Red Bulls clash as Whincup dominates

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UPDATE: CRAIG Lowndes staged a remarkable Symmons Plains rescue mission yesterday with the Red Bull Racing veteran passing 20 cars to finish 5th after a qualification penalty forced him to start in last place.

Jamie Whincup continued his relentless V8 charge by winning both of yesterday's sprint races but his double was overshadowed by Lowndes and the stunning charge that saw him stay in the championship race.

Lowndes avoided disaster by relentlessly moving through the field after he was stripped of a front row start because of a piece of tape.

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The three-time series champion was forced to front stewards before the second race after a tape placed over a hole on his door was ruled to have given him an illegal aerodynamic advantage.

"I could do anything about the ruling,'' Lowndes said.

"It was out of my control. I knew I was going to be in traffic but the car was really speedy on the back straight and that is what I needed to pass cars.''

Lowndes was stripped of his qualifying result moments after being given a serve from his team boss Roland Dane for a collision with his teammate Whincup.

Dane described Lowndes and Whincup as childish after the pair came together during a passing move.

Whincup dived to steal the race one lead from Lowndes and sent his teammate off the track in a move that cost Red Bull Racing a one-two.

But Lowndes bounced back from the drama to steal 5th with a typically stunning drive.

Whincup topped both qualifying sessions and both races on Saturday. Source: Getty Images

But the day belonged to Whincup, who bounced back from a sluggish season start to win both races and give newcomer Volvo a slap.

"The car was excellent all day and we wualified well,'' Whincup said.

RED BULL BOSS BLOWS UP OVER BINGLE

"We had a fast car and I had a good battle with Mark (Winterbottom) after getting a much better start. It was also good to see Craig fight-back from his penalty.

Winterbottom landed second place following a third place finish in the second to give Ford fans hope after being blitzed by Holden and Volvo in the first two rounds of the season.

"That was good fun,'' Winterbottom said.

"We did a lot of work to the car to get it here and we can be really proud of what we have done.''

LIVE BLOG: SCROLL DOWN TO RELIVE THE RACES AS THEY HAPPENED

Lowndes trademark smile was wiped from his face before the race with the stewards ruling coming as a double blow after being bumped from the track by race one winner Whincup.

Both driver were given a dressing down following the crash but Whincup was unrepentant after the "textbook'' pass.

"It is unfortunate that it was Lowndsey,'' Whincup said.

"It could have been a 1-2 and it is disappointing that we didn't get that result. I am sorry it was him but I am not sorry about the move. It was a text box pass and I do not feel that I did anything wrong.''

Lowndes copped the bump in his stride before going on to finish the day with a stirring second place.

"It would not have been an issue if it wasn't Jamie,'' Lowndes said.

"When you have two competitive drivers eventually things like that are going to happen.''

The double saw Whincup reestablish himself as the man to beat following an early season onslaught from Volvo's Scott McLaughlin.

The new sensation finished 5th in the first race and 4th in the second at the track he was predicted to be "unbeatable''.

Courtney also continued his good form with the Clipsal 500 winner landing a podium for HRT as the team continues their long awaited rise.

RESULTS - Race 5, Tyrepower Tasmania 400

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1 Jamie Whincup (Holden) 42m46.3425s
2 Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +0.4875s
3 Fabian Coulthard (Holden) +2.2339s
4 Scott McLaughlin (Volvo) +3.7159s
5 Craig Lowndes (Holden) +3.9191s
6 Jason Bright (Holden) +4.3879s
7 Garth Tander (Holden) +7.1884s
8 Scott Pye (Ford) +7.3896s
9 Jack Perkins (Ford) +8.1507s
10 Lee Holdsworth (Erebus) +8.3990s
11 James Courtney (Holden) +8.8234s
12 Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +9.8217s
13 James Moffat (Nissan) +10.4712s
14 Todd Kelly (Nissan) +10.9139s
15 Tim Slade (Holden) +11.3545s
16 Michael Caruso (Nissan) +12.1148s
17 David Reynolds (Ford) +12.5980s
18 Robert Dahlgren (Volvo) +12.7183s
19 Chaz Mostert (Ford) +31.8144s
20 David Wall (Ford) 41 laps
21 Russell Ingall (Holden) 41 laps
22 Dale Wood (Holden) 41 laps
23 Will Davison (Erebus) 40 laps
24 Rick Kelly (Nissan) 40 laps
DNF Nick Percat (Holden) 8 laps

Lowndes beat Whincup into the opening corners. Source: Supplied

RESULTS - Race 4, Tyrepower Tasmania 400
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1 Jamie Whincup (Holden) 39m48.2632s
2 James Courtney (Holden) +0.8999s
3 Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +1.3537s
4 Russell Ingall (Holden) +5.1238s
5 Scott McLaughlin (Volvo) +5.3126s
6 Garth Tander (Holden) +5.7946s
7 Will Davison (Erebus) +6.3556s
8 Craig Lowndes (Holden) +8.7485s
9 Fabian Coulthard (Holden) +8.8913s
10 Scott Pye (Ford) +9.2640s
11 Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +9.8129s
12 David Wall (Ford) +12.4933s
13 Chaz Mostert (Ford) +14.1251s
14 Tim Slade (Holden) +15.3264s
15 Jason Bright (Holden) +15.4875s
16 Lee Holdsworth (Erebus) +17.6191s
17 Nick Percat (Holden) +17.8620s
18 James Moffat (Nissan) +19.1756s
19 Dale Wood (Holden) +19.7717s
20 Robert Dahlgren (Volvo) +20.0199s
21 Michael Caruso (Nissan) +20.8816s
22 Jack Perkins (Ford) +35.9884s
23 David Reynolds (Ford) 41 laps
DNF Rick Kelly (Nissan) 19 laps
DNF Todd Kelly (Nissan) 13 laps

Lowndes' car, with stickers over holes. Source: News Corp Australia

BAD TO WORSE FOR LOWNDES
The incident made for a double-blow for the V8 championship leader, with officials stripping Lowndes of his front row start for Race 5 over a technical infringement.

A rival team protested the placement of a sticker on his car during qualifying for Race 5, covering up an access hole on the Commodore's driver's side window.

The hand-holes allow the perspex windows to be easily removed in an emergency, but the argument is that covering the holes creates a small aerodynamic advantage, critical on a circuit with long straights.

Officials handed down their verdict during the gap between races.

Lowndes' car on Friday with the access holes uncovered. Source: Getty Images

QUALIFYING - RACE 4
Whincup emerged on top of an opening session that was dominated by he and teammate Lowndes.

Ingall was the surprise packet of the session, the V8 veteran getting the closest of all to toppling the Red Bulls. He will start this afternoon's opening race from third.

James Courtney capped off a top-four sweep for Holden, heading David Reynolds, Mark winterbottom, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Chaz Mostert, with Will Davison taking his first top 10 start aboard a Mercedes.

Percat's new-look car ended the first session in the sand. Source: Getty Images

The only major incident of the first session came when Nick Percat went off into the gravel at the hairpin, bringing out the red flags.

He was excluded from the session and had his fastest and only lap of the session deleted, relegating him to the back of the grid for today's first 100 kilometre race.

GRID - Race 4, Tyrepower Tasmania 400
Pos Driver (Car) Time/Gap
1 Jamie Whincup (Holden) 0m51.4110s
2 Craig Lowndes (Holden) +0.0604s
3 Russell Ingall (Holden) +0.1828s
4 James Courtney (Holden) +0.2237s
5 David Reynolds (Ford) +0.2441s
6 Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +0.2505s
7 Scott McLaughlin (Volvo) +0.2705s
8 Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +0.2953s
9 Chaz Mostert (Ford) +0.3033s
10 Will Davison (Erebus) +0.3114s
11 David Wall (Ford) +0.3176s
12 Fabian Coulthard (Holden) +0.3222s
13 Lee Holdsworth (Erebus) +0.3660s
14 Garth Tander (Holden) +0.3686s
15 Scott Pye (Ford) +0.3811s
16 Tim Slade (Holden) +0.3955s
17 James Moffat (Nissan) +0.4762s
18 Todd Kelly (Nissan) +0.4786s
19 Rick Kelly (Nissan) +0.4819s
20 Jason Bright (Holden) +0.5442s
21 Robert Dahlgren (Volvo) +0.5685s
22 Jack Perkins (Ford) +0.5776s
23 Michael Caruso (Nissan) +0.5895s
24 Dale Wood (Holden) +0.8477s
DQ Nick Percat (Holden)

QUALIFYING - RACE 5
Whincup and Lowndes traded fastest laps in the second session, the reigning V8 champion recovering from an early mistake to snatch pole by almost two tenths of a second from his teammate.

Rounding out the top five was Brad Jones Racing's Fabian Coulthard on what's proving so far to be a tougher weekend for the team that dominated last year's races.

The two Erebus Mercedes qualified inside the top 10, Lee Holdsworth ahead of Davison in sixth and seventh, while Todd Kelly, Garth Tander and Reynolds rounded out the top 10.

Swedish driver Robert Dahlgren had his best qualifying session so far of his V8 baptism, qualifying 11th for race five.

Dahlgren missed a top ten berth by just 0.0272s. Source: Getty Images

The first of Saturday's two 100 kilometre races gets underway at 2:35pm AEDT, with the second at 4:35pm.

GRID - Race 5, Tyrepower Tasmania 400
Pos Driver (Car) Time/Gap
1 Jamie Whincup (Holden) 0m51.1439s
2 Craig Lowndes (Holden) +0.1941s
3 Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +0.3115s
4 Scott McLaughlin (Volvo) +0.3557s
5 Fabian Coulthard (Holden) +0.3704s
6 Lee Holdsworth (Erebus) +0.3735s
7 Will Davison (Erebus) +0.3766s
8 Todd Kelly (Nissan) +0.4076s
9 Garth Tander (Holden) +0.4102s
10 David Reynolds (Ford) +0.4205s
11 Robert Dahlgren (Volvo) +0.4477s
12 Jack Perkins (Ford) +0.4698s
13 Scott Pye (Ford) +0.4816s
14 Jason Bright (Holden) +0.5087s
15 Rick Kelly (Nissan) +0.5198s
16 David Wall (Ford) +0.5288s
17 James Courtney (Holden) +0.5479s
18 Russell Ingall (Holden) +0.5512s
19 James Moffat (Nissan) +0.5656s
20 Chaz Mostert (Ford) +0.5771s
21 Michael Caruso (Nissan) +0.5931s
22 Nick Percat (Holden) +0.5958s
23 Tim Slade (Holden) +0.5977s
24 Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +0.6048s
25 Dale Wood (Holden) +0.6464s

Relive all today's action in HD at 9:40pm tonight on SPEED (Foxtel channel 512). Watch today's races LIVE and ad-free on Foxtel Go and Foxtel Play.

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