Team Vodafone tame the mountain at the Bathurst 1000
October 8th 2007 07:51
Well Bathurst has been and gone for another year and has delivered on it’s perpetual promise to exceed all expectations yet again.
What an awesome weekend of racing with the only downside being the failure of Holden to make a mark on the podium, with the highest placed Holden driver pairing of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards crossing the line in fourth position.
A disappointment to all Holden fans, particularly when the top three driver pairings stood on the podium and thumbed their noses at Holden and rubbed salt into the raw wounds over and over again. Enough’s enough, boys, show some respect to the opposition and some sympathy for the hard-done-by fans of Red.
Concerns over Team Vodafone’s decision to use a new car for the race were unfounded with last year’s winners, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, expanding upon their strong practise and qualifying sessions and being crowned 2007 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winners.
Dangerous from the start, Lowndes and Whincup were consistent and reliable, the team showing a dominance that was impossible to beat, even after a nail-biting last few laps where they traded the race lead with the Jim Beam Falcon driven by Stephen Johnson and came under heavy pressure from James Courtney in the Jeld-wen Ford.
An off-road experience when Whincup visited the pits late in the race and ended up traversing the dirt instead saw Team Vodafone with their hearts in their mouths.
The win by Team Vodafone has catapulted both drivers into the top two positions on the championship leader board, with Jamie Whincup taking the lead on the overall points table with just four rounds to go this year.
A promising start by previous points table leaders, Toll HSV drivers Garth Tander and Rick Kelly, quickly turned sour after a blown tyre at the bottom of mountain straight sent the number 1 Commodore careering off the track at top speed. The out of control car almost ruined the eventual winners’ race, narrowly missing the triple eight Vodafone entry as it spun crazily back across the track.
A relieved Rick Kelly was pleased to hand over control of the car to Garth Tander a few laps later but this was just the first of many problems for the Toll team which saw Kelly and Tander constantly having to visit the pits with brake issues, being forced to bleed the lines a number of times and eventually bowing out late in the race.
A strong start by Mark Skaife in the number 2 HRT Commodore seemed promising for Skaifey fans as he slotted into second position off the line behind Stephen Richards in the FPR Falcon. His experienced handling of a well-tuned car put him in a very strong position but a ten second delay during the first pit stop saw the team lose a number of positions on the track.
It was all just downhill from here as Skaife and Kelly’s car finally crashed out late in the race. There were no points again for a disappointed Skaife, who missed the previous endurance race at Sandown three weeks ago due to emergency surgery to remove his appendix, effectively ending his challenge for the championship.
The strength of Steven Richards and partner Mark Winterbottom persisted until a mistake late in the race saw the FPR Ford drop a number of positions and drop them out of the equation.
The Tasman Motorsport pairing of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards showed a smooth consistency throughout the day’s racing, delivering them a well-earned fourth position. And the stealthy slide up through the field by James Courtney and partner David Besnard resulted in a very respectable second place for the Stone Brothers Racing Ford.
WPS/WOW racing also achieved their highest result ever with the number 8 WOW Ford driven by Jason Bargwanna and Max Wilson powering over the line in seventh. To reinforce the team’s positive result, Grant Denyer and Michael Caruso drove the #10 WPS Racing Falcon over the line in 15th position, scoring six points for their efforts.
Of the starting field of thirty cars, only sixteen went on to finish the race, many of the casualties falling by the wayside at the end of the race when the rain finally started to fall causing all kinds of problems for drivers on slick tyres. It was like driving on an ice rink.
Crowd numbers were second only to last year’s Peter Brock testimonial event which saw record numbers of spectators over the weekend. This year’s official results show 180,121 people enjoyed the racing over the four days, more than 20,000 up on the previous best, excluding last year, which was back in 2002 when Peter Brock made his comeback appearance at Mount Panorama.
But the day belonged to an elated Team Vodafone. While last year’s victory was emotional for Lowndes, following the death of mentor Peter Brock, he was in no doubt about himself and Whincup becoming the first pair to take the Sandown-Bathurst double since 1996.
“No matter if you are Ford or Holden, this is Brocky’s Mountain and we’ve done it again,” Lowndes said.
“After we got to the front from then in we just had to knuckle down. It was a whole new experience … and had a few moments everywhere. I was just trying to find those tram-tracks.
.
“It’s great to see different Ford teams up the front. It’s not just one or two teams, there’s real depth in the Ford camp now. For us we didn’t have the fastest car here. It’s fantastic to partner Jamie. I said last year he was a whiz kid and he’s done a great job.
“Last year was a memorable win with Peter Brock. This year is great to come back and do it again.”
What an awesome weekend of racing with the only downside being the failure of Holden to make a mark on the podium, with the highest placed Holden driver pairing of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards crossing the line in fourth position.
A disappointment to all Holden fans, particularly when the top three driver pairings stood on the podium and thumbed their noses at Holden and rubbed salt into the raw wounds over and over again. Enough’s enough, boys, show some respect to the opposition and some sympathy for the hard-done-by fans of Red.
Concerns over Team Vodafone’s decision to use a new car for the race were unfounded with last year’s winners, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, expanding upon their strong practise and qualifying sessions and being crowned 2007 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winners.
Winners are grinners!!
Dangerous from the start, Lowndes and Whincup were consistent and reliable, the team showing a dominance that was impossible to beat, even after a nail-biting last few laps where they traded the race lead with the Jim Beam Falcon driven by Stephen Johnson and came under heavy pressure from James Courtney in the Jeld-wen Ford.
An off-road experience when Whincup visited the pits late in the race and ended up traversing the dirt instead saw Team Vodafone with their hearts in their mouths.
The win by Team Vodafone has catapulted both drivers into the top two positions on the championship leader board, with Jamie Whincup taking the lead on the overall points table with just four rounds to go this year.
A promising start by previous points table leaders, Toll HSV drivers Garth Tander and Rick Kelly, quickly turned sour after a blown tyre at the bottom of mountain straight sent the number 1 Commodore careering off the track at top speed. The out of control car almost ruined the eventual winners’ race, narrowly missing the triple eight Vodafone entry as it spun crazily back across the track.
A relieved Rick Kelly was pleased to hand over control of the car to Garth Tander a few laps later but this was just the first of many problems for the Toll team which saw Kelly and Tander constantly having to visit the pits with brake issues, being forced to bleed the lines a number of times and eventually bowing out late in the race.
A strong start by Mark Skaife in the number 2 HRT Commodore seemed promising for Skaifey fans as he slotted into second position off the line behind Stephen Richards in the FPR Falcon. His experienced handling of a well-tuned car put him in a very strong position but a ten second delay during the first pit stop saw the team lose a number of positions on the track.
It was all just downhill from here as Skaife and Kelly’s car finally crashed out late in the race. There were no points again for a disappointed Skaife, who missed the previous endurance race at Sandown three weeks ago due to emergency surgery to remove his appendix, effectively ending his challenge for the championship.
The strength of Steven Richards and partner Mark Winterbottom persisted until a mistake late in the race saw the FPR Ford drop a number of positions and drop them out of the equation.
Mark 'Frosty' Winterbottom being chased by Mark Skaife early in the race
The Tasman Motorsport pairing of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards showed a smooth consistency throughout the day’s racing, delivering them a well-earned fourth position. And the stealthy slide up through the field by James Courtney and partner David Besnard resulted in a very respectable second place for the Stone Brothers Racing Ford.
WPS/WOW racing also achieved their highest result ever with the number 8 WOW Ford driven by Jason Bargwanna and Max Wilson powering over the line in seventh. To reinforce the team’s positive result, Grant Denyer and Michael Caruso drove the #10 WPS Racing Falcon over the line in 15th position, scoring six points for their efforts.
Of the starting field of thirty cars, only sixteen went on to finish the race, many of the casualties falling by the wayside at the end of the race when the rain finally started to fall causing all kinds of problems for drivers on slick tyres. It was like driving on an ice rink.
Crowd numbers were second only to last year’s Peter Brock testimonial event which saw record numbers of spectators over the weekend. This year’s official results show 180,121 people enjoyed the racing over the four days, more than 20,000 up on the previous best, excluding last year, which was back in 2002 when Peter Brock made his comeback appearance at Mount Panorama.
But the day belonged to an elated Team Vodafone. While last year’s victory was emotional for Lowndes, following the death of mentor Peter Brock, he was in no doubt about himself and Whincup becoming the first pair to take the Sandown-Bathurst double since 1996.
“No matter if you are Ford or Holden, this is Brocky’s Mountain and we’ve done it again,” Lowndes said.
“After we got to the front from then in we just had to knuckle down. It was a whole new experience … and had a few moments everywhere. I was just trying to find those tram-tracks.
.
“It’s great to see different Ford teams up the front. It’s not just one or two teams, there’s real depth in the Ford camp now. For us we didn’t have the fastest car here. It’s fantastic to partner Jamie. I said last year he was a whiz kid and he’s done a great job.
“Last year was a memorable win with Peter Brock. This year is great to come back and do it again.”
| 53 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by ChrisB
Formula 1
The Social Centre
Wouldve loved to see James Courtney get up - that guy should have been in F1 a long time ago, but thats another story.
I must say though, as a Holden fan...seeing Kelly and Tander bow out was heartbreaking. I cried a little.
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Another Holden fan? Great ... you're welcome over here any time!!!
My tears fell when Skaifey made a few bad decisions then bowed out but the race was, as usual, brilliant.
Must admit, I've got a bit of a soft spot for Courtney since he's been doing the Dancing with the Stars thing. He's done such a lot to raise the profile of the sport just by entering the competition, so good for him.
(But I'd still rather see Skaifey/Holden win every time!!)
Thanks for dropping in Chris.
A