Skaife dominates race one
Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife has taken a dominant victory in the first race of this weekend's round at Eastern Creek
Skaife took the lead at the start from teammate Todd Kelly and led the rest of the way apart from a brief period after his compulsory pit stop as he steadily built his lead throughout the race over Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup.
Completing the podium was Toll HSV Dealer Team's Rick Kelly, who spent much of the second half of the race with smoke trailing from the right rear of his car.
Right behind Rick was brother Todd and Rick's teammate Garth Tander, this group the only other cars that had any answer to Skaife's speed at the head of the field.
Though there was close racing in this trio of Holdens, the order of the top five changed little throughout the race, the top four places on lap two the same as those at the end of the race. Even a late-race safety car didn't shake up the order at the front.
However, further down in the top ten there were some improvers from qualifying. Russell Ingall moved from 14th to 7th, while Craig Lowndes jumped from 16th to 9th.
James Courtney's day headed in the other direction, as a strong top-ten finish turned sour when gremlins with the car's pit lane speed limiter caused off-track excursions for Courtney, the team eventually deciding to retire the car.
Pos Driver Car Laps 1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 31 2. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 31 3. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 31 4. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 31 5. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 31 6. Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 31 7. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BF 31 8. Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 31 9. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 31 10. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 31 11. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 31 12. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 31 13. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 31 14. Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 31 15. Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BF 31 16. Dean Canto Holden Commodore VE 31 17. Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE 31 18. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 31 19. Max Wilson Ford Falcon BF 31 20. Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 31 21. Simon Wills Ford Falcon BF 31 22. John Bowe Ford Falcon BF 31 23. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 31 24. Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BF 31 25. Shane Price Holden Commodore VE 31 26. Alan Gurr Ford Falcon BF 31 27. Steve Owen Holden Commodore VZ 31 DNF Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VZ 22 DNF James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 17 DNF Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 14
Share Or Save This Story
Why Nurburgring 24 Hours agony may motivate Verstappen to return
Final Catalan GP results as five riders penalised and Mir loses MotoGP podium
Acosta slams Catalan GP calls: “It’s awful we acted as if nothing happened”
DS Penske solid despite frustrating finish in Monaco E-Prix
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments