R1S QUAL - HRT win qualifying shootout, but Rat on the pace
24/3/2001 18:33 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
For their rivals there was a definite glimmer of hope coming into the opening round this weekend, but when it mattered the Holden Racing Team proved they’re still in a class all of their own.
The commencement of another V8 Supercar season will be greeted by an all-too-familiar sight with an all-HRT front row. Reigning champion Mark Skaife won pole position in this afternoon’s qualifying shootout, ahead of his new team-mate Jason Bright.
It was another impressive display of one-lap wizardry from Skaife as he clocked a surprisingly-fast 1:32.51 minute hot lap in the make-or-break shootout, setting a benchmark the final two drivers failed to emulate. Skaife slashed an incredible seven-tenths off his qualifying time to claim pole.
"We felt that we didn't do a very good job in qualifying, we felt we should have been going a bit quicker,” Skaife explained. “We made a few changes going in to the shootout and they really paid off. The first round counts highly for all of us as we all want to get a roll on early in the series."
With points now allocated to shootout positions, Mark Skaife leads the 2001 Shell Championship Series. It means little in the context of the title chase, but an ominous sign nonetheless.
Making his return to the Supercar circuit, Bright was quick throughout the day and capitalised on the VX Commodore’s superior pace. Making his appearance second last in the showcase of speed, Bright couldn’t match his team-mate’s flier but secured a front row birth with a time just two-tenths slower.
"It's great to be back in the Shell Series, and even better to be on the front row. This is a good start and I am hoping we can convert it into strong result tomorrow," Bright said.
Shell Helix Racing’s Paul Radisich upstaged those with Island testing experience by claiming provisional pole position in the earlier 25-minute qualifying session. However, he was bumped back to fourth less than an hour later in the grid-determining shootout.
"These shootouts are tough, I’m still getting used to them, and in the end I was a couple of tenths slower than in qualifying, so I’m happy with that," Radisich conceded.
Former international open-wheeler ace Marcos Ambrose is fast earning a reputation as a demon of speed in qualifying, backing up his Grand Prix pole with a third in today’s shootout.
"I am brand new to this and I am keen to learn the trade. Some people criticised my driving at the Grand Prix, but what you have to understand is that I will keep on learning and I am out there trying to do the best job I can for my team with the experience I have," Ambrose said.
Ford-Tickford Racing claimed the third row of the grid, after both Glenn Seton and Steven Richards improved on their qualifying efforts to jump into fifth and sixth respectively. Seton only just made the cut for the shootout, qualifying in tenth.
Amid public claims of foxing by former team-mate Mark Skaife, Craig Lowndes begins his Ford odyssey in seventh on the grid. Lowndes said he fared, “better than expected.”
Russell Ingall and Garth Tander held their provisional qualifying positions, and will start from eighth and ninth respectively. Tander was earlier languishing back in 18th with handling problems during practice, while his team-mate Jason Bargwanna will start from 15th tomorrow.
K-Mart racer Todd Kelly was a surprise tenth, after sneaking into the shootout via the slower 50 percent qualifying session.
Despite sitting third during this morning’s first practice session, Greg Murphy failed to capitalise on the extra pre-qualifying track time he was granted yesterday, missing the shootout in 13th.
Both Larry Perkins and Steven Johnson, who was fighting an unbalanced DJR Falcon, were unlucky to miss the all-important top ten, displaced by two drivers from the slower qualifying session.
Skaife’s pole-setting time was almost half a second slower than last year as drivers battle with a harder compound tyre.
With teams running on the new Bridgestone rubber for the first time at Phillip Island (save for those which tested at the track last week), tomorrow’s two 45-minute races, which include mandatory tyre changes, are an unknown quantity. Tyre conservation will, no doubt, be the key.
"Tyres are a real concern here," Seton explaied. "They have a lot of work to do here and you will see a real drop off in times as drivers look to save their rubber at the end of the race."
The 2001 series doesn’t look like being any less competitive than last year, with just a second separating the top sixteen qualifiers.
The opening 28-lap race is scheduled for an 11:30am start tomorrow morning.
**QUALIFYING - TOP TEN**
1st PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:32.9761]
2nd JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:33.0539]
3rd MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:33.2111]
4th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:33.2147]
5th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:33.3521]
6th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:33.3714]
7th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:33.3749]
8th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:33.4275]
9th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline-Cummins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:33.4373]
10th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:33.4539]
**TOP TEN SHOOTOUT**
1st MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:32.5121]
2nd JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:32.7961]
3rd MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:32.8745]
4th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:33.0265]
5th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:33.0690]
6th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:33.2409]
7th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:33.2985]
8th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:33.5311]
9th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline-Cummins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:33.6165]
10th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:33.6533]
For complete practice/qualifying results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?25/03/2001.PHIL
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