R6 QUAL – Open road ahead for would-be King
29/6/2002 19:21 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Mark Skaife has an unobstructed path towards a record sixth straight round victory after securing pole position for the VB 300 at Barbagallo Raceway near Perth.
The 2002 champion-elect, 659 points clear on the series table, won pole position with a slick 58.03sec flier in the top ten shootout.
Skaife turned the tables on his teammate Jason Bright, who held provisional pole after qualifying. They'll start alongside each other on an all-Holden Racing Team front row.
Skaife can almost secure his fifth championship crown this weekend, made easier by an insipid performance from Ford’s leading lights.
Marcos Ambrose and Craig Lowndes dashed the hopes of Blue Oval fans this weekend with a meek showing. Ambrose could only manage 16th, Lowndes 18th.
And Paul Radisich, last year’s Barbagallo clean-sweep victor, was bitterly disappointed with his efforts, qualifying an unacceptable third-last on the 32-car grid.
While the big names struggled to find a competitive set-up on the tyre-tearing 2.1km layout, rookie Brazilian Max Wilson continued to impress in qualifying.
The Briggs Motorsport speed demon clocked the ninth quickest time in provisional qualifying before rocketing to third on the grid in the shootout for pole with a composed hot lap.
K-Mart Racing’s ever-improving young-gun, Todd Kelly has had an impressive weekend. He was fastest during yesterday’s practice hit-out, seventh in qualifying, and will start from the second row of the grid after the shootout.
Teammate Greg Murphy, meanwhile, missed the shootout in 12th.
David Besnard easily out-qualified teammate Ambrose, putting his Stone brothers Ford onto the third row.
John Bowe was another to upset the front-running establishment. The 48-year-old veteran held his own to be third-quickest in qualifying and sixth in the shootout.
Bowe’s OzEmail Racing boss, Brad Jones was unlucky to miss the shootout in 11th. Still, with many of the big-budget teams behind him, Jones couldn't be happier for his modest Albury-based team.
And teenage tyro Rick Kelly used his emerging talent and the resources of the Holden Racing Team garage to figure in the top ten, booking a spot on the fourth row alongside local hero Garth Tander.
Castrol stable-mates Russell Ingall and Steven Richards will share the fifth row of the grid, as boss Larry Perkins sits out his first championship round since 1992.
The first leg of the VB 300 was due to start at 4pm local time (6pm Eastern time).
Qualifying results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?30/06/2002.BARB.Q8
Top ten shootout results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?30/06/2002.BARB.Q10
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