INGALL WINS OPENING RACE IN DARWIN
25/5/2004 19:58 (Press Release) -
Stone Brothers Racing continued their impressive record at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway when Russell Ingall won the opening race of the fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series today.
Ingall was running third in his Caltex Havoline Ford when teammate Marcos Ambrose and Holden’s Mark Skaife had a “coming together” on the exit on the final turn of the last lap.
Skaife ran wide and rejoined the track to finish 14th, while Ambrose stayed on the circuit and limped home with a broken steering arm on his Pirtek Falcon to finish third behind Ingall and Todd Kelly.
While the incident between Ambrose and Skaife was the topic of plenty of conversation after the race, both Ingall and Ambrose were adamant about the situation.
“I’ll take a win any way I can get it,” said Ingall.
“Marcos’ move was a brilliant one – I wish I’d have made it.
“There was a big gap left for him and he took it. It think it’s great that the championship leader is prepared to make such a move on the final corner of the last lap.
“We had a pretty good run and had a pretty good race car. Everything just opened up in front of me and we were in a position to make the most of it.”
Ingall was happy overall with the performance of his Caltex Havoline Falcon and to return to the top of the podium.
“The car was easy to drive and we were never going to take any risks today,” said Ingall.
“I would have been happy to have finished third or fourth with tomorrow being the money day, but hey, I’ll take it.
“I think we really made a lot of progress in each of the sessions today.
“I was happy to start fifth after picking up a couple of spots in the shootout, but I might have even been a couple of spots higher if my foot had not slipped off the brake going into the last corner.
“I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
Ambrose says he has absolutely no regrets about the last-lap move, despite the fact that it dropped him from second to third in the race standings.
“The gap was there and I went for it,” said Ambrose.
“As the championship leader I probably should not have done it, but I just went on instinct.
“I am here to race for the fans, Ford and our sponsors and as long as I can keep racing like this within the rules I’ll keep doing it.
“I carried a lot of speed into the corner and there was a big gap there.
“He (Skaife) turned down and that’s when contact was made. I am sure both of us could have gone to the line without any drama.
“It was a pretty good race between the top five cars and pretty entertaining from inside the car.”
The race win was the 24th in Ingall’s 99-round career and his first since he won the second race of the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge in Surfers Paradise in round 11 last year.
Race 1 - Results
1. Russell Ingall (Ford) – 17 Laps
2. Todd Kelly (Holden)
3. Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
4. Jason Bright (Holden)
5. Steven Richards (Holden)
6. Rick Kelly (Holden)
7. Jason Bargwanna (Ford)
8. John Bowe (Ford
9. Paul Radisich (Ford)
10. Max Wilson (Ford)
11. Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
12. Craig Lowndes (Ford)
13. Greg Murphy (Holden)
14. Mark Skaife (Holden)
15. Garth Tander (Holden)
16. Craig Baird (Holden)
17. Paul Weel (Holden)
18. Glenn Seton (Ford)
19. David Besnard (Ford)
20. Paul Dumbrell (Holden)
21. Steve Ellery (Ford)
22. Warren Luff (Ford)
23. Cameron McConville (Holden)
24. Anthony Tratt (Holden)
25. Jason Richards (Holden)
26. Tony Longhurst (Holden)
27. Mark Noske! (Ford)
28. Dale Brede (Holden)
29. Paul Morris (Holden)
30. Simon Wills (Holden) – 16 Laps
DNF. Brad Jones (Ford) – 16 Laps
DNF. Steven Johnson (Ford) – 9 Laps
TOP 10 SHOOTOUT
1: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1:09.1188
2: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:09.3113
3: Jason Bright (Holden 1:09.4812
4: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1:09.5602
5: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:09.6116
6: Steve Richards (Holden) 1:09.6541
7:Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:09.7914
8: Max Wilson (Ford) 1:09.9293
9: Simon Wills (Holden) 1:10.0153
10: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 1:10.2656
QUALIFYING – TOP 10
1: Jason Bright (Holden) 1:09.2821
2: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1:09.3303
3: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:09.3771
4: Steve Richards (Holden) 1:09.4194
5: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1:09.4279
6: Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:09.4307
7: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:09= 2E5978
8: Max Wilson (Ford) 1:09.6209
9: Simon Wills (Holden) 1:09.6804
10: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 1:09.7297
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
S! unday 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
Release Date: 22/05/2004
Stone Brothers Racing
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