Motorsport: Lowndes fastest in practice

V8 driver Craig Lowndes. Photo / Getty Images

Australian Craig Lowndes today clocked the fastest time in practice for the Hamilton 400, the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercars championship.

Lowndes' time of one minutes 22.8070 seconds on the 3.4km street circuit was 0.1534sec faster than compatriot and Team Vodafone Holden teammate Jamie Whincup, winner of all four races in Hamilton over the past two years.

Both Lowndes and Whincup broke the previous practice record of 1min 23.0349sec set last year by Garth Tander.

New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen, in a Stone Brothers Racing Ford, was third quickest with a lap of 1min 23.0899sec.

The fourth and final practice session was disrupted by a crash, with Paul Dumbell, who had clocked the fifth fastest time, failing to take a corner and smacking the left-hand front of this Ford into a wall.

The two races that make up the Hamilton 400 will be contested tomorrow and Sunday.

The qualifying and top-10 shootout for race one will be held tomorrow morning.

- NZPA