2001 Canberra 400
| Event Information | ||||||||||||||
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| Round 5 of 13 in the 2001 Shell Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 8–10 June 2001 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Canberra Street Circuit | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Overcast | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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The 2001 Canberra 400 (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2001 GMC 400) was the fifth round of the 2001 Shell Championship Series and the second running of the Canberra 400 event. It was held on the weekend of 9 to 10 June on the Canberra Street Circuit in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
The Dick Johnson Racing outfit set the pace throughout the weekend. Paul Radisich dominated the early part of the weekend, claiming provisional pole position by nearly half a second over teammate and nearest competitor, Steven Johnson. After Radisich spun in the shootout, Johnson capitilised to cease his first V8 Supercar pole position. He would then go on to claim his first race victory in the first heat, and his accumulated points tally gave him his first round victory to boot.[1]
Despite experiencing a difficult second race, Mark Skaife's third place finish for the round enabled him to retake the championship lead from teammate, Jason Bright. A lead that he would not relinquish en route to his fourth Australian Touring Car Championship title.
Background
The event was held on the weekend of 9 to 10 June 2001. It was the second V8 Supercar event to be held on the streets of Canberra, and consisted of two 100 km races followed by a 200 km final which would reward double points. Pitstops were compulsory for all races. Race two would feature the sole reverse grid race of the season.
Following the inaugural event in 2000, the Canberra Street Circuit had been modified to allow for more overtaking opportunities. This included the widening of the front straight by 1.6 meters, an extension of the turn one runoff by 12 meters, the bus stop was resurfaced, the entry and exit to Flynn Drive was widened, with an extension of runoff, and the approach to turn 13 was widened by roughly a car width to encourage overtaking. In contrast the heat of Darwin, the Canberra event is typically marked by comparatively cold temperatures. This year however, conditions were noticeably more tolerable than 2000 was, and what 2002 would be.
Jason Bright entered the round as the championship leader over Holden Racing Team teammate, Mark Skaife. Unlike many of the drivers, Bright had no prior experience of the Canberra Street Circuit after having spent the 2000 season racing in Indy Lights in the United States.
Electronic pit speed limiters would be introduced across all cars for the first time at this event. The pit speed limit would also be reduced from 60 kph to 40 kph. Changes were also made to allow only one steel gantry per team in the pitlane as a result of numerous safety issues throughout the year.
Entry list
There were 32 drivers entered into the event with no changes from the entry list in the previous round in Darwin.
Paul Romano reverted from the VT Commodore to the VX Commodore.
Race results
Qualifying
Paul Radisich obliterated the field by posting a time nearly half a second faster than teammate and nearest competitor, Steven Johnson. Only four drivers posted a time within the 1 minute 43 second bracket. Two drivers failed to complete lap times - Mark Larkham and Steve Reed owing to session-ending crashes.
Top fifteen shootout
Multiple drivers struggled with car setup throughout the shootout and expressed dissatisfaction with their lap times. Cameron McLean sustained damage to the steering after collecting a tyre bundle on the apex of turn one. Todd Kelly also made contact with the wall exiting the bus stop.
Radisich entered the shootout as the favourite to take pole position. However, after spinning on the exit of the bus stop, pole position would be claimed by teammate, Steven Johnson. It would be Johnson's first V8 Supercar pole position and Dick Johnson Racing's first pole position of the season.
Race 1
John Faulkner would not take the start for this, nor the second race, after a flat tyre lead to a high speed crash in the morning warm-up.
Steven Johnson led from the pole position off the line while Todd Kelly bogged it down and lost a half dozen positions. The pit window opened on lap three and most of the front-runners elected to take their compulsory pitstops, with the exception of Glenn Seton, Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall. The Holden Racing Team managed to turn Skaife around quickly enough to jump Marcos Ambrose in the queue. Seton would make his pitstop and emerged just ahead of Skaife. Lowndes was amongst the last of the drivers to pit, opting for a couple laps of clear air to complete an overcut and jump up a few positions. This paid dividends and he emerged just behind effective race leader, Johnson.
On lap ten, Ambrose retired from the race after his gearbox failed. With his car stranded on the outside of the final corner, the safety car was deployed. When racing resumed, Skaife pounced on Seton on the outside of turn one and moved up to third. Garth Tander followed suit later on into the lap to move into fourth. Steven Richards was relegated to the pitlane to repair damage to the front-left suspension, losing a lap in the process. On lap 19, Todd Kelly made contact with Steven Ellery after attempting an overtake at the top end of the circuit. Both drivers spun around and had to wait whilst the rest of the pack funneled through. Kelly's teammate Greg Murphy also found himself caught out in the melee.
Lowndes appeared to exhibit more pace than Johnson. For the last half dozen laps, he continued to apply pressure, looking for a way past wherever he could. The battle began to plateau and the challengers ran out of laps. Johnson held off the challenge to take his first win in the V8 Supercar category. This was also Dick Johnson Racing's first win of the season. Radisich had also completed a miraculous recovery drive from 15th to finish in sixth.
Race 2
Steve Reed inherited pole position by virtue of being the last-placed finisher on the road for the first race. Steven Richards, who encountered suspension issues, would start alongside him on the front row. Reed maintained the lead through turn one with Richards in tow and Dugal McDougall in close pursuit. Down the pack, Skaife sustained front-end damage after the pack converged heading into turn one on the opening lap. Murphy also suffered damage as he was ran up against the wall on the approach to turn one. The damage was sufficient enough to put him out of the race.
Race 3
Championship Standings
| Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 1 | .svg.png){kind=small} Mark Skaife |
Holden Racing Team | 1360 |
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2 | 2 | Jason Bright |
Holden Racing Team | 1346 |
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3 | 17 | Steven Johnson |
Dick Johnson Racing | 1082 |
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4 | 8 | Russell Ingall |
Perkins Engineering | 1079 |
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5 | 4 | Marcos Ambrose |
Stone Brothers Racing | 986 |
References
- ↑ "When Steven Johnson shone in the capital". Auto Action. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
- ↑ "GMC 400, Canberra – Canberra Street Circuit – V8 Supercars Qualifying". National Software. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "GMC 400, Canberra – Canberra Street Circuit – V8 Supercars Top Fifteen Shootout". National Software. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "GMC 400, Canberra – Canberra Street Circuit – V8 Supercar Race 1". National Software. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ↑ "GMC 400, Canberra – Canberra Street Circuit – V8 Supercar Race 2". National Software. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ↑ "GMC 400, Canberra – Canberra Street Circuit – V8 Supercar Race 3". National Software. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
| Supercars Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 2001 V8 Supercars Darwin round |
2001 Supercars Championship | Next race: 2001 V8 Supercars Perth round |
| Previous year: 2000 GMC 400 |
Canberra 400 | Next year: 2002 Stegbar 400 |