AGP QUAL – Early honours to Bright in Melbourne
28/2/2002 20:22 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
They’re baaack! And not much has changed.
A Holden Racing Team Commodore will start from pole position in tomorrow’s opening race for the non-championship Grand Prix Challenge at Albert Park, not Mark Skaife but the No. 2 car of Jason Bright, while the Ford brigade lag considerably behind.
HRT adapted effortlessly to the Dunlop control tyre, their first run on the new compound, with Bright clocking a 1:58.67min fastest lap late in the session to snare pole. The time was a second outside Craig Lowndes’ 1999 qualifying record, but on par with times set last year on Bridgestone rubber.
"This pole position is my first with the Holden Racing Team and it's great to start the season on such a positive note," Bright said.
"We were very happy with the tyre performance. It is good to come out and be so quick straight out of the gate."
Skaife, battling brake imbalance early in the session, qualified third. The defending champion clipped a tyre wall on his hot lap but, despite being black-flagged for the incident, no time penalty was awarded.
Shell Helix Racing’s Steven Johnson grabbed a front-row birth alongside Bright, the only Ford driver inside the top six.
"You always think that you could have done better, but I can't be unhappy with today's results," Johnson said. "It's a fantastic way to start the year."
Garth Tander made a promising start to his comeback by qualifying fifth, sandwiched between the Castrol Commodores of Russell Ingall and Steven Richards.
Both Stone brothers Falcons pushed into the top ten, with last year's Grand Prix pole-sitter Marcos Ambrose and David Besnard finishing seventh and ninth respectively. Last year's Grand Prix winner, Paul Radisich was eighth.
Mark Larkham, aboard his stunning Orrcon Falcon, was eleventh, ahead of Glenn Seton and Jason Bargwanna.
On debut, Briggs Motorsport’s Max Wilson qualified back in 27th, while Young Lion Rick Kelly will start from the last row of the 34-car grid.
The 30-minute session was terminated three minutes early when Rodney Forbes and Simon Wills each beached their Falcons in the speed trap. Skaife spun into the gravel earlier in the session, but was able to continue.
Tomorrow’s 30-minute sprint will follow opening practice for the Formula One cars at 3:10pm.
>> AGP V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE – QUALIFYING >>
1st JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:58.671min]
2nd STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:58.923]
3rd MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [1:58.963]
4th RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins) - VX Commodore [1:58.991]
5th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline Cummins Repco) - VX Commodore [1:59.092]
6th STEVEN RICHARDS (Castrol Perkins) - VX Commodore [1:59.533]
7th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1:59.549]
8th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [1:59.575]
9th DAVID BESNARD (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [1:59.787]
10th CRAIG LOWNDES (Ford/Dunlop/Mobil) - AU Falcon [1:59.913]
For complete practice/qualifying results:
http://www.v8supercar.com.au/calendars/clndrevent.asp?eid=96
|
|
