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2005 V8 SUPERCAR: EASTERN CREEK

2005 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 4 of 13: May 27-29 Eastern Creek Sydney

MARCOS AMBROSE, before race: "I've been caught up in a couple of incidents that have not helped our championship challenge. I'm not going to dwell on points penalties and fines; I've now dealt with all of that. It's time to get back to the winner's circle"

CIRCUIT

• Eastern Creek, NSW
• 40 km from Sydney
• 3.93 km circuit; anti clockwise
• Main straight speed: 270 kph
• Qualifying record: 1m 30.655, Skaife, Holden, 1999
• Lap record: 1m 31.7301, Skaife, Holden, 1999
• PREVIOUS WINNERS
• 2004 winner: Ambrose/Ford - all 3 races
• 2003 winner: Ambrose/Ford - both race 1 & 2
• 2002 winner: M Skaife/Holden - all 3 races
• 2001 winner: G Murphy, Holden - race 1; M Skaife, Holden - Race 2
• 2000 winner: M Skaife/Holden - overall winner

RACE SCHEDULE

• SAT AM: 9-11am, 2 hour practice
• SAT PM: 2-3pm Qualifying; 3-3.45pm Top 10 Shoot-Out
• SUN: 2 RACES, 11.20-12.30; 3.15-4.30
• 140km, 36 laps , 1 compulsory pitstop

RACE 2:

SUN, MAY 28, 2005

• 1 Craig Lowndes, Triple 8 Ford
• 2 Marcos Ambrose, Stone Brothers Ford +2.02
  “The car was great in the first race, and I though we could improve it for the second race with some changes but it didn’t work. We have extended our points lead, and it is always a good day when you do that."
• 3 Greg Murphy +2.26
  “We’ve been pretty strong the last couple of rounds, but coming here I was a bit anxious, the past couple of years here have been pretty rough and I wasn’t sure what kind of car we’d have. It was nice to be a few feet behind Marcos and not a lap down. We’ve learnt a lot this weekend, and we’ve moved forward as a team. I’m looking forward to China.”
• 4 Todd Kelly, Holden
• 5 Steven Richards, Perkins
  “I would have liked to get on the podium, this is the third time we’ve been fourth here (overall round standing) but this time we did it with speed. The first set of tyres were terrible in the second race, and the Skaife thing we were both just having a race, I couldn’t move over any more than that. You always want to be first, but I don’t think we lost out too much today.”
• 6 Russell Ingall
• 7 Mark Skaife, Holden
• 8 John Bowe
• 9 Steven Johnson
• 10 Garth Tander

RACE 1:

SUN, MAY 28, 2005

• 1 Marcos Ambrose, Stone Brothers Ford
• 2 Craig Lowndes, Triple 8 Ford +6.4s
• 3 Steven Richards, Perkins +23
• 4 Greg Murphy +28
• 5 Russell Ingall
• 6 Todd Kelly, Holden
• 7 Mark Skaife, Holden
• 8 Steve Ellery
• 9 Garth Tander
• 10 J Richards
• 11 Morris 12 Bowe 13 Johnson 14 B Jones

QUALIFYING:

LOWNDES ON POLE: "I’d like to get some race victories, while it is nice being on pole we haven’t made the most of our speed yet. We made a few small mistakes bit nothing major, and that is what you need in the Shootout. Pole is satisfying because it means you have done well enough over one lap, but it isn’t a race win ... We have had speed but our race package has just not been good enough, and that is what we have been working on today and at our test session last week.”

TOP 10 SHOOT-OUT, MAY 27, 2005

• 1 Craig Lowndes, Ford 1m 31.5010 (vs 2004 pole 1m 32.434 Ambrose)
• 2 Mark Skaife, Holden +0.16
  “It certainly wasn’t the best lap I’ve ever done around here, but having said that the struggle for us this weekend is that putting green tyres on it just hasn’t been gripping up enough ... It’s really complex, they are really difficult cars to get away. When the grip is high our car gets away well, but when it is low it either bogs down or gets wheelspin. And the hard thing here is that the start line is facing downhill, so just as you let the clutch out a little it starts rolling. I’ve been pinged here a couple of times for a jumped start. But you can only do your very best, and I’m going to exactly what we have been doing in our test day and hope it works well here"
• 3 Marcos Ambrose, Ford +0.22
  “The last couple of races off the front row haven’t worked out so good, so who knows, maybe this is a good thing. It was a good lap, but you can’t get pole position every time. Our car is very consistent, and we’ve just got to get a good start and see what we can do. My whole career I’ve done the same thing, I drive on instinct, and to change my style now I don’t think is the right thing. I will drive exactly the same as I have in the past.”
• 4 Steven Richards
  “It was a good lap, there wasn’t really any more left in the car ... but you don’t know what it will be like in the race, you don’t get to run many consecutive laps here, even in a two hour session. But fourth is not a bad place to start, we’re on the clean line and our car is generally very consistent when it is fast, so we’ll just have to see if we can repeat Perth.”
• 5 Garth Tander
• 6 Russell Ingall
• 7 Greg Murphy
• 8 Todd Kelly
• 9 Jason Bright
• 10 Jason Richards
• 11 Morris 12 Ellery 13 Wilson 14 Wills 15 Dumbrell 16 Radisich 17 Weel 18 Bowe 19 Ritter 20 McConville

BEFORE RACE:

• Marcos Ambrose, championship leader and winner 2004 race: "Eastern Creek is a frustrating track because whenever you ever drive on it, it feels like you should be going the other way. All the corners over the back all have kinks before the entry, which makes it difficult to pass. While saying that, it is safe, wide and has good amenities for the fans and the teams, so I actually enjoy going there. We have had some tremendous success there the last couple of years so that increases your attraction to a circuit ... After the great victory in Adelaide, I've had two third places finishes in New Zealand and Perth. I should be happy with that, but I've been caught up in a couple of incidents that have not helped our championship challenge. I'm not going to dwell on points penalties and fines; I've now dealt with all of that. It's time to get back to the winner's circle. I really want to have a good strong run at Eastern Creek. If I do that, then I'm sure we'll be in with a shot of victory."
• Russell Ingall, 2nd in standing: "Eastern Creek is a little bit like Phillip Island in that if you have a dog of a car it is not a nice place to be. Considering it is not one of my favourite circuits I always have reasonable results there. It is not a hard track to win on if you have the right toy to play with"
• Steven Richards, 3rd in standing: “The guys at Perkins Engineering have done a fantastic job so far this season. The car has never missed a beat and the pitstops are very competitive.”
• Jason Bright: "I have had mixed results at Eastern Creek, so it remains a challenging event for me that I'd like to win, particularly after having finished second there twice. We arrive with more knowledge about the CAT FPR Falcon after our test last week so the team is looking forward to giving it a real shake this weekend."
• Craig Lowndes: “I am looking forward to racing at Eastern Creek it is a track that I really enjoy. Some of my best results in 2004 were at this circuit. The team has started off strong in the last two rounds I hope we carry this through and finish strong this weekend. Team Betta Electrical was also successful at Eastern Creek last year finishing second overall at the final round. Let’s hope we can better these second places together this year!”
• Greg Murphy: "Eastern Creek has been tough for me personally over the past couple of years, but with the car speed we’ve had this year I’m confident that poor performances there for me are all just that, in the past. After suffering a couple of DNFs in Perth we’re behind in points, but this Super Cheap Auto Racing team is so good and I’ve been in this position before that I know we’ll comeback.”
• Greg Ritter: "Eastern Creek is the first racing circuit on this year's calendar that I have competed at before in a V8 Supercar. The Ford Credit FPV Falcon showed impressive speed in Perth and during its first test day last week, so I am confident that we head to Sydney in strong form for a great result."

Greg Rust's Preview:

• In recent years Marcos Ambrose has dominated the Eastern Creek rounds; the scene of his two V8 Supercar title wins. Now the Sydney race will test the qualities of the series champion like never before.
• In the firing line for his conduct at the West Australian round, Ambrose made a public apology on Network Ten's RPM program last weekend. Caught swearing over the radio in the Barbagallo
  broadcast and questioning the official's judgement during the BigPond(R) live press conference, earned the 28 year old a $15,000 fine, $5K of which has been suspended until the end of the series.
• Ambrose has promised to meet his great rival Mark Skaife in person and apologise for the turn 1 incident in WA's 2nd race. While this will hopefully bring some closure to all the controversy, just how will it affect his psyche? There'll be plenty watching and judging the champion's on and off-track performance at Eastern Creek.