R13 HOUR 5 - FAI 1000 still wide open as weather changes again
19/11/2000 15:14 (Shane Rogers) - The FAI 1000 is still wide open with two hours to go, with about eight cars still in contention. While Steven Richards is still in the lead in the Kmart Commodore, it is only because Lowndes has made his second last stop in the HRT Commodore.
By lap 86, Lowndes was right behind Murphy, challenging for the lead. Lowndes passed Murphy into the Chase on lap 88. Murphy then pulled off into the pitlane.
The team continued to pour cool water into the radiator to cure overheating problems, as Murphy changed to Richards, and the pads were changed, all in 30 seconds(!).
Brad Jones pitted, handing over to Tomas Mezera in a scheduled stop.
Team Gatorade's day ended when Peter Doulman spun and hit the outside wall at Reid Park. Johnson pitted the Shell Falcon as the safety car came out, handing over to Cameron McLean in a 22-second stop. Jim Richards handed over the Caterpillar AU to John Bowe.
The race restarted on lap 95, with Lowndes heading the queue. Radisich, Bargwanna and Seton ended up directly behind one another soon after. Rain began to fall on at the top of the mountain on lap 96, making tyre choice difficult.
On lap 99, Radisich and Bargwanna both had to pit for fuel, and swapped drivers. Both Bright and Tander left the pitlane on slick tyres, as the rain started to fall further down the hill.
Bargwanna passed Bright on lap 99. Richards passed Seton at the chase on lap 100, as intermittent rain reached pit lane. Johnson then caught Seton on lap 102, and passed him on the outside into Murrays. Bowe also passed McDougall on the inside, only to have McDougall pass him back into Hell corner. Bowe got held out to try, and was then passed by Brad Jones as well.
Craig Lowndes pulled the HRT Commodore in on lap 103 for fuel, and also elected to stay on slicks, despite it raining in the pit lane. Meanwhile the second HRT car ran wide at the Chase.
Meanwhile, the battle for fifth was continuing, with Bowe now ahead of McDougall and Brad Jones.
With 55 laps still to go, the top ten at the end of hour five is not indicative of the actual standing, with cars to make stops, and the ever changing weather variable to be included before the final race result is determined.
**POSITIONS AFTER HOUR FIVE**
1st MURPHY/RICHARDS (Kmart Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd JOHNSON/McLEAN (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
3rd CROMPTON/SETON (Ford Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
4th TRATT/JONES (Toll Express) - AU hFalcon
5th BOWE/RICHARDS (Caterpillar Racing) - AU Falcon
6th McDOUGALL/MIEDECKE (Pepsi) - VT Commodore
7th JONES/MEZERA (OzEmail Internet Racing) - AU Falcon
8th KELLY/PRETTY (Holden Young Lions) - VT Commodore
9th BESNARD/LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
10th BAIRD/WILLS (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon
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