Ambrose And Ingall Set Solid Foundation In Darwin
21/5/2004 21:10 (Press Release) -
Stone Brothers Racing’s Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall laid a solid foundation for the fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series when they both finished in the top 10 of the opening practice session at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway today.
Ambrose was second fastest and the leading Ford driver in his Pirtek Falcon while Ingall was ninth in his Caltex Havoline Ford on a track which lacked a lot of grip due to continual overnight rain.
“A 35-minute session does not give you a lot of time to get into a groove, so to be second at this stage is pretty pleasing, but we are not getting too carried away,” said Ambrose.
“There is no doubt that the rain overnight made a big difference to the track surface.
“We are a long way away from the practice times of last year so I think we will see some big improvements tomorrow – again, depending on the weather.
“The points structure is designed to reward race finishes, but we are here to race and win. I think there is still a lot of speed to come from the track, the cars and the drivers.
Holden driver Todd Kelly was quickest in the session, but a surprising 0.3 of a second faster than Ambrose – the same amount of time stood between Ambrose and Mark Skaife in 10th position.
Ingall was reasonably pleased with his efforts, although he knows there is a lot of time left in his Falcon.
“We experimented with a few things and in the end the car was OK considering we used just one set of tyres,” said Ingall.
“There is certainly a lot more speed to be had out there.
“The track is certainly a lot different to what we have experienced here in the past because of the overnight rain, which has never happened before as far as I can remember.
“It will be interesting to see how everyone handles the changing track conditions tomorrow with practice, qualifying, the shootout and then a race.
“I think this is going to be a great weekend for the fans and hopefully we can give them something to cheer about in the Caltex machine.”
Less than a second separated the top 24 cars in the 32-car field on the 2.9km circuit.
HIDDEN VALLEY - PRACTICE TIMES
1: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:10.0535
2: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1:10.3302
3: Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:10.3932
4: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1:10.4516
5: Jason Bright (Holden) 1:10.4560
6: Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 1:10.4785
7: Greg Murphy (Holden) 1:10.5116
8: Glenn Seton (Ford) 1:10.5884
9: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:10.6133
10: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1:10.6531
TRACK FACTS – HIDDEN VALLEY
Venue: Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, NT
2003 Race format: Top 10 Shootout & 17-Lap race (Saturday); 2 x 35 Lap races (Sunday) – Both Sunday races include compulsory tyre stop.
Circuit Length: 2.9km – Front straight 1.1km
Circuit Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 260 km/h (Main Straight)
Average Speed: 151km/h
Qualifying Record: Garth Tander (2001) 1:08.4938
Lap Record: Jason Bright (2001) 1:09.0149
2004 CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (After round 3 of 13)
1: Marcos Ambrose 532
2: Steve Richards 528
3: Greg Murphy 509
4: Rick Kelly 502
5: Jason Bright 457
6: Craig Baird 364
7: Russell Ingall 350
8: Paul Weel 347
9: Steve Johnson 341
10: John Bowe 326
11: Paul Morris 324
12: Garth Tander 322
13: Jason Bargwanna 306
14: Paul Radisich 294
15: Todd Kelly 269
16: Mark Skaife 254
17: David Besnard 254
18: Craig Lowndes 244
19: Max Wilson 236
20: Mark Winterbottom 234
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
F! riday 21 May
2:30pm - 3:05pm - Practice 1
Saturday 22 May
9:30am - 10:05am - Practice 2
11:40am - 12:00pm - Qualifying (Lower 50%)
12:05pm - 12:25pm - Qualifying (Upper 50%)
2:30pm - 3:00pm - Top 10 Shoot Out
4:30pm - 4:50pm - Race 1 (17 laps)
Sunday 23 May
9:40am - 10:00am Warm Up
11:45am - 12:30pm - Race 2 (35 laps)
2:30pm - 3:15 - Race 3 (35 laps)
TV TELECAST - Network Ten
Sunday
2:30pm - 5:00pm
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