R8S PRE-QUAL - Faulkner in; McDougall out
27/7/2001 22:28 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Veteran racer John Faulkner has lived to fight another day in this afternoon’s pre-qualifying session at Oran Park, avenging his Friday exit at the last round.
For four, their weekend is over after failing to secure one of seven grid positions on offer in today’s 12-man do-or-die qualifying battle. Heading home are Dean Canto, Peter Doulman, Steve Williams (in for Richard Mork in the V8 Racing Commodore) and, surprisingly, Dugal McDougall.
Faulkner was relieved to survive the challenge, held in wet conditions at Oran Park this afternoon.
"I am relieved after the muck-up at Calder a fortnight ago," he said. "I am also pretty pleased that a couple of local heroes got in at the expense of a couple of guys who are fighting with me to get out of the pre-qualifying group."
The local heroes of which Faulkner refers are Garry Holt and Luke Sieders. Sieders surprised even himself to grab a grid position for Sunday, giving McDougall his marching orders with a last-gasp flier in the 15-minute session.
"I am so excited it's like I won the lottery," Sieders said. "I had no expectations of qualifying. This was intended to be a test day for the team."
Team Kiwi’s Jason Richards was second fastest, ahead of Michael Donaher and Tomas Mezera. Brit Matt Neal, preparing for his endurance drive with Paul Morris in the brand-new Big Kev Commodore this weekend, was sixth.
The wet conditions are expected to mar tomorrow’s qualifying and Top Ten Shootout.
**PRE-QUALIFYING RESULTS**
1st JOHN FAULKNER (John Faulkner Racing) - VT Commodore [1:14.9239min]
2nd JASON RICHARDS (Team Kiwi Racing) - VT Commodore [1:15.0401]
3rd MICHAEL DONAHER (Ultra Tune Racing) - VT Commodore [1:15.5367]
4th TOMAS MEZERA (IMS - Imrie Motorsport) - VX Commodore [1:16.1135]
5th GARRY HOLT (Eastern Creek Karts) - EL Falcon [1:16.2383]
6th MATT NEAL (Big Kev Racer) - VT Commodore [1:16.4036]
7th LUKE SIEDERS (All-Trans Spares) - EL Falcon [1:16.7998]
DNQ DUGAL McDOUGALL (Pepsi Racing) - VX Commodore [1:16.8889]
DNQ ANTHONY TRATT (Toll Racing) - AU Falcon [1:17.1045]
DNQ DEAN CANTO (RPM International Racing) - AU Falcon [1:17.1348]
DNQ PETER DOULMAN (Doulman Industries) - VT Commodore [1:17.6812]
DNQ STEVE WILLIAMS (V8Racing.com) - VS Commodore [1:18.5650]
For complete practice/pre-qualifying results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?29/07/2001.ORAN
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