R7 QUAL - "The Kid" crawls back on top in Queensland
1/7/2000 18:28 (Jason Whittaker) - Craig Lowndes has today declared he is far from ready to relinquish his Shell Series crown, snatching pole position from his heir-apparent in qualifying for Round 7 of the Shell Series at Queensland Raceway.
“The Kid” scorched around the newly-resurfaced 3.1km outer-Ipswich circuit in today’s 25 minute qualifying session to stop the clocks at 1:10.13 minutes – fast enough to keep his team-mate and championship rival at bay.
Lowndes sits fourth in the championship, 238 points behind the man he will share tomorrow’s front row with, Mark Skaife. Skaife could only manage second, 0.9 seconds slower than his team-mate.
“Mark’s got a pretty good lead over us, but we are only halfway through the season and I just have to go out there and beat him, simple as that,” Lowndes, the reigning Shell Series champion, said.
Mark Skaife explained, "I can’t think about playing the percentages and conserving the lead, I just have to keep doing what we have been doing through the first half of the year. Keeping the car at the pointy end of the field and straight is what I will keep trying to do."
Russell Ingall’s climb up the Shell Series ladder continues, managing enough clean laps to qualify in third position behind the all-HRT front row.
"My championship hopes are pretty much gone but my objective now is to go out and win races,” Ingall said.
“I have got to get up the championship table because there is no way I am going to get to the end of the year and finish eighth," he said.
The home track advantage many predicted for the Queensland Ford campaigners never materialised in qualifying, however a strong local presence will still be felt.
Of the eight Ford-backed local runners, Larkham will fly the flag up front, qualifying alongside Ingall on the second row.
"The Holden guys test at Winton which has a very similar surface to here so they are able to show up and be pretty quick straight out of the box, and by the same token, I expect us to be pretty competitive when we go to Winton," Larkham said.
The Gold Coast-based Stone Brothers’ machines, piloted by Tony Longhurst and Craig Baird, will share the third row of the grid. Longhurst topped the time sheets in the first practice session, only to be pushed back to 5th in official qualifying.
While happy with his Queensland Raceway speed, Longhurst again hit-out at administrators, and blamed the current parity situation for the performances of the Fords.
"Give us a front undertray which is the same size as the Holdens. Maybe if that changes we will put it on the front row," Longhurst said.
"We (the Ford camp) are still battling with understeer problems and the Holdens have a clear advantage," he said.
The traditional local favourites, Dick Johnson’s Shell Helix Fords, are yet to make an impact at the circuit, with Paul Radisich qualifying back in 8th and Steven Johnson starting tomorrow’s proceedings in 14th position.
50-year-old veteran, Larry Perkins, recovered from a slow start in early practice to jump into the top ten in 7th place. Perkins’ time in the slower of the two qualifying sessions displaced John Bowe from the top ten, pushing him back to 11th.
The return to the sprint race format again had K-Mart Racing man and Canberra conqueror, Steven Richards, struggling for qualifying pace. Richards will start from 10th, eight positions ahead of his Kiwi team-mate, Greg Murphy.
Despite a round win in the corresponding event last year, Garth Tander’s slide out of championship contention looks set to continue, with the Valvoline-Cummins wheelman only managing 12th position on the grid – his worst qualifying performance this year.
The Supercar action begins tomorrow with the first of three 20 minute “sprints” due to start at 11:30am. Network Ten’s Australia-wide coverage begins at 3pm.
**TOP TEN**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [1:10.1315min]
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [1:10.2215]
3rd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [1:10.2726]
4th MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.2768]
5th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.3525]
6th CRAIG BAIRD (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.7975]
7th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [1:10.8632]
8th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.9113]
9th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.9505]
10th STEVEN RICHARDS (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [1:10.9605]
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