17th
March, 2002
Rd1
Stokell takes early series lead in Adelaide
Lamborghini
driver Paul Stokell raced to the lead in the 2002 Nations Cup
Championship with a win in the third leg of round one on the Adelaide
Parklands circuit today.
 Stokell, a three-time Australian Gold Star champion, led throughout the
race to record his second win of the weekend and overtake Ferrari rival
John Bowe in the series pointscore.
Bowe brought his Ferrari 360 Michelotto home 7.7 seconds behind in second
place, ahead of Viper driver Geoff Morgan and 2001 champion Jim Richards,
in a Porsche.
"We seemed to have the race pretty well under control today and in
fact I thought John eased off toward the end when it was fairly clear he
wouldn't catch me," said Stokell.
”Two wins were a great reward for our crew, who worked all night on
Friday to replace the transmission."
Nations Cup newcomer Dean Cook (Porsche) won the Group Two class today
after Sam Newman, winner of the first two legs in his Ferrari, threw
away the race with a last-lap spin.
The championship continues at Symmons Plains, Tasmania, on 5-7 April. This
weekend's races will be shown on Speedweek on SBS TV from 3.30 pm on
Saturday 23 March.
RESULTS
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Race 1 (12 laps):
Group One
1. P. Stokell (Lamborghini Diablo SVR)
2. J. Bowe (Ferrari 360 Michelotto)
3. J. Richards (Porsche GT3)
4. G. Morgan (Chrysler Viper)
5. P. Fitzgerald (Porsche GT3)
6. D. Russell (Chrysler Viper)
Group Two
1. S. Newman (Ferrari 360 Challenge)
2. J. Teulan (Ferrari 360 Challenge)
3. S. Beards (Ferrari 360 Challenge) 3.
Fastest lap: Bowe 1:25.79
Pole: Bowe 1:26.62
Race 2 (12 laps):
Group One
1. J. Bowe
2. P. Stokell
3. G. Morgan
4. J. Richards
5. D. Russell
6. P. Fitzgerald
Group Two:
1. S. Newman
2. J. Teulan
S. Beards
Fastest lap: Stokell 1:25.81
Race
3 (12 laps):
Group One
1. Paul Stokell
(Lamborghini Diablo SVR)
2. John Bowe (Ferrari 360 Michelotto)
4. Geoff Morgan (Chrysler Viper)
3. Jim Richards (Porsche GT3)
5. Peter Fitzgerald (Porsche GT3)
6. Tony Quinn (Porsche GT3 Cup)
Group Two
1. Dean Cook (Porsche GT3)
3. Steve Beards (Ferrari 360 Challenge)
2. John Teulan (Ferrari 360 Challenge)
Fastest lap: Stokell 1:26.30 |
Drivers
Championship:
Group One - 175 Stokell, 171 Bowe, 145 Morgan, 140 Richards, 116
Fitzgerald, 108 D'arcy Russell.
Group Two - 160 Teulan, 156 Sam Newman, 155 Beards.
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