ADELAIDE TRACK PROFILE ­ WITH MARCOS AMBROSE - PIRTEK RACING "There is no doubt that the Clipsal 500 is one of the best events of the V8 Supercar Championship Series with a huge atmosphere and massive crowd and promoter support.

From a racing perspective it is also one of the most demanding weekends of the championship, especially if the temperature starts to creep up.

The circuit is fantastic to drive on, but the concrete walls trap all the smoke and fumes and it's imperative that your helmet and car ventilation is working correctly.
You flash over the start finish line in fifth gear at about 220kph.

You brake at the end of pit lane and look for the outside curb so you can virtually use it as a 'ski jump'.

That sets you up to keep your foot flat for the left hand kink out of the chicane - this can certainly be a little tricky on older tyres.

The next section is all second gear as four corners virtually become one ­it just all flows.

You need to be careful because there is a lot of road camber on the exit of each corner and the car tends to want to slide around at the rear - this is a section where you can make up a lot of time.

The run on to the back straight is relatively simple and as you hit sixth gear and a top speed of around 230kph you charge towards the most challenging corner in Australia.

This high-speed right-hander allows you no vision on the entry or the exit, with only concrete walls to stop you if you make a mistake (ask Paul Radisich about 2002).

It's then heavy on the brakes and back through the gears for the hairpin which is a very slow, sometimes first gear, corner.

This is a prime passing spot, but it is difficult to get the power down as quickly as you would like.

The left-hander behind the paddock area is tricky because it tightens up on you on the way out and it's easy to run into the wall on the outside if you are going too fast.

You are then back on to the circuit proper and the surface smooths out. The right-hand kink before the last hairpin is also difficult because you are braking right the way through it and it is easy to lock a wheel - that is certainly bad for business, especially on the opening lap of a 250km event.

It is important to get in and out of the hairpin as smoothly as possible to ensure a quick run on the front straight where you start it all over again.

In total we complete about 24 gear changes per lap for a total of around 1872 for the 78 laps of each 250km race."




Clipsal 500, Adelaide Street Circuit, South Australia
Round 1


Circuit Length 3.22 km
Race Direction Clockwise
Interesting Fact Adelaide's Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar event held on the former Grand Circuit is Australia's most successful domestic motor racing meeting. It has won the AVESCO awards four times in its four year history and last year hosted a record crowd of 171,200.
V 8   S U P E R C A R   S T A T I S T I C S
Shell Championship Series 
Year Driver on Pole Car Round Winner Car
1999 Jason Bright Falcon Craig Lowndes Commodore
2000 Garth Tander Commodore Mark Skaife Commodore
2001 Craig Lowndes Ford Jason Bright Holden
2002 Mark Skaife Holden Mark Skaife Holden

V 8   S U P E R C A R  R E C O R D S
Current Qualifying Record
Year Driver Car Time
2002 Mark Skaife Holden 1.22.1273
Current Lap Record
Year Driver Car Time
2002 Mark Skaife Holden 1.23.7200
Current Outright Lap Record
Year Driver  Car Time
2001 Simon Wills Reynard 94D 1m.19.955s








  Race Day: Friday, 16:05-16:35 Race Duration: 30 Minutes Reverse Grid: N
Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Fastest Lap Fastest Lap Time Gap
1 50 Team Brock Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX 1 1 1:23.3729
2 1 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY 1 1 1:23.4608 0:00.0879
3 4 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:23.7897 0:00.4168
4 51 K-Mart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX 1 1 1:24.0266 0:00.6537
5 11 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY 1 1 1:24.1633 0:00.7904
6 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:24.2497 0:00.8768
7 888 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:24.3838 0:01.0109
8 2 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY 1 1 1:24.7252 0:01.3523
9 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 1 1 1:25.0673 0:01.6944
10 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX 1 1 1:26.6227 0:03.2498




Race 1
  Race Day: Saturday, 14:00-16:15 Race Duration: 250 Klms Reverse Grid: N
Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Fastest Lap Fastest Time
1 4 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 78 01:55:06.9486 56 1:23.4783
2 1 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY 78 01:55:09.1550 54 1:23.6574
3 50 Team Brock Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX 78 01:55:22.7752 8 1:23.7934
4 11 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY 78 01:55:26.5882 50 1:24.0411
5 2 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY 78 01:55:32.2386 27 1:24.3536
6 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 78 01:55:34.3462 50 1:24.4246
7 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 78 01:55:44.9772 56 1:24.3891
8 3 Lansvale Smash Repairs Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VX 78 01:55:49.2906 25 1:24.3974
9 15 K-Mart Racing Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VX 78 01:55:53.5324 49 1:24.8095
10 51 K-Mart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX 78 01:55:55.3867 28 1:24.2653
11 8 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VX 78 01:55:55.7496 53 1:24.6782
12 65 Betta Electrical Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA 78 01:55:57.7235 53 1:24.6250
13 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX 78 01:56:00.1741 9 1:24.6755
14 16 Team Brock Paul Weel Holden Commodore VX 78 01:56:00.4906 54 1:24.6312
15 20 Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon EL 78 01:56:05.4875 54 1:24.8242
16 44 Team Dynamik Pty Ltd Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY 78 01:56:09.6276 57 1:24.5324
17 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VX 78 01:56:11.0124 12 1:24.8327
18 5 Ford Performance Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU 78 01:56:14.1431 55 1:24.5299
19 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Ford Falcon AU 78 01:56:21.6080 6 1:24.7722
20 66 Betta Electrical Dean Canto Ford Falcon BA 77 01:55:07.4616 50 1:24.7720
21 021 Team Kiwi Racing Craig Baird Holden Commodore VX 77 01:55:16.6944 59 1:25.8688
22 00 00 Motorsport Greg Ritter Ford Falcon BA 77 01:55:22.0135 12 1:25.3553
23 10 Orrcon Racing Mark Larkham Ford Falcon AU 77 01:56:32.1917 57 1:25.2508
24 21 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 76 01:55:45.9408 27 1:24.7462
25 7 00 Motorsport Rodney Forbes Ford Falcon AU 74 01:55:25.6748 27 1:25.2350
26 18 Shell Helix Racing Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA 74 01:55:51.4538 15 1:24.1613
27 29 Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY 73 01:55:07.8566 21 1:24.9970
28 45 Team Dynamik Pty Ltd Jason Richards Holden Commodore VY 73 01:55:13.6091 12 1:24.6368
29 31 Super Cheap Auto Racing Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 59 01:55:29.9782 37 1:24.4544
DNF 23 ICS Team Ford Mark Noske Ford Falcon AU 52 01:20:33.0229 5 1:24.6097
DNF 19 Ford Performance Racing David Besnard Ford Falcon AU 49 01:55:12.7364 8 1:25.4046
DNF 888 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 48 01:15:16.7085 6 1:24.7986
DNF 24 Romano Racing Paul Romano Holden Commodore VX 45 01:10:36.1075 6 1:26.0491
DNF 6 Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 35 01:09:58.7600 16 1:24.6254




Race 2
  Race Day: Sunday, 14:00-16:15 Race Duration: 250 Klms Reverse Grid: N
Pos Car Entrant Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Fastest Lap Fastest Time
1 1 Holden Racing Team Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY 78 02:09:50.4167 20 1:23.2731
2 11 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY 78 02:09:52.1631 48 1:23.6970
3 9 Caltex Havoline Race Team Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA 78 02:09:59.9707 13 1:24.0653
4 16 Team Brock Paul Weel Holden Commodore VX 78 02:10:00.5444 13 1:24.1534
5 65 Betta Electrical Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA 78 02:10:02.6914 66 1:24.1494
6 2 Holden Racing Team Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY 78 02:10:02.9335 18 1:23.9162
7 50 Team Brock Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX 78 02:10:03.6249 15 1:23.3410
8 6 Ford Performance Racing Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA 78 02:10:04.3608 31 1:23.6717
9 8 Castrol Perkins Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VX 78 02:10:06.5031 13 1:24.1150
10 44 Team Dynamik Pty Ltd Simon Wills Holden Commodore VY 78 02:10:08.1696 9 1:24.8195
11 5 Ford Performance Racing Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU 78 02:10:08.8822 78 1:24.7224
12 51 K-Mart Racing Team Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX 78 02:10:09.9521 65 1:24.1658
13 021 Team Kiwi Racing Craig Baird Holden Commodore VX 78 02:10:11.2294 9 1:24.7849
14 00 00 Motorsport Greg Ritter Ford Falcon BA 78 02:10:14.0825 9 1:25.1225
15 34 Garry Rogers Motorsport Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX 78 02:10:14.5228 15 1:24.3079
16 10 Orrcon Racing Mark Larkham Ford Falcon AU 78 02:10:17.4669 16 1:24.6909
17 23 ICS Team Ford Mark Noske Ford Falcon AU 78 02:10:17.7563 32 1:24.5710
18 21 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon BA 78 02:10:19.4378 27 1:23.9618
19 20 Orrcon Racing Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon EL 78 02:10:31.3120 17 1:24.3330
20 29 Sirromet - Life Style Wine Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY 77 02:10:13.6971 9 1:24.7278
21 7 00 Motorsport Rodney Forbes Ford Falcon AU 77 02:10:23.4974 11 1:25.3169
22 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VX 76 02:10:11.6559 8 1:24.3625
23 888 OzEmail Racing Team John Bowe Ford Falcon BA 65 02:10:12.2439 9 1:24.5550
24 15 K-Mart Racing Team Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VX 62 02:10:27.9680 11 1:24.2129
DNF 17 Shell Helix Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA 75 02:07:10.8236 65 1:24.0365
DNF 4 Pirtek Racing Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA 73 02:02:55.9659 48 1:23.4156
DNF 19 Ford Performance Racing David Besnard Ford Falcon AU 71 02:00:05.4842 14 1:24.4223
DNF 66 Betta Electrical Dean Canto Ford Falcon BA 66 01:48:45.1147 49 1:24.1253
DNF 31 Super Cheap Auto Racing Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA 65 01:49:06.4804 15 1:24.3180
DNF 3 Lansvale Smash Repairs Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VX 54 02:10:12.8051 8 1:24.6088
DNF 18 Shell Helix Racing Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA 50 01:18:32.5414 50 1:24.4441
DNF 24 Romano Racing Paul Romano Holden Commodore VX 15 24:43.4780 14 1:25.7734
DNF 75 Toll Racing Anthony Tratt Ford Falcon AU 1 1:39.7252 1 1:39.7252
DNF 45 Team Dynamik Pty Ltd Jason Richards Holden Commodore VY 1 1:44.5887 1 1:44.5887