Murphy takes pole position at Albert Park
4/3/2004 19:38 (Press Release) -
K-Mart Racing's Greg Murphy dominated the opening day of the 2004 V8 Supercar season, blitzing the Top 10 Shootout field to take pole position for the non-championship races at the Australian Grand Prix circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne.
In the fastest lap format to decide pole position, Murphy edged out Mark Skaife's Holden. Skaife was the last car out for the fastest lap shootout, knowing exactly what was needed to start at the front of the grid tomorrow. He fell just under a second short of Murphy.
Jason Bright rounded out a top three for the Commodores with defending V8 Supercar Champion Marcos Ambrose the fastest Ford, coming in fourth.
Murphy conceded his fastest lap was still below his best but enough to lift him to the top of the Holden dominated shoot-out. Only Ambrose and Paul Radisich (8th) flew the Ford flag in the top 10 shootout.
"You go out there to go as fast as you can," Murphy said.
"Knowing that everyone is doing the same it's great to be able to start the first race of the year from pole. And, if you look at it from a performance point of view, starting the race from pole gives you the best chance to win.
"Every driver out there wants front spot - it's important to beat everyone."
Murphy said he would build on the lap in tomorrow's first race, a 10-lap event, when the V8 Supercars battle in full race format for the first time this year.
"Half of today's lap was pretty good, and the other half felt like it could have been better. Still, it's great to come here and start the season in front of a big crowd."
Skaife, who surrendered the No.1 to Ambrose last year, was happy with his lap on a circuit he said ranked amongst the most free-flowing he has driven on.
"This is such a fantastic track, when you see a good lap here it is fast and flowing, and we love that," Skaife said.
Bright won the first race this time last year, and believes his teams' showing with a new car will stand up well this championship season.
"We tested at Winton which is very different to here, we were really struggling there, but the car is good now and I'm pretty happy," he said.
Ambrose admitted he was feeling a little claustrophobic in being surrounded by Holdens in the shootout and again when he sits on the first half of the grid tomorrow.
"It is going to be really tough, I think we've got eight Holdens around us," Ambrose said. "But we are the fastest Ford, and that is important because I think this is a track really suited to the Commodores."
Steve Richards was fifth in his Castrol Perkins Commodore, saying the day had travelled smoothly for the team and he was looking forward to tomorrow's opening race.
Tomorrow's race, the first of three at the Grand Prix, starts at 3pm.
Top 10 Shootout Results:
1. Greg Murphy - Kmart Commodore (1m58.977s)
2. Mark Skaife - HRT Commodore (1m59.257s)
3. Jason Bright - PWR Commodore (1m59/834s)
4. Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Falcon (2m00.243s)
5. Steven Richards - Castrol Perkins Commodore (2m00.604s)
6. Garth Tander - Repco Valvoline Cummins Commodore (2m00.861s)
7. Rick Kelly - Kmart Commodore (2m00.863s)
8. Paul Radisich - Betta Electrical Triple 8 Falcon (2m01.083s)
9. Todd Kelly - HRT Commodore (2m01.141s)
10. Simon Wills - Team Dynamik Commodore (2,03.760s)
Release Date: 4/03/2004
AVESCO
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