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SLADE AIMING FOR A RECORD RUN BRABHAM BLITZ PROMISED FOR CIRCUIT RECORDS ACROSS AUSTRALIA
By Paul Gover, News Editor No track record is safe from Tim Slade as the Supercars ace undertakes an unprecedented time attack across the country. Slade has already driven a Brabham BT62 to a new record mark at Phillip Island and now he has his sights on a similar success at other tracks – including Bathurst. He reveals the purpose-built supercar is a cut above his Supercars Mustang, even though he has been a Top 10 regular this year in the CoolDrive car and will partner with team boss Tim Blanchard for The Great Race. Biggest difference? “It’s like a GT3 car on steroids. A GT3 has less grunt than a Supercar, where this has more. Then there is the aero on this car, which is way more,” Slade tells Auto Action. “To sum it up, it’s got more grunt and more grip. It does everything better than a GT3 car and a Supercar. “It’s a very stable and forgiving balance. You get into it and you have quite good confidence, straight away.
But it’s not scary to drive.” Slade began his record attempt at Phillip Island, where his target time was the 1 minute 24.221 set by Simon Wills, driving a Reynard 94D Formula Holden way back in the year 2000. He needed special help to make the attempt, as official records must be set in races and not just a time-attack run, but eventually got help to compete in a Victorian State Race Series event. He eventually clocked a 1:24.060 and admits there was probably more speed with more time and more tuning of the Brabham. “There is a fair bit left in the car. You don’t want to go out and risk the car. But you have to be committed as well, because you don’t have seconds up your sleeve,” he says. “Phillip Island was hard because we originally wanted to run with the sports cars. The MG club were good enough to let us run in their category. So the next fastest car was about 40 seconds slower than the Brabham. “So I literally only did two fast laps over the
course of the weekend. If we would have another run at PI there is a half second in the driving, and some other time in other parts of the car as well.” The time attack program came from a suggestion by the Brabham’s owner, a Slade mate from Adelaide, but has quickly developed from there. “The crux of it is that we’ll look at doing two or three other events sometime between now and the end of the year. “We might do a state round at Tailem Bend in South Australia in September. I’m not sure what class or category. We’ll potentially do some laps at a test day beforehand. “I’m not saying anything specifically about lap records. We just want to have some fun and see what the car will do. “And we’ll look at doing Challenge Bathurst as well. That would be a cool thing to do in that car.” Slade is not prepared to name the car’s owner, but gives thanks and kudos to the crew from AMS Motorsport, Matt and Scott,
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who look after the Brabham. “I’ve driven a few other cars over the years for the owners. There are a couple of Adelaide guys that look after it. I have a good relationship with them and the weekends are fun. “We have a laugh. And I have faith in the guys that look after the car.” Regardless of the results, Slade says he’s happy just to jump into the Brabham. “I’ve driven the car at some track days in the past, and we’ll do some more of those. It’s really, really cool. It’s good fun,” he says. “You put any racing driver in a racecar that has a decent amount of grunt, sounds good, and has a good amount of grip both from the tyre and the aero, and you get out with a pretty big smile. “It is super fun. Any pro could get in and be pretty close to getting the most out of it without a huge amount of laps. And then there is Bathurst . . . “I’m not too sure yet on the plan. But I’m keen. It’s obviously a really cool car to drive. And I really enjoy it.”
BOSCH TO PURCHASE MOTEC GROUP BOSCH HAS announced it is in the process of acquiring Australian motorsport technology company MoTeC Group as Bosch Motorsport continues to expand. Contracts for the planned handover were signed by Bosch and the MoTeC Group earlier in the month with the transaction subject to approval by merger control authorities, both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. MoTeC supplies Supercars (and other categories) with the electronic control unit as well as the well-know MoTeC dash display. MoTeC Group will remain as a separate legal entity, retaining its own brand name in the purchase.
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Affectively MoTeC will become a part of Bosch Motorsport, a business unit of Bosch Engineering a Bosch subsidiary based in Germany. Bosch hopes the purchase
of MoTeC will further expand Bosch Motorsport and its market presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Bosch intends to acquire the Melbourne based business as it offers a wide range of technology
for the motorsport market. It hopes that Bosch Motorsport can benefit from its comprehensive motorsport technology. “With the acquisition of the MoTeC Group, Bosch Motorsport is extending its product portfolio and distribution to serve additional racing series as well as grassroots motorsport participants,” the Bosch release stated. Currently the MoTeC Group employs 54 people worldwide between its headquarters and a sales and technical customer service office in Banbury, England. Vice President of Bosch Motorsport Dr. Klaus Boettcher is excited to expand its identity within the motorsport world.
“With the MoTeC Group’s many years of experience and comprehensive expertise, as well as its worldwide dealer network, we are strengthening our position in motorsports and ideally complementing our product portfolio,” said Dr Boettcher. The MoTeC portfolio includes vehicle and engine control units, displays, data loggers and onboard power supply control units for both conventional and electric motorsport vehicles. The company serves its customers in Australia, AsiaPacific, Europe, the U.S. and Japan through a global network of around 250 dealers. Dan McCarthy
AUSSIE REFLECTS ON LE MANS CLASS WIN AUSTRALIAN JAMES Allen soared in the Le Mans 24 Hours, marching from the back of the field, with co-drivers Rene Binder and Steven Thomas to not only win, but dominate the LMP2 Pro-Am class. It was a phenomenal performance from the trio and the Algarve Racing organisation. Not only did they have to work their way from the back, but they’d had limited running due to the extent of track time missed during the week. Allen (pictured right with his team– taking the selfie) scored an outright LMP2 class podium with third last year, however does the LMP2 Pro-Am win means ever so much more? “That’s a good question,” he pondered. “I’d have to really think about that.” “Obviously, a class win is something huge, but at the same time LMP2 last year and this year is extremely competitive, but there’s still a big field of Pro-Am cars with a lot of professional drivers in it – AF Corse have two Ferrari factory drivers. “Pro-Am is definitely an extremely competitive class in itself; it’s still very competitive. I guess a Pro-Am win would probably have to take over a podium ... That’s a really tough one – it’s very close, but I’d say the Pro-Am win would take it.” Despite the practice crash and being forced to miss quali, Allen never felt the race was out of his team’s grasp. “Obviously it’s a very long race, and it wasn’t going to take a huge amount of time to get past all the GTs,” he recalled. “We did have some very, very tough competition as well. I knew we were on the back foot, but I knew we still were in with something of a chance.
Image: Motorsport Images “Pitstops were perfect, everyone in the team just did their job and it was really a fantastic effort from the team for the race.” After taking the victory and tasting the champagne, Allen laughed, saying all he wanted to do was wind down after what had been a stressful day. “My first emotion to be honest was I wanted to go to sleep,” Allen said. “I was obviously extremely happy after winning the race, it was definitely very tense four hours at the end – we were up by up by two laps, but anything
could have gone wrong. “I was just sitting there praying that everything held together and we didn’t have any issues. It did and it was really fantastic.” After the Le Mans race class win, the #45 Algarve crew are well and truly in the fight for the Pro-Am title. With three rounds remaining, the Aussie believes they can take a lot of confidence into these rounds after controlling the race. “It’s put us right back in the fight after AF Corse won the first two races,” he told AA.
“They did finish second in the WEC in class, which is not ideal, but we’re definitely right back in it and definitely have momentum going into Monza.” The margin has been slashed to just eight points in the standings. “The most important thing going forward is knowing that we have done it and we can continue to do it, which is very important for the last three races of the championship. I really think confidence is the big thing we took from Le Mans.” Dan McCarthy
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RED BULL RACING ANNOUNCE BUILD OF ROAD CAR RED BULL RACING HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL BUILD ITS FIRST EVER IN-HOUSE HYPERCAR TITLED THE RB17.
THE MACHINE will be created under the leadership of Chief Technical Officer and legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey with a limited run of 50 cars to be built at the Red Bull Advanced Technologies’ campus. The RB17 follows the naming convention of the team’s F1 cars. Although no computer-generated
images have been released, Red Bull Racing has announced that the car will be powered by a V8 hybrid engine quoted to produce over 1,100bhp (820kW). The car will be designed around a carbon-composite tub, utilising groundeffects like the current generation F1 car and will be able to seat two people, the driver and a passenger. The price is certainly on the more expensive side, prices will start at over five million pounds ($8.828 million Aussie dollars). “The RB17 marks an important milestone in the evolution of Red Bull Advanced
Technologies, now fully capable of creating and manufacturing a series production car at our Red Bull Technology Campus,” said Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner. “Further, the RB17 marks the first time that a car wearing the Red Bull brand has been available to collectors. Newey who has designed championship winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing added that this car will carry a lot of DNA from Formula 1 cars. “The RB17 distills everything we know about creating championship-winning Formula 1 cars into a package that delivers
VIPS DROPPED BY RED BULL RACING AFTER A two-week investigation, the Red Bull Racing team has confirmed it has terminated its contract with test and reserve driver Juri Vips. The Estonian was playing online and streaming on Twitch when he was caught yelling a racist slur in the heat of battle. Red Bull Racing stated at the time it would thoroughly investigate what occurred before deciding on the future of its driver. Vips has come up through the Red Bull Junior Program to become the teams test and reserve driver, he was one of the favourites to secure an AlphaTauri seat in Formula 1 for 2023 or more likely 2024.
However, his comments online have ended these hopes of racing for the junior Red Bull team. “Following its investigation into an online incident involving Juri Vips, Oracle Red Bull Racing has terminated Juri’s contract as its test and reserve driver,” a statement from Red Bull Racing read. “The team does not condone any form of racism” Vips has been dropped by Red Bull effective immediately, whether this affects his FIA Formula 2 Championship campaign remains to be seen. Vips is a regular contender at the front of the F2 field and currently sits seventh
in the standings. In his near two years in F2, he has recorded two race wins and countless podiums and finished sixth in the standings last year. Red Bull’s decision came just hours after vision surfaced of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet made the same racist slur when describing Lewis Hamilton. Piquet has come under massive scrutiny for the comments with everyone in F1 stating there is no place for racism. Vips has not commented on his axing from Red Bull Racing at this stage. Dan McCarthy
extreme levels of performance in a twoseat track car,” he said. “Driven by our passion for performance at every level, the RB17 pushes design and technical boundaries far beyond what has been previously available to enthusiasts and collectors.” Just 50 RB17s will be created, with production not set to commence until the start of 2025. Notably all owners will have access to the team’s simulators, vehicle programme development and on-track training while the factory team will service and maintain each car personally. Dan McCarthy
ROSBERG BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL FORMER FORMULA 1 World Championship Nico Rosberg has stepped back behind the wheel of a racing car. After winning the F1 World Championship in 2016, Rosberg announced his immediate retirement from motorsport. He has only driven a handful of laps since then, most notably at Monaco when he shared the track with his Formula 1 championship winning father. Since retiring, Rosberg became the CEO of Extreme E outfit Rosberg X Racing (RXR), and last week jumped back into the race seat for an exclusive test drive in Germany. Rosberg cut many laps of the one-kilometre Nurburgring Park off-road course, his firstever laps in an off-road car. It was the first time Rosberg had ever driven one of his own Extreme E machines also and loved every second. “This was simply a phenomenal experience,” he said. “I cannot believe the power of this car. Off-road driving is so much fun. “Even though I have not been behind the wheel for a long time, I immediately was in my element. The muscle memory came back instantly and I simply enjoyed myself. “Rally driving is an entirely different beast from circuit racing, though, and I have a newfound respect for Mikaela and Johan.” During the test Rosberg was closely viewed by Team Principal Kimmo Liimatainen, as well as RXR drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky. While the test was a bit of fun for Rosberg, the serious business is about to get back underway with just two weeks until the Italian double-header in Sardinia. After being crowned inaugural Extreme E champions in 2021 with Aussie Molly Taylor and Kristoffersson, the team started Season 2 in triumphant style with victory in Saudi Arabia. Dan McCarthy
GASLY CONFIRMS ALPHATAURI STAY ALPHATAURI HAS has locked in Pierre Gasly for another season, the Frenchman signing to race for the second Red Bull team and extinguishing rumours that he would move elsewhere. When Sergio Perez re-signed with Red Bull Racing until 2024 it blocked Gasly’s path back to the main team for which he competed for in 12 races back in 2019. Gasly felt he was ready for a drive back at Red Bull Racing and was open about this with Red Bull’s motorsports advisor Dr Helmut Marko. However, Marko and Red Bull Racing elected to stick with known quantity Perez. In Canada last weekend AlphaTauri
team boss Franz Tost stated Gasly “100% confirmed” that Gasly would stay with AlphaTauri for 2023. This has now been officially announced. “We are really pleased to confirm that Pierre stays with us in 2023,” Tost said overnight. “He is definitely in the group of the best and most competitive drivers in F1 and has proven his abilities during all the time he has spent with us. “Undoubtedly, Pierre can play a major role in the team having a successful season next year and it will be down to us to provide him with a competitive car, so that he can continue to deliver excellent results.” Gasly made his F1 debut with the
team, then known as Toro Rosso, at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, and has subsequently taken three podiums with the squad, including his win at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. “I have been with this team for five years now and I am proud of the journey we’ve been through together and the progress we have made,” Gasly said. “I’m happy to remain with my Scuderia AlphaTauri team. “This year’s new regulations have created new challenges for us and being able to plan our development with the team for the next 18 months is a good working basis for the future.” Dan McCarthy
F1 COMMUNITY SUPPORTS HAMILTON AFTER PIQUET COMMENTS THE FORMULA 1 community has thrown its support behind former Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton after racially abusive language was used to describe him by three-time champion Nelson Piquet. Piquet won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1981, 1983 and 1987 and is the father of Max Verstappen’s long-time girlfriend Kelly Piquet. A video has surfaced on social media of Nelson Piquet discussing the first lap accident between Verstappen and Hamilton at the British Grand Prix last year, in which the now 69—year-old calls him a racist slur not once, but twice. “The [racist term] put his car there to hit him on purpose,” Piquet stated. And later, when asked if he felt Hamilton would not make the corner at Copse, Piquet said. “Him? Never! “He wanted to take him out no matter the cost. The [racist term] left the car there to
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hit him. “It’s because you don’t know that bend. It’s a very fast one, and two cars can’t get through. There’s no way two cars can go side by side there. It was a dirty trick! “He’s just lucky that the only other guy got screwed.” Hamilton immediately took to social media, voicing his frustration and disgust at the language that had surfaced. “It’s more than language,” he wrote. “These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport. “I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.” Already the Formula 1 world has rushed to support Hamilton and to stop racist remarks in Formula 1. “Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no part in society,” Formula 1 posted.
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“Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect. “His tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1.” Mercedes F1 driver George Russell took to social media to speak up for his teammate. “Huge respect to LH. He has done more for the sport than any driver in history, not just on the track but off it,” Russell wrote. The fact that he and so many others are STILL having to deal with this behaviour is unacceptable. We all need to stand together against discrimination of any kind.” Even some of his closest rivals wrote on social media. “Knowing Lewis since I arrived in Formula 1, he has always been extremely respectful to me and everyone that he meets,” wrote Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. “Those values should be the standard towards anybody around the world. The comments made towards Lewis should not
be tolerated, and we should continue to push for a more diverse and inclusive sport. “We need to remove discriminatory behaviour and racist language in any form from not just our sport, but our society as well.” Dan McCarthy
the Mercedes-AMG Project One, the roadgoing take on Lewis Hamilton’s world title winning F1 hybrid, as it’s running up the hill. There are some classic names, too, which have taken on a new spin. There is a $2.5 million Delage D12 and a revival of the Alpine A110. In total, there are 52 supercars on the FoS menu, and 14 are new. Wowza. And then there are the historic cars. And the drivers. Mark Webber? Tick. Sir Jackie Stewart? Tick. Derek Bell? Tick. Dario and Marino Franchitti? Tick. The list goes on and on, from world champions to local heroes in rally cars that tackle the special dirt course at the top of the hill. There are also the crazies in the drift cars. They are surprisingly available all weekend, smiling and laughing like they never did when they were rivals. But Goodwood is still a very British garden party, with jazz bands, an opera singer, brilliant organic food, daytime fireworks and the signature sculpture in front of Goodwood House – this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of the M division at BMW with five of its most famous race-cars. There is so, so much to see at the Festival that it takes more than one day to soak it in. Four days, the full length of the FoS, is probably not enough. Just when you think you’ve seen enough, there is the N25 hydrogen car that ran at Le Mans this year. And then the incredible, unmuffled, full-onit howl of a gaggle of 70s-80s-90s grand prix cars firing up the hill. And then comes the Top 10 shootout, for the very fastest cars up the driveway in 2022. Which is why so many people, from stars to fans who sit on the grass to watch and enjoy, are repeat visitors. “We’ve got kids, we’ve got grandad here; mum and dad,” says Mark Webber. “It’s the best event in the world and I don’t know who’s second, but it’s a long, long way behind.” He is right, of course.
From top, left to right: 28-litres of flamethrowing 1910 Fiat; Le Mans Porsche; Classic Stirling Moss Targa Florio winning Mercedes being driven by German veteran Jochan Mass; the incredible Wayne Rainey – paralysed from the chest down, wheelied his 500 Yamaha up the hill ... Below: Group B Lancia Rally 037 – from the golden era of rallying ... last rear-wheel-drive car to win the WRC (1983).
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For more fabulous images from the Goodwood Festival Of Speed scan the link Nelson Piquet Jnr, pilots one his father’s race-winning Brabham-BMW BT52s up the climb.
THE CLIMB TIME TRAVIS PASTRANA cannot help himself as he waits for the Top 10 shootout at the Goodwood Hillclimb. “We’ve got Darth Vader, a family SUV and a minivan,” he tells Auto Action, looking at the top three contenders in the staging area. “How crazy is this?” Vader is the McMurtry Speirling, otherwise known as the world’s fastest Dyson because it uses giant fans to suck it to the road. It’s a tiny little thing, fully battery electric, but with sucker power that tracks back to the Chaparral Can-Am racer of the 70s and the Brabham F1 ‘fan car’ designed by Gordon Murray in the 80s. The SUV is very different, nicknamed ‘The Family Huckster’, and Pastrana’s ride for the climb. It’s got more than 615 kiloWatts of turbo Subaru power, with signature all-wheel drive inside a franken-star body that’s boxy and brutal but even incorporates active aero. And the minivan? It’s the all-new and very special SuperVan 4 from Ford, making its world debut with 735 kiloWatts, four electric motors, and Goodwood record holder Romain Dumas moving across from the Volkswagen ID R for the climb. The Top 10 field also includes an exSchumacher Benetton from F1 and a one-time CanAm racing McLaren with a bellowing V8 that sounds like a Top Fuel dragster as it leaves the line. But it’s all irrelevant as Max Chilton, who was nothing special when he raced for Marussia in grands prix, does something very special in the McMurtry. He obliterates the hill record with a time of 39.08 seconds and is met and congratulated by Dumas, and original record holder Nick Heidfeld, who clocked 41.6 seconds in 1999 in a McLaren MP4-13. The Speirling’s win is special for all kinds of reasons. It’s tiny. It packs 1000 horsepower (735kW) into less than 1000 kilograms. It’s fully battery electric.
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Crazy stuff ... (below) the McMurtry Speirling and its record-breaking driver Max Chilton (bottom). Centre: That’s an SUV (left)? Yup, Subaru power; Family Huckster ... Right: The fourth iteration of Ford’s SuperVan ... electric of course ...
But the most amazing thing is the way it gets the job done. Watching it in action, it is here and then gone. The only trace of its presence is a cloud of dust raised by its fans, and the faint whizz of its electric motors. It runs close to 250km.h on the hill at Goodwood, after sprinting to 100km/h in just 1.5 seconds.
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For the record, Porsche claimed runnerup spot as Richard Lietz drove the new 718 GT4 ePerformance. His time? It was 45.502 seconds. “I didn’t sleep last night. I got one hour’s sleep because I was so stressed,” says Chilton. “Pressure makes diamonds, as they say.” Check it out for yourself at: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=5JYp9eGC3Cc
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mechanically inclined and don’t want to struggle through a laborious build process. The list of controlled components is indeed long, covering most of the mechanicals. All the engine configurations across the Ford and Holden models are six cylinders in layout and over 3.8-litres in capacity. Engine components are strictly managed, the camshaft, pistons and air intake all controlled while the rest of the engine remains standard. There are two commonly used ECUs – EMS have previously supplied units for $1100 while a MoTeC option is now available for $2000. Fuel injectors are an outlier, replaced by upgraded items to run the e85 blend that fuels Saloon Cars. Given the current global climate, it is essential that fuel costs, which can total $200/round, are factored into the racing budget for Saloon Cars. Outside of the powerplant, the suspension and braking systems are also controlled. Pedders supplies a $1500 suspension kit which includes springs and shocks, while there is a bit more variation in brake packages. Control front callipers were traditionally sourced from C4, but those items can no longer be found new, so Wilwood six piston items are most common at $1600 for a pair. The regulations also allow OEM twin piston callipers to be used, which can be purchased considerably cheaper at $300 - $400. Factory callipers are also retained at the rear. Brake pads from EBC, PFC, Bendix and Project Mu are all permitted, sets coming in at the $350 mark. Tyres are another controlled consumable. Bridgestone RE11 semi-slick tyres must keep Saloon Cars planted on the tarmac regardless of weather conditions, removing the need for competitors to spend extra on wet weather rubber. EA/VN cars run 16-inch shoes while AU/VT machines sit on 17-inch versions. A set of four costs $1400 and $1716 for 16-inch and 17-inch tyres, respectively, and Johnson promises that six new hoops can do a full season if the car is driven well. Rims are free but must be sized 16x8 (EA/VN) or 17x8 (AU/VT). Once a car is battle-ready and on the entry list for a round, meeting costs are relatively minimal. “Most people transport their cars on open trailers themselves,” Johnson says.
Ford vs Holden battles are becoming a rarity on Australian circuits. The Gen3 era of Supercars will make the DNA of Saloon Cars even more attractive for traditionalists.
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Daniel Johnson built his AU Falcon back in 2011 and has campaigned it ever since, winning two state titles along the way (above, left). The car came at no cost but the build set him back around $25,000. The interior prioritises function over form, while the engine is largely standard (above).
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“Competitors also generally run the car on their own or with a couple of mates or family members. “Accommodation varies as our races are spread across the state. In some instances, people can travel to and from home each day, when it is too far to do that accommodation for 1-2 nights will set you back $150 - $200 per night. “Radios and judicial cameras aren’t mandatory, but the latter are highly recommended.” Better yet, servicing between events is a mostly painless process, especially for an experienced individual like Johnson. The engines in both the Ford and Holden models are remarkably robust and a gearbox check/service is advised just once per year, so consumables are the main outlay between events. Brake pads last two to four rounds depending on type and driving style, while rotors can survive for two seasons. Spark plugs are swapped once per year. “Servicing costs are pretty minimal,” Johnson confirmed. “One of the appeals is that Saloon Cars are quite easy to maintain and prepare when in a mechanically sound state. “Around $1000 in consumables spread over five rounds makes it only $200/round.
MEMBERSHIP $20 CAR New Build $25,000 - $65,000 Used Market $7,000 - $35,000 Entry Fees $450/round Suspension Pedders package: $1,500 Brakes Control set: $2,000 Tyres Bridgestone RE11 semi-slick tyres: $350 - $429 each ($1400 - $1700 per set) ECU EMS: $1,100 or MoTeC: $2,000 Fuel $200/round Average Round Cost $3,000 “A basic spanner check, inspection for leaks and wheel alignment should be all that is needed between most rounds.” All components do ultimately have an expiry date, and a full engine rebuild costs between $8000 - $10,000 when required. Regular servicing goes a long way to delaying this though, ensuring that a motor can service its owner for several seasons. When all goes to plan, Johnson spends an average of $3000 per race weekend in total. He says that figure combined with car prices represents fantastic value in the Australian motorsport landscape.
Saloon Cars racing is always tight and contested in a hard but fair manner (above).
“The cost to enter the category is unbelievable value. “I would challenge someone to show me a category where you can achieve the speed that these cars do for the value that they are. “I think it’s the perfect category for people to start out their racing journey. We’ve had a couple of people who haven’t raced before and started out with us this year who are really loving it.” As an entry level category, Saloon Cars sits alongside the likes of Hyundai Excel, Porsche 944, Nissan Pulsar, HQ Holden, BMW E30, MG and British invited cars and Improved Production racing. The popularity of Excels and growing collectability of classic Porsches has seen the affordability of those competitions diminished to some degree, to the point where Saloon Cars is right up there in terms of value for money.
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“From the categories that I know of I think you can get a Saloon Car going for less than a Hyundai Excel these days, those are supposed to be entry level,” Harris says. “I see Hyundai’s up for $35,000 - $40,000 now. We’re probably in that bracket, and a steppingstone for anyone wanting to go from Hyundai’s into a rear-wheel-drive car. “Our cars are quicker than a Hyundai and we’re not far off some of the V8s running in Improved Production or whatever else. One of our drivers did a 1m 23.8s at Sandown this year. “It’s pretty good bang for buck racing considering the lap times they do, the amount of money you spend on them is bugger all.” As Harris alludes to, some steerers have used the Saloon Cars category as a basis from which to progress their career in motorsport.
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Tony Auddino graduated into the Super3 Series which he has raced in since 2019, while Ben Grice is scoring podiums and recognition in the National Trans Am Series after spending time in a VT Commodore. Indeed, there is a strong variety of competitors in Saloon Cars, a mix of competitive and casual, young and old. “We’ve got a good spread of competitors in the field,” Johnson details. “We’ve got some trying to be competitive outright and others in their 60s doing it because they love it. “This year, we’ve created something called the Pensioners Cup – the over 60s have their own race within the race, which has really reinvigorated things for those guys. “So, we try to make sure there is something for everyone.” Enjoyment is paramount, so help is never too far away in the paddock and according to both Harris and Johnson, camaraderie has always been high amongst competitors. “Saloon Cars is very welcoming – it’s not cutthroat, people have a smile on their face and if they see someone break down, they’ll ask ‘what do you need’,” Johnson says. “We work pretty hard on keeping it clean on track, because we don’t want people spending any of the money that they might have for racing on fixing panels and stuff like that. We’d rather them enter an extra round.” “I don’t even get a shed, I’m down in the paddock with the boys, there’s always a barbecue going on with there’s plenty of food and it’s a really good atmosphere,” Harris added. While COVID slowed down the resurgence of Saloon Cars after its removal from the Shannons Nationals, entries and interest are on the rise with grids often tallying 15-25 cars in most states. It’s easy to see why. The buy in is low, maintenance is just as affordable, the regulations are stable, and the category allows beginners to revel in the blue vs red rivalry like days of old. As such, its reasonable to expect that Saloon Cars will continue to be a popular category across the country for plenty of years to come.
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MOTOGP
TEAM GRESINI LOCKS IN MARQUEZ AND DI GIANNANTONIO
Images: Motorsport Images
QUARTARARO MASTERCLASS IN GERMANY ... Report: Dan McCarthy IT WAS yet another Fabio Quartararo masterclass as the reigning MotoGP World Champion dominated the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. The factory Yamaha rider took the race win by 4.9s from Johann Zarco, while Aussie Jack Miller came back from a longlap penalty to finish third, his third podium of the season. Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro remains second in the title race after finishing fourth, but the Ducati Team’s Francesco Bagnaia inexplicably crashed out while chasing Quartararo on Lap 4. Bagnaia’s crash let Quartararo off the leash and he romped to a dominant win. Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco finished in
a lonely second, in what he described postrace as the most physical of his MotoGP career. Aussie Miller was handed a long lap penalty for dangerous riding when he crashed under yellow flag conditions in Practice 4. The long lap dropped him towards the tail of the top 10 early in the race, but Miller was in fine form and stormed back through the field to finish third, a good bounce-back after scoring just three points in the previous two races. It appeared at the halfway stage it would be a fight between the two Aprilias for third, with Maverick Vinales catching his championship contending teammate Espargaro.
However, the rear ride height device on Vinales’ Aprilia got stuck on and the bike became unrideable, forcing him to retire. Espargaro’s pace dropped late on and he ran wide at Turn 1 – Miller didn’t need another invitation and he snatched third. Espargaro came home in fourth ahead of VR46 Racing Team’s Luca Marini who matched his career-best MotoGP finish of fifth. Marini prevailed in a race long battle with Jorge Martin, while KTM star Brad Binder demonstrated once again his long run pace on Sunday moving up from 15th to finish in seventh. The top 10 was rounded out by Fabio Di Giannantonio, Miguel Oliveira and former championship contender Enea Bastianini.
TEAM GRESINI has locked in its MotoGP line-up for next season, confirming that Fabio Di Giannantonio will remain with the team and will be joined by Alex Marquez. The Italian team selected former Moto2 and Moto3 champion and younger bother of Marc Marquez, Alex, to replace Enea Bastianini who is moving further up the Ducati tree. Marquez has accumulated a total of 40 podiums and 12 race wins across the three classes, including two second place finishes in the premier class back in 2020. His fourth season in the series will be the first away from Honda. The satellite Ducati squad will run 2022 spec Ducatis next year for both Di Giannantonio and Marquez. “I’m really happy to announce that I’ll be joining Team Gresini MotoGP,” Marquez said. “I’m also very excited to be starting this new adventure: it was crucial for me to change in order to recover the same type of motivation I had when I first joined this class. “This was the best option for me, with a team that helped writing the history of this championship. “I would like to thank Nadia, Carlo and all the GR staff for believing in me. I still have half a season left to do my best before starting 2023 with top motivation.” A rookie this year, Di Giannantonio has scored points in four of the last five races, and already has a pole position in the premier class and an eighth place as a best race result. “I’m really happy to extend my partnership with this team, which is like a family to me,” Di Giannantonio said. “It’s great because we’ll continue on this learning curve, and we’ll be doing so with a Ducati – and that makes me very happy. “Continuity is key in MotoGP in order to be able to work on myself to be the best possible. We have been working on this contract extension for a little while, and now we can finally announce it. “Obviously the goals will be higher: we’ll be using this second part of the season to improve our results and then next year I really want to make that step up.” It is yet to be determined if Bastianini will step up to the factory Ducati squad to replace the seat vacated Jack Miller. As the week go by it appears more likely that Bastianini will move to Pramac Ducati in place of Jorge Martin who is the favourite to take the factory position. Dan McCarthy
... BUT BAGNAIA AT ASSEN AFTER TWO consecutive retirements, Francesco Bagnaia rebounded in the best way possible, converting pole to victory in a drama filled Dutch TT, in which notably championship leader Fabio Quartararo crashed not once but twice. It was an action-packed and highly unpredictable race in the Netherlands, and in taking the win Bagnaia may have just kept his championship hopes alive. Despite tangling with Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro made an incredible recovery and as a result slashed the lead that Quartararo holds in the championship. From pole. Bagnaia made the best start and led into Turn 1, while Quartararo made an ‘unforced error’ and fell from second to fourth behind Espargaro and Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin. Within a couple of turns, Quartararo was back ahead of Martin then went down the inside of Espargaro at De Strubben, but could not keep the RS-GP behind him. Immediately, Bagnaia started to edge away from the pair behind – and Quartararo was growing impatient. The World Championship leader fired up
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the inside of his nearest title rival on lap five at Turn 5 and lost the front. Quartararo fell and his bike slid into an innocent Espargaro nudging him into the gravel trap. Espargaro was able tohe stay upright but could only re-join in 15th, while the Frenchman also remounted and attempted to continue, but well down. It left Bagnaia out front, from Marco Bezzecchi, who overtook Martin on lap 3. Aussie Jack Miller served his long lap penalty for holding up Maverick Vinales in qualifying and dropped to 10th. KTM’s Brad Binder sat fourth until lap 10 when he was passed by Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales. Vinales was not the only Aprilia flying – Esparagaro was the fastest man on track and quickly marching forward. Quartararo’s race had gone from bad to worse – he was flung from his damaged bike on the exit of Turn 5 this time and walked away from the crash very gingerly. Out-front, Bagnaia had no such issues, and despite persistent light rain continued to hold around a 1.5s margin over Bezzecchi.
In these tricky conditions, Vinales passed Martin for third at the Geert Timmer Chicane on Lap 17, then both Binder and Miller overtook the Pramac rider, who was struggling for confidence, on the next lap. For the second weekend in a row, Miller was fighting back strongly after a long lap penalty and made light work of overtaking Binder for fourth on lap 21. He quickly caught Vinales and made his move at the Timmer Chicane on the penultimate lap but ran wide handing the place immediately back – Miller was now under pressure from Binder. Bagnaia controlled the race and took the win by 0.444s from fellow VR46 Academy rider Bezzecchi. For both Bezzecchi and Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team it was their first MotoGP podium. It was also a first podium for Maverick Vinales on an Aprilia, his first in 12 months. At the final chicane Binder made a move on Miller as Espargaro made his way past the pair. Espargaro crossed the line an incredible fourth – a case of what might have been
had the crash not occurred. Binder crossed the line in fifth ahead of frustrated Australian Miller. Martin came home in seventh ahead of the lead Suzuki of Joan Mir, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins. The other Aussie, Remy Gardner, came home in 19th position. Dan McCarthy STANDINGS AFTER 11 ROUNDS 1 Quartararo 172 2 Espargaro 151 3 Zarco 114 4 Bagnaia 106 5 Bastianini 105 6 Binder 93 7 Miller 91 8 Mir 77 9 Rins 75 10 Oliveira 71
WRC
Images: Motorsport Images
CHANGING OF THE GUARD REPORT: Josh Nevett KALLE ROVANPERA chalked up a fourth win in six World Rally Championship rounds at the 2022 Safari Rally, strengthening his position as the title favourite approaching the halfway point of the campaign. Two WRC icons, Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, returned for the event in Kenya, however the extra competition did little to slow Rovanpera’s momentum, the Toyota Gazoo Racing young gun finishing just under one minute clear of teammate Elfyn Evans. Despite just needing a solid points haul to maintain his overall ascendency, Rovanpera surged into a lead on the opening day from Ogier, who was forced into a wheel change. He extended his advantage on Saturday in testing wet conditions, staying out of trouble while battling illness. With a lead of 40.3s heading into the final day, one would have forgiven Rovanpera for taking his foot off the gas, however he instead won two further stages and ended the rally 52.8 clear of Evans. As a result, the 21-year-old Finn now leads the championship by 65 points with seven rounds remaining. “It feels great,” Rovanpera said. “I have to say, this was the hardest rally I have ever done and if I am honest we just have to thank the team.” Rovanpera and Evans were part of a Toyota lockout of positions one to four. “To have four cars like this with no issues
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means it is clearly the strongest and fastest car. The team did a fantastic job,” Rovanpera added. Behind Rovanpera, Evans stayed on the straight and narrow after a drama-filled Rally Italy, overcoming a puncture and windscreen issues to finish a clear second. Katsuta completed the podium 49.9s behind him, backing up his 2021 Safari Rally podium with a second in succession. The Japanese driver and eight-time champion Ogier, who finished fourth, ensured that Toyota Gazoo Racing dominated the results, extending the squads manufacturers’ series lead by 62 points. Ogier arrived in Kenya as the most recent Safari Rally winner, but he was out of the outright running on Friday after his tyre troubles and had further woes on the second day when his engine took on a load of African sand. Nevertheless, the 38-year-old recovered to fourth and ensured he contributed to Toyota’s success. The last time the team swept first to fourth was in Kenya in 1993. “To achieve a 1-2-3-4 here at the Safari Rally is an exceptional result,” Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala said. “It’s nearly 30 years since Toyota managed the same feat here in Kenya with the Celica and I can only thank our team and our drivers for the superb job they have done. “When we were developing the GR Yaris Rally1 we focused
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above all on making a really strong and reliable car. This was really the most important thing on this event and the car has worked really well in such difficult conditions. “Our drivers have also driven this rally exactly the way it needs to be driven, which is in a very smart way, and it was great to see them all thinking about the result for the team rather than their own personal ambitions.” Thierry Neuville made it into the top five in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, 10m back from Ogier. The Belgian driver could have been much closer if not for a 10-minute penalty which he received after crashing into a tree on Saturday’s Sleeping Warrior final stage. Craig Breen led M-Sport Ford, managing suspension problems to finish sixth after pulling up early on Friday. Puma privateer Jourdan Serderidis manage to finish seventh as his more accomplished rivals struggled. Loeb was one of those, the nine-time champion forced to retire with engine issues on Friday. He was classified eighth in his M-Sport Ford Puma.
Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz scored top honours in WRC2 and earned a top 10 outright position as a result. Swedish youngster Oliver Solberg rounded out the top 10, despite troubles on the final morning. Solberg was brought to a halt by a clogged air filter, stopping the middle of the road and causing the cancellation of Sunday’s opener. He managed to re-join the field but could only crawl to the line with mechanical issues. Likewise, Estonian Ott Tanak was plagued by mechanical failures in his Hyundai, sidelined by a broken propshaft and then broken power steering on Sunday. He finished way down the order. As did M-Sport Ford teammates Gus Greensmith and Adrien Formaux. Greensmith was eliminated on SS8, while Fourmaux’s run ended due to suspension issues. The 2022 World Rally Championship resumes next month with Rally Estonia set for July 14-17. STANDINGS AFTER 6 ROUNDS 1 Rovanpera 145 2 Neuville 80 3 Tanak 62 4 Katsuta 62 5 Breen 60
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