The 2001 Calder Park V8 Supercar round was the seventh round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 14 to 15 July at the Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne, Victoria. This would also be the 25th and last time that Calder Park Raceway would host a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Paul Morris stunned the paddock by winning two out of the three races, and took overall round honours for the first time in his V8 Supercar career. It would be the only wins of Morris' solo V8 Supercar career and marked the last win of a 'driver-owner' combination. Steven Johnson won the first race of the weekend and took second overall for the round in a weekend where the Dick Johnson Racing continued to demonstrate strong pace.

Championship leader Mark Skaife endured a tough weekend after an early penalty in race one left him to climb through the field in the remaining two races. Nonetheless, he would retain his lead in the drivers standings heading into the next round at Oran Park.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 14 to 15 July 2001. It was the 25th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Calder Park Raceway, and consisted of three 50 km races. Like the previous round in Perth, there were no compulsory pitstops in any of the races as the sprint format of the weekend meant races barely lasted for over 20 minutes.

Mark Skaife entered the round at the championship leader by 109 points over teammate and nearest competitor, Jason Bright.

The future of Calder Park on the V8 Supercar schedule had been in question on the lead up to the event. Then-AVESCO CEO Wayne Cattach remarked that the circuit would require substantial upgrade works to be undertaken if it were to secure its spot on the calendar for 2002. This included a complete resurface, which Cattach conceded would not be straightforward as a number of braking areas were badly rippled.

Entry list

There were 37 drivers entered for this round, with a grid capacity of 32. Qualifying would determine which four drivers would be eliminated from racing contention.

Several drivers made their return to the grid. Dean Canto returned with RPM International Racing after having last raced at Darwin, Tyler Mecklem returned with Clive Wiseman Racing after having missed the previous round in Perth, Tomas Mezera returned to Imrie Motorsport after having not raced since Eastern Creek, and Matthew White also returned to the series with is privateer outfit. Phonsy Mullan made the first of his two appearances for 2001 with GM Motorsport.

In terms of technical changes, Dugal McDougall reverted from the VX Commodore to the VT Commodore.

Race results

Pre-Qualifying Jason Richards topped the timing sheets despite encountering engine issues on the leadup to the session. John Faulkner, Tyler Mecklem and Phonsy Mullan failed to qualify for the event. Faulkner, a seasoned veteran in the Australian motorsport scene, was particularly upset with the result. After a difficult 2001 season, Faulkner announced he was 'going fishing for a few days' as he left the venue.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:04.1294 2 45 Dean Canto RPM International Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:04.3858 3 14 Tomas Mezera Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:04.5759 4 76 Matthew White Matthew White Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 1:04.8773 5 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:04.8781 6 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:05.2597 7 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:05.5719 DNPQ 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:06.3636 DNPQ 50 Tyler Mecklem Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:08.7832 DNPQ 111 Phonsy Mullan GM Motorsport Holden Commodore (VS) 1:14.2016 Source:

Qualifying Todd Kelly topped the timesheets to take provisional pole position by four hundredths of a second over Mark Larkham. For Larkham, the performance was a major morale booster after having to severe ties with their title sponsor, Intelligent Card Systems (ICS), over their failure to fulfil contractual payments.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 55.8501 2 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 55.8988 3 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 55.9422 4 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 56.0263 5 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 56.0319 6 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 56.0960 7 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 56.1226 8 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.1385 9 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 56.1628 10 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 56.1765 11 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 56.2510 12 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.3013 13 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 56.3125 14 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 56.3946 15 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.3957 16 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.4029 17 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.4139 18 600 John Bowe Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 56.4375 19 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 56.4779 20 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.4794 21 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.4858 22 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 56.5176 23 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 56.5804 24 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 56.6258 25 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.6347 26 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 56.8959 27 45 Dean Canto RPM International Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.9471 28 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.9784 29 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 57.0472 30 24 Paul Romano Romano Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 57.0808 31 14 Tomas Mezera Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 57.2623 32 76 Matthew White Matthew White Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 57.5664 Source:

Top Ten Shootout Mark Skaife took pole position, setting a time just seven hundredths of a second faster than Steven Johnson. Paul Morris completed a time good enough for third position; his best qualifying position yet in his V8 Supercar career. Greg Murphy expressed dissatisfaction with his time after missing a gear, dropping him the fifth row of the grid.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 56.2277 2 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.2902 3 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 56.4524 4 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 56.4689 5 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 56.5185 6 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 56.5663 7 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 56.6394 8 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 56.7190 9 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 56.7829 10 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 57.2326 Source:

Race 1 As the threat of rain loomed, the race was immediately thrown into controversy. Steven Johnson led into turn one but experienced a loss of rear grip on entry. The sudden deceleration to catch a potential spin caught out the driver behind him, Mark Skaife. The two made contact that was sufficient to allow Skaife to squeeze by and assume the lead. The stewards deemed this maneuver to be illegal and issued Skaife a stop-go penalty that threw him to the very end of the pack, much to the ire of the Holden Racing Team crew. Mark Larkham spun Greg Murphy at turn one however this incident did not draw the attention of the stewards. The Team Kiwi Racing entry of Jason Richards failed to launch off the line after the differential failed. Todd Kelly would have to pit to replaced a tyre damaged on the first lap.

Johnson established a healthy margin over nearest competitor, Paul Morris. In an effort to climb back through the pack, Murphy and Paul Romano made side-to-side contact on the approach to the final corner that saw the Holden Young Lions Commodore spin to the rear of the field. John Bowe retired from the race after one lap due to engine problems. The field compromised over numerous competitive battles that were compounded by the difficulty of passing on the Calder circuit. Such was the struggle to overtake that Skaife contemplated retiring from the race to preserve the tyres. The Holden Racing Team elected not to do so and Skaife conserved his tyres for the two races that lay ahead.

The race remained relatively stagnant to the flag. Johnson cruised home comfortably to take his second win of the year and continued Dick Johnson Racing's run of form. Morris enjoyed a quiet run to second place while Russell Ingall rounded out the podium. Multiple drivers made notable strides through the field. This included Johnson's teammate, Paul Radisich, who had demonstrated considerable pace throughout proceedings. Results