Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Advice: The points tables for most series covered by Elsewhere In Racing are available here. Individual series are linked to their corresponding points table after each report.
Loeb Closes The Season
Marcus Gronholm led straight out of the blocks, the fast dirt event clearly playing to the 307's strengths with Harri Rovanpera well up in the standings. By the end of the first leg Gronholm had built a 21 second lead over Loeb with Rovanpera just on the wrong side of a minute behind.
The rally had been hit hard by attrition in the early stages. Before the event started the field was short one of the WRC cars as retiring legend Carlos Sainz crashed sufficiently hard during pre-event recce to make him physically incapable of competing. One of the two contenders to Petter Solberg's runner up position was out.
The first stage of the rally, the Gloucester Park Super Special secured Solberg the runners up position as the only remaining rival, Markko Martin ground into Ford's service bay with his Focus steaming from a broken motor. Then Solberg himself was gone, a broken steering rod on Special Stage 4 ending his rally prematurely after striking one of the ever present rocks. The car was quickly repaired and put back in action, but not quickly enough to avoid retirement. Solberg pressed on as a non-competing competitor under the 'Super Rally' rules, unofficially winning four Stages on Leg 3.
Gronholm was out of the rally early in Leg Two, crashing out of the event after a rock broke the Peugeot's steering. This left the surviving WRC competitors well spaced and they cruised to their various positions with Loeb leading home Rovanpera, Duval and Hirvonen.
Warmbold did not make the finish, leaving fifth downwards to Group N. Taking that fifth position was Australian emerging star, Subaru privateer Chris Atkinson, taking Group N outright over 70 seconds clear of Xavier Pons in a Mitsubishi. Cody Crocker was third in the Subaru Australia car ahead of Asia-Pacific Subaru competitor Toshihiro Arai who also took the final point.
Ninth though was the winner. Niall McShea's ninth, which was second amongst the registered Group N teams, was enough to wrap up the Production World Championship. The late rally retirement of Alister McRae was what changed everything, handing the title to the Super 1600 graduate.
2004 may be over, but it is now only seven weeks until Monaco, round one of 2005...
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 16 of 16, Rally Australia:
Final Standings: Sebastien Loeb 118, Petter Solberg 82, Markko Martin 79, Carlos Sainz 73, Marcus Gronholm 62, Francois Duval 53, Mikko Hirvonen 29, Harri Rovanpera 28, Janne Tuohino 16, Freddy Loix 9, Stephane Sarrazin 8, Daniel Carlsson, Gigi Galli and Gilles Panizzi 6, Andrea Navarra 5, Cedric Robert, Manfred Stohl and Chris Atkinson 4, Luis Companc Perez, Jani Paasonen, Toni Gardemeister, Henning Solberg, Xavier Pons and Antony Warmbold 3, Alistair Ginley, Daniel Sola, Cody Crocker and Jussi Valimaki 2, Toshihiro Arai, Miguel Campos, Aris Vovos, Gabriel Pozzo, Armin Schwarz and Olivier Burri 1
Duval Joins Citroen For 2005
The Belgian, who finished sixth in the championship for Ford this year with a best result of second in Germany, replaces Spain's twice World Champion Carlos Sainz, who retired at the end of the season.
Duval, who will be 24 on Thursday, made his world championship debut in the 2001 Portuguese rally with Mitsubishi after finishing third in the Belgian championship in 2000.
Citroen, who won the manufacturers' title last season, announced last week that they would be pulling out of the world championship at the end of 2005 along with stablemates Peugeot.
Ford, who gave a commitment for the next four years days before the French teams announced their withdrawal, had attempted to re-sign Duval after letting him go in September when the future of the team was less certain. Duval's co-driver Stéphane Prévot joins with him.
Duval report provided by Reuters
Melandri To Join Gibernau At Honda
Italian MotoGP rider Marco Melandri is leaving Yamaha to team up with Spain's Sete Gibernau at Honda next year. The Telefonica Movistar team run by Italian Fausto Gresini announced last Wednesday the 22 year-old, 250cc world champion in 2002, would ride for them in 2005.
"We tried to do something together since Marco moved on to the 250 class but we never succeeded," said Gresini. "Now we have finally reached an agreement thanks to the support of Telefonica Movistar and Honda.
"Being an Italian team, we are very happy to have an Italian rider. The last time it happened was in 1999 with Loris Capirossi."
Melandri has ridden for Yamaha in the last two MotoGP seasons after winning the 250cc title for Aprilia. He was also runner-up in the 125cc category for Honda in 1999 after starting his grand prix career with the Japanese manufacturer in 1998.
Gibernau was MotoGP runner-up to Italian Valentino Rossi this year while Melandri finished 12th.
Report provided by Reuters
Bourdais Takes The Title!
Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais held a 22 point lead prior to the final Champ Car event of the year at Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit in Mexico City. But when you can win the race, the margin does not matter. And so the second generation French sportscar racer proved the case, dominating the race at the former Formula One venue, taking his seventh victory of the season, and the Vanderbilt Cup as the 2004 Champ Car World Series Champion.
Bourdais got the better of the start to ease away from the Brazilian, quickly building a lead. The lead was trimmed down by an early safety car after Paul Tracy and Roberto Gonzalez clashed. It was to be a long day for the outgoing champion. Bourdais' only nervous moment was lapping Mario Dominguez late in the race, dropping a wheel off track leading into a lurid spin that thankfully and luckily did not end in concrete. The Frenchman had enough in reserve to continue and led his teammate home.
Third was an impressive result for rookie A.J. Almendinger who used superior strategy and some delicate driving early in the race to jump Justin Wilson in the pits after stretching the mileage enough to allow one stint to be run short-fuelled. Wilson thus finished fourth at the end of a disappointing season for the highly-rated Brit F1 refugee.
Jimmy Vasser was fifth, continuing his form rennaissance ahead of Forsythe's Patrick Carpentier who in sixth did enough to stay ahead of Paul Tracy in the fight for third in the points. Tracy had numerous clashes during the day but salvaged tenth.
Between them, the Newman-Haas drivers won nine of the fourteen races on offer with three of the remaining five being taken by the Forsythe team. While the days of a dozen contenders to win each race have plainly gone, the 2004 season has seen the series take stock after the 2003 low point and can now build on this to work their way back as a front-running series again. The lack of depth however just continues to underline that a merger with IRL must come in the next couple of years for the long term survival of US-based open wheel racing.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 14 of 14, Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City, Mexico:
Final Standings: Sebastien Bourdais 369, Bruno Junqueira 341, Patrick Carpentier 266, Paul Tracy 254, Mario Dominguez 244, A.J. Allmendinger 229, Alex Tagliani 220, Jimmy Vasser 201, Ryan Hunter-Reay & Oriol Servia 199, Justin Wilson 188, Michel Jourdain Jr 185, Mario Haberfeld 157, Rodolfo Lavin 156, Roberto Gonzalez 136, Nelson Philippe 89, Gaston Mazzacane 73, Guy Smith 53, Alex Sperafico 47, David Besnard 18, Memo Gidley 15, Tarso Marques 9, Michael Valiante 7, Jaroslav Janis 3
Johnson Sets Up Close Chase
A rain-out in qualifying meant the field was set by owners' points, and so Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon sat on the front row. Busch took the lead at the start, but Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap two. Lap 20 saw Busch retake the lead as Jeff Gordon began a steady drift down the order. Having just moved into second place, Ryan Newman, for the third week in a row, made an unscheduled pit stop, on lap 22. Jimmie Johnson was the next car to lead, taking over from Busch on lap 27. Green flag stops around laps 55-65 saw a reshuffle, with Greg Biffle leading from Mark Martin and Carl Edwards, Johnson down to fourth while Newman worked his way back on the lead lap.
Lap 66 saw Martin take the lead from Biffle, while lap 78 saw Johnson retake the lead as he passed Martin. The first caution came out on lap 83 when Bobby Hamilton Jr hit the wall, the field pitting on a track notoriously tough on tyres. Martin led Biffle, Johnson, Robby Gordon and Jamie McMurray as the race restarted on lap 88, Biffle taking the lead from Martin again on lap 96 before Johnson retook the lead ten laps later, only to see Martin take it from him on lap 113. Martin's run in first was short, McMurray taking the lead for the first time on lap 118.
During this run Newman made another unscheduled stop, having been running third just beforehand, Jeff Gordon taking over the place having rallied up the order after being midfield for a long time. Not long afterwards the caution came out on lap 195 when Dale Jarrett spun and hit the wall hard as the car regained grip when he corrected the spin. Another round of pit stops, Jeff Gordon leading Martin, Burton, McMurray and Robby Gordon as a slow pit stop dropped Johnson from the lead to tenth. Back to green on lap 202, with Johnson charging his way into the top five as Busch continued to struggle with his car after his earlier contact.
Lap 250 saw the caution flags fly for debris on the circuit, which meant the pits were busy once again, Martin leading Jeff Gordon, Johnson, McMurray and Burton as the race restarted on lap 254, Jeff Gordon retaking the lead before the lap was over. Another caution came out on lap 303 as the drivers approached their final stops. Jeff Gordon was first off pit road ahead of Martin, Johnson, McMurray and Carl Edwards as the race restarted on lap 310. Lap 316 saw Johnson take third from Martin, while Tony Stewart's average day got worse when he made an unscheduled pit stop a few laps later.
Despite only five laps under green most of the field came in for tyres, Johnson best placed of those ahead of Busch, Edwards, Martin and Jeff Gordon. However, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne stayed out and led the field ahead of third placed Johnson as the race restarted on lap 350 with 18 to go. Johnson passed Kahne on lap 352 to move into second, but it took until lap 359 to find a way past McMurray after several laps of trying. Elsewhere Martin was up to fourth by lap 360, then third past Kahne on lap 362 as Jeff Gordon moved past Busch for fifth place.
Lap 363 and Jeff Gordon took Kahne for fourth, while lap 366 saw Martin and Jeff Gordon both pass McMurray as new tyres showed their superiority over old(er) ones. But they couldn't catch Jimmie Johnson, who took his fourth win in five races to head home Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne, the last two having gambled on not pitting with the gamble having paid off fairly well.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 35 of 36, Darlington Raceway, South Carolina, United States:
Standings: Kurt Busch 6346, Jimmie Johnson 6328, Jeff Gordon 6325, Dale Earnhardt Jr 6274, Mark Martin 6264, Tony Stewart 6161, Ryan Newman 6102, Matt Kenseth 5963, Elliott Sadler 5963, Jeremy Mayfield 5942 etc.
Bizarreness Abounds
Based on results as they stand, Greg Murphy's win in race three sees him 151 points behind Ambrose, with a total of 192 up for grabs at the three races at the final round, and Ambrose's only challenger for the title. If the results are amended, Bright would likely move up to second and Murphy down to fourth, Murphy dropping to 157 points behind while Bright would move up to 164 points behind Ambrose. In either situation, one twelfth place finish in any of the three races at the final round would see Ambrose clinch the title no matter what else happens. And regardless of the results, the battle for second in the championship is set to be a hard-fought one, with Russell Ingall, Rick Kelly and Steven Richards also still in contention.
The official CAMS position is: "An investigation commenced into the first Safety Car intervention during Race 3. The matter was adjourned and will be continued following receipt of further documentation." Sources suggest the matter should be dealt with this week, but with their recent record to consider (the Team Dynamik testing matter is still yet to be finalised, the illegal testing having taken place in August) all one can hope for is that it is cleared up before the final round.
Next, Todd Kelly, who finished third in race two, was found to have had an ECU loom that didn't match the description in the rules, in a very similar way to Ambrose's own car had earlier in the year. Due to the outcry when Ambrose won his appeal against the points loss, the governing body determined that future illegalities would result in removal from race results. And so Kelly was removed from the results of race two, thanks partly to the complaints heard from his teammate and HRT team owner Mark Skaife when Ambrose won his appeal...
One wonders why this matter was not dealt with sooner, having been discovered soon after the event, rather than wait until the next round a couple of weeks later. Interesting also is that Ambrose's irregularity was publicised immediately, whereas Kelly's breach only became known just before he was penalised, a couple of weeks after the breach was actually discovered. Finally, Rick Kelly was penalised 50 points and fined $5 000 for his careless driving when he took out fellow Holden driver Jason Bright at the chicane, which destroyed Bright's car. A $5 000 fine is a lot less than it cost Bright, and it is half of what Ambrose was fined when no contact was made between he and Kelly.
Race one saw Steven Richards lead into turn one, with Marcos Ambrose up to second ahead of Todd Kelly. Meanwhile Mark Skaife had a bad start and dropped to fifth behind Rick Kelly. Lap three saw Todd Kelly take second from Ambrose, with Ambrose and Rick Kelly pitting at the end of the lap, Rick Kelly beating Ambrose out the other end. Richards and Todd Kelly pitted two laps later, both coming out behind Rick Kelly but ahead of Ambrose, with Murphy just behind Ambrose.
By lap ten most of the field had pitted, with only two cars yet to pit by lap 18 of 42. However, rain was on the horizon, with these two cars hoping the rain would fall before the compulsory pit stop window closed. Lap 20 saw second place change hands when Richards ran wide at turn six, allowing Todd Kelly through to second. A lap later Richards made a late dive down the inside at the same turn, Richards bumping into Kelly as he ran wide, allowing Ambrose to duck inside, making light contact with Richards as he squeezed through which gave Kelly enough room to sneak back ahead of Richards.
Race two and Ambrose got a great start to lead into turn one ahead of Rick Kelly and Steven Richards, followed by Craig Lowndes and Todd Kelly. Lap two saw Todd Kelly pass Lowndes down the back straight. Lap three saw a procession of cars pitting, including Rick Kelly, Richards and Todd Kelly nose to tail, Richards having a slow stop and losing several place. Lowndes pitted a lap later, Ambrose on lap five, Ambrose resuming best placed of those to pit just ahead of Rick Kelly.
When Jason Bright pitted on lap sixteen everyone had made their stops, Ambrose with a gap over Rick Kelly with brother Todd right behind him, Murphy fourth and Ingall fifth. The safety car came out on lap 30 after Jason Bright knocked David Besnard into a spin at the hairpin and Besnard got stuck, the tap earning Bright a drivethrough penalty. The race restarted on lap 33, Ambrose leading Rick and Todd Kelly, Murphy and Ingall, and that was how it stayed until the end, Ambrose taking the win. Skaife had another bad race, failing to finish after a car spun in front of him which he was unable to avoid and hit. Meanwhile ith a good result in race three, Marcos Ambrose could wrap up the title in his home state of Tasmania.
The leader jinx struck again on lap nine, Todd Kelly suffering a spectacular and immediate engine failure as he completed the lap. The oil then caught out Paul Weel, who slammed the fence heading into turn one, bringing out the safety car. This is where race three deteriorated. It appears the safety car picked up Murphy, the leading car of those who had pitted. However, twenty seconds in front of Murphy were four cars: David Besnard, Jason Bright, Anthony Tratt and Mark Skaife, who had yet to pit. They sped around to the pits, unimpeded by the safety car, and came back onto the track, still ahead of the safety car. They then caught up to the tail of the field.
Then, it was noticed that these four cars according to timing were leading the race, so the field was waved past the safety car until Besnard led the field, Murphy now fifth in the order. When this happened several teams questioned the move, with toing and froing between teams and officials. Meanwhile Ambrose pitted during the safety car period, firstly for a top-up of oil, and then soon after to see if the problem could be fixed as smoke was pouring out the exhausts. Eventually the race restarted on lap 21, about ten laps after it had been put under safety car conditions, Besnard leading Bright, Tratt, Skaife and Murphy, with Rick Kelly and Ingall next.
The race restarted on lap 36, again about ten laps after it had been put under safety car conditions, Murphy showing the way as the other "leaders" ran at the back of the field. Murphy held on to take the win ahead of Ingall, Richards, McConville and Johnson, while Besnard, Bright and Skaife were credited with 18th, 20th and 21st places, as it appears most of the field was credited an extra lap to put them back ahead of them.
The question is, does it make sense that they were in front of them? Looking at the individual lap times, Murphy's show a blank lap which has no time shown at all, not even a zero, which would seem to be the extra lap credited (padded?) due to the apparent "timing glitch". Adding up his 42 lap times (which are in essence, only 41 after removing the blank), you get his race time. Looking at Besnard's lap times, you have 42 lap times, with no blank lap times. Adding up his 42 laps you get his race time. With Besnard's 42 lap times and Murphy's 41 lap times adding up exactly to their total race times, it seems Besnard should be the winner.
Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 12 of 13, Symmons Plains, Tasmania, Australia:
Standings: Marcos Ambrose 1982, Greg Murphy 1831, Russell Ingall 1782, Jason Bright 1780, Rick Kelly 1701, Steven Richards 1667, Todd Kelly 1513, John Bowe and Jason Bargwanna 1406, Garth Tander 1320 etc.
Rally
Sebastien Loeb completed the World Rally Championship as he began it, with a victory. The Citroen driver led a war of attrition over the three days of the high-speed Australian event. One by one the major contenders dropped out of the season finale, although only one had been any threat to Loeb's pace.
Francois Duval was still in the rally, some thirty seconds behind Rovanpera's Peugeot, and over two minutes up on the two remaining WRC cars, the brake plagued Subaru of Mikko Hirvonen and the privately entered '02 model Ford of Antony Warmbold. Already two Group N Subarus were in the points with Alister McRae leading local driver Chris Atkinson. McRae was on course to win the Production World Title.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara WRC
2. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen Peugeot 307 WRC
3. Francois Duval/Stephan Prevot Ford Focus RS WRC 04
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Subaru Impreza WRC 2004
5. Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall Subaru Impreza WRX
(Group N)
6. Xavier Pons/Oriol Julia Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
(Group N)
7. Cody Crocker/Greg Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX
(Group N)
8. Toshihiro Arai/Tony Sircombe Subaru Impreza WRX
(Group N)
9. Niall McShea/Michael Orr Subaru Impreza WRX
(Group N)
10. Mirco Baldacci/Giovanni Bernacchini Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
(Group N)
Francois Duval will compete for Citroen alongside World Champion Sebastien Loeb in the World Rally Championship next season, the French team said on Tuesday.
MotoGP
OWRS
His teammate and championship rival Bruno Junqueira made the important first step, securing provisional pole position in his efforts to overcome Bourdais to prevent from becoming the runner-up for the second straight year. Pole however was Bourdais, as was every single lap of the race.
Pos Driver Car
1. Sebastien Bourdais Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
2. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
3. A.J. Allmendinger RuSport Lola-Ford
4. Justin Wilson Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Lola-Ford
5. Jimmy Vasser PKV Racing Lola-Ford
6. Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
7. Oriol Servia Dale Coyne Raicng Lola-Ford
8. Mario Dominguez Herdez Competicion Lola-Ford
9. Michel Jourdain Jr RuSport Lola-Ford
10. Paul Tracy Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
NASCAR
After disasters at Talladega and Kansas, Jimmie Johnson probably counted himself out of the chase. But with four wins in the last five races, including victory at Darlington, he is right back in the battle for the title. Kurt Busch still leads, but he is only 18 points ahead of Johnson and only 21 ahead of Jeff Gordon, who would be relieved to be that close after his pace early at Darlington but disappointed after a late-race pit stop error. Dale Earnhardt Jr is also in contention despite changing a battery late in the race, 72 points behind Busch, while Mark Martin's second place finish sees him 82 points behind teammate Busch. However, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman are out of it, Newman's chances literally going up in smoke when an engine blew while running in the top five. Interestingly, under last year's points system there would also be a battle for the title, with Jeff Gordon leading teammate Jimmie Johnson by 52 points with Dale Earnhardt Jr a further 50 points back.
A spin for Bobby Labonte in turn four brought out the next caution on lap 121, Kurt Busch having suffered damage to the front of his car just beforehand. Pit stops ensued, Robby Gordon winning the race off pit road ahead of Martin, Johnson, McMurray and Matt Kenseth, with Busch at the tail of the cars on the lead lap. Back to green on lap 125, Robby Gordon running in front until Johnson took the lead from him just a few laps before the caution came out on lap 145 when Todd Bodine spun in front of Michael Waltrip, with the two making contact after Bodine spun. Another round of pit stops, Johnson leading Robby Gordon, Martin, Jeff Burton and McMurray as racing resumed on lap 151 of 367.
A flat tyre for Robby Gordon while running in the top ten was followed a few seconds later by a blown engine for Ryan Newman who was running fifth at the time, bringing out the caution on lap 331. More pit stops, Johnson leading Edwards, Kurt Busch, Joe Nemechek and Martin while Jeff Gordon had a slow stop like teammate Johnson had earlier in the race, dropping from first to seventh. Back to green on lap 341 but back to caution five laps later after Kevin Harvick rolled to a stop.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
5. Kasey Kahne Dodge Intrepid
6. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
7. Carl Edwards Ford Taurus
8. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Mike Bliss Chevrolet Monte Carlo
V8 Supercar
It was expected that Marcos Ambrose, racing for his first time on a track in his home state, would clinch the championship title. And for most of the weekend, it looked like happening. But just when it seemed certain, an engine problem forced him out of the last race, leaving the title to go down to the last round, though he is still very well placed. Quite who he is ahead of depends on what the results of race three should be, and whether they will change. Depending on which results you use, his challenger will be Greg Murphy or Jason Bright.
There were also matters going back to the previous round at Surfers' Paradise. Back at that round, Marcos Ambrose was found guilty of careless driving for his alleged brake test at the end of race one and was fined $10 000. Then at Symmons Plains, he was given a fine of $10 000, suspended until the end of 2005, for his verbal spray to Rick Kelly after that race as he had breached the rule regarding intimidation and threats. The fact that similar disputes often take place, during race weekends, but not in view of cameras, doesn't seem to have been taken into account, with this decision possibly setting a dangerous precedent.
The weekend saw three 100 km races, each featuring a compulsory tyre stop. Qualifying saw Steven Richards take pole just ahead of Todd Kelly, with teammate Mark Skaife in a new car, which Skaife was quoted as saying was "the best car I've ever driven". Next was points leader Marcos Ambrose, just ahead of the chastened Rick Kelly. Meanwhile at the bottom of the top ten was Jason Bright, having done well just to make the top ten.
Despite only a few drops of rain those that had gambled on a downpour took wets, quickly ruining their wets only for the rain to get a little heavier as the race wore on. Slicks were still the preferred choice, and while the top four remained unchanged, action was taking place further down the order. Garth Tander took fifth from Murphy with three laps remaining, with Lowndes taking sixth from Murphy at the hairpin on the last lap, Murphy spinning himself in the process to drop to eleventh. Elsewhere a wheel-banging session on lap 37 beween Russell Ingall and Mark Skaife ended up with Skaife in the gravel. Up at the front Rick Kelly won from Ambrose, with Todd Kelly, Richards and Tander filling out the top five.
Race three started like race two, with Ambrose getting a demon start, with Todd Kelly taking second ahead of brother Rick, followed by Murphy and Ingall, Murphy quickly passing teammate Rick Kelly. But before the end of lap one Ambrose's car began blowing smoke out the exhausts. Lap two saw the Todd Kelly and Murphy pass him, while lap three saw Ingall, Rick Kelly and Lowndes go through. At the end of lap three Todd Kelly, Murphy and Lowndes were among a group of cars to pit. Lap four saw Rick Kelly and a smoky Ambrose pit, Ingall in a lap later. Of those who had pitted, Todd Kelly was ahead of Murphy, Rick Kelly and Ingall, while Ambrose was already too far behind to clinch the title as the smoke grew a little worse. Most of the field pitted in these early laps.
Before the lap was over Skaife and Murphy moved past Tratt, Tratt quickly drifting down the order as Besnard and Bright continued to lead. But it was back to safety car conditions about five laps later when Rick Kelly lost an engine, which saw Ingall tap him into the bank at the hairpin, Kelly's car refusing to move. Ambrose returned to the track blowing a lot less smoke but was soon back in as the team realised he was unable to complete enough laps to be classified and score points. During this safety car period it was determined that despite timing saying Besnard was leading, Murphy was now behind the safety car as the leader with Ingall, Richards, Cameron McConville and Steven Johnson the new top five. Needless to say the teams that were leading, who were sent to the rear of the train of cars, complained to the officials to say they were still leading.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
2. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
3. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY
4. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY
5. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY
6. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA
7. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
8. David Besnard Ford Falcon BA
9. Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA
10. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
2. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
3. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY
4. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY
5. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
6. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA
7. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY
8. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA
9. Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA
10. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA
Race Three
Pos Driver Car
1. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY
2. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
3. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY
4. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY
5. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA
6. Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA
7. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA
8. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA
9. Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY
10. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA
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Volume 10, Issue 46
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