R9 PREV - HRT Oran Park winning streak to be broken?
27/7/2000 13:26 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - On the eve of round nine of the Shell Championship Series at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway – a circuit at which the Holden Racing Team have not tasted defeat in five years – you would think there would be nothing but optimism emanating from the Factory garage this week. But this isn’t the case.
Through the Brock era in ’96, the Murphy days in ’97, and the Lowndes and Skaife show in ’98 and ’99, the Factory Holden operation have not lost the annual Sydney “showdown” (nor missed a pole position) since John Bowe snatched victory in his DJR EF Falcon back in 1995.
Be that as it may, the Factory Holden men say their happy hunting ground might not prove as happy this year – with a reverse grid race two and a lack of aerodynamic force set to throw a spanner in the well-oiled HRT works.
Championship leader, Mark Skaife, believes the 100mm shorter front undertray the Holden camp have been impaired with – although not proving critical at Hidden Valley, Canberra, Queensland Raceway or Winton – could hamper the progress of the red and white juggernaut significantly this weekend.
"Oran Park is a little more aero-sensitive than the past few circuits we've been to and I think the Commodores definitely will be affected by the 100mm which was removed from the VT's front undertray a month or so ago, Skaife explained.
"That plus the reverse grid in race two, will make it that much harder for Craig and I to have a repeat of the successes of the last few years," Skaife said.
That reverse grid Skaife refers to will see the first six finishers in race one start in reverse order for the second race – an “unknown” factor according to Skaife’s team-mate, Craig Lowndes.
"The unknown factors will be the loss of downforce from the reduced front spoiler as well as the reverse grid, but that will just add to the challenge,” Lowndes said. “I'd say the fans will be in for a big weekend!"
It’s not often that you don’t see a HRT racer on the podium two race weekends in a row, so after being missing from action at Winton, both Lowndes and Skaife will be looking for improvement.
“We hopefully have had our 'bad weekend' at Winton last round and HRT can give it a shake at Oran Park,” Skaife said.
“Our cars really go well there and for me – as well as being a great driver's circuit and one of my favourites – it's sort of my home track so I'll be giving it my best," he said.
Skaife sits pretty atop the Championship table, 120 points clear of his nearest rival, Ford-Tickford Racing’s Glenn Seton.
For Seton, Winton was the round that got away, with a patch of oil halting his charge towards Ford’s first 2000 round victory and a cool ten grand on offer from frustrated Ford Boss, Geoff Polites.
However, a pole position and superior race pace in Victoria has Seton looking optimistically at his chances in Sydney.
“It was great to come out of Winton with a good result,” Seton said.
“More importantly we were genuinely the fastest out there at Winton and I hope we can go to Oran Park and repeat the performance, only this time with a little bit of good luck on our side,” he said.
Seton’s misfortune at Winton, along with the other oil victims, played into the hands of Shell Helix charger, Paul Radisich, who snared a podium position – his first for the year and Ford’s highest round finish in 2000 – and boosted his championship hopes greatly.
"We are improving our cars and feel we have gained a bit in so far as ‘power down’ is concerned which is important at a fast track with sweeping corners like Oran Park, so we will be closer to the mark this year," the New Zealander said.
Radisich is a fan of the reverse grid format, and feels it could be just what he needs to claim his maiden round win.
"I think introducing something new, an element of the unknown, is good. The top six guys are normally pretty even in the sprint races so it just makes the racing a bit more entertaining and might give someone new a chance to challenge for the win," the “Rat” said.
The 2.6km long Oran Park Grand Prix circuit has a history of producing good quality racing, and is an obvious favourite among the drivers – that is, if they perfect the set-up.
“I love the flowing nature of Oran Park,” Mitre 10 racer, Mark Larkham, said. “Too many of the circuits we visit have slow corners and it is a refreshing change to be at a really challenging circuit.”
Craig Lowndes agreed. "It's such a great circuit from a driver's point of view, as it's challenging and exciting, so you really are 'up' for it."
Mark Skaife leads the championship on 918 points, ahead of Glenn Seton (798), Garth Tander (756), Craig Lowndes (714), and Paul Radisich (671).
The V8s will get the green light, for the first of three 20-minute “fliers,” at 11:30am on Sunday.
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