Lowndes/Richards lead the charge for Pirtek Enduro Cup glory

Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards head into the final race of the 2018 Pirtek Enduro Cup with with one hand on the iconic trophy.

Set to be decided in Sunday’s race around the streets of the Gold Coast, the 2018 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 victors hold an 87 point advantage.

However, with 150 points on offer the top five in the competition remain in with a chance of victory.

Second place in Saturday’s race saw Lowndes and Richards extend their points advantage over the Shell V-Power Racing pairing of Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat.

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While the former claimed the lead in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship points standings, they lost ground in the Pirtek Enduro Cup.

Third in the competition behind the Autobarn Lowndes Racing and Shell V-Power Racing squads sit Shane van Gisbergen and Earl Bamber.

A tough day saw van Gisbergen cede the championship points advantage to McLaughlin, and all but lost contact in the Pirtek Enduro Cup.

He and co-driver Bamber sat just 60 points in arrears of Lowndes and Richards on Saturday morning, but now trail #888 by 120.

The only others in the frame are the Supercheap Auto Falcon duo of Chaz Mostert and James Moffat, and the Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing combination of Scott Pye and Warren Luff.

Tied on points for fourth in the standings, they’re 150 points away from the lead of the competition.

Both combinations would need to win Sunday’s race and hope Lowndes and Richards failed to score a point, along with a number of other results falling their way, to simply tie things at the top of the competition.

It would force a countback to determine the will, a process which would likely see Lowndes and Richards crowned courtesy of victory at Bathurst, a second place in Saturday’s Gold Coast race, and a third at Sandown.

Supercars action continues on the streets of Surfers Paradise at 1020 with Armor All Qualifying for Sunday’s race, ahead of another Top 10 Shootout at 1140 and the 102 lap race at 1425.

Pirtek Enduro Cup: After Vodafone Gold Coast 600, Race 26

Pos	Num	Driver	Total
1	888	Craig Lowndes/Steve Richards	696
2	17	Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat	609
3	97	Shane Van Gisbergen/Earl Bamber	576
4	55	Chaz Mostert/James Moffat	546
	25	Scott Pye/Warren Luff	546
6	1	Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell	519
7	9	David Reynolds/Luke Youlden	474
8	33	Garth Tander/Chris Pither	456
9	12	Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto	432
10	15	Rick Kelly/Garry Jacobson	363
11	8	Nick Percat/Macauley Jones	360
12	5	Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto	342
13	34	James Golding/Richard Muscat	315
14	230	Will Davison/Alex Davison	309
15	5	Cameron Waters/David Russell	294
16	7	Andre Heimgartner/Aaren Russell	288
17	14	Tim Slade/Ash Walsh	270
18	19	Jack Le Brocq/Jonathon Webb	255
19	21	Tim Blanchard/Dale Wood	252
20	2	James Courtney/Jack Perkins	243
21	35	Todd Hazelwood/Bryce Fullwood	219
22	18	Lee Holdsworth/Jason Bright	216
23	99	Anton de Pasquale/Will Brown	204
24	78	Simona De Silvestro/Alex Rullo	177
25	56	Richie Stanaway/Steve Owen	168
26	23	Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore	96