Canberra practice notes

LAMBORGHINI driver Paul Stokell continued his dominance of the Megamantis.com Australian Nations Cup Championship when he topped the timesheets in practice today for round three in Canberra.

Stokell's best lap time of 1 minute 51.01 seconds, set in the second - and drier - of two sessions, was almost two seconds faster than any other driver in the field of exotic sports and grand touring cars.

Peter Fitzgerald was second-fastest in the same Porsche GT3 that he drove to victory in one of last year's Nations Cup races around the Canberra temporary street circuit.

Porsche drivers also took the third, fifth and sixth spots today, but fourth went to Geoff Morgan with a standout drive in his big American Chrysler Viper coupe.

Stokell, the current series leader, said he hoped his strong form would carry into qualifying tomorrow morning and the afternoon's eight-lap race, the first of three this weekend.

"We failed to finish a race here last year, so it would be good to make up for that," he said.

Ferrari driver Mark Noske suffered a blow to his title hopes when forced to withdraw from the event with a fractured right forearm, suffered when his Ford Mustang in the Century Batteries GT Performance series overturned after clipping a tyre barrier.

<pre> MEGAMANTIS.COM AUSTRALIAN NATIONS CUP CHAMPIONSHIP (Round 3)

RESULTS (Practice): 1. P. Stokell (Lamborghini Diablo SVR) 1:51.01 2. P. Fitzgerald (Porsche GT3) 1:52.97 3. D. Beninca (Porsche GT3) 1:53.52 4. G. Morgan (Chrysler Viper ACR) 1:53.54 5. S. Webb (Porsche GT3) 1:54.40 6. J. Richards (Porsche GT3) 1:54.48

MEGUIARS DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP: 217 points P. Stokell, 205 J. Richards, 190 P. Fitzgerald, 166 M. Noske, 161 T. Quinn, 95 D. Beninca.

TIMETABLE: Saturday - 8.40 am Qualifying (20 min.), 12.55 pm Race 1 (8 laps). Sunday - 9.50 am Race 2 (8 laps), 12.40 pm Race 3 (8 laps).

-Chris Nixon