General
UTE: Championship decided at Gold Coast
FORD Falcon driver Warren Luff blasted out of the darkness to wrap up his second straight Poolrite V8 BRutes Series championship at the Gold Coast Indy today. Luff finished second in a seven-lap race run with headlights on as dusk and heavy storm ...
Edited: Feb 25, 2005, 7:27 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
FORD Falcon driver Warren Luff blasted out of the darkness to wrap up his second straight Poolrite V8 BRutes Series championship at the Gold Coast Indy today.
Luff finished second in a seven-lap race run with headlights on as dusk and heavy storm clouds ensured one of the most unusual V8 BRute events in memory.
While Luff, 24, confirmed his title with one leg of the final round still to go, race winner Gary MacDonald put second place in the series beyond question.
Sunday's final race of the season will focus on the battle for third overall between Holden drivers James Brock and Charlie Kovacs.
"At the start of the year I joined a new team with a new sponsor and they've been great all year. This is the ultimate - to repay them with a championship win is just unbelievable," Luff said.
MacDonald said he was happy with the championship outcome.
"To come second to a driver of his (Luff's) calibre is no mean feat. I rate him as the best driver I've ever raced against.
"It was a really tough race in the dark - and even tougher once I got into the lead and realised just how little visibility there was.
"Luff must eat all his carrots to be able to see that well.
"Now we'll try to win the round for all our sponsors that have made the trip here to support us."
Luff reset the lap record to 2 minutes 18.65 seconds on lap six, 0.3 sec. faster than the mark set by fellow Ford driver Grant Denyer last year.
The V8 BRutes race, the last on the Indy program today, was a spectacular viewing experience for fans. By the time cars started at 5.45 pm, the sun had set and lightning flashed across the sky.
Roy Leaver brought out the safety car at the end of the first lap when his car went nose-first into the wall.
The race was restarted on lap five, with Luff leading MacDonald. There were a few minor incidents at the back of the field as they wound their way blindly through the concrete canyon of the unlit Gold Coast street circuit.
MacDonald was putting a lot of pressure on Luff for the lead, with both of them breaking the lap record on lap six.
On the final lap, Luff ran out of brakes at the first chicane, going straight over the kerbs and allowing MacDonald past to take the race win.
Speed Read
RESULTS (Race 2, Round 8)
1. Gary MacDonald (NSW) Holden SS
2. Warren Luff (NSW) Ford Falcon XR8
3. Charlie Kovacs (SA) Holden
4. Ross Almond (SA) Ford
5. Jack Elsegood (NSW) Ford
6. James Brock (Vic.) Holden
* Championship points: 363 Luff, 326.5 MacDonald, 246.5.5 Brock, 240 Kovacs, 220.5 White, 218 Baxter.
* Timetable: Saturday, not on track; Sunday, 7.30 race 3 (6 laps).
* Last year: Qualifying, Luff (2;19.15); race 1 Brock; race 2 Luff; race 3 Elsegood.
* Lap record: Luff 2:18.65 (24/10/03).
-www.v8brutes.com.au k
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article UTE: Surfers Paradise preview
Next article Racing TV October/November
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Warren Luff
Holdsworth, Coulthard both return to WAU
Supercars
Supercars
Holdsworth, Coulthard both return to WAU
Bathurst 1000: "Rejected downshift" prompted Percat crash
Supercars
Supercars
Bathurst
Bathurst 1000: "Rejected downshift" prompted Percat crash
Mostert paired with Coulthard for Bathurst 1000
Supercars
Supercars
Bathurst
Mostert paired with Coulthard for Bathurst 1000
Latest news
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
4 h
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
Hamlin says Chevy teams 'suck at the teat' of Hendrick on superspeedways
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
7 h
Hamlin says Chevy teams 'suck at the teat' of Hendrick on superspeedways
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
7 h
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
General
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe