R2S QUAL - Murphy steals shootout pole from fast Fords
6/4/2001 21:28 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
An audacious Greg Murphy stole pole position from a couple of Queensland-based Fords with a remarkable lap in this afternoon’s top fifteen shootout at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
Languishing back in 13th after the earlier qualifying session, just making the cut-off for the shootout, Murphy’s 1:25.92 minute lap proved an invincible mark for the 12 drivers who followed.
The K-Mart Racing gun will share the all-Commodore front row with the Holden Racing Team’s Mark Skaife who, in similar circumstances, leapt to second after qualifying back in 14th position.
Todd Kelly, a revelation in the second TWR/K-Mart Commodore, will start from third.
Considering Murphy’s tumultuous off-season – dumped by Gibson Motorsport in January before resurrecting K-Mart Racing weeks before the season kick-off – his feat today is all the more remarkable.
"I'm just elated,” the 28-year-old Victorian said. “It's a great credit to the efforts of so many people in the team."
"It was really touch-and-go for me back in December and I was pretty angry with what had happened and would have liked to run in to a few folks in dark alleys then. It's been unbelievably tough," he said.
Queenslanders Paul Radisich and Mark Larkham shared the provisional front row after the earlier 25-minute qualifying session. Radisich’s time, aboard his brand-new DJR Falcon, was almost fourth-tenths quicker than Larkham’s Falcon and just a tick outside his own Adelaide qualifying record.
Despite failing to hold onto pole ‘the Rat’ is well placed in fourth, while Larkham got it all wrong on his one-lap flier, relegated to 14th.
"I went in to the chicane a little bit hot in the shootout and it cost me some time,” Radisich explained, “but the new car is great and things are shaping up well for the race.”
Glenn Seton was solid to grab fifth (sixth in qualifying), while the Stone Brothers’ speed demon Marcos Ambrose improved six positions to claim sixth.
HRT’s Jason Bright topped the time sheets in morning practice and qualified in third, but was shuffled back to eleventh after his hot lap. Attention-grabbing Craig Lowndes held eighth.
Young Queenslander Paul Weel’s crew has a restless night ahead of them, repairing the K & J Thermal Products Falcon after a spectacular front-end shunt during qualifying.
In an incredibly tight qualifying session, 18 drivers came within a second of Radisich’s provisional pole time.
A record Friday crowd witnessed the drama of qualifying, a strong omen for the weekend.
The first 250km leg begins at 2pm local time tomorrow afternoon. The Ten Network have live coverage from 1pm (EST).
**QUALIFYING - TOP FIFTEEN**
1st PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:25.1107min]
2nd MARK LARKHAM (ICS Team Smartcar) - AU Falcon [1:25.4839]
3rd JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.5169]
4th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:25.5629]
5th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.5657]
6th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:25.5836]
7th JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [1:25.5961]
8th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:25.6145]
9th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline-Cummins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:25.6629]
10th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:25.6792]
11th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:25.6948]
12th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:25.7168]
13th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.7348]
14th MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.7500]
15th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:25.8611]
**TOP FIFTEEN SHOOTOUT**
1st GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.9204min]
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.9746]
3rd TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.9959]
4th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:26.0485]
5th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:26.0818]
6th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:26.0956]
7th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline-Cummins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:26.2867]
8th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:26.3214]
9th JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [1:26.3487]
10th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:26.4200]
11th JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:26.5112]
12th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:26.5896]
13th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:26.6529]
14th MARK LARKHAM (ICS Team Smartcar) - AU Falcon [1:26.7261]
15th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:27.2622]
For complete practice/qualifying results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?08/04/2001.ADEL
|
|
