Asian Motor Sports

Four-time Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes is hoping a strong finish to the season can provide a platform back on to the V8 Supercars Championship podium next year.

The Triple Eight Racing driver is already out of contention for this year’s title and would need a minor miracle to displace Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom or Garth Tander from the top three with only three rounds to go.

But after topping practice at the Desert 400 in Bahrain, fourth-placed Lowndes – who stormed to his fourth Bathurst win last month – said he felt he was turning the corner from an indifferent year just in time to prepare for a fresh start in 2009.

“For me it’s been a tough year,” Lowndes said.

“It’s one that we’re going to learn from and develop and hopefully over these last few rounds we can start turning it around for the beginning of next year.

“…I’m out of the running but I can definitely still be a pain.”

With his teammate Jamie Whincup leading the championship, Lowndes said he was still motivated by the chance for the pair to secure the team championship, something they are yet to do.

“The one thing that’s eluded us, and it’s never been a secret, for our team is that number one on the side of the car,” Lowndes said.

“For us we need to make a team effort to get that … but my focus is just on winning races.”

Lowndes roared around the 3.6km Bahrain International Circuit in 1 min 24.9096 secs to top the practice list ahead of Winterbottom and Whincup.

Ford Performance Racing’s Winterbottom posted 1:25.0695 to indicate he will again prove hard to catch after taking out the Desert 400 last year, while Whincup (1:25.1113) was in impressive form at the track that brought his championship dream undone last year.

Whincup holds a 75-point lead over Winterbottom in the championship and the pair would have been pleased to see their close rival Tander could only manage the 12th-fastest practice time of 1:25.6615.

But neither was foolish enough to write off the reigning champion ahead of qualifying (late Friday EDT)

“Garth will be there tomorrow,” said Whincup.

“He’s obviously had a few issues today but they’ll fix that.”

Ford dominated the day, claiming six of the top seven positions, with Lee Holdsworth (1:25.1269) flying the flag for Holden in fourth.

Lowndes’ lap time was faster than the circuit’s official race lap record of 1:24.9102 set by Jason Bright in 2006.