R5 PREVIEW - Northern showdown looms as parity rules
18/5/2000 16:27 (Press Release) - Darwin's Hidden Valley circuit is set to stage some of the most open and exciting racing of the 2000 Shell Championship Series this weekend, with at least six drivers on target for the title and new parity laws to take effect for the first time.
Holden drivers, Mark Skaife and Garth Tander lead the Shell Series points table, but Ford's top men, Paul Radisich and Glenn Seton are not too far away. The men who placed first and second in the 1999 Series, Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall, are also within reach of the lead.
"To have the Series lead at the moment is great, although in this category it's very easy to get shunted back down the pack very quickly," Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife said.
"We didn't go too well here last year, but recent testing at Winton, which has a similar surface to Darwin, has given us the confidence to approach the Northern Territory round with the belief that we can now do well."
"The unknown factor though, is the recent rule change to the Commodores' front spoilers that has been designed to slow the Holdens down. I just hope it won't slow us too much," he said.
Ironically, the parity adjustment - which is designed to slow the Holden's and reverse the imbalance which has seen them claim 37 of the last 41 Shell Series races - will take effect at the circuit where Ford claimed their only round win in a year and a half. Jason Bright took the 1999 victory in the Stone Brothers' Pirtek Ford.
Valvoline Cummins Racing Team young gun, Tander, trails Skaife by just four points and is not about to let the parity adjustment upset his focus on winning the title.
"I didn't think the adjustment was necessary because I just think some of the Holden teams have been doing a better job then the Ford guys," Tander said.
"But the stewards have made their decision and we will cop it on the chin. We tested this week with the trimmed undertray at Winton and found that it does slow you down in the middle and fast speed corners, so we will have to try to find that speed in other areas."
"We go to every round expecting to be on the podium. Hopefully I won't get knocked off this time and I will be up there again," he said.
One man both the Holden leaders will have to watch out for is Shell Helix Racing's Paul Radisich. A stirring maiden race victory at Eastern Creek has "The Rat" third in the points standings and pumped up for the trip north.
"I came quite close to a round win at Eastern Creek, but unfortunately the incident with Lowndes put an end to that," Radisich said.
"But the race win was great, not only for me but for the entire team, and there's no doubt it's a case of finally getting the monkey off my back, but what I really want is a round win and I'll be going all out for it this weekend," he said.
Radisich, a two-time Touring Car World Cup winner, is one of only four Ford drivers to have tasted victory in Shell Series races since the beginning of 1999 and knows better than most how tough it has been to tackle the Holden dominance.
"I've no doubt that a Ford win this weekend will only further incense the Holden camp and reignite the whole parity issue, but the reality is we've been at a disadvantage for quite some time now and this adjustment will only even things up. It certainly won't guarantee us a win, it should merely allow us to battle it out on equal terms," the Kiwi said.
Fourth in the points table is Ford Tickford Racing's Glenn Seton. There is a healthy gap back to Lowndes in fifth and Ingall in sixth.
"I am certainly not out of the hunt yet," said Lowndes who is looking to make it four Shell Series titles from four attempts. "I've had five race wins from ten starts in the Series so far, it's just that I've had my share of problems as well."
Ingall has his Castrol Commodore on the rise and his win in the third heat at Eastern Creek has him confident of a successful Darwin journey.
"We are really starting to get it together now and Hidden Valley and other low grip tracks, like Winton and Willowbank seem to suit us," Ingall said.
"We had a pretty good round in Darwin last year after a slow start to the season. We have started slowly again this year so by that logic, we should have a good weekend."
"We tested with the adjusted undertrays at Calder last week and it certainly slows you down. It might not be so bad in Darwin but it will be really tough to cop at tracks with faster corners. I would prefer the parity system to be fairer in that it penalises the winning teams, not a manufacturer," he said.
Cat Racing's John Bowe suggested the adjustment was insufficient in comparison to other recent examples.
"The Holden teams are complaining but I don't think they have gone far enough. If they were serious about evening up the competition, the Parity Review Committee would have taken 200mm off the front undertray like they did to the Falcons in 1995 that would have an effect on their speed," Bowe said.
Stone Brothers Racing Team Manager, Ross Stone, knows from experience that speculation is trivial and that the true test will come on the track this weekend.
"It won't be until this weekend in Darwin when we get on fresh tyres at the same circuit and on the same day that we will start to get an idea of how effective the adjustment is," he said.
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