Motorsport eNews Issue 214 - July 19-25, 2011

THE WORLD OF MOTORSPORT DIRECTLY TO YOUR DESKTOP

Issue No. 214 July 19 - 25 2011

THE FULL LIST

ER

GETH O T D I R G -CAR 8 2 E L O H EW IME WE PUT TH FOR THE FIRST T

2012 T S A O C D GOL

GROUND BREAKS AT WANNEROO

RICCIARDO: I NEED TO CLOSE THE GAP TO LIUZZI

Limited Production of 4000 pieces Worldwide

Photog

raph of

actual

model

Available August 2011

Item Number 18306

Twin ignition coils on the firewall, dry-cell battery and oil catch tank in the foreground.

Hold the bonnet aloft with a fold-out wire bonnet support.

2

The cabin interior features unique instruments that cover the original road car gauges.

The Brock HDT steering wheel is also unique.

The year looked grim for the Holden Dealer Team when Holden announced in December '79 its withdrawal from motorsport. Peter Brock went directly to the Holden Dealers for support, getting 56 to commit. But the big advantage over the competition that year was the developmental headstart they had with the new car. Peter Brock and Jim Richards won their third consecutive great race and it was the VC Commodore's maiden Bathurst victory.

For more details contact Classic Carlectables on Freecall 1800 088 564 or visit

classiccarlectables.com.au A0995 AMN

motorsport news

Editorial Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen Executive Editor: Phil Branagan National Editor: Mitchell Adam

andrew@mnews.com.au editor@mnews.com.au mitchell@mnews.com.au

Editorial Enquiries 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East, VIC, 3187 (PO Box 7072, Brighton, VIC, 3186) P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 admin@mnews.com.au

Contributing Writers US: Martin D. Clark, Mary Mendez National: Lachlan Mansell, Mark Jones, Callum Branagan Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Paris Charles Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher, Luke Nieuwhof

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Geoff Gracie, Joel Strickland, Phil Williams, Rob Lang

Advertising National Sales Manager (Melbourne): Oriana Ruffini: oriana@mnews.com.au P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 Sydney Office Director, Advertising Sales: Jon Van Daal jvandaal@chevron.com.au Advertising Sales Manager: Luke Finn lfinn@chevron.com.au P: 02 9901 6100 Circulation Director: Carole Jones

Subscriptions: www.mnews.com.au CHEVRON GROUP

Level 6, Building A, 207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590

Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport eNews is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 5, 55 Chandos St, St Leonards NSW 2065 © 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this e-magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher.. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage.

Privacy Policy We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of Motorsport eNews, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our company has to offer. We may also give your information to other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590.

www.mnews.com.au www.mnews.com.au

Issue No. 214 | July 19 - 25 2011

news 5

New Listings The Full GC600 List 7 Timberrrrrrrrrrr .....

The Tower comes down at BR 9 The Commission ... Junior Fujitsu Series to get a say 12 Watch out, Tonio Dan sets his sights on 23rd 17 No Japanese for Casey Honda riders to boycott Japan

chat 22 Five Minutes With ...

Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Stoner

comment 24 Branagan: The Japan Issue 25 AVL: Manic Munich

race 26 Shannons Nationals 36 Winternats 40 NASCAR

trade 48 Classifieds 3

GARRY GRABS AUGUSTO AND SIMON V8 SUPERCARS AS exclusively revealed by eNews four weeks ago, Augusto Farfus will drive for Garry Rogers Motorsport at this year’s Gold Coast 600.

The Brazilian has been officially confirmed alongside Frenchman Simon Pagenaud at Fujitsu Racing/GRM, making it an all-sportscar line-up a year after Garry Rogers stunned the V8 fraternity by signing little-known American Patrick Long, who starred.

Farfus is currently driving for Schnitzer BMW in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, before he and the team switch to the German DTM in 2012. In fact, his drive with Schnitzer has been a key factor to his GRM deal, with Rogers and Schnitzer boss Charlie Lamm

having a relationship that spans almost three decades.

“For me, the chance to compete at the Gold Coast Event is something I am really looking forward to,” he said.

“I drive for the Schnitzer BMW Team and also compete in various sportscar events. Charlie Lamm, the principal of Schnitzer has had dealings with Garry Rogers in the past and I am really looking forward to meeting Garry and the Team.

“The vision that I have seen of the circuit shows it to be very fast and flowing, which is the type of racing that I am familiar with.

I believe that I will adapt well to the V8 Supercar technology. Whilst engine sizes vary, the principle of front engine rear wheel drive is something that I am familiar with.”

Meanwhile, Pagenaud will come to the Gold Coast as a Highcroft Racing driver in the American Le Mans Series. But it won’t be his first visit to the track, the Frenchman having raced there back in 2007, during a stint with the Team Australia Champ Car team.

“I was delighted when Garry first made contact with me in regards to driving for the GRM team at the Gold Coast,” said Pagenaud.

“A little information has already leaked out about my drive on the Gold Coast and the interest has certainly risen. I compete in the sportcars with Patrick Long, who drove for the GRM boys last year and he tells me he not only had a wonderful race event but also had a lot of fun and enjoyment with the team. I am looking forward to this event very much and also meeting all of the GRM people.”

WESTBROOK AND BERGMEISTER IN BLACK V8 SUPERCARS JACK Daniel’s Racing has signed two relatively low profile sportscar drivers for its 2011 Gold Coast 600 campaign.

Brit Richard Westbrook and German Jörg Bergmeister will partner Rick and Todd Kelly respectively at the Gold Coast event, adding another two sportscars drivers to the roster.

Westbrook is a two-time Porsche Supercar champion, the elite Carrera Cup class that races alongside the Formula 1 World Championship, and is also a former FIA GT2 Champion. He is currently racing for Nissan

in FIA Gt1 World Championship, a Corvette C6R in the American Le Mans Series, and a Porsche in the major European endurance races.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the Armor All Gold Coast 600 this October,” said Westbrook.

“This year I’ve been racing an iconic American muscle car in the Corvette – now I’ll get to sample some Aussie muscle with a Jack Daniel’s Commodore.

“They are both V8s and rear-wheel-drive, but obviously V8 Supercars are a unique beast. I expect it to take some getting used to

but I will do my research and I can’t wait for the challenge.”

Bergmeister, meanwhile, will be one of three factory Porsche drivers in attendance on the Gold Coast, along with Patrick Long and Marc Lieb. And, at 194cm tall, he is also expected to eclipse Garth Tander as the tallest driver on the grid.

“I don’t really have any expectations,” said the German.

“I will try to get some onboard video to learn the track and obviously I need to find a right-hand-drive car so I can practice here in Germany.”

Dirk Klynsmith

4

motorsport news

NEWS

SURFERS: THE LIST THIS is how eNews expects the grid for the 2011 Armor All Gold Coast 600 to look come this October.

While only Ryan Briscoe, Marc Lieb, Will Power, Jörg Bergmeister, Richard Wetsbrook, Alex Tagliani, Dirk Muller, Joey Hand, Augusto Farfus, Simon Pagenaud and Andy Priaulx have been officially announced by event organisers, eNews has pieced together an unconfirmed list of drivers.

With all 28 cars having to field an international driver in 2011, the landscape looks quite different to how it did last year – but not in all respects. Last year, there were 12 countries represented. This year, that number has only jumped to 13, despite the increased number of drivers. Austria, Denmark and Germany while Portugal and Switzerland miss out, with Tiago Montiero not and Alain Menu both busy with World Touring Car Championship commitments.

Montiero and Menu aren’t the only two drivers not coming back. David Brabham won’t be racing on the Gold Coast because he has already signed for Stone Brothers Racing for the Phillip Island and Bathurst races, ruling him out of Surfers under a new-for-2011 rule. Scott Pruett has failed to get a call-back, while Yvan Muller is another driver that will be ruled out due to the WTCC clash.

Finally, last year’s drawcard driver Jacques Villeneuve will be a no show in 2011, with eNews sources suggesting his asking price was too high. #

Team

1 Holden Racing Team 2 Holden Racing Team 3 Wilson Security Racing 4 Stone Brothers Racing 5 Ford Performance Racing 6 Ford Performance Racing 7 Jack Daniel’s Racing 8 Brad Jones Racing 9 Stone Brothers Racing 11 Kelly Racing 12 Triple F Racing 14 Brad Jones Racing 15 Jack Daniel’s Racing 16 Kelly Racing 17 Jim Beam Racing 18 Jim Beam Racing 19 Tekno Autosports 21 Brad Jones Racing 30 Gulf Western Oil Racing 33 Fujitsu Racing GRM 34 Fujitsu Racing GRM 39 Paul Morris Motorsport 47 James Rosenberg Racing 49 Paul Morris Motorsport 55 Rod Nash Racing 61 Bundaberg Racing 88 TeamVodafone 888 TeamVodafone *Officially Confirmed

www.mnews.com.au

Regular Driver

International

NAT

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

Patrick Long Ryan Briscoe* Tonio Liuzzi Marc Lieb* Will Power* Mika Salo Jörg Bergmeister* Stephane Sarrazin Scott Dixon Ben Collins Gianni Morbidelli Max Wilson Richard Westbrook* Alex Tagliani* Dirk Muller* Joey Hand* Alex Wurz Fabrizio Giovanardi Marino Franchitti Augusto Farfus* Simon Pagenaud* Jan Magnussen Helio Castroneves Boris Said Christian Klien Dario Franchitti Sebastien Bourdais Andy Priaulx*

USA AUS ITA DE AUS FIN DE FRA NZ ENG ITA BRA ENG CAN DE USA AUT ITA SCO BRA FRA DEN BRA USA AUT SCO FRA ENG

5

BMW Motorsport

T8, PMM to stay with 2 cars for 2012 V8 SUPERCARS

Audi Sport

DTM: BLACK vs BLACK DTM EXPECT to see these in the 2012 DTM. Audi has announced that it will race a new car in the German-based series from next year, with its racer based on the current model A5 coupe. The R17-based two door will replace the R12-based A4 four-door sedan, versions of which have been the company’s DTM car since 2004.

“In 2012 new Technical Regulations will come into effect in the DTM,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We’ve got exactly the right model for that in the A5. We’re convinced that we’ll be able to continue Audi’s 6

success story with it in the DTM.” Like all new DTM cars, the new Audi A5 DTM is built around common carbon-fibre monocoque, which is combined with a steel tube cage. As per regulations, its V8 engine will have around 460hp, driving through a spec 6speed gearbox.

The car will face BMW’s M3-based racer for the first time, and one from Mercedes-Benz – which will probably also be a two-door, rather than its tried and proven four-door C-Class.

The first prototype of the new A5 racer is currently being built up at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and is due to make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

THERE will not be a four-car Triple Eight Race Engineering V8 Supercar team – at least, not in 2012.

Following on from our report last week that TeamVodafone boss Roland Dane and Paul Morris were in talks to see if their teams might combine in the future, Dane has confirmed that the two will remain separate.

“I had a review over the last week and I decided it was not the best thing for us to do at the moment, in terms of the sponsors,” Dane told eNews.

“It is a matter of taking the right decision, given all the considerations. We had to look at the best thing for Triple Eight, which is me as the owner, the sponsors and the category as a whole.”

It now appears that the relationship between Paul Morris Motorsport, which to date has been the exclusive customer Holden team of T8, and the company will follow along the lines it has to date, though even Dane admits that he is “not sure” whether that will be exactly as it has been this season.

“I am working with Paul to help with what is the best situation for PMM,” he said.

“I do not know what the blueprint for the future is. What we want is the best thing for extracting the performance for the cars.” motorsport news

NEWS

All Change in the West CIRCUIT NEWS WORK has officially started on the upgrades at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia.

Ground was broken today (Monday) at the Wanneroo track, with the demolition of the 35-year-old control tower that sits on the infield at the start/finish line. Once completely cleared, an infield pit-lane will be built, complete with garages, for V8 Supercars to use during their annual trip west.

“We’re probably looking around about March for the new pits to be finished,” Malcolm Bulley, Barbagallo Raceway’s general manager, told eNews.

“Obviously the time line is critical for the V8 Supercars, which is May, so we’ll be finishing things off in March.”

Bulley also shed more light on the proposed make-up of the new facilities, with a single-story permanent garage building set to house the V8 teams next May. “The hard stand will be permanent, with concrete and asphalt, and the single-story garages are going to be permanent,” he added.

“The garages will be single-story, but when the V8 teams are in town they will have the option of putting marquees on top. But that will only be temporary, so we don’t mess up too much of the view.”

While the construction has been planned

to minimise the viewer disruption, Bulley admitted that those seated on the front straight won’t enjoy the current level of exposure to the rest of the circuit.

“The straight, from the outfield, the majority of the people sitting there are in corporate marquees,” he said.

“So they will be able to see the start/ finish line, and the first and last corners.

Realistically, there will be some viewing restrictions across at The Esses on V8 weekend. The same goes for the people sitting at The Esses, because their view of the start/finish line will be blocked by the garages. But that’s a very small price to pay for injection of funs from the government.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

END OF SEASON STOCK CLEARANCE! TYRES FOR CIRCUIT - SUPERSPRINT - TRACKDAYS - TARMAC RALLY - DIRT RALLY To contact your nearest Kumho Motorsport Dealer call:

1300 4KUMHO

XDESIGNS (FSP020)

1300 458 646

S700

V710

KU36

V70A

V700

R700

R800

Kumho Rally Tyres Chosen Tyre for Australian Rally Champions

VISIT www.fsport.com.au/special_offers FOR DISCOUNTS www.mnews.com.au

R900

NSW FSPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 9679 8044 ACT Notaras Motorsport . . . . . . . . . 0405 509 943 VIC Essendon Tyrepower . . . . . . . . 03 9379 2616 QLD Hornibrook Motorsport . . . . . . 07 3865 1072 SA Tyrepower Kensington Park . . . 08 8431 5856 TAS Revolution RaceGear (Hobart). . . 03 6231 3737 Beechy’s Service Centre (Launceston) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 6331 2948 WA Exleys Tyres & Brakes . . . . . . . 08 9354 7855

WWW.

.COM.AU

7

MILES GETS FG FUJITSU SERIES MILES Racing has added an FG Falcon to its growing array of hardware.

The Fujitsu Series outfit has purchased a Triple Eightbuilt FG from Dick Johnson Racing. The car, Chassis #19 in T8’s designation, was last used by Steven Johnson and heavily damaged in the multicar accident in the final race at Albert Park in March. It joins three T8-built BF Falcons owned by the SimPRO-backed squad,

which fields Chaz Mostert and Ash Walsh in the Fujitsu Series.

Team owner Wayne Miles says his team is unlikely to use the car this year, though, more likely to come online 2012 when he aims to run four cars.

“The timing’s impossible to have it up and running for us as a wildcard in the enduros, but we’re gearing up to run four cars next year and we basically have our complement of cars now,” he said.

“The FG was bought mainly as an investment by myself

because there’s a shortage of them. We’ll have it ready to be on the track by the end of the year, I’d say, so if a team writes one off and needs a car quickly, I’d be happy to lease it to them for a meeting. I just saw it as a commodity.

“Worst case now, we’ve got a nice and light Triple Eight-built car with a good pedigree for one of our drivers next year.”

Miles also told eNews that he and fellow Fujitsu Series squad Matthew White Motorsport could put together a joint

venture to run as a Main Game wildcard at Phillip Island and Bathurst this year. MWM has run a wildcard program for the last two years, while Miles is keen for his team to have a presence this year for the first time.

“We may look at doing something together,” he said.

“The cost for me to my thing and Matty to do his thing has forced us to look at doing a joint venture. I thought I should talk to him about it and that’s what I’ve done.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

GMR WILDCARD UP IN THE AIR V8 SUPERCARS GREG Murphy Racing may not continue their streak of Phillip Island and Bathurst wildcard entries.

Along with Matthew White Motorsport, GMR has been one of only two Fujitsu Series squads to step up for the enduros each year since the scheme was introduced in 2009. There is interest in running again in 2011, but additional finances would be required and all four of

the team’s VE Commodores are currently on duty in the Fujitsu Series, which runs at Bathurst.

“It’s a work in progress, but to be very honest, right at the moment, I would have to say it’s only fifty-fifty that we would go ahead with a wildcard this year,” team boss Kevin Murphy told eNews.

“To be truthful, I believe we would have the issue of finding a car; currently all of our cars are in use and would be required, at this point in time.

“If funding came along, I think the likes of Geoff [Emery] and somebody else would jump in, but it would mean withdrawing one of the cars from the Fujitsu round there and our desire is to continue to run four cars in that category that weekend.

“So right now, I don’t see us as a strong chance to be doing a wildcard, unless we were able to secure a bit of funding which we have been trying to do but haven’t been successful to date, to ease the pain for someone to

come into it.

“In some ways, that’s a little bit sad, seeing as we’ve done the last two years, and enjoyed it, but it has been fraught with difficulties, particularly one of them.

“From that point of view, it’s probably something we’re quite a bit wiser about now and if we can’t do it 100 percent right, finance-wise, we’re probably better off concentrating on doing a really good job in the Fujitsu Series.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

STONE WANTS 2 FUJITSU SERIES

8

Dirk Klynsmith

FIRST-YEAR Fujitsu Series team owner Matt Stone is eyeing expansion for 2012.

Stone, the son of Stone Brothers Racing’s Jim, left SBR at the end of 2010 to start his own outfit, Matt Stone Racing. The team fields an ex-SBR Falcon for Irish driver Robert Cregan, who has been one of the series’ surprise packets, sitting 10th in the standings in his maiden Australian season.

With Cregan set to stay on with MSR for a second season, Stone

is looking to add a second car for 2012, and is currently assessing hardware options. A number of factors have complicated that quest though. Next year is set to be the BF’s last in the Fujitsu Series, and the lack of FG Falcons on the market is unlikely to change before the introduction of the Car of the Future to the Main Game in 2013.

“I plan on running two cars in the DVS next year,” Stone told eNews.

“I’m currently looking at a car, and it’s just working on a driver for a second car, getting the

word out there, basically. That’s how I plan on expanding my business.

“The car’s the dilemma I’ve got now. There aren’t a lot of FGs available, currently, but there will be in 2013. But it’s pointless

buying a BF for next year and then it’s worthless after that.

“I haven’t locked anything in or found anything, but that’s the road I’m going down at the moment.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

NEWS

FV8 TO APPOINT COMMISSION REP FUJITSU SERIES

Dirk Klynsmith

WORK is underway to give the Fujitsu Series a direct voice as part of the new V8 Supercars Commission.

Competitors met with V8 Supercars Australia officials during last weekend’s Townsville round to start dialogue, which will eventually lead to the series appointing a representative to the Commission.

“It’s all pretty positive, to be honest,” Greg Murphy Racing boss Kevin Murphy told eNews.

“We were lucky enough to have a little bit of time with V8 Supercars personnel up there, including Martin Whittaker and a board member, and we will be following on from that by having a meeting for all of the current interested Fujitsu entrants and competitors here in Melbourne in a couple of weeks’ time.

“We’ll elect a member, either from within the group or an outsider, to represent us to the commission for future issues, problems and ideas moving forward, so that we have a

bit of a voice, which we probably haven’t had as clearly given to us in the past.”

Murphy says the direct communication channel is an important step in ensuring the strength and, subsequently, growth of the series.

“We’ve been a bit of a headless chook in recent times and V8 Supercars own the category and we probably haven’t had the attention sometimes that we feel we need,” Murphy admitted.

“And that’s becoming a bit more apparent and important to the Main Game teams now, because they’ll have cars to move on in the future and currently we’re the only place for them to go, unless they manage to set-up a category somewhere else in the world to take them, and it’s probably in everyone’s interest to make the category stronger moving forward and make it more desirable for other people to get involved with.

“It’s a business for us, but for others there’s reasons they’d like it to happen. So that’s all underway.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

Click through to our website

Born through innovation and a passion for racing.

Contact our experienced team today and we will help you with all your performance braking needs.

www.bsmsport.com.au 02 6227 0133 info@bsmsport.com.au

www.mnews.com.au

9

NEWS

DOOHAN SOME LAPS MICKV8 Doohan is staying retired, even after SUPERCARS testing one of the Holden Racing team’s Commodores at Queensland Raceway.

The 500cc racing legend took a passenger ride alongside James Courtney before completing 15 laps of the 3.1km circuit.

“The opportunity to have a run in one of the Toll Holden Racing Team Commodores was great, it was a lot of fun but after a few laps I think I’m a fair way from going racing

again,” Doohan said.

“I’d only had a small opportunity a few years ago to drive one of these cars and it was the first time I’d ever been around this circuit, so it was good to do a couple of laps with James and see what he was doing.

“I was looking at his hands and feet, trying to work off him as much as I could – James is a quality driver no doubt about that.”

Courtney was impressed with Doohan’s

application to the task at hand.

“He clearly listened to everything I had to tell him about the car and circuit, he went out there and was straight on it which surprised everyone,” he said.

“He was pushing the car and hitting the braking marks. It showed that regardless of two wheels or four Mick’s pretty impressive – I think he did a great job.”

WALLIS GRABS LEE’S OLD VE FUJITSU SERIES

10

Peter Bury

ADAM Wallis will drive his new Fujitsu Series ride for the first time this week.

The South Australian has been a mainstay in Supercars for the best part of the last decade, splitting his time between the Fujitsu Series and the thirdtier Kumho V8 Touring Car Series, which he won in 2009.

He’ll rejoin the Fujitsu Series at Queensland Raceway next month, having purchased a VE

Commodore from Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Wallis has taken delivery of VE09 – driven by Lee Holdsworth to his first V8 Supercar win at Oran Park in 2007 but unused in recent years – and will drive it for the first time at Mallala on Friday.

He plans to contest at least three of the four remaining Fujitsu

Series rounds, with Homebush’s season finale the only question mark.

“We looked at a few VEs, but we saw this car basically apart, it was the pick of the crop so to speak,” Wallis told eNews.

“We’ve got possession of it, we’re doing a few things to organise to go testing on the

22nd. I’m looking forward to driving it.

“We’ll certainly run at Ipswich, Bathurst and Sandown, and I don’t know about Sydney. We’ll see what’s what when we get there, only because it’s a car breaker, so we’ll see where we’re at.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

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

CONGRATULATIONS!!! t *5. )".*-50/ t 4,:$*5: 53*1-& $308/ www.mnews.com.au

t 53"%*/( 1045 $)"--&/(& t 8*/50/ .0503 3"$&8":

The Lubricant Specialists w w w. f u c h s . c o m . a u 11

eNEWS EXCLUSIVE

RICCIARDO: I’LL BE CLOSER TO LIUZZI IN GERMANY DANIELFORMULA Ricciardo has 1 vowed to be closer to his Hispania Racing Team team-mate Tonio Liuzzi at this weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Having out-paced the Italian in two of the three practice sessions at the British Grand Prix – Ricciardo’s first GP as a race driver – the West Aussie found himself 0.5s behind Liuzzi after qualifying, the pair locking out the back row of the grid. While part of the gap was due to Ricciardo’s second stint being ruined by drizzling rain, he admitted that he was surprised by the intensity of his first qualifying session.

But, as he told eNews, Ricciardo will be much more prepared to take on Liuzzi in Germany this

weekend.

“I have to aim [at beating Liuzzi],” he said.

“Although there is a lot to learn, I have to push on and learn quickly now.

“I’m sure I can be closer to Tonio in qualifying this weekend. I’ll use that half a second gauge from Silverstone, and make minimizing that a target for the Nurburgring. Then we’ll see how we can go in the race, which is another thing altogether.

“I need to take another step forward, definitely.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

RED BULL sutton-images.com

SCHUMI EYES BIG HOME RESULT

MICHAEL Schumacher1believes Mercedes’ new FORMULA exhaust system and diffuser could lead his best result of the year at the Nurburgring this weekend.

Mercedes debuted a new exhaust system at the British Grand Prix recently, along with a new diffuser and several other upgrades. The team, which has had a quiet 2011 so far, seemed closer to the pace of the front-runners at Silverstone, and with another fortnight of development up their sleeves, Schumacher says this could be the race where they finally shine.

“This season has been a difficult one for performance predictions so far,” said Schumacher.

“However I can predict one thing for sure; the extra boost we are receiving will be transformed into extra motivation. We saw some improvements 12

over the Silverstone weekend with our new exhaust system, along with improvements to how we work with the tyres, so we go to the next race weekend with a good feeling added to our fighting spirit.”

Schumacher added that with the German Grand Prix being the home event not only for him, but for Mercedes and his team-mate Nico Rosberg as well, the whole team will be working hard to perform.

“We definitely want to show our home crowds our best level of performance possible. It will be the first time that I race through the corner which is named after me (Turns 8 and 9), and obviously I would like to believe that this is not only making me proud, but also even faster.”

motorsport news

NEWS

sutton-images.com

OFF-throttle blown diffusers FORMULA 1 will be officially re-allowed for the remainder of the 2011 Formula 1 season.

As expected, the FIA has abandoned its plan to ban the off-throttle devices, after the issue became highly contentious at the recent British Grand Prix. With unanimous backing from the teams, the FIA has instead ruled off-throttle blowing legal, but retained its ban on changing engine mappings between qualifying and the race.

“Whilst examining the engine maps from several teams it became clear that extreme solutions were being used for short times in qualifying and then being changed for more

durable solutions for the race,” read a statement from the FIA. “We felt that this was certainly against the spirit of the parc ferme regulations but, more importantly, the relevant regulations simply do not allow changes to be made whilst the cars were being held under parc ferme conditions, connections to the car may be made and electronic units freely accessed, however, no changes to the setup of the car can be made.

“We therefore informed the teams on 14 June that we would take these measures in Valencia, this was done and cars run accordingly with very few difficulties “Following the events of Friday [at the British Grand

Prix], the FIA President felt that it would be useful to have an open discussion in order to see if consensus could be reached. Following these two meetings there was unanimous agreement among the teams to revert to the engine mapping regime used in Valencia, i.e. freedom on settings but no changes to the maps between qualifying and race.

“This was felt to be the most sensible solution to a very complicated matter as the possibility of finding an alternative solution, which would be fair to all engine manufacturers, was becoming increasingly unlikely.”

sutton-images.com

OFF-THROTTLE BAN OFF – OFFICIALLY

RED Bull Racing is expecting FORMULA 1 Mark Webber to stay on in 2012, despite the team orders controversy at the British Grand Prix.

Speaking in the wake of the race, where Mark Webber blatantly ignored team orders and tried to overtake Sebastian Vettel late in the race, Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz said that Webber is likely to stay on.

“Mark Webber will re-sign with us,” Mateschitz told AUTOSPORT. “This will happen for sure. He is very popular within the team, he feels very comfortable and it is an excellent relationship. He knows this and we know it.

“To be honest, Mark has no better choice than the fastest car and we have no better choice for a fast driver.”

Mateschitz added that he had no problem with Webber’s actions at Silverstone.

“Sebastian realised that Fernando Alonso was gone and could not be caught anymore, so he backed down. This let

Mark close in. He would be a very bad racer had he not tried to attack and gain a position.”

Despite Mateschitz’s comments, Webber is still yet to offer an indication on which way he will go in ’12. But according to his BBC column, the team orders saga will play no part in the decision.

“Christian [Horner] and I had a chat about the situation after the race,” Webber wrote.

“We both put our cases forward and I think we came away seeing it from both perspectives.

“I’m sure you’ll be wondering if it will make any difference to my decision about what I do in 2012, whether I carry on racing with Red Bull or not.

“The team and I have time to make that decision. We’re talking about continuing at the moment and it’s positive, and what happened on Sunday does not turn my world upside down.”

L: WEBBER WILL RE-SIGN “FOR SURE”

www.mnews.com.au

13

WALTRIP SUES WILLIAMS OVER COUGHLAN Toyota Motorsports

NASCAR

14

Danica’s a Belieber INDYCARS DANICA Patrick made an appearance at ESPN’s Espy Awards in Los Angeles last week.

The Andretti Autosport’s driver joined singer Justin Bieber, who suited up as a race car driver with a large maple leaf on a ‘team shirt’, to present the Best Team Award to the NBA Champions Dallas Mavericks during the ESPY Awards.

NASCAR Champ Jimmie Johnson won the Best Driver award for the fourth straight year. The other nominees were Dario Franchitti and Drag Racers John Force and Greg Anderson. No, Sebastien Vettel did not get nominated.

Two Aussies won awards. Surfer Stephanie Gilmore won Best Female Action Sport Athlete and Jason Belmonte was named Best Bowler [Ed: What, ahead of Shane Warne?]. motorsport news

sutton-images.com

THE move by former McLaren engineer Mike Coughlan to WilliamsF1 has brought about a lawsuit – but from the world of NASCAR, not within Formula 1.

Michael Waltrip Racing is suing Coughlan and the Williams F1 team in the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina. MWR is asking for a unspecified amount in damages from Coughlan for breach of contract and, against Williams, interference with the contract between the two parties. The suit alleges that the departure of Coughlan has impacted the team’s performance, and has resulted in a loss of prizemoney and potential sponsorship.

Coughlan’s role with MWR was to oversee the design, production, engineering and quality control programs.

However, a WilliamsF1 spokesman said that the company had not been notified of the action.

“Williams F1 is aware of reports that a lawsuit has been filed by Michael Waltrip Racing against the team and Mike Coughlan,” the spokesman told autosport. com.

“Neither Mike nor the team have received notice of any proceedings, or indeed have had any contact with Michael Waltrip Racing since early June.

“Consequently we have no further comment to make on this matter.”

MWR fields entries for Martin Truex Jr and David Reutimann in the Sprint Cup Series. They are currently 22nd and 24th, respectively, in the points standings.

www.mnews.com.au

15

DUCATI: 11s or 12s for USA? MOTOGP DUCATI faces a potentially difficult trip to the USA this weekend, after a mystifying German MotoGP. Nicky Hayden finished eighth at the Sachsenring and

Valentino Rossi ninth, bother riders behind the previously uncompetitive Suzuki of Alvaro Bautista. But while those results are not great, they are better than qualifying. Rossi started 16th in the event, with

only Sylvain Guintoli (who is subbing for the injured Loris Capirossi) behind him. The Doctor suffered all sorts of problems in practice and qualifying, which has put a cloud over the future of the GP11.1 he has ridden in the last three GPs. “This morning in the warmup we made a change to the set-up that helped me to slightly improve the feeling compared to the very, very difficult practice sessions,” said Rossi after the race. “After the opening laps, I realized that my pace was the same as that

of Nicky and Bautista’s group, maybe even a little faster, but I had small glitches with the gearbox in the second half of the race.”

The problem for the team now is whether to stick to its plans and take two of its newer bikes to Laguna Seca, where Hayden and Rossi are both former winners, or to revert to the older GP11 that Hayden has raced all season.

“We’ll analyze the data from this weekend and decide what to do for Laguna Seca,” said a rather cryptic Rossi after the race.

AHYJV»Z ÄYZ[ ^PU NVLZ ^P[O [PLIYLHRLY OLHY[IYLHRLY 125cc GP YOU have to feel sorry for Johann Zarco.

The Derbi rider missed out on his maiden 125cc GP win when he copped a 20-second time penalty for an illegal overtaking move in Catalunya. Zarco, 20, shrugged his shoulders, copped it sweet and got on with it.

Hector Faubel denied him again in Germany. Zarco swept around the Aprilia rider, right, at the line and when the timing screens were looked at, the gap between the pair was 0.000s – a dead heat. So the stewards looked at the video of the finish and still could not split the pair.

16

So, the tiebreaker was used – the fastest lap. Faubel did a 1:27.867s on lap 11, and that decided matters.

“Luckily, in the end, justice has been done,” Faubel, 27, said afterwards.

“It is fabulous to win here because it is actually one of my least favourite circuits.”

Zarco said he was not too disappointed at the finish.

“When I crossed the line I looked up at the screens and I thought that I had won,” he said.

“But I’m not going to cry about it, because I still made it on to the podium, and that should give me the extra motivation and aggression required for the rest of the season.” motorsport news

PEDROSA ON TOP MOTOGP DANI Pedrosa has celebrated his triumphant return from injury with a stunning win at the Saschenring in Germany.

Pedrosa surprised everyone, including himself, by qualifying in the front row for the German Grand Prix, just two weeks after returning from the sidelines.

He then scorched past early leader Jorge Lorenzo on the main straight with nine laps to go, before gapping Lorenzo and Casey Stoner to ensure a remarkable comeback win.

“Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I’ve never had before,” said Pedrosa, right.

“At the beginning of the race I wasn't feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn’t get nervous or worried because I’m still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it’s almost impossible.

So, I just let the laps pass and

in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tyres started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly.

“I’m very happy with this victory, I’ve been suffering a lot even though this race track is not physically demanding, because I’m still weak.”

Meanwhile, the battle for the championship between Lorenzo and Stoner was taken up a notch by an awesome lastlap lunge from the Spaniard.

Lorenzo passed points leader Stoner on the final corner of the race, taking the gap down to just 15 points heading into next weekend’s GP at Laguna Seca.

“I tried everything I could, riding the cleanest lap possible and trying to block my line, but Jorge came up on the dirty part of the track,” said Stoner.

“I thought it would be too high a risk but he made it stick and I have to settle for third place. I’m still leading the championship and I’m thankful for the points here today.”

Ducati Corse

STONER/LORENZO: NO GO, JAPAN MOTOGP

www.mnews.com.au

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

CASEY Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo might be fighting out the MotoGP title on two of Japan’s fastest motorcycles, but that does not mean that they will go to that country to race this year.

The two men at the top of MotoGP’s points table confirmed on the weekend that they will not race at Motegi in October. The venue for the Japanese MotoGP, which already has had its race postponed this season, is just over 100km from the damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima.

“I will not go and most riders have the same opinion,” said Stoner.

“That’s my opinion and I’ve had it for some time. Not as long as Jorge. I took more time to make my decision, but I will not go there.

“That’s my decision. I guess it’s up to the organisers to figure out what’s going to happen.

If a similar thing happened near my home in Australia I wouldn’t be going back there. It’d be the same situation.”

Said Lorenzo; “I took this decision not to go to Japan a long time ago. So I am not active in the ongoing discussions about going to Japan because I have already made my decision.

“I think if we can help Japan in another way we will, but I think going there is not real support.”

MotoGP organisers Dorna is biding its time, but time is running out.

“We have launched a private investigation and we will have the results on 24 July,” Dorna chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta told BBC Sport.

“If there is any level of radiation that is a concern then we will make a decision but we expect to race at Motegi. If the riders don’t want to go, then that is not our problem. It will be up for the teams to resolve.”

17

FORMULA 3 JAMES Winslow’s backing looks sorted for the remainder of the 2011 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship.

The Englishman returned to the series he won in 2008 at the last-minute for Winton’s season opener in May. After also contesting Round 2 at

Hidden Valley in June with R-Tek Motorsport, Winslow unveiled support from appliance manufacturer Haier for the balance of 2011 on the eve of last weekend’s Eastern Creek round. With that in place, the current championship leader is eyeing a second Gold Star.

“I’m really excited to have this new relationship with Haier

John Morris / Mpix

WINSLOW GETS BACKING Appliances,” Winslow said.

“They are a great company and have fantastic products that are known around the world for their performance and quality, much like Formula 3 is. It is an honour for me to represent them in my racing endeavours.

“Every driver looks for this kind of support, so to be able to work with them this year

MEYERS HEADING TO SYDNEY

ARRESTING TIMES V8 TOURING CARS

18

SPEEDWAY

Martin D Clark

THE weekend’s fourth round of the Shannons Nationals at Eastern Creek featured some unexpected drama, when V8 Touring Car driver Derek Hocking was arrested at the circuit on Saturday morning.

Hocking, who was supposed to be racing his VY Commodore in Round 3 of the series, contested practice and qualifying, but missed the weekend’s three races after his arrest. Police officers were called to the circuit to resolve a complaint of violence, and according to a statement from the NSW police media unit, Hocking was subsequently arrested when he was found to have an outstanding warrant.

“Police attended Eastern Creek about 11am on Saturday 16 July after a complaint over a personal violence matter,” the statement said.

“Whilst investigating the incident, police arrested a 52-year-old Lithgow man for an outstanding warrant. He was taken to St Marys Police Station where the warrant was executed. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta local court this morning (Monday).”

Derek Hocking formerly raced in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series and various production car classes.

– LACHLAN MANSELL

is amazing. It’s a great vote of confidence in me and in the championship.

“Haier is an evolving and developing brand and I am looking forward to working hard this year to raise their brand exposure in Australia and hopefully win a championship with them on the side of the car!”

CURRENT World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers will race at Tyrepower Sydney Speedway over summer’s Christmas and New Year period.

The California native will make five appearances at the venue, kicking off on Boxing Day’s Valvoline Australian Sprintcar Grand Prix.

He’ll kick off 2012 with TSS’ January 1 meeting, followed

by January 7 and the Scott Darley Sprintcar Challenge to complete his trip on January 13-14.

Meyers’ trip has been initiated

by NSW competitor Steve Caunt, who is currently working in the US as part of Meyers’ Elite motorsport news

NEWS

John Morris / Mpix

NATIONALS GET HI-TEC BOOST SHANNONS NATIONALS THE Shannons Nationals has entered a new commercial partnership with Hi-Tec Oils.

Announced at Eastern Creek, the independent oil producer will become a major backer of the series, which will now be known as the Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Racing USA crew. Caunt will import four of Meyers’ cars for the trip to run in the colours of Caunt’s Fire Service Plus organisation.

With 48 WoO event wins to his credit, Meyers won the 2010 title and leads the 2011 standings. The 32-year-old has raced in Australia and the Sydney venue before, during the Outlaws Down Under tours last decade.

“I am very pleased Jason accepted our offer and I am sure he will put on a great show for the fans,” Tyrepower Sydney Speedway General Manager David Lander said.

“His status in American Sprintcar racing is well known and again he is having a great season in the US.” www.mnews.com.au

Oils.

“We’ve been working hard over the last six seasons to establish a credible, consistent and competitive circuit racing series to cater for a variety of categories on a national basis, so to receive news like this gives us great recognition that we’re heading down the right path,” Nationals Director Rob Curkpatrick said.

“Hi-Tec’s involvement, alongside our long-term supporters Shannons, will give us the opportunity to build greater awareness of the Nationals, and provide opportunities for a variety of our core categories to build for the future.

“There are some very exciting opportunities ahead, and more will be revealed in the coming

months as we work towards the 2012 calendar.

“Aside from allowing us to improve the profile of the series, Hi-Tec are also looking to strongly promote the association with their own marketing programs, and have a few ideas of their own which will benefit the Nationals, so we’re very excited.”

TINKLER DOUBLES UP GT3 CUP CHALLENGE PORSCHE CARRERA CUP competitor Nathan Tinkler will get double the mileage in the second half of the 2011 season after purchasing a new vehicle to tackle the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia.

Tinkler has purchased a type997 GT3 Cup Car last utilised in the now-defunct New Zealand series, and is expected to debut the car at the series’ next round at Morgan Park this August. Tinkler has

steadily improved in his debut season of top-level National competition in the Carrera Cup, and regularly raced with the likes of Rusty French at the most recent round at Townsville.

After qualifying last and some 16 seconds off the pace at the first round in Melbourne, Tinkler was less than five seconds off the fastest time in qualifying for the Queensland round – however eNews understands his desire to improve further up the order has brought on the move to

the second all-Porsche series to gain more laps.

The 997s utilised in the GT3 Cup Challenge are fundamentally similar to the latest-specification cars in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Tinkler was scheduled to compete at Eastern Creek at the weekend, however delays in Customs saw the car miss it’s intended delivery date and, as such, has likely pushed Tinkler’s GT3 Cup Challenge debut back to the Warwick round.

– RICHARD CRAILL 19

NEWS

Fastlane Media

KARTERS STAY UP LATE, LEND A HAND THE weather was cold but the racing was KARTING hot in Ipswich on Saturday night as some of the best in karting and car racing faced off for three hours of competition for a good cause.

The Race for Jase was held, to raise funds for Jason Richards and his family, and Luke Baldry and Ben Stewart, pictured, claimed the victory. The Pacific Kartsport-backed pair overtook team-mates Dale Verrall, who grew up in New Zealand racing karts against Richards, and Troy Bretherton late in the race to claim the win.

“I was just happy to be here, racing in Luke Baldry’s kart,” said Stewart. “We had some good pace and a trouble-free run all throughout the race which led us to the win. It’s been a great day, I think everyone here has had a fantastic time and the best thing of all is that it’s been all for a good cause.”

Verrall and Bretherton were handed a post-race penalty for completing one of their compulsory pit stops in under the minimum 10 minutes, relegating them to 10th spot in the final results.

Miles Racing Fujitsu V8 Supercar driver Ash Walsh and Adam Mercer were second ahead of Chris Pither and Scott McLaughlin.

Jack Perkins, who was paired with Tyler Greenbury, made an impressive return to the kart track by charging into the race lead during his opening stint. Unfortunately though the team’s chances were derailed when their Intrepid kart lost a wheel shortly after Greenbury returned to the circuit – they eventually finished 11th.

NEWCOMBE TAKES PRO STOCK INTO 6S DRAG RACING

Ken Ferguson

20

DAVE Newcombe created history in Australian Pro Stock drag racing on July 13 at Willowbank Raceway in private testing, prior to last weekend’s re-run of the 2011 Castrol EDGE Winternationals.

With the aid of ex-US Pro Stock star Jim Yates, Newcombe recorded the very first six-second pass in Australia for the Pro Stock class. Newcombe and Yates finessed his John Barbagallo Fordpowered Mustang to a 6.994s at 194.8mph. The pass will only be an unofficial milestone, as it was done at a private test day.

“These Aussie guys have got these cars running very, very well,” said Yates, “and Dave has the car set up very well. All I needed to do was just tweak a few things here and there.”

– KEN FERGUSON

motorsport news

Pre-order

Your piece of Australian Touring Car history NOW! 50 years of the Australian Touring Car Championship is a detailed history of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the V8 Supercar Championship Series. This huge 400-plus page book LV WKH GHÀQLWLYH KLVWRU\ RI RXU WRXULQJ car racing.

Including Aust/NZ postage and handling Code: ATCC50

Only $99 Available August 2011 &(%% (+& &)+ lll#X]Zkgdc#Xdb#Vj www.mnews.com.au

11 21

FIVE MINUTES WITH ...

DANI PEDROSA, JORGE LORENZO AND CASEY STONER

:\UKH`»Z .LYTHU 4V[V.7 OHK L]LY`[OPUN" H MHPY`[HSL JVTLIHJR ^PU MVY +HUP 7LKYVZH H ZLSM WYVMLZZLK ºTPYHJSL» MYVT 1VYNL 3VYLUaV HUK HUV[OLY MHPSLK IPK MYVT *HZL` :[VULY [V THRL OPZ [`YLZ SHZ[ [OL KPZ[HUJL /LYL HYL [OL ;VW »Z JVTTLU[Z MYVT [OL WVZ[ YHJL WYLZZ JVUMLYLUJL QUESTION: After everything you’ve been through this season Dani with injuries, how sweet, how important is it to get back on the top step here at the Saschenring?

DANI PEDROSA: Yeah, it’s an unbelievable feeling after all. To come back so soon and win, it’s an unbelievable feeling.

Already yesterday we were front row [in qualifying], I was happy because I didn’t expect that at all. I didn’t expect the race win either, so I’m really happy.

At the beginning I was running fourth, [and] I was feeling perfect with the bike, but as the laps went on I felt better and I started to get some rhythm. Finally I could stay in front and win that race.

I mean, it is incredible for me. I want to thank all of the fans and all of the people that have been with me this hard time.

Thanks to them, because it really was a hard time for me. But we’ve already come back and won one race, so it’s super cool.

QUESTION: In second place, Jorge Lorenzo. When it was clear that Dani was going to win, it was important for the championship to go in front of Casey [Stoner]. What was your plan with that move in the final couple of corners?

JORGE LORENZO: I think I made some type of miracle in the last corner, because I didn’t expect overtake Casey because he was braking so strong, so deep. I was really, really tired, especially in my forearm, on the left side, from the middle of the race.

I saw that Dani was completely at the limit, so I couldn’t follow him. For me the position was okay, but at the end I pushed at the limit, Casey closed the door a lot, and then two corners before the end I 22

opened full throttle and I stayed with him.

At the last corner I played my game, and it happened in the best way.

QUESTION: Casey, you all had turns leading that race. It looked like you had a few issues in the middle part of that race, but then came back into it. What was your thinking, knowing that Jorge was behind you going into those final few corners?

CASEY STONER: At the beginning of the race we really didn’t want to overheat the tyre like we did in Mugello, so we were really patient, we didn’t try and get to the front straight away.

After a few laps, you know, everything started to feel comfortable so I thought I’d go to the front and see if we could try and pull an advantage. We were pulling a slight advantage, but not enough for the effort I was putting [in], so I decided to back it off a little bit.

I wasn’t too comfortable running at the pace that I was, so I tried to stay smooth,

keep it as tight as possible, because we knew that we were going to have some problems at the end.

In the middle part of the race, [Dani and Jorge] kept a small advantage but I didn’t want to let them get away too far. At the end I knew I was able to pick my pace up quite a lot, but by that time Dani had already got very comfortable and started pushing forward. After that I really wanted to get past Jorge and try and chase Dani down. I got a little bit closer, but then I made some small mistakes, losing a lot of grip on the edge and really struggling. I nearly crashed a few times.

It’s a nice thing – I’m leading the championship at the moment – in races where you don’t feel like you can do that extra bit. I did everything I could today to hold Jorge back, but he was really strong in that last corner – he passed me twice in two laps. I guess I didn’t learn my lesson the first time.

But he held on well. I thought I had it, but obviously not. motorsport news

CHAT

www.mnews.com.au

23

Support Japan (from Far, Far Away)

24

OPINION Phil Branagan – Executive Editor

Honda Pro Images

LET me say this first; Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and anyone else who is a citizen of a democratic country has a perfect right to choose to go to Japan, or anywhere else, or not to.

Let me also say this; as I write this, I have no plans to go to Japan any time soon. It is not a part of my brief to travel there to cover MotoGP, or IndyCar, or anything else. If anyone wants to give me a ticket to attend these races, I will consider it.

But, for now, there are no plans and I am Aussie-bound, a safe distance from Japan.

But the announcement at the weekend that Stoner, Lorenzo and many of their MotoGP colleagues have made the decision not to go to Motegi for the rescheduled Japanese GP in October is one that leaves me uncomfortable.

For a start, MotoGP organiser Dorna is in the process of gathering its own information, to assess whether there is any level of undue risk from going to the track. The subsequent report is due next week so, unless the riders have been told something in advance, announcing their decision so far in advance is not what may be considered respecting the process. If Dorna’s report is that all is well in Tochigi Prefecture (and that is where Motegi is located), the riders are in danger of looking a bit premature and petulant.

Let’s leave aside the fact that MotoGP riders, who make their living riding (and falling off ) motorcycles at speeds of more than 320kmh, also endure far more X-rays, MRIs and other medical examinations than we mortals do and, therefore, are exposed to far more radiation that we might be in the course

of our lives. On top of that, consider the almost constant international air travel, with its security machine requirements, on top of the high-altitude radiation from the actual flights.

[Timely mention here; Ben Spies has admitted in several interviews that he is scared of flying. He got over it, otherwise he would not be a World Superbike champion and a MotoGP winner.]

Here is my main beef with this. Stoner, Lorenzo et al ride for Japanese factory teams. Yes, they have sponsors from other parts of the world but, if not for Honda and Yamaha spending a lot of dollars in the sport, the riders would still, probably, be racing, but they may not be living a millionaire sports stars’ lifestyles when they are not.

The messages of support for the people of Japan have been particularly apparent this season, on the bikes and on the riders. How sincere are they going to look if the HRC and Yamaha factory bikes line up at Motegi with a bunch of factory test riders on board?

My view on this is; the riders can go, or not. Deciding, and announcing, they are not, now is a bad look – not quite as bad as sitting at home in a tax haven while there is a race on in Japan, but bad enough. And, if you decide to skip the race, lads, for your own reasons, that’s your right. But please tear those messages of support off your bikes – or at the very least, off your leathers. If you don’t, then don’t get too upset if people call you a bunch of hypocrites.

IS THIS IF I’d been in Germany last weekend, it would have been decision-making time.

Usually, the decisions I make when in Germany revolve around whether to drink Apfelwein or Hefeweizen, and whether to eat Lebekäse or Haxe. But last weekend, it would have been all about two wheels or four.

In the two-wheel corner there was Sachsenring, in the country’s east, and its MotoGP round. The ‘motorrad’ circuit has a lot of third gear corners and some great up-and-down hill sections, and it usually throws up great racing. As it turns out, the MotoGP race was an absolute ripper.

But, to be honest, I probably would have gone south, to motorsport news

COMMENT

sutton-images.com

S A GAME-CHANGER? the Olympiastadion in Munich.

Why? Because the running tracks and corner posts were gone, and the DTM was in town.

In the stadium. In front of more than 50,000 people. With all the drivers racing to be the DTM’s first ‘Indoor Champion’.

The event was essentially a cross between the Race of Champions and a Super Special Stage at a World Rally Championship round, but still, DTM organisers did their bit to make it novel. For starters, the format was designed to pit Audi and Mercedes against each other. In fact, all of Saturday’s running was Merc v Audi, in every head-to-head battle.

On Sunday, it became each man (and woman) for themselves. The first few rounds www.mnews.com.au

were three-lap sprints, before the finals became four-lap duels – with a pit-stop. That’s right, a pit-stop. The crews got involved by having to service the cars half way through a sub-five minute race.

All in all, this was a cracking idea by those behind the DTM. By the time they threw Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes F1 car to bust a few laps, and the German fans got to see David Coulthard AND Ralf Schumacher hit the wall, it looked to be a top day’s worth of motorsport ... all in a very unfamiliar surrounding.

From the outside looking in, it appears the only thing they got wrong was a ban on burnouts during the actual competitive races (sound familiar), with Mattias Ekstrom copping a two-

OPINION

Andrew van Leeuwen – eNews Editor minute time penalty for a flick spin. “Too bad for the fans, I would have loved to have made the best burnout ever seen,” was his hilariously Swedish response to being ruled out of contention.

I like this idea. It’s a bit like Twenty20 cricket; no, it’s not traditional, and no, it will never be a test match. But if it gets people who otherwise wouldn’t go to the cricket involved, then how can it be a bad thing?

Initiatives like this are a good idea. In Munich, the whole show was bolstered by fireworks,

sporting stars (like Bayern Munich’s new goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who would be the toast of Bavaria at the moment), comedians and music.

There would have been people sitting there who probably wouldn’t have ever thought about heading out to the Lausitzring to watch DTM cars drone around – until now.

In fact, I’m so impressed with what the DTM has achieved here that I’m going to let them have their moment, and not mention V8 Supercars or the MCG. Hint.

25

SHANNONS NATIONALS R4. EASTERN CREEK, NSW

THE NATIONALS GO LARGE AT EC

WITH 10 CATEGORIES IN ACTION OVER FOUR DAYS, EASTERN CREEK HOSTED THE BIGGEST-EVER ROUND OF THE SHANNONS NATIONALS. LACHLAN MANSELL AND RICHARD CRAILL COVER THE ACTION

John Morris / Mpix

26

motorsport news

RACE

www.mnews.com.au

27

SMOKE ON THE WATE

OFTEN A PACE SETTER BUT NEVER A ROUND WINNER ... UNTIL NOW. CAMERON WATERS BROK MAIDEN FORMULA FORD ROUND WIN AT EASTERN CREEK, LACHLAN MANSELL REPORTS

C

AMERON Waters has taken his maiden round win in the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Eastern Creek, driving his Sonic Motor Racing Mygale entry.

The 16-year-old Mildura driver qualified on pole position in a damp qualifying session, before winning the first two races and finishing second in the final behind fellow Sonic driver Nick Foster.

“I’m absolutely stoked with the result this weekend,” Waters said.

“Things couldn’t have gone much better, and to take my first round win feels great. I didn’t quite have the speed 28

of Nick in the final race, but I scored plenty of championship points and extended my lead, which was the aim this weekend.”

Foster finished the weekend in second place overall, courtesy of fourth and fifth place finishes in the first two races to complement his win in the final. Despite lacking pace in the opening two races, some well-judged adjustments for the final allowed Foster to carve his way to the front of the field with some textbook slipstreaming manoeuvres on the main straight and into Turn 1.

“It’s been a long time coming this season, but to get that first

victory and then a podium for the weekend feels great,” Foster said.

“It should have happened a lot earlier in the year, but I’ve made some mistakes and we’ve had some bad luck as well, which has made things difficult.”

While Sonic Motor Racing continued their domination of the championship, the Minda Motorsport / CAMS Rising Star outfit made some significant gains since the previous round of the series at Winton, and were rewarded for their efforts with a podium finish for Trent Harrison, who scored a pair of third places and a fourth out of the three races. Jack Le Brocq was unlucky not to have

represented the team on the podium; he finished second in the first two races, but chalked up a DNF in the final due to a fuel pump failure.

Meanwhile, Tom Williamson, who switched across from the Borland Racing Developments team after poor results in the previous round of the championship, found some renewed competitiveness and finished inside the top five in all three races.

While the weekend’s first race was relatively uneventful, the pandemonium erupted in Race 2, with an incident at Turn 9 where Caleb Rayner spun after contact with Elliot Barbour. Rayner was collected motorsport news

RACE

John Morris / Mpix

Above: Nick Foster (#2) and Jack Le Brocq (#49) were Waters’ closest challengers, Foster winning the final and Le Brocq scoring a pair of seconds.

Trent Harrison, below, was third for the weekend, while Tom Williamson, bottom, bounced back from a tough Winton with a consistent weekend for his new team, Minda Motorsport.

John Morris / Mpix

ERS

KE THROUGH FOR HIS John Morris / Mpix

John Morris / Mpix

www.mnews.com.au

John Morris / Mpix

by the hapless Glenn Welch, prompting a Safety Car intervention. At the restart, there were more dramas when Liam Sager speared off the circuit at Turn 10, making heavy contact with the tyre barrier.

While Sager was thankfully not injured, the damage to his Synergy Motorsport car was enough to eliminate him from the weekend’s final race. The incident capped off a tough weekend for Sager, who was also penalised in qualifying after having too many members of his crew working on his Spectrum in pit lane.

Points: Waters 128, Foster 86, Williamson 78, Harrison 73, Garry Jacobson 71

29

ON FIRE

MAT SOFI HASN’T RACED IN THE FORMULA 3 AUSTRALIAN DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR ALMOST 12 MONTHS, BUT HE MADE HIS HOMETOWN CAMEO COUNT AT EASTERN CREEK. LACHLAN MANSELL WATCHED IT UNFOLD

H

E may have missed the opening two rounds of the 2011 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, but Mathew Sofi demonstrated that a lack of recent Formula 3 seat time was no hindrance, by winning Round 3 of the championship at Eastern Creek in his Astuti Motorsportprepared car.

Sofi qualified on pole position and won the two sprint races by a relatively narrow margin from James Winslow, before crushing the field in the feature race by over eight seconds.

“It’s strange,” Sofi said after the feature race.

“When I was racing in the full series, it was hard to get consistent results. Before this weekend, Sam Astuti worked really hard on the car and because I’m not running the full championship, there’s less pressure to get results, so I’ve been a bit more relaxed.

“James (Winslow) and I are good mates and he is a really good benchmark to measure myself against, so it’s satisfying to beat him this weekend.”

30

Winslow finished second in each race and set the fastest lap in the two sprint races to extend his championship lead, although he struggled with a gearbox problem in the feature race.

Chris Gilmour rounded out the podium with three third-place finishes, also moving up to second place in the overall championship standings.

“Every round we’re getting closer and closer. If you take Sofi out of the equation this weekend we were bang on Winslow’s pace most of this weekend and that’s where we need to be,” Gilmour said.

“It feels good to be chasing another championship, it’s been a while. Last year was a learning season but we’re on top of the car and now we have something to chase, we’re very competitive.”

Despite showing some strong pace in the opening rounds of the championship, John Magro and Bryce Moore encountered rather quiet weekends, with Magro chalking up a trio of fourth-place finishes after qualifying second. Meanwhile, Moore could only manage eighth in qualifying

after problems starting his car in pit-lane before he could take to the track for a second attempt at a fast lap. He worked his way forward to fifth in the first sprint race, fell to ninth in the second sprint race and recovered to fifth in the feature race.

Ben Gersekowski continued his fine form in the National class, qualifying fifth outright and winning his class in the first sprint race and the feature race. Steel Guiliana won the second sprint race and finished second overall in the National class, but the driver kicking himself was Josh Burdon.

After overtaking both Gersekowski and Guiliana in the opening stages of the first sprint race to take the National class lead, he threw away his efforts with a crash into the tyre wall at Turn 11. Although Burdon’s R-Tek Motorsport F304 sustained significant damage, it was repaired overnight and Burdon was able to finish the second sprint race and feature race to minimise the damage to his main title rivals.

Points: Winslow 85, Gilmour 66, Moore 60, Magro 58, Sofi 46 motorsport news

RACE

John Morris / Mpix John Morris / Mpix

James Winslow, above, was Sofi’s closest challenger and extended his championship lead.

www.mnews.com.au

John Morris / Mpix

But his team-mate, Bryce Moore, had a tough weekend, including this off at Turn 8, right.

31

WITH A TERRY O

;/, = ;6<905. *(9 :,90,: *65;05<,: ;6 .96> 05 :;(;<9, )<; 0; >( >/6 3,-; ,(:;,95 *9,,2 >0;/ ;/, )0..,:; ;967/@ 90*/(9+ *9(033 >

James Smith

32

motorsport news

RACE

T

John Morris / Mpix

ON TOP

(: (5 63+ /(5+ ;,99@ >@/665 >90;,:

John Morris / Mpix

www.mnews.com.au

HERE were moments in the final race of the Eastern Creek round of the Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car series were you could have been forgiven for thinking you were watching the real deal.

There were Holdens and Fords, banging panels, sounding and looking every bit like the main game and putting on a high energy show that was every bit as much entertainment as it was sport. It was, of course, not the main game – it was a mighty fight for the win between the wily Terry Wyhoon and young rising star Justin Garioch – but the racing was every bit as good.

Wyhoon emerged victorious in the third round of the year, in the process jumping to a solitary one-point lead in the drivers standings ahead of team-mate Chris Smerdon and former series leader Scott Loadsman.

Early in the weekend Justin Garioch stole pole position away from Wyhoon by less than one-tenth, local driver Jim Pollicina the best of the Holden drivers in third place and Loadsman fourth.

Pole was not converted into a strong Race 1 result, however, a slow start costing Garioch dearly as he slipped behind eventual winner Wyhoon, with a stout Pollincina second and Smerdon moving through the field from fifth to finish on the podium in third. Garioch was fourth but broke the lap record and proved how competitive he would be.

Race 2 was robbed of a spectacle when Pollicina was one of many drivers rules out of a strong result after allegedly rolling at the start, and being forced to serve the drive through penalty that resulted. That left Wyhoon out in front to record a comfortable foursecond victory over Garioch and Smerdon, who was again third.

But it was Race 3 that was the best of the bunch, by a long, long way. Wyhoon erupted into an early lead with Smerdon in close company but Garioch was coming, and coming quickly.

As his team leader scampered away in front, Smerdon came under increasing pressure from his fellow Ford driver, before the young Queenslander slipped by on the third lap and set out after the leader. From here Smerdon was in trouble and out of both brakes and tyres – slipping down through the order to an eventual sixth-placed result.

Garioch hunted down Wyhoon and with three to go was locked on the rear bumper of the Lubrimaxx car, looking left and right in the closing laps to find a way through the experienced Victorian.

As Wyhoon ran wide out of the final corner, Garioch saw his opportunity and drew alongside in a drag race on the old Eastern Creek Drag Strip – missing out on a maiden V8 Touring Car win by just 0.087s.

Matt Hansen was third in his ex-HRT Commodore in a fiery drive through the pack, whilst Loadsman also represented for team red by finishing third for the round overall. The end result was that Loadsman, leading the championship by a sole point ahead of the round, now sits third whilst Wyhoon assumes the top spot by exactly the same margin.

Points: Wyhoon 308, Smerdon307, Loadsman 283, Garioch 223, Bartsch 187

Terry Wyhoon had to fight off a spirited challenge from Justin Garioch, far left, in the final race, with the pair split by just 0.08s at the flag.

Aaron Tebb, left, was in the thick of the action in his ex-GRM Commodore, including this Turn 2 moment.

33

TONY VS. DARREN. AGAIN

RICCIARDELLO AND HOSSACK GO AT IT IN SPORTS SEDANS, GOODACRE AND BEECHEY AMON IN A BUMPER EASTERN CREEK WEEKEND. RICHARD CRAILL REVIEWS THE ACTION

I

T IS now almost compulsory; Darren Hossack and Tony Ricciardello putting on a show at the front of the Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series.

The pair went to war once again at the weekend’s Shannons Nationals round at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway as just one of 10 categories present in a record-breaking event.

Ricciardello won yet another Kerrick Sports Sedan round, but once again he didn’t have it easy – in fact both he and Hossack pushed the very limits of speed across all three races.

The pair ran nose-to-tail each and every lap of the first two races, both drivers breaking, and then re-breaking their own lap records as they pushed the Sports Sedan lap record to previously unseen and unbelievable times in to the low 34

1m29s. After enduring issues all weekend, Ricciardello elected to take new tyres for the final race, a decision that cost him the race win. Despite the setback, the bright red Alfa still charged from last to second behind Hossack to secure the round honours, rebreaking his own lap record.

John Goodacre benefited from a recent move into a latest-model 997 Porsche for the weekend’s round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia, consistent results and a storming win in Race 2 sealing the round result for the Adelaide driver.

After taking pole by a considerable margin, series leader Roger Lago easily won Race 1 after his closest contender, Jeff Bobik, was penalised for rolling at the start – one of many drivers with that identical problem across each category at the weekend.

On the comeback trail, Bobik worked his way into the top 10 in Race 2 before charging from the second row and into the lead in the finale, storming away to record a strong victory. Terry Knight won the 996 class ahead of Paul Bolinowsky.

In the V8 Commodore Cup presented by TTM, Adam Beechey set some kind of series record as he notched up his 10 consecutive round podium finish in taking the round glory ahead of Matt Hayes.

The two drivers were tied on points after the final race after each took a first and second place in each race, respectively – Hayes breaking through for his maiden series victory in Saturday’s first race before pressuring Beechey to the line in the second in a tense battle for the lead. Tony Bates finished third for the round whilst Beechey now has a handy points

leader over Hayes and Bates.

There were dramas aplenty in the Australian Saloon Car Series as the first three cars across the line in Race 1, including championship contenders Shawn Jamieson and Matt Lovell, were penalised for overlapping on the race restart.

This handed the race win to Sam Milton, who would go on to finish third in the remaining two races and as such seal a surprise overall round victory in his AU Falcon. Championship contenders Lovell and Jamieson split the remaining two races, Lovell’s Falcon winning the second and Jamieson the third to continue his charge towards another title.

The penultimate round of the Radical Australia Cup became something of a race of F3 champions, with Ben Barker, Tim Macrow and James Winslow each getting a start in the race. motorsport news

RACE

John Morris / Mpix John Morris / Mpix

James Smith

From top: John Goodacre, Adam Beechey, James Winslow and Edward Singleton, and Sam Milton won their respective classes. Warren McIlveen emerged on top from the big Superkart field, below, while Jesse Dixon, right was among the Suzuki race winners.

John Morris / Mpix

James Smith

www.mnews.com.au

James Smith

Winslow came out the best of the bunch, teaming with car owner Edward Singleton to take the weekend after scoring a second in Race 1 before winning the second comfortably.

Barker teamed with Neil Muston to take out the first 50minite encounter on Saturday.

Macrow and Round 1 winner Tim Berryman were both nonfinishers, Macrow after the engine in Peter Opie’s car he was driving let go, and Berryman with a gearbox issue whilst running second.

Darren Hossack won two of the four Australian Superkart Championship races, with Russell Jamieson – in his first win – and Yiani Harpas sharing the others, while Warren McIlveen took the round without even winning a race.

Jesse Dixon, Rex McCutcheon and Allan Jarvis split the Swift Australia Cup races.

John Morris / Mpix

NG OTHER WINNERS

35

ANDRA PRO SERIES WINTERNATS – WILLOWBANK, QLD

36

motorsport news

RACE

NEW DATE, SAME RESULT

Just when it looked like we were on for a ripper weekend of racing at Willowbank, the rain came and messed it all up – again. KEN FERGUSON reports

Ken Ferguson

www.mnews.com.au

37

L

38

Ken Ferguson

AST weekend’s re-run of the 2011 Castrol EDGE Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway ended as it did back on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June – washed out.

Almost 300 competitors returned to try to complete the event, but Mother Nature again intervened in what has been a terrible year of weather for ANDRA Championship drag racing. Plagued by rain during the weekend, no action took place on Saturday, and a revised schedule for Sunday ended with rain interrupting the event with only a handful of semi finals, and all finals, left to run.

So while a majority of national championships were decided during the event, there are still six classes that will need a final to be run to crown a champion.

The stage was set for Darren Morgan and Damien Harris to battle it out for Top Fuel supremacy, despite Morgan already wrapping up the national championship for the class. After some early, and close, side-by-side four-second action, this was shaping up to be a great final.

US Top Fuel star Cory McClenathan also returned for his second go at the Winternationals, but again only had one chance behind the wheel.

Despite being eliminated in the semi finals, Wayne Newby wrapped up the Top Alcohol championship, but it was Steve Ham, who has re-discovered his old form, that was set to face Top Alcohol rookie Jamie Noonan in the final. Both racers went into the 5.5s zone in the lead-up to the final, with Noonan setting the quickest time of the event with a 5.51s at 257mph.

Chris Matheson continued his march of dominance in Top Bike, running consistent low sixes, and was due to face Troy McLean in the final. Matheson had already secured the National Championship before the scheduled final.

John Zappia missed out on a finals appearance, but still went home with another Top Doorslammer championship. Peter Kapiris and Mark Belleri were set to battle out the final for Winternats glory.

Aaron Tremayne won a record fourth consecutive Pro Stock championship, but was not to feature in the final, with Jason Hedges to face Bill Perdikaris.

The only ANDRA Pro Series classes that does not have the championship decided yet is Pro Stock Motorcycle, with a final needing to be run to decide the champ. Andrew Badcock needs to defeat Glen Wooster in the final to take out the championship.

Should he fail, Maurice Allen, who Badcock defeated in the early rounds, will secure the championship.

Willowbank and ANDRA officials are still yet to determine how these finals will be run.

Other national champions decided included Jim Ioannidis in Super Stock, Kevin Gummow in Comp Bike, Rod Harvey in Super Compact, Daniel Selki in Modified Bike, Robert Harrington in Super Street, and Jake Donnelly in Junior Dragster.

Classes that still need a final to crown a national champion include Competition Eliminator, Supercharged Outlaws, Modified, Super Sedan, and Super Gas. motorsport news

RACE

Ken Ferguson

Rain Rain, Go Away: Chris Matheson, above, was on for another Top Bike win before the weather set in, American star Corey Mac only got one run in, below left, keeping his average of one run per trip alive.

www.mnews.com.au

39

NASCAR ROUND 19 – LOUDON, NH

The Smo Master S

40

motorsport news

RACE

oke Blokes’ Stroke Ryan Newman led a SHR 1-2 in qualifying – and he and Tony Stewart backed it up in the race

I

N its relatively short history, Stewart-Haas Racing has achieved a lot – but there were still a few boxes to be ticked prior to the New Hampshire round of the Sprint Cup. Until this week, SHR had never started, or finished, a Cup race 1-2. At Loudon, it did both, Ryan Newman taking his 15th career win in a fuelsaving race, just ahead of his team owner, Tony Stewart. Newman took the lead after the final pitstops and as the opposition ran dry, the two Chevys made it to the flag with, seemingly, a litre or so of fuel to spare.

“We did what we had to do,” said Newman, who led 119 laps. “It’s been a real big team effort, and I’m proud that we came home 1-2, just as we started. It was a great weekend for Stewart-Haas Racing.”

As Kurt Busch ran out of fuel, Stewart attacked, having pitted slightly later than most of the leaders, and moved through to second.

“It was a perfect day for the organization, for sure,” said Stewart. “This is a perfect way to go into an off weekend, for sure. Especially going into Indy, man, this is big for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

One of the men Smoke picked off late in the race was Denny Hamlin, who had a busy race. He spun and suffered contact from AJ Allmendinger (four cars got involved in that imbrouglio) before settling into the cruise-and-lift routine necessary to get his Joe Gibbs Toyota home. Likewise, team-mate Joey Logano was close behind

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

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

www.mnews.com.au

41

NASCAR Media

ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who overcame a spin after contact from Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kasey Kahne.

Winner of the bizarre team strategy of the race was Red Bull Racing, Kahne tapping Brian Vickers into a spin, and into the wall.

There were a number of tyre issues on an unseasonally hot New England day. Jeff Gordon looked strong early in the race but when his tyre cooling fans failed, he blew a tyre, leaving him only with an 11th place finish. Two spots behind was Carl Edwards, who had a number of dramas (even though he started 15th) before the race before coming home 13th. Under the circumstances, he regained the points leads, which is important eight races for the start of the Chase.

As Edwards rose, Kyle Busch fell. Leading the points on the way to the north-east, Busch hit the wall after cutting a tyre, leading to a 75-lap long pitstop for repairs. Classified 36th, he is now fifth in the points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr also had a tyre problem, but his was related to a pitstop violation, which led to him serving a drive-through penalty. He finished 15th.

42

All Bull, all the time: Brian Vickers had an unhappy ride into the wall after team-mate Kasey Kahne, front, tagged his car and sent it spinning. With the future of the team unclear, and Kahne off to Hendrick’s for 2012, that would have made for an interesting debrief ...

Results :: Lenox 301, Loudon NH Pos. No. 1 39 2 14 3 11 4 20 5 48 6 4 7 47 8 56 9 9 10 22

Driver Ryan Newman Tony Stewart Denny Hamlin Joey Logano Jimmie Johnson Kasey Kahne Bobby Labonte Martin Truex Jr. Marcos Ambrose Kurt Busch

Make Chevy Chevy Toyota Toyota Chevy Toyota Toyota Toyota Ford Dodge

Team Stewwart-Haas Stewart-Haas Joe Gibbs Joe Gibbs Hendrick Red Bull JTG Daugherty Waltrip Richard Petty Penske

Sponsor Qual.

U.S. Army 1 Office Depot/Mobil 1 2 FedEx Freight 14 The Home Depot 16 Lowe’s 28 Red Bull 10 CapitalWindow 23 NAPA Auto Parts 13 Dewalt 22 Shell/Pennzoil 4

Top 11 Points: Edwards 652, Johnson 645, Kurt Busch 641, Harvick 637, Kyle

Busch 632, Kenseth 626, Gordon 587, Newman 586, Earnhardt 577, Hamlin/Stewart 570.

motorsport news

RACE

NASCAR Media

Toyota Motorsports

NASCAR Media

www.mnews.com.au

Goin’ Lowe!

Jimmie Johnson had a tough weekend, spinning his Hendrick Chevy midrace. He came back hard to finish in fifth place.

Marcos Ambrose, below left following David Ragan, scored his fifth top-10 finish of the season in the Petty Ford.

It was a slow day for Kyle Busch, whose car spent 75 laps in the pits after a cut tyre put his Interstate Batteries Toyota into the wall.

43

WALKER TAKES JUHO DOES IT AGAIN IN AZORES BDAY WIN SPEEDWAY TYLER Walker celebrated his 32nd birthday with the biggest win of his career on the weekend, grabbing victory in the prestigious Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway, Ohio.

Early leader Sammy Swindell came off pole, and only had to get around the final turn of the famed high-banked speedway to win. But his right rear tyre went down as he came off Turn 4, and was forced to watch Walker pocket the first prize of $50,000.

After leading 39 and three-quarter laps of the 40 laps, Swindell did guide his Maxim to second with Paul McMahan in third.

“I’ve lost so many in the last turn,” Walker said.

“I was giving it about half throttle there at the end because I knew the tyres were getting low. It just feels really good to be on the other side of that kind of deal. I’ve lost a lot of races like that so I know how it feels to be sitting there watching someone else takes the chequers. This is the biggest win of my career by far and I couldn’t have done it without the car owners and team that I have behind me.”

– GEOFF ROUNDS

EKINS IS THE MAN SPEEDWAY DARWIN’S Northline Speedway has ran two meetings since the last update, and last Saturday night the venue hosted its fifth meeting of the season.

With a reduced field of only seven entrants, both the 410 (open) and 360 Sprintcars were combined into one section for their heats and feature events.

Seasoned throttle-stomper Warrenne Ekins has managed to claim back-to-back victories (Meetings 4 and 5) in the 410 Sprintcar categories, and following him to the waving checkered flags was Allan Barlee and Troy David.

Last weekend, David went one better to claim second ahead of the father and son duo of Peter and Jason McIver, who were next to cross the line.

– PARIS CHARLES

IRC

INTERNATIONAL Super 2000 runner Juho Hanninen has pulled off a brilliant performance in the Rally Azores on the weekend, to put his Skoda Fabia S2000 back at the top of the IRC points table.

Making it an all Czech/ Skoda top three were Andreas Mikkelsen and Jan Kopecky who were the best of the rest in the light of Hanninen’s

conquering feat.

At some stages of the weekend, Mikkelsen showed glimpses of potential winning speed, but it was quickly laid to rest by Hanninen a short time later.

The lone Peugeot of Bryan Bouffier was the first, (and almost the only), of the nonSkoda runners. He had a good weekend to finish in fourth place, some three and a half minutes off Hanninen’s ultimate winning pace.

NASR, WE HAVE NO PROBLEMS BRITISH F3

DESPITE a 30-second penalty in Race 2 for gaining an unfair advantage, Felipe Nasr has taken two wins from three starts to continue his domination in the British Formula 3 championship.

In stark contrast to Nasr’s triumphs was Australian Scott Pye, with his horror 2011 Formula 3 campaign getting no better at the Paul Ricard circuit.

Starting from the front row in Race 1, Nasr had no trouble leading his brethren all the way to the flag, but it was his rival’s tribulations, and his

own speed, that handed him the win in Race 3.

A battling trio of Nasr, Kevin Magnussen and Felix da Costa circulated closely for most of the race, until the leading two of Magnussen and da Costa came together on the final lap, allowing the wise Nasr through for a classy second win of the weekend.

For Pye, the weekend got underway slowly with a 14th in the opening race setting up the mood for the remainder of the weekend. From there, two DNFs in the final two races put to rest a dismal weekend for the 2009 CAMS Rising Star.

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.

CLICK TO FIND OUT MORE> 44

motorsport news

RACE

WA STATE

MATT Cherry has kept his awesome Improved Production form alive by winning the 2011 GT Tander Trophy at Barbagallo Raceway last Sunday.

Cherry, who recently won the IPC support races at the V8 Supercar round at Hidden Valley, Darwin, won all three races on Sunday. And with Mark Ellis, Geoff Kendrick and

Peter Major splitting the second places, Cherry took the round by a whopping 22 points.

In the Under 2000cc class, Laurie D’Alessio was similarly dominant, winning all three races from Michael Green.

Cade Bell made a stunning comeback to Formula Ford racing, taking three wins from three heats. In fact, the top four held station throughout the weekend in Formula Ford,

with Bell winning from Michael Howlett, Jason Youd and Andrew Goldie.

In the Au/VT Saloon Car class, Nathan Callaghan was once again the man to beat, taking three wins from three races. His feats were matched by Travis Sharpe in the EA/VN class.

Formula Vee was the first class that didn’t have a three-time winner, with Ben Riley stealing a race win from Cameron Edwards.

Serge Mironenko

CHERRY ON TOP

But it wasn’t enough to stop Edwards from winning the round, with Bruce Welsh taking the honours in the 1200cc class from Steve Williams.

In Sports Sedans, it was Brett Sherriff and Steve Myburgh sharing the wins, while Mark Greenham had things his own way in Street Cars. Meanwhile, Peter McKenzie and Walter Epple shared the wins in Sports Cars.

MARTIN WINS FOR AUSTRALIA! SUPERLEAGUE

AUSTRALIAN Superleague Formula racer John Martin has enjoyed a bumper weekend at Belgium’s Zolder circuit on the weekend, putting Australia at the top of the points table after a win and a second in the final two races.

After a slow start to the weekend with seventh in the opening race, Martin had

www.mnews.com.au

a much better run in the second to put his Australia team at the top following a mechanical issue for main rival, Andy Soucek, in the pit stops.

The final race however was the highlight of the weekend. With rain threatening to turn things inside out, Martin charged up to the back of the Luxembourg car of Frederic Vervisch to challenge hard for the lead on the final

lap. With Neel Jani also entrenched in the battle for the lead, the trio all ran wide heading into the chicane at the rear of the circuit, setting up a brilliant run for the flag.

But as they all made mistakes under intense pressure, Vervisch would eventually take a well deserved win from Martin and Jani in second and third respectively.

45

KRUMMS AND ALL GT1 WORLD CHAMP

THE FIA GT1 World Championship was at France’s Paul Ricard circuit on the weekend, and it was the Nissan of Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr who again dominated the

weekend’s program, taking two wins from as many starts.

In a relatively uneventful onehour race, Krumm and Luhr were too strong for their rivals on both outright pace, and through the pit stops, taking out a gap big as four seconds in the

hands of Krumm.

From there, the Nissan pilots didn’t look back to their Aston Martin main rivals, easily taking the chequered from the Darren Turner Aston in second.

Australia’s David Brabham was also in action in the Sumo Power

prepared Nissan GTR. The Le Mans 24-hour winner enjoyed a brilliant closing stint to pass Maxime Martin in the Marc VDS Ford GT for fourth, and challenge hard for the final step of the podium, missing out in the end by half a second.

DTM HEADS INDOORS DTM DTM enjoyed a good weekend away from the pit wall on the weekend, but it by no means meant a rest for the teams and drivers.

It was the DTM Show Event in Munich, (an event similar to the Race of Champions or a Rally Super Special Stage), held at Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Apart from the spectacle of DTM cars screaming around a tight area, there was racing to be won, and it was Bruno Spengler who clinched victory over Edoarto Mortara on the final day of competition.

On the opening day however, it was Mortara who gained the advantage over Spengler, beating the Mercedes runner by the smallest of margins in both heats.

On Sunday however, a mistake from Mortara would put him out of contention and an overall end to the event, handing Spengler an easy win after his great effort for second on Sunday.

Also on show to entertain the fans was a Formula 1 display from Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes GP car.

46

motorsport news

RACE

ATKO TAKES TRICKY NZ WIN APRC

CHRIS Atkinson has pulled his Proton Satria Neo S2000 through for his third win from four starts in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship on the weekend, holding out World Championship Production Car runner Hayden Paddon by a meagre 12.4 seconds in New Zealand.

The conditions were tricky, with rain and

mud serving up a big challenge for the APRC runners all weekend. And although Atkinson did impress with 5 stage wins out of eight on Sunday, New Zealand up and comer was constantly there to shadow his performances. Atkinson now also leads the points table.

Atkinson said post rally that he was pleased to keep Paddon behind him after a challenging rally.

“Obviously to get the overall win as well as the Asia Pacific Rally Championship points is fantastic.” Said the Australian.

It was good fun having a fight with Hayden. Our car was working really well today and I didn’t take any massive risks, but I definitely pushed hard all day. Obviously he’s a fast driver and very quick on these roads and we had to do our very best to hold him behind us.”

MULLER WINS ACTION-PACKED DONINGTON ROUND WTCC INCIDENTS and controversy put a dark cloud over the latest round of the WTCC at Donington on the weekend, with Yvan Muller completing the double after being declared the winner by the stewards following a clash with Chevrolet teammate, Rob Huff.

Despite the incident, Muller’s pace was extraordinary, with his Race 2 heroics almost making bigger headlines than his racing conduct. Starting from tenth, Muller made his way through the chaos with ease and took the lead from Gabriele Tarquini on Lap 5.

After the two teammates came together, Huff was able to recover to finish in second place, but Muller’s win was still standing after a inquiry from the officials.

The independent BMW of Franz Engstler found its way on to the podium for the first time, after a clean race free of incidents and consistent speed. www.mnews.com.au

47

!"$ !-

+* $.. -+./+"'

0,$-.$#!* $!) $((+0/

$./ 1&/% (!/$./ $-+

Don Ness Prostock GTO 2006 roller full carbon body & interior comes with diff centre, driveshaft, TI bellhousing. TI wheelbars carbon brakes, lamb struts. This car is one of the best in the country for sale.

03 9768 3902

Team Sellout ready to race, complete Swingarm car with bulk spares, speed torque race engine with 8 shows well maintained.

Complete spare engine from air cleaner to sump. Near new burt and diff, 12 rims & tyres, spare hubs, arms, brakes, fuel churns, jacks everything must go. $38,000 call 0418 940 089.

Factory WX10 with all of the 2011 upgrades. The 1340 Busa powered car is radio ready, equipped with the new west full carbon Aero floor, revised carbon wing and wing mount. Refreshed motor and all new bearings all round and HD diff. Fully optioned with paddle shift. G6SR legal! Very fast.

0414 281 846

Fully prepared NZ V8 Lease, lease to own or purchase. Car is current spec, a race winning car from 2010/11. Crew can be supplied, will be a team mate to Bargwanna, include car set up and data sharing. 7 Rounds including the Hamilton 400.

Tailor the package to suit your needs. Price is a guide only. +64 2 7520 5402

111 )2 "+)

111 )2 "+)

111 )2 "+)

111 )2 "+)

&-/ +#&3 $# V91 chrome Molloy high bar Wigsler chassis, this car has done very little racing and is in excellent condition, didn't finish outside top 5 this year with first year driver.

Brand new body, Tim Morse front end, Winters diff, Bert box, all 10 rimms are EC, Panhard or Jacobs lad, Torgue arm, heaps of spares.

0409 171 095 111 )2 "+)

+-!*! !/"% Fresh Torana hatch, 2 race meetings since built, very quick car. 202 built by Dale Daniels, 12 port head, flat tops, cam, crank, balanced, new 350 holly. Elect ignition. Great racing package complete and ready to go.

0427 383 345 111 )2 "+)

!#&"!( 0/+ (&, One P owner, never damaged, 3 hours on engine. As new. Pole position at Eastern Creek by Warren Luff. Bargain prior to trade in.

0418 666 999 111 )2 "+)

))!"0(!/$ !-)!" !((2 Porsche 944 S2, 125000km. Fresh paint job and top end rebuild less than 2000km ago. Spare set of wheels, Terratrip, Terraphone, Walker chassis full cage, Sparco seats, TRS harness, just serviced.

New CV joints, wheel bearings & front springs. Working air-con. Has only done 1 Classic Adelaide rally.

0414 281 846 111 )2 "+)

48 30

motorsport news

ODD SPOT!

rear of grid

When Three Wheels is not Quite Enough ...

John Morris

IF anyone out there says ‘You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Loose Wheel’ on this one, I am leaving the room.

Darren Hossack had a tough time at Eastern Creek on Saturday, losing a wheel in the Superkart race. The offending wheel bounced across the track and hit Warren McIlveen before bouncing off ahead of Hossack’s Superkart.

Hossack’s Anderson kart was repaired for Sunday’s races and he ... bounced back to win Race 4, on all four wheels.

By the way, a Superkart laps the Creek about 2s under the V8 Supercar lap record.

That’s not bad for 250 cubic centimetres ...

ON THIS DAY 18 JULY 1981

McLAREN and John Watson changed motor racing, forever, 30 years ago. Wattie took an unlikely and hugely popular win in the British Grand Prix at Silverson in his McLaren-Cosworth MP4 – the first GP win for a car with a carbon fibre chassis. The tub of the car was made by Hercules Aerospace in Utah and, until Wattie won, some suggested that the new technology made cars less safe.

Versions of the MP4 raced for the next two seasons. Watson won three more races, and left McLaren at the end of 1983.

49

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com NASCAR Media

www.mnews.com.au