SBR struggle with older tyres at Oran Park
14/8/2004 15:28 (Press Release) -
Stone Brothers Racing’s Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall struggled to find outright pace on the opening day of practice for the eighth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Oran Park in Sydney today.
Ambrose was 11th fastest in his Pirtek Falcon while Ingall was 17th in his Caltex Havoline Ford.
The session was red-flagged five times as drivers had trouble coming to grips with the challenging 2.7km circuit which was plagued by high winds and dirt and dust blowing across the track.
Ambrose had one incident mid-way through the session where he ended up in the sand on the outside of turn one.
“Tyres are always an issue here – a good set will give you a lot of time,” said Morris.
“We were out of the handling window we would have liked to have been in during the session.
“Overall I am not that disappointed with today and I am sure we will be right tomorrow.
“The way the rules are, you need to use these longer sessions to bed-in brakes and things like that.
“The balance of the car caught me out a little bit at turn one and I made a mistake and ended up in the dirt – nothing major.”
Ingall, who is chasing his first round win at Oran Park, was not concerned with today’s overall result.
“The tyres we had today were not that great and the times did not come,” said Ingall.
“We also missed the handling a bit and have to make a few changes overnight.
“There is still a long way to go so I would not be discounting us just yet.
“This is a big weekend for us in many ways and we are not loosing sight of the big picture.”
The time sheets were topped by Paul Morris and he was followed by four other Holden drivers.
PRACTICE TIMES
1: Paul Morris (Holden)
2: Simon Wills (Holden)
3: Jason Richards (Holden)
4: Mark Skaife (Holden)
5: Rick Kelly (Holden)
6: Steve Richards (Holden)
7: Greg Murphy (Holden)
8: John Bowe (Ford)
9: Craig Lowndes (Ford)
10: Cameron McConville (Holden)
11: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
12: Todd Kelly (Holden)
13: Max Wilson (Ford)
14: Glenn Seton (Ford)
15: Paul Weel (Holden)
16: Craig Baird (Holden)
17: Russell Ingall (Ford)
18: Garth Tander (Holden)
19: Anthony Tratt (Holden)
20: David Besnard (Ford)
TRACK FACTS – ORAN PARK RACEWAY
Venue: Oran Park Raceway, Sydney, NSW
2004 Race format: Qualifying and Top 10 Shootout (Saturday); 2 x 54 laps (140km)
- compulsory tyre (Sunday)
Circuit Length: 2.7km
Circuit Direction: unti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 245 km/h (Front Straight)
Qualifying Record: Mark Skaife (1999) 1:07.4806s
Lap Record: Craig Lowndes (1999) 1:08.0631s
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Saturday 14 August
9:15am – 9:50am - Practice 2
11:30pm – 12:05pm – Practice 3
1:50pm – 2:10pm – Qualifying (Lower 50%)
2:15pm - 2:35pm - Qualifying (Upper 50%)
4:05pm - 4:35pm - Top 10 Shoot Out
Sunday 15 August
9.40am-10am – Warm-up
11.20am – Race 1 (54 laps)
2.30pm – Race 2 (54 laps)
TELEVISION TIMES
2.30-5pm – Race coverage – Network Ten
1.30-2.30pm – RPM – Network Ten
|
|
