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00:00The Kid's back, and he's hungry.
00:14Last Sunday, Craig Lowndes returned to the Shell Series V8 War,
00:18proved the Demon from Diamond Valley is serious about success.
00:22To the fans, it was like he'd never been away.
00:25HRT's Young Gun claimed a convincing victory,
00:28on a day when track temperatures soared, and the on-track action foiled over.
00:33Mark Scaife's door-crunching dive down the inside of Race 1 winner John Dow
00:38was a hint of the drama that was soon to erupt.
00:41Race 2 starts, and a mid-pack collision sets off a chilling chain reaction.
00:50The largest field in Shell V8 history self-destructing in a few violent seconds.
00:56It was a big one, claiming not only paint and panels, but a trackside photographer,
01:01lucky to escape with minor injuries.
01:04Today, the 1998 Shell Series shootout heads to our southernmost state,
01:09as Network 10 welcomes V8 supercar fans Australia 1
01:13to Tasmania's testing Simmons Plains Raceway.
01:16Round 2 of the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship.
01:20Can the Kid do it again for the general,
01:22or will the tazzy tiger John Dow turn the tables for Henry on his home turf?
01:27The battle lies ahead.
01:38Oh! Big accident.
01:40Henry!
01:47Oh, look at Blake!
01:53Oh!
01:57Well, although there's some cloud around,
01:59it's a somewhat drier Simmons Plains Raceway in 1998.
02:03And very soon, this fast Tasmanian circuit will play host
02:06to its biggest field of touring cars ever.
02:08Hello, everyone. I'm Lee Diffie,
02:10and welcome to Round 2 of the 1998 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship.
02:13Well, I guess you couldn't ask for a better start to the season,
02:15a more spectacular start to the season.
02:17Last weekend, it's down-and-down with that big 10-car pilot.
02:20But the good news is, is that all of the teams that were entered for here in Tasmania
02:23have made the trip down, Barry Sheen.
02:25Quite incredible. When you see the carnage from last weekend,
02:28the work those teams have done is unbelievable.
02:31Getting back to last weekend, with the crashes and that,
02:34there was a lot of sort of to-and-from.
02:36Cams have come out with some new regulations about what drivers must and mustn't do.
02:41For example, here, Craig Lowndes got fined $1,500, quite a lot of money,
02:45for nipping up the inside of Jason Barguana and hitting him.
02:48Now, I think that's too little, too late, Roy.
02:50It's too much too late from Cams,
02:52because what they should have done was nipped it in the bud last year.
02:55This circuit really lends itself to sort of covering your position
02:58and nipping up the inside and that,
03:00so I think you could see a few more fines today.
03:02Well, we'll keep our eyes on that. That's some food for thought.
03:05Well, here, more than at any other circuit, qualifying is paramount,
03:08and we have a look at that qualifying session right now.
03:10Mark Scaife is on pole for the 10th time in his Shell Australian Touring Car career
03:14from his old buddy, Glenn Seaton.
03:16The young gun, Jason Bright, have a look at that, up into third.
03:19Lowndes, Bouw, Ingle, Stephen Richards, another good qualifying effort.
03:22Dick Johnson, Paul Romano, again in the top ten, and Jason Barguana.
03:26In fact, half the field are under the age of 25 in that top ten there,
03:29so that's fantastic.
03:31Mark Scaife is a very happy man at the moment.
03:33It's his 10th pole position, and he's with Mark Osler.
03:36Well, how times change.
03:37At this race meeting last year,
03:39Mark Scaife had to become a temporary member of the Channel 10 commentary team
03:41purely because he couldn't get enough money together
03:43to compete in his Gibson Motorsport Commodore.
03:45Now, here we are a year later, Mark sitting on pole position
03:47in what is arguably the best touring car seat in the country.
03:50Mark Scaife, boy, that is a real turnaround in a year,
03:52and it must be great sitting on pole position.
03:54Well, look, it certainly is, Mark.
03:55I mean, I'm probably enjoying it more than I've ever enjoyed it,
03:58and obviously the car's very competitive.
04:00We were competitive at the end of last year, and let's hope it rolls on.
04:03Why is pole position so important here?
04:05All the drivers say pole is really critical at Simmons Plains.
04:07Why is that?
04:08Well, the proximity of the grid to the first corner, obviously, is not very fast,
04:12and being on the inside of the road is a big advantage to stay out of trouble.
04:16So I would have said Simmons Plains pole position
04:18is probably the most important of the year.
04:20And one thing I didn't ask you, when you commentated with us last year,
04:23did you prefer commentating or race driving?
04:26I think being here race driving, I'm enjoying it much more.
04:30Fantastic. Well, best of luck today, Mark, and well done.
04:32Thanks, mate.
04:34Of course, just one round gone,
04:36and this year's Scholl Series, and Craig Lowndes leads that points ladder.
04:39He's doing very well from bow seat.
04:41Perkins and Ingle were very consistent last week,
04:43and Larry was quite happy with his efforts, considering where he qualified.
04:46So he's doing quite well.
04:47We have a look six back through ten at the next lot,
04:50and Scaife was a little bit disappointed.
04:52Steve Richards, Dick Johnson, Larcombe,
04:54that was his best result ever in the Scholl Series,
04:56and Tony Longhurst.
04:57Well, stay with us, don't go away,
04:59because right after this break, things get tough in Tassie.
05:11Welcome back to Simmons Plains.
05:37It is a very exciting time.
05:39The biggest field of touring cars ever assembled here on this Tasmanian circuit.
05:43It is going to be fantastic.
05:45Before we get to the grid, Barry Sheet, let's have a look at the circuit.
05:48Yeah, it's a nice little circuit, actually.
05:51It's 2.41 kilometres round, goes anti-clockwise.
05:54Fastest part of the circuit's there by, you see where number four is,
05:58that's the end of the straight.
05:59That sweeper is a really flat out, just fifth into sixth gear,
06:03and all action.
06:05Corner one there, first lap.
06:07Corner two's just a keg, but corner three,
06:09it's going to be fun and games on the first lap,
06:11because it's very, very tight.
06:13It's going to provide some fantastic action today.
06:16Round two of the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship.
06:18If you missed the beginning of the show,
06:20we're going to go through the grid for you.
06:22Qualifying was very interesting yesterday.
06:24The Shell Helix grid mark, Skate starts from pole,
06:27the first time since 1994.
06:29His old mate and sparring partner, Glenn Seaton, alongside.
06:32The youngster, Jason Wright, in the Pertek Falcon,
06:34starts from three, alongside 96 champ, Craig Lowndes.
06:37Yeah, what a quality field.
06:39John Bower, the local man.
06:40Russell Engle in the Castrol Commodore alongside JV.
06:42Stephen Richards in the Valvoline Cummins Commodore,
06:45and Dick Johnson in the second of the Shell boards.
06:47Plenty of youth in this top ten.
06:48Paul Romano and Jason Barguana, 11 and 12.
06:51Larry Perkins and Mark Larkham.
06:53And they keep coming too.
06:55John Borgmaier and Tony Longhurst out of 13 and 14.
06:5815, Stephen Eller in the Young Lions Commodore,
07:00and Greg Crick, another local Tasmanian.
07:0217, the Winds Commodore entry of Darren Hossack
07:05alongside Peter Doolman, Terry Finnegan,
07:07and another local, Ray Hislop.
07:09Out of 21, Ryan McLeod in that dramatically repaired Falcon
07:13from Sandown.
07:14Darren Pate alongside the Winds Commodore.
07:15Steve Reid from Sydney in the Lansbow car,
07:17and Karen Brewer in the Castrol Cougar door.
07:19We keep on going.
07:2025 is Paul Wheel, and Darcy Russell will start from 26.
07:24That is an additional ten cars to last year's round
07:27here at Simmons Plains.
07:28It is fantastic.
07:30We're looking at Dick Johnson there getting himself set
07:33as the field assemble.
07:34Exciting times, guys.
07:36Absolutely.
07:37And just keep in mind, Mel Rose,
07:38he wasn't on our leaderboard there,
07:40and that's because he didn't practice yesterday.
07:42He's only just got the car fixed,
07:43and he'll be taking the start in the Fairfax Community
07:45Newspapers car.
07:46So that's a miraculous last-minute repair for Mel Rose.
07:49You know, it wouldn't be a massive gamble
07:51to put your money on Jason Bryant for this.
07:53You know, he's been going so good consistently
07:56fast through practice, and don't forget,
07:58he doesn't have an awful lot of experience,
08:00and he's racing like he's got an old hair on young shoulders.
08:03Well, we saw a very stiff face there,
08:06a concentrating look on Glenn Seaton.
08:08He sits alongside his old mate, Mark Scaife,
08:10who is on pole position.
08:12Picked up his tenth career pole.
08:13Look at Seto.
08:14He is focused.
08:15He's ready.
08:16We are set here at Simmons Plains.
08:23The old rev limiter's working overtime.
08:28Now we're getting ready.
08:29Away we go.
08:30Scaife doesn't get away to the best start.
08:31Oh, look at Scaife.
08:33Glenn Seaton's got the jump and slams up the outside.
08:36There's contact there between the two.
08:38Seto goes across the ripple strip.
08:39Johnson's on the inside there as well.
08:41He gets around.
08:42It was Bauer on the inside.
08:43Bryant is off.
08:44Goodness me.
08:45If you thought they were going to take it easy
08:46after that sand down incident, forget it, boys.
08:48These guys are playing hardball.
08:51Look at that first turn.
08:52Oh, look at this.
08:53He's in trouble.
08:54In front of the guys.
08:55They dig Johnson.
08:56They'll top Bauer.
08:57They've got the shell forwards.
08:58You can see that the pack is backing up big time.
09:00They're trying to dig their way around that spun car.
09:02Goodness me.
09:03It's all happened in the first 400 meters of the race.
09:05We're watching the start line officials.
09:07No sign of a red flag there.
09:08So maybe they can clear that belay before they come around
09:10the next time.
09:11They've got to keep it going.
09:12We couldn't quite pick up who it was, whether it was J.B.
09:14or Dick Johnson.
09:15But the rest of the field files on through onto the Pepsi
09:17back straight.
09:18We get back up to the leaders.
09:19Mark Scaife has regrouped.
09:20He's back up into second.
09:21Then we go back to Russell England fourth.
09:23But it's Glenn Seaton who leads the way.
09:25It was Bauer who spun.
09:26Oh, wow.
09:27So Glenn Seaton under fire from Mark Scaife.
09:29Did a great recovery as they came down toward the hairpin that time
09:32to shuffle in front of his teammate.
09:34Turns a hold on the racing team.
09:36Two and three behind the Ford Credit Falcon of Glenn Seaton.
09:39They sweep under the bridge and down toward the hairpin
09:41for the second time.
09:42These first five guys are laughing.
09:44They have got a big buffer, a big gap on the rest of the pack
09:47as they head up to the hairpin.
09:48This is the view from the rear of the Ford Credit Falcon.
09:50Scaife right up on Seaton.
09:53I'll have a nice close shave, thanks.
09:55Very, very close.
09:56A great shot there from the back of the Ford Credit Ford.
09:58Look at the tremendous acceleration, the traction of the Ford Credit car
10:02as he leaps out of the hairpin, heads up toward the sweeper,
10:04building up to 240 kilometers an hour.
10:06Lowndes comes on the inside of his teammate.
10:08He's going to have a look down the outside
10:10as they break hard for Pepsi Corner.
10:11This is great stuff.
10:12I'll tell you what, that first lap thing worked out good for Dick Johnson
10:15because he's definitely not losing any ground to Engle.
10:20There's Dick working hard in the Shell Helix Falcon
10:23and Seaton's got a nice little buffer there over Mark Scaife.
10:25It's early days though yet, lap 2 of 22.
10:27The last time Seto won here was back in 92 when he won the round
10:31and he won both races as well.
10:33He's got a way to a great start today.
10:35So the order, Seaton, Scaife, Lowndes, Engle, Johnson, Baragwana
10:39will make his move now.
10:40Longhills, Romano, Perkins and Crick, that's the top ten.
10:43In car from Russell Engle, we go on board the number 8 Castrol Commodore
10:46coming hard up on Craig Lowndes.
10:48Gee, Lowndes got a terrific start.
10:50Went up on the grass, tried to get around Seaton.
10:52Seaton held his line nice and steady.
10:54Some good pictures here from the Dunlop in-car camera.
10:57There's Russell focusing on Lowndes in front.
11:00He's sitting nice and steady in fourth spot.
11:03I tell you, the funny thing before the start of this race,
11:06the three of us were sitting here discussing and saying,
11:08oh, everybody's going to say get a little bit easy after that thing.
11:12Oh, there's JB.
11:14After that thing at Sandown, we were wrong, weren't we?
11:17Yeah, you won't be happy, JB.
11:19There's probably an image of that wild ride across the inside of Turn 1.
11:22I can see a bit of battle damage on the side of the body,
11:24but he's lucky to keep that car intact with all that feel bearing down on him.
11:28Very, very lucky man if he can rejoin this battle.
11:30Well, let's give the rest of the guys a big round, too,
11:33because they did a tremendous job to miss John Carroll.
11:35The majority of them appeared as though they did.
11:37They sort of realised what was going on and avoided any contact.
11:40This is the view from Seaton's car through the hairpin,
11:43the slowest part of the track.
11:46They go all the way back to first gear for that corner,
11:49the majority of the time, back to 50 kilometres per hour.
11:5355 dead for Glen Seaton that time around.
11:56He didn't quite qualify.
11:58Pole position was at 54.27.
12:00That was Skate.
12:01In fact, the leading four cars, or the fastest four cars,
12:03were all under the existing lap record.
12:06So it's getting down, getting dirty.
12:09Glen Seaton just opens up a little bit of a gap on this leading five cars.
12:13It's funny, Mark Skate was saying yesterday after qualifying
12:17that he thought that Seaton would be the man to watch
12:20because Seaton's car is quick, very quick in a straight line,
12:23and he was saying that where Mark could make ground on him
12:28was on the brakes.
12:29But as it stands at the moment, Seaton's doing the right thing.
12:32I can't see him trying to pull out a massive gap
12:35because the best thing to do is be as economical as you can around here
12:38because it's very hard on brakes and very hard on tyres.
12:41We ride with Russell Engle inside the Castrol Commodore.
12:44There's your Shell Helix race score for you.
12:46Seaton, Skate, Lowndes, Engle, Johnson.
12:48After those five, it is a mighty big gap back to the sixth place,
12:51Barguana, Longhurst, Perkins.
12:53Romano's still in the top ten.
12:55That's where he started in ninth, and Larkin in tenth.
12:59So typical of the racing at Simmons Plains.
13:01It's got a narrow bit of track.
13:02It's not very easy to overtake on.
13:04And only two times in the last 30 years
13:06of Australian Touring Car Championship rounds here
13:08has the winner come from somewhere other than the first two rows.
13:11Look at this form here.
13:13Follow the leader as they head down towards turn one once again.
13:17Behind them, Jason Barguana from the Valvoline,
13:19Cummins Commodore, Tony Longhurst,
13:21Castrol Fordham, Larry Perkins.
13:23Sorry, Basil.
13:24Yeah, sorry.
13:25I'm quite surprised how spread out it is after only six laps.
13:28I would have thought it would have been a hell of a lot closer.
13:32Well, that incident right there where we are now
13:34heading into the hairpin as we go.
13:36Take a ride with the Shell Helix Falcon of Dick Johnson.
13:39That JB's incident certainly spread them, didn't it?
13:42Oh, yeah.
13:43No, actually, I mean, you know, the front five.
13:45I would have thought that would have been closer.
13:47Great shot there of Dick Johnson at work.
13:49The Shell 17.4 as he brings up towards the sweeper.
13:51Just picks up sixth gear there.
13:53240 kilometers an hour.
13:54Brakes hard.
13:56Makes it right back to third gear.
13:58Straight through.
13:59He hit that through the gate on this Hollinger six-speed box.
14:01There's other two levers sitting behind his seat there.
14:04Adjustments for the front and rear anti-roll bar systems.
14:07So they're not busy enough behind the wheel of these cars.
14:09They've got a few adjustments they can make as well.
14:11Here's the HRT Duo.
14:13The two mobile Commodores of Mark Skate's Craig Lowndes.
14:16For the last two years here at Simmons Flames,
14:18it's been a mobile HRT 1-2.
14:21It's Brock and Lowndes in 96.
14:23Brock and Murphy last year.
14:25They got their work cut out in this one.
14:27It's Glenn Seaton, the man on screen at the moment,
14:29who's going very, very well.
14:30Lap seven of 22.
14:32There's the gap coming out of the hairpin, heading down.
14:34The back straight towards the sweeper.
14:36Glenn's doing it fairly comfortable at the moment.
14:39Craig Lowndes.
14:40Very successful here in 1996.
14:42Oh, there's the measure.
14:44Better electrical car, John Faulkner.
14:46Trying to get caught up in that big smash-up at Sandown.
14:49They basically had to take the car back to the workshop,
14:51strip every panel off it and go around and renew them all.
14:53Full panel-beating job.
14:54They've worked three 20-hour days.
14:56The boys are pretty tired.
14:59Miraculous that they're able to make it here at all.
15:02Heading up through this quite difficult section of the circuit there.
15:07Let's take a look at the Mark's skate profile,
15:09the 30-year-old from Melbourne.
15:12He goes well here at Simmons Plains.
15:1575 starts, 10 poles.
15:18He joins George Fury and Pete Gagan for 10 career poles.
15:24Oh!
15:26Here is Lowndes, comes up nice and close to Mark.
15:29Well, Glenn Seaton's building a gap on the Holton Racing Team duo, too.
15:32He's only doing it slowly, but he's there.
15:341.6 seconds to gap now.
15:35His last time of 54.99.
15:38So just broken into the 54-second bracket.
15:40And, in fact, Seaton is the only man in the 54-second bracket at the moment.
15:43The Holton Racing Team skates just under 55.1 and Lowndes at 55.3.
15:47So Seaton really has an excellent set-up in the fourth credit Falcon at the moment.
15:51Mark Skate picked up sixth place,
15:53so he's sitting sixth in the championship after last weekend's opening round at Sandown.
15:57He was a little disappointed with that.
15:58Things didn't go as planned.
16:00Guy on screen right now looking for an inside option on his teammate, Craig Lowndes.
16:04Did very well.
16:05He heads the points table and is hoping to repeat 1996.
16:10Well, we've had a Holton Racing Team 1-2 in the last two years here at Simmons Plains.
16:14In 1996, it was Lowndes and Brock who dominated.
16:17Last year, Murphy and Brock.
16:18Oh!
16:21Every time he does that, you think, right, he's not going to stop this time.
16:25Getting very, very close to his teammate, Mark Skate.
16:27He'll have his mirrors full of Carb-15.
16:29Particularly as they brake hard for that hairpin.
16:31Very, very hard on the braking systems.
16:32They're pulling these cars down from 220kmph down to about 50 for that hairpin.
16:37Then they've got to get on the picks again.
16:38Here, 240kmph down to about 90kmph for Pepsi turns.
16:41Very, very hard on brakes.
16:43Well, quite often we talk about tyres going the distance here.
16:46Brakes are a real concern.
16:48Well, they are.
16:49I was just thinking, as time goes on, if Lowndes makes a bit of a lunge and the brakes are really hot,
16:57you just have to keep your eye on the brakes the whole time.
17:00Because when they start to go downhill, they go downhill pretty rapidly.
17:03I was just thinking, I bet old Jeff Bretsch is watching the television thinking,
17:07don't you dare knock one another off.
17:09The guys just came past Darcy Russell, one of our privateers, in 24th position.
17:15Fastest lap of the race so far.
17:1754.83 for Seton.
17:19Oh, Mark Larkham!
17:23Mark's come off there and he's lost his front spoiler.
17:26Very difficult to drive these cars without that, but Sobey heading back into the pits.
17:29Especially around here, because it's so quick, Mark.
17:32The aerodynamics are vitally important when you get this sort of speed.
17:36Well, Seton's building on it too.
17:372.3 seconds, the gap, however, Mark's gave.
17:39Mark's really got his hands full.
17:41He's not battling for first anymore.
17:42He's trying to defend second from his teammate Craig Lowndes, the winner from Sandown.
17:46And Bargwana is catching Johnson back in 5th position as well.
17:49Take a look at your Shell Helix race score.
17:51Top 5 obviously haven't changed, although Craig Lowndes is doing his best.
17:56Bargwana still sits in 6th.
17:57Larry Perkins, Tony Longhurst up to 8th.
17:59Romano and Bright, so that top 10 has stayed steady.
18:02We go back.
18:03Greg Crick, he is top privateer in 11th.
18:05That's terrific.
18:06And Ellery, and the list goes on.
18:08Paul Wheel rounding out the top 20.
18:12So Lowndes, running out of options.
18:14He's trying, looking, ducking left, ducking right.
18:17Oh, we've got a turn.
18:18John Bauer.
18:19Now, we saw him come into the pitch to get a bit of accident damage done.
18:22Maybe that guard has cut a tyre when he's got back onto the track.
18:25This is a wretched day for John Bauer in front of his home crowd.
18:28Well, it certainly hasn't planned it this way at all.
18:32He would have liked to have had a really good day in front of this very big...
18:36Here's the Shell Helix replay in front of this very big crowd.
18:40Oh, damn, man.
18:43Well, it looks like he may have cut a tyre before he got to that corner there.
18:46He's lost all his steering.
18:47He's managed to get it back onto the black stuff.
18:50That was very good work.
18:51Very good work.
18:52No doubt about the skill.
18:53But he's going to do a lot of damage to that car,
18:55limping that back toward pit lane.
18:58Back to second place, Mark Scaife.
19:00The new inside, the mobile HRT Commodore.
19:03And we go out the back.
19:04Here comes Lowndes, as we've seen so many laps before.
19:07Comes right up through the hairpin.
19:10But positions have not changed.
19:13This is an indication of how evenly matched these two whole places in Commodores are.
19:18Two mobile cars of Scaife and Lowndes.
19:22You can see there, just like a...
19:25The fact that Scaife gets on the power, Lowndes gets on the power,
19:27they both brake about the same time,
19:28so it's very, very hard to create an overtaking opportunity unless Scaife makes a slip.
19:34Craig just staying focused, staying steady,
19:36hanging in there with his teammates.
19:38They're lapping in very similar lap times, obviously.
19:40They're staying together.
19:41Both doing a good job.
19:42But just saw, at the bottom of the screen, Glenn Seaton head on through.
19:46So he's looking comfortable here at Simmons Plains.
19:49We go to a break.
19:50There's your top five.
19:51Stay with us here on your home of motorsport.
19:52We'll be back with more.
19:57Welcome back to Tasmania's Simmons Plains,
19:59round two of the championship.
20:01And we're watching your race leader just coming up on four-wheel,
20:03the 18-year-old rookie.
20:05And he passes one of the Wins Commodores as well.
20:07Look at this traffic.
20:08Seaton is working his way through, doing a terrific job,
20:11putting a little bit of a buffer between himself and Mark Scaife,
20:13back in second spot.
20:14Yeah, you can see him shaking his head there as he came up through the slower traffic.
20:18That's chopped his lead down.
20:19It's just under two seconds now,
20:20so the whole racing team will be able to close a little gap
20:22as he picks his way through the slower cars.
20:24There they are.
20:25Oh, four-wheel coming in contact there with Darren Payton.
20:28Oh, that's done Scaife a bit of a favour.
20:32Cleared the way a bit, didn't it?
20:33Scaife picks his way through the traffic as well.
20:35Seaton just got down to a two-second lead that time around,
20:38so that held up the whole racing team, boys, a little bit.
20:40Oh, that just takes the pressure off of Scaife a bit
20:42because Lowndes has got pretty badly held up there.
20:45Well, not pretty badly, but a little bit.
20:47Coming through some of the privateers at the back of the pack
20:50while we watch Mark Scaife hard at work once again.
20:53Flap 15 of 22, so we're starting to wind down here,
20:57the opening race of three for today.
20:59Looks like the OEM spout at Mark on the side there, Ryan McLeod.
21:03Yeah, flash past Mark Scaife's view.
21:07You can see the G-Force is acting on his head here.
21:10Very, very high cornering loads, 240km an hour through that sweeper.
21:13It seems to go on and on forever.
21:15They've really got to get on the brakes hard,
21:17bring the three-caps he caught onto the main straight once again.
21:20On Friday, Faz, I was lucky enough to go for a ride in the car with John Bauer.
21:24Did you say lucky?
21:26I couldn't believe it.
21:28I couldn't believe through that sweeper.
21:30They're doing speeds of 220, 230,
21:33and he just casually reaches over one hand and pulls sixth gear.
21:38Jason Barguana in the Valvoline Commodore car 35.
21:43He's done a great job. He's got past Dick Johnson.
21:45He's now up to fifth position.
21:47Terry Finnegan, Sony Auto Sound Commodore,
21:50with some damage to the rear.
21:54We've seen Terry. He's in big trouble there.
21:57The amount of smoke pouring out from that tyre is rubbing on the guards.
22:00It's got all sorts of dramas, creating a real smoke screen.
22:04We're currently in the privateers' battle.
22:06Greg Crick in the Commodore,
22:09leading that one, Mal Rose from Sydney in second, Paul Wheel in third.
22:12That's a separate battle.
22:14Here's Russell Engle, hard at work.
22:16Russell still sits in fourth position.
22:18He, like the others, is starting and has weaved his way through
22:22some of the privateers.
22:23It doesn't take too long. This track's only two and a half kilometres,
22:26so they catch up to some of the back runners fairly quickly.
22:29Barguana a little bit fourth there.
22:31Ray Hislop, the Tasmanian privateer, just in front.
22:34So it's hard work.
22:35Yeah, you're just watching these times bouncing up and down.
22:38Seton's times fell right off when he got that traffic.
22:40Now he's back into the 56-second bracket.
22:43They're all chasing hard, but Seton maintaining that two-second lead
22:46over Schaefer-Lowndes in second, the third, Engle in fourth.
22:48Barguana's up to fifth, Johnson in sixth.
22:51Bright, Perkins, Romano and Crick.
22:53That rounds up the top ten.
22:54Well, this is... Oh, Steve Green there.
22:56The Lanceville car getting a little out of shape.
22:58Well, as they wind it up towards 240 kilometres per hour,
23:01let's have a listen to Russell Engle, hard at work.
23:21ENGINE ROARS
23:32Sounds like someone's thrown a brick around a tin bucket, doesn't it?
23:35It does. It sounds so agricultural.
23:37So it's really interesting.
23:39Listen.
23:47Where do you come up with these things?
23:49Listen, listen.
23:51It does sound like him.
23:55I don't know where you get it from, Matt.
23:57Russell Engle working away in the Castile Commodore.
24:00But that leading trio really gapped him.
24:02He's seven... nine seconds behind Seton now.
24:06So the first of the Dunlop shock cars behind the Bridgestone trio at the front.
24:11Maybe struggling to hold them in heat one.
24:15Jason Barguana's done a tremendous job to get up there into the top five.
24:18Dick Johnson back in sixth.
24:20Then Jason Bright has clawed his way up into seventh,
24:22which is a great effort.
24:23There he is there in the Pertec Falcon, just ahead of Larry Perkins.
24:26This is the battle for seventh and eighth.
24:28And I imagine that Larry's going to be pretty hungry to get on up in there.
24:31And Paul Romano is behind in ninth.
24:33A great run by the young Queenslander, Paul Romano.
24:36Here's Larry, though, hassling big time on Jason Bright.
24:39ENGINE ROARS
24:41Bright drove here at seventh last year,
24:43filling a replacement for Stephen Richards in the Gary Rogers Motorsport team.
24:47That was his first... that was his introduction to the V8 supercars.
24:50He's now full-time drive with the Stone Brothers,
24:54the Pertec Ford, and he's doing very, very well.
24:57He's made an excellent start to the Shell series, really.
24:59He has the fastest on-gear lap record at Sandown in his Shell series,
25:02I won't say debut, but his debut in the Ross and Jimmy Stone car.
25:06And, uh...
25:07Oh!
25:08Contact.
25:09You can see he was getting very, very close.
25:12Larry in the Castrol Commodore right up behind the Pertec Falcon.
25:16And look at Paul Romano just hanging in there.
25:19He's sitting in ninth position at the moment,
25:21still running with no sponsor on that car.
25:24ENGINE ROARS
25:26Let's hope that someone can come forward and give this young guy a bit of a hand
25:29because he's shown, he's proven many, many times that he's very quick.
25:32When he puts it all together, he can drive very well.
25:36Yeah, when you consider the buddy he's working with,
25:39or not work, the buddy he doesn't have to work with,
25:42I think he's done... doing a fantastic job.
25:45Well, Jason Bartley frustrated after being taken out of that first quarter.
25:48Qualifying third.
25:49He's really looking forward to a strong result.
25:51And he's got a lot, a lot of work to do.
25:53He's back there in seventh position with Perkins, Romano and Crick.
25:57Meanwhile, back at the front.
25:59ENGINE ROARS
26:02Two laps remaining as our race leader, Glenn Seaton, crosses the start-finish line.
26:06ENGINE ROARS
26:08And here's the whole racing team just locked in behind him.
26:10Still 2.1 seconds to lead, so Seaton was able to build that in those opening laps.
26:14And he's defending it very effectively.
26:16Lowndes just keeping steady in third.
26:19The question was put to him the other day that,
26:21are you guys focusing on trying to get the third 1-2 finish in three years?
26:25And he said, no.
26:26He said it was really nice to get the win last week in the Sand Island.
26:29He said, there's so many races in this series, we just want to get points.
26:32Keep it steady, keep it together.
26:34Finish every race.
26:35Finish in the points.
26:36And two HRT boys of Mark Skate and Craig Lowndes have driven a very sensible race.
26:41ENGINE ROARS
26:43Well, when you think about it, a race day is worth 120 bucks.
26:46Whoa!
26:47Bit of damage on the front of Skate's car there.
26:49Now, that gets much worse.
26:50That'll affect the aerodynamic performance of the car on a fast track like this.
26:54That could be the little opportunity Craig Lowndes has.
26:56It looks like it's hanging in there pretty well.
26:58I don't think it's actually damaged the fastenings of the spoiler,
27:00so they have little hang in place for Mark Skate.
27:02We've got one more lap left to run here at Simmons Plains International Raceway
27:06as the HRT boys come up on Darcy Russell.
27:10Much better conditions in 1998.
27:12These guys were struggling with the wet, the pooling on the track, the visibility.
27:16It was just a complete nightmare.
27:18And this time last year, Mark Skate was sitting up here with myself and Mark Hosler compensating.
27:22He's a little bit busier there at the moment.
27:24And enjoying himself.
27:26So, brakes hard for the final time for the hairpin.
27:28Lowndes gets real close.
27:30Breathing heavy down the neck of his teammate.
27:33Gets a good run out of that corner too.
27:35He's getting up alongside.
27:37Side car, 5-0, but not close enough.
27:39Skate gets the hammer down.
27:41They're going to go almost side-by-side.
27:43Look at Lowndes, one last desperate try up the inside.
27:45I don't think so.
27:47Too much traffic. We've got a lot of traffic down at Pepsi Turn.
27:49So, Lowndes backs back.
27:51Gives a bit of racing room.
27:53He sneaks up the inside of Paul Wheel's TradeLink Falcon.
27:55There's our race leader and race winner.
27:58Well done, Glen Seek.
28:00The Ford Credit Falcon takes out the opening race of Round 2 here at Simmons Plains.
28:04Followed by the HRT duo.
28:06The two mobile Commodores come in for second and third.
28:08And well done, Glen Seek.
28:10That's his first win here at Simmons Plains.
28:12First race win since 1992.
28:14He's done very well.
28:16Skate in for that second spot.
28:19And he'll be the first one up there to congratulate Glen.
28:21And that race was one on the start line.
28:23And further back in the pack, Greg Crick and the Ericsson Commodore
28:27managed to win the privateers battle over Steve Reid and Ray Hislop.
28:29So, there's two battles going on here.
28:31And there's the man at the pointy end of the field, Glen Seek.
28:34And, gee, he just got out in front and just held it, didn't he?
28:37Yeah, right from the line.
28:38Congratulations to Greg Crick, top privateer, finishing in 10th.
28:41Here are the final placings for you on your Shell Helix race score.
28:44Of course, Glen Seek in for the win from Skateford Lounge.
28:47Russell Ingle, well done.
28:49That was consistent in there for fourth.
28:51And Jason Parguana rounding out the top five more after this break.
29:04Welcome back to Simmons Plains International Race Week.
29:15Glen Seek is the winner of heat one of round two.
29:17Boy, that looked pretty easy from where we were watching.
29:19It always looks easy from the outside.
29:22We're never inside, Mark.
29:23But, no, it's naturally a competitor that loves to win the races.
29:26And today's just worked so well so far.
29:28But there's still two very hard races.
29:32And, really, once I got the gap, it does make it a little bit easier.
29:36But it was just a matter of getting around the traffic
29:38and not losing the gap on Mark.
29:40And I'd get some great runs through traffic
29:42and Mark would get a bad run and then vice versa.
29:45But, no, I'm really happy with the car.
29:47It just performed fantastic.
29:49Just seeing you talk about the traffic,
29:50this is the biggest feel we've ever had down here.
29:52I saw you on the onboard camera shaking your head a couple of times.
29:55It was pretty hard picking through some of the slower guys?
29:57Oh, yeah, there's no doubt about that.
29:58But that's part of motor racing.
30:00That's the part that makes it enjoyable.
30:01You've got to come across all the hurdles and get over them.
30:04And, really, it's quite a small circuit.
30:07So a lot of cars here, you come across them pretty quick.
30:10But, no, that's part of winning the championships and winning races.
30:13You've got to get around them.
30:14And, hopefully, at the end of the day, you come out number one.
30:16Well, you've earned the best place to start for heat tea.
30:18So best of luck.
30:19Yeah, thank you.
30:20If I can get a great start like I did in race one, I'll be very happy.