Skaife holds on again in race 3

Skaife took the lead on lap three and wasn't headed again apart from a short period after his pit stop. It wasn't quite enough to get him the round win, finishing second overall, but it moved him into the top ten of the points standing.

However, it was a tough second half of the race for Skaife, having to fend off Mark Winterbottom in the middle of the race, and Craig Lowndes for the final twelve laps.

Lowndes ended the race a close second and third overall for the round, though some mid-race excitement after a safety car period saw contact with Garth Tander and Greg Murphy at consecutive corners.

Whether a penalty may arise from these incidents for Lowndes is not yet clear.

Mark Winterbottom was next, handing Lowndes second with twelve laps remaining when he ran wide at turn one, ahead of a stunning drive by Todd Kelly, who was finally able to show his pace for a whole race as he charged through from the back of the grid to fourth place.

Garth Tander had a couple of spectacular moments on his way to fifth, an off (along with Steven Richards) on lap three on dirt deposited by another driver, and the aforementioned incident with Lowndes keeping him busy.

Steven Richards had a relatively steady race apart from that early off with Tander to finish seventh, but it was good enough for him to claim the round victory.

With a sixth in the final race and the same place for the round, Russell Ingall holds onto the championship lead by fourteen points over Tander, Richards just four points further back with Rick Kelly nine behind Richards. Craig Lowndes completes the top five a further 53 points behind.

Pos  Driver                   Car
 1.  Mark Skaife              Holden Commodore VZ
 2.  Craig Lowndes            Ford Falcon BA
 3.  Mark Winterbottom        Ford Falcon BA
 4.  Todd Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
 5.  Garth Tander             Holden Commodore VZ
 6.  Russell Ingall           Ford Falcon BA
 7.  Steven Richards          Holden Commodore VZ
 8.  Jason Richards           Holden Commodore VZ
 9.  Jamie Whincup            Ford Falcon BA
10.  Steven Johnson           Ford Falcon BA
11.  Cameron McConville       Holden Commodore VZ
12.  Paul Dumbrell            Holden Commodore VZ
13.  Steve Owen               Holden Commodore VZ
14.  Rick Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
15.  Paul Radisich            Holden Commodore VZ
16.  Will Davison             Ford Falcon BA
17.  Alan Gurr                Holden Commodore VZ
18.  Andrew Jones             Holden Commodore VZ
19.  Greg Murphy              Holden Commodore VZ
20.  Jason Bargwanna          Ford Falcon BA
21.  John Bowe                Ford Falcon BA
22.  Dean Canto               Holden Commodore VZ
23.  Brad Jones               Ford Falcon BA
24.  Lee Holdsworth           Holden Commodore VZ
25.  Paul Morris              Holden Commodore VZ
26.  Marcus Marshall          Ford Falcon BA
27.  Warren Luff              Ford Falcon BA
28.  Jason Bright             Ford Falcon BA
DNF  James Courtney           Ford Falcon BA
DNF  Tony Ricciardello        Ford Falcon BA
DNF  Max Wilson               Ford Falcon BA