AGP QUAL - Ambrose shocks with pole on debut
1/3/2001 20:44 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Stone Brothers racer Marcos Ambrose has made a dream V8 Supercar debut, stealing an astonishing pole position for the non-championship showdown at the Melbourne Grand Prix today.
In his very first V8 Supercar qualifying session, Ambrose – a former European single-seater whiz – powered around Albert Park Lake in the dying stages of qualifying to clock an impressive, if not slightly sluggish 1:58.94 minutes.
The last-gasp flier propelled Ambrose and his brand-new Pirtek Falcon from 15th to the front row of the grid ahead of the first of three Formula One support sprints tomorrow afternoon. Notably, his prime grid position is 19 places higher than that of his SBR stable-mate, David Besnard.
The unheralded Tasmanian proved his talent convincingly, piping Mark Skaife for pole by just four one-hundredths of a second.
Ambrose was as surprised as anyone. “When the lap time came up, and I saw I was on pole, I was pretty surprised," he said. "This is all brand new for me and I just committed myself and went for it."
"I've come straight from a pretty tough game in Europe, and to come back and put it into practice in my first day out there is just great,” Ambrose said.
Not that the 24-year-old is getting carried-away. “It's just the beginning, let's not get too excited. I've still got to learn how to start in a V8 race. I haven't done one yet, so I will have to learn a lot. Let's just hope that my mistakes are not too big,” he said.
Reigning Shell Series champion Skaife looked the quickest throughout the congested 30-minute session, but conceded defeat to the talented rookie.
"All credit to Marcos, he has done a great job in his first V8 drive,” Skaife commended.
Glenn Seton put his Ford-Tickford Racing Falcon on the second row alongside Garth Tander, while his new team-mate Steven Richards could only manage a lowly 16th.
Said Seton; "I was a bit unsure about this weekend, so it is a great relief to do well. This is the biggest crowd we race in front of, so it is pretty important for us to impress here."
Jason Bright made a promising return to the Supercar circuit, clocking a time good enough for sixth. He’ll share the third row with the new-look Castrol Commodore of Russell Ingall.
Shell Helix's Paul Radisich looked the man to beat earlier in the day, topping the time sheets in the morning practice session. But the smallest mistake early in the late afternoon qualifying chase, clipping a tyre wall and severely damaging the car’s nosecone, cost ‘the Rat’ valuable track time when he needed it the most.
After a lengthy repair job in pitlane, Radisich rejoined the circuit only to be held up by backmarkers at crucial stages. He finished in 12th position.
"In the morning the car was pretty good and while I made a few changes during the break, it was pretty much the same in the afternoon. I certainly thought it was good enough for pole," the dejected Kiwi said.
Radisich was one of many to be caught in Albert Park’s heavy traffic. Slower cars impeded Steven Johnson’s pole chase, but he still managed to qualify in seventh.
"I had a shocking run in traffic...but at Albert Park I think everyone's got a story like that," Johnson said.
Craig Lowndes’ high-profile Ford appearance resulted in a time not quite quick enough for the top ten, but a credible eleventh on debut pleased the Gibson Motorsport operation.
"For us to be on the pace after just the one practice session at Winton last week is fantastic,” Ford’s new recruit said.
“We tried a few things out and learned a lot today, and I think this will translate to a better result tomorrow," Lowndes said.
Todd Kelly, flying the lone flag for the newly-housed K-Mart Racing Team, finished the 17th quickest qualifier. Meanwhile, Kelly’s team-mate Greg Murphy defeated an international field of drivers to claim pole in the Lamborghini Supertrophy event.
Valvoline-Cummins man Jason Bargwanna (13th) and Super Cheap racer Steven Ellery (14th) were notable top ten absentees.
In an indication of the competitiveness of this year’s series, just seven tenths separated the top ten.
However, there is a dispute over the legitimacy of some of the times. Lowndes says tomorrow’s first race could provide different results to today’s qualifying shootout.
"Towards the end of the qualifying session I noticed that corners four and five, and eleven and twelve were opened right up by drivers hitting the tyre barriers,” Lowndes explained. “This allowed others to shortcut the corners, resulting in times that probably aren’t indicative of race times tomorrow.”
The first competitive hit-out of the 2001 season will be held following Formula One practice tomorrow afternoon. The final two races are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday respectively.
**QUALIFYING - TOP TEN**
1st MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:58.941min]
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VX Commodore [1:58.985]
3rd GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:59.071]
4th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline-Cummins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:59.101]
5th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:59.147]
6th JASON BRIGHT (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VX Commodore [1:59.389]
7th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:59.528]
8th JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [1:59.632]
9th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:59.632]
10th MARK LARKHAM (Larkham Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:59.639]
For complete qualifying results:
http://www.v8supercar.com.au/2001results/spevent/agp/agp_qual.htm
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