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Front Page
Lowndes Scores First Win for Ford in Adelaide
Staff, Saturday April 7, 2001.
Page 1 of 1
It was a great day with Steven Johnson bringing his Shell Helix Falcon home in second place, Steve Ellery (Super Cheap Auto) fifth, John Bowe (CAT Racing) eighth and Dean Canto (RPM International Racing) gaining a career best 10th place.
The Gibson Motorsport Falcon came through to take the lead after Shell Helix Racing's Paul Radisich dominated the opening half of the race.
In one of the most dramatic races in recent history, many cars were involved in different incidents, including two safety car periods to remove damaged cars.
Lowndes was forced to avoid a collision between Todd Kelly and Garth Tander, which also damaged Steven Johnson's Falcon early in the race.
With the exception of running wide on one bend in the closing laps, it was a faultless display by the three-times Shell Series Champion.
"We did not expect to win a race so early in the season - I was aiming for top ten results during the first half of the year, so this is a great team victory," said Lowndes.
"It was a very dramatic race with people hitting each other, I was keen to stay away from all those incidents to come away with a clean car at the end.
"I got passed Radisich who was in the wars all day, he got into a battle with cars behind him and that gave me a great break over the competition.
"We do have to do it all again tomorrow, and starting from the front of the grid will be a great advantage.
Steven Johnson's second placing was a career best, and continues what has been a consistent start to 2001.
"I'm delighted to gain a second placing in what is one of the toughest races on the calendar," said Johnson.
"This is a sign of things to come, and hopefully that win is not too far away - tomorrow possibly could be that day.
"I finished with a badly damaged driver's door, but we'll change that and get back into it tomorrow.
Steven Ellery underlined his potential by showing plenty of maturity to gain fifth place.
"My car seemed to get stronger as the race continued and it's great to put not only a great result on the board, but set lap times amongst the leaders," said Ellery.
"Starting from fifth will give a great chance tomorrow - Lowndes started from eighth today and he scored the top spot, so we are very much in with a chance.
Lowndes win has closed the Shell Series to just nine points from defending champion Mark Skaife. Tomorrow's second race carries extra points, and all Ford teams are set to move further up the leader board.
Top-10 positions following the shootout for the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide:
| 1. Craig Lowndes | - | Gibson Motorsport | : | Ford Falcon AU XR8 | 427 Championship pts |
| 2. Steven Johnson | - | Shell Helix Racing | : | Ford Falcon AU XR8 | 320 Championship pts |
| 3. Russell Ingall | - | : | 300 Championship pts | ||
| 4. Mark Skaife | - | : | 436 Championship pts | ||
| 5. Steven Ellery | - | Super Cheap Auto | : | Ford Falcon AU XR8 | 256 Championship pts |
| 6. Garth Tander | - | : | 230 Championship pts | ||
| 7. Jason Bright | - | : | 343 Championship pts | ||
| 8. John Bowe | - | CAT Racing | : | Ford Falcon AU XR8 | 162 Championship pts |
| 9. Jason Bargwanna | - | : | 201 Championship pts | ||
| 10. Dean Canto | - | RPM International | : | Ford Falcon AU XR8 | 92 Championship pts |
For further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing
Phone: (03) 9533 4455
Mobile: 0417 262 753
e-Mail: ben@segalmedia.com.au
