Lap seventeen saw Bright pit whilst almost at the same time Lowndes was past young Kelly. Craig had been very robust in his approaches to get past and he was not to be denied. Just like Radisich had done, Lowndes made Kelly's corner long when he passed, unlike Radisich Lowndes slightly outbraked himself and Kelly on the outside had no choice but to go straight on and into a gravel retirement.
Bright meanwhile had returned to the circuit in tenth place, and Jason Richards inherited the lead from Ambrose, Radisich and the chasing Lowndes. Ambrose would hold another massive advantage – about twelve seconds – on Radisich, with Lowndes a couple of seconds behind.
Jason Bright kept the move on and was past Mark Skaife for seventh place come lap 21, but a move on Dave Besnard the very next lap saw Bright get loose and Skaife rob the place back. Contact between the two Holdens meant Bright's right front would foul the bodywork and the PWR car left a smoke trail, though Brighty stayed out to see what happened as he chased back to Skaife.
Up front, Craig Lowndes had his mirrors full of an on-a-charge Steven Richards and was unable to make an impression on the 2-3 second gap between him and the Rat's Betta Electrical car. Yet.
Mark Skaife, after being shown how not to pass Besnard's Falcon by Bright, didn't make the same mistake and took the place for himself on lap 25, Bright having had to return to the pits with his smoking tyre problem.
Greg Murphy's bad weekend continued on lap 26 with the Kiwi's Kmart car getting out of shape over the kerbs and half-spinning into the gravel. Murph was down in 26th at the time, so it hadn't been the best of days before that.
Talking of people not having the best days, as the boss of WPS will tell you, his Falcons are fast, but his drivers keep throwing them off the track. Enter, and exit on lap 27 Dave Besnard, who lost it by himself trying to keep up with Skaife.
