HRT race one summary - BigPond Grand Finale
11/1/2005 15:54 (Press Release) -
Eastern Creek – Practice Session 3, Qualifying, Shoot Out, Race 1
Saturday 4 December, 2004
Race 1 Result: 1st Ambrose, 2nd Lowndes and 3rd Bright
Mark Skaife:
Car #2 (#50) – Qualifying
Position – 1st
Fastest lap – 1:31.73
Laps completed – 8
Car #2 (#50) – Top 10 Shoot Out
Position – 2nd
Fastest lap – 1:32.88
Car #2 (#50) – Race #1 (26 Laps)
Position – 18th
Fastest lap – 1:33.58 (Lap 11)
Laps completed – 26
“What can you say? Race days have proven a drama for us most of the year but today was one out of the box. Qualifying was great with myself and Todd taking second and third grid positions for tonight’s 26-lap race.
Then everything went wrong big time. Craig Lowndes moved over on me at corner one as Todd was coming through, leaving neither of us with anywhere to go, and we collided. That effectively finished the race for us as Ambrose and Lowndes sped off into the distance.
Both of us pitted twice through the race, and we finished 18th and 27th respectively. Positives on the day were a pair of excellent sub-six second pit stops and good car speed through the race as both cars lapped strongly.
We hope to recover some lost ground in Sunday’s twin races and work our way upwards for a decent result”.
Todd Kelly:
Car #22 (#49) – Qualifying
Position – 3rd
Fastest lap – 1:32.62
Laps completed - 6
Car #22 (#49) – Top 10 Shoot Out
Position – 3rd
Fastest lap – 1:33.18
Car #22 (#49) – Race #1 (26 Laps)
Position – 27th
Fastest lap – 1:33.97 (Lap 5)
Laps completed - 25
“I’m really upset with the outcome today, given how well both cars were travelling. I got a good start in the race and was making ground on the leaders. But what I didn’t see was Lowndes’ great start on the outside.
As I began making up ground on Mark, I started to move up inside – but I still hadn’t sighted Lowndes’ position and that he was squeezing Mark across. As Lowndes tried to get off the dirty driving line on the outside, and Mark came across, unfortunately I was left with nowhere to go, even after getting on the brakes to try and get out of it.
I’m really gutted that we both ended up out of the race. We are both going to go out there tomorrow to make up some ground, and show what great car speed we have”.
Release Date: 04/12/2004
Holden Racing Team
|
|
