R13S RACE 1 - Champion effort from new V8 king
1/12/2001 18:54 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Basking in the glow of the championship spoils, Mark Skaife cruised to victory this afternoon in the opening race of Sandown Raceway’s V8 Ultimate.
Pole-sitter Skaife was supreme over the 150km distance to finish ahead of former teammate Craig Lowndes and K-Mart racer Todd Kelly.
The four-time champion delayed his compulsory pit stop until lap 16 of 48 and, with some slick work in the pits, retained his buffer on rejoining the circuit to take a comfortable win.
“It was the most relaxed I have ever felt in a race," Skaife said. “We had a great pit stop, probably the best for the year and that helped a lot."
Craig Lowndes came from 14th on the grid to grab second after a disastrous run in this morning's Top Fifteen Shootout.
"After things didn't go so well in the Shootout this morning, I was more determined than ever to finish the day on a high and I'm pleased to be able to say that everything worked in our favour,” Lowndes said.
"The guys did a great job this afternoon with a very quick pit stop and a clever strategy and that has put us in a fantastic position to go one better tomorrow."
Skaife led a formidable TWR attack, which at one stage looked like taking a stranglehold on the event.
But with all four TWR Commodores out in front late in the race, Jason Bright attempted an audacious passing move on his teammate through turn one after a yellow flag period, and came off second best.
Skaife was quietly seething: "The reality is you have to help yourself and my idea of passing the leader is not around the outside on turn one!
"My plan would have been for Jason and I to try and get a bit of a lead on the rest and then see what I could do to help, but he shouldn't be trying that move on anyone. Two cars were never going to get around there.”
Bright later slid off the circuit through the esses, finishing back in fifth – one behind his main rival for second in the championship, Russell Ingall.
Race officials also spoilt the TWR party, serving second-placed Greg Murphy a stop/go penalty over the final few laps for excessively cutting corners. He finished eighth.
Murphy led the field on the opening lap before a first corner rollover from Cameron McConville brought out the safety car.
McConville was muscled off the circuit through the first turn, flipping his Commodore onto its roof before barrel-rolling into the said. McConville walked away from the wreck shaken but uninjured.
Paul Radisich ran strongly throughout the race, circulating in fifth at one stage, but a sticking throttle put him out of contention.
Rookie CAT racer Simon Wills didn’t fare any better, after clashing with Larry Perkins on two separate occasions. Perkins was awarded a stop/go penalty for one of the altercations.
“Larry gave me a bit of a hard time, but I certainly wasn’t expecting V8 Supercar racing to be an easy time!” Wills said.
Another 300km of racing await the drivers tomorrow, in two 150km legs.
Tomorrow’s first race will feature a Mark Skaife/Craig Lowndes front row, sure to draw in the Melbourne crowds.
“What a great way for our sport to finish the season with a Ford and a Holden on the front row,” Skaife enthused.
>> RACE ONE - TOP TEN >>
1st MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
2nd CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon
3rd TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore
4th RUSSELL INGALL (Perkins Motorsport) - VX Commodore
5th JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
6th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon
7th GLENN SETON (Ford Tickord Racing) - AU Falcon
8th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore
9th JASON BARGWANNA (Valvoline Cummins Repco Team) - VX Commodore
10th BRAD JONES (OzEmail Racing) - AU Falcon
For complete race results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?02/12/2001.SAN
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