Ingall Ford's best at Wild Winton
14/8/2004 15:05 (Press Release) -
Caltex Havoline Racing's Russell Ingall has finished fourth at a wild seventh round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Winton Motor Raceway in central Victoria.
Cameron McConville scored his first V8 Supercar round win, after passing Rick Kelly on the second last corner of the 100-lap race; Jason Bright was third.
It was the climax to a day that featured seven safety cars and numerous dramas for just about every team on the track.
Ingall got as high as second and was challenging Greg Murphy for the lead on lap #87, when Murphy went wide and took Ingall off line with him. Ingall dropped three spots. Also involved was championship challenger Steven Richards, who could only recover to be 13th at the finish.
“What a day,” said Ingall.
“There is no doubt about it, 100 laps around here is a long way and I'm sure the fans got their monies worth, even if there confused on what was going on.
“I had a reasonable car today and I think with a bit more luck we could have finished on the podium, if not a race win.
“Our hopes went out the window when Murphy and I slipped off the track at the final turn with 14 laps to go.
“If I had gone to the inside I would have missed the rubbish on the track and would have not had to avoid Murphy and would have gone into the lead. That's just the luck of the draw.
“Thankfully I managed to drive it out of the sand and still stay in the top five.”
For V8 Supercar Champion Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) it was a day that promised so much, but two incidents dropped him to 28th at the finish.
Ambrose spun wide on the final bend leading onto the main straight on lap #25, with his only option to drive down pitlane and drop from eighth to 28th.
This appeared to be negated when the Tasmanian got back to fourth after safety cars and pit stops, but a collision with John Bowe (OzEmail Racing) on lap #60 saw him slide off the track and bog the Falcon in the wet grass.
Ambrose lost 18 laps as he cleared the mud away from the wheels and let the tyres down to get traction.
He's now fourth in the championship, but just 25 points behind leader Jason Bright.
“I respect John Bowe, I have known him a long time, but I'm a little confused with that whole deal,” said Ambrose.
“Let's just leave it on the track.
“I am disappointed, but we will move on.
“The boys radioed and gave me the tip to take some air pressure out of the tyres to try and help me get back on the track.
“I dug some mud away from around the rear wheels, let some air out and then got back in and started it up. I don't know why I did not think of it myself.
“As for the championship, it could have been a lot worse.
“We managed to pick up 42 points and keep ourselves in the championship hunt.”
Super Cheap Auto Racing's Steve Ellery, enjoyed a great day as he climbed all the way from 27th to sixth at the finish. He nearly got fifth place after Murphy's car expired as it came to the finish line.
“It was a day where I put my total trust in all the calls made by made pit crew and we got the result,” said Ellery.
“At one stage we put fuel in the car as the field was going back to green flag racing. That may have appeared to be the wrong thing to do, but after another safety car and the majority of the field pitting, we were then in the top 10.
“From there I really put my head down and kept a lot of good teams at bay while going on the attack.
“It's a great result for us as we have been better than what the results have shown this year.
“It's a good time to get things heading in the right direction with the big races at Sandown and Bathurst not too far away.
Rounding out the top-10 was Glenn Seton (Ford Credit / FPV Ford Performance Racing), who fought back from a lap down to finish strongly.
The V8 Supercar next visits Sydney's Oran Park Raceway on August 13-15.
Top-10 - Results - Winton
1. Cameron McConville - Valvoline Racing - Holden Commodore 2. Rick Kelly - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore 3. Jason Bright - PWR Racing - Holden Commodore 4. Russell Ingall - Caltex Havoline Racing - Ford Falcon BA 5. Greg Murphy - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore 6. Steve Ellery - Super Cheap Auto Racing - Ford Falcon BA 7. Todd Kelly - Holden Race Team - Holden Commodore 8. Paul Morris - Siromet Racing - Holden Commodore 9. Garth Tander - Valvoline Racing - Holden Commodore 10. Glenn Seton - Ford Credit / FPV Ford Performance Racing - Ford Falcon BA
Top-10 - Championship after 7 of 13 Rounds 1. Jason Bright - PWR Racing - Holden Commodore 1131pts 2.Steven Richards - Castrol Perkins Motorsport - Holden Commodore 1126pts 3. Rick Kelly - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore 1110pts 4. Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Racing - Ford Falcon 1106pts 5. Russell Ingall - Caltex Havoline Racing - Ford Falcon 982pts 6. Greg Murphy - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore 979pts 7. Garth Tander - Valvoline Racing - Holden Commodore 924pts 8. Todd Kelly - Holden Race Team - Holden Commodore 897pts 9. John Bowe - OzEmail Racing - Ford Falcon BA 728pts 10. Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Racing - Ford Falcon BA 652pts
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