Full Throttle

Mark Skaife and co-driver Todd Kelly outlasted the field and the punishing 1000k (620 miles) over the Mount Panorama circuit to win the Bathurst Super Cheap 1000. It was Skaife’s fifth win at the track and Kelly’s first that was on his 26^th birthday.

Under this years points scoreing system, each competitor must drop his worst score of the Championship following the Super Cheap Auto 1000. It was fairly assumed Marcos Ambrose would most likely retain his lead after Bathurst, barring a disaster. With a 78 point lead over Russell Ingall, the only way that Ambrose can lose the Championship lead is if he fails to finish higher than 20th.

And disaster struck. Twice. The first the result of the strangest black flag drive through penalty I have ever witnessed. Marcos Ambrose and co-driver Warren Luff pitted for a driver change, fuel, tires and fresh brake pads. Upon exiting the car Luff was observed by a safety official not wearing his a required balaclava after removing his helmet. Ambrose served his drive through penalty on lap 104. The following laps were filled with radio traffic in an attempt to verify Ambrose was wearing his balaclava. Marcos never gave a definitive answer and was finally told to pit on lap 121 of 164 if he wasn’t sure or didn’t have it on. He pitted, a balaclava was hastily slipped over his head and he lost about 4 places on track.

A visibly angry Ambrose turned in some of the fastest laps of the day in an attempt to catch the leaders. Then a safety car fell the team