Australian motor racing legend Mark Skaife put the distractions of the past week behind him and headed out onto the track today in practice for the NRMA Grand Finale at Sydney’s Oran Park – his last fulltime start after a glittering 21 year career.
Skaife produced the third quickest lap in this afternoon’s first full practice session and finished the day 13th overall, the six-time winner at Oran Park struggling with a lack of grip on the 2.7km circuit.
Skaife’s team-mate Garth Tander was fifth quickest overall, the outgoing V8 Supercar Champion complaining of the same grip issues as Skaife and other V8 competitors.
Series leader Jamie Whincup set the day’s quickest time to lead the Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore of Russell Ingall and Whincup’s Triple 8 team-mate, Craig Lowndes.
Qualifying for the NRMA Grand Finale – also the last ever V8 Supercar round at Oran Park – takes place tomorrow morning and will be followed by Race 1.
Mark Skaife, #2 Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE:
“It’s been a busy week, so it was good to pull the helmet on and get into the car today. The first part of the session we were quite happy with the #2 Toll HRT Commodore, but we probably didn’t make much progress from there. Everyone’s struggling for grip, but it’s a different time of the year compared to what we’ve been here over the past few years so that’s thrown us all. My lap wasn’t bad for two-thirds but made a mistake going into the esses.”
Garth Tander, #1 Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE:
“My Commodore was quite good out of the truck early, but there was a little work we needed to do balance-wise to improve the rear grip and we really didn’t get a handle on it. The track’s got a lot less grip this year than what we’ve ever seen here before, so we just need to work on improving the car there and making the best of it.”
2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Rd 14 – NRMA Grand Finale, Oran Park (Practice):
1. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
2. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
3. Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
4. Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE
5. Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
6. Steven Richards, Castrol Edge Ford Falcon BF
7. Lee Holdsworth, Valvoline/Cummins Holden Commodore VE
8. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Motorsport Ford Falcon BF
9. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
10. Jason Bright, Fujitsu Ford Falcon BF
13. Mark Skaife, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
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