R7 RACES - Lowndes back to his best, Ingall sees red
2/7/2000 21:42 (Press Release) - Craig Lowndes turned on an awesome display to win everything on offer in round seven of the Shell Championship Series at the Queensland Raceway. Even Series leader, Mark Skaife had to settle for second behind his Holden Racing Team partner.
Mark Larkham flew a lone Ford flag, claiming third overall. The Mitre Ten Ford driver claimed a career first Shell Series podium finish after stewards deducted 20 points from Russell Ingall's weekend tally after a controversial incident in race one.
Lowndes' victory in a brand new race car continued a tradition in the Holden Racing Team. They have rolled out three new cars over the past two seasons and won the round each time.
"It's a great credit to our team," said Lowndes. "We have done a heap of testing at Winton in an effort to iron out some of the weaknesses we had last year at these type of circuits, and as a result of that, the set up of this new car was exceptional and things have gone really well for me today."
Skaife's second placing was evidence of HRT's dominance of the weekend. The pair qualified on the front row of the grid and finished first and second in all three of the 17 lap heats.
"To finish one-two anywhere, particularly when it is not your home track, is fairly hard, so today's result is really brilliant for us," said Skaife.
Larkham was well satisfied with his own result while conceding to the dominant team which had beaten him and the rest of the field.
"It would be an understatement to say I am really pleased to get my first podium finish," said Larkham.
"A win's a win, but being the first guy behind Craig and Mark is pretty satisfying. HRT do an excellent job and they deserve to be here. My team has done an excellent job to get me here, but they are what we all aspire to, they do it better than the rest at the moment," he said.
Larkham was the only blue oval driver in the top five. Garth Tander recovered from a disappointing qualifying performance to take fourth place in the Valvoline Cummins Holden while Ingall's Castrol Commodore took fifth despite his penalty.
Glenn Seton lies second on the overall points table but he conceded ground to Skaife today with sixth place in his Tickford Ford, while Paul Radisich's challenge was snuffed out in the third heat when his Shell Helix falcon lost its third gear.
The Ford camp are being beaten into submission by their Holden counterparts, led by the HRT duo.
Since the beginning of 1999, Holden have won 49 races to Ford's four. They hold a 19 to one round win advantage, and Lowndes' success this weekend is the 15th consecutive victory for the Holden's, equalling the best effort by the Ford's when the Sierra ruled the tracks in 1989-90.
Larkham declined to reignite the long running parity debate, but conceded something had to be done to make the sport more exciting for the fans.
"HRT are very strong over race distance and I take my hat off to them, as I always do. They are a very good and well resourced outfit," said Larkham.
"The most disheartening aspect for the sport is that there were a significant number of Ford fans here today and they have gone home disappointed – again. More top ten shootouts for qualifying and compulsory pit stops to eliminate some of the predicability may be an option."
The weekend's podium may well have been another all Holden affair had Ingall not lost his cool and been penalised accordingly.
Ingall had mounted the only challenge of the day to the HRT pair when he made a last lap assault on Skaife for second.
Backmarker, Mike Imrie, after letting the HRT pair past, blocked Ingall. This was enough for Larkham to slip by for third place and Ingall, in anger, moved close alongside Imrie on the finish line to give him "the royal salute.” Subsequent contact resulted in Imrie spinning into the wall.
Stewards conceded Imrie's error of judgement, handing him a suspended fine of $1,000 for blocking.
However, Ingall's act of reckless retribution was dealt with more harshly with a $10,000 fine and a deduction of 20 Championship points.
Ingall claimed he had not deliberately caused the damage, saying he was busy looking in Imrie's window to give him the 'salute' and not concentrating on keeping his car in a straight line. Stewards decided this was a reckless act.
While conceding he was in the wrong, an angry 'Enforcer' lashed out at Imrie's driving and the potential for danger in the super competitive V8 Supercar ranks.
"We need to get rid of these idiots, it's bad for the sport," said Ingall.
"These things wouldn't happen if there was a proper licensing system to only have drivers who are capable on the tracks. I did every driver a favour this weekend and if they don't do something about it they're stupid," he fumed.
In a slightly less emotional sense, Skaife also acknowledged the potential for damage in this area.
"I have been on about this for a while. The quality of this field is so strong that we have to have standards for entry. The simple fact is that some of the guys at the back of the field do cause some drama," said Skaife.
There were plenty of other incidents in the weekend's racing. John Bowe had a spectacular spin off the main straight, smashing trackside signage and leaving his rear spoiler on the tyre wall after contact with Greg Murphy.
Jason Bargwanna and Tony Longhurst also had a controversial collision in the final heat and there were many other off track excursions in the dramatic V8 Supercar battles.
Skaife was the biggest beneficiary in the weekend wash-up, further extending his Shell series points lead.
The tough task of chasing him down recommences for the likes of Seton, Tander, Lowndes and Radisich at the next round at Victoria's Winton Raceway from July 14-16.
**RACE ONE TOP TEN**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
3rd MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon
4th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
5th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
6th GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
7th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
8th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
9th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
10th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
**RACE TWO TOP TEN**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
3rd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
4th GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
5th MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon
6th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
7th JASON BARGWANNA (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
8th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
9th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore
10th STEVEN RICHARDS (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore
**RACE THREE TOP TEN**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
3rd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
4th GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
5th MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon
6th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
8th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore
9th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
10th JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon
**ROUND SEVEN OVERALL POINTS**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [120]
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [108]
3rd MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon [94]
4th GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [92]
5th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [80]
6th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [76]
7th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [66]
8th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [66]
9th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [60]
10th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [58]
**CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE**
1st MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [872]
2nd GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [714]
3rd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [676]
4th CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [646]
5th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [581]
6th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [494]
7th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [493]
8th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [489]
9th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [471]
10th MARK LARKHAM (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon [458]
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