Holden Racing Team - CLIPSAL 500 Day 3
13/4/2005 18:48 (Press Release) -
CLIPSAL 500 – DAY 3
Adelaide Parklands, Adelaide
March 20, 2005
Weather: Fine, warm
Race 2 (78 laps, 250km)
3rd: Mark Skaife (#2 Holden Commodore VZ)
4th: Todd Kelly (#22 Holden Commodore VZ)
Round position and points
3rd: Todd Kelly 162pts (Race 1: 8th, Race 2: 4th)
17th: Mark Skaife 90pts (Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 3rd)
Race notes
- Todd Kelly started from 8th, Mark Skaife from 29th
- Kelly reached 4th by first corner
- Skaife pitted for tyres on Lap 7; fitted two tyres on left side of car only
- Kelly pitted for tyres on Lap 10, after overshooting pit entry on Lap 9; later received drive-through penalty for illegally crossing control line
- Skaife up to 14th by Lap 10
- Kelly tangled with Max Wilson at Turn 9 on Lap 14; received second drive-through penalty and again relegated to rear of field
- Skaife reached 6th placing by Lap 20
- Skaife pitted for fuel on Lap 34; came back out in front of Russell Ingall in provisional 3rd placing
- Kelly charged back to 11th placing on Lap 50
- Steven Richards hit wall at Turn 11 on Lap 53; Skaife inherited 2nd place
- Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall push past Skaife at Turn 6 on Lap 59; Skaife 4th, Kelly 5th
- Kelly locks front-left wheel at Turn 9 on Lap 63 and flat-spots tyre
- Ingall spears off on Lap 67; Skaife inherits 3rd and Kelly 4th
- Finish: Skaife 3rd, Kelly 4th
Mark Skaife:
“We’ve had a good weekend – for Todd to finish third for the round and for both of us to press on and finish well after all of the setbacks, just shows that we’ve really got some potential in this team.
“The team has done an excellent job this weekend. There’s a great vibe around the place. The Red team is certainly back – in terms of atmosphere, it’s as good as I have ever seen it, and that includes the championship years.
“We’ve been a second a lap quicker here this year and that’s not just about engine power, it’s about tyres and the way you drive these things. I’m happy with how the package has been turned out and I’m confident there’s more to come.”
Todd Kelly:
“Considering the amount of things that have gone wrong this weekend it’s bloody good to be up there at the end of the weekend, to be honest. All the guys are pretty rapt back at the garage.
“In that race I made it pretty hard for myself by getting two drive-through penalties and going to the back of the grid twice, so I had to spend the whole race passing cars. It was one of the hardest races I’ve driven in that respect.
“That’s really cost us and it was a bit of a shame because the car was really good. I got a fantastic start and passed a lot of cars, and then had to come back and pass them all again later. We’re just looking forward now to the rest of the season and seeing how we can get more out of these cars because at the moment they’re great.”
Championship positions (end Round 1)
1 Marcos Ambrose 192pts
2 Craig Lowndes 183pts
3 Todd Kelly (HRT) 162pts
4 Steven Johnson 141pts
5 Paul Weel 141pts
6 Russell Ingall 138pts
7 Paul Dumbrell 135pts
8 Cameron McConville 129pts
9 Rick Kelly 126pts
10 Jason Bright 108pts
17 Mark Skaife (HRT) 90pts
Release Date: 20/03/2005
Holden Racing Team
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