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00:00This year's V8 Supercars Championship is alive with a staggering 10 different race winners after just 18 races.
00:12When the racing is this cutthroat, rivalries intensify and the fight is taken to a whole new level.
00:20Jason Bright over and over and up and into the wall.
00:24It's contact! Incredible!
00:26Dopey rules made by dopey idiots.
00:28David Paul, that's my goodness.
00:31Never before have so many drivers believed that this championship is within their reach.
00:40The Red Bull is always the Hunter.
00:43The winning ways continue and the smiling assassin gets angry and gets even.
00:48But this year the Hunters have gathered in numbers.
00:53Last year Ford Performance Racing finally conquered the mountain.
00:57This year their eyes are firmly on the next trophy that eludes them.
01:00Come down!
01:01And Chas Mostert wins for the first time.
01:03The Red fans have been thirsty for blood for too long.
01:07Maybe this year they'll finally reap the rewards.
01:10It's on!
01:11Courtney gets the win!
01:13Oh!
01:14Oh!
01:15Scott wins!
01:16Scott wins!
01:17It's back!
01:18And Scott McLaughlin puts one on the champ!
01:20What about the new kids on the block?
01:22Only one year in, their young gun is proudly dressed in sky blue and leading the way.
01:27It's FIFA ball though, it's FIFA victory!
01:30Scott McLaughlin breaks through!
01:32And there must be something in the water in Albury.
01:34Brad Jones Racing is always amongst the points.
01:38Consistency will ensure they'll be there in the end.
01:42Jason Bright, it was a perfect job.
01:45It's only fitting that the next stop of the calendar is Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.
01:50The top end is a harsh, unforgiving place that is synonymous with hard and aggressive racing.
01:56Stop this!
01:57Don't get off!
01:58No!
01:59And you can't forget the heat.
02:02Welcome to the Sky City Triple Crown from Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.
02:07Oh, this is big!
02:08Oh!
02:09They're all in the fence!
02:10The only place you'll see it live and free is right here on Seven.
02:20Yes, it's been a long journey across the country to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory,
02:25to the remote top end of Australia.
02:27We're just outside the city.
02:28It is yet another beautiful day, a perfect way to escape the winter chill down south.
02:33The venue, Hidden Valley Raceway.
02:35For the 17th time home to the V8 supercars.
02:38Hi, everybody.
02:39Thank you very much for joining us today in our Day 2 coverage of the Sky City Triple Crown.
02:43We've got a wonderful afternoon of racing coming up for you.
02:46Joining me very shortly will be Mark Scaife to talk about qualifying and the race.
02:50But Scaifey, we saw Red Bull racing dominate with that 1-2 yesterday.
02:54I reckon we're on for a huge chance for a surprise later this afternoon based on strategy.
02:58Yeah, hi, Neil.
02:59Hi, everyone.
03:00It is going to be a much different day.
03:01Race 19.
03:02It's double points and it's 200 kilometres, double the distance.
03:06Lots of strategy and on soft tyres today.
03:08So let's, I think, as you said, that it's got the chance to mix it up, which is just fantastic.
03:13Red Bull did a great job yesterday.
03:14Let's have a look at the highlights because it was a really good fight back by Jamie Winkup.
03:19He made a couple of great starts.
03:21This is race 17.
03:22Scott McLaughlin got a bad start and went backwards.
03:25And how wild was this?
03:27Scott McLaughlin and Shane Van Gisburg and a little side each other through turn 3 and turn 4.
03:32215 kilometres an hour.
03:34And then out into the weeds they push each other.
03:37This was another push with Rick Kelly into the side of Tim Slade.
03:42This was Dave Reynolds bang into the back of Michael Caruso.
03:48There was lots of aggro, lots of drama and also some mechanical problems there for Will Davison who had some power steering issues.
03:55This was at the back of the field.
03:56The guys were running into each other.
03:57Then Wood and Dahlgren make contact again on the exit of turn 6.
04:02There was plenty of biff and barge and there was a race long battle.
04:05Probably the battle of the race with Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander.
04:10Tander prevailed.
04:11That was a very, very good run for both those guys.
04:14A race long battle as I said.
04:16And this man, what a recovery.
04:18Jamie Winkup, first win here on the Northern Territory soil.
04:24What a great start.
04:25This is race 18.
04:27It was very equal between those two guys with Lowndes and Winkup.
04:31Then there was drama.
04:32Look at this.
04:33And running into each other down the inside.
04:35Finally, a move by James Courtney on McLaughlin.
04:40And then a little mistake.
04:42Off he went at the final corner.
04:44There's Adrian Burgess.
04:45Not happy about that one.
04:46And again, power steering issues for Lee Holdsworth.
04:50Had to retire the E63 Mercedes Benz.
04:54Jason Bright almost into the back of Dave Reynolds and off the road he went.
04:58Then there was a good battle here between Dave Reynolds and James Courtney.
05:02A big slide.
05:03That was a big moment at Turn 10.
05:06And check the difference.
05:07This is Jamie Winkup at the same corner.
05:10Little bump off the kerb.
05:12Absolutely beautifully straight.
05:14Drove the car like that all day, Neil.
05:17And it was a great recovery by the series champion.
05:20And he's stacking up impressive numbers at the moment.
05:22He's not only tightening up the margin in terms of the points, but he's gone on to career
05:26win number 80, Jamie Winkup.
05:27But here you go.
05:2865 points is the gap between Winterbottom and Lowndes.
05:31Remember, he came into the weekend, Mark Winterbottom, with a 101 point margin.
05:35Fabian Coulthard took his first podium ever here yesterday for that third position.
05:40And he's looking strong there in third in the championship.
05:42Jason Bright moved up one spot also as a result of yesterday's performance.
05:46Now, I reckon the gang are going to earn their dollars in pit lane today.
05:49We've got Rihanna down there, Mark Larkham, and here's Mark Beretta.
05:52Hey, guys.
05:53Look, you've got to say this about Team Red Bull at the moment.
05:55They are on the championship charge.
05:57I mean, what they have done to step up in this midpoint of the year is just quite remarkable.
06:01For Jamie Winkup and Craig Lowndes to finish 1-2 in the two races yesterday,
06:06has just cemented their places on the championship standings.
06:09Remember, Craig is sitting second at the moment.
06:11And Jamie is on the charge up through the rankings.
06:13They've all got their eye on Mark Winterbottom.
06:14He's the man they want to catch.
06:16But Red Bull very much on the move.
06:19They'll be inspired today after what they've seen so far this weekend.
06:23And it's all about today.
06:24This is where the big points are up for grabs.
06:26They won the 200K race.
06:27They take great encouragement out of the first two races yesterday.
06:30But they want to make this a championship-defining weekend.
06:33And they are well on their way to do it.
06:35Now, remember, no driver has ever won the Triple Crown here.
06:38The three races at Darwin all in the one weekend.
06:41Jamie Winkup has got the first two wins from yesterday.
06:43One more win today.
06:44One more win today.
06:45And he becomes the first driver to win the Triple Crown here at the Sky City Darwin event.
06:50The first man to do it.
06:51That would be a nice little feather in his cap to add to everything else he's accumulated along the way.
06:56Well, the hot ticket today is going to be tyre strategy.
06:59If you hang around, I'm going to show you very precisely on the whiteboard what the options are.
07:03But the guy who, for me, is on quite a clever option is this bloke here.
07:07Saved some tyres from yesterday, mate.
07:09Well done.
07:10This is going to be a cracking opportunity for you.
07:12Yeah, for sure.
07:13Look, I'm not much of a gambler except when it comes to motor racing, you know.
07:18And we've really rolled the dice on this one.
07:20And look, I'm surprised more people didn't do it.
07:22We didn't do it intentionally.
07:24We just had a bad first run.
07:25We had a problem with the car in the first race.
07:27So we thought, we're down here anyway, down the back of the grid.
07:30We might as well save them and do anything.
07:32Because there's no restrictions on when you can use these things, you know.
07:35We've got two days.
07:36I thought, nah, damn it.
07:37I said to the guys, nah, we're going to save it all for Sunday.
07:39And I was waiting for half the field to do it.
07:41They didn't.
07:42Good for us.
07:43There was only a couple of other cars.
07:45And, mate, there's one bloke they don't want to see any mirrors on fresh tyres coming through the pack.
07:48You know who that is?
07:49Mate, you remember Winton?
07:50Yeah, I do.
07:51Mate, you ain't seen nothing yet.
07:52Don't worry about that.
07:54I can't wait.
07:55Thanks, Dave.
07:56Looking forward to that.
07:57Now, Fabian Coulthard has been Mr. Consistency in 2014.
08:01He's been a regular up front and a regular on the podium.
08:04And when he hasn't quite had the race pace, he has consolidated good results.
08:08Yesterday, he was third on the podium and he currently sits third in the championship standings.
08:13Only 136 points behind current series leader Mark Winterbottom.
08:17150 points up for grads in today's race 19.
08:21Fabian Coulthard is well and truly in the hunt to take his first V8 Supercars championship at the end of season 2014.
08:29This is big stuff for a small team from Albury.
08:32Look out for Fabian Coulthard in today's race 19.
08:36So, all is set now for qualifying.
08:39There's David Reynolds' Botlow entry.
08:41And a reminder, we go racing again in two weeks.
08:43We're going to stay in the sun at Townsville.
08:45And if you purchase a grandstand ticket to the Castrol Townsville 500 driven by TAFE Queensland before July 2, you could win a hot lap just like this with David Reynolds.
08:56Hi, everyone.
08:57Dave Reynolds from the Botlow Racing Team and you're aboard the Botlow Falcon for one lap only around Darwin Raceway.
09:04Beautiful tracks.
09:05Really, really going out there.
09:06We were quite fast here last year, so, you know, hopefully we'll be up the front somewhere this weekend.
09:11But just set up your qualifying lap.
09:15We'll talk about that.
09:16You've got to get a good run on the front straight.
09:18From 60Ks up to 260Ks on the front straight.
09:23Top gear, 6th gear.
09:25It's a really long straight, really long straight.
09:28So, you've got a lot of time.
09:29Take your hands off the wheel.
09:30Look at your wristwatch.
09:31Spot your brake marker down at 150.
09:34Down the second gear.
09:35It's a double apex corner.
09:36It's really, really, really slow, really slow.
09:38It's quite nervous on the front.
09:40It's quite nervous on the way in, nervous on the way out.
09:43These throttle, slow throttle ramps.
09:45Third gear.
09:46Coming up to a really gnarly part of the track.
09:49It's quite hard for us, because, you know, on old tyres, the car moves around a lot.
09:54It's a really good passing opportunity.
09:56Turn 4, exit.
09:58It's pretty easy.
10:00Down to turn 5, slowest going on the track.
10:03First gear.
10:04Probably about 50Ks an hour.
10:06It's really hard to get the power down here.
10:09As you can hear, a lot of wheel spin.
10:12Now, this corner here is really important for throttle ramp and tyre life.
10:16If you've got a good tyre, if you've got a good car there, you've got a good race car.
10:19Down to turn 11, 10.
10:21It's really, really long, really long.
10:23Not a lot of grip here in the front or rear.
10:25Into the last corner, bit of rear lock, bit of front lock.
10:29Pick up your apex and try and get the best run you can out on the front straight.
10:34So now on the front straight, you can take a drink, play with your bars, do your bias.
10:40And that's a flying leopard, Darl Raceway.
10:43So hopefully you'll see over the weekend.
10:45Going.
10:46Going.
10:47Going.
10:48Going.
10:50Going.
10:51Going.
10:52Going.
10:53Going.
10:54Preparing now for qualifying for race number 19 of the V8 Supercar Championship.
10:59Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin.
11:00It's time to welcome our viewers all around the world in New Zealand.
11:03Sky New Zealand watching us, motors in Europe, BT Sport in the UK.
11:07And we've got a wonderful afternoon of racing organised here at the moment,
11:11together with an entire team of people working very hard in the pit lane
11:14to tell what's going to be a complicated and interesting story.
11:17Here's Mark Larkham.
11:18Yeah, Neil, and above all else, mate, it's going to be a tough one in terms of heat.
11:21We're obviously here in Darwin.
11:22If I just put my heat gun into Mark Winterbottom's car here before he departs,
11:25that's 40 degrees inside there already, and it's sitting here inside in the shade.
11:29More importantly, if we come out here on the pit lane, come onto the tarmac here,
11:33if you have a look at that, can you see that, Dave?
11:35Look at that number, 53 degrees.
11:37So that's up on yesterday, and I can tell you for a tyre, that just means stress.
11:41They want to run at 70 or 80 degrees, not at 50 degrees before they even roll around.
11:47So that's going to be tough for a tyre here today, tough for a driver to manage it.
11:50Hey, Larkha, you talk about the heat.
11:52No-one knows how to handle the heat here like a local.
11:54The Territorians and their visitors have sought shade, and this is where they found it.
11:58We are up above pit lane, and this is the view up through the V8 Supercar Paddock Club.
12:03But it's a similar situation right around the track.
12:05No matter where you look, people are undercover, and they're right at the edge of the track.
12:08They're right on the fence line, and they're going to get a great view of the action today.
12:12If I had to pick a favourite seat, yeah, it's here in the paddock club.
12:15Look at these guys.
12:15They sit here on the lounges.
12:16They watch the action on the TV, and then they bolt over and check it all out in pit lane and on the track.
12:21It's got to be pretty close to perfect.
12:22The official V8 Supercars app is back bigger and better than ever for Apple and Android users.
12:29If you are a V8 Supercar fan, you need this in the palm of your hand.
12:33It has everything you need to know, whether you're here at the track or at home,
12:36and in desperate need to know what's happening in V8 Supercars land.
12:40Some of the features include the 3D track map, lap-by-lap commentary, and up-to-date breaking news.
12:45Head to the App Store and download it today.
12:47You need this in the palm of your hand, V8 Supercar fans.
12:51Thanks, Rihanna Cree and Mark Larkin.
12:52Mark Moretta reporting for us in the pit lane.
12:54The field now departs the lane in preparation for qualifying.
12:57We'll have a look at the entry line-up for you.
12:59The reigning champion, Jamie Wincup, Garth Tandu, had his season-best result yesterday for the Holden Racing team.
13:04Todd Kelly, he might have a shock in store for us later this afternoon with his tyre management.
13:08Jason Bright has had success here.
13:10Will Davison had a problem yesterday with power steering on his car.
13:13We've got the two DJR cars there.
13:15Jack Perkins, new engineer this weekend.
13:17James Court, he's been pretty speedy on and off this weekend.
13:20We'll see how today unfolds.
13:21Russell Ingle's one of the drivers that's got an interesting card up his sleeve in terms of tyre management.
13:26Scotty McLaughlin strong yesterday and his teammate Robert Dahlgren.
13:29Those Volvos are very quick in a straight line.
13:32Davey Reynolds, two pole positions here last year.
13:35Can he grab one again today?
13:36Shane Van Gisbergen, a third yesterday.
13:38Nick Perkatt, James Moffat, Craig Lowndes.
13:4140 years plus one day for the old boy.
13:44He's had some great form on the board here.
13:46Here's our location.
13:47We're racing at Hidden Valley Raceway.
13:49A little under three kilometres.
13:50It's a terrific racetrack, Mark.
13:52It certainly is, Krompo.
13:53We've raved about it over the years because it's a reasonably simple layout.
13:58But it's very fast.
13:59It's got really contrasting speeds.
14:00865 kilometres an hour at the end of the straight and only 65 kilometres an hour at turn six.
14:06The sectors are depicted by sector one just after turn four.
14:12Very important first sector.
14:13And then the slowest sector in the middle of the valley itself, final sector coming onto the straight.
14:20And we will see today, because soft tyres only today based on qualifying, we will see remarkable speeds compared to yesterday.
14:30It's probably two seconds a lap better in terms of the outright speed when you put the soft tyre on.
14:35They've been Coulthard on screen at the moment.
14:37Lockwood Racing got his first podium at Hidden Valley yesterday for a third place in race number 18.
14:42We go on board here with Rick Kelly.
14:43We've got ten cars carrying on board cameras.
14:47And off the road at turn one on the exit is Nick Perkatt.
14:49Car triple two.
14:50Heavy haulage Australia holding Commodore.
14:52Spending a long time off the road there before he can rejoin.
14:54Just being ultra courteous.
14:57Can actually cop a penalty if you step in anyone's way while they are qualifying.
15:01So Nick doing the right thing here.
15:03He's got a terrific record.
15:04Not so much in V8 Supercar because it's his debut championship weekend.
15:08Here's Davey Reynolds getting wild on the approach to turn five.
15:12Very wild and off the road.
15:14But Nick's done a great job in Aussie racing cars here before.
15:16He's had clean sweep in Formula Ford.
15:18He's had race wins as well.
15:21So Davey Reynolds, I mentioned before, a couple of pole positions here last year.
15:24He hasn't got the car quite tweaked to his liking.
15:27However, this man, what a day yesterday.
15:29Perfect score.
15:30Two pole positions.
15:32This was a place where he hadn't been able to achieve that previously.
15:35And two race wins, MS.
15:37That's just harmony.
15:38Oh, and what a fight back.
15:39It was just a couple of win-cup-like drives.
15:42There were very few mistakes.
15:45Great starts.
15:46Qualified so well for both races.
15:49I'm just looking at you then, Neil.
15:50In the first part of this lap, they're obviously on old tyres
15:53in terms of just getting the cars warmed up.
15:56The amount of wheel spin and oversteer they've all got at the moment
15:58before they put their new soft compound tyres on is extraordinary.
16:03It's right out sideways.
16:04He had wheel spin for about 200 metres just then.
16:08It's going to be something to actually get their heads around
16:10because jumping from one tyre to the other,
16:12particularly an old hard, which is going to be pretty scrappy,
16:15and a new soft is going to require a huge reset of the mind.
16:18And how brave can you be?
16:19And the form here is you can pretty much only do your lap
16:22where the tyre is brand new for a lap.
16:24Here's Mark.
16:25It's a really valid point, Neil.
16:26Very, very hard for a driver to adapt.
16:28But I've just seen a really unusual strategy from Brad Jones Racing.
16:31Fabian Coulthard has only just now departed the pit lane
16:34but on his hard tyres to go and warm himself up.
16:37And the reason they did that when I went and queried them
16:39is they like the idea of going tyres, then the soft tyres,
16:43and the other set of soft tyres to keep the consistency of the heat
16:47through the car and the brakes
16:48rather than coming here like a lot of them will do
16:50and park for a long time.
16:52The brakes will all cool down.
16:53They've got to get them back up to temp.
16:55So now that Fabian is running, albeit late,
16:58he will sort of keep running now to the end of the session.
17:00We were looking at Shane Van Gisbergen there a moment ago
17:02and third and a seventh for him in the bank yesterday.
17:06He's had a pole position earlier this year in Adelaide.
17:08We're looking now at the Erebus E63 Mercedes-Benz entries.
17:11New livery on the car this weekend for both of them,
17:14which is good news.
17:15But a power steering glitch for both cars in different races yesterday.
17:19That wasn't good.
17:20No, that wasn't good.
17:20Both cars retired from those 100k events.
17:26And I was talking to Shane Van Gisbergen earlier today
17:28and he said it was just so frustrating.
17:31We're all driving the car so hard, but on the hard tyre,
17:34I couldn't do anything about it.
17:35I couldn't get by.
17:36I couldn't break the car.
17:37I couldn't get down the inside.
17:39So stand by for some better racing quality with the soft tyres today.
17:43There's a situation on the Armoural leaderboard so far.
17:46Early days in this longer qualifying session on the Sunday.
17:49Van Gisbergen's the benchmark at the moment,
17:51but it's going to heat up at the back end.
17:53Qualifying continues.
18:02Race 19, the V8 Supercars Championship.
18:04Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin.
18:06Welcome back to our coverage.
18:07We're looking at Scotty McLaughlin,
18:08who so far this year has claimed four pole positions.
18:11We've played the qualifying game 18 times so far.
18:15Jamie Winkup's the most successful with six pole positions to his credit.
18:18In fact, Red Bull Racing Australia have grabbed the last four pole positions in a row.
18:23Two for Jamie, and prior to that, two in Western Australia for Craig Lowndes.
18:27Todd Kelly getting wild off the top of the kerb there at Turn 11.
18:31Two green boxes, Jack Daniels Racing.
18:33And this is one team today that's well positioned in terms of their rubber management.
18:36And we'll see people now starting to use their Dunlop soft tyres,
18:40and you'll see that the language in the car looks grippier, cornering faster,
18:44hitting the gas harder on exit.
18:45And Kelly clearly on a soft tyre there with a one minute 9.7.
18:49And you can see that.
18:50I was just about to make exactly the same comment.
18:52The body language of the car, you can see the orange light in the window indicates the soft tyre.
18:57Also a different colour sidewall or the painting of the Dunlop tyre on the side of the exterior of the tyre.
19:03So you can see it from two angles, but look for that light in the window.
19:08And when you saw Todd Kelly go across the top of the kerb at Turn 10,
19:13you could just see a totally different dynamic.
19:15Now, Tim Slade, Garth Tander.
19:18Tander goes to the top, 9.29.
19:19Slade, 9.42.
19:21Kelly, third with the 9.74 that we just saw.
19:25Courtney now, 9.13.
19:26So this is, with 11 and a half minutes to go, going to be a vital part.
19:34That's what Rob started saying to James.
19:36Quick, come in and pick.
19:38Currently P1.
19:39Let's put some other tyres on it.
19:41Well, they'll have a good think about it.
19:43Maybe make a tweak, even verify it,
19:44because you've still got 11 minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the session.
19:48They do have up their sleeve another set of tyres if they need to pull that car.
19:52We're going to see an 8 for sure.
19:541 minute 9.1 for James Courtney, the benchmark so far.
19:58We're on board now with Scotty McLaughlin.
19:59He's positioned forwards.
20:00Courtney Reynolds, who's much happier on the softer tyre.
20:04We've seen evidence of this previously.
20:06Ben Garth Tander, Scott McLaughlin, Scott Pye for Dick Johnson Racing and Wilson Security.
20:11A little bit of oversteer on exit at 1 there for McLaughlin.
20:13He was patient in his tyre warming.
20:16You may have seen him just prior to the break.
20:18He had the lights on, getting himself organised.
20:20He's got a bit of track space here at the moment behind Reynolds,
20:22but not much to play in.
20:24In fact, David sidesteps up in the valley at turn 6.
20:27Look at the dynamics.
20:28They turned them in massively earlier.
20:31You can see the way that they use every bit of road.
20:33Much more accurate.
20:35Much more of the kerb usage also,
20:37because the tyre will withstand that grip level.
20:40See the turn in there through the right-hander.
20:42It turned 7, and as McLaughlin offered some load into the car,
20:47it immediately disconnected in the rear and slid.
20:49So they've got the car nosy for qualifying.
20:51They want it to be very pointy.
20:53Ultra responsive to the steering inputs.
20:56They want it to turn sharply.
20:58That's how you make the pace in qualifying.
21:00And you can afford to do that because the soft tyre allows you to do it.
21:03So when the soft tyre is on the car,
21:06you basically change the balance of the car by making it more pointy,
21:09which makes the car twitchy,
21:11and therefore the body language differences that you can see.
21:14Red Bull Racing Australia about to respond.
21:17The Armour All qualifying leaderboard shows a hold with Courtney,
21:20a Ford with Reynolds, and a hold with Tanda.
21:22Welcome back to Armour All qualifying.
21:30Race 19 of the V8 Supercars Championship Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin.
21:34We're riding through Turn 1 with Jamie Winkup.
21:37He came to Darwin this weekend,
21:39having never achieved a pole position at this location.
21:42Yesterday, he bagged two of them.
21:44Can he respond now in qualifying?
21:46His first sector split suggests that he might.
21:48Phil Keat on the radio there to Fabian Coulthard.
21:54Jason Bright, his teammates, just jumped into second.
21:57So it's Courtney P1, Bright P2, Coulthard 3,
22:01and now this man is coming up to the second timing intermediate at Turn 9.
22:05We'll get a reading on whether we see another green box here.
22:08He was on the Rev Limited then.
22:09He was on it at the end of the front straight as well.
22:11That's 265 kilometres an hour.
22:14There's not quite the same headwind today.
22:16It's two green boxes for Winkup.
22:18He's on target to go on to a provisional pole here,
22:21but there's still a long time to come.
22:23Seven minutes of qualifying remaining,
22:25so they'll all up the ante.
22:28Top gear for Winkup.
22:29Does he climb to the top?
22:30And the answer is yes, and it's not quite a nine.
22:33It's a one, a correction, an eight.
22:35It's a 1090,
22:36and now Lowndes does get into the eights.
22:39One minute, 8.7.
22:41Great lap there from Lowndes.
22:438.75.
22:43Almost three-tenths of a second.
22:46Better than his teammate Van Giesbergen on the lap.
22:48But we just watched Winkup was in behind.
22:51He's gone to third.
22:52Winterbottom was also there.
22:54He's gone to fourth.
22:55So very close between the top four cars.
22:58Courtney, that was the leader,
22:59is in the pits,
23:00and he is fifth.
23:03It's really energised the session using the soft tyre,
23:06and there's certainly a number of people out there,
23:08if you look down the order at the moment,
23:09are clearly happier on that tyre,
23:11and they've got to set up the quirks,
23:12so it is Lowndes.
23:14By a margin,
23:150.27 of a second over Winkup.
23:17Van Giesbergen on screen a moment ago.
23:19Winterbottom,
23:20and then the rest of them are in the pit lane.
23:22So there are only four cars on the track,
23:23and most of those are trickling at the moment.
23:26And this is the reason for the change of tempo.
23:28Different sidewall markings on the Dunlop Sportmax soft tyre,
23:33and Lowndes,
23:34the only driver so far to be in the eights.
23:37One minute, 8.7.
23:38Another quick break now.
23:39Armourall qualifying will continue.
23:41We'll have about four minutes on the other side.
23:51Welcome back to Darwin.
23:52That's Mark Winterbottom departing the pits.
23:54He's currently provisional fourth on the grid for race number 19,
23:57the V8 Supercar Championship.
23:59Lowndes is the benchmark at the moment.
24:01One minute, 8.7.
24:02We've got just over three minutes remaining.
24:04Hey, really interesting development down here, Neil.
24:06So Lowndes has just got out of his car.
24:07He's obviously happy with the 8.7.
24:09That's going to leave him a fresh set of tyres.
24:11You want to see a good lap here?
24:12Jamie Winkup has just put on his last set of tyres.
24:15He's going to go out.
24:16He's after it.
24:16He wants that 8.7.
24:17This will be a cracker.
24:19Stand by.
24:20And he'd be pretty disappointed by the margin
24:22between he and Craig in their first bolt.
24:24So for Craig to park it, he knows that's pretty much maxed out.
24:28Why burn the tyres?
24:29But Winkup clearly knows that he's got some more in reserve.
24:32He would have studied Craig's data.
24:34Had to look at the differences, he'll have the eyes on.
24:36I mean, that's a very symbolic thing.
24:39In terms of the way you compete against your teammate,
24:43and you've done a great lap,
24:44you get out of the car and you stand there,
24:46it's a pretty powerful message that, hey, I've done a good job.
24:48But a bit of gamesmanship with that stuff,
24:52I mean, people don't see it as much as we probably should
24:54because at the end of the day,
24:56Jamie Winkup and Craig Lowndes are two of the best drivers
24:58we've ever seen in this sport.
25:00But, you know, on the opposite sides of the garage,
25:02they're actually trying to beat each other,
25:03and Lowndes with an 8.75,
25:06he'll be very happy with that lap.
25:08Watching Russell Ingle here,
25:10Repair Management Australia, Holden Commodore.
25:14Turn 7.
25:14Saw the graphic up there a moment ago.
25:17Currently position 17, looking for an improvement.
25:20Headlights on.
25:21He's signalling to everybody else that he's on his Q-lap.
25:25He needs some space.
25:29Soft tyres on the car.
25:30That's the final corner.
25:31Turn 14.
25:32Second gear departure.
25:34No sliding.
25:38So Lowndes and Wall in the pits.
25:40Every other single car on the racetrack.
25:42And how's that?
25:44Up to fourth.
25:46Nice job, Russell Ingle.
25:47It was a good lap.
25:48Looked good, didn't it?
25:48No sliding.
25:50He, again, is one of the guys that appears to be much happier
25:53when you grip the car up,
25:54and they've got a set-up that matches it.
25:55Not just between the driver's ears,
25:58it's also what they've got in the mechanical set-up of the car
26:01to make it work as well.
26:02Here's Will Davison, car number nine.
26:05Lee Holdsworth just jumped up to eight.
26:07That'll be one of the best performances that Ingle's had.
26:10We've seen a couple down in Tassie earlier in the year.
26:12He qualified very well as well.
26:13There was a third for him.
26:15But this has got him right in the game here.
26:18So it's Lowndes, Wincup,
26:19Mostert to third.
26:20Van Gisberg and Ingle win at bottom.
26:22Aaron Noonan just gave me this one.
26:24Russell Ingle hasn't qualified in the top five at Darwin since 2004.
26:27So that's a very good job.
26:29David Reynolds has gone to position two.
26:30Courtney responds now in third.
26:32Coulthard to fourth.
26:37Forty seconds remaining in qualifying.
26:39They're all chasing Lowndes.
26:42Wincup got so close.
26:45Point zero eight of a second.
26:47Reynolds stays in third.
26:48Then it's Courtney.
26:49Coulthard, Van Gisberg and Boston.
26:51Ingle, Winterbottom and Tander.
26:54They've had a strong run yesterday.
26:56We're looking at James Moffat and the Norton Nissan.
26:59James is down at 21st at the moment.
27:01Tim Slade completes his lap for 16th.
27:04Bright up to four.
27:05Great job, Jason Bright.
27:078.88.
27:08So there is, in the top seven cars,
27:12less than two tenths of a second.
27:14That is unbelievable.
27:178.75, 8.83.
27:20Three cars on 8.8.
27:22Unbelievable.
27:24So watching McLaughlin completing his lap.
27:27Don't think he's there.
27:28So Red Bull, look at this stage
27:32with everybody just trickling across the line
27:34as though they've clinched it.
27:36And that would be five from five
27:38in the last bunch of qualifying runs for these guys.
27:41And not a bad performance from Craig Lowndes
27:42on that first set of tyres.
27:44Gee, Lowndes, you must be really good at playing poker
27:46because you kept a cool hand through that.
27:48A bit tense?
27:49Oh, look, hugely tense.
27:51It's like Perth and Barbagallo.
27:52You really need the tyre life around here.
27:54So we talked about trying to do it on that one lap.
27:57We didn't know whether we were going to be good enough
27:58to be able to do it.
27:58But the guys have done a great job.
28:00To have another 1-2 again, I think it's fantastic.
28:03It is a credit to the team.
28:04But, yeah, look, I was a bit thankful
28:06to hang on to that pole position.
28:07Even if I started second or third,
28:09I was still more confident, obviously, this afternoon,
28:11having a fresh set of tyres for that last run home.
28:14It's almost turning into a season-defining weekend for you guys,
28:17isn't it?
28:17You've really put your foot down this weekend.
28:19Well, we have to.
28:19I think we've got to turn things around.
28:20I think we talk about the test we had about a week and a half ago.
28:23And I think it has really given us all a lot of confidence.
28:26And, you know, we had to turn things around.
28:27You know, Frosty was sort of skipping away.
28:29110 points doesn't sound a lot.
28:31But, you know, it's a lot in these circumstances.
28:33So best foot forward.
28:34We won 1-2.
28:35Pole position.
28:36Well done, Lounsie.
28:36Need to say hello to anyone?
28:37Yeah, hello, Levi and Chile.
28:39Thank you for the message.
28:41Had to flick through a lot of paperwork
28:43to go back to Craig's last pole position at this venue
28:46back in the year 2000.
28:48And from the last 12 races, eight podiums for the man.
28:51There he is, 8-7.
28:52And he parked it early.
28:53Not a bad performance.
28:54His teammate, Jamie Wincup, will start alongside
28:56for a Red Bull Racing Australia front row of the grid.
28:59The first forward will be David Reynolds.
29:00Then Jason Bright will be alongside him.
29:02It's an interesting line-up.
29:04There's just on 0.9 of a second covering the first 24 cars.
29:09And if you look further down the order,
29:11it's basically half a second covers the top 20.
29:13It's unbelievable.
29:14Take a break.
29:14Back with more in a moment.
29:18Yes, it's NFL on 7.
29:24All the big sport.
29:25And what a performance.
29:26Armoural pole position goes to Craig Lowndes.
29:29His fourth pole of the championship season.
29:32A nice performance.
29:33Eclipsed in his teammate, Jamie Wincup,
29:35who grabbed two of them yesterday
29:36and a season best for David Reynolds.
29:39But right now, the Bucks belong to Craig Lowndes.
29:41A great performance.
29:42But here's Larko.
29:42Mate, sorry to interrupt your download,
29:46because now I know the download got really important all of a sudden.
29:49Mate, you've just well and truly gazumped your teammates.
29:51Well done.
29:52Where did that bit of form come from?
29:55Well, it's been in there all year, Larko.
29:58You know that.
29:59And you were fast here last year.
30:00Let's not forget that.
30:01Yeah, my car's a lot, lot different than it was last year.
30:04So yesterday, my car wasn't that good.
30:06And we've sort of used the traits from last year's car.
30:09You know, everything about it.
30:11We tried to adapt into this newer style car.
30:13And it's better.
30:14Yeah, it's much better.
30:15Good job, pal.
30:16Well done.
30:17Cheers.
30:18Heaps happier.
30:20Jason Bryant, a nice, solid qualifying position.
30:23Fourth for the long race this afternoon.
30:25Yeah, I mean, it's been our problem last, you know,
30:27for the first half of this year is qualifying.
30:29So, you know, I felt like we sort of got on top of that at Perth.
30:31And, you know, it was good to have a good qualifying here.
30:34Three times in the top ten is the first time I've done it this year.
30:36So this afternoon's going to be a long, old race.
30:38And we know how hard it is to pass.
30:39We sort of proved that yesterday.
30:41So it's good to have a good starting spot.
30:43It's going to be a long, old afternoon, though, I reckon.
30:46Traditionally, your team, yourself, have gone for alternate strategies.
30:49With a good qualifying, do you think that it's going to be
30:51the main strategy for yourself?
30:54Well, I mean, there's plenty of different strategies.
30:56I don't know which one is the alternate
30:57and which one's the main strategy.
30:58So it's, you know, the limited tyres this weekend
31:02has certainly thrown up lots of different options.
31:04And, you know, we'll see what comes out the best at the end of the day.
31:07Good luck.
31:07Cheers. Thank you.
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32:02And don't forget we're following the sun
32:05because we'll be in Townsville two weeks from now
32:08and for a limited time only
32:09when you purchase Platinum Grandstand tickets
32:11for the Castrol Townsville 500
32:12powered by TAFE Queensland,
32:14you'll receive free V8 Supercars Foundation membership
32:18and this includes panic access
32:20to all V8 Supercars calendar events
32:22and V8 Supercars merchandise.
32:24Tickettech.com.au
32:26is where you'll find all the information
32:28in relation to the Townsville 500
32:29and the V8 Supercars website.
32:31Wow, qualifying was fantastic.
32:33That's a great grid.
32:34Question marks over strategy.
32:36We'll have more from Darwin.
32:37Race number 18 coming up a little bit later.
32:39200 Ks.
32:40Stay with us.