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Situated in northern Victoria this regional circuit has a reputation for a lack of passing opportunities, despite recent
extensions. It is a twisty track with short straights that don't allow enough time to get alongside the car in front
before the next corner arrives.
In the vital qualifying session it started out wet only for the weather to clear and the track dry in the final minutes of the session. Many fast cars missed a good qualifying position because they did not change to slicks soon enough or could not get a clear run in traffic in the last few hectic laps. One of the surprising members of this group was the Mark Skaife, normally HRT are the absolute masters of strategy and timing, but this is Winton, the HRT Hoodoo track Saturday's top ten shootout took place on a track with one car width dry line. This placed a premium on accuracy, any slight deviation put the car onto the wet and greasy section of the track and it was all over. Jason Bright made it to the shootout before the HRT hoodoo got him when he spun, ending up the slowest of the group. Russel Ingall managed to keep the car on the dry line and still go faster than the others, to capture his first ever Shell series pole. In contrast race day weather was ideal. In race one Greg Murphy worked his way to third place on the track before the pitstop action began. The Kmart Racing crew did a fantastic job and Murphy came out in front of Ingall who had lead from the start. Murphy held the advantage until the end of the race While the front of the field might have been lacking in action, there was plenty back in the pack. Some of the fancied runners who missed a good qualifying time paid a dear price when they got caught up in the first corner melee. Glenn Seton was out with a damaged front end on the FTR AU. While John Bowe managed to keep the CAT Falcon going, the work experience kid could have done a better job of the wheel alignment. Some cars made it through and did very well. Skaife made up five positions as avoided the trouble worked his way up to third behind Ingall. Marcus Ambrose went grass tracking from his 18th qualifying spot to avoid the first turn Go To Page: 1 2 |
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