LRT Bathurst qualifying notes

Mcconville races into Bathurst top twenty.

October 11, 2002 - Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore V8 Supercar driver Cameron McConville has qualified 20th for Sunday's 40th running of Australia's most famous motor race, the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000.

McConville's fastest lap of 2:10.5120s was set with only three minutes remaining in the session, representing the Victorian driver's final opportunity to qualify his LRT VX Commodore within the top 20 for the start of Sunday's 1000km race.

The 28 year old gained seven positions with this effort during the very competitive session, the 2 minute and 10 second bracket shared by drivers occupying the 12th to 26th qualifying positions. McConville endured no less than four pit stops during the frantic session, barely making it out in time to post his impressive lap time.

Cameron McConville - "We had everything thrown at us during qualifying - I struggled to get a clear lap with traffic and I also had a slight brush with the wall. If I could get a clear lap, I was confident that we could set a 2 minute 10 second lap. Towards the end of the session and with only enough time for one fast lap, we managed to salvage the 20th spot on Sunday's grid which I was happy with, but it would have been nice to make the top 15 shootout in this highly competitive Bathurst field."

McConville's co-driver, Warren Luff, is also very pleased with the Lansvale Racing Team's starting position for his first Bathurst enduro. The 26 year old performed very consistently during the opening laps of today's practice session and is excited about the Sydney based team's prospects for the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 on Sunday.

Warren Luff - "Cameron pushed hard during that session and displayed what the Lansvale Racing VX Commodore is capable of achieving in terms of fast lap times at Mount Panorama. I am more comfortable with the car after today's session and look forward to our final runs tomorrow to set our race strategies in place. The car is improving every day, the team is working very hard and with some luck we may have a top ten finish to celebrate on Sunday."

Provisional pole position went to Falcon driver John Bowe with a fastest lap of 2:08.3813s, followed by HRT driver Mark Skaife 2:08.4047 and his team mate Jason Bright 2:09.0170s.

The Lansvale Racing Team will be back on the Mount Panorama track tomorrow (Saturday) for the third and final practice session before Sunday's 40th running of this icon motor racing event at 3:15pm.

-lrt-