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  V8 Supercar

Ambrose Aces AU's Ultimate

With the impending arrival of new models in the series for the two manufacturers at the beginning of 2003, it would be a good send off if someone could win both races at the final round. Which is exactly what Marcos Ambrose did for Ford and its AU Falcon, ironical considering the car's less than successful history - it was only Ford's second round win of the year, the previous win coming when the leading Holden ran out of fuel with just under two laps remaining, not that the car had been much more successful during previous years. Ambrose's win was good news for Ford in that it prevented the possibility of Holden taking the top five places in the championship, Ambrose catapulting from sixth place into third overall, while two good finishes for Murphy ensured he took a career best second overall, Jason Bright's race one DNF costing him and HRT's hopes of a series 1-2 dearly.

The first race, on Saturday, was 150 km long, featuring a compulsory stop for tyres, while Sunday's race was 300 km long and featured a compulsory stop for fuel and a separate one for tyres. Polesitter Marcos Ambrose made a good start in race one while fellow front row starter Craig Lowndes made an abysmal one, dropping outside the top ten, Greg Murphy moving through to second ahead of David Besnard, Steven Richards and Todd Kelly, while further back a few cars ran off as several cars tried to use the same piece of track. Down the back straight on lap one Besnard made a run at Murphy, but Murphy held on as they approached the esses.

Lap two and Russell Ingall had a look at turn one down the inside of Steve Ellery, Ingall pulling out of the move while Ellery ran wide over the kerb, both cars travelling slower than usual, slowing John Bowe enough to allow Max Wilson to begin to get alongside. Just as Wilson was about to pass Bowe, Bowe moved left, then right in an attempt to pass the slow Ingall who himself moved to the right to block Bowe, Bowe ending up pushing Wilson off onto the dirt as Bowe kept moving to try to get inside Ingall. As Wilson returned to the track, he lost control and started to spin, before tagging the back of Ingall, which knocked Wilson back into shape but spun Ingall off the track into the sand. Lap two also saw Besnard lose three places before gaining one of them back into turn one on lap three. Lap three saw the beginning of the compulsory pit stops, Mark Skaife one of those pitting at the first opportunity. Leader Ambrose was the next of the front runners to pit, stopping on lap six, along with Todd Kelly, handing the lead over to Murphy for a lap before he made his stop, Besnard leading for two laps before he did the same.

This saw Max Wilson move into the lead, with Lowndes right behind him. Into turn four, Lowndes looked but Wilson shut the door, tapping Wilson into a big slide which he managed to catch but with Lowndes now on his left as they headed down the back straight. Both cars had been slowed by this however, allowing Jason Bargwanna to move alongside on the right of Wilson, three wide through the kink down the back straight, all three cars swapping paint as they exited the bend. As they reached a point two third the way between the kink and the esses, Lowndes tucked in behind Wilson, seemingly having given up his hopes of taking the place. Instead, as they reached the braking area for the esses, Lowndes dived to the inside and took both Wilson and Bargwanna, while Wilson managed to stay ahead of Bargwanna. It was an exciting dice, with some brave driving, but it also could have so easily ended in a major disaster.

Lap thirteen saw Lowndes make his pit stop handing the lead back to Wilson, who made his stop two laps later. John Faulkner then led for a couple of laps before he was passed by Ambrose and then pitted that same lap. Meanwhile as Ambrose was passing Faulkner, Jason Bright was getting out of his car after his car suffered another late-season HRT engine failure. With almost the whole field having pitted, Ambrose returned to the lead from Murphy, Besnard, Todd Kelly, Steven Richards, Mark Skaife the big mover up to sixth after starting fifteenth thanks to a pole shootout crash, with Lowndes seventh after his terrible start. Skaife was all over the back of Richards with Lowndes joining the party as they continued to dice.

As they came on to the straight to begin lap 30, Skaife lightly tapped Richards in the rear. As they ran down the straight Skaife got alongside before waving Richards back through, worried that he may have been penalised had he taken the place following the tap. Meanwhile, after watching the duo in front of him battle, Lowndes passed Skaife into turn one on lap 33, while a little further in front Besnard was closing in on Murphy for second place. After moving past Skaife, Lowndes began attacking Richards, Lowndes moving fully alongside as they began lap 38 before Richards took the place back as he outbraked Lowndes into turn one.

Unfortunately, it didn't end well for either of them, when on lap 41, Lowndes outbraked himself into Dandenong Rd corner, tapping the back of Richards in the process, Richards running wide allowing Skaife through, while Lowndes also lost the place to Skaife as well as some pride when he looped it again trying to recover from his spin when he tapped Richards! That was the end of the excitement as Ambrose went on to take his second race win of the season, and Ford's third, while Murphy managed to hold off Besnard for second, Todd Kelly fourth from Skaife, Richards and Lowndes, while eighth was one of the big movers of the day, Garth Tander, having started in nineteenth place. With no safety car periods, only 20 of the 35 starters finished the race on the lead lap.

Before race two started, there was drama in the HRT pit bay. As Mark Skaife was preparing to drive around to the grid, there was a large fuel spill as the tank overflowed, reminiscent of the spill in Greg Murphy's pit at Bathurst which earned Murphy a 5 minute stop-go penalty. On top of that, it appeared that he left pit lane after it was already closed. It was decided he would start from his correct grid position but would receive a drivethrough penalty for exiting a closed pit lane. Meanwhile David Besnard was suffering a misfire and pulled into the pits as they came around to the grid to take the start. All this drama and the race hadn't even started!

When race two finally did get underway, Murphy took the lead as teammate Kelly moved alongside polesitter Ambrose, Ambrose holding on to second from Kelly, Skaife and Richards. Meanwhile Besnard's car was back underway. albeit about half a lap behind the leaders. At the end of lap one Skaife peeled off to take his penalty, dropping behind everyone except the delayed Besnard as Ambrose hassled leader Murphy. Lap three saw Dean Canto's engine blow up and drop oil around the whole circuit, possibly contributing to the lead change as Murphy ran wide at turn four allowing Ambrose to take the lead once again, and steadily pull away.

Lap five saw Jason Bright and Ingall make their compulsory stop for tyres as both tried to fight forward through the pack. Most of the leaders stayed on the track as the teams tried to spread more evenly the time spent on each set of tyres. For the second day in a row Richards was having to fight hard to hold off Lowndes, Tander and Bowe joining in. Lap 19 Ambrose made his stop for tyres, dropping him into the middle of the pack. Murphy took over the lead for three laps before he made his tyre stop, handing the lead to teammate Kelly. Lowndes finally got sick of looking at the back of Richards' car and made his tyre stop on lap 24, one lap after Bowe had done the same. Having started near rear of field, Bright was now right on Lowndes's tail, gaining time from running in clear air after his stop while Lowndes had lost time running behind Richards before it. Richards made his stop a lap later and remained in front of Lowndes.

Kelly now led from Tander and Brad Jones, as the top ten cars remained on the track not having made any stops. This became a problem when Cameron McConville glancing off the barrier at over 200 km/h on the outside of the esses at the end of the back straight on lap 25, tearing the right front wheel off the car and nearly sending him back on to the race track, bringing the safety car on to the track for the first time during the weekend. The race restarted on lap 31, the leading duo of Kelly and Tander pitting at the end of the lap, as well as several others, including Skaife and Besnard who had suffered early in the race. Turn four after the restart saw the end of Paul Stokell's day as broken front suspension saw him end up in the tyres following contact, while Skaife spun Ellery, Stokell's precarious position seeing the safety car return to the track.

Finally the race resumed on lap 38, Bargwanna pulling off a desperate move at Dandenong Rd to take the lead from Jones, both yet to make either stop. Meanwhile, Ambrose lost a place to Murphy and then Crompton as they came around to complete lap 38 as lapped cars got tangled up with the leaders. Lap 40 and Ambrose lost another place at the same part of the track as the same thing happened, Richards taking the place. Ambrose decided now was as good a time as any to make his fuel stop, taking it at the end of lap 40, Richards and Skaife following on lap 41 and Bright and Besnard on lap 42, with another HRT fuel spill at Bright's stop, this one quite minor.

Lowndes and Todd Kelly pitted on lap 43, with Murphy and Rick Kelly doing the same one lap later. As Murphy was just about to make his pitstop, he ran into the back of Bargwanna, damaging his right front corner, resuming after his stop just in front of Lowndes. More bad news was heading KMart Racing's way, Todd Kelly receiving a drivethrough penalty for taking fuel on during the safety car period, a move which the team had hoped to save them time at the pit stop but instead cost them. There was mayhem on lap 47 when Craig Lowndes lost his oil cooler going into turn one, sending him along with several other cars sliding off into the dirt before they recovered, except for John Faulkner who ended up stuck in the gravel, bringing the safety car back out just after Bargwanna pitted from the lead for his first stop on lap 47. Lowndes pitted during this period to fix the problem.

This handed the lead over to teammate Tander. The race restarted on lap 52, but for the second time there was mayhem at the start of the lap, which ended up with Neil Crompton running hard into the back of Steven Richards, Richards slamming into the turn four tyres and out of the race while Crompton's car was also mortally wounded, while Lowndes returned to the track. Further back there was more contact, Bargwanna spinning at turn one with Steven Johnson spinning Larry Perkins exiting turn three. Perkins then spun again exiting turn four in his last regular V8 drive. Tander made his second stop of the day on lap 52, returning the lead to Ambrose once again, most cars having made their second stops by this time, just sneaking in the stop before the safety car made another appearance.

Lap 59 and it was back to racing again, Ambrose leading Murphy, Skaife, Bright and Rick Kelly, in the HRT Young Lions car, with Besnard just behind. Into turn one Besnard had a look but couldn't make the pass, edging Kelly out of the way and onto the grass, Kelly resuming the track in eighth place, but it wasn't long before Besnard received a drivethrough penalty, a bit surprising as his car was not the only car to make contact with another up to that point in the race. As the field began lap 60 Bright got firstly alongside and then a car length in front of Murphy down the pit straight before Bright waved his fellow TWR Australia driver Murphy back through to keep the place in a similar fashion to his teammate Skaife in race one.

After restarting ninth, and moving up to fifth at the end of lap 60, Paul Radisich began to fall back again, dropping to sixth on lap 61 after being passed by the recovering Rick Kelly, and Bowe one lap later. As they began lap 63 another recovering TWR Australia car, Todd Kelly, was right on his tail. Looking to pass, Kelly tapped Radisich in the back before he ducked to make a pass inside and then realised he couldn't make it, locking his rear brakes and colliding with Radisich, spinning both cars out. Radisich went off into the gravel while Kelly spun to the inside but was collected at the front by Paul Weel and at the rear by Russell Ingall. On the same lap Garth Tander retired from twelfth place in the race at the Dandenong Rd gravel trap after a suspension failure sent him off the track. Once again the safety car made an appearance.

Lap 67 saw racing resume, hopefully for the last time of the day, Ambrose continuing to lead from four of the five TWR Australia cars, Murphy ahead of Bright, Skaife and Rick Kelly, with Bowe the second best Ford in sixth place. As the laps began to wind down Ambrose again opened a gap over Murphy, Murphy opening a gap over the two HRT cars, who was clear of Kelly and Bowe fighting for sixth. One car that was on the move was Besnard, restarting in fifteenth, but moving up to thirteenth one lap later, and took one place per lap on laps 71 through to 74, and another on lap 76 to move up to eighth recovering from his earlier penalty. One of the places he gained came when Russell Ingall ran off at the esses on lap 72 thanks to a possible deflating tyre. Ingall immediately pitted but his tyre stop was extremely slow thanks to damage suffered in the Todd Kelly incident a few laps earlier, dropping Ingall to 21st place.

After over ten laps sitting in his slipstream, Skaife passed his HRT teammate Jason Bright on lap 81, setting off to chase down Murphy. Meanwhile Bright quickly fell into the clutches of Rick Kelly and John Bowe, while Skaife was heading the other way and was soon on Murphy's tail. Besnard's charge through the field now saw him up in seventh place but over five seconds behind the trio dicing for fourth ahead of him. Lap 89 and Skaife took second from Murphy into turn one from over two car lengths back into the braking area, Murphy choosing not to fight his fellow TWR Australia driver. With seven laps remaining Skaife pushed as hard as he could but there was no way he could stop Ambrose, going on to take his second race win of the weekend in a dominant performance by the Tasmanian. Second was Skaife ahead of Murphy, followed by Bright who just held off Kelly and Bowe for fourth place, the trio almost crossing the finish line as one, Bright's fourth place coming after starting the race in 33rd place, while Rick Kelly's fifth place came from 32nd on the grid.

Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 13 of 13, Sandown, Australia:

Race One                     
                                
Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Marcos Ambrose      Ford Falcon
 2.  Greg Murphy         Holden Commodore
 3.  David Besnard       Ford Falcon
 4.  Todd Kelly          Holden Commodore
 5.  Mark Skaife         Holden Commodore
 6.  Steven Richards     Holden Commodore
 7.  Craig Lowndes       Ford Falcon
 8.  Garth Tander        Holden Commodore
 9.  John Bowe           Ford Falcon
10.  Steve Ellery        Ford Falcon
                                
Race Two                     
                                
Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Marcos Ambrose      Ford Falcon
 2.  Mark Skaife         Holden Commodore
 3.  Greg Murphy         Holden Commodore
 4.  Jason Bright        Holden Commodore
 5.  Rick Kelly          Holden Commodore
 6.  John Bowe           Ford Falcon
 7.  David Besnard       Ford Falcon
 8.  Tony Longhurst      Ford Falcon
 9.  Paul Weel           Ford Falcon
10.  Steve Ellery        Ford Falcon

Race One

Pos  Driver                   Team
 1.  Ricardo Zonta            Gabord Competicion
 2.  Andre Couto              Vergani Racing
 3.  Justin Wilson            Racing Engineering
 4.  Narain Karthikeyan       RC Motorsport
 5.  Antonio Garcia           Adrian Campos Motorsport
 6.  Franck Montagny          Racing Engineering
 7.  Polo Villaamil           Adrian Campos Motorsport
 8.  Ander Vilarino           Epsilon by Graff
 9.  Peter Sundberg           RC Motorsport
10.  Wagner Ebrahim           GD Racing

Race Two

Pos  Driver                   Team
 1.  Ricardo Zonta            Gabord Competicion
 2.  Franck Montagny          Racing Engineering
 3.  Bas Leinders             Keerbergs Transport Racing
 4.  Justin Wilson            Racing Engineering
 5.  Polo Villaamil           Adrian Campos Motorsport
 6.  Antonio Garcia           Adrian Campos Motorsport
 7.  Paul Edwards             Keerbergs Transport Racing
 8.  Ander Vilarino           Epsilon by Graff
 9.  Narain Karthikeyan       RC Motorsport
10.  Jaime Melo               Zele Motorsport