2002 V8 Supercars Eastern Creek round
The 2002 Eastern Creek V8 Supercar round was the third round of the 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 26 to 28 April at the Eastern Creek Raceway, New South Wales Australia.
| Event Information | ||||||||||||||
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| Round 3 of 13 in the 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 26-28 April 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Eastern Creek, New South Wales | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Eastern Creek Raceway | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Fine | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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The round was dominated by Mark Skaife, who took pole position and won every race of the weekend. These results helped further cement his lead in the championship. Marcos Ambrose was second for the round whilst the podium was rounded out by Craig Lowndes.
Race results
Pre-qualifying
In a tense pre-qualifying session, several key drivers failed to qualify for the event. Paul Morris and Steve Owen collided, resulting in a puncture for the former toward the end of the session. He was unable to improve on his time and thus became one of the casualties. It was also said to be the first time Wayne Gardner failed to qualify for a motor race. Despite rule changes introduced the round prior in an attempt to aid those who had to undertake pre-qualifying, the system was still universally unpopular with the teams and drivers.
| Pos | No | Name | Team | Vehicle | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Brad Jones |
Brad Jones Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.0200 |
| 2 | 5 | Glenn Seton |
Glenn Seton Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.2849 |
| 3 | 27 | Neil Crompton |
00 Motorsport | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.4170 |
| 4 | 71 | Greg Ritter |
Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.5169 |
| 5 | 3 | Cameron McConville |
Lansvale Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:33.5503 |
| 6 | 10 | Mark Larkham |
Larkham Motor Sport | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.5718 |
| 7 | 40 | Cameron McLean |
Paragon Motorsport | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.5740 |
| Did not qualify | |||||
| 8 | 24 | Paul Romano |
Romano Racing | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:33.6100 |
| 9 | 36 | Wayne Gardner |
Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:33.7429 |
| 10 | 29 | Paul Morris |
Paul Morris Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:33.8544 |
| 11 | 75 | Anthony Tratt |
Paul Little Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:34.1156 |
| 12 | 22 | Dugal McDougall |
McDougall Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:35.0030 |
| 13 | 14 | Steve Owen |
Imrie Motor Sport | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:35.1333 |
| [1] | |||||
Qualifying
Friday afternoon's qualifying session provided a few surprises. Brazilian Max Wilson clocked the second-fastest time in just his third weekend in the category. Series veteran John Faulkner stunned the paddock by qualifying in fourth place after years of struggling with budget and equipment. Lowndes qualified outside the top 10 whilst the Dick Johnson Racing Falcon's struggled, with their inexplicable lack of pace leaving them in the mid-pack as they attempted to find a solution. Skaife meanwhile set the benchmark, with a time nearly half a second faster than the rest of the pack, to take provisional pole position.
Top Ten Shootout
| Pos | No | Name | Team | Vehicle | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Mark Skaife |
Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:31.3824 |
| 2 | 4 | Marcos Ambrose |
Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:32.0264 |
| 3 | 46 |  John Faulkner |
John Faulkner Racing | Holden Commodore (VT) | 1:32.3034 |
| 4 | 31 | Steven Ellery |
Steven Ellery Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:32.3773 |
| 5 | 51 | Greg Murphy |
Kmart Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:32.5073 |
| 6 | 34 | Garth Tander |
Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:32.5614 |
| 7 | 8 | Russell Ingall |
Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:32.6291 |
| 8 | 65 |  Max Wilson |
Briggs Motor Sport | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:32.7077 |
| 9 | 9 | David Besnard |
Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon (AU) | 1:32.7970 |
| 10 | 16 | Steven Richards |
Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore (VX) | 1:32.8942 |
| [3] | |||||
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
References
- "2002 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ROUND 3 - EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Pre-qualifying". National Software. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
- "2002 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ROUND 3 - EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Qualifying". National Software. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
- "2002 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ROUND 3 - EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Top 10 Shootout". National Software. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
- "2002 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ROUND 3 - EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Race 1". National Software. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- "2002 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ROUND 3 - EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Race 2". National Software. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
- "2002 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ROUND 3 - EASTERN CREEK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Race 3". National Software. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
| Supercars Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 2002 Phillip Island V8 Supercar round |
2002 Supercars Championship | Next race: 2002 Hidden Valley V8 Supercar round |
| Previous year: 2001 Eastern Creek V8 Supercar round |
Eastern Creek Raceway | Next year: 2003 Eastern Creek V8 Supercar round |