Round 3 PlaceMakers NZ V8 International - Part 8 Race 3
2/5/2004 16:26 (Mark Jones) -
PWR Performance Products Holden racer Jason Bright has won his second race of the weekend, to claim the PlaceMakers NZ V8 International at Pukekohe Park Raceway, New Zealand this afternoon, the first Australian to do so since V8Supercars first traveled to New Zealand in 1996.
The Melbourne based Bright won the start of the race and led every lap of the 36 lap race to take a seven second victory over an intense battle for second between Greg Murphy and Marcos Ambrose, who finished in that order.
The ever present threat of rain held off for the final of the days three races and the track dried out almost completely.
Bright scored 190 points over the course of the weekend with a second and two wins to take out the round, his fifth round victory. Brights victory has also maintained Holden's perfect record at Pukekohe.
Second position for Murphy placed him third for the weekend, and the first time he has been beaten at this circuit. Ambrose third position secured him second for the round.
Fourth place in Race 3 minimised the damage to former series leader Steven Richards title aspirations, and now sits just four points behind Marcos Ambrose in the title chase.
As with earlier races there was little changing of positions amongst the front runners, with only two position changes ocurring amongst the top ten cars after the first lap with Ambrose and Murphy twice exchanging second position.
Fifth place for Rick Kelly was not enough for him to defend third place in the championship from his team mate Greg Murphy, and the two Kmart Commodores now sit roughly 25 points behind the two championship leaders.
Mark Skaife's miserable weekend continued, the HRT driver having to start from the rear of the grid after failing to finish race 2. Skaife climbed as high as 18th during the race only to lose that spot on the final lap to Brad Jones. Skaife has slipped to 16th in the series standings. The five time champion would be lower down the order but for DNFs to Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom and a poor finish for David Besnard.
Three time champion Craig Lowndes also had a tough day which ended badly with mechanical failure in the engine bay with only three laps to go. The other late race retirement was Paul Morris. The BWS commodore had a puncture with three laps to go. The team replaced the tyre and sent Morris back out but the car punctured another left front, pitching the Queenslander into the wall hard on the outside of turn 7 just 50 metres from the chequered flag.
Race 3 Results
P1 50 Jason Bright PWR Performance Products
P2 51 Greg Murphy Kmart Racing Team
P3 1 Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Racing
P4 11 Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Motorsport
P5 15 Rick Kelly Kmart Racing Team
P6 16 Paul Weel PWR Performance Products
P7 9 Russell Ingall Caltex Havoline Race Team
P8 17 Steven Johnson Shell Helix Racing
P9 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport
P10 34 Garth Tander Repco Valvoline Cummins Team
P11 88 Paul Radisich Team Betta Electrical
P12 12 John Bowe OzEmail Racing Team
P13 7 Tony Longhurst Castrol Perkins Motorsport
P14 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team
P15 44 Simon Wills Holy Grail Wine/Alphawest
P16 75 Anthony Tratt Toll Racing
P17 888 Max Wilson Team Betta Electrical
P18 21 Brad Jones OzEmail Racing Team
P19 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team
P20 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing
P21 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Orrcon Racing
P22 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing
P23 18 Warren Luff Shell Helix Racing
P24 31 Steven Ellery Super Cheap Auto Racing
P25 23 David Besnard Wright Patton Sheakespeare
P26 33 Cameron McConville Repco Valvoline Cummins Team
P27 8 Paul Dumbrell Castrol Perkins Motorsport
P28 14 Mark Porter IMS - Hydralink
P29 45 Dale Brede Holy Grail Wine/Alphawest
DNF 29 Paul Morris Sirromet - Life,Style,Wine
DNF 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing
DNF 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Orrcon Racing
Overall Positions for Round 3
P1 190 Jason Bright
P2 184 Marcus Ambrose
P3 182 Greg Murphy
P4 168 Steven Richards
P5 166 Rick Kelly
P6 152 Paul Weel
P7 146 Russell Ingall
P8 140 Steven Johnson
P9 138 Paul Radisich
P10 134 Jason Richards
P11 116 Todd Kelly
P12 114 Simon Wills
P13 110 John Bowe
P14 106 Craig Baird
P15 100 Garth Tander
P16 98 Max Wilson
P17 94 Tony Longhurst
P18 84 Anthony Tratt
P19 82 Brad Jones
P20 72 Cameron McConville
P21 62 Mark Skaife
P22 62 Steven Ellery
P23 60 Paul Morris
P24 58 Craig Lowndes
P25 56 David Besnard
P26 54 Glenn Seton
P27 54 Mark Winterbottom
P28 50 Warren Luff
P29 36 Paul Dumbrell
P30 36 Jason Bargwanna
P31 28 Mark Porter
P32 12 Dale Brede
Top 20 Standings After Round 3: Marcos Ambrose 532, Steven Richards 528, Greg Murphy 509, Rick Kelly 502, Jason Bright 457, Craig Baird 364, Russell Ingall 350, Paul Weel 347, Steven Johnson 341, John Bowe 326, Paul Morris 324, Garth Tander 322, Jason Bargwanna 306, Paul Radisich 294, Todd Kelly 269, Mark Skaife 254, David Besnard 254, Craig Lowndes 244, Max Wilson 236, Mark Winterbottom 234 etc
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