by 
30th
March, 2002
Round 1 Qualifying
Dumbrell gets off to a flying start
Paul Dumbrell will start the
2002 Konica V8 Supercar Series from where most people think he’s
likely to finish it – in first place – after qualifying for this
weekend’s opening round at Wakefield Park Raceway.
The 19-year-old found the edge in the 50-minute (two 25-minute sessions)
qualifying shootout, clocking a 59.88sec fastest lap to claim pole
position ahead of Matthew White and Dale Brede.
"The car went really well today, better than we expected. We
made the right changes at the right time and everything fell into
place,” said Dumbrell, the only driver to break the one-minute
barrier.
"I am looking forward to the 2002 season. I have worked with
everyone (in the Independent Race Cars team) at some stage over the past
few years and feel really comfortable with our chances at taking out
this year’s championship."
The title fight could well come down to a battle of the runner-ups;
Dumbrell the Konica Series vice-champion to Simon Wills last year and
White the series runner-up in 2000.
"It is good to be back," said White, who was sidelined for
much of 2001 with budget constraints. “I really pushed the car
hard out there today, a little too hard at times.
"These new Dunlop tyres are very consistent and give you three or
four chances at a good qualifying lap, this really helped me
today."
White is competing in a VT Commodore previously run by the man he today
pipped for second, Dale Brede, who is now campaigning a Falcon for the
Brisbane-based Craig Harris camp.
The Canberra driver was happy with the position, but not the time:
"I made a few mistakes out there on my good laps today. These
cost me some valuable time right when I needed it."
Just behind the young-guns lurks the experienced head of Tasmanian Greg
Crick in a Halliday Motorsport Falcon. Crick has been in the V8
Supercar wilderness over recent years, and was suitably impressed by the
28-car Konica fleet.
"It is really a credit to the whole field, the presentation of
these cars is just fantastic compared to a few years ago,” he said.
Michael Simpson’s ex-Stone brothers EL Falcon has had more hits than
Elvis, but the Queenslander again showed his class by qualifying fifth.
Rod Salmon was sixth, ahead of Terry Wyhoon. Super Cheap Auto
supremo Bob Thorn qualified his Falcon in eighth, while rookie Grant
Elliott was ninth.
Kiwi debutant Michael Turner, in a Commodore prepared by Matthew
White’s outfit, would do well to tread water in tomorrow’s first
race starting from tenth, which could gift him pole position for the
second heat under the controversial top ten reversed grid format.
Craig Harris was the biggest disappointment, only completing six laps in
his team’s first in-house built Ford to qualify in 18th position, one
ahead of V8 Supercar sophomore Leanne Ferrier in a VS Commodore.
Two 20-minute races are scheduled tomorrow, the first starting at
11:30am, before a final 35-minute sprint to the podium.
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