Wilson - Radisich Battle The Elements In Shortened Race At Eastern Creek
14/4/2004 22:24 (Press Release) -
Round two of the V8 Supercar Series got underway at Eastern Creek this afternoon with drivers experiencing extremely wet conditions, however it didn’t dampen the spirits of the large crowd of supporters in attendance.
Right from the rolling start behind the safety car the pace was exceptionally fast considering the extreme weather conditions.
Radisich, driving the Team Betta Electrical car #88 was finding visibility near impossible - dropping three placing’s in the first four laps of the race, choosing not to extend the car in such dangerous conditions.
Wilson, driving the second Team Betta Electrical Falcon also dropped his initial starting position of 11th by three positions also, preferring to race on the side of caution.
Lap five saw Mark Skaife lock brakes whilst duelling with Marcos Ambrose, sending his Commodore off the circuit.
As the rain became even heavier throughout the race, the incidents increased with Steve Ellery becoming the next victim of the slippery conditions, spearing off the circuit at turn one and crashing heavily into the wall.
Team Betta Electrical chose to bring Radisich in for fuel on lap 33, returning to the circuit in 22nd position with Wilson taking on his fuel load just four laps later on lap 37, rejoining the race in 16th position.
The teams positions remained fairly constant throughout the race with the respective cars managing to make up just a few placing’s preferring to keep the cars intact rather than throw caution to the wind under such conditions.
Toward the later stages of the race Craig Lowndes had a dual with Garth Tander for several laps with neither prepared to give an inch, door handle to door handle they continued with each driver showing great ability in car control, Lowndes finally taking second position, much to the crowds surprise and yet again proving he really is the rain master.
The safety car entered the circuit on no less than five occasions throughout the race, again highlighting the extreme conditions being experienced by the drivers.
Both Wilson and Radisich commented on how difficult the conditions were to race in, with visibility down to zero on occasions.
“It was extremely taxing out there said Radisich, they certainly weren’t ideal conditions”.
“I wish I could have finished further up in the points, however I’m pleased to have finished the race without incident”.
“Conditions were not unlike the final round here last year, that event was equally demanding on ones concentration” commented Radisich.
“The Team provided us with very competitive cars this weekend, unfortunately we can’t control the weather, I really do feel for all the supporters, having to endure such elements” – Radisich concluded.
Max Wilson in car 888 also ran a very consistent race, climbing his way back into 10th spot after completing his mandatory fuel and tyre stops.
“It was pretty tough out there and you couldn’t see much ahead of you at all, it was fairly dangerous on occasions”.
“It was extremely hard to maintain traction to the road, however I’m not too disappointed with the result, at least I have gained some points from this round” – said Wilson.
“I will be focusing now on round three at Pukekohe in New Zealand in three weeks time to further consolidate my position in the championship” – Wilson concluded.
The race was finally stopped on lap 68, nine laps short of the planned 77 lap event, with the first placing’s being awarded to Rick Kelly in the K-Mart Commodore, Craig Lowndes Ford FPR and Garth Tander in the Valvoline Commodore.
RACE RESULTS - Shortened Race of 68 Laps
Pos Car Team Driver Vehicle
1 15 Kmart Racing Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
2 6 Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA
3 34 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY
4 11 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY
5 51 Kmart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY
6 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA
7 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
8 10 Larkham Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA
9 021 Team Kiwi Racing Craig Baird Holden Commodore VY
10 888 Team Betta Electrical Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA
11 29 Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY
12 20 Larkham Orrcon Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA
13 50 PWR Performance Products Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY
14 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
15 5 Ford Performance Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA
16 44 Holy Grail Wine/Alphawest Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY
17 23 WPS David Besnard Ford Falcon BA
18 12 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA
19 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY
20 88 Team Betta Electrical Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA
21 18 Shell Helix Racing Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA
22 2 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY
23 21 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA
24 7 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Tony Longhurst Holden Commodore VX
25 33 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY
26 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Holden Commodore VY
27 45 Holy Grail Wine/Alphawest Dale Brede Holden Commodore VY
28 14 IMS - Hydralink Mark Porter Holden Commodore VX
29 16 PWR Performance Products Paul Weel Holden Commodore VY
30 8 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VY
DNF 3 Tasman Motorsport Jason Richards Holden Commodore VX
DNF 31 Super Cheap Auto Racing Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA
2004 V8 Supercars Championship Series Standings (AfterRound2)
1 Steven Richards 0 186 174 360
2 Marcos Ambrose 0 192 156 348
3 Rick Kelly 0 144 192 336
4 Greg Murphy 0 159 168 327
5 Jason Bargwanna 0 120 150 270
6 Jason Bright 0 147 120 267
7 Paul Morris 0 132 132 264
8 Craig Baird 0 114 144 258
9 Garth Tander 0 42 180 222
10 John Bowe 0 126 90 216
11 Russell Ingall 0 90 114 204
12 Steven Johnson 0 39 162 201
13 David Besnard 0 102 96 198
14 Paul Weel 0 171 24 195
15 Mark Skaife 0 126 66 192
16 Craig Lowndes 0 0 186 186
17 Mark Winterbottom 0 54 126 180
18 Glenn Seton 0 69 108 177
19 Paul Dumbrell 0 141 18 159
20 Paul Radisich 0 78 78 156
21 Todd Kelly 0 69 84 153
22 Max Wilson 0 0 138 138
23 Warren Luff 0 66 72 138
24 Brad Jones 0 60 60 120
25 Simon Wills 0 0 102 102
26 Anthony Tratt 0 60 42 102
27 Cameron McConville 0 48 48 96
28 Jason Richards 0 75 0 75
29 Tony Longhurst 0 0 54 54
30 Dale Brede 0 0 36 36
31 Mark Porter 0 0 30 30
32 Steve Ellery 0 0 0 0
33 David Krause 0 0 0 0
34 Phillip Scifleet 0 0 0 0
35 David Thexton 0 0 0 0
36 Terry Wyhoon 0 0 0 0
Release Date: 04/04/2004
Triple Eight Race Engineering
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