Craig Lowndes wins 2015 Bathurst 1000

“He came up to pull in behind the Safety auto and saw the lights were green and thought ‘I’ve been gifted this one'”.

The team worked on the vehicle and had it fixed 2 laps before the 55-lap cut-off for a Did Not Finish classification.

If it doesn’t go to a favourite, the winning vehicle might come from these names.

The driver is seated further to the centre, rather than to to the left side like in a normal auto.

But Reynolds ensured smiles returned in the Ford team’s garage.

The 30-year-old made the offhanded remark when asked if he was “wary” of the Harvey Norman Supergirls duo during an official post-practice press conference at Mount Panorama on Thursday.

Two wild card entries will look to make their presence felt, with brothers Aaren and Drew Russell joining the field in a Commodore alongside an all-female driver team in another Prodrive Ford.

Reynolds issued an apology about the statement saying he understood it caused offence.

They earn less than men as professional athletes and let’s not forget the furore a couple of years ago when Australian female basketballers flew economy while their male counterparts were put up in business on their way to the Olympics.

“I don’t feel any pressure, it’s a big stand-alone event”, he said.

Storm Troopers provide security for V8 Supercars driver Jamie Whincup.

“Yesterday was bad for our team”.

Gracie says the goal is the race and that she and Swiss driving partner Simona De Silvestro are just focussing on the job they need to do on Sunday.

There were a few officials situated where he crashed but they seem to have been unharmed.

However, 20-year-old Gracie and former-Sauber F1 test driver de Silvestro, 27, have fired back at Johnson’s comments.

‘There are others who won’t either, but I think we will prove them (critics) wrong’.

As he began to describe the miserable qualifying conditions, Reynolds said: ‘When the rain started to, um, I have to choose my words carefully here…’

It had all appeared to steel Gracie who led off impressively after starting the Great Race in the pits to avoid the early carnage.

In all, 31 women have contested the Bathurst 1000 with a best placing of sixth – Australia’s Christine Gibson (1981) and France’s Marie-Claude Beaumont (1975).