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SPECIAL

Ford Territory

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

Lowndes Leads Ford 1-2 At Winton

Staff, Tuesday June 6, 2006.

Page 1 of 1

Team Betta Electrical's Craig Lowndes has beaten home Jason Bright (CAT Ford Performance Racing) at the fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Winton Motor Raceway in north-east Victoria.

Lowndes trumped his previous best-effort of sixth at Winton (2000) to put himself well and truly back in the championship race.

For Bright it was his strongest result since re-joining Ford at the start of 2005.

Lowndes finished the opening race of the weekend in second place to Bright; ninth in the reverse-grid race, then took the chequered flag in the weekend's final race.

He's now 30-points behind new championship leader Garth Tander, and 17-points behind second placed Rick Kelly.

With Winton being the test track for all Victorian-based teams, the performance of the Brisbane-based Team Betta Electrical has further boosted team moral.

"I'm delighted to get my Winton hoodoo off my back," said Lowndes.

"For the team it's unreal. We really thought the Victorian teams would be tough to beat here. Besides our team all the others in the top-10 were all those that test at Winton.

"From a Ford point of view it was pleasing to be fighting with another Falcon. Jason had a great weekend and I'm sure we'll have a few more battles this year.

"The team really worked hard for this event; so it's pleasing to see that pay off.

"For the championship we are now up from fifth to third and we are heading to some tracks we are confident of performing strongly at."

Jason Bright was on-course to winning the round, but in the reverse-grid race he collided with Steven Richards, with the result being a puncture and the loss of a lap.

Despite missing the top spot, Bright was pleased with a weekend that included pole position, victory in race #1 and second place in the final race.

"We had a great car this weekend," said Bright.

"It's no fluke as we have had good speed since the end of last year, but just had luck go against us.

"The team is really starting to fire. It's certainly good to have both of our cars running so strongly.

"We could really push this weekend and the crew must be the fastest in the pits right now.

"I enjoyed the racing with Craig, like him, it was great that it was for the lead!

"I know that we can take this form onto other tracks, including the next round in Darwin."

Bright's team-mate Mark Winterbottom (Ford Credit Ford Performance Racing) scored his third-straight top-10 result with seventh overall for the weekend.

It was a disappointing weekend for defending champion Russell Ingall (Caltex Racing). Ingall was set for a finish well inside the top-10, but a collision just three corners into the final race sent him off the track and into a sand trap.

He was pulled out by a recovery truck, but he lost a lap in the process. He was placed 14th at the end of the weekend and is now fifth in the championship.

Ford next goes V8 racing at Darwin's Hidden Valley from June 30 to July 2.

Winton ? Overall results.

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