R9S QUAL - Rolling Stones gather front row
25/8/2001 17:54 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Queensland’s Stone brothers claimed sole ownership of the front row in this afternoon’s Top Fifteen Shootout at the VIP Petfoods Queensland 500.
Brothers Ross and Jim watched track-side as both their AU Falcons snared front row births for tomorrow’s 500km marathon at Queensland Raceway – a first for the Gold Coast-based outfit.
Rookie Marcos Ambrose took pole position in the Pirtek Falcon, with a 1:10.53min flier around the unassuming 3.1km circuit. Tasmanian Greg Crick will share driving duties with Ambrose tomorrow.
David Besnard, supported by co-driver Matthew White, was sensational in jumping from ninth in qualifying to grab second. He was the first to record a time in the 1:10s – only bettered by his teammate.
“I think the pole was there for anyone in the top 15 shootout who put a lap together and I managed to do that,” Ambrose said.
“It would be nice to keep the trophy in Queensland for the first time in the race’s three-year history. A driver change race is going to be a new experience for me, but we are well-prepared and I am looking forward to it.”
Besnard, who pilots the Caltex-liveried SBR Falcon, upset qualifying in similar circumstances last year when, in his first-ever shootout, he qualified his car on the second row of the grid.
Since then, he's failed to live up to expectations - until now.
“I think many people thought Ross and Jim were taking a risk on two young guys like Marcos and myself at the start of the year, and for a while they were possibly right,” Besnard said.
“Marcos was going okay, but I was struggling for a while and it’s nice to turn that around like we have recently.”
Equally surprising was the performance of veteran Holden Racing Team enduro import Tony Longhurst, who after qualifying in seventh leapt up the order to third with a superb shootout lap.
The team’s principal entry, the No. 1 Commodore shared between title heavyweights Mark Skaife and Jason Bright, clocked the second-fastest time all weekend during qualifying.
But when it mattered, Skaife faulted with a spin on his hot lap after setting the fastest first-sector time of the session.
A disappointed Skaife said it was, “just a silly error.”
No driver could beat their qualifying time during the shootout for pole, including the weekend’s fastest man, Russell Ingall.
Ingall, driving the Castrol Commodore he’ll share with Larry Perkins, was the first and only driver to drop into the 9sec bracket, clocking a lap-record 1:09.93min lap late in the session to claim provisional pole.
But Ingall was more than six-tenths outside his qualifying mark in the shootout, failing to beat the times of Ambrose, Besnard and Mezera.
But Ingall is in good company. He’s the ninth driver to relinquish their provisional pole position in the shootout in as many rounds.
“I just grabbed a handful of gears at one corner and then just watched the lap slip away on me,” he explained.
CAT Racing’s John Bowe, driving with recently-crowned Konica Series champ Simon Wills, retained fifth position, ahead of Big Kev’s Paul Morris (partnering Matt Neal).
The Shell Helix Falcon of Paul Radisich and Steven Johnson was fourth fastest in qualifying, but fell to seventh at the hands of Radisich in the shootout. They’ll share the fourth row with Ford-Tickford Racing’s Glenn Seton and Steven Richards.
The time had Radisich, who’ll drive the first stint tomorrow, a little miffed: “The lap felt very good, there were no problems at all, and I was really surprised to see the time. I thought we would go much quicker than that.”
The second-string Shell Helix unit of Greg Ritter and Paul Stokell were the only top fifteen entrants of those without a regular Shell Series mount; ultra-impressive in qualifying twelfth.
Mark Larkham, driving with 500cc Motorcycle champ Wayne Gardner, qualified his Falcon in tenth. Larkham has secured support from race sponsor VIP Petfoods this weekend, in a deal put together just last night.
The VIP Petfoods signage was to be carried by the Paragon entry of Cameron McLean and Neal Bates, but a mystery legal injunction by long-time team sponsor Greenfield Mowers has robbed McLean and Bates of a start tomorrow.
It is understood Greenfield Mowers were irate regarding the team’s one-race deal with VIP Petfoods, and sought the order to stop them from racing this weekend.
Their withdrawal has prompted a back-flip by AVESCO, who have allowed the RPM International entry of Phillip Scifleet and Aaron McGill back into the field despite their finishing last in yesterday’s pre-qualifying session.
The 161-lap VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 is scheduled for a 1pm start tomorrow afternoon, but not before a major announcement from AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane regarding the series’ future.
Cochrane will make, “the most significant announcement in the history of Australia’s premier motorsport category” at a pre-race press conference tomorrow morning.
**QUALIFYING - TOP FIFTEEN**
1st PERKINS/INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:09.9367min]
2nd SKAIFE/BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:10.0139]
3rd AMBROSE/CRICK (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.2538]
4th JOHNSON/RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.4332]
5th BOWE/WILLS (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.5429]
6th MURPHY/KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:10.6057]
7th MEZERA/LONGHURST (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:10.6065]
8th MORRIS/NEAL (Big Kev Racer) - VT Commodore [1:10.6388]
9th BESNARD/WHITE (Caltex Havoline Race Team) - AU Falcon [1:10.6444]
10th SETON/RICHARDS (Ford Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.6619]
11th RITTER/STOKELL (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.7334]
12th LARKHAM/GARDNER (Larkham Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:10.7705]
13th WEEL/LEAHEY (K & J Thermal Products Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.8219]
14th LOWNDES/CROMPTON (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:10.8585]
15th TANDER/BARGWANNA (Valvoline Cummins Repco Team) - VX Commodore [1:10.9445]
**TOP FIFTEEN SHOOTOUT**
1st MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.5362min]
2nd DAVID BESNARD (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.6509]
3rd TONY LONGHURST (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:10.6695]
4th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [1:10.6800]
5th JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.7107]
6th PAUL MORRIS (Big Kev Racing) - VT Commodore [1:10.7268]
7th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:10.8704]
8th GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [1:11.0228]
9th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:11.1804]
10th MARK LARKHAM (Mark Larkham Motorsport) - AU Falcon [1:11.2529]
11th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:11.2617]
12th GREG RITTER (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:11.2787]
13th PAUL WEEL (K & J Thermal Products Racing) - AU Falcon [1:11.3674]
14th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline Cummins Repco Team) - VX Commodore [1:11.8497]
15th MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:25.0870]
For complete practice/qualifying results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?26/08/2001.QRI
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