V8 Supercars 1998 - Phillip Island - Race 1
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Transcript
00:00It's been a big, big accident.
00:02Yes, it has.
00:04Lakeside, three weeks ago.
00:06As the heat tore up the track, wild man Russell Ingle kept his cool
00:10to become the round's undisputed number one.
00:13250 kilometres per hour and around the outside goes Ingle.
00:18Training champ Glenn Seton and Mobile HRT had days they'd rather forget
00:23whilst the flying Fords of Johnson and Bow were spun out by the Ingle onslaught.
00:28It's going on.
00:33Today, the 300 kilometre an hour V8 supercars return to the island.
00:384.4 kilometres of brutally fast bitumen.
00:41Step out of line here and the punishment is severe.
00:45He's heading, goodness me, there's going to be a big accident.
00:48Murphy, straight on.
00:51The championship and the throttles are wide open,
00:55so suit up for the ultimate ride
00:57as Network 10 welcomes you to spectacular Phillip Island Raceway.
01:01Round four of the Jill Australian Touring Car Championship.
01:05It's hell on wheels.
01:16Oh, big accident.
01:18Murray.
01:25Oh, look at Phillip.
01:36Phillip Island, it's the longest and certainly the fastest circuit on the V8 calendar.
01:40The Castrol Perkins team are going for their third straight win.
01:44Hello, everyone, and welcome. I'm Lee Diffie,
01:46and this is round four of the 1998 Jill Australian Touring Car Championship.
01:50Well, that's right, the Castrol Perkins team are going for their hat trick.
01:53In 1996, Larry cleaned up and, of course, last year, Russell Ingle won.
01:57But it's going to be tough work for those guys today to beat the favourite, Glenn Seaton,
02:01and someone who knows just how hard it is to beat Seaton around Phillip Island is Greg Murphy.
02:05Greg, thanks very much for filling in for Barry Sheen today.
02:07It's my pleasure.
02:08Now, Glenn Seaton, it's his favourite. He's won more races here than anybody else.
02:12It is going to be hard work for the rest of the guys to beat him here.
02:14Oh, it certainly is. I mean, Glenn's very fast around here.
02:16It's his home test track. He knows the place back to front, and he's going to be tough to beat.
02:20Now, speaking of hat tricks, someone who's had an unfortunate hat trick is HRT.
02:24They've crumbled three cars here in three years.
02:26Yeah, we know all about that, don't we?
02:28It's something they'd rather have figured.
02:29I think the team's very happy with the way the cars are going.
02:31They've found a lot of things since Lakeside.
02:33This car's working a lot better, and I think, you know, they're looking good.
02:36Craig Lowndes is on pole. Mark's gave third.
02:38I think they're pretty pleased with where they are at the moment.
02:40Well, it wasn't such a good day for HRT at Lakeside, but things are looking up here at Phillip Island.
02:44Let's take a look at qualifying now, because Craig Lowndes, for the fourth time in his Shell Australian Touring Car career,
02:49starts from pole. He snatched that from Seton in the dying moments of qualifying yesterday.
02:54Mark's scaped out of third. Jason Bright, another good qualifying effort there in fourth,
02:58ahead of Tony Longhurst in fifth, the sole Yokohama runner.
03:01Then we go back. Ingle, Larkham, Bowe, Faulkner inside the top ten, and Larry Perkins.
03:06Well, someone who's revved up, as always, and ready to go here at the V8s is Mark Osler.
03:10Mark, welcome, and it's good to see the younger guys going so well.
03:15A few of the more experienced guys and a few of the favourites are struggling at this early stage in the season.
03:19Yeah, it really has been a topsy-turvy time for a lot of our champions.
03:22For instance, our reigning champion, Glenn Seton, was first at this stage last year.
03:25He's back in eighth. And our runner-up last year, John Bale, he's sitting back in sixth.
03:29It's been a real rollercoaster ride in the points.
03:31I caught up with him yesterday to see how their championships are going.
03:34It is, Mark. It's a challenge, that's for sure.
03:36But really, before I went to Lakeside, I was running third.
03:39And then from Lakeside to now, I think I'm running eighth.
03:42But with so many points up for grabs at every round, there's so many things that can happen.
03:48And just have a bad weekend, it can put you from third to eighth real quick.
03:51But there's no way I'm going to give up for the championship.
03:54It's much more competitive. Each year it gets tougher.
03:57But I like to think I'm a good player out of luck at the moment.
03:59I had a bad run of Simmons Plains when I got punted off.
04:02And Lakeside had a clutch problem in the second race.
04:05So the consistency game is what counts in this series.
04:08And unfortunately, I haven't had it so far, but I'm hopeful for the future.
04:12To be honest, we went into Lakeside second in the championship and come out fifth.
04:16And it was one of the worst weekends we've had.
04:18The competition is obviously very stiff, but your resolve in race one is so important.
04:24And when I run 19th in the first race, it was just a waste of time.
04:27Well, let's have a look at the championship points.
04:29And Craig Lowance has, in fact, increased his margin over second.
04:32And Russell Engle jumps up into that spot.
04:34Have a look at the points, because they're very, very close.
04:36In fact, the biggest margin is from first to second.
04:38The rest of them are fairly close.
04:39Back to Perkins, Dick Johnson up into four.
04:41Then we go back to Scaife, Bowe, all the way back to Tony Longhurst.
04:45He's jumped up inside the top ten.
04:47Well, it's going to be a great day here at Phillip Island.
04:49Of course, we've got superbikes on the program today and lots of V8 action.
04:53We'll be back right after this break.
05:06Welcome back to Phillip Island.
05:28We get geared up for round four, the opening race.
05:31But first of all, let's have a look at the track
05:33at the magnificent Phillip Island circuit.
05:37Well, at this place, you've got to be so committed at every single corner.
05:41The first turn, 210 kilometers an hour, fifth gear.
05:44Southern loops, very important to get a good run down into Honda, turn four.
05:48And then over the back through six and seven, extremely fast.
05:51Hang on through there.
05:52Lukie Heights, again, everywhere you go around this place,
05:55you've got to be so committed.
05:56And coming onto the front straight, another fast corner
05:58that I know about quite well.
06:00It certainly is the longest and the fastest circuit on the V8 calendar,
06:03as we said earlier.
06:04And it's going to provide some fantastic entertainment today.
06:07Let's have a look at this record-breaking field.
06:09It is the biggest field, the biggest V8 supercar field
06:12in Shell Australia touring car history.
06:14Lowndes and Seton from the front row.
06:16Skateford Bright start from row two.
06:18And look at these positions.
06:19You might notice on the right of your screen,
06:21the F and the Y for Tony Longhurst.
06:23That denotes Ford.
06:24In the case of Ford, H for Holden, obviously.
06:26And the box below that, Y, D, Yokohama for Y, D for Dunlop,
06:31and, of course, B for Bridgestone.
06:33Back to position 10, it's John Faulkner.
06:35Sorry, 9 and 10, Faulkner and Perkins.
06:37Dick Johnson at 11 and Jason Barguana out of 12.
06:40Out of 13 and 14, Paul Romano and Stephen Johnson
06:42making his comeback to the Shell Series.
06:44Alan Jones at the Komatsu Ford and Garth Tander,
06:46the young West Australian.
06:47He starts out at 16.
06:48Back to 17, it's Mark Poole, just ahead of Thomas Mazera.
06:52Top privateer.
06:53And we have Anthony Tratt.
06:54We go back.
06:55Darren Pate and Rod Nash in the ex-WGR Commodore.
06:59Right up there, 23, Darren Hossack.
07:01And they just keep coming.
07:02Reid Rose, Paul Wheel and Danny Osborne.
07:06Mike Emery in the Saab wreck car.
07:08Wayne Russell, Melinda Price in the Castrol Cougar door.
07:11Darcy Russell and Ryan McLeod,
07:13who has had some mechanical problems in the OAM's Falcon.
07:16He's got a lot of work to do from the back of that field.
07:19Remember, we only had 29 cars at Lakeside.
07:23That's all the track could handle.
07:25We have 34 V8 supercars here at Phillip Island.
07:28It is Craig Lowndes,
07:29the 1996 Shell Australian Touring Car Champ,
07:32off pole position.
07:33He snatched it from underneath Glenn Seaton
07:35in the dying moments of yesterday's session.
07:37Seaton spun off on cold tyres
07:39and that put an end, an early end to his session.
07:41And just over behind him,
07:43he's got his HRT teammate, Mark Scaife,
07:45who was keen to pick up.
07:47Then the young charger in the Pertec Ford,
07:49Jason Bright.
07:50There's Scaife on screen now.
07:52Really determined to make amends for the Lakeside round.
07:56The Bridgestone Shot cars are looking good here at Phillip Island.
07:59We are set for a start.
08:01The first of three and away we go.
08:03Lowndes has got away to a great start.
08:05So too, Scaife slips in behind.
08:07Oh, Longhurst has copped it.
08:09Got hit from behind.
08:10The rest of the field seem to get away okay though,
08:12but Tony Longhurst, a disastrous start.
08:14And it's Mark Scaife on the inside.
08:17Well, much cleaner start than we saw last year.
08:19Fortunately, the big pack sweeping through Turn 1.
08:22And it's the Holden Racing Team steamroller out front.
08:251, 2, Seton back there in third position.
08:27The first of the Castrol Commodores in fourth position.
08:29Well, Mark Scaife, I mean, getting off the line so good,
08:31he's had a few problems in recent times,
08:33but that was a great start from the second row.
08:35And Craig Lowndes having to slot into second.
08:37Well, he's always said, I need to work on my starts,
08:39and he has been doing that, and it's proven to be good work.
08:42Have a look at Ingle.
08:43Ingle is already up into third around the outside as Seton tries.
08:46Can't quite get there in Honda Corner.
08:48Honda Corner. Seton's got the inside run.
08:50Oh, and Ingle holds the line going to Siberia.
08:54What a great move.
08:55For the first time in the Shell Series,
08:57we've got Glenn Seton carrying our helmet cam.
08:59You're riding right alongside Eye of You of our reigning champ.
09:02Just got squeezed by Russell Ingle.
09:04He's got a real battle on his hands here
09:06as they head up out of Siberia, up toward Luki Harts for the first time around.
09:09How about the start from Russell Ingle?
09:11He was way back in sixth position,
09:13and he was already up into third on screen.
09:15Glenn Seton has dropped back to fourth,
09:17and Jason Bryant all over the back of him.
09:19Russell's just a master at these starts, isn't he?
09:21It's amazing.
09:22He makes so many positions off the start line, that's incredible.
09:24So he's going to be a big threat to those two guys in front,
09:26and you watch him bridge the gap real quickly, I'm sure.
09:29Well, he looked like a pretty confident man this morning.
09:31I spoke to him, and he said,
09:32well, this is the sort of qualifying situation we had last year.
09:35There were Bridgestone girls all over the front of the field.
09:37But as you saw in the results last year,
09:39it was a Castrol Commodore 1-2.
09:41So keep your eyes on Ingle today.
09:42There he is in third position.
09:43Then it's Seton, Pertek, Falcon.
09:45First, the Shell Fords, then Perkins.
09:46Huge field of V8s as they come under the Dunlop Bridge,
09:49building up to 275 miles an hour for turn one.
09:52Now, as a direct result of that, a bit of a hiccup at the start.
09:54Thomas Mazera's come right up into the action as well.
09:57He's just outside the top ten and going extremely well.
09:59Steven Johnson ran wide.
10:01Lowndes has a look up the inside of Mark Scaife.
10:04Now, Scaife has never won the Shell Australia Touring Car Race
10:07here in Phillip Island.
10:08Could this be number one?
10:09He ran very wide there going into the southern loop.
10:12Lowndes, he looked up the inside, but couldn't make a move.
10:15He's holding a gap over Russell at the moment,
10:18but I'd expect to see that close up pretty soon.
10:22Into Honda Corner.
10:23Jason Bright just taking his time.
10:25He is suffering from a...
10:26Oh, Dick Johnson is in the pits.
10:28Broken windscreen.
10:29Have a look at that.
10:32He's had something go straight in there very, very hard.
10:35I don't know if it was a bird or something,
10:36but he's shaking his head, obviously very disappointed.
10:39He just said,
10:40Longhurst bumper bar flew off and hit me in the windscreen.
10:43You can see Tony in the wars.
10:44They're coming off the start-finish line.
10:46There's bits of bodywork flying everywhere.
10:47Unfortunately, Dick's been the recipient of that missile.
10:50Now, Mark Scaife was talking to Craig Lowndes
10:53after the qualifying yesterday,
10:55and this morning they changed the set-up a little bit
10:57and worked together on that,
10:58and Mark Scaife's running a set-up pretty similar to Craig Lowndes' now.
11:02There you have it.
11:03Bright back in fifth.
11:04Bough, Perkins.
11:05Bough was all over the back of Bright.
11:07There you go.
11:08Mazera is up into twelfth.
11:09Came up like a rocket.
11:10He's done exceptionally well.
11:11Back through the field.
11:12Ellery's come up a few positions as well,
11:14but it's all the mobile one.
11:15HRT Commodore's going extremely well out in front.
11:18Mark Scaife in control at the moment.
11:19Lowndes right on his tail.
11:22They've cleared out quite a handy gap from the rest.
11:24Yeah, looking at that first flying time for Scaife,
11:26a 1.35.42.
11:28Lowndes, 1.35.25.
11:30Then Ingle, he's running in the 35s as well.
11:32It's pretty tight at the top,
11:33and considering they did a 1.33.62 yesterday,
11:38it's quite a cool day here.
11:39Bit of a breeze blowing across.
11:40Temperatures are down.
11:42So it's really going to be very interesting
11:44to see how the tyre battle works out at Philippon today.
11:47Steven Johnson just ahead of Mark Larcombe.
11:49So Steven's done well.
11:50He qualified back in around 13th, 14th position.
11:53So he's come up a few places.
11:54Ingle sitting nicely there in third spot,
11:56and we go back to seat.
11:58And Jason Bright,
11:59who is suffering from a very sore back at the moment.
12:02Here's the replay of the start.
12:03Look to the bottom left of your screen.
12:05There's contact there between,
12:06who is it, Larcombe and Longhurst by the looks of it.
12:09Looks like Tony's come across to try and cover his line,
12:12and he's clicked.
12:14And there's the bumper bar coming off Dick's windscreen.
12:17That's a big blow for Dick
12:18because wrong place at the wrong time.
12:20Someone stalled at the back of the grid too.
12:22So there was mayhem on the grid.
12:24Mark Scaife's pulled out about three car lengths
12:26over Craig Lowndes now.
12:27Lap three of 12.
12:28Long way to go.
12:29Meanwhile, Ingle is looming in the background.
12:32Bit of a lock-up there from Mark Scaife
12:33going into NG Corner.
12:35Two totally different lines there
12:36between the two HRT Commodores.
12:38See that?
12:39Mark Scaife was quite wide coming out of there,
12:41and Craig Lowndes a lot tighter.
12:42So in the car with Russell now.
12:46Riding with Russell, Ingle.
12:47Lakeside victor in the stifling heat of Queensland
12:50a few weeks ago.
12:51He's 1.6 seconds behind the Mobile One Commodores
12:55out in front of him.
12:56So the order now, Scaife, Lowndes, Ingle,
12:59Zitkrone, Proto, onboard camera.
13:01You're riding with Ingle in third position.
13:03Seton's right behind him.
13:04Then it's Bright, Bough, Perkins, Jason Barguana,
13:06and the Valvoline Commodore Faulkner.
13:08In the better electrical machine in Longhurst
13:10after that drama at the start,
13:11he's back in 10th position.
13:13Well, if you include the Australian Grand Prix
13:14support events, Russell Ingle really is
13:16the man of the moment.
13:17He's won something like six of his last seven starts.
13:20He is in terrific form at the moment.
13:22His third season in V8 supercars.
13:28Those three guys out in front there,
13:29first, second, and third,
13:30all running within two tenths of a second.
13:32So Russell's actually not making much inroads here.
13:34The two HRT cars are still running quite strongly
13:37in the front, and very similar times as well.
13:40So not much in it.
13:42Russell Ingle, 34 years of age,
13:44lives down in Melbourne.
13:46He started racing back in the mid-70s.
13:48Pretty impressive record in the Australian Touring Car Championship
13:50so far, you can see it there.
13:52And a man really on a mission in 1998.
13:54He wants that Shell Series crown.
13:56Pole position has eluded him, though, so far.
14:00So Ingle in pursuit.
14:02Alton Racing Team 1-2 at the front.
14:05Glenn Sieck, very fast here
14:07in the non-qualifying sessions yesterday
14:09in this brand-new Falcon.
14:11Brand-new EL making its race debut this weekend,
14:13put together by Tony Murphy and the boys,
14:16the Melbourne Workshop.
14:18And he was very, very happy with it
14:20in untimed practice.
14:22Unfortunately went off in qualifying,
14:23which sort of spoiled his run for pole position.
14:25He was sitting on pole for most of the time.
14:27Just got pipped by Craig Lowes toward the end.
14:29Well, everyone was saying that Glenn was the favourite
14:31of today's race, and why wouldn't you say that?
14:33He's won more races at this circuit
14:35than anybody else in the history of racing
14:37at Phillip Island.
14:38At the moment, it is all the Mobile One HRT Commodores.
14:41Mark Scaife leading the way, looking for his
14:43very first win here at Phillip Island.
14:46With quite an unhappy run at lakeside,
14:49a 19th, a 9th, and a 7th.
14:52He wasn't a happy man after that.
14:54I'll tell you what, if he stays where he is now,
14:56he'll be happy.
14:57Well, he's certainly pretty pumped up for this year.
14:59It's certainly the tremendous results you have
15:01with Peter Brock in his final years,
15:03particularly taking pole position
15:05at Mount Panorama and at Sandow.
15:08Big results expected from him.
15:09He hasn't been performing the way he certainly
15:11would have liked.
15:12And Scaife's really pumped for a big result.
15:14He wants to do it at Phillip Island.
15:16J.B.'s moved up a couple of spots from his
15:18start at 8th and up to 6th.
15:20Again, locking up the front wheel again
15:22on the Siberia.
15:23You can see him just taking a few different lines
15:25to what Larry Perkins is there, just to make sure
15:27that Larry can't dive the inside going into Honda,
15:29which is a very, very good, popular passing spot
15:31going into that corner.
15:33The Valvoline Commodore of Jason Barguana
15:35is well-placed also.
15:36He qualified 12th and is up into 8th spot.
15:39Here is the triple M telemetry.
15:43Speed and revs.
15:46You're riding with John Bauer.
15:47Shell Helix 18 forward.
15:49C.
15:52Road speed on the left of your screen.
15:53RPM on the right.
15:54And that's brake applications in the middle.
15:56Let's go for a ride with John Bauer at Phillip Island.
16:12Top speed in excess of 270.
16:15Will he get there?
16:16Yes, he does.
16:17Cramming up 275.
16:18So, the Shell Helix Ford
16:20really cranking down the main straight.
16:22They come into this section of the circuit
16:24where they call the Southern Loop.
16:27This is where Glen Sink came off yesterday.
16:29Just spun right here and ended up in the sand trap.
16:31Didn't do any damage to the Ford Credit Falcon.
16:33His brand new car, mind you.
16:35We're sitting with Glen Sink.
16:36Now, someone's gone off.
16:37We'll just run a little wide.
16:38A bit of dust there.
16:39Just run a little wide.
16:40One of the cars in front.
16:42Bauer sits 6th.
16:43This is the battle for 6th and 7th.
16:44There's Barguana looming in the background at 8th.
16:46Longhurst has got past Faulkner.
16:48You can see our narrow JVs going into Honda there,
16:51making sure that Larry doesn't pop up the inside
16:54and needs to take Longhurst behind his bumper.
16:57Steven Johnson's going very well.
16:58Here's the helmet cam inside the Ford Credit Falcon.
17:01Glen Sink is looking at Russell Engel.
17:05And what you see is what Glen sees.
17:07Those four guys,
17:08top five actually,
17:09Jason Bright behind,
17:10are running with all still within two tenths of each other.
17:12It's quite amazing.
17:13The gaps aren't closing
17:14because the times are exactly the same.
17:16So, everyone's very, very quick at the moment too.
17:20Good lap times.
17:21I just wonder, Bert,
17:22looking at the performance of the Dunlop tyres here at Lakeside,
17:25they were so dominant in very, very hot conditions.
17:27It's obviously a pretty hard compound tyre.
17:29I know they would have been looking for a few higher degrees
17:31in terms of ambient temperature here this weekend.
17:33Oh, that's what they're looking for.
17:35The Bridgestone's working good here.
17:36All the Bridgestone runners roaded their tyres yesterday in practice,
17:40which they didn't do at Lakeside.
17:41There may be a problem at Lakeside
17:43with the temperature that they were getting up there.
17:45The track surface was very, very hot
17:47and the tyres just didn't like being run fresh straight from the green surface
17:50that they had when they were brand new.
17:52This is a little, what they call a little lift stick camera,
17:55which is strapped to the side, to the left-hand side.
17:57You can see it there, the little black cylindrical object
18:01beside Glenn's helmet.
18:02Now, he is catching Russell Ingle big time.
18:05Yeah, the HRTs, they've slipped up into the 36s that time around.
18:09136.04 for Scaife.
18:140.3 for Lowndes and 0.3 for Ingle.
18:17So, you can't get any closer than that.
18:19But Seaton was three tenths faster.
18:21Well, Lowndes is closing in on team-mate Mark Scaife.
18:24Will they swap around?
18:25And as a matter of fact, the top five are closing up.
18:28This is great action at Phillip Island.
18:29Stay with us here on Tantmore right after this.
18:43Welcome back to Phillip Island.
18:55It's the Mobile One HRT.
18:56Commodore's doing the business.
18:58Scaife and Lowndes out in front.
19:00That's how it's been since the start.
19:02Mark Scaife started from third position on the grid,
19:04got the jump and hasn't been headed as yet.
19:07It's Russell Ingle back in third place.
19:09Seaton is really hassling big time.
19:10Now, here's a replay.
19:11Watch Paul Wheel in the K&J Radiator's Ford.
19:14Around he goes.
19:15That's at Honda Corner.
19:16Just misses the back of Mel Rose.
19:18And through goes Garth Tander and Steve Reed.
19:21360.
19:22Let's hope Paul can keep going.
19:23Doesn't appear to be too much damage.
19:25Now, Scaife has pulled out a little bit on Lowndes there.
19:27Their lap times are so close, it's not funny.
19:29The two of them actually, Scaife's very fast through sections
19:32and Lowndes is very fast through other sections.
19:35So, sort of pulling out and making the gap back up.
19:38Scaife's still locking that wheel.
19:40Every time he goes in the engine corner.
19:42I can imagine, Murph, there must be a bit of a psychological war
19:46going on within this team,
19:48because Mark Scaife hasn't actually won a race for,
19:50a round for Holden Racing Team yet.
19:52I know he's hungry for success.
19:54So, it's a real battle within a battle.
19:56Absolutely.
19:57Now, he's come into the team and hasn't won a race,
19:59Lowndes has won a few this year.
20:01And, Mark, we know how competitive he is.
20:03And all he wants to do is win races.
20:05So, he'll be giving it everything today
20:07to try and pull one out of the bag.
20:09On-board camera from Russell Eccles' car.
20:12Watching the Ford Credit Falcon at Glen Seaton Creek
20:14closer and closer.
20:16Someone who's driving a very sensible racing behind him.
20:19This young Jason Bright at the Pertec 4.
20:22Hasn't done anything silly, just sitting there in fifth,
20:24gaining valuable championship points.
20:26And he's got a very big following here today from Gippsland.
20:29The boy originally who's from Turalgon.
20:32Now in V8 supercars and making a great fist of it.
20:36Those lap times are so close.
20:38I mean, era now in the 36s.
20:40Here comes Bright.
20:41Right up into it.
20:42So, is Seaton being slowed?
20:44Is he being held up just a little bit by Engle?
20:47He's definitely caught up to the back of Seaton, though, hasn't he?
20:49Yeah.
20:51This is the battle.
20:523.45.
20:54Really, at the moment, you look at those lap times.
20:55Schaefer, 1.36.24.
20:57Lowndes, a 1.36.34.
20:59Engle, a 3.658.
21:01Boy.
21:02And he's separated by tenths of a second.
21:04Very fast.
21:06Bunch of drivers and car combinations in this leading five.
21:08And there's a big gap back from Bright to John Bauer.
21:10Let's look at this in the Shell Helix Replay.
21:12Another incident.
21:13Read down the inside of Rod Nash.
21:15Oh, bit of contact there.
21:17Broken window.
21:18Smashed the window.
21:20Both of them off.
21:21It's funny.
21:23Two ex-Wayne Gardner racing Commodores spinning in perfect unison.
21:27Oh, gosh, where are they going?
21:29Oh!
21:30Mal Rose sneaks through.
21:31That's the second time.
21:32Wheel nearly hit Rose before.
21:33So Mal Rose has got a good bit of luck on board today.
21:36Steve Reid keeps on going.
21:37We have got three laps to go.
21:39Can Mark Schaefer get his maiden win here at Phillip Island?
21:44I'm talking about a race win.
21:46We'll see how we go.
21:48Here's holding his teammate Craig Lowndes at bay.
21:52Well, I wonder if there's any team orders at Holden Racing Team this early in the championship.
21:56Well, obviously, they won't want to be doing anything silly, I would think, at this stage.
22:00And race wins at the moment for anyone is very important.
22:05Well, Mark slipped from second to fifth in terms of the championship points as a result of Blakeside.
22:09He's not happy about that and he's giving it his all.
22:12This time he wasn't happy with the car yesterday.
22:14They did some work overnight.
22:15He had some drastic understeer problems yesterday.
22:18They appear to have overcome that.
22:20He was happy with it after this morning's pre-practice session, the warm-up.
22:24And those practice starts he did in the warm-up must have paid off.
22:28So, the order now is still Skateford Lowndes.
22:30He's at the level of Commodore's Eagle in third position.
22:32Seaton in front, that's the top five.
22:34There's a big gap back.
22:35Three or four seconds back to John Bower.
22:37The first of the Shell Fords is the only remaining Shell Ford.
22:40Perkins, Jason Barguana, Tony Longhurst moved up to ninth.
22:43And John Falkman, the Velorentical car, he's back in tenth position.
22:46Clint Seaton in the Ford Credit Falcon has got a new partner, a new teammate, for the endurance races
22:51and perhaps a couple of Shell Australian Touring Car rounds.
22:54That is Neil Crompton.
22:55He's switching camps from Holden to Ford.
22:57Cromley will be on board with the Ford Credit team later in the year.
23:00He's here this weekend, watching his new teammate.
23:04He doesn't look very comfortable just standing around the pits not doing anything.
23:07I know how he feels.
23:10Thomas Mazera, top-placed driver here at the moment.
23:16He's been having a very good run.
23:20Yeah, it's an important comeback here for Thomas Mazera.
23:24Having severed his links with the factory team.
23:27He finds himself back in the privateer ranks.
23:30And working very hard on the new car down in Melbourne.
23:35And looking very much like he wants to get back into the Level 1 division.
23:39Certainly going the right way about it in the Decentron Commodore.
23:43That gap at the front of the field between the two HRT Commodores,
23:46the Russell Engel Castrol Commodore, has actually closed out at half a second.
23:49And they're definitely coming into the back of Craig Lownsey.
23:52They're catching up that trio behind.
23:54Here's Helmut Kahn.
23:55For those lap times too, they're into the 37s now.
23:57The two high-pricing team cars.
23:59So Engel now closing the gap.
24:01Oh, Danny Osborne.
24:03That's a fire.
24:04Yeah.
24:05Can't quite pick up where that is, can you, Mark?
24:07Not sure if he's let off the...
24:09The firebomb, maybe.
24:10The firebomb inside.
24:11There's plenty of...
24:12Oh, he's got a figure.
24:15It's over the back.
24:17Through the very fast kick before Lukey Hines.
24:19Yeah, Lukey Hines.
24:20We go back on board.
24:21This is Glenn Seton, the Helmut Kahn.
24:23Now Russell Engel has drifted away a little bit.
24:25How desperate is Glenn to pick up that third spot?
24:27We'll wait and see as Lowns now starts to apply the pressure to Skate.
24:30Seton and Bright still in touch.
24:32I really think, actually, Mark, Skate is starting to hold Craig Lowns up.
24:35He looks to be in a little bit of trouble,
24:37and Craig doesn't seem to be able to find a way past.
24:40But the gap has closed dramatically.
24:42This is the last lap they're coming into.
24:444.4 kilometres of racing remaining in heat one.
24:48Let's see if Mark Skate can hold out his team-mate Craig Lowns here.
24:51Lowns looks down the inside as they go to the main straight.
24:54Full six-gear under the normal bridge.
24:56270 kilometres an hour as they break and swing through turn one.
25:01Skate will have his mirrors full of his team-mate here,
25:04and he'll be very keen to hang on to that number one spot,
25:06down toward the southern loop.
25:08Last time Lowns won a race here.
25:10In fact, the only time that Craig has won a race here was back in 1996,
25:13the opening race.
25:14Of course, he had that horrific accident with John Bower that year.
25:18Things are going much better today.
25:21So they're still in the 37s.
25:22Everyone's slipping up now.
25:2337.51.
25:25Lowns, 37.53.
25:26Separated by barely a hundredth of a second.
25:28Look at Bright.
25:29Yeah, big attack.
25:30Now, it looks like Glenn must have made a mistake
25:32coming out of the loop for Bright to make a move like that.
25:34And he's dropped back off the back of Russell Ingle also.
25:37And look at Ingle.
25:38How close he is now to the back of Lowns.
25:40If he's really striking this, he's going to have a go.
25:43Remember last year, Russell, making your last ditch on the last lap,
25:46and maybe again.
25:48Bridgestone on board camera takes you on board, Glenn Seaton.
25:51This is a Ford credit fail.
25:52If you're looking back at the Pertec Ford of Jason Bright,
25:54one of the sensations.
25:5698, one of the new talent coming on board.
25:58And he's done a terrific job for Stone Brothers Racing so far this year,
26:02sitting in this leading pack competitive all year.
26:04And last time down,
26:06over Lugie Heights for Craig Lowns and Mark Scaife.
26:09See if Lowns can make a move up the inside.
26:11They won't want any contact here.
26:12Completely different lines, I suspect, than he picked up before.
26:15It looks like Mark Scaife is well on his way.
26:17He's going to do it.
26:18His first ever Shell Australian Touring Car race win at Phillip Island here.
26:22Lowns, he's not giving up, though.
26:23Has a look on the inside.
26:25Will he pull out of the draft and have a run at his teammate?
26:27Here we come.
26:28He pulls out of the draft.
26:29Craig Lowns.
26:30He's not going to have enough, though.
26:31Mark Scaife does it.
26:32Takes out race one here today at Phillip Island.
26:34Well done, Mark Scaife.
26:36That's a good confidence boost.
26:37Craig Lowns, his teammate, in for second, ahead of Russell Ingle.
26:40Seek, hung on to fourth, ahead of Jason Bryant, in for fifth.
26:45Well, he really, certainly, he really needed that, didn't he, Mark Scaife?
26:48That's a good boost for the championship, too.
26:51Yeah, very important.
26:52As he takes the applause from the crowd at Phillip Island here this afternoon.
26:58And he'll be a very happy man.
27:01He's so competitive.
27:02He would just hate not being in that number one spot.
27:04Has been a long time.
27:06Here's an earlier replay.
27:07Oh, Anthony Tratt.
27:09Whoa.
27:10Just the smallest.
27:11Oh, no.
27:12There's another one.
27:13There's another one.
27:14The first one wasn't big enough.
27:15See you, Steve.
27:17Around they go.
27:18He's looking right at it.
27:19Oh, is he going to give him a T-bone?
27:20The two wins Commodores behind.
27:22And Tandor in there as well.
27:24Oh.
27:25And the three teammates, all three of those cars out of Gibson Motorsport.
27:28Hilary Hossack and Pete.
27:31But here is our man, our main man for race one, Mark Scaife.
27:38Needed those championship points big time.
27:40There's 120 points per day up for grabs now.
27:4340 for the win.
27:44Now, this is the earlier incident with Danny Osborne.
27:49Now, there's a lot of smoke now.
27:51What's he got in front of him?
27:56Just a car, yeah.
27:58It looks maybe an engine or something, I think, there, Lee.
28:01It's a bit hard to pick up, isn't it?
28:02Yeah, a lot of smoke.
28:03It looks like oil smoke coming out from underneath the car there.
28:06Russell and Amazita is doing a good job to avoid Osborne.
28:13But we have a look at the full positions for you on the Shell Helix Race.
28:17Of course, the HRT1, 2, Scaife and Lowndes.
28:20England for a good third ahead of Sig and Jason Bright,
28:23who is in a lot of back pain,
28:25has a lot of back pain at the moment.
28:26So, that was a great job.
28:27Bow, Perkins for seventh.
28:29Barguana held on to his eighth spot from Longburst and Faulkner.
28:32That was unchanged for race distance.
28:34Steven Johnson, well done in his return drive,
28:3611th ahead of Mark Larkham, Alan Jones, Paul Romano and Mark Poole.
28:50Welcome back to Phillip Island International Raceway.
28:52Just completed a big time marks game for us.
28:54I hope Jason is in first place.
28:56For the factory squad, that must be a good feeling.
28:58It certainly is, Mark.
28:59I mean, we struggled yesterday in qualifying,
29:01and the car is obviously a mile better than today.
29:03So, we're really happy.
29:04It's good to be back in the winner's circle, obviously.
29:06They say in motor racing, the most important bloke you've got to beat is your team mate.
29:10Lowndes was right on you that whole way.
29:12He was. I mean, it was a good race.
29:13And obviously, we had a little bit of a gap to the Castrol cars,
29:16or Glenn, or, you know, whoever was in the next battle.
29:19And, you know, the deal is, Mark, that you win races by the minimum amount.
29:22That's what it's all about.
29:23And obviously, the car was very good.
29:25Congratulations, and best of luck in Heat 2.
29:27Thanks, Mark.