The 2002 V8 Supercars Darwin round was the fourth round of the 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 17 to 19 May on the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

The Holden Racing Team continued their dominant championship form by sweeping all three races throughout the weekend. Jason Bright secured pole position and won the opening sprint race while teammate and championship leader Mark Skaife won the two 100 km races on Sunday to take overall round honours while Bright followed in behind the secure second. Their Tom Walkinshaw stablemate Greg Murphy rounded out the overall podium with teammate Todd Kelly finishing fourth overall.

Skaife's round victory had taken the defending champion to the 1000 point mark in the championship standings and almost double the points of nearest contender, Greg Murphy.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 17 to 19 May 2002. It was the fifth V8 Supercar event to be held at the Hidden Valley Raceway and consisted of one 60 km race followed by two 100 km races with compulsory pitstops.

Mark Skaife entered the round as the championship leader with a 410-point gap over nearest competitor, Greg Murphy. The winner of the 2001 event was Marcos Ambrose.

Entry list

There were 36 drivers entered into the event. The controversial pre-qualifying system in place for the first three rounds of the season was abolished preceding the Darwin event.

This round marked the final solo appearance for Wayne Gardner in the V8 Supercar series.

Stephen White replaced Steve Owen at Imrie Motorsport for this round.

Dugal McDougall would forego this round and wouldn't return to the championship until the Oran Park round in July.

Race report Qualifying Mark Skaife secured provisional pole position over teammate Jason Bright by almost one tenth of a second.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.4712 2 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.5688 3 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.5689 4 00 Craig Lowndes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6869 5 16 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.8209 6 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8212 7 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8349 8 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8790 9 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8939 10 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.8975 11 02 Rick Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.9645 12 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.0021 13 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.0026 14 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0379 15 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0402 16 600 Simon Wills Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.0684 17 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.0796 18 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0954 19 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.1266 20 65 Max Wilson Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.2005 21 36 Wayne Gardner Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.3159 22 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.3704 23 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.3778 24 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.4038 25 54 Craig Baird Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.4475 26 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.4723 27 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.4831 28 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.4892 29 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.5491 30 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.6092 31 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.6101 32 66 Tony Longhurst Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.6554 33 27 Neil Crompton 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.6969 34 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:09.7158 35 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.9164 36 14 Stephen White Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.4550 Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:07.8546 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.0830 3 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.4780 4 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.7407 5 00 Craig Lowndes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8112 6 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.8576 7 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8654 8 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.9726 9 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.2271 10 16 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:14.4675 Source:

Race 1 Pos No Name Team Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 20 23:21.4643 2 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 1.465 1 3 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 2.909 3 4 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 7.041 4 5 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 9.946 6 6 00 Craig Lowndes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 10.596 5 7 16 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 14.741 10 8 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 16.864 8 9 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 17.176 7 10 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 17.780 12 11 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 21.625 9 12 02 Rick Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 26.053 11 13 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 26.995 18 14 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 28.385 13 15 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 29.203 14 16 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 29.686 17 17 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 30.119 19 18 65 Max Wilson Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 34.187 20 19 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 34.500 24 20 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 35.044 26 21 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 38.081 23 22 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 38.440 29 23 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 39.680 22 24 66 Tony Longhurst Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 39.996 32 25 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 40.318 27 26 54 Craig Baird Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 43.100 25 27 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 20 + 44.441 34 28 600 Simon Wills Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 46.639 16 29 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 49.830 30 30 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 50.117 35 31 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 20 + 56.548 31 32 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 + 58.481 28 33 14 Stephen White Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 19 + 1 lap 36 34 36 Wayne Gardner Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 19 + 1 lap 21 Ret 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 10 Engine 15 Ret 27 Neil Crompton 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 8 Retired 33 Fastest Lap: Jason Bright (Holden Racing Team) - 1:09.0966 on lap 3 Source:

Race 2 Pos No Name Team Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 35 41:40.3634 2 2 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 4.176 1 3 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 9.609 5 4 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 10.099 4 5 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 14.820 9 6 16 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 19.379 7 7 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 26.070 15 8 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 29.565 13 9 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 29.895 3 10 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 30.261 11 11 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 48.863 10 12 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 54.352 22 13 27 Neil Crompton 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 54.770 36 14 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 56.957 16 15 54 Craig Baird Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 57.612 26 16 36 Wayne Gardner Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 57.814 34 17 600 Simon Wills Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 1:00.333 28 18 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 1:02.537 31 19 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 35 + 1:02.817 23 20 66 Tony Longhurst Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 1:03.677 24 21 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 1:10.697 30 22 65 Max Wilson Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 34 + 1 lap 18 23 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 34 + 1 lap 21 24 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 34 + 1 lap 29 25 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 34 + 1 lap 27 26 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 34 + 1 lap 19 27 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 34 + 1 lap 17 28 14 Stephen White Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 33 + 2 laps 33 29 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 33 + 2 laps 8 Ret 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 26 Wheel 14 Ret 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 22 Retired 20 Ret 00 Craig Lowndes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1 Suspension 6 DNS 02 Rick Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Did not start 12 DNS 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Did not start 25 DNS 7 Rodney Forbes 00 Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 0 Did not start 32 DNS 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Did not start 35 Fastest Lap: Jason Bright (Holden Racing Team) - 1:09.0658 on lap 5 Source:

Race 3