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Front Page
Rain Forces Officials to Call off Saturday V8 Race in NZ
Staff, Monday May 3, 2004.
Page 1 of 1
Heavy showers throughout the day have forced officials to postpone the opening race of the PlaceMakers V8 International at Pukekohe Park Raceway south of Auckland.This means that all three races will run tomorrow (Sunday), forcing a major re-shuffle in the race program. Officials have also decided to make all races 36-laps (100.8km) in length, instead of the originally scheduled 54-laps (152.8) for races two and three.
Despite the best attempts by officials and track workers to have the track ready for a 2.35pm start, and a further delay until 3pm, it was decided to postpone the opening race until tomorrow.
It's the first time since Calder (Victoria) in 1998, that a race has been postponed or called off. On that day the final of three races was cancelled when heavy rain flooded the circuit.
Cars were lined-up on pit lane waiting to go out onto the track, when a group of drivers met with officials and all agreed to postpone the race.
A number of areas around the track were flooded, including the two fast straights and a number of pit garages. A number of teams have moved racecars to a separate higher-grounded area for overnight storage.
Drivers were able to venture onto the track this morning for a 20-minute warm-up session before the top-10 shootout.
Run in rainy conditions there was a number of movements, including pole-man Jason Bright slipping back to fourth position, while Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) maintained his second spot on the grip, with Mark Skaife now starting from pole.
It was after the shootout that drivers expressed concerns, as they found it hard enough to keep the cars under control while on the track by themselves. With 32-cars set to start the race, the chance of a major incident was too high. With persistent rain continuing during the afternoon, the correct decision was made.
Weather forecasts are predicting fine weather for tomorrow. Ironically it is the first major rain for the area in five weeks.
New details for Pukekohe:
Race 1 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Sunday 2 May - 10am
Race 2 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Sunday 2 May - 1.10pm
Race 3 (36 laps - 100.8km) - Sunday 2 May - 3.40pm
Top-10 shootout - PlaceMakers V8 International
1. Mark Skaife - Holden Race Team - Holden Commodore +1:04.7477
2. Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Racing - Ford Falcon BA +0.0060
3. Greg Murphy - KMart Racing - Holden Commodore +0.5131
4. Jason Bright - PWR Racing - Holden Commodore +0.9930
5. Steven Richards - Castrol Perkins Motorsport - Holden Commodore +1.798
6. Paul Radisich - Team Betta Electrical - Ford Falcon BA +1.8024
7. John Bowe - OzEmail Racing - Ford Falcon BA +1.8026
8. Max Wilson - Team Betta Electrical - Ford Falcon BA +1.8319
9. Todd Kelly - Holden Race Team - Holden Commodore +2.0112
10. Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Racing - Ford Falcon BA +2.8753
For further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing Australia
Phone: 03 9359 8190
Mobile: 0417 262 753
Email: benb@global-marketing.com
