RAIN FORCES OFFICIALS TO CALL OFF SATURDAY V8 RACE IN NZ
9/5/2004 13:06 (Press Release) -
Heavy showers throughout the day have forced officials to postpone the opening
race of the PlaceMakers V8 International at Pukekohe Park Raceway south of Auckland.
This means that all three races will run tomorrow (Sunday), forcing a major re-shuffle
in the race program. Officials have also decided to make all races 36-laps (100.8km)
in length, instead of the originally scheduled 54-laps (152.8) for races two
and three.
Despite the best attempts by officials and track workers to have the track ready
for a 2.35pm start, and a further delay until 3pm, it was decided to postpone
the opening race until tomorrow.
It's the first time since Calder (Victoria) in 1998, that a race has been postponed
or called off. On that day the final of three races was cancelled when heavy
rain flooded the circuit.
Cars were lined-up on pit lane waiting to go out onto the track, when a group
of drivers met with officials and all agreed to postpone the race.
A number of areas around the track were flooded, including the two fast straights
and a number of pit garages. A number of teams have moved racecars to a separate
higher-grounded area for overnight storage.
Drivers were able to venture onto the track this morning for a 20-minute warm-up
session before the top-10 shootout.
Run in rainy conditions there was a number of movements, including pole-man Jason
Bright slipping back to fourth position, while Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing)
maintained his second spot on the grip, with Mark Skaife now starting from pole.
It was after the shootout that drivers expressed concerns, as they found it hard
enough to keep the cars under control while on the track by themselves. With
32-cars set to start the race, the chance of a major incident was too high. With
persistent rain continuing during the afternoon, the correct decision was made.
Weather forecasts are predicting fine weather for tomorrow. Ironically it is
the first major rain for the area in five weeks.
New details for Pukekohe:
Race 1 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Sunday 2 May - 10am
Race 2 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Sunday 2 May - 1.10pm
Race 3 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Sunday 2 May - 3.40pm
Top-10 shootout - PlaceMakers V8 International
1. Mark Skaife - Holden Race Team - Holden Commodore +1:04.7477
2. Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Racing - Ford Falcon BA +0.0060
3. Greg Murphy - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore +0.5131
4. Jason Bright - PWR Racing - Holden Commodore +0.9930
5. Steven Richards - Castrol Perkins Motorsport - Holden Commodore +1.798
6. Paul Radisich - Team Betta Electrical - Ford Falcon BA +1.8024
7. John Bowe - OzEmail Racing - Ford Falcon BA +1.8026
8. Max Wilson - Team Betta Electrical - Ford Falcon BA +1.8319
9. Todd Kelly - Holden Race Team - Holden Commodore +2.0112
10. Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Racing - Ford Falcon BA +2.8753
Release Date: 01/04/2004
Ford Racing Australia
|
|
