Bathurst 1000: The Result
10/10/2004 18:15 (Mark Jones) -
Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly have succesfully defended their 2003 Bathurst 1000 crowns.
The K-Mart Commodore crew moved into the lead at the final safety period and consolidated their lead while the persuing pack of four Fords fought over positions, racing away to a nine second win over the team they beat into second position just twelve months ago, the Ford Performance Racing Falcon of Craig Lowndes and Glenn Seton.
Third place was a far too familiar story for Brad Jones, watching on while veteran John Bowe brought the Ozemail Falcon in third position.
Series points leader Marcos Ambrose with with co-driver Greg Ritter finished in fourth position, while team mates Russell Ingall lost their fourth position with two laps to go after being struck with tyre problems. They finished sixth after being passed by Ambrose and the Orrcon Falcon of Jason Bargwanna and Mark Winterbottom.
The last car to finish on the lead lap was the Shell Helix Ford of Steven Johnson and Warren Luff.
It was a great day for the K-Mart Team with Steve Owen and Tim Leahey finishing just one lap down in eighth position ahead of the third Castrol Commodore of Alex Davison and Jamie Whincup. Rounding out the top ten was the second Valvoline Commodore of Nathan Pretty and Danish racer Allan Simonsen.
It was a tough day for most of the championship front runners. Marcos Ambrose fourth position has allowed him to consolidate his points lead and is now 50 points clear of Jason Bright who had a difficult day, losing several laps to brake dramas a then causing a safety car by spinning into the sand at Hell Corner.
The race win has brought Rick Kelly back into direct title contention and is just 102 points adrift. Steven Richards has dropped behind Russell Ingall in the pointscore, while the win has kept Greg Murphy, just, in contention for the title with three rounds still to run.
Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000
1 Greg Murphy / Rick Kelly Kmart Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
2 Glenn Seton / Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BA
3 John Bowe / Brad Jones OzEmail Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA
4 Marcos Ambrose / Greg Ritter Pirtek Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon BA
5 Jason Bargwanna / Mark Winterbottom Orrcon Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon BA
6 Russell Ingall / Cameron McLean Caltex Vortex Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon BA
7 Steven Johnson / Warren Luff Shell Helix Racing Ford Falcon BA
8 Steve Owen / Tim Leahey Kmart Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
9 Jamie Whincup / Alex Davison Castrol Perkins Racing Holden Commodore VY
10 Nathan Pretty / Allan Simonsen Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Holden Commodore VY
11 Mark Larkham / Matthew Halliday Orrcon Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon BA
12 Jason Bright / Paul Weel PWR Performance Products Holden Commodore VY
13 Simon Wills / Paul Stokell Dodo Team Dynamik Holden Commodore VY
14 Mark Skaife / Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
15 Neil McFadyen / Alex Yoong WPS Ford Falcon BA
16 Steve Ellery / Luke Youlden Super Cheap Auto Racing Ford Falcon BA
17 Owen Kelly / David Brabham Shell Helix Racing Ford Falcon BA
18 Antony Tratt / Tomas Mezera Toll Racing Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VY
19 Christian D'Agostin / Kurt Wimmer Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore VX
20 Jason Richards / Fabian Coulthard Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore VY
21 Steven Richards / Jim Richards Castrol Perkins Racing Holden Commodore VY
22 Craig Baird / Mark Porter Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore VY
Standings: Marcos Ambrose 1667, Jason Bright 1612, Rick Kelly 1565, Russell Ingall 1519, Steven Richards 1509, Greg Murphy 1476, Todd Kelly 1303, John Bowe 1188, Garth Tander 1155, Jason Bargwanna 1138
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