R13 QUAL - Sun shines bright on HRT for 1000 qualifying
17/11/2000 18:11 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - The sun was shining brightly on the Holden Racing Team in FAI 1000 qualifying today, albeit briefly, but long enough for Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes to jump into provisional pole position ahead of tomorrow morning’s top ten shootout.
Drivers were able to stretch their legs at the 6.2km Bathurst course for the first time this week, as the inclement weather that has so far plagued the event cleared enough for a congested but largely trouble-free 95-min combined qualifying session.
It was Championship leader Mark Skaife that made the best of the constantly changing conditions to clock a spectacular pole-setting time of 2:11.88 minutes.
The fancied HRT duo was sitting in 33rd position after this morning’s practice session.
While Bathurst is still dangerously damp, a slicks-clad Skaife found a dry line and used a brief 20-minute break in the constant downpour to pounce on the top spot.
"We decided to put a fresh set of tyres on earlier than the other guys and we got one of those laps when we didn't have to handle too much traffic," Skaife explained.
"It was probably only dry enough to get a lap in for about twenty minutes, so there was an element of luck I guess," he said.
Shell Helix Racing’s Paul Radisich, partnering Indy Lights campaigner Jason Bright, has made his intentions known early, recording a time .13 slower than Skaife to qualify second.
A still-recovering Glenn Seton put the brand-new AU Falcon he will share with Neil Crompton this weekend in third spot on the time sheets.
“You always have the psychological thing of the new car, that it’s a bit stiff to drive, and it was a bit difficult out there because, like everyone else, I got caught up in traffic, but overall I’m happy,” Seton said.
Mark Skaife’s only threat for the Shell Series title, Garth Tander, put his Valvoline-Cummins Commodore in sixth position.
Glenn Seton’s Ford-Tickford Racing will have two runners in the top ten shootout for the first time since 1994, after the less-fancied No. 6 Falcon of Neal Bates and Wayne Gardner set the eighth quickest time.
Shell Helix, too, will be represented twice tomorrow morning, after Steven Johnson and Cameron McLean just scraped into the top ten.
Last year’s FAI 1000 champions, Greg Murphy and Steven Richards, were unlucky to miss the all-important top ten fastest, qualifying in eleventh.
Also unlucky to miss a shootout spot, but impressive all the same, were the Steven Ellery/Paul Stokell Super Cheap Falcon, and the evergreen CAT combo of John Bowe and Jim Richards. They will start from twelfth and thirteenth respectively.
After holding provisional pole earlier in the day, Paul Weel and Greg Crick could only manage fifteenth fastest when it mattered.
While a look skyward produced many smiles, it was mainly anger in the post-race press conference as the annual debate over obstructive slower traffic again raged.
As is always the case with wet weather qualifying, the faster and slower 50 percent of the field ran in the one session to avoid any track bias with the ever-changing conditions.
Despite qualifying in fourth position, both Russell Ingall and Larry Perkins were fuming, particularly as they looked forward to Sunday’s race.
Said Ingall, "The problems with backmarkers on Sunday will be absolutely huge. Some of these guys are so far off the pace it's not funny. I just hope, at the end of the day, they don't determine who wins the race."
Ingall’s boss agreed. "I think the stewards should ask for voluntary scratchings from some of these blokes,” Larry Perkins argued. “We are going into a pretty important race and some of these guys probably shouldn't be here."
Mark Skaife, Paul Radisich and Glenn Seton are confirmed starters for tomorrow’s top ten shootout, as is Mitre 10 ace (and reigning shootout champ) Mark Larkham, who qualified fifth quickest.
It is believed Larry Perkins will pilot his Castrol Perkins Commodore for the one-lap flier ahead of team-mate Russell Ingall.
The shootout between Bathurst’s ten fastest is scheduled for a 10:25am start tomorrow morning.
**TOP TEN - QUALIFYING**
1st LOWNDES/SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [2:11.888min]
2nd BRIGHT/RADISICIH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [2:12.019]
3rd CROMPTON/SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [2:12.362]
4th INGALL/PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore [2:12.489]
5th LARKHAM/MENU (Mitre 10 Racing) - AU Falcon [2:12.762]
6th BARGWANNA/TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [1:13.117]
7th BESNARD/LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [2:13.364]
8th BATES/GARDNER (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [2:13.491]
9th KELLY/PRETTY (Mycar Holden Young Lions) - VT Commodore [2:13.696]
10th JOHNSON/McLEAN (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [2:13.699]
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