2004 V8 Supercar Challenge
Motor race
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The 2004 V8 Supercar Challenge (known for naming rights reasons as the 2004 Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge) was the eleventh round of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 21 to 24 October at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Gold Coast, Queensland. The event ran in support of the Lexmark Indy 300 Champ Car World Series race.
| Event Information | ||||||||||||||
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| Round 11 of 13 in the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 21–24 October 2004 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Sunny | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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Marcos Ambrose continued to solidify his championship charge by winning the first race of the weekend.[1] Mark Skaife had taken pole position and had led the race for a sizeable portion of the event. However, brake fade led to a spin at the back end of the circuit that saw him tumble down the order. Stablemate Greg Murphy would finish second that day and would win the second race en route to claiming overall round honours from Ambrose.
Ambrose was in the midst of controversy when he was accused of brake-testing Rick Kelly at the end of race one. Ambrose claimed that Kelly, who was a lap behind, had attempted to force Ambrose into the wall during the race yet denied any claim of a post-race brake test. These claims were refuted by Kelly and Murphy, and the officials issued Ambrose a $10,000 AUD fine.[2][3] Kelly himself was embroiled in controversy in light of an incident involving him and Jason Bright that saw the latter launched heavily into the barrier and carried major championship implications. Kelly was docked 50 championship points and deeply apologised for the incident.[4]
Background
The event was held on the weekend of 21 to 24 October 2004. It was the third V8 Supercar championship event to be held on the streets of Surfers Paradise and consisted of two 100 km races with compulsory pitstops each.
Entry list
There were 35 drivers entered into the event. It featured mixture of vehicle models - fifteen BA Falcon's, sixteen VY Commodore's, and three VX Commodore's.
With David Besnard partaking in the Champ Car event, his WPS Racing entry would be occupied by New Zealand touring car champion, John McIntyre. Alex Yoong would continue to drive the other entry.
Tony Longhurst returned to Rod Nash Racing after having competed in the endurance events with Perkins Engineering.
Race report
Qualifying
Mark Skaife claimed provisional pole position by two tenths of a second over Marcos Ambrose. Both Paul Radisich and Craig Baird failed to set a time owing to technical issues. They were nonetheless eligible to take part in the racing albeit from the rear of the grid.
Top ten shootout
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Vehicle | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |  Mark Skaife |
Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VY) | 1:50.8455 |
| 2 | 1 | Marcos Ambrose |
Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 1:50.8620 |
| 3 | 15 | Rick Kelly |
John Kelly Racing | Holden Commodore (VY) | 1:51.2248 |
| 4 | 9 | Russell Ingall |
Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 1:51.2666 |
| 5 | 11 |  Steven Richards |
Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore (VY) | 1:51.3283 |
| 6 | 51 | Greg Murphy |
John Kelly Racing | Holden Commodore (VY) | 1:51.3918 |
| 7 | 6 | Craig Lowndes |
Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 1:51.4860 |
| 8 | 22 | Todd Kelly |
Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VY) | 1:51.4877 |
| 9 | 31 | Steven Ellery |
Steven Ellery Racing | Ford Falcon (BA) | 1:51.6114 |
| 10 | 10 | Jason Bargwanna |
Larkham Motorsport | Ford Falcon (BA) | 1:52.1210 |
| Source:[5] | |||||
Race 1
Race 2
Championship standings
| Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 1 | Marcos Ambrose |
Stone Brothers Racing | 1856 |
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2 | 50 | Jason Bright |
Paul Weel Racing | 1690 |
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3 | 51 | Greg Murphy |
John Kelly Racing | 1665 |
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4 | 9 | Russell Ingall |
Stone Brothers Racing | 1612 |
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5 | 15 | Rick Kelly |
John Kelly Racing | 1575 |