V8 Supercars: Round 12 Symmons Plains Raceway, Tasmania

[fpv_gtho]

Symmons Plains - facts, figures and track description
Release Date: 08/11/2004
The following is a detailed lap of Symmons Plains Raceway to be used as the venue for the12th round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series on November 12-14. Also find following thoughts, results and memorable moments relating to this venue from both Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall.

INTERESTING POINTS
• Marcos Ambrose has never raced at Symmons Plains despite growing up in Tasmania and starting his go-kart career there.
• Russell Ingall will be one of the most experienced Symmons Plains drivers in the field having driven at the track four times previously. The last time was in 1999 when he finished on the podium in third place.
• Marcos Ambrose has the chance to wrap-up the 2004 championship this weekend. He needs to finish with 27 points more than Jason Bright and with two more points than Greg Murphy over the weekend’s three races. This would give him the 192-point buffer he would require heading into the final round at Eastern Creek.
• Russell Ingall still has his sights set on second place in the championship. He is currently 81 points behind Jason Bright, who currently sits second.

SYMMONS PLAINS – A LAP WITH RUSSELL INGALL

Symmons Plains is not one of the most technical tracks in the country and for that reason it takes more effort to drag that extra fraction of a second out of the place and give yourself an edge over the opposition.

There is every possibility that the entire field could be separated by less than a second in qualifying this weekend and that could throw a couple of unexpected players into the mix.

The circuit is going to be a bit of an unknown for a lot of drivers, including my SBR team mate Marcos Ambrose, but I don’t think that is going to affect anyone for any great length of time.

As yon come over the start finish line in front of the new pit facilities you hit third gear, but then shift down to second and get on the brakes as you go over the rise and into the left hander.

They tell me it is from this point that the new resurfacing on the track starts.

You need to get the car balanced out of here for the slight right hander on to the main or front straight.
You hit fifth gear and reach about 240km before you are hard on the brakes – and I mean hard!

The hairpin is one of the few first gear corners in the entire series and well will get to as slow as 50kph through here.
It is vital to get to the power down as quickly as possible out of here and set up your run down the back straight.

While this is called a “straight” it really is a long slight right hander on which you hit top gear at about the mid-way point.
Coming into the back part of the straight you need to ensure the car settles well under brakes.

You then click down to third gear for the long left hander which basically connects the front and back part of the circuit.

You go through the first part of this in third gear, but then hit fourth mid-way through the corner for the finishing burst to the start finish line. The tell me that the resurfacing ends mid-way through this corner which will be interesting.

The V8 Supercar lap record at Symmons Plains is held by Craig Lowndes after he notched a 54.5805-second lap in a Commodore in 1999 – if the weather is fine, that record will be smashed this weekend.

I think there is every chance we will be in the 51-second bracket and maybe quicker.

The big target will be the track’s outright lap record which was set in the mid 70s by Alf Costanzo in an F5000 car.

I doubt we will get down to that time of 50.4 seconds, but I am sure there will be plenty trying to give it a crack.

THOUGHTS ON SYMMONS PLAINS RACEWAY…..

MARCOS AMBROSE – PIRTEK RACING
It is pretty hard to give any thoughts on the actual track because I have never raced there. While saying that I think the couple of long straights and the general layout of the track will suit the SBR cars.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
I guess my fondest memories of Symmons Plains are sitting at the hairpin watching everyone like Brock, Johnson, Lowndes, Ingall and Bondy locking their brakes. It probably won’t be too much different this time around, although some of the names have changed.

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS (After Round 11, 2004)
Current Points: 1856 (1st)
Debut: 2001
Starts: 50
Poles: 15 – Queensland 300, Eastern Creek (2004); Sandown, Oran Park, Queensland Raceway, Winton, Eastern Creek (2003); Phillip Island, Oran Park, Winton, Qld 500, Sandown (2002); Eastern Creek, Qld 500, Bathurst (2001)
Race wins: 17 (Last win – Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge (Race 1), Gold Coast.
Round wins: 12 – Sandown 500, Oran Park, Queensland 300, Adelaide Clipsal 500 (2004); Eastern Creek, Oran Park, Hidden Valley, Barbagallo, Winton, Eastern Creek (2003), Sandown (2002); Hidden Valley (2001)

SYMMONS PLAINS RECORD
N/A

THOUGHTS ON SYMMONS PLAINS RACEWAY…..

RUSSELL INGALL – CALTEX HAVOLINE RACING
Because of the simplicity of the track and the fact that we will be well under one minute per lap, the whole field could be split by a single second. There could be a few surprise runners at the front because it is not too technical. I think that could mix things up a bit, especially with a few drivers who are not in championship contention towards the front. The secret will be lots of horsepower and lots of brakes. You will need a strong right foot.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
I think that would have to be having our cars towed from the pit “tents” by a tractor because the rain had bogged everything down. The tents were then filled with woodchips which was not too good for the backs for the mechanics under the cars or for the balance on the air jacks. Thankfully plenty of changes have been made down there since those days.

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS (After Round 11, 2004)
Current Points: 1609 (5th)
Debut: 1996
Starts: 106
Poles: 1 Winton (2001)
Race wins: 24 (Last Win – Race 1, Hidden Valley, Darwin, 2004)
Round wins: 10 – Surfers Paradise (2003) Queensland Raceway (2003), Winton (2001); Qld 500 (1999); Lakeside, Mallala, Hidden Valley (1998); Phillip Island, Winton (1997); Calder (1996)

SYMMONS PLAINS – RECORD
1999 – Qualified 10th; Race 1: 7th; Race 2: 5th; Race 3: 2nd; Overall: 3rd
1998 – Qualified 6th; Race 1: 4th; Race 2: 3rd; Race 3: 7th; Overall: 4th
1997 – Qualified 8th; Race 1: 8th; Race 2: 6th; Race 3: 6th; Overall: 5th
1996 – Qualified 10th; Race 1: 6th; Race 2: DNF; Race 3: DNF; Overall 10th

TRACK FACTS – SURFERS PARADISE
Venue: Symmons Plains Raceway, Tasmania
2004 Race format: Qualifying (Friday); Top 10 Shootout and Race 1 (42 Laps-100km) (Saturday); Races 2 and 3 (42 laps-100km) (Sunday)
Circuit Length: 2.41km
Circuit Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Maximum Speed: 255 km/h (Back Straight)
Lap Record – Craig Lowndes (1999) 54.5805 seconds

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (After 11 of 13 rounds)
1: Marcos Ambrose 1856
2: Jason Bright 1690
3: Greg Murphy 1665
4: Rick Kelly 1622
5: Russell Ingall 1609
6: Steven Richards 1509
7: Todd Kelly 1483
8: Jason Bargwanna 1309
9: John Bowe 1293
10: Garth Tander 1251

EVENT SCHEDULE

Friday November 12
2:30pm – 3:05am - Practice 1

Saturday November 13
9:20am – 9:55am - Practice 2
11:35am – 11:50am - Qualifying Lower 50%
12:00pm - 12:20pm - Qualifying Upper 50%
2:00pm - 2:30pm – Top Ten Shoot Out
4:00pm - Race 1 (42 laps)

Sunday November 14
10:00am – 10:20am - Warm Up
12:05pm - Race 2 (42 laps)
3:00pm - Race 3 (42 laps)

TELECAST TIMES - Network Ten
Saturday November 13
3:00pm – 5:00pm (EDST)
Sunday November 14
1:30pm – 5:00pm (EDST)

[fpv_gtho]

First practise:

1 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 27 26 0:52.8467
2 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY 25 23 0:52.8607 0:00.0140
3 2 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY 23 18 0:52.9365 0:00.0898
4 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 23 23 0:52.9538 0:00.1071
5 11 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY 25 25 0:53.0305 0:00.1838
6 34 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY 27 25 0:53.0309 0:00.1842
7 51 Kmart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY 24 22 0:53.1159 0:00.2692
8 6 Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 26 21 0:53.1915 0:00.3448
9 10 Larkham Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 22 22 0:53.1994 0:00.3527
10 5 Ford Performance Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA 26 21 0:53.2040 0:00.3573
11 88 Team Betta Electrical Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA 27 27 0:53.3494 0:00.5027
12 29 Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY 25 25 0:53.3799 0:00.5332
13 31 Steve Ellery Racing Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 28 28 0:53.3932 0:00.5465
14 18 Shell Helix Racing Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA 27 25 0:53.4187 0:00.5720
15 50 PWR Performance Products Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY 26 23 0:53.4247 0:00.5780
16 20 Larkham Orrcon Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 21 21 0:53.4582 0:00.6115
17 16 PWR Performance Products Paul Weel Holden Commodore VY 26 25 0:53.4646 0:00.6179
18 888 Team Betta Electrical Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA 22 11 0:53.4974 0:00.6507
19 44 Team Dynamik/dodo/Alphawest Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY 26 25 0:53.5059 0:00.6592
20 8 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VY 28 28 0:53.5163 0:00.6696
21 12 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 28 28 0:53.6149 0:00.7682
22 33 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY 26 25 0:53.6547 0:00.8080
23 15 Kmart Racing Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY 26 24 0:53.6768 0:00.8301
24 3 Tasman Motorsport Jason Richards Holden Commodore VY 26 18 0:53.6947 0:00.8480
25 23 WPS David Besnard Ford Falcon BA 26 21 0:53.7247 0:00.8780
26 21 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 29 28 0:53.7305 0:00.8838
27 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 16 16 0:53.8874 0:01.0407
28 45 Team Dynamik/dodo/Alphawest Dale Brede Holden Commodore VY 30 29 0:53.9319 0:01.0852
29 7 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Alex Davison Holden Commodore VX 31 30 0:54.0825 0:01.2358
30 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Holden Commodore VY 20 18 0:54.1413 0:01.2946
31 021 Team Kiwi Racing Craig Baird Holden Commodore VY 24 18 0:54.3341 0:01.4874
32 48 WPS Owen Kelly Ford Falcon BA 20 17 0:54.7783 0:01.9316

[fpv_gtho]

Race 1:

1 15 Kmart Racing Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY 42 38:16.1351 7 0:52.8146
2 1 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 42 38:18.4933 7 0:53.1446
3 22 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY 42 38:19.1027 10 0:52.8579
4 11 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY 42 38:20.2925 9 0:52.9751
5 34 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY 42 38:28.6963 9 0:52.8140
6 6 Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 42 38:30.8919 12 0:53.0953
7 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 42 38:32.4441 13 0:53.0748
8 23 WPS David Besnard Ford Falcon BA 42 38:37.2788 6 0:53.0955
9 88 Team Betta Electrical Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA 42 38:37.9261 11 0:53.3556
10 50 PWR Performance Products Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY 42 38:38.5151 18 0:52.9826
11 51 Kmart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY 42 38:47.3050 9 0:53.2599
12 21 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 42 38:50.9714 10 0:53.5773
13 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 42 38:57.1289 11 0:53.6656
14 31 Steve Ellery Racing Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 42 38:57.4640 13 0:53.4781
15 33 Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY 42 38:59.6127 11 0:53.2463
16 18 Shell Helix Racing Warren Luff Ford Falcon BA 42 39:02.0356 10 0:53.7263
17 12 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 42 39:03.5588 15 0:53.7798
18 16 PWR Performance Products Paul Weel Holden Commodore VY 42 39:04.8948 9 0:53.4932
19 20 Larkham Orrcon Racing Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BA 42 39:05.1759 6 0:53.6423
20 7 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Alex Davison Holden Commodore VX 42 39:05.8345 10 0:53.7205
21 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Holden Commodore VY 42 39:06.5610 15 0:53.6935
22 10 Larkham Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BA 42 39:08.8831 10 0:53.8244
23 48 WPS Owen Kelly Ford Falcon BA 41 38:25.5805 13 0:53.6474
24 8 Castrol Perkins Motorsport Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VY 41 38:33.1239 17 0:54.2995
25 3 Tasman Motorsport Jason Richards Holden Commodore VY 41 38:39.2189 14 0:53.8392
26 888 Team Betta Electrical Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA 41 38:45.4710 11 0:53.0387
27 021 Team Kiwi Racing Craig Baird Holden Commodore VY 41 38:51.6331 9 0:53.7785
28 5 Ford Performance Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA 41 39:10.3996 9 0:53.4377
DNF 2 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY 36 33:04.0482 10 0:53.2303
DNF 45 Team Dynamik/dodo/Alphawest Dale Brede Holden Commodore VY 17 16:15.5801 8 0:53.6683
DNF 44 Team Dynamik/dodo/Alphawest Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY 11 10:14.1936 9 0:53.3855
DNF 29 Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY

[v8chick]

Bit of a bugger for murph that he was turned around on the last lap

[fpv_gtho]

it was his own error though, no help given from either Lowndes or Ingall

[motorsportnerd]

Ingall and Skaife clashed again... Guess they won't be sending any Christmas cards to each other again this year.
Seriously, you could tell from when they entered the start/finish straight to when they reached turn 1 that they were going to collide. Both pushing each other, then Skaife outbraked himself and Ingall gave him a little helping hand.... No penalties. I didn't hear Skaife's reaction, but I can imagine it wasn't pleasant. 50/50 racing scenario. Ingall could have braked a little harder and avoided helping Skaife - Skaife was going off anyway... Skaife was an idiot for barging Ingall several times down the straight. These two make V8 Supercar more entertaining, that's for sure. Don't think we should put either Skaife or Ingall up as a poster boy for "good" driving and sportsmanship.
I'll have to wait till tomorrow night to see today's races, since I am flying back to Sydney from Perth this afternoon. Although, I just checked the V8 website and saw that Ambrose won race 2 - so I guess that means he has wrapped up the championship.

[Waatz]

well what a race that 3rd one was! good to see that the championship is going to the wire and nice to see the #1 car smoking.

[fpv_gtho]

Ambrose wasnt alone in problems out there on the 3rd race, Rick Kelly, Todd Kelly and a few others had their fair share of bad luck, but i guess you gotta ask can it get any worse for Jason Bright...

Skaife seemed pretty adament that his bunch including Besnard and Bright had completed one more lap than Murph and Ingall, i guess putting a fair bit of pressure on TEGA to review the timing glitch.

[SHAKER]

Oh so there is a seperate thread for supercars now, as i have just discovered. Yes the Ambrose car was smoking but atleast he made it back to the pitlane unlike The Kelly brothers, which lessened the embarassment for the defending champ, im sure it hell still clinch the title and win the championship for Ford again.

[fpv_gtho]

well in Todd Kelly's defense, he made the smart decision IMO opinion by pulling over straight away as he wouldve simply poured oil all over the rest of the track, and Rick Kelly firstly stalled, then got pushed into the embankment because of how close Ingall was, hardly either of their own fault.

With 150 points in the bag between himself and Murphy though, Ambrose has it for sure. The only issue will be if he can stay awake in the middle of the night trying to handle a 620hp supercar, then go do it again twice the next day

[SHAKER]

yes when they showed the telecast times on the box i thought it was a misprint, but it is a twilight event for the first race. Is it going to be a delayed telecast for the first race, they will show the whole race wont they?

[fpv_gtho]

what they'll do is they'll have an hour long show on the saturday for qualifying and the shootout, then after Sports Tonight, they'll have the race live in the same fasion they do the F1 and Champ Car races

[Waatz]

Skaife must have been in a different race if he thinks that he was rightfully at the front, I was pretty obvious from where I was (on the couch hung-over like a fox) that he was supposed to be taking up the rear.

[fpv_gtho]

youve just said you were hung over, watching it on the TV, how does that compare to skaife actually being the bugger racing and the one with the access to the timing data. he said was he did cause his data showed once he finished, he had completed 43 laps. im not the biggest fan of skaife's, but im not going to give him shit for something he said because of a technical glitch in the timing equipment.

[Waatz]

I dont know what happened but if you look where they started in race 3 and how much time had gone by by the time they were picked up by the safety car im not sure they passed all of those people who they claim that they should have been in front of.