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kept one nose clean

2001 V8 Supercar season

The 2001 V8 Supercar season was the third running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It began on March 25, 2001 at Phillip Island and ended on December 2 at Sandown after 13 rounds.

2001 season

Driver changes

  • After racing for the Holden Racing Team since 1994, Craig Lowndes in enticed to race for a newly created Ford team formed from the formerly Holden aligned Gibson Motor Sport and acquired privateers front runner Rodney Forbes as a team mate. In between Channel Ten commentary commitments, Neil Crompton joins the team for the enduros.
  • Jason Bright replaces Lowndes in the number 2 Holden Racing Team Car.
  • Rookie Marcos Ambrose and V8 Lites series driver David Besnard join the series with Stone Brothers Racing. Tony Longhurst finds a drive with Rod Nash Racing and joining HRT for the long distance races, while Craig Baird sits idle until the enduros.
  • Sacked Gibson Motor Sport driver Greg Murphy joins the former Holden Young Lions squad taking with him sponsor K-mart, joining Todd Kelly at the team.
  • Fellow superseded GMS driver Steven Richards, joins Ford Tickford Racing.
  • As part of a franchise deal arrangement the Holden Young Lions identity passes to privateer outfit Romano Racing who run Paul Romano.
  • Cameron McConville joins the re-launched Lansvale Racing Team as a lead driver while owners Steve Reed and Trevor Ashby continue to share a car.

Team changes

  • Gibson Motor Sport changes from Holden to Ford
  • Larkham Motorsport has ICS as their new sponsor, replacing Mitre 10
  • Romano Racing becomes Holden Young Lions, get ex-HRT VX Commodore

Cars

Ford will continue with the AU Falcon that the majority of Ford teams run. Holden have released a new VX Commodore after the VT Commodore. Some Holden teams still run the VT and some own the old VS Commodore.

Race formats

  • 2 45 minute races (around 100km) will replace the 3 20 minute sprint races. There will also be a compulsory pit stop that has to be taken within a certain time of the race
  • There will be a Top 10 or Top 15 Shootout for all rounds during the season that will alternate from round to round. This involves a single lap around the circuit for the Top 10/15 qualifiers in qualifying. The winner of the shootout wins 18 bonus points
  • 2 events will involve the 3 20 minute sprint races. This will happen at Round 6 and 7 at Barbagello Raceway and Calder Park Raceway. There will be no compulsory pit stops
  • At 3 events, there will be 3 races over the weekend, this will happen at Hidden Valley, Pukekoke Park Raceway and Sandown

Special events

Round 2-Clipsal 500 at Adelaide. This involves 2 250km races over 78 laps of the Adelaide Street circuit. The winner of the event is the driver who wins the second race and not the driver who collects the most points. The second race involves double points over the first race. There are 2 compulsory pit stops in each race, 1 stop for tyres and 1 stop for fuel.

Round 5-GMC 400 at Canberra. This involves 2 100km races and 1 200km race over 25 and 50 laps of the Canberra Street Circuit. The winner of the event is the driver who collects the most points over the weekend. The 2nd race of the weekend will involve a reverse grid of the entire field. The 3rd race grid will be a culmination of the points of race 1 and race 2 put together. In the first 2 races there will be only 1 compulsory stop for tyres. In the 3rd race, there will be 1 stop for tyres and 1 stop for fuel.

Round 9-VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 at Queensland Raceway. This is the first of the double driver endurance events. This race is held over 161 laps over 500km. The race will involve driver changes and fuel and tyre stops will have to happen at the same time.

Round 11-V8 Supercar 1000 at Bathurst. Known as "The Great Race", Bathurst is is the event that all the drivers want to win. It is again a double driver event and will involve driver changes at pit stops. The race is held over 161 laps over 1000km. This season is the first time that the event isn't the last round of the championship.

Television coverage

Channel 10 will be showing the coverage for the 5th year since 1997 when they took over from Channel 7. Neil Crompton hosts the coverage for regular rounds with Barry Sheene. Bill Woods hosts the coverage at special events while Leigh Diffy hosts the coverage at the last 2 rounds. Matthew White hosts the coverage at Winton for the only time this season. Neil Crompton, Barry Sheene and Mark Oastler commentate for most of the season with Leigh Diffy coming in from Bathurst onwards. Greg Rust and Grant Denyer are the Pit Lane reporters after Greg was commentator for the 2000 championship.

Teams and drivers

The following drivers and teams competed in the 2001 V8 Supercar Championship Series. The series consisted of 11 rounds of single driver racing and two rounds (the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000) of endurance racing with each car driven by two drivers.

Team Manufacturer Car model No Drivers Endurance Driver 1 Endurance Driver 2
Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore 1 Mark Skaife Mark Skaife Jason Bright**
Tony Longhurst***
2 Jason Bright Tony Longhurst**
Jason Bright***
Tomas Mezera
255 Rick Kelly*
Holden Young Lions (Romano Racing) Holden VT Commodore 24 Paul Romano Paul Romano Owen Kelly
Lansvale Racing Team Holden VX Commodore 3 Cameron McConville Cameron McConville Rick Bates
VS Commodore 23 Trevor Ashby
Steve Reed
Trevor Ashby Steve Reed
Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon 4 Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose Greg Crick**
Wayne Wakefield***
9 David Besnard David Besnard Matthew White
Ford Tickford Racing Ford AU Falcon 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Steven Richards
6 Steven Richards Dean Canto Jim Richards
Gibson Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon 7 Rodney Forbes Rodney Forbes David Parsons
00 Craig Lowndes Craig Lowndes Neil Crompton
Castrol Perkins Racing Holden VX Commodore 8 Russell Ingall Russell Ingall Larry Perkins
11 Larry Perkins Luke Youlden Adam Macrow
Pepsi-Cola Racing (Perkins Engineering) Holden VT Commodore 16 Dugal McDougall Dugal McDougall Andrew Miedecke
Larkham Motorsport Ford AU Falcon 10 Mark Larkham Mark Larkham Wayne Gardner
Imrie Motor Sport Holden VX Commodore 14 Greg Ritter
Tomas Mezera
Christian D'Agostin
Tony Ricciardello
James Brock
James Brock Steve Owen
K-mart Racing Holden VX Commodore 15 Todd Kelly Todd Kelly Greg Murphy
51 Greg Murphy Rick Kelly Nathan Pretty
Shell Helix Racing Ford AU Falcon 17 Steven Johnson Steven Johnson Paul Radisich
18 Paul Radisich Greg Ritter Paul Stokell**
Cameron McLean***
Eastern Creek Kart Racing Ford EL Falcon 20 Gary Holt* Gary Holt Kevin Mundy
Ozemail Internet Racing Ford AU Falcon 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones John Cleland
Oneworld Sport Ford AU Falcon 25 Terry Wyhoon Rod Salmon
Big Kev Racer Holden VT Commodore 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Matt Neal**
Ashley Stitchbury***
VX Commodore 67 Matt Neal*
Super Cheap Auto Racing Ford AU Falcon 31 Steve Ellery Steve Ellery Geoff Brabham
Densitron Display Technologies Holden VX Commodore 32 Tomas Mezera*
Valvoline Cummins Race Team Holden VX Commodore 34 Garth Tander Garth Tander Jason Bargwanna
35 Jason Bargwanna Paul Dumbrell Leanne Ferrier
Scotty Taylor Racing Holden VS Commodore 37 Bill Attard Roger Hurd
Greenfield Mowers Racing Ford AU Falcon 40 Cameron McLean* Cameron McLean Neal Bates
K&J Thermal Products Racing Ford AU Falcon 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Tim Leahey
RPM International Racing Ford AU Falcon 45 Dean Canto* Phillip Scifleet Aaron McGill**
Christian D'Agostin***
John Faulkner Racing Holden VT Commodore 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Craig Baird**
Peter Doulman***
Melbournes Cheapest Cars Holden VT Commodore 48 Eddie Abelnica*
Ultra Tune Racing Holden VT Commodore 50 Tyler Mecklem
Michael Donaher
Layton Crambrook
Layton Crambrook Michael Donaher
M3 Motorsport Holden VT Commodore 52 Peter Doulman*
Rod Nash Racing Holden VT Commodore 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Tony Ricciardello
All-Trans Spares Ford EL Falcon 56 Luke Sieders*
3M Racing Ford AU Falcon 61 Ross Halliday* Ross Halliday Greg Crick
Toll Racing Ford AU Falcon 75 Anthony Tratt Anthony Tratt Alan Jones
Challenge Recruitment Racing Holden VS Commodore 76 Matthew White*
V8 Racing Holden VS Commodore 77 Richard Mork*
Miller Racing Holden VS Commodore 84 Daniel Miller*
Castrol Harris Racing Ford AU Falcon 88 Craig Harris Dale Brede**
Michael Simpson***
Ric Shaw Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 90 Ric Shaw Mike Conway
GM Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 111 Phonsy Mullan*
Power Racing Ford AU Falcon 500 Alan Heath* Alan Heath Dale Brede
CAT Racing Ford AU Falcon 600 John Bowe
Simon Wills
John Bowe Simon Wills
Team Kiwi Racing Holden VX Commodore 777 Angus Fogg*
021 Jason Richards Jason Richards Angus Fogg
Prancing Horse Racing Ford AU Falcon 888 Mark Noske Craig Baird

* = Selected events only

** = Drove in Queensland 500 only

*** = Drove in Bathurst 1000 only

Season Review

Race Calendar

The 2001 V8 Supercar season consisted of 13 rounds which included 7 pit-stop rounds of two or three races, two sprint races, two 2-driver races and 2 1-driver races endurance races.
Rd. Race Title Circuit City / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Phillip Island Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 24 - 25 Mar Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team

2 Clipsal 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 6 - 8 Apr Jason Bright Holden Racing Team

3 Eastern Creek Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 28 - 29 Apr Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team
4 Hidden Valley Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 12 - 13 May Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing
5 GMC 400 Canberra Street Circuit Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 9 - 10 June Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing
6 Barbagallo Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 22 - 24 June Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing

7 Calder Park Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 14 - 15 July Paul Morris Big Kev Racer

8 Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 27 - 28 July Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team

9 VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 Queensland Raceway Willowbank, Queensland 24 - 26 Aug Paul Radisich
Steven Johnson
Dick Johnson Racing Report
10 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Winton, Victoria 8 - 9 Sep Russell Ingall Castrol Perkins Racing

11 V8 Supercar 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 4 - 7 Oct Mark Skaife
Tony Longhurst
Holden Racing Team Report
12 Boost Mobile V8 International Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, New Zealand 09 - 11 Nov Greg Murphy K-mart Racing

13 Australian V8 Ultimate Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 30 Nov - 1 Dec Todd Kelly K-mart Racing

Drivers Championship

Only the top 32 drivers will be displayed as this is the number of drivers for the sprint rounds.
Pos Driver Penalty Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Rd 11 Rd 12 Rd 13 Pts

1 Mark Skaife 30 288 340 262 218 282 252 108 286 264 228 552 240 188 3478

2 Russell Ingall 0 156 464 93 176 190 189 228 179 333 273 314 125 155 2875

3 Jason Bright 80 235 468 237 222 214 157 200 199 264 205 133 181 184 2819

4 Greg Murphy 0 201 210 213 211 77 209 127 75 288 231 432 288 162 2724

5 Steven Johnson 0 153 455 108 72 294 176 230 204 370 161 59 164 92 2532

6 Todd Kelly 0 163 334 136 106 119 174 47 187 288 90 432 155 248 2479

7 Paul Radisich 0 133 65 201 58 232 288 208 120 370 161 59 110 104 2109

8 Marcos Ambrose 0 200 243 165 232 146 82 194 66 82 201 30 232 213 2086

9 Steve Ellery 0 132 220 54 118 187 104 156 126 232 148 333 126 137 2073

10 Garth Tander 0 104 238 108 84 288 108 150 146 144 109 356 142 70 2047

11 Craig Lowndes 0 238 213 172 32 180 188 123 219 16 51 192 125 242 1991

12 Steven Richards 0 191 284 77 172 205 134 148 105 33 105 304 50 104 1912

13 Tony Longhurst 0 57 256 108 62 36 102 80 102 262 29 552 168 80 1894

14 Larry Perkins 0 93 264 72 156 134 49 86 54 333 66 314 132 103 1856

15 Jason Bargwanna 0 105 248 62 134 136 88 64 90 144 126 356 124 144 1821

16 Glenn Seton 0 150 304 142 132 172 94 78 120 33 75 304 94 102 1800

17 Paul Morris 0 66 76 141 72 166 68 274 99 195 184 252 22 86 1701

18 Brad Jones 0 81 84 144 104 94 64 70 123 40 54 480 72 132 1542

19 Mark Larkham 0 54 160 69 165 178 50 127 51 143 87 84 96 62 1326

20 Paul Weel 0 78 32 105 102 112 102 76 81 216 93 132 100 78 1307

21 Cameron McConville 0 54 0 75 96 122 134 134 163 112 21 276 48 40 1275

22 John Bowe 0 54 108 209 59 232 120 76 84 108 102 118 1270

23 David Besnard 0 57 4 45 177 64 58 102 242 96 84 60 52 112 1153

24 Jason Richards 0 DNQ 136 DNQ 68 110 64 42 75 160 69 204 108 110 1146

25 Cameron McLean 0 108 0 144 132 20 114 52 57 0 105 396 1128

26 Anthony Tratt 0 9 180 60 44 96 52 50 DNPQ 128 114 216 72 44 1065

27 Paul Romano 0 30 104 27 68 100 30 36 192 72 240 60 10 969

28 Tomas Mezera 0 48 176 DNQ 50 57 262 133 94 78 898

29 Rodney Forbes 0 66 0 DNS 68 142 70 78 69 0 30 144 116 70 853

30 John Faulkner 0 51 252 42 34 52 48 DNQ 48 56 63 0 70 94 810

31 Dugal McDougall 0 54 88 108 42 22 32 DNPQ 176 57 156 46 781

32 Dean Canto 0 DNQ 92 42 DNQ 30 DNPQ 200 379 743

Pos Driver Penalty Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Rd 11 Rd 12 Rd 13 Pts

Phillip Island, Victoria

Mark Skaife get off to the best start possible as he collects the maximum amount of points at Phillip Island with Craig Lowndes 2nd on his debut for Ford thanks to the fastest pit stops over the weekend by his pit crew. Jason Bright comes 3rd on his comeback to the sport.

Adelaide, South Australia

At the next round at Adelaide, Bright wins the round and the double points race after coming from the back of the field after an accident on lap 1, leaving him at the top of the championship. Mark Skaife has a shocker as he came fourth after a spin in Race 1 and has another spin in Race 2 leaving him ninth. Craig Lowndes won the Saturday race but tangled with Skaife in Race 2 leaving his car disabled and left him falling behind in the championship. Paul Radisich had the fastest car on the weekend but an axle broke in race 1 and steering damage left him wounded in the championship. Russell Ingall has a good weekend with a third and a second place. There was big controversy over the race officials as rule breaking went unpunished. They were being watched at Eastern Creek.

Eastern Creek, New South Wales

Craig Lowndes and Marcos Ambrose came first and second in the first race but got penilised because of incidents. Craig passed under a Yellow Flag that he could not see and Marcos made an illegal pass on Greg Murphy. This left Greg Murphy 1st on the grid for Race 2 and Mark Skaife second who started tenth in race 1 after he spun in the shootout. Greg Murphy lost his lead to Skaife after he was given a stop-go penalty for jumping the start, but there was more controversy after he didn't come to a complete stop. He got away with it but the rules were changed for the next round. Mark Skaife duly took out the race and round with team mate Jason Bright second but still leading the championship. Greg Murphy came third for the round even with the penalty.

Hidden Valley, Northern Territory

The next round at Hidden Valley turned out to be the car breaker of the year, with Greg Murphy and Russell Ingall having mechanical problems while leading within sight of the flag in Race 3 and 2 respectively. Mark Skaife had a stop-go penalty for jumping the start in Race 1 which left him 12th but still recovered to win Race 3 and come third in the round. Jason Bright had another solid weekend coming second and extending his championship lead over his team mate. But it was Marcos Ambrose who kept his nose clean over the weekend to take the round win in only his fourth championship round.

Canberra, ACT

The GMC 400 was the turning point of the season for Mark Skaife as he comes 3rd on the weekend and overtakes team-mate Jason Bright who had a difficult weekend. The DJR cars were the cars to have earlier in the weekend as Paul Radisich and Steven Johnson finish 1-2 in Qualifying but Radisich spun out in his shootout lap leaving him 15th and Steven Johnson claiming his first pole position in the series. New for the championship is the pit lane speed limiters restricted to 40 km/h and only 1 pit bay per team. Steven Johnson wins the first race from Craig Lowndes who was advantaged bt a clear pit lane. Mark Skaife finishes 3rd after starting 5th. Marcos Ambrose retires from the race with a broken driveshaft and will start from the back of the grid. The 2nd race is a reverse grid with Steve Reed and Steven Richards starting on the front row. Steven Richards wins from Marcos Ambrose who has a brilliant race which he started from the back but in race 3 he will have to start from the back again. Mark Skaife has a difficult race when he ran into the back of Rodney Forbes in a concertina effect and finished 24th and will start 10th in race 3. The race 3 grid is decided by an aggregate of points accumalated in race 1 and 2 which means that the front row is Craig Lowndes and Paul Radisich. Mark Skaife wins the race with Garth Tander 2nd and Steve Johnson 3rd. Craig Lowndes was leading until asafety car came out with a pit stop still to go. He eventually retired with fuel pressure problems. Steve Johnson wins the round with Garth tander second and Mark Skaife 3rd.

Barbagallo, Western Australia

Paul Radisich dominates the weekend as he wins the shootout and Race 1,2 and 3. Mark Skaife consolidates his championship lead with 2nd in all 3 races with Greg Murphy 3rd on the weekend. Russell Ingall saw his chance of a podium dashed when he jumped the start in Race 3 and finished 4th overall.

Calder Park, Victoria

Paul Morris won his first ever V8 Supercar event as the Big Kev Racer was on the pace from the start of the weekend. Mark Skaife started on Pole but a poor start left him vulnerable to Steven Johnson, who he tapped to give him the lead, but he was issued with a stop-go penalty giving Johnson the lead he never relinquished. Paul Morris came 2nd and Marcos Ambrose 3rd. Paul Morris reverted to blocking in the final 2 races to win both, Russell Ingall finished 2nd in race 2 with Jason Bright 3rd and in race 3, Paul Radisich finished 2nd with Russell Ingall 3rd. Overall for the weekend, Steven Johnson finished 2nd with Russell Ingall 3rd. Mark Skaife finished 14th overall after a spin in race 3.

Oran Park, New South Wales

Mark Skaife comes back froma difficult Calder with a win in both races after starting 2nd. Craig Lowndes claims the pole, but finished 2nd in race 1 and 8th in race 2 after a spin by Garth Tander but still finishes 3rd overall. David Besnard has a fantastic round as he finishes 3rd and 2nd for a 2nd overall as team mate Marcos Ambrose struggles to get to grips with the track.

Queensland 500, Queensland

The 1st 2 driver enduro threw up plenty of thrills and spills and a dramatic ending. The heavans opened causing a huge thunder storm as Steven Johson and Paul Radisich win the race in the gravel trap but was lucky as the red flag came out , putting the result to the previous lap. Russell Ingall and Larry Perkins finish 2nd and Todd Kelly and Greg Murphy 3rd. Mark Skaife and Jason Bright finish 4th even though they had oil on the screen for some of the race.

Winton, Victoria

Russell Ingall put his championship fight another step further as he takes his first round win of the season and also claims his first pole poistion of his career. Greg Murphy wins Race 1 but a slow pit-stop in Race 2 puts him 6th but still finished 2nd overall for the weekend. Mark Skaife finished 3rd overall for the weekend after starting 15th after a horror qualifying. Marcos Ambrose was the fastest ford over the weekend as he passed car after car after he ran off road on the first corner.

V8 Supercar 1000, Bathurst, New South Wales

Mark Skaife put one hand on the championship after his win at Bathurst with Tony Longhurst. the drive of the day went to Brad Jones and John Cleland who started 21st and finished 2nd even despite radio dramas that meant that Cleland didn't come in under safety car. They lost out by a couple of seconds. Todd Kelly and Greg Murphy finished 3rd after running in the top 3 all day. They could have won if Todd didn't spin on a slippy track coming into the last pitstio at the chase. Russell Ingall overtook Jason Bright into 2nd place of the championship when Jason didn't finish with Tomas Mezera. Russell and Larry Perkins led coming into the final pitstop but Larry crashed when coming into the pit lane; damaging the front spoiler. They eventually finished 8th. Pole position man Marcos Ambrose went back though the field until he over cooked it coming into pit land at the first pit stop and got stuck in the gravel. He eventually retired. Greg Ritter and Cameron McLean finished 4th after a great race with a fast car. Paul Radisich and Steven Johnson retired with an engine failure during a safety car.

Pukekohe, New Zealand

In the first ever oversees event for the series, Greg Murphy collected maximum points on home turf. Mark Skaife collects the championship in the first race when he finished ahead of Russell Ingall who had a number of problems with the gearbox. Marcos Ambrose finished 3rd but didn't have the pace of the leading Holdens.

Sandown, Victoria

Todd Kelly wins his first ever championship round after a win in race 2 and other consistent race results. Mark Skaife wins the first race in dry conditions, but struggled in the wet conditions and eventually retired from race 3 after contact with Steven Richards. Craig Lowndes won the 3rd race from Marcos Ambrose.

Overall

Mark Skaife wins the series for the 4th time ahead of Russell Ingall. Jason Bright comes 3rd ahead of Greg Murphy. The first Ford driver is Steven Johnson. Todd Kelly comes 6th after his strong final round ahead of Paul Radisich who had some strong rounds. Marcos Ambrose collected the rookie of the year award after coming 8th but would regret the endurance races where he only collected 112 pts. Steve Ellery is the first of the 1-car team after coming 9th and Garth Tander eventually finishes 10th after a tough year. Craig Lowndes came 11th in his first year for Ford.

Controversy

At round 2 of the season in Adelaide, there were a number of incidents that went unpunished by race directors. The most notable was when Paul Radisish hit Mark Skaife in the braking area at turn 4. Race control explained that Mark Skaife was holding Radisich up sp there was no penalty. There was a number of other offences as well. At the restarts, there were a number of cars 5 car length behind the car in front which should mean a stop-go penalty but, it went unpunished. The pit -lane was also the scene of controversy as wheelnuts and other parts of cars rolled out into the fast lane, most notably the Holden Racing Team but again, it went unpunished. The only incident that was penilised was Jason Bargwanna spinning John Bowe at the final corner. At the next round at Eastern Creek, the officials said they would be a lot tougher for offenders.

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