R7 PREVIEW - State of Origin battle favouring the home team?
27/6/2000 17:22 (Jason Whittaker) - There seems to be a slight contradiction in opinion over in the battle-scared Ford camp on the eve of the Round 7 “State of Origin” V8 Blockbuster at Queensland Raceway this weekend.
Howard Marsden, Ford Racing’s General Manager, has put the pressure on his Queensland Ford chargers this week, declaring anything less than a win for the largely Queensland-based Ford brigade would be “disappointing.”
“This weekend’s race is a home game for many of the Ford Racing teams,” Marsden explains.
“I am looking forward to seeing the teams that are based in Queensland and test at the circuit demonstrating the full extent of their abilities. Anything less would be disappointing,” he said.
Forever the optimist (it has become an important quality for anyone associated with Ford this year) Marsden’s predictions would seem logical enough. However many of his squadron disagrees with the boss, including DJR young-gun, Steven Johnson.
“In this day in age this is no such thing as home track advantage because of the limited number of testing days we get each year, so you certainly can’t rely on that to get the results,” Johnson says.
Certainly, there are plenty of Queensland-based Ford teams ready and willing to prove Johnson’s sentiments incorrect and live-up to Marsden’s expectations.
In all, nine Ford-backed Queensland campaigners will be competing on their turf this weekend, including those from Dick Johnson Racing, Stone Brothers Racing, Greenfield Mowers Racing, CAT Racing, Super Cheap Auto Racing and K&J Thermal Products Racing.
Of those, the boys from Dick Johnson Racing would seem Ford’s best “blue” hope this weekend and, despite the lessened home track importance, Johnson’s men believe they should be right on the pace.
“The pace of our cars was greatly improved at the last round in Canberra and we’ll be looking to carry that not only into this weekend’s races but right through the remainder of the year to Bathurst,” Steven Johnson said.
At the halfway point in the season, Johnson and Radisich find themselves in 10th and 5th respectively, and know that “pace” will need to be converted into serious points for both to have any chance in the Shell Championship. It’s a fact not lost on “the Rat,” Paul Radisich.
“We need to turn things around this weekend. We’ve been in a bit of a mid-season slump and it’s time to pull out of it,” the 38-year-old Kiwi said.
“The cars have definitely improved, so we need to take full advantage of that and get back up amongst the front runners,” he said.
Radisich eyes Saturday’s qualifying session as the key to success in the three 20 minute sprints.
“At Queensland Raceway the cars tend to string out like Brown’s Cows, so if any one car or group of cars is able to break away, then it’s very difficult to haul them back,” Radisich said.
“Qualifying no further back of the second row of the grid will be imperative to avoiding that, we’ve shown in the past that we have the pace to run with HRT and Valvoline, it’s just a matter of qualifying with them,” he concluded.
The Ford improvement isn’t restricted to Dick Johnson Racing, FTR man Glenn Seton says. The Factory Fords, too, have shown vast improvement over the past few events (Seton’s successive podiums prior to Canberra, and Crompton’s 3rd in the National Capital being the highlights) and both will be out to beat the Queenslanders at home.
“I can’t say whether the Queensland-based teams will gain advantage or not, but I can say that Ford Tickford Racing is improving at every turn,” Seton said.
“I think we will be on the pace this weekend and continue to move forward. The team has proved its consistency recently with four podium finishes in a row,” he said.
While the Ford camp remain confident, any Ford “charge” this weekend, Queenslander or no Queenslander, could prove too little too late in terms of the Championship, thanks to the dominant Factory Holden Commodores, and the rampant Mark Skaife.
Skaife holds a commanding, some say unassailable, 126 point lead over Glenn Seton in the Shell Championship Series, and has said “only a disaster” can stop his charge towards a third Touring Car title. In saying that, HRT know all about mid-season disasters.
"On paper, that gap looks pretty good but with the schedule we have ahead of us this month (three SCS rounds in five weeks), anything could happen," Skaife said.
"At HRT, we're still very conscious of Craig's incident at Calder last year and the impact that had on his and the team's Championship chances, so we're approaching these next three rounds a little conservatively,” he said.
"That's not to say I won't be trying to win! I think that with the gains HRT has made from testing at Winton, we'll be very competitive at Queensland Raceway this weekend. We just won't be taking any undue risks," he said.
The shoe is on the other foot, so to speak, for Skaife’s team-mate, Craig Lowndes. Lowndes – 4th in the Championship and 238 points behind Skaife – knows “a risk” is exactly what he may need to take to haul back Skaife’s lead.
"We didn't have a good run there (Queensland Raceway) last year so I'd like to make up for that with a good result this time,” Lowndes said.
“I've got nothing to lose so we'll be trying to make every post a winner and at the very least, try to make it a HRT one-two behind Mark (Skaife) by the end of the season," he said.
Lowndes will be handed the keys to a brand-new $300,000+ VT Commodore to debut this weekend, something Lowndes is looking forward to.
“It's always a buzz having a new race car; it's a psychological thing really as it's no different to my old one. Mentally though, you feel that the car is a little tighter and fresher and might be that tenth of a second quicker that you're always looking for.”
No such luxury for Garry Dumbrell’s K-Mart campaigners, however the success of the K-Mart machines in Canberra have Greg Murphy and Steven Richards in good form on the eve of Round 7.
“Our crew worked tirelessly (in Canberra) and for the team to walk away with a victory after battling so hard for the first half of the season, well, it gives them a positive mindset, one that says that we can cross the line first and we’ll do it again,” Canberra victor, Steven Richards, said.
“We’ve just got to consolidate on Canberra’s result and look to scoring victory in a sprint round, which is where we’re still lacking serious podium results," he said.
Improvements to the 3.1km Queensland Raceway tarmac, including resurfacing on all six corners, should alleviate many of the tyre wear problems experienced at both Queensland events last year.
Indeed, circuit promoters predict quicker lap times and more overtaking in the three Supercar events on Sunday, which should have the many thousands of fans planing on utilising the circuit’s improved traffic plan, excited at the prospect.
The Supercar action kicks-off at Queensland Raceway with practice on Saturday morning.
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