AUS: Bathurst qualifying notes

Richards To Start From Pole in Bathurst Carrera Cup

Mountain experience paid dividends for Jim Richards today in round eight of the Australian Carrera Cup at the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 in Bathurst.

The 57-year-old seven-time Bathurst enduro winner will start from pole position in race one tomorrow, after clocking the fastest ever time around Mount Panorama in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) clocked a best lap of 2:13.6760 in this afternoon's qualifying session after also leading this morning's practice session.

The experienced Porsche campaigner comes into this weekend's round in Bathurst following wins in the previous two rounds at Sandown and Winton. He is attempting to close the gap on series leader Alex Davison who won the first five rounds of the season, and will start from the front row of the grid with Richards.

Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Discounts Tool Centre) set a fastest time of 2:14.5280, with fellow Carrera Cup young guns Matt Halliday and Fabian Coulthard next on the time sheets.

Kiwi Halliday with his new Vic's Meat sponsorship finished third in qualifying with 2:15.6596, just ahead of Melbourne-based Kiwi Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) by less than two-tenths of a second.

The in-form Jonathon Webb (Tekno Autosports), fresh from his first podium finish of the season at Sandown, was quick all day and finished the day in fifth position.

Gold Coast-based Kiwi Craig Baird will join Webb on the third row of the grid tomorrow, with his Team VIP Petfoods team mates Tony and Klark Quinn starting on the fourth row.

Baird rounds out five Porsche drivers that will double up in the V8 Supercars this weekend at the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000, joining Richards, Davison, Halliday and Coulthard.

Making his debut in the Australian Carrera Cup, former Formula Ford star Bryce Washington ended up 16th fastest. The 20-year-old is also the youngest driver in the field and driving a Porsche for the first time.

Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Abcor, Acer) had an unhappy start to his 2004 Bathurst quest, crashing at 237 kph coming into Caltex Chase during practice this morning. Fitzgerald was taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays, but cleared by the medical staff and is hoping to resume racing tomorrow.

This round of the Australian Carrera Cup is dedicated to the memory of Alan Coleman who recently passed away at the age of 60 after a year long battle with illness. A special tribute will be made to Alan tomorrow just before race one at 4.15pm. Alan's son Matt is continuing his 2004 Carrera Cup campaign in Bathurst this weekend.

Instrumental to the growth and success of Bob Jane T-Marts and a great supporter of motorsport, Alan will be sadly missed by his wife Bev, his two sons Matt and Andy as well as his family, Bob Jane T-Marts staff and all those who knew him as "Al Pal". Alan served as a Director of Bob Jane T-Marts and played a major part in the company's success over the last 40 years. His commitment to the business, franchisees and his positive outlook was respected by not only Bob Jane but also all Bob Jane T-Marts colleagues. In honour of his memory and his passion for motorsport Alan's ashes will be spread on Mount Panorama and Mount Buller.

Round eight of the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup at the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 continues with race one tomorrow Friday October 8, race two on Saturday and race three on Sunday.

Network Ten will telecast race two (Saturday 3pm) and three (Sunday 7.50am) live during its coverage of the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 this weekend. 'Trackside' on Network Ten will telecast the highlights of round eight of the Carrera Cup on Sunday November 7 at 2pm (check local guides).

The Carrera Cup is the most successful 'one make' championship in the world with close-to-identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars built by Porsche' racing arm in Weissach, Germany set for racing in 2004. All cars have a top speed in excess of 300 kilometres per hour with a 400-horsepower, 6 cylinder Boxer engine which revs to 8000 RPM.

<pre> QUALIFYING -- TOP 10 1. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing/OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 2:13.6760 2. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing/Glenfords Discounts Tool Centre) 2:14.5280 3. Matt Halliday (International Motorsport NZ/Vic's Meat) 2:15.6596 4. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing/Team Braun) 2:15.8258 5. Jonathon Webb (Tekno Autosports) 2:16.0432 6. Craig Baird (Team VIP Petfoods) 2:16.2009 7. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 2:17.1262 8. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 2:17.3702 9. Charlie O'Brien (Charlie O'Brien Racing/Wright Patton Shakespeare) 2:17.5408 10. Kevin Bell (International Motorsport NZ/GE-Tech NZ) 2:17.8464

Full Practice and Qualifying results at www.cupcar.com.au

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