Pitstop: Lowndes looks for home advantage

Craig Lowndes will be trying for a hat-trick of round wins and Ford will be shooting to extend a five-year victory run when the Australian V8 Supercars compete at the Queensland Raceway this weekend.

Lowndes comes off victories at Winton and Darwin and lies just eight points behind Holden's Garth Tander in the championship standings. Queensland Raceway is his home track and he won for Ford there a year ago.

Defending series champion Russell Ingall has yet to win a round this year but his Stone Brothers team have taken pole position for the past five years thanks to Marcos Ambrose, who these days races in the United States. When Queensland hosted an endurance race, Kiwis Paul Radisich and Simon Wills won for Ford in 2001 and 2002.

Tomorrow will feature one of the last of the reverse-grid races before the concept is dropped. Also on the programme are Fujitsu series races featuring Kiwis Mark Porter, Chris Pither and Kayne Scott.

Richards defies raceway memories

New Zealand driver Jason Richards reckons he has no qualms about returning to Queensland Raceway this weekend despite the worst crash of his life there last season. His Holden was launched into six flips, metres off the ground. The Tasman Motorsport driver suffered a broken rib but was fit enough to drive in the next round.

This season he is enjoying some of his best results with fourth placing in the last round at Darwin and first place in the reverse-grid race at Winton.

Dixon on fast Milwaukee oval

Fresh from his second win of the IndyCar season last weekend, Scott Dixon will be back in action tomorrow on the Milwaukee Mile, one of the fastest ovals in the championship.

Gaunt dropped to reserves

Toyota Racing Series winner Daniel Gaunt has been stood down from the drive he won with the Newman-Wachs Champcar Atlantic team in America, after a disappointing series of results with the new team.

He has been replaced by an American, Steve Ott, who had a podium finish at Cleveland, driving for another team. Gaunt will continue working with the team as a reserve driver and test driver.

Taste of Europe in motocross

For the first time in many years the first round of the national motocross championship will be run on a sand track.

The Pukekohe Motorcycle club, which will host the round on August 26-27, has opted for the Mercer sand track in place of the traditional Harrisville complex, which was likely to be too wet. Sand tracks are common in Belgium and Holland.