October 26, 2003

Ingall wins in Surfers Paradise - Ambrose sixth

Bosch-backed Stone Brothers Racing’s Russell Ingall delighted his new hometown crowd with a fantastic win in the opening leg of the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge on the streets of the Gold Coast in his Caltex Havoline Ford today.

Ingall’s team mate Marcos Ambrose drove from 15th to eighth in his Pirtek Falcon with the help of a well selected pit strategy and a quick compulsory stop for tyres.

The win was the 22nd of Ingall’s career and his first since winning the Big Pond 300 at Queensland Raceway in round nine.

Ingall got a blinder of a start and slotted into second place behind Todd Kelly.

Dean Canto’s car stopped at the entrance of pit lane on lap two after an incident on the back part of the track and the safety car was brought out.

On the re-start all but seven cars entered the pits for compulsory tyre stops – Ambrose was not one of those after originally jumping from 15th to 13th on the opening lap;

Ingall jumped out of his pit bay to sneak in front of Greg Murphy, while race leader Kelly was eighth out of the pits. This technically put Ingall into the lead of the race.

Ambrose eventually pitted on lap six and returned to the track as the fourth car which had made a stop.

Skaife made a stop on lap 10 and rejoined the field behind Ingall and Murphy.

Race leader Jason Bright then pitted on lap 13 and rejoined the field in sixth just behind Ambrose.

Ambrose then locked up his brakes at the first chicane and lost a spot to Bright and Rick Kelly. Jason Bargwanna was the last driver to pit on lap 14.

When Steve Ellery lost an engine on lap 19 – Ambrose moved up a spot to sixth – meanwhile Ingall extended his lead on Murphy.


RUSSELL INGALL – CALTEX HAVOLINE FORD
“This is just fantastic, I love this place,” said Murphy.
“It makes a hell of a lot of difference when you have a pit crew helping you pass cars in the pits.
“I just kept pressing on kept the right pedal flat.
“I’m Inducted now – the Queensland 300 win and now this, surely this fast-tracks me in my apprenticeship as a Queenslander.
“This is also a great result for Caltex Havoline who are a major sponsor of this event and who have a heap of corporate guests here today.
“This keeps up well in the hunt for a strong finish in the championship and that’s the plan.
“Hopefully we can come out and do the same thing again for Bosch tomorrow.”

MARCOS AMBROSE – PIRTEK FORD
“We had to take the gamble on staying out and it paid off for us,” said Ambrose.
“We made plenty of changes to the car overnight and it was certainly better, although I think we can make more ground tomorrow.
“It is always a worry when you are starting that far back at a place like this, but we got a bit of luck with the early safety car and rolled the dice on staying out there.
“It helped with so many other cars heading into the pits and leaving the track reasonably clear for us.
“The guys gave me a good stop. Now we have to improve tomorrow.”

There will be another 22-lap race tomorrow morning.

TOP 10 SHOOTOUT
1: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:51.3994
2: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1:51.5471
3: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:51.5645
4: Jason Bright (Holden) 1:51.7739
5: Greg Murphy (Holden) 1:52.0433
6: Jason Richards (Holden) 1:52.2852
7: Steve Ellery (Ford) 1:52.2902
8: Max Wilson (Ford) 1:52.3005
9: Steve Richards (Holden) 1:52.5153
10: Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:52.7294

RACE 1 – GILLETTE V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE
1: Russell Ingall (Ford)
2:Greg Murphy (Holden)
3: Mark Skaife (Holden)
4: Jason Bright (Holden)
5: Rick Kelly (Holden)
6: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
7: David Besnard (Ford)
8: Steve Johnson (Ford)
9: Max Wilson (Ford)
10: Todd Kelly (Holden)
11: Paul Radisich (Ford)
12: Glenn Seton (Ford)
13: Paul Weel (Holden)
14: John Bowe (Ford)
15: Craig Lowndes (Ford)
16: Garth Tander (Holden)
17: Jason Bargwanna (Ford)
18: Mark Larkham (Ford)
19: Cameron McConville (Holden)
20: Paul Morris (Holden)
21: Craig Baird (Holden)
22: Simon Wills (Holden)
23: Jason Richards (Holden)
24: Anthony Tratt (Ford)
25: Jamie Whincup (Holden)
26: Paul Dumbrell (Holden)
DNF: Mark Noske (Ford) – 19 Laps
DNF: Steve Ellery (Ford) – 15 Laps
DNF: Brad Jones (Ford) - 0
DNF: Steve Richards (Holden) - 0
DNF: Dean Canto (Ford) - 0

TRACK FACTS – SURFERS PARADISE
Venue: Streets of Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland
2003 Race format: Qualifying (Friday); Top 10 Shootout and Race 1 (22 Laps-100km) (Saturday); Race 2 (22 laps-100km) (Sunday)
Circuit Length: 4.5km
Circuit Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 265 km/h (Back Straight)
Qualifying Record – Greg Murphy (VX Commodore) 1.50.7030 (2002)
Lap Record – Marcos Ambrose (AU Falcon) 1:51.6490 (2002)

V8 SUPERCARS (All times Eastern Standard)

Sunday – October 26, 2003
9.20am-9.40am – Warm-up
11.55am - Race 2 (22 Laps)

TV TELECAST – NETWORK TEN
Sunday – 11am-6pm