R12 PREV - Skaife eyes Supercar Gold at Sandown
5/10/2000 19:47 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - With the Olympic spectacle over, attention turns to Sandown Raceway this weekend for the penultimate round of the Shell Championship Series – and medals are up for grabs.
A good weekend for Championship leader Mark Skaife (and an uncharacteristic bad one for second-placed Garth Tander) will ensure Skaife’s year becomes golden even before the Championship finale at Bathurst next month.
Even so, Skaife says despite his massive 169-point lead, he expects the battle for Gold and Silver between himself and Tander to go right down to the wire. Sandown will be crucial to both their chances.
Skaife says HRT’s successful “business as usual” formula will again be utilised. “We've got in this position this year by trying to do the best possible job each time we've gone racing, and that's what we'll be aiming for on Sunday,” Skaife said.
"Sandown has been good for the Holden Racing Team in the past, but all teams are starting with a clean sheet this weekend because no-one has tested or raced at the circuit with the current Bridgestone control tyre,” he explained.
“It's very different from last years (tyres), so it will be the teams that can quickly find a set-up which not only works, but lasts the 16 laps of each race that will be successful,” he said.
The lanky Valvoline-Cummins kid from the West hasn’t given up hope of his first Championship crown, and Tander knows any point he can snatch away from Skaife this weekend will be crucial come Bathurst.
Glenn Seton’s grasp on the Bronze (and the possibility of a third Championship crown) has loosened after he was forced to withdraw from Sandown following his 200km/hr testing shunt at Phillip Island last week.
Bruising, cracked ribs, headaches and dizziness forced the withdrawal from the FTR leader (the first time he has missed a championship round in over eleven years), and opens the door for Craig Lowndes to improve his title position.
Lowndes lurks just 11-points behind Seton, and should move onto the third rung of the championship ladder after this weekend.
"We've gone pretty good at Sandown over the years, so if we can maintain some of that success this weekend, then I can move up the points table a bit,” Lowndes said.
“I'm still aiming to make it a HRT 1-2 for the season and with Sandown and Bathurst to go, there's every chance we can achieve that,” he said.
Lowndes insists the “will-he-won’t-he” hysteria that has shadowed his season of late isn’t effecting his driving. He hopes to announce his 2001 plans in the coming weeks.
"Holden have been very supportive through the whole, lengthy process. There are a lot of things to work through in these situations and they have been very understanding and I would hope we can have next year's plans squared away before the Bathurst race," Lowndes said.
HRT’s cross-town rivals, K-Mart Racing, see Sandown as home-turf, and as their sprint race form improves with every race, both Steven Richards and Greg Murphy are confident of more success.
"I like to think I can continue my sprint race form from Calder and it’d be nice to score some good points in the lead up to the big one at Bathurst,” Steven Richards said.
“The team has been working flat-strap since the Queensland 500 to prepare my car which was used by Finnigan and Hossack, but we had it pretty sorted at Calder and as Sandown shares particular similarities, I’m confident we can strike the same successful set-up,” he said.
With Ford’s title hopes now crushed following Seton’s withdrawal, the Blue Oval brigade is desperate to salvage something from their pitiful 2000 season.
A Ford campaigner is yet to win a round of the Shell Series this year, and in order to avoid becoming the first manufacturer to go win-less in a season since the inception of the formula back in 1993, drastic action is needed by all this weekend.
It would seem Ford’s hopes of a breakthrough win rest squarely on the shoulders of Shell Helix’s Paul Radisich. Armed with a brand-new AU Falcon, “the Rat” is confident of success.
“Sandown is all about straight line speed and we’ve proven that we’ve got plenty of that, it’ll just be a case of making sure I’m in the position to take advantage of that,” Radisich said.
“It’s always nice to get into a brand-new car, it’s a great psychological boost more than anything, but as I stand here now we haven’t even hit the track yet, so it’s a bit of an unknown quantity,” he said.
Sandown is a definite favourite among the Supercar fraternity, and sure to give the Melbourne faithful plenty to cheer for.
"It (Sandown) is a tremendous facility for both teams and spectators alike,” Steven Richards enthused. “I quite enjoy the track as it’s a real drivers’ circuit and provides the teams that can formulate a good set-up with a fair chance of a satisfying result.”
As the medal round approaches, expect fireworks as the V8 Supercars tackle three 20-minute sprints (including a top-six reversal for race two) at Sandown Park Raceway this Sunday.
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