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Holden Teams Shuffle Cars As Gold Coast Indy Rapidly Approaches |
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Monday, 16 October 2006 |
HOLDEN’S V8 Supercar teams have been burning the midnight oil in preparation for this weekend’s Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge on the Gold Coast after a range of accidents and incidents have left them to wheel out spare cars or repair cars damaged at Bathurst.
The Holden Racing Team have benched their newest Commodore that was damaged on the opening lap of the Supercheap Auto 1000, with Mark Skaife to move back into the chassis he has campaigned all year prior to the endurance events.
He will be rejoined in the factory Holden lineup by Todd Kelly after Kelly’s endurance stint with the Toll HSV squad.
The Bathurst runner-up will drive the 2005 Bathurst-winning car that he campaigned early in the course of this year’s series which has been repaired after Jim Richards’ hit with the wall at Mount Panorama a fortnight ago.
Kelly’s brother Rick will retain his regular #15 Commodore, while Garth Tander will not only step back into the black and orange colours of the Toll HSV team, but back into his regular #16 car that was rested for the endurance events.
Tasman Motorsport has elected to repair Jason Richards’ #3 Commodore after its wild airborne ride through the Chase and subsequent crash at Reid Park at Bathurst.
The team does have a spare chassis at its Melbourne workshop but have instead elected to repair the existing car for the Indy event rather than switch the mechanicals and debut the new machine.
Andrew Jones will move back into his regular car that was driven in the endurance events by Owen Kelly and Mark Noske.
At Supercheap Auto Racing, Greg Murphy will step back into the #51 Commodore VZ he has campaigned throughout the first seven rounds of the series.
Teammate Cameron McConville will return to the car he has driven in for the majority of the season after crashing at Bathurst in the chassis that had been repaired for the enduros from its heavy accident at the Adelaide season-opener.
Jack Daniel’s Racing will place Paul Dumbrell in its spare Commodore, as used by Jack Perkins and Shane Price at Bathurst, with the team running short on spare parts after its rebuild of Steven Richards’ car from a practice accident at the Mountain.
One of the few Holden teams to escape damage at Bathurst was Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Dean Canto and Lee Holdsworth will continue in their regular championship mounts which escaped Bathurst without any damage.
Meanwhile, Team Kiwi ace Paul Radisich will be watching from home in Melbourne after suffering a broken sternum, broken ankle and bruised voice box in a high speed accident at Bathurst.
The #021 Commodore was completely destroyed after rescue crews were forced to cut the roof off and slice through the roll bars to extricate the two-time Touring Car World Cup winner.
HOLDEN MOTORSPORT QUOTEBOOK
Rick Kelly (#15 Toll HSV DT Commodore VZ – 2nd in points) “The championship is alive, and we are going to
do our best to chase it down, starting at Surfers Paradise. The Indy
circuit is awesome. We go from doing a 1000km race at Bathurst to
racing through the streets on a really tight track. I think we will go
really well there because that sort of track suits the way I drive and
the car we have under us. To achieve a really quick lap there, you
probably need to clip at least one wall! We showed we had really good
car speed at Adelaide, which is a similar track with a lot of changes
of direction.”
Garth Tander (#16 Toll HSV DT Commodore VZ – 6th in points) “My
championship is over for this year, so it really is all about trying to
get as many race wins as we can and trying to finish off the year as
strongly as possible in anticipation for next year. In saying that, I
will be doing everything I can to support Rick and help him for his
championship.”
Paul Dumbrell (#11 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VZ – 10 th in points)
“We’ve had a far better Bathurst this year than last to head into Indy
with. Getting back to the pace and form we showed in the early part of
the season is what we want to achieve this weekend. Even though I’m not
driving my regular car, the only difference with this chassis is the
chassis itself because it has all of the running gear in it from my
regular car.”
THE RACING LINE – GOLD COAST INDY, QUEENSLAND, ROUND 10
| Circuit Length |
4.47 kilometres |
| Circuit Direction |
AntiClockwise |
| Average Speed |
145 km/h |
| Maximum Speed |
260 km/h |
| Qualifying Lap Record |
Mark Skaife, Holden Commodore VY, 1m50.3768s, 2004 |
| Current Lap Record |
Craig Lowndes, Ford Falcon BA, 1m51.6328s, 2005 |
| 2005 Pole Position |
Greg Murphy, Holden Commodore VZ, 1m51.3434s |
2005 Results:
| Pos. |
Driver |
Team |
Car |
| 1 |
Craig Lowndes |
Triple Eight Racing |
Ford Falcon BA |
| 2 |
Greg Murphy |
Supercheap Auto Racing |
Holden Commodore VZ |
| 3 |
Mark Skaife |
Holden Racing Team |
Holden Commodore VZ |
| 4 |
Cameron McConville |
Garry Rogers Motorsport |
Holden Commodore VZ |
| 5 |
Garth Tander |
HSV Dealer Team |
Holden Commodore VZ |
Race Format: A threerace weekend featuring a 100-kilometre race
on the Saturday with a compulsory tyre stop. Two races on Sunday, each
of 100-kilometres in length and also each with a compulsory tyre stop.
Television Coverage: Network Ten will telecast the Gillette V8
Supercar Challenge from the Gold Coast in its twoday coverage. It goes
to air from 11am to 5pm on Saturday October 21 and 11am to 5pm on
Sunday October 22.
Previous Successes
Note: V8 Supercars raced on the Gold Coast in 1994 and from 1996 to
2001 as a non-championship support event to the Champ Cars. 2002 was
the first time a points-paying round had been held as part of the V8
Supercar Championship Series.
| Year |
Driver |
Car |
| Previous Winners |
| 1994 |
John Bowe |
Ford Falcon EB |
| 1995 |
John Bowe |
Ford Falcon EF |
| 1997 |
Russell Ingall |
Holden Commodore VS |
| 1998 |
Mark Larkham |
Ford Falcon EL |
| 1999 |
Paul Radisich |
Ford Falcon EL |
| 2000 |
Paul Radisich |
Ford Falcon AU |
| 2001 |
Garth Tander |
Holden Commodore VX |
| 2002 |
Jason Bargwanna |
Holden Commodore VX |
| 2003 |
Russell Ingall |
Ford Falcon BA |
| 2004 |
Greg Murphy |
Holden Commodore VY |
| 2005 |
Craig Lowndes |
Ford Falcon BA |
| Pole Position Winners |
| 1994 |
John Bowe |
Ford Falcon EB |
| 1996 |
Mark Skaife |
Holden Commodore VR |
| 1997 |
Greg Murphy |
Holden Commodore VS |
| 1998 |
Craig Lowndes |
Holden Commodore VS |
| 1999 |
Steve Ellery |
Ford Falcon EL |
| 2000 |
Russell Ingall |
Holden Commodore VT |
| 2001 |
Garth Tander |
Holden Commodore VX |
| 2002 |
Greg Murphy |
Holden Commodore VX |
| 2003 |
Todd Kelly |
Holden Commodore VY |
| 2004 |
Mark Skaife |
Holden Commodore VY |
| 2005 |
Greg Murphy |
Holden Commodore VZ |
FAST FACTS
· Since the event became a round of the V8 Supercar Series in 2002,
Holden has won two of the rounds to Ford’s two. Greg Murphy’s success
in 2004 gave him backtoback victories to go with his Bathurst success
and the Kiwi backed it up with second place in last year’s event.
· Holdens have dominated qualifying at the event. Ever since V8
Supercars debuted on the Gold Coast in 1994 (they missed 1995 but have
returned every year since in nonchampionship and then championship
action), Holden has taken pole every year bar 1994 and 1999.
· The first Indy event on the Gold Coast was held in 1991. This year’s
is the 16th time the race has been run with the Champ Cars and the 12th
time V8 Supercars have appeared.
· The Gold Coast street circuit is the second venue to host a round of
the Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship Series in Surfers
Paradise. A permanent racing track near the Nerang River held rounds
before it was closed in 1987.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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