Skaife recovers in race two

Skaife picked through the field in the early laps to take the lead, regaining it after half-distance as everyone completed their pit stops. A late safety car period compressed the field but Skaife had too much pace and held on to take the win.

The next four drivers drove tremendous races to make the top five. Garth Tander, James Courtney, Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes started 29th, 27th, 23rd and 26th respectively. Good strategy and some luck in the opening laps propelled them up the order.

In fact Courtney was on target to better his result from yesterday until the safety car period allowed Tander to close right in, Tander taking second place on lap 43 of 45.

The reverse-grid race did have its usual drama, with a turn one incident on lap one in the middle of the field ending Paul Dumbrell and Max Wilson's races, and costing other drivers places, which ended up benefitting those who had started at the very back.

There was also some late-race chaos when Steve Owen, who had started near the front and easily let the two Toll HSV Dealer Team Holdens through, decided to become more aggressive. Before the Toll cars went through, he removed the rear bumper of Courtney's car after he had passed him.

Then, after the safety car period for Jamie Whincup's exploded front left brake disc, as he was being passed by Mark Winterbottom, he moved over on him, sending Winterbottom wide, costing Winterbottom places.

Before the lap was over however, Owen was stuck in the sand as Todd Kelly ran into the back of him as Owen protected the middle of the road and was spun.

After the race, Kelly was penalised the equivalent of a drive-through penalty, dropping him from fifth to 21st place, as the compression of the field worked against him.

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