2004 PlaceMakers V8 International

2004 Supercar Championship event August 2015 August 2015 New Zealand 2004 PlaceMakers V8 International 3 13 2004 V8SC Pukekohe_Park_Raceway_(1990).png 2–4 April Pukekohe, New Zealand Pukekohe Park Raceway Friday: Overcast/SunnySaturday: Heavy rainSunday: Overcast 36 100 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 1:04.7477 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 36:51.8458 36 100 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 37:05.4230 36 100 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 34:59.8159 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 190 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 184 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 182 The 2004 PlaceMakers V8 International was a motor race for V8 Supercars held on the weekend of 2–4 April 2004. The event was held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway in Pukekohe, New Zealand, and consisted of three races culminating in 300 kilometers. It was the third round of thirteen in the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series and the only international event on the calendar. After three years of the event running, Jason Bright ended Greg Murphy's dominance by taking two out of three race wins and the overall round win. The Kiwi wound up finishing in third place overall, behind defending series champion, Marcos Ambrose. Background Murphy, as ever, was the favourite heading into the round. At this stage, Murphy had been undefeated at Pukekohe Park Raceway, in terms of overall round victories. Local media lapped Murphy up the entire week preceding the event with the Kiwi conducting hundreds of interviews, including one instance of 19 individual media interviews within an hour. https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/pukekohe-round-three-preview/1130475/ Pukekohe: Round three preview Motorsport.com 2024-10-04 From 2001 to 2003, the Pukekohe event was held in early November, at the tail end of the championship. For 2004 onwards, the event was moved forward to early April. Race report Qualifying Bright claimed provisional pole position ahead of the top-ten shootout with a time three-tenths faster than nearest competitor and championship leader, Ambrose. The Holden Racing Team pair of Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly lamented their relative lack of engine power compared to Bright. The former HRT driver brushed off these comments, suggesting that, "...they are not as bad as they are making out, they just don't have the power advantage they want or have had in the past,". Murphy clamoured into the shootout too, although like his TWR counterparts, suggested that his car didn't have the pace to properly compete with Bright. https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/pukekohe-friday-qualifying-report/1130899/ Pukekohe: Friday qualifying report Motorsport.com 2024-10-04 Pos. Position No. Car number Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 50 AUS Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.3655 2 1 AUS Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.6062 3 2 AUS Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.6209 4 22 AUS Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.7160 5 51 NZL Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.7184 6 11 NZL Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 0:56.8207 7 888 BRA Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.8786 8 88 NZL Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9058 9 12 AUS John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9423 10 10 AUS Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9425 11 9 AUS Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9526 12 17 AUS Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:56.9529 13 15 AUS Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.0208 14 16 AUS Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.0298 15 5 AUS Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.0829 16 3 NZL Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 0:57.0904 17 29 AUS Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.2545 18 18 AUS Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.2793 19 44 NZL Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.4051 20 34 AUS Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.4657 21 6 AUS Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.4761 22 21 AUS Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.4974 23 20 AUS Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.5168 24 33 AUS Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.5283 25 8 AUS Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.5393 26 23 AUS David Besnard WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.5584 27 31 AUS Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 0:57.5756 28 75 AUS Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.6387 29 021 NZL Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 0:57.7102 30 14 NZL Mark Porter MSport Holden Commodore (VX) 0:57.8811 31 7 AUS Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 0:57.9201 32 45 AUS Dale Brede Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 0:58.0219 Source: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640615614/object_877414.81t/Result?3 PlaceMakers V8 International - V8 Supercar Series Round 3 PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY V8 SUPERCARS - Qualifying racing.natsoft.com.au 2015-11-05 Top Ten Shootout The shootout was held in treacherous conditions. Cars were aquaplaning all over the track, thus Bargwanna kicked off proceedings with a somewhat conservative lap. Murphy was the first to lay down a notable improvement; going 1.3 seconds faster than previous fastest, Steven Richards. Eventually, as the grip improved ever so slightly, Skaife and Ambrose able lay down faster times. Skaife's pole position was hoped to be a return to form after a torrid first two rounds of the championship for the five-time champion. Pos. Position No. Car number Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 2 AUS Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:04.7477 2 4 AUS Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:04.7517 3 51 NZL Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:05.2608 4 50 AUS Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VY) 1:05.7407 5 11 NZL Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:06.5466 6 88 NZL Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:06.5501 7 12 AUS John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:06.5503 8 888 BRA Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 1:06.5796 9 22 AUS Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:06.7589 10 10 AUS Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:07.6230 Sources: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640615614/object_877482.81F/Result?6 PlaceMakers V8 International - V8 Supercar Series Round 3 PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY V8 SUPERCARS - Top 10 Shootout racing.natsoft.com.au 2024-10-04 Race 1 Controversy arose as the officials decided that, due to flooding of the track, the first race of the weekend would be postponed to Sunday instead of its originally scheduled Saturday afternoon slot. It was also suggested that cars be moved to higher ground as water levels were rising to dangerous levels. Overnight, water levels rose around the pitlane area. Some team members stayed in the paddock through the night in case the water levels started to pose a threat to the teams cars and equipment. Despite the obvious disappointment for the attending crowd, drivers and officials generally agreed that the decision to postpone the race was the right one. https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/pukekohe-race-one-postponed-to-sunday/1131171/ Pukekohe: Race one postponed to Sunday Motorsport.com 2024-10-04 Come Sunday, the race would start at 10:00am, with the conditions having markedly improved, albeit still damp. Mark Skaife threw away his front row start, adding to an array of poor starts that were starting to become an evident trend with him. Ambrose seized the advantage and took the lead with Jason Bright following in behind. The consertina effect at the hairpin resulted in Russell Ingall being tagged by John Bowe and sent into a spin. This scattered the pack, but remarkably, did not result in a crash of any sort. Tony Longhurst encountered his own problems after being forced off on the entry to the hairpin; having to use the tracks perimeter to avoid being stuck in the gravel trap. The track began to gradually dry up and team began to experiment with tyres. Craig Baird and Paul Dumbrell were the first drivers to pit for slick tyres. Soon enough, they began to surge through the field, with Baird eventually working up to ninth place after starting in 29th. Skaife's nightmare run continued after being spun by Steven Richards at the hairpin. Richards also sustained damage to the rear of his car after being clipped by Max Wilson. Skaife subsequently retreated to the pits to gamble on the slick tyres. Garth Tander attempted a move of his own on Paul Morris at the same part of the circuit. These efforts resulted in a spin after he locked his rear tyres. Dumbrell's efforts on the slick tyres were curtailed after straying offline, t-boning Jason Bargwanna and putting them both into a spin at turn two. Ambrose remained untroubled to the flag, taking the first win on New Zealand soil for the Ford brand. Bright was eight seconds behind in second place, and a further ten seconds behind him was the highest-placed Kiwi driver, Paul Radisich. Pos No Name Team Laps Time / difference Grid 1 1 AUS Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 36 36min 51.8458sec 2 2 50 AUS Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 36 + 8.245 4 3 88 NZL Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 18.106 6 4 51 NZL Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 36 + 18.588 3 5 888 BRA Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 21.745 8 6 11 NZL Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 36 + 26.116 5 7 15 AUS Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 36 + 27.876 13 8 6 AUS Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing 36 + 37.315 21 9 021 NZL Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing 36 + 39.505 29 10 12 AUS John Bowe Brad Jones Racing 36 + 40.458 7 11 16 AUS Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing 36 + 40.632 14 12 9 AUS Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 41.276 11 13 17 AUS Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 41.616 12 14 3 NZL Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 36 + 49.855 16 15 44 NZL Simon Wills Team Dynamik 36 + 50.299 19 16 2 AUS Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 36 + 53.189 1 17 22 AUS Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team 36 + 55.358 9 18 31 AUS Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing 36 + 57.396 27 19 33 AUS Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 59.806 24 20 21 AUS Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing 36 + 1:00.441 22 21 29 AUS Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport 36 + 1:01.160 17 22 75 AUS Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing 35 + 1 lap 28 23 23 AUS David Besnard WPS Racing 35 + 1 lap 26 24 18 AUS Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing 35 + 1 lap 18 25 20 AUS Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 23 26 7 AUS Tony Longhurst Perkins Engineering 35 + 1 lap 31 27 10 AUS Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 10 28 34 AUS Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 20 29 5 AUS Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing 35 + 1 lap 15 30 8 AUS Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering 34 + 2 laps 25 31 45 AUS Dale Brede Team Dynamik 34 + 2 laps 32 32 14 NZL Mark Porter MSport 34 + 2 laps 30 Fastest lap: Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team), 58.3415 on lap 28 Sources: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640615614/object_877499.81I/Result?8 PlaceMakers V8 International - V8 Supercar Series Round 3 PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY V8 SUPERCARS - Race 1 racing.natsoft.com.au 2024-10-04 Race 2 Ambrose struggled off the line and lost second place to Murphy on the approach to turn two. At the end of the first lap, Radisich strayed wide at the top of Ford Mountain, spun at the mid-point of the main straight, and narrowly missed being broadsided by multiple cars. On lap 9, Skaife retired due to a bent steering arm that he sustained whilst racing Max Wilson, who also retreated to the pitlane with ignition coil issues. Warren Luff speared off into the gravel trap at turn three when attempting to avoid a spinning Mark Porter. At the same time, Brad Jones was spun at the hairpin by Steven Ellery. Just moments later, Glenn Seton spun at a perilous position on the approach to Ford Mountain whilst trying to avoid a commotion between the two Larkham Motorsport cars. Bargwanna retired due to rear suspension problems incurred while racing Morris. In all the melee, the safety car was deployed. As the laps whittled down, Murphy began to reign Bright in. With six laps remaining, the gap was down to under a second. Lowndes was beset with leaking fluid from the engine bay but managed to keep circulating until the very end. Bright withstood the charge from Murphy to take victory, delivering on the pace shown in practice and qualifying. Ambrose finished third, eight seconds behind the pair. Pos No Name Team Laps Time / difference Grid 1 50 AUS Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 36 37min 05.4230sec 2 2 51 NZL Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 36 + 0.786 4 3 1 AUS Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 8.375 1 4 15 AUS Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 36 + 11.229 7 5 11 NZL Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 36 + 12.349 6 6 16 AUS Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing 36 + 12.904 11 7 9 AUS Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 13.201 12 8 17 AUS Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 19.571 13 9 3 NZL Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 36 + 20.607 14 10 22 AUS Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team 36 + 22.128 17 11 34 AUS Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 26.779 28 12 44 NZL Simon Wills Team Dynamik 36 + 27.211 15 13 7 AUS Tony Longhurst Perkins Engineering 36 + 27.632 26 14 20 AUS Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport 36 + 31.766 25 15 29 AUS Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport 36 + 32.860 21 16 88 NZL Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 33.107 3 17 021 NZL Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing 36 + 34.921 9 18 33 AUS Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 35.788 19 19 75 AUS Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing 36 + 35.871 22 20 21 AUS Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing 36 + 37.472 20 21 5 AUS Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing 36 + 38.465 29 22 12 AUS John Bowe Brad Jones Racing 36 + 41.731 10 23 23 AUS David Besnard WPS Racing 36 + 42.164 23 24 8 AUS Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering 36 + 52.641 30 25 14 AUS Mark Porter MSport 36 + 55.305 32 26 31 AUS Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing 35 + 1 lap 18 27 18 AUS Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing 33 + 3 laps 24 28 888 BRA Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering 29 + 7 laps 5 29 6 AUS Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing 28 + 8 laps 8 Ret 45 AUS Dale Brede Team Dynamik 26 Mechanical 31 Ret 10 AUS Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport 17 Suspension 27 Ret 2 AUS Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 9 Steering arm 16 Fastest lap: Steven Richards (Perkins Engineering), 57.6358 on lap 3 Sources: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640615614/object_877499.81I/Result?9 PlaceMakers V8 International - V8 Supercar Series Round 3 PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY V8 SUPERCARS - Race 2 racing.natsoft.com.au 2024-10-04 Race 3 Off the line, Murphy and Bright were evenly matched, with the latter retaining the lead entering the back straight. As the race settled down, Bright began to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field. Murphy meanwhile found himself under attack from Ambrose. On lap eight, Ambrose pulled an aggressive move on Murphy at turn four to move up into second place. Mark Winterbottom was experiencing fuel surge problems, forcing him to switch to the reserve tank. Eventually, these problems became too much and was forced to retire from the race. The race was relatively stagnant, up until the final laps when Murphy began to reel Ambrose in again. On lap 32, Murphy made an audacious pass on Ambrose around the outside of turns six and seven. Dale Brede also spun in front of Bright at turn three, throwing mud and water on the racing line. Nevertheless, Bright remained undeterred. Even a tyre failure on the part of Morris, who was sent into the wall at Ford Mountain heavily on the last corner of the last lap wouldn't prevent Bright from taking the chequered flag first, winning the overall round and being the first driver to defeat Murphy from round honours in the history of the Pukekohe event. Murphy finished second, Ambrose third, but in terms of round points, Ambrose would finish second and Murphy third. Pos No Name Team Laps Time / difference Grid 1 50 AUS Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 36 34min 59.8159sec 1 2 51 NZL Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 36 + 7.210 2 3 1 AUS Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 7.809 3 4 11 NZL Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 36 + 8.402 5 5 15 AUS Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 36 + 16.258 4 6 16 AUS Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing 36 + 17.608 6 7 9 AUS Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 18.608 7 8 17 AUS Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 25.005 8 9 3 NZL Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 36 + 25.553 9 10 34 AUS Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 25.894 11 11 88 NZL Paul Radisich Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 25.970 16 12 12 AUS John Bowe Brad Jones Racing 36 + 28.264 22 13 7 AUS Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing 36 + 30.361 13 14 22 AUS Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team 36 + 30.731 10 15 44 NZL Simon Wills Team Dynamik 36 + 30.841 12 16 75 AUS Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing 36 + 36.391 19 17 888 BRA Max Wilson Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 36.709 28 18 21 AUS Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing 36 + 37.386 20 19 2 AUS Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 36 + 37.394 32 20 021 NZL Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing 36 + 47.485 17 21 10 AUS Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport 36 + 47.765 31 22 5 AUS Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing 36 + 48.568 21 23 18 AUS Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 49.257 27 24 31 AUS Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing 36 + 50.006 26 25 23 AUS David Besnard WPS Racing 36 + 50.954 23 26 33 AUS Cameron McConville Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 51.229 18 27 8 AUS Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering 36 + 52.450 24 28 14 NZL Mark Porter MSport 36 + 57.020 25 29 45 AUS Dale Brede Team Dynamik 35 + 1 lap 30 Ret 29 AUS Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport 33 Accident 15 Ret 6 AUS Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing 32 Retired 29 Ret 20 AUS Mark Winterbottom Larkham Motorsport 14 Fuel pump 14 Fastest lap: Jason Bright (Paul Weel Racing), 57.5119 on lap 5 Sources: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640615614/object_877499.81I/Result?10 PlaceMakers V8 International - V8 Supercar Series Round 3 PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY V8 SUPERCARS - Race 3 racing.natsoft.com.au 2024-10-04 Aftermath thumb|Provisional track map for the proposed Auckland V8 Supercar street race meant for 2006While the popularity of V8 Supercars in New Zealand enticed officials to explore the possibility of a second championship round in the region, the status of Pukekohe's place on the calendar was up in the air. AVESCO were unsatisfied with the condition of the Pukekohe Park Raceway facilities and thus the search was on for a new home. Multiple venues had submitted proposals to take over the calendar slot from 2006 onwards. These included Wellington, Manfeild and a street race in Auckland. Manfeild's proposal was described by AVESCO chairman Tony Cochrane as being, "...equal of any we have seen in the history of AVESCO - that includes proposals from some of the world's largest and wealthiest cities". https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/aukland-city-street-race-secured-for-2006/1136151/ Aukland city street race secured for 2006 Motorsport.com 2024-10-04 Ultimately, the Auckland street race won proposal won out and the event was expected to replace Pukekohe from April 2006 onwards. An estimate 170,000 people were expected to attend the event which would've taken place right in the heart of Auckland's city centre. https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/sbr-comments-on-aukland-future-race/1136199/ SBR comments on Aukland future race Motorsport.com 2024-10-04 Soon after the announcement, safety concerns arose to the circuits configuration, the disruption to proceedings in the CBD and other costs associated with the event. And eventually, the project fell through, the promoter IMG having spent over a million dollars in establishing it. The event would return to Pukekohe for three more years before ceding the event to Hamilton in 2008. Championship standings Pos. Position No Driver Team Pts Points 10px 1 1 AUS Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 532 10px 2 11 NZL Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 528 10px 3 51 NZL Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 509 10px 4 15 AUS Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing 502 10px 5 50 AUS Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 457 References PlaceMakers V8 International 2004 2004 Eastern Creek round of the V8 Supercars 2004 Darwin round of the V8 Supercars 2003 PlaceMakers V8 International 2005 PlaceMakers V8 International Pukekohe Category:Auto races in New Zealand Category:2004 in New Zealand motorsport Category:Sport in the Auckland Region