Hidden Valley – Round 4, Saturday Practise 2
27/5/2004 15:35 (Anthony Goode) -
Saturday morning’s second 35-minute practise session saw the action heat up both on and off the track. As the temperature rose, and the lap times lowered in preparation for qualifying and race 1.
Gone were Friday’s storm clouds that hovered over the Hidden Valley circuit, replaced by the customary clear, sunny blue skies and warm weather that the Northern Territory round is known for.
With the track gaining more grip as the weekend went on, lap times got quicker by the minute. In the end it was the in-form Jason Bright, in the PWR VY Commodore, that set the quickest time of the session, 1:09.3392; a full second quicker than his best time on Friday.
Saturday morning’s session also saw the emergence of British squad 888 Engineering’s Team Betta Electrical, with both drivers setting top ten times in the Betta Electrical BA Falcons.
Max Wilson finished 2nd, setting a 1:09.4700 time while team mate Paul Radisich was 6th on a 1:09.8291; the first driver to break into the 1 minute 9 second bracket for the weekend.
Aside form 888; the only other team with both cars in the top ten was the HRT. Todd Kelly, who was quickest yesterday, ended in 3rd on a 1:09.6258. Team boss Mark Skaife sat in 7th with a 1:09.9100 lap time, having done all his laps on old tyres.
Marcos Ambrose, who, despite his previous Hidden Valley success has yet to win pole here, placed 5th at sessions end with a 1:09.7821. Teammate Russell Ingall slipped out of the top ten to 14th with a 1:10.0583.
In 8th place was John Bowe in the Black Ozemail BA Falcon with a 1:09.9648, ahead of a happier Paul Morris who was plagued by brake troubles yesterday. Morris set a 1:09.9705.
In 10th place was the lead FPR Falcon of Craig Lowndes who has yet to break into the 1 minute 9 second bracket with a 1:10.0310. He faired better than his teammate Glenn Seton, who fell from 8th in the first session to sit 25th.
A surprise inclusion in the top ten for the session was Simon Wills in the Team Dynamik Commodore, who posted the 4th fastest time, 1:09.7778. Wills wasn't getting carried away however as the time was set on brand new tyres.
"It’s hard to know where the other guys are with their tyres, but we're happy with the progress we've made so far this weekend, it shows we've got the right pace going into qualifying" he said.
Championship contender Steven Richards was again 11th, in the lead Castrol Commodore. It was a disappointing session however for Paul Dumbrell, who went backwards from 6th in Prac 1 to 20th place in Prac 2.
A notable omission from the top ten was Kmart racing, with drivers Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly slipping from 7th and 3rd, in session 1, to 17th and 22nd respectively.
It also had not been a good a start for Team Kiwi's Craig Baird who sat in 27th after Prac 2; concerned by a lack of power in the all black TKR VY Commodore. Baird was looking for a strong run to consolidate 6th in the championship chase.
Top ten after Practise 2:
1) PWR Performance Products Jason Bright 1:09.3392
2) Team Beta Electrical Max Wilson +0.1308
3) Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly +0.2866
4) Roadships/Alphawest Ind Simon Wills +0.4386
5) Stone Brothers Racing Marcos Ambrose +0.4429
6) Team Betta Electrical Paul Radisich +0.4999
7) Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife + 0.5708
8) OzEmail/Brad Jones racing John Bowe + 0.6256
9) Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris + 0.6313
10) Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes + 0.6918
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