The pair were right on a charge with Ingall poised on the rear bumper of the HRT car, and everyone watching just waiting for some contact to happen. The duos traded fastest laps for a time as they battled over what started as twenty-first position, Ingall almost glued to the rear bumper of Skaife's Commodore
really pushing hard the whole time, just thousands a lap quicker than Skaife, then dropping back a mere few inches before attacking again.
Out front, ignored by the television cameras, Paul Radisich in his last drive for Ford and Triple Eight was putting in a sterling effort, keeping his tyres for the long duration and playing a waiting game with the weather to see of the predicted rain would come.
The battle was all SBR vs HRT however. Ingall's position on track was soon good enough to the Stone Brothers Racing driver to take second in the championship but still he persisted with hounding Skaify, much to the delight of the fans at track and at home. Ingall was amazingly well behaved, however. The front nose of his car would every so often give the gentlest of kisses to Skaife's rear bumper, but there was no contact for lap after lap after lap of dicing.
Out front, the #88 Falcon was chased, albeit a few laps down, by Steven Richards in the Castrol Racing Commodore. The Holden left its pursuit of Radisich at the start of lap 26, and the very next lap the Kiwi came in for his new rubber, exiting immediately behind the Ingall/Skaife battle, and right in front of Craig Lowndes FPR Cat Falcon.
The Radisich stop put Marcos Ambrose back in his rightful place, first, for a fine end to his season. He was over twenty seconds ahead of the battling Skaife and Ingall, whilst is was yet more déjà vu for the dicing Lowndes and Radisich, who were together again just like in race two.
