R9 RACES - Brilliant Skaife leaves fire in his wake
30/7/2000 18:52 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Mark Skaife’s domineering performance at Round 9 of the Shell Series at Oran Park today has been marred by a horrific mid-grid crash which saw two cars up in smoke and two drivers lucky to escape with their lives.
Race three's startline crash and fire was one of the biggest
accidents ever seen in V8Supercar racing.
Pic: Michael Shaw
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Skaife was brilliant in extending the Factory Holden Team’s six-year Oran Park winning streak, claiming the first and third races, and finishing third in the second after being relegated to sixth under the reverse grid format rules.
However a spectacular chain reaction of events on the third race starting grid had everyone talking, which saw Paul Morris and Mark Larkham escaping their machines just moments before becoming engulfed in flames.
Larry Perkins initiated the drama, stalling his Commodore on the grid and leaving Paul Morris with nowhere to go but into the back of his car.
Starting from almost the rear of grid, a speeding Mark Larkham collected the motionless Morris in a massive shunt on the starting line, igniting Larkham’s fuel tank and engulfing his car in smoke and flames.
Those flames then travelled across the width of the track, along a line of Morris’ spilt fuel, and had Morris’ VS Commodore burning within seconds of Larkham’s Falcon.
In some of the most terrifying scenes ever witnessed in the sport’s history, fans watched as the injured Larkham and Morris tried desperately to escape their burning wrecks.
With the aid of quick-thinking fire marshals, both escaped in time, before collapsing on the tarmac.
Larkham, who suffered bruising to his abdomen and memory loss, and Morris, who is believed to be suffering back and internal injuries, were both taken to hospital.
Morris was rushed to hospital after it was feared he sustained spinal injuries from, ironically, a loose fire extinguisher in his car. Larkham was air-lifted to Liverpool Hospital for examination. Latest reports say both are in stable conditions, and preliminary signs are positive.
The incident took much of the gloss off a great weekend for Skaife, and a great weekend for the sport, with the reverse grided race two hailed a complete success by organisers and drivers alike.
Speaking after the third race, Skaife was pleased he triumphed in such trying circumstances.
"When I saw how big that crash was, I thought there would be no race three so they did a very good job of getting us racing," Skaife said.
"The reverse grid could have messed things up for me but we were lucky that it didn’t and the car was great all weekend," he said.
Garth Tander’s two third-place finishes, and a fourth in the reverse grid race, proved the only challenge to the pace of the red and white Commodores, and was enough to elevate the youngster into second position on the overall podium.
"I’m happy to get a bag of points and get back on the podium," Tander said.
Glenn Seton continued his consistent form by snatching a podium position ahead of Russell Ingall (who won the reverse grid second race) and the ever-improving Greg Murphy.
"We’ve been working our butts off just to get to third,” Seton exclaimed. “It seems it is even harder to get from third to second!"
"We are consistently keeping tabs on Mark and while he is extending his lead by a few points here and there, we know there are plenty of points left in the season," he said.
Craig Lowndes’ challenge to his team-mate ended mid-way through the second race, after he spun on the final corner in an incident involving Garth Tander. The reigning Shell Series champ fought-back to eighth in the final race, but finds himself further off the championship pace, set by his team-mate, than he would have liked.
Race one was dominated by HRT after Lowndes barged past Tander off the start.
Pic: Michael Shaw
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Race one eventuated into a HRT “red-wash” after Lowndes muscled his way past Tander early on to join Skaife at the front of the pack. The dynamic duo, led by Skaife, weren’t challenged at any time, finishing ahead of Tander, Glenn Seton and Greg Murphy.
Race two saw Skaife relegated to sixth, but superior race pace had him finishing in third, putting himself in ideal position for the third race grid which, after much discussion, was eventually determined by the total points earned in races one and two.
From the front row of the grid, Russell Ingall gave the Castrol management plenty to cheer about by remaining out in front to take his first race win of the year. Murphy finished second, ahead of Skaife and Tander.
The final race of the day was reduced to 15 laps after lengthy delays in clearing the circuit of the remains of the Perkins/Morris/Larkham accident.
From a rolling start, Mark Skaife completed his almost-perfect weekend with a win in the final race. Garth Tander capped-off an impressive, yet not-quite-impressive-enough weekend with a second behind Skaife.
Gearbox problems for Ingall handed Glenn Seton a third-place finish in the third race, and the chance to spray the champagne on the overall podium.
Skaife continues his march towards a third title unopposed, now with 136 Shell Series points between himself and Glenn Seton. Tander remains in third, ahead of Lowndes and Radisich.
The V8 freight-train will wind it’s way south to Victoria for Round 10 of the Shell Championship Series at Calder Park Raceway in a fortnight’s time.
**RACE ONE TOP TEN**
1st MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
3rd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
4th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
5th GREG MURPHY (K-mart Racing) - VT Commodore
6th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
7th STEVEN RICHARDS (K-mart Racing) - VT Commodore
8th TODD KELLY (Mycar Holden Young Lions) - VT Commodore
9th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
10th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
**RACE TWO TOP TEN**
1st RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore
3rd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
4th GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
5th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
6th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
7th JASON BARGWANNA (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
8th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
9th BRAD JONES (OzEmail Racing) - AU Falcon
10th CRAIG BAIRD (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon
**RACE THREE TOP TEN**
1st MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
3rd GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
4th JASON BARGWANNA (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
5th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
6th JOHN FAULKNER (Team Asia Online) - VT Commodore
7th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
8th CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore
9th BRAD JONES (OzEmail Racing) - AU Falcon
10th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
**ROUND NINE OVERALL POINTS**
1st MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [117]
2nd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [104]
3rd GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [99]
4th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [98]
5th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [84]
6th JOHN FAULKNER (Team Asia Online) - VT Commodore [73]
7th CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [68]
8th TODD KELLY (Mycar Holden Young Lions) - VT Commodore [65]
9th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [64]
10th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [63]
**CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE**
1st MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [1035]
2nd GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [897]
3rd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [860]
4th CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [782]
5th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [705]
6th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [661]
7th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [613]
8th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [607]
9th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [566]
10th NEIL CROMPTON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [527]
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