Mixed day for SBR in opening Bathurst practice
8/10/2004 22:22 (Press Release) -
It was a mixed day of fortunes for Stone Brothers Racing in the opening day of practice for the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst’s Mt Panorama.
Russell Ingall was second quickest in his Caltex Racing Falcon and the leading Ford driver, but his SBR team Marcos Ambrose had less success in his Pirtek Falcon.
Ambrose clipped the wall on the exit of The Cutting on his first full lap in the morning session and damaged the rear axle housing, which meant he missed the remainder of the allotted time.
In the second session, Ambrose managed to get to 13th place in nine laps with a time of 2:10.3779 before his engine had a valve train problem and forced him back to the garage.
The engine will be replaced overnight with the car’s race engine. AVESCO rules mean that only one engine can be changed over a race weekend. A second change would mean the car would have to start from the rear of the grid on Sunday.
The dramas with the Pirtek Falcon meant that Ambrose’s team mate Greg Ritter did not get any laps in the car.
The dramas also took a bit of the shine off the early speed of the Caltex Falcon, which Ingall says was pretty quick straight out of the box.
Ingall did 11 laps in the afternoon session and clocked a time of 2:09.4275 seconds to be second only to defending race champion Greg Murphy, while Mark Skaife was third.
Ingall’s co-driver Cameron McLean did 10 laps in the co-driver session and produced a time of 2:12.8813 to be 20th in the session.
RUSSELL INGALL - Quotes
“The thing was hot straight out of the truck,” said Ingall.
“We had a schedule to get through in the first session and had a few set ups to choose from for the second run.
“We are not hanging out the door handles to do those times, which is great.
“If you have to fight a car around here, Sunday is not going to be that great.
“We are quite surprised to be where we are considering how easy the car was to drive.
“We were just concentrating on making the car go faster, not slower and the quick time was a bonus.”
CAMERON McLEAN – Quotes
“I did 10 laps in the afternoon co-driver session,” said McLean.
“I am not comfortable with the time I produced, but every lap I was quicker.
“The time will come - I am not worried too much about that.
“I am here to do a job this weekend and at this stage we are on target to get it done.”
MARCOS AMBROSE – Quotes
“Unfortunately I got a bit loose going out of the cutting and clipped the wall which did the damage,” said Ambrose.
“The penalty was a bit harsh because on any other corner in the country I would have gotten away with it without any problems.
“I was pleased with the speed we managed in the second session considering the amount of time we had had in the car.
“Obviously it would have been much better to get through the day without the problems we had, but I suppose it’s better to have them today rather than on Sunday.
“We just need to re-group and go forward tomorrow.”
GREG RITTER – Quotes
“There is not much I can say really,” said Ritter.
“It was disappointing not to get in the car, but the great thing is that you know that this team can pull things together and get on with the job tomorrow.”
BOB JANE T-MARTS 1000 – FACTS AND FIGURES
TRACK FACTS – MT PANORAMA, BATHURST
Venue: Mt Panorama, Bathurst
2004 Race format: Qualifying (Friday) and Top 10 Shootout (Saturday); 161-lap Race (compulsory tyre and fuel stops) - Sunday
Circuit Length: 6.21km
Circuit Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 300 km/h (Conrod Straight)
Qualifying Record – Greg Murphy (Holden) 2:06.8594 (2004)
Lap Record- Garth Tander (Holden) 2:08.6726 (2003)
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (After 9 of 13 rounds)
1: Marcos Ambrose 1487
2: Jason Bright 1464
3: Steven Richards 1397
4: Rick Kelly 1373
5: Russell Ingall 1347
6: Greg Murphy 1284
7: Todd Kelly 1163
8: Garth Tander 1155
9: John Bowe 1004
10: Jason Bargwanna 962
THE WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Bob Jane T-Marts 1000
Mount Panorama, Bathurst NSW
Friday October 8
9.25 – 10:25 – Practice Four
2:00 – 2:45 – Qualifying (Lower 50%)
2:55 – 3:40 – Qualifying (Upper 50%)
Saturday October 9
10:00 – 11:00 – Practice Five < br>3:40 – 4:25 – Top Ten Shootout
Sunday October 10
7:15 – 7:35 – Warm Up
10:00 – 5.45pm Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 (161 Laps)
TV TELECAST – NETWORK TEN
Friday – 1pm-4pm (EST)
Saturday – Noon-5pm (EST)
Sunday – 7am-5pm (EST)
* Please note that Network Ten will show a round of the Formula One World Championship from Suzuka Japan on Sunday from 5.30pm to 7pm.
|
|
