2005 Bathurst 1000

[motorsportnerd]

The annual Bathurst 1000 endurance classic for V8 Supercars - round 10 of the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship - is on this weekend.
With qualifying held yesterday and the top ten shootout to be held today, so far my predictions are going OK (see the "Bathurst 1000 Predictions" thread in the Australian cars section). I predicted 8 of the top ten drivers to contest today's shootout for pole position. The top ten at the end of qualifying were:
Lowndes/Muller 1st, Skaife/Kelly 2nd, Ambrose/Luff 3rd, Tander/Kelly 4th, Murphy/Weel 5th, S. Richards/Dumbrell 6th, Jason Richards/Wincup 7th, Ingall/Youlden 8th, Seton/Canto 9th, Jim Richards/Courtney 10th.
The two I got wrong were Radicish/Morris who will start 20th, and Bowe/Jones who have had car setup problems and will start 26th.
Jason Richards was the big surprise in qualifying - 7th fastest. And Jim Richards, the oldest bloke in the field at 58, showing that an "old" bloke can mix it with the younger guys - but then this old bloke is also the most successful driver in the race with 7 Bathurst wins to his name. Keep in mind also that "Richo" as he's known hasn't qualified a V8 Supercar for two years. Last year he was the co-driver with his son - and unfortunately hit a kangaroo. Jim will be hoping he doesn't even see a kangaroo this year.
The other surprise was the Britek Motorsport Falcon of Steve Owen/Matthew White, which was 14th and looking good for a while to make the top 10.
The times are super fast this year - Lowndes did a 2m07.1322. The Castrol Commodore with Steven Richards at the wheel has clocked 302 km/h on Conrod straight - finally and officially breaking the 300km/h barrier on the longest straight on the circuit.
If todays shoot out is dry, Greg Murphy's qualifying lap record of 2m06.8 is under serious threat.
However, the forecast isn't good - so it may be a wet shootout.

[Bob]

and unfortunately hit a kangaroo. Jim will be hoping he doesn't even see a kangaroo this year.
This is just what Formula One needs to add a little excitement to the sport... animal/car collisions.

Sounds like a good race, unfortunately we don't get any coverage of this at all here in the US... but we do have several 24/7 NASCAR Channels :(

[clutch-monkey]

i don't know what race it is but someone just rolled a porche at bathurst :(

[pimento]

I noticed in the paper a coupla days ago that the race record is still held by the Mark Skaife/Jim Richards Skyline GTR, I presume that would have been after they altered the track, but when was that? Given the lap record was from a couple of years ago, seems kinda odd that the race record is still the old one. One for the Skyline fanboys I guess.

[F1_Master]

This is just what Formula One needs to add a little excitement to the sport... animal/car collisions.

Sounds like a good race, unfortunately we don't get any coverage of this at all here in the US... but we do have several 24/7 NASCAR Channels :(
I hear ya.:(

I might actually have to download a V8 Supercars race just to see one.

[pimento]

Ahhh.. they just mentioned Jim Richards crashing his GTR that ended the race early, I remember hearing it mentioned that he won it when that happened, I guess that explains the shorter time.

[motorsportnerd]

I noticed in the paper a coupla days ago that the race record is still held by the Mark Skaife/Jim Richards Skyline GTR, I presume that would have been after they altered the track, but when was that? Given the lap record was from a couple of years ago, seems kinda odd that the race record is still the old one.

Easily explained. The race record of 6hrs 19 minutes is from 1991 - and that was the last time the entire Bathurst 1000 was held without an interuption from a safety car. There were NO crashes or incidents that year that required the safety car to come onto the circuit and it was a dry race.
Since then either weather or safety cars have affected the total time taken to complete the race.
Average lap times this year in race trim if its a dry race will be 2m09s/10s range while the average lap times of the GTR in race trim in 1991 were 2m16s. Big difference, and IF there are few safety cars periods, the race record will fall this year. Last year the race took 6h 29minutes to complete and there were SEVEN safety car periods.
The weather forecast for this year is a little dodgy though - so the race record may be safe for another year.


Ahhh.. they just mentioned Jim Richards crashing his GTR that ended the race early, I remember hearing it mentioned that he won it when that happened, I guess that explains the shorter time.

That was the 1992 race - the last time turbo cars competed and a race heavily affected by rain. It was actually a severe thunderstorm that stopped the race, not Jim Richards crashing. Richards and Skaife were awarded the win though, because under internation FIA motorsport rules, if a race is stopped early, the winner is the driver leading at the lap completed before the red flag is shown. And in that year it was Richards. Since it was a shortened race, the time does not count as a race record. Nor was the shortened 1981 race won by Dick Johnson which was stopped following a big accident that blocked the circuit.


One for the Skyline fanboys I guess.

I assume you're no fan of the Skyline then? Anyway, the GTR R32 cannot be compared to a modern V8 Supercar. They were built, legally, to a completely different set of rules. They also didn't have access to the type of tyre and computer technology of today. A 1991 GTR R32 running on today's race tyres and with modern engine management systems and suspension tuning would be considerable quicker than it was capable of being some 14 years ago.
So, one certainly can't say that todays V8s are quicker because they're better - that goes without saying. They should be - due to the modern technology available.
So the race record isn't "one to the GTR fanboys", nor is the fact that today's V8s are some seven seconds a lap faster "one for the V8 fanboys". All explained by technology, safety cars, rain and the 14 year time gap I'm afraid.

[clutch-monkey]

Easily explained. The race record of 6hrs 19 minutes is from 1991 - and that was the last time the entire Bathurst 1000 was held without an interuption from a safety car. There were NO crashes or incidents that year that required the safety car to come onto the circuit and it was a dry race.
Since then either weather or safety cars have affected the total time taken to complete the race.
Average lap times this year in race trim if its a dry race will be 2m09s/10s range while the average lap times of the GTR in race trim in 1991 were 2m16s. Big difference, and IF there are few safety cars periods, the race record will fall this year. Last year the race took 6h 29minutes to complete and there were SEVEN safety car periods.
The weather forecast for this year is a little dodgy though - so the race record may be safe for another year.



That was the 1992 race - the last time turbo cars competed and a race heavily affected by rain. It was actually a severe thunderstorm that stopped the race, not Jim Richards crashing. Richards and Skaife were awarded the win though, because under international FIA motorsport rules, if a race is stopped early, the winner is the driver leading at the last full lap completed before the red flag is shown. And in that year it was Richards. Since it was a shortened race, the time does not count as a race record. Nor was the shortened 1981 race won by Dick Johnson which was stopped following a big accident that blocked the circuit.

wow....you really live up to your username :D. thanks for the info!

[motorsportnerd]

Following the end of the top ten shootout, Craig Lowndes has scored pole position in the Triple 8 Racing Ford Falcon. Marcus Ambrose (SBR Falcon) will start second, then Mark Skaife (HRT Holden Commodore), Greg Murphy (Supercheap Holden Commodore), Garth Tander (HSV Holden Commodore), Steven Richards (Castrol Holden Commodore), Jason Richards (Tasman Racing Holden Commodore), Glen Seton (Westpoint DJR Ford Falcon), Jim Richards (HRT Holden Commodore) and Russell Ingall (Caltex Ford Falcon).
Jim Richards and Glen Seton were the first two drivers to have their run - and the track was still damp from rain, so they were much slower than the later drivers. Russell Ingall was the third driver on the track and recorded no time after spinning off at the fastest part of the circuit. By the time Jason Richards went on track, the circuit had dried somewhat, so the times tumbled. It was very cold and still a little damp, so Lowndes' pole time of 2m08.5990 is actually only slightly faster than the car which will start out of position eleven (Cameron McConville/Andrew Jones) - and Greg Murphy's qualifying record from 2003 wasn't beaten.
So, two Fords on the front row, followed by five Holdens. Also, note that three drivers with the sirname "Richards" made the top ten (Jim and Steve are father and son, Jason is no relation and they are all New Zealand born). And four New Zealanders were in the top ten (Murphy, Jim Richards, Steven Richards, Jason Richards).
Should be a good race. As a Ford fan and a Lowndes fan, I'm hoping Craig Lowndes/Yvan Muller will win - but I am a New Zealander, so I'd also be very happy if any of the NZ drivers win, even if they drive a Holden - particularly Jim Richards.

[motorsportnerd]

i don't know what race it is but someone just rolled a porche at bathurst :(

Did you see the crash? Massive crash. It was in the Porsche Carrera Cup support race. Happened at the fastest part of the circuit - Caltex Chase. Something broke on the car at some 280 km/h, it went sideways, the back tyre dug into the tarmac (the circuit is heavily cambered at that point), and over it went - completed flip. Then touched the wall. Damage for a 280 km/h shunt was surprisingly light - but then a rollover has less energy than colliding with a solid concrete wall. The driver, Shannon O'Brien, was completely uninjured.
One doesn't really want to see too many 280 km/h crashes - this one showed how strong and safe the Porsche Carrera Cup cars are.

[Guest]

wow! you certainly know your stuff!

[pimento]

Ahh, thanks for clearing that up mate. I was curious. The comment about the fanboys was purely designed for humour. I have huge respect for the Skyline GTR, it's a wonderful piece of engineering, but lound the fans of them tend to be rather irritating.

I'm not going to be home for the end of the race tomorrow unfortunately, but I'm hoping I can find a tape to record it, the F1 and the rally. Here in Perth they're on one after the other.

[pimento]

In fact.. does anyone know what time the Carrera Cup race will start? Maybe I can streamline my VCR timing to get that before the race..

[TVR IS KING]

yay qualifying or sumthin wos on 2day!!!! a porsche rolled at 280kmh!

[motorsportnerd]

In fact.. does anyone know what time the Carrera Cup race will start? Maybe I can streamline my VCR timing to get that before the race..

Coverage starts at 7am here in NSW - does this mean it starts at 5 am in Perth? I assume the Porsche race will be shown in the first two hours of the coverage before 9am. Race start for the Bathurst 1000 is 10am Eastern Standard Time.
Enjoy it.

[pimento]

Coverage goes from 0500 to 1430, then we get the F1 til 1600 followed by an hour of Japanese rally. Got my tape set to 0800-1000 and 1200-1600. I'll be out from just before midday 'til about four, so I'll see all the race, just in the wrong order. :)

[whiteballz]

ill probably end up going to my friends house to watch it on the big screen :D

[TVR IS KING]

none of my friends like cars...thats why im always here! lol but i always miss the car show...today im staying at home all day to watch it

[v8chick]

damn ambrose! murph was heading for a podium finish, instead now a dnf, can't wait til ambrose buggers off to the US!

[v8chick]

damn ambrose! murph was heading for a podium finish, instead now a dnf, can't wait till ambrose buggers off to the US!

[Revolution]

Skaifey and Kelly have walked off with the silverware, Team Dodo with Richards and Whincup came second, and the 88 Betta Electrical Car came third.

[motorsportnerd]

Where do I start?
Firstly I guess, Skaife and Kelly deserved the win - though towards the end I was hoping the underdogs Jason Richards and Jamie Whincup would win.
The first hour was chaotic. What was Garth Tander thinking at the end of lap one. Took four cars out of contention in one hit - his own, the Brad Jones/John Bowe car, Tony Longhurst/Max Wilson car, the Greg Ritter/Cameron McLean car. Stupid move. Ritter appeared to leave Tander room, but Tander still collided with him and the others had nowhere to go.
Out front Craig Lowndes built up a 5 second lead before he clipped a wall a broke the Watts Linkage on the rear. He admitted the mistake - but it was a real shame. Lowndes and Muller had the best car this weekend - and should have won. Too hard, too early trying to build a lead when it was inevitable that safety cars would cut it back anyway. Still Lowndes is a racer and full credit to him for admitting the mistake. They repaired the damage and returned to the race six laps down.
James Courtney hit the wall on lap 6 - again trying too hard. A rookie mistake. Its clear Courtney has a lot of speed and will no doubt come back to Bathurst for many more tries - but that mistake cost the Courtney/Richards car a top result.
Then Paul Dumbrell took over the Castrol Commodore from Steven Richards, and immediately hit another car and then the wall. Damage was relatively minor, but a tyre needed replacing.
Dumbrell rejoined, but it appears that the steering was damaged in the first crash and Dumbrell crashed very hard on lap 28. During the crash, the wheel separated from the car, bounced across the track, hit the wall and rebounded back into the path of Craig Lowndes. The tyre hit Lowndes' car square on the windscreen - shattering it and collapsing part of the roof. Luckily it was the passenger side that took the hit and luckily V8 Supercars have roll bars across the windscreen - otherwise it could've been very nasty indeed.
Lowndes was force to pit and remove both the front and rear windscreens (the rear screen has to be removed if the front one is) and Yvan Muller rejoined the race wearing several layers of race suit to ward of the cold and wind from the windscreenless car. The car rejoined 10 laps behind the leader, Muller and Lowndes battled on to the end, finishing 15th. No more laps were lost - proof of the pace of the car.
As for Dumbrell - I have a feeling he won't be in V8 Supercars much longer. Larry Perkins - his team boss - was not very complementary about Dumbrell's performance.
There were other incidents - Alain Menu and Paul Morris collided. Menu continued, Morris didn't.
Max Wilson hit the wall hard in the delayed Tony Longhurst car and was out.
Then Mark Noske hit the wall hard in the second HSV team Commodore and was out.
All this before lap 32 - in the space of about an hour.
The race then settled down for a long period. Greg Murphy, Mark Skaife and Marcos Ambrose took turns to lead.
Then there was the "balaclava" incident which damaged the SBR teams hopes of a top result. Marcos Ambrose had to do a drive through penalty because his co-driver Warren Luff failed to wear a balaclava under his helmet. Then Ingall had to bring the second car in - same problem. Then Ambrose came in again and had to put a balaclava on himself!!! Apparantly SBR believes that its drivers do not need to follow FIA rules despite the Bathurst 1000 being an international race that has to comply with such rules. Ambrose later claiming that very few of the drivers wear balaclavas.
Finally, the last remaining Perkins Commodore of Matt Coleman/Christian D'Agostin stopped on track and brought out the safety car. This allowed the field to close up.
Skaife had just overtaken Jason Richards for the lead. Steve Ellery was third, and the safety car allowed Greg Murphy and Marcos Ambrose back into the fight for the lead.
On the restart, Ambrose attacked Murphy straight away. He got past Murphy just after turn 2, but they touched. Then Ambrose started to come across before he'd fully cleared Murphy to take his line for turn 3. They collided - the impact was massive. Ambrose's car hit the wall very hard, was thrown in the air and almost over the wall, before rebounding to a stop. The field behind was very close after the restart and some 10-12 cars piled in. The Commodores of Fabien Coulthard/Tony D'Alberto and Lee Holdsworth/Phillip Scifleet would not continue either. Others were able to extract themselves and finish.
Meanwhile Murphy and Ambrose got out of their wrecked cars and immediately confronted each other in an angry confrontation. At one stage it looked like they were going to hit each other - I suspect the very large marshall coming over to intervene stopped that.
Whose fault was it? Neither. Ambrose didn't leave Murphy racing room and was unwilling to go round the corner side by side, Murphy refused to yield and could've backed off to allow Ambrose in. Basically, they could've gone around side by side and then Ambrose would've got ahead on the next short straight - but both drivers had too much ego to do that.
The mess was cleaned up leaving a ten lap sprint to the end - with Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly winning from Jason Richards/Jamie Whincup - both in Holden Commodores, then the Steve Ellery/Adam Macrow Triple 8 Falcon (team car to the Lowndes car) third.
Holden now has seven straight wins in the race. Fords last win was in 1998 - this is now the company's longest losing streak at Bathurst.

[Blitz_]

damn, i was hoping for a ford win, alas it is now seven years since the blue oval has conquered the mountain. Russel Ingall is the new championship leader i think, but when the worst round is dropped, he is 2 points behind Ambrose. About the incident, i have no opinion, i think its drivers being drivers. I heard Murphy's interview and he acted like a bit of a wanker, the whole time blaming Ambrose and abusing him. Whereas the talk with Ambrose was less heated. He felt sorry for all the people in the team whom he let down - rather than fuelling the situation. Piss of Murphy u Kiwi prick, eat some fush and chups and bugger off.

[TVR IS KING]

what great coverage. your my hero. I MISSED THE PILE UP!!!! i turned it on at lap 27 and off at lap 100 or something...:'(

[KELSA]

damn ambrose! murph was heading for a podium finish, instead now a dnf, can't wait til ambrose buggers off to the US!

Murph deserved it ! and in a way so did Ambrose!

both driver's ego clouded their professional judgement. Ambrose overtook Murphy the right hand corner before the incident and nudged Murphy, murph did not give room even tho ambrose was more than half a car length infront of him. murph kept on going even when after he hit ambrose. exteremly poor sportsman ship!! didn't murphy fliped another dude's car. and when the driver confronted him his reply was "i'll do it again".

i don't think i can really blame ambrose tho, 1 black flag for team mate's not wearing the balaclava, and another pit in for not wearing one him self, and he managed to get up to 5th, he is proboblly the best driver today besides scaife. but hopfully lesson learnt, that move was way too agressive, if it was any one else in the car in front of him, he would have been ok.

murphy is still 80% at fault i'll say. and V8chick, murphy is no longer with the KMart team, so may be you should change your avatar

[charged]

QUOTE=motorsportnerd]Where do I start?
Craig Lowndes built up a 5 second lead before he clipped a wall a broke the Watts Linkage on the rear. He admitted the mistake - but it was a real shame. Lowndes and Muller had the best car this weekend - and should have won. Too hard, too early trying to build a lead when it was inevitable that safety would cut it back anyway. Still Lowndes is a racer and full credit to him for admitting the mistake. They repaired the damage and returned to the race six laps down.
.[/QUOTE]
He had the car speed and shouldnt have pushed so hard so early, there's always next year

[2ndclasscitizen]

me and all mates were yelling for murph to hit ambrose, but that was after a few beers so whadda expect?

[SlickHolden]

Did you see the crash? Massive crash. It was in the Porsche Carrera Cup support race. Happened at the fastest part of the circuit - Caltex Chase. Something broke on the car at some 280 km/h, it went sideways, the back tyre dug into the tarmac (the circuit is heavily cambered at that point), and over it went - completed flip. Then touched the wall. Damage for a 280 km/h shunt was surprisingly light - but then a rollover has less energy than colliding with a solid concrete wall. The driver, Shannon O'Brien, was completely uninjured.
One doesn't really want to see too many 280 km/h crashes - this one showed how strong and safe the Porsche Carrera Cup cars are.
I herd localy that the car infront dropped some shit down and he got right on it and lost the rear hard and launched it over.

[SlickHolden]

damn, i was hoping for a ford win, alas it is now seven years since the blue oval has conquered the mountain. Russel Ingall is the new championship leader i think, but when the worst round is dropped, he is 2 points behind Ambrose. About the incident, i have no opinion, i think its drivers being drivers. I heard Murphy's interview and he acted like a bit of a wanker, the whole time blaming Ambrose and abusing him. Whereas the talk with Ambrose was less heated. He felt sorry for all the people in the team whom he let down - rather than fuelling the situation. Piss of Murphy u Kiwi prick, eat some fush and chups and bugger off.
You didnt here all the interviews trust me they both had some things to say about each other;)

QUOTE=motorsportnerd]Where do I start?
Craig Lowndes built up a 5 second lead before he clipped a wall a broke the Watts Linkage on the rear. He admitted the mistake - but it was a real shame. Lowndes and Muller had the best car this weekend - and should have won. Too hard, too early trying to build a lead when it was inevitable that safety would cut it back anyway. Still Lowndes is a racer and full credit to him for admitting the mistake. They repaired the damage and returned to the race six laps down.
.
He had the car speed and shouldnt have pushed so hard so early, there's always next year[/QUOTE]
At the time it looked like Lowndes had the fastest car, But Skaife was playing possum;)

[crisis]

As a Holden fan I did enjoy the Ford ownage. Especially with faily lean pickings for a while. Lowndes was extremely unlucky though.

[motorsportnerd]

Piss of Murphy u Kiwi prick, eat some fush and chups and bugger off.

Us Kiwis may take offence at that.:) Many of the top drivers in the V8 Supercars are kiwis - it would leave the field short on some top talent if Murphy and co went home.:)

[Guest]

eat some "fush and chups" try the "i" key!!!

[motorsportnerd]

i don't think i can really blame ambrose tho, 1 black flag for team mate's not wearing the balaclava, and another pit in for not wearing one him self, and he managed to get up to 5th, he is proboblly the best driver today besides scaife. but hopfully lesson learnt, that move was way too agressive, if it was any one else in the car in front of him, he would have been ok.


I'd challenge your statement that Ambrose and Skaife are the best drivers. I actually think Lowndes is better than both. Lowndes is equally as fast as the other two, has excellent car control, is able to give good feedback to the engineers and tends to be easy on the machinery. Not only that he rarely makes mistakes (Bathurst on Sunday was one of the rare ones). But the main reason he is a better all round driver than either Ambrose or Skaife is that he is less egotistical, better able to admit mistakes, not as aggressive and doesn't normally take others off. Whereas both Ambrose and Skaife tend to be more egotistical, far more aggressive on track, will gladly take off opponents and tend to blame others for their mistakes. Not that Lowndes is a pushover - when Ambrose took him off in the first race at Pukekohe earlier this year, Lowndes repaid in full in the third race taking Ambrose off.
I'd say Lowndes is more old school in the way he races and deals with the media and fans - more like Peter Brock or Dick Johnson. Ambrose and Skaife are part of the more modern "take no prisoners" school of aggressive, hard driving.
Personally, I prefer Lowndes style of racing - and that's why I rate him as better than Skaife and Ambrose.
As for Ambrose keeping touch after the balaclava problems - the safety car helped a great deal there. Without the safety car to remove the D'Agostin Commodore from the track, Ambrose would've finished almost a lap down in 5th or 6th. And he and Murphy wouldn't have go together either. But safety cars are part of racing.

[motorsportnerd]

eat some "fush and chups" try the "i" key!!!

He's taking the piss out of the average New Zealander's English accent - since I'm a Kiwi I'll assume he's joking, hence the smileys above.

[crisis]

Personally, I prefer Lowndes style of racing - and that's why I rate him as better than Skaife and Ambrose.

Id have to agree and I base it on what I saw last year when they took turns in driving viewers around the track. When Skaife cam to the cutting he said it was the hardest part of the track that required 100% concentration each time for 160 laps. Lowndes came to it and said he loved the way you could just let the car drive through that piece of track. :eek:
One guy obviously has to work hard at it and the other has more natural ability.

[TVR IS KING]

if you like someones driving style, it doesnt mean theyre better...just you like them more...why lowndes hasnt one a race since....since he was BACK AT HOLDEN
ford fail

[motorsportnerd]

Its the whole package I'm rating. Lowndes is probably no more talanted then either Ambrose or Skaife - its just that I personally think he's a more "rounded" driver - for the reasons I mentioned above.
Certainly, I think the top 3 drivers currently are, in my opinion and in order, Lowndes, Ambrose, Skaife. Though I actually like Skaife more than Ambrose. I like Skaife's intelligence and motor racing knowledge in particlur and his professionalism with the media. Ambrose is very naturally talented, and is very analytical about his driving.
Just to add spice - Murphy is the fourth best driver at the moment in the series, Todd Kelly the fifth best - then probably Steven Richards and after that,um, I'd have to think about it.
Also, Lowndes is tied with Todd Kelly for round victories in the V8 Supercar Championship this year - 3 apiece. So he has won one or two races/rounds since he went to Ford.
I often wonder how much better Lowndes career and his stats would have been if he had remained at HRT. Unfortunately, I understand he had a personality confilict with the management at HRT - John Crenan mainly - at the time he left.

[TVR IS KING]

ambrose is arrogant, yet a godo aggressive driver. i agree about skaife, hes been around a while..and hes wise..i suppose...i think bathurst was the only race hes actually finished in the last 2 years...he seems to crash out TONS recently

[motorsportnerd]

Skaife hasn't had the best of times the last couple of years. It is precisely because of his results and shown ability over a period of 15 years since he started racing full time that I still rate him top 3 of the current drivers. Top drivers don't lose their ability. Skaife has had a lot of bad luck the last couple of years. Some poor qualifying sessions resulted in him being mid pack. And starting mid-pack consistently is generally guaranteed to result in a number of crashes and DNFs.
Also, car reliability has let Skaife down a bit. However, HRT seems to have got their act together again this year. As Neil Crompton said on the TV coverage of Bathurst, HRT has won more races than any other team this year. And after Bathurst they have won more rounds - 4 rounds plays 3 for Lowndes/Triple 888. HRT appears to be back in action, and now that Skaife is back in the winners circle expect him to appear there again more often.
Lowndes endured a longer period of poor car speed, bad luck and lack of realibility than Skaife - but he's back at the front now.
At risk of sounding like a cracked record, top drivers don't lose their talent, even if their results don't reflect their talent. After no one but a fool couldn't honestly say that seven-times World Champion Michael Schumacher had lost his talent due to poor results this year. Usually, if a driver is a proven top performer, one needs to look at other aspects of the equation that goes into winning the races - ie: the car, the team and old fashioned luck - for the cause of the poor results.

[TVR IS KING]

it would appear tat you really know your stuff. i really prefer WRC, im going off V8's

[SlickHolden]

My Brother turned to me after the race when i said i thought skaife was struggling early when slower till he broke the lap record he said that guy is the master he had it planed all day what to do.
Tell you when he got second late i knew noone would stop him eye of the lion he had and when he is switched on he is a very hard man to stop.

I got up close to Skaife down pitstraight in the walkthrough the pits.
He came across as a ok guy to me nice to the kids not a shy guy very confident. He seemed like that ad when he was at the school and the kids wanted to know about the new VY.
Garth tander was a top funny bloke but there was a co driver that was a c&*t and ignored me totally when i wanted him to sign my top **** him i'll find his mug shot one day.

[TVR IS KING]

hey havent heard from you for a while. i lyk ur sig. YOU WENT TO BATHURST!!!!! u rok. where were you did you see all the pile up an shit?

[SlickHolden]

I only seen the crash on the big screen i was sitting on the start finnish straight straight up from p-1 and p-2 on the grid.
Someone had a sign that said barry sheen stand i was up above that 5 rows from the back.
We seen the motorcross dude have the smash and maybe broke a couple of ribs:eek: .