The 2001 Hidden Valley V8 Supercar round was the fourth round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 12 to 13 May at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

In a weekend where key contenders faced varying levels of difficulty, Marcos Ambrose took his first round victory through a string of consistent results across the three races. Russell Ingall was the winner of the first race and was on course to win the second, however suffered a tail-shaft issue, ruling him out of contention. Greg Murphy won race two but a sticking throttle curtailed his efforts for race three. Mark Skaife's weekend begun with a penalty over a false start but fought back from the rear to claim victory in race three.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 12–13 May 2001. It was the fourth V8 Supercar event to be held at Hidden Valley Raceway, and consisted of one 50 km race followed by two 100 km races. Pitstops were compulsory for races two and three.

Jason Bright entered the weekend as the championship leader by 50 points over Holden Racing Team teammate Mark Skaife. Bright also held the lap record which he set back in 1999. Heat was a major talking point heading into the weekend with track temperatures reaching, and exceeding, 40 degrees Celsius.

This would be the last round in which drivers would have to manually control their speed through the pitlane. At the following round in Canberra, electronic pit-speed limiters would be introduced on all the cars.

Entry list

The only driver changes for this round were by way of Steve Reed replacing Trevor Ashby in the second of the Lansvale Racing Team cars, and Christian D'Agostin would make his season debut at Imrie Motorsport. John Faulkner would switch from the VT Commodore to the VX Commodore while Paul Romano would switch from the VX to the VT.

Race report Pre-Qualifying Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.9179 2 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:10.4450 3 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:10.4979 4 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:10.7975 5 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:11.0146 6 50 Tyler Mecklem Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:11.6473 DNPQ 45 Dean Canto RPM International Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.6789 DNPQ 76 Matthew White Matthew White Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 1:12.0787 DNPQ 14 Christian D'Agostin Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.4062 Source:

Qualifying Garth Tander claimed provisional pole position in a welcome change of form after the Garry Rogers Motorsport team had struggled in the opening few rounds of the championship. Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.4938 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.5566 3 600 John Bowe Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6059 4 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.6654 5 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.6672 6 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6746 7 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.6848 8 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.7111 9 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.7181 10 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.7438 11 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.7495 12 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.7717 13 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8297 14 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.9097 15 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0418 16 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.0729 17 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.1017 18 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.1579 19 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:09.2620 20 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.3129 21 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.3375 22 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.4241 23 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.5466 24 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.6948 25 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:09.7491 26 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.7688 27 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.7981 28 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:10.0401 29 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:10.1156 30 50 Tyler Mecklem Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:10.1678 31 23 Steve Reed Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VS) 1:10.5598 Source:

Top Ten Shootout

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.4552 2 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.6116 3 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6298 4 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.7780 5 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8086 6 600 John Bowe Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8598 7 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0763 8 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.0978 9 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.2454 10 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.3068 Source:

Race 1 Skaife received a stop-go penalty for a jump start, thus handing the race lead to Russell Ingall. A bottleneck effect into turn one saw Glenn Seton, John Bowe and Ambrose collide with one another. Seton, who was on the furthermost inside of the course, was sent across the front of Ambrose's car, who then collided with Bowe, who then in turn collided with Tander. The resulting damage forced Tander to retire while Seton and Bowe sustained significant damage while losing substantial track position. Ambrose emerged relatively unscathed from the incident.

Whilst in pursuit of Ingall, Greg Murphy slid off the road at turn four after an apparent throttle issue, relinquishing positions to Ambrose and Mark Larkham. John Faulkner and Rodney Forbes would also fall victim to the corner as well as the tyres began to degrade. A couple laps later, Craig Lowndes spun Larry Perkins at the same corner, for which he would receive a stop-go penalty.

Ingall meanwhile enjoyed a trouble-free run to the chequered flag, taking his first win of the season. After the race, Ingall expressed confidence in his cars' setup ahead of the rest of the weekend. Ambrose finished in second place and Mark Larkham secured third in what would be the last podium of his V8 Supercar career.

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time Grid 1 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 17 19min 59.3998sec 2 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 1.52 3 3 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 5.05 8 4 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 6.31 4 5 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 9.16 12 6 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 10.45 16 7 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 13.67 10 8 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 14.02 13 9 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 14.41 14 10 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 17 + 18.38 19 11 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 18.72 20 12 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 21.97 9 13 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 22.66 17 14 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 22.94 1 15 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 24.27 21 16 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 24.76 22 17 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 26.27 24 18 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 29.48 15 19 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 34.94 28 20 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 35.86 11 21 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 42.09 18 22 23 Steve Reed Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VS) 17 + 42.11 31 23 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 17 + 42.81 29 24 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 17 + 45.43 25 25 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 17 + 53.10 27 26 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 17 + 1:02.15 26 27 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 16 + 1 lap 5 28 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 16 + 1 lap 32 29 600 John Bowe Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 16 + 1 lap 6 Ret 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 2 Retired 23 Ret 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Collision damage 7 DNS 50 Tyler Mecklem Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) Did not start Fastest Lap: Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) - 1:09.4899 on lap 8 Source:

Race 2 Paul Radisich failed to make the start after his car experienced fuel system issues that ultimately eradicated the engine. With Dick Johnson Racing having already gone through their allocation for the weekend, this rendered Radisich out of contention for the third race as well.

Things went from bad to worse for Dick Johnson Racing after the Steven Johnson was involved in an opening lap crash with Dugal McDougall which ripped the front spoiler off the Falcon and sent McDougall to the back of the grid. John Bowe meanwhile retired from the race owing to a faulty clutch. On lap 10, Lowndes and Cameron McLean made contact on the front straight which skewed the front-left of the car. The damage immobilised Lowndes' car and his race came to an end at the pitlane entry.

Skaife attempted to reclaim ground lost in race one by staying out later than most for his compulsory pitstop, finally pitting on lap 15. This paid dividends as he would emerged fourth in the pecking order behind Ingall and Murphy. Tander meanwhile was penalised for pit equipment crossing over into the fastlane, drawing ire from team owner Garry Rogers over the inconsistency among stewarding decisions. Larkham would also be pinged for a pit procedure violation. John Faulkner would be involved in two incidents in the third sector - the first being a spin due to brake balance issues, and the second as a result of contact with Steve Reed. Paul Morris retired on lap 28 owing to a mechanical issue.

With a handful of laps remaining, Murphy began to catch Ingall for the lead. With six laps remaining, the gap had closed to within one second. With three laps remaining, stewards would issue Ingall a bad sportsmanship flag for blocking. With two laps to go, Ingall strayed wide at turn one, allowing Murphy to take the lead. Soon after, it became apparent Ingall's car was suffering an issue, later revealed to be a tail-shaft failure. He limped around for the remaining two laps to eventually finish in 22nd place. Murphy coaxed his Commodore to the line to take victory over the two Holden Racing Team entries of Bright and Skaife.