Stone Brothers Racing clinched a 1-2 finish in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series after one of the team’s most spectacular performances at the Bigpond Grand Finale at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney on Sunday.
Marcos Ambrose, who collected back-to-back titles with his win in race one last night, continued on from where he left off with another two race victories to clean sweep the weekend in his Pirtek Ford Falcon.
Russell Ingall produced his familiar never-say-die attitude to fight his way back to third outright for the day in his Caltex Ford Falcon.
His efforts to recover from a drive through penalty for a pit-lane speeding violation in the second race and his speed and patience in the final 39-lap run were the keys to his promotion from fourth to second in the championship.
It was the first 1-2 in the championship for a Ford team since Glenn Seton and Alan Jones achieved the feat back in 1993.
“This is just a magnificent achievement for Ross and Jimmy Stone, the entire SBR organisation and Ford,” said Ambrose. “A 1-2 is an awesome result and testimony to how hard this team works and how well it works together.
“This really is the icing on the cake after clinching the title on Saturday.
“I really have enjoyed the last two years with Russell and if I was going to achieve this with another driver, then I am glad it was with him.
“He did a fantastic job this weekend to make up two spots in the championship and overcome the couple of problems he had.
“We are more determined than ever to make it three in a row next season.”
In the final race Ingall produced a fantastic drive from ninth on the grid to finish third after a monumental bumper-to-bumper battle with old foe Mark Skaife, which lasted more than 30 laps.
In the meantime Jason Bright and Greg Murphy failed to make up enough ground towards the back of the field and Ingall finished with a big enough gap to clinch his fourth second-place championship finish.
“The pit stop problem on Saturday was a glitch, but I thought we were gone after the pit lane speeding thing in the second race,” said Ingall.
“We got together and talked about what we needed to achieve and knew that we were still in with a shot.
“I was having a great battle with Skaife and was going to have a go at passing him when the boys came over the radio and told me I was sitting third for the round and second in the championship.
“I put the brain back into gear and decided to sit there. I was also thinking just how much TV we were getting – there was obviously a bit of interest in us two after last year.
“More than anything I am just thrilled for the team, which has worked so hard this year.
“I knew we had a good car for the final race and a good set of tyres, so we just went for broke and it all worked to plan – including the final stop which was a cracker.
“Now all I have to do is work on beating Marcos next year.”
RACE ONE
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
2: Craig Lowndes (Ford)
3: Jason Bright (Holden)
RACE TWO
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
2: Paul Radisich (Ford)
3: Craig Lowndes (Ford)
RACE THREE
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
2: Mark Skaife (Holden)
: Russell Ingall (Ford)
2004 CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 2174
2: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1936
3: Jason Bright (Holden) 1920
4: Greg Murphy (Holden) 1913
5: Steve Richards (Holden) 1819
6: Rick Kelly (Holden) 1793
7: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1623
8: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 1526
9: John Bowe (Ford) 1502
10: Steve Johnson (Ford) 1416
Highlights of the championship finale, presented by Ford, will feature in High Octane Motorsport on Supersport on 25 January 2005.
