Race Tracks
TRACK FACTS ORAN PARK RACEWAY
Venue: Oran Park Raceway, Sydney, NSW
Circuit Length: 2.7km
Circuit Direction: unti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 245 km/h (Front Straight)
Qualifying Record: Mark Skaife (1999) 1:07.4806s
Lap Record: Craig Lowndes (1999) 1:08.0631s
ORAN PARK RACEWAY A LAP WITH MARCOS AMBROSE
Oran Park is a pretty fast and aggressive race track in areas and certainly one of the most unique in the country.
You cross the start-finish and hit top gear into the fast left-hand kink at the end of the straight. You are flat out through here on new tyres, but it is a pretty scary braking area at the end of it and it is quite easy to lock a wheel if the car is not loaded correctly. You then roll into turn two which really is a bit of a nothing corner, but does provide some opportunity to pass as you drop to second gear as a rule you usually loose more than you gain if you have a go at this point. You then fire under the bridge and grab a couple of gears before heading into the next right hander. This section of the circuit is flat, but is quite technical.
You jump out of the right hander up a short straight and then into another sweeping right hander which takes you up to the bridge. You try and get the wheels into the curbs here to give yourself a bit of extra grip.
This is one of the most unique things for the Australian V8 Supercar Championship, because it is the only section of circuit which loops over another. You go into another right-hand sweeper off the bridge and the car goes very light and there is plenty of opposite lock. The car then drops into a fast right-left combination and it is very unbalanced and always sliding around. It is then into a sweeping left hander where you use all the track and then some up to three quarters of the car is out on the grass, but it doesnt matter too much because you are usually on two wheels anyway. You need to carry your momentum to up the blind flip-flop through here you basically pick a line and just hang on!
You drop down the other side into a big hole which leads you up to the final left hander on to the main straight. You brake late because you are heading up hill and try and get the car as close to the concrete wall as possible on the outside sometimes you nick it. The wall has been hit so many timers over the years that the bottom of it is actually further away from the car than the top. You can loose your side mirror here without any other section of the car being touched. You then need to get a smooth run on to the straight and keep an eye out for anyone exiting into pit lane on the right-hand side.
If you get it all right you should end up with a lap time around the one minute and eight-second bracket for the 2.7km journey.
THOUGHTS ON ORAN PARK RACEWAY
MARCOS AMBROSE PIRTEK RACING
This is a great venue with a challenging track. With so many directional changes and the hills it is a pretty exciting place. It is also terrific for the fans because of the seating and the mounds around the track.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
That would have to be my first time in a V8 going over the flip flop. You simply cannot see the track in front of you. I wrong guessed it and ended up in the grass on my very first lap in a V8 Supercar. I am sure Ross and Jimmy Stone were thinking we were going to be in for a very short weekend. I backed that up by hitting Mark Skaife on the out lap of the very first practice session last year, both of us were playing silly-buggers.
CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS (After Round 7, 2003)
2003 Points standing: 2nd (1159 points)
2003 Adjusted points after dropping worst round: 1st (1063)
Debut: 2001
Starts: 33
Poles: 11 Queensland Raceway, Winton, Eastern Creek (2003); Phillip Island, Oran Park, Winton, Qld 500, Sandown (2002); Eastern Creek, Qld 500, Bathurst (2001)
Race wins: 8 (Last win Hidden Valley, Race 3, 2003)
Round wins: 6 Hidden Valley, Barbagallo, Winton, Eastern Creek (2003), Sandown (2002); Hidden Valley (2001)
ORAN PARK RACEWAY - RECORD
2002 Qualified 1st; Race 1: 4th; Race 2: 2nd; Overall: 3rd
2001 Qualified 16th; Race1: 16th; Race 2: DNF; Overall: 23rd
THOUGHTS ON ORAN PARK RACEWAY
RUSSELL INGALL CALTEX HAVOLINE RACING
I cant say I enjoy the place, it really has not changed since I was racing go-karts. I do have to say the pit facilities are a bit bitter and make it more enjoyable to attend. I like to say the racing is good there, but the fact is one team has constantly dominated there by a mile (HRT). One thing I will enjoy is going there finally with a car that has a possibility of knocking them off their perch.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
Driving up to the start-finish line after the race was red flagged in 2000, when Paul Morris and Mark Larkham decided they were going to have a lunch time barbeque on the main straight. That was massive accident.
CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS (After Round 7, 2003)
2003 Points standing: 4th (1013 points)
2003 Adjusted points after dropping worst round: 5th (931)
Debut: 1996
Starts: 89
Poles: 1 Winton (2001)
Race wins: 21 (Last Win Queensland Raceway, 2003)
Round wins: 9 Queensland Raceway (2003), Winton (2001); Qld 500 (1999); Lakeside, Mallala, Hidden Valley (1998); Phillip Island, Winton (1997); Calder (1996)
ORAN PARK RACEWAY - RECORD
2002 Qualified 8th; Race 1: 5th; Race 2: 5th; Overall: 5th
2001 Qualified 6th; Race 1: 8th; Race 2: 5th; Overall: 7th
2000 Qualified 6th; Race 1: 6th; Race 2: 1st; Race 3: DNF; Overall: 11th
1999 Qualified 6th; Race 1: 6th; Race 2: 11th; Race 3: 8th; Overall: 8th
1998 Qualified 9th; Race 1: 6th; Race 2: 9th; Race 3: 7th; Overall: 6th
1997 Qualified 8th; Race 1: DNF; Race 2: DNF; Overall: DNF
1996 Qualified 10th; Race 1: 9th; Race 2: 8th; Race 3: 10th; Overall: 11th
DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDING (AFTER 7 OF 13 ROUNDS)
1: Jason Bright (Holden) 1195
2: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1159
3: Greg Murphy (Holden) 1101
4: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1013
5: Paul Weel (Holden) 1007
6: Steve Richards (Holden) 992
7: Mark Skaife (Holden) 965
8: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 850
9: Rick Kelly (Holden) 898
10: Paul Radisich (Ford) 836
ADJUSTED CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (AFTER 7 OF 13 ROUNDS)
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1063
2: Jason Bright (Holden) 1061
3: Steve Richards (Holden) 992
4: Greg Murphy (Holden) 987
5: Russell Ingall (Ford) 931
6: Mark Skaife (Holden) 929
7: Paul Weel (Holden) 881
8: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 850
9: Rick Kelly (Holden) 799
10: Paul Radisich (Ford) 794
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
V8 SUPERCARS (All times Eastern Standard)
Friday
2.00pm-3.30pm Practice session (Maximum 38 Laps)
Saturday
9.35am-10.10am Practice session
11.45am-12.25pm Practice
2.05pm-2.25pm - Qualifying (Lower 50%)
2.30pm-2.50pm - Qualifying (Upper 50%)
3.50pm-4.20pm - Top Ten Shootout
Sunday
10.10am-10.30am Warm-up
1.00pm-3.25pm Race (111 Laps)
TV TELECAST NETWORK TEN
Sunday August 17, 2003 (Eastern Standard Time)
2.30pm-5pm Round 8 V8 Supercar Championship Series
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