"You know he'll be very fast in race trim. Absolutely I think he's one of the key threats.''
Aside from Lowndes, defending champion Garth Tander cannot be ruled out of contention either and will start his Holden Racing Team Commodore from sixth.
Davison's Ford Performance Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom will start from fourth in an all-Ford second row with young New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen in third spot.
Whincup said all the main contenders will go into Sunday's race believing they can take out the great race.
"Let's not disrespect this race,'' the three-time winner said.
"The fastest guy doesn't always win, sometimes even someone out of the top 10 can win this race depending on what curve balls are thrown.''
- AAP