Don’t be fooled by results – three-time V8 Supercars champion Craig Lowndes believes upstarts Nissan and Volvo are the quickest teams in the field this year.
Holden again appeared to have the upper hand this year when Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen made it back-to-back wins at the V8 Supercars exhibition round at the Australian Grand Prix with a race two victory on Friday.
After winning the opening 10-lap event at the non-championship round by more than six seconds, van Gisbergen was again never headed as he claimed race-two line honours at Albert Park ahead of fellow Holden drivers Lowndes and Fabian Coulthard.
Lowndes later compared van Gisbergen with teammate and five-time touring car champ Jamie Whincup after the flying Kiwi again showed blistering speed in the F1 curtain-raiser.
But Lowndes was adamant newcomers Volvo and Nissan had unrivalled speed in 2014.
“I believe they are the quickest but unfortunately are not showing it because they are stuck in traffic around here,” he said.
Lowndes admitted he had been surprised by Volvo’s pace after Scott McLaughlin again diced with Whincup for a podium spot in Melbourne’s opening race.
Whincup received a five-grid race-two penalty for bad sportsmanship after squeezing McLaughlin onto the grass before eventually claiming second in race one.
They took up where they had left off in the season opener in Adelaide where McLaughlin sensationally outgunned Whincup to mark Volvo’s first sighting in Australian touring cars in 28 years with a podium finish.
“It was great to see them on the front row in Adelaide and here they have continued that speed – they are not a one week wonder,” Lowndes said of Volvo.
But McLaughlin’s speed only added to speculation that the new Volvos have an aerodynamic advantage.
Drivers questioned current V8 testing measures on social media after McLaughlin’s Adelaide success.
V8 Supercars organisers have since assembled a new technical group to investigate the matter and are expected to conduct a mid-season parity test.
“They have great speed and there will always be questions about parity about aeros with five manufacturers with different strengths and weaknesses but good on them,” Lowndes said of Volvo.
Nissan’s Michael Caruso also impressed by claiming race one pole – a career first – and finishing fourth in both the opening V8 races in Melbourne.
“We always thought the Volvos would be quick here but I am probably a bit surprised by the fact both Nissans are quick seeing that both struggled with front line speed last year,” Lowndes said.
Still, Lowndes believed greatness beckoned van Gisbergen.
“There was never a question about his ability, it was just getting him in the right surroundings,” he said.
“I saw the same thing in Jamie. He was quick but made some mistakes. Once he matured he achieved great things.”
