The Phillip Island Race and Aftermath Thread. DO NOT START ANYMORE

[STEALTHY™]

Well, Top ten is decided, all HRT front row (if only they could ever get a race finish that good)

Race 1 is 340 today, usually telecast at 11:30 or 1:30 tonight


Heres results AFTER top 10 shootout

1 (22) Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team
2 (2) Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team

3 (16) Garth Tander Toll HSV Dealer Team
4 (6) Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing

5 (888) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering
6 (3) Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport

7 (5) Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing
8 (18) Will Davison APVC Racing

9 (15) Rick Kelly Toll HSV Dealer Team
10 (4) James Courtney Jeld-Wen Motorsport

[NickVR]

I like the look of that top three, except Rick Kelly has to get up higher in the grid and pass Lowndes if he wants a chance at winning that championship. Can't wait to see the race, should a good finale cos the points gap is so close.

[STEALTHY™]

Race 1 is run, not sure how the points stand, but Top 5 were

T Kelly
G Tander
M Skaife (omg, he didn't crash)
C Lowndes
R Kelly

[minux]

3 points seperate kelly and lowndes. I cannot understand why Skaife was shown bad sportsmanship flag, what a joke..did anyone take notice as to why craig lowndes livery has LNowdes on the side?

[WAGON MAN]

Minux the livery is for Vodafone as a new major sponsor. click here

I'm pretty sure Betta electrical went into liquidation.

[minux]

yeh but why is it Lnowdes lol?

[markovr]

It doesnt look good for rick kelly....he couldn't get near lowndes in the first race and he starts behind clownes in race 2.......he needs a miracle...rain or a race incident (not involving him)or a 888 mechanical failure, pit stop bungle?to win the championship.

[holden#1]

yeh but why is it Lnowdes lol?

yeah it is a weird spelling of LOWNDES!

Watched the battle between Lowndes & Skaife with interest... Good to see skaife doing well under presure. also good to see Lowndes keeping his cool and not being over aggressive.
There seems to be a few FORD drivers who have a very aggressive driving approach which often lands them in trouble...
Russell Ingall
Craig Lowndes
Marcos Ambrose

[POVRTY]

i hope lowndes land on his lid. O im hiped 4 this 1 boys and gals got the beer the bbq and the car heads bring it on...........oooooooo i can smell victory already!!!

[markovr]

Cant believe those ****in stewards have again ruined the round and virtually given the round to Lowndes.Tander out of equation Windcup looming ....unless Lowndes gets hit by lightning he is goin to win the whole show...comentators are beating it up but realistically rick has come close but those pricks in the stewards room have ruined the race 3......Lowndes deserves to win but it seems he has taken over from ambrose ...winge and you shall receive...if you are good enough pass him on the track.


PS...Hope Im wrong about Lowndes running away with championship (Ive ordered the lightning)

[jules]

can anyone explain the Lowndes/Skaife paint swapping incident?

i'm probably inviting trouble on a Holden forum, but to me it seemed Lowndes had the outside line on that corner. Skaife seemed to have adequate opportunity to adjust his line/speed so he didn't have to use the whole track on the exit, yet he did anyway and punted Lowndes off.

although it's natural to use the whole track when you're taking a racing line, you know you can't do it when there's another driver next to you.

any other takers on that one?

[STEALTHY™]

Depends what your take on lowndes' comments from Indy, about the stewards trying to give rick the championship. Everyone knew what he ment, but yet he still gets away with it.

[hingo1983]

Whoa final race is a bit controversial. Lowndes is out of contention because of the incident with Rick. Rick has been penalized but has an undamaged car and is now in front of Craig. I guess this championship will be decided by a possible penalty after the race. In my opinion, is a was a fairly minor incident. Lowndes didn't give enough room to Rick and there was a small tag. Craig obviously had the slower car and was blocking quite furiously and I don't think anyone will think penalising Rick twice for the same incident is fair. Lets see what happens...

[MaN|aC]

and black flagging Tander shocking decision

[STEALTHY™]

so who won? isn't it finished for the eatern states?

[MaN|aC]

Tod Kelly 1st Craig Lowndes 2nd Rick Kelly 3rd in the second race

[hingo1983]

and black flagging Tander shocking decision

I know! After the bad sportsmanship flag came out, he got on with it and was even making ground on Craig. It was simply a stunt by race control to have both Craig and Rick on equal points going into Race 3. I don't mind Lowndes, but I think his own blocking in Race 3 cost him the championship. It wasn't as if it was a big punt off the road, it was a racing incident.

[STEALTHY™]

yeah i ment Race 3, race 2 is already finished in SA too

[xlr8_87]

Kelly wins championship

Winterbottom wins race 3

[minux]

I cant understand why R Kelly was flagged, it clearly shows int he replay that he HAD nothiong to do with lowndes spinning.

Tander being black flagged for blocking? WTF they want close racing yet whent hey get it you get black lagged because someone cant easily pass...

V8 supercars = what a pile of crap

[Ripcell]

dont agree with the flag but its done and dusted.

the thing with 888 racing is their appeal cant be any different to any other one at any other round.rick cant be penalised for it again. if it wasnt a championship deciding round then they wouldnt be trying to appeal it. but the fact that it was the championship deciding race doesnt mean they have a better leg to stand on in their appeal.

roland dane is a bigger wanker than any decision they can be made in the sport

[Cav]

What sort of racing have we got down to now?

Craig against everyone else.

Skaife blocked him in race one - caution only
Skaife moved over and punted Craig off the circuit - no penalty.
Tander blocked Craig in race two - caution.
Tander blocks more - black flagged.

Race three, Kelly told to win it or bin it.

He did.

He punted Craig off the track. He wasn't beside him, he hit him fair up the rear!

Is a drive through enough of a penalty?

Is this how we win championships now?

The crowd was right "Shame Holden Shame!"

Craig is the better driver and has a faster car than Kelly - but he was not given a fair go by Kelly, Tander and Skaife. They did everything they could to see that Craig did not win.

Is this car racing?

I don't think so.

If the crowds are down next year.
If the TV audience is down next year (how dare they loose Channel 10 who have done so much for the sport!).

Blame Holden

Shame Holden Shame

[STEALTHY™]

Whoa, someone hasn't been laid lately.


Looking at the replays, craig moved over and blocked, time after time, yet no flag for him. then rick gives him a little tap, but craig lost it after that. What about all the other nudges throughout the weekend, and indeed the series. Such as indy with lowdnes. He didn't address the situation and got a drive thru, yet rick wasn't given the option to address.

Different Rules for different teams.


And just so were clear, i'm a Perkins fan, and am really over HRT/HSVDT, i was happy for lowndes to win Bathurst for Brock, but the championship wasn't his.

[Cav]

Did the BEST driver win the championship?

[STEALTHY™]

best overall? or best for some rounds? race wins?

obviously the best driver had the most points, but i can think of drivers who deserved it more, which is probably what your thinking.