The 2004 PlaceMakers V8 International was a motor race for V8 Supercars held on the weekend of 2–4 April 2004. The event was held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway in Pukekohe, New Zealand, and consisted of three races culminating in 300 kilometers. It was the third round of thirteen in the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series and the only international event on the calendar.
After three years of the event running, Jason Bright ended Greg Murphy's dominance by taking two out of three race wins and the overall round win. The Kiwi wound up finishing in third place overall, behind defending series champion, Marcos Ambrose.
Background Murphy, as ever, was the favourite heading into the round. At this stage, Murphy had been undefeated at Pukekohe Park Raceway, in terms of overall round victories. Local media lapped Murphy up the entire week preceding the event with the Kiwi conducting hundreds of interviews, including one instance of 19 individual media interviews within an hour.
From 2001 to 2003, the Pukekohe event was held in early November, at the tail end of the championship. For 2004 onwards, the event was moved forward to early April.
Race report Qualifying Bright claimed provisional pole position ahead of the top-ten shootout with a time three-tenths faster than nearest competitor and championship leader, Ambrose. The Holden Racing Team pair of Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly lamented their relative lack of engine power compared to Bright. The former HRT driver brushed off these comments, suggesting that, "...they are not as bad as they are making out, they just don't have the power advantage they want or have had in the past,". Murphy clamoured into the shootout too, although like his TWR counterparts, suggested that his car didn't have the pace to properly compete with Bright. Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.3655 2 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.6062 3 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.6209 4 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.7160 5 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.7184 6 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.8207 7 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.8786 8 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9058 9 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9423 10 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9425 11 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9526 12 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9529 13 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.0208 14 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.0298 15 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.0829 16 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 0:57.0904 17 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.2545 18 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.2793 19 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.4051 20 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.4657 21 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.4761 22 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.4974 23 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.5168 24 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.5283 25 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.5393 26 23 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.5584 27 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.5756 28 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.6387 29 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.7102 30 14 Mark Porter MSport Holden Commodore (VX) 0:57.8811 31 7 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 0:57.9201 32 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 0:58.0219 Source:
Top Ten Shootout The shootout was held in treacherous conditions. Cars were aquaplaning all over the track, thus Bargwanna kicked off proceedings with a somewhat conservative lap. Murphy was the first to lay down a notable improvement; going 1.3 seconds faster than previous fastest, Steven Richards. Eventually, as the grip improved ever so slightly, Skaife and Ambrose able lay down faster times. Skaife's pole position was hoped to be a return to form after a torrid first two rounds of the championship for the five-time champion. Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:04.7477 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:04.7517 3 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:05.2608 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:05.7407 5 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:06.5466 6 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:06.5501 7 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:06.5503 8 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:06.5796 9 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:06.7589 10 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:07.6230 Sources:
Race 1 Controversy arose as the officials decided that, due to flooding of the track, the first race of the weekend would be postponed to Sunday instead of its originally scheduled Saturday afternoon slot. It was also suggested that cars be moved to higher ground as water levels were rising to dangerous levels. Overnight, water levels rose around the pitlane area. Some team members stayed in the paddock through the night in case the water levels started to pose a threat to the teams cars and equipment. Despite the obvious disappointment for the attending crowd, drivers and officials generally agreed that the decision to postpone the race was the right one.
Come Sunday, the race would start at 10:00am, with the conditions having markedly improved, albeit still damp. Mark Skaife threw away his front row start, adding to an array of poor starts that were starting to become an evident trend with him. Ambrose seized the advantage and took the lead with Jason Bright following in behind. The consertina effect at the hairpin resulted in Russell Ingall being tagged by John Bowe and sent into a spin. This scattered the pack, but remarkably, did not result in a crash of any sort. Tony Longhurst encountered his own problems after being forced off on the entry to the hairpin; having to use the tracks perimeter to avoid being stuck in the gravel trap.
The track began to gradually dry up and team began to experiment with tyres. Craig Baird and Paul Dumbrell were the first drivers to pit for slick tyres. Soon enough, they began to surge through the field, with Baird eventually working up to ninth place after starting in 29th. Skaife's nightmare run continued after being spun by Steven Richards at the hairpin. Richards also sustained damage to the rear of his car after being clipped by Max Wilson. Skaife subsequently retreated to the pits to gamble on the slick tyres. Garth Tander attempted a move of his own on Paul Morris at the same part of the circuit. These efforts resulted in a spin after he locked his rear tyres. Dumbrell's efforts on the slick tyres were curtailed after straying offline, t-boning Jason Bargwanna and putting them both into a spin at turn two.
Ambrose remained untroubled to the flag, taking the first win on New Zealand soil for the Ford brand. Bright was eight seconds behind in second place, and a further ten seconds behind him was the highest-placed Kiwi driver, Paul Radisich. Pos No Name Team Laps Time / difference Grid 1 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 36 36min 51.8458sec 2 2 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 36 + 8.245 4 3 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 18.106 6 4 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 36 + 18.588 3 5 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 21.745 8 6 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 36 + 26.116 5 7 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 36 + 27.876 13 8 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing 36 + 37.315 21 9 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing 36 + 39.505 29 10 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing 36 + 40.458 7 11 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing 36 + 40.632 14 12 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 41.276 11 13 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 41.616 12 14 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 36 + 49.855 16 15 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik 36 + 50.299 19 16 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 36 + 53.189 1 17 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team 36 + 55.358 9 18 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing 36 + 57.396 27 19 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 59.806 24 20 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing 36 + 1:00.441 22 21 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport 36 + 1:01.160 17 22 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing 35 + 1 lap 28 23 23 David Besnard WPS Racing 35 + 1 lap 26 24 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing 35 + 1 lap 18 25 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 23 26 7 Tony Longhurst Perkins Engineering 35 + 1 lap 31 27 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 10 28 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 20 29 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing 35 + 1 lap 15 30 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering 34 + 2 laps 25 31 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik 34 + 2 laps 32 32 14 Mark Porter MSport 34 + 2 laps 30 Fastest lap: Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team), 58.3415 on lap 28 Sources:
Race 2 Ambrose struggled off the line and lost second place to Murphy on the approach to turn two. At the end of the first lap, Radisich strayed wide at the top of Ford Mountain, spun at the mid-point of the main straight, and narrowly missed being broadsided by multiple cars.
On lap 9, Skaife retired due to a bent steering arm that he sustained whilst racing Max Wilson, who also retreated to the pitlane with ignition coil issues. Warren Luff speared off into the gravel trap at turn three when attempting to avoid a spinning Mark Porter. At the same time, Brad Jones was spun at the hairpin by Steven Ellery. Just moments later, Glenn Seton spun at a perilous position on the approach to Ford Mountain whilst trying to avoid a commotion between the two Larkham Motorsport cars. Bargwanna retired due to rear suspension problems incurred while racing Morris. In all the melee, the safety car was deployed.
As the laps whittled down, Murphy began to reign Bright in. With six laps remaining, the gap was down to under a second. Lowndes was beset with leaking fluid from the engine bay but managed to keep circulating until the very end. Bright withstood the charge from Murphy to take victory, delivering on the pace shown in practice and qualifying. Ambrose finished third, eight seconds behind the pair.