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BREAKTHROUGH WIN UPS INTEREST GEN3 SECRETS

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MOSTERT ON T8’S LIST

Is WAU’s Tassie winner replacing Whincup in 2022?

By BRUCE NEWTON

SUPERCARS SUPERSTAR Chaz Mostert has been short-listed to replace retiring Jamie Whincup at Triple Eight Race Engineering.

We know because Whincup himself has confirmed it.

“He’s certainly on the list, 100 per cent he is on the list,” Whincup told Auto Action shortly after the 29-year-old Queenslander won his first Supercars race since 2019 and his first ever victory for Walkinshaw Andretti United, at Symmons Plains last Sunday afternoon.

Asked how long the list was, Whincup added: “Not very. There’s not masses of people capable of running at the front of the Supercars field.”

WAU co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw confirmed he was aware Mostert had been targeted by T8.

“I know. Of course he has been. Why wouldn’t he be targeted by Triple Eight?”

Walkinshaw told AA from Monaco, where he is stranded because of Australia’s border closure.

While reticent to delve into the subject, Walkinshaw made clear he and his partners in WAU, Zak Brown and Michael Andretti, wanted to retain the services of Mostert and the engineer he has worked with through almost his entire Supercars career, Adam De Borre.

“Chaz is really enjoying his time with the team, as he has said many times publicly himself, as has Adam. From our perspective, we see our future with Chaz and Adam, and we want to keep building with them.

“When we’re ready to make an announcement on what our driver line-up will be in the future, we’ll do so.”

With WAU strongly signalling its desire to retain his services, Mostert finds himself in an enviable position.

He is in top form, driving for a re-merging powerhouse, while the pre-eminent team in the category potentially wants him to deliver him a gilt-edged chance to start winning Supercars championships.

Rival teams will no doubt be hoping Mostert stays where he is. The prospect of Mostert joining van Gisbergen at Triple Eight is daunting.

Image: Motorsport Images

While the Kiwi has taken all before him this year, Mostert has also been in stellar form, running third in the Supercars championship, dominating the TCR Australia Series (which it’s just been confirmed he will race in for the rest of the year – see separate story) and starring in the rejuvenated Fanatec GT word challenge.

Mostert does have some form of option break in his contract with WAU at the end of this season, which theoretically gives him a way to move on to T8 if he wanted – although a WAU insider suggested on Monday that there was confidence their latest star would stay ...

Other drivers potentially linked with the seat include Tickford Racing hero Cam Waters, T8 development driver Broc Feeney and current Porsche factory driver Matt Campbell.

Waters all but declared himself out of the running for the seat in Auto Action 1808.

While rumour swirled in the Symmons Plains pitlane at the weekend that negotiations were underway between T8 and Mostert to take Whincup’s seat, both parties said that was not the case.

“We haven’t decided who is going to take my seat, but we will make sure they are as good if not better than the job I can do,” Whincup told Auto Action.

“There have been no negotiations going on with any driver at this stage. We’ve got time on our side, which is nice, so we’ll wait.

“But I reckon mid-year we’ll have to start knuckling down about who takes the seat and get them ready for 2022.

“We can’t leave it too late because we might miss an opportunity. It’s a balancing act. I reckon once we get on top of Gen3 we’ll start looking at who is available.”

Triple Eight is deeply involved in the development of the new Gen3 Supercars technical rules and is the designated homologation team for the Chevrolet Camaro due for introduction in 2022.

Approached by AA for comment, Mostert would not commit to continuing with WAU, which he joined in 2020 after six years at the Ford team currently known as Tickford Racing.

“It’s obviously so early in the year at the moment my focus is on just trying to make the car as fast as I can.

“At the moment I am just focussed on the next round I am not even thinking about next year.”

Mostert, who opted to go to WAU in 2002 rather than join DJR Team Penske, said he would take being listed by T8 as a compliment.

“If that’s the word on the street I’ll take it, but I haven’t heard anything.”

He also had a word of advice for Whincup based on his experience racing in TCR in 2021: “If Jamie Whincup’s looking for a list of drivers I don’t think he should just be looking up and down pitlane, because there are some

other categories with some really talented young guys as well.”

Mostert admitted the Symmons win came at a time when he had started to wonder if he would ever win a Supercars race again: “Today was awesome – to get that win and reward the guys in the team,” he said. “A lot of them were here through the HRT golden era of winning races, but it’s such a confidence sport.

“If you haven’t done it for over 12 months you start to believe you can’t do it any more.

“My last win was at the AGP in 2019 and its been over two years of being dominated by a lot of different people. So today is also a great confidence inspirer for me and the team.”

He heaped praise on the effort put in by WAU to take a clear step forward in competitiveness in 2021.

“As a team we did so much over the break to try and give our best shot this year I can’t even think about next year to be honest.

“I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of coming to WAU from where the team was and what we went through last year.

“And to roll out this year, those guys are trying as hard as they can in the background to give me the tools to try and chase Triple Eight, DJR and Tickford.

“I can only just say I am happy where I am right now, but we will see what happens.”

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GEN3 SUPERCARS SECRETS REVEALED

T8 tech leader commits to 2022 delivery of new-gen racer

By BRUCE NEWTON GEN3 SUPERCAR technical guru Jeromy Moore has declared a full grid of Chevrolet Camaros and Ford Mustangs will be completed in time for the 2022 season opener in Newcastle.

Speaking exclusively to Auto Action just days after Supercars issued photos of the first complete Gen3 Camaro chassis, Moore was emphatic, despite widespread scepticism along pitlane about the new formula being ready for 2022.

“It is critical for everyone up and down pitlane to have something to race next year,” Moore said.

“It would be easy to say let’s just keep running the current cars next year, but I know the commercial impacts if we tried to do that.

“I don’t think we would be on the grid if we do that. That is how we are internally treating it – it just has to happen.”

Moore is the impeccably credentialled technical director of Gen3 homologation team Triple Eight Race Engineering and is not prone to hyperbole or exaggeration.

So when he says something will happen his authority adds significant credibility.

It is just what Gen3 needs right now as Supercars has held back information about the massive development program from most of its teams, drivers, media and the public since the initial announcement last October.

Into this information vacuum a whole heap of speculation has been poured, some of it focussing on critical big picture issues like car build costs and timing and the abandonment of current pushrod engines for lower-stressed larger capacity production-based V8s .

The debate over whether the cars should retain sequential shift gear levers or go to paddle shifters has also become a focus.

Moore and the T8 technical team are primarily responsible for the development

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of the Camaro Gen3 Supercar, while Dick Johnson Racing is leading development of the Ford Mustang, with Perry Kapper taking primary responsibility there.

Also intrinsic to the process is Pace Innovations, which is building the Ford chassis that is expected to appear in the next week to 10 days, as well as Supercars motorsport chief Adrian Burgess and consultant John Russell. He has replaced WAU’s Carl Faux, who has stepped aside for personal reasons.

Moore says input has been sought from along pitlane, but the core group has done the “legwork”.

Key take-outs ts from Moore’s Gen3 briefing are these:

• Modelling ng indicates Gen3 cars will be almost as fast ast the current Gen2 ZB Commodore and nd Ford Mustang • Downforce rce will be cut drastically from around 400kg 00kg to about 100kg • The switch ch to production-based engines is progressing gressing for 2022 • The chassis ssis has been designed to enable variable ble wheelbases, although not for the Gen33 Camaro and Mustang • Testing of Camaro and Mustang is due to start in late June or early July and VCAT aero testing ing in September • Teams will start receiving detailed information within hin weeks to start chassis construction

“I think we are hitting itting the targets we need to,” o,” Moore said. “It willll be a cool looking car,r, easy to work on and we should have good racing. We should have betterr racing.”

LAP TIME

GEN3 CARS will be slower than Gen2, but not by much.

They will lack the aerodynamic cornering grip of the current cars, but they will be lighter and still have powerful engines.

Supercars is also planning the introduction of a grippier Dunlop tyre that will help bridge the lap time gap, although degradation will be higher.

Moore says the amount lost in lap time will vary circuit to circuit.

“It all depends on the track itself, the layout, how much straight line there is versus drag,” Moore said.

“The tracks are quite independent to each other.

“But But I expect the cars to be a touch slower than the current cars.

“But we know it’s not about abou the ultimate lap time, it’s about the racing and making sure the cars can fight each other every lap and every corner ideally.

“They can battle all the way through the race and just not follow the leader, which l can be the case at certain high h speed tracks in particular.”

AERO A ERO

THE STUNNING cut in aer aerodynamic grip from 400kg to 100kg plann planned for Gen3 is a cornerstone of the plan to improve racing.

At the moment it only exists in computational fluid dynamic dynamics modelling by Supercars consultant D2H, bbut Moore is confident it will translate to tthe real world.

“We will hit the gro ground with that, do some VCAT testing towards Se September-ish time whe when the cars have been run running and all the bodywo bodyworks is as you want to race.

“We can do some adjus adjustments but we

The new TripleEight-built ‘Camaro’ spaceframe chassis has been revealed – front and rear ‘clips’ are designed to simplify crash-damage rebuilds, while the driver now sits lower and more central.

need to hit those targets.

“Less downforce means less reliance on having it for lap times.

So I think we will hit the target we want to get down to for better racing.”

THE CHASSIS

PRIMARILY DESIGNED by Triple Eight, Moore says the spaceframe tubular chassis has gone through “many, many” iterations.

A key design principle was to ensure it could fit as many different cars as possible.

Hence the adjustable wheelbase.

Another new feature is removable front and rear clips to speed crash damage repairs and get cars back into action sooner.

The adjustable wheelbase is facilitated by bespoke tubing between the chassis and clip.

“To do all that you have to make sure the engine can move, the transmission can move forward and all these design freedoms are accounted for.,” explained Moore. “So that’s been quite a challenge.”

Moore is conscious of concerns about build times and says teams will know a lot more about the chassis soon.

“We want to make sure teams get information upfront, they get to start building a car early, which is a target for the next couple of weeks, so people can

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physically see the cage and the data and then order the stuff and then start to build the cars so it’s not a big rush job like new cars can be towards the end of the year.”

less compromises.”

In the interests of safety, drivers are also being moved further to the centre of the car.

strengths and that will still happen with the flexibility and freedoms we have with the car design.”

FITTING THE DRIVER

MORE CONTROL PARTS

THE LAST great design freedom in Supercars, the front upright, ends with Gen3.

It is part of a significant increase in an already comprehensive basket of control components designed to reduce costs.

The control upright design was the first job T8 was awarded for Gen3, even before it started work on the chassis for Supercars. “[The upright design] is based around wanting to reduce the steering loads to allow more common steering racks to be used, so the kinematics aren’t aggressive as the current cars,” said Moore..

Made from aluminium, durability, affordability and adjustability are core design features.

In fact there is more adjustability in the new upright than the Gen2 design. That’s because the need for engineers to still have an influence is recognised.

“We still want to have teams with different philosophies. It’s good to have cars that are better for five laps or long stints,. That gives you racing strategy changes during the race.

“Otherwise people will come in and pit the same. You want more cars with different

THE ENGINE

A KEY aim of Gen3 is to deliver race cars that look more like road cars and to achieve that the roof line has been lowered 102mm compared to Gen2.

That means the top hoop in the Gen2 chassis that forced the creation of the humped Mutant Mustang has gone. Yet Moore says tall drivers will actually fit more comfortably.

“The main thing is we have lowered the seat more than lowered the roof, so the tall driver should be able to sit in the same eye position as the short ones,” Moore explained.

There has also been an emphasis on optimising the packaging in the cockpit, aiding by the rerouting of the muffler.

“Even though the cockpit is a bit smaller to have these wheelbase adjustments, they’ve been optimised enough such that overall leg length is longer.

“Between the seat and the pedals there is more room in there than in the current car. There is more headroom, more legroom, happy days. There should be

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NOTHING HAS caused more controversy with Gen3 than the shift to new engines from the established 5.0 pushrods. A 5.4-litre Ford and 6.2-litre LS3 Chevrolet are understood to be the choices.

“The target is to have a more road-car based engine that is more durable [and therefore cheaper],” Moore explains.

“The only real way to do that is to make them bigger and less stressed, so that is the target.

“It’s just the fine details we are getting in terms of the specs to make sure parity is correct between the two engines, but that should not be the hold-up.

“Durability is probably what we are going to have to fine-tune during the testing phase, make sure we do enough track testing, enough dyno testing on AVL dynos to do race runs effectively on the dyno, find what breaks and improve it.”–– Long-time T8 partner KRE is responsible for development of the Chev engine with the aid of GM Racing in the USA. DJR affiliate, Mostech, leads Ford engine development.

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SCOTTY HAPPY WITH INDYCAR START

By MARK FOGARTY SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN is satisfied that he “kicked a lot of goals” in the IndyCar season-opener at Barber Motorsports Park.

McLaughlin made a solid start to his new full-time career in America, finishing 14th in the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama early Monday morning (April 19) Australian time.

He is now looking forward to a stronger performance in this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg, having made his NTT IndyCar Series debut at the Florida street track last October.

At Barber, McLaughlin avoided the opening-lap carambolage triggered by Penske teammate Josef Newgarden to briefly run as high as seventh before settling in ninth until the last pit stop.

He battled twice Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato in the closing stages, coming home 66 seconds behind first-time winner Alex Palou.

McLaughlin’s Aussie teammate Will Power was a close second ahead of fellow Kiwi and defending IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.

The triple Supercars champion, who impressed by qualifying 12th, was pleased with his solid, if unspectacular, start to his full-time IndyCar campaign.

“I’m pretty happy,” he told Auto Action afterwards. “We kicked a lot of goals this weekend. We wanted to be in Q2 and we did that, and today, realistically, being in the top 15 was pretty achievable and we probably had the pace to be in the back end of the 10.

“But we were probably a bit conservative on strategy because it was my first race and the boys didn’t want me to fuel-save and a few things. They just wanted me to get one under my belt and press on.

My in and out laps were really good, but I didn’t know the capabilities of the car to make big moves. That will all come with time.

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“In the back of my mind, I just wanted to get one under my belt. Overall, I think we achieved some good goals and I’m feeling good.”

He felt he had the pace to sneak into the top 10, only to be wrong-footed by a second caution period that put him out of sync.

“I got a pretty good start,” McLaughlin said. “I got around that wreck and got to ninth, and I was holding my position in ninth pretty easily. But when the second caution came out, that sort of made it a bit of a two-stop race. I think if there wasn’t another caution, we were sitting pretty there.

“We definitely had the pace to hold where we were, we just lost out a little bit on strategy.”

McLaughlin enjoyed the cut-and-thrust racing at the scenic 3.83 km Barber Motorsports Park road course, especially his late battle with Sato.

“I had a lot of fun,” he reported. “I was pretty comfortable. I feel like my preparation was really good and I felt really comfortable where I sat within the field.

“I was quietly confident that we could go OK and the whole weekend went pretty well. I felt I was the second-best Penske car today, with Josef out. It went really well.”

Despite underlying frustration that he didn’t finish in the top 10, his effort was praised by Roger Penske.

“Roger pulled me into line a little bit,” McLaughlin said. “He was like ‘Nah, nah, you did exactly what you needed to do’.

As long as the boss is happy, I’m happy.”

He is bullish about doing better in his return to St Petersburg this weekend.

“We’ll be stronger at St Pete,” he declared.

“I really like that place, so I’m excited to go back there and drop the hammer a little bit. And the best thing is it’s next week, so that’s exciting.

“It’ll be nice to go to a place where you know the car is going to be OK in regard to our pace as a team.

And having raced there before and not coming in with eyes the size of golf balls – straight after Bathurst (last year) and jetlagged and whatever – will be good.

“So I’m excited for it.”

HANGING ON TO BATHURST HOPE

IT’S A LONGSHOT, but Scott McLaughlin is still hoping to get back for the Bathurst 1000 in October.

He is scheduled to be reunited with his #17 DJR Mustang, co-driving with Will Davison.

The October 10 Bathurst 1000 is just two weeks after the IndyCar Series finale at Long Beach on September 26.

McLaughlin is resigned to missing out if Australia’s requirement for arrivals from overseas to quarantine for a fortnight is still in place.

“I’m planning to be at Bathurst, but to be honest, if the quarantine’s still going, which it looks like it will, it’s not going to happen, unfortunately,” he said. “The want to do it is still there, absolutely, and the drive’s still there.

“Ryan (Story, DJR team boss) said the seat’s mine if I can get here, but obviously, I don’t want to hold them back, either.”

It is strongly suggested that Will Davison’s brother Alex is on stand-by to replace McLaughlin.

DJR enduro regular Tony D’Alberto is locked in to return as Anton De Pasquale’s co-driver. MF

TICKFORD, MSR CHASE RECS But Blanchard rules out expansion to two cars

By BRUCE NEWTON TICKFORD RACING and Matt Stone Racing have lodged expressions of interests in acquiring a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) for the 2022 Supercars championship, but the rookie Blanchard Racing Team has dropped out of the process.

All up, at least three expressions of interest had been received by Supercars for two additional Racing Entitlement Contracts (REC) put to market tender for the 2022 season.

If both are taken up and no other RECs handed in at the end of 2021, the grid size would grow from 24 to 26 next season.

Tickford Racing is seeking to expand back from three to four cars, while MSR is considering a third entry to revive the SuperLite concept under which 2021 fulltimers Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki shared a drive in 2020.

But BRT has elected not to lodge an EOI, meaning it will stay at a one car entry in 2022.

The deadline for the EOIs to be lodged is April 23, but that only signals the end of the start process.

After that comes a four-week due diligence period, a week for assessment of bids and a week for execution of legal documentation with any successful bidders. The sale process to be completed by June 30.

According to the official Supercars website, key aspects of any assessment of bids may include, whether the financial resources of the bidder are sufficient to operate a REC, whether the bidder has sufficient experience and knowledge of the category, and whether the bidder is of good character and is able to add to the reputation of the category.

After handing a REC back in Supercars at the end of the 2018 season, Tickford Racing attempted to secure an additional REC to enter a Castrol-backed Mustang for Thomas Randle in 2022.

That bid was foiled by the rules of the tender process and Randle will instead contest three wildcard races and co-drive at the Bathurst 1000.

Lodging an EOI means Tickford is

effectively trying to buy its own REC back.

“At this stage it’s just an expression of interest anyway, just throw your hat in the ring and have a look,” said Tickford boss Tim Edwards.

“We’ll just work through that over the next month before we make decision.”

MSR was foiled in his plans to expand to three cars in 2021 in similar circumstances to Tickford.

“We have put in an EOI for all the reasons that made sense last year,” confirmed MSR boss Matt Stone. “We certainly have interest but there is a lot of compelling reasons why we would stay at two cars as well.

“I really liked what we did with Zane and Jake last year and I think SuperLite has a lot of potential for young guys out there in

Australia who are probably going to struggle to get into the main game.

“To me the SuperLite concept makes a lot of sense but it works much better as a third car.”

TBR co-owner Tim Blanchard listed two key reasons for its decision to drop out.

“The process is too early in the year and we needed a bit more time before we made a decision like that,” he told AA. “The second reason is there is too much uncertainty around the costs about Gen3.

To make a substantial financial commitment to go to two cars would require more certainty about that.

Garry Rogers Motorsport, which handed back a REC at the end of 2019 when it pulled out of Supercars, has made it clear it will not return to the category.

NO ACTION ON WATERS PARITY CALL ‘He’ll regret saying that’ predicts Holden hero Whincup

By BRUCE NEWTON FORD HERO Cameron Waters’ emotional plea for a technical parity review of the Holden Commodore ZB has been dismissed by both Supercars and rivals.

Holden hero Jamie Whincup even predicts Waters will come to regret his passionate outbursts.

Waters, who has been fuming all year about the performance of the ZB, finally erupted on Saturday night at Symmons Plains after slipping from the lead to a sixth-place finish in the first 105km SuperSprint.

His mood wouldn’t have been improved on Saturday when he couldn’t convert either of his two pole positions into podiums let alone wins.

Holdens won all three races over the weekend, with Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen extending his unbeaten streak to six on Saturday, before teammate Whincup and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert claimed the victories on Sunday.

Waters was the last Ford Mustang winner – at Tailem Bend last September.

The Tickford Racing Monster Mustang driver said he would “probably laugh at them at the moment” if Supercars presented evidence to him the Holden

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and Ford were equally fast.

“One hundred per cent it’s parity,” said Waters, when asked why the Holden had a speed advantage. Supercars rules call for technical parity between the two brands, allowing teams and drivers to gain the advantage based on how well they do their job.

But Waters insists technical parity is out of whack.

“They [Holdens] have just got so much grip everywhere and if we try and target what their cars are doing strongly we have other issues.”

Waters made it clear he believed that an in-season parity adjustment should be made.

“Supercars gets all the data, they see everything. If there has to be a shift then don’t be afraid to do it,” he said.

“Don’t think about it as a negative, think about it as what’s best for the category and what’s best for the racing.

“Supercars are in a very good position where they can see all the data. They know what they (Holden teams) are doing, they know what DJR are doing, they know what we are doing.

“I believe there is something in it.”

In a short statement, Supercars made clear did not agree.

“We continually monitor the relative performance of the cars and we

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are confident that there is technical parity based on the data available,” a spokesman said via email.”

Whincup, who is not only a Holden driver but a Supercars Commissioner and team owner, was more expansive in his defence of technical parity.

“I think he [Waters] will regret what he said – it was more heat of the moment stuff,” said Whincup. “He’s just dropped a few spots and he had a camera in his face straight after the race.

“My genuine honest opinion is we do have parity in the category now.

“Plus, Supercars monitor it all the time; they are consistent monitoring it behind the scenes. So we don’t have to go to them and ask them to check, they are constantly looking at parity – as far as they are concerned and as far as we are concerned it’s even.

“It has been since we made those mods 18 months ago. They did a good job there.”

The ZBs have been required to keep a service window open in their front guards from this season and Waters is suspicious about that. Chevrolet engines prepared by supplier KRE that power 12 Commodores including the Triple Eight entries, will also soon be allowed to run a new rocker that adds

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about five horsepower to match the output of the Mustangs and Walkinshaw Racing Chevs.

“To me they [Holdens] can run a lot less wing than we can and get away with it,” said Waters. “They ’re already faster than us down the straight and now they’ve got the motor upgrade.”

While Holden fans will be angered by Waters’ call for a technical parity review, the Mustangs had centre of gravity adjustments after Scott McLaughlin won five races for DJR Team Penske at the start of the 2019 season.

Aero cuts were made after they won nine out of 10 races.

“In 2019 they thought there was a problem with the Mustang and they trimmed us, I think it is the opposite now,” said Waters.

“I hate that it’s so political like that, but for me I just want what’s fair.

“I think Scotty was doing a good job in that time no doubt … it’s just weird being on the other end of it.”

Waters was criticised on the Symmons Plains telecast by multiple touring car champion Mark Skaife for not defending more stoutly when van Gisbergen passed him for the lead in the Saturday race.

But Waters said the move highlighted the pace advantage the Commodores had over the Mustang.

“I thought he was far enough back not to lunge me,” he explained. “It kinda caught me off guard a little bit and when he was up the inside I thought ‘there’s no way he’s going to pull that off’ because I wouldn’t be able to do that.

“In my car it isn’t be possible to do that.

“Anyway, he pulled it up and drove off into the distance.”

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LATEST NEWS

AS PREVIOUSLY reported by Auto Action, Supercars has launched a market tender for two surrendered Racing Entitlement Contracts (REC) ahead for next year’s championship. RECs entitle an organisation or team one entry into each Supercars Championship event, with two up for tender for interested parties wanting to participate in the series from 2022 and beyond.

Interested parties have until 5:00pm Friday, April 23 to lodge an expression of interest to Supercars. HM SAD NEWS this week with the passing of Eileen Sheppard, wife of legendary motorsport engineer/team manager John. Our thoughts and condolences go the Sheppard family.

By coincidence, this issue of AA features the second part of an extensive interview with the former HDT legend, looking back at the behindthe-scenes goings on during one of Australian motorsport’s golden eras.

TWO-TIME LE Mans 24 Hours winner Earl Bamber is confirmed as joining Andre Heimgartner at this year’s Bathurst 1000. The Kiwi sportscar star will return to The Mountain in a Supercar for the first time since 2018 when he teamed with Shane van Gisbergen in a Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore, finishing fifth. Bamber is an endurance specialist, recording two Le Mans wins, the 2017 World Endurance Championship and is a IMSA Sportscar Champion. DM

THE BEST indication yet that October’s Bathurst 1000 will allow unrestricted crowds is that all camping grounds will be open. Supercars has confirmed that the eight camping areas at Mount Panorama are available for bookings. Supercars has announced that all the camping grounds will be available, suggesting spectator attendance will also return to pre-COVID levels of more than 60,000 on race day. The Bathurst 1000 will run from 7-10 October. MF

IT WAS revealed in the Supercars telecast that at Sandown Raceway, as well as a broken collar bone, Tripe Eight Race Engineering driver Shane van Gisbergen was also nursing some broken ribs. Heading into the second round at Sandown van Gisbergen injured himself in a mountain bike crash. Despite the broken collar bones and ribs van Gisbergen dominated the weekend taking all three race victories. DM

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CHAZ WIN CONFIRMS CLAYTON COMEBACK

By MARK FOGARTY AS SPECULATION about Chaz Mostert’s future intensifies, Walkinshaw Andretti United co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw is cautiously optimistic about the ramifications of his star’s breakthrough win at Symmons Plains.

Amid conjecture about a Triple Eight bid for Mostert to replace Jamie Whincup next year, Walkinshaw expressed optimism that WAU will continue to take the fight to their Holden nemesis.

Mostert scored his first win with the Anglo-American-owned squad since defecting from Ford last year.

“It’s the realisation of what we’ve been chasing for a long time – getting back on the top step of the podium,” WAU co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw said.

It was the first victory for WAU – formerly the Holden Racing Team – since Scott Pye’s success at Albert Park in 2018.

Walkinshaw, who has overseen the Clayton team’s rebuild since losing its status as the Holden factory team in 2017, thinks Mostert’s runaway win in Sunday’s final race at the Tasmania SuperSprint was confirmation WAU is heading in the right direction.

“It’s a bit of relief, to be honest,” he told Auto Action from Monaco.

“We’ve been so close with Chaz and the team on getting wins over the past year and a bit.

“We’ve had some poles and a fair few podiums, but the actual top step of the podium has been eluding us for quite some time, much to our

frustration, so it’s a relief that we’ve finally managed to get the monkey off our back and get that win.

“It shows the boys can do it and, hopefully, we can convert that into momentum and keep building confidence, and hopefully there’ll be more wins in the future.”

Walkinshaw is ‘stranded’ in Monaco because of Australia’s strict border closure. He is trying to get approval to return to be handson again with the running of WAU and the Walkinshaw Automotive Group.

He got up at 4.30 am on Sunday to watch Mostert win.

Under local team principal Bruce Stewart, WAU has become increasingly competitive.

Walkinshaw – whose team partners are McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown and Indycar legend Michael Andretti – is not letting the Symmons success go to his head.

“I think we’ve been contending seriously for well over a year now,” he said. “We’ve had quite a few podiums with Chaz. Qualifying has been our issue for many years, but it’s been much improved since last year and it’s improved again even further this year.

“We’re not where we want to be exactly yet, but we’re in the fight, which is important, starting up the front. If we keep improving and don’t get ahead of ourselves, there’s no reason we can’t keep fighting with the two Triple Eight cars and Cam (Waters) at the front, as it’s been for most of this season so far.

“We’re under no illusions that that competition is very, very strong.

Clearly, Shane (van Gisbergen) is in a bit of a league of his own at the moment, but we’ve shown that they are beatable. We just have to keep doing a good job.”

Walkinshaw has vowed to fight to

keep Mostert and engineer Adam De Borre against overtures from Triple Eight, which is looking for a replacement for Whincup.

But while he acknowledges the Mostert/De Borre combo has helped lift WAU, he also credits a bolstered engineering effort under technical director Carl Faux for Clayton’s recovery.

“Chaz and Adam have made a difference, of course, but it’s a team effort and we have a really good engineering team now that we’ve been building in the background for a few years,” Walkinshaw explained. “It’s a combination of a lot of effort and a lot of work from everyone in that department to get us to where we want to be.

“We’re still working in the background, we still know there are areas we need to improve on the car and work on, and that will continue.”

RANDLE EYING FOURTH TICKFORD ENTRY AFTER CONFIRMING three wildcard Supercars events, Thomas Randle is targeting a seat fulltime next year if Tickford Racing acquire another Racing Entitlement Contract.

Randle will drive the Castrol backed wildcard Mustang at The Bend, Wanneroo and Hidden Valley in Darwin.

It is no secret that the reigning Super2 Series winner is determined to get on the grid in 2022 after his plans to race full-time this season fell at the final hurdle.

Randle was set to drive for the Victorian outfit this year, however Tickford was unable to secure a Racing Entitlements Contact (REC) to run a fourth car.

As Randle did not get a full-time role with the team, he was offered a 2022 co-drive and signed for the outfit on a multi-year deal.

In the last fortnight Supercars has created a market tender for two surrendered RECs, meaning that the 24-car grid can expand up to 26 cars next year.

As revealed by Auto Action in this issue, Tickford Racing plans to expand back to four cars, giving

Randle his best chance yet of making it onto the Supercars grid.

“Hopefully that (REC tender) can increase my chances,” he said to AA. “I’m sure they would like to get back to four cars.”

However, Randle explained that he will once again need to find the

funding before he gets ahead of himself.

“Budget ... that’s normally the bigticket item,” he said. “But also, all the dominos have to fall in the right way, like you said the REC, the drive needs to be available and of course sponsorship.”

The 25-year-old believes that the three wildcards as well as the Bathurst 1000 drive will be a great lead into 2022 if he can get a fulltime drive over the line.

“This is the perfect preparation for a 2022 assault if it happens to come off,” Randle believes. “So, going into 2022, if that eventuates and it’s like okay well, I managed to do these three wildcards last year, so I’m not just coming in stone cold, albeit it will be in a completely different car with Gen3.

“We’ll just have to wait and see, but my first focus are these three events.”

Randle will be piloting a Castrol sponsored car in his wildcard appearances and targets top ten finishes at Tailem Bend.

“I probably put a bit of expectation on myself especially at Tailem Bend because I have raced there quite a few times and I was quite strong there as a Wildcard in 2019,” he said.

“I guess the ultimate goal would be top 10s and anything better than that is a bonus really.”

Dan McCarthy

KOSTECKI WILDCARD CONFIRMED

PUKEKOHE TO HOST SUPERCARS

BY BRUCE NEWTON PUKEKOHE WILL be the venue for the Supercars championship’s visit to New Zealand in 2021 with a double-header visit under consideration for the future.

The announcement of the trans-Tasman bubble has allowed Supercars to confirm the historic circuit will host the November 6-7 event.

The event will mark the 20th anniversary of the category’s debut at the venue, which was also the first time it raced for outside Australia for championship points.

Hampton Downs was originally scheduled to host the NZ round last year according to the pre-pandemic calendar because of noise restrictions on ANZAC day at Pukekohe.

But New Zealand missed out on Supercars altogether in 2020 because of COVID. Supercars COO Shane Howard

confirmed Supercars was interesting in doubling up in New Zealand in the future to defray the shipping costs across the Tasman and exploit the huge following the category has there.

“That has been discussed,” said Howard. “You travel all that distance and you are there and in New Zealand you have all the supporters there.

“We will discuss other opportunities, but first principle is to get back there get the race happening, run an event at a venue we know and have experience at, eliminate risk of operation.

“We know traffic plans are in place, people are used to that venue [Pukekohe], so in managing the event remotely as we do … that’s the most sensible choice at this point.”

If COVID doesn’t affect things further, the trans-Tamsan bubble will allow Australian Supercars fans to make the trip to Auckland to take in the action.

Last time the championship visited Pukekohe in 2019 local heroes Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin split the wins with van Gisbergen winning the prestigious Jason Richards Trophy.

The other 2021 calendar question currently awaiting resolution is the Australian F1 Grand Prix, which has been postponed to November 18-21 from its original March date.

Supercars was on the original program and has confirmed it is positive about returning. It would mean adding an extra event to the calendar as Supercars conducted the Sandown SuperSprint on the abandoned March date.

“The opportunity is there and we will consider that,” said Howard. “We have a great relationship with those guys [Australian Grand Prix Corporation] and we will see how that pans out.”

WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United will enter a third-entry for former endurance driver Kurt Kostecki at three rounds of the Supercars Championship.

Kostecki will join brother Jake as well as cousin Brodie on the grid at The Bend Motorsport Park, Darwin Triple Crown and Perth SuperNight in the same chassis used as the team’s Wildcard entry for the 2019 Bathurst 1000.

This was the last time WR018 was used, finishing 18th with Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi and fellow IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe behind the wheel.

“I am super excited to be given this opportunity

by Walkinshaw Andretti United to join the team for the three rounds this year,” said Kostecki.

“It’s great to continue the relationship after our Bathurst campaign last year, they are a great bunch of people.

“Being from Perth and having an opportunity to line up on the grid there later this year is very special, and I can’t wait to get stuck into it with the team.”

Team principal Bruce Stewart is pleased to welcome Kostecki back into the fold after the WAU confirmed Lee Holdsworth and Warren Luff as its endurance drivers earlier this year.

“It’s fantastic to have Kurt back with us, this time for three rounds in the main game,” said Stewart. He certainly impressed us at Bathurst, not only with his driving, but his attitude and professionalism.

“There’s no doubt he is a great young talent of the sport, so giving guys like him the opportunity to showcase their skills in the main game is not only pleasing for us as a team, but also crucial for the sport.

“The Bend and Darwin will be great events, but I’m equally excited to see Kurt race around in his backyard when we get to Perth.”

A rookie test day is planned to take place after this issue goes to print at Winton and a Bathurst Wildcard has not totally been ruled out. HM

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20

LATEST NEWS

SUPERCARS DISMISSES DRIVERS ASSOCIATION

By BRUCE NEWTON

WINTON’S SUPERCARS round next month is looking at “almost normal crowds” as Victoria’s coronavirus restrictions on sport events ease. The north-east Victoria track has been offered almost double its normal daily crowd with spectator zones. The May 29-30 Winton SuperSprint may be allowed to host up to 17,000 a day. That would be an extraordinary attendance, so the Benalla Auto Club, which owns Winton Motor Raceway, is looking at an essentially normal Supercars crowd. MF

THE PULSAR Racing Association will race at Mount Panorama in 2022 after it was confirmed the burgeoning class will support the Bathurst 6 Hour. Formed out of the Pulsar Challenge seven-years ago out of New South Wales for N14 or N15 Australian spec models, the class has expanded into Victoria and aims to extend this to Queensland soon.

With more than 100 members of APRA it is expected entries will fill fast ahead of the category’s first trip to Bathurst. HM

SUPERCARS HAS dismissed the creation of a category drivers’ association as unnecessary.

The push to unite the drivers has bubbled to the surface this year with veteran David Reynolds vocal on the subject via the ‘Below The Bonnet’ podcast he co-hosts with Michael Caruso.

A Supercars drivers’ association is not a new idea, with Russell Ingall pushing the concept in the 2000s and triple-champ Scott McLaughlin voicing support in more recent times.

But Supercars COO Shane Howard said drivers were already being consulted and their interests served by representative such as commission member Jamie Whincup.

“We’ve never had a formal drivers association, but we consult with drivers on a range of different things and having Jamie sit on the commission you’ve got an amazing champion providing a driver’s point of view on everything that is discussed.

“I don’t think we need a drivers’ commission etcetera, the drivers know they can communicate openly to us on any issue that they have.

“I just don’t think it’s necessary to be honest. Drivers can approach us if they have any concerns and that’s been communicated to them a number of times.

“We have an open door policy in regard to any issues they have got, or any issues or ideas they’d like to share.

“We certainly get those view from Jamie on the commission too. Any rule changes and any of those things are all discussed at commission level and it’s great to get his point of view.”

But Reynolds said putting up Whincup as a driver rep no longer applied because he was also a team owner.

Reynolds argued Whincup is compromised because a drivers’ association would not only have to deal with Supercars, but also with team owners.

“The team owners hold all the power and don’t want us to have a voice,” Reynolds said.

“We are not trying to get any more money – we are simply trying to make the sport better as a collective,” said Reynolds.

Reynolds said an association was an ongoing discussion among the 24 Supercars drivers, but there was no specific push on at

the moment to establish it.

“A drivers’ association has always been needed,” insisted Reynolds. “Every other professional sport has some sort of player representation.”

The Kelly Grove Racing Penrite Ford Mustang driver said communications with Supercars was lacking, using the development of the new Gen3 Supercar as an example.

“How it all works is we are contracted to the teams and have really no association with Supercars itself, so there is no communication between us and Supercars.

“We are all being asked at the moment by fans what’s going on with Gen3 and we have no idea what’s going on behind closed doors.

“They could be making clown cars for all we know.”

The vision for the association as explained

by Reynolds has it potentially led by an experienced ex-driver and also including Super2 and Super3 competitors in its

PHILLIP ISLAND TCR Australia debutant Lachlan Mineeff will make his return to the field at Sydney Motorsport Park after missing Bathurst due to competing in the 6 Hour production car race. The 18-year-old New South Welshman took Class D honours alongside former Formula Ford rival Tom Sargent in a Toyota 86 run by Porsche Carrera Cup Australia racer Cameron Hill.

Mineeff scored a top 10 on debut at Phillip Island. HM

RECORD AUDIENCES tuned in to watch the 2021 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour on the screens of Seven. The Sunday coverage, which included the full 6 Hour enduro and the final TCR Australia race, was viewed by an average national audience of 163,000 people on 7mate, with a peak audience of 276,000.

The total audience reach of the broadcast was 720,000 people. More than one million people were reached by both the event and key category social media channels. HM TODD HAZELWOOD’S 100th Supercars race ended positively. On Saturday in Tasmania South Australian Hazelwood celebrated a century of Supercars races by finishing in 14th position. Although the Brad Jones Racing driver would have liked more, it was an impressive drive after he started the race from 24th position. The former Super2 Series winner has been racing full-time in the main game with since 2018, first with Matt Stone Racing before moving to Brad Jones Racing last year. DM

10 AutoAction

ZB and Mustang headed for Super2 THE GEN2 Ford Mustang and Holden Commodore ZB look set to become eligible for the Dunlop Super2 series in 2022.

The Supercars Commission will discuss and debate the future of Super2 at a meeting this Friday (April 23), but a final plan is unlikely to be voted upon.

According to multiple Auto Action paddock sources the broadly favoured plan is to roll the current main-game racers into the development series as they will become redundant in the Supercars championship in 2022 with the switch to Gen3.

But rather than replace the current Car Of The Future era racers – the Ford Falcon FG X, the Holden Commodore VF and Nissan Altima – a

parity process would attempt to equalise their performance and keep all five cars competitive.

Because Gen3 cars are intended to be cheaper to buy and run than the current Supercars there had been a push to upgrade Super2 to Gen3 as well.

But selling cars into the Super2 championship is an established business model for Supercars championship team owners and as they are also co-owners of the business they are hardly likely to abandon one of their own income sources.

There is also the simple fact that building enough Gen3 cars to cover up to 26 championship entries for the start of the 2022 season, as well as for Super2, would be an “impossibility”, as one source put it.

All that means cutting the running costs of the

Gen2 cars will also be a priority for the commission, so Super2 teams don’t face higher running costs than in the main game.

As part of the parity process, the Commission will also have to grapple with the issue of slowing the ZB and Mustang and other Super2 cars so they are mot faster than the new Gen3 Supercars.

As revealed separately in this issue, the Gen3 cars are forecast to be slightly slower than the current cars.

Approached by AA for guidance on its Super2 plans, Supercars provided this response: “We will not speculate on commission outcomes. Any decisions will be communicated in a timely manner to the competitors and then publicly by the way of a media release.” BN

DJR REBOUND

A BRACE of podiums in Tasmania has provided added confidence to Dick Johnson Racing duo Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison.

After a tough start to the season, DJR now sits second in the Teams’ Championship as De Pasquale clawed more ground back to be eighth in the title joining teammate Davison in the top 10.

De Pasquale said the team is starting to gain momentum with its results at Symmons Plains proving this.

“The cars are in a bit more form than they have been the last couple of rounds and we’re now finding our feet together,” he said.

“With one of us and now both of us on the podium in every race, obviously not the top step where we want to be, but it’s awesome for the team to have both of us on the podium.

“We’re three rounds in with the team now, we’re going to some tracks, which are really strong for the Shell V-Power Racing Team, so we’re looking forward to it.

HYPER GROOVE SLOTTING

“We’ve been trying things and learning a lot, so it’s a real exciting time.”

Davison explained the team’s aim is to find a strong qualifying set-up to complement the consistency its Mustangs have as a race car.

“It’s been an awesome weekend from the moment we rolled out the balance of the car has been super, super comfortable, feeling really apart of the car,” Davison enthused.

“We’re trying to find a little more peak speed to get on the front-row and try to win a race, but we’re right there in the top five every session.

Certainly, the race car and the balance is really good.

“It gives us belief and hope, we’re only three rounds together and as a team it’s so good working with these guys. Super professional, we’re three rounds in and only getting stronger, so we’ve got our eyes firmly fixed on continuing this progression, so we can start challenging for wins.” HM

HPC COOLING VENTS

GODDARD TARGETS FURTHER RESULTS A STUNNING performance from Zane Goddard in qualifying for Race 8 at Symmons Plains before translating this into a career-best seventh at the end of the final 44-lap event.

Goddard is spurred on by the result, crediting the changes made during the off-season forced by the departure of experienced engineer to Wes McDougall to Triple Eight Race Engineering and the acquisition of upgrades from the team as key reasons.

“For the team and everyone it was a pretty awesome result,” Goddard said.

“They’ve been putting a lot of work in all year. We’ve been showing glimpses of good speed and I felt like in that race we put it together. Now the target is to try and put more races together like that to consistently closer to the front.

“Over the off-season, we got all the updates to bring the cars up-to-date or as close to the Triple Eight cars, so that’s obviously helped.

It is also a natural progression after completing the SuperLites program together with current teammate Jake Kostecki,

Goddard believes the team is gelling together after its expansion at the beginning of last season.

“Last year, it was the first-year as a two-car team so there were a lot of new faces, a lot of restructuring to do, so that was always going to take time,” he said.

Reflecting on his career-best result, Goddard was in awe as he held his own against championship leader Shane van Gisbergen and seven-time champion Jamie Whincup in a Triple Eight customer Commodore.

“It was pretty damn cool, especially after qualifying,” said Goddard.

“It was pretty special, especially due to the split-up groups and seeing the time stand there during the second part.

“Afterwards I was sitting in the A-trailer I was thinking, ‘far out, did that really happen?’

The same thing that happened when I was lining up on the grid, seeing one row in front of me was pretty odd. The last experience I had of that was in Super2.

“It was a very bizarre feeling, but quite nice.”

Dan McCarthy

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LATEST NEWS

TOURING CAR Masters front runner Adam Garwood has announced he has parted ways with Whiteline Racing effective immediately.

After winning the opening round in Tasmania it was a challenging round at Bathurst.

Last week Garwood Motorsport made the announcement. “We have decided it’s time to move on to the next phase within Adam’s Motorsport career, to focus our energy elsewhere... at this point in time, we are waiting for what comes next. DM

NEXT MONTH entries will open for the ever-popular Winton Festival of Speed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the classic event was cancelled but will return, taking place from August 6-8. The event will showcase many historic race cars from Sports Sedans to Formula Fords and historic Group S and Group N machines. As always, the event focusses on a couple of feature categories and this year the event will be celebrating 50 years of the Holden HQs. DM

MOSTERT TCR FUTURE CONFIRMED MAN OF the moment Chaz Mostert has confirmed he will contest the remainder of the TCR Australia Series.

Mostert, who scored his first Supercars win since 2019 and his first ever win for Walkinshaw Andretti United at Symmons Plains in Tasmania yesterday, leads the series for front-wheel drive turbo-cars in his MPC Bostik Racing Audi RS 3.

After clean-sweeping the Easter TCR round at Bathurst, he sits on 344 points.

Aaron Cameron (Team Valvoline GRM Peugeot 308) is second on 281 points and Mostert’s team-mate Luke King is third on 266 points.

Mostert has raced in each TCR round this year on a one-off basis, although both he and Melbourne Performance Centre

had made it clear they hoped to make the arrangement permanent.

That has now happened, a happy Mostert confirmed.

“It hasn’t been announced yet but we were pretty happy with it after Bathurst and I believe I am going to complete the whole season, so I am pretty pumped about that.

“I’ve been told we are going to continue so you can release it first. You can have the scoop!”

Halfway into the 2021 series, Mostert has finished on the podium in seven of the nine races so far, and won five of the last six races heading to the fourth round at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 1-2.

He is the only full-time Supercars driver to contest the series promoted by the

Australian Racing Group.

Mostert is also set to continue in the ARG co-promoted Fanatec GT World Series for the balance of the year, driving with Tony Bates in an Audi R8 LMS Evo. They are currently fourth in points in the high-profile Pro-Am class.

However, Mostert will step out of the Audi at Tailem Bend at the end of May when the GT3 cars support the Supercars championship round.

Shane van Gisbergen will also focus on the Supercars at Tailem Bend, leaving Triple Eight to announce a new co-driver for Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Yasser Shahin and Garth Tander lead the Pro-Am title chase ahead of Ibrahim in an Audi R8. Dan McCarthy

SUPER2 GEN2 FRUSTRATION THE WARWICK Brown Cup will be awarded to the victor of the final S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship round at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 1-2. Brown, the winner of the 1977 Australian Grand Prix and the Rothmans Series back in Fomula 5000’s heyday will award the trophy personally to the driver, who is successful at SMP. The event is the final round of the VHT Australian drivers Championship - recently elected Motorsport Australia president Andrew Fraser will also be on hand to present the Australian Drivers Championship (Gold Star) trophy to the winner.

DM

AFTER BEING diagnosed with testicular cancer, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner John Bowe has returned to hospital with an epididymoorchitis (inflammation of the epididymis and/ or testicle). Bowe explained on social media that it was giving him excruciating pain but as ever remains optimistic of a fast recovery.

Bowe currently leads the TCM series after two rounds, the third event begins on April 30 at Sydney Motorsport Park. DM

12 AutoAction

THE IMPENDING intriduction of Gen2 machinery in Super2 is proving unpopular against the majority of teams entered in the second-tier series.

As Supercars enters the new Gen3 era in 2022, Super2 is expected to run its existing Car of the Future machines alongside the newer Gen2 Mustangs and ZB Commodores.

Several Super2 teams told Auto Action the possibility of two generations of Supercars running together won’t work.

Even if a Balance of Performance and parity system is implemented.

However, one concern raised is there will be a lack of Gen2 chassis handed down next year.

“There is the least amount of main game cars for sale as ever,” Image Racing’s Terry Wyhoon told AA. “It makes it the perfect time.

“Triple Eight aren’t selling any cars, neither are DJR or Erebus.

“We worked out that it was only Tickford and Brad Jones Racing – collectors are buying all the other cars. All of Triple Eight’s and Team 18’s will go to a collector. You’d be surprised that there aren’t many cars for sale.”

Wyhoon, as many of the team owners have said, believes Super2 should skip Gen2 entirely and move straight to Gen3.

“How are they going to parotise them?”

Wyhoon said. “That’s the thing. We buy a car and they make us cut the undertray off it to make it in line with a current VF Commodore.

“So I will have just bought a $500,000 car with tech support and set up sheets that you might as well wipe your arse with.

“It would be perfect to have Super2 running Gen3 in 2023.

“There would probably be a couple of

(Supercars) teams that would be a bit pissed off if that was to get across the line, but I can’t see it happening.”

It appears time has run out, with a decision to be made in coming weeks. Dan McCarthy

WYHOON DEPARTS COMMISSION ROLE

AS PREVIOUSLY revealed by AA, Image Racing founder and team principal Wyhoon has withdrawn from his position as a Super2 representative on the Supercars Commission.

The decision came just days after his driver, Jordan Boys, was stripped of victory at the opening round of the Super2 Series at Bathurst.

Stewards discovered irregularities in the Walkinshaw Racing customer unit installed in Boys’ VF Commodore.

According to the Stewards report: “On 7 April 2021 a Panel of Stewards conducted a Hearing into a Charge by the Race Director that Image Racing breached Rule G8.1.2 in that the engine used in Car #49 did not conform to an ESD. “The Stewards upheld the Charge, found the breach established and imposed a Penalty of

Disqualification of Car #49 from Race 2 and have directed that the Final Classifications for Race 2 be amended accordingly.”

Wyhoon explained Walkinshaw was given the all clear by Supercars to supply the engine to his team.

The engine was producing three brake horsepower over the limit.

However, Walkinshaw was given permission to run with the engines from Supercars due to a parts shortage as a result of COVID. “In light of everything that has been going on, I need to spend a bit more time with the family and helping Jordan get over this little bump in the road,” Wyhoon said about his decision to step away from the board.

“I have enjoyed working with Paul Martin (category manager) and Mark Galbraith (Motorsport Operations Coordinator) from Super2. It is good when you spend a bit of time together on something and you get it across the line, it’s a good feeling.

“I’m still happy, I’ll still be taking phone calls from Paul and Mark, but I just want to spend some more time doing some of these other things.” Dan McCarthy

MAWSON PLANS RETURN JOEY MAWSON leads the Gold Star S5000 Championship heading into the final round at Sydney Motorsport Park (Apr 30-May 2) and plans to return to the series next season.

Sydneysider Mawson may be a new name to many Australians, but the 24-year-old has already had success at an international level.

The 24-year-old beat Mick Schumacher to win the highly regarded ADAC (German) Formula 4 Championship and impressively claimed podiums in the GP3 championship.

After some Porsche SuperCup racing, and when the pandemic took hold, Mawson elected to return to Australia and secured a deal to race in the inaugural S5000 Championship and, after a successful first season, intends to return.

“With the way everything is going right now I’m really happy with my life in Australia and my racing here,” Mawson told Auto Action. “The goal after this is continue for another season in S5000.

“It’ll be exciting to see the new tracks and particularly the international weekend (at Bathurst) that we’re going to have. That’s really the plan going forward for next season – to continue in S5000.”

Mawson’s S5000 campaign has been supported by former Formula Holden racer Alan Galloway’s ALABAR company, and prominent Melbourne building group Form700 – whose director Wasyl Rosati is a close Galloway friend.

Mawson confessed that he has received offers from overseas but has no intentions of heading back in the near future.

WHO WILL WEAR THE GOLD STAR?

“I’ve had some offers to return to Europe in other categories, of course having to bring budget,” he revealed. “But at the moment, like I said, I’m really happy being back home. “(I’m) Really enjoying myself in the S5000 category, I really don’t have an interest in returning to Europe until at least COVID calms down, then I would maybe consider it.”

Mawson took to S5000 like a duck to water, winning the opening heat of the season. He highlighted that his relationship with engineer Simon Hodge (the most recent Gold Star winner) has been a key part of that success.

“Really from the get-go in Tasmania we just clicked really well,” he said. “Simon’s been really, really good, I know he’s only a young engineer, but already he’s very switched on and particularly his communication, how he’s able to relay the feedback in the driving has been exceptional.

“I think that’s one area where we really blossomed. I really hope that I can work with him next season if I stay on board in S5000, I’ll definitely be asking BRM if I can work with him again.”

Dan McCarthy

HEADING INTO the final round of the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, Joey Mawson is in the box seat to take the title – however five other drivers are still in mathematical contention to steal the crown.

Mawson leads the championship by 40 points, but with 130 still up for grabs the championship is not a foregone conclusion.

Coming into the season Mawson had no previous S5000 experience and did not expect to be up front coming into the final round.

“This is a position I didn’t expect,” Mawson told Auto Action. Obviously, it is what I was hoping for, but I didn’t expect it. It’s nice to have a bit of a margin as well. Of course, we have 130 points on offer, so the championship is still very much up in the air.”

The Team BRM driver has never raced at Sydney Motorsport Park due to his internationally based junior career. Nevertheless, he plans to approach the weekend like any other, but he knows that he may be required to play the championship game at times.

“I want to take it like it’s just another race weekend,” he said. “I have been very, very aware that you can’t afford to DNF or really have a bad race in this championship.

“If you have the speed and you’re the quickest guy out there it’s much easier to stay out of trouble, but of course there’ll be certain moments where I might have to take care or really judge the risk.”

Mawson’s two nearest challengers are reigning Super2 Series winner Thomas Randle and two-time Gold Star winner Tim Macrow – the two drivers come into the weekend separated by just three points.

Macrow sits third and explained that although he is incredibly proud of what his own single car

operation has achieved against established squads Team BRM and Garry Rogers Motorsport, he still has his eyes on the big prize.

“For a single car outfit we’ve done really, really well,” Macrow feels. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done all year.

“If we were to finish second I wouldn’t be unhappy but I like to win– we’re definitely going to go out there and have a big crack to try and win the thing.

“We’ve been good on the faster tracks like Phillip Island, so we’re pretty confident we can at least have a big crack at it.”

It has been a rollercoaster of a year for Castrol Team BRM driver Randle. The Tickford Racing co-driver led the championship for a majority of the year, however a disastrous penultimate round at Sandown saw him drop to second.

Randle told AA that he is going to give his all to win the three races and what will be will be.

“There is nothing to lose now – I’m not leading the championship anymore, so it’s really an all guns blazing attack and aim for race wins,” he said.

“The championship will either happen or won’t, – it depends on where Joey finishes and I’m not focused on him, I’m just focused on the job we do.”

All three of the GRM machines remain in the championship hunt but they need a lot of misfortune to befall the leading championship trio.

Like Macrow, the GRM beasts of Nathan Herne, James Golding and Luis Leeds are expected to be fast at SMP as they were very quick at Phillip Island.

Dan McCarthy

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13

LATEST NEWS

TYRE DEG A CONCERN FOR TCR?

TYRE DEGRADATION could be the deciding factor during the Round 4 of TCR Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Both Aaron Cameron and Jordan Cox revealed it is an area their teams are working on approaching the venue where TCR Australia debuted in 2019.

However, this is not expected to be a problem for the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi RS3 LMS TCRs of series leader Chaz Mostert and third-placed Luke King.

Local driver King is confident the Audis will maintain its tyre life throughout the

weekend, highlighting it as the Audi’s strength.

“I think the Audi should manage that quite well,” King said. “We’ve got a decent tyre bank anyway like most people would if they’ve run the series from Tassie.

“Obviously, there was that drama Chaz had at Phillip Island with his tyre blowout in the final race, so we are mindful of it. I think we’ll get a good idea of it after practice and we’ll be able to manage that quite easily across the weekend.”

King is hoping to comeback stronger at SMP after a difficult run at Bathurst due to

a mechanical malady, which is now solved.

“We want to be back up there and competitive,” King said. “We had a few mechanical dramas, which didn’t help with my confidence at a place where you need it fully in the car.

“MPC have worked pretty hard to make sure we’ve got that for Sydney, so hopefully we should be back on the pace.”

The battle is predicted to be tougher than ever as the SMP layout contains favourable characteristics for each manufacturer.

“The field is probably going to be the most competitive it has been all year,” said

King. “To think some of those Alfas won’t have weight, (Aaron) Cameron is coming on strong even though he’s going to have a bit of added weight and SMP is going to suit most cars.

“It’s fast and flowing, but there’s tight sections as well, so certain cars will be favoured in certain sections.

“I reckon it’s going to be a battle.”

TCR Australia is part of a jammed pack schedule for Round 3 of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship at SMP on April 30 - May 2.

Heath McAlpine

DAVISON’S SOLE FOCUS IS NASCAR

JAMES DAVISON continues his successful venture in the states and explained to Auto Action his focus has now turned from open-wheel racing to NASCAR competition.

Davison has been racing in the US since 2005 and in that time has finished as runner-up in both the second and third tier IndyCar categories and competed in six Indy 500s.

However, the third-generation racer has been unable to secure a full-time drive in IndyCar, finding a new home in NASCAR. After competing in several rounds for Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing in 2020, Davison secured a drive that will see him compete in 26 of the 36 races during the year.

“My focus is on NASCAR, I dedicated 15 years of my life towards IndyCar racing but ultimately it came down to do I have the funding behind me to get a proper start, to do a season or two,” he said to AA. “I just didn’t have it. I gave it my best shot and I did six Indy500s – more than I could have ever imagined.

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“The last three years were difficult running with the one-off entries, I learnt that there was more chance of something going wrong than everything going right.

“Your equipment’s not going to be the best out there – you’re looking to get a result on a wing and a prayer.

“Even when we ran well in 2019, qualified and finished in the top half of the field and had genuine pace the pit lane speed limiter wasn’t working and Helio Castroneves ran into the back of us.

“It was a lot to put all your eggs in one basket just to do the Indy 500.”

He admits if he had his time again, he would have pursued a NASCAR career from day dot, but will never rule out a return in the Indy 500 down the line.

“You know, never say never, I could go back and run Indy but I’m really enjoying this NASCAR stuff,” he confessed.

“In hindsight, 15 years ago when I came over here. If I could do it all again, I would have focused on NASCAR back then, it’s just that I came from an open-wheel family, my father and my grandfather.

“IndyCar was in its heyday there in the late 90s, early 2000s and that’s what I

pursued. But I found a really good fit for what I like in NASCAR. “Given the size of the fan base, there’s just more opportunity.”

Davison scored a career best 22nd place finish with the Rick Ware Racing outfit at Martinsville the week before last.

Dan McCarthy

th Luke West iith wit

AA’s long-time columnist has experienced a life-changing moment

FREEDOM FOUR HOUR TAKING SHAPE THE FIRST running of the Freedom Four Hour endurance race is less than two months away, and the event organisers have locked in a sponsor with Traction Tyres & More jumping on board.

Event organiser Ben Schoots explained that the support surrounding the event has been amazing from competitors and sponsors alike.

“We’ve had some great interest in the concept from big businesses, small businesses and competitors alike,” Schoots told Auto Action.

“People like this ‘grass roots’ endurance concept and teams are getting onboard to make it is a success. It is great news to have traction Tyres & More onboard for this event.”

Although entries are yet to open, nearly 40 teams have expressed interest in the event.

“We have been working on the supplementary regulations pretty hard, we are submitting them this

week, so hopefully entries will open very shortly,” he said.

“The whole principle is to keep it simple and make sure that competitors get their monies worth, when you halve the cost between the two drivers, it is pretty good when it includes a garage, practice, quali, the lot.”

One thing that Schoots confirmed is that they elected against allowing three drivers teams – only two drivers will be allowed in each vehicle.

Schoots hopes that if the event is a success, it will become an annual affair.

“The sponsors are keen to annualise it as we are,” he said. “Hopefully we can make this an annual event, but it is all up to the competitors if they want that or not.”

The event is set to take place from June 18-19 at Winton Motor Raceway.

Dan McCarthy

MACROW TO EXPAND S5000 SQUAD

S5000 CHAMPIONSHIP contender Tim Macrow has signalled his intentions to expand his team in the second season of the monstrous V8-powered wings and slicks category.

As a two-time Gold Star winner Macrow is an openwheel ace, and his single car UCS Group Tim Macrow Racing outfit has taken the fight to well established squads Garry Rogers Motorsport and Team BRM. Macrow plans to expand the team to a two-car operation for the start of the second season and potentially more as the 2020/21 season progresses.

“We’ve got a really good little team here and the plan for the end of the year is to expand – we want to run two cars, one for myself and one for another young fella or girl.” he revealed to Auto Action.

The Victorian is heavily invested in other national open-wheel series, running cars in the Australian F3 Championship and wants to promote one of the F3 talents into S5000.

“We’ve put together a pretty good development path with all our F3 cars and a little Formula BMW

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machine as well,” Macrow said.

“We’re starting to pluck some kids out of karts and stuff like that, so we want to progress them into the 5000 and by next year, it’d be really nice to be running two to three cars and really making a big go of it.”

Macrow heads into the final round at Sydney Motorsport Park third in the championship, but is delighted to be taking the fight to young guns, Thomas Randle, Joey Mawson, James Golding and Nathan Herne.

“I’m really happy to be racing with these guys,” he expressed. “I’m running my own team which has its challenges and also racing with some of the next crop, these guys are meant to be the next best thing, so I’m pretty happy to be on a fairly even keel with them.

“I’ve got a really good group of mechanics and engineers here who work with me, I’ve got my engineer Baz, who’s been with me since the F3 days and he’s brilliant.”

Dan McCarthy

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LAST WEEKEND I experienced something of a motorsporting revolution in my little world. This transformation had nothing to do with happenings on the track and everything to do with how I get my racing fix.

You see, after six years of watching motorsport via Fox Sports, I switched to its Kayo streaming service ahead of one of the busiest weekends of racing in recent memory. In doing so, the way I consume motor racing completely changed. It was mostly a shift for the better with an improved viewing experience, one with a massive cost saving to sweeten the deal. Let me explain…

As a Foxtel subscriber since 2015 – on top of being a Telstra Media (formerly BigPond) customer for over 20 years for internet services – I was paying $39 per month for the most basic Fox Sports high-definition package delivered to an IQ box via satellite. This gave me full access to IndyCar, Supercars and Formula 1, plus my other main sporting interest, NRL. Last month I received notification that my Fox Sports subscription would increase to $63 per month. This bad news lobbed in my in-box at the same time I spotted a deal promoted by Telstra to subscribe to Kayo for $15 per month. This was a $10 per month saving over what non-Telstra customers pay for Kayo. But wait, there’s more. More discounts, that is, not steak knives.

Back in 2020 I activated a service called ‘Telstra Live Pass’ to view rugby league on my phone via the NRL app. This meant I was eligible, for reasons I can’t quite fathom, to receive my first year of Kayo for just $5 per month.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I quickly signed up to pay just five bucks per month to stream Supercars, IndyCar, F1 and all of Kayo’s other sporting properties until April 2022. Happy days!

Please note that there are no disclaimers or asterix at the bottom of this page. This column is not a paid endorsement and I have absolutely no affiliation with Telstra or Kayo, other than being a customer who has stumbled upon a very good deal. It helps that my family pays a sizeable monthly fee for Telstra internet with unlimited data – my wife has a Netflix habit and our two sons are typical device-dependent teenagers – but I’m chuffed I can watch all the motorsport I could possibly consume for the price of an awful racetrack-purchased cappuccino.

The moral to the story, dear readers, is to work the system to get your racing fix in these changing times. Those people – and they are everywhere on social media – who whinge that motorsport is no longer on free-to-air are missing the point. The world is changing awfully fast in so many ways, especially regarding media and television. Both free-to-air and ‘traditional’ pay TV are on their last legs. Streaming is the future, with Netflix (which Kayo’s interface and operations mirrors) showing the way forward.

Even the biggest luddites – or simply older less tech-savy folk – should enlist a younger relative to help them find the way forward to get their racing fix.

Last weekend was a perfect example of the changing landscape, with the aforementioned Supercars, Formula 1 and IndyCar, along with MotoGP, all holding events. To borrow – and mangle – a phrase from Roy and HG: Too much motorsport is barely enough. Yet only MotoGP was offered live on free-to-air television.

While the biggest benefit of switching to Kayo for me was cost, another was not needing to remember to record sessions or races. They are there to watch at any time. The switch also opened my eyes to the joys of picturein-picture viewing when accessed via my laptop. This enabled me to view a replay of the Portuguese MotoGP while watching F1 live from Imola.

However, this was not a function I could get when accessing the same Kayo subscription via my main big screen TV’s Kayo app, for some reason.

The major downside of switching to Kayo was not being able to fast forward through the action in the traditional manner without the screen going to black and the stream needing to reload. Maybe I’ll work out how to overcome this in time. If not, I’ll put up with this delay given the massive discount I’m receiving from my Fox Sports to Kayo switch. And the lack of advertisements.

Given that I must be one of thousands of motorsport fans switching off Fox Sports and saving a packet each month, surely this migration to a streaming platform will significantly impact Fox Sports’ revenue. This, in turn, could affect Supercars’ future TV rights income.

Or perhaps Kayo is a loss-leader for Fox Sports and it’s prepared to incur short-term pain for long-term gain to secure me. Don’t know. What I do know, my life as a racing fan has changed forever.

Luke West wrote his first Auto Action column in 2000. Today Revved Up surveys motorsport’s changing landscape. Contact via @Luke_West (Twitter) & aarevvedup@hotmail.com

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BATHURST ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO

S W E N A R T EX

After conducting its first event at Mount Panorama, Australian Racing Group CEO Matt Braid discusses coming out of the pandemic, an update on the Bathurst International and what next for its portfolio of categories AFTER A forced hiatus in 2020, the Australian Racing Group has returned through its portfolio of categories in a strong position.

ARG hosted its first event at The Mountain across the Easter long weekend, which proved an outstanding success.

Since being formed in 2018, and undertaking its first season the next year, ARG’s momentum has not been dented in a delayed elayed second year, with grids becoming consistent and continuing to grow.

Now, as the affects of COVID start to dissipate, ARG’s aims for its headline acts in S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and TCR Australia, plus its season ending Bathurst International can start to come together.

The Bathurst 6 Hour provided a solid warm-up for ARG ahead of its marquee International event in November, where it is still anticipated to feature overseas drivers, as CEO Matt Braid told HEATH McALPINE. On ARG’s running of the Bathurst 6 Hour for the first time.

Taking ownership of the 6 Hour was always going to be a dress rehearsal for the International and obviously we expected to do it last year – unfortunately we didn’t get the

ARG CEO Matt Braid, with TCR creator Marciello Lotti above, admitted he was surprised by the level of competitor numbers exiting the difficulty of last year resulting from the COVID, opportunity. Certainly, the event went extremely well – there’s been no issues.

We had a record attendance based on the numbers that come through, multiple categories and the feedback has been good. Obviously, juggling a large schedule has probably been the hardest thing, but over all it has gone very well. We’ll come out with learnings that we can apply to the International.

On the pre-event COVID lockdown scare in Queensland.

There were a substantial number of 6 Hour teams or drivers, which were Queensland-based. But you can see people getting used to these times

n now because, as soon a as the announcement h happened, we had a m mix of some who were ju jumping on a plane or in tr trucks to get out early. We ha had others on websites lo looking at what the sit situation would be, what th the exemptions would be, wh what were the conditions in NSW. So everyone wa was already switched on to how to work our way thr through it. That worked ou out really well – there was only one competitor who had personal doubts about coming down for the 6 Hour, but when the lockdown was lifted, he was the final person to say “might not be able to make it” but then they actually came.

(We actually told them they were the only one’s not coming down to do it because everyone else had found a way!).

New South Wales is open. Thankfully, the state’s very proactive when it comes to events, living with COVID rather than putting the barriers up all the time. Everyone did their declarations travelling down. In most instances this is a work exercise so they were allowed to come and it was very straight forward.

Thankfully, it was straight forward and everyone was able to get their way through it.

On growth in competitor numbers.

I think from our side, there are multiple factors that can generate entry, no matter what category it is. The most important part is obviously the desire; wanting to race in the category. The second part is the commercial side; making it commercially possible, so we’re doing our best in 2021 to make all of our categories a desirable place for any competitor to race. Whether it be under category basis or event basis, it’s a case of doing everything we can do to prioritise our series, our categories and our entrants to receive the best commercial opportunities to then help them achieve that.

So, realistically, when it comes to TCR, there’s interest in TCR that goes beyond 20-cars, but the commercial reality of where we sit in 2021 is that we’re unlikely to see a major boost before the end of the year. But therer are conversations with people who are looking towards 2021, asking about the calendar for next year, trying to put budgets in place, so we expect it will grow into 2022. This year, we’ll see opportunists enter, which is great because anyone who can come and sample any of the events we have is fantastic. It will help them see what it’s like racing with ARG, and then hopefully race in 2022. They’ll start their homework now and build into a fullcampaign for the next year.

On S5000’s place within the motorsport landscape.

There’s a lot happening behind the scenes with S5000 and it comes to the point we’ve always said from day one: we are a category management and event business. First and foremost, we have to make sure we’re doing the right thing by each category, so this isn’t just about jamming every one of

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Braid expects November’s Bathurst International, which includes a 500km event for TCR (above) and the debut of S5000 on The Mountain (right), to have drivers from overseas participating.

One category in ARG’s portfolio which needs some attention is Touring Car Masters (below left), says Braid. our categories on at all of our events.

Certainly, S5000 is one of those. Where is that going to be placed to give it the best momentum and the best growth?

Behind the scenes we’re working through that. We’re also working with Motorsport Australia and the FIA on the category.

On the build-up to November’s Bathurst International.

If you look at all components that make that work, we have a great local broadcast through Network Seven, international broadcast through motorsport.tv, through Trans Am in the States, through TCR in Europe, through SRO for GT so what we’re doing here is farming out to the world from a broadcast and exposure point of view.

People are aware of what we’re doing, but also, when it comes to Bathurst, everybody wants to race there. There are a significant number of drivers and teams that have been in contact with all our categories wanting to come race at Bathurst. Even to the point where, this year, the international opportunities will be diminished, obviously, with the current COVID situation. But we’re still talking to a number of drivers who are willing to quarantine because they want to race at Bathurst! We could well see two or three drivers in each category that come from overseas, which would be great. And that will build – once the COVID cloud starts to lift then the scope is even greater because there is

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with the competitor group to actually continue to build that category in profile and to work out a way to re-engage some of the competitors, who have left either through COVID or through other circumstances.

V8 Touring Cars/Super3 is going well and obviously GTs, joining with the SRO. 20 cars, (a few less at Bathurst through other circumstances,) but we’re pretty pleased with that as a starting point too. an international presence with regard to the presentation of the race, and it’s Bathurst. Every racing driver, no matter who they are in the world, wants to race there at some point in their life – it’s always been an attraction and enables us to offer the various categories at an event to attract them to go and race.

On a naming rights partner for the Bathurst International.

There’s going to be some announcements in the future, but there’s some very positive conversations going on commercially – and, again, it’s all about timing. We’re coming out of COVID, the Australian confidence in business is growing, and if you look at what we’ve been able to do with this event ... again, there’s strong interest for the International.

Touchwood, everything keeps going according to plan as a country and the economy emerging from this crisis. It’s very, very positive for us.

On how well ARG has started its second season.

This was going to be our third year and we were going to be hitting our stride, but it’s become our second year and I think, so far, it’s been a positive

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year. We’re very pleased with it. This time last year, our plans were for 2020 to be the breakout year, but 2021 is turning out to be our breakout year and I think we’re largely proving that, to a degree.

And I think we’re tracking really well.

Personally, I was quite surprised by the level of competitor numbers in each category coming out of COVID. I didn’t expect we’d have those numbers, starting where they left off in 2019 or better. I think it could have been far worse considering the pressures.

TCR, we’re really pleased with and want to grow it. Trans Am is going from strength-to-strength, so it’s emerging as a serious category in its own right, which is great bringing in an array of competitors and different muscle car brands to that.

S5000, we’re looking to develop. That will be a ‘halo’ category in its own right.

It might not be there in numbers just yet, but certainly in status and people looking at it. It’s quite a wide-open category, which is going really great and we’ll continue growing it, but we need to keep developing.

TCM is probably a category we need to look into. I think the numbers have suffered this year a little bit, as we started it out. I think we need to work

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On the new broadcast deal with Network Seven.

We’re really pleased with how it’s going. We’re still building it. As each broadcast happens, we’re learning new things and bringing more features into the broadcast. There are a few things we did during the Bathurst broadcast to make it more streamlined and better for the fans to watch on Seven and also 7plus. The numbers are building, Seven’s happy – compared to 2019 we’re a leap ahead in both promotion and audience.

On ARG’s relationship with Supercars.

We’ve always been open to a relationship with Supercars – there’s probably more media beat-up than tahn any real organisational rivalry.

We’re in regular contact with them.

S5000 has been an ongoing discussion with Supercars and the Sandown opportunity was proof of concept. We would like to see opportunities for that category and all our categories where it’smutually beneficial to do so. It’s not about holding all our categories for ourselves; we want to put our categories on the best race platforms that suits them.

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with Dan Knutson

FORMULA 1 president Stefano Domenicali has announced that the championship has signed a 10-year deal to race in Florida from 2022. Next year will be the first time that Formula 1 will have raced in Miami since 1959, this time, as previously reported, on the streets around the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens.

It has not been confirmed when the race will be held, but Domenicali expects it to take place in the second quarter of 2022, likely back-toback with the Canadian GP. DM

SUPER-SUB Nico Hulkenberg has signed up as the Aston Martin team as the official reserve and development driver. The German raced for the Silverstone-based outfit (then known as Racing Point) last year on several occasions replacing COVID-19 infected drivers Sergio Perez and Lance Stoll. The Le Mans 24 Hour winner subbed in on three occasions and made two race starts. Hulkenberg finished seventh at Silverstone and back it up with an eighth at the Nurburgring. DM SCOTSMAN PAUL Di Resta is on standby by as McLaren’s super-duper substitute driver this year. The 141-time F1 Grand Prix starter is the third preference as replacement driver should Daniel Ricciardo or Lando Norris become infected with COVID-19. Mercedes reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries are McLaren’s sub drivers also, but should the two factory Mercedes drivers be away racing for the Silver-Arrows in Formula E, di Resta will step up to the plate. DM

THE CANADIAN Grand Prix is expected to be cancelled for the second straight year.

The event was scheduled to take place from June 11-13 as the second part of a flyaway double-header after Azerbaijan. However, it has been reported on Radio Canada that there are major concerns over the risks associated with F1 visitors mixing with local circuit staff and volunteers. The event is set to be replaced by the Turkish Grand Prix. DM

AT THE Turkish Grand Prix in 2020, Mattia Binotto elected to miss his first race at the helm of the Scuderia outfit. The Italian revealed that this may occur on several occasions in 2021 as he turns his attention to the radically revised Formula 1 regulations set to be introduced next year. Binotto explained that the “well-oiled” Ferrari ship is capable of steering itself at certain Grands Prix this year. DM

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FERRARI’S SIGNIFICANT STEP THERE HAVE been only three days of pre-season testing plus and two races this year, but Ferrari already knows that its 2021 car is much better than the 2020 model.

“It is a step forward; a significant step forward,” Charles Leclerc confirmed. “We’ve seen in Bahrain that we’ve had a better progression compared to the other teams from last year to this year, so this is positive. But on the other hand, we are still not fighting where we want to be fighting. We are putting all our efforts to try and come back to where we want to be which is to fight for wins. If you compare last year to this year, we’ve done a good job – we just need to keep working like this.”

So where are the main improvements?

“It’s an overall improvement,” the Monégasque driver said. “The power feels better, the balance

in the corners and the actual grip of the car feels better, so it’s over-all. It’s not only on one thing in particular but it’s just the whole package that feels better. This is positive for the future.”

Leclerc started fourth and finished sixth in Bahrain. So what are Ferrari’s goals this year?

“I think a realistic goal for this year is to be just behind Red Bull and Mercedes,” he said. “Realistically, I think it’s going to be very difficult to be able to fight with them. We are too far behind for now, but we are in the fight with four, five other teams for third place in the Constructors’ so it’s going to be a tight fight. But if we do everything perfectly it’s reachable.”

Leclerc and Sainz finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Leclerc actually ran as high as second, but Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Lando Norris

(McLaren) passed him.

“On a completely different track and in very different conditions to the first race of the season, this result confirms that the work we are doing is going in the right direction,” said team principal Mattia Binotto. “The fact we are unhappy about not getting at least one driver onto the podium is further proof of that. We can definitely say the outcome of these first two races is a positive one.

“Not since the second half of 2019, specifically the races in Japan and Mexico that year, have we had both drivers in the points in two consecutive races. We must continue like this and show, race by race, that we know how to improve.”

The upcoming Portuguese Grand Prix will be the next opportunity for Ferrari to show its potential.

MERCEDES ADAPTS TO THRIVE ONE OF the keys to Mercedes winning a record seven world constructors’ championships is the way the team has continuously evolved and adapted.

Having Lewis Hamilton in the cockpit of one of the cars has not hurt either!

With the radical technical regulation changes coming in 2022; with a new power unit formula coming in 2025; and with Red Bull on the rise right now, this is a crucial time for Mercedes.

The latest move by Mercedes sees the team creating a new position for current technical director James Allison who will become the chief technical officer (CTO) on 1 July. Mike Elliott, currently the technology director, will take over as technical director.

“We often say that the organisation is a dynamic organism,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, “and that we need to adapt continuously if we want to truly thrive. Effective succession planning has been a strength of our team, so I am delighted to announce Mike in his new role as technical director. We first met at the beginning of 2013 when I joined the team and have spent many hours talking about the team and its evolution since then.”

As CTO, Allison will step back from the day-to-day management of the F1 technical operations and focus on helping the team meeting the strategic challenges of the sport’s next era.

“I firmly believe that people have a

shelf life in senior roles in this sport,” Allison said, “and I have chosen to step away from my role as technical director in order to pass on the baton at the right time for the organisation and myself.”

Allison has been involved with F1 since he started with Benetton in 1991 as a junior aerodynamic engineer. He also worked for Larrousse, Renault and Ferrari before becoming the technical director at Mercedes in 2017.

Elliott’s F1 career began as an aerodynamicist with McLaren in 2000.

He also spent a year with Renault before joining Mercedes in 2012.

“They are big shoes to fill,” he said of replacing Allison, “and I am delighted that we will be able to call on his expertise in his new role as CTO. On a personal level, it is an amazing opportunity to become technical director of a team like Mercedes.

“I know that the leadership strength at every level through the company will be vital to our future success.”

As Mercedes continues to evolve, Wolff has stated, this will eventually result in him stepping aside as team principal and taking a different role in the organisation. Hamilton, when he eventually retires from driving, also plans to continue in some sort of role with both Mercedes and the race team.

RAKE GATE DID FORMULA 1 and the FIA change the rules in a deliberate attempt to hobble the mighty Mercedes team?

That’s what the conspiracy theorists would have you believe.

The Aston Martin F1 team might take legal action against the FIA if changes are not made to the 2021 technical regulations. But that would only be as a last resort. The team is upset because it feels it was treated unfairly with the new rules that reduce aero downforce at the rear of the cars.

Aston Martin and Mercedes say that their low-rake concept cars suffered a much greater loss in downforce compared to the high-rake concept cars like the Red Bull. The teams were

limited on how much they could update their 2020 cars for 2021, so Aston Martin and Mercedes cannot make major changes.

Aston Martin team principal and CEO Otmar Szafnauer plans to talk to the FIA. “I think the right thing to do is have the discussions with the FIA and find out exactly what happened and why,” he told Sky TV. “And then see if there’s something that could be done to make it more equitable.”

This would only apply to 2021 because the technical rules will change in 2022.

“We as a team have to work hard to try and claw back everything we can,” Szafnauer said. “But at the same time we should be having these discussions

with the FIA to see if anything can be done to make it a bit more equitable.”

The problem is that the rules state that no changes can be made to the aerodynamic regulations during a season unless the FIA deems that it is for safety reasons.

So is it possible for a team to sue the FIA? “I think we get to that point after the discussions,” Szafnauer said. “It’s hard to predict. I think the right thing to do is to see what can be done.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner thinks the Aston Martin people are being naïve if they think they can get the rules changed. Horner points out that Mercedes, a low rake car, won

in Bahrain. Furthermore, Aston Martin voted for the 2021 rules package.

But Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is sympathetic.

“I understand the topic because of how the rules have fallen into place last year,” he said. “One can always question what the motivation was.

I think there is certainly the right to review, look at things and discuss them with the FIA to find out what has actually happened and how things have happened. That’s why I respect Aston Martin’s enquiry into the whole thing, and maybe things were targeted at us and they were collateral damage.”

So far, the FIA has given no indication that it will review the situation.

RICCIARDO CONTINUES TO BE CRITICAL DANIEL RICCIARDO plans to continue to criticise the way Formula 1’s official social media outlets are showing too many accidents in a quest to attract more fans.

The Aussie was not happy when Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash in Bahrain last year was constantly replayed on television. He had a talk with F1 officials about the subject.

And he is not happy about how many crashes – eight – were shown on the top 10 highlight moments of 2020.

“I was just like – you guys are f***ing idiots!” he told Square Mile magazine.

“Maybe 12-year-old kids want to see that kind of content, and that’s cool because they don’t know any better, but we’re not kids. Just do better, guys. Do better than that.”

In the lead-up to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend he apologised for swearing in that interview.

“I certainly have to be better with my choice of words,” he admitted. “If I could take that quote back, I would.

It was too aggressive. I should know better as well after being in the sport as long as I have. And even if I feel at the time that it might be taken out of context, I should do better with that.”

Nobody wants to see a racing driver hurt. And F1 cars are so safe these days that the drivers can walk away

from some spectacular smashups. But Ricciardo insisted that there were plenty of non-accident highlights in 2020 that could have been shown instead.

“Last year was such an amazing year for F1,” he said. “There were so many different podium getters; there were a lot of exciting races. I just felt like there was probably more room to expose the highs of the sport. And the great achievements of a lot of individual drivers and individual performances, with some spectacular overtakes. I felt that there were better stories to be told as opposed to just crashes. This is obviously my opinion but I feel that our sport is better than that.

“I feel that we are the most talented drivers in the world, and we are driving these amazing cars. So normally a crash is showing less of our talents.

I feel it is probably the way the sport is perceived, and we are perceived as drivers. We absolutely make mistakes, but I would probably highlight the highs more if I had creative control.”

Ricciardo is not going to back down on this – but he will clean up his language.

“Let’s say I keep my opinion of what I think can be improved, but I will say it kinder,” he said.

It remains to be seen if Formula 1 acts on Ricciardo’s statements.

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19

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F1 INSIDER

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Contributing Writers Australia Garry O’Brien, Mark Fogarty, Bruce Newton, Mark Bisset, Geoffrey Harris, David Hassall, Bob Watson, Bruce Moxon, Gary Hill, Craig O’Brien, Mick Oliver, Martin Agatyn. Paris Charles Formula 1 US Correspondent

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THE F1 ALL-ROUNDERS

AS I have mentioned before in the pages of Auto Action, I have always admired the all-rounders. I’m talking about the drivers who would race practically anything, anywhere, any time. Guys like Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill, Mario Andretti and even David Hobbs and Brian Redman.

Of course, with there being only 10 to 16 Formula One races in a season back then, it meant that the F1 drivers had plenty of free weekends.

Furthermore, they had to supplement their F1 income by doing other events. With 23 races on this year’s F1 schedule – although I have my doubts all of them will happen – plus time spent driving the simulator at the factory, the drivers don’t have a lot of free time.

Fernando Alonso is now back in F1 after his two-year quest to become only the second driver (after Graham Hill) to win the Triple Crown: victories in the Monaco Grand Prix, the Le Mans 24 Hours

and the Indianapolis 500.

The Spaniard already had the Monaco win, in 2006, driving for Renault; and driving for Toyota he won at Le Mans in 2018 and 2019 with teammates Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

Success at Indy, however, has eluded Alonso. He retired in the 2017 round of the 500, failed to qualify in 2019 and finished 21st in 2020 after suffering clutch problems.

Now he is committed to F1 and Renault/Alpine for at least two years.

Jacques Villeneuve, who won the Indy 500 in 1995 and the F1 world championship in 1997, says that Alonso has no chance of winning at Indy unless he commits to a full IndyCar season. Villeneuve believes that Alonso can’t just show up for one race and expect to win.

But Alonso has brushed those comments aside.

“What others say about your own goals and dreams will not affect your thinking or way to do things,” he said.

“If I do it again it’s going to be for a dream of the Triple Crown, or try to achieve the win.

“It’s not that you do that type of race just for fun. I don’t know if I will do it again or not.

“If I don’t do it again, it’s not because someone else said that I will not be able to win it. If I don’t do it again it’s because I don’t feel the motivation to do it.”

The earliest Alonso could return to Indianapolis would be 2023. He turns 40 on 29 July, so he would be almost 42 at the 2023 Indy 500. And if Alpine has a competitive car by 2023, surely Alonso will want to stick around to reap the benefits of all the hard work put in by him and the team.

I think it would be great if Alonso could win the Triple Crown. Given that so few drivers are able to diversify these days, it could be a very long time before another driver gets a shot at it.

Daniel Ricciardo isn’t

WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE ON SALE May 6th

aiming for the Triple Crown, but the Aussie wants to drive some other race cars just for fun. McLaren boss Zak Brown owns Dale Earnhardt Sr’s NASCAR Cup 1984 Wrangler Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

And he has offered Ricciardo a test if he gets a podium finish this year.

“The dream would be to do Daytona,” Ricciardo said.

“But I think it would scare the hell out of me! So probably something more like a Bristol or Martinsville oval. A nice little short track. Otherwise, it is a road course, like a Watkins Glen. But let’s say Bristol.”

Ricciardo is also itching to drive a Supercar.

“Supercars, to race would be cool,” he said, “but I think just to drive one of those cars in anger around Bathurst would give me enough of a thrill. If I got to compete, even better. But just give me a few laps by myself at Mount Panorama and I’ll be happy.”

Portugese Grand Prix; Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships; Australia’s Racing Heritage Series-the Bowin P3; MOTO GP Spain;

with Mark Fogarty

THE FOGES FILE AA’s picky pundit questions why Supercars is withholding so much Gen3 information as he lauds Marcos Ambose’s TV debut GEN3 IS driving all but one Supercar team to distraction. The lack of guidance, much less hard and fast rules, really has the V8 paddock in uproar.

Supercars management will tell you all is well and on schedule. They are unrealistically optimistic that Gen3 will be ready for 2022.

But they are pushing ahead against reasoned opposition. Engines, paddle shifts and sway bar adjusters are among the disputed items.

Supercars bosses will not be at all happy that we’ve revealed secret specs of Gen3 in our exposé on pages 4/5.

Apart from Triple Eight, which is developing the Camaro, no team I’ve canvassed believes Gen3 is achievable next year – and certainly not at the claimed cost-reduction levels.

Amid the dissent and delays, Supercars has launched a Gen3 charm offensive.

Supercars is pushing back against doubts that next year’s big change will happen.

Following reported resistance to Gen3’s timing, switch to ‘crate’ V8s and adoption of automated paddle shift, an update appeared last week.

A photo of the bare Triple Eight prototype chassis for the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro was issued to the media.

It is a tangle of tubing that gives little insight into the supposed road car look of the new Camaro Supercars racer.

New Gen3 chassis details were provided, but a frame is a long way from a completed car.

The final specs are far from finalised.

Camaro homologation team Triple Eight has led the Gen3 chassis design process, with DJR and Ford Performance collaborating on the Mustang version.

Supercars’ mandate is that both will be faithful to the shape and look of the road cars, unlike the misshapen Gen2 Mustang.

www.autoaction.com.au

Image: Ross Gibb Many key details of Gen3 have yet to be finalised – most contentiously, engine specs and gearbox actuation.

Balancing performance between a 5.4-litre twin overhead cam Ford and a pushrod 6.2-litre GM crate V8s is questioned. Although cheaper to buy, teams question why they need to reinvest when the existing five-litre V8s could be detuned to cut running costs.

Apart from Triple Eight and perhaps DJR, teams argue that the Gen3 timing is too tight for a cost-effective introduction in 2022.

All teams will have to build new cars – a significant expenditure even if they are half the cost. Allegedly...

Most teams doubt the target will be met, claiming extra costs if they have to rush-build new cars for next year.

Also still to be finalised is Supercars’ financial contribution to the teams for the changeover. I’m hearing the latest offer is just 40 per cent of the cost.

Supercars faces an uphill battle to sell the change to Gen3 next year when many wise heads advocate holding off until 2023 to get it right.

AMBROSE IS ACE

MARCOS AMBROSE was an impressive panellist on the Symmons Plains telecast.

After five years away from Supercars, Ambrose was a surprise late addition to the commentary team.

And didn’t he do a great job?

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I was tempted to describe his broadcast debut as “unexpectedly good”, but then I remembered he spent nine seasons in NASCAR charming the American media.

As a driver in Supercars, he expressed himself well, if sometimes reluctantly. All that time in the States polished his presentation and it showed in his interaction on the hosting desk with Crompo and Skaifey, and also in his pit lane interviews.

Ambrose is a natural. Relaxed, animated, informed and insightful. He’s obviously kept in touch despite becoming something of a hermit in the wilds of Tasmania after his short-lived return to Supercars in 2015.

He seemed to enjoy himself on the other side of the camera and certainly added to the coverage.

If he doesn’t become at least a regular guest, there’s something wrong. He nailed it as a rookie broadcaster and will only get better if he does it more often.

Ambrose is much more easy going after his time away from racing. He has the bug again, helping out friend Owen Kelly as his Trans Am crew chief at Symmons Plains and Phillip Island.

I sought Marcos out at the Island, for old time’s sake, and was struck by how comfortable and jovial he was. His attitude was in stark contrast to the brittle Ambrose in 2004/05, when he perceived he was being persecuted for his success.

He clearly still has a keen racing mind

because his comments and observations on Supercars were insightful. His rapport with Crompton and former arch-foe Skaife was unforced.

What Ambrose’s appearance on the desk highlighted was the value of an all-expert hosting panel.

No disrespect, but Fox Sports anchor Jess Yates wasn’t missed. Well, at least not by informed viewers.

Yates is a professional presenter, but she adds little to the telecasts for enthusiasts.

Given that the majority of Fox Sports viewers are hard core because they are in the minority that pay to see the coverage, a Crompton/ Skaife/another ex-racer (Garth Tander or Craig Lowndes) panel is preferred.

Crompo excelled as a host anchor and commentator. He is ‘The Voice Of V8s’, after all.

Also a standout in Tassie was Charli Robinson. Her pit lane interviews were outstanding.

A TV pro, Robinson is also a motor sport fan and it showed in her questions. Informed, but refreshingly short, sharp, to the point. More of her polished probing, please.

Overall, there are too many voices on Fox Sport’s Supercars coverage, as there are on Seven’s ARG broadcasts.

Back it all off to a handful of real experts and pro presenters, and fans will be much happier.

Also make sure we get much more Ambrose wisdom from now on.

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21

LATEST NEWS

INGALL AND FEENEY TO PAIR AT BATHURST RUSSELL INGALL will step out of Supercars retirement to team with rising star Broc Feeney in a Supercheap Autobacked Triple Eight wildcard entry at the Bathurst 1000 in October.

When Auto Action went to print, the Holden Commodore drivers were set to be announced at the Norwell Motorplex in Queensland on Wednesday.

The Enforcer has not raced in the Bathurst 1000 since 2016 when he paired with Rick Kelly in a Nissan Altima.

Ingall, 57, won the race in 1995 and 1997 driving with Larry Perkins in a Castrolbacked Holden Commodore.

He later drove in Supercheap Auto colours for both Paul Morris Motorsport and Walkinshaw Racing.

Feeney, 18, made his debut in the Bathurst 1000 in 2020, co-driving James Courtney’s Tickford Racing Boost Ford Mustang to 10th place.

In the off-season he swapped from Tickford to Triple Eight for his second season in the Dunlop Super2 Series. After one round at Bathurst the Queenslander sits second in the standings behind new Tickford Racing recruit Zak Best.

Feeney is one of a number of drivers said to be in the running to take over retiring Jamie Whincup’s seat in the main game in 2022.

The presence of a Supercheap sponsored car in the 2021 Bathurst 1000 will be a

delicious sidebar story, as the auto parts retailer was replaced as naming rights sponsor of the Great Race by rival Repco in the off-season.

The combination of the outspoken media-

savvy Ingall with one of the key rising talents in Australian racing will be sure to guarantee plenty of publicity and attention for the entry.

Triple Eight last ran a wildcard at Bathurst

in 2013 when Xbox backed an entry for internationals Andy Priaulx and Mattias Ekstrom engineered by Ludo Lacroix. It finished 10th only fading late from a shot at the podium. Bruce Newton

VAN GISBERGEN: I’LL BE BACK SHANE VAN Gisbergen has predicted he will be back fighting for wins in the next round of the Supercars Championship at The Bend after his epic run came to an end last Sunday in Tasmania.

A dominant win on Saturday at Symmons Plains extended the New Zealander’s undefeated Supercars streak to six this season and seven overall including the 2020 Bathurst 1000.

But on Sunday he couldn’t reel in Triple Eight teammate Jamie Whincup in the opener and settled for second, while second time out he was sixth, limited by his seventh-place qualifying and a dwindling stock of decent rubber.

If he had won Sunday’s first race he would have set a new consecutive win record for the start of a season, topping the record of six set by Mark Skaife and Allan Moffat.

Win both races on Sunday he would have set a new record for consecutive wins in Supercars at nine, topping Craig Lowndes’ record from 1996.

“Just because I come sixth today doesn’t mean we won’t be fighting for wins again next time. I don’t see any reason why the momentum should stop,” van Gisbergen told Auto Action on Sunday evening at Symmons.

He also dismissed the end of his run of wins just shy of some big records.

“I just shut down the talk about records when it happens because I don’t care.”

What Van Gisbergen was really pleased about was the team’s delight at strong results.

“The atmosphere in the team is really good and that makes a huge difference.

“How stoked everyone was today for the 1-2 … Even though I came second I was stoked about how happy everyone was here.

“And this afternoon we salvaged a poor qualifying so it was cool.”

Van Gisbergen, who is driving with a broken left collarbone and three broken ribs from a March mountain bike accident, revealed on Sunday night he had been forced to take pain killers.

“I was a bit sore today … I thought I’d be right because Symmons is a left-hand circuit but you are using your core to hold yourself up and that caused the pain.”

Van Gisbergen also thinks he might have to spend more time this week in a hyperbaric chamber, which speeds recovery.

“I might do, I will see how I feel this week. My ribs still hurt, but it’s just time. Every day I am not doing something I get better, so I have to keep relaxing.

“I am so much better than what I was, I can lift my arm now and it doesn’t hurt that much.”

Van Gisbergen was due to meet with his medical specialist early this week to get his injury assessed. He is scheduled to test this Thursday the T8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shares with Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the Fanatec GT World Challenge, but is unsure if he will take part.

Give that a miss and he has three weeks to rest and recover until his next outing at the Tailem Bend Supercars on May 8-9.

The GTs are also racing that weekend, but van Gisbergen won’t drive. With Whincup also focussed on Supercars duties, T8 has yet to name the Prince’s third co-driver in as many GT rounds.

Apart from his Supercars successes, van Gisbergen’s incredible run in recent months have included winning the Battle of Jacks Ridge and New Zealand Grand Prix in his home country, the Easter 6-Hour production car race at Mount Panorama and a world challenge race at the same meeting. Bruce Newton

TASSIE QUALIFYING BACKLASH SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP leader Shane van Gisbergen and rival Cameron Waters were not fans of the confusing and ‘overly complicated’ split qualifying format used in Tasmania.

Do to the short Symmons Plains Raceway being only 2.4km in length, Supercars elected to run split qualifying groups.

This was gone in order to avoid congestion and potentially a big shunt during qualifying, all in the name of safety.

On Saturday the field was split in only Q1 before the usual knockout formula recommenced for Q2 and Q3.

However, on Sunday with a shorter amount of time available, the single-group stages determined the grid.

In these group stages the field was split into two groups, each two car team had to put one driver in Group A and the other in Group B, while the four car teams had to put two in each.

Little anomalies were in the system, as a single car team, Tim Blanchard Racing driver Tim Slade was forced into the opposite group to the Tickford car with which he shares a pit boom.

If you are confused, don’t be alarmed, drivers, team principals and and even commentators Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife had difficulty trying to explain it all.

Championship leader and reigning

Bathurst 1000 winner Shane van Gisbergen was not a fan, blasting the new format.

“I think it (qualifying) is overly complicated and silly,” he said. “There is only 24 cars, we should just be out there together.”

Despite taking both poles on Sunday, Cameron Waters also confessed that

STARS ANNOUNCED FOR INAUGURAL AIMSS SAFETY SUMMIT TO BE held in June, the maiden Australian Institute of Motorsport Safety Motorsport Safety Summit will host a number of high profile guests to discuss the biggest safety problems and showcase the recent developments in the area.

Headlined by Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Roman Grosjean, Roland Dane and Paul Morris, this online event will feature a mixture of cutting edge discussions, panel debates and live scenarios, with discussion to be had between guests and the participants.

Motor sport safety developments, rescue and medical procedures are just some of the topics to be covered, where a ‘Pitch my Project’ competition designed to aid in a new or novel safe project can reach an international viewership.

Participants will pitch their ideas to a panel of leaders in the realm of motor sport safety, providing live feedback to further progress the pitch.

AIMSS chairman Garry Connelly is excited to unveil the summit, which promises to enhance the continuing progression of safety in the sport.

“The AIMSS Motorsport Safety Summit is a wonderful initiative that will help

further showcase the skills, technology and ingenuity of those working tirelessly to improve safety in our sport,” Connelly said.

“The Summit has attracted an international faculty representing the Asia Pacific region, who are all invested in progressing motorsport safety.

“We are delighted to be welcoming some of the biggest names in motorsport to this Summit. They all have a passion for making motorsport the safest it can be and their unique insights will be highly informative.

“We are also excited to be providing an opportunity for those with a great idea to share their innovations through the ‘Pitch my Project’ initiative. Someone could be sitting on a great idea that will make the sport safer but may have not yet had the opportunity to share it with those who can make it a reality.

“The AIMSS Motorsport Safety Summit is sure to be a highlight on the motorsport safety calendar in 2021.”

Tickets for this event are priced at $80 through the following link: https://www. eventbrite.com.au/e/aimss-motorsportsafety-summit-tickets-147994941855 Heath McAlpine

he did not like the format, having to wait in the garage to see how Group B performed.

“It’s a bit weird,” he said. “Qualifying is still happening but you have already done your part, it feels a little bit like a shootout.

“It’s cool that we’re trying new things, but for me I just want us all out there

doing it all at the same time, make it a little more basic and a little bit simpler.”

The format is expected to return at the other 2.4km venue Wanneroo Raceway in Perth later on this season. However, after the backlash that it received over the weekend from fans, drivers and team owners, this is likely to be reconsidered by the commission. Dan McCarthy

LATEST NEWS

GARWOOD LOOKING BEYOND TCM

TOURING CAR Masters front runner Adam Garwood has left the Whiteline Racing operation and the category effective immediately, but he is already looking ahead to the future.

Despite his age, Tasmanian Garwood has raced in the ever-popular TCM series for several years and since joining Whiteline Racing in 2019, he has become a frequent victory contender.

Garwood started the year off with a real highlight, taking wins in his home state of Tasmania, however after the first two rounds, Garwood has departed Whiteline Racing.

“Purely budget, the team is unbelievable but just the budget held us back,” he told Auto Action.

“Anything can happen, we’ll see what happens, but at the moment, I’m no longer with Whiteline, with the budget issues and a few other things on (with work), I just couldn’t commit to the rest of the year, it’s a shame.”

Garwood targets a return to circuit racing next year, admitting that he is keeping one eye on the blossoming Trans Am Series.

“We’ll keep our eyes open, see what we can do next and try and do something next year,” Garwood revealed.

“I’ve got my eyes on a few different things, but Trans Am is probably the most attractive thing at the moment. They are cost effective to run and they have got some good drivers at the minute, we’ll see what happens.”

Racing the bright yellow Chevrolet Camaro in TCM, Garwood was able to take the fight to the

likes of two-time Bathurst winner John Bowe, Supercars race winner Steven Johnson, and multiple time V8 Ute Series winner Ryal Harris.

Garwood believed that despite the problems at Bathurst, the title was still achievable.

“When the car was on the money it was nearly unstoppable,” Garwood said. “Obviously we had that pole position and a couple of race

wins in Tassie, they (the team) produced a great car.”

“Bathurst was a bit of a shame, but I still definitely think we could have got the points back from them easy.

“It’s shame but these things happen, and they happen for a reason, so let’s see what happens next.”

Garwood will continue to race speedway machines and in tarmac rallies throughout the year.

“We’ll do that (Speedway) in Tassie and then we’ve got an Australian Tarmac Rally we are going to do in Snowy River, so we’ll commit to that and see what happens for the rest of the year,” he said. Dan McCarthy

LMP3 AUSTRALIA ON HOLD

THE LMP3 Cup Australia category will not commence until the international travel restrictions in and out of Australia are eased.

The LMP3 Australian Cup is a prototype series that was set to launch in March of last year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the series was unable to commence.

Series director Chris Papadopoulos explained that as the bulk of the competitors are from Asia and Europe, it is very difficult for the series to get underway until travel restrictions are significantly eased.

“We are in the same position as we were last year essentially because of the ongoing border closures” Papadopoulos told Auto Action.

“Teams from Asia and Europe that registered for the series were in the majority in terms of overall numbers, and with the ongoing uncertainty with travel, we are currently holding on.

“I don’t expect to get a full series in this year, just until there is an easing of the current travel restrictions for everyone involved.”

Papadopoulos believes 10 entries is the magic number for the series to get underway, but with only two cars currently in the country, without the restrictions eased the category can’t take off.

“To get the series underway we were looking for at least 10 LMP3 cars on the grid before COVID hit and all this was put on ice,” he explained.

“We were expecting eight (international entries), unfortunately the category with

such an international flavour, we were relying on that international cohort to help the category to start.

“We always expected that it would take a little while for the Australians to embrace the cars after seeing them and experiencing them.”

It was revealed to <i>AA<i> that several other cars were going to be shipped over to

Australia before the pandemic broke out.

“I know that there were some (LMP3 cars) that were destined to travel, and they were put on hold until the situation again became clear,” Papadopoulos said.

“At the moment there are test drives available, and we’ll obviously be talking to people who were expecting to either lease cars from overseas or bring them in

themselves (to see entry numbers).”

After restrictions are eased Papadopoulos believes the series can get up and going quite quickly.

“We’ve allowed for around six weeks of travel time between the easing of restrictions and the possible first round,” he explained.

“But it’s all under review pending the ongoing circumstance.” Dan McCarthy

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LATEST NEWS

MCELREA WINS AT BARBER KIWI HUNTER McElrea is third in the Indy Pro 2000 standings after taking a win in the opening round held at Barber Motorsports Park.

Winning the second race of the weekend, McElrea took advantage of Danish rival Christian Rasmussen’s mistake to take his second win in the third-tier Road to Indy class. Rasmussen ran wide at Turn 5, but his 6s lead was not enough as when he re-joined the track he aggressively defended attracting the ire of the stewards.

A 5s penalty was imposed and proved not enough as McElrea finished just 1.4s behind to take victory, which added to his sixth the previous day.

“I was all over Christian for the first five laps to try and apply the pressure, but he had the most pace today,” said McElrea.

“Having gotten sixth yesterday, I was going for points today and was ready to accept second when I came out of Turn 5 and he was stopped in the middle of the road. He put three blocks on me, so I feel as though he had the win just about in the bag but he gave it to me.

“I know we’ll have some good battles this year, but I got lucky with that win and in this game, you have to take them. I probably had the second-place car today but I got lucky.

“This win puts me right where I need to be.”

Australian Cameron Shields debuted in the same class with a fourth, before front-wing damage stymied his run to 15th in the second to be ninth in the standings.

Former FIA Formula 3 driver, Tasmanian Alex Peroni made his debut in Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park to finish fifth and sixth for Carlin.

Entering the next round at St Petersburg in sixth, Peroni sits 25-points behind leader Linus

Lundqvist.

Current Australian IndyCar star Will Power spoke promisingly about the rising talent through the ranks of the Road to Indy program.

“I’ve certainly helped Cameron Shields a lot in trying to make sure he continues,” said the 2018 Indy 500 winner.

“It’s great to see, especially Cameron. He’s from Toowoomba, and he is very quick. I really believe he can get all the way to IndyCar. “I’ve got to give it to him because he has

absolutely zero money or funding and he stuck it out for the last few years here by just meeting the right people, getting in the right situation and performing when he needs to.

“I hope he gets a full season this year, I think he’s in a good car.

“We’ll see what happens there.

“I actually don’t know Alex Peroni very well, but I’ve kind of followed him a little bit with what he’s done in Europe. I think he’ll be really quick.” Heath McAlpine

LOVE SURVIVES CHAOTIC DEBUT

FORMER PORSCHE Carrera Cup Australia winner Jordan love survived a frantic opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Series to finish eighth in class.

Debuting in the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes-AMG GT3, Love finished top 10 in Silver Class in a chaotic race dur to changeable weather conditions and the 42-entries.

Teaming with Yannick Mettler and Miklas Born, Love improved during each session although it was discovered prior to the race a broken rear roll bar was what caused the team to place 38th in qualifying.

Staying long with Mettler at the wheel during the first stint, the Mercedes-AMG began to steadily climb the leaderboard before Love jumped aboard. The Australian’s stint occurred when conditions began to dry out as he lifted his entry to 12th outright before handing over to Born.

In the end, the Mercedes finished 18th outright after tyre failures delayed the team.

“It was a steep learning curve to jump into for my first ever race laps at Monza, having never driven here in the wet before, but I really enjoyed the challenge and got to grips with things quite quickly,” said Love.

“With the track drying out by the middle of my stint, I had to work hard to manage the tyres and make them last about half an hour which is something I haven’t had to do before, and I was possibly a little bit too cautious at times, but I managed to have

some good battles and I am really pleased with the final result and to score a top-10 finish on my GT3 debut.”

“We were definitely on the back foot after qualifying, but the team has done a faultless job all weekend, and the car was

great in the race which meant we could just focus on the job in hand. A massive thank you to Stefan and the whole SPS Automotive Performance team, and to Yannick and Miklas. Looking forward to getting back out on track in a few weeks,

and hopefully the weather will be a little bit less unpredictable!”

The next event on Love’s schedule is the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Series at Paul Ricard on May 28-30. HM

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TROUBLE IN PARADISE MHDT GLORY TAINTED BY BROCK RIFT

IMAGES: Autopics.com.au/AN1 Images/AA Archives

In the conclusion of our look back with top mechanic turned leading team boss John Sheppard, he tells MARK FOGARTY about taking the Holden Dealer Team back to the top and why his hard line meant rancour was never far away

AFTER A flogging by Allan Moffat’s Fords in 1977, big changes were made to the Holden Dealer Team.

The operation was transferred from Harry Firth to renowned car-builder John Sheppard, with Peter Brock returning to lead the revamped squad.

In 1978, the Marlboro HDT Torana A9Xs were better-presented and faster thanks to Sheppard’s meticulous preparation and mechanical refinement.

Add Brock and it was an almost unstoppable combination.

It was a big change from Firth’s back-street squalor to Sheppo’s pristine premises. The cars sparkled, personnel were neat and clean, and the results reflected the attention to detail.

With Moffat’s Falcons lacking full factory support, Brock – supported by carryover teammate John Harvey – won the ATCC, Sandown 400 and Bathurst 1000, combining in the latter with Jim Richards.

In ’79, Brock was beaten in the ATCC by privateer Bob Morris, but again swept Sandown and Bathurst. He and Richards

dominated at Mount Panorama, leading every lap from pole position to win by six laps. Brock had so much in hand that he set a new lap record on the final tour.

It was the most crushing victory in Bathurst 500/1000 history and capped Sheppard’s two glorious years at the helm of the MHDT. Holden withdrew its unofficial direct support from 1980 and Sheppard sold the team to Brock as a going concern.

Holden helped Brock set up HDT Special Vehicles to underpin the race team in a convoluted arrangement that saw the factory remaining heavily involved.

As well as success, though, controversy and contention were constants throughout Sheppo’s storied career.

He was tabbed to replace Firth to run HDT because of his previous winning record with Ian Geoghegan and Bob Jane. The other candidate was returned international star Frank Gardner, who had transitioned to

PART TWO team management with Allan Grice’s Craven Mild Racing.

Sheppo had also formed a connection with Fishermans Bend through his Monaro Motors workshop, sorting out Holden directors’ special cars, doing contract assembly work for the L34 and acting as a drop-off point for the covert supply of racing parts to teams. He was championed by Holden marketing supremo John Bagshaw, who controlled the ‘slush fund’ to support HDT. “I don’t know who put the idea into Bagshaw’s head, but it was between Frank Gardner and I,” Sheppard recalled. “It was going on and on and on, and it got near Christmas, so I decided to make something happen.

“I got on the phone to Frank and said ‘What’s going on with this job?’ He retorted ‘I’m not involved with that’. He flat-out denied it because I don’t think he could handle the fact that anyone would think about appointing me as distinct from him.

“So I got onto the MD of Holden at the time, Chuck Chapman, and pressed the point to make something happen. They finally made the decision at the end of January and I said ‘How are we going to get a car ready to run at Sandown (the following month) in such a short time?’ Anyway, they decided I was the man for the job and away we went.”

It was a scramble to get to the start of the 1978 season at Sandown in February after Holden procrastinated over Sheppard’s appointment as new boss of MHDT. Brock started his return to the team in the four-door version of the Torana A9X (above and below), soon replaced by the quicker (and better looking) Hatchback variant.

Despite frictions, combination of (L to R, above) loyal wingman John Harvey, meticulous Sheppo and superstar Brock was formidable.

Brock and Jim Richards dominated the Bathurst 1000 in ’78/79, winning the latter by a record margin of six laps (left).

He was favoured in the end because Holden and tobacco company Phillip Morris wanted to keep HDT in Melbourne, whereas Gardner was based in Sydney.

Sheppard effectively moved Monaro Motors to North Melbourne, contracted by Holden to run Marlboro HDT. Phillip Morris wanted much improved presentation of both the race shop and cars.

“When the team came across, they were all apologetic,” he said. “‘Harry wouldn’t let us clean the cars’, they said. Harry was Harry. But later on, he went after me. In his book, he claimed that while the cars were

better presented, they didn’t have any more horsepower.

“I thought ‘What a weak prick’. What did he achieve by having a go at me? And the fact is, we put one of his engines on the dyno and it had this wonderful baffled sump that he had concocted. The engine made a number and then we put my sump on it and immediately picked up 12 horsepower – not one or two ... 12!

“I never understood what Harry hoped to achieve by bagging me. The record spoke for itself.”

The standout result of his tenure was the crushing win at Bathurst in ’79. But Sheppard still maintains it was nothing more exceptional than detailed preparation.

“People asked me ‘What was your strategy?’,” he related. “I didn’t have one. If you have intelligent drivers, you put ’em in the car and leave ’em to it. The only thing we did was to get them to drive through a particular point in the rev range.

“When you ran those 308s on the dyno, at 5500 rpm the fan wobbled because of an harmonic vibration. So I said to Brock and Richo, whatever you do, stay away from five-five. Go through it as quick as you can.

And I think people who hadn’t taken any notice of that fan belt dancing would keep it at five-five, thinking they were being easy on the engine.

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“In ’79, it just happened. It was a shit boring day and it was only afterwards we released we’d won every prize. It didn’t seem amazing at the time.”

There was friction with his star driver from the start.

“Brock and I didn’t actually see eye to eye because I didn’t treat him like God,” Sheppard revealed. “Bagshaw told me that Brock had to come to work every day at 9am, which he absolutely hated. I never actually explained to him that that was a condition of his employment.

“At the presentation dinner after the ’79 event, Evan Green was interviewing me and he said ‘Oh, Brock would have to be the best driver you’ve ever been involved with’. Pete Geoghegan was sitting in the front row and I thought to myself “How can I say that?” So I said something like “Well, in terms of things that have actually been done, Pete Geoghegan is probably better”. I thought that was a tactful response, but that didn’t reinforce our relationship.

“Despite all that, we had great success together.”

The tension came to a head when Brock defied Sheppard by competing in the Repco Around Australia Reliability Trial, which he famously won.

“I just thought it was a distraction that never should have happened,” Sheppo shrugged. “I didn’t want to know about it.

“He reckons that was his greatest victory and it was a pretty good effort. But he only won it because George Shepheard did such a magnificent job on the preparation.

“I’m a conspiracy theorist at times and I reckon Brock wasn’t all that fussed about not winning the touring car championship in ’79 because people would love him for bouncing back to win the Repco, Sandown and Bathurst.”

Their falling out was aggravated by an incident following MHDT’s 1-2 in the Sandown 400.

“Brock and Harvey were shit-canning the cars to the Holden brass even when we were finishing 1-2,” Sheppard recounted.

“By the end of ’79, I was just over it all.

“It could’ve gone on had we been friends or at least friendly. But Brock could be quite wilful and destructive. He wasn’t happy with the situation he was in, so we moved on. He got what he wanted.”

This angst coincided with Holden withdrawing direct support, and HDT’s sale to Brock.

Brock and Harvey scored famous 1-2s in successive Sandown 400s, including this formation finish in ’78 (top and right).

Sheppard read them the riot act after they “shit-canned” their cars in front of Holden execs and guests. Under Sheppo, MHDT cars and crew were immaculately presented (below). He was opposed to Brock’s winning participation in the ’79 Repco Trial (below right), regarding it as a distraction.

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Sheppard (now, at 85, below) returned to racing to run the Volvo Dealer Team in 1986 (then, right), winning the ATCC with difficult Robbie Francevic, whom he subsequently fired. Sheppo had no tolerance for prima donna drivers, but highly rated easy going John Bowe (shown above in Volvo 240T leading HDT’s John Harvey at Calder).

But Sheppard maintains that he had the option to continue the team with Marlboro’s backing, revealing an offer to switch sides.

“I could’ve done what I wanted,” he declared. “It was my business, holusbolus. I owned it. But Brock was playing silly buggers and I couldn’t be bothered getting involved.

“Marlboro wanted me to run Fords, which I baulked at. Then they said ‘Well, we’ll run one Commodore and one Falcon’. So they were keen to continue with me. But I was over it all, so I sold everything to Brock, who had the backing of a group of Holden dealers.”

Sheppard stayed in the Lion fold, taking over as manager of the service garage at Fishermans Bend, looking after the company fleet and press test vehicles.

“I loved that job because I could do what I liked,” he said. “It was hard work, but it was still a fun job.”

He witnessed the lurks and perks of company car fleets in the early ’80s, and the service department was the back-door supplier of racing parts to Holden teams.

Sheppo left Holden in 1984, returning to racing in ’86 to run the Volvo Dealer Team.

Of course, it was typically turbulent. He had to manage fiery Kiwi Robbie Francevic, who had shown the Volvo 240T’s potential the previous year in Mark Petch’s privateer effort and came as part of the Volvo Australia-backed factory team package.

Francevic won the ATCC thanks to his early domination, but otherwise, it didn’t go well. They clashed constantly, culminating in Francevic’s sacking on the eve of the Sandown 500.

Explaining his return, as ever, Sheppo didn’t mix his words: “It was mainly money that did it. I guess I was pleased that somebody still remembered my name. It

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was really good in a lot of ways. There was only one problem with it and that was good old Robbie Francevic.”

Some background. VDT started the season with a 240T built by Belgium’s RAS Sport, who’d taken over from Eggenberger to run the works Volvos in the ETCC. A second car was built locally for the belated arrival of John Bowe, who debuted by winning pole position at Wanneroo.

Sheppard takes up the story: “The Swedes sent out a couple of engineers for the Australian-built car. We did a test at Calder and afterwards one of the engineers said to me ‘You have a head problem… with the driver’.

“We were lucky that we could still win races because the Nissans (Skyline DR30) could wind up their boost and out-qualify us by a second and a half. If we did that, it’d blow a head gasket. We managed to win some races early on and hung on to win the championship.”

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Volvos failed at Bathurst (above). VDT was disbanded at the end of ’86 season when the Swedish maker withdrew from racing worldwide.

Sheppo wanted to fire the disruptive Francevic, but was under corporate pressure to keep him because he was leading the championship.

“I accepted that,” he said. “But the Australian-built car became a bone of contention. He was given the choice. He chose the RAS car, but he changed his mind. At Sandown, all of a sudden, his car was dangerous to drive and he refused to drive it. So I sacked him.

“It was a pity because he wasn’t a bad driver. Mark Petch said to me ‘You don’t

treat him right. You have to get at him before the race and shake his shoulders and slap him around to make him angry, and then he’ll drive well’. Piss off!”

There were unsuccessful talks to bring defending Bathurst 1000 champion John Goss on board, but in any event, the Volvos weren’t really in the hunt at Mount Panorama.

At the end of the season, Volvo withdrew from racing worldwide, leaving Sheppard out in the cold once again.

“I did point out that it was one of the

few times in the known universe that a manufacturer pulled out after winning the championship,” he reflected ruefully.

“But it was a global decision.”

But he wasn’t on the sidelines for long.

He was reunited with Bob Jane to build NASCARs for the new, ultra-expensive Thunderdome oval at Calder Park.

Predicably, the headstrong pair eventually fell out irreparably over the Thunderdome folly.

“Bob sent me over to the States and said go and buy 20 cars,” he remembers.

Combustible combination: fiery Francevic (above right) and stubborn Sheppo (far right). VDT ran locally built and Belgian 240Ts (above, at Winton), with the Kiwi’s criticism leading to him being sacked on eve of Sandown 500.

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“I said it would be better if we bought all the bits brand new and built the cars here. Which is what happened.”

The NASCARs cost $42,000 to build, and could have been sold profitably at $50k each, but Jane wanted $100k.

“That chased everyone away.” Sheppo lamented. “It went downhill from there.”

Famously, 12 unused NASCARs sat in containers out at Calder for years.

Jane offered big prizemoney and Sheppard wrote the tech rules, which became corrupted. Then came AUSCAR, which Sheppo says was more expensive.

AUSCAR was competitive, but ultimately too costly.

“It killed itself,” Sheppo said.

So, once more, the uncompromising mechanical maestro fell out with Jane, which he now regrets.

“It would have been nice if we could have kept the good part of the relationship,” he said. “But Bob wasn’t like that. He knew how to hold a grudge and alienate even those close to him.”

Sheppard drifted to TEGA, the Supercars teams’ group, as technical director in ’98/99.

In semi-retirement, he completed a personal mission to build a replica of Stan Jones’s famous Maybach 2.

He was inspired to recreate the 1950s

racer, powered by a 4.2-litre straight six German WW2 tank engine, by seeing it at a motor show in his youth.

“It was an interesting project,” he deadpans, underwhelming the scope of the recreation.

It was based around a Maybach motor tor found on a farm, where it was used as a water pump.

Sheppo found other period components – like the Fiat 525 transmission – and chassis drawings to build a faithful replica of the pale blue front-engined open-wheeler, originally designed by later Repco-Brabham mastermind Charlie Dean.

He also sourced some original parts from racer Gavin Sala, including the radiator, which had remnants of Maybach 2’s paint for colour-matching.

The build took nine years and was finished in the late 2000s.

“Little by little, it came together,” he said. “It was a long process. It was a really fun thing to drive.”

Eventually, he sold the faithful tribute car, which is still active in historic racing.

Sheppard officially retired in 2009 after 52 years in the sport.

But he is not quite finished.

He started a recreation of the Bob Jane Racing Repco-Torana in his home garage – just like the original – complete with period 4.4-litre V8.

He is about to hand it off to the new owner for completion.

At 85, John Sheppard is still as sharp and acerbic as ever, pulling no punches as he relived his incredible career.

Sheppo is a great of Australian motor racing who surely deserves induction into the Supercars and Australian Motor Sport Halls OF Fame..

A sucker for punishment, Sheppard reunited with hard-nosed businessman Bob Jane to build NASCARs and AUSCARs for the illfated Thunderdome oval at Calder in the late ’80s. Inevitably, they fell out over pricing and policy. Sheppo regrets that there was no rapprochement before Jane’s death in 2018.

SHEPPO’S STARS Super-Spanner rates the greats JOHN SHEPPARD worked with – and guided – many of the stars of Australian racing in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

Sheppo started as a mechanic, but soon became more than a super-spanner, evolving into a pioneering team boss.

Youl, Manton, Geoghegan, Beechey, Jane, Brock, Richards and Bowe were among his charges – plus his little-known involvement with speedway superstar Johnny Stewart.

Here he rates his greats: IAN GEOGHEGAN, FIVE-TIME ATCC WINNER Skillwise, he was the best I’ve worked with. In my book, Brock and Pete Geoghegan were very similar. I was closer to Pete, so that might taint my view.

NORM BEECHEY, TWICE ATCC WINNER Beechey was naturally talented. He used to say to me “Oh, Sheppo, I don’t worry about lines and things, I just come up and surround the bend”. And he used to get around all right.

He loved oversteer and was a showman. “I just surround the bend” – I always thought that was a great description of his approach. He didn’t have to win as long as he put on a show.

BOB JANE, FOUR-TIME ATCC WINNER When he had his mind on the job, he was as good as anyone. Problem was, he was distracted by his business empire. He was very skilful, but not at the same level as Brock and Geoghegan.

He had to apply himself, a bit like Allan Moffat.

JIM RICHARDS, ALL-STAR Jim was a lovely bloke and a very clever driver.

He was smart enough not to beat Brock when they were teammates. He was as quick as Brock, but he never tried to steal the show.

JOHN YOUL, EARLY ’60S OPEN-WHEEL ACE As good as the best in his day. He excelled in under-powered cars – 2.2 to 2.5 litres. He was better than the likes of (four-time Gold Star champion) Bib Stillwell.

PETER MANTON, MAX MINI STAR He was a superlight bloke in a superlight car.

He and Brian Foley and John Harvey used to have incredible dices in their Minis, especially at a tight track like Warwick Farm. Chain-smoker Manton didn’t like really powerful cars.

JOHNNY STEWART, ’60S SPEEDCAR STAR He used to arrive at the track with a hangover.

I thought at the time that he probably needed to drink to cope with the sheer danger. He was an extraordinary natural talent.

Tellingly, Sheppo is not expansive about Brock.

He rates him alongside Ian Geoghegan, but thinks he was cosseted. Later revelations about ‘Big Pete’ trouble him. MF

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British MI5 agent, Alan Sinclair, raced an Alta as cover to spy on Baron von Oertzen’s DKW team in Australia in tense, pre-war 1938. The booming Ford V8 powered Alta became a post-war crowd-pleaser in Ted Gray’s hands before resurrection in the eighties. Mark Bisset tells an oddball story of intrigue ALAN GASGOIGNE Sinclair’s Alta 1,100 s/c performances in Australia in 1938-39 are of no consequence or merit – but the back story, and the long history of this car right up to the present are significant parts of Australian motor racing history.

The purpose of his Australian tour wasn’t so much to win races but rather, it is alleged by many, to keep an eye on Baron KlausDetlof von Oertzen and his DKW motorbike racing team – up to no good on behalf of Nazi Germany and the Fuhrer.

Sinclair arrived in Port Adelaide several weeks before the South Australian Grand Prix, held on the Barossa Valley’s daunting Lobethal road circuit, aboard the Orient Lines SS Orford on December 10, 1937.

The ships manifest lists 31 years old Mr A Sinclair’s occupation as a Surveyor.

His Alta, and trading stock comprising a Brooklands Riley, MG, Sunbeam Special and ex-Von Delius BMW arrived on December 12.

Sinclair got down to business, testing the Alta to optimise carburettor settings on deserted Main North Road, Parafield 20km from Adelaide.

His two 110mph passes on December 19 were amongst the best runs the car did in his hands in Australia!

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Alan Sinclair, Alta, Rob Roy Hillclimb, outer Melbourne 1939 (Leon Sims Collection)

off a diff differentt ki kindd severall It was bbusiness i days later when Adelaide’s Lord Mayor hosted a welcome lunch for Sinclair and the DKW team, including Ewald Kluge, 1938-9 European 250cc champion and later Isle of Man winner, Von Oertzen and his attractive wife, the Baroness Irene von Oertzen (who reputedly kept a pearl-handled revolver in her handbag ...).

The Mayor praised the value of international visits to create goodwill between countries,

Sinclair spoke fondly of his recent holiday in G hil th B dd d that th t Germany, while the goodd Baron added “With more international visits there would be less talk of war.”

Von Oertzen was a significant figure in German industry. When Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer merged to form Auto Union in 1932, he was appointed Chairman. The Dr Porsche designed Peoples Car and Auto Union race programs commenced on his watch. He suddenly emigrated to South Africa – his wife was a Jewess, it

wa was prudent to keep away from the Nazis’ pe perverted ways.

N None of this altered the fact that Von Oe Oertzen, nominally in Australia to initiate the ex export of DKW cars, extolled the virtues of Hi Hitler’s regime assertively and publicly in fu functions and via the press.

Kluge, in common with other elite German ra racers and riders was a member of the N NSKK, the National Socialist Drivers Corp, w which kept an eye on driving associations aand clubs. While the full horror of the S Swastika was not yet apparent, the iinsignia caused plenty of disquiet around A Australia.

Among the Baron’s alleged sins were A making extensive contacts with Germans living in Australia, payment into and distribution of significant funds from the Nazi Party of Australia of which he was treasurer, and photography of key installations around the country from aircraft.

Sinclair’s Lobethal machine was a mix of two Alta supercharged sportscars – the crashed chassis of 21S was rebuilt as a single-seater powered by engine 25S out of chassis 25RiS.

21S, the first supercharged car built

by Geoffrey Taylor, was delivered to Leith, Scotland’s AJ Cormack, of the Cormack Steamship company in March 1934, registered FS8673.

Taylor’s build sheet lists a 1074cc supercharged engine with standard crank and rods – all pistons had increased clearance of ten-thou at the skirt, and 15-thou at the top. ‘R’ type cams were special, the mechanical fuel pump was driven off the camshaft and a Scintilla magneto provided sparks.

Other components included an ENV pre-selector gearbox, Hardy Spicer propshaft, Alta rear axle and new type rear springs incorporating torque rods.

Cormack raced it at Donington and Brooklands in 1934. First place at Brooklands’ Whitsun meeting was his best, at 66.02mph off scratch, the following month he set the Brooklands Mountain 1100cc record at 74.95mph.

The Scot sold it to London’s Lord Avebury, who used it throughout 1935. Next ext owner was AC Lace, who had also acquired ed 25RiS, Taylor’s last 1,100cc superchargedd sportscar, in May 1935, registration DPJ929.

Sinclair’s racer was constructed at FAP Motors, the car trading business operated by he and Freddie Hoare located at the rear of 1-5 The Broadway, Twickenham, London.

The background of our spy is largely unknown. He was born on May 22, 1906 at Croydon, South London, a graduate of Cambridge University, perhaps his connection to MI5 dates from this period.

While the Adelaide Advertiser made much of Sinclair’s racing career, he was a relative novice who contested a few races in 1937 before jumping-ship down south. Sinclair entered the Coronation Trophy at Brooklands in April but failed to start with engine problems. He was sixth in his London Trophy heat in July, but DNF the final. The October Imperial Trophy yielded a heat DNF. Sinclair also drove a Frazer Nash in the Donington 12 Hours together with NL Witson, again failing to finish.

A huge crowd of 40,000 people poured into the Barossa Valley on a dry, hot South Australian summer’s day, to see the handicap 100 Mile SA GP on January 3, 1938.

Sinclair’s Alta was off scratch – his challenge fizzled as the unreliable machine had ‘oiling problems’. Contested by 24 cars, the race was won by Noel Campbell’s little Singer Bantam Special.

After the race, Sinclair repaired to the Fleurieu Peninsula’s Victor Harbor for 10 days of surf and sun, while the DKW equipe raced at Mount Weatherboard, west of Melbourne. Kluge won the 250cc event.

The German entourage travelled to Canberra in mid-January to capture the Australian flying 250cc quarter mile at 94.25mph. Off to Phillip Island in late January, Kluge won the lightweight Victorian Tourist Trophy.

After the rest of the team returned to Europe, Von Oetzen stayed on to conduct his business including promotion of the virtues of the Nazi regime. A lengthy interview in The West Australian was typical of the attention he received and exploited.

Sinclair entered the Interstate Grand Prix at Wirlinga, Albury in March, and then the Victorian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, but failed to appear.

In the Australian Grand Prix, Britain’s Peter Whitehead blew everything else in Australia off the planet at Mount Panorama aboard

Kluge astride DKW 250SS, Von Oertzen, and Melbourne DKW agent Mr Green.

Northcott Avenue, Canberra (The Velobanjogent)

R10B, his ERA B Type, that April.

The Alta performed miserably, unable to start the race, “but that may have been something to do with Sinclair spending the night in the cells on sundry drunk and disorderly charges,” John Medley wrote.

Whitehead’s long trip through Australia was successful, a mix of pursuing family wool business interests and racing R10B extensively – he thrilled Australian crowds with the fastest, best driven car they had seen.

In June the two Brits travelled to Melbourne’s Christmas Hills to contest the Australian Hillclimb Championship at Rob Roy. R10B set a course record, our Spook finally had a good run too, his 39.35 seconds pass set the under 1100cc record.

Sinclair’s low profile continued ... Autocar reported that he “has appeared again, in Darwin, attired in blue shorts, a 20-gallon sombrero and a Colt 45”. No need for German intelligence to keep an eye on our boy when they could follow him via the British horsepower press!

The 1939 AGP was held at Lobethal in January, a much better grid confronted AG

Sinclair, Alta, South Australian Grand Prix, Lobethal, Barossa Valley

Sinclair than 12 months before.

Sydney silvertail racer John Snow’s annual European visit yielded a Delahaye 135CS, Alfa Romeo P3 and Alfa 8C2300 to be raced by him, and his customers, Jack Saywell and John Crouch respectively. Colin Dunne’s ex-Snow MG K3 was fast, while the man of the moment, one of our greatest ever, Alf Barrett was aboard an Alfa Monza which had also been recently imported.

Sinclair had sold the Alta and jumped from the fat into the flames with the Sunbeam Special he decided to race.

This grim, David Pearce built bitza, comprised a shortened Bugatti T44 chassis powered by a 1.5-litre, Roots supercharged, DOHC Sunbeam engine built for Betty Carstairs’ speedboat record breaking attempts. Pearce built a body which incorporated an Alta tail.

Lobethal is some way from the sea, so it was no surprise when the Sunbeam’s blower drive sheared minutes before the start. “Sinclair presented a tragic spectacle as he sat helplessly in his Sunbeam Special.

He looked in vain from under his big tengallon hat for someone to push him off and start his motor. Pushers who volunteered

were wer quickly exhausted…” The Advertiser reported. repo Allan Al Tomlinson was victorious in one of the great AGP drives aboard an MG TA Spl s/c. s/c Sinclair intrigue continued, he spent the S winter shooting crocodiles in the Northern win Territory before sailing the South Pacific to Te establish an idyllic Socialist State. es He was one of four crew aboard the H Connella, which left Hobart for the Co Marquesas, French Polynesian islands in M July 1939. The true purpose of the trip Ju was most likely a surveying mission, w ggiven the ship’s master was a former RAAF survey photographer.

R

By February 1940, Sinclair had returned tto the UK to join the London Scottish Regiment. Shortly afterwards, an Australian serving in the unit saluted his A CO tto find a much more formal Sinclair than the one he had shared a cell with in South Australia a couple of years before, after an evening of excess.

Sinclair had sold the Alta to one of his countrymen – Bill Reynolds emigrated from the UK where he was a gifted speedcar racer, having cut his competition teeth on bikes.

He won the 1939 World Speedcar Championship in Sydney (and in 1941 and 1958) aboard a 4WD Skirrow, and also did some road racing.

Reynolds dispensed with troublesome Alta engine #25S, fear not, the delicate motor was reunited with its chassis a half-century hence.

He fitted a Ford V8 engine and gearbox in its place. Such black-iron substitutions were common colonial updates to all manner of exotica after the original motors blew beyond economic repair.

Reynolds immediately proved his new racer’s reliability. Without a trailer, he drove the unlit, unregistered machine from Melbourne to Bathurst to contest the Easter 1940 meeting, a journey of 790km – after all that he failed to finish!

Ted Gray in full action aboard the Alta with the Ford V8 fitted with the Arden OHV cylinder heads, Rob Roy circa 1952 (above photo Ken Wheeler) Not long after, Alan Male acquired it. His driver, Wangaratta’s Ted Gray – who ran Whitehead close at Aspendale and Rob Roy in 1938, made it one of Australia’s most successful cars in the immediate pre-war period, winning 24 of 28 starts, including records at Rob Roy and Aspendale Melbourne printer, ‘Racing Ron’ Edgerton was the next owner, using it at hillclimb and sprint venues in and around Melbourne.

Over the 1941/2 summer, the Alta Ford was given a birthday. Edgerton pulled it apart, rebuilt the mechanicals and painted it red.

Australia’s first post-war race meeting was held on the Strathpine airfield, Queensland on August 12, 1946, George Bonser raced the Alta. Another speedcar racer, John Read ran it at Bathurst in October 1946 but DNS the 25-lap New South Wales Grand Prix.

In August 1948 21S returned to Melbourne, ex-motorcycle/speedway racer, Arthur Chick was the buyer, Rob Roy in September 1948 was his first run. He raced it regularly at Victorian hillclimbs and early Fishermans Bend (another airfield) meetings in 1948/9, Ted Gray renewed his pre-war Alta relationship when he raced Bill Dutton’s car at Fishermans Bend in October 1949.

This Alta Special, built in 1948, was powered by the 1100cc supercharged 25S engine set aside by Reynolds years before. Its chassis was chrome-moly tube, suspension comprised a tubular front axle, a built-up Ford rear axle and diff with transverse springs front and rear, and Armstrong/Hartford shocks.

Gray drove it at Bathurst in 1950 and 1951 but wasn’t in the top six. Third in the B-Grade Scratch at Ballarat Aerodrome in November 1950 was better, but then he was rammed when the organisers botched the start of the blue riband Victorian Trophy later in the day. In the Adelaide Hills, he was fourth in the October 1951, Jubilee Woodside Formula One race won by Stan Jones’ Maybach.

By 1958 Gray was one of the best drivers in the country. His Lou Abrahams owned Tornado Chev V8 built by Ted, and Melbourne’s Mayberry brothers was the fastest car in the country – and stiff not to win the Bathurst AGP and the Gold Star.

This final phase of Gray’s long, underrecognised career began when he re-

30 AutoAction

acquired the Alta Ford V8 21S he raced pre-war as the Male Special, circa 1952.

Lou Abrahams decided his OHV, Ardunhead, 250 bhp Ford V8 had too much mumbo for his Tornado speedboat, Albert Park Lake couldn’t contain it, so he handed the engine to Gray for his Alta.

So equipped, the car was an outright contender amongst top guns of the day including Doug Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago T26C, Lex Davison’s HWM Jaguar, Stan Jones’ Maybach and Jack Brabham’s RedeX Special Cooper T23 Bristol.

After years away from AGP grids, the Alta raced at Albert Park in 1953 but completed only 13 laps – fourth in the Victorian Trophy at Fishermans Bend in 1954 behind Jones was good, but by then the shortcomings of the poor old lady were laid bare by the additional power.

It was time to build a new car around a stronger, stiffer chassis.

Gray, Jack and Bill Mayberry, and Abrahams built the Tornado Ford with the Alta learnings, first racing it at Gnoo Blas, Orange in January 1955.

His old pre-war sparring partner, Peter Whitehead, won the South Pacific Trophy in a Ferrari 500/625, while Tornado had teething dramas.

In the mid-fifities, both 21S, without its Ford engine and gearbox, and 25S disappeared from sight in Melbourne.

In 1963 Graeme Lowe was tipped off about an Alta at the rear of a Richmond car yard. It was the mortal remains of 21S – chassis, front and rear axles, springs, hubs, brakes and wheels. At £30 they were a snip, but Lowe passed them by, Bob Amey bought them.

Four years later, Lowe saw ‘an old Alta engine’ advertised in the VSCC newsletter.

The complete 25S engine was under a sack in a Melbourne garden where it had been for about two years, £10 secured it.

Lowe then approached Amey to sell him the chassis parts – he had done nothing with them, after all. But the pair reached a Mexican standoff, neither would sell parts to the other to unite components split when Bill Reynolds fitted the Ford V8 way back in 1940.

In 1973 Amey finally advertised his bits in The Age. Lowe swooped, after weeks of negotiations they were his, albeit in much worse shape than when he first

‘Racing Ron’ Edgerton, (above) typically sans helmet when not mandated, Alta Ford, Mitcham Hillclimb, outer Melbourne 1941.

Edgerton, Alta Ford, (far left) preparing to run off at an unknown Melbourne sprint event 1942. FTD standing quarter-mile 17-seconds.

Alta Ford during it’s summer 1941/2 rebuild at Edgerton’s Melbourne home (left).

Now in its original two seater guise, 21S still gets a regular run in the hands of Betty Lowe (bottom left). saw them a decade earlier.

The scale of the restoration, to 21S’ original sportscar spec was enormous, but Graeme had been there before having restored and subsequently raced the ex-Wakefield/Cowell/ Gaze 56S offset single-seater.

Doing much of the mechanical work himself, restoration commenced in 1984.

By then Lowe had a pre-selector gearbox, ENV differential and housing, Michael Bishop built the body in 1991. The car was running in January 1999, taking pride of historic place during the 2001 AGP Carnival at Albert Park.

For sure, Alan Sinclair, who died in 1995, would not have recognised his old car looking so good!

Graeme Lowe died some years back but Betty Lowe retains 21S and keeps it in fine fettle with some help from David Rapley who runs engine 25S every other month.

Images ‘Racing Ron’ Edgerton Collection by courtesy of Greville Edgerton, unless otherwise credited

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COVER STORIES OF THE 80

S

The 1980s was a period of change for Australian motor sport as it emerged onto the international stage. In Part 1 of Auto Action in the 1980s, our selection of AA covers showcase the early homologation problems of the Australian Touring Car Championship, its transition to global Group A regulations and the arrival of the Formula 1 circus to Adelaide. HEATH McALPINE takes a trip down memory lane.

Issue 248 – August 29, 1980 An Australian GP

TYRE TYCOON and owner of Calder Raceway, Bob Jane was determined to get the Grand Prix circus down under. It came as he announced Alan Jones as the star attraction in the Australian Grand Prix later in the year. While $4 million was needed to be raised to stage the Grand Prix, which included upgrading the facilities.

Issue 251 – October 10, 1980 - ‘Our’ Alan Jones the World Champion

AUSTRALIA CROWNED its first world champion since Jack Brabham in 1966 when Alan Jones secured the Formula 1 title after winning the Canadian Grand Prix. It was his fifth win for the season. Jones returned to Melbourne where a civic reception hosted by the Lord Mayor was held. In June, Jones was honoured to receive an MBE. Meanwhile Peter Brock and Jim Richards had completed a hat-trick of Bathurst 1000 victories aboard the ‘Group C’ MHDT VC Commodore

Issue 232 – January 17, 1980 Brock and HDT

STAR DRIVER Peter Brock bought the remains of the Holden Dealer Team from John Sheppard prior to the start of the Australian Touring Car Championship season. With the help of many leading Holden dealers – led by Vin Kean – Brock took over the team, which included team manager John Harvey and head mechanic Bruce Nowacki. Work was continuing on the Commodore prototype.

Issue 255 – December 5, 1980 Ending rallying’s golden era

FORD’S WITHDRAWAL signalled the end of Australian rallying’s golden era.

Ford’s departure also led the way for Datsun, while the internationally renowned Southern Cross Rally also met its demise.

The upcoming front-wheel-drive Laser was unsuitable for rallying, making Ford’s decision easier leaving multiple Australian Rally champion Greg Carr without a drive.

I Issue 258 JJanuary 16 16, 11981 W WRC down uunder?

Issue 243 – June 19, 1980 RX-7 battle

THE NATIONAL Council of CAMS ‘deferred indefinitely’ the controversial peripheral port Mazda RX-7 – having decided to allow it three weeks prior! The decision further hurt Allan Moffat’s attempts to race the two-door coupe at the Bathurst 1000 in three and a half months’ time, leaving the Canadian in the cold.

32 AutoAction

A AUSTRALIA’S BID ffor a World Rally Championship C eevent rested with tthe Canberrabbased Castrol Rally after an R aapplication was made by CAMS m tto the FIA. Officials from the sport’s governing bbody were to travel to the Castrol Rally and oobserve the running of the event in the hope oof an Australian round. It formed a twoppronged attack by CAMS to achieve rounds of eeach world title, WRC and Formula 1.

Issue 260 – February 13, 1981 Amaroo not sold

RUMOURS OF Amaroo Park’s sale were quashed by the circuit’s owner, the Australian Racing Drivers Club after it was reported developers had bought the site. The ARDC had received two bids for the land, but knocked back both. A chance to manage Oran Park was revealed to be the reason behind the sale. This followed the resignation of Allan Horsley from his post.

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years of publishing 1971- 2021

Issue 309 – December 31, 1982 - Colin Chapman dies

THE FUTURE of the Lotus Formula 1 team was in doubt after founder Colin Chapman passed away at the age of 54. Chapman was an innovator and the last remaining link between the growing corporate interests of the sport and the gentleman era of the 1960s. It was unclear who would replace Chapman as the leader at Lotus. Following successful apeal to AMSAC, Allan Moffat was finally confirmed as the winner of the Australian Endurance Championship.

Issue 263 – March 27, 1981 Aussies for Le Mans

Issue 289 – March 26, 1982 Brock suspended

Issue 268 – June 5, 1981 Categories flung

Issue 304 – October 22, 1982 Johnson too

Issue 287 – February 26, 1982 Sandown’s strife

Issue 307 – December 3, 1982 Geelong street race?

THREE OF Australia’s leading drivers were preparing to embark on a journey encompassing the Le Mans 24 Hour. Peter Brock, Colin Bond and Jim Richards were confirmed as entering the legendary race in a Porsche 924 GTR owned by Alan Hamilton. “It will be the highlight of 1981 for me or anyone involved,” said Brock.

CAMS ANNOUNCED the axing of three racing categories, two of which were to occur at the end of the year. Sports Sedans, Sports Cars and Formula 5000 were all on the chopping block after a quarterly meeting held by the CAMS National Council. Formula 5000 was to be replaced by Formula Pacific, while Sports Cars were to be split and Sports Sedans turned into GT.

SAFETY CONCERNS at Sandown, rather than noise complaints were the reasons for its troubles.

A major reconstruction was set to be undertaken at ARCO corner as the Light Car Club of Australia’s bid to ensure top-level racing remained at the circuit. Sandown was under a cloud due to a lack of run off, particularly at ARCO, Repco and The Causeway.

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SUSPENDED FOR three months! Peter Brock was found guilty of running an illegal inlet manifold due to it being ‘treated after production by abrasive blasting’. The penalty was automatically invoked as “an entrant was found to have fielded an illegal car.” – normally this level of indiscretion would result in a fine or a simple exclusion ...

FOLLOWING ON from his disqualification in the Bathurst 1000, Dick Johnson was suspended after the heads on his Falcon were deemed by scrutineers to be illegal. These were found to be ‘smoother’ than standard,– however Johnson denied this vehemently. He was suspended for one month – the penalty finished three days before his next event anyway ...

A 500km street race through the centre of Geelong was put on the table and Peter Brock thought it was a brilliant idea. A meeting by the Geelong City Council was to decide the feasibility of such an event with aims to hold it for the next twoyears. Motorvation Management Services was pulling together the event, which aimed to offer an $80,000 prize purse.

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Issue 314 – March 11, 1983 Carnage at Amaroo

THERE WAS controversy galore at Amaroo Park as bust ups and legality were debated after the opening round of the AMSCAR Series.

Privateer Steve Masterton was busted for having an illegal modification to his bumper and was excluded after taking three second placings. However, Masterton and Allan Grice’s robust battles entertained the crowds as Terry Shiel won the weekend.

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Issue 318 – May 6, 1983 Oran Park in danger?

COULD ORAN Park’s days be numbered was asked after owner Bill Cleary placed the circuit up for sale. Cleary, the son of the circuit builder was understood to not have shared the enthusiasm of his father for motorsport and the land was to be sold to the highest bidder. The ARDC had submitted a tender to buy the venue, but Auto Action believed it was unlikely the club was able to afford the $1.5 million asking price.

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Issue 348 – June 29, 1984 - AA in colour

THE FIRST colour Auto Action (well, front cover anyway) features the championship winning Greens-Tuff Ford Falcon of Dick Johnson after he took his third Australian Touring Car Championship at his home track Lakeside. Meanwhile, Le Mans failed to bear fruit for the Australian contingent – the best placed had been Alan Jones and Vern Schuppan, but an engine blew within sight of the flag.

Issue 323 – July 15, 1983 Mega Sports-sedan pile-up

Issue 332 – November 18, 1983 Group what?

A SIX-CAR pile-up, sparked by a mechanical problem for Peter Brock in the Bob Jane-owned Chevrolet Monza was estimated to have cost $250,000 in damage. After Brock spun in front of the GT field at Adelaide International Raceway, Jim Richards, Tony Hubbard. Mark Trenoweth, Bob Jolly and Alan Browne were all involved, but emerged from the incident

CAMS HAD decided on a new set of touring car regulations by choosing to follow the international Group A ruleset for season 1985.

A statement said: “The regulations used now were devised some years ago and specifically catered for V8-powered Australian and American makes – as is appreciated by most motoring enthusiast, there has been a shift in emphasis in the marketplace.”

Issue 326 – August 26, 1983 Adelaide it is

Issue 335 – December 30, 1983 ACT race track

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN premier John Bannon revealed plans to bring the Formula 1 circus to his state, via a street race through the Adelaide Parklands. Discussions with both FISA and FOCA had taken place, whilst 1986 was aimed for the debut event ahead of an expected threeyear deal. The high costs were to be defrayed by selling of the media rights.

Issue 331 – November 4, 1983 Sandown GP?

PLANS BY the Light Car Club of Australia were awaiting a government announcement to give it the green light to proceed with plans to host a Grand Prix at Sandown in 1985.

A blueprint for alterations to the historic circuit had been submitted with the $3 million government grant set to be approved.

It comes after plans for street races in Sydney and Adelaide had apparently come to nought.

34 AutoAction

A 2.5km circuit was proposed in Canberra, dependent on a decision by the ACT House of Assembly being upheld by the Federal Government. A $2 million budget was set aside by the Fraser Government to build international standard sporting facilities inside the territory.

The plan was led by the Canberra International Raceway Committee.

Issue 336 – January 13, 1984 World to Bathurst

ORGANISERS OF the Bathurst 1000, the Australian Racing Drivers Club, confirmed Group A machinery’s eligibility for the upcoming race ahead of its wholesale introduction to the touring car championship in 1985. The ARDC were also investigating the potential of holding a World Touring Car Championship round at The Mountain after FISA elevated the status of the European title.

Issue 344 – May 4, 1984 Calder carnage

THERE WAS spectacular and dramatic action at Calder where incidents were aplenty.

Sports Car driver Alan Newton miraculously escaped with only a broken ankle after a 220kmh crash while leading the second heat.

Newton’s throttle jammed and demolished his MS7. Bap Romano also crashed, but emerged uninjured. Formula 2 wasn’t immune either when Ian Richards nearly flipped.

Issue 355 – October 5, 1984 Big Bangers 1-2 to end an era

COINED AS the last of the big bangers before the 1984 endurance events, the mighty MHDT Holden VK Commodores closed out the Group C era at Bathurst with a crushing 1-2. Peter Brock and Larry Perkins completed a hat-trick of victories at The Mountain, while David Parsons took the sister car into second during the closing stages.

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years of publishing 1971- 2021

Issue 361 – December 28, 1984 - Ford’s supercar

A NEW generation of rally cars were set to advance the sport significantly as Ford joined Peugeot, Lancia and Audi in the hi-tech Group B war. The RS200 was mid-mounted four-cylinder turbocharged engine featuring a third, central differential enabling the driver to select 37:63 torque split. Four prototypes were built ahead of 200 required for homologation. Meanwhile, Nissan was also launching a Supercar in the form of the Group A DR30 Skyline, in its relentless attack on the ATCC.

GP Souvenir – November 8, 1985 A GP at last

KEKE ROSBERG stormed to victory in the first Australian F1 Grand Prix, held in Adelaide. It was a remarkable achievement considering the build-up started in 1980 and a year ahead of its original aim of 1986. “If I may say on behalf of all F1 drivers Adelaide has done the best job in the world, and to do it first time out is something else,” said the Grand Prix winner.

Issue 384 – November 15,1985 Save Sandown Issue 382 – October 18, 1985 Grice in WTCC

LEADING PRIVATEER Allan Grice was forming the basis of an all-Australian World Touring Car Championship attack. An announcement was imminent from Grice and Federal Minister for Sport John Brown, which was expected to feature a dazzling line-up of Australian driving talent. It was expected the campaign would enjoy sizeable commercial backing and federal government support.

THE IMMEDIATE futuree of the Light Car Club of Australia and Sandown came into question after its annual financial report delivered a very ‘gloomy’ picture.

It was confirmed the club had lost $300,000 in the first six months of the year as it considered a second offer from a consortium of investors to take over Sandown.

Issue 386 – December 13, 1985 - What? Who and who?

FIFTEEN YEARS prior it was unimaginable, but Peter Brock and Allan Moffat were teaming up ahead of the Holden Dealer Team’s expanded 1986 campaign. The program included nine overseas events, plus Sandown and Bathurst. Moffat had previously driven for the team in 1980 at Sandown, finishing second to the boss.

Issue 363 – January 25 25, 1985 Brock and Mobil join forces

IN A shock move, Peter Brock announced his defection from Marlboro to Mobil as the Holden Dealer team’s major sponsor. The oil company supposedly offered the touring car king a threeyear, $1 million deal after a rumour regarding Marlboro’s discontinuation of its deal was floated, but proved untrue. This also ended the factory Holden squad’s long association with Castrol of 17-years.

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Issue 375 – July 12, 1985 Perkins leaves HDT

A DOMINANT force of Australian endurance ending was split when Larry Perkins announced his departure from the Holden Dealer Team. A statement released by the squad said: “Larry Perkins decided to part company after three years because of a conflict of interests that may develop over future company programs.” Perkins was said to be unhappy about his wide ranging duties.

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Formula One

Max scored his 11th Formula 1 victory while Lewis Hamilton lucked in after a rare error Report: Dan Knutson Images: Motorsport Images LAP 31 of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the key to Max Verstappen winning the race in his Red Bull and to Lewis Hamilton finishing second in his Mercedes. It also played a part in McLaren’s Lando Norris joining them on the podium.

Hamilton had qualified on pole for the 99th time.

Verstappen’s new teammate Sergio Pérez lined up on the front row of the grid for the first time in his F1 career. And Verstappen qualified third.

It was raining at the start of the 63-lap race.

Verstappen made a fabulous start and was on the inside as they plummeted into Tamburello. They clashed slightly, which damaged the Mercedes’ left-front wing endplate, as Hamilton tried to ride it out around the outside ....

Hamilton hung onto Verstappen and led a lap during the pitstop sequences (laps 27 and 28) to switch to dry tyres as the rain had stopped.

Then came lap 31 and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and George Russell (Williams) had a huge shunt.

Later on during that same lap Hamilton slid off the track. He got going again by using reverse, but was now a lap down.

Round 2 Emilia Romagna

VICTORY KEY With a lot of debris on the track, FIA race director Michael Masi ordered the race to be red flagged.

So the drivers entered the pits at the end of lap 33.

In a case like this, drivers a lap down are permitted to unlap themselves prior to the restart.

So Hamilton was, miraculously, back on the lead lap – albeit in ninth place. Super lucky break ...

And now, with a new wing fitted, he stormed back through to second place.

“Considering I was facing the barrier at one stage, then a lap down, yeah, it was a difficult day in that regard,” Hamilton said. “I had some really good pace in the rain and was catching but just a little bit impatient, maybe, with the backmarkers.

I’m only human so these mistakes happen.”

The key to Verstappen’s victory was the start.

“We had a great launch,” he said.” I surprised myself as it was always hard to get off the line in

the wet last year, but we worked hard to try and improve that and it worked. I wouldn’t call it a dominant performance as Lewis was following me quite well and for him to come back to second after his incident means they have a lot of pace in that car.”

Charles Leclerc had been second in his Ferrari, but Hamilton and Norris overtook him.

“There were a couple of people crashing and making mistakes ahead of me,” Norris said of his second F1 career podium, “which is what we’re here to take advantage of, and then we made a good decision at the end to go onto the soft tyres and get ahead of Leclerc. We almost held onto P2 but not quite ...”

As for the shunt on lap 31…

“I knew in that place (Turn 2) it’s quite tricky to overtake,” Bottas said. “So I made sure that I didn’t make space for him, but also sure that I left at least one car’s width of space required by the regulations. He went for it and obviously lost it and hit me, and it was game over.”

An angry Russell initially blamed Bottas but moderated his view after watching the TV footage.

“Valtteri was defending hard,” Russell said. “The track was going left; he was going straight. “He’s

So Lewis grabbed reverse (left) and got it out of the gravel ... then it got red-flagged and he got his lost lap back! At the start, he’d tried to ride it out around the outside of faststarter Verstappen, but ended up taking off the left front wing endplate. And he still finished second ...

38 AutoAction

2021 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX 63 LAPS Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DNF DNF DNF

Driver Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Lando Norris Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Daniel Ricciardo Pierre Gasly Lance Stroll Esteban Ocon Fernando Alonso Sergio Perez Yuki Tsunoda Kimi Raikkonen Antonio Giovinazzi Sebastian Vettel Mick Schumacher Nikita Mazepin Valtteri Bottas George Russell Nicholas Latifi

Team Red Bull Mercedes McLaren Ferrari Ferrari McLaren AlphaTauri Aston Martin Alpine Alpine Red Bull Racing AlphaTauri Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Haas Haas Mercedes Williams Williams

Laps 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 62 62 Laps 61 61 33 30 0

Margin

22.000s 23.702s 25.579s 27.036s 51.220s 52.818s 56.909s 65.704s 66.561s 67.151s 73.184s 94.773s 1 Lap 1 Lap 2 Laps 2 Laps 31 Laps 33 Laps

Points: Hamilton 44, Verstappen 43, Norris 27, Leclerc 20, Bottas 16, Sainz 14, Ricciardo 14, Perez 10, Stroll 7, Gasly 4, Ocon 2, Alonso 1.

Constructors’: Mercedes 60, Red Bull-Honda 53, McLaren-Mercedes 23, Ferrari 22, Aston Martin-Mercedes 6, Toro Rosso-Honda 4, Alpine 3.

And when wannabe Merc teamster George Russell found himself closing rapidy on Valtteri Bottas (left) it went sour ... Star of the day was Lando Norris (right), who overcame a frustrating qualifying error to grab a podium.

entitled to do that, but in these conditions, with one dry line, it only had one outcome. It could have been avoided, and there should have been a bit more respect for the speed and conditions in my opinion.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was not amused after seeing one of his cars written off.

“George should have never launched into this manoeuvre considering that the track was drying up,” Wolff said. “It meant taking risks. In any drivers’ development as a young driver you must

never lose this global perspective. Lots to learn for him I guess.”

The stewards decided both drivers were to blame and ruled that it was a racing incident.

Daniel Ricciardo started in sixth and finished sixth in his McLaren.

“The initial part of the race was actually okay,” the Aussie said. “I got up to fifth and I was doing okay on the intermediate rain tyres. But then I started to lose grip on the front right tyre, and my pace dropped off quite a lot. On the second phase

on the intermediates I was not fast.”

Thinking that there would be a standing start restart after the red flag for the Bottas/Russell accident, McLaren fitted the soft compound Pirelli slicks to the cars of Ricciardo and teammate Norris so that they would have more traction off the line.

But Masi then decreed it would be a rolling start.

“I tried to look after the tyres but the others just kept pulling away,” Ricciardo said. “I started to push and then I was really struggling. For sure I have a lot to learn and a lot to improve. Lando

got a podium and did a strong race. That is encouraging.

“I have to forget a little bit of pride and actually have a look at what I can improve. I’m definitely in a productive mindset and not in a defeated mindset. I certainly see the positives and for the team as well. In the second race to get a podium already is a good start.”

After a weekend off, the Formula 1 action will resume with a double-header of races in Portugal and Spain.

Former champ Alonso (left) had a quiet day, beaten by his young team-mate, but still taking the final point. Ricciardo too (right) had to give best to (and was asked to make way for) his younger team-mate ... as did Vettel, here following the McLaren in the Aston Martin.

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MOTOGP

QUARTARARO WINS CRASH FILLED WEEKEND

Image: Motorsport Images

Reports: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES FACTORY YAMAHA rider Fabio Quartararo took victory in an action packed and attritional MotoGP race in Portugal, putting him at the top of the standings.

The victory at Portimao circuit was the Frenchman’s second-consecutive victory as several of his title rivals crashed out.

It wasn’t just the race that was full of drama and noteworthy moments.

The race saw the return of six-time champion Marc Marquez who had been out of action for nine months with an arm injury.

There were several big crashes in the lead up to the race weekend, most notably the falls of Takaaki Nakagami and Round 2 podium finisher Jorge Martin.

Nakagami was forced to miss qualifying, but impressively made it out for the race, while Pramac Ducati rider Martin was not as lucky.

Martin was taken to hospital after his practice crash with right hand, right ankle and head injuries, the severity of which has not been revealed.

Several big names were forced into Q1 including reigning champion Joan Mir, returnee Marquez, Valentino Rossi and Brad Binder.

Despite duelling on the track in the early minutes of the session Mir and Marquez would progress in the second session.

At the end of Q2 it appeared that

Francesco Bagnaia had claimed pole position on his factory Ducati obliterating the lap record.

However, he was found to have passed yellow flags without sufficiently slowing for the crashed Miguel Olivera. His fastest time was deleted, and he would line up in 11th position on the grid.

Quartararo inherited pole from Suzuki rider Alex Rins and Johann Zarco. Aussie Jack Miller was fourth ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Marquez.

While his teammate was on pole, Maverick Vinales qualified in 12th as three of his Q2 laps were deleted for exceeding track limits.

In the race itself Quartararo took

victory from pole – however it was far from easy as he was pushed throughout the race. In the end he won by 4.8s from Bagnaia and Mir. After falling to fifth on the opening lap, Quartararo methodically made his way through to the front of the pack and once in front tried to pull a gap.

Rins went with Quartararo, however, in the closing laps as the Frenchman continued to lift the intensity the Suzuki rider was forced into an error.

At Turn 5 on lap 19 with the chequered flag almost in sight, Rins fell off his bike, throwing away 20 championship points.

Miller was also a casualty of the race, crashing out on Lap 6 when in sixth position.

Bagnaia from 11th quietly edged his way forwards in the opening laps, he sat just outside of the top five for much of the race. However, in the final half of the encounter he upped his aggression and quickly marched forward.

He took second on lap 19, however the Italian has used the best of his rubber and was forced to hold off Mir and Morbidelli.

In the end Bagnaia held off Suzuki rider Mir by a mere 0.14s, with Morbidelli in fourth.

Championship leader Zarco looked like he would retain that honour, however sitting in third position with six laps remaining the Frenchman crashed out.

This enabled KTM and Binder to score their first top five finish of the season ahead of Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia.

Marquez came home in an impressive seventh place on his return ridng the #93 the Repsol Honda, this meant that all six manufacturers finished in the top seven positions.

Marquez, as always had a couple of moments including one at the very final corner, nevertheless, he was able to stay out of trouble and came home ahead of his brother Alex.

Rookie Enea Bastianini was ninth, ahead of the battered and bruised Nakagami.

Vinales spent most of his race in dead last, however the Round 1 winner became a major benefactor of the high attrition rate to finish 11th ahead of rookie Luca Marini, Danilo Petrucci, Lorenzo Savadori and Iker Lecuona.

Standings after Round 3 1 Fabio Quartararo 2 Francesco Bagnaia 3 Maverick Vinales 4 Johann Zarco 5 Joan Mir 6 Aleix Espargaro 7 Alex Rins 8 Brad Binder 9 Enea Bastianini 10 Jorge Martin

61 46 41 40 38 25 23 21 18 17

DOVI CONFIRMS SECOND TEST AFTER COMPLETING the test on the factory Aprilia RS-GP, Andrea Dovizioso confirmed that he will test for the Italian manufacturer again.

At the end of 2020 Dovizioso departed the factory Ducati team and turned down several offers to race this year, instead electing to take a sabbatical.

One of the offers came from Aprilia, but due to the manufacturer’s uncompetitive 2020 season ‘Dovi’ politely declined.

However, after a strong start to the season for lead rider Aleix Espargaro, the Italian was lured back to test for Aprilia at Jerez and immediately confirmed that he will ride again in Mugello next month.

“Next, we will do another test so we can work on some other details,” Dovizioso said. “I think we will organise another one at Mugello in one month more or less. At this moment, all we have on the table is this next test in Mugello.

“It was nice to have this chance for me and I think also for them and be able to do it, at two tracks I think would be nice for both, so we will organise.

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“It was a really nice three days with professional people. To be on the podium and top five is not easy, but I think they have a good base.”

The three-time MotoGP Championship bridesmaid explained that he felt quite comfortable on the bike and is hopeful that the Italian team will make the changes he requested after the test.

“Like every bike, it has positives and negatives, which is normal, but I had a really good feeling,” he said.

“After one month, I hope Aprilia can make some changes to help with my position.

“If you want to push really hard, you have to look at the small details and to understand everything clearly you have to feel comfortable.

“Until you have that situation, I think it’s stupid to try to push.

When you don’t feel comfortable, you’re not able to be on the limit during braking, entry and exit and you have to do that in order to fully understand all of the details.”

The Italian refused to open up and talk about a potential future with the team, however he signalled his intentions to be back on the grid full-time in 2022.

“MotoGP is still my passion, and I would like to race next year,” Dovi said. “I think it was smart to be on track and I’m really happy because Aprilia gave me the possibility to do that in the right way.

“I have my idea, I’m trying to work for next year but I’m open minded at the moment because the situation is not easy to understand, what is the best thing for me for next year.”

Dan McCarthy

GARDNER TAKES MOTO 2 LEAD Reports: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES THE MOTO2 race in Portugal was not short of drama, but Aussie Remy Gardner stayed out of trouble to score his third straight podium and in doing so claimed the championship lead.

In the opening two rounds of the season, Sam Lowes converted his pole positions into race victories.

In both of those races, Gardner finished behind Lowes and thus came into the Portugese race 10 points behind the Briton.

The Algarve International Circuit is the venue where Gardner claimed his maiden Moto2 race victory.

However, for the third straight race, it was Lowes started from pole position, with Gardner alongside in second position.

As the lights went out Gardner made the best start and led the way into Turn 1, while Lowes

made a bad start and dropped several positions.

The Englishman, trying to make up for lost ground, braked late into Turn 1 and nearly speared into the back of Gardner.

Trying to avoid the rear of Gardner by sitting up, Lowes was flung from his bike and out of the race.

Gardner led the opening lap, but Marco Bezzecchi blasted past the Aussie on pit straight.

At the halfway stage of the race, Gardner was in amongst the leading quartet, however several mistakes allowed Aron Canet and Joe Roberts to pull away at the head of the pack.

Gardner’s teammate Raul Fernandez, competing in his first season in the intermediate class, was on fire. After taking his first podium in Round 2, Fernandez was on an incredible charge.

Firstly, picking off Gardner, he quickly caught and overhauled Canet and Roberts to take the lead with four laps remaining.

Gardner, spurred on by his teammate’s

speed found a new gear and reeled in the Canet and Roberts duo as a three-way scrap engaged for p2 on the final lap.

American Roberts lunged up the inside of Canet at Turn 11 to take second, before Canet then dived back at Turn 13.

Roberts attempted to switch up the inside into Turn 14 but the narrow line he took saw a gap open for Gardner to squeeze into.

Contact was made between the pair and caused Roberts bike to buck – he stayed on but dropped to fourth.

Spaniard Fernandez took his maiden Moto2 victory, finishing 1.6s ahead of Canet and Gardner.

Standings 1 Gardner 2 Fernandez 3 Lowes 4 Bezzecchi 5 Di Giannantonio

56 52 50 36 27

Image: Motorsport Images

OVERWHELMED MARQUEZ

AFTER NINE months away from the sport due to an arm injury, Marc Marquez returned in Portugal and finished a staggering seventh position before bursting into tears.

The six-time MotoGP champion crashed out of the opening race last season, breaking his right humerus bone and has been unable to race since.

The Spaniard had to undergo several arm operations before getting back on the bike. Marquez was set to return a week after the crash, but the plate placed in his arm had broken, reportedly by opening a window.

This caused havoc as the arm did not heal as planned.

It was not until December when Marquez underwent shock wave treatment that the factory Honda rider could Image: Motorsport Images begin his recovery.

His happiness to be back on the bike was evident from the opening practice session, and soon after crossing the line, he burst “I didn’t enjoy today’s race,” he said. “I suffered a lot, but it was the most important step in my recovery so far.” into tears.

The 28-year-old said that his target was to simply finish the race, “There were a lot of emotions this weekend and when I arrived in the box I just exploded,” Marquez explained. therefore he seventh place was better than he could have imagined.

“We were able to finish the race, that was our main goal – the position “Not for the pain but there was something inside that needed to come didn’t matter but to finish 13s behind first was an impossible dream,” out. I felt so much support from everyone and especially my family and friends.

Marquez said.

“I think I felt best when I was riding alone in the middle of the race, the “To feel like a MotoGP rider again was the most important thing and it start of the race was a bit of a shock after so long! was a great feeling.”

Marquez admitted that he was in agony throughout the race, but knows “The last laps were just about finishing. Now we look to Jerez.” that in time this will improve.

Dan McCarthy

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AUSTRALIA TO CONCLUDE WSBK SEASON AFTER THE original World Superbike calendar was released in December a further provisional schedule has been released.

Australia remains on the 13-round schedule, however the event at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit moves from the penultimate slot on the calendar to become the final event.

Traditionally the Aussie round kicked off the WSBK series – however with travel restrictions applying, it now finds itself at the other end of the season.

Unlike all the other events the Australian round is yet to be given a date, although it is known that it will occur after the inaugural event at the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia, set to take place from November 12-14.

Of the 13 events, a staggering four take place in Spain, including a trip to the Circuit de Navarra for the first time, while Portugal is also expected to host two events, one at Estoril and the other at the undulating Portimao circuit.

To start the 13-round season, the first 10 events will take place in Europe before the final three outside of Europe.

Argentina, Round 11, in October will be the first time that the championship has travelled outside of Europe since the Australian event from February 27-March 1 last year.

Indonesia and Australia will conclude the international motorcycle championship.

The season will begin with back-to-back weekends of racing, starting at Aragon in Spain from May 21-23, a week later WSBK visits Estoril.

In the most recent pre-season test at Aragon the two factory Ducatis were fastest, former MotoGP rider Scott Redding edging out his new teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

The question is, can anyone stop Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea from taking his seventh consecutive WSBK title? Dan McCarthy 2021 Provisional Calendar 1 May 21-23 Spain Aragon 2 May 28-30 Portugal Estoril 3 June 11-13 Italy Misano 4 July 2-4 United Kingdom Donington Park 5 July 23-25 Netherlands Assen 6 August 20-22 Spain Navarra 7 September 3-5 France Magny-Cours 8 September 17-19 Spain Barcelona 9 September 24-26 Spain Jerez 10 October 1-3 Portugal Portimao 11 October 15-17 Argentina Villicum 12 November 12-14 Indonesia Mandalika

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INTERNATIONAL

PALOU WINS AS McLAUGHLIN IMPRESSES IN A thrilling finish, Alex Palou fended off Australian Will Power to take his first IndyCar victory in his maiden appearance for Chip Ganassi Racing at the season-opening round at Barber Motorsports Park.

Lapped traffic delayed Palou in the closing stages, leaving Power just 1.2s behind with four-laps to go, though the Spaniard entering his second season of IndyCar kept his composure to take victory by 0.4s.

Finishing third was reigning champion Scott Dixon, while polesitter Pato O’Ward and Sebastien Bourdais completed the top five.

Three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin finished 14th as fellow rookie exFormula 1 driver Romain Grosjean made an impressive racing comeback from his crash in Bahrain last year to finish 10th.

O’Ward made a perfect start from pole, but chaos ensued at Turn 3 when Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden clipped a kerb and spun

in front of the field. Caught up in the melee were Andretti Autosport pair Colton Herta and Ryan Hunter-Reay, Felix Rosenqvist and Max Chilton.

“I just got loose coming over the hill,” explained Newgarden.

“I had a good start, we were lining in pretty nicely, but then I got loose in the wake. I felt I had [control of] the car, and touched the grass, and once I touched the grass it pitched me sideways.

“I feel really bad for everyone involved, my mess created a bigger mess behind, so I’m really sorry as it was obviously us who tipped it off.”

Rinus Veekay had spun in avoidance and pitted, as did Graham Rahal, while McLaughlin was a winner out of the incident climbing to ninth after starting 12th.

On the restart, O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet was loose, as former Indy 500

Will Power grabbed the best result for Team Penske, a relatively conservative strategy snaring second place points. Images: Motorsport Images

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winner Alexander Rossi put on the pressure before the race went under caution again after rookie Jimmie Johnson spun at Turn 13.

After O’Ward and Rossi pitted, Palou held a 2.5s lead ahead of Power as Dixon remained a nuisance in third.

Palou’s stint was race defining as he kept extending the lead he held over Power, but took advantage of O’Ward and Rossi running the primary tyres.

One disadvantage Palou had was the amount of push-to-pass that was left at his disposal as he pitted from the lead on lap 31.

Power did so three laps later as both went for the overcut strategy. For Palou it worked as he emerged in front of O’Ward, but this was reversed when the polesitter took the effective lead around the outside of Turn 5.

O’Ward lost out after making his pit stop on lap 42, first losing position to Bourdais, then Rahal before Veekay relegated him to seventh.

Power, Dixon and Ericsson were in pursuit of Palou as the margin continued to fluctuate as the leader encountered traffic before the next and final round of stops for those pitting twice occurred at the 60-lap mark.

Ericsson led the pit stops, before Palou and Dixon did so on lap 61, then Power next time around to still maintains second.

The three-stoppers were in next, led by Rossi, who lost out to Ericsson after his stop, but still maintained a three-car buffer back to O’Ward. A charge with 20-laps to go from the Mexican elevated him back to fourth ahead of Ericsson, but the Swede was forced into fuel conservation mode and dropped through the field.

Although lapped traffic continued to fluctuate the gap between Palou and Power, it didn’t impact the final race result as the Spaniard sealed his maiden victory.

“It was one of those days when everything went well. We had good fuel mileage, good tyre management and good pace,” said Palou Following on from the top five, Veekay

finished sixth ahead of Rahal, Ericsson, who ran out of fuel on the cooldown lap, Rossi and Grosjean.

After crashing out of his debut at St Petersburg last year, McLaughlin finished behind Takuma Sato in 14th and on the lead lap.

IndyCar now travels to St Petersburg for Round 2 this weekend. HM

FOUR IN FOUR Report: DAN McCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

BOWMAN WINS IN #48 Report: DAN McCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES ALEX BOWMAN has scored his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in the famous #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at the Richmond Raceway short track.

Series leader Denny Hamlin dominated the race and finally looked set to take his first victory of the season, only for it to be snatched awayy from him in the dying stages.

On the restart, with 10 laps remaining, Bowman took the lead and quickly pulled a margin on the Joe Gibbs Racing car.

Bowman took the win by 0.381s, the third win of his Cup Series career and first on a short track. In doing so Bowman became the eighth different winner in the first nine races of the season.

It was not an easy win for Bowman – he had to recover from a drive-through penalty early in the race for speeding in the pit lane.

“To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs,” said Bowman. “We restarted third and I’m like, if we get out of here with a solid top-five we’ll be good. We overcame a lot today.

“I don’t know if [crew chief] Greg [Ives] pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in

a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well.” re Hamlin won stages 1 and 2, led 207 of the 4400 laps, but was unable to seal the deal.

He H came home in second, his eighth top five fi finish in the first nine races.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Hamlin, although he still heads up the championship a standings, leading the race with 10 laps to s go g and finishing second always stings.

“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end (on the restart),” Hamlin said. “I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could coul – just the 48 (Alex Bowman) had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom.

“Once he got the position, we were just shut down there.”

Team Penske’s Joey Logano led 49 laps late in the race, but was unable to match the top two drivers as the race came to a close, he finished the race in fourth ahead of Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. Truex and his Australian engineer James Small won the race a week prior at Martinsville, they now sit second in the Cup Series and are so far the only two-time race winners this season.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola scored his best finish of the season in sixth ahead of William Byron, Kyle Busch, Matt DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon.

Scott McLauglin made the first cut in qualifying, started from grid 12, and took a solid 14th-place finish.

THE THIRD and fourth races of the 2021 Formula E season took place in Rome with victories shared by former F1 drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Both races were incredibly dramatic, attritional and chaotic with Vergne victorious on Saturday and Vergne on Sunday.

The opening race started in damp conditions, behind the Safety Car. Mercedes driver Vandoorne started from first, ahead of Andre Lotterer, Oliver Rowland, Lucas di Grassi and Vergne.

Just a couple of minutes into the race and Lotterer launched a move up the inside of Vandoorne – the DS Techeetah driver locked up, found the wall and forced Vandoorne down the escape road.

This left Nissan driver Rowland out front before he was handed a drive-through for power over-usage.

Season 3 winner di Grassi now found himself in the lead just ahead of Vergne.

Vergne smartly took the lead using both bouts of Attack Mode back-to-back, leaving di Grassi defenceless.

Di Grassi elected to bide his time and eventually reclaimed the lead with a well-executed pass at Turn 4.

However, with just four minutes remaining, di Grassi slowed suddenly with a mechanical problem.

Both the Mercedes drivers, Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries were fighting for a podium when they both slid into the wall trying to avoid di Grassi.

All three came to a stop and caused the race to finish under Safety Car conditions.

Two-time champion Vergne thus took his first win of the season ahead of the Jaguars of Sam Bird and his Kiwi teammate Mitch Evans.

In the second race, Vandoorne qualified in fourth and after overtaking the spinning pole sitter Nick Cassidy on the second lap, then overtook Norman Nato.

It wasn’t long before Vandoorne made his way to the front using his Attack Mode early, he leapt ahead of Pascal Wehrlein to take the lead.

Alexander Sims caught Wehrlein napping to take p2 after a brief virtual Safety Car and was soon followed by Nato with eight minutes to go.

Another S/C was called late on to recover the wrecked Audi of Rene Rast and meant that when racing got back underway it was a one-lap sprint to the finish.

Vandoorne held on to take his first win of the season from Sims and Wehrlein.

Nato crossed the line in third, but the Venturi driver was disqualified as he utilised to much battery energy.

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 1 2 3 4

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Sam Bird Mitch Evans Robin Frijns Stoffel Vandoorne

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RACE REPORT

Round 3 - Tasmania SuperSprint

FINALLY TOPPLED

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: LAT/Mark Horsburgh/Ross Gibb MANY THOUGHT it was never going to end, but Shane van Gisbergen’s undefeated start to the title chase ended at Symmons Plains, which hosted Round 4 of the Supercars Championship and the category for the first time since 2019.

Seven-time champion Jamie Whincup opened his account for the season, as did Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert, who took a dominating win in the final race of the weekend.

PRACTICE 1 – WATERS LEADS THE WAY

IT APPEARED from the first practice session that the Mustangs were going to be a threat.

Cameron Waters led the way in his Tickford Racing example, demonstrating the pace it had all weekend to top the first session with a 50.946s. This was just 0.004s ahead of Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison as the team continued to make inroads.

Third was Mostert, 0.059s in arrears, while Tickford Racing’s pace was backed up by Jack Le Brocq in fourth, just 0.065s behind.

Fifth was van Gisbergen, while David Reynolds followed in sixth. Tim

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Slade was seventh, despite losing a wheel entering pit lane to cause a red-flag (for which the team were fined).

Erebus Motorsport full-time rookie Will Brown was eighth ahead of former Bathurst co-driver and now DJR driver Anton De Pasquale, while Whincup completed the top 10.

PRACTICE 2 – BACK-TO-BACK FOR WATERS

THERE WERE no incidents in Practice 2 and it was the same result as Waters lowered his mark from the morning to a 50.724s, edging a DJR driver again, but this time De Pasquale by 0.020s.

Van Gisbergen was third ahead of Le Brocq, while Mostert was fifth.

Team18 duo Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye were set-up well going into qualifying filling the next two positions, while Davison, Whincup and Brad Jones Racing’s Todd Hazelwood completed the 10 ahead of the new qualifying format.

QUALIFYING RACE 6 – SVG’S PURPLE PATCH EXTENDS

VAN GISBERGEN’S purple patch continued by securing pole and setting a new qualifying record, leaving the chasing pack in his wake.

A 50.492s was 0.332s faster than

Triple Eight Race Engineering (top) took two out of three wins, but the gap between it and the rest of the field is becoming closer. Will Brown scored his best result of fifth in Race 2 (above).

Waters in a staggering display of superiority and was the biggest margin in an Australian Touring Car Championship event at Symmons Plains since 1995.

A new format for qualifying was instituted to reduce the number of entries on track during the short and sharp initial five-minute sessions.

The field was split into Group A and Group B, which was decided by dividing each team’s entry into one or the other. So, 12 drivers contested each of these segments leaving the top eight to progress into the next combined stage before the top 10 went into the battle for pole.

Leading the way in Group A was van Gisbergen to record a 50.748s, 0.070s clear of Waters as Davison, Winterbottom, Mostert, Le Brocq, Brown and Zane Goddard went through.

Nick Percat and Andre Heimgartner were two early victims as each struggled with set-up, particularly the Brad Jones Racing driver, who was animated in his appraisal of the session.

Fabian Coulthard and Macauley Jones also missed the cut.

Dick Johnson Racing’s Anton De Pasquale topped the second group, recording a 50.937s to edge Scott Pye by 0.014s.

It was a disappointing weekend for Brad Jones Racing as qualifying was a struggle. Race pace for Nick Percat was a positive as he clawed his way to the outer reaches of the top 10 in Races 2 and 3 (above). Cameron Waters (below) scored two poles on Sunday, but was unable to convert those into victories, nor podiums. If race pace was a strength for Percat, it was a weakness for Waters.

Other drivers to make it were Whincup, Brodie Kostecki, Jake Kostecki, Jack Smith, James Courtney and David Reynolds.

Todd Hazelwood, Bryce Fullwood, Tim Slade and Garry Jacobson failed to progress.

In the second segment of qualifying, van Gisbergen set a 50.826s early before the field reset for the second half of the 10-minute session where he lowered the mark by 0.316s.

Pye was 0.246s behind van Gisbergen, ahead of Waters, Jack Smith, Davison, Winterbottom, Whincup, Mostert, Brown and De Pasquale.

This left Reynolds, Jake Kostecki, James Courtney, Goddard, Brodie

Kostecki and Le Brocq all eliminated.

Van Gisbergen continued his charge to pole by setting a 50.701s on his second lap in the final 10-minute session.

Mostert was 0.130s behind with Waters in tow as half of the participants failed to record a time in the first half.

All drivers bar Smith fitted greens on for the final battle for pole, but van Gisbergen set a record lap time to defeat Waters.

Mostert concluded the session third with Whincup, Davison, Pye, De Pasquale, Winterbottom, Brown and Smith.

The sole-Brad Jones Racing driver in the 10 was delayed on his final lap as Pye took to the dirt in moving out

of the way and was penalised three grid slots for baulking Le Brocq.

RACE 7 – THE STREAK CONTINUES

ALTHOUGH, VAN Gisbergen maintained his unbeaten streak, Waters made the best challenge of anyone to end it.

Cam Waters made a perfect start to take the lead into Turn 1 as van Gisbergen dropped back to third after teammate Whincup skirted around the outside to take second.

After failing to pass around the outside at the hairpin, van Gisbergen moved down the inside of Whincup at Turn 6. Behind, Mostert and Davison battled for fourth with the two colliding entering the start-finish straight, but the Walkinshaw Andretti

United driver held the position.

Recovering lost ground, van Gisbergen was 0.293s behind Waters by lap 5 and began to increase the pressure on his title rival.

Waters was the lone Ford runner in a breakaway quartet containing van Gisbergen, Whincup and Mostert, with Davison dropping 0.8s back ahead of Dick Johnson Racing teammate De Pasquale.

Lap 9, a strong exit out of the hairpin set up van Gisbergen’s successful pursuit for the lead as the Triple Eight Race Engineering ZB Commodore sat in the Tickford Racing Mustang’s slipstream with Waters caught by surprise as the Kiwi dived at Turn 6.

Quickly, the gap grew to 2.342s between them as Waters’ attention now turned to Whincup, but the seven-time champion demoted the Tickford Racing Mustang at Turn 6 as Mostert followed through too in a cloud of blue smoke.

Davison was the first of the lead contenders to pit, but was delayed during his stop on the left-rear.

Teammate De Pasquale pitted on lap 14, just as Fullwood was parked awkwardly at the hairpin, but a safety car was not required when he was able to recover.

Whincup was next to pit, elevating Waters to third, but Team18’s Scott Pye was starting to make in roads to become a nuisance for the Tickford Racing Mustang.

Waters pitted on lap 21 for rightside, working tyres, which was a different strategy compared to his rivals. A lap later, Mostert replicated this – however he lost ground to Whincup and the two DJR Mustangs.

Van Gisbergen came into cover

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RACE REPORT

Round 3 - Tasmania SuperSprint

The first of many? Chaz Mostert celebrates his first success as a Walkinshaw Andretti United driver.

those stops, which had been already made, and elected to change the rear tyres as he emerged well clear of teammate Whincup.

Mostert was trying to make up for lost ground as he pressured Davison, taking a tighter line at the hairpin two laps in a row and on the second attempt completed a pass at Turn 6.

Out front, van Gisbergen maintained his perfect start to the season finishing 4.742s clear o teammate Whincup, while De Pasquale scored his first podium for DJR. Behind, Mostert finished fourth ahead of Davison, Waters, Mark Winterbottom, Pye, Brown and B. Kostecki.

Percat’s day failed to improve after an opening lap clash.

QUALIFYING: RACES 7 AND 8 – TWIN POLES FOR WATERS

WATERS WON two $1000 cheques by sealing pole positions for Races 7 and 8 as part of the unfancied Group A. Qualifying again split the field into two groups to complete two fiveminute sessions, one for each of the following races although it favoured the Group B session due to the improved circuit conditions expected as the sessions progressed.

With a 50.763, Waters was best for Race 7 ahead of seven-time champion Whincup, while van Gisbergen was back in sixth.

Filling the spots between were De Pasquale, Brown and Davison.

Winterbottom, Le Brocq, Pye and Mostert as 0.221s split the top 10 positions.

Coulthard was 11th in his Team Sydney ZB Commodore, while Brad Jones Racing continued to struggle as Percat and Hazelwood placed outside the top 20.

The session for Race 8 provided the same result for Waters as he recorded a 50.562s, while Mostert

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Cameron Waters and Jamie Whincup bumped and barged along the back sweeper during Race 2’s battle for the lead.

was just 0.018s shy to share the front-row with his former teammate and sparring partner.

De Pasquale backed up again with third, while Goddard impressed in fourth ahead of Davison, Whincup, van Gisbergen, David Reynolds, Winterbottom and Brown.

BJR’s woes continued as all four of its entries would start within the final five positions on the grid.

RACE 7 – THE STREAK ENDS

IT WAS teammate Whincup, who ended one streak, but kept Triple Eight Race Engineering’s unbeaten run alive.

It was a chaotic start to the 44-lap encounter as polesitter Waters made a perfect start to hold off Whincup as Brown moved his Erebus Motorsport ZB Commodore into third.

Van Gisbergen started sixth and was fourth by the end of the first lap.

Earlier in the lap, at the hairpin De Pasquale was spun by Le Brocq, but he was then turned by Heimgartner upon exit.

Le Brocq served a penalty for the contact during his pit stop.

Later during the opening lap, James

Courtney half spun on the front straight due to contact with Macauley Jones, sweeping across the track and contacting Jack Smith at Turn 1, sending both off.

After all the chaos, Waters held onto a 0.590s lead ahead of Whincup.

Brown maintained third, but van Gisbergen was starting to increase the pressure. A pass on the back sweeper demoted Brown to fourth and set-up van Gisbergen’s attack on the lead with Waters 2.115s down the road.

Van Gisbergen in clear air was closing on the lead duo – just 1.2s behind Whincup by lap 12, but his teammate was right on the rear bumper of the Tickford Mustang of Waters.

Under severe pressure, Waters was holding out, until he pitted on lap 13, leaving the two Triple Eight Race Engineering ZB Commodores in front.

Whincup and Waters were trading times, but it was the latter with a 52.017s as the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 16.

Whincup pitted on lap 18 letting his

teammate loose at the front of the field, while he fitted rear tyres. The merge was close between Whincup and Waters, but the Tickford Racing driver held onto the effective lead.

On lap 25, Whincup made a move for the lead starting at the hairpin and after a few bumps, it was he who emerged as the leader exiting Turn 5.

Waters soon dropped 1.8s behind.

Van Gisbergen pitted the next lap and slotted into fourth, losing position to Davison.

The battle was heating up for the podium spots as Waters was struggling and Davison was increasing the pressure just as the Kiwi was doing so to him.

After attempting to pass Waters, Davison was the loser at the hairpin on lap 30 as van Gisbergen slid down the inside of the Dick Johnson Racing driver.

The championship leader continued his charge as he took Waters, who then lost out to Davison exiting the hairpin.

In the end, Whincup won by 1s ahead of ahead of van Gisbergen, Davison, Waters and Brown for his

RESULTS RACE 6 SYMMONS PLAINS 44 LAPS

Zane Goddard scored his best Supercars result in Race 3 as Matt Stone Racing celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Driver Shane van Gisbergen Jamie Whincup Anton De Pasquale Chaz Mostert Will Davison Cameron Waters Mark Winterbottom Scott Pye Will Brown Brodie Kostecki James Courtney Jack Le Brocq Jake Kostecki Todd Hazelwood Jack Smith David Reynolds Tim Slade Zane Goddard Macauley Jones Garry Jacobson Fabian Coulthard Andre Heimgartner Bryce Fullwood Nick Percat

Laps/Margin 44 laps 0 +4.742s ▲2 +9.709s ▲4 +10.201s ▼ 1 +10.904s 0 +12.939s ▼ 4 +14.375s ▲ 1 +14.528s ▼ 2 +19.059s 0 +22.628s ▲ 5 +22.981s ▲ 1 +24.856s ▲ 4 +25.494s ▼ 2 +29.669s ▲ 10 +34.443s ▼ 2 +35.193s ▼ 6 +37.098s ▲ 4 +38.194s ▼ 4 +38.596s ▼ 2 +41.413s 0 +41.686s ▼ 3 43 laps ▲1 43 laps ▼1 36 laps ▼5

RESULTS RACE 7 SYMMONS PLAINS 44 LAPS

Mostert was dominant in victory as Dick Johnson Racing duo Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale returned to the podium in a turn of form for the team.

best Supercars finish.

Mostert, Winterbottom, Reynolds, Pye and Heimgartner completed the top 10.

Percat climbed nine positions to be 11th at the flag.

RACE 8 – THE BREAKTHROUGH

IT WAS a perfect maiden win for Mostert as a WAU driver right from when he made a flying start to crossing the line 10s clear of Whincup at the end.

Mostert jumped superbly to lead Waters into Turn 1, followed

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by the DJR duo of De Pasquale and Davison, demoting Goddard into fifth.

Van Gisbergen started from seventh but was unable to progress like he had done in Race 8. Ahead, Whincup was in the same boat as the pair ran side-by-side along the back sweeper with the Kiwi prevailing to mount an attack on Goddard.

A margin of 0.486s separated Mostert from Waters at the front, while both Dick Johnson Racing Mustangs ran 1.2s behind.

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Van Gisbergen was taken out of the battle, pitting on lap 8 for two rear tyres before Davison and Whincup completed service the next time around.

Whincup emerged in front of van Gisbergen due to a slower stop.

Mostert was being held up by Heimgartner, who was the last of the drivers to stop, forcing the WAU crew to bring the leader in on lap 13. Waters had pitted three-laps prior, but was unable to make the undercut work.

Despite an alarm to pit remaining on his dash, Mostert was extending his lead every lap – 4.4s on lap 20, then 6.246s 10 circuits later.

Just like in Race 7, the battle for the minors was intense between De Pasquale, Waters, Davison, van Gisbergen and Whincup, but it remained in this order until the race’s conclusion.

The championship leader tried hard to go around the outside at both the hairpin and Turn 6, but only dropped position to his teammate on the final lap.

Mostert took the first win of his WAU career by 10.2s from De Pasquale, Davison, Waters and Whincup.

Rounding out the top 10 were van Gisbergen, Goddard in an impressive display, David Reynolds after battling a rubbing tyre, James Courtney and Nick Percat in two recovery drives.

Van Gisbergen takes a 139-point lead ahead of teammate Whincup in the championship standings, with Mostert a further 26 behind as Supercars head to South Australia and The Bend Motorsport Park for Round 4 on May 8-9.

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Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NC NC

Driver Jamie Whincup Shane van Gisbergen Will Davison Cameron Waters Will Brown Chaz Mostert Mark Winterbottom David Reynolds Scott Pye Andre Heimgartner Nick Percat Tim Slade Anton De Pasquale Todd Hazelwood Jake Kostecki Brodie Kostecki Bryce Fullwood Zane Goddard Garry Jacobson Macauley Jones Jack Le Brocq James Courtney Fabian Coulthard Jack Smith

Laps/Margin 44 laps ▲1 +1.003s ▲4 +6.495s ▲2 +11.905s ▼ 3 +14.002s ▼ 1 +15.816s ▲ 4 +15.972s 0 +16.996s ▲ 5 +17.915s 0 +18.781s ▲ 2 +19.257s ▲ 9 +19.458s ▲ 4 +22.255s ▼ 10 +22.435s ▲ 7 +28.670s ▲ 8 +29.675s ▲ 6 +30.965s ▲ 1 +34.464s ▼ 3 +35.731s ▲ 5 +45.652s ▼ 3 43 laps ▼ 13 41 laps ▼3 6 laps ▼ 12 1 lap ▼ 10

RESULTS RACE 8 SYMMONS PLAINS 44 LAPS Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Chaz Mostert Anton De Pasquale Will Davison Cameron Waters Jamie Whincup Shane van Gisbergen Zane Goddard David Reynolds James Courtney Nick Percat Mark Winterbottom Tim Slade Fabian Coulthard Scott Pye Will Brown Todd Hazelwood Bryce Fullwood Brodie Kostecki Jack Le Brocq Macauley Jones Jake Kostecki Andre Heimgartner Jack Smith Garry Jacobson

Driver 44 laps +10.200s +11.168s +12.146s +12.610s +13.386s +15.096s +15.823s +16.928s +17.361s +19.228s +19.541s +19.898s +22.882s +25.685s +26.166s +26.569s +27.888s +32.781s +32.974s +33.810s +34.275s +34.871s +37.895s

Laps/Margin ▲1 ▲1 ▲2 ▼3 ▲1 ▲1 ▼3 0 ▲2 ▲ 10 ▼2 ▲4 0 ▼2 ▼5 ▲5 ▲1 ▲1 ▼5 ▲4 ▼6 ▼5 0 ▼2

Points: van Gisbergen 865, Whincup 726, Mostert 700, Waters 663, Davison 623, Winterbottom 587, Reynolds 474, De Pasquale 462, Percat 439, B. Kostecki 437, Heimgartner 430, Brown 430, Pye 428, Hazelwood 395, Le Brocq 392, Courtney 380, Fullwood 379, Goddard 350, J. Kostecki 332, Coulthard 268, Slade 264, Smith 246, Jones 226, Jacobson 221.

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TASMANIA SUPPORTS

ANDERSON TAKES TASSIE

Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Ross Gibb

THE CONSISTENT Josh Anderson won the second round of the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Series, edging out Adam Gowans by a mere three points at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.

As always, the Tasmanian venue threw up plenty of action with the long straights producing exciting slip streaming action.

Anderson won two of the four races and was challenged all weekend long by local Tasmanian Gowans who was making a one off return in the category. Several other drivers were in the fight for the round win, however Anderson rose to the top.

Anderson took victory in Race 1, after starting second, he claimed the lead on lap three from pole-sitter Craig Woods at the hairpin.

Race 1 was an epic up front, with half a dozen drivers jostling for position and switching places lap after lap, corner after corner.

Kody Garland and Gowans attempted to break away from the peloton just before the halfway stage of the race, it appeared to work for several laps before they were reeled in.

At the halfway stage Gowans led Garland, Woods, Anderson, former champion Joel Heinrich and Nicholas Simmons.

By lap 12 Anderson had made his way back to the front of the field with the train of cars still behind him.

Once there, Anderson was not headed, the Camaro driver was forced to defend over the final two laps as the intensity rose.

Exiting Turn 4 on the final lap Anderson slid out sideways and way forced to defend again at Turn 6, Woods tried to overtake around the outside but ran in deep allowing Gowans to take second place.

Anderson took the win from Gowans, Woods, Simmons and Heinrich.

Off the line in Race 2 Gowans took the race lead and pulled a margin on lap 1.

It took several laps before a battle group formed and once again it featured the same half a dozen cars.

Out front Gowans, Anderson and Simmons were fighting tooth and nail and after the halfway stage pulled a margin.

Despite appearing to have the quicker car Anderson was unable to overtake Gowans who

Report: Dan McCarthy Image: Ross Gibb AFTER A 13-month hiatus the Boost Mobile Australian Stadium Super Trucks Series returned to the track with six machines at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions the American contingency including series creator Robbie Gordon was unable to compete, which made for an all-Australian driver line-up for the first time.

Paul Morris and his son Nash were entered in the event along with former Supercars drivers Paul Weel and Shae Davies, while experienced SST driver Shaun Richardson and rookie Dave Casey made up the field.

After qualifying, however, Nash Morris was suffering from back pain and meant that 2005 Supercars champion Russell Ingall was drafted in to compete in Sunday’s action.

On Saturday Weel took pole position, but the races did not go to plan finishing fourth for the weekend.

Paul Morris won the round, taking two of the three race wins and finishing second in the final encounter.

Davies won the final race after an epic battle with Morris.

The 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner looked set to clean sweep the round, but Davies nudged The Dude aside at the final turn to take the win by 0.25s.

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was putting his Toyota in all the right places.

Anderson tried everything but came up just short, Gowans took the win by 0.2s from Anderson and Simmons. On the penultimate lap when running fourth Woods’ fuel line came off and he came to a sudden halt.

The inverted top 10 grid race was action packed, interrupted by incidents, safety cars and oil spillages.

For the first time since 2017 Reece Chapman took an Aussie Racing Cars win by edging out Simmons who was spun around and recovered from 11th to second in the last eight laps.

Anderson finished third but post-race was handed a five second penalty dropping him to ninth.

This promoted Woods to third after he started from the back of the grid, with Tom Hayman and Gowans rounding after the top five.

The final encounter saw the top three Gowans, Simmons and Anderson take off into the distance.

The aggression for the round win was evident from the word go with double points on the line.

Gowans and Simmons were switching places

lap after lap fighting for the lead and eventually on lap 10 spectacularly came to blows.

Around the flat-out kink, Turn 5 the pair touched throwing Simmons who was on the inside 90 degrees across the nose of Gowans.

Simmons was incredibly lucky not to roll as two wheels left the ground over the grass, however his car made heavy contact with the concrete wall. Gowans was able to continue but dropped to fourth.

Anderson inherited the lead and unchallenged took both the final race and round win. Garland was second in the race from Woods and Gowans.

Overall for the round Anderson took the honours from Gowans and Garland

THE SUPER TRUCKS RETURN

ARC ROUND 1 NATIONAL CAPITAL RALLY

TOYOTA WINS ON DEBUT TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia dominated the opening round of this year’s Australian Rally Championship, the National Capital Rally in Canberra, giving the new locally developed Yaris GR AP4 a dream 1-2 result in its debut event.

Reigning champions Harry Bates and co-driver John McCarthy took 11 out of 14 stage wins to finish 43s clear of teammate, younger brother Lewis Bates and his navigator Anthony McLoughlin.

The team took a clean sweep of stage wins as Lewis took the remaining three, while previous ARC championship winner Nathan Quinn took third, 1m 44s behind the leader, alongside codriver Ray Winwood-Smith in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. “It’s a fantastic feeling to come into my home town rally with a brand new car and, together with Lewis and our co-drivers, win the top two spots straight off the bat,” said the reigning champion, Harry Bates post-rally.

The Toyotas faced increased competition from WRC2-spec R5 entries spearheaded by Luke Anear and Andy Sarandis in their Ford Fiesta R5, joined by a similar model for Thomas Monaghan and Alan Stephenson.

Quinn’s win with Winwood-Smith

Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia made a dream start to its title defence in a new model no less. Harry Bates and John McCarthy led home teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, while Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith were third in their privateer Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. Images: Toyota Australia John O’Dowd and Toni Feaver travelled from Western Australia to contest the event in their Skoda Fabia R5, but these teams failed to be a factor in the outright battle.

Although, a key contender in the form of JJ Hatton and John Allen failed to take the start in their Hyundai i20 G4 after a crash during the shakedown.

On the team’s home rally, Bates and McCarthy did experience teething problems during the two-days of competition including a turbo booster midway

through the opening leg, then an electrical malady as the rally reached its conclusion.

“Apart from a minor electrical issue on the penultimate stage today, the cars performed faultlessly and while we had an excellent base to start with in the rally-bred Toyota GR Yaris, the thousands of hours that the team at NBM put in to get the cars ready in time, has really proven worthwhile,” he said.

“The car is really fast through the corners and has so much grip, you can keep pushing harder

Quinn and Winwood-Smith not only took third, but also were on top in the New South Wales Rally Championship division as well. Image: Epic Sports Photography/Motorsport Australia

so with a few tweaks, we’re looking forward to the next round in Queensland.”

Bates still won the Power Stage to add an extra 10-championship points to his total.

The 2017 ARC winner, Quinn remained close to the two Bates brothers, but was feeling the pressure as Richie Dalton and co-driver Dale Moscatt in an exToyota GAZOO Racing Australia Toyota Yaris AP4 sat 10s behind in fourth.

On Day 2, Dalton was out of the event after hitting a rock, which broke the rear arm on landing and sent the Yaris AP4 into a bank before rolling gently into a creek just 15km from the finish.

This allowed Quinn to seal third and the Production Cup victory ahead of fourth placed outright, Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Rising star Troy Dowel and Bernie Webb completed the top five in their Hyundai i20 G4.

The Classic Cup was won by Trevor Stilling and Murray Hines in a Datsun Stanza, while Adrian Stanford and Kain Manning overcame many problems to take out not only the 2WD Cup in their focus, but the Junior Cup as well.

The next round of the ARC is the Rally Queensland based in Gympie on May 21-23. HM

IN A drama-filled opening round, Nathan Quinn and Ray WinwoodSmith drove their Mitsubishi EVO X to the NSW Rally Championship win, in Canberra on April 10.

They took four fastest times from eight stages to win by 9.8s from Richie Dalton and Dale Moscatt in an ex-factory Yaris AP4. Dalton took two fastest times as did Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly (EVO X). Third went to Chris Higgs and Steve Fisher (EVO 6) from Tom Clarke and Ryan Preston (EVO 9), while Mal Keogh and Jacci Sharkey (Audi Quattro S1) completed the top five.

Keogh took the points in the East Coast Classic Series. Best of the 2WD cars overall and second in East Coast Classics were Tom Dermody and Eoin Moynihan in their Ford Escort RS1800.

Hoy and Kelly led early before power steering failure put them out.

Reigning state champions Tony Sullens and Kaylie Newell parked their Citroen C2 for this event and were in a Subaru Impreza WRX, although had no luck. A flat tyre in Stage 2 was followed by contact with a kangaroo after four stages, destroying the front of the car.

Clarke and Preston had dramas when a big rock flattened the exhaust and damaged the suspension. With not enough service time to fix everything, a steady run to fourth was as good as it got.

Keogh and Sharkey found the tight, technical sections difficult, plus gear-selection problems emerged.

Even winners Quinn and WinwoodSmith were not immune from trouble. Their newly-repaired Evo X had suspension parts break in testing, then it needed a rear diff change in the event.

The National Capital Rally was also a round of the ACT Rally Series and was won by Andrew Penny and Rhys Llewellyn (WRX) with Bethany Cullen and Mel McMinn (EVO 6) 3m 34.7s behind in second, and Mike Behnke and Ellie Yates (Honda Civic) third over 6m away. Bruce Moxon

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

Image: WAORRA-LensNation

50

years of publishing 1971- 2021

As part of Auto Action’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Auto Action pays tribute to our valued contributors. During the year we will feature a special image or some thoughts from our long-time contributors who have been asked to submit a memory or an image which provides an insight into what Auto Action means to them. This issue we hear from long-time AA contributer John Lemm

AUTO ACTION BEGINNINGS

THIS PICTURE was the beginning of it all.

In February 1971 I was given an electronic flash by my two brothers for my 21st birthday.

I was an apprentice compositor at the Adelaide Advertiser and the motoring editor, Bob Jennings, was competing in rallies.

The first event of the season was the Rallye Renault and Bob published the attached image, my action photo Chuck Mora and Bob Bottroff’s Renault R8 Gordini, in a creek crossing in the Barossa Valley.

A week later, I met Bob Trenorden, who was the South Australian journalist for Auto Action, which had just begun a couple of weeks earlier.

He had seen the image in the Advertiser and we came to an agreement for me to supply rally photos for Auto Action, the first shot that I had published in the magazine being John Taylor and Graham West’s Austin 1800 winning the Walkerville 500 Rally.

I soon expanded into other forms of motor sport – circuit racing, hillclimbs, drags and motorkhanas.

Unfortunately my early negatives have been lost, but my association with Auto Action has continued on until the present. John Lemm

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SCHOENS KING OF THE RIVER NOT ONLY did Troy and Deb Schoen take an unequivocal victory in the 2021 Coral Coast Helicopter Services Kickstarters Gascoyne Dash, they also claimed the King of the River for the year.

Held over the Easter weekend, the second round of the West Australian Off Road Racing Championship saw the Schoens, in their SS Hustler/Chev V8 Pro Buggy, finish the two legs 16mins 29.84s ahead. Second outright and in class were Brad Cooper and Aaron Smithson in their Bat Racing/Chev.

The Dash is a point-to-point race that starts at Carnarvon which is located 910km north of Perth. Competitors race 205kms east to Gascoyne Junction, then return the next day.

Gascoyne is a small town on the junction of the mostly dry Gascoyne and Lyons Rivers.

The event is often compared with the Finke Desert Race in its nature and caters for cars and bikes. The fastest overall is King, and 2021 is just the second time in five years that the crown has been achieved by a car crew.

Keith Rance and Luke Candy (Magnum Slingshot/Chev) were quickest in the prologue ahead of Schoen and Jarod Percival

(ProLite SS Racetech/Toyota) and led until passed after the first stage third checkpoint.

From there it was all the Schoen and he had over 6mins up on Cooper at the halfway point with Luke and Ben Erceg (ProLite Erceg Custom Engineering/Nissan) third. Rance did not make it to Gascoyne and neither did Adam and Craig Trewhella (Rimco/Chev) while Erceg was a retirement on the way back.

Schoen was over 9mins ahead in the race back to the coast ahead of Cooper and Percival. Jayden and Justyn Grewar (SXS Turbo Can Am Maverick/Rotax) were fourth over both legs which gave them third outright by just over 30s from Percival. The SXS Turbo Can Am crewed by Colin Bevan/ Michael Dodds and Friday Boyce/Chris Summerfield finished fifth and sixth ahead of Brett and Kevin Renton in their Pro Buggy Jimco/Chev.

Of the 32 four wheel entries, 20 completed the event with Mark Murray and Jim Ingham (Holden Rodeo) the winners of the Extreme 4WD class and Mat Beck and Tate Dawson (Holden Kingswood) collected the Performance 2WD laurels. Garry O’Brien

A SKYLINE LEADS INTO THE NIGHT

THE ANTI-CLOCKWISE 3.5km course was utilised for round five of the Shannons Targa Supersprint at the Perth Motorplex on April 8 where Matt James-Wallace and Ben Tuck took their Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R to a comprehensive victory.

Eighty-three crews took part on the 3.55km course with the winner determined by lowest total of all four runs. The winner’s times added up to 8mins 53.99s, some 7.03s quicker than Neil and Jensen Herbert in their Subaru Impreza WRX. Third outright and 2.24s away were Jurgen and Helen Lunsmann in their Tesla 3 Performance+ electric vehicle with a handy margin over the BMW M2 Competition crewed by Brett Morse and Rodney Ng. Heuson Bak and Roger Tan (Lotus Exige)

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was sixth in front of Paul and Katie Oxley (WRX), Foky Fok and Long Hin Lai (Honda Integra), Nathon McLaren and Matt Marai (WRX), Bryce Moore and Mark Cirillo (BMW M3), and Brett and Cassie Wilkinson in a Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG. Setting the pace from the outset were Steve Jones and Jacob Zurzolo in their Mitsubishi EVO X with a 2mins 9.64s on the first run, clearly faster than anyone else.

But they did not appear again after that.

In taking the win, James-Wallace/Tuck were the fastest on the next three runs with their best on the third attempt at 2mins 12.82s. The Herberts were third on the first run and second the next time out before the Oxleys and then the Lunsmanns were runner-up on runs three and four, respectively. Garry O’Brien

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

BIG RIGS RETURN

TRUCK RACING returned to Wakefield Park on April 10-11 following more than 16 months of inactivity because of COVID-19.

Out of the diesel smoke, Steve Zammit emerged as the 2021 Round 1 winner from Frank Amoroso and Marcus Prillwitz.

At the helm of his long-serving Kenworth T401, and with eyes on an unprecedent seventh title, Zammit qualified fastest before winning three of the four championship races.

He led throughout Race 1, while Barry Butwell (Mack Superliner) snatched second from Amoroso (Kenworth W900) by 0.09s at the finish.

Zammit replicated his success in Race 2, followed by Amoroso as Butwell pulled out with a blown turbo. Prillwitz (Mack) finished third ahead of Robbie Fern (Volvo).

The final two races were reverse grid affairs. Prillwitz won the third race ahead of Robbie Fern and Amoroso. Lachlan Fern was next ahead of fellow Isuzu drivers Mitchell Prillwitz and Mark Schutz. Contact with Mark Noonan (Scania T113) negated Zammit’s charge as he served a drivethrough.

Zammit had no such dramas in the last where he charged from the back to win ahead of Amoroso, Marcus Prillwitz, Robbie Fern and Noonan as Lachlan Fern led home the Isuzu brigade.

Honours were shared in Saturday’s pair of Teams races. Brett Dalglish (in Zammit’s Kenworth) won the first ahead of Butwell before the positions were reversed in the second. It was a similar scenario behind where Lachlan Fern (in Robbie’s Volvo) was third from Robert O’Connor in the Amoroso truck. O’Connor headed Fern to the line in the next encounter.

HQ HOLDENS

THE TEAM of Brett Osborn and John Baxter dominated the Hopwood 100. Each led their qualifying sessions and Osborn topped the

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shootout for the feature before pairing up for a comprehensive victory in the one-hour 47-lap event.

They only surrendered the lead for four laps after undertaking their compulsory pitstop. The duo finished more than half a minute in from to David Proglio and Matt Barker. Third place just 0.5s behind was Chris Molle, who raced on his own, as did Darren Parker in fourth.

LEGEND CARS

THE FIVE races at Round 2 were all won

by Lachlan Ward, which followed up four race wins at the series opener earlier in the year. Brendon Hourigan offered the strongest challenge and was 0.06s in arrears of Ward at the end of Race 1. He was also placed second in the following three races before a third behind his brother Josh in the last.

The latter was third in the first three races before a fifth in race four. Shane Tate finished fourth on four occasions and third in one other.

BMW E36s

RACE WINS were shared around in the one-make category with round winner Jeff Barnes scoring two, while fastest qualifier Rob Boaden and David Bailey took one each.

Boaden won Race 1, clear of a close finish between Bailey and Barnes. A slip up

by Boaden whilst in the lead enabled Paul Stanbrook to cross the line first in Race 2.

However, the win went to Barnes ahead of Bailey after Stanbrook was handed a 10s start infringement penalty.

In a tight Race 3, Bailey edged out Barnes while Stanbrook was third ahead of Marcus Rummler. Boaden limped home last with a

clutch issue. It was again close in the final where Barnes pipped Bailey, and Stanbrook was third from Adam Hughes. Boaden started off the back, then progressed to second before the clutch blew and forced his retirement.

CLUBMANS

FROM THE quickest time in qualifying to three race wins, the second round belonged to James Dick and his PRB Widebody.

Second in Race 1 went to Stuart Shirvington (PRB Birkin) with Chris Barry (PRB Composite) behind.

Round 1 winner Ivan Srejber (Birkin) was next with Jos Kroon (PRB S2) and Ron Hammond (Debron) close behind. Barry was a close second in Race 2 while third placed Shirvington was runner-up in the final ahead of Srejber. Garry O’Brien Steve Zammit took three out of four wins in the Super Trucks (above). Brett Osborn and John Baxter took a commanding victory in the Hopwood 100 (below).

Images: Danny Bourke

SUPERKARTS SWARM TO THE BEND A CLASSY field hit The Bend Motorsport Park for the opening round of the Coach Design/ L&J Designs/Dunlop Kartsport-supported Australian Superkart Championship on April 10-11.

With a smooth calculated performance, Ilya Harpas (Anderson/DEA) netted two 250cc International wins. Blake Purdie (PVP/Yamaha) steadily improved and challenged Harpas for the Race 4 win to take second outright.

Gary Pegoraro (Anderson/TM) was trying for the 250 Int and 125cc titles, but was taken out of Race 4 in someone else’s accident. He still managed to hang onto third for the round.

Jordie Ford (Anderson) looked to be Harpas’ strongest challenger when he topped qualifying and led Race 1 until a loose wheel forced him to the pits. He then charged back to sixth and set a new lap record (1min 46.696s) along the way. Ford won the next two races but a DNF in the final dropped him off the podium.

In 250 National, John Dunn (Anderson) almost threw the win away with a spin in the final race. He gathered it up for his third second

of the event and hung onto the round win. The one to beat was Joshua Miller (Stockman) with three heat victories. A DNF in Race 1 handed Dunn his only race win. On the final step of the podium was John Cashen (Avoig).

In a huge field of 30 125s, Brad Tremain (Woodgate Evo2) was the round winner despite not winning a race. A consistent run of second places proved enough in the end.

Nick Schembri (Anderson/DEA) won three races and broke the lap record twice. He failed to finish Race 2, which left him a solid second. Despite some technical issues on Day 2, Gary Pegoraro (Anderson) picked up third.

Harry Georgiou was the best 125 qualifier, but did not get much track time due to mechanical and health problems. He did show his class by a third in the last from the back of the field.

James Boden topped Stock Honda as he collected two wins with Michael Doherty second. Jim Gorman matched Boden with two wins but a DNF in Race 4 left him third.

David Batchelor

Ilya Harpas took out the 250 International titile with his Anderson/DEA machine. Image: David Batchelor

AMOS CLIMBS TO THREE FROM THREE HUNTLEY HILL’S third round of the Mantic Clutch NSW Hillclimb Championship gave Dean Amos (pictured, right) his third straight outright win on April 11, which followed on from two round wins at Bathurst at the beginning of March.

The event at Dapto, around 100km south of Sydney, was run by the Wollongong Sporting Car Club. Amos in his Nicholson McLaren V8-engined Gould GR55B produced a FTD of 19.68s on the 658m course regarded as extremely challenging due to the harsh incline throughout its length.

The time came on the second of his three runs, but even his first and third was enough to take the day ahead of Dean Tighe (20.68s) in his supercharged Hayabusapowered Empire Wraith. Third place went to Ron Hay (21.61s) aboard the Synergy powered Dallara, which ensured that

Image: WSCC-Grahame Logg

Formula Libre over 3.0-litre cars filled the top three outright spots.

Fourth overall and the first of the tin-tops was Greg Boyle on 23.06s in his over 3.0-litre Sports Sedan Nissan Skyline, ahead of fifth outright Wayne Penrose (VW), who set a new Sports Sedan 2.0 to 3.0-litre

TWO OUT OF TWO DAVID MAHON (right) extended his lead in the EZI UP and GO Victorian Hillclimb Championship with the outright win in Round 3 at Mt Leura on March 27-28.

This follows the decision to move the second round to September.

Saturday’s runs were delayed after a number of incidents put an end to some competitors’ weekend. That included Mike Barker who went too hard into The Cutting and damaged the front end of his Hayward.

His performance with the new 1640cc (not 1340 as previously reported) Hayabusa engine had made him Mahon’s closest rival, but he will probably miss the next round while the car is being repaired.

Alan Foley took the lead in his R Foley Formula Libre. He set the fastest time of 29.18s on the penultimate pass, but had

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Image: David Jowett

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course record.

Then came Warren Bell (Time Attack Datsun Stanza), Ben Ford (Sports Sedan VW), Andrew Fraser (Road Registered Chev Corvette), and Frank Fargnoli (AWD Subaru). Greg Jones (GSL Clubman) completed the top 10 and also set a new

Closed Sports Car over 1.6-litre record.

The fastest lady award at the meeting went to Louise Hayes in the Improved Production HSV Clubsport she shared with Geoff Brisby. Meanwhile the quickest Junior was Cameron Brown in a Group 3E Production Nissan Pulsar. Garry O’Brien

to settle for second place when Mahon clocked a 29.09s on his final run in his Dallara/Hayabusa. Mirko Grbic was just over a second away in his wild looking Mitsubishi EVO to be quickest tin top and third outright on 30.11s.

Newcomer Patrick Malanaphy took fourth outright and third in the Up to 1300 Formula Libre with his buggy-style Yalar Cross. Brenton Byfield (Subaru Wagon) was impressive as he completed the top five, less than 3s slower than the top open-wheeler. This put Byfield in third place in the championship behind Mahon and Grbic.

Improved Production Up to 1600cc continued to be a family affair with Maurice Harper beating his wife Linda in their shared Toyota Corolla class win.

Rival Tom Inkster beat his father Wes by half a second in their shared Hyundai Excel for the class second place.

Gary Hill

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

SMP’S TURN FOR MIXED MRC GREAT SUPPORT for some categories, not so much for others as the NSW Motor Racing Championship’s second round took place at Sydney Motorsport Park on a fine, yet chilly April 10-11 weekend.

RX8 CUP

TWO RACE wins over the four contested gave Ryan Gorton the round ahead of Marcus La Delle and Steve Devjak. Gorton kicked off with victory in Races 1 and 2, each time followed by Devjak, La Delle and Justin Barnes as Shannon McLaine and Terry Lewis each had a fifth.

Devjak was able to get past Gorton in Race 3 for the win with La Delle next in front of Lewis and McLaine. Barnes retired with bent steering after contact with Aiden Riley.

There was early contact between McLaine and Lewis in the fourth race at Turn 5. The resulting oil spill led to Devjak in the lead spinning off into the tyre wall leaving La Delle to win from Gorton and Jake Lougher.

SUPERSPORTS

AWAITING ENGINE parts grounded Darren Barlow’s Stohr last year. Up and running for Round 1 this year Barlow was a comfortable winner of the three races. He was beaten away in each before he took control and won two races ahead of Nick Kelly in his Radical SR8.

Neale Muston took second in the third in his Radical SR8.

In fourth behind Muston in Races 1 and 2 were the SR3s driven by Brad Shiels ahead of Carmel Bonaventura. Last year’s champ Peter Champion was a nonstarter after an engine fire in practice leaving usual rivals Peter Clare, Brad Neilson, Greg Kenny, and Peter Paddon to scrap for the class minors. The latter came out on top of the group in Race 2 before taking third in the last.

SPORTS SEDANS

IN JOE Said’s Fiat 124/13B Rotary turbo, Brad Shiels took outright victory from Stuart Inwood (Chev Corvette) and Paul Boschert (Corvette/ Dodge). Usual contenders absent were 2020 champ Grant Doulman (Falcon/Chev), the Birol Cetin and Steve Lacey Chev Camaros were non-starters due to a crash and engine woes, respectively, as was Mick Bullis (Corvette) with engine maladies.

After thrilling lead exchanges with Nick Smith (Mazda RX7/Nissan turbo), Shiels won Race 1 ahead of Inwood as Scott Cameron (Commodore/Chev) held off Boschert and Chris Jackson (Calibra/Chev), who started last. Smith retired with a blown turbo gasket.

A gremlin with the paddle downshift cost Shiels victory in Race 2, which went to Boschert over Inwood. Shiels

was third ahead of Mark Duggan after an engine malady put his Aston Martin out of Race 1.

Smith missed the race due to a wiring issue and in Race 3 a brush with Graham Smith (Commodore) before Turn 1 broke a wheel triggering a safety car. The incident also involved Fred Geissler (BMW E36) and John Spiteri (Mitsubishi EVO). Shiels went on to win from Boschert and Jackson.

FORMULA RACE CARS

A ROOKIE to wings and slicks, Noel McDermott (Dallara F304/Spiess), was clearly fastest in qualifying before taking an easy Race 1 win ahead of Grahame Holmes (F304) and Greg Muddle (F399). McDermott led Race 2 but a 5s penalty dropped him to third ahead of Barry and Adam Gotch (Formula 4 Mygale) as Muddle won from Holmes.

McDermott made a poor start in the Trophy Race after which he scythed through to second, then spun at Turn 6. Holmes led from the outset to win ahead of Barry and Muddle.

FORMULA FORDS

ZACH BATES took a hard fought clean-sweep as Jude Bargwanna and James Piszcyk provided plenty of competition. The trio diced together for most of Race 1, but remained in the order stated, Brad Shiels proved to good in Sports Sedans (above), while Michael Kinsella was supreme in Formula Vee. Images: Riccardo Benvenuti

but in Race 2 Bargwanna retired with a broken rear upright from contact with Bates. Piszcyk was second ahead of Kye Cavedon (Spectrum).

In the Trophy Race finale, Piszcyk pressured Bates, who again was in front when it counted as Bargwanna came from the back to third.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION U2L

THE NISSAN drivers Kurt Macready (Silvia) and Jason Hundy (200SX) were dominate. Macready won the first two encounters before Hendy won the last. Macready started from pit lane and finished second.

Third was far closer between Graham Bohm and Henri Price (Honda Civics), Craig Wildridge and Ian Price (Ford Escorts), and Matt Birks (Toyota Corolla). The latter two clashed in the last where Bohm edged out Henri Price for third.

Earlier Bohm was third in Race 1 and Wildridge denied him the spot in the second, which had a safety car period as Price went off at Turn 2.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION O2L

AFTER ROUND 2, Trevan Spiteri (Mitsubishi EVO 6) remains unbeaten with three race wins. Scott Tutton was second in Race 1 ahead of the BMW drivers Lachlan McBrien and Andrew McMaster, but retired from Race 2. McBrien was second in Race 2 ahead of Stig Richards (Mazda RX7) and McMaster before leading much of the third race before Spiteri won.

PRODUCTION SPORTS

JUST EIGHT cars entered the two 30-minute races which Porsche drivers dominated, led by Drew Hall. Marcella Zalloua took the lead at the start, but finished third behind Sergio Pires, who got the better of his teammate in Race 2. Justin Levis was fourth in Race 1 and caused a safety car when he spun on oil in Race 2, hit the tyres and destroyed one wheel.

FORMULA VEES

THE FIRST race was an easy victory for Michael Kinsella from Aaron Lee, John McDonald, and Leigh Porter, all in Jacers. After that, Kinsella was in a dogfight with Lee as both exchanged the lead often. However, Kinsella won Races 2 and 3. McDonald finished second in Race 2 as Lee was handed a 5s penalty before he took second in the last. Stephen Butcher (Stinger) dominated the 1200s with three wins.

Garry O’Brien

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A FAMILY AFFAIR AT BASKERVILLE THE SECOND round of the Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championships on March 28 featured family members to the fore at Baskerville Raceway on March 28.

In Mazda RX7s, Father-son duo Laurie and Alex Williams dominated the Sports Sedans and Sports GTA, respectively. The teenage grandson of Greg Crick, Charlie Parker, all but won the day in the Hyundai Excels, while cousins Jared and Jason House were right in the thick of it at the pointy end of Improved Production.

SPORTS SEDANS

VETERAN DRIVER Laurie Williams left the field in his wake in both heats and the double-points final in an awesome display.

He won by 21s in Heat 1, 28s in Heat 2 and 25s in the final. Michael Elliott finished second in Heat 2 and was in a close second during the final before his Mazda RX7 was engulfed fire from the engine in the closing stages, which took rescue teams several minutes to extinguish.

SPORTS GT

YOUNG GUN Alex Williams had to work harder for victory in Sports GTA, as the early pacesetter, top qualifier and wins in both heats. Series leader David Paine (Holden HSV GTS) started better in Heat 2

Image: Angryman Photography

and it took Williams four laps to reel him in. Despite starting on pole for the doublepoints final, Williams seemed to be well down on power and off the pace as Paine led the charge. Tony Warren (Mitsubishi EVO 7) struggled with throttle problems in the heats, but kept Paine honest in the final to come to within 2s of the lead, while Williams finished a distant third to wrap-up the round. Back in the pack, David Walker (Datsun 1200 Ute) dominated Sports GTB to further extend his series lead, and Mick Williams (Datsun 240Z) remained unbeaten in Sports GTC, to also extend his championship advantage.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

ENJOYING THE biggest fields and providing lots of great racing right the way through pack were the Hyundai Excels (pictured).

Charlie Parker was the early pacesetter before battling Callum Bishop and Jeremy Bennett with some two-wide and even threewide racing at times during the weekend.

Bennett was aggressive on occasions – sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t - but he certainly entertained. Parker started on pole for the final after wins in both heats, however a mistake on the second lap dropped him back to 10th. Bennett led initially, until Bishop took the lead on lap 6 and won. With the double points haul and strong results in the heats Bishop won the round from Parker, who recovered well to get back up to fourth in the final.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

A GOOD field of Improved Production sedans produced some intense racing, as three races provided as many different winners. Jason House (BMW 135i), his cousin Jared House (Holden Torana A9X) and Andrew Ferguson (Holden Commodore) each scored a victory.

Ferguson won the round with two seconds and a win. Jared House only qualified fifth but improved on each subsequent outing with a third, second and then a win in the

double-points final to maintain his series lead. Jason House won the first heat, but a DNF in the second race ended his hopes for round victory.

HQ HOLDENS

THE FIELD was smaller, but the racing just as good and produced three different winners. Reigning champion Phil Ashlin kept his best until last to take the doublepoints final. Andrew Toth debuted a new car and won the round by one-point from Otis Cordwell with another point to Ashlin.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

IT WAS mostly a battle between two with Phil Shepherd (EH Holden) and Michael Cross (Holden Torana XU-1) fittingly tying on points after several good battles. Cross got the nod for the trophy after qualifying ahead of Shepherd. Lachlan Thomas kept both honest in most races, punching well above his weight in a 1.3-litre Ford Escort.

Martin Agatyn

ACCESS AT THE ISLAND PIARC’S REGULAR series of Access meetings continued with the April edition hosting the Hyundai Excels and Victorian Under 2-Litre Sports Sedans as well as a round of the Supersprint completing the program.

EXCEL TROPHY

THE HYUNDAI Excels were divided into two categories, the Under 40s with the highest achieved points for the class contested the Trophy Class.

The opening encounter was held in wet conditions with polesitter Chris Stilo dropping back to 21st by the end of the race, leaving Hugo Simpson to take victory by 0.102s clear of Adam Bywater, while Kai Allen rounded out the podium less than 1s behind.

Simpson took the second ahead of Allen and Jarred Farrell A red-flag ended the final race early as Simpson crossed the line in the lead after twolaps ahead of Allen and Farrell.

EXCEL MASTERS

TIM ROWSE started from pole in the Over 40s ahead of Peter van Waart, but it was the latter, who won the opening encounter ahead of Travis Jones and Glenn MacKenzie.

Rowse dropped to 11th, but recovered to sixth in Race 2 as Jones, MacKenzie and Karl Neilson demoted van Waart to fourth in what was a very tight battle for the lead.

Jones went onto dominate the final race, winning by 9s ahead of van Waart and Neilson, while MacKenzie led Rowse to complete the top five.

UNDER TWO-LITRE SPORTS SEDANS

A STRONG field of 20-entries including a handful of Australian Pulsar Racing Series teams featured in the Victorian Under Two-Litre Sports Sedans round at Phillip Island.

It was an all-Mini Cooper S JWC front-row with Iain McDougall snatching pole from the similarly

Images: Bec Hind/Revved Photgraphy

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mounted Craig Lindsell by 0.301s.

Conditions Co ditio s for fo the opening o e i race a e were e e difficult diffi lt due to constant rain, which allowed Steven Howard in his Toyota Corolla to take the win from fourth. He edged McDougall by 0.498s in Race 1 as the pair led home Linda Devlin in her Mini by 10s, while Lindsell dropped to fourth ahead of David Runkell’s Proton Satria GTI in a race, which was red flagged.

The incident involved leader of the Pulsar class, Tim Maynard as he crashed entering the front straight. Brett Stevens and Graeme Ireland rounded out the class podium.

Rain still remained for Race 2 where McDougall dominated, winning by more than a minute. He led home a Mini 1-2-3 as Devlin and Lindsell followed, ahead of Andrew Pinkerton’s

Datsun P510.

Opening O e i race a e winner i e Howard Ho a d encountered e o te ed problems as he finished two-laps down on the leader.

Fifth was lead Pulsar, Daniel Smith, who led home Ireland and Matthew Butters with Stevens fourth.

Changeable conditions for Race 3 led to drivers starting on slicks, but by Turn 2 the track was wet and a safety car followed.

McDougall then dominated as he took his second win of the weekend, leading home Lindsell and Ben Hamilton as leader of the Pulsars.

Declan Kirkham was second in Pulsars and fourth outright, while Pinkerton struggled with engine problems to take fifth. HM

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s w e n Y A W SPEED Report: Paris Charles Images: Richard Hathaway LIKE A Duck to water, Callum Williamson quickly settled into driving duties of the Monte Motorsport W17 Maxim.

In just his second outing for the team he was successful in winning the prestigious Asphalt Recyclers Australia Gold Cup, run as the second round of the Maddington Toyota Triple Crown Series at the Perth Motorplex.

Williamson may have been the victor however he worked solidly in the early goings to progress his way forward from position four to win the Gold Cup and $5,000 winner’s purse. Former Australian Speedcar Champion Dayne Kingshott started from pole after setting quickest time at the beginning of the night aboard the Krikke Motorsport W2 Maxwill powered Cool. Brad Maiolo and David Priolo also qualified before him for the non-stop 30-lap feature event.

At the drop of the green, Kingshott pounced to lead with Maiolo and Williamson in hot pursuit. As the Maiolo and Williamson diced for second, the latter worked the top side of the track to take the advantage and set his sights on the W2 tail tank of Kingshott.

But, he had opened a handy break as, by lap 5, the lead duo started trading blows for the lead.

This thrilling battle endured for several more circulations with slide jobs back and forth. By one third the race distance, the Monte Farms W17 Maxim found clear track as he settled comfortably into the lead followed by Kingshott, Maiolo and Daniel Harding, who had moved into fourth over Jason Pryde.

Things appeared comfortable for Williamson until encountering lapped traffic.

He was tagged by the W18 of Trevor Jolly allowing Kingshott a second bite at the cherry as he tried to reclaim the lead. The duo touched down the back shoot – luckily for Williamson he carried better momentum forward and Kingshott was forced to transfer from attack to defence as Maiolo mounted a challenge for second at the halfway mark.

While these two scuffled for the minors, Williamson knuckled down to business and

WILLIAMSON THE GOLDEN BOY

set sail on an express path to park the GT Bobcat / Daniel Trucking entry to victory lane. Kingshott and Maiolo rounded out the podium placings.

Daniel Harding demonstrated strong determination to advance the Adra Group W41 from 10th to fourth after a rollercoaster run earlier in the evening. Harding started well to qualify second quickest and take a heat race victory before missing the second with mechanical damage.

Ryan Landcaster, Jason Pryde and Taylor Milling in the Totally Work Wear W25 were next to greet the chequered flag, while David Priolo dropped from third to eighth in the

H Highway Harley Davidson W8.

Rounding out the top dozen w were Kris Coyle, Jason Kendrick an and Trevor Reynolds.

A Nash was followed home by AJ Darren Mewett and Trevor Jolly Da while Mathew Cross rounded out wh the top 15.

Heat H race wins were shared among Dayne Kingshott, Daniel am Harding, Andrew Priolo and Trevor Har Reynolds.

Rey A large turnout of 18 thundering V8 l powered Late Models assembled for pow the Stan Starcevich Gold Cup as lead support category.

The 30-lap journey proved to be a crunching affair in the early going, which featured several incident packed stoppages.

Paul Stubber controlled the race comfortably for 28 circulations before Jamie Oldfield sling shotted around the outside in lapped traffic to steal a memorable race victory.

Stubber was surrounded by Oldfields as Jason and Warren completed the top four.

Ken MacPherson, Kye Blight, Jamie Moon, Mat Goodlad, Laura Byrnes and Jay Cardy rounded out the 11 finishers.

Kaiden Manders won the Graham Jones Speedcar Gold Cup with Kaidon Brown and Alfie Gaudagnino taking the final steps on the podium.

Dan Golding, Glen Mears, Rob Golding, Jacob Potts, Vaughan Manders, and Cory Smith completed the finishers from the 15 cars to start the event.

In a field of 24 competitors WA Wingless Sprint champion Matt Iwanow proved why he carries the #1 after clean sweeping all three races to win the Gold Cup. After winning both of his heat races, Iwanow started the main race on pole position and went onto victory. Jye Mckenzie and Daran Humfrey flanked him on the podium. Blake Iwanow, Paul Robinson, Matty Fellowes, Brendon Wedge, Brad Fitzgerald, Tom Britton and Kieran Normanwould square up the top 10. Ash Hounsfield, Jackson Condo, Chad Pittard, Brandon Sharpe, Daniel Keen, Gavin Preen, Travis Sharpe, Kevin Bissaker, Craig Watts and Alex Robinson final competitor to finish the main event.

Finally, Ryan Fanderlinden proved to be the best of the 30-plus entries to take victory in the crowd popular 4-cylinder 10K Winner Takes All Demo Derby.

Weather hands Lismore Another Hard Lick Report: Paris Charles PHOTO: Declan Brownsey/44Photography ON THE eastern seaboard in New South Wales, the Castrol Edge Lismore Speedway has continued its tough run of luck in recent times, with rain-outs and area flooding.

Most recently, venue promoter David Lander also cancelled the venue’s two-night Easter extravaganza due to COVID restrictions.

The venue was set to feature the re-run from January’s rain out of the V8 Dirt Modifieds ‘Mr Modified Series’ heading the marque with strong support from support from AMCA Nationals, Production Sedans, Junior Sedans, Legend Cars and Street Stocks.

As we go to print it was announced the ‘Mr Modified Series’ event has been rescheduled for the season finale on April 24. We wish the venue promoter David Lander and the regions speedway community third time luck in hosting the event.

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Gollschewsky’s National Modlite Crown

Report: Paris Charles Image: Ray Ritter/KNJ Photography

Anthony Beare Claims Seventh Victorian Street Stock Championship Words: Paris Charles Photo: Shane Sharrock FOLLOWING ON from recently capturing an unprecedented 10th South Australian Championship, Mount Gambier’s Anthony Beare proved unstoppable at Alexandra Speedway to take his seventh Victorian Street Stock Title.

At the end of night one, Beare topped the points score, setting the scene for more to come on the following night.

In doing so he reset a total of three new race and single lap records at Alexandra Speedway.

The one, 10 and 15 lap records now belong to

the reigning Australian Champion.

Right from the first circulation, the scene was set for what followed when second in points Jacob Mills buried the #11 Patriot Motorsport FG Ford Falcon in the wall.

While others fell around him, Beare dominated on every circulation of the 35-lap incident packed main event aboard the SA46 EB Graphics Holden VF Commodore. In the early going, Beare set a new lap record, a 21.269, however throughout the field numerous battles continued to unfold behind as rivals jockeyed for position.

Margins fluctuated between the top three as lapped traffic was encountered.

Beare went on to add another title to his impressive portfolio. Jason Degoldi followed him to the line ahead of Morris Ahearn.

Chris Marino was fourth, while Adrian Lawrence fended off a late race challenge from South Aussie Jason Duell to step on the extended dais for the the top five.

Next was Tyler Barton, Dale Morrison, Jayden Edwards and Shane Roycroft rounding out the top 10. Matt Nelson, Greg Parks, Leigh Gooding, Scott Secombe followed, and female gun Felicity Roycroft was the final finisher. Ricky Cornwall, Steven Watts, Mick Dann and Jacob Mills failed to travel the full distance.

Oldfield Claims Toowoomba Thriller!

Words: Paris Charles Photo: Declan Brownsey/44Photography THE DRAMA of the Queensland COVID border lockdowns cast uncertainty over the running of the Queensland Easter Tri Series.

Thankfully, the scaling back of the COVID restrictions allowed 31 Sprintcar teams to assemble at the Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway for night one.

The Easter Chocolates came early for Luke Oldfield, who secured one of the most spectacular and memorable finishes.

Oldfield notched up his maiden victory of the season crossing the finish line with a car wrecking crash after the finish.

Robbie Farr and Brent Kratzmann shared the front-row leading 18 racers behind for the incident packed feature race.

As the real estate narrowed towards the tail end of the race, fans were on the edge of their seats as Oldfield closed on the race leader Farr, who was negotiating lapped traffic. With one circulation remaining Farr clipped the rear wheel of Cody Maroske and as he bounced up to brush the wall coming out of Turn 2, Oldfield swept past on the inside closely followed by Lachlan McHugh.

Less than half a lap later Oldfield also touched with the Q27 SRV Road Freight entry of Maroske, this allowed McHugh to get up alongside Oldfield.

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The Q17 Advanced Mobility of Oldfield won the drag ahead of the NQ7 Hi Tec Oils Cool of McHugh by just 0.028s at the fall of the chequered flag before rolling over in spectacular fashion at Turn 1.

Robbie Farr regathered his momentum to bring the Saller Motorsport N56 Triple X entry home third.

Brent Kratzmannwas fourth ahead of the first Toowoomba local in Nicholas Whell.

Brendan Scorgie, Andrew Corbet, Aaron Kelly, Jai Stephenson and veteran Darren Jensen placing in 10th. Cody Maroske,

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Brodie Tulloch, Sam Blysma, Tim Farrell and Mitch Gowland rounded out the finishers in 15th position.

Matt Dumesny rode out a wild crash aboard the N57 Valvoline machine with 13laps remaining while Richard Morgan, Steve Greer, Ryan McNamara and Randy Morgan all failed to run the distance.

Unfortunately, Mother nature dropped the chequered on the highly anticipated second round at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway as well as the final event at Toowoomba Speedway.

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FOR 24 Modlite competitors all roads led to The Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway for the 2021 Gunspray / Gips Pipes Australian Modlite Championship.

Sam Gollschewsky led every one of the 25-lap feature race to capture his maiden national crown.

The Queenslander had to survive a few serious challenges for the lead, first was young South Australian gun Ryan Alexander.

He threw everything he could at the race leader in traffic only to clip the wheel of defending champion Kyle Honour. This resulted in a flat right front tyre ending his assault on the title.

At this point the defending champion Honour relinquished his crown as he also pulled to the infield.

At the next restart, Brook Alexander the next retirement after contact and a few laps later the race was again halted after Terry Leerentveld tangled with Andrew Stoodley while trying to lap him in traffic.

This time, the break was quite lengthy as the crash crews carefully separated the tangled Queensland cars. Leerentveld was able to restart and reclaimed the second position at the single file restart, while Stoodly watched with the long list of retirements from the infield.

With just eight laps remaining, all eyes were on the lead duo as they separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

As the gap closed, Gollschewsky narrowly held off the late race challenge of Leerentveld in the run to the line by a mere 0.182 of a second.

Queenslander’s Sean Rose and Dan Lewis completed the top four with Scott Webb being the best of the locals in fifth. South Aussies Patrick Hewitt, Anthony Grillett, Brian Chadwick, Jacob Carlier and Justin Chadwick rounded out the top 10. While Shane Price, Luke Fraser, Jake Armstrong, Dylan Richter and Andrew Launer would round out the finishers from the 20 to take the green flag.

Michael Miller, Paige Charlson and Queenslander’s Scott Lehfeldt and Klinton Hancey also failed to start the finale.

Dane Lewis, Michael Miller and Sam Gollschewsky took the opening round of heats. Round 2 heat wins were shared between Jacob Carlier, Scott Webb and Miller. The third round of heat wins were taken by Ryan Alexander, Gollschewsky and Anthony Grillett. The fourth and final round of heats were awarded to Luke Fraser, Alexander and Gollschewsky.

In the support races, Nathan Thorne defeated Sam Brumfield and Nigel Reichstein in the Street Stock feature. Well-travelled Tasmanian Tim Pyke ran away with the victory in the Late Model section with Brad Gartner and Jason Robinson sharing the podium. While Aaron Tranter proved too strong in the Junior Sedans.

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We take a look back at who or what was making news in the pages of Auto Action 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago

Images: McM aster/Mcklein

1971: MOFFAT WINS at The Mountain. No, not the 500, but the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship round held during the traditional Easter event. Allan Moffat took his Ford Falcon GT-HO to victory, firing the first shot against the pesky Holden Torana GTR XU-1s. Ford teammate John French took a distant second.

1991: BRAD JONES and Robin Best held onto their respective titles on the Thunderdome. For Jones, it was his second title in what was a run of success for the Albury-based driver and team led by brother Kim. In touring cars, CAMS an increase of minimum weight limits due to many teams unable to reach the figures set at the start of the season.

1981: FAST FORWARD 10-years and it’s new Ford hero Dick Johnson doing the winning. Johnson’s success in Round 4 of the Australian Touring Car Championship at Sandown led to a Ford 1-2 at the top of the standings as, trailing Johnson’s Falcon, was Colin Bond in the Masterton Homes Capri.

Meanwhile, an International Formula Pacific series was to be announced in Australia.

2001: AFTER WINNING the most recent V8 Supercars round in Adelaide, Jason Bright was jumping into a new Holden Racing Team VX Commodore meticulously put together by the crew at Clayton. The younger Schumacher, Ralf broke through to take his first Formula 1 Grand Prix victory at Imola in his Williams-BMW.

2011: RICK KELLY’S win on the streets of Hamilton was not a false dawn according to the 2006 V8 Supercar champion. It concluded a strong weekend for the Jack Daniel’s sponsored family team, which included a front-row lockout, resulting in Kelly moving to second in the points. Shane van Gisbergen emerged as the new hometown hero for Kiwi fans.

Images: Motorsport Images

ACROSS 2. After winning the Dakar Rally in 2021, how many times has Stephane Peterhansel now won the event in all classes?

4. Who was the first driver to win the Australian GT Championship in a Chevrolet Monza? (surname) 8. Who won the 2006 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series? (full name) 12. For what team did multiple time Motorcycle World Champion and Isle of Man TT winner Mike Hailwood drive for in F1 in 1974?

13. Who is the only reigning F1 world champion to compete in Bathurst 500/1000? (surname) 16. Aussie Molly Taylor won the inaugural Extreme E event, who was her co-driver? (surname) 18. In what country did Pedro de la Rosa score his sole F1 podium driving for McLaren in 2006?

19. Which Swiss driver finished second to Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1974 F1 World Championship? (surname) 20. John Goss and Kevin Bartlett won the 1974 Bathurst 1000 driving what model Ford Falcon GT Hardtop?

Images: motorsport Images-Mark Horsburgh

21. What number did Casey Stoner famously run on his way to two MotoGP crowns?

22. In what position did George Russell qualify for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix?

23. Who won the season opening IndyCar World Series race at Surfers Paradise in 1993? (surname) 26. Prior to McLaughlin, who is the most recent driver to win the 1000 and championship in the same year? (surname) 27. What is the nationality of former Triple Eight

Racing and Dick Johnson Racing driver Max Wilson?

28. Who did Dick Johnson win the Bathurst 1000 with in 1981? (surname) DOWN 1. In the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, Mark Webber finished his debut F1 race in what position?

3. Who won the season opening race in Adelaide in 2007? (full name) 5. Who am I? Born in America I won two World Superbike Championships in 2000 and 2002 and

scored 12 MotoGP podiums. (surname) 6. Who won the first Adelaide Grand Prix in 1985? (full name) 7. What number is Scott McLaughlin running with in the 2021 IndyCar Series?

9. Who won his first Indy 500 in 1974? (surname) 10. Prior to making his F1 debut last year for the injured Romain Grosjean, what series did Pietro Fittipaldi contest in 2019?

11. Which former Renault Formula 1 driver won the GP2 title in 2014? (full name) 14. Which Supercars TV reporter won the 1989 Formula Ford Championship? (surname) 15. Colin Bond had a well-known motorsport identity as his co-driver in the 2003 Targa Tasmania, who was it? (full name) 17. For what team did Mark Webber make his F1 debut?

23. Steven Richards won the first Supercars round in Canberra but who won the first race? (surname) 24. Race 2 in Adelaide back in 2014 was famous for the battle between Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup, but who won that race?

25. How many drivers have won Supercars Championship races at The Bend Motorsport Park?

Crossword answers #1808 1 down – three, 2 down – QR, 3 across – Zhou, 4 across – Moffat, 4 down – Monaco, 5 down – French, 6 across – GRM, 6 down – Gasly, 7 down – zero, 8 across – ten, 9 across – Herron, 10 across – Will Davison, 11 down – Ian Geoghegan, 12 down – Malaysia, 13 across – D’Alberto, 14 down – Bristol, 15 down – Rick Kelly, 16 down – Schuppan, 16 across – Stewart, 17 down – Whincup, 18 across – eighteen, 19 down – Porsche, 20 down – Danish, 21 across – Larrousse, 22 across – Mawson, 23 down – Sainz, 24 across – Italy, 25 down – Lowndes, 26 across – Spain, 27 across - seventh

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