R13 HOUR 6 - Skaife suffers near miss on charge to title
19/11/2000 16:09 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Mark Skaife came within inches of losing his unlosable championship with an idiotic move from Bitt Matt Neal that has marred an action-packed 2000 FAI 1000.
The sixth hour of the 2000 Bathurst classic began under safety car conditions after the all-Kiwi entrant beached itself at the Chase.
Glenn Seton took the opportunity to pit during the safety period, making way for Neil Crompton to take the wheel.
As the pace car pealed off on lap 111, Cameron McLean put maximum pressure on the rear of Steven Richard’s K-Mart Commodore, eventually pushing past at Griffiths bend.
A lap later, a many-laps-down Matt Neal came close to deciding the championship in a display of pure stupidity at Shell Corner.
Neal tangled his Big Kev Commodore with both Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton at the exit of the straight, pushing between the two and causing both to take drastic action.
Skaife was lucky to continue his charge up Mountain Straight with just a rubbing tyre. Neil Crompton on the other hand had his front spoiler torn off and had to park the car track-side. Crompton limped back to pitlane, but he and Seton are now out of contention.
Neal was handed a stop-go penalty for the altercation.
Skaife later was forced back into pitlane with a shredded tyre and undercarriage damage. He was back in pitlane for a second time to refit his Commodore with wet weather tread as the rain returned to Mt Panorama.
Meanwhile, John Bowe’s left rear wheel came loose from his Falcon on top of the Mountain. Bowe was able to get the car back to pitlane on just three wheels, however the car sustained damage as it dragged along Conrod Straight.
A fire in the Caltex Havoline pit created an even more chaotic pitlane as a pace car sent many teams in for scheduled stops. The Murphy/Richards Commodore was one of those, still suffering from overheating problems put in a position to attack.
The Johnson cars continued to pit in pairs, as both Shell Helix Falcons pealed into the pitlane on lap 122. A change of tyres (treads) and a change of drivers resulted. Cameron McLean was in the lead at the time of the stop.
Racing resumed on lap 123 as the rain again began to pelt down, only to cease a handful of laps later after Alain Menu failed to drive his Mitre 10 Ford out of the Chase quagmire.
The Valvoline-Cummins Commodore of Tander Bargwanna is leading the race, with Skaife and Lowndes virtually a lap down. The championship is still alive.
**POSITIONS AFTER HOUR SIX**
1st BARGWANNA/TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore
2nd BESNARD/LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon
3rd KELLY/PRETTY (Mycar Holden Young Lions) - VT Commodore
4th MURPHY/RICHARDS (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore
5th MURCHISON/YOULDEN (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VT Commodore
6th FINNIGAN/HOSSACK (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore
7th FAULKNER/MACROW (Team Asia Online) - VT Commodore
8th JONES/MEZERA (OzEmail Racing) - AU Falcon
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