250th V8 Supercar race for Jamie Whincup
This weekend’s Phillip Island 300 will mark personal milestones for both Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes. Whincup will make his 250th race start while for Lowndes, the event will be his 16th at the iconic Victorian track.
TeamVodafone has shown solid form at Phillip Island in the past, winning the last four races at the 4.44km circuit in succession.
The Brisbane-based team won both races in 2009 and the last two, 500-kilometre races in 2010 and 2011.
TeamVodafone has also had a car finish in the top three of the last nine consecutive races at Phillip Island from 2007 to 2011.
Now commanding the series lead, Whincup is set to celebrate his 250th V8 Supercar Championship race start on Sunday (in Race 11) at the Phillip Island 300.
The three time V8 Supercar Champion has finished top three in eight of the last nine races at Phillip Island, only missing out in 2010 when he retired from the L&H 500 with a mechanical issue.
"This is quite an achievement,” Whincup said. “250 races is a lot and I'm very happy to have a few race wins to show for my efforts.
"I always enjoy Phillip Island, it's one of the best tracks in the country and personally I've had some good wins there but we've also had some ups and downs in the past so hopefully we keep it on the upside this weekend.
"It will also be good to get Paul Dumbrell behind the wheel during practice, it will be his first real taste of the TeamVodafone Holden"
Preparing for his 16th event start at Phillip Island, Craig Lowndes boasts top two finishes in all four, 500-kilometre races held at Phillip Island from 2008 to 2011.
The Holden ace has won the last two V8 Supercar races at Phillip Island, pairing with Mark Skaife. In total, Lowndes has eight race wins at the circuit, just one short of the all-time record held by his former teammate Skaife.
"I'm hoping to put my Championship aspirations back on track this weekend at Phillip Island," Lowndes admitted.
"It's a different weekend to the endurance race, so we will be trying to maximise the car speed. It's a circuit I've had great success at and love the layout. It's truly a driver’s track.
"Weather and wind can make a big difference to the car balance, that will be something the team will be mindful of," Lowndes concluded.
Currently Whincup leads the V8 Supercar Championship by 29 points over Ford rival Will Davison, Lowndes sits in fourth position on 779 points.
The Phillip Island event has been a 500-kilometre race for the last four years but this year will see the format change back to a single-driver, sprint-style event with a 140-kilometre (32 lap) race on Saturday and 200-kilometre race (45 laps) on Sunday.
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