SBR 1-2 on first day of Queensland 300
2/7/2004 19:12 (Press Release) -
Just 0.02 of a second separated Stone Brothers Racing teammates Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall at the top of the time sheets after practice on the opening day of the Queensland 300 at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich today.
Ambrose, the defending series champion and current championship leader, clocked a time of one minute and 10.9895 seconds around the 3.12km circuit in his Pirtek Falcon.
Ingall, the defending race champion, was a blink of an eye away in his Caltex Havoline Ford.
Today’s results come hot on the heels of a successful test at Queensland Raceway last week in which the team made some strong gains.
“I guess if we are going to do well anywhere it should be here,” said Ambrose.
“We are the first Ford team right now and we were making sure we had a good racecar today.
“All previous years we have not been first on the opening day here, so it will be nice if we can continue the momentum through the weekend.
“The track is constantly changing and you really have to adjust to the conditions.
“We actually came in and made some changes after the opening lap.
“We only have a single race here this weekend so it is very important to finish and ensure we keep the points ticking over.”
While Ambrose and Ingall led the 35-car list, Holden drivers and championship contenders Jason Bright and Steve Richards were not that far away.
“This is our home track, but it has not taken our Melbourne colleagues (Bright and Richards) long to get on the pace, as expected,” said Ingall.
“We were toying with a heap of things all session to try and build on what we learnt during our test last week.
“The tyres we were using were not that great, but we should not need new tyres to do a reasonable time here because it is our test track.
“We were keen to keep our tyre bank for other tracks later in the year.
“We will certainly get more serious tomorrow and hopefully we can maintain our speed and spots on the time sheets.
“The aim is to certainly be in a position to win back-to-back races at QR this weekend.”
There will be a 35-minute practice session in the morning followed by qualifying and a top 10 shootout in the afternoon.
ROUND 6 – FRIDAY PRACTICE
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1:109895
2: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:11.0160
3: Jason Bright (Holden) 1:11.1148
4: Steve Richards (Holden) 1:11.1421
5: Warren Luff (Ford) 1:11.2439
6: John Bowe (Ford) 1:11.3500
7: Steve Johnson (Ford) 1:11.3917
8: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 1:11.4094
9: Paul Morris (Holden) 1:11.4299
10: Greg Murphy (Holden) 1:11.4602
11: Paul Weel (Holden) 1:11.4637
12: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:11.4961
13: Max Wilson (Ford) 1:11.5572
14: Simon Wills (Ford) 1:11.5784
15: Craig Baird (Holden) 1:11.6066
16: Garth Tander (Holden) 1:11.7449
17: Glenn Seton (Ford) 1:11.7671
18: Brad Jones (Ford) 1:11.8662
19: Neil McFadyen (Holden) 1:11.8704
20: Cameron McConville (Holden) 1:11.8774
21: Paul Radisich (Ford) 1:11.9186 23: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1:12.0016
24: Anthony Tratt (Holden) 1:12.0966
25: Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:12.1625
26: Mark Noske (Ford) 1:12.2686
27: Dale Brede (Holden) 1:12.4987
28: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1:12.5389
29: Steve Ellery (Ford) 1:12.5585
30: Jason Richards (Holden) 1:12.6391
31: Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 1:12.7257
32: Tony Longhurst (Holden) 1:12.8483
33: David Besnard (Ford) 1:13.9272
34: Garth Walden (Ford) 1:15.2930
35: David Krause (Holden) 1:18.3417
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
After 5 of 13 rounds
1 Marcos Ambrose (Ford) - 872
2 Rick Kelly (Holden) - 822
3 Steven Richards (Holden) - 820
4 Greg Murphy (Holden) - 811
5 Jason Bright (Holden) - 783
6 John Bowe (Ford) - 638
7 Russell Ingall (Ford) - 634
8 Garth Tander (Holden) - 600
9 Todd Kelly (Holden) ! - 597
10 Paul Weel (Holden) - 569
ROUND 6, 2004
Venue: Queensland Raceway, Willowbank, Qld
2003 Race format: Qualifying and Shootout - Saturday; 90-lap Race (compulsory tyre and fuel stops) - Sunday
Circuit Length: 3.121km
Circuit Direction: Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 260 km/h (Back Straight)
Qualifying Record: John Bowe (1999) 1:09.2594
Lap Record: Garth Tander (1999) 1:11.0033
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Saturday July 3
10:35am – 11:10am - Practice 2
1:35pm - 1:55pm - Qualifying (Lower 50%)
2:00am - 2:20pm - Qualifying (Upper 50%)
4:15pm - 4:45pm - Top 10 Shoot Out
Sunday July 4
10:00am – 10:20am Warm Up
1:45pm - Race (90 laps)
TV TELECAST - Network Ten
Sunday
2:30pm - 5:00pm
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