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It's as good as it gets for Skaife at the Creek

© Philip Northeast

Mark Skaife seemingly had an easy time At Eastern Creek. He qualified fastest, won the Top 10 shootout and then took the chequer in all three races.

For most of the weekend Skaife and his Holden Racing Team Commodore seemed invincible around Eastern Creek. The Holden fans had cause to rejoice and they also had cause to worry as he was the only Holden driver on the podium.

The new shorter qualifying sessions are not a reliable indicator who is quick and who isn't. Obviously Skaife was quick out of the truck and easily topped the time sheets. In the pressure cooker of the Top 10 Shootout Ford's Marcus Ambrose emerged as the main challenger and moved to the front row of the grid.

John Faulker turned his year around with an amazing qualifying performance. He managed to post he fourth fastest time to get into the Shootout and then improved to move to third with an even faster time. Faulkner has struggled in the last couple of years to attract the sponsorship to mount a proper attack on the series. Now that Dynapak have come aboard he has been able to set up a proper workshop structure that looks to be paying off. I would assume as well as money that John Faulkner Racing have the use of a good Dynapak chassis dynomometer.

Saturday at Eastern Creek closed with a twilight sprint race adding a bit of value for the fans. In the fading light the flames leaping from the exhausts and the glowing brake discs are a spectacular sight. The unusual format didn't bother Mark Skaife who lead from start to stop. The only driver to anywhere near was Marcos Ambrose in the Pirtek Falcon and then daylight back to John Faulkner.

Sunday's first race followed the same pattern except that Craig Lowndes continued his recovery from a poor qualifying performance to move to third position in the 00motorsport Falcon.

The start of the final race had the fans in the grandstand on their feet as Marcos Ambrose get a better start than Skaife to take an early lead. This didn't last long as Craig Lowndes made an absolutely brilliant start from the second row and left both of them behind. The Ford fans were delighted with Falcons running in first and second places. Ambrose played the spoiler and resisted the constant pressure from Skaife's Holden while Lowndes made the most of a clear track to build a lead.

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