VOLUME 3 - ISSUE 12
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26th JUNE 2013
TEAM EDGE RACE REPORT: V8 Supercars - SKYCITY Triple Crown Race 17 - Highlights for Castrolbacked teams Rick Kelly has continued to create milestone results for Castrol-backed Nissan Motorsport with the Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima driver qualifying 10th at Hidden Valley Raceway, securing the team’s first appearance in a Top 10 Shootout. Kelly picked up three places on his shootout lap to start the race seventh, and despite an oil temperature issue in the early stages, the former V8 champion was able to finish a fine fifth. In Nissan’s returning year to top-level Australian touring car racing, the result marks the first time a Nissan Altima has finished inside the top five in the competitive V8 championship. David Reynolds scorched to his second career pole position after topping the shootout for Race 17 at the SKYCITY Triple Crown at Hidden Valley. It repeated his effort in Townsville last year when the Bottle-O Ford driver snatched his maiden pole
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in the main game. Race 17 was won by Red Bull Racing’s Jamie Whincup followed by Shane van Gisbergen and James Courtney respectively.
starting on the soft compound rubber. The choice to run the hard compound for the second part of the race saw The Enforcer finish 26th for Race 18.
Race 18 - Highlights for Castrolbacked teams
Race 19 - Highlights for Castrolbacked teams
Mark Winterbottom restored some pride back into the Castrol-backed FPR operation by claiming a stunning comeback victory in Race 18 at Hidden Valley. Winterbottom dominated with a perfect drive after grabbing the lead early in the race and securing his first win since May last year. Poleman James Courtney came back strongly to finish second while Craig Lowndes produced a storming finish to grab third. Winterbottom’s Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing team-mate Will Davison held on for fourth ahead of Jamie Whincup. Castrol-backed Supercheap Auto Racing driver Russell Ingall made some raids into the top 10 in the first third of the race after
Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing capped off a stella weekend with a double podium result in Race 19 of the V8 Supercars Championship. Mark Winterbottom almost made it two from two wins after being locked in an epic battle with Red Bull Racing’s Craig Lowndes in the final stages of the accident stewed race. Despite his best efforts challenging from behind, Winterbottom was unable to pass Lowndes on the final lap but secured another solid result in second. FPR team-mate David Reynolds finished third in a race that was red flagged less than 30s after it started. The race was ultimately abbreviated to 24 laps from the scheduled 35. Norton 360 Nissan
2013 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Altima driver Michael Caruso finished in 11th place in Sunday’s second race – the best result of the Castrol-backed Nissan Motorsport team’s four drivers in the two races. A strong crowd of 46,039 walked through the gates over the weekend to enjoy all the action of the SKYCITY Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
Pos
Driver
Points
1
Jamie Whincup
1423
2
Craig Lowndes
1264
3
Will Davison
1148
4
Shane van Gisbergen
1127
5
Fabian Coulthard
1108
6
Jason Bright
1101
7
Mark Winterbottom
1079
8
Garth Tander
1062
9
James Courtney
1003
10
Jonathon Webb
996
11
Scott McLaughlin
819
12
David Reynolds
799
13
Rick Kelly
791
14
James Moffat
702
15
Alex Davison
679
16
Tony D’Alberto
621
17
Alexandre Premat
611
18
Russell Ingall
600
19
Dean Fiore
552
20
Michael Caruso
547
21
Lee Holdsworth
523
22
David Wall
509
23
Tim Slade
507
24
Tim Blanchard
461
25
Scott Pye
435
26
Todd Kelly
415
27
Chaz Mostert
388
28
Maro Engel
318
29
Jonny Reid
149
V8 PREDICTOR: Webb springs surprise in Darwin There were two additional winners from the SKYCITY Triple Crown with Jonathon Webb collecting more points for the weekend than any V8 Supercar driver and ‘nodster’ with the most points in the Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor. For the third week running top honours in the Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor currently sit with with Dark Knight Racing who holds a 16 point advantage over JBM_22 in the overall standings. Round 6 of the V8 Supercars Championship in Darwin saw nodster amass 69 points with a prediction
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accuracy of 60%. For that nodster wins an awesome merchandise pack including Castrol Racing and Speedcafe t-shirts, hoodies, retro caps, bar runners and plenty more goodies. Its never too late to sign-up for the V8 Predictor with great round-by-round prizes on offer as well as the major prize. Castrol EDGE’s four experts for the inaugural Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor – Russell Ingall (V8 Supercars champion), Oliver Gavin (2012 American Le Mans Series GT Champion), James O’Connor
(Wallabies rugby superstar) and the Speedcafe.com team – shuffled in the standings. The Speedcafe.com Team slipped back one spot to second on the Expert leaderboard after a tremendous round by Oliver Gavin who scored a whopping 49 points for the round. He now leads the Expert field by 12 over Speedcafe. James O’Connor sits in third on 147 points while Russell Ingall gained some ground on the international rugby star but still remains fourth on 109 points. Using the same software as the popular ‘Grand Prix Predictor’
Darwin event result analysis
that international website Autosport. com uses for its Formula 1 tipping competition, V8 Supercars can now put their knowledge to the test with the Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor in 2013. The major prize for the ultimate winner is a trip for two to the 2014 Clipsal 500 – including a hot lap of the track.
Darwin bonus points results
Weekend Result
Points
1
WEBB, Jonathon
228
2
VAN GISBERGEN, Shane
220
3
WINTERBOTTOM, Mark
218
4
WHINCUP, Jamie
206
5
LOWNDES, Craig
189
6
REYNOLDS, David
180
7
COURTNEY, James
178
8
TANDER, Garth
174
9
BRIGHT, Jason
156
10
COULTHARD, Fabian
154
11
DAVISON, Will
144
12
KELLY, Rick
140
13
MOSTERT, Chaz
136
14
D’ALBERTO, Tony
132
15
CARUSO, Michael
128
16
MCLAUGHLIN, Scott
124
17
ENGEL, Maro
120
18
SLADE, Tim
116
19
KELLY, Todd
112
20
INGALL, Russell
80
21
WALL, David
74
22
HOLDSWORTH, Lee
72
23
PYE, Scott
68
24
MOFFAT, James
64
25
BLANCHARD, Tim
62
26
DAVISON, Alex
60
27
FIORE, Dean
54
28
PREMAT, Alexandre
53
Weekend Result POLE POSITION
REYNOLDS, David and COURTNEY, James
FASTEST LAP
WHINCUP, Jamie and LOWNDES, Craig and COULTHARD, Fabian
RACE WINNER
WINTERBOTTOM, Mark and WHINCUP, Jamie and LOWNDES, Craig
Global leaderboard Rank
Team Name
Points
1
Dark Knight Racing
254
2
JBM_22
238
3
The dazlers
234
4
Rampage Motorsport
232
5
nickellen.24
231
6
Knightmare
229
7
Kiwichik racing
228
8
TEAM RED BULL
226
9
pommie v8s
223
10
TurboR1
220
11
Squigz
220
12
Muppet Racing Team
220
13
WFD Motorsport
220
14
ford rules
219
15
Unicorn61
219
16
Conrod05
217
17
RHFF46
217
18
Drive4SafetyDrive4Growth
217
19
Holden 1 2 3
217
20
Southend Aussies
216
Expert Leaderboard
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
Rank
Team Name
Points
1
Oliver Gavin
193
2
Speedcafe.com Team
181
3
James O’Connor
147
4
Russell Ingall
109
John Force takes Bristol NHRA John Force has taken victory for the first time in 31 events in his Castrol GTX Mustang at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, beating out fellow veteran Cruz Pedregon in the NHRA Mello Yello Series Funny Car final. Joining him in victory lane were Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Rodger Brogdon (Pro Stock). To take his 135th career victory and fourth at Bristol, Force defeated daughter Courtney Force, points leader Matt Hagan and Blake Alexander to advance to the final round. “I really thought Courtney was going to take me out first round,” Force said. “Her car has been flyin’ all year. It’s all in the teamwork. We haven’t won the championship, we haven’t won the Countdown, but we have a race car. That’s what I’m excited about. It’s a great day.”
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In America being Father’s Day, it was a special day for drag racing’s number one family. Castrol-backed Courtney Force wins New England Nationals Last year, John Force Racing won ten races and was No. 1 qualifier seven times. So far in 2013, JFR has had two No. 1 qualifiers. Castrol-backed Courtney Force and her John Force Racing have won the inaugural AutoPlus New England Nationals. The victory marks a record 220 Funny Car event wins, to the John Force Racing stable and is JFR’s third win of the season. Force won over her father and No. 1 qualifier, John Force, in the final round of eliminations.
“I woke up today and I just had a good feeling,” said Courtney. “I was hoping that we could be the first Funny Car to take home a win here at New England Dragway. They built a really great track here. We’re excited to be racing here. We went to the top spot in qualifying and got bumped by my dad. I thought, ‘Man, he’s moving around me in points,’ and it was just time for a little revenge,” Courtney added. The 25-year-old was able to celebrate her birthday weekend by posting a 4.301 ET to her father’s 4.367 ET. “My team needs this win. This Traxxas Ford Mustang team with all my guys and Ron Douglas (crew chief), they’ve really been working hard on this car,” she added. “They give me a great race car
FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
every weekend. We’re usually picking up the most bonus points of all the cars and trying to work our way up to the top of the ladder. I definitely think we’re making some big moves now.” It was another tough first round outing for the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster. The tricky track conditions and a new racing surface foiled a great opportunity for the rookie driver from Yorba Linda, California. In the first round Brittany Force faced seven-time Top Fuel champion for the second time this season. At the spring Las Vegas race Brittany lost a close race in the second round to “The Sarge.” The new driver continued her education behind the wheel of the 10,000 hp Top Fuel dragster losing a close race as both dragsters hazed the Goodyears with Schumacher grabbing the win, 4.022 to 4.153 seconds.
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
Pos
Driver
Points
1.
Matt Hagan
788
2.
Cruz Pedregon
767
3.
Johnny Gray
711
4.
Courtney Force
677
5.
John Force
662
6.
Jack Beckman
659
7.
Ron Capps
654
8.
Tim Wilkerson
624
9.
Del Worsham
609
10.
Robert Hight
549
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Castrol-backed Aussie scores first ever MotoGP points West Australian Bryan Staring has scored his first points in the MotoGP championship, with a 14th place finish at the Catalan Grand Prix at Catalunya. Staring battled tricky conditions on his Castrol-backed GO&FUN Honda Gresini CRT bike to reach a personal milestone in his rookie MotoGP year. “I scored my first World Championship points today but I am still not particularly happy because I would have liked to do it more on the front foot,” said Staring. “It wasn’t an easy race because of the conditions and I was able to improve my pace from qualifying so that’s good but I’m still not happy to be honest. Anyway, we have to take
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the positives and try to learn from this experience in the future.” Team-mate Alvaro Bautista had another bitterly disappointing day, sliding off at Turn Ten on the first lap after losing the front. He was challenging Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) at the time. Two weeks ago at Mugello the Spaniard and the Italian both crashed out after colliding on the first lap of the race. Bautista was far from the only man to hit the gravel in Catalunya. The baking hot conditions caused grip worries for many riders after the first few laps. In all, seven of the 24 starters crashed out. The racing continues in two weeks with the Dutch TT at Assen on Saturday 29 June.
2013 MotoGP Standings Pos
Driver
Points
1
Daniel Pedrosa
123
2
Jorge Lorenzo
116
3
Marc Márquez
93
4
Cal Crutchlow
71
5
Valentino Rossi
60
6
Andrea Dovizioso
59
7
Nicky Hayden
45
8
Stefan Bradl
41
9
Alvaro Bautista
38
10
Aleix Espargaró
36
11
Bradley Smith
34
12
Michele Pirro
28
13
Andrea Iannone
21
14
Héctor Barberá
13
15
Danilo Petrucci
13
16
Randy de Puniet
11
17
Colin Edwards
10
18
Ben Spies
9
19
Yonny Hernández
6
20
Claudio Corti
4
21
Michael Laverty
3
22
Bryan Staring
2
Audi hangs on for Le Mans victory as Aussie Martin gets podium Audi has achieved yet another Le Mans 24 Hour victory after a masterful performance by the number 2 machine of Loic Duval, Allan McNish and now nine time winner, Tom Kristensen on the Circuit de la Sarthe, while Australian John Martin has finished the race on the LMP2 Podium. The Audi #2 team was dominant despite a late rain storm that descended upon Le Mans which brought some excitement when the Sebastien Buemi piloted Toyota got itself back onto the lead lap with 23 minutes to go and some thought the Audi may have needed a final fuel stop. In a perfect tribute to “Mister Le Mans” Kristensen’s fellow Dane, Allan Simonsen - who died in the first hour of the race, the lead Aston Martin crossed the line with the top three outright finishers. “I honour my dad who was been with me all the way through, but he can wait for a tribute as I dedicate this win to a fellow great Dane, in Allan Simonsen,”
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said Kristensen on the podium, honouring his father who passed away this year. Frenchman, Duval who, after qualifying the number 2 machine on pole took his first ever Le Mans 24 Hours victory in what was an historic weekend for the #2 team. “It’s something big, it is huge for all of my family, Tom told me in Parc Ferme last year that I should win Le Mans and I have this year,” said Duval. Duval has never finished better than fifth at Le Mans previously. Kristensen adds to his stunning record at Le Mans, taking his ninth win - his 12th podium and this is McNish’s third win. “Without any question it is the toughest race I’ve done here,” said McNish. “The weather and everything else that was thrown at us really made it quite difficult. Allan’s death was playing on
the mind of Tom quite solidly but we had to put that behind us.” Just twice since the turn of the millennium has Audi’s winning sequence been broken - that being Bentley in 2003 and Peugeot in 2009 and it continued on this year. Finishing second was the Toyota of a shattered Anthony Davidson, Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Buemi, recovering from last year’s incident that injured Davidson significantly. With Buemi behind the wheel, the Toyota TS030Hypbrid unlapped itself with 23 minutes to go with a thrilling move, creating a grandstand finish with Mother Nature’s hand to be involved also. In third was the recovering #3 Audi that displaced the other Toyota which suffered a serious crash with 77 minutes to go at the hands of Nicolas LaPierre, ending any chance it had of standing on the podium. The #1 Audi elevated to fifth at the drop of the chequers behind
the Toyota. In the hotly contested LMP2 category, the #35 OAK Racing machine of Bertand Baguette, Ricardo Gonzalez and Martin Plowman took the win. It was followed by its fellow OAK Racing machine that set the pole time and included Alex Brundle (son of F1 commentator Martin). It was a miracle that the #35 machine made it to the finish line, let alone win the category after being caught out in the rainstorm with 75 minutes to go. The car went around and had the #40 Boutsen Racing machine join the party. Australian, John Martin ended the troubled race on the podium with his G-Drive/Delta-ADR team-mates Roman Rusinov and Mike Conway. Kiwi Brendon Hartley got over the line 14th overall and seventh in LMP2 aboard the Murphy Prototypes machine. Porsche spoiled the Aston Martin fairytale in GTE-Pro by taking a one-two and also the GTE-Am category, annexing the German marque’s 100th class victory at Le Mans. The Manthey team took a one-two in GTE-Pro led by the #92 machine of former Australian visitor Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Romain Dumas. The category went right down to the wire, a late pitstop for wet weather tyres by the Aston being the difference, the two marques running shoulder-to-shoulder in the final stages of the race. The Aston Martin “art car” of Peter Dumbreck, Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner came home a close third after a spirited race over the final three hours. With five hours to go, the #99 Aston slammed the fence on the exit of the chicane on the Mulsanne at the hands of the gutted Frenchman Fred Makowiecki, who was sharing with Bruno Senna. The emotionally and physically exhausted crew couldn’t hide their emotion at the incident bowing out while in the lead.
in fourth. Team BOC V8 Supercars pilot Jason Bright ended a big day 10th in the 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari and 38th overall. Team Corvette, once the talisman of the GT categories, had one of their most forgettable weekends in France. Whilst all three finished, the three bright yellow cars driven by predominantly young North Americans (including Ricky Taylor who was involved in the memorable startline crash at last year’s Armor All Gold Coast 600) were involved in a litany of regrettable incidents.
In GTE-Am, the all French Matmut Porsche of Jean-Karl Vernay, Christopher Bournet and Raymond Narac edged two Ferraris to take the class win with Sydney-FC player Alessandro Del Piero’s Dempsey Del Piero Racing Porsche coming home
Ryan Briscoe’s troubled first run at Le Mans saw the Level 5 Motorsports team bring the car he shared with owner Scott Tucker and Marino Franchitti home in 14th in P2, 43rd overall after a day that saw it in flames on more than one occasion. The outright win by Audi
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
delivered the 16th consecutive win and 22nd of the 81 Le Mans 24 Hours in total for tyre manufacturer, Michelin. This year’s race also delivered the most number of Safety Car periods in 24 Hour history, but the least number of retirements. The win by Audi continues a phenomenal performance by the German manufacturer. Such is Tom Kristensen’s record at Le Mans, since debuting in 1997 for Joest with a win, if he hasn’t finished on the podium, he has not finished. It was a bittersweet win for the Great Dane who had his countryman, Simonsen in the back of his mind. Whilst it was the 12th victory for Audi of the last 14 years, sadly the 90th anniversary race of the Le Mans 24 Hour will be remembered for the death of Allan Simonsen.
Sebastien Ogier wins Rally Italia Sardegna Castrol EDGE-backed Volkswagen Motorsport’s Sebastien Ogier and codriver Julien Ingrassia have won the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship - Rally Italia Sardegna. The win marks the fourth for the French pair in 2013 as they continue their stranglehold on the world championship standings. “It feels fantastic to be back on top of the podium again!” Ogier exclaimed. “I was really beginning to miss that feeling after the last two rallies. I’m simply delighted – the team did a
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fantastic job and the Polo ran like a dream all weekend. We now have a very comfortable lead in the Drivers’ Championship rankings.”
pace and been consistent all weekend with no big mistakes – a clean run and a very good result for Nicolas [Gilsoul, co-driver] and me. “
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul secured second place for the Qatar M-Sport team – theirs and the team’s best ever result in the FIA World Rally Championship. The result also marks Neuville’s third podium of the year.
Jari-Matti Latvala charged through Saturday’s stages to secure the final podium birth after losing precious time early in the rally with a puncture on the opening test. Citroen’s Dani Sordo finished the event fourth after his teammate Mikko Hirvonen left the road on SS10, beaching his DS3 out of the event, running second overall at
“This was a great event for us,” said Neuville. “We have shown some good
the time. Czech driver Martin Prokop took fifth after a consistent weekend in his Fiesta RS. On debut in World Rally Car machinery, Welshman Elfyn Evans claimed an impressive sixth overall in his M-Sport run Fiesta RS. Former F1 star Robert Kubica continues to prove his hand as a rally drive after taking another dominant win in the WRC 2 class. 2013 Drivers’ Standings Pos
Rider
Points
1
Sébastien Ogier
154
2
Jari-Matti Latvala
90
3
Thierry Neuville
70
4
Sébastien Loeb
68
5
Mikko Hirvonen
61
6
Daniel Sordo
59
7
Mads Østberg
50
8
Martin Prokop
37
9
Evgeny Novikov
31
10
Nasser Al-Attiyah
30
2013 Manufacturers’ Standings Pos
Rider
Points
1
Volkswagen Motorsport
220
2
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT
174
3
Qatar World Rally Team
89
4
Qatar M-Sport WRT
89
5
Jipocar Czech National Team
39
6
Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT
33
7
Volkswagen Motorsport II
26
8
Lotos Rally Team
20
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Spengler in the points for Castrol EDGE-backed BMW DTM Bruno Spengler has finished seventh at Lausitzring, passing the chequered flag as the best-placed Castrol EDGEbacked BMW driver in the fourth round of the DTM Championship. BMW Team Schnitzer’s reigning DTM champion is now second overall, but level on points with leader Mike Rockenfeller. The Audi driver finished runner-up at the 3.478kilometre circuit, with victory going to Mercedes’ Gary Paffett. After struggling on Saturday, the remaining BMW drivers in the field were unable to make any significant improvements, and failed to finish in the points. Dirk Werner waved goodbye to any chance of a far better result in turn
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one, when he was forced into a spin by a rival. Werner was ultimately the thirdbest BMW driver in 13th. Just ahead of the German was Augusto Farfus, who was 12th in the Castrol EDGE BMW M3 DTM. Timo Glock and Joey Hand finished 14th and 15th. Martin Tomczyk was once again blighted by the streak of bad luck that has defined the start to his season, finishing 19th at the Lausitzring. Marco Wittmann was 21st in the IceWatch BMW M3 DTM, while Andy Priaulx had to settle for 22nd in the Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M3 DTM. Despite the weekend not being particularly profitable, BMW was able to maintain its lead in the Manufacturers’
Championship and now has 177 points to its name. Mercedes-Benz follows 51 points down in second place. In the team standings, BMW Team Schnitzer remains first with 81 points. The next race takes place at the Norisring on 14th July. 2013 DTM Standings Pos
Rider
Points
1
Mike Rockenfeller
59
2
Bruno Spengler
59
3
Gary Paffett
47
4
Christian Vietoris
40
5
Augusto Farfus Jr.
33
6
Marco Wittmann
32
7
Robert Wickens
27
8
Dirk Werner
22
9
Mattias Ekström
20
10
Joey Hand
16
11
Timo Glock
15
12
Jamie Green
10
13
Timo Scheider
10
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