R2S SUN - Lowndes who? Bright wins for HRT
8/4/2001 20:48 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Yesterday it was the renegade, today the replacement. Jason Bright is the overall winner of the 2001 Clipsal 500 after a hard-fought win in the final 250km leg.
The Holden Racing Team’s star signing found his predecessor’s big shoes a perfect fit this afternoon, shooting to the top of the Shell Championship Series with a massive 360 point race-win get.
Russell Ingall declared “he’s back” after finishing second behind Bright, while a leaner, meaner Steven Johnson continued his sparkling form with a third.
The rain didn’t reign on Adelaide’s parade, enticing a record Sunday crowd to the Adelaide Parklands – 166,000 over the three-day carnival.
Starting from seventh on the grid, Bright was forced to make two unscheduled stops early in the race, but had his two compulsory stops timed impeccably to take advantage of the numerous safety car periods.
He becomes the third man to win in Adelaide for HRT, stretching the team’s incredible record to five from six.
"I came into this year wondering how long it would take to get back in the groove, and sitting here in the winning seat now feels just great," Bright, who raced in the American Indy Lights series last year, said.
Bright continued an Adelaide tradition at HRT, winning from a seemingly unwinnable position.
"When I found myself at the back the team was saying to me over the radio, ‘Don't worry too much, we've won from the back before so just go smooth and fast and we'll try to make the right calls for you' – and they certainly did," he said.
Ingall’s car was, as always, bulletproof throughout the day.
"We were a little disadvantaged by the timing of our pitstops by not pitting with the safety cars, but the car was great and ran fine so it didn't hurt too much," Ingall said.
“We are back. I am going for the Championship," he said.
Steven Johnson did plenty of work in the dying stages of the race to claim his podium position.
"I thought I was going okay until they told me where I was and I just had to pull my finger out and pass a few blokes. I bided my time and tried to make sure of clean passing moves,” Johnson said.
The man on everybody’s lips, Craig Lowndes, had a forgettable day, mistiming his stops before crashing out of the race in a thrilling battle with former team-mate, Skaife.
Lowndes won the start, leading Skaife through the first chicane. But Johnson and Ingall split the former team-mates early, pushing Skaife back to fourth.
Steven Ellery came from nowhere to force a multi-car pile-up involving Garth Tander, Mark Larkham, John Bowe and Jason Bright on lap three. As the safety car made its way onto the circuit, Tander, Bowe and Bright were left to lick their wounds; Bowe going nowhere, while Bright and Tander were forced to pit.
Green flags appeared on lap 6, only to be replaced with yellow moments later when Rodney Forbes and Cameron McConville came together. Unlucky David Besnard was also left stranded with engine dramas.
The restart on lap 12 saw an intense battle between Greg Murphy and Paul Radisich for tenth, after making their way through from 28th. Meanwhile in pitlane, Paul Morris collapsed and required medical attention after inhaling leaking fuel.
A Tander/Dean Canto altercation had the safety car making its third appearance on lap 26, but not before Skaife, Bright and Seton dived into pitlane for their first scheduled stops.
The lap 29 restart was Murphy’s cue to take Ingall’s position away from him. Paul Radisich tried to follow him through, instead tagging the Castrol Commodore and spearing off into a tyre wall a corner later.
Radisich got the Shell Helix Falcon moving again, but not before the safety car ground things to a halt. Jason Bright again took advantage, jumping into pitlane moments before it closed to compulsory stops. The move left Bright as one of few drivers with two stops under their belt.
The fourth restart on lap 32 left Lowndes in the lead, but without new tyres or fuel. Johnson completed his stops back-to-back, as did Lowndes a couple of laps later.
A heavy Canto shunt on lap 40 (brake failure) had Greg Murphy in the lead behind a fifth pace car, but effective leader Bright was lurking in fourth.
Mark Skaife was fifth at the time, but on the restart missed a gear and spun his Commodore, relegating him back to 13th.
A hard-charging Ingall passed second-placed Seton on lap 55.
Lowndes made an unplanned stop soon after with a rubbing rear tyre, rejoining the race behind a recovering Skaife. The resulting duel between the two former team-mates was long-awaited and lived up to expectations, only to end when Lowndes tapped Skaife’s Commodore, putting himself in the wall. The Ford ace retired the bent Falcon, while Skaife lived to fight another day.
With Bright three and a half seconds down the road, Ambrose came under fire from Johnson and Kelly, pushed back to sixth. After an enthralling battle, Johnson also found a way past Seton to claim his podium position.
Ingall was closing fast in the final laps, but ran short of time. Bright took the chequered flag 1.2 seconds clear.
Bright now leads the Shell Series by 75 points, ahead of unlucky team-mate Mark Skaife. Big points-getter Russell Ingall (scoring just two less than Bright over the course of the weekend) sits in third.
Eastern Creek Raceway hosts round three of the Championship in three week’s time.
**RACE TWO - TOP TEN**
1st JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
2nd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore
3rd STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
4th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
5th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore
6th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon
7th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon
8th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore
9th MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
10th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VX Commodore
**CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE**
1st JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [703]
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [628]
3rd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [620]
4th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [608]
5th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [497]
6th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [475]
7th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [454]
8th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [451]
9th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [443]
10th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [411]
For complete race two results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?08/04/2001.ADEL.R13
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