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Mark Skaife fuelled by Peter Brock memory


Skaife today overcame the emotion of having Bev Brock, Peter's former wife, in his garage during the top ten shootout to blast his way to pole position for the fifth time in his career at Mount Panorama.

Only Peter Perfect, with six front row starts, has a better record.

With a moving tribute to Brock planned ahead of tomorrow's 10am (AEST) race start, Skaife said his own memories of the nine-time Bathurst winner would help him overcome the emotion of the final farewell.

"I know it's going to be difficult in the morning ... but Brocky would say, 'Skaifey, get on with it and go and have a red hot go'," said Skaife.

Skaife, and co-driver Garth Tander, have driven like men on a mission this weekend.

Their Holden Racing Team Commodore has posted the fastest times every day with Ford's Jason Bright and Holden's Rick Kelly the only other real contenders to matching their pace.

Skaife grabbed pole position with a time of two minutes 07.4221 seconds - a clear three tenths of a second faster than CAT Ford Performance Racing driver Bright (2:07.7292), with Kelly (2:07.7919) third in the HSV Dealer Commodore.

Holden's Jason Richards was fourth today with a time of 2:08.0657 in his Tasman Motorsport Commodore, but the rest of the field are miles behind the leaders - including sixth placed Craig Lowndes (2:08.5403) who is over a second off the pace in the Betta Electrical Falcon.

Skaife said it was clear that HRT, FPR and HSV were the standout favourites for the 161-lap enduro.

"The three cars here are the cars to beat," said Skaife.

"Craig Lowndes has proven over the year that he is able to be consistent and their team have got a good race package. Maybe they have a stronger race car than a qualifying car.

"Some cars up and down pit lane will be a little bit stronger in the race than on one hot lap.

"(But) after qualifying I am more confident we have got a good race package and ultimate speed than there was before.

"Fast cars are what you need to have at the end of the race."

Kelly agreed, but said qualifying meant little tomorrow and the race can be won from anywhere on the grid.

Former champions Lowndes, Steven Richards (who qualified fifth), Greg Murphy (eighth) and Russell Ingall (ninth) all have potential to cause an upset.

"Bathurst is split into two sections, qualifying and the race, and in a lot of cases the two don't go hand in hand," said Kelly, who'll race with older brother Todd.

"You don't have to be on pole or the top ten even to win the race.

"The first section of the weekend is over but we are pretty confident we've got the car to be in the race.

"This is not a place to finish second or third. We are aiming for the win here."

Of the top three qualifiers, only Mark Winterbottom in the FPR Falcon hasn't won at Mount Panorama.

Although Winterbottom is within overall championship calculations, he has given teammate Bright the green light to chase Bathurst glory.

"We have got to win the race to close the (championship) gap," said Winterbottom.

"To win Bathurst would be the biggest moment of my career."

AAP

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