Motorsport: Champs to change marques

Photo / Alan Gibson

MELBOURNE - Supercar supremos Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup are confident of continuing their V8 series domination when they buckle into Holdens next season.

In a three-year deal, their TeamVodafone Ford outfit will become a Holden team from 2010.

The extraordinary move means Lowndes will be returning to the genesis of his touring car career.

It was in a Commodore that he became the hottest ticket in the sport, winning both the V8 title and the Bathurst 1000 as a 22-year-old in 1996.

Triple Eight Racing, the successful British-based engineering company from which TeamVodafone emerged, has defected to Holden after Ford withdrew factory support last year.

Ford poured all its Supercar resources into two teams - Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers Racing - but it was Lowndes and Whincup who dominated the year.

The duo won Bathurst for the second straight year and Whincup was crowned V8 Supercar champion.

TeamVodafone has again set the pace this season, winning nine out of the 12 races with more success in sight at this weekend's Sandown round in Melbourne.

Whincup said he believed he could win next year in a Holden.

"Already the Holden is a fine-tuned product. I can't see any reason why we can't continue winning."

- AAP