R1 QUAL – VX marks the spot for Bright
21/3/2003 18:53 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
The summer silly season put them in different cars and different colours, but former teammates Mark Skaife and Jason Bright proved in Adelaide today they remain almost inseparable.
Just 0.08secs separated the pair after the Top Ten Shootout for this weekend’s season-opening Clipsal 500 – with former Holden Racing Team deputy Bright winning pole position for his new team, the Betta Electrical-backed Team Brock.
It meant an early defeat for reigning V8 Supercar series champion Skaife and Holden’s evolutionary VY Commodore, as Bright took the older-model VX to pole with a time of one-minute 23.37secs.
Bright thought he had thrown pole away after locking a brake in the final turn.
“I knew I just had to do a nice job on the last turn because you can see the screens as you go around the track,” he said. “I saw the smoke coming up and thought I’d blown it.”
Kmart Racing’s Greg Murphy, who qualified fourth, and Skaife’s teammate Todd Kelly, eighth, further bolster Holden’s powerful factory assault at the front of the pack.
Of the six-car squad, only Skaife and Kelly are driving VY Commodores this weekend.
While Holden defector Russell Ingall did most of the pre-race talking, Ford’s hopes will again rest with his teammate.
Marcos Ambrose dominated early practice in the BA Falcon, but was knocked to third by the Holden duo in qualifying and the Shootout.
Ingall was lucky just to make the pole run-off, precariously placed in tenth when his qualifying run ended after clipping a tyre barrier in the final minutes of the session. The team repaired the car with minutes to spare but, reporting severe vibration on his hot lap, Ingall only improved to ninth.
"I got in a little hot and hit the tyres on the inside of the corner and went straight ahead," Ingall said of the incident. "After that it was a matter of the boys getting it ready in time for the shootout, which they did.”
Ambrose said he struggled to get the most out of cold tyres in the Shootout, but has the race pace to be in the hunt come tomorrow's first 250km leg.
"I just need to get a good start and get on with it from there,” the notoriously bad starter said.
Larry Perkins’ new on-track leader, Steven Richards booked a spot on the third row in his VY Commodore.
The new-look Dick Johnson Racing showed signs of a revival, with Steven Johnson clocking the sixth-fastest time. But new teammate Max Wilson failed to even set a time, with gearbox problems sidelining him from the session.
OzEmail veteran John Bowe, also in a BA Ford, was seventh.
Garth Tander fell to tenth, more than 3secs slower than Bright's pole time thanks to an untidy Shootout lap.
Further back, it was an inglorious championship debut for the Blue Oval’s new flagship team, Ford Performance Racing.
Craig Lowndes will start the team’s lone BA Falcon from an unfamiliar 18th on the grid, bettered by teammate Glenn Seton who put the older AU Ford into 13th from the slower qualifying group. The third of the FPR trio, David Besnard will start back in 27th.
Tomorrow's race is scheduled to start at 2pm local time.
Qualifying times: click here.
Top Ten Shootout times: click here.
|
|
