September 2015
CONTENTS #TeamCastrol Lead the V8 Title Chase
Page 4-5
Kuala Lumpur Gets a Taste of V8 Supercars
Page 6
Focus Switches to Endurance for #TeamCastrol
Pages 8-9
V8 Supercars Entry List for Sandown 500
Page 10
WRC: Castrol’s Volkswagen Motorsport Finish 1-2-3
Page 12
KARTING: Morse Back in the Hunt
Page 13
INDYCAR: Chaves Wins Rookie Award
Page 13
MOTOGP: Disappointing End for Miller
Page 13
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#TEAMCASTROL LEAD THE V8 TITLE CHASE Eight events, 23 races down and they sit first and second in 2015 V8 Supercars Championship hunt. It’s certainly been an impressive season so far for Prodrive Racing Australia’s Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert. Castrol EDGE-backed Mark Winterbottom leads the championship over his teammate by 174 points and a further 255 points over third place rival Craig Lowndes. While a difficult rain-affected Race 23 at Sydney Motorsport Park saw Winterbottom finish 16th, his worst of the season, he remains the most winning driver of 2015.
Winterbottom has claimed 8 out of the 23 races this year; Perth SuperSprint (2), Winton SuperSprint (2), Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 (2) and Ipswich SuperSprint (2). Not to be outdone, his Castrol EDGEbacked teammate, Mostert, has claimed the most pole positions for the year; Perth SuperSprint (2), Winton SuperSprint (3), Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 (1), Ipswich SuperSprint (2) and Sydney Motorsport Park (2). Combined, Winterbottom and Mostert have claimed 13 race victories and 11 pole positions of the 23 events held and run in 2015. This form has seen the duo steer
Castrol-oiled Ford Falcon FG-X’s to the drivers to beat as the battle for the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship title heats up. Stable-teammate David Reynolds sits fourth in the championship and 282 points behind Winterbottom. While scoring a Pole Position and Race Victory at the SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin, Reynolds has been a somewhat quiet achiever and looms as the underdog in his bid for the Championship title. Further down pitlane at Nissan Motorsport, the four car squad continues to be led by 2006 series champion, Rick Kelly. For 16 races in a row, Rick Kelly has held onto 10th position in the points with his season race highlights
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consisting of a second place at Winton followed by a third place in Darwin. Rick Kelly also took Pole Position in Darwin for Race 14. Older brother Todd, along with Nissan Motorsport teammates Michael Caruso and James Moffat sit outside of the top 10 - 16th, 13th and 19th respectfully. At Supercheap Auto Racing, Tim Slade continues to show signs of improvement, most recently beating his factory Holden teammates in Race 23 in tricky wet conditions. With a season best finish of 2nd in Darwin (Race 14), Slade strives in longer race formats and will be one to watch in his Castrol EDGE-backed entry as the teams prepare for the Endurance season.
2015 V8 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS POINT STANDINGS AFTER RACE 23 1
Mark Winterbottom
1915
2
Chaz Mostert
-174
3
Craig Lowndes
-255
4
David Reynolds
-282
5
Fabian Coulthard
-335
6
Jamie Whincup
-449
7
Garth Tander
-521
8
James Courtney
-542
9
Shane van Gisbergen
-553
10
Rick Kelly
-770
11
Scott McLaughlin
-829
12
Jason Bright
-868
13
Michael Caruso
-873
14
Will Davison
-906
15
Tim Slade
-921
16
Todd Kelly
-955
17
Lee Holdsworth
-1003
18
Nick Percat
-1019
19
James Moffat
-1067
20
Andre Heimgartner
-1123
21
Scott Pye
-1126
22
Dale Wood
-1196
23
David Wall
-1225
24
Tim Blanchard
-1234
25
Ash Walsh
-1366
26
Marcos Ambrose
-1790
27
Jack Perkins
-1795
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KUALA LUMPUR GETS A TASTE OF V8 SUPERCARS
Malaysia was given its first taste of the premium motorsport series in the Australasian region as five V8 Supercars put on a demonstration event at the debut of the Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix. Castrol-backed drivers Chaz Mostert and Todd Kelly, along with regular V8 Supercar drivers; Scott McLaughlin, Will Davison and Craig Lowndes were all on show in the three-part demostrating challenge. Keen Castrol motorsport followers enjoyed behind the scenes experiences with Prodrive Racing Australia, from Pit Tours to group and one-on-one photo opportunities with the Victorian based team. For the record, Todd Kelly took out Pole Position and victory in challenge three with Mostert taking his Australian form offshore with victories in challenge one and two. V8 Supercars are now in negotiations in finalising a four year agreement which will see the category headline the event from 2016.
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FOCUS SWITCHES TO ENDURANCE FOR #TEAMCASTROL #TeamCastrol heads into the PIRTEK Enduro Cup brim full of confidence after stunning performances throughout the course of the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship - and also off the back of some tremendous results in the last two years of the three event endurance calendar. Castrol-oiled Prodrive Racing Australia is obviously the form team at the moment and come into the PIRTEK Enduro Cup in 2015 chasing down its hat-trick of Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 victories. The last two seasons have seen the FORD squad share the Bathurst wins
between Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert - who took the last lap victory over arch-rival Red Bull Racing Australia.
the category at the moment, with even Frosty admitting the Queenslander is his key title rival.
Winterbottom will again be partnered with veteran co-driver Steve Owen, whilst Mostert welcomes current Dunlop V8 Supercars Series leader, Cameron Waters into the main squad for the first time.
David Reynolds and Dean Canto will again team up in the Bottle-O PRA FGX. The duo have come oh-so-close to tasting victory at Bathurst and of course took home a surfboard on the Gold Coast last year. They are always a solid combination whenever they get together.
Waters is no new-boy to Mount Panorama, having made his debut at the tender age of 16 in 2011 in a Castroloiled Kelly Racing Commodore after winning a reality TV show. Mostert is arguably the form man in
Nissan Motorsport will be after a strong performance after last year’s second place for James Moffat and Taz Douglas at Bathurst. That combination will be back together, so too Dean Fiore and Michael Caruso. Fiore is keen for a big
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showing after topping the co-driver session at the recent Sydney Motorsport Park Supersprint. The Kelly brothers welcome David Russell (Rick) and international GT ace, Alex Buncombe (Todd) to their pair of Castrol-oiled Altimas. Russell has been ever-present in the Nissan Motorsport enduro lineup for a number of years now, whilst Buncombe is a regular in the Nissan Global Driver Exchange. This year, the 33-year-old Briton was a foundation member of the Nissan LMP-1 program at the Le Mans 24 Hour joining
Harry Tincknell and Michael Krumm. Sadly, their car expired after 242 laps and they weren’t in the classified finisher ranks. Tim Slade will head back to the Mountain with Commodore power once again and will be flying the flag for Castrol and event naming rights sponsor, Supercheap Auto. Slade has had an indifferent season in 2015 and will be looking for the big races to get things back on track.
father, D’Alberto has been keeping his eye in through some Australian GT Championship races in a Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 with Grant Denyer. Slade couldn’t have a stronger partner alongside him. The PIRTEK Enduro Cup gets underway at the end of September with the Sandown 500 in outer Melbourne (September 11-13) before heading to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 (October 8-11) and culminating at the Castrol Gold Coast 600 (October 23-25).
Joining him in the red and yellow Walkinshaw developed, Castrol-oiled Holden will be former main gamer himself, Tony D’Alberto. Recent
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V8 SUPERCARS ENTRY LIST FOR SANDOWN 500 NO.
TEAM
DRIVER
CO-DRIVER
CAR
#1
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Jamie Whincup
Paul Dumbrell
Holden Commodore VF
#2
Holden Racing Team
Garth Tander
Warren Luff
Holden Commodore VF
#3
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport
Tim Blanchard
Karl Reindler
Holden Commodore VF
#4
Erebus Motorsport
Ashley Walsh
Jack Le Brocq
Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
#5
Prodrive Racing Australia
Mark Winterbottom
Steve Owen
Ford Falcon FG X
#6
Prodrive Racing Australia
Chaz Mostert
Cameron Waters
Ford Falcon FG X
#7
Nissan Motorsport
Todd Kelly
Alex Buncombe
Nissan Altima L33
#8
Brad Jones Racing
Jason Bright
Andrew Jones
Holden Commodore VF
#9
Erebus Motorsport
Will Davison
Alex Davison
Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
#14
Brad Jones Racing
Fabian Coulthard
Luke Youlden
Holden Commodore VF
#15
Nissan Motorsport
Rick Kelly
David Russell
Nissan Altima L33
#17
DJR Team Penske
Scott Pye
Marcos Ambrose
Ford Falcon FG X
#18
Charlie Schwerkolt Racing
Lee Holdsworth
Sebastien Bourdais
Holden Commodore VF
#21
Brad Jones Racing
Dale Wood
Macauley Jones
Holden Commodore VF
#22
Holden Racing Team
Jack Perkins
Russell Ingall
Holden Commodore VF
#23
Nissan Motorsport
Michael Caruso
Dean Fiore
Nissan Altima L33
#33
Volvo Polestar Racing
Scott McLaughlin
Alexandre Premat
Volvo S60
#34
Volvo Polestar Racing
David Wall
Chris Pither
Volvo S60
#47
Walkinshaw Racing
Tim Slade
Tony D’Alberto
Holden Commodore VF
#55
Rod Nash Racing
David Reynolds
Dean Canto
Ford Falcon FG X
#97
Tekno Autosports
Shane van Gisbergen
Jonathon Webb
Holden Commodore VF
#99
Nissan Motorsport
James Moffat
Taz Douglas
Nissan Altima L33
#111
Super Black Racing
Andre Heimgartner
Ant Pedersen
Ford Falcon FG X
#222
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport
Nick Percat
Oliver Gavin
Holden Commodore VF
#888
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Craig Lowndes
Steven Richards
Holden Commodore VF
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WRC: CASTROL’S VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT FINISH 1-2-3 Castrol-oiled Volkswagen Motorsport have finished first, second and third in the latest World Rally Championship round - Rally Germany. No other manufacturer in WRC has achieved such 1-2-3 result. What was not meant to be in recent years was achieved all the more impressively this year. With the trifactor victory, Volkswagen settled the score that after a disappointing two previous seasons. World champion Sébastien Ogier lead the way with victory, and is now well on the way to winning his third straight WRC title.
“What a relief,” said Seb Ogier after crossing the finish line taking the win. “The pressure was extremely noticeable all weekend. Everyone expected us to get the win. And we ended up in the top three spots. Massive thanks to the whole team!” The win in Germany was the 30th WRC success in Ogier’s career, seeing him draw level with the legendary Marcus Grönholm and move up into second place in the all-time rankings. Only fellow countryman Sébastien Loeb, with 78 wins, is more successful. Ogier was at the top of the podium for Volkswagen for the 23rd time. His machine, the Polo R WRC, has got 30 of
35 possible rally wins to date. Jari-Matti Latvala was unable to keep up with the pace of his French team-mate in Germany, and finished second. However, the Finn got the win on the closing Power Stage and picked up the coveted three bonus points. Andreas Mikkelsen in the third Polo R WRC drove a more inconspicuous rally, but did his bit to help Volkswagen achieve ultimate success at the home rally. The WRC championship continues with round 10 in three weeks time. On a totally difference gravel surface, Rally Australia will play host to the worlds best off-road drivers from September 10 to 13.
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KARTING: MORSE BACK IN THE HUNT Canberra racer Zane Morse has got his KF3 Australian Kart Championship presented by Jayco and Castrol EDGE back on track after a brilliant victory in round three in Ipswich. The Tom Williamson Motorsport youngster who has been experiencing a litany of issues with his Tony Kart and engine package over recent times carded a clean-sweep of the weekend in the hard fought final. The next Australian Kart Championship round returns to Newcastle thi sweekend, September 4-6.
INDYCAR: CHAVES WINS ROOKIE AWARD Castrol EDGE-backed Bryan Herta Autosport driver, Gabby Chaves has finished 14th in the IndyCar Series season finale held at Sonoma. Chaves finished the new look category 15th in points and took out the Rookie of the Year award. New Zealander Scott Dixon sealed the championship decider with victory, claiming his fourth IndyCar championship win.
MOTOGP - DISAPPOINTING END FOR MILLER Castrol-backed and Australian Jack Miller ended The British Grand Prix in disappointing style, making contact with his LCR Honda team mate, Cal Crutchlow Miller made a superb start to the Silverstone race, going from 16th to 4th spot on lap three prior to the race ending contact.
“I want to say a big sorry to Cal for taking him out, but we were both pushing hard,” Miller said after the incident. Miller now sits 19th in the World Championship standings as the series heads to the 4.2km Misano Adriático circuit on September 11-13.
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