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. 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.
Background 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. Likewise, Greg Murphy was in contention to secure third in the overall standings.
Entry list
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
Pre-Qualifying 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:
Qualifying Todd Kelly claimed provisional pole position with a time merely six hundredths of a second faster than Craig Lowndes.
Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.5651 2 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.6283 3 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.6793 4 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.7271 5 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.7981 6 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.9300 7 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.9606 8 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.9809 9 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.0715 10 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.1007 11 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.1141 12 600 Simon Wills Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.2800 13 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.2996 14 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.3360 15 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.3401 16 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.3451 17 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.3722 18 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.3784 19 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.3941 20 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.4082 21 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.4670 22 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.4938 23 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.5159 24 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:12.5863 25 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.6749 26 255 Rick Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.8653 27 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.9060 28 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:12.9729 29 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:13.1390 30 76 Matthew White Matthew White Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 1:13.6237 31 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:13.6320 32 14 Tomas Mezera Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) no time DNQ 13 Dean Crosswell Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) Did not qualify DNQ 50 Layton Crambrook Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) Did not qualify DNQ 111 Phonsy Mullan GM Motorsport Holden Commodore (VS) Did not qualify Source:
Top fifteen shootout 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.
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.
Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.2564 2 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.3574 3 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.4480 4 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.4927 5 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.5005 6 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.7299 7 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.7426 8 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.7790 9 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.9256 10 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.0316 11 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.2845 12 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.2946 13 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.3404 14 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.3617 15 600 Simon Wills Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:12.8046 Source:
Race 1 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.