The 2008 Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge was the third meeting of the 2008 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of 13 to 16 March at Albert Park Street Circuit, in the inner suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the capital of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The meeting was a non-championship affair, conducted under a unique

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

format. It was the lead support category for the

2008 Australian Grand Prix The 2008 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the 2008 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 16 March 2008 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 20 ...

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Thursday 13 March.

Mark Skaife Mark Skaife (born 3 April 1967) is a retired Australian motor racing driver. Skaife is a five-time champion of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, including its predecessor, the Australian Touring Car Championship, as well as a six-time Bath ...

was fastest as the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...

continued its resurgence.

Steven Richards Steven James Richards (born 11 July 1972) is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Richards, the son of seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards, is himself a five-t ...

shook off his car destroying crash at Eastern Creek to be second fastest ahead of

Jason Richards Jason John Richards (10 April 1976 – 15 December 2011) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. A multiple championship winning driver in his homeland in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, he moved to Australia to pursue a career in the ...

in the

Tasman Motorsport Tasman Motorsport was a V8 Supercar racing team. It was formed in 2004 out of what was Lansvale Racing Team V8 Supercar team and was associated with Greg Murphy Racing as a satellite operation. Tasman Motorsport entered the series in 20 ...

Commodore. The end of qualifying was nervous with the first top ten shootout of the season to be held the following day and while

Russell Ingall Russell Ingall (born 24 February 1964 in London, England) is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000, i ...

scraped into the top ten, the unique Ford vs Holden rules for this event which demanded five of each manufacturer in the top ten saw Ingall, as the sixth Holden, relegated in favour of the fifth Ford, Steven Johnson.

Michael Patrizi Michael Patrizi (born 4 May 1984) is an Australian racing driver. Biography Starting off in karts in his native Western Australia, he moved to Formula Ford in 2004, then to Formula BMW in Asia 2005, then UK in 2006. In 2007 he joined the compet ...

qualified 28th on the debut of both himself and his Ford Rising Stars Racing in the main game series.

Top Ten shootout

The top ten shootout, the first to be held in 2008, was held on Friday 14 March.

Garth Tander Garth Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineer ...

kept the Holden Racing Team atop the timesheets, picking off pole position, holding off a motivated

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Supe ...

for the position.

was third fastest, but would be relegated to fourth on the grid as the Ford vs Holden format stated that the grid would be formed in alternating manufacturer order ahead of outright pace, meaning fifth fastest qualifying

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he drove for the HSV Dealer Team with wh ...

would start third as the second fastest Holden.

Race 1

Race 1 was held on Friday 12 March immediately after the shootout.

Race 2

Race 2 was held on Saturday 13 March.

Race 3

Race 3 was held on Sunday 14 March.

Results

Results as follows:

Qualifying

Race 1 results

Race 2 results

Race 3 results

References

External links

Official site for Australian Grand PrixOfficial site for V8 SupercarOfficial timing and results
{{V8 race report, Name_of_race = V8 Supercars Challenge , Year_of_race = 2008 , Previous_race_in_season = 2008 Eastern Creek round of the V8 Supercar Championship , Next_race_in_season = 2008 Hamilton 400 , Previous_year's_race = 2006 Panasonic V8 Supercars GP 100 , Next_year's_race = 2009 Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge

Qualifying

Top Ten shootout

Race 1

Race 2

Race 3

Results

Qualifying

Race 1 results

Race 2 results

Race 3 results

See also

References

External links