V81000 SHOOTOUT - Defiant Ambrose grabs rookie pole
6/10/2001 17:55 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Marcos Ambrose drove the lap of his life this morning to become only the second rookie ever to claim pole position at Bathurst in the Top Fifteen Shootout.
The Tasmanian sensation, defying his inexperience at the daunting Mt. Panorama circuit, expertly steered his Pirtek Falcon to a 2:09.77min shootout flier.
The fifth man out in the session, Ambrose watched from pitlane as the remaining ten runners, most with hundreds more Bathurst laps under their belts, tried and failed to better his lap.
Not since 1987, when Klaus Ludwig claimed pole position in a Ford Sierra, has a first-timer won the coveted honour.
“That was one of the biggest laps of my life,” 25-year-old Ambrose said.
“I had to dig deep. I knew I have to find some speed from somewhere. I just put my head into gear and focused on the lap.
“I was a little bit messy across the top. Every lap I feel more comfortable and every session we improve something on the car.”
Ambrose has been teamed with part-time Queenslander Wayne Wakefield for tomorrow’s race, who earlier won the Konica V8 Supercar Challenge event in his VS Commodore.
Glenn Seton continued the year-long tradition of provisional pole-sitters failing to secure the top spot in the shootout, settling for second behind Ambrose.
While pole position eluded him, Seton desperately hopes a long-awaited Bathurst crown won't.
"We are on the front row and that's a good place to start,” he said.
Russell Ingall was the only other man in the 9sec bracket, delivering on his promise to co-driver Larry Perkins to not exert himself too much over the one-lap dash.
Jason Bright stunned the paddock in the pre-shootout warm-up with a sizzling 2:08.76min lap – the fastest ever recorded by a V8 Supercar at Bathurst.
But an untidy shootout lap will see he and co-driver Tomas Mezera start from fourth tomorrow.
“The lap was certainly disappointing after the warm-up lap,” Bright said.
“I am lucky to be fourth. In fact, I am probably lucky to have a car.”
Row three will feature race heavyweights – and joint favourites – the Holden Racing Team Commodore of Mark Skaife and Tony Longhurst and the Shell Helix Falcon of Steven Johnson and Paul Radisich.
Johnson said the qualifying pace of his car belies its race potential, while Skaife admitted HRT has work to do before tomorrow’s race.
54-year-old Jim Richards turned back the clock in the second Ford-Tickford Falcon to grab tenth, while Craig Lowndes dropped to ten positions to twelfth with a sluggish lap.
The lights go green on the 2001 V8 Supercar 1000 at 10am tomorrow morning. A few showers are predicted.
>> V8 SUPERCAR 1000 TOP FIFTEEN SHOOTOUT >>
1st MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [2:09.7785min]
2nd GLENN SETON (Ford Tickford Racing) - AU Falcon [2:09.9804]
3rd RUSSELL INGALL (Perkins Motorsport) - VX Commodore [2:09.9912]
4th JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [2:10.1178]
5th MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [2:10.1599]
6th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [2:10.3538]
7th JOHN BOWE (CAT Racing) - AU Falcon [2:10.4388]
8th STEVEN ELLERY (Super Cheap Auto Racing) AU Falcon [2:10.4735]
9th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline Cummins Repco Team) - VX Commodore [2:10.4999]
10th JIM RICHARDS (Ford Tickford Racing) AU Falcon [2:10.5180]
11th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [2:10.8654]
12th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon [2:11.0141]
13th GREG RITTER (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [2:11.2323]
14th PAUL MORRIS (Big Kev Racing) VT Commodore [2:11.3743]
15th PAUL WEEL (K & J Thermal Products Racing) - AU Falcon [2:11.5767]
For complete practice/shootout results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?07/10/2001.MOUN
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