When the race restarted on the fifth of nineteen laps, Skaife and Ambrose re-commenced their duel for the lead, racing literally bumper to bumper, when on the final turn of lap six Ambrose bumped Skaife, sending his Holden sliding across the track. Skaife skilfully caught the drift and regained control without losing time to Ambrose, tenaciously holding lead over the Pirtek Falcon for another lap.
Meanwhile, a story was unfolding further back in the pack as the BOC Falcons of Brad Jones and John Bowe were carving through the field, setting lap times well faster than all other competitors.
Bowe started the race from twelfth position, Jones from twenty-fifth, and they had made a tyre choice radically different to the rest of the field. Jones gambled on a full-slick tyre, a risk that paid off handsomely as the BOC Falcons enjoyed a massive speed advantage as the track rapidly dried under the Australian sun.
The race was on between the leading pair and Bowe, who was easily slicing through the cars wearing grooved tyres, effortlessly disposing of all that lay before him. At the beginning of lap nine Bowe was in fifth place. By lap ten he was in third position, with a ten second gap to make up before he reached the lead pair of Ambrose and Skaife.
Bowe was amongst the leaders only two laps later, passing Ambrose for second place, then Skaife, earning Bowe the race lead on lap sixteen. With three laps remaining, Bowe easily extended his lead, while his team-mate mirrored his performance, as Jones carved up Ambrose and Skaife, securing a 1-2 finish at the first race meeting for team BOC.
Jones and Bowe weren't the only ones to make significant gains in position today. Rick Kelly started from last place, and finished in the top-ten, while Craig Lowndes put in a blinder of a drive, starting in thirty-first position and finishing in sixth place. His team-mate Steven Ellery also impressed with a drive from fifteenth to ninth position.
Although Jones and Bowe were the star performers today, they were hesitant to take too much credit for their results.
Jones spoke to the event media after the race. "If you are going to take a punt like that you had better make it work. There was never any doubt in my mind it was the right decision. I was really surprised some of the other guys down the back didn't do the same."
Bowe echoed his sentiments. "One hundred times you could make that decision and it's only going to pay off twice."
"It just so happened that it worked for us today."
While the BOC boys were modest about today's performance, the reality is that they could not have done a better job for their team and sponsors.
