Motorsport eNews Issue 192 - February 15-22, 2011 by V8 Sleuth

THE WORLD OF MOTORSPORT DIRECTLY TO YOUR DESKTOP

Issue No. 192 Feb 15 - 22 2011

FORD’S CHALLENGE TO THE BRANDS COME TO V8 SUPERCARS AND TAKE US ON, SAYS FORD MOTORSPORT BOSS

THE CHAMP LUCKS IN COURTNEY WINS WILD SECOND RACE IN ABU DHABI

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Issue No. 192 | Feb 15-22 2011

news 4

Ford throws down gauntlet Blue Oval will take you on! 7 Lowndes loves the Laudis CL to test for Audi in Europe 8 School Yard Blues Class’s in for Moff and SJ 10 Subarude Nick Senior bags V8s 19 New category for Winton F3 to add a new V8 round

chat 26 Five Minutes With ... Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport eNews is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 5, 55 Chandos St, St Leonards NSW 2065 © 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this e-magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher.. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage. Privacy Policy We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of Motorsport eNews, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our company has to offer. We may also give your information to other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590.

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Lucas Dumbrell

comment 28 van Leeuwen Team-By-Team

race 30 V8 Supercars 40 World Rally Championship 44 NASCAR 46 New Zealand Grand Prix 48 World Series Sprintcars

trade 53 Classifieds 3

FORD: WE WANT MORE MANUFACTURERS V8 SUPERCARS

ORD has issued a challenge to the world’s carmakers – ‘when Car of the Future comes on board in 2013, come and take us on in V8 Supercars.’ Speaking exclusively to eNews on the ground in Abu Dhabi, Ford’s Group Manager for Motorsport, Sponsorhsip and Events Chris Styring revealed that the Blue Oval would like to see more manufacturers join Ford and Holden in the V8 Supercar Championship. According to Styring, more manufactures would allow Ford and Holden to potentially support less teams, but do so with more funding. “Ford are not threatened at all,” he said. “There is great heritage with Ford and

Holden in this sport, but the landscape of automotive and motorsport has changed dramatically. “We’re not threatened if a Kia, or a Hyundai, or a Toyota come into the sport. We think that it might offer teams the opportunity to find funding from more than two pots, and it might offer the opportunity for the existing manufacturers, Ford and Holden, to potentially consolidate what they do. Do we need to be involved with five teams if there is enough money to fund the whole grid? Currently, there’s not enough money for Ford and Holden to fund the whole grid, to the level that we’d like to.” Styring added that consumer choice was another reason why having more brands in V8 Supercars would be a

positive move. “If you look at the automotive sector, there are so many more brands in Australia now,” he said. “And there are so many more brands in the region that people can choose from. V8’s idea is to branch out into other parts of the world, in particular the Middle East and Asia, and consumers in these parts of the world have a lot of choice. “The fact is that we have to compete with all of these other sponsors with all of our above the line activities, in terms of television commercials and outdoor and print, so what’s to say we wouldn’t compete in this landscape as well? I see it as exactly the same thing. They are all marketing exercises.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Dirk Klynsmith

HOLDSWORTH AND DAVISON BRING BACK THE BIFF! V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

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AN on-track incident turned physical in Abu Dhabi, with Lee Holdsworth apparently pushing Will Davison to the floor of the Ford Performance Racing garage after the second race. The issue stemmed from a collision between the two during Race 2, when Davison ran off the track and recklessly re-joined, hitting Holdsworth’s car and damaging the steering. There was a bit of push and shove,” Holdsworth told The Herald Sun. “I went up and asked for an apology because he took me out and he wouldn’t give me

one. I told him what I thought of him and he pushed me and it got a bit ugly.” Holdsworth then pointed to an incident that occurred at Sandown last year, when his team-mate Michael Caruso nudged Davison into the wall at speed. “I can understand why Michael Caruso put him into the fence at Sandown last year,” he added. “I wouldn’t be so upset if he just apologised. He seemed to think it wasn’t his fault. I am looking forward to racing him again. Hopefully he is well behind me but if he gets anywhere near me I won’t give him any room.” 5

Dirk Klynsmith

MORE OVERSEAS RACES COMING V8 SUPERCARS

IT is becoming increasingly likely that more overseas races will be added to the V8 Supercar calendar as soon as 2012. The likely outcome is a second Middle Eastern race, returning a double-header to the start of the season. That second venue is more likely to be Qatar than a return to Bahrain, while a push to move into Asia, which almost happened this year with the Singapore Grand Prix, is still on the cards. “There are strong active decisussion ongoing, and we’re looking at a number of new venues,” Cochrane told eNews. “We hope to be in a position by, I would

say, the end of May where we can say what we’re going to do.” While Ford’s motorsport boss Chris Styring told eNews he’d like to see the push into Asia prioritised (see separate story), Cochrane added that there wasn’t a preference from V8 Supercars. “They are equal. I wouldn’t rate one over the other. They are both very exciting opportunities, and I’d be less than honest if I didn’t say that it’s tremendously in demand.” But don’t expect a European round to make its way to the V8 calendar. The requirements of the series’ new international status prohibits a round in

Europe, but Cochrane wouldn’t rule out expanding beyond the Middle East and South East Asia. “Sure, why not? With this new FIA status, the world is our oyster. The only thing that we’ve got as a limitation is that any new event will be east of longitude 30, which is roughly Turkey, so what they’re saying is that we’ve got to stay out of Europe, and we totally except that. There’s more than enough motorsport in Europe, they don’t need us. “But there are a lot of new regions in our end of the world, like the Middle East, India and the Pacific basin.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

FORD CALLS FOR ASIAN INVASION V8 SUPERCARS

ASIA needs to be the focus if V8 Supercars is to continue its expansion overseas, according to Ford’s motorsport boss Chris Styring. While paddock chatter in Abu Dhabi was suggesting that Qatar will be added to the V8 Supercar calendar next season, returning the season’s start to a Middle Eastern 6

double-header, Styring told eNews that he would like to see a round in Asia added in the near future. “A push into Asia would be of great interest to us, because of the small car market,” he said. “The biggest growing sector is small cars, things like Focus and Fiesta, so they are the vehicles that we really want to push.” While Ford fields a Falcon, not a Focus or Fiesta, in the V8 Supercar Championship,

Styring said the model of car isn’t necessarily important. “It’s about building Ford’s brand and building Ford’s performance in new parts of the world. It’s about letting people know that we build high performance, and high performing, vehicles. Even our road cars are high performing vehicles now.” As for the overseas races, Styring is in favour of racing outside of Australia.

“I think it’s a worthwhile thing for the sport,” he added. “We’re a global company, and our whole mantra now is one Ford; one team, one Ford. We’re producing cars, across our whole range, that are sold around the world. “So it’s not about each individual country doing its own thing. Anywhere where we can promote Ford globally is fantastic.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN motorsport news

news

Audi test for Lowndes

Europe calls after succesful Bathurst outing with Le Mans Audi squad AUSSIES OVERSEAS

SEVEN CALLS ON ITS MATE V8 SUPERCARS THE V8 Supercars telecast from Abu Dhabi was a first for the Seven Network. Following the recent changes to the Federal government’s anti-siphoning legislation regarding sports’ broadcasts, the network split the telecast of the qualifying sessions and the races between Seven and 7mate, one the network’s two ‘extra’ digital channels. “7mate is the number 1 digital channel for men 16-54 and a powerhouse in all audience demographics targeting under 50s,” explained Seven spokesman Simon Francis. “We’re looking at a number of opportunities to expand V8 Supercars’ presence on 7mate (you’ll notice the in-car cameras now carry a 7mate logo on the dash) and our Abu Dhabi coverage across Seven and 7mate is the first toe in the water. We have three channels now on our platform and we’re actively exploring further coverage of V8s across Seven and 7mate.” www.mnews.com.au

Dirk Klynsmith

CRAIG Lowndes is a step closer to achieving his dream of racing at Le Mans, with Audi in Germany officially offering him a test in Europe. Lowndes drove for Audi’s Team Joest at the recent Bathurst 12 Hour, and has made no secret of his intention to race at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in the future. And now his dream is getting closer to a reality, with an opportunity to test with a European team now on the radar. “Audi were very non-specific about what the test will be, but you would assume it will be in a GT3 car,” said Lowndes’ manager David Segal. “They were very impressed with Craig during Bathurst. I think they were surprised about how quick he was, and how good he was with

managing the fuel and tyres. I think they would like him to do the 24 Hour races at Spa and the Nurburgring this year, with the view of that ultimately leading to a drive at Le Mans in 2012. We’ll get back in touch with them after Abu Dhabi.” Segal was unsure of which team Lowndes will test and race with in Europe, but said these are details that will be looked into between Abu Dhabi and the Clipsal 500. “As far as I know the factory Audis all have drivers for those races, but there are lots of customer teams, who run factory-spec cars, who will need drivers. What that means, exactly, I’m not sure. Will we have to bring $500,000? I don’t know at this point. These are the details that we’ll be looking into.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Dirk Klynsmith

MOFFAT AND JUN BACK TO SCHOOL

REYNOLDS WANTS GAUNT V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

DAVID Reynolds has identified Daniel Gaunt as the man he wants to partner him in the Stratco Racing Commodore for the 2011 endurance races. While Gaunt has been linked to James Rosenberg Racing for the endurance races, partnering Tim Slade, Reynolds is remaining hopeful that he can be persuaded to head to Kelly Racing instead. “The co-driver market is already pretty thin, and Daniel is a perfect fit,” Reynolds told eNews. “He spent the first half of last season in a car, so he’s got recent experience. He’s done the enduros before, so he knows exactly what to expect. And he’s the right height, and someone I’ve raced with before. It would be a perfect match.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Dirk Klynsmith

NIOR HEAD L!

D’Alberto sets launch date V8 SUPERCARS

V8 SUPERCARS DICK Johnson Racing’s drivers are going back to driving school. Steve Johnson and James Moffat are currently in England, doing some driver training with renowned driving coach Rob Wilson. The ex-pat Kiwi is famous around Europe, and has many high-profile clients, including rally ace Mikko Hirvonen, who uses Wilson to hone his tarmac skilss during the World Rally Championship season. Wilson has also coached a host of Formula 1 drivers, and spent time with V8

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drivers such as Paul Dumbrell. “It should be good,” Moffat told eNews. “Obviously his reputation speaks for itself – you just have to look at some of the other drivers he works with. I’m looking forward to it. “It’s one of the deals where if you take just one thing away from it, it’s been a positive thing. Although, hopefully I take more than one thing away. “I’ve never been to the UK, so there’s been a couple of firsts for me; I’d never been to the Middle East before, and now this.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

THE new era of Wilson Security Racing will be formally launched on March 4. WSR, run by Tony D’Alberto Racing, will officially launch its 2011 season at South Cross Station in the Melbourne CBD. It will also be the official announcement of the team’s new arrangement with Ford Performance Racing, with D’Alberto to debut the brand new FG Falcon at the Clipsal 500 in March. The team has ran Commodores since starting in the Fujitsu Series back in 2005. D’Alberto has ran the same VE Commodore, the first one homologated by the Holden

Racing Team, since moving into the main series in 2008. “Absolutely, I’m excited about the next step,” D’Alberto told eNews. “It’s good to know that we are putting things in place to really help us improve.” Clipsal holds good memories for D’Alberto, after he ran consistently in the Top 10 there last season. With a new car at his disposal, he is confident of relocating the result in 2011. “I really enjoy street circuits. We came to Abu Dhabi looking to just roll around and pick up some points, and then we’ll really starting attacking from Clipsal onwards.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

NO OPPORTUNITIES

Subaru MD: ARC a “pale imitation”, no V8 Supercar ambitions INDUSTRY

Both images courtesy Subaru

ANY Subaru fans hoping to see the brand return to the Australian Rally Championship – or even a Subaru V8 Supercar Car of the Future – might be holding their breath for a while. Subaru Australia’s Managing Director Nick Senior has criticised the current state of the sport, and apparently put to rest any hopes of a return the competition in the immediate future, in any category. Speaking at the press launch of the marque’s new Forester Senior, a former motoring journalist, expressed dismay with the current motorsporting landscape, say the sport was “at its lowest ebb”. “One frustration I have with such an adrenaline-charged line-up is our ability to demonstrate our performance credentials through any viable form of motor sport in this country,” he said. “The ARC is a pale imitation of the series that Subaru dominated between 1996 and 2005.”

Senior, right, went on to comment on the exclusively Holden and Ford V8 Supercars category. “V8 Supercars largely disenfranchises the majority of automotive companies in this country. And let’s not forget that V8 Supercars no longer showcases the third biggest car segment in Australia. It is a little reported fact that the compact SUV category is now bigger than the large car class. Yes, the compact SUV segment, at 11.1 per cent of the total industry, surpassed the large car category, which as slipped from 10.9 per cent to 9.3 per cent of the total market. “A compact SUV motor sport competition would resonate with more new car buyers than V8 Supercars, for the first time in our history.” Senior does not see any avenue at present for the marque to enter competition. “Unfortunately there are no other formulae, categories or motorsport competitions in Australia at the moment

that would warrant our interest, in the sense of providing a reasonable return on investment.” “In my opinion, the irony of all this is that while we are all riding Mark Webber’s wave of success, motor sport in this country is at its lowest ebb in regards to manufacturer participation.”

That’s Cheese on the television, eh? RUGBY WORLD CUP SHANE van Gisbergen will star in a series of Ford television ads in New Zealand, in the lead-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. 10

The young Kiwi filmed the ads during his summer break in NZ, and they will feature him and the All Blacks driving a Ford Fiesta around Ardmore Airfield in Aucklands. The product being advertised

is Ford’s new 1.6 litre dieselpowered Fiesta, and will air in the lead-up to the RWC in September. “The All Blacks are all nice guys, really down-to-earth, and they are all car nuts,” van

Gisbergen told eNews. “There’s a range of ads, with each step of the development in the car, so it will be really good coverage.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN motorsport news

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Kubica: Sorry Mum, and I’ll be back – This Year Kubica, 26, has made steady progress since he was ROBERT Kubica has spoken admitted to hospital last week to the media for the first with a near-severed hand and time since his rally crash, suffering from major blood loss. and he used the occasion to “The fingers work, the arm as apologise to his mother. well,” he said. Kubica, who did much of his “But only after working really racing prior to Formula 1 in hard will I know for sure.” Italy, spoke to Pino Allievi of La He has vowed that despite Gazzetta dello Sport. his injuries, he will return to GP “I don’t remember anything racing, this season. about the accident, but these “I’ll be stronger as a driver, in things make you stronger,” said the head. I have to return this Kubica. “I’m sorry to my mother.” year. My right arm feels better “I’m sorry for what has now than when I was hit by a happened. It shouldn’t have. drunk seven years ago.” I don’t even know what Kubica’s hospital room has happened; I can’t remember been a Who’s Who of GP racing. anything of the crash. I “It was nice to see Briatore, an found myself in hospital and exceptional person,” he said. everything was explained by “Then Alonso, Lopez, Petrov, my manager, Daniele Morelli, Alesi, Liuzzi – beautiful, the who has been here since track never lets you see the Sunday.” true face of the people.”

FORMULA 1

FERRARI AND FORD AVERT AN F150-UP FORMULA 1

Spot the differences: To avoid confusion with Ford’s F-150, above, Ferrari has renamed its 2011 GP racer, below.

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Ford Media

A POTENTIAL disaster, which could have seen millions of Americans inadvertently driving Ferrari Formula 1 cars instead of pickup trucks, has been averted by the sensible intervention of the Ford Motor Company. Ford last week commenced legal proceedings over Ferrari’s decision to call this year’s GP racer the F150. Ford, of course, markets a number of truck variants called the F-150 in North America, where it has been a segment leader for decades. Ford filed suit in the US Federal Court in Detroit last Wednesday, claiming its trademark has been harmed and seeking unspecified damages from Ferrari – which claimed it had chosen to model title in mark the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

Now, Ferrari has stated that the F150 tag was a shortened version of the car’s real designation. “Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever,” the company said in a statement, “nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford’s viewpoint on the matter. “Despite this and to further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150th Italia.” Much better, unless you happen to write about GP racing for a living ...

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Experience counts: Barrichello, left, and Heidfeld, above, topped the times at Jerez.

FORMULA 1

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– therefore getting the headlines. As reported in eNews last week, HANDS up everyone who the vastly experienced German expected a Williams-Cosworth is favoured to replace the injured to top the times at the latest Robert Kubica in the car – which Formula 1 test in Spain? has now led the sheets on two Rubens Barrichello was the days of the seven held to date. man at the wheel of the team’s On Sunday, Kamui Kobayashi FW33, which led allcomers was second fastest in his Sauber, on the fourth and final day of ahead of Fernando Alonso. the Jerez test. The Brazilian The Spaniard and team-mate was the only man to sneak Felipe Massa had a consistent under the 1m20s barrier, on week, with no sign of the the last of his eight-lap runs on engine problems that struck the Sunday. Barrichello endured Brazilian last week in Valencia. an immediately time dropSebastian Vettel was only off of over a second, on softeighth fastest in his Red Bull, but compound Pirelli tyres. the team appears to be focused However it was not all smooth on long runs are harder tyres sailing for Williams. Barrichello than some of the other teams. stopped late in the day with a The preceding day, marshals hydraulic failure, which stranded reported that Mark Webber was the car on the exit of Turn 5. pulling back from other cars, But the most newsworthy which he was catching quickly ... aspect of the test came on The other significant thing Saturday. Nick Heidfeld drove the that happened on Sunday was Lotus Renault for the first time the Heikki Kovalainen was sixth and topped the times. While that fastest. His Lotus was with 0.2s of is significant, more telling is the Bruno Senna in the Lotus Renault fact that the team was willing to – and faster than Nico Rosberg’s send him into the track on softer Mercedes. tyres and lighter fuel loads than Testing resumes at Barcelona some of his rival and set the time this Friday.

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Rubens on top, Nick is Quick

Michael “concerned” FORMULA 1 MICHAEL Schumacher’s hopes of returning to his winning ways, with Mercedes GP’s new W02 racer and Pirelli’s new tyres, are fading. Despite topping the times on Friday at Jerez, Schumacher has expressed concerns about the performance of his new car. “Yes, we are slightly concerned but then on the other hand we know where we will and want to go to,” the former champion told the BBC. “The first race will tell us truly what is the situation.”

The former BrawnGP team has high hopes for its 2011 car, after last year’s W01 suffered a lack of development, compared to its opposition. “For the team it is very important to climb the ladder and have more success than last year,” Schumacher said. “We are Mercedes and we have a very clear target. It is going to be difficult to meet this target straight away this year particularly after last year’s experience. “But it is a programme and a vision for more than just the short term.” 13

Indy quit INDYCAR NASCAR Media

Timely Daytona pole for Dale Jnr NASCAR

N the 10th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt, his son will start the 2011 Daytona 500 from pole position. Dale Earnhardt Jr leads a Hendrick Motorsport lockout of the front row, as the only man to top 299km/h in singlecar qualifying. In his first race with new crew chief Steve Letarte, Earnhardt Jr will line

up alongside team-mate Jeff Gordon. The rest of the starting order will be determined by this Thursday’s two 150-mile (240km) qualifying races. “I feel great,” said Earnhardt after the 10th pole of his Sprint Cup career. “I mean, it’s hard for me to sit up here and do all the talking because I didn’t do anything today other than hold the wheel. The engine does a large majority of the

work, and the body on the car has to be perfectly situated to get the most speed out of the car. “Steve here has to plan the car out, get the attitude of the car just right for the maximum speed.” Earnhardt is currently enduring a 93-race winless streak at NASCAR’s top level. His only win of 2010 came at Daytona last summer, in a Nationwide race.

NDYCAR will not return to Japan after next year. The final IndyCar race at the 2.4km Twin Ring Motegi track a few hours north of Tokyo will be held in September 2012. “We’ve enjoyed a great run at Twin Ring Motegi and thank our friends at Mobilityland and Honda Japan for hosting a great event over the past eight years,” said Terry Angstadt, President, Commercial Division for INDYCAR, the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series. “While our businesses move in different directions, we will keep the door open for future events at the track. We must look to build the sport and its viewership. We believe it is important that the final few events on our schedule give us the opportunity to be

NASCAR’s draft dodge NASCAR

HE newly paved Daytona Motor Speedway has seen a dramatic increase in the difference between the lap speed a Sprint Cup car can achieve in a draft, compared to running by itself in clean air. This was amply demonstrated over the weekend. After Dale Earnhardt Jr grabbed pole at 299km/ h, speeds hit 328km/h in the Budweiser Shoot Out.

NASCAR first made teams blank off a right side air intake hole that was used to direct air to the radiator and oil cooler, the thought process being that the second car would run too hot to stay behind the lead car for long periods of time. However, the second cars were seen to just edge the nose to the right occasionally, allowing enough air to the coolers. Teams run a pressurised water system and after qualifying for the Daytona 500, NASCAR handed out a bulletin

to crew chiefs, informing them of a second change. Cars will have to run a 33psi pressure relief valve within the system, limiting the water temp to an average of 245 degrees. It can be expected though that NASCAR will issue smaller carburettor restrictor plates after the two qualifying races on Thursday. – MARTIN D CLARK

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HONDA Racing Media

broadcast live during times that maximise our viewing audience as we build up to the championship.” A condition of Honda switching from CART to IRL as an engine supplier in 2003 required the IndyCar series to race at its Motegi track. Teams were subsidised at Honda’s expense. Champ Car raced at Motegi from 1998 through 2002. But the cost of a sole international event has proven to be prohibitive without having another race, such as Australia, to share the expenses. Honda made it clear its engine supply programme, run by American Honda and Honda Performance Development, committed to supply a new generation of turbocharged V6 engines starting in 2012, is unaffected. – MARY MENDEZ

NASCAR Media

ts Motegi

More NASCAR for Danica NASCAR

ANICA Patrick will continue to compete in IndyCars and NASCAR but may have to choose one in 2012. Patrick, who is under contract to Andretti Autosport, is believed to be under pressure from sponsor GoDaddy.com to switch to NASCAR full time next season. This season she will again

compete for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series for 12 events around her IndyCar commitments, starting with the Daytona event this Saturday. Patrick, who turns 29 next month, still receives four times the media coverage of other NASCAR star drivers, in spite of her 2010 Nationwide average finish of 28th (average start 27th) in 13 starts last season. In IndyCars, she’s earned one

victory in 98 starts since 2005. “I think any time that opportunities open up, it’s time to be open-minded,” said Patrick, who will defer to her management team for next year’s decision. “That’s my position at this point. It’s only February, so we’ll have to see how the season evolves.” – MARY MENDEZ

Kiwi Cunningham

makes Indy breakthrough

NASCAR Media

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EW Zealander Wade Cunningham looks set for a limited IndyCar programme this season. Sam Schmidt plans on running Cunningham in four IndyCar events this season instead of a single Indy 500 entry. The 26-year-old has been waiting for an opportunity to move up to IndyCar after winning the Lights title in 2005. He returned to compete in the Lights series after being unable to find an IndyCar ride. His only IndyCar test was in 2007 with Andretti.

Based on advice of fellow Kiwi Steve Horne (former Lights and CART team owner), Cunningham will compete at the double header at Texas, at Kentucky, and the season finale expected to be held at Las Vegas. “That’s putting all your eggs in one basket,” Schmidt told the Indianapolis Star about a single Indy 500 entry. “I think that was an intelligent decision.” Ironically, Cunningham has had success at Indianapolis, winning three Freedom 100s there and five other Light races. “When you work for something for so long you

IZOD INDYCAR Me dia

INDYCAR

can lose a little bit of hope,” Cunningham admitted to the Indianapolis Star. “When it does happen, you’re kind of overwhelmed, and then relieved.” Schmidt indicated his team plans to run three full season Indy Light entries and has plans to run Townsend Bell and Jay Howard for this year’s Indy 500. – MARY MENDEZ 15

John Morris / Mpix

Back soon? GT RACING LAST weekend’s Audi assault on the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour looks set to be the start of an increased presence from the German marque in Australian motorsport. With factory backing and run by Audi Race Experience Team Joest, a pair of Audi R8 LMSs finished 1-2 in the race, with an international line-up edging out Craig Lowndes, Warren Luff and Mark Eddy. Response to the program

has been positive and several key players – including Romolo Liebchen, who heads up the customer program – stayed on in Australia for wideranging meetings early last week. It could lead to another campaign on next year’s 12 Hour, and Audi Sport is also eyeing an expanded presence in the Australian GT Championship. “Romolo was really, really happy with how the whole weekend went and really

wants to come back next year; maybe even with another car,” Eddy, who runs the only R8 in Australia, told eNews. “That’s something they’re discussing, and he’s going to start discussing it with the board when he gets back to Ingolstadt. It was a positive meeting. “Romolo also had a meeting with Australian GT. Obviously they’re hoping that new cars will be allowed into the series, possibly next year. “They really hope to sell

maybe two or three new cars here next year. There were discussions with some teams about bringing a large spare parts package out, which can be taken to Australian GT rounds next year if they sell some new cars. “It just shows that they’re really serious about motorsport and possibly growing it into a bigger thing than it currently is, just having my one old car running around.” – MITCHELL ADAM

South African out of FV8s ... for now FUJITSU SERIES SOUTH African driver Brendon Auby won’t be on the grid when the Fujitsu Series kicks off at the Clipsal 500 next month. Auby was set to make his Australian debut, driving one 16

of 2010 titlists Greg Murphy Racing’s VE Commodores, but has withdrawn from his expected campaign due to illness within his camp. “It’s a big shame,” GMR boss Kevin Murphy said. “Due to health reasons affecting two very important

people connected with Mr Auby, they’ve had to withdraw, unfortunately. It’s his intention to probably try and do something later in the year, and do 2012. Longer term, they want to be part of things.” It’s left Murphy looking to fill two seats along Geoff

Emery and Daniel Jilesen, with locking in a lead driver still a work in progress, in conjunction with discussions with possible sponsors. Meanwhile, the team has secured Greg Murphy’s famed #51 for their use. – MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

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Blanchard’s MW switch FUJITSU SERIES

Dirk Klynsmith

TIM Blanchard will link with MW Motorsport for the 2011 Fujitsu Series. Blanchard finished second in the 2010 standings driving with Sonic Motor Racing, with whom he won the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2007. However, for 2011, he’s elected to team up with Matthew White’s squad. “It was personally a very tough move to leave Sonic,” Blanchard said. “There is no doubt that we have experienced a great relationship for many years with Michael, Maria and the whole Sonic crew, however the opportunity to continue to challenge myself and look towards the future influenced

our decision.” With two of his team’s three drivers now signed for the season – Blanchard joins the previously-announced Tom Tweedie – White hopes increased stability will help MW in 2011. “We were really focused on putting a strong package in terms of drivers and cars on the grid this year,” White said. “On reflection we had a few instances where we were chopping and changing drivers [in 2010] and I am committed to getting the MWM cars into a race winning position in 2011.” FPR endurance driver Luke Youlden, who contested Townsville with MW last year, has been linked to the remaining seat.

IRISH EYES ON FUJITSU SERIES FUJITSU SERIES

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Dirk Klynsmith

IRISHMAN Robert Cregan’s deal to enter the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series was officially launched at Abu Dhabi on the weekend. Cregan will race a Stone Brothers Racing Falcon, which will be run by Matt Stone, SBR co-owner Jim Stone’s son. He has previously competed in Formula Ford in Ireland, and Carrera Cup in Germany. He has only driven a V8 Supercar once, having tested for Matthew White Motorsport at Winton last year. His father Richard Cregan is the CEO of the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. “It’s been a long goal for me to get over there,” said Cregan. “I’ve been watching [V8 Supercars] my whole life, so to have this opportunity with the

Stone Brothers is fantastic. My goal is to make a career out of this. It’s a big step, but I’m really excited about it.” Ross Stone was on hand for the announcement, and outlined how the Matt Stone/ Stone Brothers Racing alliance will work. “Matt has wanted to do his own thing for a while,” he said. “He’s 25, so Jim and I will be giving him a hand. Robert will be driving one of our cars with one of our engines, but Matt will be doing the preparation, and we’ll oversee it with engineering support, and any other support he needs. “The car will be run a kilometre from our shop, so it will be run separately, but with our full support.” According to V8 Supercar head honcho Tony Cochrane,

the emergence of an overseas driver in V8 Supercars is a big coup. “We consider this a fairly significant announcement in the evolution of the sport,” said Cochrane. “We’ve talked about slowly getting the opportunity to have some international drivers working in the championship, and clearly a way to start that off was to

get an international into the development series in a fulltime capacity. [This] might be a small step, but as I always say, to grow a big acorn tree, you have to start by growing the acorn. “This is a really important moment for the championship, and I’m excited about seeing Robert’s first appearance in Adelaide. I hope he’s a trend-setter.” 17

Dirk Klynsmith

PLANS FOR 12 HOUR BATHURST 12 HR

FOLLOWING the first year of GT3 cars in the event, a number of tweaks will be made to the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour before the 2012 race. A post-event review will be held in the coming months, with all aspects of the race to be looked at. Event promoter James O’Brien told eNews that while the basic framework will remain unchanged, several key areas were set to be revised, both on a technical and regulatory level. “The formula will be pretty much the same, with GT3 and Production Cars,” he said. “We might add some more layers in there, we’d have a good scout around and see

what ran at Dubai and some of the other major endurance races, so we’re certainly flexible in that area. “Now we’re just going to tweak it, in terms of the rules and regulations. Essentially we will deregulate, rather than re-regulate, simplify the equation. Our aim is to attract as many international entrants as possible so we need to make it attractive for them. “We’ll have a look at vehicle eligibility, balance of performance, and obviously driver seeding, combinations, all of those things will go into the mix in the review but the idea will be to deregulate it and make it simpler, not more difficult, for people to come.” O’Brien said the presence of Audi Race

Experience Team Joest was a bonus for 2010, and hopefully the start of more international teams. “I certainly hope that’ll be the catalyst to really accelerate where we want to be in the next few years,” he said. “We were hopeful for a few international teams, it was sort of beyond my wildest dreams to pick up a pseudo factory team in Year 1 that the GTs were eligible. “I think the event has certainly established itself on the calendar there at Mount Panorama in February. Obviously the introduction of GT cars was a big initiative for the event, a necessary step for where we want to be in the future.” – MITCHELL ADAM

Kingsley stays with 996 GT3 CUP CHALLENGE MATT Kingsley will remain in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge in 2011, but is hopeful of making a Carrera Cup cameo. After winning the 2009 series and finishing second in 2010, Kingsley was looking to lock in a step up to Carrera Cup. But that hasn’t eventuated, and the Queenslander will stay in his trusty 996 in the GT3 Cup Challenge. “We’ll stick with the 996,” he said. 18

“It’s an old girl now but it’s a good tool. We’d love to go to a 997 but this is what we can afford.” Kingsley is still keen to make an appearance in Carrera Cup and is targeting a one-off appearance during the season. Similarly, having contested the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour with Roger Lago and David Russell, he could add some endurance racing to his plans. The event was car owner Lago’s first venture into long-distance racing, and he’s previously

expressed an interest in Malaysia’s Merdeka Millenium Endurance Race. “There are a lot of cars in Carrera Cup, so if a drive comes up we’ll try and sneak one in, I think I’d be reasonably competitive,” Kingsley said at Bathurst. “This is Roger’s first enduro, so we’ll see how that goes and maybe do some more later on. It’s a bit of a toe-in-the-water exercise, if he likes it, we might go and do some more events like this.” − MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

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HOSSACK RETURNS SPORTS SEDANS DARREN Hossack looks set to contest three of the five rounds in this year’s Kerrick Sports Sedan Series. Late last year, the future of Hossack and the John Gourlay-owned Audi in the series was unclear with discussions between the pair about whether they would continue. A sabbatical looked likely, and the car was up for sale, but Hossack is now set to appear at three rounds. The recent change to Mallala’s Shannons Nationals date means it will clash with an overseas trip for Gourlay, and the team are unlikely to venture north to Morgan Park. That leaves three rounds for Hossack to contest,

Round 2 at Winton, Round 3 at Eastern Creek and Phillip Island’s season finale. “John hasn’t sold the car and late last year he asked that, if he still had the car and he was keen to do a few rounds, whether I would be interested as well and I said ‘oh, yeah’,” Hossack told eNews. “I guess, seeing as it hasn’t sold, and he’s had a bit of a break from racing, he’s keen to go again. Doing three rounds would be good. It keeps the car out there and it keeps my eye in a little bit. “I haven’t raced the Sports Sedan at Winton for ages. It’s a track I actually enjoy – a lot of people don’t – but I seem to go reasonably well there, so I’m pretty motivated to get there.” – MITCHELL ADAM

JOHN MORRIS James Smith

www.mnews.com.au

Winton F3s FORMULA 3 LOOK for some Formula 3 races to be held at Winton’s V8 Supercar round on May 20-22. eNews believes that the opening round of the 2011 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship will be held as a support category, subject to the category arranging a minimum number of entries. Over recent seasons, the category has had up-and-down grid sizes, though recent changes to cars’ ownership and an increased presence on the V8 Supercar program means that there is potential for the class to have one of its bigger grids. To date, five F3 rounds have been confirmed for the year, with a support slot at Hidden Valley’s V8 Supercar round joined by four appearances with the Shannons Nationals. Winton would make it six, with confirmation expected in the next week or so. A seventh, and final, round on the schedule is yet to be finalised, although eNews understands discussions are ongoing between F3 and V8 Supercars Australia for the open-wheelers to appear at Queensland Raceway. The August 19-21 event falls a week after Morgan Park’s Nationals round, and would create a Queensland double-header. 19

JAMES SMITH

GWS COMMITS TO AMC AUS MANCHAMPS GWS Motorsport has committed to the 2011 Australian Manufacturers Championship. The BMW outfit will run three cars throughout the year, with Peter O’Donnell’s BMW 335i accompanied by a pair of the

130i models synonymous with the team. In the three longdistance races, John Bowe will team up with O’Donnell, while Allan Shephard and a to-bedetermined driver will drive the smaller cars. “It should be good,” team manager Garry Mennell said. “Peter will drive his car all

year, JB is driving with him at the Phillip Island 6 Hour, Sandown and Eastern Creek, the long ones. Allan will drive his car and he’ll probably get someone in to share the cost at a couple of rounds. “And we’ll try to get Peter’s other car, the 130, out there with someone in it. Someone

like Garth Duffy, we’re taking to Garth, he’s looking to do something. “Peter wants to focus on the championship. He’s here to do well in the championship, the car’s going well and we’re happy with how it went at Bathurst. We’ll cruise along and see how things go.”

V8 Tourers to race on Kumhos V8 TOURING CARS KUMHO Tyres will step up to be the naming rights sponsor of the 2011 V8 Touring Car Series. The Korean manufacturer has backed the series since its inception in 2008, supplying a control tyre, but moves up to replace Shannons as its major backer in the series’ fourth season. “All of us at Kumho are big fans of the V8 Touring Car concept, so when it

came time to make a decision on our 2011 sponsorships, we indicated at a very early stage that we wanted to be involved,” Kumho Tyres Australia’s David Basha said. “Kumho is pleased to announce a three year commitment to V8 Touring Cars which provides stability for the category and for the competitors, whilst also gaining valuable brand awareness and technical knowledge for Kumho. “We also understand the passion that

Australian motorsport fans have with the Holden/Ford rivalry, so the category was a logical choice.” The field for the 2011 season continues to take shape, with Jose Fernandez to prepare a pair of BA Falcons for brothers Nathan and Justin Garioch, who have recently raced Saloon Cars. Meanwhile, Terry Wyhoon’s Image Racing has added a third BA Falcon to their stable, with Wyhoon, Mark Sheppard and newcomer Michael Hector to all drive BA Falcons.

Andy Jones takes on Utes role V8 UTES THE V8 Ute Series has a new Driver Standards Advisor. With former DSA Warren Luff now having a full-time V8 Supercar drive, Andrew Jones steps into the role this season. 20

Jones, who will race for Brad Jones Racing in the V8 Supercar endurance races later this season, starts in the new role in Adelaide next month. “When I saw this opportunity I thought it was a great way to be involved in the sport behind

the scenes rather than driving,” said Jones. “ I feel I have enough experience in the industry to pass on some relevant advice, and the position still allows me seat time for the endurance races.”

Jones will join Data Analyst Peta Thomas, CAMS appointed Race Director James Taylor and IPO, and new recruit Rupert Rodrigues who will oversee vehicle eligibility requirements, in the management group for this year’s championship. motorsport news

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Lucas Oils the Classic SPRINTCARS

AN injection of funds for the next three years will keep the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic the most prestigious speedway race in Australia. Premier Speedway has inked a fivefigure deal with Lucas Oils Australia making it the major sponsor of the race between 2012 and 2014. General Manager of the venue, David Mills said the deal, the biggest cash sponsorship

in the race’s 39-year history, would help the club grow. The event would remain a two-night show in 2012, with the club to review the format in coming months to ensure racing could fit into the time frame. He said an agreement with Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway and Avalon Speedway to keep the Classic a two-night affair would be reviewed in a year’s time. The sponsorship announcement

ended local Warrnambool newspaper, The Standard’s 13-year association as major sponsor of the event. “The Standard has been a fixture of the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic over many years and it is with thanks to them that we now have an attractive event that can attract the kind of support we require to keep the Classic as the number one event in the country,” Mills said.

Geoff Gracie

IT’S ONE COLORADO, TWO COLORADA SAFARI THE PWR Holden Rally team will upgrade to a two-car campaign on this year’s Australian Safari. Craig Lowndes and Kees Weel, who won last year’s event in a Holden Colorado, will be joined by a second entry, to be driven by Paul Weel with John Panozzo as his co-driver. Lowndes and Weel will get a 22

new Colorado to drive, while Paul Weel and Panozzo will drive an upgraded 2010 Safari winner. “The second car is getting built to basically the same spec as the current one but I’m sure we’ll find smarter and better ways to do things,” Lowndes said. “As we find things to improve on, the current car will be upspecced as well.” motorsport news

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The real McCoy DRAG RACING

RACECAR manufacturer Andy McCoy Race Cars has received initial approval from ANDRA for its popular 1970 Plymouth Dusterbodied car to be built for the Top Doorslammer category. ANDRA takes into consideration things such as safety, structural integrity and faithfulness to the original manufacturer’s design when evaluating a car and approval is needed before any car can

be built for competition in Australia. “We are excited to soon be supplying our cars to racers in Australia,” said McCoy. “We have a lot of racers in Australia interested in our Duster and we expect that to increase now with ANDRA approval. We take great pride in our work and believe that approval is validation of the exacting standards to which we build each and every car that comes from our shop.” – LUKE NIEUWHOF

Sainty goes Stateside with Santo

Hidden Valley re-opening delayed DRAG RACING

John Morris /Mpix

AFTER careful consideration, the HVDRA management committee has elected to reschedule the Grand ReOpening of Hidden Valley Drag Strip to ensure interstate competitors are given the best possible opportunity to travel to Darwin. “We want to put on a show to say thank you to those who played such a big part in

making the facility upgrades a reality,” said HVDRA president Jay Jukes. “As such, we are working to reschedule to the middle of May which will allow more interstate teams to travel to Darwin and also reduce the risk of rain putting a dampener on the show.” A revised calendar of events will be released in coming weeks. – LUKE NIEUWHOF

motorsport news

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John Bosher

DRAG RACING POPULAR Sydney Top Fuel racer Terry Sainty will race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series this year, after accepting an invitation to drive for Rapisarda Racing. Rapisarda Racing team principal Santo Rapisarda offered the plum US drive to Sainty after he drove for Rapisarda at the recent Perth ANDRA Pro Series event, and after regular driver Mark Mariani could not make the US trip due to business commitments. While Sainty will drive for Team Rapisarda in the US, in Australia he will continue to drive the familyowned Sainty Engineering Top Fuel car in ANDRA Pro Series events. Rapisarda Racing team manager Santo Rapisarda Jnr confirmed the team had considered several US-based NHRA drivers, including Steve Torrence, Cory McClenathan and Tommy Johnson Jnr,

before offering the drive to Sainty. Rapisarda said if Sainty cannot make any of the scheduled US events, Johnson has agreed to drive the car. At this stage, Rapisarda Racing will do 12 NHRA Full Throttle events including, the Winternationals (February 24-27), Las Vegas (April 13), the Four-Wide Nationals (April 14-17), Southern Nationals (May 13-15), Summer Nationals (May 2022), Thunder Valley Nationals (June 17-19), Ohio (June 2326), Minnesota (August 1821), the US Nationals (August 31-September 5), Arizona Nationals (October 14-16), Las Vegas Nationals (October 27-30), and the NHRA Finals (November 10-13). Rapisarda said the team have not ruled out doing the western swing, the MileHigh Nationals (July 22-24), California (July 29-31) and the Northwest Nationals (August 5-7). He also said if the team is

doing well in the Full Throttle points chase, other events could be added to the NHRA schedule. Rapisarda said the team will continue to race in Australia, with Mariani driving at the March Willowbank event and Allan Dobson in a second car at the Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway. “We will do the test session at Las Vegas (February 21-22) then go to Pomona before coming back to do the Willowbank round,” Rapisarda said. Sainty said while it was a dream to race in the US when he first started driving in 1992, in recent years it was not a consideration, until Rapisarda Snr asked if he would be interested while in Perth. “When I was younger it was a dream to take our engines to the US and race, but that was squashed when the NHRA banned that engine design. Since then, I have not thought about going to the US as part

of another team,” he said. Sainty, who owns and runs an industrial machinery maintenance company, said the Rapisarda offer is an extremely generous one and he is 100 percent committed to racing in the US. “When Santo asked me in Perth if I would be interested in driving his car in the US, I didn’t give him an answer straight away. I came home and discussed it with my family,” he said. “Mum and Dad are very supportive and it was Dad’s (Stan) dream to take the original (Sainty) motor we built for America over there to race. I suppose this is the next best thing, racing in the NHRA with one of Dad’s best mates, Santo. “Santo is a very generous man. I am extremely proud and privileged to drive his car in the US. It is a great opportunity and I’m 100 percent committed.” – LUKE NIEUWHOF

Next ANDRA Pro Series Round: Westernationals, Perth Motorplex, March 5-6 ANDRA Pro Series on TV: Friday February 25 Top Fuel Championships www.mnews.com.au

The real McCoy DRAG RACING

Sainty goes Stateside with Santo

Hidden Valley re-opening delayed DRAG RACING

John Morris /Mpix

motorsport news

news

John Bosher

Next ANDRA Pro Series Round: Westernationals, Perth Motorplex, March 5-6 ANDRA Pro Series on TV: Friday February 25 Top Fuel Championships www.mnews.com.au

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE The 2011 V8 Supercar season is officially underway, and there were some surprising stand-outs ... TeamVodafone: The two qualifying 1-2s say it all for me. The ‘Fones clearly have a distinct speed advantage, highlighted firstly by Lowndes’ pole on Friday night, and then Whincup’s blistering time – in the 1:56.4s bracket – in Saturday’s qualifying session. He even did it before the five minute dash that happens at the end of the 20-minute session. And, had there not been the Safety Car shambles in the second race, Whincup would have certainly left with two wins, and increased his winning record outside of Australia (until Saturday night, he hadn’t lost an overseas race since Hamilton 2008). TeamVodafone are the class team of the competition. Holden Racing Team: The car speed, over a race distance, wasn’t there. That’s a strange statement to make about a team that won a race, but it was a result severely affected by the Safety Car. Tander was sixth in Race 1, and that’s about where Courtney would have finished based on raw pace in Race 2. Ford Performance Racing: The three cars were fast, and that’s the thing the team will be focusing on. But there were two little mistakes that cost Mark Winterbottom. The first came in Race 1, where Winterbottom was left stranded in the pits due to a communication problem with the guy working the air spike. For Race 2, they seemed to have the pit-stops sorted, and beat T8 in the pits – twice! But then Winterbottom crossed the blend line coming into pit-lane, and the race was ruined. Was it Winterbottom’s fault, or the team’s? Who knows, and really, it doesn’t matter. It just needs to be sorted. Will Davison had an up-and-down weekend, but was fast enough at times, while Paul Dumbrell was hampered by just having had hip surgery. He faded in Race 1, but looked good in Race 2. 28

OPINION Andrew van Leeuwen – eNews Editor

Brad Jones Racing: The Alburys actually put together some fast cars for Abu Dhabi. Jason Bright was unlucky to have a steering rack fail in Race 1, but he made up for it in Race 2, almost stealing the win. The team’s other Race 1 lowlight was Jason Bargwanna crashing into Karl Reindler, but the West Aussie nabbed a handy 11th place in Race 2. Stone Brothers Racing: Wow, these guys were fast in Abu Dhabi! There’s something about that track that suits the SBR cars, because they were quick there last year, too. The big thing was that Alex Davison was generally the fastest of the three cars, and Shane van Gisbergen was generally the slowest. That’s the complete opposite to what we saw last year. Tim Slade did a ripper job in Race 1, but we expect that from him now. Bundy Racing: Known as Huzzah Racing for the weekend, the Bundy machine seemed to be a lot closer matched to the HRT cars than it did last season. That’s a good omen for Fabian Coulthard. Garry Rogers Motorsport: They certainly weren’t slow in the Middle East, the GRM cars, but they weren’t giving T8 a fright, either. Michael Caruso’s fifth in Race 2 was the team’s weekend best. Dick Johnson Racing: Steve Johnson seemed to be relishing the role of team leader in Abu Dhabi. He was fast throughout the weekend, and even blew past Whincup at one stage during the second race. James Moffat banked good points in Race 1; it was a good, mature drive from a young bloke. Overall, the team looked better than it otherwise might have.

Mother Energy/Tekno Racing: Struggled to make the Top 20 in Race 1, but a pretty solid (strategy-aided) sixth place in the second race. Not many massive conclusions to be drawn just yet. Kelly Racing: It was a weird old weekend for KR in the desert. There were no massive signs of speed, especially in qualifying, but there were some good results. Todd Kelly was 10th in Race 1, and then David Reynolds and Greg Murphy were both in the Top 10 in Race 2. But, there isn’t quite genuine Top 10 speed there yet. Paul Morris Motorsport: The most interesting thing here is the intra-team battle between Russell Ingall and Steve Owen. After two races, I’ll call honours split. Owen finished ahead in both races, and gave Ingall a pasting in Race 1 qualifying, but Ingall left Owen for dead in Race 2 qualifying. Problem with all of that is that none of it was in the Top 10 on the timesheets. Wilson Security Racing: Tony D’Alberto looked fast enough at times, but he’ll be remembered for that Race 2, Lap 2 brain fade that took Slade and Tander out. Triple F Racing: Just a solid weekend for Dean, with two finishes in the 20s. Still, he’s got a new engineer to get used to, so it was always going to be a tough weekend. Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport: Got points on the board, but didn’t trouble the Top 10. There will be a full preview of the remainder of the 2011 V8 Supercar Championship in the next issue of Motorsport News, on sale February 23. motorsport news

comment

DESERT ...

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACES 1/2 – ABU DHABI, UAE

LIONS OF THE DES

motorsport news

race Dirk Klynsmith

SERT www.mnews.com.au

The Stones were quick, the ‘Fones were even quicker, and Holden came away with all the major spoils. ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN reports from Abu Dhabi 31

RACE 1: WHINCUP WAY TOO F

AMIE Whincup sure knows how to kick off a championship season. In a display of dominance that was frighteningly similar to what we saw 12 months ago (frightening to the other 27 drivers in the field, that is), Whincup left the field for dead in Race 1 at Yas Marina. It was clinical; he made an average start, charged past the fast-starting Alex Davison on Lap 2, and then walked away with the race, somehow managing to be faster than everyone, but still look after the Dunlop Sprint tyres. It was, in a word, awesome. “It’s important to get off to a

good start, and that’s exactly what we did tonight,” said Whincup. “Trying to keep the soft tyres alive was difficult, but my car did it better than most.” Davison hung on to second place, and while he wasn’t in Whincup’s league, second place was a welcome result after a tough 2010 season. Yes, the Yas Marina circuit seems to suit Stone Brothers Racing-built cars (Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade made it an SBR 2-4-5), but importantly, Davison was the fastest of the three. At the finish, he made no secret that the result was a huge relief. “We’ve had a tough time, [and] a lot of pressure comes from

that,” Davison said. “This is a fresh start. There’s been a lot of work in the offseason, and we’re really working well as a team.” While Davison genuinely had the speed to be on the podium, Mark Winterbottom could well have nabbed second place. He actually moved ahead of Davison during the first round of pit-stops, but when the pair came into the lane together on Lap 28 for their second stops, Winterbottom was forced to watch Davison drive straight past him as he sat stationary. “We’ve had some people change, and we had a guy on the [air jack] spike for the first

time. Things happen,” said a clearly frustrated Winterbottom. Still, third place was a good finish, and once again ‘Frosty’ was the best of the Ford Performance Racing cars. Even more promising was that Paul Dumbrell was running in the top five before his tyres ran out of breath, and he slipped towards the back of the field. In the end, he was only 25th … but the green machine looked fast when it was at its best. Will Davison’s FPR debut wasn’t great, but again, the signs weren’t bad. He was fast in practice, only a brake problem in P4 stopping him from being one of the pace-setters. In motorsport news

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Fords Galore: Behind Jamie Whincup, there was a gaggle of Fords. Alex Davison was second – a standout performance, above. But second should have gone to Mark Winterbottom, below, had it not been for a pitlane bungle. Shane van Gisbergen was also fast, bottom.

but finished 26th – 20 places behind Tander. Craig Lowndes started from pole, after being untouchable in qualifying, but couldn’t replicate his team-mate’s speed in the race. He made a complete meal of the start, and while he was able to run in the top four early, he didn’t seem to be able to manage the tyres – which is very unlike Lowndes – and slipped down to seventh by the end of the race.

Dirk Klynsmith

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Dirk Klynsmith

qualifying, he didn’t quite get it right, and was forced to start 12th. Then, he looped it through the first turn, and was lucky not to be cleaned up by the back of the field. He got going again and ended up right where he started – 12th. It was, at the end of the day, a solid recovery. The man who replaced Davison at the Holden Racing Team, James Courtney, had a shocking start to his career in red. He qualified 20th, six places behind Garth Tander, and was limping into the pits by the time the race was a couple of laps old with serious cosmetic damage to the front of his Commodore and a broken steering arm. He kept circulating,

Dirk Klynsmith

FAST

RACE 2: LUCK, SAFETY CARS,

N Friday night in Abu Dhabi, it seemed that the luck that accompanied James Courtney to his 2010 crown had run out – in a spectacularly bad way. But just 24 hours later it all came flooding back, and Courtney won his first race in red. It was, in many, many ways, a bizarre race. For starters, there were two Safety Car periods, which is close to a miracle in the wide open spaces of the Yas Marina circuit. And, as Safety Car periods so often are, they were crucial to he outcome of the race. 34

The first came on the first lap of the race, when Tony D’Alberto got a little ambitious in the mid-pack and spun Tim Slade around. That gave Garth Tander nowhere to go, and he went head-on straight into Slade’s stricken Falcon. All three drivers were out on the spot. What followed was mayhem. The Safety Car set a snail-like pace around the circuit, to the point where guys were pitting, and realising they could make spots thanks to the 80 km/h limit in pit-lane being much faster than what was going on out on the racing surface. Then, it seemed a few sneaky guys

started deliberately running down pit-lane as the Safety Car beetled slowly down the main straight, so that they could legitimately pass cars under the Safety Car. As a result, the field lapped two lanes wide, behind the SC, with nobody really knowing what was going on. When the race got re-started, it was Mark Winterbottom leading pole-sitter Jamie Whincup, and then Steve Johnson, who didn’t pit under the SC period. Winterbottom immediately got it wrong by flying wide as the race was about to be re-started, handing

Whincup the lead – for about four seconds – before Johnson barged past. It was then that an interesting equation popped up; Whincup was technically a stop ahead of Johnson, but did the Triple Eight Commodore have the milage to go the distance on one stop? Or would he have to make two stops anyway, putting him right back on Johnson’s strategy? That was the race to watch … or so it seemed. A second Safety Car, brought out when Craig Lowndes came from a kilometre back to take out Russell Ingall, eased the fuel concerns, and bought motorsport news

race

, CHAMPION

Dirk Klynsmith

Bright Lights: Jason Bright sparkled at Abu Dhabi on Saturday, above, after a horror run on Friday night. Steve Johnson was a race leader, briefly, below.

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In an instance, the two leaders were out of genuine contention. And that was how the race ended, with Courtney leading Bright, and Whincup recovering to third. It wasn’t quite that simple, with Bright having a little more fuel and mounting a serious – and thrilling – challenge on Courtney’s lead in the dying laps. But the Champ held on, and recorded a historic win. Behind the Top 3, David Reynolds claimed a career best with fourth. Michael Caruso, Jono Webb, Alex Davison, Shane van Gisbergen, Greg Murphy and Paul Dumbrell rounded out the Top 10.

Dirk Klynsmith

some interesting names into contention. Courtney was straight into the pits, replicating what he’d done under the first Safety Car period, although this time he found himself with track position. Jason Bright was also quickly into the pits, from third position, bringing himself into race leading contention as well. A lap later, the leaders caught on, and Whincup and Winterbottom both peeled away from behind the SC and into the pits. Problem was, there strategy wasn’t great, which hampered Whincup, and Winterbottom crossed the blend line and was handed a drive-through penalty.

WINNERS JAMIE WHINCUP: All things being even, Whinners would have left Abu Dhabi with 300 points. He was sublime on Friday, and clearly the fastest car out on Saturday ... he did a 1:56.4s lap in quali! ALEX DAVISON: The elder Davo needs some results this year, and he showed he is capable of doing it with a couple of very solid results. STONE BROTHERS RACING: All three of the team’s cars looked fast in Abu Dhabi. The question is, can they keep it going? JAMES COURTNEY: JC’s a winner because he won a race, and he showed he is still a man who Lady Luck smiles at. Wouldn’t have been a winner on car speed, to be perfectly honest.

GARTH TANDER: He was sixth in Race 1, but that was as good as it got. GT never even made it past Lap 1 on Saturday. He must be starting to hate Abu Dhabi. CRAIG LOWNDES: First, CL makes a total meal of the Race 1 start, and then made a complete clanger to take out Ingall in Race 2. FORD PERFORMANCE RACING: It’s weird; a mistake in the pits cost Frosty second place on Friday, and a balls-up from Frosty himself cost him any place on Saturday. But the cars were fast, and FPR beat Triple Eight out of the pits – twice – during Saturday’s race. 36

Dirk Klynsmith

LOSERS

DAVO: BOTTOM 50, TOP EFFORT AS far as starts go, Will Davison made a cracker to his career as a Ford Performance Racing career on Thursday night in Abu Dhabi. Although aided by the fact that his crappy 2010 season gave him a start in the bottom 50 percent practice sessions (P1 and P2), Davison blasted out of the blocks in his first official session as an FPR driver, setting the fastest time in P1, and backing it up in P2. He was then third fastest in P3, the first all-in session, before a brake problem left him down in 20th in the final session of the night. “We were pretty confident we could go quickest in those two sessions, because the base set-up of the car is so good, and because we had a good set of hard tyres for the first session,” Davison told eNews. “It was exactly like it was at Eastern Creek for

the test. From the first lap I felt comfortable. It was a great start.” While Davison got an extra hour of running compared to other title contenders such as Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom, he said it wasn’t a massive advantage heading into P3 and P4. “I don’t think it makes much of a difference,” he added. “It probably helped a little bit, because I could get straight onto it on the soft tyres. But all the guys get on the pace so quick these days, so it didn’t help for long. The third session was good, and I used the same set of softs from P2. I reckon in the final session, on the second set of softs, I could have been right up there without the brake problem. It was a bit of a shame, but still, a great start.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Dirk Klynsmith

GOOD GRIP, GOOD RACING

Dunlop’s KEVIN FITZSIMONS took us through how the Sprint tyre reacted to its first visit to Yas Marina

AFTER what we saw with the hard tyre here last year, how well that held up, I was confident that the Sprint tyre would last here. I knew this would be a track where this would work. The wear on some of the cars is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. In general, the tyres have been really hanging on. Listening to the chatter on the radios during the races, the guys were asking ‘how are they’, because it was an unknown quantity. But the fact that guys were punching out quick laps at the end of long stints was quite interesting. The Sprint tyre is actually well suited to every track we go to, except Phillip Island

and Bathurst – and that’s only a safety thing, because the Phillip Island miles might overload the case, and it’s not worth finding out the hard way. As for Bathurst, you’ve just got to go for safety first, because the speeds across the top of the mountain are fast enough as it is, so we don’t want to increase that. The track surface here in Abu Dhabi is still incredible; it’s still as good as it was when it was first laid. We’re not seeing blisteringly fast lap times compared to last year, but that’s because the surface is so good it rewards any tyres. The tyres that come off the cars here would make great test tyres, but we don’t give them back to the teams. In general, with more

FROM THE COUCH with PHIL BRANAGAN

FTER a week of headlines about its coverage of the Opposition Leader, Channel Seven went into new territory with its telecasts from Abu Dhabi. Apart from being the first event that ‘split’ coverage between the ‘main’ Channel

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7 and 7mate, the season opener was the first under V8 Supercars Television’s new head Scott Young, after years of Murray Lomax overseeing pictures and sounds. Differences? Hard to spot from a layman’s view. The voices were the same, the

rubber down, it all helps. The Pirelli guys are here for GP2 but, while we work for different companies, we’re all in the same boat with learning curves. I know a lot of those guys, because they are ex Bridgestone F1, which is where my past is. It’s been good to catch up, and we’ve been sharing information. Pirelli are in a massive data-gathering phase. Yesterday I took the guys down to the Holden Racing Team garage, and they sat down with Eric Pender to talk about how they log their tyres with the barcode scanner. They are collecting so much data that it might help them out a little bit.

images were excellent. Race 1 saw plenty of action and was good viewing, in spite of Jamie Whincup having the front of the field all to himself. If I am picky, I would complain about not seeing Whincup’s charge up to third in Race 2, but since the battle for the lead was so compelling, that can be easily forgiven. Yas Marina presents a breathtaking canvas, so it would be tough not to make the circuit look interesting.

And the racing up and down the field was anything but ‘boring’ – even if one driver used that word to describe the track prior to the event. Naughty boy … Mercifully, the imagery of drivers riding camels, drivers sand surfing and drivers engaged in other desert activities were kept to a minimum. It’s getting a bit hokey by now and really, we have seen it for years and years … 37

THE WORS

Results : Race 1 – Yas Marin Dirk Klynsmith

DUMBRELL: GOOD TO BE HIP

IF you compiled a list of things you shouldn’t do days after surgery, flying half way around the car to compete in 400 kilometres of car racing would rate pretty well. But no one told Paul Dumbrell. He was fresh out of having an operation on his hip when he jumped on the plane to Abu Dhabi last week, and completed both races in moderate discomfort … at best. “It’s not ideal, but that’s the challenge I face with trying to balance the triathlon and Ironman stuff with racing,” he said. “It’s been a niggling injury that I haven’t been able to get on top of in the last eight weeks. I had to bite the bullet, and it means six weeks with no activity, and then I’ll build back up from there. It’s frustrating already! In two weeks time I’ll be able to swim with a pool buoy between my legs, and I’ll go from there.” While racing with a recently repaired hip wasn’t pleasant for Dumbrell, the other option was to continue racing with an injury. Of course, he could have also just sat the meeting out, but that’s not the Dumbrell way. “I was feeling it in the car in the latter stages of last season, then I thought I’d got on top of it. I had four weeks pain free, and then it came back. It’s unfortunate, but it’s just how life goes.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Pos

Driver

Team/Car

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 DNF DNF

88 4 5 9 47 2 888 61 33 7 17 6 15 49 34 18 16 3 14 19 11 12 30 39 55 1 21 8

Jamie Whincup Alex Davison Mark Winterbottom Shane Van Gisbergen Tim Slade Garth Tander Craig Lowndes Fabian Coulthard Lee Holdsworth Todd Kelly Steven Johnson Will Davison Rick Kelly Steve Owen Michael Caruso James Moffat David Reynolds Tony D’Alberto Jason Bargwanna Jonathon Webb Greg Murphy Dean Fiore Warren Luff Russell Ingall Paul Dumbrell James Courtney Karl Reindler Jason Bright

TeamVodafone C Irwin Racing Falco Orrcon Steel FPR F SP Tools Racing Fa Lucky 7 Racing Fa Toll Holden Racin TeamVodafone C Huzzah Racing Co Fujitsu Racing GR Kelly Racing Com Dick Johnson Rac Trading Post FPR Kelly Racing Com VIP Petfoods Com Fujitsu Racing GR Dick Johnson Rac Stratco Racing Co Wilson Security Ra Team BOC Comm Mother Energy Ra Pepsi Max Crew C Triple F Racing Fa Gulf Western Oil R Supercheap Auto The Bottle-O Raci Toll Holden Racin Fair Dinkum Shed Team BOC Comm

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ST, BUT STILL GOOD

Dirk Klynsmith

IT’S not often that you can be the worst-placed finisher in a three-car team, and still finish in the Top 5. But that’s exactly what Tim Slade did during Race 1 at Abu Dhabi. After topping the first all-in practice session of the year on Thursday evening (Practice 3), Slade qualified fifth, second-best of the Stone Brothers Racing cars (Alex Davison was third, and Shane van Gisbergen was 15th). By the race’s end, Slade was still fifth, although Davison found one spot to finish second, and van Gisbergen came from nowhere to finish fourth. “From a speed point if view, it was really good,” Slade told eNews. “It wasn’t the most exciting of races, but that’s how I like it! It’s nice to be looking in the rear view mirror and be pulling away from the guys behind, and then look forward and be catching

na, Abu Dhabi

Commodore on Falcon Falcon alcon ng Team Commodore Commodore ommodore RM Commodore mmodore cing Falcon Falcon mmodore mmodore RM Commodore cing Falcon ommodore acing Commodore modore acing Falcon Commodore alcon Racing Commodore o Racing Commodore ing Falcon ng Team Commodore ds Commodore modore www.mnews.com.au

the guys ahead. “Everything went as planned. The pit-stops were really good, although Shane jumped me in the pits in the first race, because he pitted a lap earlier, and I’d lost a bit of time sitting behind Paul Dumbrell. But we pegged back second and third at the end, Shane and I. We were both trying pretty hard to finish ahead of one another.” The reference to being behind Dumbrell is a meaningful one, because it showed that SBR are on the ball strategy wise in 2011. The decision was quickly made to pit Slade for the first time on Lap 11, and the early stop saw him jump Dumbrell with ease. But he could have already been ahead of the Bottle-O Falcon, if not for a creative racing line taken by Dumbrell during an overtaking attempt. “I probably should have just got

the move done on PD. I don’t know if they showed it on TV or not, but I actually got past him, and then he went straight through the chicane. He basically short-cut the track. If that hadn’t happened, I would have got through and we might have stayed out a bit longer. “But yeah, you’re right, it was pretty crucial to get out of the shit, get some fresh rubber on, and then pull away. “It wasn’t too bad anyway, because the tyre degradation is nowhere near as bad as we thought it would be. So it didn’t really matter if you took the tyres a little early, because it’s not like you were wobbling around at the end of the race. “But hey, it was a perfect way to start the season – plenty of TV time for my new sponsor Lucky 7.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Results : Race 2 – Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi Qual

Pos

Driver

Team/Car

Qual

2 3 4 15 6 14 1 11 9 17 8 12 25 13 18 28 23 16 19 10 27 26 24 21 5 20 22 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF

1 8 88 16 34 19 4 9 11 55 21 14 49 5 61 6 30 17 15 12 888 33 18 39 7 47 3 2

James Courtney Jason Bright Jamie Whincup David Reynolds Michael Caruso Jonathon Webb Alex Davison Shane Van Gisbergen Greg Murphy Paul Dumbrell Karl Reindler Jason Bargwanna Steve Owen Mark Winterbottom Fabian Coulthard Will Davison Warren Luff Steven Johnson Rick Kelly Dean Fiore Craig Lowndes Lee Holdsworth James Moffat Russell Ingall Todd Kelly Tim Slade Tony D’Alberto Garth Tander

Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore Team BOC Commodore TeamVodafone Commodore Stratco Racing Commodore Fujitsu Racing GRM Commodore Mother Energy Racing Team Falcon Irwin Racing Falcon SP Tools Racing Falcon Pepsi Max Crew Commodore The Bottle-O Racing Team Falcon Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Commodore Team BOC Commodore VIP Petfoods Commodore Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Falcon Huzzah Racing Commodore Trading Post FPR Falcon Falcon Gulf Western Oil Racing Commodore Dick Johnson Racing Falcon Kelly Racing Commodore Triple F Racing Falcon TeamVodafone Commodore Fujitsu Racing GRM Commodore Dick Johnson Racing Falcon Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore Kelly Racing Commodore Lucky 7 Racing Falcon Wilson Security Racing Commodore Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore

5 7 1 21 9 17 8 18 24 11 28 25 20 3 19 13 26 4 27 23 2 6 22 15 12 10 16 14 39

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 – RALLY SWEDEN

The taking of S

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Sweden 1, 2, 3 In snowy Sweden, Ford hit the ground running, Citroen struggled and Petter Solberg ended the event sitting in the right-hand seat of a left-hand-drive car ...

Ford Racing

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Ford Racing

Citroen Sport

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Ford Racing

No Global Warming here: Hirvonen took first blood in the 2011 World Rally Championship after a great drive in Sweden. Sebastien Loeb, left, took his worst result in more than two seasons with fifth place. Petter Solberg flew hight, right, but he was brought back to earth on the final stage when his co-driver had to take over the wheel – because Solberg had lost his licence ...

ORD could hardly have made a better start to the new era of the World Rally Championship. In snowy Sweden, Mads Ostberg looked set to pull off a surprise win, but Mikko Hirvonen took the lead on the final day and held off the Norwegian to take the win. Jari-Matti Latvala was third, giving the new Fiesta RS a sweep of the podium on debut. “It was an amazing weekend for the whole team and a fantastic feeling to stand on the top step of the podium for the first time for 12 months, surrounded by Ford colleagues,” said Hirvonen. “Technically, the car was fantastic and I didn’t need to change the set-up once. It’s early days with the car, but I’m really starting to understand how it behaves now. The car and I are learning together.” Latvala spent a little too much time leaning on snow banks to challenge his team-mate, and such was the closeness of the top five drivers going into the final day that he was forced to settle for third. The winning margin was barely 6s. “It was the most eventful rally weekend of my life and, after so many ups and downs, I’m really happy with third,” said Latvala. “I was close to the top of the leaderboard so many times, but then I found another snow bank to hinder me. A podium didn’t look likely this morning but I didn’t give up, I kept fighting and got my reward. Now I can breathe easily.” If the performance of the Fords was encouraging, that of the Citroens was not – though to be fair, the French team does not have that many snow specialists on its payroll. Sebastien Ogier took fourth in the

new DS3, losing a podium finish when he nosed a snow bank on the penultimate stage and overheated. He made up for the error by winning the final stage, but it was too late to gain a position. “I’m pretty happy with the result on only my second outing in Rally Sweden,” commented Ogier. “We’ve got a lot of positive conclusions to draw from this event. Despite the difficulties, we’ve shown that the Citroen DS3 WRC is quick. I can’t wait to race on gravel where the car looks like it’ll run well.” Sebastien Loeb, who lost time on the first day by being first on the road, and then a puncture, took fifth, his worst finish in more than two years. The Frenchman was ahead of Petter Solberg – who had one of the stories of the rally, perhaps the season. The former World champion got caught speeding on Friday and under the somewhat distinctive local laws, he was allowed to drive for the next 48 hours. That time frame coincided with the final stage of the event so his co-driver Chris Patterson had to take the wheel. Having never driven a rally ca in his life, he set the slowest time of the field in the stage, within a minute of Ogier’s time. “I take my hat of for Chris,” remarked Solberg. “He has never driven a rally car before, still he managed to set a good time on that stage.” Ford’s experience with the S2000 Fiesta looks to have given them a slight edge but Mexico beckons. The Citroens will be back in their element, but how long will it take to catch the Fords? The answer to that question starts to get answered March 3, south of the border …

sutton-images.com

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP BUDWEISER SHOOT-OUT

Same Old, Same New Shell Pennzoil made it to Victory Lane again in the Bud Shoot-Out – but this time, it was courtesy of Kurt Busch and Roger Penske. By MARTIN D CLARK

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NASCAR Media

Back to business: After a four-way draft to the line, there was almost nothing to split Kurt Busch (#22) from Denny Hamlin (#11). But Hamlin had crossed the bottom line so Penske, Busch and Shell Penzzoil made a winning start to their new relationship.

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SHELL Pennzoil car won the Budweiser Shoot Out for the third year in succession on Saturday night. The only difference was that Kevin Harvick, who won the last two Shoot Outs, was not in Victory Lane. Kurt Busch now carries Shell Pennzoil colours on his Penske Dodge, and he started the season with a trip to victory lane in the non-points event. “I was just going to make it one lap at a time and see how it played out,” said Busch, after seven runner-up positions at Daytona. “To experience victory lane here, no matter what the race is, is very special. I just have to thank Jamie McMurray; he stuck with us. He had an unbelievable amount of power to push us and kept us in the mix. When you have a friend like that, that’s what it takes.” Busch was somewhat of a surprise winner and was bump drafted to the win by McMurray, just when it looked like Denny Hamlin, who crossed the finish line first after a bump draft from Ryan Newman, had won the race. However an illegal pass on Newman – who

led the first 12 laps – when he drifted below the yellow ‘non passing zone’ line coming to the checkers, saw him drop kicked to 12th by NASCAR at the finish. “I just made a mistake,” remarked Hamlin, “that yellow line is there to protect us, I just chose to take the safer route. We used some pavement we shouldn’t have.” Jeff Burton, who led the race at the end of the first 25 laps segment and finished eighth overall, led a race-high 32 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr, who drew the pole position, was caught up in a multi-car incident which brought out the race’s second caution of the night, he finished 19th. The two races featured heavily on cars hooking up in two-car drafts during most of the race. “It’s about finding a partner (to draft with) and watching your water temp,” commented Jeff Gordon. The race was the first NASCAR event on the newly paved 2.5 mile speedway and speeds eclipsed the 204mph mark in two car formations during portions of the race.

CRC 200 MANFIELD, NEW ZEALAND

SportProMedia

Outside Edgell NZV8S THERE were three different race winners in Round 5 of the BNT V8s Championship at Manfield Park, but Tim Edgell left with the biggest trophy. After finishing second to Kayne Scott in the opening race, Edgell took out the second race and picked up eighth in the reverse grid finale to wrap up the round

win and moved up to sixth in the standings. “This feels absolutely awesome especially in such hot testing conditions for everyone,” Edgell said. “This result shows the determination both the team and I had to finally come with a round win after our dramas this season. “That last race saw the rules changing every lap by we managed to accumulate

enough points for the overall win.” Scott finished second in Race 2 and even after limping his ailing Falcon home to 10th in the final, took second for the weekend ahead of a consistent Andy Booth. With two rounds remaining, Scott is third in the title fight, following mixed fortunes for points leader Angus Fogg and Craig Baird. Fogg was involved in a startline crash

and eventually classified 14th in the opener, but recovered to take seventh in Race 2 and third in the final. With Fogg’s DNF, Baird took third in Race 1 to reduce the deficit to 10 points, but could only manage 13th in the final, which was won by John McIntyre. Fogg heads to the penultimate round at Taupo next month with a 37-point lead over Baird, with Scott a further 26 behind.

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BAIRD WINS, GAUNT IN WARS GT3 CUP CHALLENGE THE Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge title fight is wide open, following Daniel Gaunt’s disastrous penultimate round at Manfield. Entering the weekend, Gaunt led the standings by 95 points over Jonny Reid, with Craig Baird 118 behind in third. By the end of the weekend, though, Gaunt’s advantage had been slashed to just 25 over Reid and 38 over Baird. Reid qualified on pole ahead of Baird and Gaunt, but the points leader was dropped to eighth to serve a penalty carried over from the previous round. And it didn’t get any better – he failed to finish Race 1 after being caught up in an accident with team-mates Ant Pedersen, Scott Harrison and Shane McKillen. Baird took the win ahead of Reid, while team boss McKillen surrendered his car to Gaunt

for Sunday’s two races. Gaunt made his way through to fifth in Race 2 – won again by Baird ahead of Reid – and passed Pedersen late in the piece to win the Reverse Grid final, with Reid and Baird third and fourth. “With two wins and a fourth I think I definitely got more out of the round than I was expecting, that’s for sure, particularly now, with other people having more issues than me, we are well and truly in the fight for the championship at Taupo,” round winner Baird said. Despite the tough weekend, Gaunt was philosophical. “Sure it’d be nice to have a bit more of a buffer heading to Taupo, but the pressure’s not just on me, it’s on Jonny and Craig as well, and to come back from what happened on Saturday to win the final race in a borrowed car we’re certainly back heading in the right direction,” he said.

Fast Company/Kaptured

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Evans wins NZGP TRS MITCH Evans became the youngest-ever winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix at the weekend at Manfield, wrapping up the Toyota Racing Series’ 2011 International Trophy in the process. To kick off the weekend, Evans was second in each of the opening two races, which were both won by Russians; Daniil Kvyat taking out the opener for the Dan Higgins Memorial Trophy and Ivan Lukashevich the second.

The NZGP feature race, though, was all Evans. From pole, he led Nick Cassidy, until Cassidy spun on Lap 16 and dropped to eventually finish eighth. In the end, Evans took the win from Kvyat by 3.229s, with Scott Pye a further 2.653s in arrears in third. Josh Hill and Nick Foster rounded out the top five. While the ‘International Series’ has now concluded in Evans’ favour, there is still one more round of the regular TRS season, to be held at Taupo on March 11-13. Evans leads those standings, too, with a 210-point advantage over Pye.

WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS ROUND 14 – BUNBURY

Johnson wins, title fight

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race the other major players in the championship. Ryan Farrell, David Priolo, Danny Reidy, Jason Johnson, Kerry Madsen, Shaun Bradford, Max Dumesny and Ian Madsen were just some of those caught up in the carnage. But Farr avoided it all. “This track just continues to be good to me, I love this place and the town,” Farr said. “Hopefully we will continue that tomorrow night. It’s a constant battle in your head; you know the consequences if you come unstuck this deep into the championship. “But at the end of the day if we tear up gear while trying to win this thing we can still hold our heads high.” Murcott said it was like there was a tow-rope between he and Farr. “But I don’t want to be hooked on behind him all the time,” Murcott said.

He said luck went their way in the final. “We started seventh and finished second and only passed a couple of cars. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.” Lines said they had a plan to keep the car straight. “I think we should be happy with the result tonight,” Lines said. “We qualified badly but put our heads down and kept working on it. The Top 10 was rounded out by Bryan Mann, a big mover from 16th, Brooke Tatnell, Kerry Madsen, Jamie Maiolo and Sheldon Brady. The remaining races in WSS will be held Manjimup on Wednesday, before a two-night show at the Perth Motorplex next Friday and Saturday night, where the winner will be decided. – GEOFF ROUNDS

Peter Roebuck

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Peter Roebuck

tight

DAVID Murcott has a slender 18-point lead over Robbie Farr as the battle for the 201011 World Series Sprintcars championship reaches a thrilling conclusion in Western Australia. The pair have waged a two-way battle throughout the series and with just two rounds to go this week, the series can only be won by Murcott or Farr. American Jason Johnson emerged the winner from Murcott, Ian Madsen and Farr at Bunbury Speedway last Saturday night. Johnson has form at this venue with victory in last year’s annual Krikke Boys Memorial, and again showed his liking for the abrasive Bunbury venue as he was never headed in the 30-lap final. The result was sweet for Johnson after crashing out in the preliminary feature race the night before. “Unfortunately we tore up a car last night,” Johnson said. “When you are racing on asphalt you have got to keep it real straight.” Murcott said he will be aiming to keep his consistency going as the finale approaches. “We will just try to keep doing what we are doing, finishing in the top four to five each night and the points will take care of themselves.” Murcott said. At the previous night’s preliminary feature it was Farr off pole leading home his championship challenger in Murcott from Steven Lines. The race would claim some of

TASMANIAN STATE FINE Tasmanian weather made for a great start to the 2011 Tasmanian Super Series. Modest fields attended Round 1 at Baskerville Raceway as a long weekend and various other events kept competitor and crowd numbers down. Those that did venture out were not left wondering who had been doing some development

work in the off-season. Sports GTB competitor Matthew Grace and father Trevor have spent a lot of the time further developing their unassuming Datsun 1200 coupe into a car to watch in the 2011 season. Several Officials and Spectators were heard to call it ‘The Datsun on Steroids’. After winning the Sports GTC class twice, a few changes were made to make a tilt for

the GTB class championship in 2011. The biggest change was the addition of a turbo charger to the new engine that was imported from Japan and fully rebuilt from the ground up. Matthew has achieved significant gains on the timing monitor by up to as much as five seconds. “The car is so much more settled now, it still wants to fight now and then, but it is a lot of fun to drive,” Grace said.

David Clifford

Amazing Grace

Matthew Burns took out Sports GTA and Chris Rushworth GTC, while Michael Cross won Historic Touring Cars. Other winners included Eric Taylor (Sports Sedans), Phil Ashlin (HQ Holdens), Jackson Evans (Formula Vee) and Leigh Forest (Improved Production). The second round of the Tasmanian Super Series will be held at Symmons Plains Raceway on March 13. – DAVID CLIFFORD

KINSER ON TOP AS WOO KICKS OFF OUTLAWS STEVE Kinser’s chase for a 21st World of Outlaws championship has begun in style, winning the King of the Outlaws opener, the 40th DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, Florida. Kinser was near-perfect over the two nights of racing, in a brand new Tony Stewart Racing

car, to win for the second year in a row on the high-speed halfmile oval near Daytona Beach. “The car was just on a rail tonight,” Kinser said. “Winning the dash really helped us get off to a good start for the main event.” Kinser had some luck after Craig Dollansky led the first 27 laps when a mechanical issue forced him out with three laps

to go. Kraig Kinser was on the inside of the front row, his father on the outside, but Steve took the lead in the first corner and gave his Bass Pro Shops team back-to-back victories in the first two World of Outlaws races of the season. “We had a lot of luck tonight,” Kinser said. “We weren’t as strong as we were last night and you hate to

win these things like that.” Donny Schatz came from 17th and finished second to his TSR team-mate. “It was a crazy out here tonight but fun,” Schatz said. Joey Saldana finished third for the second night in a row in his Kasey Kahne Racing Maxim. Tim Shaffer and Paul McMahan rounded out the top five. – GEOFF ROUNDS

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race

Paris Charles

SPEEDWAY SOUTH Australian Sprintcar rookie Brendan Quinn set the cat amongst the pigeons as he claimed the biggest win of his career, winning the prestigious Protec Paint sponsored 360 Sprintcar Cup at Adelaide’s Speedway City. The Revolution Racegear Track Championship Series is still wide open, as every round in the series to date has produced a different winner. Quinn only joined the 360 ranks at the start of the season after claiming the South Australian Lightning Sprint Championship the year prior. “I’m rapt and I have to thank my crew and the sponsors who support our little team,” said the emotionally-charged Quinn. Following Quinn across the finish line was track championship leader Shane Hendry, who had charged his way from the third row of the grid to blast around the

high side of the track, picking off those before him, which included his cousin Jamie Hendry late in the closing stages. Fourth was the reigning national champion Alan Barlee, who ventured down from Darwin to prepare for his upcoming title defence. Mason Merritt was next, followed by the wounded car of Ryan Jones, who started from pole and led early but lost track position with a collapsed front wing. Rookies Brendan Guerin and Tyson Chambers rounded out the finishers. Earlier in the evening, Jones loomed as the man to beat, having taken two heat wins, which included a new track record. Barlee and Shannon Barry claimed a single heat victory each. Round 10 of the Revolution Racegear Track Championship Series will fire up for action on Saturday 26th of February. – PARIS CHARLES

Dirk Klynsmith

Quinn’s big win

New Dallara makes GP2 debut GP2 ASIA JULES Bianchi and Stefano Coletti split the wins in Abu Dhabi, as GP2 Asia debuted GP2’s new generation Dallara chassis. After Romain Grosjean took pole position, Bianchi grabbed the lead at the start, which was marred by a startline accident when Dani Clos stalled and was collected by Luis Razia. Grosjean applied pressure early in the race, but lost time exiting pitlane, while Bianchi, pictured, broke away to claim his maiden GP2 win by 6.68s. Davide Valsecchi was third, ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Geido van der Garde. Max Chilton finished eighth

and was to have started the sprint race from pole, but was penalised for “failing to respect the track limits” during a move on Coletti. It promoted Coletti to eighth and pole on the inverted Top Eight grid and he didn’t disappoint, cruising to a 2.63s victory. Behind him, Josef Kral took second after Sam Bird spun and van der Garde served a drive-though penalty for a grid infringement. Ericsson was third, while Bianchi finished fourth but was later demoted to eighth after being penalised for failing to obey a yellow flag. Grosjean was also in the wars, eliminated by an opening lap incident.

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t o p S Odd

! G A R D A E B N A C LIFE V8 SUPERCARS have a pretty long differential ratio, and aren’t lightening quick off the line. So, you can imagine how blown away Dean Fiore, Tim Slade, Karl Reindler and Jono Webb were when they went drag racing at Yas Marina. This was no ordinary PR stunt drag race, with close-to-standard cars doing 12-second passes; this was four young guys getting the chance to match-race in proper 1200 horsepower rail dragsters, at the state-of-the-art Yas Marina drag strip. It started on the Tuesday, when Fiore, Slade, Webb and Reindler were plucked from the group of V8 Supercar drivers as they were about to take on the GP2 Asia guys in a kart race. Why those four? Well, paddock whisper has it that they were the four that got the green light from their team bosses. Anyway, the foursome did some training on the Tuesday afternoon, after NHRA star Rodney Fuller shook the brand new cars down. Under Fuller’s watchful eye, they had a few runs – before taking part in a media event on Wednesday evening. “The crazy thing is that I was about to go karting,” said Fiore. “I only got the call half an hour before I was strapped in the car! I had no idea what I was doing, and they were brand new cars. It was awesome. “The first run, it was like the biggest, fastest rollercoaster you could ever go on, except you’re in control. On a rollercoaster, you just sit there. In the drag car, you’re in control of what happens next. “It was an amazing experience. You’re on the wheel the whole way, because the front wheels want to take off. After the first run, I didn’t think I would ever be able to get used to the speed, but by the last run, I was right into it.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN