INDY RACE 3 - Tander buoyed by Surfers success
28/10/2001 17:51 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Garth Tander may have finally recovered from the crippling hangover sustained after a spectacularly successful 2000 season with overall victory on the streets of Surfers Paradise today.
Tander won this afternoon's final 12-lap CabCharge V8 Supercar Challenge race from Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall.
That same Holden trifecta wound up on the overall Indy podium thanks to their results across the weekend.
From pole, Skaife held the initial lead until Tander swung around the factory Commodore to take the lead along The Esplanade.
Russell Ingall then took advance to pass Skaife in a smart move through the WorldCom Esses.
Ingall’s Castrol machine filled Tander's mirrors until the final lap when Ingall dropped a cylinder and relinquished second back to Skaife.
It was a faultless display from veteran Larry Perkins to finish fourth, ahead of the first Ford home in Steven Johnson.
Tony Longhurst finished in tenth despite having a minute added to his time for an incident with David Besnard in yesterday’s race.
Longhurst also copped a $5000 fine for the blatant knock to his former teammate.
Today’s event could be the final time the V8 Supercars grace the streets of the Gold Coast after AVESCO failed to come to terms with Indy organisers for next year’s race.
Meanwhile, V8 Supercar part-timer Dean Canto’s stocks soured today with victory in the Honda Young Gun Challenge.
The 21-year-old Konica Series champion, who drove for Ford Tickford Racing in this year’s endurance races, defeated a field of classy young-guns in identical Honda Type-Rs to win the $10,000 prize.
The weekend’s main event, the Honda Indy 300, was won by Brazilian Cristiano da Matta from the Newman/Haas outfit. Gil de Ferran finished fourth to seal his second consecutive CART FedEx Championship.
The V8 Supercars will board a boat bound for Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday for the penultimate round of the Shell Series, the Pukekohe V8 International, in a fortnight’s time.
>>RACE THREE – TOP TEN>>
1st MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) – VX Commodore
2nd GARTH TANDER (Valvoline Cummins Race Team) – VX Commodore
3rd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Race Team) – VX Commodore
4th LARRY PERKINS (Castrol Perkins Race Team) – VX Commodore
5th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) – AU Falcon
6th JOHN FAULKNER (John Faulkner Racing) – VX Commodore
7th STEVEN RICHARDS (Ford Tickford Racing) – AU Falcon
8th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) – AU Falcon
9th CAMERON McCONVILLE (Lansvale Racing Team) – VX Commodore
10th TONY LONGHURST (Rod Nash Racing) – VX Commodore
For complete race results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?28/10/2001.GOLD
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