Bathurst 1000

[Monty_Burns]

Yes, I realise that there's still over a week until the Great Race, but here goes...

Lowndes/Whincup had a good day at Sandown, but they'll face stiffer competition at Bathurst...both the Toll HSV Dealer Team and HRT have elected to unite their full-time drivers for Bathurst, so it'll be Tander/Rick Kelly in Car 1, and Skaife/Todd Kelly in Car 2...needless to say those two cars will be quick. It's disappointing that more teams (eg. FPR and SBR) couldnt also pair their full-time drivers up, but I guess thats one of the cons of having different title sponsors for each car.

Dark Horses - Holdsworth/Canto, Johnson/Davison, Murphy/Jason Richards.

[fpv_gtho]

Well FPR i think have confirmed Winterbottom and Richards will be paired. I'll personally be hoping either #4 or #888 win, Lowndes and Whincup have won the last 2 enduro's and are getting a strong bond, although if you follow that then the Ingall/Youlden combination must be producing fruit soon as theyre in their 3rd year paired together after the unsuccesful Ambrose/Ingall pairing.

[WyleECoyote]

I think the Toll Racing pairing of Tander\Kelly will be strong. Toll v Triple 8 for the win.

HRT may be there. And, of course you can never overlook the Perkins cars at Bathurst.

[Monty_Burns]

Yep, its official...FPR are pairing Winterbottom and Richards...theyre going to change their livery apparently, so all their sponsors get a fair go...kinda like what SBR did with Ingall and Ambrose in 2003.

So I'd say the following four would probably start as joint favourites:
Garth Tander/Rick Kelly
Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly
Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup
Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards

[motorsportnerd]

I think you can add the Paul Radisich/Craig Baird Toll VE to the list of dark horses. We know its a great car (Tander's regular mount) and both drivers did a good job sharing with Tander and Kelly at Sandown, both drivers are quick and both have excellent records at Bathurst.
The Ingall/Youlden and Courtney/Besnard SBR Falcons must also be considered as having a chance as well.

[fordman6]

I'm quiet happy with all the Ford pairings, they are easily on the podium for sure! But i'd laugh my head off if it was a Ford 1 2 3! Though, VE might do well @ the Mount. Will have to wait and see, only 10 days to go!...

[MURPHY51]

MONTY BURNS

"I am a New Zealander, and I hate Greg Murphy. Yes, we exist."

YOU SAY YOU ARE A KIWI BUT HATE MURPH?
SHAME ON YOU MATE!
THE KIWI BOYS ARE GOING TO ROCK THE MOUNTAIN IN 2007.
MURPH AND JR WILL BE ON TOP OF THE PODIUM.

[Daz27]

...On top of the podium for wankers and wannabe's that is...

[Monty_Burns]

Originally Posted by MURPHY51

MONTY BURNS

"I am a New Zealander, and I hate Greg Murphy. Yes, we exist."

YOU SAY YOU ARE A KIWI BUT HATE MURPH?
SHAME ON YOU MATE!
THE KIWI BOYS ARE GOING TO ROCK THE MOUNTAIN IN 2007.
MURPH AND JR WILL BE ON TOP OF THE PODIUM.

I don't think that the fact that I'm a Kiwi means that I should avoid the fact that Murph's a dickhead...

I'm not denying his talent - just look at his Bathurst shootout lap in 03. But he just comes across as an egotistical, loud-mouthed arse at times. The fact that I share his nationality doesn't change my opinion of him in the slightest.

Incidentally, I think we Kiwis overdo the whole patriotism thing with motorsport...Personally I think that the nationality of the drivers holds little to no significance to anything. Stupid A1...

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Monty_Burns

Personally I think that the nationality of the drivers holds little to no significance to anything.

it is important for those who have to assure that the correct national anthem will be played for the winner...

[fpv_gtho]

I dont think we play the anthem for the winner. Its only a national class overall, despite the often presence of NZ drivers and the odd Brazilian or European. They usually parade on at the start with the anthems

[Monty_Burns]

Times from the Thursday practice session...good to see DJR there at the top


Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Fastest Lap Fastest Lap Time Gap
1 17 Jim Beam Racing W.Davison/S.Johnson Ford Falcon BF 36 35 2:08.0740
2 1 Toll HSV Dealer Team R.Kelly/G.Tander Holden Commodore VE 34 30 2:08.3987 0:00.3247
3 6 Ford Performance Racing S.Richards/M.Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 32 32 2:08.5477 0:00.4737
4 4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport D.Besnard/J.Courtney Ford Falcon BF 31 30 2:08.5696 0:00.4956
5 2 Holden Racing Team T.Kelly/M.Skaife Holden Commodore VE 27 27 2:08.6189 0:00.5449
6 51 Tasman Motorsport G.Murphy/J.Richards Holden Commodore VE 29 29 2:08.9266 0:00.8526
7 888 Team Vodafone C.Lowndes/J.Whincup Ford Falcon BF 30 23 2:09.1861 0:01.1121
8 9 Caltex Racing R.Ingall/L.Youlden Ford Falcon BF 30 30 2:09.2811 0:01.2071
9 021 Team Kiwi Racing S.Gisbergen/J.McIntyre Ford Falcon BF 33 33 2:09.3636 0:01.2896
10 88 Team Vodafone R.Lyons/A.Simonsen Ford Falcon BF 38 38 2:09.4962 0:01.4222
11 50 Supercheap Auto Racing C.McConville/D.Reynolds Holden Commodore VE 31 31 2:09.8597 0:01.7857
12 55 Autobarn Racing S.Owen/T.D'Alberto Holden Commodore VZ 27 6 2:09.8762 0:01.8022
13 12 Team BOC A.Jones/S.Wills Ford Falcon BF 34 23 2:09.9472 0:01.8732
14 16 Toll HSV Dealer Team C.Baird/P.Radisich/G.Tander Holden Commodore VE 36 35 2:09.9541 0:01.8801
15 33 Valvoline Cummins Race Team D.Canto/L.Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 32 32 2:09.9576 0:01.8836
16 3 Tasman Motorsport M.Noske/J.Richards/J.Verdnik Holden Commodore VE 37 6 2:10.0092 0:01.9352
17 5 Ford Performance Racing M.Halliday/O.Kelly/S.Richards Ford Falcon BF 36 35 2:10.0612 0:01.9872
18 25 Fujitsu Racing Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 27 7 2:10.1458 0:02.0718
19 18 Jim Beam Racing A.Davison/A.Thompson Ford Falcon BF 30 30 2:10.2283 0:02.1543
20 34 Valvoline Cummins Race Team C.McLean/G.Ritter Holden Commodore VE 35 35 2:10.2484 0:02.1744
21 67 Team Sirromet Wines S.Ellery/P.Morris Holden Commodore VE 9 7 2:10.2703 0:02.1963
22 22 Holden Racing Team T.Kelly/N.Pretty/G.Seton Holden Commodore VE 32 27 2:10.2805 0:02.2065
23 111 Glenfords Racing J.Bowe/J.Webb Ford Falcon BF 27 26 2:10.5470 0:02.4730
24 39 Team Sirromet Wines F.Coulthard/S.Ellery/P.Morris/C.Pither Holden Commodore VZ 25 9 2:10.6941 0:02.6201
25 11 Jack Daniel's Racing M.Marshall/K.Scott Holden Commodore VE 28 28 2:10.7614 0:02.6874
26 7 Jack Daniel's Racing J.Perkins/S.Price Holden Commodore VE 44 44 2:10.8972 0:02.8232
27 26 IRWIN Racing J.Bright/A.Gurr/W.Luff Ford Falcon BF 28 13 2:11.6064 0:03.5324
28 8 WPS Racing J.Bargwanna/M.Wilson Ford Falcon BF 25 17 2:11.6172 0:03.5432
29 14 Team BOC C.Murchison/D.White Ford Falcon BF 34 20 2:12.0485 0:03.9745
30 10 WPS Racing M.Caruso/G.Denyer Ford Falcon BF 31 13 2:13.8792 0:05.8052
20 Supercheap Auto Racing Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE

[fpv_gtho]

SBR have their cars hooked up pretty well, even the TKR car's top 10 so far. Same with 888 with the Lyons/Simonsen car there too.

[Zytek_Fan]

I'll go for the Jeld-Wen Motorsport Falcon, since Jeld-Wen is based relatively close to me...

[Monty_Burns]

Originally Posted by fpv_gtho

SBR have their cars hooked up pretty well

Looks that way, and I seeing as I've got $20 on the #9 car, I'm 110% behind them