DAVISON SETS THE SPEED FOR PORSCHE POLE
19/3/2004 17:00 (Press Release) -
International Porsche star Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) captured pole position in round one of the Australian Carrera Cup at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide today, continuing with his fine early season form.
The Melbourne 24-year-old ended an intriguing day of practice and qualifying with the top spot on the grid just ahead of reigning Australian Carrera Cup champion Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers).
Davison set a blistering lap time of 1:25.18 surpassing the time of his more experienced Porsche counterpart Richards who clocked 1:25.37. Little separated the duo on the timesheets all day, setting the scene for three exciting 12-lap races over the next three days in Adelaide.
“It all went relatively smooth today despite some problems with my seat belt,” said Davison. “My aim was to learn the track and get up to speed. Ideally I’d like to ride the bumps a bit better, but it’s all coming together at the right time.”
Richards was satisfied with another strong qualifying performance despite not repeating his pole position from round one last year.
“I was quite happy with that. I thought we might have gone faster, but at the end of the day the sun was getting stronger and we called it a day,” said Richards.
Rookie driver Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) from Auckland continued to impress in his first year of Porsche GT3 911 racing claiming third grid position with a best time of 1:25.86.
“This was my first time here and we did a reasonable job,” said Coulthard. “I was closer here than at the Grand Prix – it’s all about chipping away and being there at the end. This year progress is the main thing.”
The trend of youth over experience continued with last year’s series third placegetter Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Acer, SEW Eurodrive) clocking a time marginally behind Coulthard, but joining the 21-year-old on the second row of the grid.
Gold Coast youngster Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) put in his best qualifying result in the Australian Carrera Cup with the fifth quickest time. Team Braun’s Peter Hill also recorded his best qualifying result in sixth, while Dean Grant (Becks Racing) equalled his best with the seventh fastest time.
Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts), Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) and Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) rounded out the top 10.
The Carrera Cup is the most successful ‘one make’ championship in the world with close-to-identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars built by Porsche’ racing arm in Weissach, Germany set for racing at the Clipsal 500. All cars have a top speed in excess of 300 kilometres per hour with a 400-horsepower, 6 cylinder Boxer engine which revs to 8000 RPM.
Race one of the Carrera Cup at the Clipsal 500 is 1.25pm tomorrow, Friday March 19, race two on Saturday March 20 and race three on Sunday March 21. All races will be contested over 12 laps of the 3.22km street circuit. ‘Trackside’ on Network Ten will telecast round one of the Carrera Cup on Sunday March 28 at 2pm (check local guides).
RESULTS
Qualifying, Thursday March 18
1. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) 1:25.1754
2. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 1:25.3703
3. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:25.8601
4. Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Acer, SEW Eurodrive) 1:26.3091
5. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:27.3997
6. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:27.5744
7. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 1:27.8445
8. Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts) 1:27.8778
9. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:27.9717
10. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 1:28.1129
11. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 1:28.2727
12. Matt Coleman (Matt Coleman Racing / City Commercial Property, Donald Group) 1:28.5136
13. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 1:28.5433
14. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:28.9320
15. Marc Cini (Adamco) 1:30.6449
16. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 1:31.2214
DNS James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods)
Practice 1, Thursday March 18
1. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 1:26.3606
2. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) 1:26.5215
3. Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Acer, SEW Eurodrive) 1:27.7037
4. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:27.8769
5. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:28.2189
6. Matt Coleman (Matt Coleman Racing / City Commercial Property, Donald Group) 1:28.3874
7. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:28.7897
8. Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts) 1:28.8419
9. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:28.9422
10. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 1:29.0701
11. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 1:29.3259
12. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:29.3671
13. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:29.4637
14. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 1:29.5679
15. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 1:31.5352
16. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 1:32.3454
17. Marc Cini (Adamco) 1:32.8967
Practice 2, Thursday March 18
1. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 1:26.0637
2. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) 1:26.2198
3. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:26.7011
4. Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Acer, SEW Eurodrive) 1:27.4205
5. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:27.7746
6. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:27.8552
7. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:28.2282
8. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1:28.5265
9. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 1:28.6639
10. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 1:28.7742
11. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 1:28.8056
12. Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts) 1:29.2536
13. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 1:29.3312
14. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1:29.9005
16. Marc Cini (Adamco) 1:30.9611
15. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 1:31.2553
DNS Matt Coleman (Matt Coleman Racing / City Commercial Property, Donald Group)
Release Date: 18/03/2004
Carrera Cup
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