R5 QUAL - Parity no problem for HRT
20/5/2000 18:05 (Press Release) - Craig Lowndes claimed his second pole position for the season, smashing the existing qualifying record in a sizzling session for round five of the Shell Championship Series at Hidden Valley in Darwin.
Lowndes' time of 1:08.606 was the highlight of a tight and fast session where the top eight drivers went under Glenn Seton's 1999 qualifying mark of 1:09.201.
"We put a second set of tyres on and waited until there were only about eight minutes left and went out. My second lap was a nice, fast clean one and it turned out really well," Lowndes said.
The Holden Racing Team, the dominant outfit in V8 Supercar racing, shrugged off the pre race debate over parity adjustments to once again head the field as Mark Skaife joined his teammate on the front row.
The pair has shared the front row on three occasions this year and Lowndes' fourth grid place in Adelaide is the worst qualifying performance for the team in five rounds.
This is the first time a Holden has claimed pole at the Darwin circuit and claiming the two top spots is a positive sign for HRT, who have traditionally performed below par here.
"We have done a lot of testing to improve our performances at tracks where we struggled last year, like here, Winton and Queensland Raceway, and the car is dramatically better as a result," Skaife said. "I was sixteenth in qualifying here last year and now I am second."
A decision was taken to trim the front undertray of the Holden VT Commodores in an effort to promote the parity formula which has been a part of V8 Supercar racing since its inception in 1992. With Holden boasting 21 round wins to one since Winton in 1998, the change was deemed necessary.
Despite much speculation and trading of opinions between the two manufacturers before the first test of the change, today's results failed to produce a significant Ford resurgence.
There are five Holdens and five Fords in the top ten headed by the red HRT Commodores, a very similar looking grid to any Shell Series round in the last year and a half.
A resurgent John Bowe was bumped from provisional pole by the HRT duo but takes a season-best third grid place for tomorrow's races.
"It was a good lap. I couldn't make it go any faster," Bowe said. "The HRT guys are up the front again and the parity adjustment hasn't made any difference at all here."
Bowe's CAT Racing Falcon will start alongside the Tickford Ford of Glenn Seton who was fourth fastest.
"We are really pleased with that. I was on pole here last year and I have managed to go faster today so we are going forward," Seton said. "It's always a lot easier to challenge for the win from a front grid spot."
Mark Larkham's Mitre Ten Ford slips into the top five on the grid for the first time in 2000 and he was happy with the progress of his race car.
"The team has done a fantastic job and I am in a significantly improved motor car compared to last year," Larkham said. "We really battled to work out the right set up with the control tyre brought in last year but we know a lot better now."
Three big guns in the title chase follow with Garth Tander's Valvoline Cummins Holden in sixth, and the Shell Helix Racing Falcon of Paul Radisich and Russell Ingall's Castrol Commodore in seventh and eighth.
Radisich, who took a rare Ford race victory in the last round at Eastern Creek, remains optimistic about his chance at the track where Ford last took a win in a Shell Series round.
"We had a bit of a rear traction problem and I made a slight error on my hot lap so seventh is fairly pleasing," Radisich said. "Where you start is not necessarily where you finish and if I can get starts like I did at Eastern Creek then we've still got a very good chance."
Teenager, Paul Weel made giant leaps forward in his Thermal Products Ford AU to sneak up to 14th. Brad Jones was also an improver on morning practice times, putting his Ozemail Falcon on the 15th spot on the 35-car grid.
The racing is likely to be hard and fast in the Darwin heat tomorrow with the top 15 drivers within a second of each other and the flowing Darwin circuit providing some exciting passing opportunities.
**TOP 10**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [1:08.6062min]
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [1:08.6767]
3rd JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [1:08.8415]
4th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:09.0000]
5th MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon [1:09.0320]
6th GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [1:09.0530]
7th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:09.1488]
8th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [1:09.1562]
9th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [1:09.3320]
10th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [1:09.3372]
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