MATT PAYNE GROVE’S INVESTMENT PAYING OFF
AUSTRALIA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MOTORSPORT
10 YEARS ON DAVEY WINS ON THE STREETS AGAIN
FORD’S PARITY PARTY THE CHANGES THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE MAXIMUM IMPACT! VERSTAPPEN DELIVERS MORE CRUSHING WINS IN TEXAS AND MEXICO
NOV 2 to NOV 15 2023 • $10.95 INC GST
ISSN 2204-9924 ISSUE 1873
SERGIO’S BOLD FORMULA 1 EXIT STRATEGY? NATIONALS WRAP
OSCAR’S COLUMN
SUPERCARS SUPPORTS
HISTORIC ARGO-CHEV
LATEST NEWS
PIASTRI ENDURES ‘TOUGH SUNDAY’ IN MEXICO OSCAR PIASTRI flew under the radar for much of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, finishing the race in eighth place after a mid-race incident at Turn 1 disrupted his quiet Mexican campaign. Following qualifying, Piastri was set to lineup from P7 surrounded by both Mercedes cars on the grid. As the young Australian set off on the long run down to the first corner, he rivalled George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg, with the Mercedes getting a jump on the McLaren into Turn 1. Through the first sector of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Piastri tussled for P7 with Hulkenberg, running side-by-side from Turns 2 to 5 before clearing the Haas. His next task was to recover the place clinched by Russell, with the entire grid having inherited a position due to Sergio Perez’s Turn 1 DNF. Heading into Turn 12, Piastri made a bold move on the Mercedes, taking the outside line and risking contact with the kerb to be running marginally ahead of Russell. As the pair came into Turn 13, entering the heart of the Stadium section, Piastri was ahead, crossing the line to complete Lap 1 in P6. By the end of Lap 4, Piastri had broken clear of the DRS threat, with the margin between himself and Russell beyond a second.
Piastri wasn’t, however, able to make an impact on Lewis Hamilton two seconds ahead, instead falling back into Russell’s DRS grasp on Lap 10. With overheating a major issue for all teams around this hot and high-altitude circuit, Russell backed off, unable to pass the McLaren this time around. The order switched ahead of the 22-year-old, with Daniel Ricciardo the next closest challenger. The AlphaTauri driver was running over two seconds clear of Piastri as Max Verstappen, the first front-runner to pit, made his way back through the field. On Lap 26, Piastri was called in to relinquish his 26-lap old medium tyres, rejoining in P10, 1.9 seconds behind Valtteri Bottas after a slow left tyre change led to a 3.3-second stop from the World Record holding pit crew. Gradually bringing his fresh hard compound tyres to life, the over-cut on Russell was effective, seeing Piastri cruising down the main straight as Russell exited the pitlane five-tenths behind. He put a buffer between himself and the Mercedes by passing Bottas down the inside of Turn 4, also clearing Alex Albon just one lap later. Once again, Ricciardo was the car ahead of Piastri, however, the McLaren was still unable to catch the #3, instead the margin hovering at 1.8 seconds from
Lap 30 and beyond. When the Safety Car and eventual Red Flag was called as a result of Kevin Magnussen’s Turn 8 crash, the young Australian found himself in P6, set to start the standing restart ahead of Russell and behind Ricciardo. As the five lights went out for a second time, Piastri lost out to the #63 Mercedes, also momentarily falling behind Yuki Tsunoda before utilising any initial pace on the medium tyre to take the position back. “The pace was reasonable and then, after the Red Flag, life was a lot more tough,” Piastri said. “After the battling, I definitely struggled a bit more with the tyres and picked up some damage, which didn’t help.” Into Turn 2, the Alpha Tauri and McLaren made slight contact, foreshadowing what was to come in a few laps time. Tsunoda remained within the DRS range of Piastri, even swapping positions on multiple occasions across Lap 39. Just 10 laps later, the battle had ended in big contact between the drivers, with Tsunoda sent spinning onto the run-off area at Turn 1 after turning in on Piastri prior to the corner entry. Piastri left the Japanese driver space on the outside, however, the young #22 tried to make the move stick too early, connecting his rear wheel with the
McLaren. “I had a fair few battles out there, which made life interesting but definitely not the most straightforward of days. “Went for some big passes, and you know, managed to fend [Tsunoda] off. “I wasn’t really expecting him to go right like that in the braking zone, and yeah, anyway I was okay so…” From that moment onwards, Piastri began losing his impact on the timing sheets to the point where the McLaren pitwall instructed the #81 to let his teammate pass on Lap 56. For the remaining 15 laps, Piastri ran in a lonesome P8, eventually crossing the line under two seconds behind Ricciardo to add two points to his 2023 tally in Mexico. “Just struggled after the safety car, yeah, quite a lot of battling which I’m sure didn’t help. “A bit of damage on the car towards the end as well, but yeah, something to look into. “Good to bring home some more important points, but a few bits to look at for Brazil.” The rookie will have the chance to recreate some of his season highlights in less than a week’s time when the F1 grid heads into a Sprint weekend at the São Paulo Grand Prix. Reese Mautone
RYAN ‘VERY COMFORTABLE’ WITH FORD PARITY CHANGES DESPITE FALLING second best to former driver David Reynolds now in a Ford, Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan is “very comfortable” with the parity changes applied to the Mustang. After the party trigger was pulled post a one-sided Bathurst, Supercars made six aero changes to the Mustang, which ranged from wider rear wings to other alterations to the side skirt and front fascia areas. The first race meeting following these changes produced immediate results with Cameron Waters and Reynolds giving Ford its first clean sweep of the year in the penultimate round. Despite this, Ryan, who did not oppose Ford’s attempt to implement changes pre Bathurst, was more than comfortable with the current Gen3 party situation, believing the sight of both makes fighting for wins until the final corner was great for the category. “Yeah, I am very comfortable,” the Coke Camaros owner said. “If they made them at Bathurst that would have been better because they would not have had that big huge wing on now!
“The straight line speed is really, really close. There was 0.001s between the two so it is a credit to the sport. “It will be interesting to see when we go through the wind tunnel to see where the cars are at. They might lose a bit, we might lose a bit, who knows. “But the racing this weekend was awesome. Two Fords won and it could not have been better for the sport.” Later in the post-event press conference Ryan even turned into an interviewer, asking the Tickford camp on their thoughts. “We still have some work to do Barry,” Tickford’s Matt Roberts replied. “We have had one round with the changes that we have got. “We will go back to do some homework and head to Adelaide.” Ryan also did not seem too concerned about Reynolds’ use of the first chicane run off in the closing stages of Sunday’s finale. As Reynolds and Kostecki diced for glory, the #26 Penrite Racing Mustang shortcut turn two on lap 71 and critically on the final lap when the #99 Coke Camaro was on his back bumper.
Ryan said it is simply a by-product of the nature of the Surfers Paradise street circuit. “That is a difficult one. This track lends itself to having a bit of a bend of the rules if you want to,” he said. “Obviously Davey knew there was one lap to go and Brodie would pass him at the hairpin, so just drove straight.
“That is what you can do with the rules.He had not had a warning all race so he could get away with it. “Brodie could have used the same trick but did not. That is just the nature of this track.” Erebus heads to the VAILO Adelaide 500 with leads in both the drivers and teams championships. Thomas Miles
HORNER: RICCIARDO ‘LOOKING LIKE HIS OLD SELF AGAIN’ RED BULL boss Christian Horner is believing Daniel Ricciardo is getting back to his best after the Australian’s special drive in Mexico. In just his second race since returning from his broken hand and fifth for the year, Ricciardo scored AlphaTauri’s best result of the season. The “Honey Badger” unlocked his best at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, qualifying a stunning fourth, which was one better than Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Whilst the Mexican crashed out, Ricciardo stayed composed and put in a fine drive to seventh having battled both Mercedes and McLarens. For Ricciardo it was his equal second best result since 2021 and equal best qualifying performance since that special weekend in Monza two years ago. But it arguably meant more to AlphaTauri with the result lifting the team off the bottom of the constructors championship and leapfrogging both Haas and Alfa Romeo. Sky Sports F1 commentators claimed the difference of prize money could be around $32million AUD. AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo are now level on points with 16 but the Red Bull sister squad is on top due to Ricciardo’s higher finish. The previous best result was Tsunoda’s
eighth place achieved the week before in Austin, while Liam Lawson had also scored ninth in Singapore. Ricciardo turned a lot of heads in Mexico City, including Horner as speculation surrounds whether or not the Australian could be considered as Perez’s replacement. “You could not fail but to be impressed by him,” the Red Bull boss told Sky Sports F1. “His qualifying was outstanding and he showed his maturity and experience in the race. “Fighting a Mercedes in an AlphaTauri for their best result of the year was a great performance. “Had it not been for the red flag he may have even finished further up.” Horner went on to say Ricciardo’s
trademark swagger and raw speed is returning as he is redelivering the “Honey Badger” that pulled off eight memorable Grand Prix wins. “He can take a lot of confidence coming back from the injury,” Horner continued. “He has had a rough time over the last couple of months sitting on the sidelines, but that was the Daniel we were used to seeing. “As we see in sport confidence is such a big thing and Daniel’s confidence is coming up. “For Checo (Perez) we just need him to have that confidence-boosting result but it was not to be. “It was great to see Daniel looking like his old self again.” It was another day of opposites for Horner’s main focus Red Bull with Max
Verstappen remaining unbeatable and claiming a record 16th win in 2023. However, Perez’s dreams of getting a hometown win lasted just one corner when an ambitious move around the outside of both Verstappen and Charles Leclerc ended with the #11 getting airborne. Horner defended Perez’s move and has vowed to support the struggling Mexican, who has scored just one podium in the last seven races despite being in one of the most dominant cars ever. “Very contrasting emotions. One one hand Max scored another crushing and totally dominant win, but it is absolutely gutting for Checo,” Horner said. “He had a rocket ship launch and had so much momentum going into that first corner so you cannot blame him for trying to take the lead in his home race. “Three into one did not go and unfortunately he was just on the wrong side of it. “He has got 13 years of experience in Formula 1 and when you are going through difficult moments it is important to support him. “He was having a great weekend up until that point.” Formula 1 has another Sprint race at Sao Paulo this weekend.
LATEST NEWS
MILLER PUTS THAI STRUGGLE DOWN TO SLOW-CORNER WEAKNESS WHILE KTM teammate Brad Binder was fighting for a maiden Grand Prix win in an all-time battle, Jack Miller was languishing out of the points in Thailand. With Miller starting 15th and finishing 16th, 17s off the pace and Binder being just a tenth shy of first place, the contrast between the two KTM bikes was alarming. Once again tyre dramas were at the centre of the frustrations for the Aussie, but he said a lack of drive from the slow corners at the Chang International Circuit was the major concern. “That really was not great, let’s be honest,” Miller wrote on his website. “The thing is, I didn’t make any real mistakes in the race and just didn’t have the pace. “I was just lacking drive off the slower
corners, Turn 1 and Turn 3 – and that was where the problems started. “When you lose two to three tenths every time you come off a slow corner, you carry that all the way down the next straight and you’re having to line up possible overtakes from a lot of bike lengths back which gets pretty sketchy. “I was able to make up a lot of time in Sector 3, especially in the first half of the race before the tyre started to drop.” Unfortunately it is not the first time Miller has struggled with the rubber beneath him, having on many occasions made early progress before dropping further down the pack as the race wore on. The timing of the Thai struggle is less than ideal for the Miller, who believed the tyre stayed in “relatively decent condition towards the end” of the Australian Grand
Prix despite rising to third on the opening lap and finishing seventh. But much like in Austria and India where the #43 only just held onto top 15 spots, maintaining rubber was an issue. The Townsville born rider admitted the tyre life struggles returned in Thailand and they are becoming a “head scratcher”. “All weekend I struggled with what we needed to do to get this tyre working,” Miller said. “Every time we have this (tyre) casing in, I seem to suffer more than the other tyres that we bring – we had it in Austria, India and now here. “I’m not really able to get it to work, or understand it very well. It’s a bit of a headscratcher. “I tried different lean angles, picking the bike up earlier, short-shifting – every
bloody thing I could.” The MotoGP world championship now takes a weekend off before finishing the season with an intense triple header at Malaysia, Qatar and Valencia. Miller admits lots of homework is required between now and then, but still believes he can make a statement. “We’ve got some work to do – to not even bring home a point this weekend is disappointing,” he said. “Quite clearly the bike’s able to work with these tyres, (KTM teammate) Brad (Binder) did a fantastic job all weekend and showed the KTM way. “We’ll put our heads down and get that work done and I’m confident we can finish this year stronger.” The Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix is on November 10-12.
LEGENDARY ‘GODZILLA” NISSAN SKYLINES TO RETURN TO ADELAIDE TWO OF the most iconic cars to conquer the Mountain, the 1991 and 1992 Bathurst winning Nissan Skyline GT-4 R32s will be reunited at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and return a track they once dominated Both Gibson Motorsport cars will entertain fans in their original and iconic liveries at the South Australian event on March 16 and 17. It will see the Group A dominators return to the famous Adelaide street circuit where Jim Richards dominated the support races for the Australian Grand Prix when it was held in South Australia in 1990, 1991 and 1992. “Godzilla” won its first race on the streets of Adelaide when Jim Richards converted pole to a dominant 4s win in the 1990 Group A touring cars support race. Richards’ hopes of a clean sweep were denied by brake issues in race two won by Glenn Seton. However, Richards got redemption a year later when he did the double in the infamous 1991 weekend where rain made the Formula 1 race the shortest Grand Prix
ever at the time. That year’s Bathurst and ATCC champion won both races, but only just beating Win Percy’s HRT Commodore by a single second in the first and Seton’s Sierra by 3 in the second as the street circuit brought the machinery closer together. Fittingly, the Group A era of Australian Touring Car racing came to a close in Adelaide at the 1992 Australian Grand Prix.
As the crowd said goodnight Godzilla, Richards ensured it was gifted the perfect sendoff. The Kiwi and DJR rival John Bowe went head to head in two thrilling races but the Gibson Motorsport driver ensured the Nissan emerged on top on both occasions. However, nothing separated the pair with the difference just six tenths and half a second in the two breathtaking races. The Gibson Godzillas not only ruled the streets of Adelaide, but also dominated all over the country, cruising to the 1991 and 1992 ATCC crowns. The 1991 triumph was one of the more crushing wins, taking pole position, the fastest lap with a victory margin of an entire lap. Infamously and unforgettably the 1992 Great Race glory was more contentious, with the rain, the red flag, crash and “you’re a pack of” comment. The Skyline GT-R R32s were devastatingly quick, featuring all-wheel-drive and a 2.6-litre twin-turbo straight six engine and fans can relive them next year in Adelaide.
THIEVES STEAL CALDER’S POWER
DAVE KINDIG - ADELAIDE SUPERCARS NEWS By Paul Gover SUPERCARS RACING has an important new fan in the USA – reality TV star Dave Kindig. He’s not just a couch potato with a yearn for Aussie-style touring cars and will prove it soon. The custom car creator will be a special guest at the Adelaide 500 for the Supercars grand final of 2023 from November 23-26 and told Auto Action he cannot wait for his first trip to Australia. He and his sidekick from the high-rating Foxtel series Kindig Customs, Kevin ‘Kevdog’ Schiele, will be fronting the Kindig Custom Car Show but he is just as interested in being trackside for the Supercars racing. “Those drivers are crazier than cat shit. It’s crazy,” Kindig said, talking to Auto Action from his workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah. “I’ve watched a bit of the racing. It’s fantastic.”
Kindig still needs some education on the history of Supercars, and the difference between Australia’s signature Falcon and a Commodore, but intends to do plenty of research during his trip to the city of churches. “I’m a little familiar. Only from my experiences watching the Road Warrior (Mad Max) movie”. He continued his joking responses when he talked about his first trip down under. “Well, they don’t want me in the US any more. So I guess I gotta go somewhere great,” he said. “It’s very exciting. You know, I’ve never been to Australia before. I’ve been invited 100 times.” One of those invites came from an Aussie customer who had Kindig do a full re-make of his humble golf cart. For the Australia trip he is bringing two of his own cars – one is his father-in-law’s 1950s Chevrolet Corvette and the other is still secret – as well as judging an invited
field of custom cars during the Kindig show. He knows he will be busy, but is hopeful there will be less pressure than US events and the trip will give him a new memory for the traditional Thanksgiving holiday in the ’states. “This is a perfect fit because I don’t have anything going on for Thanksgiving (in the US), other than turkey. I’m really excited to see your car culture down there. “If you’re into hotrods, four wheels and a steering wheel, I think everybody’s got the opportunity to see something that just blows their mind. “It’s just a different culture, but at the end of the day it’s truly all the same.” The bottom line for Kindig is his enthusiasm for the on-track Supercars action. “I have watched a little bit of footage of your Supercar races over there,” he said. “I have never seen anybody cut straight through multiple chicanes at full throttle. It’s crazy, you know.”
ON THE back of gaining a Motorsport Australia category B track license and the running of the first Victorian State Race Series round since 2008, copper thieves destroyed the power installations at Calder Park Raceway. The valuable infrastructure provides the lighting for night drags and drifting and is seen is a huge setback for Calder Park which is well on the way returning the venue back to being fully operational for circuit racing, drag racing and drifting. This is the second time that thieves have struck at the iconic track. Back in May this year, thieves attempted to steal the cabling from the venue substation to the main lighting switchboard, some 250 metres of cable, but only succeeded in stealing the main power feed from the power lines. Calder Park then invested in upgrades to adapt the existing switchboard and wiring to use generator power for the lighting until mains power could be reinstated. That investment is now for nothing, and it is presumed that the same thieves returned last week in a second attempt to steal the cabling, and in the process, destroyed the substation and main switchboard and the whole of the power infrastructure for the drag strip lighting. Damage is estimated at more than two hundred thousand dollars. Police are investigating. Just last weekend the Victorian State Race Series returned to the revived iconic Victorian circuit. It was the first time a Motorsport Australia sanctioned event was held there for 15 years.
SPEEDWAY CHARGING TO THE CAPITAL FOR THE first time ever Sprintcars are coming to the capital and the historic season revs up this weekend. The 2023/24 ACT Speedway season has been revealed, with the opener being the ACT Speedcar Title this Saturday at Canberra. In addition to the Speedcars, Wingless Sprintcars, Compact Speedcars, Legend Cars, and Production Sedans will also be in action in the November 4 event. But the most notable highlight of the track’s biggest summer of speedway in its history stands out on March 9 2024. The event called the Kings with Wings Sprintcar Shakedown, will see Sprintcars race in Canberra for the first time ever. Methanol Breathing 410 Sprintcars will be roaring on the ACT clay under lights at the historic event. Joining the sprintcars will be Legends and Production Sedans with the ACT Production Sedan title on the line. Before then, the A.C.T. Speedway will host Speedcars, Wingless Sprintcars, Compact Speedcars, Legend Cars, and Production Sedans in the venue’s biggest season ever. The second event is the Compact Speedcar Stampede on December 2 which is the final race before the new year. That will also include Wingless Sprintcars, Production Sedans, Street Stocker
The last race meeting held at Canberra was on April 2 where Jack Murphy won Production Sedans, Formula 500 was taken out by Blake Mathews, Robbie Rawlings claimed Legend Cars and Brad Smith scored Late Models.
2023/24 ACT SPEEDWAY SCHEDULE 4TH NOVEMBER 2023 – A.C.T. Speedcar Title SUPPORTS – Wingless Sprintcars, Litre Sprints, & Street Stocker Sedans 2ND DECEMBER 2023 – Compact Speedcar Stampede Image: WE LOVE OUR CARS PHOTOGRAPHY Sedans and Legend Cars. The first event of 2024 won’t arrive until February when the ACT Legend Car title is up for grabs. Production Sedans, Limited Sedans, Street Stocker Sedans and Fender Benders ensure there will be lots of on-track action. The penultimate event of the season is the big sprintcar shakedown before summer wraps up on April 4 when the ACT Compact Speedcar Title is held. Fast Four Sedans, Wingless, Production Sedans, Street Stocker Sedans and Legend Cars also go racing in the finale.
SUPPORTS – Wingless Sprintcars, Production Sedans, Street Stocker Sedans & Legend Cars 3RD FEBRUARY 2024 – A.C.T. Legend Car Titles SUPPORT - Production Sedans, Limited Sedans, Street Stocker Sedans & Fender Benders 9TH MARCH 2024 – A.C.T. Production Sedan Title & Kings with Wings Sprintcar Shakedown SUPPORT – Legends, Production Sedans 6TH APRIL 2024 – A.C.T. Compact Speedcar Title SUPPORTS – Fast Four Sedans, Wingless, Production Sedans, Street Stocker Sedans & Legend Cars
LATEST NEWS
SUPERCARS TO RACE SUNNY DARWIN IN 2024 THE LATEST piece to be confirmed on the slowly developing puzzle that is the 2024 Supercars calendar is the Darwin Triple Crown, which will be held on June 14-16. For the third year in a row the annual trip to the Northern Territory will be the special Indigenous Round on Larrakia Land where all cars will sport special liveries celebrating First Nations culture. Hidden Valley is the track to be officially locked in for next year following both the Bathurst 500 and 1000, Sydney SuperNight, Taupo, Townsville and Gold Coast. The Darwin Triple Crown, Bathurst, Townsville and Gold Coast events have dates locked in. Ever since being a groundbreaking addition to the Supercars Championship in 1998, the annual journey to the Top End has become a fan favourite. The Darwin Triple Crown will take place for a 26th year in 2024 following this year’s edition where more than 42,000 people watched Broc Feeney, Mark Winterbottom and Jack Le Brocq score special wins. Supercars CEO Shane Howard cannot wait to return to the guaranteed sunny skies at Hidden Valley next year. “The Darwin Triple Crown as the official Indigenous Round is a popular and beloved part of our annual championship,” he said. “Darwin’s famous June weather is the perfect winter getaway for fans and teams alike, and the Indigenous Round element offers us the fantastic opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the rich Indigenous culture present both in the Northern Territory and across Australia. “In 2023 we were treated to a fantastic weekend of racing and enjoyed the sight of the entire Supercars field donning special Indigenous liveries for the event, each with its own story and featuring several initiatives to benefit the Indigenous community and First Nations people. “We look forward to adding to the legacy of the Supercars Indigenous Round when we return to the Northern Territory in June 2024 for this truly unique event.» Supercars racing in Hidden Valley is a major money spinner in the Northern Territory and Chief Minister and Minister for Major Events, Natasha Fyles is looking forward to Supercars return. “The Darwin Triple Crown Supercars Indigenous Round
is a huge event that attracts thousands of people to the Territory every year,” she said. “Once they’re here, they enjoy not only all the action on the track, but everything else the Territory has to offer, from our unique tourism experiences and incredible sunsets to our rich and ancient Aboriginal culture, which is showcased at the event itself. “The research from the 2023 Darwin Triple Crown shows, yet again, the value in investing in this event, which, like the Territory’s other major events, delivers massive benefits to the economy and Territorians. “The event is delivered by Northern Territory Major Events Company, and the team is busy designing another massive motorsports weekend.” With the Bathurst double, plus New Zealand, Sydney, Townsville, Gold Coast and now Darwin confirmed, deals in place with Perth, Symmons Plains and Adelaide, the continuation of the Sandown 500, plus the Australian Grand Prix looking likely, there are only two big questions left.
The 2024 season looms likely to be short once again being 12 to 13 rounds with The Bend still up in the air and a non championship trip to Qatar in the works. Thomas Miles
POSSIBLE 2024 SUPERCARS CALENDAR Bathurst 500 February 16-18 Australian Grand Prix March 21-24 Taupo April 19-21 Symmons Plains Perth Darwin June 14-16 Townsville July 5-7 Sydney The Bend* (Winton, QR - other possible options) Sandown 500 Bathurst 1000 Gold Coast 500 October 25-27 Adelaide 500 Qatar* (possibly non championship)
HERNE TO COMPLETE AMERICAN TA2 SEASON IN TEXAS ONE OF Australia’s most talented overseas products Nathan Herne will wrap up his debut season in the American TA2 at the Circuit of the Americas on November 2-5. The Texas track is where the “Lismore Bullet” first had his chance to impress in front of a US audience when he did a one-off round at COTA with StevensMiller Racing at the back end of 2022 after winning his second straight Australian Trans Am title. He finished fourth in that race in a massive field and turned enough heads to get a full season with the backing of Cube3 Racing in the Stevens-Miller #29 Mustang. Whilst Herne has had his fair share
of mechanical let-downs across the 12 round season, he’s also managed to fight his way onto the podiums at New Orleans, Nashville, and Virginia, as well as having another dubiously stripped at
Watkins Glen in the tech shed. Herne has also tried his hand at racing Late Model machines on the dirt of Missouri and St Louis for the Millard Family Racing team.
In the TA2 driver standings, Herne is sitting in tenth place overall (out of 64) with room to jump up the standings at COTA, and is third in the Rookie pointscore (out of 32), just 24 points behind Thad Moffitt, and depending on other results, can still haul in Austin Green to take out the first year drivers title. After Qualifying on November 4 at 3:10pm local time, Herne will be gunning for his first win of the season on November 5 with a 30 lap or 75min race. He also goes in with the advantage of having already raced at the Formula 1 circuit, which will be the first such occasion for the Aussie racer in a challenging 2023 season. TW Neal
LATEST NEWS
MCCARTHY CLINCHES VIC FORMULA VEE TITLE AT CALDER
Images: GEARS AND WHEELS PHOTOGRAPHY
AMOS IS KING OF THE HILL DEAN AMOS is Australia’s newest hill climb champion after taking out the national title with a record breaking run in his Gould GR55B. The 2023 Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship took place in Ringwood Park Motor Sport Complex in NSW, hosted by the MG Car Club of Newcastle. Amos was dominant against a field of more than 100 entrants with his 650bhp 3.5L V8 Nicholson McLaren engined machine, taking top spot in the outright and Formula Libre 2001cc and Over category, denying the second placed Dean Tighe and his Empire Wraith a sweep of Aussie titles for the year, whilst the podium was rounded out by Greg Ackland. With every competitor allowed seven runs, Amos was +0.74 quicker than Tighe with a best time of 32.66 seconds, whilst also being the outright fastest over six of his seven runs, with penalty on his fifth attempt likely denying the full sweep. After Tighe took out the Motorsport Australia Supersprint Championship, last year’s hill climb title holder could only crack the sub-33 mark in three of his runs, with Amos putting down two other times that were enough to claim victory. Amos also broke the previous course record of 32.86 set by Malcolm Oastle in 2014 in his Turbocharged Hayabusa powered OMS 28. As for third place Ackland’s time of 34.03 was also enough to claim the up to 2000cc class victory in his Ninja
Image: PHIL WISEWOULD PHOTOGRAPHY
GA8, finishing over two 2001cc and over competitors Warwick Hutchinson and Brett Bull in their OMS 28 RPV03 and Van Diemen RF03K machines. The rest of the top ten was also filled by the Formula Libre component, completed by Alan Foley (RFoley FL - 34.59s), David Mahon (Dallara F394 - 35.60s), Neil Lewis (Fly-001 - 36.39s), Miles Hoare (OMS 25 - 36.57s), and Dave Morrow (Krygger Suzuki 37.38s). Peter Brown was the highest placed outside of that class in the Pro Sport Mulsanne category, finishing 11th outright with a time of 37.58 seconds in his 2C Supersports AII. The fastest tin top placing went to Matthew Brown in his Audi RS4 in fourteenth overall, with a pass of 39.08 seconds. The fastest female competitor went to Pauline Graham with a time of 41.75
in a Datsun 1600 SSS in 43rd outright, whilst Travis McGeorge topped the juniors down in 83rd with a time of 45.68 seconds Peter Brown was the highest placed driver outside of the class - the Pro Sport Mulsanne Supersports driver going 11th fastest overall with his time of 37.58 seconds just two tenths short of Morrow in 10th. Just three places below Brown was the fastest tin top driver in Matthew Brown, who guided his Audi RS4 to 14th overall with an impressive time of 39.08 seconds. Other notable results included Pauline Graham, whose time of 41.75 seconds saw her as the fastest woman and in 43rd overall, while Travis McGeorge was the best-placed junior in 84rd overall, with a time of 45.68 seconds in a Fiat 127. TW Neal
YOUNG VICTORIAN racer Reef McCarthy has regained his status as a state champion by taking out his second Formula Vee championship at Calder Park Raceway. The Round 7 event was an historical occasion for Victorian racing, as the Victorian State Race Series made a return to the Calder Raceway after a long 15 year wait. Having won his first FVAV title in 2021, the former Super3 driver and 2022 Super2 Bathurst 1000 competitor finished second last season to Heath Collison, but went one better in his #61 Beacham Racing Sabre 02, and finished it off in style with a Race 3 victory. And like many young drivers of this generation, it was his first time competing at Calder. ‘It was a great weekend of competition and my first time racing at Calder Park,” McCarthy said. “Lee (Partridge) and I battled all weekend, swapping the lead on most laps. Total respect for the guy, clean but hard racing that saw us racing side by side on many occasions and never touching a wheel.” After qualifying on the front row next to poleman Partridge, Race 1 saw the #61 driver finish second in Race 1, only +0.255s behind Partridge over 18 laps with Nicholas Jones in third, with the podium enough to clinch the title for McCarthy. Race 2 finished under a yellow flag after 11 laps owing to an oil spill cleanup with the #28 and #61 again going one-two, whilst Brock Hamilton finished in third for his first ever Formula Vee podium. The season champion then finished off in style by going one better over Partridge and Jones, and in typical FVAV style it was another tight affair with only +0.031 separating the front two at the chequered flag with Partridge taking the round win. Now it onto the Island Magic event at Phillip Island for the FVAV fo the final event of the year on November 25-26, a track that McCarthy has dominated of late, taking two wins there in September’s round of six visit, whilst he’ll also be looking for his fifth consecutive Island Magic FVAV title, with the prestigious Mauri Fordham Memorial trophy also on the line. TW Neal
Single piston calipers
LandCruiser 70 Series are known for a lot of good things – the factory park brake isn’t one of them.
Bolt on fitment Bolt –on fitment Bolt– on fitment – No engineering No engineering No engineering required required required
ecure holdSecure hold Secure hold
Bendix’s Electric Park Brake is the safe and cost-effective solution. The extra braking comes from rear left and right single piston calipers that act on the drums.
Retains Retains Retains OE parkbrake OE parkbrakeOE parkbrake
Auto safe Auto safe Auto safe engagementengagement engagement
2 × Brake Calipers with EPB Functionality 1 × Wiring loom 1 × Electronic Control Module
Automatic Automatic Automatic engagementengagement engagement options options options
UnobtrusiveUnobtrusive Unobtrusive cabin switchcabin switch cabin switch
1 × Control Switch 1 × DB1200 Ultimate 4WD Brake Pads
Find solutions for every brake job at www.bendix.com.au Or freecall the Bendix Brake Advice Centre on 1800 819 666 Bendix is a trademark of Garrett Advancing Motion Inc.
Auto_Action
autoactionmag
Say goodbye to roll aways.
Convenient ‘bolt-in’ fitment means no change to the car’s hydraulic mechanism, pad shape or original park brake.
Kit Contents
autoactionmag
EPB kits include wiring harness and OEM style dash switch, and best of all they’re fully ADR-compliant and don’t need engineering.
autoactionmag
ACTION MART Feel the DIFFerence
• High quality German made limited slip differentials • Proven in competition by winners in FIA GT, ALMS, WTCC, Targa, BTCC, F3, Nürburgring 24 hour and Bathurst 12 hour • Competition gearboxes, Gear sets, Driveshafts, & Wheels Hubs also available
TOP TORQUE PROVIDES FULL ENGINE reconditioning and rebuilding services including complete engine rebuilding specialising in Subaru and LS Series engines. With over 100 years of combined experience in engine machining, assembly and cylinder head reconditioning-from performance, full competition to standard, Top Torque Performance is a trade leader.
• Cylinder Head Reconditioning • Engine Block Reconditioning Our workshop is full of the latest engine and cylinder head reconditioning machinery including Serdi, Berco, Hines and Rottler machines.
FACTORY 5, 187-201 ROOKS ROAD, VERMONT VIC. 3133
Contact details: P: (02) 4868 2347 W: www.drexler-motorsport.com.au
THE ORIGINAL
OFTEN COPIED - NEVER EQUALLED www.speco.com.au
PHONE: 03 9873 3800 • WWW.TOPTORQUE.COM.AU
LONGER LASTING FLAMEPROOF COATINGS A A1 AA1
Australia’s premier online racewear retailer • Karting & race suits, gloves, shoes, underwear • Helmets • Hans devices • Coolshirt products • Steering wheels
OMP DISTRIBUTOR & MORE
CAZ MILBURN 0428 887 223 www.raceline-racewear.com.au
Custom printed or embroidered suits, made to measure
CAMS CAMS SPEC SPEC MILD MILD STEEL STEEL CHROMOLY CHROMOLY TUBE TUBE -- SHEET SHEET -- SOLID SOLID
TUBE BENDERS - DIES - NOTCHERS
CAD Design & Engineering • Race Car Specialist Roll Cage • Chassis Design • Fuel System • Specialty Projects YATALA QLD • PH: 0407 099 088 • EMAIL: russell@modconcepts.com.au
WANT MORE MOTORSPORT?
Stay up to date with all the latest motorsport news Subscribe to the Auto Action newsletter today!
autoaction.com.au/newsletter
PH: 02 9676 8001 SHIPPING DAILY AUSTRALIA WIDE W W W. R A C E T E C H S T E E L . C O M . A U
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE! Subscribe to Auto Action print magazine and receive 3 MONTHS DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION FREE
autoactionmagazine.myshopify.com
OVER 5,000 PRODUCTS
INSTORE OR ONLINE
machineryhouse.com.au
01_AA_290420
Contact Bruce Williams for bookings and information on 0418 349 555 or bruce@autoaction.com.au
PRODUCTS AND INDUSTRY NEWS
SPEEDFLOW’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS MARKED WITH NDRC PARTNERSHIP SPEEDFLOW’S 40TH Anniversary celebrations continue with the announcement that it will join the all-new National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) as a Broadcast Partner for the 2023/2024 season.
“Our aim is to give fans a behind-the-scenes, allaccess broadcast experience, bringing them closer to the pit action by offering unparalleled insights that Speedflow can help deliver,” Travis said.
Established in 1983, Speedflow has developed a reputation for designing and manufacturing the world’s most advanced Performance Hose Fittings, all from their high-tech manufacturing facility based in Taree, NSW.
“It’s not just about slapping our name on a banner. We are deeply invested in the sport and the community. Our products are built for performance, and what better stage to showcase that than the NDRC.
Today, avid drag racing brothers, Shaun and Travis Liefting, who are at the helm of this iconic, Australianowned family business, are pleased to announce this exciting partnership. “Drag racing has been a passion that our family shares across three generations,” said Travis.
Suppliers of...
“Our father Nick introduced us to the sport, where we’ve been racing Altereds like he did in the Supercharged Outlaws and Modified classes, as well as four of our daughters who have raced in Junior Dragsters. So to say we are excited about partnering with the NDRC as a Broadcast Partnership is an understatement.”
Chrome moly 4130N tube and sheet 350 grade COW tube Roll cages Tube bending Race car components Andrews Race Cars +61 (02) 9838 0032 andrewsracecars@hotmail.com Units 1-3, 33 Anvil Road, Seven Hills NSW 2147 Australia www.andrewsracecars.com.au
This partnership marks a significant milestone for both Speedflow and the NDRC and is guaranteed to help set the stage for what is sure to be an exhilarating season of racing. “The NDRC is more than just a championship, it is the epitome of high-octane excitement and skill,” NDRC Commercial Manager, Matt Rice, said. “The championship is a magnet for top-tier talent, drawing racers, teams and, of course, premium brands like Speedflow from across the country.” The collaboration between Speedflow and NDRC is expected to expand the reach of both brands, tapping into new markets and demographics. “It is a win-win situation that promises to boost visibility and engagement for both parties,” Matt added. Both parties see this as the beginning of a longterm relationship. Speedflow’s role as the Pit Report Broadcast Partner is set to transform the way fans experience the NDRC.
Leading LS Conversion Specialists Castle Headers and Exhaust components Dynogen Alternators - The hidden alternator in a generator body Hi-Torque Gear Reduction Starter motors Billet High Performance Alternators Wiper Motor Kits EFI Conversion Looms and ECU reprogramming Conversion engine mounts, Transmission Crossmembers, Conversion Sumps Rack & pinion Conversions
CAEPERFORMANCEPRODUCTS.COM.AU 7 MAIN RD CASTLEMAINE VICTORIA 3450
T 03 5472 1442
“We’re just getting started. The future holds incredible opportunities for innovation and collaboration. It is the perfect way to highlight our 40th-anniversary celebrations. “We’re thrilled to be part of something that resonates so deeply with our brand’s heritage.” Speedflow’s success is underpinned by a simple philosophy: quality, service, and performance. From concept and design to machining, polishing, anodising, assembly, and packaging, everything is done from Speedflow’s innovative Australian Manufacturing facility located in Taree, NSW. “We have invested heavily in specialised equipment and our team to produce the strongest, compact onepiece, hose ends that have long been considered the benchmark in the Performance Hose Fitting industry,” Shaun said. “We started as a small business with big dreams, and partnering with the NDRC is another milestone in a journey filled with them,” Travis added. RICE EMPHASISED THE COLLABORATIVE NATURE OF THIS PARTNERSHIP “Speedflow brings a wealth of industry knowledge and technical expertise that can benefit not just NDRC but the entire motorsports community,” Matt said. As both Speedflow and NDRC prepare to write the next chapter in their respective histories, one thing is clear – the future of drag racing in Australia has never looked brighter. For more information on the massive range of Australian manufactured Speedflow range of products visit www.speedflow.com.au
- Voodoo camshafts - Tie bar lifters - Dual & beehive spring kits - Pro Series pushrods - Voodoo & Signature series stroker cranks - Voodoo & Signature series conrods
- Cylinder heads - Alloy coil covers - Intake manifolds
- HP alloy racing bearings - XP tri-metal racing bearings - 4340 forged stroker crankshafts - 4340 forged H-beam conrods
- Carb & EFI intake manifolds - Throttle bodies - Coil covers - Retro fit oil pans
- Billet timing gear sets with Z chain
- Forged pistons - Piston rings
- Forged pistons - Custom service available - Piston rings - Racing conrods
- LS-Next blocks - Pro 1 cylinder heads
- World’s best fasteners for your LS - 4340 forged stroker crankshafts - 4340 forged H-beam conrods
- Forged pistons - Custom service available - Piston rings