Sufers Paul Radisich Report

Indy 300 V8 Supercars Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast 16,17 October 1999

Shell Helix Racing's Paul Radisich won three out of three races at the Honda Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise the first victory for the Shell team for almost 18 months.

Driving the 1998 Shell Helix EL Falcon, Radisich commanded all three races in a charismatic performance, leaving no one in any doubt that he and co-driver Ellery should be hot favourites for the FAI 1000 race at Bathurst in four weeks time.

Ironically it was Ellery who on Friday grabbed pole position by a mere one hundreth from his Bathurst team-mate. But Radisich took only one lap to wind himself up in Saturday's first race, charging past Ellery in a daring move at the chicane at the beginning of lap two. Leading comfortably, Radisich took advantage of the clear track ahead and 14 laps later crossed the line to take his inaugural win in a V8 Supercar.

In the second race on Saturday, the Kiwi led the race from start to finish, this time advancing his lead lap by lap. By lap 11 the number 18 Shell car had built a lead of over three seconds, when the following pack of Ellery, Lowndes and Tander were involved in an incident at the chicane, requiring the race to be red flagged. Radisich took victory number two and looked forward to Sunday's finale, just prior to the CART Indy 300.

In a repeat of race two, Radisich drove an impeccable 15 laps, warding off unthreatening attempts from Tander and Ingall. After his impressive performance in qualifying it was always going to be the Shell Helix driver's weekend and making a clean sweep seemed just desserts for Dick Johnson Racing. Next race: Shell Championship final meeting 14 November FAI 1000 - Bathurst

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