Craig Lowndes kills off ‘smiling assassin’ talk

Holden driver Craig Lowndes says he smiles a lot but he is hardly the “smiling assassin” of the V8 Supercars series.

Craig Lowndes is celebrating his birthday at the V8s.

CRAIG Lowndes has shot down the suggestion he is a “smiling assassin” on the V8 Supercars series, saying all drivers have an element of aggression in their make-up.

In another week of tension between the Holden Red Bull Racing team and Ford driver Mark Winterbottom, Lowndes was forced to deny that he took out his rival on purpose during the big race at Bathurst this month.

There is plenty of history between Winterbottom and Lowndes’ Red Bull teammate, defending V8 champion Jamie Whincup.

Winterbottom and Lowndes have since spoken about the incident at Bathurst and yesterday the Holden driver said they had both moved on.

“I don’t think I’m a smiling assassin. I’m always going to smile, regardless of what happens on the track,” Lowndes told the Bulletin.

“I want to win races. We’re all aggressive when we’re racing. I’m not overly aggressive.”

Lowndes said he had apologised to Winterbottom straight after the checkered flag at Bathurst but spoke to him again on Wednesday night during the run-up to this weekend’s Gold Coast 600.

Winterbottom also moved to calm emotions over the incident, reiterating the stance that he wished to do all his talking on the track.

“I was disappointed with the result but respect the fact Craig was trying to win the race,” Winterbottom said.

“I will do my talking on the track. Leave it there.”

Not surprisingly, five-time V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup defended his Red Bull teammate yesterday when the subject of driving standards was raised.

“People forget. It’s dog-eat-dog on the track, provided you stay within the rules,” he said.

“Craig didn’t deliberately turn him around. If it’s deliberate, that’s a different thing. But it wasn’t.”

Lowndes is regarded by his race rivals as a tough-but-fair opponent, something he emphasised in his assessment of Winterbottom’s allegation earlier in the week that he was overly aggressive at Bathurst.

“I don’t think I’m more or less aggressive than anyone else out there,” he said.