Star pit stop has hearts pumping

martin

9 years ago

Supercar star Craig Lowndes made fan Catherine Pennington’s day when he filled up her petrol tank.

AN Adelaide petrol station that provides fuel service is surprising enough, never mind finding that Australia’s most popular race car driver is the one filling up your tank.

Motorists got the shock of their lives when they got out of their car on Tuesday and had Team Vortex Supercar driver Craig Lowndes asking “which fuel would you like?” as his pit crew sprang into action to check tyres and under the bonnet.

Caltex is Lowndes’ longest-serving sponsor and he often visits one of its service stations to surprise motorists when on the road for Supercar events, this time stopping in to the Caltex Star Mart at Clearview ahead of this weekend’s Clipsal 500.

He quite possibly made RDNS community nurse Catherine Pennington’s year when she happened to pull in.

“I was just going to put petrol in my car before my next client,” the Lowndes fan said, not believing her luck.

V8 driver Craig Lowndes and his pit crew service Edwin Mwangi’s car. Picture: Tricia WatkinsonSource:News Limited

Edwin Mwangi is also a fan, owning not only his souped-up Holden commodore but also a Holden ute, and dived into the servo when he saw Lowndes’ mock Triple 8 Race Engineering commodore parked by a bowser.

“Over the weekend I would not be able to see him, so I came in,” he said as he got his cap signed.

Lowndes said it was fun to catch up with fans in a relaxed environment before a hectic weekend of racing.

“The owners of the cars were a bit shocked,” he said.

The Supercars will first hit the Clipsal 500 track on Friday, but most drivers will have arrived by Wednesday to kick off the preparations with sponsor commitments and public meet-and-greets.

Lowndes relished the opportunity to acclimatise to the weather while dressed in his race suit for the stunt.

“It’s very much a physically demanding track,” he said.

“Just the heat will play a big part of it.”