Lowndes makes fast start in Perth

Holden ace Craig Lowndes’s quest for a 100th V8 Supercars race win got off to a fast start in Perth on Friday.

The Red Bull Racing driver was the second-fastest in Friday’s opening one-hour practice session at Barbagallo, coming in just behind Volvo’s Scott Wall, who clocked a 57.1202-second fastest lap late in the session.

Lowndes, a 15-time race winner in Perth, will become the first man to secure 100 V8 race wins if he can win one of the three races at Barbagallo this weekend.

The 40-year-old’s best lap of 57.2811 seconds had put him top of the timesheets for most of the session before Wall stole the lead in the dying minutes on a set of soft tyres.

Ford driver Mark Winterbottom was third fastest while championship contender James Courtney clocked the fourth-quickest lap.

Championship leader Jamie Whincup could only clock the 10th-fastest lap of the session.

Another one-hour practice session starts at 1.30pm (1530AEST).

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