2001 Australian V8 Ultimate
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| Round 13 of 13 in the 2001 Shell Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 1–2 December 2001 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Sandown International Raceway | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Friday: Fine Saturday: Fine Sunday: Heavy Rain | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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The 2001 Australian V8 Ultimate was the thirteenth and final round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series. It was the 30th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Sandown Raceway in the sprint format and was held on the weekend of 1 to 2 December at the Sandown International Raceway in Melbourne, Victoria.
In a weekend plagued by progressively worsening weather, Todd Kelly claimed overall round honours for the first time in his V8 Supercar career.[1] The first race was won by Mark Skaife in typically dominant fashion. However, as his weekend unraveled, Kelly took the win in race two while Craig Lowndes claimed race three after a thrilling battle with Marcos Ambrose.[2]
Background
[edit]The event was held on the weekend of 1 to 2 December 2001. It was the 30th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Sandown Raceway in the sprint format, and consisted of three 150 km races with compulsory pitstops in all instances.
Mark Skaife entered the round having already sewn up the championship in the previous round at Pukekohe. The race for second place was still on between Russell Ingall and Jason Bright with 85 points between the two drivers.[3] Likewise, Greg Murphy was in contention to secure third in the overall standings.[4]
Entry list
[edit]There were 35 drivers entered for this round with a grid capacity of 32. Pre-qualifying would determine three drivers who would miss out on the weekends racing.
Newly-crowned Australian Drivers' champion Rick Kelly would make his solo V8 Supercar debut as part of the Holden Young Lions outfit. Kelly would be entered under the number 255 in reference to the kW output of the new HSV Coupé. Layton Crambrook would also replace Mick Donaher at Clive Wiseman Racing. Phonsy Mullan made another appearance for GM Motorsport and Matthew White returned to the series with his privateer outfit having last appeared at Calder Park Raceway. After having missed the previous round at Pukekohe, Dugal McDougall returned to the series. Dean Crosswell would also make an appearance for Imrie Motorsport.
Race results
[edit]Pre-Qualifying
[edit]Tomas Mezera topped the timing sheets to be the first of seven drivers to pre-qualify for the event. The three drivers not to pre-qualify were Phonsy Mullan for GM Motorsport, Layton Crambrook for Clive Wiseman Racing and Dean Crosswell for Imrie Motorsport.
| Pos | No | Name | Team | Vehicle | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 |  Tomas Mezera |
Imrie Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:15.2458 |
| 2 | 16 | Dugal McDougall |
McDougall Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:15.8253 |
| 3 | 255 | Rick Kelly |
Holden Young Lions | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:16.4025 |
| 4 | 24 | Paul Romano |
Romano Racing | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:16.8902 |
| 5 | 7 | Rodney Forbes |
Gibson Motorsport | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:17.0898 |
| 6 | 76 | Matthew White |
Matthew White Racing | Holden Commodore (VS) | 1:17.6272 |
| 7 | 46 |  John Faulkner |
John Faulkner Racing | Holden Commodore (VS) | 1:18.0631 |
| DNPQ | 111 | Phonsy Mullan |
GM Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VS) | 1:18.2663 |
| DNPQ | 50 | Layton Crambrook |
Clive Wiseman Racing | Holden Commodore (VT) | 1:19.9746 |
| DNPQ | 13 | Dean Crosswell |
Imrie Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VX) | no time |
| Source:[5] | |||||
Qualifying
[edit]Todd Kelly claimed provisional pole position with a time merely six hundredths of a second faster than Craig Lowndes.
Top fifteen shootout
[edit]Mark Skaife claimed his fourth pole position of the season after setting a laptime one tenth of a second faster than Greg Murphy. In doing so, Skaife broke the qualifying deadlock with Marcos Ambrose to claim the most pole positions of any driver in 2001.[6]
Ambrose himself had made the biggest gain from the shootout, claiming fourth place after initially qualifying tenth. The driver who lost the most relative ground was Craig Lowndes who, after running wide at turn one, had gone from second in the provisional order to 14th on corrected.
Simon Wills' first shootout lap was marred by a lack of grip that saw him run wide at several corners and ultimately led to him placing last.
Race 1
[edit]Tomas Mezera would start the race from the pitlane owing to problems in qualifying.
Greg Murphy got the jump on Mark Skaife to take the lead into turn one. Down the pack, Larry Perkins and Paul Weel bogged down and drifted down the pack. The safety car would be deployed before the end of the lap after Cameron McConville was set into a series of rollovers after receiving contact from Mark Larkham, who had been squeezed by two cars to his inside – Paul Romano and Rodney Forbes. McConville's car sustained significant damage and was forced out of the race. Larkham nursed his car back to the pitlane with damage to the steering from the impact.
The race resumed on lap four and Murphy began to eek out a margin over Skaife. With the pit window open, Murphy and Ambrose made their compulsory pitstops immediately whilst the Holden Racing Team elected to keep their drivers out for a longer stint. Murphy suffered a slow pitstop that cost him five seconds and ceded position to Ambrose. Rick Kelly's solo debut came to an end on lap seven after his engine blew whilst on the back straight. Romano retired from the race owing to issues with the front-right suspension. Steven Ellery would receive a stop-go penalty for speeding in pitlane. Skaife finally made his pitstop on lap 14. Perkins was issued a stop-go penalty for spinning Simon Wills at turn two.
The safety car was back out on track on lap 25 when Anthony Tratt spun into the gravel at turn one. There was speculation as to whether the two Holden Racing Team cars would invert positions so as to give Jason Bright a better chance of securing second in the championship. This speculation came to naught when Skaife defended his position aggressively heading into turn one, not allowing his teammate to pass by for the lead. Behind them, Murphy moved past Kelly for third and began to apply pressure to Bright. On lap 31, Bright slid wide after getting crossed up at turn six. He rejoined the track, behind Murphy, and a momentary loss of power on the exit of turn eight saw him lose nearly a dozen positions. In an evasive maneuver, Kelly made slight contact with the rear of his car, enough for the guard to start rubbing on the tyre. Paul Radisich's strong run was curtailed after a spin at the final corner.
Murphy's campaign for the win was halted after he was given a stop-go penalty for kerb-hopping. To the end, Skaife remained unopposed, taking his ninth win of the season and his 50th win in the Australian touring car category. Lowndes passed Kelly for second with the latter rounding out the podium.
Race 2
[edit]In contrast to the sunny conditions of race one, rain enveloped the circuit for race two. Lowndes initially got a good launch off the front row, but the secondary phase was less optimal and was overtaken by Skaife and Murphy, who had initially started from eighth place. A concertina effect at turn four saw multiple cars sustain heavy damage. Larry Perkins retired within meters of the incident as a result of the damage which included a fire in the engine bay. Paul Romano and Anthony Tratt would also retire due to heavy front-end damage. Romano's car left a trail of oil all the way back to pitlane. The biggest mover of the opening lap was Paul Radisich who had leapt up from 20th on the grid to sixth.
The race restarted on lap six with Murphy passing Skaife for the lead at turn four. However, he would slide off the track later in the lap after sliding off the track courtesy of the oil left by Romano's car and in the process, handed the lead over to teammate, Todd Kelly. Kelly would complete his compulsory pitstop just a couple corners later and with Skaife still struggling for grip, Lowndes assumed the lead heading onto the front straight with Radisich in second. Multiple drivers struggled with condensation within the cars with some even resorting to unconventional methods to clear their windscreens. Those who pitted early benefitted the most as the undercut proved successful. Kelly retook the lead from Murphy and Lowndes. Skaife's pace suffered and re-emerged behind Ambrose. Steven Johnson retired from the race on lap 13 after experiencing an engine failure on the approach to the final corner. Paul Morris was issued a black flag for kerb-hopping on lap 15.
By the midway point of the race, the rain had intensified. Ingall struggled to see out of his car owing to a demist failure. Championship rival Jason Bright also ran into trouble when he spun in tandem with John Faulkner at Dandenong Road Corner. The race order remained fairly stagnant with no movers or shakers in the first few front running positions. Lowndes' charge to second was stunted when his windscreen wiper failed, hindering his vision. Ingall's pace had slowed to a crawl as visibility out of his windscren had been reduced to zero and attempted to nurse his car to the finish line. Paul Weel aquaplaned on the front straight and made contact with the armco barrier, but despite the damage was able to cycle around to the finish.
Todd Kelly led comfortably to the finish to take victory. Murphy finished second in the sister car while Lowndes rounded out the podium. Controversy arose following a pitlane violation involving Mark Skaife. Whilst completing his compulsory pitstop, car controller Jeff Grech cleared grass from the radiator. The rules dictated the car controller was ineligible to do that and the punishment for said offence should have been a stop-go penalty. The stewards failed to pick up on this during the race and the post-race penalty applied should have been time added. However, the stewards would hand down a $1,000 fine instead and Skaife's result remained unaffected. The decision incensed fellow competitors in the pitlane.[7]
Race 3
[edit]After two bad accidents in the support races, the officials elected to start the race under the safety car to disperse the standings water and reduce the risk of a bottleneck effect heading into turn one.
The race went green on lap three with Kelly leading away from Murphy. Skaife passed Lowndes for third at turn one shortly after the start and Jason Bargwanna moved up to sixth after passing Radisich at the same point of the circuit. Lowndes would repass Skaife for position just one lap later. Kelly was the first of the front-runners to pit on lap four. Murphy, Lowndes and Skaife pitted just one lap later. Skaife's pit was stunted by a problem with the front-right wheel and was further compounded when he slid off the track shortly after exiting the pits. On corrected order, Murphy was the race leader from Lowndes. On lap eight, Lowndes passed Murphy for the effective lead at turn four. Later in the lap, Lowndes slid off the road at turn nine and contracted a substantial amount of grass in the front of his car.
A short while later, Glenn Seton aquaplaned off the circuit on the approach to turn one. The car continued to slew sideways into the run off before finally coming to rest in the gravel where it almost rolled over. The safety car was deployed and Gibson Motorsport took the opportunity to pit Lowndes to clear the radiator of the grass. Paul Radisich's season came to an end on the same lap after his car suffered a misfire. The race resumed a few laps later with Bargwanna leading from Jason Richards; both of whom had yet to complete their compulsory pitstops. The treacherous conditions began to catch more people out. Brad Jones was shunted off into the turn two runoff following contact with Steven Ellery. Rodney Forbes spun at turn one on the following lap and was narrowly avoided by Anthony Tratt. Later that lap, Mark Skaife sustained damage to the front end of his car after conflict with Steven Richards which spun both cars. With the damage inflicted and no championship ramifications remaining, Skaife pitted his car and retired from the race. Bargwanna pitted on lap 18 and handed the lead over to Jason Richards. After completing his pitstop, Richards was then issued with a stop-go penalty for a pitlane speeding infringement. Garth Tander retired from the race after encountering problems with the demister again.
Lowndes began to charge through the field and was demonstrably the fastest driver on the circuit. He passed Kelly for second on lap 40 and set off after Marcos Ambrose. Greg Murphy retired on the same lap due to a mechanical issue. With four laps remaining, Lowndes had caught up to Ambrose and the two would engage in an enthralling battle for the lead. Up the back straight, Lowndes utilised traction to get past Ambrose to claim the lead. A few corners later however, Ambrose made an opportunistic move down the inside of the final corner to reclaim the lead. At turn four on the following lap, Lowndes repassed Ambrose and from there, he would not relinquish the lead. Lowndes romped home to claim victory with Ambrose in tow and Todd Kelly third, claiming overall round honours in the process.
Championship points
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References
[edit]- ↑ "Sandown Round 13 final report". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- ↑ "Ingall best of the rest". Go Auto. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- ↑ "V8 Supercars: Battle of the bridesmaids". Go Auto. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- ↑ "Sandown gives Murphy a shot at No 3 ranking". The New Zealand Herald. 27 November 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "2001 V8 Supercars Australian V8 Ultimate (Race 1)". The Racing Years. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
- ↑ "Sandown Shootout results". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- ↑ "Sandown race two results". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
- ↑ "2001 V8 Supercars Australian V8 Ultimate (Race 2)". The Racing Years. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
- ↑ "2001 V8 Supercars Australian V8 Ultimate (Race 3)". The Racing Years. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
| Supercars Championship | ||
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| Previous race: 2001 Boost Mobile V8 International |
2001 Supercars Championship | Next race: 2002 Clipsal 500 |
| Previous year: 2000 Sandown V8 Supercar round |
Sandown International Raceway | Next year: 2002 V8 Supercars Sandown round |