Lowndes gets first Tassie pole since 1996

Veteran Holden racer Craig Lowndes has claimed his first V8 Supercar pole position at Symmons Plains since 1996. Minutes after he clocked the fastest ever V8 Supercar lap at the circuit during practice, Lowndes took pole for Sunday's 84-lap race. He grabbed front spot by just one one hundredths of a second from the Ford of series leader Will Davison. Mark Winterbottom put his Falcon on third place, ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen and Lowndes' teammate, Jamie Whincup. Holden hit back at Ford's early season dominance through Lowndes who blasted around the latter stages of Sunday's practice session in 51.0254s - two-tenths under the practice record previously held by Paul Dumbrell. While Whincup and Tim Slade set the pace for most of the 30-minute run, Lowndes unleashed a late crack to seal the record time. Davison, who took out Saturday's opening race - his second in a row after victory at the Clipsol 500 in Adelaide - joined the session late but was caught up in trouble almost immediately. James Moffat speared off into the gravel at turn four, bringing out the red flag and a halt to the session. Both Davison and Whincup found themselves caught up in some of the gravel left behind from Moffat as he limped back to the pits. When Whincup returned he signalled a stronger challenge to the Fords when he took fastest time before Lowndes jumped to the top of the timesheets. "All in all we had some very positive signs today," Lowndes said.