Motorsport eNews Issue 211 - June 28-July 4, 2011

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Issue No. 211 June 28 - July 04 2011

V8s TEXAS BOUND! NEW GRAND PRIX TRACK SET TO HOST V8 SUPERCARS AS SOON AS 2012. FULL DETAILS INSIDE

FIRST LOOK: MURPH’S NEW WAR PAINT

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Issue No. 211 | June 28 - July 4 2011

news 4

More great taste, same fizz!

Murph’s new Pepsi warpaint 6 Symmons Com Plains?

AFL in in Tas – V8s out?

8 Did they call him ‘Greg’?

Bairdo at the Ring 12 Vee vill have a V6 F1 engine rule rethink 14 Save team. No Bull NASCAR team regroups

chat 24 Five Minutes With ...

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comment 26 Addison: Ready Jordan 27 White: Tassie thoughts

race 28 Shannons Nationals 34 Valencia’s European GP 38 Iowa Indycar 42 Infineon NASCAR 46 Nurburgring 24 Hourrs 48 Extras

trade 50 Classifieds 3

MURPH’S NEW LOOK BOTH COOL AND HOT V8 SUPERCARS

T

HESE are the colours that Greg Murphy will race in from now until Bathurst – and you’re seeing them first in eNews.

The Pepsi Max Crew Commodore will take on this new look at the Townsville round, tying in with the launch of Pepsi Max’s first lime-infused cola product. The design is the brainchild of Sydney-based artist Shannon Crees, and according

4

to Adam Burling from Pepsi Max, the new-for-2011 sponsor is very pleased with its new look.

“We’re excited about this,” Burling told eNews.

“You get designs through, but you don’t really know until they take on their new life as a 3D image. But we’re really happy with this one. I think the race team could be calling it their favourite so far.

“Pepsi Max is all about doing things outside the norm, so one of the key objectives for us

this year was to look for ways to break through the clutter and do things differently. We love the reaction we’re getting to changing the livery; if you speak to Greg, the feedback he gets at the track is amazing, whether it’s good or bad. The key for us is the unexpected talkability we get for changing the livery.

“It’s an interesting year for us, because it’s our first year, and it takes a while to build credibility and status within the series. If you’re not running in the Top

3, you’re not getting talked about that much. But we’ve been happy with how the car has performed, and we’ve been really happy with Greg and the Kelly Racing guys – they are awesome to work with.”

The current livery will stay on the car until Bathurst, where the winning design from Pepsi Max’s ‘Skin it to Win’ will be revealed, giving a member of the public a chance to design the fourth scheme. A second version of the competition will be run for the

motorsport news

NEWS

TEXAS SET FOR V8 RACE V8 SUPERCARS

V

T

fifth and final livery of 2011, to be debuted in Sydney.

“The current Skin it to Win is currently live, and it’s to design our fourth livery, which will be launched at Bathurst. It’s been purely through Facebook and at the track. We’re actually doing a huge promotion for someone to design our fifth livery for Sydney, and we’ll be taking that on pack and taking it national, just because the uptake and feedback has been brilliant.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

8 SUPERCARS looks set to spread its wings to the Unites States next season, with a race planned for the new Grand Prix-standard circuit in Austin, Texas. eNews has learned that the new Circuit of the Americas, which is due to host the 2012 US Grand Prix on June 17, is likely to welcome V8 Supercars, probably in the northern Spring. The US race, which could be confirmed in the US as early as this week, would be the fourth international event next season, after Abu Dhabi, Hamilton and a proposed race on the shortened version of the Formula 1 circuit at Marina Bay, Singapore.

Work on the circuit, which has been designed

by F1 track guru Hermann Tilke, began in January, with a completion date of Spring next year. The track enjoys the support of the city of Austin, which is the state capital of Texas, and promoters predict that as many as 120,000 spectators will attend the maiden F1 race.

The consortium that is building the circuit is headed by Austin native Tavo Hellmund, the son of the former promoter of the Mexican GP in

the 1980s and who had links with the Brabham F1 team at the time it was owned for Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone. Among the private investors in the US$200 million project are Red McCombs, a billionaire Texas businessman and philanthropist, and Bobby Epstein, who heads the San Antonio-based Prophet Capital Management.

The date for the V8 Supercar event could be affected by moves in the US to move the F1 date to later in the year, because of the likelihood of hot weather in June.

The track, which is located 22km from the state’s capital, is set to host Formula 1 from next year until 2021, and MotoGP from 2013-2022. Its GP layout features 20 turns in 5.5km but there will be a number of alternative, shorter layouts.

As is the case at Abu Dhabi and previously at Tilke tracks V8 Supercars has visited, like Shanghai and Bahrain, it is likely that the V8s will utilise a shorter track.

Austin, the fourth-biggest city in Texas and 13th biggest in the USA, has a population of just under 800,000. It is 320km south of Dallas, which since May, has had direct flights to and from the east coast of Australia with Qantas.

WHEN PUSH COMES TO CHEV V8 SUPERCARS WHEN the V8 Supercars line up to race in the USA, there will be Fords – but will there be Holdens?

The GM-based cars that make it to Austin could be rebranded from their current Holden badges, and there is a precedent for this.

When the V8 Supercar Championship Series headed to China in 2005, Rick Kelly’s car was liveried as a Buick, GM’s biggest-selling brand in the People’s Republic. The races in Shanghai were not a great experience for the HSV Dealer Team, which used the event as a catalyst to rebuild for the two titles that came www.mnews.com.au

in the following years.

Buick does not sell cars similar to Holden Commodores in the USA but Chevrolet does, with a Caprice-based car sold to US Police departments. The Chevrolet Caprice PPV comes in both ‘Patrol’ (ie, police livery and flashing lights) and ‘Detective’ models – though the fact that the latter is sold only to law enforcement agencies might not make it much use in undercover operations ...

So it could just be that Chevrolet badging may feature at the Circuit of the Americas.

On the other hand, Ford’s branding would be pretty much unaffected, in spite of the fact that the Falcon is not sold in the USA. 5

SYMMONS SWANSONG?

Tasmanian Government backs AFL – is 2011 the last local V8 Supercar race?

V8 SUPERCARS TASMANIANS might be watching their V8 Supercar racing on television rather than watching it at Symmons Plains, after the Tasmanian government last week backed AFL football in the state.

North Melbourne will play two of its home games at Bellrive Oval in Hobart next season, after a deal was struck between the AFL, North Melbourne,

Hobart City Council, Hobart Chamber of Commerce and Premier Laura Giddings.

The funding from the government is expected to come from the same funds previously earmarked for V8 Supercars at Symmons.

The Launceston event was originally going to be subject to a three-year deal between the government and V8 Supercaers Australia, “At the government’s request we

negotiated a one-year deal for 2001, in order to give them time to consider future funding of the event,” V8 Supercars spokesman Cole Hitchcock said.

“We will continue discussing with them [the government] returning in 2012, but there is no certainty one way or the other.”

This year’s event, the Falken Tasmania Challenge, will be held at Symmons Plains between November 11-13.

Jones, Cam return

FUJITSU V8s FORMER Fujitsu Series champion Andrew Jones and HRT endurance driver Cameron McConville will rejoin the series at Townsville next week.

With Phillip Island and Bathurst fast approaching, Brad Jones Racing has elected to give A Jones some extra miles as he prepares for the long distance races. He is likely to race at the Queensland Raceway round as well, in a Flexi Hire-backed Commodore.

“We’re definitely doing 6

Townsville and there’s a plan to also race at Queensland Raceway and potentially the rest of the year,” Jones told the official V8 Supercars website.

“I guess the situation is one where I get to get some miles before the enduros but that’s not the whole aim of competing. We’re fortunate enough to have a really good backer and hopefully it will continue further into something further through the year.”

McConville, currently in 13th position in the V8 Utes series,

will drive a Walkinshaw Racingprepared Commodore VE on the street circuit.

“It has been brewing for about six weeks,” McConville said on Monday.

“Walkinshaw have their resources stretched a bit at present, with running the HRT cars, the Bundaberg Racing V8 Supercar and a Ute, plus their customer work. But James Courtney fell to 16th in Darwin and I lost doing the co-driver session [at Townsville] so that moved things along a bit.”

McConville will reunite with

the Ben Ecclestone-owned VE, which has received a bit of TLC in the last week. Jason Bush, formerly Tony D’Alberto’s race engineer, will oversee McConville’s weekend.

“The car has been sitting idle since Bathurst last year,” he said. “I think that I will be competitive in Townsville, but I am not going up there thinking that I am going to win.”

The pair of drivers will be part of a huge 28-car field for Townsville, which will include Paul Morris and James Brock. motorsport news

NEWS

KELLYS KEEPING IT REAL 10 Drivers face off in karts and Renault Meganes, for a Bathurst 1000 drive V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCAR’S foray into reality television has officially been announced.

Kelly Racing’s ‘Shannons Supercar Showdown’ concept was launched last week, along with the list of 10 contestants that will fight it out for a spot alongside Grant Denyer in a fifth KR car at Bathurst this year.

The car will be backed by Shannons and Mars, with the series to begin airing on 7mate on July 23. The show will be produced by WTFN and The Media Mix. “It’s always been a big thing for us, particularly on the marketing and commercial side, to have www.mnews.com.au

a point of difference to other teams,” Rick Kelly told eNews.

“This is one way of doing that.

“When we floated the idea to a couple of established people in the sport they said ‘you’re not the first people to think of this. It won’t work’. So it’s been exciting for us to actually get the concept to a point where it will go ahead.

“It’s a little bit different to what normal teams are about, but in saying that it’s also been a lot of work, and we need to make sure it doesn’t distract us from our main goal, which is building a good V8 Supercar team and win races. It’s a bit of a juggling act at the moment.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Shannons Supercar Showdown Contestants Andrew Jordan Amber Anderson Ben Small Cameron Waters David Sera Hayley Swanson Nick Cassidy Samantha Reid Shae Davies Nick Foster

UK Aus Aus Aus Aus Aus NZ Aus Aus Aus

22 26 23 16 22 23 16 24 21 19

BTCC race winner V8 Supercar Safety Car driver Former karting/AFFC racer AFFC race winner 11-time Aust Karting Champ Part-time race driver/model AFFC competitor Former AFFC racer AFFC competitor AFFC race winner 7

BAIRD STRUGG TOUGH CONDITI OVERSEAS

CRAIG Baird has finished 39th at the Porsche Carrera World Cup at the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

The race, which featured a full field of 97 cars, was held last weekend during the Nurburgring 24 Hour race, and was held in poor weather conditions. After qualifying 29th, Baird was unable to move forward during the race.

“We needed the rain like a hole in the head at the start of the race,” said Baird.

“Realistically, in the dry, we could have kept moving forward, as we were posting quicker times in the dry every lap we did. We really had to re-learn the circuit in the wet. There were so

SEIDERS GETS CITY SUPPORT FUJITSU V8s COLIN Sieders will arrive Townsville a week before most of the drivers who’ll race at next weekend’s V8 Supercar round.

The Fujitsu Series competitor will again run with strong local support on the ‘City of Townsville Racing Falcon’, and will arrive in the region on Wednesday. After finishing the car’s sign writing, Sieders will take it around the city, conducting public appearances at a range of venues to raise money for Flood Relief North Queensland. For a gold coin donation, the public will have the chance to sign a message on the Supercar.

“The support we got from the local Townsville community last 8

year was fantastic,” Sieders said.

“We had 13 businesses get behind the concept, and quite a few more who wanted to be involved in the future, and we’re

well on our way to bettering that this year.

“The week of promotional appearances before the round last year was really enjoyable

and, with a few more places booked in this year, I’m looking forward to getting out there with the public again.

“There’s a lot of people out motorsport news

NEWS

GLES IN IONS

James Smith

many different surface changes throughout the track and you just don’t know what the grip levels are. If I had pushed on in the wet conditions I would have been in the fence. I just had to pioneer my way around and get to the end of the race.

“It was a good experience, but to do this race you really need to do the VLN race and experience all the weather conditions like the guys at the front did. It’s no different from when the Europeans come to Bathurst.

“I’m obviously disappointed with the result but I’m happy the car came back in one piece.”

The race was won by German driver Rene Rast, with Austrian Norbert Siedler second, and German Lance David Arnold third.

MILES ALLOWED TO RUN BF AT BATHURST FUJITSU V8s

IT’S all systems go for Miles Racing, as they look to step up into the Main Game later this year.

As revealed by eNews, the Fujitsu Series squad wants to give drivers Chaz Mostert and Ash Walsh their Bathurst debuts as a wildcard entrant.

However, 2010 was the last year BF Falcons were eligible for the Main Game, and with a lack of FG Falcons on the market, team owner Wayne Miles sought dispensation to run one of his team’s BFs. That has now been granted, and Miles will submit an application for a wildcard slot to use their third BF, recently purchased from Howard Racing.

“The young fellas are pretty keen, so we’ll get some experience for the young fellas while we can,” Miles said.

“We were already preparing, picking up little bits and pieces that we may need, and the crew’s going to be an important thing as well. We’ve got some experienced guys coming in, and we’ll train some of our younger crew on what will be going on.

“We’re building the third car at the minute and we’ll try and run that at the Queensland Raceway Fujitsu Series round beforehand.

“It’s all coming together, which is good. It makes it very, very busy, but that’s what we do.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

BETTER TV FOR FV8s FUJITSU V8s there who aren’t doing so well, so when we were asked to help support Food Relief NQ, we were only too willing to do our little bit to try to help the problem.” www.mnews.com.au

THE Fujitsu Series’ television package has been boosted for Queensland Raceway’s round.

Other than Bathurst’s support round, the second-tier series’ racing is only shown in a onehour, post-produced package the week after

each event. But for the August 19-21 event, Round 4 of the Fujitsu Series, Races 1 and 3 will be included in the primary V8 Supercar telecasts – on Seven on Saturday and 7mate on Sunday.

A post-produced Fujitsu Series show will still be shown, on August 27.

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NEWS

TWO EUROS LOCK IN 12 HOUR BATHURST 12 HOUR A PAIR of international teams have already committed to next year’s Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

Bathurst organisers have teamed up with Creventic, a Dutch group that promotes 24 hour races in Dubai and Barcelona and a 12 hour race in Hungary, for 2012, with a view to attracting additional

international entries. And it’s already paying off, with Creventic reporting that they’ve received entries from two European teams.

The winners of May’s Hungary 12 Hour, VDS Racing Adventures from Belgium will run a GT3 Ford Mustang, while Dutch Red Camel Racing Team will run a SEAT Leon in one of the event’s new Invitational classes.

“We are confident that we

can attract more teams from Europe or the Middle East to race at Bathurst and we are looking forward to a great partnership with our friends in Australia!” Creventic’s Gerrie Willems said on his group’s website.

“Whilst the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour will not become an integral part of our 24H SERIES, it is a fantastic addition to our portfolio. We will actively

promote the event in Europe.

Not only among the teams who are competing in our events or have done so in the past, but among all teams in Europe.

“After all, one could say that racing at Bathurst is a must for every passionate driver.”

Bathurst 12 Hour chief James O’Brien was in Germany for the weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hour race to meet prospective international competitors.

on July 14-17.

The Sydneysider says he may even make further F3 starts later in the year.

“I’m going to have another run, it’s all hands on deck getting everything sorted,” Sofi, who won at Eastern Creek in 2009, said.

“I did a one-off race there last year, which we didn’t really do too much preparation for. It was fairly last minute, so this time

we’re going to try and get out a little bit earlier, do a bit more with the car, and have a bit of a crack.

“It’ll be good to get out there and have a bit of a drive. It’s been a long time.

“With work and a few other things, it’s been a bit hard to get out and do any racing recently.

But things have settled down a little bit, so we’ll get out and have a run at Eastern Creek

and maybe towards the end of the year I might do one or two rounds more.

“But at this point in time I’m only going to do the one and see how it goes.”

Astuti Motorsport boss Sam Astuti told eNews that he had spoken to several drivers about running his second F307, but that it was unlikely the car would run.

– MITCHELL ADAM

FORMULA 3 MAT Sofi will return to the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship for his home event.

Sofi last raced in the series fulltime in 2009, but made a one-off appearance last year at Eastern Creek. This year, he’ll do the same, getting back behind the wheel of his Dallara F307, with Astuti Motorsport to run the car

Dirk Klynsmith

SOFI BACK IN F3 AT EC

KINGSLEY GETTING NEW RIDE READY GT3 CUP CHALLENGE MATT Kingsley is hopeful of being back on track when the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge continues at Eastern Creek in a fortnight.

Kingsley’s 996 CupCar was written off in an accident at Mallala in May, after Jon Trende lost control of his 997 at the 10

circuit’s sweeper and cannoned across the infield into Kingsley and Rob Knight. The ’09 champ has since taken delivery of Trende’s old 996, which is currently being repaired and built up, with Kingsley aiming to be back for the July 14-17 round.

“We’re going to use Trende’s 996 shell that he had a bingle

in ’09 at Eastern Creek,” Kingsley said.

“It’s got a bit of rail damage on the front and rear quarter.

We’ve got that shell here now, we’ll put a front tub in it and start transferring parts from my car into it. I think because Trende’s car was the very last 996 shell to come out of Weissach, the car’s only done

about five or six race meetings, where mine has done about 500!

“If we get it done in time we’ll be at Eastern Creek. If not, we’ll have to be getting ready for Morgan Park. I’d say we’re about a 70/30 chance of making Eastern Creek. We don’t have a lot of money to spend, so we’ll just do it bit by bit.” motorsport news

FUCHS are proud to be sponsors of and who have collectively won 4 races in the past 4 rounds.

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TURBO SIXES BACK FORMULA 1

sutton-images.com

FORMULA 1 is going back to the future, with introduction of turbocharged V6 powerplants for the 2014 season.

The original plan was for 1.6 litre, turbo inline four cylinder engines to replace the current 2.4 litre V8s in 2013, a push towards ‘green’ technology believed to have been led by Renault. By while that plan seemed to struggle to gain universal approval, the concept of making 1.6 litre V6 engines has been given the green light

by F1’s technical chiefs.

It has been reported that Ferrari was the most opposed to the four cylinder plan, as it doesn’t have a production four cylinder engine, but with a V6 in its current development

JAIME HAPPY WITH EIGHTH FORMULA 1

12

sutton-images.com

JAIME Alguersuari has praised his Toro Rosso team after they turned a difficult weekend into an eighth place finish in Valencia on Sunday.

A risky two-stop strategy help the young Spaniard make up 10 places during the race, a critical result with mounting pressure over his future in the team coming in the form of Australian Daniel Ricciardo. It was made even more impressive by the fact that Alguersuari was forced to sit out Free Practice 2 with an engine problem.

“I am very happy with this result, especially after I only qualified in 18th place,” he said.

“It definitely paid off to concentrate on race set-up. This was a fantastic race and I want to thank my mechanics who worked so hard after the problems we had with my car on Friday during Free Practice. So this result is a reward I am happy to give them.

Even though I still struggle to get the best out of the tyres in qualifying, I feel I now have a much better understanding of how to use them in the race and that’s definitely the best way round as the points are only given out after the race!

“We were able to run at a consistent pace all afternoon, which was the key to this result and it’s the first time this season that I have had this feeling from the car and I am happy about that.

Apart from working well with the tyres, I think the updates the team brought here were also a contributing factor, as they worked well and that partly explains why my pace was really good.” motorsport news

NEWS

WE’RE IN F1 ALONSO: CATCHING RED BULL

cycle, the Italian carmaker has expressed approval of the revised plan.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh was another to voice a positive opinion on the V6 engine.

“The important one is that I am happy we have agreement between manufacturers,” Whitmarsh said.

“They have all agreed and endorsed this, which is extremely positive.

“The teams have agreed it. It was agreed overwhelmingly within the Formula 1 Commission yesterday, so I think that’s positive because clearly there has been a range of different opinions expressed and felt. So to achieve a consensus among all the parties was very positive.”

FORMULA 1 FERNANDO Alonso has warned Red Bull Racing that Ferrari are hunting them down.

The Spaniard told media after Sunday’s European Grand Prix that Ferrari have halved the gap it had to RBR at the start of the season – and that he expects the gap to keep narrowing.

“Well I think we need to be realistic knowing that our pace now is not enough to win races or be on pole position,” he said.

“But there is a clear trend, a clear direction that is moving forward and we did some good steps in the car. We were 1.5 seconds [behind] on average in the first three or four races of the championship. Now maybe we have

WEBBER TAKES THE BLAME FORMULA 1

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halved the gap.

“We need to wait for Silverstone, Nurburgring, circuits that are more normal circuits, not only straights and big braking. But we are confident that we have understood our problems. The wind tunnel problems we had at the beginning of the year so now all the parts we put on the car, all the ideas that we have, we know now they are working so that is definitely a positive thing.

“What we can do on the track side, drivers, engineers, mechanics, is to deliver. It is to do clean races with no mistakes, good starts, good strategy as we see today. “In terms of strategy today we did very well. We overtook one Red Bull at the end and hopefully that will be in the papers tomorrow as well.”

/news, CLICK HERE to get to GPWeek magazine www.gp w

eek.com

MARK Webber has taken the blame for the strategic mistake that cost him second place in Sunday’s European Grand Prix.

Webber was locked in a tense battle for second place with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso throughout the race, before taking his third and final pit-stop for the prime tyres slightly earlier than the Spaniard. While Webber expected the new tyres to be quicker, they weren’t, the extra laps allowing Alonso to steal second place.

“Up until my last pitstop it was my best race of the year,” said Webber.

“It was nice to have Seb in sight and, as was the case in Turkey, my mirrors were full of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

The three of us were never separated by more than five seconds until the last pitstop, and we couldn’t afford to back off for a moment.

“I thought a new set of prime tyres would be faster than the used set of options on Fernando’s car. Unfortunately, I was wrong: Fernando was able to lap faster than me and, in the end, that was enough for him to pass me.

“It was frustrating not to finish second, but there were still a lot of positives to take away from this weekend.”

13

Wheldon in Dallara test role JGR’s INDYCAR

DAN Wheldon may not have a full-time Indycar seat but he will have a test program later in the year, in a prototype 2012 racer.

Wheldon and Bryan Herta Autosport have been chosen to test the new Dallara safety cell prototype that will be used from the start of next season.

“Dan (Wheldon), Bryan (Herta) and (co-owner) Steve Newey have extensive experience

in testing and development programs,” said Tony Cotman, project manager for the 2012 car.

“We know our prototypes will be in the best hands as we finalise the chassis aspect of the program. This verification testing furthers our commitment to ensure that our new car meets all the performance criteria promised to our drivers, teams and fans.”

Chassis testing is scheduled for August and September with

all teams receiving their first new chassis by December 15.

“For me to not be racing is obviously something that I am disappointed about,” said Wheldon, who now has a role as a commentator on Indycar broadcasts.

“But being able to do the testing program will put me in a fantastic position for the future and I am thankful to the IndyCar Series, Honda and Firestone for the opportunity.”

– MARY MENDEZ

over b NASCAR

JOE Gibbs Racing’s three crew chiefs have been fined US$50,000 over the intended use of non-approved oil pans at Michigan.

The team has been let off relatively lightly because of the fact that the pans were

Milwa INDYCAR

NASCAR media

Red Bull linked with Stewart, Edwards NASCAR THE Red Bull Racing Sprint Cup team may have a future, despite the news that the energy drink is splitting with the team.

Rumours persist that Red Bull is destined to sponsor Stewart Haas Racing, or that Carl Edwards (whose contract is up with Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the year) will take the sponsor to Joe Gibbs Racing in a fourth 14

Toyota.

RBR team manager Jay Frye is actively seeking investors to take over the operation in an attempt to keep the two-car team intact. Whether Red Bull remains as even a subsidiary sponsor in that situation will have to be seen.

Such a plan could also include Mark Martin with Hendrick supplied engines, something Frye has been trying to put together for some time.

Compared to the company’s

F1 team, the NASCAR operation has lagged with just one victory – a fuel mileage gamble with Brian Vickers in 2009. One thing to consider is Frye has been at the helm of three teams when they were shuttered – MB2 Motorsports, MBV Motorsports and Ginn Racing – and any plan to revitalise the team should be taken with a pinch of salt.

– MARTIN D CLARK

INDYCAR drivers were thrilled to return to the flat, one-mile oval on the state fairgrounds at the Milwaukee Mile. But not that many fans returned and the race’s future is clouded.

The new promoter group, AB Productions, which revived the race after a one-year absence on the IndyCar schedule, filled less than half the grandstands, perhaps 15,000 fans. Choice of advertising was focused on social media and lacked promotion in newspapers, radio and TV. The date also moved from the traditional week after the Indy 500 to be held two weeks later on Father’s Day. Live race TV coverage was not blacked out locally. And, other events competing with the race included NASCAR in Michigan and the very popular June Sprints hosted by SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) at nearby Elkhart Lake’s road circuit. Not to mention a huge downpour hours before the Milwaukee 225 race, discouraging most walk up ticket buyers. motorsport news

NEWS

s light pan banned pans Any changes from approved items have to be assessed by NASCAR and this change fell under that banner. JGR’s crew chiefs Mike Ford, Greg Zipadelli and Dave Rogers (pictured right with Kyle Busch) have also been placed on probation.

– MARTIN D CLARK

TOYOTA media

discovered prior to competition, during initial inspection at the track and the team was forced to change them. The oil pans were weighted, but apparently the changes to the design were focused on adding front down force aiding aerodynamics and not nose weight, as first rumoured.

aukee Mile future in doubt “Their last race here in 2009 was a great crowd,” explained Bobby Rahal. “I know they’re starting from scratch after a change in promoters. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t fill this place, it’s so close to Chicago and Minneapolis. I sat in the grandstand today and I love the Cheeseheads (referring to Wisconsin fans where cheese products are prominent, especially NFL Green Bay Packer fans). They were buying me beers. Milwaukee is my favorite oval.”

The historic Milwaukee track is considered a real drivers’ track, where results are less dependent on car set up.

Older than Indianapolis, the Milwaukee Mile has operated since 1903.

“It’s great to be back in Milwaukee,” said Oriol Servia.

“Milwaukee is part of IndyCar history and should be part of IndyCar’s future. It’s a great track and very challenging. You ask any driver out there – we all love one-mile ovals, low banked like Indy. And it’s a great city. So I

really hope it’s there to stay for the long run.”

“The Milwaukee 225 was a great race, exactly what everyone told me it would be,” Bernard told SpeedTV.com.

“Obviously, the crowd was pretty disappointing and I don’t want to give up on it yet. But I’m also not willing to say we’re going to bring it back. We made some mistakes and learned some lessons and now we need to do some evaluating.”

Milwaukee competes in the same market as Chicagoland, an

ISC owned track, which is under new management. President Scott Paddock met with Indycar CEO, Randy Bernard, about Indycar’s return, perhaps as early as next season.

“We’re both working toward the same goal of bringing a race back to Chicago, “ said Bernard, influenced by title sponsor Izod’s request to return. “It’s close for the teams (to Indy), and we have such a strong crowd within a 300-mile radius of the Indy 500.”

– MARY MENDEZ

IZOD INDYCAR media

www.mnews.com.au

15

DOG STOPS RACE.

NO, REALLY

SHANNONS NATIONALS BEYOND incidents, debris and NASCAR’s favourite – ‘competition cautions’ – there aren’t too many things that can cause a Safety Car. But Winton’s Shannons Nationals round last weekend had a new one. There was a dog on the circuit.

During the second Saloon Car race of the weekend, a four-legged invader made its way onto track. Fortunately, it wasn’t hit and a Safety Car period was called to stabilise the field. Officials tried to retrieve it, but the dog was on a qualifying run; evading them, jumping a fence and fleeing the circuit.

“I was commentating the Saloon Car race with (series commentator) Garry O’Brien, and there was a Safety Car period,” MNews contributor and Winton anchor commentator Lachlan Mansell explained.

“But we couldn’t work out why, because there weren’t any cars stopped or anything. And then we saw a dog running across the infield, and the marshalls chasing it in one of their recovery vehicles. It ended up jumping up over the fence and running away.

“I still can’t believe it.”

HUNTER MAKES IT FOR SONIC IN SYDN FORMULA FORD JOSH Hunter will compete at the next round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Eastern Creek next month.

The Victorian state series front-runner will make the step to the national series with Sonic Motor Racing Services in his Mygale, joining the Formula Ford grid as it makes

it Shannons Nationals debut at the Sydney circuit on July 14.

Hunter, along with most of the national series drivers, competed at the recent New South Wales state series round at EC in preparation for the national round.

“It was a good way to see where we’re at,” Hunter told eNews.

“I’m happy with the pace we had. Running with Sonic, it’s a

SRA & PREMIER SPEEDWAY DATES SET SPEEDWAY THE 40th running of the prestigious Lucas Oils Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will headline the 2011-12 racing season at Premier Speedway.

Set down for January 21 and 22, the Classic follows the annual New Year’s Day World Series Sprintcars event, with the season finishing with the traditional third leg of the Easter Sprintcar Trail.

The Warrnambool venue opens its racing season on November 13 and will host 11 meetings before concluding on April 21.

Meanwhile, the Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria has its Eureka Garages and Sheds Series set to go with 13 rounds locked in for action.

A massive $10,000 to win is on the line as Avalon Raceway, Geelong kick starts the new season on October 15 in the Sprintcar Jackpot. This is just a tease for the opening round of the popular series to start in Bordertown, South Australia, on October 21.

Rounds quickly follow at Murray Bridge, Horsham, Avalon, Mount Gambier and Warrnambool with the finale at Premier Speedway on March 24.

“The SRA pride ourselves on the working relationship with the venue operators. We would all be working hard together to make the new season not only a great season for the competitors but one that will give the all important spectators value for money,” SRA president Ian Vale said.

16

QUEENSLANDER KARTING THE Warwick Kart Club is set to host the biggest event in the club’s history this weekend, when just shy of 400 entries tackle the Queensland State Championships.

With 16 classes on offer the event will see no less than five current class National Champions in the mix, including James Golding, who will line up in the largest field for the meeting, Junior National Light, with 40 competitors all vying for the blue plate on offer.

Set to race wheel-to-wheel against Golding are a host of Queensland’s best, not to mention many from all over the country, motorsport news

NEWS

Dirk Klynsmith

FOUR NEY perfect benchmark. The Sonic guys are right at the front in the national series, so when I’m close to them on pace, I know it’s a good sign.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there at Eastern Creek.”

Hunter will also do the Symmons Plains national round in November, as well as one more.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

NEW FORD UTE ENGINE GETTING READY FOR WORK V8 UTES

John Morris / Mpix

THE start of development work on the Auto-One V8 Ute Racing Series’ new-generation Ford is edging closer.

Ford Racing’s Coyote engine has been selected to power an FG Ute, and dyno testing with the series’ engine builder Craig Hasted will start next week.

From there, it’ll hit the track in an existing FG prototype, with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport driver Warren Luff – a former Ute Champion – likely to be enlisted for the early stages of testing before competitors get their first taste. The series hopes the FG will make its

racing debut at Bathurst in October, and that all existing BF Fords will be replaced in time for the 2012 season opener.

“Craig’s working with Motec on a loom and an ECU for it now, it’s anticipated the engine will hit the dyno next week, Tuesday to be precise,” V8 Utes Category Manager Craig Denyer told eNews.

“Once that’s been dyno’d, then the plan is to put it straight into the FG prototype that we have, and run it in a formal track test.

“We’ll probably get an independent driver to benchmark it against the VE and the BF, probably Warren Luff, who’s done most of that

over the years, then we’ll probably take it to Eastern Creek where it’s anticipated we’ll offer all of our Ford shareholders a drive, so they can see what it’s like before we decide on the final specification of the vehicle.

“Assuming nothing comes out of left field, or bites us that we hadn’t planned for, we’re still on track to try and debut the car at Bathurst. Even if we only run one or two over the final two or three rounds of the championship, it at least gives us some decent R&D before everyone converts to the FG for next year.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

RS GEAR UP FOR TITLES with reining Queensland Champion Lachlan McHugh sure to be right up the pointy end.

Aaron Seton, son of former V8 Supercar star Glen Seton, and Jake Downs are just two more who will be looking to fly the flag for the host state, while looking to take the trophy back across the border will be the likes of Victorians Jake Klein, Thomas Randle, James Abela and Damon Strongman, as well as South Aussie Luke Marquis and Michael Saller from New South Wales.

The Championships are expected to be a massive boost for the Warwick club, who has worked tirelessly in order to have the venue in readiness, including recently extending the Sandy Creek Raceway to 993 metres in length. www.mnews.com.au

“There is no doubt that these championships are the biggest event that we have hosted here at Warwick,” said Warwick Kart Club President Bob Larance.

“Everyone in the club has been working tirelessly to ensure everything is in readiness for the championships.”

“July should be a really good month for us financially with the Queensland State Title and now Pro Tour, plus we have the Junior Challenge a few weeks after that so it will be good to recoup some of the funds we have spent.”

With more than 1000 people including drivers, crews and their families set to converge on Warwick, it should be a great boost for not only the club but also the entire Southern Downs region.

17

ASSEN: LONE STAR STATE

)LU :WPLZ [HRLZ ÄYZ[ .7 ^PU! :[VULY L_[LUKZ WVPU[Z SLHK MOTOGP

Yamaha Racing

BEN Spies is rarely one to waste an opportunity.

The Texan realised on the first lap that he was in a position to win the Assen TT in Holland. The only man faster than he was in qualifying, Marco Simoncelli, had hit the ground on the first lap, taking Jorge Lorenzo with him. So all Ben had to do was ride 26 perfect laps – not easy in tricky, damp conditions – and that is what he did.

“It was a strange race today as it was one of the most comfortable races we had, and it resulted in a win,” said the American after the race.

“I saw the Simoncelli crash on the TV screen in the corner of my eye so I knew about it. I had a good feeling in the bike in the first couple of laps and had to push as much as I could to get a gap. When Casey [Stoner] was pushing

back I still had a few tenths if I needed to, we could always match the pace.”

Stoner was a solid if distant second, ahead of his Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. Valentino Rossi kept his head while many around lost theirs, coming home fourth.

For Simoncelli, it was an opportunity lost.

“The truth is that I was very naïve,” he said after dragging his damaged Honda home ninth, two spots behind Lorenzo.

“It was the first left-hander, the asphalt was cold and, although I don't think that I went in too hard to get past Lorenzo, I felt that I couldn't hold back because I was third and close to the front two. There was time though, and I could have waited. I am unhappy to have caught Lorenzo up in my crash and can only apologise to him.”

Ducati turns 2011 into a Leap Year MOTOGP

Ducati Corse

18

MOTOGP’S 2012 rules were in many people’s minds last week, with Ducati running a version of what was intended to be next year’s bike at Assen.

Valentino Rossi debuted a new ‘GP11.1’ in Holland, which is based on the GP12 that has been undergoing testing in his and Nicky Hayden’s hands. The new bike features a heavily revised chassis and seamless transmission but with the 800cc V4 from the GP11 installed.

The hybrid bike did not appear to be a quantum leap over the GP11 in qualifying. Rossi qualified 11th,

behind not only Hayden’s GP11 but the private Ducatis of Karel Abraham in seventh and Randy de Puniet in 10th. Rossi managed to finish fourth but he was an unflattering 30s behind race winner Ben Spies, although the Italian was one place, and 13s, ahead of Hayden.

On the other hand, Yamaha Factory Racing has rescheduled its planned test of its 2012 1000cc bike. The teams aid that the delay was “to allow for further time for the development of the bike”.

It is now planned that Spies and Jorge Lorenzo will test the machine following the Czech Republic round at Brno on August 14. motorsport news

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19

NEWS

MITCHENER UNLUCKY IN FRANCE KARTING

VICTORIAN Lee Mitchener couldn’t defend his victory at the Bruno Grana International Trophy event in France over the weekend.

The IAME-only event is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Bruno Grana, IAME founder, and to his contribution to the sport of Karting, with the race taking place at the International Circuit of Lavelanet in the Pyrenees region, south of France.

After winning the X30 Gentleman class last year,

Mitchener returned to defend his title with the Number 1 on his Euro Karting Team prepared DR kart, but was slightly down on pace early on qualifying eighth to put him on the second row in group two for the heats.

From there the current Australian Leopard Heavy Champion recorded a fine second place, followed by a fifth in his two heats on Saturday before crossing the line fourth in his final heat on Sunday.

Disaster struck in the Prefinal, with Mitchener reduced

to a spectator when his engine became too lean while he was sitting fourth and looking to pass the two drivers right in front of him.

“The engine was too lean and when I lifted off the throttle at the end of the straight the engine had ‘run on’, which is when the fuel continues to burn in the cylinder even when throttle is closed. Not ideal when you’re braking from 130km,” explained Mitchener.

Starting from last (28th) in the final, Mitchener was on a charge to be running inside the Top 10

before receiving the mechanical defect flag for not wearing his neck brace. After pitting in the fit his neck restraint, he recovered to cross the line back in 16th setting the fastest lap of the race along the way.

Mitchener, who last week announced a new partnership with HORSPWR Clothing, will return to Australia where he will focus his attentions on Round 4 of the CIK Stars of Karting Series. Currently sixth in the Pro Gearbox KZ2 Championship points Mitchener sits just 23 points off the lead.

DELAYS FOR EASTERN CREEK REPAIRS KARTING ONGOING track repairs at the North Shore Kart Club’s Eastern Creek Raceway facility have caused the club to postpone their next event, Round 4 of the Club Championship, which was set to run this weekend.

Work was expected to be completed before this meeting took place, however eNews understands that the works have been put back due to a couple of issues.

20

A statement was released stating that “the North Shore Kart Club and Eastern Creek Karts apologises for any inconvenience this has caused. However, for the best interest of karting in Sydney both parties believe it is best to wait until the track is fully operational before holding the next event at the circuit.”

The works are expected to be complete in the near future with this latest postponement expected to have no effect on the upcoming CIK Stars of Karting

Series event to be held at the venue on July 29-31.

On the positive side, eNews also understands that a lot of time was spent researching the best possible surface for the karting facility. With the ultimate highest grade racing tar mix available in the country being used to resurface the entire 1024 metre track, once complete it is expected that Eastern Creek will be right up there as one of the highest quality racing surfaces in Australia. motorsport news

RUSSELL INGALL OPEN AND HONEST ON HIS RACING FUTURE

WITH UNCERTAINTY OVER HIS FUTURE IN V8 SUPERCAR RACING, ‘THE ENFORCER’ OPENS UP TO MOTORSPORT NEWS ABOUT RETIREMENT, WHAT HE WOULD CHANGE IF HE HAD HIS TIME OVER, AND WHAT HE PLANS TO DO WHEN HIS FULLTIME CAREER COMES TO AN END

No. 409 July 201 1

PLUS, WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INDY 500 WITH DARIO FRANCHITTI AND BRYAN HERTA, SPEAK ONE-ON-ONE WITH JAMES MOFFAT, CHAT EXCLUSIVELY WITH F1 DRIVER HEIKKI KOVALAINEN, TAKE A DETAILED LOOK AT VOLKSWAGEN’S WRC PLANS AND GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THE NEW MERCEDES SLS AMG GT3

www.mnews.com.au

Australia $7.9

5 NZ $8.50 inc

GST

21

mnews.com.au

ON SALE NOW

John Morris / Mpix

PORTER GETS HYNE AND MIGHTY DRAG RACING SCOTT Porter has signed up Hyne Timber to his Pro Stock drag racing team.

The new supporter on the Ford Mustang comes on the back of a long standing relationship between the family business Porters Can Do and Hyne.

“Porters Can Do and Hyne Timber have endured a business relationship that has spanned over the last 120 years,” said Paul Porter, team owner and crew chief.

“Hyne Timber were the first supplier that Porters dealt with and it’s with great pleasure that I report they’re still the company’s largest supplier.”

Charles Porter, Paul’s great grandfather, was the founder of the Porter’s Can Do business in 1883 and Hyne Timber was founded in 1882 (129 years old). The business relationship started when Charles successfully tendered for a contract to construct a hotel in Mackay, Queensland.

Currently, both Porters Can Do and Hyne Timber are still family owned and operated and have fifth generation family members working in the business.

The Porter team is confident some recent testing has them on the right track for the Castrol Edge Winternationals replay.

“The testing opportunity has allowed us to get the car sorted ahead of the biggest race of the year,” Scott Porter said.

“It would be nice to end the season the way we started when we scored our first career pole position in Sydney at the Nationals with a 7.05s pass. Further to this, it would also be excellent to win the biggest race of the year, our first career win, with Hyne Timber on board.”

Porter currently sits seventh in the Pro Stock standings.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

22

TOP START DRAG RACING

MAKING his debut at the Castrol Edge Winternationals several weeks ago was Jamie Noonan, the son of former Top Alcohol racer John Noonan.

In an impressive start to his racing career, Noonan qualified in the top spot for the field after two sessions before rain resulted in the event being postponed to July. With a string of firsts in the category across Australia, John Noonan spent most of his racing career setting the benchmark in his lightning fast Top Gun dragster.

“We won the Top Alcohol

Winternationals title in 1997, Jamie was a 20 year old with some big dreams back then, it’s great to see some 14 years later, Jamie make his debut at the same race meeting,” the elder Noonan said.

“We set so many track records across the country, first non-US built car to run a five second pass outside USA, first into the 240mph bracket in 1997.”

At 34 years of age, Jamie could be considered a late starter in his racing career, but what many people don’t know is that he has already spent over 20 years deeply rooted in drag racing with his father, and in top level

motorsport news

NEWS

Ken Ferguson

FOR SON OF TOP GUN motorsport across the country.

“As sure as the sun comes up tomorrow, I knew Jamie would ‘have to do what he has to do’. My career was spectacular enough with the following I had, but frustrated by just never getting to that illustrious pinnacle of national champion,” John explained.

“Jamie was ‘lost’ when I finally hung up the helmet, but vowed to one day continue the fight and reach the top that I tried so hard to achieve here.”

Jamie said he first started getting involved with his father’s racing when he was just 12 years of age.

“Drag racing was a way of life for me growing up, and while the last 12 years I have been mainly dedicated to V8 Supercars, with great success, drag racing is the catalyst for everything I do, and where my passion for engineering and engine building began,” he said.

Noonan was with Stone Brothers Racing for three championships and in the last four years he has built and runs the successful engineering business Noonan Race Engineering (NRE). NRE are responsible for the build, research and development of Brad Jones Racings’

engine programme, and the development of the NRE X1 Billet Cylinder Head.

“Since starting NRE, we have been very lucky to bring together a tight knit staff who are all passionate about what we do here – that’s so important,” Jamie said.

“We are seeing good results with BJR in V8 Supercars, who are a fantastic group to work with, and with our cylinder heads being NHRA/FIA legally approved, are now sold throughout Australia, USA, and Europe with our distributors.

“We are definitely getting the job done overseas against the

best in the business, with our heads on the 2010 World ADRL (American Drag Racing League) Championship winning car.”

When it comes to actually doing the steering, Noonan understands he is just a beginner.

“The Winters will be a big learning curve for me from a driving standpoint, but having worked closely over recent years with current dual defending Winternationals champion Aaron Hambridge, who drove my car most of last year, I think we will have the car where it needs to be.

It will be up to me to get it down the track the best I can,” he said.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

5L_[ (5+9( 7YV :LYPLZ 9V\UK!

2011 Castrol EDGE Winternationals. Willowbank Raceway, July 15-17 www.mnews.com.au

23

FIVE MINUTES WITH ...

RICK KELLY

The Kelly Brothers promised to bring a fresh approach to V8 Supercar racing when they started Kelly Racing – and the ‘Supercar Showdown’ concept suggests they are doing just that. ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN spoke to Rick MOTORSPORT NEWS: Between you and your brother you have checked a lot of boxes in this sport, but this is something totally different.

RICK KELLY: Yeah absolutely. We’ve been working on this project behind the scenes for about 14 months, and its something that we’ve been interested to get up and running, to bring some new talent into the equation.

To be honest, we nearly had the whole thing fall through when a motorsport media outlet leaked it twice without us knowing about it. It was a rocky road to get it back on line.

Well it’s obviously back on line now.

Who’s taking the credit for this concept?

Was it a genuine Kelly Brothers idea?

We originally had an idea on something similar to this 24 months ago, but we couldn’t get enough buy-in from anyone to push forward, so we parked the idea.

It wasn’t until I met with Rohan Robinson from Media Mix and Steve Oemcke from WTFN and came up with the concept along these lines that it started to take shape. We’ve been working with those guys to get some partners involved and a network to take it.

When you guys opened the Kelly Racing doors a couple of years ago, you told Motorsport News that nobody had run a V8 Supercar team the way that you guys were going to do it. Is this a continuation of that philosophy?

It’s always been a big thing for us, particularly on the marketing and commercial side, to have a point of difference to other teams. This is one way of doing that.

When we floated the idea to a couple of established people in the sport they said ‘you’re not the first people to think of this. It won’t work’. So it’s been exciting for us to actually get the concept to a point where it will go ahead.

Like you said, it’s a little bit different 24

to what normal teams are about, but in saying that it’s also been a lot of work, and we need to make sure it doesn’t distract us from our main goal, which is building a good V8 Supercar team and win races. It’s a bit of a juggling act at the moment.

How many miles will the winning contestant have actually done in a V8 Supercar when they get to Bathurst?

Obviosuly we need to abide by V8 Supercars’ testing rules, but we have considered that going to such a big race is a huge ask, particularly when they won’t have the Phillip Island race as a practice.

We’ll certainly have a good testing structure in place, and everything else to wrap around the driver as well, including the fitness side of things, and everything else, like race preparation and data. We’ll probably even make a trip up to Bathurst in the month leading into the race so they can start to get their head around it.

But it’s been done before, by people just turning up and having a shot at it. We’ve got some really talented young drivers there, so I’m sure they’ll be able to give it a good shot.

There’s certainly an interesting mix of drivers there. Andrew Jordan in particular will be very interesting to

watch, because he’s a professional driver, but from a very different series.

Yeah definitely. Like you say, Andrew Jordan is coming from the UK. He’s a great young bloke and it’s been a pleasure to have him involved. We also have Dave Sera, an 11-time Australian Karting Champion, and three fantastic female talents, so we’re excited about it. Todd and I have been standing there looking at the 10 contestants thinking that there is some real talent here. Whether they win this program or not, we’ll be seeing these faces in Supercars soon, and towards the front of the field, because they are quite talented.

Finally, five cars at Bathurst – what a massive job!

Definitely. We have a lot of guys in the team that don’t come to races that we could put on that car for Bathurst, but it’s been important to us to not just do that.

We’ve got a lot of new guys, including Dean Orr, to run the car, and that for us has been great. We’ve out together a really solid, experienced team that haven’t got the opportunity to work for a team fulltime because of other commitments. To pull them out of their normal life to take them to Bathurst, we’ve put together a solid team. There’s no issues there. motorsport news

CHAT

www.mnews.com.au

25

sutton-images.com

BEING ANDREW JORDAN

I

’M really glad I’m not Andrew Jordan this week.

Don’t get me wrong, the thought of being in Australia is always an appealing one, and the idea driving a V8 Supercar gives one the horn, but for young AJ, it is hardly the ideal way to learn.

OK, no one suggested that Supercar Showdown was going to be easy. Jordan, who is just 22 years old, has got a lot to live up to. He races in the British Touring Car Championship, which remains a highly competitive series. He is a race winner, and he is years ahead of the other drivers in the reality show in terms of race experience.

He’s crammed a lot into a short career.

Without any karting experience, Jordan came into Junior Rallycross for Under-16s, before moving into Ginettas, the British rear-wheel-drive sportscars. Then came the Clio Cup and the BTCC, and a few longdistance GT races. Oh, and Rallycross, in the pukka four-wheel-drive, turbo, eye-watering Supercar.

He is brave behind the wheel of a Touring Car. Stand out at the back of the circuit at Thruxton, the fastest circuit on the BTCC calendar, and just watch him nail a car. He is committed and doesn’t flinch from the task 26

at hand – squeezing everything out of the car at that corner on that lap. Bravery, it is fair to say, is a David Addison – useful skill when it eNews’ overseas correspondent comes to a quick lap around Bathurst.

I also wonder about the team Another area environment, if he gets that far. Jordan has where Jordan should score well in his spent most, but not all, of his BTCC years in approach to the competition is his normal a team run by his father and based around family background. Dad, Mike, himself a top Andrew. It is a family environment where national racer in the UK, and mum Judith, the activity revolves around him. If he were are very grounded people – and Andrew to win this drive-of-a-lifetime, it is hard to himself hasn’t let his new life as a racing imagine that he would be the star turn. driver affect him. He’ll need to keep some On paper, he should be the winner, humility as he enters this bear pit; I can’t though. Look, he has raced at a high level imagine the judges warming to anyone for a number of seasons, wins in the BTCC coming across as cocky. and knows how to get stuck in. Surely that Can he win? Yes. Whether a Pom winning is more relevant a CV to Kelly Racing than a is good for TV ratings is a topic to discuss Formula Ford or karting graduate. another time, but he certainly has the ability.

But you know how these reality shows He hasn’t had much time in rear-wheel-work; it’s as much about personality as drive Touring Cars, but he learns fast and ability. should be a handy pedaler. Maybe he isn’t Good luck Andrew. If he does line up on as gregarious as some of the Antipodeans in the grid at Mount Panorama in October, I’ll the competition, and with TV and sponsors be stoked for him. to bear in mind, that may be a chink in his I’d like to be him that day. armour.

OPINION

motorsport news

COMMENT

WHAT V8 SUPERCARS MEANS TO TASMANIA

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AM a lot of things.

Usually, I’d say proud Tasmanian is one of them; but that all changed last week when our fearless leader decided she couldn’t spare the funding to keep V8s in Tasmania.

I’m not ashamed to admit I’m the kind of girl who will get up at an ungodly hour of the morning to sit out in the wind, rain, snow, hail, or sunshine to watch V8s race around a track.

I’ve missed just one V8 round at Symmons in my 20-something years of existence, and that was only because university prioritised exams over V8s.

Symmons Plains is steeped in history. I don’t need to regale you with the facts – as readers of eNews, you know your motorsport. But there’s a lot of history that’s not found in the books – like my early memories of being hoisted onto my father’s shoulders to watch the races, standing on the

bridge to feel it shake as the cars zoomed underneath, the friends I met there, the birthdays spent there, the heroes that were made there, the bumps and shunts that both made and broke championships, and the unmistakable sound as the cars roar to life each year.

I remember sitting hanging out with my ‘car’ buddy Sarah – she and I still catch up once a year in the same paddock. I remember meeting a young guy, driving at his first V8 round – and I remember being thrilled when he climbed atop his first podium at the place it all began, albeit 11 years later.

Last week, I heard the news that the Tasmanian government had scrapped funding for a V8 Supercars round in Tasmania.

My heart sank. The spin factory told us negotiations were continuing, but my cynicism doesn’t buy it. This is the same government who are simply

OPINION Rebecca Wyatt – eNews’ Tasmanian contributor not filling vacancies within the health sector to ‘save money ‘, investigating options of closing 20 schools across the state, making anyone with private health insurance pay for their own ambulance transport, and yet the addition of a second AFL team to the state’s pay roll was a “carefully considered decision”.

It costs the state $600,000 a game for North Melbourne to play in Tasmania, multiplied by four games a year – instead of a similar once-yearly amount which will bring the V8 circus to our shores, not to mention boosting tourism and hospitality trade. Symmons Plains Raceway needs this once

a year event to maintain its facilities – so without the V8s, even grass roots motorsport will suffer.

I’m happy to travel to get my V8 fix – but I know losing this round to Asia (or further) will lose Tasmanians. They attend because the V8s are in their backyard, buy the merchandise because the weather has changed since they left the house that morning, and turn up rain, hail or shine because they know it’s their one chance that year to be a part of the Greatest Show on Earth.

North Island friends – consider coming to Tassie this year. We need your support.

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

27

SHANNONS NATIONALS R3 - WINTON, VICTORIA

BACK TO BA 28

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Justin Collins

ACK www.mnews.com.au

ADAM BEECHEY AND DEAN CROSWELL DEFENDED THEIR COMMODORE CUP ENDURANCE CHALLENGE TITLE, AS THE V8 SERIES HEADLINED ROUND 3 OF THE SHANNONS NATIONALS AT WINTON. LACHLAN MANSELL AND RICHARD CRAILL REVIEW THE ACTION 29

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DAM Beechey and Dean Crosswell have successfully defended their Commodore Cup Endurance Challenge title, winning the Ashley Cooper Memorial Trophy by taking overall honours in Round 3 of the series at Winton on the weekend.

In an event which saw postrace penalties applied to the cars that crossed the finishline first in both 45-minute races, Beechey and Crosswell were classified second in Race 1 and first in Race 2, enough for them to take overall round honours. It was Beechey’s ninth consecutive Commodore Cup podium finish and Crosswell’s third victory out of the four 30

annual Commodore Cup endurance events held so far.

Ross McGregor and Drew Russell finished second for the round. Russell repeated his heroics from the Bathurst Commodore Cup event in Race 1, setting consistently fast lap times and carving his way through the field after taking over from McGregor at the earliest opportunity. He crossed the line in second place after a ferocious battle with Crosswell, and was elevated to the race win after Matt Hayes and Christian D’Agostin were penalised for Hayes exceeding the maximum driving time allowed for one driver. However, any chances of McGregor and Russell notching up back-to-

back round wins evaporated when a plug lead came loose in Race 2, necessitating a lengthy pit-stop for repairs.

Hayes and D’Agostin finished third overall, with third-place finishes in both races despite the aforementioned penalty in Race 1. While the team struggled with cold tyre pace early in both races, the car set some of the fastest laps of the weekend towards the end of each race.

As has become the norm in the Commodore Cup Endurance Challenge, both races featured controversy and action aplenty. In Race 1, Tony Bates and Gerard McLeod tangled for the second meeting in a row. McLeod spun after

being tagged by Bates on the exit of Turn 11, but Bates sustained terminal damage.

Bates and his co-driver David Russell recovered to finish second in Race 2.

Geoff Emery and Steve Owen also endured a torrid weekend.

The five-time Commodore Cup champion and VIP Petfoods V8 Supercar driver annihilated the field in qualifying, taking pole position by over two seconds on aggregate times. However, the star pairing blew an engine just after Owen took over from Emery in Race 1. In Race 2, the pair had charged through the field, and Owen crossed the line first after making contact with Beechey on the final lap of the race. However, the Owen’s motorsport news

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James Smith

Left: Drew Russell put a move on the Beechey and Croswell entry for second late in Race 1, which became first when Matt Hayes and Christian D’Agostin, above, copped a time penalty. Hayes and D’Agostin ended up third for the weekend.

Below: Geoff Emery and Steve Owen again teamed up and set the pace, but suffered an engine failure in Race 1.

David Clifford

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James Smith

altercation with Beechey attracted the wrath of the officials, and he received a postrace time penalty, dropping him and Emery to fourth.

Adam Lloyd also had a race meeting to forget, blowing an engine in practice and prematurely ending his weekend. Meanwhile, 2009 Commodore Cup champion Brett Holdsworth found himself driving with Chris Stevenson after a last-minute driver change. Holdsworth and Stevenson failed to finish Race 1 with gearbox problems, but charged to sixth in Race 2.

Points: Beechey 377, McGregor 364, Zukanovic 363, Hayes 344, Bates 320, Emery 303 – LACHLAN MANSELL

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OH, IT’S YOU AGA B

Y clean-sweeping the weekend, Tony Ricciardello may have continued to march on his merry way to another Kerrick Sports Sedan Series at Winton’s Shannons Nationals round, but he didn’t get it easy.

The return of dual champion Darren Hossack in the mighty Audi A4 gave Ricciardello something to think about, with stern challenges in two of the three races contested. It was just like old times, in fact, with the pair evenly matched save for an infinitesimally small advantage to the Alfa driver in qualifying and each race – thanks, perhaps, to his experience on the current Sports Sedan tyre of choice.

What the pair did do,

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however, was expose a massive advantage to the remainder of the pack. Split by just threetenths in qualifying, the next best car – the Mazda RX-7 of Chris Muscat – was some five seconds down the road in third.

The clean Race 1, a 10-lapper that saw Ricciardello and Hossack both eclipse the Alfa’s own, eight-year-old lap record, was followed by a bruising Race 2 that saw plenty of fight.

Hossack got the jump and led to Turn 1, and whilst he didn’t quite have the pace to win, he made the Audi as wide as possible to defend his position for as many laps as possible, eventually succumbing to the Alfa’s advances and settling for second after a massive battle. It unraveled in Race 3, however,

Hossack forced out with gear selection issues that left Ricciardello unchallenged.

The impressive Muscat finished second overall in the Turbo Rotary-powered Mazda, whilst local Dean Camm in the Corvette scored his best ever National-series round result in third. Scott Butler – who pushed Ricciardello hard at Round 1 in May – recovered from a Race 1 spin to finish the weekend with a third and a second in the final two races, respectively. He remains the Alfa driver’s closest title contender.

The Radical Australia Cup staged their third round of the season at Winton, a fascinating 50-mintue feature race throwing up some

unpredictable results.

The Tim Berryman/John Miles car took the lead early and led the first 16 laps until making their stop for the driver change.

Once the pit stop sequence had shuffled through, Peter Opie emerged as the leader with Miles in second and Glyn Edis third, however with three laps to go, Miles spun his car at Turn 10, dropping him down the order to finish dead last. Edis finished second with Simon Haggarty third.

Shawn Jamieson continued his domination of the Australian Saloon Car Series, leading home fellow Adelaidian Matt Lovell’s Falcon in each of the three races. The pair were dominant all weekend, though a substantial fight for the

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James Smith

minor positions was staged in each race, with Sam Milton eventually securing the final step on the podium for the round.

For Tony Evangelou, it was a case of ‘what could have been’. After qualifying on the front row, an on-track incident in Race 1 dropped him to the back of the field and on the comeback trail, eventually recovering to third by the final race.

Jesse Dixon won two of the three races, and the round, in the second hit-out for the Swift Sport series, a slightly expanded field putting on competitive racing. Round 1 surprise Rex McCutcheon won the second race and finished second overall whilst Allan

Shawn Jamieson, above, took a clean sweep in Saloon Cars, while Jesse Dixon, below, claimed the honours in the second Swift Sport Series event. Rod Raatjes, bottom, was too good in the HQs.

Jarvis was third. Ryan McLeod, making a last minute cameo after his Commodore Cup drive expired, finished fourth.

Rod Raatjes won the HQ Holden battle, heading Stephen Whyte and John Wise.

– RICHARD CRAILL

Justin Collins David Clifford

James Smith

www.mnews.com.au

33

FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 8 – VALENCIA, SPAIN

PEER

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motorsport news

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RLESS PERFORMANCE Out of a possible 200 points so far this season, Sebastian Vettel has 186. And his latest win in Valencia was as easy as they come

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F you ever wondered what kind of music Sebastian Vettel likes, then the European Grand Prix might have answered your query. Because surely Vettel had his iPod plugged in to his car’s radio to deal with the, uh, straightforward nature of his 16th Grand Prix win.

Okay, it all looked pretty close. For much of the race, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber were keeping within five or six seconds of Vettel. But it was pretty clear throughout the afternoon that the German was well and truly in control, and with Alonso unlikely to mount any serious challenge in the final stint of the race due to his Ferrari’s dislike of the prime tyre, it was simply a case of just holding on for Vettel.

“Maybe from the outside, at least for myself, it looked like a boring race,” said Vettel, “but I tell you I enjoy it so much when it is between you and the car every single lap.

“Of course, I had some pressure from behind at various times as the strategy was a little bit different from Mark and Fernando.

Sometimes they were pitting earlier, sometimes later. Even though I had a gap before the stop I came out of the garage and

still they were quite close again.

“For some reason I enjoy this track. Last year I had a very smooth weekend and again this year from the beginning to the end.

Fantastic. The team has done a phenomenal job preparing the car. Even though we come here every year and we say this might be tricky as this track is maybe not made for us 100 percent, with no real fast corners, but we manage to put everything together and faultless this weekend. I am very happy with the result.”

Alonso ended up second after a day-long battle with Webber. After barging past Webber during the second stint, Alonso found himself behind the Red Bull again after the next round of stops, with Webber taking newer tyres earlier and re-taking second place. He tried to pull the same trick to find some breathing space with the last stop, but when Webber went to the new prime tyres, Alonso was able to lap quicker on the used options, costing Webber second place.

“I was very, very happy with how the race was going until the last stop,” said Webber.

“It was my fault basically not the team’s.

I was worried about Fernando coming underneath me around the stops and it was not really known how the medium tyre would perform on the out lap. For sure, it is not as good as the soft but is it better than an old soft? That was the risk I decided to take. I lost out.”

Behind the top three there were no real surprises. Lewis Hamilton came home fourth, having made a dog of start from third on the grid. Felipe Massa was fifth having made a brilliant start, but then undoing the hard work by running longer stints.

Montreal winner Jenson Button’s race was essentially ruined at the start, where he lost a place to Nico Rosberg. He got it back, but by then the leaders were way too far down the road, and Button’s chances of a podium were gone. He and Rosberg finished sixth and seventh respectively.

Behind them was Jaime Alguersuari, the Spaniard putting in a demon drive at one his home Grands Prix to make a two-stop strategy work. He had a tough job holding off Adrian Sutil and Nick Heidfeld at the end, but some smart driving saw the risky tactic pay off. motorsport news

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Full Field: All 24 cars that started the race, finished it, top. Lewis Hamilton had a pretty quiet weekend, above, while hometown hero Jaime Alguesuari had plenty going on late in the race, top right. Michael Schumacher had another ordinary outing, above right, and Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso celebrated a close battle post-race, below.

Results :: European Grand Prix Pos

Driver

Team

Qual

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

Sebastian Vettel Fernando Alonso Mark Webber Lewis Hamilton Felipe Massa Jenson Button Nico Rosberg Jaime Alguesuari Adrian Sutil Nick Heidfeld Sergio Perez Rubens Barrichello Sebastien Buemi Paul di Resta Vitaly Petrov Kamui Kobayashi Michael Schumacher Pastor Maldonado Heikki Kovalainen Jarno Trulli Timo Glock Jerome D’Ambrosio Tonio Liuzzi Narain Kathikeyan

Red Bull Renault Ferrari Red Bull Renault McLaren Mercedes Ferrari McLaren Mercedes Mercedes Toro Rosso Ferrari Force India Mercedes Renault Sauber Ferrari Williams Cosworth Toro Rosso Ferrari Force India Mercedes Renault Sauber Ferrari Mercedes Williams Cosworth Lotus Renault Lotus Renault Virgin Cosworth Virgin Cosworth HRT Cosworth HRT Cosworth

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

Top 10 Points: Vettel 186, Webber 109, Button 109,

Hamilton 97, Alonso 87, Massa 42, Rosberg 32, Petrov 31, Schumacher 26.

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37

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES ROUND 8 – NEWTON, IOWA

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Drought breaks in Iowa The most famous name in American racing is back on top as Marco Andretti broke his five-year winning drought.

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car,” Franchitti said. “I wasn’t thinking about points. I was thinking about winning. That’s why I almost knocked a wall down at the end.”

JR Hildebrand was fourth, snatching the position from Franchitti right at the end, while sixth fell to Ryan Briscoe. The Aussie salvaged a result for Penske, which was looking to its veteran Helio Castroneves for a result until he was forced to pit under green after tyre pressure problems. The veteran dropped a lap, which he later claimed back, and he raced to seventh at the flag ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay and rookie James Hinchcliffe.

Danica Patrick started second but quickly faded back into the pack, finishing 10th.

The race, held under lights for the first time in five years, was fast but the 0.875 mile track was not without its detractors.

Turn 2 proved to be a bumpy challenge for the drivers, and claimed Power and polesitter Takuma Sato.

Over the last two seasons, Andretti Autosport was looking a shadow of its former self – and hardly the team to challenge Ganassi and Penske for superiority over the smaller teams. Its public struggle to make the field at Indianapolis led to a revamped engineering department and the signs are that the changes are taking effect.

Six of the next seven races are on road or street courses, starting in Toronto. Providing he passes medical examinations, Power will be looking to reassert his authority on the lefts and rights.

“I didn’t have a concussion or anything, just a little bit of a headache,” Power said after a checkup at the track hospital. “[It] rung my bell a bit. That hurt.

[I] probably shouldn’t have been out there with a damaged car.

That’s not good.”

But after Iowa, the Queenslander might be facing more opposition just than the pair from Ganassi.

Lotus position: Takuma Sato’s first Indy pole was also the first for a Japanese driver, right. Unpleasant meeting for Mike Conway and Ana Beatrice, below; Tony Kanaan heads Andretti and Dario Franchitti, below right.

Scott Dixon was third while Ryan Briscoe was best of the Penske runners in sixth, bottom.

IZOD INDYCAR Media

IVE years is a long time to wait between wins – particularly if you are only 24 years old.

But that is the burden put to rest in Iowa by Marco Andretti.

It has been almost five seasons since he burst onto the Indycar scene and scored his maiden win at Infineon in California to mark himself as a worthy wearer of his famed surname.

For 78 races, he and his father Michael’s team suffered a few of the highs and many of the lows of the sport, all without a win. In Iowa, he started 17th, picked his way through to join the leaders and out-fought Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon to take his first win on an oval.

For much of the race, it looked like Dario Franchitti would take full advantage of the opportunity given him when Will Power, with whom he shared the points lead prior to the race, crashed twice, first with Charlie Kimball and then by himself. The second impact left him under examination for concussion.

But Andretti Autosport got Marco out of the pits ahead of the Ganassi drivers and over the final 50 laps, the youngster proved he had the head to take the fight to the veterans. He saw off Franchitti, then Kanaan and, in the final laps, even Dixon managed to steal third off his team-mate.

“We were down a little bit on the bigger ovals but we know when it comes down to handling we’d be OK,” said Andretti, whose best previous result this year was fourth at Barber. “These guys did a great job with pits. They got me the lead back. We had some good racing with TK. It was good fun.”

His former team-mate Kanaan, whose career looked to be over before he got a deal together with KV Racing weeks before the season started, was a happy man after the race.

“It was a great battle, a fun race,” Kanaan said. “It was crazy at the end. I loved it.”

“I was fighting an oversteering

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HONDA Racing Media HONDA Racing Media

Results :: Iowa Corn 250, Newton IA

HONDA Racing Media

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Pos. No. Driver Nationality Team Sponsor 1 26 Marco Andretti USA Andretti Venom Energy 2 82 Tony Kanaan Br KV Geico 3 9 Scott Dixon NZ Ganassi Target 4 4 JR Hildebrand USA Panther National Guard 5 10 Dario Franchitti GB Ganassi Suave Men 6 6 Ryan Briscoe Aus Penske PPG 7 3 Helio Castroneves Br Penske Guide Point 8 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Andretti Circle K 9 06 James Hinchcliffe GB Newman/Haas Sprott 10 7 Danica Patrick USA Andretti Godaddy.com Fastest lap: 18.0958s (177.853mph) on lap 136 by Alex Tagliani.

Race Time Qual.

1h53m00.1074s 17 +0.7932s 3 +1.1067s 23 +1.4856s 4 +1.8926s 6 +2.3628s 10 +2.6732s 13 +4.1625s 8 +5.6272s 7 +6.0327s 2

Top 10 Points: Franchitti 303, Power 283, Dixon 230, Servia 214, Kanaan 211, Briscoe 193, Rahal 191, Andretti 184, Hildebrand 169, Tagliani 161.

41

NASCAR ROUND 16 - SONOMA, CA

Kurt on right course Turning right as well as left can sometimes prove too much for the speedway specialists in the Sprint Cup. But at Sonoma, Kurt Busch looked like a seasoned road course pro

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HIS one didn’t stick to the script. The first Sprint Cup engagement away from the speedways was supposed to be a race where those with road course experience would shine.

But at the end of the 350 miles at Infineon, the oval trackers ruled, with fifth-placed Marcos Ambrose being the only ‘road course’ driver in the top 10.

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Instead, it was Kurt Busch who celebrated his first road course victory, after what had been a dominant performance from the Penske Dodge driver.

Busch led a total of 75 of the 110 laps. He was leading when they went green for the final time, and after that the road

course aces – by then mostly buried down the order – never saw the Shell/Pennzoil car again as Kurt tore away to an easy win.

“It’s a great sense of satisfaction,” Busch said of his breakthrough victory.

“All the hard work from the guys back at the race shop where it starts. The times that we’ve tested. The execution here at the racetrack this weekend.

You see it all come together. You Road racer: Kurt Busch savours the moment after scoring his first win on a road course, left, above right. Pole sitter Joey Logano heads them away as Paul Menard gets into strife – a sign of things to come, right. motorsport news

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know when you have a shot at victory you have to block those moments out and get that car to the victory line.

“To get the chequered flag, do some doughnuts, to drive in reverse around this road course, I got choked up. It was a great feeling to know that I’ve won on a road course.”

Getting to the flag proved a tough ask in a what was an

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incident-packed race. The most noteworthy altercations were the two separate clashes between Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers, the second of which ended with Stewart’s car perched atop a tyre wall. This prompted the final restart.

A fast finishing Jeff Gordon managed to dislodge Carl Edwards for second place in the dying stages, but Edwards was

more than happy to come away with the final podium position and an enhanced points lead on a weekend that didn’t look to have much promise for the Roush Fenway Ford driver.

Things were so grim that Edwards cancelled a planned run in the Nationwide race at Road in order to concentrate on getting the set-up right on the Cup car.

For Jeff Gordon, a conservative on-track approach paid handsome dividends.

“There were times today where we didn’t have the car and I gave up the spots,” Gordon said.

“I wasn’t going to try to push the issue. I guess that’s good and bad. I didn’t have a car that could even try to pass anybody or block anybody down in Turn

11 for most of the race. So I had to give up a lot of those spots and bite my tongue and hope that we could get it fixed or get track position, which it worked out.

“I certainly didn’t want to make as many enemies as I did last year, because I made a lot of ‘em coming out of here. So it’s nice to come out of here and that not happen. I don’t think I really touched anybody today. So that feels good.”

Marcos Ambrose also mostly kept out of trouble, but he was not able to replicate the dominant pace he displayed at Sonoma last year. Eighth fastest in qualifying, the Stanley Tools Ford driver was a competitive top 10 runner, but never led the race.

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FORD Media

NASCAR Media

Pushing it up hill: Kyle Busch was out of luck, above left, Jimmie Johnson was seventh, but it was a rough day for Juan Montoya (42) and Tony Stewart (14). Brian Vickers’ bonnetless Camry after it despatched Stewart’s Chevy, inset. Marcos Ambrose was solid but not the dominant force he was at Sonoma last year, top right. Kasey Kayne heads Tony Stewart, centre right.

Denny Hamlin saves right side tyre wear, left.

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TOYOTA Media

TOYOTA Media

Resuming in 16th place at the final restart, Ambrose advanced to an eventual fifth place, a result which came as much via incidents involving those ahead of him (such as Juan Montoya) as it did from overtaking cars on the road.

Results :: Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma CA Pos. No. 1 22 2 24 3 99 4 33 5 9 6 20 7 48

Driver Kurt Busch Jeff Gordon Carl Edwards Clint Bowyer Marcos Ambrose Joey Logano Jimmie Johnson

Make Dodge Chevrolet Ford Chevrolet Ford Toyota Chevrolet

Team Penske Hendrick Roush Fenway Childress Petty Joe Gibbs Hendrick

8 9 10

Martin Truex Jr. Kevin Harvick Brad Keselowski

Toyota Chevrolet Dodge

Waltrip Childress Penske

56 29 2

Sponsor Qual.

Shell/Pennzoil 11 DuPont 13 Scotts Ortho 23 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper 9 Stanley 8 The Home Depot 1 Lowe’s/ 12 Jimmie Johnson Foundation NAPA Auto Parts 14 Rheem Tankless Water Heaters 26 Miller Lite 15

Top 10 Points: Edwards 573, Harvick 548, Johnson 540, Ku Busch 539, Ky Busch 536,

Kenseth 521, Earnhardt Jnr 508, Bowyer 496, Gordon 480, Newman 475, Ambrose 408 (21st).

45

NURBURGRING 24 HOUR NURBURGRING, GERMANY

MANTHEY HANDL

OUTSTANDING PIT DISPLAYS BY OCTANORM MANY OTHER DISPLAY OPTIONS AVAILABLE PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS REQUIREMENTS

SYDNEY (02) 9556 6012 MELBOURNE (03) 9394 3150

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FTER a typically rough-and-tumble race, victory in the Nurburgring 24 Hours has yet again been claimed by the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. It is the team’s fifth victory in the last six editions of this classic event, which is run on a combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the legendary Nordschleife.

The race hardly started well for the victors: they were sent to the start on slicks on a wet track, dropping to 42nd on the first lap, and in dire danger of being caught in someone else’s accident.

But the very strong driver lineup of Marc Lieb/ Lucas Luhr/Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas had the car in the lead within eight hours, and they stayed there to the end.

Their main competition came in the form of the Schnitzer BMW of Muller/Farfus/Alzen/Lamy, below.

This car was badly delayed by a controversial threeminute penalty for driving the wrong way around the Karussell when looking for somewhere to turn,

LED

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after being caught in one of the many on-track melees. The BMW chased hard to the end, but was still 4m23s adrift at the flag. Meanwhile, the Audi and Mercedes squads did not have a great day, though Audi R8s finished third, fourth and fifth.

As usual, there was a large Australian contingent, but they did not fare well. None of the three all-Australian crews (including Mal Rose’s Commodore) reached the flag. Of the other Aussies, Allan Shephard did best, finishing second in the SP5 class in a BMW, while Rodney Forbes, who now races in Germany fulltime, finished 19th outright.

Next year, Forbes’ old 00 Motorsport team-mate Craig Lowndes hopes to be taking part in the race.

With this year’s event featuring the usual quota of cars catching fire, disappearing over fences upside down, and suffering all sorts of other adventures to boot, Lowndes’ reaction to such an extraordinary spectacle is keenly awaited.

– DAVID GREENHALGH

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BRIEFLY...

Q Freddy Loix claimed his seventh Ypres Rally win in dominant style. The Skoda driver won the IRC event by 1m41s over Bryan Bouffier after his closest rival, Guy Wilks, suffered a puncture on the final afternoon.

Q Even in winter, Sprintcar racing has been in full swing at Darwin’s Northline Speedway and the Mac’s Speedway complex in Mackay, North Queensland Jason McIver captured his first feature race win of the season at the Hidden Valley complex to take out Round 2 of the Darwin Sprintcar Track Championship Series.

Mark King found himself the meat in a McIver sandwich, as Jason’s father Peter rounded out the podium.

After several aborted rain outs, the Mackay Speedway roared back into to life for their first open Sprintcar meeting of their domestic season. Lawrence Quagliata got his northern Queensland campaign off to the best start possible to claim the main event win and also two of the three heat races along the way. Cairns-based veteran Mike Walsh claimed second from Aidan Gee. – PARIS CHARLES / STAFF

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Q Will Bratt and Mirko Bortolotti split the Formula 2 wins at Spa. Bratt’s victory was his first in the class, while Bortolotti’s sees him take the championship lead.

EVANS TAKES LEAD GP2 & GP3 KIWI Mitch Evans leads the GP3 series after the third round at Valencia.

While Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and James Calado scored their maiden race wins in the series, Evans had a consistent weekend, taking third in Race 1 and fourth in Race 2. The MW Arden driver

holds a four-point buffer over Nigel Melker at the top of the standings, with Silverstone to host Round 4 in a fortnight.

In GP2, series leader Romain Grosjean won the feature race after leader Giedo van der Garde received a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement.

The Sprint race was less kind to Grosjean, though, his race

ending on the opening lap after hitting Sam Bird at Turn 3. Postrace, stewards gave Grosjean a 10-place grid penalty for the next round at Silverstone.

Esteban Gutierrez won the race, the Sauber junior’s first, while van der Garde was third and is now just one point behind Grosjean in the standings.

LYONS ROARS F5000 BRIT Michael Lyons (Lola T400) was the man to beat as the Kiwi F500 brigade took on the Poms at Oulton Park on Saturday.

Ferrari GT racer Lyons dominated both 20-minute races at the scene of the first ever F5000 race, with Neil Glover taking second in Race 1 in his Lola T330/332, despite a smokey engine. Greg Thornton took

third in the Chevron B24 that Peter Gethin took to victory in the 1973 Race of Champions (beating the F1 cars in the process) but the gear linkage broke late-race and Thornton was stuck in fifth gear.

As Lyons ran away with Race 2, Andrew Higgins battled from the back to second in his Lola T400, having suffered fuel pick-up problems in Race 1. He enjoyed a race-long fight with Frank Lyons (Eagle A73). The

pair was delayed by Kiwi Stan Redmond (Lola T332), until Redmond crashed at the fast left-hander at Island Bend.

Kiwi Russell Greer (Lola T332) bagged fourth with Aaron Burson’s ex-Chris Amon Talon sixth. His father Peter failed to start, after his McRae GM failed the noise test and tour primemover David Abbott crashed his Lola in testing on Friday and skipped the races.

– DAVID ADDISON

NEED TO JOIN A CAR CLUB TO GET YOUR CAMS LICENSE? No matter what car you drive, Formula Ford Association membership is a cost effective way to get you on track.

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motorsport news

RACE

HISTORICS

AUSSIES OVERSEAS GEORGE Miedecke recovered from a tough qualifying to finish fourth in the latest round of the UARA Stars Series.

The NASCAR aspirant could only manage 15th in qualifying after struggling with set-up, but made good progress throughout the Banjo Matthews Memorial 150 to eventually grab fourth.

“We had a rough practice. The car was horrible,” Miedecke said.

“We could get a quick lap but it was out to lunch after 10 or 15 laps.

“I can’t thank my mates on the team enough to take such a big swing at the car like that and come away with something capable of driving from 15th to fourth.

“It says a huge amount about the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport team and I’m glad my dad and brother could come and see us run like that after flying thirty hours from Australia.

“But fourth isn’t what we’re looking for, and we’re going to do better.”

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ONE of the star cars at the Shannons Sports and Muscle Car Spectacular at Queensland Raceway hailed from a littleremembered era of Australian motor sport.

While many fondly remember formulaes like Group C, Group D has largely been forgotten. A category for production-based Sports cars from the 70s and 80s, they filled the bulk of the grid of the Australian Sports Car Championship in the early 70s before becoming the outright class in 1976. One of the stars of this era was a factory-built Porsche 934 RSR, imported

Mark Jones

MIEDECKE APORSCHE QR STAR FIGHTS BACK

By Porsche Cars Australia for Alan Hamilton. The car won two Australian Sports Car Championships, in 1977 with Hamilton (pointscore was tied with John Latham) and again in 1980 with Allan Moffat driving.

Larry McFarlane now races the car, having acquired it 18 months ago.

“All we’ve done is restore the livery to how it was when Allan Moffat was running the car,” McFarlane said.

“We had the choice of two, we choose the Federation Insurance livery. Everyone recognises Allan Moffat, as well as Hamilton. For Porsche people it’s the Hamilton

Porsche, for Muscle car fans, it’s the Moffat Porsche.

“The car came with two engines, a 600 horsepower engine and a 450 horsepower engine. I’ve got the standard engine in it now. It’s probably wise if I ran the bigger engine, so if anything goes wrong the original engine would stay with the car for the value of the car.”

In the racing over the weekend, Russell Wright (Ford Mustang) won Historic Touring Cars, Porsche racing was won by Ray Angus (997 GT3 CupCar) and Ian Woodward (Chevrolet Camaro) won the Trans Am races.

– MARK JONES

RECORDS GALORE AT MORGAN PARK QUEENSLAND LAP records tumbled and several champions were crowned as Morgan Park hosted Round 3 of the Queensland Motor Racing Championships.

Russell Jamieson debuted his new Anderson Maverick Superkart ahead of the forthcoming Eastern Creek national round and sliced 1.5s off Warren McIlveen’s lap record, dropping down to a 1:11.78 lap time as he dominated his class.

Justin Keys (Mazda RX-3) was the class of Improved Production field, closing down David

Waldon’s (Mazda 808) points lead with David Skillender (Holden Commodore) snatching away the lap record.

Mark Bowen wrapped up his first Queensland Sports Sedan championship in his Commodore-Chevrolet after being one of the few drivers to dominate a category over the course of the weekend.

Hayden Cooper (Van Diemen RF02) expanded his Formula Ford points lead with three wins ahead of Matt Campbell (RF04), all but securing the title. Formula Veewas close, with Shane Hart (Jacer) winning overall and Mike

Smith (Gebert) and Paul Mantiet (Rapier) sharing wins. The Gemini victory and new lap record was claimed by Dave Hinton, while Kerry Finn (Mazda MX5) clean swept Production Sports Cars.

The visiting NSW Sports Racer field took over Racing Cars with Adam Proctor (Stohr-Suzuki) winning the day ahead of Aaron Steer (West-Suzuki) and Mark Laucke (West-Kawasaki). While HQ Holden numbers were low, the lack of opposition allowed Gary Bonwick to seal another championship, taking the lap record as well.

– MARK JONES

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motorsport news

rear of grid

ODD SPOT!

Mater’s mates in makeup

Am ace Memo Rojas; and in the USA and other English-speaking markets, it’s Jeff Gordon (or rather, Jeff Gorvette). In Sweden, Jan ‘Flash’ Nilsson plays Flash; and in Germany, it’s ... not Michael Schumacher.

Some kid named Sebastian Vettel gets a role, playing Sebastian Schnell.

McLaren star Lewis Hamilton plays Lewis

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

MARK Winterbottom is not the only racing driver in Cars 2.

While Frosty voices ... er, Frosty in the new Disney/Pixar animated feature, other drivers get a go in other markets.

In Spain, it’s Fernando Alonso; in Russia, Vitaly Petrov; in South America, fans will see either Juan Pablo Montoya or Grand

in all markets.

That’s JPM getting some acting advice (and possibly, tips on how not to walk into the cameras) from actor John Ratzenberger and director John Lasseter at Infineon on the weekend, above.

BTW; that full-sized Mater replica, left above? Remote controlled. We. Want. One.

ON THIS DAY JUNE 2008

SPEAKING of NASCAR drivers ... We thought it was timely to mention this. Infineon 2011 marks that start of the fourth year of ‘The Drought’. It was 15 June 2008 when Dale Earnhardt Jr won his last Sprint Cup race, at Michigan. That’s Junior taking the flag ahead of Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth. The race ended under yellow as Patrick Carpentier was being attended to by an ambulance. It has been a long dry spell for the sport’s most popular driver.

sutton-images.com NASCAR Media

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