Ambrose wins Sandown 500.

By David McCowen

Marcos Ambrose became the first driver to win consecutive rounds this year, when he crossed the line in first place at the Sandown 500 in the Australian V8 Supercar series.

Marcos Ambrose and Rick Kelly started on the front row for the Betta Electrical Sandown 500, ahead of the Holdens of Paul Morris and Mark Skaife.

Kelly nailed pole position in the 'Shoot Out' session where water, oil and various debris dictated how hard the V8 Supercar drivers could push their powerful machines.

Teams have seen considerable variation in weather conditions throughout the Sandown meeting, as the notorious Melbourne weather demonstrated its full repertoire, adding further confusion to setup and strategy for the first endurance race for 2004.

The field waltzed up to the grid in dry, overcast conditions, with slick tyres on every entrant, though teams and drivers alike expected the forecasted rain and hail to have an influence on the 161 lap event.

At the race start, Ambrose took the hole shot, beating Kelly to turn one, a fast left-hand bend.

The field passed through the first corner relatively safely, except for Steven Johnson and David Besnard, who made excursions off the circuit and into the sticky mud that lines the Victorian circuit. Besnard's mistake buried the car quite successfully, as the safety car was called to assist in the retrieval of the WPS Falcon.

At the race restart, Ambrose led the field through cleanly, with Lowndes and Kelly in pursuit of the 2003 champion, though Kelly soon fond his HRT Commodore faltering, suffering driveline issues (later found to be a slipping clutch) that saw the fancied entry slip back to twelfth position.

Lap eight saw Andrew Jones, 2004 Konica series champion, punted by John McIntyre, spinning the OzeMail Falcon at turn three, and although no-one else hit him, the awkward nature of his spin saw him drop to last place, until a beached car - Grant Elliot's AU Falcon - caused the second coming of the safety car, when lesser-placed teams took the opportunity to make a pit stop.

During the safety-car period, the Falcon of Andrew Jones appeared to have a driveline issue, with the OzeMail engineers pushing the car the length of pit lane, finding that the tail shaft had to be replaced.

At the race restart, Besnard spun again at turn one, needing to be towed from the mud while the safety-car made its third appearance after only a dozen laps.

A somewhat frustrated Ambrose was passed by Kelly and Lowndes when the champ missed a gear while accelerating at the race restart, though this did not deter Ambrose too much, as he put awesome passes on Lowndes and Kelly, regaining the lead just as Scifleet's Commodore caught fire, the Konica driver abandoning his car at turn eight, forcing the safety car into action yet again.

Lap 25 heralded a return to race speed, and Ambrose led Kelly and Lowndes past the flag, as Garth Tander seized an opportunity to gain race positions, passing Paul Morris and Owen Kelly to take eighth position.

After only four laps at full race speed, Ambrose' lead over Kelly was 2.9 seconds, with Lowndes right on the tail of the Kmart Commodore.

The inferior performance of Lowndes' Prodrive-built V8 reared its ugly head, when in the dry conditions, Lowndes deferred positions to Jason Bright, Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander in only a few laps.

On lap 38, Paul Radisich's Triple Eight Ford appeared to have an engine failure/fire, while Steve Richards' Commodore came in few a new front splitter, a complicated procedure that saw him a lap down on Ambrose.

Ten laps later, Russell Ingall passed Lowndes, before pitting for a driver change, Cameron Mclean stepping into the Havoline Falcon, with Ambrose stopping on the next lap with Greg Ritter going into the car, and the Stone Bros. team changing the brake pads on the blue Ford.

Jason Bargwanna was next to stop, and as his Orrcon Falcon trundled down pit lane, his V8 coughed twice before dying, its fuel supply exhausted, the once-contending Falcon losing many positions.

Todd Kelly, on his in-lap, snatched a brake at Dandenong road (turn eight) and understeered off the circuit, the low front splitter on the car collecting several kilos of mud, the team an losing an age in the pits, taking time out to clear the clods of muck from the radiator intake.

Lap 73, and as Greg Murphy was taking seconds out of Ritter's (Ambrose's too) lead, Glenn Seton connected with the Holden of Jason Bright, sending the Falcon spinning from the circuit, causing yet another safety-car break.

The return to race speed after Seton's car was fetched gave an in-form Murphy an opportunity to close the gap to the Pirtek Falcon of Greg Ritter.

Ritter coped well with the pressure, and with a buffer of four lapped cars between him and Murphy, the pressure was on Murphy to catch and pass the race leader.

Ritter did a great job maintaining the pace, setting lap times not far removed from Ambrose's performance, as Murphy continued to push and push, struggling through lapped traffic, though closing the gap to the lead Falcon.

Later however, Ritter appeared to fold under Murphy's pressure, spinning the Stone Brothers Falcon in the same place that Russell Ingall last year threw away Ambrose's hard-earned lead. Ambrose shook his head as he watched Murphy take the lead from Ritter's buried Ford.

On the same lap that Ritter gave up the lead, Alex Yoong spun his WPS Falcon and became stuck in the sticky mud, causing another safety car break.

The safety car's intervention saw a rush of pit stops take place, most importantly, race leader Greg Murphy in first place and Mark Skaife closely behind took stops, though the speedy effort of the Holden Racing Team in pit lane saw Skaife get past the Kmart Commodore, as Murphy's team took too long to make their stop.

On lap 109, Skaife, who had the effective lead, pitted with extreme damage to the front of his car, when an out-of-control Glenn Seton smote the front end of the HRT
Commodore, handing the effective lead to Russell Ingall.

When Jim Richards, senior citizen and Porsche deity spun at turn eight, baulking Ingall and allowing Ambrose to slip past Murphy and Ingall, into the race lead.

British GT and Nations Cup runner Allan Simonsen, who was looking solid for a top ten finish, saw his car lose its oil load and destroy an engine, grinding to a halt at turn one, while John McIntyre, at the wheel of the #48 WPS Falcon slid onto the quagmire that once was a green infield at Sandown Raceway, the car unable to get out under its own power, calling for what drivers hoped was the last safety car break for the day.

Alas, it wasn't, as the twelfth safety car break was called for only moments after the return to race speed, when Cam McConville punted Alain Menu off the circuit.

During the few seconds of green-light racing, while McConville was busy dealing with Menu, Warren Luff sneaked past in the yellow DJR Falcon, taking his first podium place, and making the race result an all-Ford podium.

There were some amazing moments during the race today, and here is what I thought were three of the best:
Best Pass
Turn Five, Lap 12. After losing his lead at a safety-car restart, Ambrose passed Lowndes at the chicane, the superior grip and drive of the Stone Bros Falcon evident for all to see. On lap 13, Ambrose passed Kelly in the same manner. Mastery.

Best Pitstop
There were several great team efforts throughout the Sandown 500 - namely the Stone Brothers finishing 1-2, but the best effort occurred on lap 104, when Greg Murphy and Mark Skaife pitted for fuel and tyres. HRT's superior technique in pit lane sees Skaife edge past the Kiwi, putting HRT in the lead.

Best Stint
John Bowe's first stint in the OzeMail Falcon saw some serious overtaking take place. In 62 laps, Bowe drove from 21st position to podium contention, a third position result was on the cards until race dramas saw the car relegated back down to fifth. Bowe's storming run, when on average he passed a car every three or so laps, is a result of both his experience and the dry-track speed of the OzeMail Ford. Watch out for them at Bathurst.

Sandown 500- Top Ten:

1Marcos Ambrose/Greg RitterSBR- Pirtek Racing
2Russell Ingall/Cameron McleanSBR- Caltex Havoline Racing
3Steven Johnson/Warren LuffDJR- Shell Helix Racing
4Garth Tander/Cameron McConvilleGarry Rogers Motorsport
5Rick Kelly/Greg MurphyKmart Racing
6Jason Bargwanna/Mark Winterbottom< Orrcon Racing
7John Bowe/Brad JonesBJR- OzeMail Racing
8Paul Dumbrell/Tony Longhurst< Castrol Perkins Motorsport
9Jason Richards/ Fabian CoultardTeam Tasman

10Jason Bright/Paul WeelPWR Performance Products
* Results pending Stewards Inquiry