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QR TO LIGHT UP PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR A POTENTIAL SUPERCARS NIGHT RACE

By Paul Gover THREE GIANT new lighting towers are about to turn night into bright at Queensland Raceway.

The newest upgrade is part of Tony Quinn’s ambitious plan for his outerBrisbane circuit, following earlier improvements covering everything from the toilet block to the pit garages.

But there is more to the after-dark upgrade than shining extra light on the circuit for club racing and drifting.

There are solid rumours that the 2025 Supercars championship will begin at QR – with a night race.

Quinn will not comment on the calendar speculation, but confirmed to Auto Action that he will be ready if the idea becomes a reality.

“That’s their business,” was Quinn’s only comment on the calendar.

But he was happy to discuss the lighting plans for the circuit.

“I inherited John Tetley’s Chinese lanterns. We have upgraded things since then,” Quinn joked.

“We took away the three marshalls’ posts on the infield and replaced them with 20-metre light poles. So that’s what we’re doing. It’s an easy track to light up.

“We are continuing with improvements at QR. We are extending the concrete pitlane garages, and this will create more corporate space upstairs.

“But we’re not getting any government funding, whatsoever.”

According to Quinn, his after-dark approach is very different to the blazing bright lights at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Despite the requirements for modern television broadcasts, he said QR will be more old-school than high-tech.

“People that choose to race at night at QR will have a night race. You will need your headlights,” he said.

“We’re going to have quite an upgrade to the light system. It’s another improvement.

“We’re going to have enough lights to satisfy our own events. But it won’t be Sydney-spec.

Although Quinn will not discuss specific details about the 2025 Supercars season, he is bullish about his circuit.

“If they choose to come to QR, my feeling is that it will be a sell-out. That adds something extra,” he said.

“I think they have worked out that they (Supercars) need to listen to their fans.

Supercars last raced at Queensland Raceway in 2019.

Below: Tony Quinn (left) recently staged the Supercar round at Taupo in NZ. Images: PETER NORTON-EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

RIGHT: Queensland Racway does already run ‘night’ races with limited lighting! Image: MTR Images I think they are responding well to what people are saying to them and about them.

“The permanent circuits, if treated well, can be good for Supercars.”

There would still be plenty of details to finalise for Supercars to return to Queensland Raceway, including the promotion of the event.

Supercars has taken on the risk with self-promotion of events, but in the past

the race meetings at QR have been in the hands of the circuit owners.

So, which would Quinn prefer?

“We would look at whatever options there were,” he said.

“But it’s event important for these events that’s it a win-win situation. That gives it longevity.

“We both respect each other’s commercial rights. I think we could hash out, over a cup of coffee, a good

commercial deal that would suit both parties.”

Without going into any extra detail, Quinn also delivered the strongest hint yet about an after-dark start to the 2024 championship.

“If I was running an event of that scale there, I would be tempted to do a Saturday night race and a Sunday day race. That would be good for the fans. That would be different for the drivers too.”

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GT4 WINNER BACKS NEW BATHURST IDEA ANDREW MIEDECKE WANTS A NEW SPORTS CAR CONTEST.

By Paul Gover ONE OF the early supporters of GT4 racing in Australia is touting a plan for a standalone sports car contest at Bathurst.

Andrew Miedecke, who has raced everything from single-seaters to a Camaro in Touring Car Masters, is now pushing hard for GT4.

He wants a stand-alone GT4 race at Bathurst during the 12-Hour weekend at the beginning of 2025.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Miedecke told Auto Action.

Instead of mixing the GT4s with the pacesetting GT3 cars, which has happened in the past, he believes there would be good support for a special race and it would make both events safer.

“There is too much speed difference between the GT3 and GT4 cars. And they make their speed in different areas. The GT3s are super-quick around corners, with their aero, and that can lead to problems,” Miedecke said.

His view is also being championed by Roland Dane, himself a winning GT3 team boss and the Australian agent for MercedesAMG race cars including the latest GT4 version of the AMG GT. Dane has said there will be enough GT4 cars to support a stand-alone race and Miedecke agrees.

“If they ran a 6-hour on Saturday for GT4 there would be cars coming from Europe and everywhere. I’d like to see that,” Miedecke said.

“I reckon it will be a 30-car grid with Australian cars before the end of the year.

There is a lot of support.”

Miedecke Motorsport scored a worldwide first with its GT4 Ford Mustang with victory

by George Miedecke and Rylan Gray in both legs of the first round of the GT4 Australia championship at Phillip Island last month (above)..

It followed a long run of race wins by cars from the stable of the highly-successful Port Macquarie car dealer, starting with victories in Malaysia with a Ralt single-seater in the 1980s, followed by Ford Sierras in the Group A era of touring cars, then TCM with a Camaro and GT racing with Aston Martins.

Most recently, Miedecke bought a retired Bentley GT3 out of Asia and it is on display

FORD BOOSTS ENGINE TEAM RESPECTED ENGINE builder Ryan Medew is heading north to join the DJR engine build for the Ford Supercars teams.

Medew has been with Walkinshaw Andretti United for more than a decade but is moving from Victoria to Queensland for a new chapter.

He will start with DJR in about a

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month’s time as replacement for Bobby Ervin.

Ervin worked on the engines at both Herrod Performance Engines and DJR has bought a coffee shop and has already left DJR, leaving the engine program with a staff of, we think, five.

DJR bought out Herrod Performance Engines to take over the Ford

Supercars Gen3 engine program.

It services each of the 5.4L Coyote V8 DHOC engines to all five Ford Supercars teams.

The number one goal is to match the 5.7L Chevrolet Racing/KRE LTR V8.

Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS

PHOTOGRAPHY

at the Miedecke showrooms in Port Macquarie.

The team’s first Mustang will soon be joined by a second car – there are also plans to import as many as four GT4 racers from the official Ford partner in the program, Multimatic.

If the 6-Hour idea becomes a reality, Miedecke will make a two-car commitment to the entry list.

“I certainly would run two cars. I’d be out there,” said Miedecke.

And what about a front-line comeback for the 76-year-old, who has previously been a GT winner sharing an Aston Martin with his son George?

“Driving? I don’t know. I might do a little stint in the middle of the race,” he said. ”

WANNEROO PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE FINALE?

WITH THE rumours of a Perth street race failing to fade away, the Supercars are crossing the Nullarbor for what may be their last race on the historic track for some time.

Wanneroo first hosted a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship and has – aside from the COVID years – been a regular on the circuit since 1978, hosting 95 races so far, and despite its simplicity remains one of the more challenging tracks on the calendar.

Dunlop’s Kevin Fitzsimons fears the circuit will be as savage on tyres as it has ever been despite a lowering of the starting tyre pressure from 17 to 15psi.

“It’s such an open surface, it’s the actual aggregate of the stone and everything else like that which reduces your footprint on the road. You’ve probably got about 60% of your surface of the tyre touching the road, the rest of it’s in the in the hollows of the stones and it just the slides and turns the surface into it into a bit of a cheese-grater, just grinding the rubber off.

“The compound drops down inside of the stones, very similar to Taupo. It’s an abrasive circuit.

“There’s not a great deal we can do about it; it is just the nature of this track and it has always been the same since the 30 years or more I’ve been coming here, even after the resurfacing. It’s a good challenge for the engineers to see who can make them last longer.”

He thinks the lower tyre pressures will help tyre life a little, but surviving the Wanneroo Cheese Grater wasn’t the reason behind the change.

“Anything we can do to help them race harder for longer is a good thing, so I think it is worth trying it. We’ll keep an eye on it, but then we go to Darwin with the Super Soft for the first time this year, and that will be different again.

“It’ll just give a little bit of assistance with crowning in the centre and it might flatten it out a bit and help them all out.

It’ll be a good challenge.”

In terms of the Mustangs and Camaros, he said the Mustangs are getting better on the rear tyre wear with the new package, but they are all still learning the new set-up while the Camaros are further down the road in terms of understanding the car and the tyres.

“It is still a challenge for them and they’re chasing it because it’s an all-new package, but it has definitely improved over last year there’s no doubt about that.”

The Ford teams are hoping for a win to break the ice this season after eight wins to Camaros from eight races despite claiming the last five pole positions.

Grove Racing is so far leading the Ford charge and sits second in the Teams’ Championship but has only two podiums for the year, to Matt Payne, while Richie Stanaway in fourth is hoping for some silverware. Stephen Grove hopes Perth this year is where one of his drivers makes a statement in the same manner of Brodie Kostecki last year.

DJR’s David Noble said he was hoping for a Ford – any Ford – on the top step of the podium, and thinks with the improving engine package that is possible even on a track that is hard on tyres.

Mark Winterbottom has been racing at Wanneroo since his full-time debut in the series with Mark Larkham Motorsport. He is the winningest driver among the current crop of drivers with seven race wins, and in Fords although he now drives a Chev.

“We always have great support in Perth and it is one of my favourite events,” Winterbottom said. “Perth is a pretty unique track. It’s one of the smallest ones we go to – turns right pretty well the whole lap with just one left hander.

“High tyre degradation makes it really tricky in the races, but again, qualifying is key. So, for us going to Perth we need to make sure we qualify up the front. And I think if we can do that, we’re going to get a good result.”

The action starts at 4:20pm on Friday in Perth with prime time viewing on the East Coast at 6:20pm. Andrew Clarke

MOST PERTH WINS 1. Craig Lowndes (16) 2. Mark Skaife (8) 3. Mark Winterbottom (7) MOST PERTH POLES 1. Jamie Whincup (8) 2. Peter Brock, Mark Skaife, Craig Lowndes (6) 3. Scott McLaughlin (5) PREVIOUS PERTH RACE WINNERS IN 2024 FIELD Mark Winterbottom (7) Will Davison (4) Chaz Mostert, Will Brown, Broc Feeney (1)

Will lower tyre pressures make a difference as Supercars return to Perth? Image: MARK HORSBURGH/MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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SUPERCARS STARS TAKING IT TO THE YANKS SHANE VAN Gisbergen and Cameron Waters have been been racing hard in the NASCAR world.

Following his Martinsville debut, Waters recently enjoyed a second taste of the NASCAR Truck Series at Kansas Speedway and finished a respectable 19th for Thorsport Racing.

To put Waters’ result into perspective, it took Marcos Ambrose eight starts to record his first top 20 NASCAR Truck Series result in his debut season back in 2006.

In addition to the solid speed, the Aussie was also not afraid to take the fight to the locals, having a heated verbal argument with Layne Riggs postrace.

Waters said it was not until the final stint that he felt at home in the #66.

“It was up and down and up and down.

It was pretty wild,” he said about the race.

“I just struggled at the restarts and was in a pack with dirty air.

“Towards the end I felt comfortable and got the truck a little bit closer to what I liked.

“It was really good at the end of the run so I just wished we’d had a caution or another 100 laps to run!”

Van Gisbergen carried on in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, popularly donning an impressive 2012 Marcos

Shane van Gisbergen racing in the Marcos Ambrose throwback livery at Darlington.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Ambrose tribute livery at the historic Darlington Raceway.

Although by race-end it featured the customary Darlington ‘stripe’ (a scrape down the entire right side!) the #97 Camaro still had enough pace to secure a sixth top 15 finish of the rookie campaign.

Van Gisbergen admitted the current run of tracks are the “most difficult” of the year.

“It has been tough (but) really good though. A lot of fun and learning and I am loving racing every week,” he said.

“This stretch of races is probably what we signalled out as the most difficult, Dover, Texas, Darlington and then the Coke 600.

“I have had some pretty tough weeks, but feel like we are getting through okay.”

On his drive at Darlington, van Gisbergen could not believe the amount of tyre degradation, having never steered a lap of the ‘Lady in Black’ due to practice and qualifying being washed out.

“I didn’t know where I was going to be so I am stoked (to be 15th) and that the car is relatively straight,” he told Noah Lewis. “I just sucked at the restarts. It is an awesome track but super narrow. It doesn’t compare to any others.

“It was the lowest grip surface and highest tyre deg I have been on. For only

two corners the deg is crazy – we drop something like 3s a lap.

“I wish I could start the race over because I would be 10 times better at understanding what I needed to do.”

Thomas Miles

Cam Waters face-to-face with Layne Riggs.

Image: FOX SPORTS

POWER SURPRISED BY PENSKE SUSPENSIONS AUSSIE WILL Power has admitted he was surprised

by Roger Penske’s decision to suspend Team Penske President Tim Cindric and three others.

Both winner Josef Newgarden and third-place Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from the season-opening race at St Petersburg for illegal use of the push-to-pass system.

Power also had the same software, which came from a coding change during Hybrid testing that was not removed before the first race, but the Aussie was not disqualified due to not using it, but was still docked 10 points and like the others fined $25,000.

With the integrity of Team Penske under the spotlight, ‘The Captain’ Roger Penske has suspended four senior members of his team.

The suspended quartet are led by Cindric, but also include veteran managing director Ron Ruzewski and Newgarden’s race engineer Luke Mason and his senior

Roger Penske and Tim Cindric have been leading Team Penske together at all the big races, for decades.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES data engineer Robbie Atkinson.

All four have been suspended for two races, which includes the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.

These actions shows how seriously Roger Penske has

taken the breach and he apologised for the team’s ‘errors.’

“I recognise the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades,” Roger Penske said.

“Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologise for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”

Power admitted he was surprised by the call.

“I didn’t expect it, but it is what it is, and we’re going to do the best we can with the situation,” said Power.

“The team felt they had to do something, and unfortunately, two people on my car were involved with it.

“We’re just trying to focus forward.

“It will suck not having Ron. I’ve really got used to him.

He’s very calming and good on the radio, so that’s a pity, but that’s the way it is, and we have to do our best. This is the call Roger made.”

Thomas Miles

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LACROIX BACK IN THE HOT SEAT

LUDO LACROIX will be back in the race engineer’s role at Perth, taking over from Mirko De Rosa at PremiAir Nulon Racing.

For 2024, De Rosa had reunited with Tim Slade, but that combination only lasted three rounds.

After the Taupo Super400, De Rosa has stepped back from the race engineering role and PremiAir Nulon Racing has decided to bring the experienced Lacroix onto car #23.

The Frenchman has mountains of experience after long and successful stints with Triple Eight and DJR and moved to PremiAir this year.

Although Lacroix will once again be calling the shots on Slade’s car, he will also carry on duties in the more overarching Competition Director position he has held since moving from DJR at the start of the year.

Much like De Rosa, Slade has a preexisting relationship with Lacroix, with the pair teaming up together when the South Australian was Scott McLaughlin’s co-driver in 2020.

“While very thankful for his service to date, having Mirko De Rosa located in Melbourne while working as the lead engineer for the #23 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro has not worked out as the team and Mirko had hoped,” read a statement from PremiAir Nulon Racing.

“So the decision has been made that

PremiAir Nulon Racing boss Peter Xiberras with Ludo Lacroix.

Image: PREMIAIR RACING

Mirko will step back from the role, with Ludo Lacroix taking up the role of lead engineer for Tim Slade moving forward while continuing his overarching role as Competition Director for PremiAir Nulon Racing.”

In addition to the shuffle on Slade’s side of the garage, the team also confirmed the

departure of Julia McGarry.

“The team thanks Julia McGarry for her service but the decision has been made that a more senior Data Engineer is required in this position and details of the new appointment will be made in the coming weeks,” concluded the team statement.

Slade showed strong one-lap speed at Taupo making both shootouts, but a first lap crash and a pit stop blunder restricted him to a DNF and 21st in the races.

He will bring up a double ton of race starts at the next round in Perth this weekend.

Thomas Miles

EREBUS CONFIRMS SPONSOR AND CO-DRIVER DEALS EREBUS MOTORSPORT and TFH Hire Services will carry on racing together for the remainder of 2024, while Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood will share the #1 in the enduros.

Having jumped on board on the eve of the season-opening Bathurst 500, TFH

Hire Services continued as a primary partner of Erebus at the following Melbourne SuperSprint and Taupo Super400 events.

But it is now confirmed that the yellow, red and black colours will remain on the reigning champions’ cars for the remaining nine rounds of TFH will remain on the #1 for the rest of the year. the 2024 Supercars season.

Image: PETER NORTON-EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY TFH Hire Services support goes beyond Supercars, supporting both Kostecki and Hazelwood at the next Trans Am round in Tailem Bend.

Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan was delighted

by the news.

“We were thrilled to welcome TFH and the whole TFH Racing Team as part of the Erebus family when they jumped on board ahead of Bathurst and their support this year has been invaluable,” Erebus CEO Barry Ryan said.

“Brett (Thomas) and the entire team at TFH are doing so much across many levels of motorsport in this country right now and the level of support TFH Racing is giving to grassroots categories is phenomenal.

“We recognised from the beginning that their primary focus is in grassroots racing.

To have the chance to amplify their brand among Supercars fans and to witness the

growth and everything they are achieving has been remarkable.”

As expected it is also confirmed Kostecki and Hazelwood will race the #1 together at Sandown and Bathurst.

David Russell has been Kostecki’s partner throughout the latter’s full-time career but has moved to PremiAir Racing in 2024.

Hazelwood stepped up to drive the #99 in the reigning champion’s absence from the first two rounds and now the pair will race together come the enduros.

“It’s cool to see the association with TFH and Erebus Motorsport continue to grow and develop and we’re all excited for what the future holds,” Hazelwood said.

Thomas Miles

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COURTNEY WINS AGAIN SUPERCARS VETERAN ACCEPTS A NEW CHALLENGE

By Paul Gover JAMES COURTNEY has found a new way to win as he drives into the twilight of his Supercars’ career.

He has already had three victories in the early days of a blossoming career as a real estate agent.

His biggest win, so far, was a $5,150,000 sale on the Gold Coast.

Courtney believes his future is in real estate and the career change will allow him to continue as a winner as he moves into life after racing.

Everything points to the 43-yearold retiring from driving at the end of the 2025 season, the likely limit of his current contract in the Snowy Mountains Caravans car at Blanchard Racing, but he is not waiting to find a new challenge.

“It is quite scary. What comes next,” Courtney told Auto Action.

“With motorsport, I’m so familiar with it all. It’s natural. It just flows.

“But finding something I’m passionate about, in real estate, is exciting. It’s something I can do after racing, postracing, and be passionate about.

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“It’s not just a boring run-of-the-mill desk job.”

Apart from real estate, Courtney also has hopes of joining the Supercars’ telecast team and believes he could bring something to the broadcast.

“For me it’s good because it still gives me the ability to continue doing stuff with motorsport,” he said.

“Since the start of this year we haven’t done as much. But hopefully that’s the way I can steer things.

“I don’t mind the television side of things. It’s something I’m comfortable with and I can get my point across and connect with the ordinary guys.

“I go the easy route. I connect with the fans.”

Courtney believes his early years in Penrith, a working-class suburb in the far west of Sydney, help him connect with everyone in Supercars.

“I’m 100 per cent white trash. I don’t try to hide it.

“I’m proud that Penrith has the of the world’s greatest football team. And growing up there – the values you learn

from that has helped me through my life.”

Combining television with real estate would be ideal, according to Courtney.

“The ultimate would be to move into something with the telecast, and then this as well. The racing is only 12 weekends so the rest of the time in real estate would give me a great balance.”

But can selling houses give him the same high as motorsport, which has been his life since he left to chase his Formula One dream as a teenager?

“Doing the first deal was a rush. I wouldn’t say it’s the same as the start of a race, when the lights go out, but it was pretty good,” he said.

“It’s cool. When I first did it I was pretty nervous, because I hadn’t done it before.

But the people were lovely, and I found common ground.

“I’m not a typical real estate salesman.

I’ve got through life on selling myself. So it’s a very subtle way to get your point across.

“I’m not saying it was easy, or it came easy, but it sort of flowed and felt really comfortable. In the end I surprised myself

when it was done.”

Courtney said the move into real estate came during discussions with mates on the Gold Coast about what came after racing.

“I wanted something without financial risk, and still with a reward. I have a cousin in real estate and he was pushing me to do it.

“I started to think about it a bit more.

There are not really any overheads – they own the stock, they clean the stock, they pay for marketing.”

He began by qualifying as a car dealer before moving on to his real estate license.

“I’m a renovation lover. I love architecture, styling, and that stuff.

“I decided to give it a crack. So I jumped in and did it.”

Courtney said his life in motorsport has also prepared him, in a surprising way, for real estate.

“After all these years, I’ve worked out I’m probably a people person. Which is weird, because I’m quite an introvert at home.”

LOVE STAYING FOCUSED Aaron Love (pictured at Taupo) is coming home to race in the big league for the first time.

Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

THE FIRST home Supercars round is nothing special for Aaron Love, who is treating this weekend’s Perth SuperSprint just like any other.

WA boy Love will have plenty of fans, friends and family watching him race around Wanneroo Raceway. It will be just his sixth Supercars round and fourth as a full-timer, but the 22-year-old is staying very measured for what would once have been a dream.

“To be honest I haven’t had this round pencilled in or anything like that,” Love told Auto Action.

“I have not tried to make it anything special – it is just another race for me really.

“Obviously being in Perth with my friends and family will be cool.

“I want to put in a good performance and try to have a fun, strong weekend.”

Despite getting a taste of Supercars as a wildcard at last year’s enduros, Love still received a shock in his solo debut.

The youngster crashed three times across two races at the Bathurst 500, but has been able to finish every race since – at Albert Park and Taupo.

Love improved across each of the four races at the Melbourne SuperSprint, which resulted in a career-high P12 in the finale.

He started Taupo on solid ground, achieving a second career top-15 finish in the extremely wet Saturday affair.

However, Love believed he had the pace to achieve more as his progression continues.

“I am just getting more accustomed to the way the championship runs. It is quite different to anything I have run in before,” he said.

“I took away a lot from Bathurst about the mistakes I made and why I made them.

“The Grand Prix was a much faster, more compact weekend and we were able to have relatively good performance.

“New Zealand was a bit different for everyone and we didn’t roll out very strong so we were in for a bit of a battle all weekend.

“The rain helped us and our speed in the wet was good, but not everything fell into place.

“Knowing we could have been capable for a top 10 is frustrating.”

Despite showing promise in the rain on Saturday, the pace disappeared on Sunday, with both Blanchard Racing Team Mustangs of Love and James Courtney battling.

In the end Courtney led home his younger teammate in 22nd and 23rd places, well over a minute off the pace.

“The last race both cars struggled a fair bit ... but you are going to have those days where your back is against the wall and there is not a lot to fight with,” Love recalled.

“It was probably our toughest weekend performance-wise.

“Both the team and I have learnt a lot coming out of that and hopefully we can put it all together for Perth.”

Thomas Miles

McLEOD AIMING FOR THE FRONT IN PERTH

HIGHLY RATED Super2 rookie Cameron McLeod is chasing the front of the grid when the season resumes in Perth this weekend.

After breaking records in Super3 last year, McLeod has stepped up to Super2 driving a Coca-Cola backed ZB Commodore in 2024 with support from PremiAir Racing.

The youngster endured a tough debut at the Bathurst 500, qualifying 16th and getting caught up in the chaos at The Cutting on Saturday.

He bounced back on Sunday finishing eighth, but holds strong ambitions on being much higher up the grid.

Having had an extremely busy racing schedule leading up to Mount Panorama, McLeod has enjoyed a less busy schedule in the near three-month break between races.

Over that time, suggestions McLeod will need to achieve a certain championship position to secure a coveted Supercars co-drive have emerged.

However, McLeod denied such targets are in place yet, with the full focus on driver and team at Wanneroo.

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Cam McLeod testing at Queensland Raceway Image: PREMIAIR RACING Despite the lack of racing, McLeod has had plenty of seat time to prepare for the second round of the season by running two test sessions at Queensland Raceway and Winton.

McLeod said his confidence has grown thanks to the two encouraging tests.

“It was certainly a disappointing weekend (at Bathurst) but at the same time it was great to make my debut,” he told Auto Action.

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“Sponsor-wise, having great brands like Coke on the side is all fantastic but car-wise we are getting there.

“The QR test was mega and the pace we had was really good. We went to Winton and the track was a bit off but got to spend more time with Tim (Slade) and all the mechanics and engineers ... any time you can get in the car is great.

“Should be in a good phase coming into Perth.”

Having fought ferociously for Super3 honours with Jobe Stewart at Wanneroo last year, McLeod wants to do the same in Super2.

“Our goal is to run up the front which is all I am thinking about,” he said.

“For sure, if we unlock the car and I get the most out of myself we can do that.

“After testing there is still one little gremlin that is in the car and hopefully we can fix it in Perth, but the rest of the car was great.

“I would love to get our car up the front of the grid.”

Thomas Miles

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THE GRAND PRIX GOLD RUSH EVEN THE WORST-PAID DRIVER IN FORMULA ONE EARNS $1.5 MILLION ...

GILROY SEALS DUNLOP SERIES RETURN AFTER SEVEN months on the sidelines, Ryan Gilroy will make his comeback to racing at the Perth SuperSprint.

Gilroy will race for AIM Motorsport in the second Super2 Series round in the #11 Mustang that was steered

by Zane Morse, who is recovering from a broken wrist.

Racing at Wanneroo next weekend will be a significant moment for Gilroy, who has been on the sidelines since October when he suffered concussion during practice at last year’s Bathurst 1000.

“I spent 4 weeks with minimal brain stimulation, no phone, no driving and no exercise, to help the recovery process, and then just eased back into normal life,” Gilroy said.

SHAHIN TO MAKE SUPERCUP DEBUT AUSSIE SAM Shahin will make his debut in the top-level Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at iconic Imola later next week.

The experienced South Australian will contest the entire eight-round season which follows F1 to some of the most famous European circuits for Dutch team GP Elite in Pro Am beginning at Imola.

Shahin follows in the footsteps of Matt Campbell, Jaxon Evans, Jordan Love, Aaron Love, Marc Cini, Stephen Grove and Harri Jones.

“Supercup is an epic challenge, it’s the Everest of onemake car racing, but I’ve never minded a challenge,” he said.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

By Paul Gover LEWIS HAMILTON is about to re-write the ranking of grand prix driver salaries but the 2024 champion is Max Verstappen.

The unbackable favourite for a fourth straight world title at Red Bull Racing in 2024 will bank just over $83 million by the end of this year.

Verstappen’s salary, estimated at $US55 million or $83,270,275 Australian dollars at the latest conversion rate, means he is paid more than $3 million every time he hits the grid for a grand prix.

He sits comfortably ahead of second-placed Hamilton at $68 million and Charles Leclerc at $51 million.

Even the worst-paid drivers of 2024, Logan Sergeant of Williams and Yuki Tsunoda at RB – although the Japanese driver’s earnings are boosted by Honda – make $1.5 million.

The total salary bill is more than $400 million ($US268) but, importantly, this is not included as part of the Formula One salary cap.

The driver salaries have been compiled using research from inside the Formula One paddock by staff of the respected Racing News 365 website (https:// racingnews365.com/2024-f1-driver-salaries).

It has rated every driver, although there is always room for error in the secretive world of F1.

Drivers can also earn significant bonuses for pointsscoring results, since the ten GP teams’ annual payday is partly based on their finishing position in the world championship.

Although Verstappen sits on top of the biggest cash pile for 2024, his Richie Rich status will be dwarfed by Hamilton when he banks an estimated $100 million with salary and bonuses at Ferrari.

Another former Ferrari racer, Michael Schumacher, is believed to have become the first grand prix billionaire.

His salary before his first retirement was estimated at $45 million a season at Ferrari, and he had plenty of extra pay days when he became the highly-prized figurehead for the grand prix comeback by Mercedes-Benz.

Based on the Racing News 365 figures, the two Australians on the grand prix grid have similar earnings.

Daniel Ricciardo’s salary at RB is estimated at $10.6 million with Oscar Piastri earning $9 million at McLaren, just a fraction of the $30 million in the long-term deal for his teammate Lando Norris.

GRAND PRIX DRIVERS SALARIES 2024 1. Max Verstappen, $83 million($US55m) 2. Lewis Hamilton, $68 million ($US45m) 3. Charles Leclerc, $51 million ($US34m) 4. Lando Norris, $30 million ($US20m) 5. Fernando Alonso, $27 million ($US18m) 6. George Russell, $27 million ($US18m) 7. Sergio Perez, $21 million ($US14m) 8. Carlos Sainz, $18 million ($US12m) 9. Valtteri Bottas, $15 million ($US10m) 11. Daniel Ricciardo, $10 million ($US7m) 12. Oscar Piastri, $9 million ($US6m) 13. Esteban Ocon, $9 million ($US6m) 14. Pierre Gasly, $9 million ($US6m) 15. Kevin Magnussen, $7.5 million ($US5m) 16. Alex Albon, $4.5 million ($US3m) 17. Lance Stroll, $4.5 million ($US3m) 18. Nico Hulkenberg, $3 million ($US2m) 19. Guanyu Zhou, $3 million ($US2m) 20. Yuki Tsunoda, $1.5 million ($US1m) 21. Logan Sargeant $1.5 million ($US1m) Source: Racing News 365

THE STARS COME OUT FOR MOSS XIBERRAS MISSES SUPERCARS FOR DRAG RACING THE RESCHEDULED Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs created a clash for Peter Xiberras, but he will miss the next Supercars round to go drag racing.

Due to the Sydney based Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs being postponed by two weeks to avoid inclement weather, it now falls on the same weekend as the third round of the Supercars season, at Wanneroo.

With a Top Fuel title to chase, for Xiberras, who currently sits fourth in the standings, it was an easy decision.

“There was never any question – we could not miss the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs,” Xiberras said.

“Every single run and point is incredibly important.”

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WORLD CHAMPIONS Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell led the mourners who attended a very special celebration of the life of Sir Stirling Moss on April 12 in London.

Moss died on April 12, 2020 after a very long illness but the Covid pandemic meant it has taken years for his son Stirling Elliott Moss to organise the event, at the historic Westminster Cathedral. In that time Moss’s wife, lady Susie, also passed away, in March 2023.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

There were 2000 people at the invitation-only event and Moss, a close friend of the British royal family, was honoured by both the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent.

Others at the service included Rowan Atkinson and Richard Hammond, Ross Brawn and Christian Horner, as well as Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony.

A cavalcade of cars raced by Moss were lined up outside the Cathedral, from early grand prix cars to the historic 722 Mercedes-Benz sports car that Moss and Dennis Jenkinson drove to victory in the Mille Miglia road race in Italy in 1955.

“There will never be another Stirling Moss,” said Sir Jackie Stewart.

“He drove well, he presented himself well, he dressed well and he was just an amazing character. I don’t think in the history of the sport there has been somebody so well loved, and who is continued to be so well loved. It is wonderful for Great Britain to have a Briton that was as famous as this. He will never be forgotten.”

Image: RACEPaul PROJECT Gover.

INSURANCE COSTS …

THE CONFEDERATION of Australian Motor Sport Limited (Trading as Motorsport Australia) has released its audited financial covering the 2023 calendar year. ANDREW CLARKE crunches the numbers.

MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA released its audited financials ahead of its AGM in late April and, aside from the headline figure of a deficit after tax of $1,060,928, there are some numbers in there that both alarm and excite.

The loss is $772,436 worse than in 2022 and makes the accumulated losses postCOVID 10 an eye-watering $1,349,420 on a base revenue of less than $20m a year.

A 12.66% increase in expenses offsets the 8.05% increase in total revenue.

At the online 2024 Motorsport Australia Members Forum, Motorsport Australia President Andew Fraser spoke about the need for creating a real and deep engagement in the sport, rather than a shallow connection that doesn’t last, while talking about Motorsport Australia’s financial position.

“I wanted to mention one pleasing Insight about the Australian Grand Prix, held last month down the road in Albert Park. Just under 25%, 24% in fact, of all officials at that event were under the age of 30. If you’ve been involved in our sport for some time you probably know that that’s not an age profile or a demographic of an official set that’s the normal characteristic of our sport or indeed most other sports around the country – but it speaks to a couple of things.

“It speaks to the popularity and the brilliant conduct of the Australian Grand Prix; it

speaks to the popularity itself of Formula 1, which is good for our sport good and for bringing new people to our sport.

“I think one of the hallmarks of participation programs is not that you don’t just give away a footy and mark a card and say that someone’s now a participant, it’s that they get a real and deep engagement in the sport and certainly at that event (AGP) we had not only current participants who’ve been involved not just in the actual conduct of the sport but in everything that goes in and around the sport.”

The highlights listed were continued strength in the number of licence holders (remaining at 23,900 active licences and a nominal increase in ‘processed licences’) and a growth in competitive event permits and officials (which Fraser said is getting younger on average and had almost returned to pre-COVID levels in the reporting period, but has now exceeded that level) and the success of the Australian Grand Prix, all of which he said was an indication that the sport’s popularity is not waning.

Rising insurance costs were the spotlight item in challenging trading conditions as well as blowouts in the cost of travel, none of which, he said, is unique to Motorsport Australia.

“But amongst those highlights, however, is some pretty challenging trading conditions and a challenging financial result for the sport which we need to confront and lean into – so, like all organisations, like you, like households and like businesses around the country, inflationary pressures on input costs are something which is a real

Scan to watch the 2024 Motorsport Australia Member Forum

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challenge for everyone, and motorsport is no different.

“We conduct events and those costs those input costs, especially travel costs, have been a challenge for us but there’s a particular challenge also on insurance which is affecting our sport.”

The still relatively new CEO, Sunil Vohra, has a background in insurance and risk management and it will be interesting to see what impact that experience has on what may be the greatest challenge facing the sport.

Global insurance, he said, is in a hard cycle, and that is leading to global increases in costs, but he is working with brokers and underwriters to try and defeat that cycle and improve Motorsport Australia’s position and costs in this area.

All comparative figures were shown over four years, with the baseline treated as the COVID year of 2020.

Despite some of the numbers, both Fraser and Vohra remained upbeat about the financial position of the sport.

The proposed Avalon circuit, as exclusively revealed by Auto Action 12 months ago, was also discussed during the meeting, which was held a few days before the Victorian Government’s State Budget.

Despite many people in positions of authority with the sport’s strong connections with the ruling Labor Party – especially former CEO Eugene Arocca and Fraser who is a former member of Queensland Parliament for the ALP – the Victorian Government’s dire economic position appears to have paused the likelihood of that facility in the short term.

IN ADDITION to the finances, Motorsport Australia measures five core activities, and has similar upand-down results to the finances.

The biggest win has been the increase in officials while the numbers of events has seen a decrease overall while showing an increase in the number of competitive events.

PERFORMANCE IS MEASURED BY THE: (1) N umber of the Active Competitor Licences – Static at 23,900, well behind the 27,807 of 2019.

(2) Number of Permitted Events during financial year – Down from 3023 to 2846 and significantly lower than the pre-COVID figure of 3180 in 2018.

(3) N umber of Car Clubs affiliated – Seven new clubs affiliated in 2023 bringing it back to two handfuls behind 2019.

(4) N umber of Volunteers engaged and trained in the sport – Officials licences in 2023 were up by more than 400 and in 2024 have seen further rises, with licences now topping 10,000 but not yet at the 10,718 of 2019.

(5) M aintain Level 3 FIA certification - Achieved.

Should Motorsport Australia be promoting motorsport events itself? It is one area of financial loss for the not-for-profit organisation – the recent Sandown SpeedSeries round didn’t draw many spectators ...

Image: THOMAS MILES

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NEW BMW M4 GT4 AT ASM ASHLEY SEWARD Motorsport has a new weapon at its disposal in the form of a brand new BMW M4 GT4.

The new M4 has arrived, fresh from Germany, at ASM’s Dandenong based workshop ahead of a hoped GT4 Australia Series debut at The Bend.

ASM is is aiming to sell it, with options to house, prepare and maintain the car for a new customer.

“We want to see the new BMW M4 on track and we are currently fielding interest from those looking to buy it,” said Seward.

“Our aim is to run a two-car BMW team, to work alongside Time Leahey’s car.”

Sainz Snr – back with the blue oval.

BELOW: The prototype Ford Raptor has undergone significant testing .

SAINZ SWITCHES DAKAR ALLEGIANCE DEFENDING CHAMPION MOVES FROM AUDI TO FORD

Image: RACE PROJECT

GT FESTIVAL COMPLETES CALENDAR A NEW ‘GT Festival’ event at Phillip Island will complete the 2024 GT World Challenge Australia and GT4 seasons.

After the 2024 season started at Phillip Island both the GT World Challenge and GT4 will return to the historic seaside venue on August 23-25.

The Australian Production Car category will also be on show, which has now expanded its season from five rounds to six.

It will be the first SRO Motorsports Australia promoted event.

“This final piece of our 2024 calendar is a great addition. A GT-centric motorsport event at Phillip Island is the ideal place for these cars as it’s a track that shows the true capability of both GT3 and GT4 cars,” SRO’s Ben McMellan said.

Axis Hire’s MD Mark Cates in his XY Falcon. Image: MICK OLIVER

AXIS HIRE-LOCAL BACKING FOR TCM WEST AUSTRALIAN-based Axis Hire has stepped up to the plate to support the Touring Car Masters round at the Perth SuperSprint.

The fan-favourite category returns to Wanneroo Raceway after a 12 year absence.

Axis Hire MD Mark Cates was planning on joining the TCM grid for the round but won’t make it due delays in the engine build for his #34 Group N XY Falcon Historic Touring Car. “I was busting to get there – we go pretty good at our home track in the XY, and just to mix it with the TCM guys would have been a highlight. Maybe we can get to Darwin,” he said.

“For Axis to be associated with Touring Car Masters adds to our motor sport interests, and makes for a busy weekend for us as we are also involved with the Australian Rally Championship round in WA” TCM will have two races on Saturday and two on Sunday, all sessions live on Fox/Kayo.

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By Paul Gover DEFENDING DAKAR winner Carlos Sainz has defected from Audi to lead the Ford assault on the next running of the off-road classic.

Ironically, his move comes as his son Carlos Jnr is being tipped to sign with Audi for its graduation to Formula One in 2026.

There are now predictable rumours that Sainz could be headed to Red Bull Racing, which is soon to be partnered by Ford in grand prix racing, following his father.

The Sainz Snr move to Ford for the Dakar has caught the motorsport world by surprise, but should come as no great shock.

His switch to Ford for the desert duel brings his career full circle, as he first starred in the WRC when he was driving a Sierra Cosworth in the late 1980s and then returned to the blue oval band in the late 1990s with the Escort Cosworth and the Focus WRC. Ford Performance had also previously recruited former Volkswagen driver Romain Dumas, who holds the outright record at the Pikes Peak hillclimb in the USA, for his proven expertise in electric cars thanks to his work with the ID.R battery prototype.

The senior Sainz, known as ‘El

Matador’ in the days when he rampaged through the World Rally Championship with Toyota, Lancia, Subaru and Ford, is a four-time Dakar winner who is also the oldest, having won this year at the age of 61.

The Sainz signing comes as Ford Performance also announced Nani Roma, a Dakar veteran with two wins, as the second of its four drivers.

It has also given a brief hint at the Dakar Ford Raptor they will drive, with a single back-on picture pointing to an off-road prototype and not an updated version of the road-going Raptor which it took to the Baja 1000 in the USA and the Finke desert race in Australia and the T1+ version driven by Roma this year in the Dakar.

“The scale of our ambitions in off-road racing are unparalleled in Ford’s recent history and nothing is more clear in that ambition than our challenge to take the Ford Raptor to the legendary Dakar rally,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsport.

“Taking on such an enormous challenge requires the best engineers, designers, team members, navigators and drivers and, in Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz Sr, we have two of the most experienced and successful drivers in Dakar history. The Ford

Image: RACE PROJECT

Raptor is already showing promising signs in testing and having two of the best drivers in the world with us for the ride gives us confidence for the continued development of the truck.”

“It’s great to be back,” said Sainz Snr. “I’m very excited by this new Dakar Rally project, to go back to working with Ford for the fourth time, and to return to M-Sport. My history with Ford goes all the way back to ‘87, and I think I was Malcolm’s [Wilson, founder of M-Sport] first driver, his first ever factory driver, back in the day, and I’m very proud of that.

“I’m really excited to be driving the Raptor truck, and to approach this big challenge with a lot of goals. One is to help Ford win the Dakar Rally.”

Roma, too, is pumped after helping lay the Ford foundations for the Dakar.

“It’s a great pleasure to be involved in this huge project, and with an iconic motorsport brand like Ford,” Roma said.

“Coupled with a team like M-Sport with its history, and legacy in the sport, to create something completely new with, I can say it’s been a very exciting few months already. We get to wake up every day and do what we love with people that have the same passion, it’s the best feeling.”

KOSTECKI TO MAKE TRANS AM COMEBACK BRODIE KOSTECKI and Todd Hazelwood (pictured, at th PI round) will join forces and take on Trans Am together at the next SpeedSeries round at The Bend.

TFH Racing will expand to a three-car operation for the fourth round of the Trans Am season to welcome the reigning Supercars champion.

Kostecki will race a TFH Hire Mustang alongside the driver who subbed for him Hazelwood, plus youngster Josh Thomas.

In addition to its Trans Am and TA2 racing programs, TFH Hire is also the primary backer of Erebus Motorsport, which welcomed Kostecki back to Supercars at Taupo.

It will be Kostecki’s first taste of Trans Am since his debut in 2022 at Queensland Raceway when he drove a Camaro and qualified fifth, before finishing third, sixth and second across the three races.

Since then Kostecki has rapidly developed, with six wins, 23 podiums and more than 100 Supercars starts, while last year he also made his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

He is looking forward to returning to the competitive category.

Image: REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY “It’s great to be going Trans Am racing again with the TFH Hire crew,” Kostecki said.

“I would like to thank Brett and everyone from TFH Racing for the opportunity.”

Hazelwood joined TFH Racing for a maiden Trans Am campaign this year and sits a solid fourth in the standings having stood on the podium once in all three events so far.

“It’s awesome to have BK join the team at TFH Racing with our Trans Am program,” he said.

“Having another car with extra data will be extremely valuable for Josh and I as we continue to grow our team and push for race wins.

“It’s also cool to see the association with TFH Hire and Erebus Motorsport continue to grow and develop into a stronger

partnership and excited for what the future holds.”

TFH Racing youngster Josh Thomas is excited by the prospect of working with two Supercars stars.

“It’s great to now add Brodie to the arsenal of the TFH Racing Trans Am cars that we have on the grid for the Bend,” he said.

“I know that Toddy and BK will both be excellent for my development as a driver and us three will make a fantastic team and have some fun while doing it.”

TFH Racing owner Brett Thomas believes this will not just be a big moment for the team but also Trans Am. “Racing for me is about making memories, and that’s what we do here at TFH Racing,” he said. “Having Brodie join our team in the Trico Trans Ams is exciting for our team, our supporters and of course our drivers themselves.

“Brodie, Todd and Josh are all young keen racers who will race anything given the opportunity, and that’s what TFH Racing is about.”

Kostecki will go Trans Am racing around The Bend on May 31-June 2.

Thomas Miles

SPRINTCAR SPEEDWEEK FUTURE DISCUSSED

ALTHOUGH RACING has stopped, the speedway world is still busy with the 2024/25 VIC/SA Sprintcar Speedweek, a big point of discussion.

In recent weeks, it was announced that Tolmer Speedway in Bordertown has been added to the usual quartet of Murray Bridge, Borderline Speedway, Avalon Raceway and Premier Speedway, which has just received a new surface.

In addition to this, an online forum meeting was held where participants discussed a wide range of topics designed “to streamline the Speedweek Series and make it more appealing to fans, teams and venues collectively.”

One of the immediate takeaways was the move by teams and promotors to increase the fan appeal on race night and condense the entertainment window in attempt to keep costs down.

“I think it was something that was long overdue,” said experienced sprintcar racer Glen Sutherland.

“The idea of getting a few teams to sit down with the venue promoters and managers and thrash out the pros and cons ahead of the series is the best thing that’s happened in a while I think.

Tolmer Speedway representative Andrew Rowett said it was a valuable way to prepare for the venue’s first race.

“It was an eye opener for us to be part of this,” he said.

“We could see that whilst there are many different opinions there’s a common point of view that we all want what’s best for the sport. There are some middle grounds to be reached yet but I think in time these things are achievable. It was time well spent in my opinion.”

Thomas Miles

Glen Sutherland racing on home turf at Borderline.

Image: CLUTCH LIFE MEDIA “I think everyone’s come away from last night with plenty to consider.

“There’s a lot to work through but just the fact that we’re talking has to be a major positive in itself. I’m excited to be honest.”

PROPOSED 2024/25 SPRINTCAR SPEEDWEEK SCHEDULE DECEMBER 26: Murray Machining & Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway, SA DECEMBER 27: Tolmer Speedway, Bordertown SA DECEMBER 28: Borderline Speedway Mount Gambier, SA DECEMBER 30: Avalon Raceway Lara, VIC JANUARY 1: Premier Speedway Warrnambool VIC

WANTED MOTORSPORT JOURNALIST WE’RE LOOKING FOR A WRITER TO JOIN THE TEAM AT AUTO ACTION.

You will obviously need to love motorsport in all its forms and be able to write, formal qualifications are not necessary, but you will need to show us what you can do.

This is a full-time position based in our Oakleigh office, it will require work on weekends and attendance at some motor races and has generous leave provisions to compensate.

To apply, send your resume and/or written examples to Andrew Clarke via email to andrew@autoaction.com.au This is your chance to join Australia’s independent voice of Motorsport for the past five decades. autoactionmag

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FIELD READY FOR FOREST RALLY Peter Rullo will be one of the leading local hopes in the Forest Rally.

Image: CARS MOSPORT

A SOLID field is expected to take on the Australian and Western Australian Rally Championship double header, the Forest Rally this weekend (May 17-19).

A total of 33 crews will chase ARC honours, while an additional 26 local combinations will chase WA Rally Championship and Clubman success in event.

Leading the way as usual will be the two factory-backed Toyota Gazoo Racing stars Harry Bates/ Coral Taylor and Lewis Bates/ Anthony McLoughlin.

Bates/Taylor are on a high after dominating the opening round in Canberra, winning every single stage with the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

Still driving the older spec Yaris GR AP4, Bates/McLoughlin will be determined to respond out west, fresh from a special maiden experience steering a Rally2 car alongside the WRC at the Rally de Portugal this weekend.

Leading the way looking to stop

the Toyota charge will be home hero Alex Rullo.

The former Supercars youngster has since turned his attention to rallying with great success with codriver Steve Glenney.

Rullo took his maiden ARC podium at the Rally of Canberra and hopes to find even more silverware on home soil, having won the opening round of the Western Australian Rally Championship, the Winvale Stages Rally.

His father Peter will share a Skoda with James Marquet, another local to watch are Dylan King and Abbey Hayes, who form a dark horse for a good result in the DJK CIVIL Toyota Yaris AP4.

Drivers looking to break Toyota’s dominance, including Scott Pedder/ Glenn Macneall and Eddie Maguire/ Zak Brakey.

A 17-car field has entered for the ARC Production Cup including opening round winners Molly Taylor and Andy Sarandis, plus local hope Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith.

The likes of Dave Thompson/ Matthew Sanders and Peter Dimmock/Paul Bennett have crossentered in the 2WD Classic Cup in addition to the ARC Production class.

Forest Rally Clerk of Course Ross Tapper said it is a strong turnout for a special edition.

“We are extremely pleased to have a field of more than 30 ARC crews with up to 14 of them coming from interstate,” Tapper said.

“Not only do we have a big entry list, but it is an extremely strong field and there is a handful of drivers who could win the rally, so it will be quite entertaining from a sporting point of view.

“This is the 40th year since the rally became the WA Round of the ARC, having run continuously since 1985, with only COVID-19 stopping us running as an ARC round in 2020.

“With that said, we have once again refreshed the event with a Rally Show and Ceremonial Start at the Busselton Jetty Foreshore on the Friday night and a shake-up of stages in Nannup on Saturday.

“We are proud to bring something new to the event around the brilliant Nannup plantation roads, which will undoubtedly bring exciting action to the region.”

The 2024 Forest Rally takes place, interestingly, on the same weekend as the Supercars annual trip to Perth ...

Thomas Miles

Former champions Ian Menzies and Robeet McGowan will try to beat Round 1 winner Brinkman. Image: CH IMAGES

CROSSING THE BORDER

THE KICKASS Products Motorsport Australia Queensland Rally Championship has crossed the border and into NSW for Round 2 of the 2024 season.

Both Queensland and NSW competitors will chase for outright QRC and class honours on the Coffs Coast on May 25.

Dakar competitor Glen Brinkman is the man to beat after winning the season-opening APX Suspension Manumbar Rally.

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The Quality Accounting Coffs Coast Rally will traverse nine stages held over two heats with a total competitive distance of 125km.

Clerk of Course Peter Flynn believes it will be far from easy to overcome:“I believe crews will find this a challenging event with different characteristics,” he said.

“Tight and technical and fast and flowing with different amounts of each coming into play at different times.

“It will reward the crews who are precise on the calls.

“Sam and the Coffs team have done a sterling job of answering the challenges presented in a short time.

“I think they will have an enjoyable time, as we all revisit the iconic roads of WRC past. I am so pleased the event is going ahead and it deserves all the QRC community’s support.”

Thomas Miles

The first half of the Miami GP went well, keeping both Ferraris at bay.

AN ORANGE GLOW … OUT OF THE BLUE OF MIAMI

IT WAS A FANTASTIC RESULT FOR THE WHOLE TEAM OVER IN MIAMI AND IT GIVES US A LOT OF OPTIMISM FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON ...

SO MANY people put in so many hours back at MTC and at the racetrack that it’s a great reward for all that hard work when the car looks quick.

We felt very competitive in quali and the race, and the upgrades that I had on my car seemed to work to the desired effect which is always reassuring.

After the race and back at MTC, where I was last week for some marketing commitments and time in the simulator, it’s been great to see the team enjoying the result and celebrating. It was a cool atmosphere in the team hospitality afterwards, with everyone together.

I am so happy for everyone connected with the team. I remember Miami last year and how we felt then. We’ve come a long way, and we want to be fighting right at the sharp end like this.

Huge credit must go to all the

Oscar Piastri’s

FORMULA 1 WORLD McLaren staff and I am really proud to be part of this team and work with such a great group of people.

And of course a massive congratulations must go to Lando on his first Grand Prix win.

He deserves it and I’m really happy for him and all his team.

We have a really positive relationship within the team, work together really well and so, well done to him on such a good job over in the States.

It’s great to see papaya back on the top step and hopefully it’s a result that we can look to replicate sooner rather than later

with many more strong results.

In terms of my weekend, it obviously did not end the way I wanted it to, but I was pleased with the way I drove and the consistency I showed across all the sessions.

The GP was going well for me. I got a good getaway and managed to make three places in the opening corners before then getting Charles and moving up to second.

The opening stint was a really positive one and I was feeling very good in the car and set for a good result. Unfortunately, the Safety Car period didn’t really

work in my favour and contact put pay to any major points, which was such a shame after a strong weekend ... but that’s racing.

From a personal perspective, I am just excited to get the remainder of the upgrades that I didn’t have in Miami onto my car for Imola and see how things go.

I’ve never raced there before so it is going to take some time to adapt but, hopefully, we can hit the ground running and build on the team’s momentum from Miami.

It’s back-to-back races now, with Monaco straight after Imola, so it’s been a good opportunity to get a bit of a breather before that double-header.

Monaco is always a busy one, both in the lead-up and during the event so it’s important to conserve energy and be ready for everything that comes with it.

I’ve had a few training days to

top up the fitness and also some rest days – which are needed after a super busy start to the season.

My padel game (Ed: Padel is a quirky combination of tennis and squash, played in an enclosed court ...) is improving slowly but surely (I think) and I’ve also had a few games of chess, which I’m enjoying.

Thanks for all the continued support from back home which means a great deal. I’ve had some awesome messages and I appreciate it all.

Enjoy the next few races and see you again in a few weeks’ time.

Take care.

OSCAR IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Head to Oscar’s official website for the latest news and his new range of merchandise www.oscarpiastri.com autoactionmag

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LATEST NEWS

WATERS NASCAR CUP SERIES DEBUT LOCKED IN IT IS now official: Cameron Waters will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Sonoma in California on a weekend that may see as many as three Australian former and current Supercars drivers racing.

As hinted, Waters will be the face of the returning #Stage60 program, spearheaded by successful Ford squad Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

The current Tickford Racing driver will race a #60 Ford Mustang backed

by BuildSubmarines.com at the 110-lap road course race on Sunday, June 9.

Waters already has two NASCAR Truck Series starts under his belt this year with a best result of 19th at Kansas.

But next month he will be joining van Gisbergen and possibly Will Brown as Supercars drivers taking on the NASCAR stars in California.

“This opportunity for me is a dream come true, and one that I do not take lightly given the global audience of NASCAR and the Cup Series,” said Waters.

“I’ve been fortunate to dip my toes into the NASCAR waters a bit this year and am excited to put my road-racing experience to the test this summer.

“It takes a village to make something like this come to fruition, so I especially want to thank the team at BuildSubmarines.com and AUKUS for giving me this opportunity to highlight

the AUKUS security partnership, and for all the efforts at RFK to pull this off.”

Waters joins David Ragan, who also raced the #Stage60 Mustang at this year’s Daytona 500 to a 20th place finish.

The Mildura product also follows in the footsteps of van Gisbergen, Brodie Kostecki, Marcos Ambrose, Owen Kelly, Geoff Brabham, Dick Johnson, Allan Grice and Frank Gardner as Supercars/ATCC drivers to take on the top-level Cup Series.

Ford Performance Motorsports Global Director Mark Rushbrook can’t wait to see how Waters handles himself around the twisty circuit.

“Cam has certainly logged his share of miles the last couple of months flying back and forth from Australia, but he’s done a great job familiarising himself with NASCAR and working with David Ragan in our simulator,” he said.

“It’s always exciting when we can have someone from another part of our global motorsports family compete in a different series and we feel this is a great opportunity for him to showcase his talent.

“We’re grateful to RFK for initiating this Stage 60 program and we’re looking forward to Sonoma.”

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 will be held on Sunday, June 9 and begin at 5.30 AEST Monday morning.

JETT JOHNSON SALUTES ‘INSPIRING’ UNCLE THIRD GENERATION racer Jett Johnson will race with the #138 in honour of his late uncle Elton Holman at the Perth Super2 round this weekend.

Holman, who was a promising Supercross rider and “an inspiration” to Johnson, tragically passed away on April 29, aged 49.

He was laid to rest on May 11, which was the day he was set to turn 50.

During his young years, Holman was one of the most promising prospects on two wheels, on track to becoming one of Australia’s top Supercross riders.

However, an accident competing at Coffs Harbour on New Year’s Eve 1990 left him a Quadriplegic at just 16.

During those Supercross years Holman raced with the #138 and as a result Johnson will switch from #117 based on the family’s famous #17 to another special number.

“Elton was an inspiration to me from as long as I can remember,” the Super2 rookie said.

“He loved watching me race and would always talk to me about what I needed to do to improve off the track to be the best I could be, he never stopped being obsessed with health and fitness right up till his last days.

“I would always have the best days with Elton, when I was about 10, Elton lived in Surfers Paradise, and I would go in quite

often and spend the day with him.

“I’d take my skateboard and Elton would tow me around Surfers Paradise with his electric wheelchair.

“We’d always get free food and drinks because everyone just loved him, and his infectious personality and they though it was cute that he was towing me around.”

After his accident, Holman became “an inspiration to many” and defied doctors expectations.

On the night of his accident at Coffs Harbour, he died twice and was told even if he survived, he would never breathe on his own and even if he somehow managed to, he would be lucky to live to 30.

But not only Holman lived almost two decades longer than expected, he enjoyed a healthy and happy life.

He used machines designed and engineered to keep his muscles alive and then getting to the point where he would get in the gym and

do weights. All of which should have been impossible for someone who had severed his spinal cord.

Holman even purchased Johnson his first motorbike and enjoyed coaching the now race car driver.

Johnson said Holman was a special and inspiring man.

“Even though Elton was in a wheelchair, I never once heard him complain about his condition, instead it was always positive thoughts about how to do things or how to make things easier,” he reflected.

“You could always talk to Elton about anything, and he would give you the best advice.

“Elton would always put life into perspective if any of us thought we were having a bad day.

“He would quickly point out “what have you got to be sad about” with a smirk on his face.

“He has made me look at life so much differently. The glass was always half full for him, not half empty.

“I feel I’m a much more grounded, understanding and better person from having Elton in my life for the last 19 years.”

The Super2 season returns for the first time in almost three months this weekend at Wanneroo.

JACK BRABHAM TEN YEARS ON

LET’S REMEMBER our triple-F1-World Champ’s passing on the Gold Coast a decade ago. John Arthur Brabham was on born April 2, 1926 and died on May 14, 2014. Mark Bisset reflects.

Brabham famously cut his teeth on Sydney speedways, winning the ’48 Australian Speedcar Championship, initially funding his road-racing exploits in Coopers with his speedway winnings!

In 1955 he moved to the UK, by midyear he shared the grid of the British Grand Prix with the legendary JuanManuel Fangio. Jack’s car was a selfconstructed Cooper T40 Bristol, Fangio’s a Mercedes Benz W196 Silver Arrows.

Brabham finally ‘beat’ Fangio in 1978 when Jack finished in front of the great Argentinian’s Mercedes in his 1966 F1 Championship winning Brabham BT19 Repco V8 at Sandown during the 1978 Tribute to Fangio meeting.

Jack won two World Championships for Cooper in 1958-59 before achieving fame and fortune aboard his own Brabham

cars from 1962, built in partnership with Ron Tauranac, an under-rated design and production-racing-car genius.

Brabham retired from F1 at the end of 1970. Had Lady Luck smiled upon him, he could have won the World Championship ‘as a pensioner’ that year, but ultimately

took only the one GP victory rather than the three that seemed in-the-bag!

He came home and farmed sheep at Wagga-Wagga, sold cars and ‘planes in Sydney in addition to his involvement in a few businesses in the UK. Reluctantly at first, he guided his sons, Geoff, Gary and David into racing. All achieved much, Geoff and David won at Le Mans, Gary and David made it to F1. The Brabhams wrestled back the commercial rights to the Brabham name, launching the Adelaide built BT62 sports-prototype/road cars just as Covid hit. Brabham fans await their next move…

As the ‘Drive to Survive’ generation of enthusiasts explore history, social media is awash with interest in Our Jack, Brabham Racing Cars and RepcoBrabham V8 Engines…

Chaucer’s Time Waits For No Man doesn’t seem to apply to John Arthur Brabham, his deeds and products live on.

Long may it continue.

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AUSSIE LAWRENCE SEALS STUNNING TITLE AUSTRALIAN ROOKIE sensation Jett Lawrence has won the AMA Supercross Series 450SX Championship at his first attempt.

Lawrence wrapped up the title with a safe seventh-place finish aboard his Team Honda HRC CRF450RWE in the Rice-Eccles Stadium finale.

He finished 15 points ahead of Yamaha rider Cooper Webb and was 44 clear of KTM’s Chase Sexton.

The 20-year-old from Landsborough, Queensland has dropped jaws throughout his sensational first season in the premier class.

Lawrence started in style by winning at Anaheim and amazingly becoming the first rider to win on his premier-class debut.

He went on to add further victories in Detroit, Daytona, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Nashville, Philadelphia and Denver.

The latter was especially a memorable moment as he and brother Hunter Lawrence notched a historic 1-2 finish in the main event.

The championship success carries on Lawrence’s impressive record having also won the 250SX East and West titles in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

But being the champion of the premier class as a rookie, tastes very sweet, having moved to Europe aged 12 to chase his dream.

“I’m happy it’s finally over!” said Lawrence.

“It felt like a long season, but also kind of fast. I guess the emotions will probably set in over the next two days.

“I’m still super happy about it, and especially happy for the team. “The whole race, I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up!’

“Whenever there was any sketchiness, I just backed it down; we just had to bring it in with the points we needed.

“Honestly, this championship only really became a goal at the end of last year.

“Once I got my outdoor title, I thought, ‘Okay, let’s try for it in Supercross.’ It’s definitely a dream come true.”

LATEST NEWS

VALE: JOHN WALKER AUSSIE OPEN-WHEELER ACE JOHN – JOHNNIE OR JW – WALKER, THE 1979 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX AND GOLD STAR WINNER DIED IN ADELAIDE LAST WEEK, AGED 80 (SEPTEMBER 27, 1943 – MAY 6, 2024).

WALKER HADN’T quite realised his immense potential and had decided to sell his car and retire from racing when Magnum Wheels owner, Martin Sampson, threw him a lifeline, a fully sponsored ride in his Lola T332 Chev F5000 and later a Porsche 934.

While the planets hadn’t quite aligned with strong second placings in the 1973 and 1975 Gold Star championships, and in the 1975 Tasman Cup, everything finally came together in 1979.

Walker won a thriller of an AGP at Wanneroo Park, driving back through the field after an early pitstop as a consequence of the first corner collision between Alf Costanzo and Larry Perkins. Third and second placings at Oran Park and Sandown bagged him the Gold Star from John Bowe.

Having realised his goals in a career that commenced aboard an FE Holden way back in 1960, JW announced his retirement.

Somewhat inevitably, the Holden FE was replaced with an Elfin Catalina Formula Junior (Garrie Cooper’s business was just across town). It was the first in a succession of Elfins that took him all the way to Australian National F1.

Johnnie scored his first Gold Star points in an Elfin Mono in 1965, later finishing second in the in the 1970 F2 Championship in a 600B. His cars were self-run, with the help of some friends and limited support from Gilbert Motor Bodies, Johnnie’s father’s (Howard, aka Chalky) business for whom he worked.

Walker stepped up to ANF1-F5000 in 1972, purchasing an Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden and showed the best in the country what he was capable of, finishing fourth in the Adelaide International, the final 1972 Tasman round.

JW had a tricky conversation with Garrie Cooper in June when he switched to a Matich A50! He planned to race in the US F5000 Championship and Frank Matich’s machine was quicker and fully compliant with their regulations.

After finishing fourth in the Gold Star, and with three point-scoring finishes in three of the four Australian ’73 Tasman rounds he contested, Walker chanced his hand in the

HDT teammates Colin Bond and John Walker, Adelaide International 1975. Image JOHN LEMM

Left, JW’s Matich A50 Repco-Holden - soon to race in the US - ahead of Max Stewart’s Lola T330 Chev, Warwick Farm Tasman round 1973. Image MOTOR ACTION. Right, Sandown Tasman 1975 staggering near death escape. Lola T332 Repco-Holden mows down the horse-course fencing at 150mph with the Stewart, Lawrence and Bartlett Lolas in the dust. Image ROBERT DAVIES US L&M Championship against the best in the world including Jody Scheckter, Brian Redman, Mark Donohue and Peter Gethin.

In a limited campaign, a pair of top-10 finishes at Michigan and Watkins Glen covered his costs of $A5,000 and, more importantly, convinced him he had-what-ittakes.

By the time Johnnie fronted up for the Australian Grand Prix at Sandown in November his Repco-Holden V8 was fitted to the new Lola T330 he had ordered from Carl Haas before leaving the ‘States.

With a ducks-guts car and plenty of fresh confident authority in his driving, JW was second on the grid and third in the race behind Graham McRae – one of the global F5000 aces of the day – and John McCormack.

From then Walker was always on-the-pace:

equal fourth in the 1974 Tasman, winning the Levin round before his Gold Star campaign was scuttled after a Surfers Paradise crash required time-out to rebuild the car around an expensive new chassis.

The updated Lola T332 Repco-Holden that emerged from Gilberts’ race-shop was one of the most competitive 1975 Tasman cars.

JW went into the final round at Sandown in a winner-takes-all-battle with Warwick Brown and Graeme Lawrence.

John bagged pole powered by enginebuilder Don Halpin’s best ever 520bhp Repco-Holden but then had a still inexplicable 150mph first-lap crash towards the top of Sandown’s back-straight, through the horse-racing fencing … He walked away from a prang that could well have taken his life ...

While always an open-wheeler man,

Walker was offered touring car drives, first competing at Bathurst in a Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 2 in 1970.

As one of the country’s best, and using a Holden-based engine, he attracted the Holden Dealer Team’s attention, doing a one-year deal with Harry Firth, and GM’s Joe Felice to prepare and run an HDT Torana L34 out of Adelaide in local and some national events throughout 1975.

Colin Bond and Walker finished third in the 1975 Bathurst 1000, John’s best result in four appearances on The Mountain. His final Bathurst run in 1978 was aboard an A9X owned by Warren Cullen but prepared by the Walker team.

Walkers own business career commenced with the purchase of an existing panel shop which was renamed John Walker Panels in 1974. John’s son, Luke took it over upon John’s retirement.

Racer Rob Newman was apprenticed to Walker circa 1975, and he and JW prepared the victorious Lola T332 throughout 1978-79.

“He was a really tough boss! Everything had to be done properly, perfectly – all of my early lessons stood me in good stead throughout my life.”

“He wasn’t the kind of guy to put his arm around you, and say ‘well done’, but he passed a couple of cars under brakes on foot, getting to me to make sure I was alright when I rolled my Elfin NG at Mallala one time! And then said ‘in you get,’ when I had my first Cheetah Mk7 F2 drive an hour or so later. John was an indescribable part of my life, a friend and mentor for over 50 years.”

In his later years, he lived quietly at Thompson Beach, 70km north of Adelaide.

Auto Action offers its best wishes and condolences to John Walker’s family and legion of friends, fans and supporters.

John’s funeral/celebration of life was, appropriately, held at the Sporting Car Club, in Adelaide last Saturday.

Mark Bisset

The ‘Sandown Smash’ made the front page of The Sun newspaper.

Image: MARK BISSET COLLECTION Walker and the Lola T330 Repco-Holden blasts into the Island’s Southern Loop in 1973. Image ALAN RADLEY

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DON’T FORGET THE COLONIALS!

A TSUNAMI OF BRITISH TV MEDIA ‘LANDULATION’ DROWNED OUT A SUPERB JOB OF WORK BY TEAM-MATE PIASTRI …

“WHILE WE do commentate for the British Sky audience, we’re also doing it for other international audiences.”

That was Martin Brundle commenting as the Miami Grand Prix headed towards what was going to be a thrilling first GP win for Lando Norris. It might have been a subtle hint to his talking head colleagues – ‘Crofty’ and ‘Ted’ in particular – but neither took the hint.

In the end, virtually gifted the win, albeit a very well-taken one, by a Safety Car that fell perfectly for him (in more ways than one), Lando crossed the line for a win to warm the hearts of the Brits – for whom, driver-wise, it’s been a lean time since the last two Mercedes F1 cars have turned out to be ‘less-thenideal’ as Toto Wolff would say ...

Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see someone – anyone – cross the line with the dominant Verstappen/ Red Bull combo as runner-up, but it was a Safety Car quirk which helped set up Norris’ win.

As well, had our own Oscar Piastri (who was leading at the time and doing a brilliant job) and Carlos Sainz not pitted that one single lap before the crash which brought on the Safety Car, the lead after all the stops would have likely ended up with Verstappen, from Leclerc (both had already stopped), leaving Piastri, Sainz and Norris, in that

with Chris Lambden

CL ON CALL order and on fresh tyres, to see what progress they could make.

Anything could have happened – such is Safety Car lotto.

Despite not quite having his usual dominant pace, it would have been a brave pundit who would have bet on anyone being able to pass the #1 Red Bull which, in my view, would probably have held on to win, from Leclerc or whoever might have been able to get past him.

But by staying out longer – a smart strategy – it was Norris who benefitted, hugely, from the Safety Car. It was despatched a fraction too late out of the pit lane to pick up the McLaren, leading. Not only did the Safety Car pick up the secondplaced car (Verstappen), it allowed Norris, with the competition stuck behind the comparatively snail-pace Safety Car, virtually a complete lap to grow what was a 10 second lead to 30 seconds as he peeled into pit lane at the end of the lap for his stop.

It ensured he emerged still way in front of the Safety Car, after a totally ‘free’ stop – with the field (headed

by Verstappen and Leclerc) having

to be waved past it to queue up behind him for the restart. Merry Christmas in May, Lando.

The impressive thing, however, was the way Norris had the pace to pull away from the Red Bull by seven seconds for the win. It was genuine pace and validated the win.

Fair enough. A win is very much a win, especially a first, even with a bit of luck – as Lando himself admitted.

The Safety Car intervention was, as usual, outside of any of the teams’ control and it was McLaren and Norris who maximised their situation for a very popular win.

What frustrated me a bit, though, was the hour or so of post-race analysis. Crofty, Kravitz and Co were like five-year-olds sighting Father Christmas at the local shoppjng centre. There was the figurative wetting of pants! Yes, it was a first and very popular win and great news for the British audience but …

We got Lando out of the car, Lando talking to Coulthard, Lando’s engineer, Lando’s Dad talking to the Sky crew, Lando in the media-pen, Lando talking to Brundle, Lando in

the press conference …

Okay, no doubt who won, folks.

Viva Brittania!

But for that whole hour we got but a single, cursory mention of Oscar Piastri – not a chat; not a reference, not a media-pen chat … nothing.

Australia was keen to hear what he had to say as he had performed superbly in the ‘B-spec’ McLaren (his car was missing the new floor and bodywork compared to Norris – worth a couple of tenths). After emerging from grid six and the Turn 1 ruck in third, he’d jumped Leclerc and been able to hold him at bay all the way to nearly halfdistance when the Ferrari was the first contender to stop, followed by leader Verstappen.

Piastri now led! The lap 27 stop, the lap 28 Magnussen/Sargeant crash and Safety Car raffle cruelled it for him however and, from there, it went downhill, having to stop for a new front wing after an agitated Sainz slid into him. But, as a late reminder of his form, albeit with nothing to lose, he did then snare the race’s fastest lap. Not a bad day’s work.

There were those – including the odd specialist F1 website – who even put Oscar at the top of their Driver of the Day rankings …

So, yes, Mr Brundle, if you could reinforce your comment to the Sky crew, please?

We were thrilled for Lando too, but to pretty much ignore his well-performed team-mate in the euphoria was a bit disrespectful, to both Oscar himself and the colonial TV audience.

Don’t forget, for now at least, we still have the Union Jack in the corner of our flag! … Maaaaate!

To be fair, I guess we can look forward to the same degree of gusto and celebration from the Sky crew when Oscar Piastri, from the British Commonwealth outpost of Australia, notches up his first GP win ...

On a more serious note, the most positive conclusion from Miami is that McLaren is clearly getting strong correlation between its design theories, wind-tunnel, simulations and actual race-track performance (sometimes not the case with other teams), which means its design progress is directly measurable and updates of worthwhile gain.

On Sunday in Miami, the ‘complete’ papaya car, that of Norris, was the fastest of all.

This week, at Imola, Piastri will have the rest of the upgrades on his car … Plenty to look forward to.

Was Miami a rare Red Bull off-day?

Maybe ... but just maybe, we can now, with McLaren’s genuine pace, look forward to an increasing real contest at the front of the F1 field.

And look out, Oscar is coming …

After a great start, Oscar jumped Leclerc to run second, leading the two Ferraris until the Safety Car intervened.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR PUBLISHER Bruce Williams EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Andrew Clarke CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Caroline Garde

NATIONAL EDITOR

Thomas Miles

Mark Bisset HISTORICS EDITOR FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconcelos US CORRESPONDENT Mike Brudenell SPEEDWAY REPORTER Paris Charles CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Reese Mautone, Craig O’Brien, Dan McCarthy, David Batchelor, Edwina Williams, Gary Hill, Geoffrey Harris, John Lemm, Martin Agatyn, Paul Gover, Chris Lambden, Pete Trapnell, Ray Oliver, Steven Devries, Timothy W Neal, Toby Cooper PHOTOGRAPHERS Angryman Photography, David Batchelor, autopics.com.au, David McIntee - DMAC Photography, Geoff Colson - Colson PhotographyMark Horsburgh - Edge Photography, Matthew Bissett-MJB Photography, Mick Oliver- MTR Images, Peter Norton - Epic Sports Photography, Phil Wisewould Photography, Randall Kilner, Ray Oliver, Ray Ritter, Rebecca Hind - Revved Photography, Riccardo Benvenuti, Richard Hathaway, Ross Gibb Photography, Roy Meuronen Photography INTERNATIONAL

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COMMERCIAL AND ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 Editorial contributions may be sent to Auto Action. No responsibility will be accepted for their safety. If you require the return of any sent item or items, please attach a separate, stamped and fully addressed envelope.

AUTO ACTION IS PUBLISHED BY AUTO ACTION MEDIA PTY LTD ABN number 89 674 370 542 Office address Suite 4/156 Drummond Street Oakleigh Victoria 3166 Phone: 03 9563 2107 The trademark Auto Action is the sole property of Auto Action Media Pty Ltd The website www.autoaction.com.au and associated social media platforms are wholly owned by Auto Action Media Pty Ltd. All rights reserved No part of this magazine’s content may be reproduced, retransmitted or rebroadcast without the express written permission of the Publisher and Auto Action Media Pty Ltd. Printed by ive Group Distributed by ARE Direct Retail Distribution Australia

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Oakleigh Victoria 3166 A FAN FROM THE OLD DART TAKES AIM

HELLO DOWN there in Australia.

I had seen your magazine when I’ve been in Australia, but now I have discovered I can get it online for free.

How good is that! Thank-you, it’s terrific.

Now there is one thing I feel I must say to you Aussies.

I’ve noticed when I’ve been in your fair land how proud your Formula 1 fans have been of Daniel Ricciardo, previously Mark Webber and now Oscar Piastri.

All have been fine F1 drivers, but I feel that – in your patriotism – you Aussies over-estimate them all.

Neither Webber nor Ricciardo have achieved the ultimate, the F1 world title, and I fear you are going to have to face up to the reality that Piastri won’t either.

It takes very special talents to reach the pinnacle in F1, certainly to win many titles as Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have done.

Piastri had an excellent first season, but in his second year he really needs to be upstaging Lando Norris regularly if he is to stamp himself as a potential world champion.

Obviously us Brits have a very high opinion of Norris, but even after his maiden Grand Prix victory in Miami I am not sure that he is of the calibre of Max Verstappen or what Lewis Hamilton was in his prime – a standard I fear is behind him now. Ferrari is recruiting yesterday’s hero.

I’m not sure either that George Russell or Alex Albon are as good as Norris, let alone Verstappen.

Oliver Bearman may be Britain’s best prospect, but he is not going to get another opportunity at Ferrari in the near future unless Hamilton or Charles Leclerc miss races.

Piastri was wise to flee Alpine but it is difficult to see how he can realistically be thought of as a future world champion, especially if he remains with McLaren long-term.

Norris won’t become a world champion there, let alone Piastri.

McLaren has won only two GPs in recent years and, while it has outperformed Mercedes in recent times, it is not a manufacturer team.

It won’t win consistently. Norris was lucky in Miami that the cards fell his way.

I’m sorry to be a spoil sport to you Aussie fans, but I can’t see you having a driver to join Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones as a world champion in the near future.

Good luck to Piastri, but objectively it’s a dream too far – and I have to say even more so for young Jack Doohan if he gets a seat. He’s not a standout either.

18 I www.autoaction.com.au

Jack Brabham, Repco Brabham, winner of the 1966 British Grand Prix seen here on his victory lap.

The patriotism of Australian fans is admirable but misplaced.

Bring on the Ashes.

Howard Lee, Bedford, England Publisher’s note: Thanks very much for your support of Auto Action, Howard, but beyond that we’re at odds. We’ll back our Oscar all the way. Let’s see who’s right.

Lucky Liam Lawson isn’t an Aussie otherwise he would get a clip as well. Stay on board.

GREAT SIGNS FOR THE SEASON OUT OF TAUPO

WHILE SITTING in our caravan in Esperance, Western Australia, on our journey to Barbagallo Raceway in Perth we watched the Supercar races at Taupo, New Zealand.

We still had roughly 700km to travel in three weeks to be ready for the Perth round.

To again see different teams on the podium in New Zealand was a good thing for Supercars and fans.

It was great for Brad Jones and a huge improvement from Dick Johnson Racing.

Anton De Pasquale won the Jason Richards Trophy but Red Bull ended the weekend in front on the track (1,2).

Until other teams can look after their tyres Red Bull have a distinct advantage.

If you turn the clock back to previous drivers like Jamie Whincup, Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin, tyre management was a part of their success.

Now Will Brown and Broc Feeney have the ability to achieve this.

Red Bull are still the number one race-savvy team at the moment.

Great to see Brodie Kostecki racing again and look forward to his improvement race by race.

Must hook the van up now and head off.

Bring on Barbagallo.

Nomadic Phil Somewhere on the way to Barbagallo...

Publisher’s note. Let’s face it Phil, Triple 8 sets the benchmark for the other teams to beat.

WEBSTER’S WARBLE OUR INVETERATE correspondent likes what he sees in NZ ...

TIME FOR SEPARATE SUPERCAR SERIES IN NEW ZEALAND SUPERCARS ARE the most popular motorsport with Australian and New Zealand motor racing fans.

A lot of New Zealanders always make the trip across the Tasman to attend the Bathurst 1000.

As from next year there will be more “older generation” Supercars around that could still be used for racing purposes.

Why not create a Supercars New Zealand Championship from 2025 or 2026?

As New Zealand is a nation of 5.2 million people the championship could comprise five or six rounds and could have Super2 and Super3 Australian Supercars taking part.

They could race together as two individual categories or separately on the same day.

A Supercars New Zealand Championship could also serve as a “Driver to Australia” series with the Kiwi driver who has achieved the most points given a drive to race in a Supercar or a Super2 team in Australia the next year.

The teams participating in the New Zealand championship could be Australian Supercar teams keen on international expansion and New Zealand-owned teams as well.

As New Zealand fans follow Australian Supercars just like Australians do, the New Zealand championship could attract large crowds and the owners of the New Zealand circuits would be very keen to host a round on their tracks.

There could still be an annual Australian Supercars Championship round in New Zealand, of course, while the New Zealand championship could be shown on free-to-air TV in both countries. The Australian Supercars are shown on Sky Sports in New Zealand and should be on free-to-air over there as well.

A Supercars New Zealand Championship could add spice to the Supercars brand and could be a win-win for Supercars Australia and New Zealand motorsport fans.

Malcom Webster Boronia, Victoria.

SOCIAL DISCOURSE READERS OF AUTO ACTION HAVE BEEN BUSY COMMENTING THEIR VIEWS ON RACING ALL OVER THE WORLD ON SOCIAL MEDIA… MA’S BIG DEFICIT Mark Hudson All sports are becoming more expensive. I have invested in two rally cars and do rallying at state level. Lets all get together and help MA get through this tough time.

Paul Buccini Maybe if they sorted events like Targa they could have more licence holders and financial contributions. Also lots of grass roots events have been pushed aside by MA. All these add up and if they did the sums on averages of licence holders now not renewing and the per event costs they miss out on as clubs opting away from MA, you will find the losses.

Paul Fixter Grass roots, entry level and affordable motorsport is neglected. Dare say that’s a big contributing factor. Victoria doesn’t have a multi round Supersprint Championship anymore, 6 hour Relay cancelled and rising costs for race categories are turning grassroots competitors away.

SVG SALUTES AMBROSE Ross Martin This is such a great, feel-good story. Showing such respect.

Absolutely love it. I bet Marcos is over the moon as many Ford fans will be.

Dean Peters I hope he has this paint job at Watkins Glen because those Ambrose victories were marvellous.

NEW MUSTANG SPORTS SEDAN Steve Tamasi Racing Awesome! And that is coming from a Holden guy …well done to all involved.

BATHURST TO BE RESURFACED Shane Young They need to upgrade the support paddocks so we can Jack up cars level and not have to lay in water run through the paddocks.

Julian White Last time they did this it broke up 1/2 way through the most important race of the year. Be careful.

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NOTHING TO SEE HERE CARS RACING WITHOUT DRIVERS IS A NON-EVENT ...

DID YOU see the news about the world’s first autonomous car race in the sandpit?

I thought not.

Why not?

Because the first serious singleseater race without drivers was a complete non-event.

Despite a huge investment by the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, which plans to eventually stage races for buggies and drones as well as cars, the first race barely raised a blip on the motorsports scene.

What was also promoted with a supporting race between former grand prix driver Daniil Kyvat and an autonomous car eventually turned into a couple of demonstration laps.

Surprise, surprise - Kyvat was hailed as the ‘winner’.

The serious competition, between eight self-driven cars, was a fail by any reasonable standard.

Cars spun, cars crashed, and at one stage all the cars on the track stopped.

Why did they stop? Because the car in front had crashed and brought out a yellow flag. With their programming, they were not allowed to pass a car under a yellow flag and so stopped instead at the scene of the incident.

Hmmm . . .

So much for machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.

with Paul Gover

THE PG PERSPECTIVE The basic thinking on the A2RL project is not stupid and the cars themselves are genuine racers, not some high school science project, with 550 horsepower and a six-speed gearbox inside a carbon fibre chassis.

At first glance, they could be Formula 2 cars. Until you realise there is no helmet in the cockpit and the space is taken up with the computers needed to operate and co-ordinate the inputs from cameras and sensors with the built-in programming and some serious AI equipment.

But …

It’s still hard to beat the real thing – avoiding the word impossible for now – even if there have been some serious mishaps and mistakes on Australian tracks this year that track back to old-fashioned people at the wheel and human error.

Apart from the silliness in Abu Dhabi, and the vast spending on the project, the A2RL racing got me thinking about all the attempts to ‘modernise’ motorsport and draw a ’new audience’ to replace the old-

timers who are still deeply rusted onto categories such as Supercars.

The only one which has obviously and hugely worked is ‘Drive to Survive’ on Netflix. It’s not a car or a championship, just a television show reporting on a world championship that’s been running since 1950.

But ‘Drive to Survive’ has the most basic ingredients for motorsport – people and consequences. It might only be a costly crash or a loss of points on one side, but F1 is still deeply human and the characters could easily have been written for a television soap opera.

Even without Gunther Steiner.

There are have been plenty of other wrong roads before the A2RL. Does anyone follow or care about Formula E or Extreme E? And who could forget A1GP, a single-seater series for national teams, which lasted for only four seasons despite massive spending by series boss Tony Teixeira.

Then there was Grand Prix

Masters, with only seven races despite fields including retired world champions Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Or, more recently, the W Series.

Now, today, there is the F1 Academy to try and accelerate the number of women in elite motorsport and – eventually – Formula One. It’s great to see more women in the F1 garages, and along the Supercars pitlane, but surely the best way to get them into a grand prix car is to start at the bottom by finding and supporting the talent in karting.

But, back to the A2RL. The first weekend was a flop but the engineering team behind the cars is not giving up and believes its AI work and research into driverless cars could have serious applications away from motorsport.

Plenty of people are working on autonomous road cars, although big promises have delivered only tiny results with some geo-fenced vehicles inside universities and a handful of taxi trial vehicles in San Francisco.

If the engineers and AI experts are right, there will be a day when everything on the road can drive itself.

A truck has already driven across the USA – with a human minder at the wheel for any emergency – and the idea of high-speed ’trains’ of self-driving

cars on the Hume Highway, running millimetres apart while people in cars are sleeping or gaming or whatever, could be seen as a good idea.

If you don’t inject a human-driven car into the mix, of course …

It doesn’t take too much imagination to see where all this could – emphasis on ‘could’ – be heading, just like the politiciandriven push to turn the whole automotive landscape electric.

But could and would and should are all very different and there is plenty of proof.

Hyundai has just begun selling its brilliant battery-electric IONIQ 5 N, a super-quick compact hatchback with 478 kiloWatts (640hp) of power, a 260km/h top speed and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.4 seconds.

But the newest N-car is more than just a baby boomer, it’s also a unique transformer that has a battery heart and a combustion soul. It has all sorts of wicked trickery but it’s best party trick is the ability to mimic a turbo hot hatch, with artificial ‘gears’ and a AI soundtrack that even includes an explosion of combustion pops and bangs – in the cabin and outside – when you go all-in.

The advertising slogan for the car is ‘Driving Still Matters’ and the kicker line that follows is ’Never Just Drive’.

Perhaps the crew at A2RL have yet to get the message.

What’s the point? Motorsport without drivers ... Is that where AI is eventually going to take us? Noooooo ...

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www.autoaction.com.au I 19

FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS

ANDRETTI GETS KEY SUPPORT FROM US PARLIAMENT MICHAEL AND Mario Andretti’s bid to get their team into the 2026 Formula 1 grid took an interesting twist, when the United States House of Representatives judiciary committee decided to open an investigation into the decision taken by the Commercial Rights owner and Liberty Media to block the American’s entry into the sport.

Jim Jordan, the chairman of that committee, has sent a letter to Liberty’s CEO Greg Maffei and Formula 1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali, demanding answers to his questions and imposing a deadline of Tuesday, May 21 for them to answer.

Jordan has demanded access to all the documents concerning the “process for evaluating the entry of new teams” related to Andretti and even those between F1, Liberty Media and the 10 current teams on the subject.

In his letter, the Republican representative claimed that, the “excuses put forward for denying Andretti Cadillac’s entry appear to be pretextual, arbitrary and unrelated to Andretti Cadillac’s suitability to compete in Formula One.” One of the examples he gives is that “Formula 1 faulted Andretti Cadillac for attempting to use an existing engine manufacturer because it could ‘be damaging to the prestige and standing of Formula 1.’ At the same time, however, Formula 1 stated that if Andretti Cadillac used a new engine manufactured by General Motors in the team’s first year, a

It’s getting serious – the US House of Reps wants an explanation as to why Michael and Mario Andrettis’ F1 proposal is being rejected ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES new engine would create a challenge for the new team.”

Then, using the words of FIA president Ben Sulayem, Jordan concluded that, “Formula 1 cannot have it both ways. The truth, as FIA President Muhamed Ben Sulayem explained, is that the rejection of Andretti Cadillac is ‘all about money’ …”

That’s why, in his opinion, “delaying Andretti Cadillac’s entry into Formula One for even one year will harm American consumers to benefit failing Formula One

teams,” adding that, “limiting the number of teams in Formula One will increase the price of sponsoring or buying into an existing Formula One team.

As the Committee examines this matter and considers potential legislation around the structure and competition of sports leagues, we write to request a staff-level briefing on the decision to deny Andretti Cadillac’s application to join Formula One.” This letter is a consequence of action taken earlier by 12 bipartisan members of

the US Congress, who wrote to Formula 1 and Liberty Media seeking answers over their rejection of Andretti’s bid, after a meeting with Mario Andretti in Washington DC. Given Liberty Media is an American company, they are forced to reply to the two letters and give all the required explanations to the members of the Congress, so there’s pressure over Maffei and Domenicali to justity their actions as quickly and effectively as possible.

AUDI LINES UP OCON IF SAINZ GOES ELSEWHERE ESTEBAN OCON has moved to the top of Audi’s shortlist of candidates to team up with Nico Hulkenberg for the next couple of years if the German manufacturer is unable to convince Carlos Sainz to join them right from the start of their Formula 1 program.

The Frenchman is believed to be Andreas Seidl’s preferred alternative, with current driver Valtteri Bottas only the team’s third choice, while his team-mate Zhou Guanyu seems to be on his way out of Hinwill at the end of the season.

Sources from Sauber told us that while it was always clear Hulkenberg was going to be offered a contract by Audi, which wants a German driver in one of the cars for marketing reasons, the plan was to have the 2025 and 2026 line-up announced at the start of May – both the Haas driver and Carlos Sainz being told they needed to sign contracts before the end of April.

As the Spaniard declined to do so, Bottas was likely to get a similar offer, but things cooled down a bit when the Audi management realised Verstappen’s contractual situation was holding the entire driver market up, so they opted to announce the deal with Hulkenberg and keep the second car available for a few more weeks, hoping

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Sainz will end up joining them.

Bottas, who has it made it clear that, “my first priority is to stay with the team, because I believe the Audi project will be a very interesting one for any driver,” was surprised to realise the talks with Seidl had stalled and is now openly on the market, trying to find an alternative for his future in Formula 1.

Talks between Ocon’s management and Audi have gathered pace in the last couple of weeks, the Frenchman being quite happy to break his links with Mercedes to sign for a rival car manufacturer – but he is not alone in this battle. Team-mate Pierre Gasly has also opened talks with Seidl, who definitively wants two established drivers to lead his team in the first couple of seasons, a criteria that eliminates the likes of Mick Schumacher or Felipe Drugovich from his shortlist.

The fact that Ocon has outperformed Gasly since the start of the season seems to have put him as the first alternative for Audi should Sainz opt to join another team, while Bottas’ pace against Zhou hasn’t convinced Seidl he’s still the same driver who won 10 Grands Prix and scored 20 pole positions when teamed up with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

If Sainz procrastinates too much longer, Estaban Ocon (left) could get the other Sauber/Audi F1 gig.

TIRED NEWEY ADMITS “I ENJOY REGULATION CHANGES” …

ADRIAN NEWEY addressed his imminent departure from Red Bull during the Miami Grand Prix, adimitting he feels “tired” after so many consecutive years working in Formula 1 and insisting that “I felt that now was a good time to step back and take a bit of a break and take stock of life, and go travelling a bit.”

But the genial engineer has left the door wide open for joining a new team as soon as his gardening leave from Red Bull ends, and looking ahead at 2026 has admitted that “I do enjoy regulation changes.”

Speaking to former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle, Newey explained that “Formula 1 is all-consuming and I’ve been at it for a long time now.” The intensity of the battle with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for the 2021 title clearly left a mark on the 65-year-old, who admitted that, “2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes through the championship and at the same time putting all the research and development into the RB18, which was the father of this generation of cars.”

When the pressure is that high things can change, and Newey explained that “then there comes a point where, as Forrest Gump said, I’m feeling a little bit tired.”

That’s why the British engineer has been considering taking a break “for a little while now, if I’m honest,” said Newey, before giving a clear clue of what really triggered his desire to leave Red Bull: “I was thinking about this a little bit

ALONSO ACCUSES FIA OF ANTISPANISH BIAS

Will he, won’t he? Adrian Newey takes an analytical look at his potential employer’s car ... over last winter and then, as events have unfolded this year, I thought ‘I’m in the very lucky position where I don’t need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it.’ And so I just felt that now was a good time to step back and take a bit of a break and take stock of life, and go travelling a bit.”

Looking at his more than likely move to another team, Newey tried to play down the talks he’s already had with Ferrari, Aston Martin and Williams, insisting that “maybe at some point – I don’t know when – I’ll be standing in the shower and will go ‘right, now this is going to be the next adventure’. But right now there’s no plan,” before adding that “I do enjoy regulation changes, for sure.”

It’s known that Newey has met with both Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur and had talks with Stelantis’ Chairman John Elkann, but the engineer insists that, “it’s too early, honestly, to be talking about what I will be doing next.”

But LewisHamilton has made public his desire to have Newey with him at Ferrari, looking quite comfortable with the thought it would just be a matter of time before that will happen.

All Newey would say on the matter was that, “it’s very kind of Lewis to say that … I’m very flattered”, before insisting that, “at the moment it’s just ‘take a little bit of a break and see what happens next’ …”

... BUT HORNER INSISTS NEWEY’S ROLE HAS CHANGED CHRISTIAN HORNER continues to insist Red Bull won’t miss Adrian Newey after he leaves the company, the British manager making it clear he doesn’t believe the CTO’s decision had anything to to with the scandal he’s been involved in, even going as far as saying that, in the event the genial engineer joins another team in 2025, his presence alone won’t be a guarantee of success for whoever hires him.

Following what has been Red Bull’s line since Newey’s decision was announced, Horner claimed the only reason he’s leaving the company is that he felt it was time to take a break: “If you speak with Adrian and look at the statements he has put out, Adrian has decided that the time for him is now, after pretty much 35 years, with the team in the strength and the engineering depth that we have, to step away. We knew that time was coming and we have brought a structure in place to pick up the baton and carry on with it and that is something we have put in place over the last five or six years.”

Asked if the scandal Horner is involved in could have been the trigger for his decision, the Team Principal deflected the issue, saying that “I have spoken to Adrian

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Yeah right, Christian ...

Horner has been playing down Newey’s value to the Red Bull team – or anyone else who might hire him! Pull the other one ...

at length about that and Adrian’s position is very clear. We have enjoyed a great relationship, We continue to enjoy a great relationship – we are friends as well as work colleagues. He has done a huge amount for this team and we will be sad to see him leave. But he has left the team in good shape and we have a great team of people and strength in depth to take us forward.”

Even when pressed on the matter, Horner refused to admit losing Newey’s contribution could be costly for his team: “Unfortunately, nothing is forever. Adrian

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was at Williams for seven years, at McLaren for seven years, we managed to have him for 18 years. I think we have enjoyed some great moments, on and off track. It has been a wonderful journey with Adrian He is a friend; he is the godfather to my children and we remain friends. We are well positioned for the future and within the technical team we have ... we always knew this day was coming and it is something that, since 2014 when Adrian came very close to leaving, that structure was assembled.”

FERNANDO ALONSO has accused the Formula 1 Stewards of being biaised against Spanish drivers, following the penalties he incurred during the Australian and the Chinese Grands Prix.

In Melbourne, the Aston Martin driver received a post-race penalty for his role in George Russell’s penultimate lap crash while, three weeks later, the Spaniard was again penalised, after being considered the culprit in the incident he had with Carlos Sainz in the closing stages of the Sprint race.

Asked if he felt he was being singled out by the Stewards with these two decisions, a visibly upset Alonso said that “maybe the problem is that I have the wrong nationality – I’m not British!” The veteran then went on a rant, accusing the FIA of having double standards, “because I get penalties for what were normal race situations and other driver cause a lot more trouble and all they get is, at best, reprimands.”

Alonso has vowed to have a word with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, insisting he was seeking “reassurances there is no bias based on nationalities. In this sport it’s clear that if you are British you get away with a lot more things than I, a Spanish, do, so it’s my responsibility to protect the future generation of Spanish drivers and make sure they are treated fairly and equally by the FIA.” And when questioned on why Sainz wasn’t getting penalties as well, the veteran gave the most bizzare of answers, saying that, “he’s not Spanish, he’s European …”

The very animated discussion Alonso had with Ben Sulayem on the grid in Shanghai, before the main race, led to another meeting in Miami.

Having talked at length with the man who runs the Federation, Alonso was in a much more conciliatory mood in Miami.

The Aston Martin driver praised the FIA president, saying that, “he’s always on board on every opinion that the drivers have, you know.

He knows that we are the ones driving the cars and that we can have some suggestions on things. There are a couple of points that we need to address as a sport. And he always listens to us. Let’s see if, between all of us, if we can make Formula 1 a better sport and a little bit more consistent.”

Having been involved in a couple of incidents recently, Carlos Sainz refused to get dragged into the fight Alonso is fighting, saying that “I don’t comment on nationalities, just consistency and inconsistency.”

The Ferrari driver, who wasn’t expecting a post-race penalty for the light contact he had with Piastri when he overtook the Australian in MIami, admitted that “I was surprised that Oscar Piastri did something similar to Kevin Magnussen yesterday, who had I don’t know how many penalties, and he didn’t get any, and he didn’t give me the position back. Then I thought ‘if we’re going to go like that, I’m going to go for it,’ and I did.”

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FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS

Yes please! The Istanbul Park circuit is liked by many drivers, and has produced some spectacular races in the past.

PIRELLI TO HELP IN TURKISH GP RETURN

TURKEY HAS now definitively joined the large number of countries that are trying to quickly secure deals to host Formula 1 races in the near future, with the country’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, confirming that a deal is very close to completion.

The impressive Istanbul Park held five consecutive Grands Prix in the first decade of this century but the deal was not renewed when the Turkish government decided against paying the fast-rising promoter’s fee.

But, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Formula 1 needed to find circuits that would

host Grands Prix and countries that would still pay a small fee for the privilege, the track was used for another two editions of the Grand Prix, in 2020 and 2021, and those experiences seemed to have convinced Erdogan’s government of the benefits of hosting Formula 1 races.

Having been used as an extended car dealership during its lean years, Istanbul Park is now on the verge of being leased to Pirelli Turkey for a period of 10 years, but the Italian tyre manufacturer demanded assurances from the Turkish government that there will be Formula 1 races held on the track, as that’s the way to maximise its investment and, also,

to have a convenient test track for its Formula 1 tyres, that are majorly made in the country.

According to Mr Erson, the tender for the management of the Formula 1 track in Istanbul was held in early April and “was completed successfully.” And while there’s no official word on the company that guaranteed that deal, it’s widely believed Pirelli Turkey will now manage the circuit for the next decade, with the government now working to secure a long-term Grand Prix deal.

The Minister admitted that “now we have moved to the second stage,” adding that “the previous tenant must vacate and hand it over to the company that won the bid. In this case,

the process of concluding an agreement to hold the Grand Prix in Istanbul from 2026 will proceed quickly.”

With Germany, South Korea, Thailand and other countries also vying for a place in the calendar, Stefano Domenicali’s dream of extending the Formula 1 season up to 30 Grands Prix is taking shape – but the Italian is facing resistence from the teams, as they want the current number of 24 per year to remain the limit, with at least half the circuits rotating races between them, leaving a group of 12 to 14 permanent Grands Prix in the calendar, with the others taking place every two years.

WILLIAMS AND HAAS KEEN ON BOTTAS DEAL face-to-face meeting, but is also believed to be top of VALTTERI BOTTAS’S future with Sauber, now Haas’ list to race alongside Oliver Bearman in the next under Audi’s ownership, has clearly been thrown into two years. question after Nico Hulkenberg was announced as Kevin Magnussen’s rating inside the American one of the team’s 2025 drivers and the management team has dropped considerably since the start of the of the German company has made it clear that Carlos season, as he’s been constantly outpaced by teamSainz is their main target to join Hulkenberg for the mate Nico Hulkenberg, while his unsporting behavior next two years. in Miami, that earned him 35 seconds in penalties in The fact he was only told of the German’s signing a the Sprint race alone and got him within two penalty few minutes before the deal was officially announced points of an automatic one-race ban, seem to have had already upset the quiet Finn and his mood been the final straw for the team’s management. darkened considerably when he was informed, without With Gene Haas nowadays preferring veteran drivers previous consultation, he’d be getting a new race in his team, Bottas is believed to be the number one engineer from the Miami Grand Prix onwards – Alex ‘Aussie’ Valterri looks to be out of the picture at Sauber/Audi for next year and is candidate to replace the Dane in 2025. And Ferrari is Chan, with whom he had worked since the start of looking elsewhere for a ride. pushing hard to promote Oliver Bearman to Formula 1 2022, being fired with immediate effect and replaced after his magnificent performance in Jeddah, where he replaced elsewhere, hoping to sign a new deal before the end of the by former Ferrari man Steve Petrik.

Carlos Sainz at very short notice. month.

The Finn made it clear that “there’s some people leaving, For Bottas it’s essential to make his own move before more Two teams have emerged as Bottas’ next destination, as some people joining, and obviously many of those decisions seats get taken for next year, so the Finn’s priority is to secure both Williams and Haas are interested in his services. are not in my hands.” And if, until the Chinese Grand Prix, his a quick deal. If Williams is waiting to see what happens with The Finn, who was part of Williams’ Young Driver program first priority was to sign a new deal with Audi and stay with Andrea Kimi Antonelli for a few months more, then Haas will from 2009 and raced for Sir Frank’s team from 2013 to 2016, the Hinwill-based team for the remainder of his Formula 1 become his most likely destination. met up with Team Principal James Vowles in Miami, for a first career, it now seems clear Bottas’ intention is to find a seat

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Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

WHY NEWEY IS STILL AS GOOD AS GOLD

CHRISTIAN HORNER SPENT MOST OF HIS WEEKEND IN MIAMI INSISTING ADRIAN NEWEY’S ROLE AT RED BULL HAD SERIOUSLY CHANGED IN THE LAST DECADE AND HE DIDN’T HAVE A DIRECT INFLUENCE IN THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEAM’S CARS ANY MORE ...

HE STATED that, “the regulations have become tighter and tighter and Adrian’s role has evolved and developed within the team in the last years, others have had to step up and we have had to change and evolve how we work, which is the same in any organisation.”

And on the matter of what kind of impact Newey could have in another team, if he chose to go down that route, he dismissed it, claiming that, “Formula 1 is a very complicated business now, particularly with the cost cap elements that you have to take into consideration.

You have to think very carefully about where you can meet your funding, where you meet your budgets, what resource, where you are going to get best bang for buck.”

This is not the first time Horner has played down Newey’s influence in the technical

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with Luis Vasconcelos

F1 INSIDER decisions taken by his team and it’s not hard to believe the genial engineer didn’t appreciate that kind of statements made by the Team Principal.

While it’s understandable Horner would want to motivate Waché, Balbo and others by giving them tremendous visibility, someone with Newey’s status would never be happy seeing his own contribution being devalued, would he?

And going back to the influence Newey still has in the technical development of a team … from what I’ve been told by reliable sources from Red Bull, Horner has massively understated it.

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When the new regulations were published, those working daily in Milton Keynes read them and defined among them what the concept of the 2022 car should be.

Newey, who doesn’t go into the factory every day, read them too, made his own interpretation of the rules and told the heads of department what he believed was the best configuration, paying a lot of attention to the interaction between the rear suspension and the diffuser.

Once Newey’s theories were put into CFD and wind tunnel testing, they showed much better numbers than the team

had originally achieved and, hey presto, the genial engineer’s ideas were adopted and developed with great success.

Newey actually designed the rear suspension himself and explained how he wanted the diffuser to work and it’s the combination of those two elements, together with a very powerful DRS, that have made the last three Red Bull chassis virtually unbeatable.

And that’s the contribution Newey will make to his new team.

Yes, for the next 11 months he won’t be able to work for any other Formula 1 team and by April of 2025 the concept of the following year’s chassis will be more than defined.

But there will still be time for a team with the kind of structure and money Ferrari has, to make the necessary changes to its project in order to incorporate

Newey’s ideas, once they’ve passed through the Scuderia’s CFD and wind tunnel teams.

That’s why a genius like Newey is still worth his weight in gold and that’s why John Elkann and Frédéric Vasseur are doing everything they can to convince him to join Ferrari.

He won’t even have to move to Italy – not at all. He can work quietly from home, as he enjoys, fly over to Maranello once or twice a week, to be briefed by all heads of departments about the progress made and give them directions to follow, while collecting the biggest pay cheques of his already wealthy career.

All that added to the joy of working for the biggest name in motor racing.

So, in all honesty, what’s there not to like for someone who has achieved everything else in his nearly 45 years in motor racing?

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SOLID FOUNDATIONS… BUILDING TO BE THE BEST GROVE RACING SITS SECOND IN THE SUPERCARS TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AND WANTS MORE. STEPHEN GROVE TOLD ANDREW CLARKE SECOND IS NOT ENOUGH ...

STEPHEN GROVE is one of the more interesting people in pitlane. His shirt is never tucked in for a start, which sounds silly, but right from the start he looks different to the others prancing up and down the lane.

He sticks to himself a bit. You don’t often see him huddled in a pack discussing the issues of the day, but that doesn’t mean he has no opinions. You kind-of get the feeling none of that will help the team get better, so why bother?

And it is working. Grove Racing sits second on the Teams Championship table, shaded only by Triple Eight, which has the start of the season with dominant form. He knows he has people chasing him now, and that any slip-up will open doors he doesn’t want opened, but he also knows he is still chasing one other team.

Grove Racing’s Supercars team – aka Penrite Racing – is run by his 27-year-old son,

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Brenton, but don’t think it is straight nepotism.

Under Brenton, you feel like the team has set about winning with a SWOT analysis at the core and removed the Ws – weaknesses – starting with cherry-picking talent for the workshop and fine tuning the driver line-up.

“One of the real strong driving forces there is that we’ve got a whole gamut of really good people, but the real driving force in the race team is Brenton,” Grove says of the most critical role in the team. “He has a real aptitude for racing and an understanding of set-up and cars.

“That’s maybe from some of his experience and he works really hard at it. He brings everybody together. As CEO, he plays a big role in the engineering side.

“He was very good in a GT car – he’d be one of the best 'silver' drivers in the world in the GT car. There’s no question of that. We watch his times when we go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi,

and he runs with some of the factory drivers.

He’s a very good driver.

“But what’s so good about him is his unbelievable ability on feedback. He just has a knack. He can tell you what the car’s doing, how to set it up ... and he brings that to the Supercar team. He’s not an engineer by trade, it’s a combination: he’s been around motorsport a long time; he always came with me to all our races, and he’s got a passion for engineering. He just adds an enormous amount to the team.

“He didn’t want to race Supercars. He did Super2 and a little bit of Carrera Cup, but he wanted to focus more on business. The Grove Group’s got a lot of different companies, and he’s CEO of one of our biggest companies in the group. He’s off to Harvard straight after the race this weekend [a four-driver 24-hour GT race at Portimão with the two Groves, Matt Payne and Garth Tander] to do some courses

over there. He wants to be more a part of the business side of racing.”

Stephen is more than just a clothing rebel, he is one of the deeper thinkers of pitlane, not always following the chosen lines and agreed thought processes.

Grove bought into Kelly Racing at the start of the 2021 season and, by the end of the season owned the whole operation in a planned takeover of the business that Rick and Todd Kelly wanted to exit. In that first season, Kelly Grove Racing finished eighth in the Supercars Teams’ Championship, with one win and a podium finish the highlights for the season. Rick Kelly had retired at the end of the previous season – Dave Reynolds joined the team with the backing of Penrite and the #26 to represent the year Penrite was founded, and Andre Heimgartner was the race winner.

For the start of 2022, as Grove Racing, they recruited Dave Cauchi from Triple Eight. His

New young star Payne heads Triple Eight young-gun Feeney at Tauop (below). Above: once the parity situation was addressed, Payne took a superb first win in Adelaide.

TOP RIGHT: The Grove A-Team: Stephen and Brenton Grove (at the back), with (l to r) David Cauchi, Jack Bell, Grant McPherson (almost hidden) and Alistair McVean.

RIGHT: Success started in Adelaide (far right), but now includes poles, at the GP (though there were race dramas!) and (below) most recently Taupo.

Images: MARK HORSBURGH EDGE PHOTGRAPHICS/PETER NORTON-EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

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We needed to change our culture in the sense of the ability to believe that we could win ...

former bosses had a dummy spit and tried court action to enforce a 'gardening-leave' provision but found it couldn’t. The Groves had mapped it out perfectly and they had their man starting when they expected.

Grove has its own academy, and Matt Payne was running under his tutelage, but he wasn’t ready for 2022, when Heimgartner left the team. So Lee Holdsworth was brought in for a season and the team finished fifth with eight podiums across Reynolds and Holdsworth.

Gen3 wasn’t kind to Grove Racing (seventh) or more specifically the Ford teams in general in 2023. Seventh was a slip back, but the signs were a little different. The team was sharper and young Kiwi Matt Payne was proving why the Groves had so much faith in him. When the parity shift happened after Bathurst, Dave Reynolds finished on the podium in every race and banked a win, as did Payne in his rookie season, claiming the Adelaide 500.

And that brings us to 2024. Richie Stanaway has replaced Reynolds and Grove Racing sits second in the Teams’ Championship.

“We needed to change our culture in the sense of the ability to believe that we could win. That was the biggest thing that struck me.” Grove says of the first year or two.

“They [the Kellys] had some good people, and it was a good team. But there was a belief that 10th was good enough. So cultural change was the biggest issue that we needed to tackle. We brought in some good engineers in David Cauchi and Grant McPherson, and we had some good engineers already. It was just a matter of then making sure that we

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got the right driver lineup, which we worked through.

“Then just getting them to believe that if we did everything right; we did the pit stops right, we set the car up right, we looked at the data and we worked with the drivers ... If we did everything right, that we could be in maybe the top five or six. Then once you can get to that … I think we had a race win in our first year when it was just Kelly Grove Racing.

It was in the wet and it was with Andre, but it was that win at The Bend that just really showed the team that we could win.”

Grove always said he wanted two drivers in the cars that he believed could win the championship. He got behind Payne early in the piece and is started to get the rewards; and this year he put Richie Stanaway in to replace Dave Reynolds who wanted more certainty on his tenure than Grove Racing was willing to offer.

“We believed that we needed drivers that could win us championships. We believed in youth, and so we went and looked. We started the Grove Academy. Matt was the first driver to come through that, and we assessed that, and then we moved on from there. I’ve got great faith also in Richie – both the guys we’ve got now can win us championships.

“There’s no questionof that in our mind, but we need to build the infrastructure around them. We need to get the right environment for them. We need to tick a lot of boxes.

There’s a long way to go chasing Triple Eight.

But we believe we can win championships with the team and the drivers we have.”

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Triple Eight, he acknowledges, is a lofty goal, but he’s seen them beaten and he is up for the fight … especially now the Fords are ‘almost’ on parity with the Chevrolet.

Opening the raw wounds of 2023, he says the cars are better and maybe have parity, but the Ford teams have a 12-month learning gap to close first. His team is leading the way. He acknowledges how tough it was to go racing with the belief that you couldn’t win without a lot of luck, but they pushed ahead and that worked when the parity balance shifted briefly in the Fords favour.

“We had to change our culture and change our goals,” he said of last year. “We were seriously, in my view, disadvantaged as Ford teams, but we just needed to be the best of the Ford teams. That was our number one objective.

“It was quite hard. The wear on the tyres ... we could string together a lap, we could get a good lap and maybe get in the top five on the starting grid, but we just couldn’t get our tyres to last – none of the Ford teams could.

“So, you were trying to think outside the square and think of other strategies. We’re not quite there at the moment, to be honest, but hindsight tells us that we’ve had to adapt, and that should help us in the future. When we get these cars (and they’re getting better) back to where it’s a level playing field, we’ll be able to use the tools that we have and to get where we need to get.

“We still don’t have tyre life. If we go back and look at New Zealand, in the race on Sunday, it was definitely about tyre life. It’s two-fold: it’s obviously the driver and Brown and Feeney did an excellent job and the gap probably got out too much for us. That’s a bit in coaching the driver, but there’s a fair bit in the cars and they just aren’t quite there yet.

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Matt’s just fast and he has a real ability, a mental capacity to not use all of his brain when he is in the car ...

“It’s a lot of things, but it’s a catch-up game for us. Now that the cars are getting better and they’re working hard on the engines; now we’ve got to work through all the data.

It’s more the simulation. We’ve got to have the right simulation in place so when we get to the track, you’re not taking Practice 1 and 2 to work out where you are. The GM teams can adapt a

fair bit quicker, and we need to close that gap.”

While much of the Supercars simulation is straight computer-based at the moment, he is building two simulators to take it to the next level, although it won’t be the extreme of NASCAR or Formula 1, but he hopes it will give his team an edge.

“We have very small practice sessions (at

races),” he says of the simulation programs, “and it’s really trying to develop. When you get to the racetrack, you need to roll the out of the truck and be on the pace. Triple Eight does that very well.

“They’re a class outfit – it is not luck. We’re maybe 75 percent of where they are at ... they’re up the road there. They just proved that at Taupo – they just drove away and the two of them were fighting, I don’t know, maybe 10 seconds up the road. So, there’s a bit to do.

“But it is not just them. There’s some class drivers in Waters and Mostert and they can

Richie Stanaway (below) at speed at Taupo – "Probably one of the most naturally gifted drivers I've seen."

ABOVE: Dave Reynolds won for the Pentite team on the Gold Coast, but has moved on.

TOP: The 2023 GT squad – Anton De Pasquale, Earl Bamber, and the Groves. The father-son team continue their international GT racing.

ABOVE RIGHT: Mark Larkham interrogates CEO Cauchi.

RIGHT: McPherson and Bell – experience and fast-rising youth in the engineering line-up.

BELOW RIGHT: Stanaway worked his way into the top 10 at the AGP. win on their day – they’re going to come good too. We really need to just keep working, for us. The goal is Triple Eight, but there’s more to it than that.

“We’ve got some really good engineering and we’re just trying to work through it. It was important from day one to build the structure, and you need good people – whether it be business or anything you do.

"If you’re surrounded by good people, you have the ability to think outside the screen.

You have the ability to go to the next level.”

The Groves recruited winning engineers in Cauchi and then McPherson, and Alistair McVean stayed when Dave Reynolds left.

Jack Bell was brought up through the ranks to engineer for Payne.

He is happy with his driver line-up now, with Stanaway joining the team in what looked like a gamble. The outwardly recalcitrant driver has proved hard to work

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with in the past but, as we’ve said before, this is a new Richie Stanaway “Matt’s just fast and he has a real ability, a mental capacity to not use all of his brain when he is in the car. He has a lot of ability to think about other things like tyres and strategy where he is on the track. He’s got great raw speed.

“Richie’s probably one of the most naturally gifted drivers I’ve ever seen. You’ve got to acknowledge that he’s been out of a car, really, for three years. We saw that at Melbourne Grand Prix, but every race of every race weekend, he is getting better and better. He’s not far away from a win.

“It’s very impressive because he’s fourth in the championship ... and he hasn’t really hit his straps. He’s struggled in quali, he’s struggled just to understand the green tyre again. But he’s going to come into his own very soon.

Once he masters the green tyre and that one lap qualifying, I think we’ll be on.

“He’s naturally shy. He came over and did the Gulf 12 hour with us; we spent a lot of time outside of the truck with him, and he’s a funny guy. He is a good guy to be around.

He’s just very shy and he just wants to back up his statements through driving. He’s just not one that likes to talk about it too much.

He just likes to get in and get it done.

“He’s great with sponsors, he’s just got to learn the process of being able to talk about himself. He has an unbelievable passion for getting in a car and racing. He does a lot of our sponsor events, and he’s very good at it.

“There’s always a doubt when you take any new driver on – can you get the best out of him? But I really felt at the time, it was never any issue of his natural ability. I think we have an environment in our team that suits him.

“We’re more about trying to solve the problem and go back and reflect on it rather then be harsh on individuals that maybe did something wrong. We’re more of an organisation that looks forward and we’re supportive and try and work out ways around fixing those problems. I think the environment suits him.”

The link that is sometimes forgotten is Garth Tander. Grove brought him in for a specific purpose and that has been a key in making it all work.

“He has had an enormous impact on our organisation. He’s one of the most astute motorsport people I’ve come across.

His experience speaks for itself – his competitiveness, his desire to win, his desire to beat everybody. The way he works with Matty and our other young drivers ... He’s been a revelation for us. That was a very good move there.”

Grove Racing will continue to be Grove Racing and they’ll do it their own way. They are planning on bringing the GT program in-house and they’ll keep a car in Europe so they can do races here and there. They have an academy program, but no plans or desire to do Super2 or wildcards.

“We want to just stick to two cars and, once we get that right, we’ll probably expand our motorsport business. But right now, it’s really more about just getting the Supercar right.

Forget the wild cards and other things, just get on with trying to get two cars to the front.

“I’m loving it, and it’s a good fit for the Grove Group. I enjoy the racing. I probably get more nervous watching the racing than I do when I do my own racing.

"But I really love it, really enjoy it. I just want to watch the team develop and continue to develop.”

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CROSSING THE DITCH IN AN 86

IT’S THE ORIGINAL TOYOTA 86 SERIES IN THE WORLD, AND THE NEW ZEALAND SERIES CONTINUES TO UNCOVER MOTORSPORTING GEMS. ANDREW CLARKE SPOKE TO THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS ...

A big pack of Toyota 86 NZ drivers fly under the hills in Highlands.

Images: BRUCE JENKINS

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Champion Tom Bewey at speed.

Toyota Racing Ambassador Rob McMurray with the grand prize.

NEW ZEALAND motorsport is booming and sending talent across ‘The Ditch’ as well as Europe and the US. Liam Lawson is on the verge of an F1 career that could rival any previous Kiwis, Marcus Armstrong is working on closing the gap to Scott McLaughlin in his second season in IndyCars and there’s a brace of tin top racers challenging the order in Australia … not to mention Shane van Gisbergen in NASCAR. History gives us Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme in F1 and, like Australians, they did it the hard way.

Strangely, Toyota which builds some of the snooziest cars on the planet, provides the motorsport link classes in New Zealand with the Toyota Racing Series for openwheeler and the incredibly accessible Toyota 86 Series, which can be run for $3040k a season. The ‘link’ is the jump from karts into cars which is often enough to strangle a career.

What we on the western side of The Ditch don’t readily accept, is that the New Zealand's 86 Series came before the Australian series and has now been

Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol.

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The good thing is we provide just quite a good quality car, it’s pretty fair equity between all the cars ...

running since 2013.

Bob McMurray is a Kiwi with an impressive international pedigree that covers McLaren in F1 and on his ‘retirement’ he returned home to run the New Zealand Toyota 86 Series.

“It’s been a revelation to see that young kids have got somewhere to go rather than the traditional Formula Ford and then what do you do after that sort of thing,’ McMurray said.

“There are a few guys in series around the world that have come through this series, and that is what is about.

“It is a remarkable series – it’s not that different from the Australian series. We used to run different tyres but now we run similar tyres, although we run Nexen tyres. We’ve got a slightly different brake package, a different ECU but it’s all minor stuff.

“There is a bottom level and top level but you can’t do much to the cars. If you want to spend money on the car, what are you going to spend it on? There’s no point.

You’re only allowed a certain number of engines, two engines a year and if that blows up, it blows up. Gearboxes ... that sort of thing.

“To run a car, it’s going to cost you a minimum of 30k, 35k a year (that's Kiwi dollars), and we still do lease deals on the cars. You can buy if you like – some of these cars will be for sale, but you don’t need to buy.

And then you can only have 26 tyres for the season, one for each weekend and a couple of spares.

“You can’t spend too much money, deliberately so. This series was developed by a guy called Steve Boyce who used to work at Toyota in New Zealand who was also

instrumental in starting the TRS Series. He retired a couple of years ago, and I think we were probably the first 86 Series in the world.”

The NZ series is about to allow the new GR model, which will have a few changes and may create classes in the series. McMurray is talking the possibility of a B series, which also fits the way he sees the stepping stone nature of the series. They may even run a winter championship.

The first year is for learning; the second year, if you are good enough, is to contend. So maybe start in the old model, and then step up.

The aim is always to keep the series accessible.

Nico Caillon is the category manager and works alongside McMurray: “It was important for Toyota to have something at the very entry level, to be able to grab the drivers out of karting and to be at that entry-level and a good level of competitiveness between the drivers. We want to see the driver talent, a series where it’s all down to the driver.

“The good thing is we provide quite a good quality car – it’s pretty fair equity between all the cars. It’s good to see the development of all those drivers going through that series.

“It’s the point to what we do here with Toyota. It’s just training those drivers and training them on and off the track. We’re doing all the press conference interviews and stuff like that just to prepare them as well on the media – just trying to present well and developing that. It’s for every driver who’s coming into the championship.

“They know they’re on a two-year journey.

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driving 86”) in IndyCars. Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy, Callum Hedge…

“I’ve got successful New Zealand drivers that have come through the regular one of our two championships. It’s difficult to keep a track of Kiwi drivers because they’re in every single Formula around the world.

“The whole purpose for Toyota New Zealand is just to put in the effort to develop the young talent and then all of them just have a career. It’s always a pride for Toyota to have been the initial step in their career.

The best illustrating example for involvement, especially on the single-seater, is Liam Lawson.

Ryan Wood, now a WAU Supercar pilot, finds the grass whilst leading in the 2021 season opener at Hampton Downs.

"It’s just the first year to learn and then start to get on the pace and then preparing for the next season.

“We’ve seen that – like Tom Bewley and Willie Exton. They were part of the learning process last year. And then, on the second year, they went fighting for the championship.

Jackson Rooney leads the field into Turn 1 at Taupo.

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And it’s been the same in the past. Ryan Wood started to shine at the end of the first year and then went strongly for the championship the year after.”

The names of the 86 graduates roll off his tongue. Matt Payne in Supercars, Marcus Armstrong (“he was 14 and 15 when he was

“He got his Red Bull contract after the first race of TRS in 2019 at Highlands when he did a move on Marcus Armstrong on the outside in the last corner ... and then the next day we had calls from Dr Marco from Red Bull.

Mercedes and Renault Driver Development wanted him too, and he chose Red Bull and

he’s been in the Red Bull family since.

“Hopefully this year or next year he’ll be on the Formula One grid again.

“You know, 90 percent of the successful drivers from New Zealand have come through one of the two Toyota series.”

With a closer alignment between the cars in New Zealand and Australia, the possibility of running both series in the same car works.

New Zealand runs over summer, and Australia runs over winter. The cars wouldn't be exactly the same, but they may be near enough.

“We work on the relationship with other TGR (Toyota Gazoo Racing) divisions. But the main one is with TGR Europe. We started from last year – the prize for the champion is to go to Germany to run in a GR Supra GT4 at the ADAC GT4 Championship. It’s one of the important steps for us, to offer NZ drivers a pathway,” Caillon explains.

“We try to develop them in New Zealand, but the purpose is just to develop and keep them in the Toyota family as long as we can.

"We’ve worked on coming up with the new car, the GR86. We’ve worked pretty closely with Australia to have a similar platform.

The two cars will be 90% similar. The main difference will be the brake package. Not in terms of performance, but just a supply difference.

“But the performance is the same, rims and tyres, all the rest of the car are exactly the same. It’s a good opportunity New Zealanders to go to their (Australia's) championship and for them to come into our championship because the two calendars are matching.

Aussie Alice Buckley rides the kerb at Highlands.

Will Exton receives the Kaizen Award from Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol.

Jackson Rooney racing hard in his first season, deamed to be his learning season

"Their calendar is kind of May to October.

Our championship is November to March.

“That is just another opportunity.”

Caillon talks about not ‘dooming’ yourself to a tin-top career because you ran the 86s – the drivers learn about racing and race craft.

So, who do we look out for now? McMurray points out stepbrothers Tom Bewley and Jackson Rooney as future stars. Bewley won this year’s title by 18 points over Will Exton, with rookies Hunter Robb and Jackson Rooney next.

“You’ve got to look at the top of the championship because there are some fast drivers and some reckless drivers, but the ones at the top of the championship are generally fast ones who are not reckless. Tom Bewley is going to be a star,” McMurray says.

“We have another thing in New Zealand called the Kiwi Driver Fund of which I’m the chairman of the trustees and we’ve helped young drivers – we’ve helped finance them into the Castrol Toyota Racing Formula Oceania Championship (the Toyota Racing Series), and they’ve gone on with help and funding for that. Some of them have bypassed 86s but some of them have come through it.”

Racing in front of the Supercars teams was also a bonus. The top drivers were all lining up meetings, and Summer Rintoule – an Aussie running the 86s – even got a hot lap with Triple Eight.

“It’s really important,” McMurray says of running on the Supercars undercard.

“We have television that goes around the world, which is a promoter’s dream because they sell the package, I think, to 45 countries.

But everybody watches a Supercar race if they’re interested in Australasian motorsport.

And, you know, they’re part of the package that goes with it.

“They’ve got to get special passes to get into the Supercars pits, but they’re so close they can make it happen.”

Caillon says it is also about the engineers, and that feeds back into the learning of the young drivers.

“There’s one thing about Kiwis going overseas for work in motorsport; generally they come back to New Zealand eventually,” he says.

“Generally they’ve been involved in Formula 1 or IndyCar or whatever. And, even more generally, they come back to 86 or TRS. We end up with this amalgam of really, really experienced engineers and people teaching the young engineers of 86. And that’s just as important as the drivers.

“We have a number of engineers, mechanics or tyre changers, whatever it is,

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Justin Allen gets sideways trying to keep some challengers at bay.

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There’s one thing about Kiwis going overseas for working in motorsport; generally they come back to New Zealand eventually ...

that go on through this series and then go overseas. It’s just staggering, it really is. You see people that were working on the tyres on an 86 car four or five years ago and they’re now a Formula 2 mechanic.

“That’s one of the really big success stories, which is not really very much talked about in this. Mainly because Kiwis are itinerants. They want to get out of the place. They don’t want to stay here. They want to come back here, but they don’t want to stay here.”

THE FUTURE STARS

THE ARE plenty of names floating around the NZ T86 field that we will see in Australia.

There’s even some Aussies, like Alice Buckey and Lockie Bloxsom, running the series and learning their craft on both sides of the ditch.

Tom Bewley and Will Exton battled out the title, with Bewley claiming the crown 1020 points to 1002. Next in the title were rookies Hunter Robb and Jackson Rooney in what McMurray says is the learning season, the one before the winning season.

“We’ve had a really good season. Made a couple mistakes, but learned lots from last year,” 16 year-old Bewley said. “The first year is just about all learning and stuff, and I think I got a little bit ahead of myself in the first year trying to go to win it. But this year I’ve chilled out a lot and done a way better job.

“I’m hoping to go Australia this year and race in Porsche and next year hopefully as well, and then slowly make my way to Supercars or go to Asia or Europe and race in GTs.” He spent time over the Taupo weekend talking to the Porsche teams rather than the Supercars squads, which makes sense given he see that as his next step.

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Rooney is three years older at 19, but no less driven about making a career as a racing car driver, but he’s aware he’ll need to do it outside of New Zealand.

“This is my first stepping stone into car racing, and my end game is Supercars,” he says. “I’m not too sure what the clear pathway, but hopefully I can just take any opportunity I get and not be tunnel-visioned.

“This is my first car racing at all, so it’s cool.

It’s different to what I’m used to since I’ve been doing a lot of karting, but it’s a good challenge.”

Callum Hedge is a 20 year-old Kiwi that many expect big things from – he’s doing Indy NXT at the moment, and he is mentoring Rooney.

“I’ve got Callum Hedge – he was in Race Lab and he’s been mentoring me. He was my first coach in this. I also had the likes of Matt Gibson and Dion Pitt. They’ve just been guiding me in the right direction and teaching me how to drive.”

THE MEN BEHIND NZ T86

MCMURRAY WORKED for McLaren in Formula One. He says wasn’t an engineer as such, but a bit of everything. In a two-decade career there he climbed the tree to manage the operation, he returned to New Zealand in 2001.

Caillon is a race engineer from Europe, who has worked primarily openwheeler – hence his "doomed to tintop" quip – in Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2, A1GP, Super League Formula, LMP3.

He came to NZ as a race engineer in the TRS and was then offer the role of running the show.

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ONCE UPON A TIME – CHRYSLER’S VALIANT CHARGER R/T

UTTER HORNBAG: CHRYSLER’S VALIANT CHARGER R/T

DEVELOPED ON A BEER BUDGET, THE CHARGER WAS AS POTENT AS SHE WAS PRETTY. THE ONLY THINGS BETWEEN IT AND A BATHURST 500 WIN IN 1971-72 WERE A BIT MORE DEVELOPMENT TIME, A FOUR-SPEED GEARBOX INITIALLY, AND A SET OF CORPORATE-CAJONES. MARK BISSET TELLS A SAD TALE OF OPPORTUNITY LOST ...

ONCE UPON a time, Australia had a motor industry. It was largely owned by the US Big Three – Chrysler Valiant was the smallest.

Based in Tonsley Park just north of Adelaide, the company punched well above its weight; the product, especially the Hemi six-engined cars were good in the context of the times.

The Big Three’s pony cars in 1971-72 comprised Ford’s Falcon GT351 and Bathurst winning GTHO 351 variant, General Motors Holden’s 202cid six-cylinder road Torana GTR and Bathurst winning GTR XU-1, and the 265cid six-powered road Charger R/T E37 and Bathurst E38 in 1971, and E48/49 in 1972.

These amazing Australian road cars – in world terms very fast and accomplished – were fundamentally built to win Series Production races, especially at Bathurst.

'Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday' was the mantra for the snappily dressed marketingexecs and their white-shoe sales foot-soldiers.

Valiant put a toe in the

MAIN: Leo Geoghegan cranks a worksCharger E38 over at Adelaide International in 1971 Images: AUTOPICS.COM.AU/AUTO ACTION ARCHIVES

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competition water with mildly tuned ‘Pacer’ variants of their four-door VF and VG familyman machines in 1969-70. Then they got serious, with the new shortened 105-inch wheelbase Charger released two months after the mainstream 111-inch VH Valiant sedan in 1971.

The American-styled VH Val suited guide-dog-owners. Its big arse, cavernous overhangs, high-waisted looks and narrow track weren’t a patch on the contemporary Holden HQ and Ford Falcon XY/XA. When Chrysler Oz CEO David Brown realised what a mutt his new car was going to be, he

scrounged together a tiny-budget to build a two-door coupe to plug a hole in his range and grab some halo-effect for his four-doors.

And what a horn-bag Brian Smyth at Tonsley Park, and Chrysler’s International Design Studio, under Bob Hubbach came up with.

Amaroo Park Showroom-Showdown 1972-style: Geoghegan’s Valiant Charger E38 holds off Colin Bond’s LJ Holden Torana GTR XU-1 and John Goss’ Ford Falcon XY GTHO. BELOW: The Auto Action scoop story back in August 1971.

Geoghegan and John Ellis and Charger engine bay.

Prototype Charger and VF test mule ute, Mallala mid 1971 BOTTOM RIGHT: Ellis with one of his two Valiant VF utes.

Charger was an immediate sensation when released in August 1971. The best bit of the Valiant, its front, was retained and otherwise the team crafted a low, squat, muscular, sexy machine that still looks great from every angle. With Elle McPherson looks at an affordable price it was a sales smash, aided and abetted by a brilliant marketing campaign. Hey Charger! was on everybody’s lips, young

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or old, male, female or confused. Winning Wheels coveted Car of The Year was the cherry on the cake.

The range went from the poverty-pack 215cid, drum braked, three-on-the-floor Charger to the fire-breathing race-bred 265cid – a bored-out 245 Hemi – 1971 E38 280bhp @ 5000rpm; and the 1972 E49 302bhp @ 5600rpm R/T machines of interest to us.

For a while, 70% of all Chrysler sales were Chargers, but they were far from niche.

With a big back seat and a boot you could fit granny in – they were legit fourfolk-family-cars.

Chrysler competition chief, engineer John Ellis put together a strong development team in the Pacer days which included 1970 Gold Star champion, Leo Geoghegan.

Leo raced the cars and acted in a consulting capacity; another sportscar/ single-seater racer/mechanic, Ian Cook, a Chrysler employee, was key; so too was a mechanic, John Grant.

This group, and others, concocted a race winning car, the centrepiece of which is perhaps the most visually erotic engine ever fitted to an Australian road car.

In Chrysler’s own words, “The Six Pack's an unbelievable mill.

But don’t get the idea it’s just a 265 cube Hemi with three doublebarrel 45DCOE Webers bolted on.”

The engine was tuned to the Webers.

Chrysler flew a VG Pacer fitted with the Six Pack to London, then John Ellis drove it across Europe to Weber’s HQ in Bologna.

Other modifications included a high overlap camshaft, bigger valves and tuned length extractors. The crankshaft, conrods and valve springs were been shot-peened for highspeed strength.

Racers specified the A84 Track Pack option, which included a very direct 16:1 ratio steering box, Sure-grip LSD, a choice of tall 3.23:1 and short 3.50:1 diff-ratios, fantastic, light 14x7 ROH cast alloy ‘Dragmag’ wheels and a huge 35-gallon tank with twin-fillers.

While the Charger was incomplete, road and track development work (at Mallala) was done, famously, with a pair of Valiant Utes which used the Six Pack engine, suspension, brakes and big-tank to accurately simulate the car to come.

On paper, the big-Val had Bathurst shot-tobits but the lack of a four-speed box was a big shortcoming.

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ONCE UPON A TIME – CHRYSLER’S VALIANT CHARGER R/T

There was no Oz four-speeder available at the time, a situation rectified in 1972.

While it looked the goods, there were other weaknesses, as Mark Oastler outlined after interviewing the now late Leo Geoghegan: “The Charger was built on a relatively short 105-inch wheelbase, which magnified the ‘see-saw effect’ of dynamic weight transfer from front to rear, resulting in excessive squat under acceleration and forward pitch under heavy braking.”

“This wasn’t helped by the high location of the big long-range fuel tanks fitted to the Bathurst cars. The VH Valiant’s bulbous bodywork ended up being more than 100mm wider than that of the VF/VG utebased development mules, which added to the R/T’s lateral inertia and tendency to understeer in hard cornering. The Charger’s wheelbase was short relative to its track, this wheelbase-track ratio created a car that was responsive to directional change-but was twitchy and nervous at high speeds.”

The Charger’s track was similar to the GTHO Falcon but its wheelbase was sixinches shorter than the big Roaring Ford: it wasn’t stabile on high speed Mount Panorama but was better suited to shorter, twistier tracks. The Chargers were dominant in NZ production racing for years, a status never accorded them at home.

The 11-inch, non-power assisted, ventilated front discs and calipers (which flexed badly) were marginal on-track too. Ford’s similar challenges with the beefy HO were met later in 1971 with Ferodo’s trick DP11-103 pads.

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Oastler quotes Geoghegan as saying that the Chargers could have beaten the Toranas in ‘the six-cylinder class battle’ and applied greater pressure on the HO’s had Chrysler sorted its front-disc problem – a set of pads was only good for 60 miles if given a hard workout.

Expectations were high after Doug Chivas won a 100 lap enduro at Oran Park a fortnight before Bathurst. While a great drive, Chivas was advantaged by Colin Bond’s HDT XU-1’s race-long gear selector problems ... the works HO’s were absent too.

With vastly inadequate Bathurst preparation: simulations to determine fuel consumption, brake and tyre life etc, Geoghegan’s Top 10 Q8 was great – quickest of the Class D cars including the XU-1s – but was six seconds off Moffat’s GTHO Phase 3 pole.

Moffat won by a lap with Geoghegan’s Charger seventh outright and second in class behind Bond’s HDT XU-1.

Impressively, eight of the 10 Chargers that started, finished. Geoghegan’s post-race list of shortcomings included tyre wear, fuel consumption far greater than that anticipated, and brakes...

In the later rounds of the 1971 Australian Manufacturers Championship (Manchamps), Chivas was third in the Phillip Island 500, while Geoghegan was second to Moffat’s HO in the Surfers Paradise 250 – ahead of the two LC XU-1s of Brock and Bond – with Chivas sixth.

Progress was being made.

ABOVE: Doug Chivas in the third placed Charger E49, a privateer car he shared with Damon Beck in the 1972 Bayhurst 500. This was the best result achieved at Bathurst by a Charger team.

BELOW: Top-privateer, Melbourne pharmacist Tom Naughton’s vivid Blue Charger at Calder in 1972.

With good factory support, Chargers were popular privateer cars in all states. Images: AUTOPICS. COM.AU

MAIN: Factory Charger E38s down The Dipper in ’71, Geoghegan from Doug Chivas.

TOP: Didn’t we all love Chrysler’s colour magazine ads throughout 1971-72!

LEFT BELOW: Auto Action’s February 4, 1972 issue conveys the sad, bad news Images: AUTOPICS.COM.AU/AUTO ACTION ARCHIVES

Chrysler’s 1972 response was the 302bhp @ 5600rpm E49 Charger variant. Fitted with Borg Warner’s new four speed gearbox, the more aggressive cam-profile was possible thanks to a better set of ratios which could exploit the peakier power delivery.

Just as in 1971, the E49 was short on Bathurst development, in part as a result of the Supercar Scare.

A byproduct of that self-serving shit-fight with the pollies was Chrysler’s withdrawal from motor racing with factory cars, an incredible decision really after all the clever development and homologation. The better call would have been to contest that year's Manchamps then pulled the plug ... but the reality was that Chrysler was in financial strife globally – every dollar saved was important.

Noel Hurd raced his E49 to fifth in the first round of that championship, the Adelaide 250 in August, while at Sandown, the Bathurst curtain-raiser, the two cars raced

by Victorians Tom Naughton and Lawrie Nelson failed to finish.

Off to Bathurst. Geoghegan was again the quickest of the Chargers at Mount Panorama, qualifying sixth. Moffat was again on pole in an XY GTHO, but this time the margin to the E49 was 3.3 seconds. Leo led for a while early in the race but a faulty starter motor, loose battery lead and misfire late in the race ruined what could have been a good run. Geoghegan was fourth in the race won by Peter Brock’s GTR XU-1,

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with John French’s GTHO second, and the Doug Chivas/Damon Beck E49 best of the six Chargers entered, third.

Tom Naughton was sixth at the Phillip Island 500, and Leo sixth in the Surfers Paradise 300. Chrysler placed fifth in the Manchamps.

With the end of Improved Production and Series Production in 1972, and adoption of Group C as the formula to which the Australian Touring Car Championship and Australian Manufacturers Championship were to be run in 1973, a group of New South Wales and Victorian Chrysler dealers supported the construction of a Group C-spec Charger.

Built by legendary ace engineer/ mechanic, John Sheppard at his Monaro Motors workshop in Melbourne, it was to be raced by four-time Australian Touring Car Champion, Pete Geoghegan. Sheppard and Big Pete had of course achieved great success with the big-fellas’ two Mustangs in the 1960s.

Pete finished sixth in the ATCC in this quick, often forgotten car, but switched camps to Ford for the Manchamps, successfully so too. He co-drove Moffat’s factory XA 351 GT Coupe – FoMoCo’s response to the two-door Monaro and Charger – to victory at The Mount.

Statistically Chrysler’s muscular sweetie is no more than a blip in Australian Touring Car History, but for a few years in the early1970s it was Hey Charger! – bigtime, on and off the track…

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AUTO ACTION’S SCOOP - LEO TALKS UP THE CHARGER PROGRAM

LEO LETS THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG … so said Auto Action’s sub-heading in our July 23, 1971 issue, in which Geoghegan spoke to the magazine exclusively about his Charger development role:

IN THE last five weeks I’ve been working on an accelerated program to complete final development of the new two-door Pacer (note: at that stage the Charger hadn’t been released).

Chrysler hired me as a consultant 18 months ago. In that time we’ve been trying to keep the program quiet. But with release date now a month away it’s no longer a secret and while I can’t release specific details, I can tell you a bit about the car.

I’m quite confident the car will put me at the apex of the Series Production triangle instead of at the rear. I am sick and tired of looking at the rear end of duck-bummed Holden Toranas and seeing the GT-HOs disappear into the distance.

Based on the times of Holdens and Falcons around Mallala I feel pretty sure I can expect to see most of my competitors in the rear vision mirror for a change.

The development program has been a racing driver’s delight. Chrysler is one of the few companies to employ a racing driver for testing and comment, and then take notice of what he says. I won’t mention names but, too often, all a motor company wants is the driver’s name – and for him to agree completely with what the engineers have done. There is no area of reasonable change suggested by myself to Chrysler that hasn’t been carried out.

I have taken part in four major test sessions at Mallala in the past five weeks – each averaging 200 laps, or over 300 miles a day. Anybody passing the circuit could be excused for thinking Chrysler had gone somewhat mad — developing a 135mph grocery truck. Naturally all development work had to take place in a Q-ship, something carrying all the new mechanical improvements in a disguised body.

We’ve been using a commercial vehicle.

Two of the major areas of improvement I suggested to Chrysler were the rear axle and wheels. I can’t release specific details but the rear axle is now capable of carrying twice the horsepower. I must point out the car hasn’t got twice the horse-power ... but I’m working on it!

The wheels of the VG Pacer were adequate when we were using radials during the early days of Series Production, but when we started using racing rubber the stresses placed on the wheels were far too great. Neither the relatively small diameter nor the construction of the conventional pressed metal wheels could stand the strain. Both these areas have been vastly improved.

However, the new Valiant is not a race special – I want to make that quite clear.

It’s probably the best handling road sedan

I’ve ever driven. Mallala is about the best circuit anyone could choose for destruction testing — and that’s just what we’ve been doing. We arrive at the circuit before dawn on each day of testing — and every lap is completed at full racing speed.

Chrysler’s normal test program - involving months of driving by factory testers over all conceivable conditions is one of the most comprehensive in Australia.

But that final urge only a racing driver can muster, has revealed points of fine tuning which will make the car a far better proposition than could previously be expected.

The car is more versatile in its handling than anything comparable l’ve driven before. On the showroom floor it will be completely suitable for even grandma to drive with just a touch of understeer.

But suspension adjustments built into the design can alter handling quite readily, either way.

It is an easy car to drive. The seat, for example, has comfort support built in, in just the right places. I certainly don’t recommend it, but it would be quite possible to drive this car at racing speeds without a seat belt — and still stay firm in position. The steering wheel, again, is unlike any previously used on an Australian production car. The material used is far superior.

Since I began work with Chrysler 18 months ago, every suggestion I’ve made has been analysed by design engineers. Several of the necessary improvements, revealed through the stress of racing, have been incorporated in their Valiant range already released.

I only wish I’d started this sort of work 10 years ago. In the last 18 months I’ve learnt more about design – about why things happen and don’t happen – than I gleaned in 20 years of motor racing.

For every test session at Mallala, in which adjustments are made on the spot by Chrysler test chief John Ellis and his team of engineers, we spend another full day around the conference table. The end result you’ll see next month is something of which I personally, am very proud.

It’s a car which will be a delight to drive on the road and which will be very competitive on the track. And Chrysler pay me to criticise ... not to offer praise.

It proves, regardless of what the critics say, that motor racing very definitely does improve the breed.

www.autoaction.com.au I 35

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SPEEDWAY

CHALMERS WINS AUSSIE TITLE

THE BIGGEST field of late models ever assembled to fight for the 2023/24 Australian National title at Toowoomba saw Joe Chalmers put in a mighty drive to finally have the #A1 on his door.

But first up for grabs was the Queensland title. Twenty of the best drivers took to the track headed by Brent Vosbergen and Joe Chalmers started on the front row for the 35-lap decider.

Vosbergen got the better of the start as Chalmers went straight to the top but it didn’t work out as Todd Bayley settled into third, only for Darryl Grimson to demote him a lap later.

The first interruption arrived due to Daniel Cassidy rolling to a stop in Turn 4.

From the restart, Vosbergen led the field again, only for the yellow lights to return with seven laps to go when Darren Kane and Darryl Grimson made contact, with Peter Nicola and Aaron Barnes also involved.

Vosbergen was able to survive the late sprint and be a deserved winner of the 2024 Queensland Title.

WITH WEDNESDAY’S Queensland Title now in the record books it was time to concentrate on the main event, the Australian Title.

After Friday night’s heats Chalmers sat on top of the points ladder followed by Brad Smith.

There was drama from the start as Brad Pascoe bumped the wall, which allowed Chalmers to hit the lead with Vosbergen in third. With the lead cars deep in lapped traffic, Vosbergen went high and flew around Pascoe and into second as the latter momentarily slowed.

Pascoe soon found himself under pressure from Kane, who snatched third.

“It is the end of the season for us so a lot of the gear is quite worn out.

“The engine issue was a bit of a pain for us on the Wednesday but we got on top of it and the engine was faultless.

“The gearbox started holding up towards the end but I was going to win it no matter what it took.

“When Kane got around me I thought ‘we are not going hard enough here’ so got it done.

“Tyres were the big thing and the crew made the right call, but the track was unreal and I could run there every night of the week.”

With 20 laps to go Chalmers now started to realise Vosbergen was closing in.

Kane then joined the fun with eight to go and levelled up with Vosbergen, who closed the door quickly.

Next time around Kane tried again and made it work before threatening to take the lead only for the yellows to arrive and be forced to restart third, with the race settled.

With one lap to go caution again came when Mitchell Gee spun on the exit to Turn 4.

This set up a thrilling two-lap dash for glory and Chalmers nailed the restart to claim a tense win.

Kane slipped underneath Vosbergen to snatch second in the closing stages.

Having suffered engine and gearbox problems earlier in the campaign and come close so many times, Chalmers was buying to finally be on top.

“I have come the bridesmaid seven times so this is amazing,” Chalmers said.

AFTER THE Super Rooster V8 Dirt Modified Champion of Champions, Kevin Britten was scheduled to go into the (now postponed) Australian Title in Bundaberg with confidence after winning the feature race.

He held back numerous challengers from David Clark while driving with a flat left side front tyre. Clark led the race for a while until Britten regained the race lead mid race. Zac MacDonald finished third.

Nathan MacDonald won the Toowoomba Steering and Suspension Smackdown Series after a clean sweep winning both Modified Sedan feature races on, Friday and Saturday nights.

The AMCA Queensland Title was won by Steve Potts from Steve Price and Tim Reidy.

Queensland won the State of Origin Demolition Derby in a crash and bash affair that had the capacity crowd on their feet to complete the 2023/24 Toowoomba Speedway Season. David Budden

Joe Chalmers took out his first Australian title and accepted the ‘1’ trophy (above). Images: ANDY TICEHURST MEDIA

HOLMES TAKES RED DIRT RUMBLE THE FINAL Late Model feature race of the 2023/24 season took place at Kalgoorlie International Speedway where Michael Holmes took out the fourth annual Red Dirt Rumble.

The stage was set for a competitive contest when local Damian Hudson edged out Australian champion Joe Chalmers by 0.016s in qualifying.

But, starting third, Holmes would take both of his heats while Jeff Pahl and Rod Musarra also took out some preliminaries, while some found trouble.

The biggest casualties were Matt Nylander and Greg Horan, who would not take part in the Feature race, leaving a 14-car field.

Holmes got a strong jump off the line, but the yellows came out immediately after Pahl was spun from behind.

Despite the setback Pahl was able to lock onto second at the restart where Homes took control.

Although third and fourth placed Nathan

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Richards and Sean Barrett tangled and slid down the order, the race stayed green on this occasion.

By now Holmes was in complete control, enjoying a big lead over Pahl and Hudson.

Hudson had a big battle keeping a train of cars behind but it ended in tears as he went high and clouted the Turn 3 wall.

He rebounded on the exit of Turn 4 which left Mat Robbins, Richards and Abbey Pickering with nowhere to go.

After the restart, the race came alive with Chalmers passing Pahl, while Musarra was busy hunting down Holmes.

Musarra made his move around the outside of Turn 4 to snatch the lead on Lap 21, only to run wide at the same corner a lap later to let Holmes off the hook.

A late twist was created by the spun Barrett which setup a last minute sprint to the finish.

Holmes had no late scares as he took the win ahead of Musarra and Chalmers.

Thomas Miles

The Red Dirt Rumble podium of third placed Joe Chalmers, winner Michael Holmes and runner-up Rod Musarra.

Image: MICHAEL HOLMES RACING

Want to see your category event or news story included in the Auto Action Speedway pages.

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No one could match the pace of Liam Niblock, who take the coveted Outlaws honours at the Speedway Karting Association of Australasia-Australian Titles.

Images: CH IMAGES

CLIMBING TO THE TOP

JUNIORS AND Seniors alike flew on the Maryborough dirt chasing glory in the Speedway Karting Association of Australasia Australian Titles.

The leading Outlaw was Kai Malley after an impressive drive.

Despite pole sitter Liam Niblock having the early pace to burn, his lead was shortlived as Malley got by on lap two.

The top four spread out for the remainder of the race with Malley leading home Niblock.

There was early drama in Standard Heavy as Glen Trelor led the field into Turn 1 – but it all went pair shaped behind with four karts careering into the fence.

When racing eventually resumed there was action as Trelor was forced to sacrifice the lead due to a flat tyre.

This promoted Jayden Barnes to the lead, but only briefly as he ran four wide with Brayden Whiting, Darren Holt and Barbary.

Jack Moreau has a special moment with the commentator after winning Sub Juniors.

dThis special move was the highlight of Whiting’s special charge to victory.

The Women’s final was unsettled by an unfortunate crash on lap two that took out three karts.

Reigning champion Ashleigh Moller restarted in the lead and would drive away in a record-breaking drive to go back-toback by 3s over Iesha Swan and Alice Litzow.

After a perfect score in the Heats, Kai

Malley started the Modified finale from pole but could not keep Kaleb Sims or Charlie Gustch-Berry from going past.

Gustch-Berry had to ultimate pace to snatch the title ahead of Sims as Brad Canneen won a big battle for third.

In Standard Medium, Liam Aunger got a strong start, while fellow front-row starter Liam Niblock slipped to sixth.

However, the fight for victory was a nailbiter with Aunger holding off Gustch-Berry in the final two laps.

Kai Malley staked his claim early in the fight for Junior Standard, but had a fight on his hands in the race.

Kaleb Sims swooped around the outside for the line, only for Malley to hit back on lap five and take the win.

Cody Malley controlled a dramatic Junior Standard final that was interrupted by incidents.

Malley led one each restart while a clash

between contenders Georgie Moller and Sam Nucifora pushed the race into a greenwhite-chequered.

But Malley held form to lead Brodie Debono.

Sam Nuciforia led early in Juniors with Cody Malley on his hammer with eight others fighting for third.

A spinner with four laps to go set up a dash to the flag and Malley flew around the outside of Nuciforia at the restart to snatch the win at the death.

Marli Sims also made a late charge to fly from 12th to second.

The pace was fast in Sub Junior with Cooper Marks and Jack Moreau trading blows and the top four eventually breaking lap record pace.

In the end Moreau had the last laugh, dominating all 15 laps of the finale to beat Marks by 2.3s and claim the crown.

Thomas Miles

MacDONALD SMACKS DOWN RIVALS BACK TO back wins has pushed Nathan MacDonald to success in the Modified Sedan Toowoomba Steering and Suspension Smack Down Series.

MacDonald won Rounds 5 and 6 which were both held at Toowoomba’s Hi-Tec-Oils Speedway, wrapping up on Saturday, April 27.

The opening feature on the Friday night saw Aidan Raymont lead the 25-lap feature race from the start with MacDonald slipping into second quickly.

JJ Hamilton was next to follow through with Josh Harm having a big look around the outside in Turns 1 and 2 and settling into third.

MacDonald managed to have dive down the inside of Raymont but this set up a thrilling battle.

On the next lap Raymont returned serve to reclaim the lead, but this proved momentarily as MacDonald went straight back round the outside. All this happend within the first five laps!

This left Raymont under threat from behind

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Nathan MacDonald slides his way to Modified Sedan Toowoomba Steering and Suspension Smack Down Series glory. against the likes of Hamilton and Josh Harm.

But once that was countered with a move around the outside of Harm with five to go, he chased MacDonald.

Despite the result being up in the air towards the finish, MacDonald held on.

The Saturday night finale saw MacDonald start on the inside front row alongside

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Hamilton with Raymont and Madison Harkin right behind.

MacDonald won the start with Hamiltion levelling up and slightly in front going into Turn 3 with Raymont looking for a way through on the inside.

But it was not until 26 laps remaining Hamilton finally found a way past.

But MacDonald fought back on the bottom of the race track then switching to the top momentarily before diving back to the bottom to take the lead on lap eight.

Soon Max Clark had entered the equation with himself, Raymont and Hamiltion going three wide out of Turn 2.

This allowed MacDonald to enjoy a more comfortable time in the lead, but any advantage was wiped out when the final caution set-up a three-lap sprint to the chequer.

Raymont threw caution to the wind and went straight to the top.

He looked good and a chance to drive around the outside arrived – but just as MacDonald and Hamilton responded and accelerated away.

MacDonald won the Grand Final and the Modified Sedan Smackdown Series for 2023/24.

Raymont finished the series in second with Harm third.

David Budden

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SPEEDWAY

Dylan Richter – undefeated.

SAYER GOES BACK-TO-BACK FOR THE first time in six years, and the third time ever, a driver has won back-toback SSA Production Sedan National titles and the history-making driver is Kyle Sayer.

Sayer (above) blitzed the field in practice, winning two heats and finishing second in the other two to start on the front row for the feature race.

Amazingly, Sayer was extremely sick, throwing up between heats and even considered withdrawing.

Starting alongside him was Joel Berkeley and he hit the lead with the top three also consisting of Jaiden Healey running away from the pack.

Sayer would make his move on lap nine, getting past Berkley to take the lead before

lapped traffic would come into play.

A string of yellows followed, initially for top-five runner Raymond Ussher and then the spun Wesly Barnes, while Steven Aldridge climbed the Turn 4 wall.

As Sayer set the pace once again, Aidan Rigby would work to get past Berkley, but again the battle would last for only two laps as Stephen Laidlaw and Dale Corbett came together.

Jack Murphy moved into fifth on the restart, only to spin in Turn 3, while Jayden Healey suffered a flat right front.

When green flag racing returned Sayer had extended his lead to nearly 2.5s ahead of Berkely before Scott Hawkins had a spin.

Neil Keldoulis’ trip to the infield would also see Nathan Thorne return to the top four.

Just as the race approached lap 30 the race was disrupted for Johnny Ralph who speared into the front straight wall.

Unfortunately for Berkley something broke in the front end at the restart and his promising race ended.

The restart would see even more drama, with second-placed Rigby slowing and heading infield, promoting Galley, while Blyton got past Thorne to take third after coming from the B Main.

Sayer completed a dominant win to cross the line 7.765 seconds ahead of Galley.

Thomas Miles

STAMPEDING GP MIDGETS TAKE ON OAKBURN PARK IN ANOTHER first for the NSW Grand Prix Midget Racing Association, five GP Midgets made their way to Oakburn Park Speedway in Tamworth for a one-off race meeting.

Gary Bowyer, Wally Kermond, Gavin Black, and Adam Buckley made the trip along with Bowyer’s ‘White Ant Racing’ loan and development car, which was made available to a local kart racer, Micah Barnes.

With $1,000 prize money up for grabs, there promised to be some willing action for the chocolates.

Kermond started from pole position with Barnes the local alongside.

There was not going to be any mucking around at the start of the feature race and, as expected, Bowyer and Buckley both flew from the rear of the pack to the front on lap one.

Black was having pushing issues with his steering and this was affecting his desire to keep pace with Bowyer and Buckley.

Buckley’s race car seemed to be powering along better and was keeping pace with Bowyer who was holding a consistent 30-metre lead through the race.

Unfortunately, Kermond’s car did not

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Image: CH IMAGES make it out for the feature and then, on lap eight, Barnes, who was in fourth at the time, encountered a broken front shock top mount and was called infield by the race stewards, bringing on a yellow.

The restart saw Bowyer lead from Buckley and Black with four laps to run.

Buckley seemingly found some extra drive and began gaining ground on Bowyer and on the white flag lap, they both came up behind Black on the front straight.

With Bowyer splitting to the high line and Buckley splitting to the low line, the GPs ran

three-wide past the start line, with Buckley down low moving into the lead ahead of Bowyer and Black.

On the final lap, Bowyer made a move up the inside of Buckley in Turn 1, with Buckley then cutting back inside Bowyer and the pair blasting down the back straight together.

Bowyer (pictured) held a car’s length lead into the final corners and took the chequer, with Buckley on his inside and looking at his back wheel, Black taking third place.

Dean Thompson

SUNLINE SHINES BRIGHTLY WAIKERIE’S SUNLINE Speedway served up some strong traditional club styled racing on April 27.

The Modlites feature proved exciting, with their highest points scorer Dylan Richter sent to the rear but would race his way through after clean sweeping the three heat races to go undefeated on the night.

The well-travelled Justin Chadwick was second, followed by Scott Webb, while bitumen racer Alex Malone rounded out the top five in his Speedway debut.

The Modified Sedans may have been lacking in numbers, but their feature race had the crowd on their feet as Robert Uren chased Justin Demaine in the closing stages of the race.

Demaine held on for the win aboard his newly acquired Ford BF Falcon while his brother Jason completed the top three, making it an all Ford podium.

The Junior Sedans Top and New Stars were bundled together for the evening.

Pole sitter Jayden Garner led the early proceedings before Lachlan Brown took the lead and raced away to the chequered flag being followed

by Deisel Fallon.

The crowd were treated to the sights, sounds and smells of yesteryear as the Classics turned back the hands of time.

Taking to the track were two combined Classic sections the first being the combined Hot Rods and Stock Cars and the second grouping was the Saloon Cars and Super Sedans.

The star attraction was the return of the iconic Robbie ‘Wacka’ Stevens SA88 Holden GTS HQ Monaro Super Sedan, 27 years after his last race.

Emotions were high as the car was driven by Mildura’s Darren Allen while car owner and promoter of the Speedway, ‘Wacka,’ watched on the live feed from the comfort of his home while he battles health issues.

Paris Charles

Darren Allen piloted a classic ...

Images: PARIS CHARLES

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SPEEDWAY NEWS

Image: TONY POWELL

EMOTIONAL NATIONAL TITLE FOR JOLLEY LOCAL HERO Jacob Jolley (above) emerged from the battle of Lismore to win the 2024 Australian Wingless Sprint Racing Championship title.

Despite the weight of local expectation and the painful memory of the loss of his Uncle Paul O’Neill Jolley produced a special drive in the gruelling 40-lap A-Main.

Incredibly it was a story of the stars aligning with the late Paul O’Neill being 27 when he won his first national title, Jason Jolley (Jacob’s Dad) was 27 when he won his title and Jacob is 27 as he celebrates his first national title win.

It was an emotional victory for the team but also one that had its share of good fortune for the team, with stumbling oil pressure troubling the N1 racer throughout the race.

“I was talking to myself and to Paul a lot during the race just praying that the motor wouldn’t give out,” Jacob said.

“I just kept focusing on hitting my marks and had to remind myself to breathe,” he smiled after the race.

Jolley was near faultless all weekend with three heat wins and runner-up to Luke Weel in the Preliminary A-Main on the Friday night, but the result was hardly a given with Victorian Travis Millar mounting a fierce attack in the dying laps to really put some pressure on as the chequers flew.

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Millar had come from the third row of the grid to storm forward where he finished right on the bumper of Jolley and probably had some glimpses of a potential pass for the win as the leader ran wide a couple of times at the exit to Turn 4 in the last three laps.

Weel was the preliminary night A-Main winner and backed that up with a fine third place finish. ”I really wasn’t coming because, in the past, Lismore hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for me,” he admitted.

“But I’m glad Kirste and I decided to make the trip.

We’ve had a fantastic title.”

South Australian Rylan Furler had a scare on Night One when the S26 purged oil from the motor but the problem was smaller than originally feared overnight and Furler sizzled to fourth behind Weel in the Title fight from the inside fifth row initially.

Furler led home a trifecta of talented South Aussies with Mount Gambier’s Mitch Broome in fifth and Adelaide’s Jack McCarthy sixth.

Former national champion Kyle Mock began on the front row alongside Jolley and was rarely out of title contention until he rode out a vicious flip whilst battling Millar for second on the main straight.

Incredibly Mock was the only DNF of the race.

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Five-time champ Kevin Britten – going for six! Image: SHAQ’S SPEEDWAY PICS

NATIONAL TITLE RESCHEDULED AFTER THE original date being washed out, the 2024 Australian V8 Dirt Modified Championship at Bundaberg’s Carina Speedway has been rescheduled.

The race will now be staged later on the Saturday night of September 28 and will remain at the Queensland venue.

The fight for the national title will kick off the 2024/25 racing season and Dirt Modified Australia president Andrew Firth

was thrilled to know the race will not remain washed out.

“To say that not being able to hold the Australian Championship last weekend was disappointing for everyone concerned would be quite the understatement, but we are very pleased to be able to announce the reschedule of the event so soon,” he said.

“I would like to thank the Carina Speedway

promotional team for being so accommodating of our class and helping us quickly lock in a date for the reschedule of the Australian Championship.

“We are now looking forward to starting the 2024-25 season with a major event like an Australian Championship.”

The National AGM for Dirt Modifieds Australia will be held on Saturday, July 20.

Thomas Miles

PITTARD POWERS TO SERIES WIN CHAD PITTARD (right) impressed so much in his first full season of Limited Sprintcar racing as he took out the Western Australian Series.

Despite missing the first round due to a delay in engine parts, a consistent showing across the remainder of the season put him in the box seat.

A second-place finish in the Geraldton finale behind title rival Joel Ettridge was enough to seal the deal.

With 833 points, he won by 10 points over Ettridge, while Michael Keen was a distant third.

“Although I was on the back foot from the beginning of the season, the team and I just took each round as it came, and before we knew it, our consistency saw us move our way up towards the top of the points,” Pittard said.

“Being able to come out on top of the points at season’s end is a wonderful feeling.

“The highlight was my run in round six at the Perth

Image: COCHRANE PHOTOGRAPHY Motorplex. That was just a night where everything just came together for the team.”

Daniel Powell

RAFF PLEASED WITH DEBUT RAFF FRISINA (pictured) has finished his debut Junior Formula 500s season on a high by securing a top-five championship finish.

At the young age of 12, Raff made the switch from Junior Outlaw Karts to Junior Formula 500s and finished fourth in the final Junior Formula 500 West Coast Series point standings.

He was a consistent top-five runner with a best result of second at Perth Motorplex.

He picked up a total of four feature-race podium finishes, which included a second-place finish at the Perth Motorplex back in February, as well as a thirdplace finish on three occasions in the capital.

When it came to the heat-race action, Raff was well and truly amongst the top-three finishers on a regular basis and, during the season, he scored his first win, after he drove to a heat-race win at Esperance Speedway in January, and he added another seven minor place finishes in heat races during the season.

All in all, Raff was really happy with his progress during the season and the experience he and his family team gained along the way, and he is now counting down the months until the 2024-25 season begins, where he has set his goals are becoming more competitive during his second full season in Junior Formula 500s.

Daniel Powell

Image: PETER ROEBUCK

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DRAG RACING

HIGH STAKES NITRO CHAMPS DOUBLER HEADER

THIS WEEKEND will be one of the biggest of the 2023/24 National Drag Racing Championships season with the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs being a doubleheader at Sydney Dragway.

Race fans at the May 17-19 event will be treated to no end of insane nitro action, with two rounds of the Top Fuel plus racing for the XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and FuelTech Pro Mod championships and two rounds of the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.

“This is the first time we have ‘doubled the nitro’ as part of the NDRC and we couldn’t be more excited to have Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car racing at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs as part of a packed entertainment line-up,” NDRC CoFounder, Andy Lopez, said.

“The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs has always been an iconic event, and we’re so proud to really push the envelope with what we can offer.

“No matter where you look, on the track, off the track, and even in the skies, there’s no shortage of amazing high-powered machines and spectacular action.

“We fully expect the event to be pumping from start to finish.”

With two of the three rounds left to run in the 2023/2024 NDRC Top Fuel title chase to be held this weekend, the stakes could not be higher for the pilots of these firebreathing 11,000hp dragsters.

Wayne Newby currently leads the title standings on 431 points over last round winner Phil Lamattina (397), while defending champion Damien Harris is currently in third place on 386 points. Phil

Read (300) and Peter Xiberras (222) round out the top five.

The Top Fuel field heads to the Nitro Champs fresh from what many have called the best Top Fuel event in history, the Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at The Bend, which saw Harris break the Australian ET and MPH Top Fuel record on his way to a runner-up result against Lamattina, who won on a holeshot in an incredibly intense A-Final.

Harris wasn’t the only one lighting up the timing boards either, with 19 of the 24 individual completed passes over the two days being three second passes, with five side-by-side threes, and 11 set at more than 310mph/500kph.

For XPRO Nitro Funny Car, things are certainly tight at the top, with the points lead shared equally at 321 points between

Morice McMillin and Justin Walshe. The pair head the ladder over third-placed Brandon Gosbell (234) and Anthony Begley (208), while Adam Murrihy rounds out the top five.

Home to 11,000hp flame-throwing, nitro-burning machines, the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars were last on-track for January’s Festival State Nationals at Dragway at The Bend, with Walshe taking his second win of the season to equal the points score heading into this weekend’s penultimate round of the season.

Top Doorslammer is another where the championship is much too close to call with two rounds left to run, with 11-time champ John Zappia leading break-out newcomer Russell Taylor, 573 points to 538, following the veteran’s win at the Riverbend Nationals in April. Rookies Ronnie Palumbo (472) and Lisa Gregorini (391) are third and fourth on the standings, with defending champion Daniel Gregorini (357) rounding out the top five.

In Pro Stock, Rob Dekert sits atop the points standings thanks to two A-Final wins and a A-Final runner-up, leading the way on 413 points over Rick Chilton (301), Chris Soldatos (258), Omar Sedmak (166) and last-round winner, Tyronne Tremayne (141). Dekert lost a potential hat-track with a red light in the A-Final at The Bend and so will be looking to make up for that, while brothers Tyronne and Aaron Tremayne are a late addition to the championship picture and will be looking to make the most of their Nitro Champs weekend.

In FuelTech Pro Mod, Craig Burns (258 points) currently leads the title chase over Joe Gauci (169), Rob Campisi (156), last-round winner Zoran Gojic (146) and Greg Tsakiridis (128) in his ‘The Villian’ Ford Mustang, thanks to his absolutely dominating first round at the Sydney Nationals last year, followed up by a runner-up appearance at the Australia Day Nationals to Gajic.

LEAHY READY FOR ‘DREAM’ NITRO DEBUT THE XPRO Nitro Funny Cars will welcome a fresh new face in the form of third-generation racer Josh Leahy at Sydney.

Leahy will make his XPRO Nitro Funny Cars at this weekend’s National Drag Racing Championships doubleheader at Sydney Dragway.

He has been drag racing since he was 10 and has recently been steering the ‘Bandit’ Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car. He has also been crewing for defending Nitro Funny Car champion and current title co-leader, Morice McMillin.

After licensing with an impressive 4.08 second pass at 463km/h over the 1000ft, Leahy is pumped to get the ‘dream’ opportunity.

“Debuting in the XPRO by Aeroflow Nitro Funny Car is honestly a dream come true, I’m pumped!” grinned the 30 year old.

“Our team had some great success in our licensing passes.

We turned the car around three times and were able to throw

down a 4.08 second pass at 288mph/463kmh.

“That wouldn’t have happened without the expertise from the Aeroflow race shop and Morice McMillin tuning. I have a lot of confidence in our XPRO by Aeroflow team and can’t wait to hit the track at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs.

“This will be my first time lining up against someone in Nitro Funny Car, so that is going to be pretty exciting.

“Our first focus will be on five competitive passes, and if we can dip into the ‘three-nineties,’ that would be the cherry on top of the cake.”

In addition to the Nitro Champs, Leahy will also be at the NDRC season-ending Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, which are held at his former home Willowbank Raceway in June.

“My first goal is to win a Gold Christmas Tree as I have never won one before,” he said.

“My ultimate goal in Nitro Funny Car would be to eventually win an NDRC championship in the future.

“This class is tough and has a field of very experienced drivers, so I have my work cut out for me.

“As I pursue those goals, I look forward to working with Morice on being the best driver that I can be.”

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JIM READ RACING CHASING HOME TRACK DOUBLE

BOOSTED BY an exciting new personal best ET of 3.783 at the last round, Hydraulink Jim Read Racing is riding a wave of confidence heading into this weekend’s Nitro Champs double header.

The team’s new PB arrived during a B-final victory against championship leader Wayne Newby in the latest trip to the Dragway at The Bend.

It even arrived despite an early shut-off for the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Top Fuel Dragster.

Driver Phil Read admitted it was a nervous moment, but the result gives him a boost ahead the big double round in Sydney.

“The entire team was thrilled to run a three-seventy in Adelaide, and who knows what that could have been if I hadn’t lifted off – it sure hurt me to do it, I tell you that,” he said.

“With the win in Perth followed by this step forward in performance, it really has been a great boost for all of us – for me, for our entire crew, our brother, and our sponsors – as we head into this allimportant double header.

“Hopefully we can keep this momentum going at home this weekend.

“With Justin and his boys preparing the track, we think we can improve on what we saw in Adelaide, so be sure to watch

this space!”

Read currently sits fourth in the NDRC Top Fuel championship standings, but with two of the final three rounds this weekend, anything could still happen.

Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Crew Chief, Bruce Read said the team hopes to make the most of a test before taking on Sydney Dragway.

“As always, we are very well prepared, and we are really looking forward to the challenge,” he said.

“The car is showing great promise and potential, and I am confident we can give it a really good shake at Sydney this weekend, here is hoping some hometown

luck can come into play for us as well.

“We will be taking advantage of the Friday testing before getting into the two championship rounds of racing over the weekend, and as always nothing will be left on the table.

“The stakes are going to be high, but we are ready to do battle.

“With two events in one weekend for Top Fuel, we look forward to bringing more than 100 corporate guests over the Saturday and Sunday for what is set to be an epic show.

“Here’s hoping we can bring home the hardware, and perhaps a further new PB as well!”

GREGORINI EXPECTING HIGH-PRESSURE NITRO CHAMPS LISA AND Daniel Gregorini are fourth and fifth in the NDRC Top Doorslammer chase and know the importance of this weekend’s Nitro Champs.

The WA-based husband and wife are a force to be reckoned with in Top Doorslammer, with Daniel having claimed the title in 2021/2022 and Lisa racing through to finals and personal bests throughout her first full season across 2023/2024.

With two rounds on offer at Sydney Dragway, both Gregorinis are anticipating fierce fights for victory.

“A win at any event is what every racer wants and Top Doorslammer as a group have really stepped up this season,” Daniel said.

“I think reaction times are going to be a huge factor now more than ever, so we will all have to be on our game – only the best will survive.

“It is going to be a massive meeting for Sydney Dragway and a first with both nitro features racing at the same event, so we

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encourage everyone to get out to race track and watch some great racing this weekend.

“It is certainly going to be tough out there as there are a lot of quality cars capable of running just as quick as we are.

“The Nitro Champs is definitely one you don’t want to miss.”

Currently Lisa Gregorini holds the upper

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hand in the husband v wife bragging rights and she is surprised.

“I honestly didn’t expect to be this high up in the points for our first official season,” she said.

“We just wanted to continue to learn as a team and continue to have fun along the way and any races we might win along

the way would just be a bonus, so we are definitely ecstatic with currently sitting fourth in the Championship.

“Our season definitely started off on a high, making our first ever A-Final appearance in our first meeting back after crashing in Darwin at the end of last season.

“From there we were lucky enough to make some B-Finals to keep us up in the top part of the points.

“Although we did struggle with some electrical issues for a couple of meetings after moving to coil packs at the end of last year, those are sorted now and we have bounced back now to run some big PBs.” Daniel Gregorini admitted it has not been an ideal season so far, but he is still ticking boxes.

“It hasn’t been the greatest season for myself with small issues along the way,” Gregorini said.

“But our end goal was always to go to the coil pack systems on the cars and to make Lisa’s car really competitive, and we have achieved both of those goals so far.”

NATIONALS WRAP JOHNSON WINS AT INMAN VALLEY

Bodie Reading and Mark Young are back in the game after winning the Tasmanian Rally Championship opener.

Images: DMAC PHOTOGRAPHY

BODIE BITES BACK IN TAS RALLY OPENER

FORMER TASMANIAN rally champions Bodie Reading and Mark Young started their 2024 championship campaign in style, winning the first round, the Rocky Cape Tavern Hellyer Rally, on April 27.

Reading and Young won the championship in 2022 and were in a position to go back-to-back last year until their Subaru WRX Sti developed electrical problems in the final event.

Ironically, the final round venue last year was the same event as the first round this year, giving the Hobart-pair sweet revenge on the course at least.

The Hellyer Rally, hosted by the North West Car Club, consisted of six competitive stages in the Rocky Cape and Mawbanna areas, with Reading and Young on the pace from the outset, winning the first stage by 5s.

Defending champion driver Steve Maguire, competing on home soil, and navigator Ben Searcy in a Skoda Fabia, were second fastest, but kept the pressure on Reading and Young throughout.

They were only 0.6 secs slower on stage two, but lost 16s in stage three with tyre issues, eventually winning the fifth and penultimate stage, but otherwise unable to bridge the gap.

When the dust settled, Reading and Young’s winning margin was 27.3s from Maguire and Searcy.

Second-generation driver Aiden Peterson, with Mitch Newton calling the corners, battled hard all day in a Subaru WRX Sti to finish an impressive third, just over a minute behind second.

It was a promising sign of things to come in what was Peterson’s first championship rally event in an all-wheel-drive car, having only competed previously in two-wheeldrive cars.

Former champions Eddie Maguire and

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Steve Maguire and Ben Searcy pushed hard in the Skoda but fell just short.

Zak Brakey finished fourth in an identical Skoda Fabia to Maguire’s brother Steve, but also experienced tyre problems.

In what was a quality field, arguably the best for a Tasmanian rally championship season opener for a number of years, another former state champion pair, Tim Auty and Callan Randall, rounded out the top five, just 3s behind Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakey in a Mazda 323 GT-R. Further down the field, Ben and Ruebecca Sheldrick claimed two-wheel-drive honours in their Holden Commodore, also finishing an impressive 12th outright.

Neil Ogden and Kade Barrett (Mitsubishi Lancer) were second fastest in 2WD, with first-timers Dave McCullagh and Wayne Monson, in a Mazda 626, third on debut.

The event also proved a tough one for several crews, including Aiden Peterson’s father Lee Peterson and Matthew Whitten, who broke wheel studs on their Datsun Sunny GTi in stage three, causing the car to roll, ending their event prematurely.

Others to strike event-ending dramas included Tyler Page and Ian Wheeler (Subaru WRX Sti) with turbo issues, Kurt Wylie and Jobe Sims (Subaru WRX Sti) with a leaking radiator, and Mark Kyle and Daniel Davies (Datsun 1600) with clutch issues.

Round 2 of the Tasmanian Rally Championship is the MSCT Mountain Stages on June 15.

Martin Agatyn

SUBARU WRX driver Douglas Johnson led from start to finish to dominate the second running of the Supaservice Tyre & Auto Backbone Hillclimb at Inman Valley on May 3-5.

Johnson is on a roll, with the success coming off the back of wins at Twin Peaks in Port Macdonnell and Willunga.

The event began with a ‘members only’ climb on Friday, also won by Johnson, with a time of 45.38 seconds from Andrew Campbell (Nissan S14) on 46.37s.

Unlike last year’s cool conditions, this year the weather was perfect over all three days.

It was intended to have 10 runs in all, followed by a Top 10 Shootout, but delays caused by a few incidents reduced the runs.

Johnson grabbed the lead on Saturday’s first run with 45.08s, well over a second ahead of nearest rival Julian Newton.

He lowered the benchmark to a 44.15 in run two. He was finally beaten by Henry Beasley on the fourth run with 44.74s to Johnson’s 45.17s.

Time lost retrieving a couple of cars after crashes meant the scheduled fifth run was left until Sunday where returned to the top.

Johnson on top again at the start of Sunday and whilst Douglas lost time at the top of the hill, Beasley went quickest

Douglas Johnson slides out of the right-hand hairpin on his way to the win. Image: JOHN LEMM

on the next with 45.70s, a fraction ahead of Newton.

Johnson saved his winning time of 43.64s for the seventh run where he was almost 2s faster than Streckeisen.

Part way through the eighth run, there was a major crash near the top of the hill, the (uninjured) driver being trapped in her overturned car. Outside assistance was needed to extract her, and as it was a closed public road, it became a police matter and, due to the delay it was decided to terminate the event at that point.

Johnson was the only driver to record a 43s time with a 43.74s to win by over a second ahead of Beasley.

Nick Streckeisen was third ahead of Julian Newton and Dan Day, in a far more domestic Subaru WRX STi than we are used to seeing him. John Lemm

REIMANN AND REDDING GO BACK-TO-BACK

TOBY REIMANN and Chris Redding (Scorpion/Volvo) are on a roll, winning their second race of the year when they crossed the line first in the Symons-Clark Logistics Richard Bennett Memorial Enduro at Parilla on May 4/5.

They had a bit of fortune along the way as Toby Whateley and Simon Herrman (Rush Truck/Chev) top qualified and led Section 1.

But their luck ran out in Section 2 when the gearbox broke leaving Victorians Evan Lampard and Josh Gaskin (Southern Cross/ Nissan) to chase Reimann home.

Dean Carter and Bradley Jacobs (Razorback/Chev) were right on the pace to claim third.

David and Matthew Hall (Murphy/Nissan) weren’t far behind in fourth with a bit of a gap back to Queenslanders Kevy Knott and Stewart Bishop (Element Prodigy/Chev) for P5.

Stephen and Jack Brown (Chenowth/ Nissan) had some issues out on the track on Saturday but managed to make it home in P8 on Sunday.

Geoff Brennan and Brett Beaty (Can-Am Maverick) were next to finish just ahead of Colin Johnson and Alan Morris in their Mitsubishi powered buggy rounding out the top 10.

Toby Reimann and Chris Redding flying through the Parilla dust.

Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

Simon Baker and Michael Leske (SS Race Frames/Chev) scored a rare finish and was the last to cross the line.

Daniel and Mia Ziembinski (Striker) made it through to Sunday but didn’t see the chequered flag when they broke a front arm.

Tyson and Chris Proud cut some good laps on Saturday in their Evotech buggy but lost the clutch at the start on Sunday and succumbed to multiple bet failure.

Jodie Veron and Cindy Ball (Can-Am Maverick) looked set to challenge Brennan for SXS Pro honours but a drive belt failure put them out on day one.

Corey and Jai Haworth (Southern Cross) went out on Sunday morning when they simply ran out of power.

Class wins went to Reimann/ Redding (Pro Buggy), Lampard/Gaskin (Prolite), The Olivers (Super 1650) and Brennan and Beaty (SXS Pro).

David Adams (Desert Rat) was easily the fastest Sportslite but broke early on Saturday which left Sam Vanstone and Bradley Cheer (RIDS Joker) as the class leaders only to retire on day two with no finishers from the five that started.

David Batchelor

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QUINN FINDS GOLD IN THE HEARTLAND THE 2024 South Australian Rally Championship started in fine style with the Rally of the Heartland which went to Nathan Quinn and David Green.

More than 50 cars took on 500km of dirt roads based in Burra and the state’s mid north where Quinn and Green excelled to take a comfortable win in their 1970 Mazda RX2.

There was nothing in it after the opening stage taken out by the Escort of Thomas Dermody and Eoin Moynihan with 6s covering the top six.

Also in a striking Martini liveried Escort Dakar driver Glenn Brinkman then stepped up, but it was not until Stage 4 ‘Worlds End’ where Dermody/Moynihan finally knocked off the top of the table thanks to a big win by by Mal Keough and Pip Bennett in the Audi Quattro.

They managed to retain their lead until he end of the opening leg, but only just with Brinkman trimming the lead to just 0.5s.

However, Stage 9 proved to be one of the biggest turning points of the rally.

A big 20s stage win sent Brinkman/

Beckwith into a convincing lead, while Keough and Bennett got stuck at the Hallett Service.

The 1975 Mercedes 450SLC driven by Stuart Bowes and Mark Nelson were in the top five until they had a major off on Stage 9. Thankfully both drivers were okay, but their rally was over.

Brinkman and Beckwith looked dominant, building a commanding lead of almost 50s.

But 12km from the end of the long stage 11, their grip on the rally disappeared.

Brinkman had an off and went through a fence which meant he lost significant time repairing the damage.

After losing a massive 41 minutes, the leaders slumped all the way to 40th.

This put Matthew Selley and Hamish McKendrick into the lead while Quinn quietly made his way up to third, two and a half minutes back.

Although Brinkman had resolved the issues and started winning stages again by the end of the second leg, leaders Selley/ McKendrick were the latest to strike trouble and failed to finish Stage 14.

The dramas meant Quinn and Green entered the final leg with a strong threeminute advantage over Drakie Barr-Smith and Andrew Travis.

Although Selley and McKendrick rediscovered their best on the final day, by sweeping stages 15, 16 and 17.

But importantly Quinn did enough to gradually extend his lead until the penultimate stage when it took a 50s hit.

This meant the Mazda held a 2m54s lead over Barr-Smith and Travis heading into the 13.32km finale called Diesel and Dust.

As the Subaru of Darren and Michelle Crozier set the fastest time in a thriller, just a second ahead of Guy Tyler/Tania Wearing, Quinn and Green were experts in car #1.

A third fastest stage time was more than enough to not only secure Rally of the Heartland honours, but extend the winning margin over Barr-Smith and Travis back beyond three minutes.

Round 2 of the 2024 South Australian Rally Championship is the Walky100 on August 10 in Eudunda.

Thomas Miles

Nathan Quinn and David Green kick up a storm of dust in their 1970 Mazda RX2 in a victorious Rally of the Heartland.

Image: WAYNE HOUGH

Image: IAN SMITH AUTOPIX

BARKER BLITZES LAP RECORD

MIKE BARKER (above) obliterated the Rob Roy outright lap record after flying at the VHRR Historic Hillclimb.

On Sunday, May 5, Barker in his Hayward 06, was in his own postcode.

His best lap time of 19.09s on run two not only easily won the event, but became the new benchmark at the wellknown Rob Roy hillclimb short circuit.

Since the 2022 track reconstruction, the best time was David Bell’s 23.32s, but now Barker has broken it Usain Bolt style.

A distant second was previous record holder Bell, who would have been pleased to lower his personal best to 21.36s in the Impreza WRX. He took class honours, which were also won by Graeme Raper (George Reed Monoskate) Alan Mead (Elton BMC) Conor Ryan (Elgeram Jaguar) Jacob Wingett (March 729) David Orchard (Triumph TR2) Ross McLaughlin (Pure GTE) Ken Parry (Ford Cortina GT M1) Mark Schwarze (Holden Torana) Ben Lodge (MG Midget) Warwick Foletta (Elfin Cluban T3) Abby Wingett (Hyundai Excel) Matthew White (Austin 7 Wasp M3) Nicholas Jackson (Avanti Vee) Christine Crombie (VW Scirocco).

Thomas Miles

BLAZING UP THE MOUNTAIN A BIG field enjoyed the first Trydel Victorian Hill Climb Championship meeting around Bryant Park’s figure-eight course for two years by breaking some class records.

A total of 92 entires ventured up the hill on Sunday April 21, but none could match the speed of David Mahon (pictured).

Mahon set the pace all day and on his way to victory destroyed the Formula Libre up to 1300cc record by over 3s.

Competitors were greeted by cool conditions but the competition on track quickly warmed up once the first runs had been completed and drivers had a taste of what was on offer.

Mahon raced out of the gates and set this round-winning time of 53.01 on his third run.

But Mike Barker pushed him all the way, with his best time of 53.33 on run four

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Image: SEVEN70 PHOTOGRAPHY coming within three-tenths.

They were in a league of their own as a further 3s back was third-place finisher Ewen Moile.

Moile just edged out Matthew Healy to stand on the podium with the fourth place

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finisher was falling just 0.04s short. Peter Minahan rounded out the top five with a 58.73.

The fight to be the fastest tin-top proved to be very close with Zachary Hanlin in a BMW M140i (62.20) pipping James Dyer in

his Toyota GR Yaris (62.57).

Hanlin had to set a record-breaking pace in Improved Production 3001cc and Over with the previous benchmark a distant 63.15.

The likes of Jordan James in his Mitsubishi Evo Lancer (62.60), Rhys Yeomans in his Honda Civic (62.76) and Warren Heath in his Ford Laser (62.94) were also in contention.

Yeomans also broke the Improved Production 0-1600cc record.

Christine Crombie was the fastest female with a time of 70.77s, which was fast enough for sixth in class in Improved Production 2WD 3001cc and Over.

The final class record breaker was Steven Weymouth-Wilson in Historic Group N up to 2000cc.

Round 5 will be at Toby Roy on May 19.

Thomas Miles

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NATIONALS WRAP Matt Barker and Brett Osborn race door-to-door for Holden HQ supremacy.

Image: RICCARDO BENVENUTI

Richard Woodward steering his Holden Monaro under lights.

PHOENIX RACING RISES TO VICTORY

ALL ACTION AT WINTON THE NSW Motor Racing Championship crossed the border to Winton Motor Raceway for round two of the state series, in the last weekend of April.

PRODUCTION TOURING CAR

ONE OF the highlights was the fight for the NSW Production Touring Car Championship where a variety of cars took on four races including two hour-long enduros.

Qualifying was split into the A and B drivers and racing out of the blocks was Matthew Holt.

The HSV driver was the only one in the 1m31s in the Driver A session but the Driver B class was much closer with Brent Howard topping the times by two-tenths.

The opening race was an hour-long enduro, where Holt and the #9 of Tyler Mecklem/Hadrian Morrall shared stints in the lead. But Holt snatched the lead with five laps to go and didn’t look back.

However, Mecklem hit back by snatching the Driver A race by 4s and co-driver Morrell claimed Driver B honours by just seventenths over Michael Osmond.

But disaster arrived for the #9 Mitsubishi in the second Enduro, retiring early allowing Holt to race to another win.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

A SOLID grid of 26 cars raced for Improved Production honours with Ryan Gorton the early favourite by beating South Australian Andy Sarandis for pole.

But Sarandis managed to get the jump off the line and take the opening race by 2s with Lachlan McBrien in third.

As Sarandis went back-to-back, Gorton lost another spot with McBrien jumping up to second.

Sarandis completed the hat-trick as just 7s covered the top three consisting of Gorton and McBrien with another 13s to the next car, while Daniel Castro and Mark Hawwa were both out on lap two.

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Miles Bromley leads Ryan Macmillan in the tight fight in Formula Open. Image: RICCARDO BENVENUTI

Brad Shiels was lightning fast in the Fiat 124 Coupe.

Image: NEIL HAMMOND

NSW SPORTS SEDANS

HOLDEN HQ

BRAD SHIELS was close to unbeatable in his #1 Fiat 124 Coupe and this was evident as early as qualifying when he took pole by 3.2s.

He then cruised to a commanding 13s win in the opener over Steven Lacey and Chris Jackson, while Ranald Maclurkin was a first-lap retirement.

The fast Fiat grew its margin of victory to 35s in Race 2 over Lacey and Jackson gain as Graham Smith and Francois Habib both retired on lap two.

Shiels completed a perfect weekend in the finale where all drivers made it to the finish. .

NSW X3

THE HYUNDAI Excels were the first cars on track first thing Saturday morning and Blake Tracey was on it from the word go.

He took pole by seven-tenths over Marcos Ambrose’s daughter Tabitha.

Tracey carried on his momentum by controlling the opening race to win by 5s over Billy Brittain and Caleb Hefren.

It was the same top two in Race 2 but Ambrose surged up to third, while Luke Croft, Adam Roberts and Hefren were caught up in early incidents.

Tracey completed a clean sweep on Sunday where Brittain followed him on both occasions, while Ambrose and Jackson Faulkner took turns in third.

BOOSTED FROM pole, Brett Osborn ensured car #1 was in P1 during the early stages of the Holden HQs. After controlling the opening race by 7s over Matt Barker in the opener, he did it again in Race 2.

But a clean sweep was denied in thrilling fashion by Barker.

The sister Osborn’s Transport got the jump off the line and held off the #1 throughout a tense nine-lapper to win by four-tenths.

FORMULA CAR/OPEN

THE NSW Formula Car and Australian Formula Open Championships ran together and brought some open-wheel action to Winton.

The fight for Open pole was thrilling with Ryan Macmillan edging out Miles Bromley by 0.05s, while in Car Rodney Baker was 2s ahead of the rest.

But the racing was much closer with Baker beating Arthur Abrahams by 1.2s, while Bromley jumped Macmillan.

Just over a second covered the top three Open cars in Race 2 but Bromley prevailed again as Baker enjoyed a more comfortable drive.

Macmillan denied Bromley a clean sweep in Open, but no one could stop Baker from sweeping Formula Car. Round three of the NSW State Series, 25-26 May and will take place at Sydney Motorsport Park. Thomas Miles

A TOTAL of 172 drivers saw 36 teams take on a thrilling New South Wales Road Racing Club day/night 6 Hour Regularity Relay at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday, April 27.

As the race ventured from light to dark, it went down to the wire in a thrilling final hour where the lead changed hands more times than the previous five.

At the end of it all Jonathan Mansell, Roger Ranftl, Richard Woodward, Lachlan Ward and Patrick Honer pushed Phoenix Racing to a special win.

The weather was a total contrast to last year’s two-day event which was plagued with heavy rain.

The New South Wales Road Racing Club 6 Hour Regularity Relay is a grassroots motorsport event that attracts a variety of old and new cars, plus Supercars driver Tim Slade who took part.

Each team consisted of three to six drivers and cars with each individual nominating a time in practice which they attempt to match each lap.

It takes skill and strategy and this year’s event was one of the most closely contested in the race’s eightyear history.

Last year’s winners Panorama Mountain Men were favourites but Pheonix Racing, Barge Racing, Last minute Motorsport and Bruce and the Boys were all determined to spoil their day.

Other squads to feature in the top 10 were Southern Thunder, Macquarie Auto Racing, Just Regular Guys, The Pacemakers and Grumpy Racing 1. All 10 teams changed places several times during the race which was disrupted by some full course yellows and a red flag.

It all led to a thrilling climax where the lead changed hands constantly but at the end of it all Phoenix Racing rose to victory ahead of Barge Racing, while defending winners Panorama Mountain Men had to settle for third.

Thomas Miles

Drivers take on the challenge of racing around SMP under the setting sun.

Images: ARMSTRONG RIDER PHOTOGRAPHER

Want to see your category event or news story included in the Auto Action Nationals Wrap.

Send your information, images and contact details to team@autoaction.com.au or give us a call on 03 9563 2107 Zak Lobko leads a train of Formula Fords through Turn 3 at Winton.

Image: NEIL HAMMOND

NOTHING IN IT THE FIGHT for the famous Australian Formula Ford Series title is as close as ever with two drivers tying for round honours and three covered by two points in the standings.

That is the result of an eventful Round 2 at Winton on April 27-28.

The tone was set in Qualifying where Jack Bussey edged out Zak Lobko by just 0.0184s for pole.

Bussey used pole to his advantage by taking a commanding lights-to-flag win in the opener.

The heat was on behind him however, with Tasmanian Harrison Sellars soaring from eighth to second in nine busy laps.

He led home a train of eight cars all within 4s of each other with Kobi Williams rounding out the podium ahead of Lobko.

The likes of Cody Maynes-Rutty, Lachie Mineeff and Eddy Beswick were also in the thick of the action, but were hit by significant time penalties.

Lobko put in a might fightback to win Race 2.

A fast start saw him rise to second before he took the lead from Sellars on lap five.

Going the other way were Williams and Bussey, who fell to 12th and 13th respectively.

The third and final race only lasted seven minutes due to a red flag arriving following a big crash for Daniel Frougas.

Fortunately Frougas was able to walk away unscathed from the incident, but the race was a non-event.

It ensured Lobko could secure a first round win on a count-back with Sellars after the pair both scored 32 points.

With Lobko winning Race 2, he claimed the round honours, while Maynes-Rutty retains the championship lead.

His gap has been slashed to just one point however to Sellars, while Beswick is only one point further back in third.

Next stop for the Formula Fords is Sydney Motorsport Park on May 25-26.

Thomas Miles

SCOTT SNARES SERIES LEAD ROBERT SCOTT (leading, right) has snatched the RX8 Cup Series lead after a competitive second round at Winton.

The 20-car field was bolstered with the addition of TCR race winner Bailey Sweeny, but it was another impressive category rookie who took pole.

Jett Blumeris pipped reigning champion Justin Barnes by two tenths with a 1:37.2.

Barnes made a brilliant start to hit the lead and gap the rest of the field, while Mik Hazelton rose from fourth to second.

Barnes was cruising but with just three laps to go power steering issues saw Hazelton slash the deficit.

The race went down to the wire as Hazelton would briefly pass Barnes coming into the final corner but the #1 won the drag race and snuck to a 0.2s win, while Robert Scott claimed his first RX8 Cup podium.

In Race 2 Hazelton beat Barnes into Turn 1

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as Noakes, Scott and Lyall diced for third.

A clash between Zak Wazir and Ross Forbes resulted in a Safety Car. Hazelton controlled the rest of the race as a thrilling battle for second heated up.

Scott won it, holding off Blumeris as

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Sweeny received a post race time penalty.

After a late-race clash saw Barnes and Noakes start Race 3 at the back as Hazelton led away once again.

Barnes was on the edge of the top 10 when it all became unstuck and he

collided with Canellis at Turn 3.

Hazelton won comfortably as Sweeny surged to second ahead of Scott.

Hazelton continued his run of great starts and lead the pack away in the final race.

The field negotiated the esses cleanly, but at Turn 3 Robert Leonard and Andy Duffin had a coming together that saw Duffin collide with the left-hand wall where John Freeland and Tom Donohue were also involved.

A long Safety Car set up a sprint to the finish where Hazelton completed his hattrick.

Behind Sweeny made a great pass on Hills to snare second.

Scott now leads the championship by eight points ahead of round winner Hazelton ahead of Round 3 at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 24-26.

Thomas Miles

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NATIONALS WRAP Mick Downey and Jarrod Akker pushed their Holden Commodore to Classic Super Rally glory.

Image: ANGRYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Josh Heinrich and Reece Chapman race door-to-door for the lead at QR. Image: DARIN MANDY/DIGITAL REALISM

HEINRICH TRUMPS RIVALS

WRIGHT WRAPS UP SNOWY RIVER SPRINT THE 2024 Australian Tarmac Rally Snowy River Sprint series descended on the seaside town of Lakes Entrance earlier this month and Jason and Fiona Wright picked up from where they left off.

The Wright pair in the Nissan R35 went back to back after the 240km, 18-stage journey from Buchan to Orbost.

Initially things were dominated early by Matt Close and Cameron Reeves before a fuel pump failure saw them parked up on SS4.

This meant Wright and Paul Dowie resumed their rivalry and the Nissan held on by just over a minute from Dowie.

The Wrights also dominated Modern Super Rally winning all 11 stages in class, while Dowie and John Allen also won Modern 2WD. Once again Matt Close and Cameron Reeves led Modern AWD before mechanical dramas struck again, allowing Crichton Lewis and Anthony Carr to take

the honours in their Subaru WRX STI. Paul Buccini welcomed new navigator Bernie Webb and they dominated Early Modern 2WD by over six minutes.

The colourful pairing of Justin Waterhouse and Adrian Bryant would storm away in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, pulling a gap of over 90 seconds in Early Modern AWD on the opening day alone.

But they detonated a motor on Stage 12, which set-up a close battle between a pair of Mitsubishi Lancers.

In the end Michael Mansey finished 1m22s ahead of Alan Hines.

The throttle-stomping Mick Downey and Jarrod Akker in their Holden Commodore carried on their Classic Super Rally form by taking a massive 21-minute win.

Picking up where they left off last round, the dynamic father and son team of Michael and Lachlan Nordsvan jumped to an early lead in Classic.

Despite having a much tougher time on

the second day, battling illness and tyre degradation, they won by nearly 2 minutes ahead of the Datsun 240Z of Cam Lepp and Josh Herbert.

Rob Oshlack and Neysa Ellison (Porsche 911 GT3) continued their strong pace in Rally Challenge.

Although their BMW and Audi rivals had flashes of speed, they would not get near the Porsche.

Rally Sport proved to be a fascinating war of attrition that was not decided until the final stage.

After each of the three leaders fell victim to mechanical issues, including two leaders on the final stage, the limping Evo of Luana Garwood and Suzanne Atkins incredibly took class honours for a second event in a row.

The crews now have until early September to regroup in preparation for the gruelling Great Tarmac Rally.

Thomas Miles

ON A competitive weekend of racing, Josh Heinrich emerged on top in the Aussie Racing Cars battle at Queensland Raceway.

In the category’s first meeting in two months, the reigning champion was on the money straight away, taking pole by 0.195s over Kody Garland. But Garland hit back when the lights went out and hit the lead before an early Safety Car for the stopped Reece Chapman at Turn 2.

Heinrich used the restart to make his response and retake P1. It proved to be a critical move as it occurred just before Andrew Corish got stuck in the gravel at Turn 3. The incident ensured the race finished under the control of the Safety Car. After fighting hard in the opener, Garland was rewarded for effort by being victorious in Race 2.

Following an early stoppage for the beached Alastair Koenig, Garland dominated the entire journey from lights to flag.

This left Heinrich in an intense battle for the minors as he fended off Brandon Madden for second, while Chapman fought his way through the field to fifth.

Cody Brewczynski was a contender for most of the duration until dropping back to 13th by the flag and was forced to stop after the finish line to put out a fire.

Chapman completed his superb comeback mission by winning the third race. He went head to head Madden throughout the race with the latter taking advantage of an early Safety Car caused by the spun Jeff Watters.

But Chapman held form to take a memorable victory in the inverted top 10 grid affair.

The finale proved to be an all-green affair and Heinrich showed his class.

Despite both Garland and Kent Quinn applying significant pressure, the reigning champion held firm in a last-lap battle, of which Chapman took advantage of and snatched a podium place.

The Aussie Racing Cars go door-to-door again at the Perth SuperSprint on May 17-19.

Thomas Miles

TURNING BACK TIME THE HISTORIC Racing Car Club hosted the Autumn Historic Warwick at Morgan Park on April 27-28. BRUCE MOXON snuck over the border to bring us the action.

GROUP N

THE MUSTANGS of Ian Mewett and Graeme Wakefield took all the Group N races on offer.

Mewett took three, including the prestigious Bill Campbell Trophy, Wakefield won the other event while Craig Allan raced to second from the back.

HERITAGE TOURING CARS

GROUPS C and A headlined the two-day meeting. With three scratch races and a handicap (for the Lloyd Bax Trophy) there was action aplenty. Brian Henderson took all three scratch races in his Bluebird, after close battles with David Towe (BMW M3), Kyle Alford (Skyline R31) and Mark Taylor (VL Commodore).

In the Lloyd Bax Trophy race, Kris Van Der Borgh led to the first corner in the

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near-standard Volvo 242 from 1979’s Bathurst.

But Jason Delaney (Escort) led most of the race, only for a last-lap pass by Scott Robinson’s BMW 325.

Henderson took the Group C award from Towe who claimed the Glenn Seton trophy.

In the last race, the top six swapped spots several times with Henderson emerging on top.

Brian Henderson’s Bluebird leads David Towe’s BMW and Kyle Alford’s Skyline. Images: BRUCE MOXON

GROUPS Q AND R

STAN ADLER took his Porsche 911 to four wins, with Michael McKelliget (Datsun 280Z) taking all the second places, with minors being shared between Mark Sperling’s MX-5 and Andrew Wilson’s Alfa.

Stan Adler dominated Group S and gets some air off the kerb.

THE FASTEST cars at the meeting were fronted by Chris Farrell’s RALT, winning three from four races after a bobble dropped him to second in Race 3.

Robert Foster took his ex-Gilles Villeneuve March to three seconds and a win.

GROUPS J, K, L, M, O, P, V

FORMULA FORD

SUPER MINI

GROUP S

DOUG ANDERSON took three wins in his Elfin 600, before putting the car away for the final race.

Pete Trapnell took three second places and a win in his 1930s Ford Special while Doug Angus won all the Formula Vee races.

WITH MANY at Mallala, it was left to John Pymble to take three wins and a third place with Sean Sorenson and Keith Uebel picking up the minor places.

Pymble dropped to third in the last race, allowing Uebel to take the win.

NON-HISTORIC they may be, but the Super Minis were on hand to put on great racing.

Trent Spencer took the first three wins but dropped down the field, recovering to fifth in the last race, which went to James Campbell.

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PISZCYK SWEEPS F4 RETURN THE RETURN round of the Formula 4 Australian Championship, on May 4-5, was dominated by AGI Sport’s James Piszcyk (below).

The Formula 4 Australian Championship made its racing comeback for the first time since Luis Leeds won the title in 2019 and an 11-car field marked the occasion.

Just like the finale five years ago, the new era of the series was also held at The Bend Motorsport Park and AGI Sport dominated with Piszcyk taking all before him.

The teenager with British racing experience was in a league of his own over

one lap, taking both poles by four and eight tenths in the two sessions.

In the opening session local driver Blake Purdie was his nearest challenger and was a threat during the first race.

Although there was little change for position, two Safety Cars for Mark Rosser and Nathan Gotch bunched up the field, but Piszcyk was able to hold on by a second.

Joining Piszcyk and Purdie on the podium was eventually Seth Gilmore after thirdplaced Nicolas Stati received a 5s penalty.

Race 2 was a clean affair which allowed Piszcyk to flex his muscles and cruise to a

5s victory over Purdie and Stati, who fought his way back to third.

The AGI Sport driver completed the perfect weekend by getting another strong start and blazing to a 9s triumph.

But the fight was on behind him for second best.

Purdie was able to overcome Stati in the contest for second at the chequered flag, but made the move behind double waved yellows due to the retired Nicholas Filipetto.

As a result Purdie was hit with a costly 30s penalty and fell from second to fifth, promoting Gilmore onto the rostrum.

The fight was also intense in the Master Class won by Rosser, with John Paul Drake and Filipetto going at it.

Drake pulled off a big move to get third in class and eighth on the road, only to lose it shortly after.

But the battle was over when Filipetto spun on his own which handed the spot to Drake.

The Formula 4 Australian Championship field has a month to work out how to catch Piszcyk before Round 2 at the same circuit on June 7-9.

Thomas Miles

Image: SPEEDSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHY

DRAMA AT THE BEND

ROUND THREE of the South Australian State Motor Racing Championship had the entries fattened up by a number of interstate classes at Shell V Power Motorsport Park on May 4-5, Auto Action’s David Batchelor was on hand to cover the action.

MARC CARS AUSTRALIA

GEOFF TAUNTON (right) took a lucky win in the MARC Cars Australia round after top qualifier and race one winner Jackson Shaw had a wheel part company with the car as he was chasing Taunton down in Race 2.

Shaw had dominated Race 1, while in Race 2 Taunton had got the jump at the start with Adam Hargraves holding down P1 while the leader pitted, with Shaw out.

Hargraves placed second behind Taunton for the round with John Morris (Porsche GT3R) third on points but it was Crossing who claimed third for MARC Cars.

EXCEL TROPHY

JOEL JOHNSON (pictured, right) ran away and hid in Circuit Excel Trophy by comfortably winning all three races. Aaron Oliver just managed to grab second from a very consistent Isaac Sparks with Nick Scaife the only other serious challenger for a podium.

Scaife also took three from three in Circuit Excel Masters but had to work hard for his wins.

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Images: DAVID BATCHELOR Scaife spent a lot of time looking at the back of Shaun Pannowitch’s car but was always in front at the flag. Pannowitch was a comfortable second for the round ahead of Kim Anderson with Brian Smith the only other driver to get a podium finish for the weekend.

SA PROTOTYPES

THE SOUTH Australian Prototype Championship was broken into two classes and it was John-Paul Drake (Wolf F1 Mistral) easily on top in Class 1.

Simon Gardiner (Norma M20) was a safe second just clear of Andrew McKee (Wolf F1 Mistral).

Ian Eldridge (Stohr WF1) took a lucky win in Class 3 when Mark Short (Prince LSR) broke in Race 3, dropping him to third for the round behind Philip Andrawos (Firman F1000).

Short had had taken it right up to Drake in the races and led him home in the first

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two but didn’t managed to get in front of the black Wolf before retiring in the final race.

MG AND SPORTS

PHILIP CHESTER (MGB GT V8) looked the goods in the very diverse field of MG Racing and Sports Sedans.

But an electrical problem kept him from starting race two on Sunday and despite winning two of the three races that was only good enough for P6 for the weekend.

Michael Trathen (MG Midget) was Chester’s main opposition and won Sundays opening race setting himself up for the outright win well clear of Jason Holmes (MG ZR) and Kim Cole (Rover Tomcat). Local driver David McKiggan (Toyota Corolla) was the best of the Sports Sedans.

ALFA ROMEO

THERE WERE many likely winners vying for the top spot in AROCA Alfa Romeo Racing but after two days and four races it was

Carmelo Mirabella (Alfa Romeo 147 GTA) that stood on the top step of the podium.

Mirabella finished in the top two in all the races to narrowly defeat race one winner Alfio Musumeci (Alfa Romeo Alfetta G) for the round.

There was a big gap back to Richard Magoffin ( Alfa Romeo Giulietta) in third. Top qualifier Simon Greirson (Alfa Romeo GTV6) had a weekend to forget. He failed to finish race one and didn’t make the start for Race 2.

Race 3 showed what could have been with a strong win only to drop out early in the final race on Sunday leaving him outside the top 10 on points.

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NATIONALS WRAP

Myles Bond (Stanza Turbo) and Jason Maros (Charger) were some of the fastest Sports Sedans.

Image: JOHN LEMM

MAGNIFICENT MALLALA

IN THE 90TH YEAR OF THE SPORTING CAR CLUB OF SA, THE 42ND RUNNING OF THE AUTOSPORT ALL-HISTORIC MALLALA ON APRIL 26-28 ATTRACTED OVER 170 ENTRIES – AUTO ACTION’S JOHN LEMM SOAKED IT UP IN PERFECT CONDITIONS ...

FORMER RACER and current Supercar team owner Brad Jones was the weekend’s special guest, and was reunited with one of his former mounts, the Peter Fowler-built Mercedes Benz 450 SLC Sports Sedan, as well as judging Sunday’s show and shine.

Myles Bond in the turbocharged Barry Bray Datsun Stanza coupe went on to take three wins, 1:13.8841 being his fastest.

Jason Maros (Clem Smith Charger), Nathan Mills (Datsun 1200 Turbo), Max Carter (newly-restored Torana V8), Tony Ross (Holden FX V8) and Bradley DeLuca (Anglia rotary) were other quick runners, before Simon Pfitzner in the Mercedes 450 SLC laid down a 1:09.4427 in the final heat.

GROUP N TOURING CARS

HISTORIC TOURING Car Cup attracted 25 entries from three states, but last year’s winner Darren Hossack (Mazda RX2) jumped straight into the lead in Saturday’s opener from the fellow Victorian quick Mazda of Peter McNiven. They were chased

by Josh Axford’s Escort RS1600, Darren Collins’ Mustang and Tony Hubbard’s Camaro.

The front-running trio battled all the way to the finish, with the Torana XU-1 of Andy Williams getting past McNiven at half distance to trail Hossack home by 0.15s.

Williams got the jump at the start of the second encounter from McNiven and Hossack before a missed gear change dropped Hossack back down to fifth behind Axford and Adam Smith (Falcon GT).

With Smith going off in a cloud of dust at the end of the straight prior to the esses, Hossack fought back to third and Williams

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Having built both, Peter Fowler drove the recreation of the Bryan Thompson Volkswagen Chev.

Image: JOHN LEMM went on to win by almost three seconds from McNiven.

McNiven grabbed the lead at the start of the third race before both Williams and Hossack slipped past through at the Southern Hairpin on the second lap.

Williams led Hossack and McNiven across the line before the Torana driver dominated Sunday’s affair as Hossack had more gear change problems, dropping him to fifth.

With a little help from friends, Hossack changed the Mazda’s gearbox prior to the final outing, but when he went to start the engine, it would not turn over and he missed the event.

With McNiven on his tail, Williams led all of the final race, with Axford in third until he was overhauled by Collins and then Smith a lap later.

Williams won the Cup for the fourth time with 30 points, two more than McNiven.

HISTORIC SPORTS SEDANS

AS THE opening round of the John McCormack Historic Sports Sedan Australia series, the star attraction was the newlyfinished recreation of the Bryan Thompson Volkswagen Chev, driven by the builder, Peter Fowler. After engine problems stopped him from running in the first Supersprint heat,

GROUPS M AND O SPORTS AND RACING

THE ALREADY small field was depleted further when usual front-runner Laurie Bennett’s Elfin 600B developed a water leak in its brand-new engine during qualifying.

Despite Sean Whelan (Brabham BT30) being deemed to have jumped the start in Race 1, Shane Kuchel (Brabham BT18) got away best, pulling out a large lead for the first lap before retiring with a broken crownwheel and pinion.

This left Whelan in the lead, pulling well clear of David Smoker’s Brabham BT29 and Grant Perryman’s BT18, which seemed to be locked together all weekend.

Whelan went on to another untroubled win in the second race ahead of Smoker.

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Larry Kavanagh’s ex HDT ‘Saggy Sarah’ Torana Sports Sedan lights up the track.

Image: JOHN LEMM

TOP: Sean Whelan and David Smoker fight wheel to wheel in Groups M & O. Image: DAVID BATCHELOR ABOVE: Williams takes the lead at the start of Race 3 for the THR Developments Historic Touring Car Cup. Image: JOHN LEMM

third the pack virtually crossing the finish line together.

However Connolly had received a fivesecond penalty, dropping him to sixth.

Foo grabbed the lead in Saturday’s final race before McInness reclaimed it the following lap and held it to the finish.

Connolly led Sunday’s first race, from McInness, Oastler, Foo, Woodforde and Richardson, before Foo started picking everyone off and got into the lead with two laps to go. He crossed the line just ahead of Connolly, Oastler, McInness and Woodforde.

The fast-starting Connolly again led in the final, before Foo took him on the third lap as did Oastler and Woodforde. Richardson finished fifth.

FORMULA 5000, GROUPS Q AND R

THE WEEKEND got off to a bad start for the group with leader Kevin West putting the Grantinni 3B into the wall exiting Turn 2 before half of the field went off in the Southern Hairpin due to oil dropped by a competitor on the out lap. This brought out the red flag and after a lengthy clean-up the restart was reduced to four laps.

In a tight pack, Jim Doig (Motorlab ASP 340) led all the way from Dave Benda (Tiga SC80), Andrew Ford (Birrana 274) and Phil Lane (Elfin 700).

The second encounter saw Benda get the jump, holding off Doig for the whole six laps, with Lane eventually getting the better of Ford with a lap to go.

The day’s final race again saw Benda on top, Lane getting the better of Doig at middistance and Bill Hemming (Elfin MR8), the only Formula 5000, latching onto Doig’s tail after getting by Ford with a couple of laps to go.

The day’s final race was virtually a re-run, except that Perryman swapped places with Smoker at just over half distance.

Sunday’s two races finished with exactly the same result, with the battle between Perryman and Smoker continuing right through.

FORMULA FORD

FORMULA FORD probably featured the most action-packed racing of the meeting, with a five-way battle for honours most of the time.

Bruce Connolly (Elwyn 003B) got the jump on pole-man Declan Foo (Van Dieman RF88) who dropped to as low as eighth before coming back through the field.

Meantime Andrew McInness (Van Dieman RF89), former Hillclimb Champion and F1 designer Malcolm Oastler (Lola TS42) and Glen Woodforde (Reynard 83FF) were locked in battle.

McInness finally found his way past Connolly on the final lap whilst Foo finished fifth.

In the second encounter McInness and Connolly had multiple exchanges for the lead as Foo had worked his way up to

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Benda again led Sunday’s first race for half a lap before losing fourth gear, Lane going through into the lead and pulling out a gap over Ford, before Hemming slotted into second and Peter Nowlan (Mallock 16B) also overtook Ford, with Doig eventually finishing fifth.

Lane blew the Elfin’s gearbox on the opening lap of the final, Benda’s repairs failing and also putting him out.

Meantime Hemming led all the way from Nowlan, with Ford taking the final podium spot from Doig.

GROUPS J, K, L AND VEE

PETER FAGAN (Cooper Mk 6 J.A.P) was the star of the show, winning all five races, although not without problems.

He tore off into the distance in the opener, to head Shane Bowden’s Lolus by 16 seconds in the end, with Dick O’Keefe’s Photon, also a similar period Lotus 11 replica, in third, with Chris Frost’s Hartwig Fargo fourth, after Brian Simpson’s Cooper Mk 9 retired. Conor Ryan’s Demmitt Fueling was the first Formula Vee, in ninth.

Fagan started from the pits in the next race, an electrical fault leaving him stranded on the dummy grid, Bowden running away with the race for three laps before retiring with a blown head gasket.

Charging through the field, Fagan was in the lead the following lap, to head young Abbie Wingett (Elfin FJ) across the finish line by just over a second. O’Keefe was 10 seconds further back, with Frost a similar time behind him.

Jonathan Scott (Elfin NG) was first Vee in eighth.

Wingett, protégé of both Bill Hemming and Nigel Tait, grabbed the lead for the

first lap in Saturday’s final race, before gear selector problems dropped her down the field, then out.

Fagan then had a fight on his hands from O’Keefe, who briefly got into the lead before finishing a close second.

Max Pegram’s pretty Gemini Ford FJ was fourth, ahead of the battling Group K cars of Michael Shearer (Plymouth Special) and Frost, who were fighting for the D. G. Fraser Memorial trophy. Ryan was again best Vee, as he would be in the remaining events.

Fagan again had a battle with O’Keefe in Sunday’s first eight-lapper, the Photon grabbing the lead at half-distance, before spinning and then retiring with suspension damage.

A returning Wingett climbed through the field into a distant second at the finish, ahead of Frost and Shearer.

After following Wingett for a lap, Fagan took the lead in the final, with Frost getting through to lead for a lap before the Elfin again had selector problems and dropped to third. She managed to hold off Pegram and Shearer to hold onto the position.

GROUP C & A TRIBUTE

THIS WAS the first time that these cars had run at Mallala Historic as a category, with 18 entries, six of which came from interstate. There was only one true Group A car – Andrew Cavalli’s ex Murray Carter Ford Sierra RS500, the rest being tributes, plus a few sports cars.

Brett Sunstrom’s Porsche 911 RS won four of the supersprints, David Rowell’s Commodore taking the final. Other quick cars included Cameron Smiths Porsche 911 IROC, Travis Kirby’s Commodore and Hagen Zerk’s Falcon XA.

SUPERSPRINT

MATTHEW FRITH’S ex tarmac rally Datsun 240Z was fastest in all five encounters, from Mark Johnson in Darren Collins’ Group N Mustang, with John Dalcollo (Datsun 240Z), Gregory Pittaway (Bolwell Nagari) and Scott Baxendale (Datsun 260Z) sharing podiums.

REGULARITY

DANIEL JEFFRIES (Elfin Streamliner) won three of the encounters with Brian Cramond (Elfin Clubman) and Toby Wilson (Austin Roadster) taking one each.

David Ramsey fights his big Falcon around Mallala.

Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

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INTERNATIONAL AUSSIES Yasser Shahin’s EMA Manthey Porsche on its way to WEC glory. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

SPA SUCCESS

YASSER SHAHIN has tasted success in just his third FIA World Endurance Championship race by assisting EMA Manthey to LMGT3 honours at the Spa 6 Hours.

Australian Shahin teamed up with Richard Lietz and Morris Schuring and, after starting third, they endured an upand-down day en route to class glory in a race littered with incidents and disrupted by a red flag.

It is a massive leap forward for the combination, having recorded a previous highest class finish of 15th in the Porsche 911 GT3 R 992.

Shahin soaked up victory, but revealed he even considered leaving the circuit when the race was stopped.

“We really didn’t have any ambition to finish where we did but we made really solid progress,” Shahin said post-victory.

I had a very disciplined first couple of stints and brought it in P3 and Morris brought us into the lead.

“When the red flag came I thought we were done and, in fact, I was looking for earlier flights.

“Then there was maybe half an hour to go, we thought there could be something here.”

Whilst Shahin celebrated on the top step in Spa, Grove Racing waved the Aussie flag with pride in Portugal.

Competing in the Hankook 24Hr Series at Portimao, Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Matthew Payne and Garth Tander had plenty of potential in the #10 Mercedes.

The Supercars quartet qualified well and started third, but sadly did not go the distance. Australia’s Grove Racing was the first to retire, during the ninth hour, after fuel pump issues and a suspected fluid leak sparked a small fire.

Thomas Miles

BATES JUST MAKES IT

FORMER ARC champion Lewis Bates got a punishing introduction to the reality of the World Rally Championship in Portugal.

Driving his own Toyota GR Yaris in the Rally2 contest, ahead of his next Australian start in Perth with the same car, Bates and his regular co-driver Anthony McLoughlin suffered a string of dramas and were never able to show their true speed or potential.

They were effectively eliminated after only a handful of stages when the electronic throttle system failed, although they continued through the three-day event to gain experience at the top level of rallying.

“Super challenging weekend for Lewis and Anthony but, as is often the case at these tough WRC events, it takes time to get on the pace,” said Charles Deffontaines,

from the French team which fielded the Yaris.

“The mega 37-kilometre Amarante stage was a highlight, where they put themselves within a reasonable distance of WRC2 competitors with much more experience of Rally Portugal. The whole experience has been a learning curve but they have shown glimpses of what they’re capable of despite car troubles and a timely bout of gastro.”

The pre-event build-up went well with testing in the Yaris, backed by Luke Anear and SafetyCulture, but then the whole crew was hit by a stomach bug and McLoughlin was lucky to make the start.

Once they had resumed from the first-day disaster, and with churned-up stages back in the pack, Bates settled for a safety-first

approach to preserve his car for the Forest Rally in Perth.

His best effort was 14th fastest among the Rally2 runners, as he progressively trimmed the margin to the fastest Yaris driver, Sami Pajari of Finland, from around two seconds a kilometre to less than one second.

“The atmosphere here is incredible. The Yaris feels good,” Bates enthused, but that was before the kick-off.

He and McLoughlin eventually finished 14th in the Rally2 field – which was originally 37 cars – and 30th overall, one place ahead of reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera after he rolled his Rally1 Yaris.

Paul Gover

Despite an early technical problem, Bates and McLoughlin learned much on their WRC debut.

PUNCHING ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT A NUMBER of Aussies are currently cutting their teeth overseas in the open-wheeler world, in three separate continents.

Speedy rookie Lochie Hughes was able to get his USFPro2000 Championship campaign back on track on the Indianapolis road course.

Having qualified fifth, the Turn 3 Motorsport driver made solid progress in the opener to finish third and stayed there for the remainder of the weekend, collecting a hat-trick of P3 trophies.

Alex Ninovic is pumped after getting a podium.

Hughes now sits third in the standings prior to a mid-season test this weekend and Round 4 at Image: JAKOB EBREY PHOTOGRAPHY Indianapolis’ small Lucas Oil Raceway on May 23-24.

Jesse Lacey returned to Japan for Round 2 of the Alex Ninovic was on the pace in his second British F4 Formula Regional Japanese Championship at Sugo. round at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

He qualified third, but lost a spot off the line before an The Rodin driver came within 0.060s of pole and held aggressive move around the outside saw the Aussie firm in second in the opener. secure a second podium in as many rounds.

Starting from 11th in the reverse-grid affair, Ninovic Despite suffering a broken front wing, Lacey fought hard got hit and dropped to 17th, but there was more to still come home sixth in the finale. He is also sixth in the heartbreak to come. championship with Okayama beckoning on June 29-30.

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He led Race 3 until he penultimate lap where a wheel-to-wheel fight with Deagen Fairclough for the win ended with the Aussie on the outside being fired airborne into the sand.

There was no action from the stewards and Fairclough kept the win.

Despite the bad luck, Ninovic still sits third in the standings as Snetterton awaits on May 25-26.

Three Aussies – Gianmarco Pradel, Jack Beeton and Kamak Mrad – lined up on the Italian Formula 4 Championship grid in the Misano opener.

Despite an early Safety Car in Race 1, Pradel enjoyed a reasonably quiet drive to third place and a second career podium, while Beeton made a late move to snatch fifth. Race 2 proved to be a battle for the Aussies with Pradel only emerging in 12th, before he secured sixth in the finale.

Pradel and Beeton sit fifth and eighth in the Italian Formula 4 Championship – Round 2 is at Imola on May 31 to June 2.

Thomas Miles

INTERNATIONAL AUSSIES I WRC • PORTUGAL

OGIER BREAKS NEW GROUND

Sebastien Ogier flew to another win in Portugal.

Images: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

SEBASTIEN OGIER rewrote the Rally de Portugal history books by taking victory over Ott Tänak in a tight contest.

Five different drivers held the overall lead in the gruelling gravel rally around Porto and Matosinhos, but Ogier used his experience to put the Toyota on top by 7.9s over Tanak.

It was Ogier’s sixth Rally de Portugal victory which makes the Frenchman the most successful ever in the 56-year history of the event, having previously shared the record with Markku Alén.

“It is special for sure,” Ogier said.

“I have to enjoy these moments and cherish them as you never know when it is going to end.

“It means a lot as he [Markku] is a legend.

I have heard this comparison for years now and somehow it is nice to have this behind me, although I have enjoyed tying with him on this record.

“I think it is pretty clear that our race management was as close to perfect this weekend, and that is what brought us to where we are today.”

Championship leader Thierry Neuville mastered the technical opening Super Special to take an early lead.

Although the Hyundai driver continued to impress on the damp second day, he lost the lead to another Toyota driver in Takamoto Katsuta.

Veteran Dani Sordo also collected three stage wins across the Friday where another returning Toyota star announced himself.

By the end of the day Kalle Rovanperä made a late push to emerge in the overall lead by a single second.

Despite being on top, the Finn admitted he was “fighting” behind the wheel.

“It’s tough, we are definitely nowhere near where the car should be,” said Rovanpera.

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Ott Tanak took his 2024 campaign to new heights.

Kalle Rovanpera flys over the Fafe Jump before his rally came to a crashing end.

“I am fighting all the time, we have understeer and everything so it is making tyre wear worse and worse.”

A thrilling weekend was in store with just 5.4s covering the top four that also consisted of Ogier, Katsuta and Tanak.

Elfyn Evans had a tough start to the rally, encountering set-up issues early on before more misfortune arrived in the afternoon.

Co-driver Scott Martin was forced to deliver pace notes from a mobile phone after leaving the book on a table in the Stage 6 time control!

To rub salt into the wounds, a right wheel issue saw him lose a total of 52s across a tough day.

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“We couldn’t write our day really, nothing is going our way,” Evans reflected.

Rovanpera carried on his momentum by setting a blistering pace to win Stage 10.

This propelled his lead to 6.7s but it all disappeared in spectacular fashion.

Rovanpera lost the rear of his Yaris and hit a tree, which sent the car into a roll before coming to rest on its side against another tree.

Both Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen were unharmed, but were shattered – having also crashed from the lead in Sweden.

“Sweden was completely my mistake and this one was bit of a confusion with the pacenotes at the previous place and Jonne read the notes wrong,” the Finn said.

“That was not the reason for the crash but, on the straight after, I was maybe thinking about it a bit and I missed my braking.

“Definitely the car today felt fine so it would probably have been a better day for us today (than yesterday) so it is shame.”

The rally became a war of attrition as amazingly one of the very next on the scene, WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg, also rolled his

Skoda moments after passing Rovanpera.

The Swede admitted he “became distracted and ran off line” after seeing the Toyota.

Katsuta was sitting in third until he had a less eventful retirement on Stage 12.

The Japanese driver hit a rock, which damaged the right-rear suspension.

“I don’t know exactly what was there and we hit a rock or wall,” he said.

“The car is strong enough as we survived the Safari, but for sure this kind of impact was a bit too much.”

Following a dramatic day, this left Ogier with an 11.9s lead over Tanak heading into the final four stages.

Ogier rose to the occasion by taking out the opening 19.9km run to build an 18s advantage.

Not to be outdone, Tanak critically recorded back-to-back stage wins when he needed them most to cut the deficit down to 10s ahead of the final and deciding 11.18km run, which included the iconic Fafe Jump.

Whilst the Hyundai driver still finished ahead of Ogier, the Frenchman did enough to comfortably hold onto a famous win.

For Tanak it was his best result since his return to Hyundai, while Neuville stunned himself by collecting an important “near impossible” third place.

This extended his championship lead to 24 points over Evans ahead of Rally Italia Sardegna on May 30-June 3.

Thomas Miles WRC STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5 1: Thierry Neuville 86 points 2: Elfyn Evans 80 3: Adrien Fourmaux 59 4: Ott Tanak 53 5: Sebastien Ogier 45

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INTERNATIONAL

PALOU TIMES HIS MOVE

ALEX PALOU has soared to the IndyCar championship lead after a perfect performance in the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Saturday – where Trans-Tasman drivers filled four of the top six spots.

A strong run to the second stop as rivals struggled in traffic saw Palou retake the lead and he dominated the race from there on the Indianapolis Road Course.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver took his first win of the year well ahead of Australian Will Power, who fought hard to secure a third runner-up finish of the year, but is getting “sick of finishing second.”

Power won a race-long battle with Christian Lundgaard to snare that second, while Scott Dixon led a trio of Kiwis from fourth to sixth.

Marcus Armstrong put in an impressive drive to match his career-best result, while Scott McLaughlin made the most of the final caution to rise from 13th to sixth.

Although Colton Herta was the biggest mover in the field, from 24th to seventh, Palou’s impressive drive was enough to snatch the IndyCar championship lead by 12 points.

At the start Palou took a defensive line on the inside and went too deep as chaos unfolded at Turn 1 where five cars took to the grass.

One of them was McLaughlin, who was sandwiched on corner exit and lost significant ground as he struggled to kick out of anti-stall.

Three corners later Andretti teammates Marcus Ericsson and Colton Herta clashed, sending the then championship leader off. Post-race Herta was furious, labelling Ericsson as an “ass”.

Alex Palou took his first win of his championship defence in style.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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Aussie Will Power was up front all weekend to take another second place.

The battle for the lead carried on all the way to Turn 7 where Lundgaard was able to snatch the lead with Power sticking to third.

McLaughlin was soon on the charge, on Softs, and had a close shave snatching 16th from rookie Christian Rasmussen.

The Kiwi soared around the outside but had to take to the grass on the exit of Turn 7 after Dane got out of shape.

After keeping his rivals behind on primaries, Power pitted on Lap 17 to bolt on his only set of stickered tyres.

This allowed the Aussie to snatch second from Palou, while Dixon and Armstrong sat inside the top five.

Penske team-mate McLaughlin boxed six laps later and put on used Alternates to emerge in 13th.

Power was making the most of his fresh rubber, pulling away from Palou and cutting Lundgaard’s lead down to 1.1s.

By Lap 38, that gap was down to half a second as the #45 got stuck behind lapped traffic.

Team Penske then surprised many by taking the opportunity to call Power into

pit road and performing the undercut at the last minute.

But the bold move did not pay off as Lundgaard boxed a lap later – with the Danish Honda driver not only maintaining track position, but also getting out ahead of Ericsson, who was holding up Power.

However, all of them were jumped by Palou, who gained the best part of 3s as his rivals suffered traffic issues, before pitting on Lap 42 and snatching the effective lead.

On fresher and softer tyres, Palou’s advantage quickly grew to beyond 3s.

McLaughlin hit the lead briefly by staying out long, until lap 46, before his second stop which saw him slot into 11th, 2s behind Pato O’Ward.

One victim of the long green-flag run was Ferrucci, who boxed with mechanical issues.

The top three of Palou, Lundgaard and Power all pitted on lap 62 and the Team Penske crew was able to gain the Australian vital track position and snare second.

This set up a 22-lap dash to the flag among the leaders and they were released when McLaughlin was again the final car to pit.

He stopped precisely when the first caution came out, on lap 66, for the stopped #51 Luca Ghiotto after a big spin. The well-timed stop allowed McLaughlin to surge to sixth, behind Armstrong, having been anticipated to be just outside the top 10.

A 16-lap sprint to the flag awaited and Power went to the outside of Palou at the restart, but a lockup from the Chip Ganassi Racing driver forced the Aussie wide.

Power was able to retain second, but found himself 1s down on Palou.

Inside the final 10 laps this grew to beyond 3s but Power was not under threat from Lundgaard as there was little change in the top six.

But, with three to go, Lundgaard started to threaten and came within a second of the Australian, but could not make a move.

Dixon also fell into the clutches of Armstrong, but the veteran kept just enough push-to-pass to keep the young charger at bay.

All attention now turns to the big one, the Indianapolis 500, on Sunday, May 26.

Thomas Miles INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ROUND 4 1: Alex Palou 152 2: Will Power 140 3: Scott Dixon 127 4: Colton Herta 127 5: Felix Rosenqvist 108

WEC • SPA 6HR I IMSA • LAGUNA SECA

Will Stevens and Callum Ilott defied expectations to win the WEC 6 Hours of Spa. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

CUSTOMERS TO THE FORE

WILL STEVENS and Callum Ilott are the first ‘customer team’ to win in the Hypercar era of the FIA World Endurance Championship after winning a crash-filled Spa 6 Hour.

Team Jota took a maiden FIA World Endurance Championship victory by 12s over the factory Penske Porsche 963 LMDh of Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre.

The race was interrupted by a red flag brought on by a massive crash involving Earl Bamber’s Cadillac and Sean Gelael’s BMW halfway up the Kemmel Straight.

With the stoppage taking place just after the four-hour mark and lengthy barrier repairs required, the remaining 1h44m did not take place until 19.10 local time.

At the time the Ferraris were running 1-2, but slipped to third and fourth behind the Porsches, which had both pitted just prior to the stoppage.

Ferrari swiftly protested the stewards’ decisions, given that the race was restarted after the original time the race was scheduled to finish.

However, the protest was rejected with an FIA explainer stating that it “ensured sporting fairness for the competitors, who set their strategies for a six-hour race.

Cutting the race session short would mean that some competitors would gain, and others would lose as a result.”

It arrived at the end of a tough weekend for Ferrari which had what was a second successive pole from Antonio Fuoco stripped after the #50 499P Le Mans Hypercar was found to be under weight.

Whilst the Jota machine would eventually win, it was another customer Porsche that made a massive impression early on.

The #99 Proton Competition Porsche steered by Julien Andlauer surged to the lead at the 38 minute mark by pouncing on

pole-sitter Frederic Makowiecki when he was battling in traffic.

A multi-car incident as the race approached half distance, involving the Jenson Button #38 Team Jota Porsche, Sheldon van der Linde’s #20 BMW and Valentino Rossi’s #46 WRT BMW M Hypercar, brought out a Safety Car. When racing resumed, James Calado put the #51 Ferrari in control as nearest rival Michael Christensen lost control at the flat-out Blanchimont corner and was forced to retire the #5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar.

The #99 Proton Competition Porsche of Neel Jani was in the mix before being caught by Fuoco, which made it a Ferrari 1-2.

But the race was turned upside down by the red flag due to Bamber’s misjudgement while trying to pass Jani, clipping Galeal and causing chaos.

Critically, Illott and Estre both fortunately pitted prior to the stoppage and controlled the field after the stoppage with only one more visit to the lane. Estre tried the undercut but ultimately could not catch Ilott, who completed a special 12s win for Team Jota.

The Fuoco Ferrari with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen still finished on the podium, a minute off the pace, whilst the leading Toyota was sixth.

All eyes now turn to the double-points jewell in the crown Le Mans 24 hours from June 12-16.

Thomas Miles

FIA WEC STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 1: K. Estre/A. Lotterer/L. Vanthoor 74 2: C. Ilott/W. Stevens 52 3: M. Conway/K. Kobayashi/N. De Vries 46 4: M . Campbell/M. Christensen/F. Makowiecki 40 5: A. Fuoco/M. Molina/N. Nielsen 40

LATE MOVE PUSHES PORSCHE TO GLORY A LATE race pass has pushed Porsche Penske Motorsport to another IMSA SportsCar Championship win, this time at Laguna Seca at the hands of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy.

The 160-minute race went down to the final 15 as Tandy in the #6 Porsche 963 chased down Jack Aitken’s Cadillac V-Series R. With just 12 minutes left, Aitken got boxed in by lapped traffic at Turn 4 and could not stop Tandy from charging by.

The Cadillac racer had no answer in response as Tandy charged to a 5.7s win.

It was a momentous occasion for the team, being Porsche’s 600th in IMSA and also marking a century of sportscar wins for Team Penske.

After winning at Long Beach, Sebastian Bourdais again looked ominous by smashing the Laguna Seca lap record by one and a half seconds in qualifying.

Despite a near miss at the Corkscrew, the Frenchman led from the start, whilst

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Aitken’s co-driver Pipo Derani sat second before clipping Mike Skeen’s GTD Merceds and pitting early.

Bourdais’ solid advantage at the front of the field was wiped out by the race’s only full-course yellow at the 50-minute mark for debris from the #7 Porsche 963 of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr.

This was the window where Derani was able to make up ground thanks to his early stop when changing over to Aitken.

Tandy led the way but locked up and ran wide at the Andretti Hairpin, gifting the lead to Aitken.

Before too long the #6 Porsche found itself down in third after Renger van der Zande also muscled his way past in the Cadillac.

The strategy to run the penultimate stint long paid off for Porsche Penske Motorsport as Tandy rejoined with 46 minutes to go and spitting the Cadillacs.

Tandy’s smart work in traffic ensured Aitken remained in striking distance and

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Late-race pace saw Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet tame Laguna Seca.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES with 12 minutes to go the race had it decisive moment.

When a Corvette tried to pass a Porsche GTD rival and ran wide to the dirt, the door opened for Tandy to snatch the lead from Aitken and he obliged.

Nasr also passed van der Zande to ensure there were two Porsches on the

podium, while the latter fell to fifth.

Porsche also enjoyed success in GTD PRO as the AO Racing 911 GT3 R nicknamed ‘Sexy’ ate up the field with a dominant win spearheaded by Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx.

IMSA steps into the Grand Prix of Detroit on May 31-June 1.

Thomas Miles

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INTERNATIONAL Jorge Martin leads Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in a nail-biting fight for Le Mans victory.

Images: GOLD AND GOOSE

MARTIN LANDS BIG BLOW

JORGE MARTIN has cemented himself as the man to beat in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship after doing the double in France with his biggest rivals breathing down his neck.

Despite fighting rides from Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, Martin overcame all to win both the Sprint and Grand Prix in front of a packed Le Mans crowd, to extend his championship lead.

The PRAMAC Ducati rider was on the money early, being the only rider in the 1m29s window to take pole by the best part of two-tenths over Bagnaia in a crashstrewn qualifying where Marquez could only manage 13th.

MARTIN BLAZED away to Sprint success when the lights went out and enjoyed an unchallenged run to victory.

In contrast Bagnaia went backwards and dropped to 14th on the opening lap before a big snap sent him to the gravel at Turn 7.

With the #1 suffering a “dangerous” unspecified issue, the Italian retired.

Meanwhile, Marquez was flying and charged from 13th to fourth on the first lap above which soon became third when Aleix Espargaro received a penalty.

The #93 was then gifted second when Marco Bezzecchi crashed at Turn 9, while Maverick Viñales held off Enea Bastianini for third. Aussie Jack Miller just got some points in eighth.

IT WAS a much more even start on Sunday as Bagnaia and Martin went side-by-side into the chicane. Martin appeared to have the edge, but Bagnaia took control with the inside line at the right hander.

Aleix Espargaro tried to join them but

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Packed grandstands watch the start of the French Motorcycle Grand Prix. carried way too much speed and bowled a wide – but still held third.

Marquez claimed five places in as many corners as Pedro Acosta made his first big mistake, falling when making a move for third at Garage Vert.

A lap later Bezzecchi joined him on the sidelines, dumping it at La Chapelle as he tried to make up ground from a slow start.

The incidents allowed Miller to creep into the top 10 but he was soon demoted by KTM teammate Brad Binder before the #43 crashed out for good. Joan Mir also looked set to give Repsol Honda a much-needed point, but crashed out.

Espargaro had a fight on his hands for third and when he lost it, things slipped pretty quickly.

Home hero Fabio Quartararo was on track for a maiden top six of the season, only to crash out.

Fabio Di Giannantonio’s second attempt at stealing third was successful which allowed both Vinales and Marquez through too.

On the following lap Enea Bastianini tried to pounce as well but both the Ducati and Aprilia were forced to take to the infield at Chemin aux Boeufs.

With the Ducati missing the corner, the sixth-placed Italian received a long lap penalty.

The fight for third ignited again on lap 17 as Marquez tried to make the most of his pace and launched an attack on Di Giannantonio at the Dunlop Chicane.

However, Di Giannantonio hung tough on the outside to defend his position.

A lap later Marquez powered past the #49 down the main straight and, although the VR46 rider went late on the brakes into the Chicane, he went wide and also lost fourth to Vinales.

The scuffle allowed the leaders to advance 2s up the road, while Di Giannantonio’s hopes were ruined with a long lap penalty.

With eight to go, Martin made his first move for the lead and held P1 for a two

corners at the chicane, but Bagnaia performed the switchback on exit.

A lap later Martin made the same move but this time he was privy to the reigning champion’s strategy and perfectly placed his PRAMAC to make it stick.

All of this brought Marquez into the equation as he slashed the deficit from 2s to just half a second within two laps, being the only one in the leading group to record a 1m31.

Martin looked to be keeping his rivals at bay but a little mistake in the chicane left him vulnerable. Whilst Bagnaia thought about a look at La Chapelle, Martin reestablished his grip on the race.

The pair ran nose-to-tail at the commencement of the final lap and all eyes were on Bagnaia to see if he would make another challenge for the lead.

However, Marquez was still in the game and launched a big dive on the #1 Ducati at the fast Chemin aux Boeufs and nailed it.

He slid down the inside of Bagnaia to snare second, which let Martin off the hook to take a special win.

The Spaniard was so pumped about the success he smashed the screen of his PRAMAC Ducati and lost the visor on his helmet on the in-lap!

For more exciting Ducati dominance, the MotoGP field heads to Catalunya on May 24-26.

Thomas Miles

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ROUND 5 1: Jorge Martin 129 points 2: Francesco Bagnaia 91 3: Marc Marquez 89 4: Enea Bastianini 89 5: Maverick Viñales 81

MOTOGP • FRANCE I NASCAR • DARLINGTON • KANSAS

WORTH THE WAIT BRAD KESELOWSKI and Ford finally snapped painful winless streaks after a dramatic finish to the NASCAR Cup Series Throwback round at Darlington last weekend.

Keselowski ended a career-long 110-race, three-year winless streak, which was his first as co-owner of RFK Racing, while it was Ford’s first appearance in victory lane in 2024, at the 13th attempt.

Following the final caution, with 33 to go, Keselowski was in the middle of an enthralling fight for the lead with teammate Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick.

After the restart, nothing could split the #6 and Reddick as they ran side-by-side for the lead across four thrilling laps.

But before their door-to-door tussle could be resolved, third-placed Buescher stormed in and left everyone shellshocked.

As Keselowski and Reddick made contact coming out of Turn 4, the Buescher enjoyed a powerful exit and went as low as he could go on the apron.

Once the #17 emerged back on the race track at Turn 1, it appeared to be one of the great race-defining moves.

However, eight laps from the chequer, Reddick was on the attack and made a big dive on the inside of Turn 3.

The Toyota got up alongside the Ford but could not quite pull off the slide job as the #17 got squeezed into the wall.

The heavy contact between the pair saw both contenders drop out with flat tyres.

Whilst there was heartbreak for one RFK Racing driver, there was elation for the other as the seas parted for Keselowski and he took the win he had been chasing since Talladega 2021.

After the race, a fired up and devastated Buescher confronted Reddick, who

Brad Keselowski releases three years of pain in victory lane.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

admitted he “made an aggressive move but it was not the goal to take him out.”

The opening stage was all green and led by Kyle Larson in the most popular throwback scheme, that saluted Terry Labonte.

The action stepped up in Stage 2 where Ryan Blaney was the first retiree on lap 129.

Blaney was sitting in the top five but was tapped on the outside of a three wide battle that also contained Martin Truex Jr and William Byron.

The Jeff Gordon tribute #24 of Byron slid high into Teux Jr, which saw Blaney fire into the outside wall.

The #12 Penske driver was out of action but, before he retired, he swerved at the Hendrick Motorsports machine.

Following the caution-filled second stage, Reddick emerged on top after clearing Keselowski.

An all-green finish appeared likely until lap 254 when Larson spun from sixth with a flat left rear tyre.

Everyone pitted to get serviced one last

time and Reddick just got his nose clear in the race off pit road.

This setup the thrilling finale to the Goodyear 400 where Keselowski was rewarded for his patience and Buescher was left pondering what could have been for the second race in a row.

The NASCAR Cup Series has a week off for this weekend’s All Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, while points are back on the line at the famous Coca-Cola 600 on May 27.

Thomas Miles

LARSON PIPS BUESCHER IN CLOSEST FINISH EVER THE ADVENTHEALTH 400 was delayed by wet weather, but it was worth the wait as it produced the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.

After a dramatic night of racing, it went down to a green-white-chequered finish with Chris Buescher leading the way.

However, hot on his tail was Kyle Larson, who made a run around the outside of Turn 4.

Buescher on the inside and Larson on the outside ran door-to-door to the line and even made contact before producing a photo-finish that was too close to call.

In the end Larson snuck his nose ahead of Buescher by 0.001s, the closest margin of victory in NASCAR history, while the top four, also including Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr, were covered by 0.075s.

It breaks a 21-year record held by Ricky Craven, who edged out Kurt Busch by 0.002s at Darlington Raceway in 2003.

It was matched by Jimmie Johnson when he beat Clint Bowyer by 0.002s at Talladega in 2011.

“That race from start to finish was amazing,” Larson said.

“That first stage was incredible. The

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second stage at the end was fun, and then that whole last stage with the wrecks and cautions and then fuel strategy and tyres running long and all that was wild.

“I am just proud to be a part of the show.”

Christopher Bell started on pole, three hours later than scheduled in Kansas.

But an early move saw Ross Chastain dominate the majority of the opening stage, but he could not stop Denny Hamlin from flying past to Stage 1 honours.

After the opening 81-lap segment was all green, the rapid pace continued in Stage 2 where Larson checked out.

But the #5’s momentum as cut short from a problem changing the left front tyre, which saw the leader shuffle back to eighth.

As a result, Buescher was able to take control and win Stage 2.

At one point the racing was so fierce it was five wide in front of the main grandstand with Ty Gibbs, Bell, Buescher, Chastain and Truex Jr side-by-side.

But it was in the final stage where things got tense with a string of cautions.

Buescher was sent from first to last due

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Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson pull off the closet NASCAR finish ever with Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr in their wake.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

to his RFK Racing pit crew jumping the wall too early.

Grand Marshall Jimmie Johnson was involved in the first major wreck with Corey LeJoie and Austin Hill while, 10 laps later, a bump from Hamlin sent Austin Cindric into a 360-degree spin where he bounced in the the wall and Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell.

Joey Logano was also caught but

escaped the incident but bad luck struck on lap 198 when got into Chase Briscoe, spun and got a flat.

This saw Hamlin take control of the race and he led all the way until six laps from the finish while Kyle Busch spun away a top five.

It setup a stunning Overtime finish where Larson and Buescher made history.

Thomas Miles

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INTERNATIONAL It’s been a while coming thanks to Mercedes and then Red Bull domination, but Lando’s first win was a popular one across the grid.

The Safety Car is on track with Sargeant ‘parked’ – but it only picked up Verstappen, in P2 ...

Ocon snared Alpine’s first point.

WHEN PACE AND LUCK GET TOGETHER …

Report: LUIS VASCONCELOS Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

LANDO NORRIS finally broke his duck and won a Formula 1 race, the McLaren driver beating Max Verstappen in a straight fight after benefitting from a timely Safety Car period to jump the drivers that were ahead of him during the first part of the Miami Grand Prix.

But, in fairness to Norris, he was the quickest driver on track from the moment Pérez pitted in front of him and, by the time Verstappen made his stop, the McLaren driver was lapping half a second faster than the World Champion!

For a moment, it looked like Norris’ notorious bad luck had struck again, as he had just passed the pit entry when the Race Director sent out the Safety Car, to clear the remains of the crash between Sargeant and Magnussen. But, in fact, as he was already on a flying lap, the Safety Car getting on track behind him, but way ahead of Verstappen, guaranteed the McLaren driver the buffer he needed to change tyres and resume still well in the lead.

If everyone expected Verstappen to make quick work of Norris on the restart, the McLaren driver had a surprise in store for all, the Dutchman included.

Truth is, the restart was the closest Verstappen got to challenging his friend, Norris admitting that, “I’ve not done many Safety Car restarts from the front for a good amount of years, so I was just a bit rusty” but on tyres that were six laps fresher than his rival’s, the Brit pulled away with authority, to win his first Grand Prix by 7.6s!

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Obviously, the young driver was over the moon at the end of the race: “It felt incredible. I don’t know what I’m meant to say, honestly, but just a lot of smiling, a lot of cheers. A lot of hard work goes into a day like today. But, just happiness, me smiling … which is not always the case.

“I dream of these days sometimes and you never know when they’re going to come towards you. But today was that day. So, as much as my mind was going crazy and I was thinking a lot of things.

I was also just quiet, you know. It was just a

bit lonely out there at times and it’s just nice to kind of reflect on everything you’ve done to get to that point.”

Norris, his confidence in his car’s pace being fully justified: “I was behind Checo the whole of the first stint, but my pace at the end of that stint was the best on track. And I could still see Max. And when you can see Max, there’s hope. I knew the whole time, even when I was back in sixth, that there could be opportunities, whether there was a Safety Car or something went my way.

“I was very quick at the end of the first stint. I kept my head down. We kept pushing.”

A CRUCIAL LONG FIRST STINT

HAVING BEEN taken out of the Sprint race at the first corner, Norris admitted that “I had a little flashback to yesterday’s Sprint race when I saw Sergio on the inside. I just thought, ‘OK, let’s try to make it around Turn 1 for once.’ So, I took it easy. I knew we had good pace, and I was in it for the long game.”

The first part of the race was the key for SPRINT QUALIFYING

The start of the Sprint was a lot cleaner than then main event ... with Ricciardo well-placed inside Perez.

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Make

Laps

Margin

1

Max Verstappen

1:27.641

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull

19

31:31.383 -

2

Charles Leclerc

+0.108

2

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

19

+3.371 -

3

Sergio Perez

+0.235

3

Sergio Perez

Red Bull

19

+5.095 -

4

Daniel Ricciardo

+0.403

4

Daniel Ricciardo

Racing Bulls

19

+14.971 -

5

Carlos Sainz

+0.462

5 Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

19

+15.222 -

6

Oscar Piastri

+0.520

6 Oscar Piastri

McLaren

19

+15.750 -

7

Lance Stroll

+0.734

7

Haas

19

+22.054 s3

8

Fernando Alonso

+0.778

8 Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls

19

+29.816 s7

9

Lando Norris

+0.831

9

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

19

+31.880 s7

10 Nico Hulkenberg

+0.835

10 Logan Sargeant

Williams

19

+34.355 s8

11

In the frame but not quite there yet – the Ferraris were closely matched.

RESULTS SPRINT 19 LAPS MIAMI

Nico Hulkenberg

George Russell

+0.702

11 Zhou Guanyu

Sauber

19

+35.078 s6

12 Lewis Hamilton

+0.730

12 George Russell

Mercedes

19

+35.755 t1

13 Esteban Ocon

+0.738

13 Alex Albon

Williams

19

+36.086 s7

14 Kevin Magnussen

+36.892 s5

+0.973

14 Valtteri Bottas

Sauber

19

15 Yuki Tsunoda

-

15 Esteban Ocon

Alpine

19

+37.740 t2

16 Pierre Gasly

+1.544

16 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

19

+49.347 t4

17 Zhou Guanyu

+1.626

17 Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

19

+59.409 t9

18 Logan Sargeant

+1.910

18 Kevin Magnussen Haas

19

+1:06.303 t4

19 Valtteri Bottas

+1.710

NC Lance Stroll

Aston Martin

1

+18 Laps t12

20 Alex Albon

+2.217

NC Lando Norris

McLaren

0

+19 Laps t11

Formula 1 Round 6 MIAMI Grand Prix - Race report

Even Max was remarkably okay with not winning – just this once!

defending his fifth place from Hamilton.

A dubious penalty for Sainz handed him P4, the Mexican relieved to see the end of the race after nearly taking himself and Verstappen out at the first corner: “I had a good start, Charles had a really bad start, but as soon as I braked on the inside there was no grip, like with Lewis yesterday. Offline there was no grip, and I end up locking. I nearly took Max out …”

Piastri’s first stint was Ferrari-beating superb ...

Then, as he was expecting, his rival’s tyre wear came into the equation: “Everyone ahead of me boxed, and I could just use all the pace that I had, which was a lot of it. And being able to go so long on the tyres, being able to have the pace I had, turned into that bit of luck, which I’ll happily admit.

Sometimes, you’ve got to have a bit of luck on your side, and things have got to go your way, and I had that today. I’ll take it – happily.”

From then on, Norris explained that “on the Hard tyre I pushed for a couple of laps but then could see Max was dropping back, so I looked after the tyres, focused on making no mistakes and brought it home safely.”

Team Principal Andrea Stella concurred.

“The moment we saw Oscar pass Leclerc for second early on and Lando just biding his time, we knew we could come out of Miami with a great result. Both drove so well and Lando really deserved his first win. He was so quick on both compounds, so focused, so mature, that my only concern in the last few laps was a possible Safety Car.”

VERSTAPPEN GRACIOUS IN DEFEAT

FOR VERSTAPPEN, the pace simply wasn’t there for once, and the Dutchman knew he was in for a tough time early on: “I boxed and I heard the pace that Lando was doing on the used Mediums. I was ‘that’s quite insane.’ I would have never been able to do those times. I knew that even if QUALIFYING RACE 6

there wouldn’t have been a Safety Car, that when he would come out on fresh tyres I would have had to push on quite a lot to be able to keep him behind.”

As it was, there was a Safety Car, but Verstappen admitted that “we still had all the opportunities to win today, but we’re clearly not quick enough after that Safety Car. And once I realised that I just settled in and tried to come home in second.”

Asked what was missing on his car.

Verstappen only said “understeer, oversteer, just very low grip on four wheels, and that’s something that we have to understand.”

Having cut the chicane on lap 21, hitting a bollard hard, the Dutchman assured everyone his car hadn’t been damaged at all: “It didn’t feel different, so I don’t know. I hit that thing and then my pace was the same, so I didn’t really know if there was damage.”

The team, however, had seen there was something missing in the RB21 after that off track excursion, Christian Horner explaining after the race that, one chunk of the floor was missing and that’s why the car wouldn’t turn, particularly in Turn 1, where Max was losing two-and-a-half-tenths to Lando every lap.

But it’s also undeniable that Red Bull didn’t hit the car’s sweet spot in Miami, once again showing that the Sprint format makes it difficult for them to fine-tune the set-up of their complex cars – China was the exception – as Sérgio Pérez was never in contention for a podium finish and spent the last 15 laps

RESULTS RACE 6 57 LAPS MIAMI

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 5

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Make

Laps

Margin

Pos Driver

1

Max Verstappen

1:27.241

1

Lando Norris

McLaren

57

1:30.49.876 s4

1

Max Verstappen

136

-

2

Charles Leclerc

+0.141

2

Max Verstappen

Red Bull

57

+7.612 t1

2

Sergio Perez

103

-

3

Carlos Sainz

+0.214

3

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+9.920 t1

3

Charles Leclerc

98

-

4

Sergio Perez

+0.219

4

Sergio Perez

Red Bull

57

+14.650 -

4

Lando Norris

83 s1

5

Lando Norris

+0.353

5 Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

57

+16.407 t2

5

Carlos Sainz

83 t1

6

Oscar Piastri

+0.434

6 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

57

+16.585 s2

6

Oscar Piastri

41

-

7

George Russell

+0.826

7

Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls

57

+26.185 s3

7

George Russell

37

-

8

Lewis Hamilton

+0.866

8 George Russell

Mercedes

57

+34.789 t1

8

Fernando Alonso

33

-

9

Nico Hulkenberg

Lewis Hamilton

27

-

+0.905

9

Aston Martin

57

+37.107 s6

9

10 Yuki Tsunoda

+0.951

10 Esteban Ocon

Fernando Alonso

Alpine

57

+39.746 s3

10 Yuki Tsunoda

11

Points

Lance Stroll

+0.981

11 Nico Hulkenberg

Haas

57

+40.789 t2

11

12 Pierre Gasly

+1.083

12 Pierre Gasly

Alpine

57

+44.958 -

12 Ollie Bearman

6

-

13 Esteban Ocon

+1.130

13 Oscar Piastri

McLaren

57

+49.756 t7

13 Nico Hulkenberg

6

-

14 Alex Albon

+1.172

14 Zhou Guanyu

Sauber

57

+49.979 s5

14 Daniel Ricciardo

5 s4

15 Fernando Alonso

+1.186

15 Daniel Ricciardo

Racing Bulls

57

+50.956 s5

15 Esteban Ocon

1 s1

16 Valtteri Bottas

+1.222

16 Valtteri Bottas

Sauber

57

+49.979 -

16 Kevin Magnussen

1 t2

17 Logan Sargeant

+1.246

17 Lance Stroll

Aston Martin

57

+55.173 t6

17 Alex Albon

0 t2

18 Kevin Magnussen

+1.378

18 Alex Albon

Williams

57

+1:16.091 t4

18 Zhou Guanyu

0 t1

19 Zhou Guanyu

+1.583

19 Kevin Magnussen Haas

57

+1:24.683 t1

19 Pierre Gasly

0

-

20 Daniel Ricciardo

+1.376

NC Logan Sargeant

27

+30 Laps t3

20 Valtteri Bottas

0

-

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Williams

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Lance Stroll

14 s1

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9 t1

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR FERRARI AND MERCEDES

CHARLES LECLERC’S weekend couldn’t have started any worse, the Monegasque spinning and eventually stalling on his second flying lap in Free Practice. As this was a Sprint event, that’s all the practice he got, but the Ferrari driver turned things around, qualifying and finishing second to Verstappen in the short race and was, again, on the front row for Sunday’s race.

Although never inside DRS range, he was close enough to the leader to force Verstappen to pit earlier than planned to avoid losing track position and harried the Dutchman all the way to the flag, securing another podium finish.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz wasn’t able to match his pace in qualifying but was actually the fastest of the two Ferrari drivers on Sunday. He asked for a position swap early on and, by denying it, the Scuderia lost its best chance of beating Red Bull. The Spaniard spent more than 10 laps behind Piastri, struggling to find a way past the Aussie and, when he managed it, there was light contact between the two, enough to damage the McLaren front wing and earn him a 5s penalty that cost him P4 to Pérez.

Mercedes also had an encouraging Sunday after scoring no points on the Sprint.

Hamilton, starting on Hard tyres, had to overcome a combative Hulkenberg in the first stint and pitted earlier than planned to get clear track but was denied by the Safety Car period, just three laps after putting new tyres on.

He then had to overtake Tsunoda but quickly got on the back of Pérez’s Red Bull, missing traction and top speed to make a pass on the back straight, so P6 was the best he could achieve.

Tsunoda drove a tremendously impressive race, quick and mature all the way and earned his seventh place ahead of a disappointing Russell, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon scoring the last points available.

For the Spaniard, P9 was a decent reward at the end of a very difficult weekend for Aston Martin, while his former team-mate scored Alpine’s first point of the year, showing the A524’s progress. In fairness, though, both lucked in when a very short VSC period – to remove the bollard Verstappen had hit – allowed just the two of them and Magnussen a ‘free’ pit stop, as Hulkenberg and Gasly were ahead of them but, having pitted in normal race conditions, on lap 12, ended up just outside the points.

JOY AND FRUSTRATION FOR AUSSIE DUO THERE WAS joy but also a lot of frustration for Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo in Miami.

The veteran enjoyed his most competitive performance of the season in the Sprint event, qualifying in a stunning fourth place, behind the two Red Bull drivers and Leclerc and actually jumped the Mexican at the start, holding third place for four laps (above). If the man who’s job he wants got ahead of him shortly after a re-start, Sainz was unable to do the same, in spite of being visibly faster, so the Racing Bulls driver was naturally delighted at the end of the Sprint: “It’s so nice to fight at the front of course but then to be just holding what we know are faster cars, it feels like a statement. It’s nice to still have that dog in me, it’s cool.

Lot of people like to talk s***, so it’s nice to put a couple of middle fingers up, subtly.”

A poor qualifying for the main race saw him down in P18 and with no top speed in the race his final result was a disappointing 15th place.

For Piastri this was always going to be a tough weekend, as his car didn’t have the full upgrade that put Norris in prime position, but his qualifying efforts – beating his team mate in the Shootout and being just 0.081s behind on Saturday afternoon, earned him high praise from Team Principal Andrea Stella. The Italian made a point of explaining that, “the gap in performance between the two cars was bigger than the lap time difference in qualifying” – meaning Oscar did a brilliant job to qualify so close to Lando.

The Sprint was non-eventual for the McLaren youngster, who started and finished sixth, scoring three valuable points for the team and he was on course for another top six result on Sunday, when Sainz lost the rear of his SF-24 while overtaking him at the end of the back straight, tapping the front wing of the McLaren hard enough to force a pit stop.

Out of the points, Piastri recovered back to P13 but had to be careful to avoid incidents as the last thing McLaren needed was another Safety Car period as Norris was by then in the lead.

No wonder, then, Piastri was a bit frustrated at the end of the race, but he preferred to focus on the positives and salute his team mate’s first win: “I think there are a lot of positives to come from today. I think for both of us the car was really strong.

I think for Lando to win the race on pace and to pull away from Max after the Safety Car, that’s a very, very encouraging sign.

I’m very happy for him and for the whole team.

I think we deserve it – it’s been a long time coming. I’m happy for him.”

www.autoaction.com.au I 57

ONCE UPON A TIME – 50 YEARS OF AUTO ACTION

2014 - AUSTRALIA SALUTES ITS FIRST WORLD CHAMPION THE COVER OF AUTO ACTION ISSUE #1592 WAS A TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO AUSTRALIA’S FIRST F1 WORLD CHAMPION SIR JACK BRABHAM. THREE DAYS before the magazine hit the stands on May 22 2016, Sir Jack Brabham passed away at the age of 88, but there was a vast array of tributes to one of the biggest names in Australian and indeed world motorsport.

“The likes of Sir Jack Brabham will never be seen again, and his passing leaves a huge void in the sport,” wrote Phil Branagan.

“There will be other three-time world champions, but none of them will ever attempt to build their own cars, let alone win races or titles in cars of their own design.”

The youngest son of the triple world champion David Brabham led the tributes.

“Its a very sad day for all of us,” David wrote in an emotional statement.

“My father passed away peacefully at home at the age of 88. He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of and he will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind.”

The only other Australian to be crowned World Champion, 1988 F1 Champion Alan Jones labelled Brabham

1974

THE HIGHLY anticipated Elfin MS7 Repco sports car was ready for its on-track debut at Calder Park.

Garrie Cooper’s latest creation was going racing in the second round of the Australian Sports Car Championship and would go on to dominate.

After getting its debut out of the way, Cooper would drive the Elfin to wins in the final two rounds of the season at Phillip Island and Symmons Plains.

To generate further excitement for the meeting, 1973 New Zealand Saloon Car Champion Rod Coppins would join the Sports Sedan races in his successful Pontiac Firebird.

Malaysian star ‘Sonny’ Rajah was slated to contest the next round of the Van Heusen F2 championship, being conducted at the Hume Weir circuit, driving a Grace Brothers-sponsored March 722.

58 I www.autoaction.com.au

as an “inspiration. I think one word to describe Sir Jack is inspirational.” Jones said.

“He showed all the Aussies that you could pack your bag and travel to the other side of Earth and became a world champion.

“He inspired me and was always ready wth some advice when I needed it.

“I’d put him up there with Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher and all the blokes I admire.

“He’s a three-time world champion, but having done it in a car he designed and engineered – along with Ron Tauranac – I think puts him a little bit ahead of them.

“His legacy would be that of you try hard enough and are single-minded enough, you can do it.”

On the weekend prior Supercars went racing out west and two future stars cemented their credentials.

Despite having already tasted success in their rookie 2013 seasons both Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert secured respective breakthrough wins at Wanneroo.

McLaughlin impressively overcame a slow start to secure a first win for the new Volvo S60. A day later in the longer

83-lap centrepiece, Mostert rose to the occasion and used strategy to score his first win in FPR colours.

Formula 1 went testing in Barcelona and, amid disappointment surrounding the lack of noise from the new V8

1984

1994

ALLAN MOFFAT’s chances of winning backto-back Australian Touring Car Championship titles vanished in spectacular fashion at Surfer’s Paradise.

Moffat’s RX7 was written off after it collided with a tree stump at almost full speed during a four-way tussle for the lead which also featured John Harvey, who also retired.

Moffat was taken to hospital suffering a broken hand and a fractured sternum, ruling him out of the remainder of the year. Dick Johnson took a popular round win.

Peter Brock, Larry Perkins and Vern Schuppan failed to be the first Aussies to win the Silverstone 1000, with mechanical issues hurting their chances in their Porsche as Jacky Ickx took victory.

HOLDEN CONSIDERED its future in touring car racing after CAMS announced it would block moves by ‘TEG’ (Touringcar Entrant’s Group) to cut performance from the new cars.

Significantly slower cars were being proposed including the reduction of engine output in what was proposed to be in the interests of safety.

But Holden’s John Lindell believes it was to satisfy Channel Seven’s Mike Raymond and Holden had already committed to its existing package for the new VR. Otherwise it would be forced to run a package designed by the teams.

Meanwhile, Alan Jones voiced his disapproval of the touring car tracks of the time stating there was “no decent circuit in Australia” labelling most of them as “Mickey Mouse.”

Hybrids, contraptions were tried to improve the noise.

Besides looking ridiculous, the megaphone attached to the end of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes “didn’t change anything ...”

2004

RUMOURS OF what would become a highly successful shock switch by Craig Lowndes from FPR to Triple Eight were at full steam.

After NZ, Lowndes started to voice frustration towards his short and high-hopes FPR stint and accessed options elsewhere. And despite stating his preference to stay at FPR, he revealed he was open to other options.

“My first preference is to stay but if that’s not going to be possible then I’m going to start looking at what else is out there,” Lowndes said.

“It hasn’t gone as smoothly as hoped.”

Meanwhile, Triple Eight’s Roland Dane said Lowndes was a top target.

“If he were available he would be on our list,” Dane said.

“There are three or four others as well – and not just in Australia.”

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The New Metalmaster ROT8A-360 Rotisserie is a game-changer, in our eyes, it’s the ultimate in automotive body repair. The innovative design allows you to perform all your body repair work and spray painting in one convenient mounting frame. The unique design allows you to not only rotate a full 360 degrees, while providing easy access to all the hard to get at spots of your vehicle, but the brilliance in the modular design is the removable segments giving you the ability to move the whole assembly through a low clearance opening such as domestic garage doors.

UNIVERSAL ROSTISSERIE Designed & developed in Australia with leading automotive craftsmen.

Modular design to suit low clearance openings such as most standard garage doors.

WLL 1500kg (750kg each side) Indexable rotation with locking points every 6 degrees of rotation.

Space saving design with no overhang past chassis once mounted.

Heavy 150mm Castor wheels with brakes for easy movement.

Adjustable cross beam to assist with load balancing for easy & safe rotation.

Lifting & tie down points for moving / loading & unloading.

360°ROLL

360 DEGREE ROTATION

ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING HEIGHT

ADJUSTABLE WIDTH

2,500 inc GST (A330)

$

3,465 inc GST (W07809)

$

PLASMA NITRATING SURFACE FINISH

50X50MM HOLE CENTRES PATTERN

PERIMETER RULER ENGRAVING

16MM DIAMETER HOLES

MATERIAL THICKNESS APPROX 25MM

100X100MM HOLE CENTRES PATTERN

PERIMETER RULER ENGRAVING

28MM DIAMETER HOLES

8,745 inc GST (W08257)

$

View and purchase these items online: www.machineryhouse.com.au/AAC2404

Specifications and prices are subject to change without notification.

SYDNEY

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(02) 9890 9111

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MELBOURNE

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(03) 9212 4422

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(07) 3715 2200

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PERTH

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11 Valentine St, Kewdale

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