Skaife and Ingall Fastest at the Creek
4/4/2004 8:36 (Press Release) -
V8 Supercar combatants Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall sat side by side at Eastern Creek today as the fastest in practice for this weekend’s championship series race.
Ingall and Skaife, whose run-in on the same track last year created worldwide headlines, did not mingle on the track but later spoke of their afternoons out on the opening day of the Eastern Creek event which gets a lot more serious tomorrow.
Ingall’s Ford was the fastest in practice from Skaife, Jason Bright, Steven Richards and John Bowe. Paul Morris continued his good early season with the sixth fastest time in front of David Besnard, current champion Marcos Ambrose, Paul Radisich and Simon Wills.
"Not a bad day. We had a really good run and in the end it was a productive session," Ingall said. “Our grand plan for this year is to finish every race in the top six. I can't afford to lose it this weekend."
Skaife was confident that early problems with the HRT were being ironed out and that he would challenge the field this weekend.
"It's encouraging to be that far up. The car is nowhere good enough yet," Skaife said.
"I'm not happy yet with how it is. That's not really a complaint, just that we know we've got room to improve."
John Bowe has once again managed to squeeze the potential out of his OzEmail Falcon setting the 5th fastest time of the day.
“I’ve got a car that has fantastic brakes and a reasonably good set up. The feel of it especially the engine, was definitely better than last year. All in all, it was a enjoyable car to drive,” Bowe said.
“The extra power that we seem to have is wasted because I can’t get the best entry speed onto the straight. We need to fix the ‘power down’ out of the corners but other than that, I’m pretty happy.”
Top Ten Practice Times:
1. Russell Ingall Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon 1:32.545
2. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore 1:32.929
3. Jason Bright )WR Holden Commodore 1:32.952
4. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 1:33.060
5. John Bowe OzEmail Racing Ford Falcon 1:33.279
6. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:33.367
7. David Besnard WPS Ford Falcon 1:33.382
8. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:33.395
9. Paul Radisich Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 1:33.434
10. Simon Wills Team Dynamic Holden Commodore 1:33.504
Release Date: 02/04/2004
AVESCO
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