The 2001 Oran Park V8 Supercar round was the eighth round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series. It was the 31st ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Oran Park and was held on the weekend of 28 to 29 July at the Oran Park Raceway in Narellan, New South Wales.

Championship leader Mark Skaife recovered from a difficult previous round at Calder Park to win both races and claimed overall round winners to boot to extend his lead in the drivers standings. Craig Lowndes claimed pole position for the first race of the weekend and finished second for that race. The surprise package of the weekend was David Besnard who, after enduring a tough debut season to date, claimed back-to-back podiums and had briefly led the second race en route to finish second overall for the round.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 28 to 29 July 2001. It was the 31st ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Oran Park Raceway, and consisted of two 100 km races with compulsory pitstops in both instances.

Mark Skaife entered the round at the championship leader by 17 points over teammate and nearest competitor, Jason Bright.

The Oran Park venue received a multi-million dollar upgrade to the pit facilities prior to the 2001 event. This included the widenening of the pit lane and brand-new pit buildings fit with VIP suites.

During the Saturday warm-up session, Greg Murphy's car caught one of the Briggs Motorsport air hoses. It brought the gantry down and injured two of the Briggs Motorsport crew members, one of whom were transported via ambulance to Liverpool Hospital where he would undergo surgery for head injury. The session was red flag while the team members were given medical assistance. Multiple teams down the paddock offered help to the Briggs Motorsport team in the aftermath. Perkins Engineering offered a spare pit boom while Murphy's team had two of their crew members fill in for pit stop duty.

Entry list

There were 36 drivers entered for this round, with a grid capacity of 32. Pre-qualifying would determine which four drivers would be eliminated from racing contention.

Mick Donaher replaced Tyler Mecklem at Clive Wiseman Racing. Peter Doulman would return to the series in his privateer outfit for his final solo appearance. Two older model EL Falcon's were entered by way of Garry Holt with Emerzidis Motorsport and Luke Sieders with his privateer outfit. Steve Williams was also entered with V8 Racing, and British driver Matt Neal would debut the brand new VX Commodore for Paul Morris Motorsport.

For the only time this season, Paul Romano would not make an appearance.

Race results

Pre-Qualifying After failing to qualify at the previous round at Calder Park, John Faulkner topped the timing sheets in pre-qualifying, being the only driver to set a time under the 1 minute 15 second bracket. Dugal McDougall, Anthony Tratt, Dean Canto, Peter Doulman and Steve Williams all failed to qualify.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:14.9329 2 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:15.0401 3 50 Mick Donaher Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:15.5367 4 14 Tomas Mezera Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:16.1135 5 20 Garry Holt Eastern Creek Kart Racing Ford Falcon (EL) 1:16.2383 6 67 Matt Neal Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:16.4036 7 56 Luke Sieders Sieders Racing Team Ford Falcon (EL) 1:16.7998 DNPQ 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:16.8889 DNPQ 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:17.1045 DNPQ 45 Dean Canto RPM International Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:17.1348 DNPQ 52 Peter Doulman M3 Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:17.6812 DNPQ 77 Steve Williams V8 Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 1:18.5650 Source:

Qualifying In a cold and wet Friday qualifying session, Steven Johnson topped the timing sheets to take provisional pole position, closely followed by David Besnard. Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes were the only two other drivers to set a time below the 1 minute 8 second bracket. Dugal McDougall, Anthony Tratt and Dean Canto failed to qualify for the event.

Matt Neal crashed heavily at the final corner during the second session of qualifying. The damage inflicted on the car would render him out of contention for the rest of the weekend.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:07.9145 2 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:07.9281 3 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:07.9811 4 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:07.9886 5 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.0021 6 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.0350 7 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.0812 8 600 John Bowe Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.1080 9 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.1216 10 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.1491 11 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.1997 12 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.2377 13 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.2652 14 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.2859 15 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.3653 16 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.4599 17 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.5772 18 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6057 19 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6831 20 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6871 21 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.7001 22 50 Michael Donaher Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:08.7132 23 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:08.7143 24 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.8318 25 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8574 26 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:08.8610 27 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.9305 28 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:09.0318 29 67 Matt Neal Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.2683 30 14 Tomas Mezera Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:09.6189 31 20 Gary Holt Eastern Creek Kart Racing Ford Falcon (EL) 1:10.4830 32 56 Luke Sieders Sieders Racing Team Ford Falcon (EL) 1:11.4899 Source:

Top Ten Shootout Craig Lowndes took his first pole position for the Gibson Motorsport team in 2001. It was also the first pole position for the Ford brand at Oran Park since 1995.

Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.0671 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.2295 3 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.6557 4 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.7935 5 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:08.8438 6 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:08.9998 7 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.0888 8 600 John Bowe Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:09.6301 9 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.7164 10 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:09.7857 Source:

Race 1 Lowndes bogged down slightly compared to those around him. Skaife seized the lead while Lowndes fell behind Besnard and Todd Kelly. The race would soon be brought under safety car conditions when an incident involved Marcos Ambrose, Mark Larkham and Greg Murphy saw the latter stranded on the inside of turn two with broken steering.

The race resumed on lap five, with Skaife streaking away from the field while Besnard struggled with rear-end grip and soon came under pressure from Lowndes. The pit window opened on lap eight and multiple drivers, including Kelly, took the opportunity to make their compulsory pitstop. A cross-threaded wheel nut cost Paul Radisich 45 seconds in the pitlane. After the cycle of pitstops, Lowndes overtook Besnard after the Caltex driver ran wide over the bridge. Kelly meanwhile experienced a loss of pace and fell behind both Ford drivers to fourth place. Jason Bright suffered a slow pitstop and lost a half dozen positions. Brad Jones suffered handling and brake issues after colliding with a rabbit at the turn one apex.

On lap 32, Tony Longhurst and Ambrose came to blows at turn two after the former attempted a move down the inside. Ambrose was turned into a spin and lost ground. Both Larry Perkins and John Bowe retired late into the race due to mechanical issues. Up the front, Skaife enjoyed a dominant race and cruised home to take victory ahead of Lowndes and Besnard.

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time Grid 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 36 44min 52.5714sec 2 2 00 Craig Lowndes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 5.62 1 3 9 David Besnard Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 6.71 3 4 15 Todd Kelly Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 14.21 4 5 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 17.31 5 6 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 20.01 9 7 2 Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 20.29 7 8 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 22.93 6 9 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 23.33 24 10 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 25.70 10 11 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 30.37 21 12 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 30.99 19 13 54 Tony Longhurst Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 36 + 36.44 17 14 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 36.90 12 15 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 36 + 44.51 23 16 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 45.59 16 17 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 45.99 11 18 7 Rodney Forbes Gibson Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 58.42 25 19 6 Steven Richards Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 36 + 58.56 27 20 021 Jason Richards Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 36 + 1:11.97 28 21 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 35 + 1 lap 26 22 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 1 lap 20 23 40 Cameron McLean Paragon Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 35 + 1 lap 18 24 14 Tomas Mezera Imrie Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 34 + 2 laps 30 25 20 Gary Holt Eastern Creek Kart Racing Ford Falcon (EL) 34 + 2 laps 31 Ret 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 32 Rear axle 15 Ret 600 John Bowe Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 20 Power steering 8 Ret 50 Michael Donaher Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 9 Mechanical 22 Ret 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 7 Accident damage 13 Ret 51 Greg Murphy Tom Walkinshaw Racing Australia Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Steering 14 DNS 67 Matt Neal Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) Did Not Start DNS 56 Luke Sieders Sieders Racing Team Ford Falcon (EL) Did Not Start Fastest Lap: Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) - 1:08.8221 on lap 5 Source:

Race 2 Besnard leapt off the line well to draw alongside Skaife heading into the first two corners, finally taking the lead into turn three. Lowndes followed in behind to get into second and Skaife slipped to third. Ambrose's weekend went from bad to worse when he was spun by Paul Morris going over the bridge.