AMBROSE WARMS UP FOR GP IN MELBOURNE STREETS
17/3/2005 17:48 (Press Release) -
Pirtek Racing’s Marcos Ambrose got a great warm-up to this weekend’s Foster’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix with a special demonstration through the streets of Melbourne in his BA Falcon.
The back-to-back V8 Supercar champion joined former V8 champion Mark Skaife, a couple of F1 drivers and Aussie F1 team owner Paul Stoddard for laps of inner-city Melbourne in a special promotion to mark the 10th anniversary of the Australian GP in the Victorian capital.
More than 100,000 fans, office workers and lunch-time shoppers lined the streets to get a close-up glimpse of the V8 Supercar and F1 machines in action.
“This was a great experience,” said Ambrose, who did two laps in his Stone Brothers Racing-prepared Falcon.
“Who ever thought we would have the chance to drive a race car through the middle of Melbourne.
“There was no shortage of fans lining the street. I don’t know how much work was going on to today. Maybe people took an extra-long lunch break.”
Ambrose said that this weekend’s three non-championship events would be vital in the preparation for the opening round of the 2005 championship at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 17-20.
“There is no doubt that this weekend is going to be important for a lot of teams,” said Ambrose.
“Some are still trying to finalise their line-ups for the season and with only six test days a year you need to extract everything you can from the next four days.
“The idea is to learn plenty at Albert Park and take that knowledge to the opening round of the championship in Adelaide in a couple of weeks time. That’s when it all starts to count.”
TRACK FACTS – ALBERT PARK, MELBOURNE
Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria
2005 Race format: Qualifying (Thursday); Race 1 - 10 Laps (Friday); Race 2 - 19 Laps (Saturday); Race 3 – 10 Laps (Sunday) – No compulsory pit stops
Circuit Length: 5.303km
Circuit Direction: Clockwise
Average Speed: 145kph
Maximum Speed: 275kph
Qualifying Record: Craig Lowndes (Holden, Commodore, 1999) 1:57.657s
Lap Record: Russell Ingall (Holden Commodore, 1998) 1:58.721s
WEEKEND SCHEDULE – AGP
V8 SUPERCARS
Thursday, March 3, 2005
10.55am-11.25am – Practice session
2.30pm-3.15pm – Qualifying
Friday, March 4, 2005
3.30pm - Race 1 (10 Laps)
Saturday, March 5, 2005
12.30pm-12.40pm – Driver Parade lap
2.30pm – Race 2 (19 Laps)
Sunday, March 6, 2005
11.20am – Race 3 (10 Laps)
TV TELECAST – NETWORK TEN
Saturday – March 5, 2005
9am-5pm (EDST) – 8am-4pm (Queensland)
Sunday – March 6, 2005
9am-5pm (EDST) – 8am-4pm (Queensland)
Release Date: 02/03/2005
Pirtek Racing - SBR
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