 by 
3rd May, 2003
Round 3 Qualifying
Ambrose outguns Skaife
to win Creek pole
Marcos Ambrose is the fastest
gun in the West (of Sydney) today, turning the tables on Holden’s Mark
Skaife to win pole position for round three of the series at Eastern
Creek Raceway.
Ambrose held his nerve in the one-lap dash to clock the fastest time in
his Falcon, outgunning Skaife who was more than half a second quicker in
provisional qualifying.
It’s Ambrose’s ninth career pole, and the best possible start in his
climb from 13th on the championship ladder.
"The lap was just as I had planned and it's great to get my first
pole of the year," said Ambrose after clocking the one-minute
31.55sec lap.
"We really had to drive to the conditions as they were changing
through the Top Ten Shootout session. I saw a couple of the
earlier guys go out and they were slipping and sliding a bit.
"I really had to try and put some pressure on Skaife, because he
had produced such a great lap in the qualifying session.”
And it worked. Skaife was more than two-tenths of a second slower
as he attempted to beat the clock as the final runner, finishing just
ahead of Holden Racing Team teammate, Todd Kelly in third.
Craig Lowndes’ Ford Performance Racing BA Falcon has improved
throughout the weekend, jumping from eighth in qualifying to fourth on
the grid with a smooth shootout lap.
"The car has come a long way since we rolled it out of the truck
yesterday," Lowndes said. "Our aim was to make it good
for the race, so to start on the second row tomorrow is a bonus.”
Greg Murphy is still chasing the elusive tenth or two that made him a
contender last year, clocking the fifth fastest time in his Kmart
Commodore.
OzEmail Racing veteran John Bowe made the most of his third shootout
from as many rounds this season, sliding into sixth after grabbing the
last shootout spot in qualifying.
The Holdens of Jason Bright (Team Brock) and Garth Tander (Garry Rogers
Motorsport) finished seventh and eighth respectively.
Kiwi Simon Wills enjoyed Team Dynamik’s first foray into the
qualifying shootout, setting the ninth fastest time. Teammate
Jason Richards qualified 12th, in another encouraging display from the
fledgling Adelaide-based outfit.
"I was a little disappointed that I was not able to capitalise on
my fifth place in qualifying,” Wills said, “but I am quite satisfied
to be in the top ten."
While Ambrose headed the times, teammate Russell Ingall was the shootout
footer. The former Holden rebel said he “just missed it” in
sliding six places to tenth, more than a second outside Ambrose’s pole
time.
Paul Morris was unlucky to miss the shootout in 11th, while Jason
Bargwanna topped the times in the slower qualifying group to eventually
finish 13th.
Steven Richards was the most noticeable absentee from the lead bunch,
struggling in his Castrol Commodore to 16th, and OzEmail's Brad Jones
was bitterly disappointed with his 19th fastest effort.
New Zealand rookie David Thexton was just happy to make the grid, albeit
the last row, and will make his V8 Supercar race debut tomorrow after
making the qualifying cut for the first time in three starts.
Tomorrow’s 300km showdown gets the green light at 1:30pm local time.
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