Lowndes, partnered by Mark Skaife saw off a concerted challenge from long time race leader Lee Holdsworth. They led team-mates Jamie Whincup and Steve Owen across the line in a 1-2 finish for Team Vodafone.
A drive through penalty hurt Holdsworth's proposects,the Holden pair’s hopes were dashed due to a drive-through penalty when Besnard exceeded the speed limit coming onto pitlane.
The team finished seventh in a mostly incident-free race apart from a dramatic crash on the first lap involving Fabian Coulthard, whose car rolled numerous times and Will Davison crashing out of third with only eight laps to go.
Pole-sitter Mark Winterbottom also saw his Bathurst dream disappear when co-driver Luke Youlden clipped a wall at the Cutting, the Ford Performance Racing team eventually finishing ninth.
Third place went to Garth Tander and Cameron McConville despite poor start, Jason Bright and Matt Halliday finished fourth, Ford drivers James Courtney and Warren Luff came in fifth to be the highest-placed Falcon ahead of Greg Murphy and Allan Simonsen
This was the fifth win for Lowndes, the sixth for his 43-year-old, semi-retired co-driver Skaife and the 27th win for Holden. Twenty of those victories have now come via the Commodore.
Pos Drivers Make Time 1. Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife Holden 6h12m51.4153s 2. Jamie Whincup/Steve Owen Holden + 0.1733s 3. Garth Tander/Cameron McConville Holden + 1.2496s 4. Jason Bright/Matt Halliday Holden + 2.3703s 5. James Courtney/Warren Luff Ford + 6.2001s 6. Greg Murphy/Allan Simonsen Holden + 7.0830s 7. Lee Holdsworth/David Besnard Holden + 7.5468s 8. Russell Ingall/Paul Morris Holden + 9.8712s 9. Mark Winterbottom/Luke Youlden Ford + 10.7756s10. Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter Holden + 11.3222s11. Steven Richards/James Moffat Ford + 12.3593s12. Steven Johnson/Marcus Marshall Ford + 12.6333s13. Alex Davison/David Brabham Ford + 17.6993s14. Paul Dumbrell/Dean Canto Ford + 19.1367s15. Karl Reindler/David Wall Holden + 19.5268s16. Rick Kelly/Owen Kelly Holden + 26.1778s17. Mark Noske/Nathan Pretty Holden + 29.1717s18. Tim Slade/Jack Perkins Ford + 29.4502s19. Jonathon Webb/David Russell Ford + 2m17.5414s20. Todd Kelly/Dale Wood Holden + 1 lap21. Shane Van Gisbergen/John McIntyre Ford + 3 laps22. Tony Ricciardello/Taz Douglas Holden + 3 laps23. Jason Richards/Andrew Jones Holden + 4 laps24. Geoff Emery/Markus Zukanovic Holden + 5 laps25. Andrew Thompson/Ryan Briscoe Holden + 7 laps26. Damian Assaillit/Ant Pedersen Ford + 8 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Drivers Make Laps Will Davison/David Reynolds Holden 152 Jason Bargwanna/Glenn Seton Holden 132 Dean Fiore/Michael Patrizi Ford 56 Tony D'Alberto/Shane Price Holden 38 Fabian Coulthard//Craig Baird Holden 0
Past Winners:
2010 - Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife (Holden)2009 - Garth Tander/Will Davison (Holden)2008 - Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup (Ford)2007 - Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup (Ford)2006 - Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup (Ford)2005 - Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly (Holden)2004 - Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly (Holden)2003 - Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly (Holden)2002 - Mark Skaife/Jim Richards (Holden)2001 - Mark Skaife/Tony Longhurst (Holden)
Most wins (multiple winners only):9 - Peter Brock7 - Jim Richards6 - Mark Skaife5 - Craig Lowndes4 - Allan Moffat, Greg Murphy3 - Dick Johnson, Jamie Whincup2 - Harry Firth, Bob Jane, John Goss, Allan Grice, John Bowe, Russell Ingall, Tony Longhurst, Steven Richards, Rick Kelly, Garth Tander.
