Skaife, Lowndes top the times.

By David McCowen

Mark Skaife - owner and driver of the Holden Racing Team has topped the time sheets in a rain afflicted practise session this morning.

By David McCowen

Mark Skaife - owner and driver of the Holden Racing Team has topped the time sheets in a rain afflicted practise session this morning.

The slippery Sandown Park saw a few driers come unstuck, and safety concerns saw that the session had to be stopped twice.

Skaife's time on a wet track was approximately ten seconds slower than the pace in Friday's sessions, where dry conditions saw the fastest teams dominate in practice.

However, the damp track put more emphasis on the driver's performance, and it is due to this that we have seen some interesting results.

The #12 combination of John Bowe and Brad Jones, strong in Friday's weather, faultered somewhat in the intermittant conditions, posting times that were only nineteenth fastest.

On the other hand, Craig Lowndes shot up the time sheets, as the power deficiency of his Falcon became less of an issue in the greasy conditions.

Lowndes, who achieved his best result this year (second place at Eastern Creek) in heavy rain, revelled in the conditions, setting a time beaten only by Skaife.

Lowndes may take comfort in the fact that rain is forcasted for Saturday afternoon's qualifying and shootout sessions.

Top Ten- Saturday Practice

1 M.Skaife/T.Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden 1:21.56
2 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford +0:00.55
3 P.Morris/A.Gurr Sirromet Holden +0:00.7562
4 Craig Baird Team Kiwi RacingHolden +0:00.75
5 C.Mcconville/G.Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden +0:01.31
6 M.Ambrose/G.Ritter Pirtek RacingFord +0:01.35
7 J.Bright/P.Weel Pwr Performance Products Holden +0:01.38
8 O.Kelly/D.Brabham Shell Helix Racing Ford +0:01.40
9 R.Kelly/G.Murphy Kmart Racing Team Holden +0:01.48
10 M.Larkham/M.Halliday Larkham Orrcon Racing Ford +0:01.66

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