Plenty of rubbing and touching occurred between the Caltex Falcon and Skaife’s new Commodore but ultimately Skaife on the inside for the hairpin had too much speed for the tight turn and Ingall wisely let the Holden man run long into the corner and helped the HRT car to its already inevitable gravel destination on the exit. Brilliant stuff.
Skaife wasn’t the only one to discover just how slippery it was off the racing line in the dying laps. Jason Bargwanna did the same when alongside Glenn Seton and Craig Lowndes squeezing down the inside of Murph’s Kmart Commodore, at the hairpin once more, saw Murph make a late spin on the last lap.
Ultimately the rain had not been of a sufficient quantity to warrant wets and Rick Kelly took the victory from Ambrose, with Jason Bright coming in tenth to mean Ambrose's title looks all the more secure heading to Sunday's two races.
Top ten race one
1.
Rick Kelly
2.
Marcos Ambrose
3.
Todd Kelly
4.
Steven Richards
5.
Garth Tander
6.
Craig Lowndes
7.
Russell Ingall
8.
David Besnard
9.
Paul Radisich
10.
Jason Bright
