Craig Lowndes wins V8 Supercar round at Winton.
Triple Eight boss Roland Dane yesterday said rival teams were ?thick? and had ?forgotten how to win?...
...after doubts were raised over his team's all-conquering Falcons of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.
Lowndes held on to win his second race of the weekend at Winton after Dane was asked to modify a front splitter by V8 Supercars technical directors.
“We did it at their request last night because they wanted to stop everyone from getting excited about the splitter and trying to say that what we use as a money-saving system is helping the performance of our car,” Dane said.
“We did that this morning by bolting it on to our car and then going and setting pole.”
Rival teams were yesterday up in arms after V8 officials discovered seven Triple Eight-built vehicles were using a splitter with a unique mounting system. It is believed the system provides more flex than a fixed unit, but Dane said no unfair advantage had been gained. V8 officials were last night trying to determine if any rules had been broken. It is not known whether an official complaint has been made to stewards, which would prompt a review.
“We have a mounting system on the front of the car that allows us, if we smash into a kerb, that doesn't smash the front splitter into pieces,” Dane said.
“We are trying to save money and we came up with a system four years ago that is trying to help our splitters survive a weekend — that is the bottom line.
“If it is helping us go quicker, then why did we not get any advantage this morning? There is no advantage. It is nonsense.”
Dane was adamant the technology was no secret.
“If the other people in pit lane are too thick to come up with a system to save money they can come and buy it off us,” he said. “They buy enough other stuff off us. The other teams in pit lane have forgotten how to win.”
The drama overshadowed another brilliant weekend for Triple Eight.
“We had good speed all day and it was a great win,” said Lowndes, who moves to seventh in the championship. “It is one thing to get good results and now I think we have had our bad results.”
His teammate Whincup (13th) missed out on his first podium of the year after a pit-stop debacle.
Whincup was left waiting for Lowndes to exit after both cars were ordered in during a safety-car period.
Ford gun Mark Winterbottom roared back into championship calculations with a second, while Garth Tander finished third.
