AMBROSE HAS TITLE IN SIGHT
26/11/2004 23:39 (Press Release) -
Stone Brothers Racing’s Marcos Ambrose moved 16 points closer to back-to-back V8 Supercar titles when he finished second in the opening heat of the Tasmanian Triple Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway near Launceston today.
Ambrose had a great start and fought off an army of Holdens at the front of the field, a slower than normal pit stop and a late shower of rain in his Pirtek Falcon to take second place behind Rick Kelly.
Ambrose’s SBR team mate Russell Ingall also had a strong result driving from 11th to seventh in his Caltex Falcon.
Ambrose came into the weekend needing to score 27 more points than Jason Bright and two more points than Greg Murphy to clinch the title.
He scored 16 more points than Bright and 18 more points than Murphy in today’s race and has another two heats tomorrow to stretch his points lead and possibly claim the title.
Ambrose made a great start to slot into second, but was sitting fourth at the mid-point of the race when Steve Richards and Todd Kelly had a coming together in front of him through the final right-hander.
The incident left a big gap and Ambrose drove through it and maintained his position to the end.
“We came here this weekend with three things to achieve,” said Ambrose.
“The first was to finish every race. The second was to try and clinch the title and the third was to possibly win the round. If we managed one of those I would be happy.
“That was a very dangerous race out there today for us and there were many stages where I needed to be conservative, especially towards the end when the rain started to come down.”
Ingall was happy to make up as many places as he did, especially after a racing incident with Mark Skaife at turn two on lap 36 of the 42-race contest.
Skaife tried to pass Ingall, but was unlikely to make the corner and ended up in the sand trap on the outside of the turn. A local yellow flag was all that was required and the race was completed without one safety car period.
“I did not even realise it was Skaife until after the race, I thought it was (Todd) Kelly,” said Ingall.
“He was not going to make the corner and I was lucky not to be dragged off with him.
“(Greg) Murphy also spun just in front of me at the hairpin late in the race and I missed him by millimetres.
“It was disappointing to miss the shootout after being baulked on my flyer, but overall the race was pretty solid, including a fantastic stop from my Caltex crew which was one of their fastest for the season.
“Last time I was here I qualified 11th and finished on the podium. I have a bit of work to do tomorrow, but I still think we are well in there with a chance.
“It was certainly interesting to be out there for the last 10 or so laps on slicks as the rain came down.
“We really needed to be on wets at the end, but you couldn’t risk coming in and loosing a 20 spots.”
RACE NOTE
* Marcos Ambrose has found guilty of the offence of “Intimidation and Threats” arising from his actions towards Rick Kelly after race one of the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge at Indy. CAMS officials said that a fine of $10,000 would apply, but because of the absence of any prior offences the fine as been suspended until December 31, 2005. Ambrose will not be required to pay the fine unless he is found guilty of any similar offence before that date.
“I disagree with the outcome, but accept it in an effort to move forward,” said Ambrose.
“This finally puts this out of the way after more than two weeks of talk.
“Now I just want to go racing.”
TRACK FACTS – SURFERS PARADISE
Venue: Symmons Plains Raceway, Tasmania
2004 Race format: Qualifying (Friday); Top 10 Shootout and Race 1 (42 Laps-100km) (Saturday); Races 2 and 3 (42 laps-100km) (Sunday)
Circuit Length: 2.41km
Circuit Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 255 km/h (Back Straight)
Lap Record – Craig Lowndes (1999) 54.5805 seconds
RACE 1 RESULTS
1: Rick Kelly (Holden) – 42 Laps
2: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
3: Todd Kelly (Holden)
4: Steve Richards (Holden)
5: Garth Tander (Holden)
6: Craig Lowndes (Ford)
7: Russell Ingall (Ford)
8: David Besnard (Ford)
9: Paul Radisich (Ford)
10: Jason Bright (Holden)
11: Greg Murphy (Holden)
12: Brad Jones (Ford)
13: Steve Johnson (Ford)
14: Steve Ellery (Ford)
15: Cameron McConville (Holden)
16: Warren Luff (Ford)
17: John Bowe (Ford)
18: Paul Weel (Holden)
19: Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
20: Alex Davison (Holden)
21: Anthony Tratt (Holden)
22: Jason Bargwanna (Ford)
23: Owen Kelly (Ford) – 41 Laps
24: Paul Dumbrell (Holden)
25: Jason Richards (Holden)
26: Max Wilson (Ford)
27: Craig Baird (Holden)
28: Glenn Seton (Ford)
DNF: Mark Skaife (Holden) – 36 Laps
DNF: Dale Brede (Holden) – 17 Laps
DNF: Simon Wills (Holden) – 11 Laps
DNF: Paul Morris (Holden) – 0 Laps
TOP TEN SHOOTOUT
1: Steven Richards (Holden) 0:52.9461
2: Todd Kelly (Holden) 0:52.9598
3: Mark Skaife (Holden) 0:52.9898
4: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 0:53.1813
5: Rick Kelly (Holden) 0:53.2054
6: Garth Tander (Holden) 0:53.2422
7: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 0:53.4483
8: Greg Murphy (Holden) 0:53.6866
9: Max Wilson (Ford) 0:54.3146
10: Jason Bright (Holden) No Time
QUALIFYING
1: Todd Kelly (Holden) 0:52.2224
2: Mark Skaife (Holden) 0:52.3551
3: Rick Kelly (Holden) 0:52.3858
4: Max Wilson (Ford) 0:52.4496
5: Steven Richards (Holden) 0:52.4699
6: Garth Tander (Holden) 0:52.4776
7: Jason Bright (Holden) 0:52.4963
8: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 0:52.5029
9: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 0:52.5036
10: Greg Murphy (Holden) 0:52.5635
11: Russell Ingall (Ford) 0:52.6413
12: Glenn Seton (Ford) 0:52.6630
13: Warren Luff (Ford) 0:52.6769
14: Simon Wills (Holden) 0:52.6813
15: Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 0:52.7379
16: Brad Jones (Ford) 0:52.7388
17: Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 0:52.7660
18: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 0:52.7729
19: Steven Johnson (Ford) 0:52.7963
20: Paul Morris (Holden) 0:52.8519
21: Paul Radisich (Ford) 0:52.8790
22: Steve Ellery (Ford) 0:52.8955
23: Cameron McConville (Holden) 0:52.9076
24: Jason Richards (Holden) 0:52.9177
25: David Besnard (Ford) 0:52.9459
26: Paul Weel (Holden) 0:52.9460
27: Dale Brede (Holden) 0:53.0258
28: Craig Baird (Holden) 0:53.2328
29: Alex Davison (Holden) 0:53.3399
30: Anthony Tratt (Holden) 0:53.3813
31: John Bowe (Ford) 0:53.4590
32: Owen Kelly (Ford) No Time
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (After Race 1)
1: Marcos Ambrose 1918
2: Jason Bright 1736
3: Greg Murphy 1709
4: Russell Ingall 1664
5: Rick Kelly 1639
6: Steven Richards 1567
7: Todd Kelly 1453
8: Jason Bargwanna 1334
9: John Bowe 1328
10: Garth Tander 1310
11: Steven Johnson (Ford) 1178
12: Paul Weel (Holden) 1134
13: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1090
14: Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1082
15: Glen Seton (Ford) 1077
16: Brad Jones (Ford) 1075
17: Jason Richards (Holden) 1067
18: Cameron McConville (Holden) 1046
19: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 966
20: Warren Luff (Ford) 959
21: Paul Morris (Holden) 957
22: Anthony Tratt (Holden) 955
23: Paul Radisich (Ford) 952
24: Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 910
25: Craig Baird (Holden) 859
26: Tony Longhurst (Holden) 856
27: Steve Ellery (Ford) 841
28: Simon Wills (Holden) 811
29: Max Wilson (Ford) 677
30: David Besnard (Ford) 610
EVENT SCHEDULE
Sunday November 14
10:00am – 10:20am - Warm Up
12:05pm - Race 2 (42 laps)
3:00pm - Race 3 (42 laps)
TELECAST TIMES - Network Ten
Sunday November 14
1:30pm – 5:00pm (EDST)
Release Date: 13/11/2004
Stone Brothers Racing
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