Round eight - Qualifying and race one results
August 19th 2007 01:22
Todd Kelly has celebrated his 100th start in V8 Supercars with pole position in this weekend’s round of the championship. With a grin that stretched from ear to ear he accepted his anniversary prize of $5000 for the fastest qualifying time.
As usual, the qualifying session threw a number of surprises into the mix at Oran Park this weekend, knocking out a couple of big names in leg one. Craig Lowndes, one of the contenders for the championship, was disappointed to qualify in 23rd position, well down the order, and one position behind James Courtney in the Jeld-wen Stone Brothers Ford.
Greg Murphy, who finished the practice session on Friday in thirty first position, was relieved to creep into the top twenty and contend for the first few rows of the grid but a top ten qualifying position wasn’t to be, with Murphy starting in 16th position.
The second leg of qualifying also saw the demise of Cameron McConville’s chances of sliding into the top ten when a mechanical problem took him out of the session before the end.
The final leg of qualifying saw an exciting battle between the six Holden drivers still standing, blitzing the lap speed of all four Ford drivers lap after lap. A loss of control from Mark Skaife ended one hot lap for the HRT legend, forcing him to spin in front of Garth Tander, finishing both men's chances of snatching pole position from Todd Kelly.
A surprise turn of speed saw Lee Holdsworth in his Valvoline Cummins Commodore break into the top four and start on the second row of the grid.
By the end of qualifying the top ten grid positions were determined for the start of race one as follows:
1. (Pole) Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team)
2. Garth Tander (Toll HSV Dealer Team)
3. Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team)
4. Lee Holdsworth (Valvoline Cummins)
5. Rick Kelly (Toll HSV Dealer Team)
6. Mark Winterbottom (FPR)
7. Jason Richards (Tasman Motorsport)
8. Steve Richards (FPR)
9. Jamie Whincup (Team Vodafone)
10. Jason Bright (Fujitsu Racing Team)
Todd Kelly’s 100th start in V8 Supercar racing wasn’t quite as auspicious as he would have liked as he found himself swamped off the line by Mark Skaife and Garth Tander, pushing him back to third before the first corner.
Race one saw a number of early casualties. Jack Perkins speared off the track on the second corner of lap one after being shunted by his team mate. He managed to get the car back on the track dragging a heap of dirt along for the ride. Lap two saw Russell Ingall in trouble with mechanical issues on his Caltex Ford. A pit stop proved fruitless and his race was finished almost before it had begun.
A steering failure saw Garth Tander’s race ended on lap three, taking one of the favourites out of the running and handing the race lead to Skaife. Tander was disappointed but sanguine about his inability to finish race one, stating, “we’ll just fight on and get some points tomorrow.”
By lap five Steve Owen and Paul Morris were also out of the race, due to mechanical failure and Greg Murphy had forced his way up from 16th to an amazing 8th position.
Lowndes was another early mover and shaker, pushing his way through the field from 23rd to 12th by lap seven. A slow pit stop for Jason Richards saw him lose a number of positions, leap frogged by his team mate when Murphy jumped up to sixth after an excellent stop.
Lap ten saw the first safety car of the weekend when Paul Dumbrell shot off the track in his Supercheap Auto entry. Pit lane suddenly became the most popular place on the track as drivers strived to take advantage of the slower race speed. Mark Skaife had an excellent pit stop, maintaining position one after exiting pit lane but his team mate Todd Kelly wasn’t so lucky, dropping from 2nd down to 7th after being forced to queue in pit lane.
Another slick stop from the Toll HSV Dealer Team saw Rick Kelly shoot out of pit lane just in front of Jamie Whincup. After a minor tussle, Whincup retook second position but because they were still racing under yellow flag conditions behind the safety car, where overtaking is forbidden, Whincup had to yield position two back to Kelly to avoid another harsher penalty.
By lap 19, Mark Skaife was looking particularly strong as he and Rick Kelly started to pull away from the rest of the field. A great fight between Craig Lowndes and Jason Richards for positions 9 and 10 saw Lowndes wear down a determined Richards until the Tasman Motorsport driver could hold him off no longer and by lap 24, Lowndes had passed.
Greg Murphy found himself under pressure from Mark Winterbottom through the middle parts of the race finally feeling the pinch when he locked a brake on lap 36, dropping three positions in the process to 9th.
Lap 36 saw Todd Kelly struggling on old tyres with an eager Craig Lowndes nipping at his heels. A small mistake from Kelly saw Lowndes pass easily, pushing Lowndes into 8th.
The final ten laps of the race were negotiated with calm precision by leader Mark Skaife as he maintained a healthy gap between himself and second place driver Rick Kelly, who found himself under increasing pressure from Whincup in third. The Team Vodafone driver was eager to pass Kelly but was out of luck as he pushed his car to its limits.
Race one finishing positions were as follows:
1. Mark Skaife
2. Rick Kelly
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Mark Winterbottom
5. Steve Richards
6. Will Davison
7. Craig Lowndes
8. Todd Kelly
9. Greg Murphy
10. Lee Holdsworth
Post race comments:
Skaife, on Tander’s early exit from race one:
“When he went wide I didn’t have a tear in my eye … I’ve got to say.”
Rick Kelly
“Our car wasn’t lightning then, we’ve got a little bit of understeer out there but that’s something that we’re confident we can fix. Generally you have oversteer here
“It’s important that we get him (team mate Garth Tander) back up there, where we are … to have two up the front.”
As usual, the qualifying session threw a number of surprises into the mix at Oran Park this weekend, knocking out a couple of big names in leg one. Craig Lowndes, one of the contenders for the championship, was disappointed to qualify in 23rd position, well down the order, and one position behind James Courtney in the Jeld-wen Stone Brothers Ford.
The second leg of qualifying also saw the demise of Cameron McConville’s chances of sliding into the top ten when a mechanical problem took him out of the session before the end.
The final leg of qualifying saw an exciting battle between the six Holden drivers still standing, blitzing the lap speed of all four Ford drivers lap after lap. A loss of control from Mark Skaife ended one hot lap for the HRT legend, forcing him to spin in front of Garth Tander, finishing both men's chances of snatching pole position from Todd Kelly.
A surprise turn of speed saw Lee Holdsworth in his Valvoline Cummins Commodore break into the top four and start on the second row of the grid.
By the end of qualifying the top ten grid positions were determined for the start of race one as follows:
1. (Pole) Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team)
2. Garth Tander (Toll HSV Dealer Team)
4. Lee Holdsworth (Valvoline Cummins)
5. Rick Kelly (Toll HSV Dealer Team)
6. Mark Winterbottom (FPR)
7. Jason Richards (Tasman Motorsport)
8. Steve Richards (FPR)
9. Jamie Whincup (Team Vodafone)
10. Jason Bright (Fujitsu Racing Team)
Todd Kelly’s 100th start in V8 Supercar racing wasn’t quite as auspicious as he would have liked as he found himself swamped off the line by Mark Skaife and Garth Tander, pushing him back to third before the first corner.
Race one saw a number of early casualties. Jack Perkins speared off the track on the second corner of lap one after being shunted by his team mate. He managed to get the car back on the track dragging a heap of dirt along for the ride. Lap two saw Russell Ingall in trouble with mechanical issues on his Caltex Ford. A pit stop proved fruitless and his race was finished almost before it had begun.
A steering failure saw Garth Tander’s race ended on lap three, taking one of the favourites out of the running and handing the race lead to Skaife. Tander was disappointed but sanguine about his inability to finish race one, stating, “we’ll just fight on and get some points tomorrow.”
By lap five Steve Owen and Paul Morris were also out of the race, due to mechanical failure and Greg Murphy had forced his way up from 16th to an amazing 8th position.
Tasman Motorsport drivers fight for position at Oran Park
Lowndes was another early mover and shaker, pushing his way through the field from 23rd to 12th by lap seven. A slow pit stop for Jason Richards saw him lose a number of positions, leap frogged by his team mate when Murphy jumped up to sixth after an excellent stop.
Lap ten saw the first safety car of the weekend when Paul Dumbrell shot off the track in his Supercheap Auto entry. Pit lane suddenly became the most popular place on the track as drivers strived to take advantage of the slower race speed. Mark Skaife had an excellent pit stop, maintaining position one after exiting pit lane but his team mate Todd Kelly wasn’t so lucky, dropping from 2nd down to 7th after being forced to queue in pit lane.
Another slick stop from the Toll HSV Dealer Team saw Rick Kelly shoot out of pit lane just in front of Jamie Whincup. After a minor tussle, Whincup retook second position but because they were still racing under yellow flag conditions behind the safety car, where overtaking is forbidden, Whincup had to yield position two back to Kelly to avoid another harsher penalty.
By lap 19, Mark Skaife was looking particularly strong as he and Rick Kelly started to pull away from the rest of the field. A great fight between Craig Lowndes and Jason Richards for positions 9 and 10 saw Lowndes wear down a determined Richards until the Tasman Motorsport driver could hold him off no longer and by lap 24, Lowndes had passed.
Greg Murphy found himself under pressure from Mark Winterbottom through the middle parts of the race finally feeling the pinch when he locked a brake on lap 36, dropping three positions in the process to 9th.
Lap 36 saw Todd Kelly struggling on old tyres with an eager Craig Lowndes nipping at his heels. A small mistake from Kelly saw Lowndes pass easily, pushing Lowndes into 8th.
The final ten laps of the race were negotiated with calm precision by leader Mark Skaife as he maintained a healthy gap between himself and second place driver Rick Kelly, who found himself under increasing pressure from Whincup in third. The Team Vodafone driver was eager to pass Kelly but was out of luck as he pushed his car to its limits.
Race one finishing positions were as follows:
1. Mark Skaife
2. Rick Kelly
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Mark Winterbottom
5. Steve Richards
6. Will Davison
7. Craig Lowndes
8. Todd Kelly
9. Greg Murphy
10. Lee Holdsworth
Mark Skaife is back! Go Skaifey, you legend.
Post race comments:
Skaife, on Tander’s early exit from race one:
“When he went wide I didn’t have a tear in my eye … I’ve got to say.”
Rick Kelly
“Our car wasn’t lightning then, we’ve got a little bit of understeer out there but that’s something that we’re confident we can fix. Generally you have oversteer here
“It’s important that we get him (team mate Garth Tander) back up there, where we are … to have two up the front.”
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