V8 Supercars Round 2 – Pukekohe, one last time around.
25/4/2005 23:40 (Danielle Schwerin) -
Pukekohe, the first of two international rounds, is also one of the shortest tracks that the V8 Circus will visit this year. With lap times under a minute and around a second covering first to last, this circuit has traditionally produced tight racing and a large entertainment factor for its kiwi spectators.
The circuit is the ‘home’ round for the five Kiwi drivers who frequent V8 Supercars, Craig Baird, Greg Murphy, Paul Radisich, Jason Richards, and Steven Richards. The favourite among those is by far Greg Murphy, who having won three of the previous 4 rounds held in New Zealand, has been dubbed the King of Pukekohe.
Murphy is a national hero in the ‘land of the long white cloud’ and has an extremely large following amongst the punters. So large is his popularity that security had better closely guard any man who beats Murph to the post while on home soil.
That said, Murphy the favourite by far to take out what may well be the final round at this track. Having grown too large for the circuit to fit the increasingly large crowds, and the evermore-professional circus, next year the V8’s may just be on the move to Wellington.
Top Ten Shootout –
Qualifying well at this tight circuit is essential, with the cars so close and the short lap time it is easy to become lapped traffic during even the shorter races. For this reason the fight to be part of the Top Ten Shootout was always going to be fierce.
There were a few notable, or unexpected if you like, names that made the Shootout this year. Garth Tander was out first, and having not been in the run-off since Winton last year he was out to impress with his new team. His lap was tidy and good enough to put him in 5th overall, though he would later be excluded from qualifying, which would void this lap.
Jason Bright, the defending 2004 round winner, was out second. Pushing hard to get the most from his Ford Performance Racing Falcon, however, he locked a brake on the back straight effectively ruining his lap time and relegating himself to P9 on the grid.
Jason Richards beat out many of his more favoured rivals and showed just how committed the two car assault of Tasman Motorsport is to becoming a force in the championship. This was the kiwi’s home circuit, and one he knows well, pole however proved elusive; despite his clean lap Richards would end up in 8th.
Making only his fourth appearance in a top ten run-off Paul Dumbrell had ensured that both of the Castrol Team Perkins Racing Commodores were present in the shootout. He almost didn’t make his hot-lap however when he took an unexpected excursion onto the dirt during his warm-up. His lap was much cleaner and put him 6th on the grid.
Mark Skaife was up fifth, the only HRT car to have made the ten. Traditionally, Skaife qualifies well, no matter what circuit the V8’s are at; and he has never been outside the ten at Pukekohe. His eventual position of 7th on the grid was representative of an atypically untidy lap.
When Craig Lowndes rolled out in his Team Betta Electrical Falcon it was clear that he has truly made Triple 8 his new home. The car was quicker than the then pole holder, Tander, through both the first and third sectors, with a time 0.226 seconds up on his overall lap time. Lowndes would hold out all comers to get his first pole in three years, genuinely delighted about his effort.
The King of Pukekohe, Greg Murphy, was out next. His first split indicated that he was indeed quicker than Lowndes. A venture onto the dirt in the final sector however was to be his undoing; fourth, the best the local hero could muster.
Although quick in qualifying, Russell Ingall had a slow run on his hot-lap, salvaging the 6th fastest time and 5th on the corrected grid. His teammate, Marcos Ambrose, became the focus of his team’s efforts next. Quicker in the first sector, the second found him down by almost the same margin Lowndes had pulled on Tander at lap completion. He made time in the third sector finishing 0.062 behind Lowndes with second overall.
The final lap of the run belonged to provisional pole holder Steven Richards, another of the Kiwi lads. Having been fast all weekend it was expected that Richards would do well, he couldn’t better Lowndes or Ambrose however, landing his car in third spot on the grid.
The Final Grid For Race 1 Would Be:
Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Fastest Lap Fastest Lap Time Gap
1 888 Team Betta Electrical Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 1 1 0:55.7367
2 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 1 1 0:55.7986 0:00.0619
3 11 Team Perkins Racing Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY 1 1 0:55.8581 0:00.1214
4 51 Super Cheap Auto Racing Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 0:55.9581 0:00.2214
5 9 Caltex Racing Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 1 1 0:56.1709 0:00.4342
6 24 Team Perkins Racing Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VY 1 1 0:56.1723 0:00.4356
7 2 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 0:56.1899 0:00.4532
8 3 Tasman Motorsport Jason Richards Holden Commodore VZ 1 1 0:56.4416 0:00.7049
9 6 Ford Performance Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA 1 1 0:56.6558 0:00.9191
10 67 Sirromet-Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VZ 15 12 0:55.8406 0:00.3617
11 88 Team Betta Electrical Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 17 14 0:55.8479 0:00.3690
12 33 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 15 13 0:55.8555 0:00.3766
13 23 Tasman Motorsport Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VZ 16 13 0:55.8635 0:00.3846
14 021 Team Kiwi Racing Paul Radisich Holden Commodore VZ 15 8 0:55.8835 0:00.4046
15 10 Larkham Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 16 16 0:55.9653 0:00.4864
16 45 WOW Sight & Sound Max Wilson Holden Commodore VZ 12 11 0:55.9842 0:00.5053
17 15 HSV Dealer Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 12 10 0:56.0272 0:00.5483
18 12 Team BOC John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 17 15 0:56.0299 0:00.5510
19 48 WPS David Besnard Ford Falcon BA 16 14 0:56.0397 0:00.5608
20 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VZ 5 5 0:56.0513 0:00.5724
21 18 Westpoint Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA 16 13 0:56.0526 0:00.5737
22 21 Team BOC Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 14 11 0:56.0632 0:00.5843
23 17 Westpoint Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 16 14 0:56.0646 0:00.5857
24 50 Super Cheap Auto Racing Paul Weel Holden Commodore VZ 12 12 0:56.1285 0:00.6496
25 20 Larkham Orrcon Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 14 12 0:56.1554 0:00.6765
26 44 Team Dynamik Simon Wills Holden Commodore VZ 11 11 0:56.6326 0:01.1537
27 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Holden Commodore VY 17 9 0:56.6915 0:01.2126
28 8 WPS Racing Craig Baird Ford Falcon BA 16 16 0:56.7966 0:01.3177
29 34 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Andrew Jones Holden Commodore VZ 15 14 0:56.8393 0:01.3604
EXC 5 Ford Performance Racing Greg Ritter Ford Falcon BA
EXC 16 HSV Dealer Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VZ
EXC 52 Britek Motorsport Matthew White Ford Falcon BA
Release Date: 16/04/2005
Pukekohe, New Zealand
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