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00:00total out on the circuit you can see Craig Lowndes in the number one car there is Neil
00:04Croft and a good qualifying effort from him yesterday he sits on the second row of the grid
00:09in the Ford Credit Falcon he replaces well not replaces he is driving the spare car in the Ford
00:14Credit outfit his team boss Glenn Seaton will miss the race there is John Bow another who will miss
00:20this race had a terrible crash yesterday and the car is in a great deal of need of repair
00:25and the Shell Helix team will work hard to get that up for the FAI 1000 Classic there is Russell
00:30Ingle the runner-up in this year's Shell V8 Supercar Championship they're away on the warm-up
00:35lap this should be a good one Mark yeah it should be great through the concrete canyon they call it
00:40the Gold Coast 4.5 kilometers tremendous speed from Craig Lowndes in qualifying yesterday a 153.22
00:48considering pole last year it was a 55.40 set by our co-commentator Greg Murphy
00:54it just shows how much faster the V8s are around here I've had a slight change to the track in
00:58terms of a bit of resurfacing but the car's going very very quick as indeed the champ cars have
01:03as well Neil Crompton on board the Ford Credit Racing Falcon as he weaves backward and forward
01:09getting heat into the tires checking his PI dashboard to make sure all the temperatures
01:15and everything are in the right direction before they face the starter well it's been a great
01:21effort by some locals in terms of Mark Larkham and Jason Bright two Gold Coast residents they
01:27are sitting second and third in front of this guy that's for sure Russell Ingle a little further
01:32back qualified in sixth position and Greg you were sitting down on pole position you were the number
01:36one man here this time last year I know that Indy is a favorite track of yours but this at the moment
01:42this race has been described as a catch 22 situation because we've had the season we've
01:46had the sand down 500 now we're getting ready for the FAI 1000 classic they don't want over the
01:52car the teams that don't have spare cars don't want to damage them and then we have some teams
01:56driving spare cars yeah well we look at it yesterday uh from a John Bowes point of view
02:01obviously he had an accident in the shell car which uh damaged that was his race car for the
02:05FIA 1000 coming up so that was you know that's the catch 22 you look at but these guys you get
02:10out on the circuit you say we're going to take it easy you know we've got to look forward to this
02:14race coming out but you don't and if you do take it easy that's when mistakes do happen so you've
02:18just got to go natural and do do what does come natural it's incredible there's quite a comparison
02:23here Greg between the increase in speed or the reduction in speed I should say the champ cars
02:27they've pulled their lap times back by about three seconds a lap the v8s 2.2 seconds a lap I mean I
02:32guess it's the same as the champ cards in terms of because the last race was 18 months ago instead
02:37of 12 months ago they've had effectively two development seasons and all of a sudden everyone's
02:41going fast it's a really good point obviously the development of the tires also in these in the v8
02:46supercars has really come to the fore that the manufacturers have been working very hard
02:50and the track uh it is faster it's talking to the guys they've had to try and take some grip out of
02:55these cars because they've been two wheeling through corners and they've been worried that
02:59they're going to tip them over so you know obviously the resealing of some of the parts
03:03of the circuit have really increased the times now if you missed the beginning of the telecast
03:07the big news in terms of v8 supercars is that next year it has just been announced literally a
03:12couple of hours ago that Bridgestone is the manufacturer who will supply the control tire
03:18for next year that means every single car in this category and some meetings throughout this year at
03:23the shell v8 supercar championship we've had in excess of 40 cars next year from 1999 onwards they
03:29will all be on exactly the same type of tire this year we've had Bridgestone's Dunlop's Yokohama's
03:35no more next year every single car will be on Bridgestone's and it's what a lot of people have
03:40been calling for so that they will be playing on a level playing field it's going to be great to see
03:45yeah it certainly is i mean it's really going to even things up obviously Bridgestone and Dunlop
03:49and Yokohama have been all putting putting in together to try and get a call as we look at
03:54Glenn Seton now he's a bit restless in the pits by the looks of it well as Lee said earlier on this
03:58morning i think it's the first time in a decade this guy has missed a touring car race it must
04:02be a real shock to the system for Seto. I was speaking with one of the Bridgestone tire
04:08engineers that works with the Seton team Kevin Fitzsimmons and he said that Seton has been so
04:15fidgety out of the car he's like can you go and get this and Kevin said now you realize what we
04:19go through while you're in the car so Glenn getting a little a different perspective on
04:24things as the cars come down to the grid this will be a 19 lap race around the streets of
04:28surface paradise here in Queensland covering roughly 85 kilometers so it's quite a lengthy
04:33one for them and it will be interesting Craig Lowndes who has never won a race here in Queensland
04:38at this circuit is going for his first one now this man Greg we've seen Russell Engle he never
04:43qualifies particularly well but always managed to pick his way through the field that's going to be
04:47very very difficult on this track well obviously Russell's driving a car he's not using for the
04:51Bathurst race coming up the FIA 1000 so obviously he's probably got a little bit less to lose some
04:57of the other guys the same but Russell as we know he qualified on the front row here last year
05:01and he'll be a fighter he loves the circuit and you watch him attack the circuit only one
05:06VT Commodore here in the field obviously the mobile one HRT guys are opting for the older VSs so too
05:12Larry Perkins and Russell Engle Thomas Mazera is running his VT and obviously that is his only car
05:17we're set to go shouldn't be too much longer now before we get underway with this 19 lap battle
05:22it's going to be a great one Lowndes is off pole position the newly crowned Shell V8 supercar champ
05:28as we get set to go away we go getting off to a great start with Larkin look at Mark Larkin
05:33he's blasted Craig Lowndes right off the line Crumden got away to a ripper as well he's in third
05:38now Lowndes surges on the inside trying to force his way through ah Tander locked it up and around
05:45goes that is Lowndes being knocked right out of it oh we saw this in the first corner last year
05:52a very tight chicane when you're coming down the main straight they all pile in there absolute
05:56mayhem breaking loose fortunately not as bad as last year but Lowndes he's gone right to the back
06:00of the field he stalled it down I think Mark he got in there very sideways very hot locked up the
06:05rear brake stalled the engine he had to refire it he's away now but Mark Larkin what a great start
06:09a ripper of a start from Larkin he leads the way Neil Crumden is up into second position from fourth
06:14then we go back to Jason Bright Garth Tander who was the man who came into that first chicane
06:19way too hot is up there as well Ingalls missing I think I saw a car after the first corner on the
06:24side of the track and Russell Ingalls not there so he's been caught up in that yeah we'll have
06:29our fingers crossed for Neil Crumden too he's running second but he if you noticed when he went
06:32through the chicane there he went down the escape road I hope that the uh organizers aren't going to
06:37penalize him there was two cars that went through the escape road I think Jason Bright who was very
06:40sideways did likewise yeah and uh he had nowhere else to go nowhere else to go here we go here's
06:44the replay from the start Craig Lowndes down the inside Mark Larkin covers himself
06:49Jason Bargwan or is that Tander? Tander very sideways look at Lowndes turned around by Tander
06:54he's actually spun across to hit the tyres there's Russell Ingalls straight into the side of Craig
06:59Lowndes he's done some damage and the carnage Marks gave straight across the grass well it's more
07:03than Crumden too there was about half a dozen cars they're all coming through Thomas Mazera
07:08here's the uh in car now it's Tander on the replay Tander down the inside he's gone
07:13turned Lowndes around straight through just went berserk way too fast he was out of control
07:18Neil oh there's Russell Ingalls there's a big hit there so he's got a lot of damage to that car
07:22that wasn't his fault it wasn't his fault at all Lowndes he decided to get out of it he knew he
07:26wasn't going to make it Tander sideways Bright he was just Bright Tander was just way out of
07:32control wasn't he how close was Lowndes to actually flipping the car he was lucky not to roll that
07:37look at that it was uh as I say you know it's a race everyone goes into the first quarter Bathurst
07:42is coming up but no one seemed to care very much but how about this the Gold Coast locals we see
07:47Ingalls car off to the side Mark Larkham is leading the way he has had a fantastic 1998
07:52season just finished outside the top 10 you look at years gone by where he has been captain crash
07:58and most times not through his fault he's had dreadful luck it has really turned around since
08:02Darwin he had a good run at Sandown had some tyre problems but it was a good run run with Brad Jones
08:08now he's shown that he's a good qualifier and he is leading this race here at Honda Indy
08:12he is going great Craig Lowndes just came into the pits obviously his car is not
08:16feeling very good after the hit there with Russell Ingle and uh but this is great Mark
08:21Larkham out front it's great to see this guy leading a race he really deserves it well Greg
08:26Harbert and the boys at Ford Motorsport will be rubbing their hands together at the moment it's
08:29the charge of the Blue Oval Brigade in the front one two three Falcons in a row as we await the
08:34arrival of the AU Falcon early next year the last hurrah for the outgoing EL Series Ford and it's
08:40looking very very competitive on the streets of surface paradise
08:44there it is it's all over he won't be happy either and some of these guys say they come
08:48up here and it's a relaxing time but i can tell you when they get on the track they put on the
08:52helmet it is serious look at him he is very disappointed he should be that wasn't his fault
08:56he he came up the inside of Mark Larkham and he saw he wasn't going to make the move he braked
08:59he got it behind him and he got teeth warped taken out from behind by Garth Tander look at
09:04the damage on the front of Jason Bright's car tell you what Russell Ingle was taken out too
09:08he saw on the onboard camera he copped that big hit coming through the uh the S as well he's out
09:12of the race as well Mark Larkham this is your race leader in the Mitre 10 Ford it is fantastic
09:18gee I hope he can hold it here and get a win at Indy that would have him really pumped in the lead
09:22up to the FIA 1000 Classic at Bathurst this is on board with Neil Crompton sitting in second spot
09:28in the Ford Credit Falcon and this is the very car that was absolutely smashed to smithereens at this
09:34corner of the track last year when Glen Seek was on board it was sitting in that wall now
09:39Crompton's behind the wheel the good car is of course being prepared for the big one in November
09:43I'll tell you what they did a good job of straightening it out too because it's the fastest
09:46car on the track at the moment a 1.55.11 for Crompton and you can see it's a visual difference
09:51he's closing the gap to our race leader oh Thomas Mazera oh we got Steve Reid
09:57yeah hope uh Steve Reid's really coming there's Gardiner's car he obviously got tangled up in
10:07that incident of the turn one is at the full Stephen Johnson way back as well did a good job
10:12as we get back to it up the front it is Larkham who leads the way from Crompton Jason Bright
10:17Garth Tander be interesting to see how the officials see that first corner incident Tony
10:21Longhurst another Queenslander running there inside the top five Alan Jones is up there well
10:26Skate Bargwana Larry Perkins and Paul Romano rounds out the top 10 well the officials on the
10:31start line are getting ready here with a black flag not sure who that's for just yet but uh
10:35they've got a black flag ready to go so we'll see what happens look at the damage on the front of
10:39Bright's car he's uh taking a big punt apparently we've got a stop go penalty for Steve Reid we just
10:45saw that incident before a little contact between himself and Thomas Mazera yes they're getting
10:49ready to hold up a number three that's the Lansvale smash repairs car and I believe Garth
10:54Tander too has been pinged he will face a stop go penalty for that fraco on the first quarter well
10:58that's at least that's consistent hey look at the damage on that car now that can't be helping
11:03the aerodynamics of that Falcon very much but uh Garth Tander coming in for that stop go I think
11:08that's probably well deserved it won't matter Tander's the car right up on Jason Bright but
11:12Tander has to come in for that stop go so Jason Bright should be able to maintain that third spot
11:17because we look back here comes Crompton drafting Mark Larkham down the main straight Crompton's all
11:22pumped up after the uh champ car qualifying up the outside won't go through there though well
11:27Crompton was looking forward to a big race meeting here he knew he had a very strong package with the
11:31Bridgestone tyres around this 4.5 kilometer circuit he's a guy with a lot of experience on
11:36street circuits having competed in the North American Touring Car Championship last year
11:40a very accomplished racer and he can really see an opportunity to take the checkered flag here
11:45this afternoon that's a great shot coming out the back you see how close Neil went to the wall just
11:49then these guys pushing pretty hard well he's only done a couple of races this year in the
11:54Shell V8 Supercar Championship after confirming the deal with Glenn Seaton racing to do the
12:00endurance races both the Tickford 500 and Sanddown and the FAI 1000 he did a couple of the sprint
12:06rounds just to get time in the car that's the reason the very reason why Seaton's not driving
12:10this weekend he wanted Neil to take the drive so that they would both be ready for Mountain
12:14Panorama and have a look at Crompton go this is a great drive he is all over the back of Mark Larkham
12:19all full of expectation and he is full of expectation isn't he waiting wife Sally back
12:24in Sydney expecting their first child any day now Neil Crompton really looking forward to this race
12:29maybe he can win it for the first born here we go hard under brakes through the Isses up over the
12:34kerbs yeah fantastic we're just through Gartanda has been black flag not a stop go that is a black
12:42flag for bypassing going straight through the chicane that was of course that first corner
12:47first lap incident we ride now with Neil Crompton in the fourth credit Falcon
12:50the 38 year old Sydney Cider straight out of the commentary box and into the cockpit tell
12:56you what they're pulling away from Jason Brighton third spot so these two guys out front
13:01are running very quickly Neil Crompton a 54.7 he is still the fastest man on the circuit isn't he
13:08consistently a 154.75 the man in front of him Larkham a 155.1 so Neil consistently three or
13:16four tenths of a second faster but he's got to find a way past that miter 10 Ford and I'm sure
13:20Mark can make that car very wide around these concrete lined streets you can see also just
13:25Mark just checking the mirror there off over the kerbs and he just just covering himself going down
13:29the straight staying to the left hand side to cover the inside under braking and just a close
13:35very small gap between these two but they are pulling away from the guys behind them well the
13:39officials have decided to up the ante a little bit they're black flagging Steve Reid they've
13:43done it to Tanda and they are black flagging Steve Reid for punting Mazera as well in the same
13:48corner this is your leading pair Mark Larkham in the miter 10 Ford then we go back to
13:54Neil Crompton then back to Jason Bright D in top three as they go on to the back straight
13:58a long race 19 laps it's only lap five plenty of time left for Crompton to make his move
14:03on Mark Larkham how physically demanding is it to drive one of these big v8s around this circuit
14:08Greg well it is very physically demanding there's a lot of corners here hard on the brakes a lot of
14:13places obviously the temperature here this weekend as well I mean look it's it's hot outside 30 odd
14:17degrees inside the car it's probably probably running around 45 to 50 degrees celsius inside
14:23the car these guys will be really earning their money this weekend well that's not the Castrol
14:27Cougars you see it's not Kieran Broome and Linda Price it's Larry Perkins yes Larry is driving the
14:33girl's car not a bad strategy really under the circumstances yeah about this only a month away
14:38he's going to end up tasting the concrete here he must rather do it in the Cougars car rather than
14:43one of the race cars particularly the VT that he and Russell Engle will share at Mount Panorama
14:47running inside the top 10 in ninth position at the moment
14:54Alan Jones having a good run it's probably the best run we've seen Alan having quite some time
14:58he's sitting in seventh position also with Jason Barguana all over the back of him well this is a
15:03great run for the Fords Greg Murphy Mark Larkham leading Neil Crompton second Jason Bright in third
15:08the first of the Commodores Garth Tanda and Ford this will give them a lot of hope yeah a lot of
15:11hope obviously the car's running very strongly incident at the start obviously helped that a
15:15little bit but uh you know these guys running very strong pulling away and Tanda's obviously
15:20got to come into the pits so which i think he's doing now so the guys behind are gonna make up
15:24another spot in terms of the history of the V8 supercar races Tanda is in he has come in there
15:30he is going to the bad boys corner i'm pulling in bring him into a complete stop before he can
15:35rejoin the race look like he had a real rush of blood in that first corner just went straight on
15:40brakes locked bang into the back of Lowndes took him out there stopped go penalty and Tanda's back
15:44in the race but that'll cost him a lot of position he's out of it getting back to talking about the
15:49history of the V8 supercar races here at Indy there's been six and Ford have won four of them
15:54so they can continue on they're looking good for this one because they fill the top four positions
15:58at the moment they're doing well as Crompton continues to reel in Mark Larkham out in front
16:04who said this morning that he is really at ease he is feeling together as one with his car and
16:09his engineer Bruce Kerry a man who's got Formula One experience there's Steve Reed in for his stop
16:14go and he's gone again as well the two stone brothers racing Falcons first and third of these
16:20guys will be really wrapped with that they're based up here and uh obviously they don't get time to
16:25spend on the circuit so they don't have an advantage over everyone over anyone but are
16:29running very strong and Larkham I just rap to see him out there doing so well Tony Longhurst
16:35holding off the advances of Mark Scaife this is the battle for fourth position oh scaife underneath
16:40oh nice move by Mark Scaife very tiny move under brakes down to Conrad Jupiter's turn
16:47he's come all the way from grid 12 up to fifth yeah he had an awful qualifying session his
16:53teammate Craig Lowndes taking pole and undercutting the previous year's pole by over two seconds
16:58so Scaife now showing plenty of speed in the race he was actually probably better off being a bit
17:02further back in the pack this time it's a real lottery that first corner isn't it good well he
17:06had as you said he did have a dreadful time yesterday he hit the wall with the right rear
17:09corner and then spun in that session and so by the time they uh there was a uh a stoppage because of
17:16John Bower's accident he didn't have much time left but he's starting to crank his way forward
17:20now doing well inside the top four the next victim the next one on his list is Jason Bryant
17:26he's got a little bit of work to do to shake off Tony Longhurst and catch Bright because we have
17:31three three seconds of drift of Jason Bright so he has got a bit of work to do 19 laps around this
17:35place is very hard on a motor car was saying um saying before that the brakes do take a pounding
17:41and they'll be taking a pounding in these cars well while we watch one mobile one HRT guy as
17:45Longhurst tries for the inside line couldn't get it that time though down at ANA so he will have
17:51to try again on scape well we're talking about one mobile one HRT guy doing well on the track
17:56the other one is on the sidelines and he's with Barry Sheen well I suppose go off Tanner ain't
18:01on your Christmas card list is he well I'm not sure I think it might have been Tanner that hit me
18:05I'm not sure I was uh I was fighting for first position with Mark and uh Mark Larkin really got
18:10a good good start good run into the first turn and uh now I guess we were going very smoothly until
18:14something happened behind me it's uh I got turned turned around and uh the engine stalled by the
18:18time I got it going I think I had Russell in my uh in my passenger door so uh sorry my driver's
18:22door I think it was uh trying to hit your ride but uh it was just the way it is I think it's
18:26just this circuit it's just the way it's going to be yeah it was it was Stephanie Tanner is he
18:31it was either brain fade or brain fade I'm not sure which one but uh I think this circuit as I
18:36said it was just going to be going to be uh inevitable but uh we're hoping because we're
18:39up the pointy end it wasn't going to be up there well there's always tomorrow well there is uh
18:43hopefully the guys are going to put the car back together and give me another chance uh
18:46this is fabulous stuff in the back thanks great stuff Greg Murphy if you're a team manager you
18:50couldn't make any other decision if you had a spare car sitting in the garage you would just
18:54not bring a good one up here would you well it's paid uh paid its dividends today for Craig at
18:58least I mean uh very disappointing I mean as he said he qualified on the front row thinking he
19:03was going to get out of all that but uh he was in the middle of it so and Russell Engel as well
19:07pretty disappointing as we get back to this battle up front as Thomas Mazera regroups after being
19:12spun by Steve Reid it is still Mark Larcombe in the minor 10 Ford who leads the way with Neil
19:17Crompton look at him lights on he is in hot pursuit and his bright escape that make up the top four
19:22we then go back it's Tony Longhurst another gold coaster from Barguana Perkins and Alan Jones
19:28Romano's in the top 10 as well and Steven Johnson hot in pursuit we'll be back with
19:32more V8 Supercar action right after this on your home of Motorsport Network 10.
19:42Welcome back to Honda Indy well this is what happened to Neil Crompton he has got severe
19:46rear end problems and he is out of the race but he did take the lead he passed Mark Larcombe
19:52and unfortunately it is typical Crompton luck just when everything was going right something
19:57went wrong he took over the lead from this guy Mark Larcombe and then suffered those problems
20:02as we go on board with Jason Barguana he's charging hard he has moved up into the top five
20:07after qualifying ninth so he's doing well in the Valvoline Cummins Commodore what a move what a
20:12move by Neil Crompton on on Mark Larcombe under brakes two seconds later the axles hanging out
20:17the back of it so a disaster for him that guy's luck has got to change one day unbelievable but
20:23let's focus on this guy in the Mitre 10 Ford Mark Larcombe because he has now increased his lead over
20:28Jason Bright his teammate by another half a second in that last lap it is now out to 4.2 seconds
20:35Mark Larcombe there's still a long way to go but Mark Larcombe is well on the way to his first
20:39ever V8 Supercar win but have a look at the Mobile One HRT pilot in Mark Scaife he's hot in pursuit
20:45in third he has dropped Longhurst off his tail and now has got his sights on Bright. Mark Larcombe
20:51the fastest man on the track just did a 1.55.30 Bright a 5.58.1 and Scaife a 5.56 so those top
20:57four Longhurst in the 55s as well they've dropped off the rest of the field that really is amongst
21:02this leading quartet fingers crossed Mark Larcombe can bring it home and win his first V8 Supercar
21:07race. Bright's doing a great job in second spot also this is his first time on the Indy Circuit
21:12in a V8 Supercar but have a look at Scaife he is really pushing that car hard
21:17now Greg which car is it is it this car or was it uh Lowndes car we'll get back to that because
21:22Neil Crompton is down in the pits with Barry Sheen. Oh Neil just getting the lead and it
21:26breaks. Yeah I know what a shame um those things happen in motor racing so you just have to cop it
21:31but uh yeah it was good the car was very very good I was probably a little bit slower across
21:36the kerbs than Mark and probably our our initial low down power maybe not quite so good but it was
21:40very good under brakes rear tires were in great shape got past him cleanly and it's a great car
21:46and it's broken the watts link bolt and I got another couple of corners up the road and it all
21:49went shimmy and shake like we were going to go for a dance and I thought this is it so I managed to
21:54keep it off the wall and here I am. Okay so those things no warning job it's just instantaneous.
21:59Yeah it was all of a sudden something strange I actually thought it might have been a blown tire
22:03obviously around this track you jump over the kerbs a lot so it puts a big load through the car
22:07and uh this is one of our old girls and she just wasn't up to it today but
22:12it's showbiz. I reckon you run over a black cat somewhere. Yeah I know and walked under a ladder
22:16and looked in a cracked mirror or something but I'll win one of these things one day you watch.
22:20We hope so thanks thanks mate. We hope so too boy oh boy you can't keep your fingers crossed there's
22:26the replay you saw during Neil's interview of the great movie made on Mark Larkham and just
22:31limping back to the pits that axle broke away and you can see it wobbling backwards and forwards
22:36sideways across the car. This is on board with Jason Barguana currently sitting in fifth position
22:42suffering from a very very bad back at the moment he was in search of a chiropractor this morning so
22:49he's under little adverse conditions at the moment so Barguana's doing well but not quite as good as
22:53this guy the Gold Coast resident Mark Larkham on his home circuit leads the way it's pretty
22:59determined too and that lead is now out another two tenths to four and a half seconds over Jason
23:04Bright. Well we saw a very competitive run from Larkham at Hidden Valley the first race we had in
23:10Darwin this year very fast in qualifying very fast in the race as well until they got caught up in
23:15some traffic the 34 year old Sydneysider now living on the Gold Coast where he's nice and close to Stone
23:21Brothers Racing has a lot of input in the technical setup of the car and working very very well with
23:26Ross and Jimmy let's hope they can finally bring it home for Mitre 10. There's a lot of a lot of
23:31our viewers here on Network 10 are country viewers and this boy originally was a country boy born in
23:37northeast Victoria rather northwest Victoria in terms of Benalla and then he moved to Griffith
23:43so he spent plenty of time in the country now lives by the seaside was the 1989 Formula Ford
23:51champion and you've really got to hand it to him in terms of hanging in there isn't he unbelievably
23:55resilient guy when he came into the formula he had that first car was an absolute disaster
24:00but he accepted that he said they went the wrong way and they eventually found form it's been a
24:05long hard grind let's hope he can do it either day. John Briggs in the super cheap autos Falcon
24:11another Queensland driver who is currently sitting just outside the top 10 he's sitting
24:17in 12th position at the moment not running on the control privateer tire this weekend either
24:22he's opted for level one Yokohama so that's something new for John Briggs it's obviously
24:26paying dividends he's doing well. Yes John Briggs very successful in the privateer sprints
24:34in the shell series this year won a couple of them by memory but very very quick in the Falcon
24:41as he was in sports events a tremendous racer in a number of or a succession of Chevy Monza's
24:48very very successful competitor even if inconsistent the time in terms of his appearances
24:54well Greg Murphy about to ask you something before we went to the Crompton interview there's Wayne
25:00Gardner going through in the Coca-Cola Donut King Commodore he had some bad luck we didn't
25:06see what happened to Gardner he was caught up in something on that first corner he was
25:09off the circuit yeah yeah was able to rejoin is the car the escape is in is that the one that you
25:14raced at Sandown with Mark Nosky or was that Craig's car? The one that Mark Nosky himself
25:20raced was Craig's car and the one that Mark's racing today is the one he used for the whole
25:25championship. So the order at the moment still Mark Larcombe leading this 4.4 seconds the gap
25:31over Jason Bright his teammate in the second of the Stone Brothers Fords. Mark's gave first on
25:35the Commodore he's in third position and Tony Longhurst still hanging on there in fourth.
25:39Bugwana, Perkins, Jones, Faulkner, Steve Johnson taking over the 17th seat from his father Dick
25:46and Garth Tando after that stop go penalty he finds himself back in 10th position. Paul Romano
25:51the 23 year old Brisbane driver who has recently picked up some sponsorship through Siemens mobile
25:58which is great had a dreadful time at the Tickford 500 at Sandown recently where they
26:03had a big crash on the main straight in the wet conditions but the team this small team have
26:08worked very very hard to get the car back in shape and he will partner with Steve Ellery for
26:12the FAI 1000 Classic at Bathurst November 14 and 15 and let's hope the young guys go really well.
26:20Mark Larcombe consistently the fastest around here we're just in a very quick one from Tony
26:25Longhurst to 1.55.45 whereas Larcombe's done a 55.48 so you're only talking about a few hundreds
26:30of a second but with Larcombe now Greg Murphy is sitting on that big cushion that big buffer
26:354.6 seconds that's pretty handy lead. Well the guys we tell him in the pits now he's got that 4.6
26:40he'll look in the mirror see that Jason Bright's a comfortable distance behind him and he's just
26:44going to look after the brakes and tyres we know how hard it is on the equipment around here and
26:48he'll know that he can probably stay off the kerbs a little bit more save the car from hitting
26:52pounding over the kerbs look after his brakes brake a little bit earlier and he's comfortably
26:57in front no problem. I guess braking could be a big factor around here because we talk about the
27:01increase in speed these cars are producing now because they haven't been here for something like
27:0418 months I guess the teams will be looking at brake temperatures and brake wear because this
27:09place traditionally is very very hard on the stoppers. Absolutely and they'll be using that
27:13information collating it for about four weeks time. A good run at the moment for Alan Jones
27:17and the Komatsu Ford he is well placed in the top 10 sitting in seventh position at the moment
27:22but it is still the minor 10 Ford of Mark Larcombe who leads the way John Faulkner is there just
27:27behind Jones in eighth Garth Tander after the stop go has worked his way back up into the top 10
27:33John Briggs and Romano just outside the top 10 Dean Croswell the youngster in the Ericsson
27:38Trust Bank car in 14th we'll be back right after this. Welcome back to Surface Paradise you're
27:44watching the V8 Supercars here at the 1998 Honda Indy the Whitman's Lightship over above
27:53nice blue sky it's been terrific weather all week here on the Gold Coast it wouldn't be a motorsport
27:59event without the Whitman's Lightship and here's Mark Scaife he's got other things on his mind
28:03Tony Longhurst has certainly stayed in touch with him both of these guys are chasing hard to catch
28:08Jason Bright who has some pretty bad front end damage on the car but it hasn't stopped him
28:12circulating it hasn't prevented him from holding down that second spot his teammate Mark Larcombe
28:18still leads the way with just four laps left to run. Tell you what quick Murphy it's not hard to see why
28:22Mark Larcombe continues to build this cushion he's up to 6.6 seconds watching his lap times is
28:27consistently in the low to mid 155s whereas we've just seen Scaife and Longhurst sometimes lose one
28:32and a half two seconds on one lap. Well he's not making any mistakes he's even I think he's even
28:36going quicker I mean he's he is he's quicker by seven tenths of a second that time from Jason
28:41Bright he's not making any mistakes the guys behind him are making the odd mistake 6.6 seconds
28:46he's cleaned these guys up and there's an indication of his consistency his fastest lap so far in the
28:51race was on lap 10 a 1.55.11 on 15 he's done a 1.55.13
29:00has stuck with him and believes in him along the way through all of those dreadful accidents that
29:04he's had over the past say three or four years well now's your time to stand up and be proud of
29:10your boy because he's on his way to his first ever V8 Supercar win they can hang in there for about
29:14another three and a half laps Mark Scaife in the mobile one Holden Racing Team Commodore
29:20these guys will be relieved that the Bridgestone Tire Company have been awarded the rights to run
29:26and supply the control tire for this format next year have a look at Longhurst really driving hard
29:31trying to stay with Scaife you can see there it's about a three or four car length gap he's very very
29:36quick through this part of the circuit he loses out around the back and down some of the straights
29:40to Mark Scaife but catches up through this section and these two are sort of holding about the same
29:44gap they have for about the last four or five laps three laps remaining for our race leader
29:49Mark Larcombe 1.55.17 he's just done it again boy he's quick around here that's a full second nearly
29:55a full second faster than his teammate Jason Bright and he's just pulled out to 7.4 seconds
30:00watching the battle now for third watching this for a couple of laps Mark Scaife coughing plenty
30:04of heat from Tony Longhurst and Castro Ford really coming on form toward the end of the
30:09Shell Series when Tony switched tire brands he'd struggled for many years on Yokohama he went to
30:14a level one Dunlop and all of a sudden the car was transformed this car instantly became quick
30:20and we were reminded of those fabulous days when Tony used to drive the little BMWs
30:24everyone knew he was a very very fast driver he just needed the equipment to prove it once again
30:28just looking at uh Tony Longhurst there some of the lines that he's got are very very different
30:33to what Mark Scaife's doing he's taking some different parts of the circuit completely
30:38and uh it seems to be working pretty well for him but he's very very different in some parts
30:42of the circuit you know where you pointed out across the back section before you come onto the
30:46main straight you pointed out that Longhurst was a lot quicker than Scaife of course Dunlop
30:51Longhurst running on the Dunlop tires the Dunlops go well on the green tracks like Albert Park where
30:56Russell Ingle has dominated the last two years it's a new surface and he's going really well
31:00let's hope Larcombe can hang on to this because he is not far from home he's got a great gap a
31:05big gap it's now it's a seven and a half seconds can you believe it over Jason Bright we're looking
31:10at a Stone Brothers racing one two I don't think you can say enough about Mark Larcombe I've just
31:14been watching his lap times they're unbelievably consistent I mean they're down to like two
31:18100s or three 100s of a second difference lap after lap after lap he is really in the groove
31:24well we haven't seen a great race in terms of big battles it's a pretty spectacular start
31:29I tell you what it's something special though for Larcombe because he has been a hard campaigner
31:33here's his young teammate 25 year old Jason Bright who made the move from South Australia
31:39to Victoria now up to Queensland he lives just down the road I think at Mermaid Beach
31:45so he's sitting in front of this battle here for third and fourth he's trying everything isn't he
31:50he's got he's got some unorthodox lines I tell you but I think he's just trying to
31:53maybe a bit of sight Mark Scaife out a little bit but look at that and again underneath those
31:57two cars and he's very close this time look oh Scaife's covering himself nicely though
32:04this time under brakes you watch Longhurst down the straight here he takes a bit of a wide line
32:08and a toe this time trying to get a toe behind Mark Scaife you're saying earlier Greg we're
32:13watching those cars lift their wheels up over the curbs they're trying to pull grip out of the car
32:17what do you mean by that well most of the time we're trying to get more grip but um this time
32:22the cars are getting so much grip on some of these corners and lifting lifting up so high
32:26that's actually slowing them down because obviously they've only got a little bit of
32:30a little bit of contact patch on the track and they're actually having to slow the cars down
32:35physically to get around the corner faster because they are lifting up so high they're having to slow
32:40down other thing otherwise the thing's going to tip over look at Tony Longhurst under brakes coming
32:44into there through the Foster's chicane he did a great job reeling Mark Scaife but in a straight
32:50line Scaife's got plenty of grunt that's for sure so in terms of reducing the grip they've got to
32:54change the suspension settings mostly is that it they'll just change the shocks maybe the springs
32:58bits and pieces but obviously they don't want to upset also the wear on the tires want to make
33:01sure they retain consistency and a good temperature in the tire so it is quite difficult to do we're
33:07usually used to trying to put it in not take it out watch this this is the section of the circuit
33:11where Longhurst has proven that he is quick that he can bridge the gap on Scaife now watch whether
33:16he can get past is another thing he's still about a car length behind but now he starts to
33:21pull right up on Mark Scaife this is the battle for third and fourth the mobile one HRT
33:26number three in this year's Shell V8 supercar championship Mark Scaife and Tony Longhurst in
33:31the Castrol Ford just one lap left to run in the first of two V8 supercar support races here at
33:36Honda Indy as Longhurst pulls to the inside which is the outside run down the main straight still
33:42too far away to do anything about Scaife you think he might be having some overheating
33:46getting out in the clean air there he might well be doing that now obviously a hot day here these
33:50cars can uh don't get as much air into them when obviously he's as close to someone as this is
33:56he's all over the track he's really trying to psych Mark Scaife out but obviously Mark's a
34:00seasoned campaigner and doesn't fall for that trick lightly less than 4.5 kilometers of racing
34:05remaining around the streets of service Tony pulls out of the draft once again he may be having
34:09overheating problems there sitting in that disturbed air behind the mobile one Commodore
34:13it's very inefficient of cooling a hot racing engine quite often in high temperatures like
34:18this you see a driver duck out of the draft that may not be what Longhurst doing he may just be
34:22trying to intimidate Scaife by filling up his mirrors left right and center Mark Larkham this
34:26time he's backed it off he knows he's on his way home for a win and uh that time over a second
34:32slower than his last lap so he's uh starting to cool it down Scaife is looking pretty comfortable
34:36at the moment although Longhurst dives for the inside through the MCIS as again Scaife hangs it
34:41out very loose in the rear end we're half a lap to go to the finish of this one Mark Larkham on
34:47his way to his first ever V8 supercar win here he is in the minor 10 Ford well there are going to be
34:54some big celebrations tonight on the Gold Coast I think he's got a smile on his face he knows he
34:58is there not there yet Mark but I'll tell you what this car just covered in sponsors the main one
35:03there might attend they have stuck with him through thick and thin there was time there
35:06when plenty of people in the racing industry thought they were going to walk away they had
35:10plenty of excuses too but they didn't they stuck it with him now they're getting their just desserts
35:14the battle continues here Tony Longhurst not wanting to give in he wants to stand on the
35:18podium in front of his home crowd here on the Gold Coast but let's go to the finish line this
35:23is Mark Larkham's first ever V8 supercar win congratulations what a moment in his racing
35:29career you want to see some elation look at that absolutely thrilled the boys all
35:34patting each other on the back it's been a long hard way but they've finally taken the
35:38checkered flag Jason Bryant his young teammate in the Pertec Ford will pick up second spot
35:44and Mark Scaife in the Mobil 1 HRT Commodore did hang on for third but we go back on board with
35:49Mark Larkham the 34 year old from the Gold Coast here in Queensland well done tremendous run the
35:56last time he tasted major success was in 1989 when he won the Australian Formula Ford Championship
36:02this has got to be right up there with it well it's fantastic the way they've molded together
36:07isn't it Stone Brothers Mark Larkham and his teammate there Jason Bryant the rookie
36:11in Shell Series competition this year an absolutely dominant performance from the Gold Coast team
36:16on home ground and the home crowd giving them the applause that you would expect for the hometown
36:22boys what a great run well if it longer did get up there for third it would have been a
36:25Gold Coast sweep one two three there's John Bow a spectator for that one but he would be happy for
36:32Larko as well a great run from Mark Larkham Jason Bryant that damage didn't seem to affect him too
36:37much obviously that was sustained in that first corner incident where Lowndes was taken out of
36:42the race I'll tell you what Lee you got to think about these guys chances at Mount Panorama for
36:47the FIA 1000 in just a few weeks time this car was very quick there last year they managed to come
36:53home third I wonder if Mark Larkham will stand atop the podium at Mount Panorama in November
36:58well he was happy with the performance at Sandown for the Tickford 500 he was teamed up
37:02with Brad Jones they did have some problems which prevented him from going any better
37:07his teammate riding there on the flank Jason Bryant has teamed up with another very talented
37:12youngster Stephen Richards they are going to be hot to watch these two cars they'll be flying
37:17the flag nice and high for Ford and that brings up Ford's fifth win from eight starts rather from
37:24seven starts here at Honda Indy well it's amazing isn't it that John Bow has won four of the six
37:32races before they came here this weekend he had that shocking accident in qualifying that put him
37:36out of the running but the Ford tradition continues the Blue Oval Brigade at the Streets of
37:43Surface Paradise dominant once again well let's check the results of that V8 Civic car race with
37:48thanks to Hogs Breath Cafe Mark Larkham in for his first ever win as we said a very special moment
37:54for him Bright, Scaife, Longhurst and Bargwana getting up there for fifth from ninth which is a
37:59good result Larry Turkins, John Faulkner, Alan Jones up there in for eighth Stephen Johnson a
38:05terrific effort in there for ninth and Paul Romano in the top 10 we continue on the McDonald's
38:10scoreboard the results Freaks, Croswell, Mazera, Gardner and Tanda well Bill Woods that's certainly
38:17a very very significant moment for Mark Larkham yes and for Ford too Lee because after a very
38:22tough year particularly in the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship they're now setting
38:26themselves some sort of momentum through Sandown and here for the FAI 1000 Classic and we hope
38:31they'll be very competitive on the mountain and especially this guy here who was very unlucky
38:35not to do better than he did he did in 1997 I'll put my teeth back in
38:39and we'll come back with more great action from Honda Indy