ORRCON RACING MOVE UP THE ORDER
9/11/2004 19:28 (Press Release) -
Throughout the opening ten rounds of the Championship Orrcon Racing’s Jason Bargwanna has been edging closer to a podium finish.
Today Bargwanna climbed another step closer finishing fourth in the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge on the Surfers Paradise street circuit. His Orrcon Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom was also impressive finishing 11th overall for the round in his debut on the demanding circuit.
Bargwanna’s fourth place, in both today’s 30-lap race and overall for the round, elevates him to eighth in the Championship after beginning the weekend in tenth spot.
While the opening quartet opened a buffer over Bargwanna during the early laps he maintained pace with them over the final half of the race.
“I want a podium finish, very, very soon and we are so close to it I can almost feel it.
“Over the past four rounds there has only been once where I have finished outside the top five, and that was a sixth at Sandown. This effort by the team highlights the fact that we are serious contenders.
“I got caught behind (Simon) Wills for the first few laps allowing the front four to get a decent gap over me.
“I didn’t want to push too hard early as I knew that brakes and tyre wear towards the end was going to be vital so I waited for the right opportunity to move into fifth, by that time the leaders had bolted.
“From there I set myself a pace and stuck to it, the gap between the leaders didn’t change much but they were a fair way down the road until the safety car came out with a couple of laps to go.”
An incident involving Jason Bright and Rick Kelly brought about the only safety car period of the 30-lap journey. The left a three lap dash to the line with Bargwanna lined up behind Championship leader Marcos Ambrose in fourth spot.
Despite his best efforts to challenge Ambrose and Kelly over the final stint Bargwanna crossed the line fourth, in the process recording his ninth top ten finish of the year.
“I was hopeful to be able to follow Marcos (Ambrose) through on Todd (Kelly) with a couple of laps remaining but I wasn’t quite close enough to get past without a huge risk,” said Bargwanna.
Winterbottom completed his impressive debut by running on the fringe of the top ten for the majority of today’s race to cross the line in 13th. Added to his 16th in yesterday’s opener Winterbottom was placed 11th overall for the round.
“To come away from this place with a straight car while achieving my best sprint round for the year is pleasing,” said Winterbottom.
“It was very tough out there today, to say it was hot there was an understatement, but we got there and achieved a good result at the same time.
“I had a couple of close shaves out there, when Brighty (Jason Bright) got turned around on the back straight, it was that close I ran over his headlight that got spat in front of me.”
Today’s final race was won by Greg Murphy to seal the round win ahead of Ambrose who crossed the line second today. Todd Kelly finished third.
Ambrose continues to lead the Championship on 1856 points ahead of Bright (1690) and Murphy (1665). Bargwanna is eighth on 1309 with Winterbottom 15th on 1051.
The weekend results cemented Orrcon Racing’s position as the second highest Ford team in the Championship.
The next round of the Championship will be held at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains circuit on November 12-14.
GILLETTE V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE
RACE TWO RESULTS
1: Greg Murphy (Holden) 33 laps
2: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
3: Todd Kelly (Holden)
4: Jason Bargwanna (Ford)
5: Simon Wills (Holden)
6: Max Wilson (Ford)
7: Cameron McConville (Holden)
8: Paul Radisich (Ford)
9: Jason Richards (Holden)
10: Steven Johnson (Ford)
11: Russell Ingall (Ford)
12: Garth Tander (Holden)
13: Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
14: Mark Skaife (Holden)
15: Paul Morris (Holden)
16: Paul Weel (Holden)
17: John Bowe (Ford)
18: Paul Dumbrell (Holden)
19: John McIntyre (Ford)
20: Glenn Seton (Ford)
21: Anthony Tratt (Holden)
22: Steven Ellery (Ford)
23: Craig Baird (Holden)
24: Alex Yoong (Ford)
25: Dale Brede (Holden)
26: Rick Kelly (Holden)
27: Warren Luff (Ford)
DNF: Tony Longhurst (Holden) 27 laps
DNF: Jason Bright (Holden) 22 laps
DNF: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 17 laps
DNF: Steven Richards (Holden) 16 laps
DNF: Brad Jones (Ford) 15 laps
GILLETTE V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE
RACE 1 RESULTS
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
2: Greg Murphy (Holden)
3: Todd Kelly (Holden)
4: Craig Lowndes (Ford)
5: Jason Bargwanna (Ford)
6: Simon Wills (Holden)
7: Jason Bright (Holden)
8: Max Wilson (Ford)
9: Jason Richards (Holden)
10: Cameron McConville (Holden)
11: Steve Johnson (Ford)
12: Paul Radisich (Ford)
13: Brad Jones (Ford)
14: John Bowe (Ford)
15: Glenn Seton (Ford)
16: Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
17: Anthony Tratt (Holden)
18: Steve Ellery (Ford)
19: John McIntyre (Ford)
20: Paul Morris (Holden)
21: Garth Tander (Holden)
22: Paul Weel (Holden)
23: Rick Kelly (Holden) – 21 Laps
24: Tony Longhurst (Holden)
25: Mark Skaife (Holden)
26: Russell Ingall (Ford)
DNF: Warren Luff (Ford) – 19 Laps
DNF: Steve Richards (Holden) – 15 Laps
DNF: Paul Dumbrell (Holden)
DNF: Craig Baird (Holden) – 5 Laps
DNF: Dale Brede (Holden)
DNF: Alex Yoong (Ford)
GILLETTE V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1: Greg Murphy (Holden)189
2: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)189
3: Todd Kelly (Holden)180
4: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 171
5: Simon Wills (Holden)165
6: Max Wilson (Ford)156
7: Cameron McConville (Holden)147
8: Jason Richards (Holden)144
9: Paul Radisich (Ford)138
10: Steven Johnson (Ford)135
11: Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 111
12: John Bowe (Ford) 105
13: Garth Tander (Holden) 96
14: Paul Morris (Holden) 93
15: Glenn Seton (Ford) 93
16: Russell Ingall (Ford) 90
17: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 87
18: Mark Skaife (Holden) 84
19: John McIntyre (Ford) 84
20: Anthony Tratt (Holden) 84
21: Steve Ellery (Ford) 78
22: Jason Bright (Holden) 78
23: Paul Weel (Holden) 72
24: Brad Jones (Ford) 60
25: Rick Kelly (Holden) 57
26: Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 45
27: Craig Baird (Holden) 30
28: Tony Longhurst (Holden) 30
29: Alex Yoong (Ford) 27
30: Dale Brede (Holden) 24
31: Warren Luff (Ford) 18
32: Steven Richards (Holden) 0
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (After 11 of 13 rounds)
Top 40 drivers
1: Marcos Ambrose 1856
2: Jason Bright 1690
3: Greg Murphy 1665
4: Rick Kelly 1622
5: Russell Ingall 1609
6: Steven Richards 1509
7: Todd Kelly 1483
8: Jason Bargwanna 1309
9: John Bowe 1293
10: Garth Tander 1251
11: Steven Johnson 1135
12: Paul Weel 1101
13: Mark Skaife 1087
14: Glenn Seton 1064
15: Mark Winterbottom 1051
16: Jason Richards 1048
17: Brad Jones 1033
18: Cameron McConville 1007
19: Paul Morris 954
20: Anthony Tratt 928
21: Warren Luff 922
22: Craig Lowndes 912
23: Paul Radisich 901
24: Paul Dumbrell 889
25: Tony Longhurst 856
26: Craig Baird 844
27: Simon Wills 808
28: Steve Ellery 800
29: Max Wilson 660
30: David Besnard 560
31: Greg Ritter 372
32: Cameron McLean 360
33: Fabian Coulthard 330
34: Dale Brede 316
35: Mark Noske 304
36: Alex Yoong 275
37: Thomas Mezera 272
38: Jim Richards 248
39: Luke Youlden 240
40: Christian D'Agostin 236
Release Date: 24/10/2004
Larkham Orrcon Racing
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