The 2004 V8 Supercars Oran Park round was the eighth round of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 13 to 15 August at the Oran Park Raceway in Narellan, New South Wales.

Mark Skaife bounced back from a turbulent time in the championship to take pole position and win the first race of the weekend. He would also finish second in the following races, finishing in behind Marcos Ambrose. With both drivers claiming a win and second-placing each, Skaife and Ambrose finished equal on points with Ambrose being awarded overall round honours by virtue of winning the last race of the weekend.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 13 to 15 August 2004. It was the 33rd ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Oran Park Raceway and consisted of two 150 km races with compulsory pitstops each.

During the weekend, Jason Bright suffered an engine failure during Friday practice. A few corners into his outlap, the throttle jammed open and pitched Bright off the road. Extensive diagnosis uncovered the cause of the issue stemmed from bolts let on top of the piston that had jammed the engine. Seeing as how the bolts in question were not a part of the engine bay, it was deduced by Paul Weel Racing team principal Kees Weel that they had been deliberately put there in an act of sabotage. To this day, the true reasoning has never been uncovered.

Entry list

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

Fabian Coulthard made his V8 Supercar debut with Tasman Motorsport driving a VX Commodore. Teammate and regular Tasman Motorsport driver Jason Richards would also debut a brand-new VY Commodore for the team.

Race report Qualifying Rick Kelly claimed provisional pole position over Marcos Ambrose by one tenth of a second. John Bowe was excluded from the results owing to a technical infringement.

Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.7205 2 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:08.8269 3 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.9250 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:08.9880 5 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.0533 6 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.0538 7 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.0645 8 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1197 9 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1616 10 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1640 11 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1807 12 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.2391 13 23 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2607 14 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.2641 15 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.2981 16 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.3148 17 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.3518 18 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5242 19 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6125 20 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6583 21 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.6983 22 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.7014 23 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.7189 24 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.7480 25 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.7879 26 7 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.9444 27 43 Fabian Coulthard Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.9467 28 14 Will Davison Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.9765 29 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.0110 30 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.1043 31 48 Mark Noske WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.2073 32 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.2349 33 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.5559 34 24 Garth Walden Walden Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:10.8383 EXC 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) time excluded Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.1107 2 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.3785 3 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.4379 4 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.4885 5 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.5286 6 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.5902 7 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.7262 8 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:09.8503 9 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:09.8594 10 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.0653 Source:

Race 1 Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 54 01:05:46.1497 1 2 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 2.791 5 3 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 16.758 9 4 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 17.658 6 5 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 31.633 2 6 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 32.205 16 7 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 32.435 4 8 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 32.667 12 9 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 32.979 22 10 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 33.101 15 11 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 37.513 10 12 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 39.836 35 13 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 42.943 7 14 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 43.979 24 15 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 46.728 3 16 7 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 54 + 51.615 26 17 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 52.131 18 18 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 52.931 32 19 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 52.941 19 20 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 53.167 21 21 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 53.751 11 22 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 59.108 33 23 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 59.765 25 24 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 1:00.063 29 25 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 1:00.648 30 26 23 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 1:11.647 13 27 48 Mark Noske WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 53 + 1 lap 31 28 24 Garth Walden Walden Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 53 + 1 lap 34 29 43 Fabian Coulthard Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 53 + 1 lap 27 30 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 52 + 2 laps 8 31 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 52 + 2 laps 23 32 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 43 + 11 laps 17 Ret 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 20 Accident damage 14 DNS 14 Will Davison Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) Did not start 28 Fastest Lap: Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) - 1:09.5756 on lap 3 Source:

Race 2 Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 01:04:39.5906 2 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 4.372 1 3 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 27.182 4 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 54 + 32.742 3 5 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 35.266 9 6 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 39.313 15 7 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 43.283 5 8 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 43.836 7 9 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 54.059 30 10 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 59.188 13 11 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 1:01.486 10 12 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 54 + 1:02.731 11 13 88 Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 53 + 1 lap 14 14 10 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 53 + 1 lap 6 15 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 53 + 1 lap 31 16 7 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 53 + 1 lap 16 17 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 53 + 1 lap 32 18 12 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 53 + 1 lap 12 19 43 Fabian Coulthard Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 53 + 1 lap 29 20 18 Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 53 + 1 lap 24 22 33 Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 53 + 1 lap 8 23 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 53 + 1 lap 18 24 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 53 + 1 lap 22 25 45 Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 52 + 2 laps 25 26 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 52 + 2 laps 19 27 48 Mark Noske WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 52 + 2 laps 27 28 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 52 + 2 laps 21 29 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 51 + 3 laps 17 30 23 David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 51 + 3 laps 26 31 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 47 + 7 laps 20 Ret 888 Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 38 Retired 33 Ret 20 Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 11 Retired 23 Ret 24 Garth Walden Walden Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1 Engine 28 DSQ 14 Will Davison Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) Disqualified 34 Fastest Lap: Simon Wills (Team Dynamik) - 1:09.9280 on lap 30 Source:

Championship standings No Driver Team 1 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 1308 2 1 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 1295 3 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 1261 4 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 1197 5 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 1159

References