News: Ingall Fifth For Supercheap Auto, Season's Best Result For Darwin's Own Morris
Russell Ingall repeated his recent Sandown performance with a fine fifth overall finish for the Supercheap Auto Racing team at the SKYCITY Triple Crown - the sixth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series - at Darwin's Hidden Valley Raceway.
After qualifying and finishing Saturday's first race in seventh, Ingall moved forward in his Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore to claim sixth and fourth in today's final two races to finish just two points shy of fourth placed Jamie Whincup.
Team-mate, 'Darwin's own' Paul Morris had his best points haul of the season, finishing where he started the round after qualifying, 14th. Morris recovered from being turned around by Jason Bright in Race 1 to finish 20th before he then move further forward in Sunday's two races finishing 14th and 13th respectively.
Steven Richards won the round, team-mate Mark Winterbottom making it a 1, 2 for Ford Performance Racing with the Toll Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander third - Winterbottom extending his championship lead over Tander to 58 points.
Ingall jumped to 12th in series points and is now only 37 points outside the top 10, while Morris is 22nd.
The next round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series at Queensland Raceway is the home round for the Supercheap Auto Racing team, and will be held on 18-20 July.
Russell Ingall, #39 Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE:
"We've had another solid weekend and I'm rapt - we're consistently there and today we were only two points away from fourth and getting closer to the podium. In Race 1 we ended up back where we started from, we didn't lose anything but didn't gain anything. I lost a position to Davison at the start, but got that back in the pit stop. Everything went well, good calls and pit stop, but it just seems with these new tyres it's really flattened it out and tightened things up - the pace between third to seventh, the lead pack, was virtually identical. Today we had a dodgy front brake issue in the last race, a long pedal from the start and I wasn't pushing it hard into a lot of corners in case the pedal went to the floor. Apart from that everything was magic, we made great calls and had great stops. Two solid results in a row gives us a lot of confidence heading to our home race at Queensland Raceway
Paul Morris, #67 Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE:
"It's been another positive weekend for our Supercheap Auto Racing team, we're constantly making improvements and moving forward. I'm happy with how I performed, I got turned around by Bright in Race 1 which pushed us back a bit, and we were probably a bit too aggressive with our setup. Today we had good car pace, my Commodore was quickest in Race 3 even though the tyres were at their oldest. I'm really happy with the way [engineer] Brad and I are working together, it's only his third race so it's been great. I could drive the car and put it where I wanted, it was the most driveable I've had it. To see Russell holding in there and the way he and James are getting the most out of their package is very encouraging. We've got our home race next, so we're looking for big things."
2008 V8 Supercar Series, Rd 5 - SKYCITY Triple Crown Race 1 (Results)
1. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
2. Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
3. Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
4. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
5. Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
6. Jason Richards, Sprint Gas Racing Holden Commodore VE
7. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
8. Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF
9. Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE
10. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Racing Ford Falcon BF
20. Paul Morris, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
2008 V8 Supercar Series, Rd 5 - SKYCITY Triple Crown Race 2 (Results)
1. Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
2. Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
3. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
4. Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
5. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
6. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
7. Jason Richards, Sprint Gas Racing Holden Commodore VE
8. Mark Skaife, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
9. Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE
10. Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF
14. Paul Morris, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
2008 V8 Supercar Series, Rd 5 - SKYCITY Triple Crown Race 3 (Results)
1. Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
2. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
3. Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
4. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
5. Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF
6. Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE
7. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Racing Ford Falcon BF
8. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
9. Shane Van Gisbergen, SP Tools Ford Falcon BF
10. Greg Murphy, Sprint Gas Racing Holden Commodore VE
13. Paul Morris, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
2008 V8 Supercar Series, Rd 5 - SKYCITY Triple Crown (Overall Results)
1. Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
2. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
3. Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
4. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
5. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
6. Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF
7. Rick Kelly, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE
8. Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
9. Shane Van Gisbergen, SP Tools Ford Falcon BF
10. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Racing Ford Falcon BF
14. Paul Morris, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series Points (after six of 14 rounds): 1. Winterbottom - 1402; 2. Tander - 1344; 3. Whincup - 1276; 4. R.Kelly - 1208; 5. S.Richards - 1123; 6. Lowndes - 1051; 7. Courtney - 949; 8. Davison - 938; 9. Holdsworth - 876; 10. T.Kelly - 834; 12. Ingall - 797; 22. Morris - 547.
