Practice 2 Eastern Creek

[HRT #1]

1 4 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA P7 1:32.7999
2 1 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY P4 1:33.0213 0:00.2214
3 50 Team Brock Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX P7 1:33.2509 0:00.4510
4 3 Lansvale Smash Repairs Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VX P4 1:33.2961 0:00.4962
5 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA P7 1:33.3913 0:00.5914
6 18 Shell Helix Racing Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA P7 1:33.4465 0:00.6466
7 51 K-Mart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY P7 1:33.5026 0:00.7027
8 15 K-Mart Racing Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VX P7 1:33.5267 0:00.7268
9 44 World Industries/Alphawest Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY P7 1:33.6270 0:00.8271
10 65 Betta Electrical Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA P7 1:33.6692 0:00.8693
11 888 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA P4 1:33.7095 0:00.9096
12 29 Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY P7 1:33.7276 0:00.9277
13 8 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VX P4 1:33.7384 0:00.9385
14 5 Ford Performance Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA P7 1:33.7414 0:00.9415
15 66 Betta Electrical Dean Canto Ford Falcon BA P7 1:33.8137 0:01.0138
16 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA P4 1:33.9113 0:01.1114
17 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VY P4 1:33.9140 0:01.1141
18 7 Ford Performance Racing David Besnard Ford Falcon BA P7 1:33.9449 0:01.1450
19 16 Team Brock Paul Weel Holden Commodore VX P4 1:33.9811 0:01.1812
20 31 Super Cheap Auto Racing Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA P7 1:34.0435 0:01.2436
21 11 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY P7 1:34.1241 0:01.3242
22 45 World Industries/Alphawest Jason Richards Holden Commodore VY P7 1:34.1473 0:01.3474
23 21 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA P7 1:34.1771 0:01.3772
24 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY P7 1:34.1911 0:01.3912
25 10 Orrcon Racing Mark Larkham Ford Falcon AU P7 1:34.4723 0:01.6724
26 021 Team Kiwi Racing Craig Baird Holden Commodore VX P7 1:34.5842 0:01.7843
27 20 Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA P4 1:34.6229 0:01.8230
28 6 Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA P7 1:34.7837 0:01.9838
29 23 INXS Team Ford Mark Noske Ford Falcon AU P7 1:34.8866 0:02.0867
30 2 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY P4 1:34.8905 0:02.0906
31 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Ford Falcon BA P7 1:35.4649 0:02.6650
32 24 Romano Racing David Krause Holden Commodore VX P7 1:35.6604 0:02.8605
33 99 Thexton Motor Racing David Thexton Ford Falcon AU P7 1:38.0882 0:05.2883

[smithers]

Speedy still about a second of qualifying.....

[V8 Superdave]

Interesting mix, wonder if this is what the start grid will look like if qualifying shootout is a no-go....

[tiko]

And for the record Ambrose, Skaife and Murphy did their fastest laps in this session on the first flying lap - so they are testing for tomorows shootout which is fair enough! Not sure how the cars will last over 150kms and 250kms though!!

[jetsetter]

I'd be suprised if any of the teams played their hand this early in the weekend, they won't start getting serious until tomorrow.

[HRT #1]

An interesting point is Cameron McConville has finished both practice sessions in the top 5 positions yet Lowndes slipped back 3 positions from 25th to 28th whilst Seton gained 2 spots from 16th to 14th place and with both Kmart cars placed 7th & 8th.

[moyso]

It will be interesting to see if the motor in car 4 comes out tonight?

Me hears that the "race" motor might not be as quick.....

[Alan Jones]

Go Marcus !

[V8 Superdave]

Yeah, McConville's a surprise where he is... not unwelcome, i have to say.

I'm breathing a little easier with Marcos having that little bit of a buffer, but i'm not counting the money just yet...

Rusty between Marcos & Murph..... Hmmmmmmmm....

[jetsetter]

Hopefully McConville can keep his qualifying speed up tomorrow & then have some reliability in both races.

[GTRMagic]

The interesting part of all this is the heat. Earlier in the year at the other round at EC, the race was held in relatively cool conditions, indeed there was even some rain involved. So with today being a very warm, sunny day, it is very possible that the previously dominant position in making tyres last a whole distance may not be as possible in the warmer climates.

[HRT #1]

GTR - The other thing is at EC in round 3 we saw only 1x300klm race been of 77 laps opposed to this round of 1x39 lap race and 1x64 lap race so tyre wear will be crucial in race 2 if the heat hangs around.

[Wizzby]

I think Mark was testing which tyres to use in the last part of the session, changed them around about 4 times and only ever did one lap, just scrubbing them up.

I can't believe they haven't given them another session for practice with no proper qualifying session, but then what do we really expect from AVESCO these days? TC made a wrong choice coming down to HRT for a quick chat to Skaifey at the end of the day!!

[HRT #1]

Originally posted by Wizzby
TC made a wrong choice coming down to HRT for a quick chat to Skaifey at the end of the day!!

Wizzby sounds like Skaifey wasn't in the mood for a chat with TC or something happened with Skaifey that caught TC's attention.??:confused:

[Wizzby]

Ummm, Mark was signing stuff and TV just waltzed up and started talking which wouldn't have helped, he doesn't get a lot of time to do it and hates when something pops up in the middle. The conversation was quiet but Mark was being very adament about something... it was hard to tell over all the jearing TC was getting from the crowd

[jetsetter]

It's good to see TC has maintained his popularity.

[GTRMagic]

"So Mark, you know you want to join the TEGA board... c'mon maaate, we have talked about this. You get on the board, and we get rid of that Kelvin bloke. I'll let you take my Audi for a burn.... aww c'mon Skaifey be a sport..."

[HRT #1]

Wizzby - I wonder if TC wandered on down to Murfs pitbay for a chat cause it would be a mighty coincidence if he did. I hope what I'm thinking is wrong cause that would be ashame for all concerned.??

[Wizzby]

Dunno, wasn't really looking in that direction but I will guarantee it will not affect the result! I think it may have had something to do with the EGM on Monday...

And oh yeah, Mark's just itchin' for a spin in that thing!

[Timu]

Great performance by McConville in 4th!

What the heck is TK and Lowndesy doing in the depths of the list!

[jas105]

Good to see Cam McConville do well.
But does he have the race pace to hold over the weekend is another thing.

FPR struggling again, not a good sign.

Brighty looking good again, could be the one to watch.

[vatuloa]

Looks like FPR must have given Lowndes one of the new super engines made in England. Lets hope he qualifies.

[Wizzby]

I'm not that suprised by Cam, it is there home track that they test at afterall!

[Grimace]

What happened to Todd Kelly??????-slower even than Lowndes who is still using Setos old clangers.

McConville has the flu he was saying so even a better effort from him!

[Wizzby]

He had a problem with something that ruled him out for half the session, then when the crew finally got that sorted, the bloody battery was flat!!