The 2004 V8 Supercars Eastern Creek round was the second round of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 2 to 4 May at the Eastern Creek International Raceway in Sydney, New South Wales.

In a race plagued by rain, Rick Kelly earned his first solo V8 Supercar victory as front-running drivers fell by the wayside after starting the race from 17th on the grid. Marcos Ambrose claimed pole position and led a sizeable chunk of the race. However, with the pace of Kelly as well as an off-track excursion on lap 51, the Tasmanian fell down the order and off the podium. Craig Lowndes recovered from a lukewarm qualifying session and mid-race pitstop drama to prevail in the wet weather conditions and claim second place with Garth Tander claiming third.

Steven Richards' fourth-placing helped him usurp Ambrose in the drivers standings heading into the next round at Pukekohe.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 2 to 4 May 2004. It was the 12th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Eastern Creek International Raceway and consisted of one 300 km race with two compulsory pitstops for fuel and tyres.

Entry list

There were 35 drivers entered into the event. It featured mixture of vehicle models - fourteen BA Falcon's, fifteen VY Commodore's, and three VX Commodore's.

Mark Porter made his debut solo appearance in the V8 Supercar series with his privateer outfit, running a VX Commodore. Fellow New Zealander David Thexton would make his final appearance in the category with his BA Falcon.

Race report Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:31.8820 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.1027 3 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.1913 4 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.2653 5 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.2932 6 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.3319 7 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.3321 8 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.3370 9 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.3943 10 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.4318 11 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.4854 12 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.6010 13 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.6508 14 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.6873 15 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.7471 16 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.8160 17 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.9409 18 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.9863 19 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.0037 20 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:33.0712 21 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.3144 22 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.3386 23 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:33.4542 24 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:33.4750 25 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.6158 26 23 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.6387 27 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.7128 28 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.7256 29 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:34.4402 30 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:34.8164 31 14 Mark Porter MSport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:34.9271 32 7 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) no time - 24 Phillip Scifleet Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) no time - 43 David Krause David Krause Racing Holden Commodore (VX) no time - 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (BA) no time Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:31.9206 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.0308 3 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.1352 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.4064 5 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.4313 6 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:32.6623 7 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.6730 8 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:32.9307 9 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:33.0298 10 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:38.9650 Source:

Race Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 67 02:17:31.2755 17 2 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 0.726 15 3 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 1.404 16 4 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 2.102 3 5 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 3.522 12 6 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 4.416 27 7 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 5.637 1 8 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 6.394 19 9 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 7.773 18 10 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 8.240 11 11 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 12.376 7 12 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 13.581 25 13 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 16.283 4 14 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 18.877 6 15 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 24.272 14 16 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 25.743 8 17 23 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 26.771 26 18 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 67 + 59.496 10 19 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 67 + 1:07.608 5 20 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 66 + 1 lap 9 21 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 66 + 1 lap 21 22 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 66 + 1 lap 2 23 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 66 + 1 lap 22 24 7 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 66 + 1 lap 32 25 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 66 + 1 lap 24 26 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 65 + 2 laps 30 27 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 65 + 2 laps 29 28 14 Mark Porter MSport Holden Commodore (VX) 64 + 3 laps 31 29 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 13 laps 13 30 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 51 + 16 laps 23 Ret 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 55 Accident damage 20 Ret 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 5 Spun off 28 Fastest Lap: Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:45.9530 on lap 22 Source:

Championship standings No Driver Team 1 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 360 2 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 348 3 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 336 4 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 327 5 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport 270

References