by 
15th March, 2002
Rd 1 Qualifying
HRT
shines in Clipsal qualifying
Holden Racing Team has
begun the V8 Supercar season in frighteningly emphatic fashion, with
Mark Skaife and Jason Bright qualifying on the front row of the grid for
this weekend’s Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
The crack factory unit was incomparably brilliant today, dominating
practice and qualifying to never look like starting from anywhere bar
the front row.
Bright sat atop the time sheets with a flawless hot lap in the top 15
shootout, only to watch his teammate, the final runner, slice more than
four-tenths off his time to snatch pole position.
"It was a reasonably good lap, I didn't do a very job in the first
sector but I caught up later,” said the defending champion, who now
leads the V8 Supercar championship with the 20 points earned for pole.
“The car is as good as a race car as it is as a qualifying car, so all
bodes well."
The opening day of the Clipsal 500, which drew more than 45,000
spectators, was marred by a horror smash involving Paul Radisich in the
second practice session, which saw the driver hospitalised with back
injuries and the car all but destroyed.
Radisich smacked the modified turn eight wall at more than 240km/hr, the
Falcon’s on-board telemetry recording the impact at 2.3g.
"I'm not really sure what happened, I was on a good lap and maybe
came in there too hot," said Radisich. “The car suddenly
got away from me and I ran out of road before I could gather it
together."
Radisich’s hospitalisation was a precautionary move, according to the
Dick Johnson Racing outfit. He was released following x-rays and
is expected to be fit tomorrow.
At best, he will start the race from the rear of grid in a car the team
is hopeful can be salvaged and rebuilt tonight. Damage is
estimated at $70,000.
Marcos Ambrose, 12th in qualifying, jumped into third with a typically
slick shootout performance.
“I think I could have pushed it a little harder and maybe put it on
the front row, but I don’t think we could have gotten to the pole
time,” said Ambrose.
Garth Tander and the Garry Rogers-led outfit turned an “ugly”
practice car into a shootout rocket, with Tander grabbing a spot on the
second row.
Briggs Motorsport's Max Wilson set the fifth fastest shootout time,
backing up his fifth in qualifying – a stunning championship debut for
the Brazilian.
"Today was a totally different day for us. Before today I
didn't know where I could be, it seems to me the top 15 or 20 can be
anywhere it is so competitive, so we are happy," said Wilson, who
will share the third row with 2001 vice-champion, Russell Ingall.
John Bowe, aboard the OzEmail Falcon that finished second at Bathurst,
put the team into its first ever shootout before clocking the seventh
fastest time in the one lap dash.
Bowe said there’s plenty more where that came from: “I am delighted
to have got into the shootout, but to be honest I was too conservative
in my drive – I think we could have done a little better if we had
really attacked it.”
Bowe’s seventh was 27 positions higher than teammate Brad Jones, who
will start from the last row of the grid in a brand-new Ford plagued
with electrical problems.
Craig Lowndes was eighth, ahead of Larry Perkins, Simon Wills and lone
Shell Helix shootout campaigner, Steven Johnson.
Steven Richards lost plenty of ground in the shootout, falling eight
positions to 12th. Still, all three Castrol Commodores qualified
for the shootout in an ominous team performance.
Greg Murphy looked set to start his K-Mart Commodore at the pointy end
after qualifying third, but the Kiwi slapped a wall early on his
shootout journey and will start from 15th.
"I'm annoyed with myself," Murphy said. "We came a
long way today, and by the time the shootout was here we had a jet.
I just went in a bit too quick.”
The weekend will be a gruelling test of endurance for the capacity grid
– 500km of flat-out racing in oppressive 30-plus degree heat.
The first 250km (78-lap) leg goes green at 2:00pm local time.
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