIP	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.8682	0:00.4888
14	Tekno Autosports	Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.8863	0:00.5069
15	Irwin Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:51.9009	0:00.5215
16	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.9057	0:00.5263
17	The Bottle-O FPR Ford	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG	0:51.9170	0:00.5376
18	Team HIFLEX	Tony D’Alberto	Holden Commodore VF	0:51.9399	0:00.5605
19	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	0:52.0535	0:00.6741
20	Jeld-wen FPR Ford	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	0:52.0818	0:00.7024
21	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	0:52.1107	0:00.7313
22	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	0:52.2310	0:00.8516
23	SP Tools Racing	Maro Engel	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:52.3319	0:00.9525
24	Heavy Haulage Racing	Tim Slade	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:52.7704	0:01.3910
25	Norton 360 Racing	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	0:52.9247	0:01.5453
26	Norton 360 Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	0:52.9446	0:01.5652
27	Wilson Security Racing	Tim Blanchard	Ford Falcon FG	0:53.0563	0:01.6769
28	Wilson Security Racing	Jonny Reid	Ford Falcon FG	0:53.3489	0:01.9695