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Round 3
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Round 5
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Phillip Island is just that, an island, near the Victorian coast on the south eastern tip of Australia - next stop - Tasmania! And that means that when the weather is not good, it is awful. Wind, rain, very unforgiving conditions. And these were the conditions that faced the teams when they made their way to the famous Victorian circuit for round 4 of the Australian Touring Car Championship. |
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The action started in Saturday's first practice session when Larry Perkins' luckless season continued. Under braking for one of the sweeping corners the VT Commodore lost grip and went backwards into the tyre barriers, writing off the car, for the weekend's racing anyway. This left Russell Ingall alone to fly the Perkins Engineering flag, the Castrol backed team would be guaranteed plenty of work before Hidden Valley, and the first day's action had just begun! The battle for pole was as intense as usual despite the conditions. However pole position had an unfamiliar ring to it - Craig Lowndes wasn't on pole! Glenn Seton could hardly keep his enthusiasm for his new AU Falcon down as he swept to pole position ahead of 'The Kid', who had the AU Falcons of Bright and Larkham, and the Commodore of Ingall between himself and teammate Skaife.
Raceday was more of the same atrocious weather, and it would prove more expensive for some more of the teams. Jason Bargwanna put himself out for the day when his car simply aquaplaned off the main straight at over 200 kph and launched the car into the tyre barriers beside the circuit, fortunately without flipping the VT Commodore or injury to the driver. With the pace car out for four laps the field bunched up and when racing resumed it was a battle between Seton and Skaife to see who could catch Lowndes, who had forced his way to the front. Skaife soon followed into second, and then the lead when the red flag was shown. The conditions had claimed another car - this time the Perkins Engineering prepared VS Commodore of Dugal McDugal. Dugal wasn't quite as lucky as Bargwanna earlier, because as he aquaplaned off, the car rolled and then caught fire. Fortunately the fire crews and marshalls are fantastic at 'the Island', and they had the unhurt McDugal out of the car quickly and the situation under control. Race 2, and while the conditions stayed roughly the same the track was drying out and the HRT pair of Lowndes and Skaife took off into the distance. However, as the track dried, Seton could pull the pair in, however he couldn't find a way around them, and settled for third at the end, with 1.5 seconds separating them! Privateer John Faulkner took a well earned fourth in the car Lowndes drove last year, while Russell Ingall was consistent by taking another fifth place. Race 3 saw some action when Lowndes won the start from Skaife and Seton, and pulled out a small gap. The battle behind was hard fought, but with no body contact the two very experienced drivers knew how much was at stake, the day's points for Skaife and more points for Seton. However, an anxious moment for Skaife as he had to take evasive action around a backmarker and slid onto the wet grass, but somehow managed to regain the circuit AND keep second place! This result gave Skaife the win for the day ahead of teammate Lowndes, who retained a healthy championship lead, and fourth place going to the Wynn's Commodore VT of Steven Richards, very happy with his day's work. Ingall meanwhile took another fifth place! The next round would be the Hidden Valley circuit near Darwin in the Northern Territory. All you have to do on a map of Oz is look for the city up the top of the country. It is a world away from Melbourne and Phillip Island, but the racing is always fierce there! And it is warm! Story by Neil Blackbourn |
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