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RED Bull Racing star Craig Lowndes has warned "carnage" – the type caused by giant concrete walls – is likely to decide the 2013 V8 Supercar Championship.
As practice for the Gold Coast 600 gets underway today, Lowndes has told The Daily Telegraph he expects the notorious holiday strip to help decide a title race where only 181 points separates the top four drivers.
Currently, fellow Red Bull racer Jamie Whincup leads the championship with Lowndes and Ford Performance Racing duo Mark Winterbottom and Will Davidson right in the mix.
"Coming to the Gold Coast, you always know this is the one track where mistaking a mistake costs you – big," Lowndes said. "Everyone saw the amount of carnage up here last year, it was tough. And there's nothing to suggest it won't be happening again.
"Right now, I'm very mindful of the championship. All the top drivers are. You want to win this race but at the same time there's just no room for error. With those concrete walls going right around the track, it makes things incredibly difficult." Exactly 12 months ago, the Gold Coast track resembled a smash-up derby after not one, but two start line incidents on Saturday wreaked havoc.
In the first, American driver Ricky Taylor launched off another car and rolled along the pit wall, with his ride eventually coming to rest on its roof. All up, six V8s did not make the grid of the restarted race due to damage from the first two attempts.
Asked if the notoriously tough Gold Coast track, complete with its famous triple chicane, could determine the outcome of this year's series Lowndes continued: "Oh, for sure.
"Winning the series now is all about taking risks, calculated risks. So you want to push the car as hard as you can up here.
"But if you cross that line ... you're into a wall and the race, as well as the championship, is over. Any mistake up here can prove so costly mistake." Whincup leads the V8 supercar Championship on 2423 points. Lowndes is next, on 2309 points, followed by reigning Bathurst 1000 champion Winterbottom (2281) and FBR stablemate Davidson (2242).
Asked about Whincup's claim that he couldn't really call his advantage a lead, Lowndes smiled and said: "Any time you're ahead in a series as tough as this one you'll take it ... it makes more a fantastic weekend of races."
Elsewhere, this weekend's Gold Coast 600 will also decide the inaugural Pirtek Enduro Cup, with no less than 12 combinations still in with a mathematical chance of securing the new gong.
Whincup and Paul Dumbrell lead the Championship-within-a-Championship and, having won three of the last six Gold Coast races, the Holden driver starts as short-priced favourite to lift the Cup.
Practice begins this morning, with two 300km races taking place Saturday and Sunday.
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