ROD NASH: TICKFORD’S BEHIND THE SCENES POWERPLAYER
CAN WE
WIN? ABSOLUTELY SAYS LOWNDES
I’M NOT DONE YET
LOWNDES STILL CHASING THAT ELUSIVE 8TH WIN
INDIGENOUS DESIGNS EXPLAINED THE THEORY BEHIND DARWIN’S SUPERCARS PAINT SCHEMES
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DRIVERS GET FIA SUPPORT ON BOUNCING ISSUE HAMILTON MAY MISS THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX THE FIA has discretely assured the Formula One drivers it is working to find a solution to eliminate – or at least massively alleviate – the bouncing effect most cars are suffering from. It has admitted it is as concerned as the GPDA members about the long-term effects this phenomenon may have on their health. Since the start of the season a few drivers, including GPDA director George Russell and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, have been quite vocal about their concerns and with the long straight in Baku exacerbating the problem, the issue was discussed at length during a very long Drivers’ Briefing on Friday evening. With the teams that have minimised the effects of the porpoising issues certain to reject any changes, the FIA has to make sure it has a water-tight legal case to make the change on safety grounds. The drivers were told in Baku that the change process has already started. One possible solution appears to be raising the ride height of all cars to stop them slamming into the ground at speed. The issues were so bad on the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton that the seven-time World Champion had to be assisted from the car and he appears a far from certain starter in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. “There were a lot of moments when I didn’t know whether I was going to make it and if I was going to be able to keep the car on track,” Hamilton said. “That was the most painful and toughest race I have experienced. “I was just holding and biting down on my teeth due to the pain. The adrenaline helped, but I cannot express the pain that you experience, particularly on the (extremely fast) straight. I was just praying for it to end. “The thing was bouncing so much there were so many times I was nearly going into the wall. That was a concern safety-wise. I don’t think I’ve ever really had to think about that too much as a racing driver.”
Prior to the start of the race, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff confirmed they are considering their options around Hamilton in Canada. “You can see this is not muscular anymore,” Wolff said. “It goes properly into the spine and it can have some consequences. At this stage, I think he is maybe the worst affected from all drivers. “But pretty much everyone, as far as I understood from the drivers, said that something needs to happen. But I couldn’t give you an explanation what that is.” Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, while not suffering as much from back pain, but was still quite vocal about his concerns: “I think it’s just a matter of time before we see a major incident. A lot of us can barely keep the car in a straight line over these bumps, we’re going around the last two corners at 300km/h, bottoming out. “It seems unnecessary we’re running an F1
car at 200mph millimetres from the ground and it’s a recipe for disaster. I don’t really know what the future holds but I don’t think we can sustain this for three years or however long these regulations are in force for.” After a tough time on Friday, Carlos Sainz was even more determined to get the cars changed as quickly as possible: “I suffered a lot with it, I had a car or floor that was porpoising and bottoming a lot more than the other car, with the same set-up. It got to a point where in the drivers’ briefing, we all looked at each other, and said ‘we need to do something’. It’s OK one more race, but can we do 10 more years? I doubt it, so we kindly asked the FIA to look into it; not listen to the teams so much and to listen to us. We’re saying it’s getting to a point where we’re struggling to handle this.” Lewis Hamilton explained how though life was for him in practice: “We had so much
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bottoming I could not finish my long runs, because my back was in a real mess. Now we don’t have it as bad at the end of the straight but it is the corners where you are trying to keep it out of the wall...” The seven-times World Champion added that, “I speak to other drivers, like Valtteri, and ask if he has any problems with bouncing and he’s like ‘no’ – can you imagine how nice that would be?” Knowing some teams will block any change in the rules, Russell concluded by pleading with the FIA to force the changes: “We just need something smarter on the suspension or the way the cars are being run. I’m pretty sure if you ask two or three engineers down the paddock, they will know the answer and what can be done to limit this and regulate it. “But we need the FIA to act as soon as possible.” Luis Vasconcelos
TOBY PRICE AND PAUL WEEL TO TACKLE USA OFF-ROAD rivals Paul Weel and Toby Price are joining forces for a major effort in the USA later this year – and into 2023. After lining up as opponents at the classic Finke Desert Rally, where each was competing in a high-powered V8 Trophy Truck, they will join forces to tackle the top end of off-road racing in the USA. Both have raced in the ’States in the past but this is something new and much bigger. “We’re doing the Vegas-to-Reno in August, the Baja 400 in September and then the Baja 1000 in November. “Next year, we’re planning on doing either five or six races. We probably will try and and run the full SCORE program, then something like the King of the Hammers, and something like the Mint or Parker races. “It’s a different sport and no-one has done what we’re going to do.” Weel tells Auto Action The former Supercars racer is going all-in on his first love, as he was a top-class off-road runner long before he turned to touring cars. Success in business has given him the cash to match his commitment, through the PWR cooling company in Queensland, as well as providing front-running trucks. He is committed to Geiser Brothers equipment and had Rick Geiser in his pit at the Finke. “The program we’re running with them, they’re pretty
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committed to it,” says Weel. “The truck is the latest specification they have, but there were a lot of other customers at Finke. And he brought Preston Schmidt (an American champion) with him to Australia.” Turning to the details of the American adventure, Weel says the decisions were pretty easy after a couple of earlier raids. “I told Rick Geiser to build me a new truck and we’d come over for a heap of races. It’s exactly the same as the latest trucks they are running over there. “I had a brand-new truck for Finke. It’s a G6, a full-sized truck, the same as we run in America. The only difference
is that it only have a 6-litre engine to suit our rules. “In the ’states we run with a big-block Chev that’s got 1100 horsepower. This one is in the mid-600s, it’s nothing mate. This one is a whole lot easier to drive.” says Weel. Price’s involvement came from a surprising source. “I was having a drink with my wife Emma and she said ‘Just call Toby’. So I got in touch with Dave Ellis, who looks after him, and he was straight into it.” “So we go from wanting to beat each other down the track at Finke to, in another month or so, doing everything we can to get the track down the track the quickest working together. It’s a bit of a unique thing. “It’s a proper Team Australia. We’ll have two drivers in
the car, both from Australia. It’s definitely something a little bit different. Weel knows what the pair face in the US, but he is confident despite racing rivals with $3-4 million budgets. “We definitely want to try and win. Like any race-car driver, you don’t want to finish second. If we can go over there and finish in the top three in any races, we’ve done pretty good.” Weel says the exact program for next year is still fluid because of Price’s commitments with Dakar. “The biggest thing is that Toby’s schedule is fairly different to mine. And the biggest part if the pre-running of the course. That’s 10 days for Baja.” The program is self-funded by Weel but he already has one Australia backer and is looking for more. “If we can raise $200,000 to $300,000 that will go a fair way to helping us.” Weel plans on a least two long visits to the USA in 2023 because of the time for pre-running, as well as the other forays before the end of this year. And he has already settled on who will be doing the qualifying for the off-road attack by Team Australia. “Toby can do that, because he’s good at hanging everything on the line. And he can drive in the dark. That’s part of the plan, seeing as how I’m paying the bill,” says Weel. Paul Gover
VALE: TIM ‘PLASTIC’ PEMBERTON TIM PEMBERTON, one of the great characters of Australian touring car racing and the Supercars paddock, died last weekend. Universally known as ‘Plastic’, he was Peter Brock’s long-time publicist in his heyday and later performed a similar role for Holden Motorsport. Pemberton was renowned for his brilliant and creative publicity stunts and his unique turn of phrase, which came to be known as Plasticisms. He had been in poor health for several years, primarily from diabetes, and spent the past couple of years in care facilities. He died early on Sunday in a Melbourne nursing home. Pemberton was a prominent figure in the sport and was highly regarded in the paddock, particularly by the Holden-backed drivers he worked closely with over the years. John Crennan, who worked with Plastic during his time at Holden and then the Holden Racing Team and Holden Special Vehicles for many years, was quick to honour his mate: “Plastic’s death triggered memories of the quartet that was the DNA of HDT and the sadness around how the last legend has now gone, joining his fellow rascals and giants of HDTs success – Peter Brock, Slug (John Harvey) and Spear (Grant Speers),” he said.
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‘Plastic’ and Peter Brock were great mates as well as colleagues. “What a PR talent; he could handle two vastly different clients. On one the hand, it was Brock, HDT and touring cars where political incorrectness and the after-race parties he organised for sponsors, team members, Holden staff, and dealers would often take on greater significance than the Sunday race. Then he would turn his talents to working and complying with GMH and its ultra-conservative and highly disciplined ways. “My greatest memories of Plastic’s performances were always around the bar on Friday nights of non-racing weekends. He was the unofficial captain-coach of these 5–10 pm marathons where he would have 20-30 people from HDT – including Brock, Harvey and Spear – my fellow Holden sales staff, plus many of his mates from the nearby advertising agencies at Barbarinos Rib House for a late feed.
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“It was always a battle of wits as Plastic would abuse and take the piss out of everyone around him, yet we hung on all his irreverent comments regardless of whether they were directed at the Holden Director of Marketing or the newest employee of the ad agency. “But he had serious PR and marketing smarts and could never be underestimated when turning some PR disaster he had to deal with into sugar or making a no-news occasion into something highly reportable. He was the master of props and tricks where he would roll out some relevant clever special effects piece that would steal the show. “Plastic also knew how to play it tough when he had to – we locked horns on many issues, and he also didn’t mess around with Brock when Brock was getting it wrong. Plastic wouldn’t hesitate to tell
the King to pull his head in or let him know when he was not reading the play correctly.” Chris Payne, long-time Holden and HSV man and now General Manager Chevrolet Motorsport, said: “Plastic will be fondly remembered by the Holden Motorsport fans, dealers and staff as a major contributor to the Holden brand. So many of the great and memorable moments of Holden Motorsport will remain his hallmark. Thank you, Plastic, on behalf of all the Holden fans and send our thoughts to his family and friends.” While he left an impression on all those he worked with, he also made many friends in the media, including AA publisher Bruce Williams, who was in regular contact with Plastic during recent years. “From a personal point of view, Plastic was an important motorsport person over the years. He was great to have a beer with; a great raconteur and storyteller,” Williams said. “In recent years, I would often get a call from Plastic to let me know that he had approved of how things were going with AA – which meant the world to me. “He wasn’t always generous with his ‘accolades’, so it meant something when he did pat you on the back. We spoke recently, and he was still keen to know what was going on in the sport, and he always had an opinion; he was a big part of developing the sport.” Pemberton is survived by his long-time partner, Jennifer, and his son, Fraser. On behalf of the many people that knew ‘Plastic’, his family and friends, Auto Action passes on our best wishes and thoughts.
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ZACH
BATES
CIRCUIT SENSATION ZACH BATES HAS WON MORE RACES THAN NOT IN RECENT TIMES AND NOW HAS HIS SIGHTS SET ON CLIMBING THE SUPERCAR LADDER. HE SPOKE TO JOSH NEVETT ABOUT HIS RAPID PROGRESS AND LIFE AS A BATES IN MOTORSPORT. IN A family full of rally stars, Zach Bates is taking the road less travelled by pursuing a career on tarmac and doing it with style. The 18-year-old Canberra Grammar student has been a frontrunner in every category that he has entered since first steering a kart at age 10, most recently scoring a round podium on National Trans Am Series debut at Sydney Motorsport Park. Bates showed composure beyond his years to mix it with the best and stay out of trouble in the rough and tumble racing that is Trans Am, finishing no lower than fifth across the three races. The generations of Bates family racers were quick to acknowledge Zach’s achievement, his father Rick leading the celebrations. Rick Bates was accomplished in both rally and touring car machinery, while his brother Neal won the Australian Rally Championship three times. The current generation is not limited to Zach – his cousins Harry and Lewis are making headlines in the ARC today. If you ask Zach, there was never any doubt that he would be chasing thrills on four wheels, however some may have expected that it would be on dirt rather than sealed circuits given his pedigree. “I don’t think I had a choice to be honest,” Bates says on his passion for motorsport. “I was always around it as a kid, watching it on TV and attending events. I’m very lucky to be from the background that I’m from. “I never did that much dirt stuff. From karting I’ve done a few car crosses and rally sprints but I ended up in circuit racing.” So far, it appears as if Bates has chosen the right path because his rise has been remarkable. After entering the karting system relatively late, the talented youngster quickly progressed into open wheel Formula Ford racing, where he won his first state race on category debut. Not bad, not bad at all. “I didn’t expect that – it doesn’t happen very often,” Bates humbly states. It proved to be no flash in the pan, as a consistent campaign would see Bates finish runner-up in his rookie year before going on to do so again in his sophomore season. “That first season the competition probably wasn’t as big as it was before, which is why I was so high up in my
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rookie year,” he explains. “I also finished runner-up in my second season, which was a good one. Tom Sargent did that season and he was very quick.” Success in Formula Ford was all part of Bates’ grander plan – he wants to be a Supercars driver. “It’s a natural steppingstone for people that want to progress to cars out of karts,” he says. “Two years ago, 20-something out of the 25 drivers in Supercars were out of Formula Ford. It doesn’t take a lot of brains to see why that category is so successful, it teaches you so much.” The Toyota 86 Series was the next step for the talented teenager, a natural progression for someone chasing the Supercars scene on a budget. Money hasn’t been thrown at Bates’ career like some others, so he is always chasing value. “I think the main reason for the move was that it’s on the Supercars stage at a relatively low cost,” Bates affirmed. “There’s no other category where you get that amount of TV coverage for the investment. “There have also been a lot of people to come out of it that have gone on to bigger and better things such as Will Brown and Broc Feeney. “Finally, the parity between all the cars is
unparalleled to anything else in Australia.” Bates more than impressed on the big stage, proving himself to be a first season specialist by winning nine races on the way to the title. Eight of those victories came in succession in a dominant run spanning three rounds, an achievement which Bates downplayed. “You’re not you’re not thinking about that too much, you’re just trying to do the best job you can,” he says with trademark humility. “I was trying to learn off other drivers and
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build my knowledge. “It was a strong season, unfortunately it wasn’t declared as a championship. It was a disappointment because I was leading, which was a bit of a bummer.” This season the wins have not come so easily for Bates, as fellow rising star Lachlan Gibbons has emerged as a serious championship contender. Bates was forced to settle for second three races in a row at Sydney Motorsport Park, Gibbons taking the victories. However, Bates struck back at Mount
there was never any doubt that he would be chasing thrills on four wheels, however some may have expected that it would be on dirt
Panorama to stand atop the podium twice. As such, the campaign is evenly poised, and another title could be the key for Bates to move up the national motorsport ladder in 2023. It was dreams of competing at the top level that prompted Bates to jump into a highpowered V8 Trans Am machine, with the assistance of his uncle, Nicholas Bates, who has helpful connections to the series. “My uncle Nicholas does the TA2 series, the regional series. He’d been doing that and just said ‘do you want to have a crack in it’ which was pretty cool,” Bates recalls. “He asked if I wanted to do a Trans Am round and I said yes, it was a good opportunity to get out and see where we stacked up.” The rest, as they say, is history. Bates could not have looked more comfortable behind the wheel in his first Trans Am appearance, improving from ninth in Qualifying to consistently run in the top five over three races. His future in the category will be the subject of several discussions within the Bates family and remains uncertain, however Zach was thrilled to have made his mark on the series racing against the likes of Nathan Herne, Tim Brook and Owen Kelly.
“I didn’t quite expect to be there – the whole point of that weekend was just to learn in a quicker car,” Bates said. “The 86 and Formula Ford are both good in their own right but I wanted to try and get some experience in a faster car to prove it’s not too big of a shift. “I tried to move up in the races and pick my fights. The cars are so different to the 86 and Formula Ford, there’s a lot of body roll and the tyres are very different. It moves a lot on the tyre and the brakes aren’t so good but they’re a bunch of fun, super cool. “I wasn’t expecting to be as fast as Nathan Herne, which I wasn’t, but you’re trying to learn off people like that.” Learning will be a key part of Bates’ development as he strives for a Supercars seat and, thankfully, he has some of the best resources around under his own roof. “Both Neil and dad have been super influential on my career. Dad and Neil are the most competitive people I know. “Harry and Lewis, my cousins, have also been awesome and I’m super fortunate to have those guys around.” Harry and Lewis have achieved plenty in national rallying to this point, the former taking out the 2021 Australian Rally Championship before Lewis won his maiden Heat earlier this year. As well as giving Zach free pearls of wisdom, the pair have fostered healthy family competition which remains to this day. “The competition never ends. We all did a test day together in the 86s which was fun. It’s close but I think I just edged them on track.
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Bates is chasing the Toyota 86 cown – it’s a brand not unfamiliar to the family ... Below: As with many, it all started in karting. Bottom: For a ‘first lesson’ in Trans-Am, Sydney was an impressive outing. (Image: ARG/Kalisz) “The problem is that when I get in the rally car I’m ages off – they’re absolutely crazy in those things. They make what I do look pretty boring.” When pressed on his assessment of rallying, Bates clarified that there is no such thing as boring motorsport. More interestingly though, he also left the door open for a switch from tarmac to dirt at some point down the line, creating the possibility of a Bates triple threat in Australian rallying. “I’d absolutely love to go to dirt one day,” Bates confirms. “It’s just hard to do two things at once at the moment, because we’re mainly focused on circuit. All the time and finance goes towards that. “To do rally would mean I would have to sacrifice some of the circuit stuff. It sounds terrible but there’s only really a couple of pay drivers in the national rally scene, Harry and Lewis. There’s more of an opportunity to make a career out of circuit racing, which is the main thing.” So, for now it’s all about Toyota 86 racing, and hoping to impress those in the Supercars pitlane. “Supercars is the goal,” Bates concluded. “There’s only about 25 people that are getting those seats, so it’s definitely very hard but we’ll just keep chipping away.” While Bates tends to downplay his progress, if he continues to ‘chip away’ at this rate there is every chance that you will see him in one of those hallowed Supercars seats one day.
A win in his first Formula Ford race and runner-up in the national series pointed Zach B towards a circuit racing future. Left: The Bates crew enjoyed a strong Trans-Am debut at Sydney Motorpsort Park.
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Matich takes one of his many wins at Calder during 1969, the SR4 is seen here in the later low wing spec mandated globally by the FIA from the 1969 Monaco GP weekend onwards.
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The SR4 ledger is impressive, FM raced it at Bathurst, Calder Park, Catalina Park, Sandown, Surfers Paradise and Warwick Farm; 19 starts for 15 wins, one second and eight outright lap records.
“Don’t forget, it was the year of high wings too. Evolutionary changes involved running wingless, then with high wings, and back, as international regulations changed. Jaime Gard fabricated the big, high wing together with Frank – it was mounted to the rear uprights.” Gun engineer/mechanic Gard was over from Perth looking after the SR3 which Matich sold to West Australian racer, Don O’Sullivan. “We did lots of fine tuning of the suspension to get it right. We moved the steering rack, extended the uprights, and changed from Armstrong to Koni shockers. Frank jumped on
a plane to Holland to optimise those changes. When he took on the sale of Goodyear race tyres rather than Firestone in late 1969 that also involved a raft of changes.” “In November 1969 we installed a Hewland LG gearbox to replace the original ZF. Nehrybecki fabricated a new cross-frame with a bellhousing designed by us and cast by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Melbourne – we made a pattern which we could adapt for a Chev or the Repco engine.” Kneller recalled. The SR4 ledger is impressive, FM raced
it at Bathurst, Calder Park, Catalina Park, Sandown, Surfers Paradise and Warwick Farm; 19 starts for 15 wins, one second and eight outright lap records. “The 4.8-litre engine gave us no major dramas and did over 2000 race miles on its original bearings that year. I never knew what revs Frank used as he wouldn’t let me instal a tell-tale! He was probably using about 7500rpm. I kept an eye on the cam-followers, but they were fine,” said Mepstead. “The engine was rigidly mounted to the chassis, but Frank said his eyes almost popped out of their sockets down the straights with vibrations from the big, flatplane crank Repco! So, we used rubber mounts for everything ... the engine moved in the frame and broke chassis tubes. It was fast but fragile.” “The famous occasion when FM had a jammed throttle going down Sandown’s pit straight and locked the brakes solid going into Peters during the 1970 Tasman support was caused by vibrations to the throttle springs. We fixed it with a change of springs and mounts, ... the development process was ongoing.” “The terrible part of the year was Bevan’s death at Bathurst in 1969.” Benalla shooting-star, Bevan Gibson died at the wheel of Bob Jane’s Elfin 400 RBE when it took flight on the second of Conrod’s humps, landed upside down, and caught fire. “Bevan asked me after practice how we were going to set up the front of the SR4, saying that his steering wasn’t reacting, as the wheels were in the air. I told him we were going to fit an illegally large front spoiler. “Not long before the race, Frank asked me to remove a spacer in the fuel metering unit.
Repco engines: The Maidstone factory, Melbourne, in early 1968 (top); the engine towards the front is a 3 litre ‘860’ F1 engine; behind are ‘760s’. Middle: Early shot of SR4 when still fitted with a ZF ‘box,(LG Hewland fitted later in the year.) Peter Reilly assembling an ‘860’ 3-litre F1 engine valve train assemblyy, the engine’s problem area! Beautiful workmanship clear. Bottom: Bare frame shots of the car undergoing restoration.
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It’s an easy enough job – just four bolts, pull it out, then reinstall. But I crimped the O-ring when putting it back together. As a result it was leaking a bit. Frank could smell fuel and the engine was misfiring because the fuel pressure was too low.” Gibson therefore had a chance to knock off Matich in front of a huge Easter Bathurst crowd. In the normal course of things, the SR4 would have been miles up the road from the 4.4-litre Elfin, but Bevan had a sniff of victory and threw caution – given his practice experiences with the car – to the wind at a time the Gods weren’t looking his way. “It was an incredible time. I left at the end of 1969 to return to Melbourne. I had a young family and we wanted the support network. I built two 5-litre Repco 760s (E41 and E49) for the SR4 in late ’69 early 1970. E49 was the most powerful engine Repco ever built. I’ve still got the dyno sheets – it developed
558bhp @ 7500rpm and 428 lb/ft of torque at 5500rpm to 392 lb/ft at 7500rpm.” “The car was last raced at Warwick Farm about May 1970 where Frank was second to Niel Allen’s Elfin ME5 Chev. He drove it gently as the engine had a vibration which a subsequent tear-down at Repco revealed was the front of the crank cracking,” recalls Kneller. “SR4 was kept under a dust sheet in our Artarmon workshop until after the Tasman Series in 1971 when FM asked us to clean it up. iI hadn’t been used for eight months. We delivered it by trailer, with the engine fitted, to Repco in Maidstone.” In 1969 Repco formed a partnership with GMH (Redco Pty.Ltd was led by Malcolm Preston and used part of RBE’s Maidstone premises) to develop their new 308 V8 as an F5000 engine with Matich as their works driver. As part of the deal Repco took over SR4. It had more championships in it, but Repco wanted Matich to focus on F5000 – racing SR4 was a distraction they didn’t need. The car then became a beauty queen, never raced again until the modern era when it was restored by its new owner, former Repco Brabham Engines/Repco/Automotive Components Ltd engineer Nigel Tait – who has had a connection with the car since its construction – together with Jim Hardman.
IFS, BUTS AND MAYBES
One of Frank Gardner’s many one-liners was, “If ‘yer auntie had balls she’d be ‘yer uncle”. So, recognising and accepting that IF means nothing in racing, it’s interesting to ponder SR4’s 1968 prospects had it arrived match-fit at Road America on September 1. Stick with me … In 1967, the dominant McLaren M6A weighed 590Kg/1300lbs and was powered by a 6-litre 530bhp Chevy; the 1968 M8A toted a 7-litre 620bhp alloy block Chev and weighed circa 1350lbs. Prima facie, FM’s 1361lbs, 760 Series 5-litre, 560bhp SR4 would have been in the hunt. While the RBE gave away power to the Chev – SR4 weighed much the same as M8A – the Matich potentially handled better given its weight distribution. The RBE alloy V8 weighed 380lbs and sat nice and low – the Chev lump
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weighed 550lbs and was perched up higher. While the RBE 860 F1 engines had major torsional valve train vibration problems in 1968, the 760 Series 4.2/4.8/5-litre V8s weren’t so badly afflicted. Peter Revson’s 4.2-litre Brabham BT25 finished fifth in the 1969 Indy 500, and later he won the Indianapolis Raceway Park event in July. Would the SR4 have been quick? Would the 760 engines finish 200-mile races? Could SR4 have achieved Can-Am podiums in 1968? Could Matich have won a race? The answers are Yes! Bruce and Denny didn’t win two rounds that year. John Cannon was first in the wet aboard a McLaren M1B at Laguna, while Mark Donohue won at Bridghampton in Roger Penske’s M6B Chev. FM could have prevailed – SR4 was quick enough to knock off both combinations. None of that happened of course, but domination in Australia did. That the SR4 was benched prematurely is sad – it was a certain winner through to 1975! Still, the Repco Holden F5000 program was very successful into the mid-1970s. Matich won the 1970 AGP at Warwick Farm, then contested two US F5000 championship rounds in early 1971. His McLaren M10C Repco-Holden won the Riverside GP and was second in the Monterey GP at Laguna Seca. There you go – a victory in the US after all, albeit three years later than planned!
SR4 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Engine/Gearbox: RBE 760 quad-cam, four-valve, Lucas injected V8. 4.8-litre bore/ stroke 3.736/3.37inch. 5-litre bore/stroke 3.786/3.37inch. ZF four speed transaxle, later Hewland LG. Chassis/Suspension/Steering/Wheels: Tubular steel spaceframe: Weight 38 kilograms (bare frame). Wishbones at the front. Rear reversed lower wishbone, single top link, and twin radius rods. Koni shocks. Matich rack and pinion steering, cast by CAC. Girling three-pot calipers. Matich design cast magnesium wheels, front 10.5 by 15”, rear 17” by 15”. Tyres, front 10.5” by 23” by 15”. Rear 15” by 26” by 15” Track: front 57”, rear 60”, wheelbase 90”
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Above: Peter Mabey and FM ponder changes to the throttle linkage in the Sandown paddock during the 1970 Tasman meeting. Note the flat-spotted tyre as per text. Below: Matich and SR4 during the fateful 1969 Easter Bathurst meeting during which Bevan Gibson died aboard Bob Jane’s Elfin while chasing the misfiring SR4.
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LE MANS
Images: Motorsport Images
TOYOTA WINS LE MANS FIVE IN A ROW FOR GAZOO
Report: Andrew Clarke TOYOTA HAS made it five wins in a row at Circuit De La Sarthe, dominating the 2022 Le Mans 24 Hour race with a pair of GR010 Hybrid Hypercars. The race-winning car of Brendan Hartley, Sebastian Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa took control of Sunday morning when the more fancied sister car slowed to a standstill on Arnage in need of a full power recycle on its front hybrid system. Up till then, the pair of cars had swapped the lead around pitstops and slow zones – extended periods of the track that were effectively under virtual safety car – and both finished on 380 laps (17 down on the race record) with an eventual gap of a little more than 2 minutes. The win was Buemi’s fourth in the race, Hartley’s third and Hirakawa’s first. They finished five laps up on the podium sitting Glickenhaus Hypercar of Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Franck Mailleaux, with the team’s second car fighting its way up to fourth after early troubles.
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The Australian contingent had a mixed 24 hours, Briscoe’s podium the highlight, while James Allen in the LMP2 class and Matt Campbell in the LM GTE Am class never troubled their class leaders. The Kiwis got a race win (and a stunning pole position) with Hartley; Shane Van Gisbergen had a tough weekend in his LM GTE Pro Ferrari and finished fifth in class, Nick Cassidy in the LM GTE Am class was sixth in class also in a Ferrari.
OUTRIGHT/HYPERCAR
Only Toyota, Glickenhaus and Alpine had cars in the Hypercar class, and the Toyotas were the class of the field. The technically complex 3.5L twin-turbocharged petrol V6 engine and hybrid system required all the technical might of Toyota to master, not wanting a repeat of the embarrassing failures in the races leading to that first win in 2018. Brendan Hartley was a surprise pole-sitter after nailing the least troubled lap on the 13.6km track, beating his teammate and four-time pole winner Kamui Kobayashi by
0.177s with a best lap of 3m24.408s. He used that pole to take control of the running early before the #8 and #7 cars swapped the lead up to the 16th hour when Jose Maria Lopez stopped on Arnage and lost time resetting the hybrid system and more time in the pits. With retirements to both Toyotas in the lead-up events, there was always a chance of a repeat in the biggest race of the year for the World Endurance Championship, but, aside from that blip, the day was untroubled by anything mechanical. Ryan Briscoe’s run onto the podium in Glickenhaus #709 was largely troublefree, an early stop to replace a faulty sensor temporarily handing the ascendancy to Glickenhaus #708 in the race for the final spot
on the podium. The latter had been the faster of the two US-designed and built cars for most of the weekend, but a rear suspension failure before midnight pitched the car off the track at Tetre Rouge. Recovery and a repair in the pits cost 20 minutes and dropped them well down the order, but they eventually fought back to fourth, five laps behind #709 and 10 behind the race winners. The Alpine was never in the running despite outqualifying the Glickenhaus cars. By the Dunlop Chicane on the opening lap, it had dropped to fifth; from there, it went from bad to worse. First, it was an unscheduled pitstop to replace the electronic clutch, then another for the ignition coil and finally a 20-minute stop to fix the car after an off at the Porsche
Ryan Briscoe co-drove the Glickenhaus Hypwercar to its outright podium. Below: Porsche took out GTE Pro. Bottom: Buemi, kiwi Hartley, and Hirakawa – outright winners, on the podium.
Curves in the morning. To make matters worse, there was also a drive-through penalty for speeding in a slow zone, leaving them well out of the running and in the middle of the LMP2 battle.
LMP2
Above and left: The #8 Toyota had a virtually untroubled run to victory. Below: Shane van Gisbergen’s Ferrari team had some practice issues, but finished fifth, albeit last, in GTE Pro. Bottom: James Allen’s Algarve Pro Racing team recovered from a practice shunt to finish 15th in LMP2 and best of the LMP2 Pro-Am cars.
The JOTA team dominated LMP2 with a relatively easy win for Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix Da Costa and William Stevens coming after an easy run in the lead from the first pitstops onwards. The early evening run was faultless and got the #38 car to a lead of more than a lap over its rivals, the race’s only Safety Car, early on Sunday, causing the only hiccup when they were delayed at the end of pitlane by a red light costing them their one-lap lead. With Stevens at the wheel for the final stint, they completed 369 laps and came home more than two-minutes clear of the #9 Prema Orleon car of Roberto Kubica, Louis Delatraz and Lorenzo Colombo with the second JOTA of Oliver Rasmussen, Edward Jones and Jonathan Aberdeen completing that podium with three others LMP2 cars also completing 368 laps. With 27 cars, LMP2 was the largest class in the 2022 race and action was heated from the start of the race with Will Owen (#22 United Autopsorts) sandwiched between the two WRT cars of class pole-winner Rene Rast and Ferdinand Habsburg going into the first corner. Owen came off worst and ended up in the gravel with a damaged car, eventually losing two laps before resuming with a repaired car. Rast got a one-minute stop-go penalty for his efforts, although he later said his rivals jumped the start, which surprised him. Plenty of other LMP2 cars found trouble too, and it kept the interest in the class till the end of the race. The only car not to take the flag in this class was the troubled #31 car of Rast, Robin Frijns and Sean Galael, with Frijns crashing out 19 hours and 40 minutes into the race and ther reason for the only full course Safety Car of the race. Frijns got out of shape on the exit curbs at Indianapolis and fired nose-first into the Armco barrier on the inside of the track. The crash was enough to signal the concussion warning lights on Frijns helmet, and their race was officially done with 285 laps complete.
LM GTE PRO
Only seven cars were in the LM GTE Pro class, with two Porsches, three Ferraris (including the #74 Riley Motorsports car for Shane Van Gisbergen) and two Corvettes making up the running, but there was plenty of action. Coming in 30 laps behind the racewinning Toyota was the Porsche GT Team car of Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Leitz and Frederic Makowiecki, who won a hard-fought battle with the AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro
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Pier Guidi, James Calado and Daniel Serra. With this class resigned to the scrap heap next year, there were plenty of bragging rights up for grabs, and the dramatic fight for honours belied the skinny field. The Corvettes dominated qualifying and were looking strong in the race before the #63 car of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg suffered a rear suspension failure that resulted in retirement. The #92 Porsche of Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen and Laurens Vanthoor then took up the running until a spectacular front puncture following a front lock-up tore the bodywork off the front of the car and dropped it out of the lead. The #64 Corvette of Nick Tandy, Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims then took over the lead before Sims was clipped on Mulsanne Straight by the LMP2 car of Francois Peredo and slammed heavily into the wall lining the famous high-speed straight. Both Corvettes were out of the running while leading the class. Shane Van Gisbergen’s weekend rarely ran to plan, missing a chunk of practice and qualifying with several issues and battling low engine power during the race. They did get 347 laps done and finished fifth and last in their class, the reigning Supercars Champion getting more than seven hours in the car on debut.
LM GTE AM
There were only three Aston Martins in the LM GTE Am class, but that was all they needed to take a class win and another podium slot from a brace of Porches and Ferraris. TF Sport’s Ben Keating, Henrique Chaves and Marco Sorensen took the honours by 44.446s over the Weathertrech Racing Porsche of Julien Andlauer, Cooper MacNeil and Thomas Merrill, which was looking strong in the race until overnight errors to MacNeil and Merrill cost them a lead they never regained. The NorthWest AMR Aston Martin of Nicki Thiim, Paul Dalla Lana and David Pittard was third a lap behind the leading pair, taking that spot when a suspension failure to Dempsey-Proton Porsche of Harry Tincknell, Sebastian Priaulx and Christian Ried landed a long pitstop.
THE ANTIPODEANS
Brendan Hartley (Hypercar – Toyota #8) Hartley had a perfect weekend with pole position and his third win in the race. Ryan Briscoe (Hypercar - Glickenhaus Racing #709) A faulty sensor in Briscoe’s car landed an extended pitstop near the end of the second hour, dropping the car off the lead lap. A troublefree from there and ran them to a lonely podium. James Allen (LMP2 – Algarve Pro Racing #45) Allen missed qualifying after a crash in practice by his co-driver damaged the tub of the LMP2 car. They started the race from second last in class after being one of the fancied runners and battled all day for 15th and the lead LMP2 Pro-Am car. Shane Van Gisbergen (LM GTE Pro – Riley Motorsports #74 Ferrari) The Giz’s debut at the 24 Hour race never really got into gear, missing time in practice and qualifying before a solid run in the race brought them home 5th in class and 3 laps off the leaders. Matt Campbell – Proton Competition #93 (Fassbender, Robichon) Matt Campbell’s chances in the GTE Am class disappeared a few hours into the race when co-driver Michael Fassbenber lost the rear of the #93 Porsche in the Dunlop Chicane. There were plenty of other small niggles all day and he finished 16th in GTE-Am. Nick Cassidy (LM GTE Am - AF Corse’s #54 Ferrari) New Zealander Nick Cassidy crossed the line sixth in class in AF Corse’s #54 Ferrari. Cassidy ran nearly 10 hours in the car and was easily the quickest of the three drivers in the car.
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