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GEN3 COMING DURING 2022 Supercars technical boss opens up on plans for new-gen Camaro and Mustang racers

By BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS HAS officially confirmed the debut of the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang Supercars will happen during 2022 and not be delayed until 2023. And it could happen during the championship.

The potential mid-season timing was reported as an outcome of an emergency team owners meeting three weeks ago, but unconfirmed by Supercars itself.

Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess has now conceded an in-season debut was not being ruled out. He was also emphatic the cars would appear in the calendar year.

A complete overhaul of the grid to a new technical rule-set during the season is unprecedented in Supercars history.

The closest examples would be not all Ford competitors making the shift from FG to FG/X Falcon at the start of 2015 and the Holden runners transitioning from VS to VT Holden Commodore during 1998.

The roll-over from Gen2 to Gen3 would happen during the 2022 season if the testing and build process required to get up to 26 cars on the grid for the season opener at Newcastle was not completed.

“There’s a few factors still at play,” Burgess said. “I don’t have a straight answer for you, but it is going to be 2022. I can’t say when yet.”

When asked about a mid-season debut he said: “I am not ruling anything out, but equally I cannot go on record and say when it is going to be because that decision hasn’t been taken yet.”

In the same in-depth briefing to the motor sport media, Burgess also revealed: • The cost of a car is expected to come in at around $400,000 ready to race.

Running costs should also be substantially reduced compared to the current Gen2.

• Testing of both prototypes being bult for Supercars is currently scheduled to begin in late August at Sydney Motorsport Park, but the timeline remains “fluid”.

• Test drivers will be a combination of experienced and emerging drivers. The cars will be run by a combination of team and Supercars personnel.

• They will make public appearances at subsequent Supercars championship events this year.

• The production-based Ford Coyote engine being developed for Gen3 will be 5.4-litres in capacity. The Chevrolet engine will be smaller than the 6.2-litre previously reported.

• Cars will be built by multiple teams as per the current Gen2 Supercar and not a single source such as Triple Eight Race Engineering.

• The focus of the two homologation teams, Triple Eight (Camaro) and DJR (Mustang) right now is fitting the bodies over the previously revealed standard chassis. Burgess said the exteriors would “carry far more road car DNA” than any previous Supercar.

• Components such as uprights, suspension wishbones and roll bars are currently in the process of being turned from CAD (computer aided design) into engineering drawings and physical parts.

• Aerodynamic testing is being conducted now using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) to establish the position of the splitter and much smaller rear wing, before physical VCAT aero testing begins later this year.

• An example of the detailed cost cutting program is a reduced spindle size for the upright that will reduce the need for highpowered pneumatic rattle guns which require frequent rebuilds. It is expected pitlane could transition within years to electric rattle guns as per GT racing.

This week was the first time since the announcement of the Gen3 ruleset at Bathurst last October that any Supercars employee apart from CEO Sean Seamer and now-departed chief strategy officer John Casey had spoken on the record at length about Gen3.

Burgess is deeply involved in Gen3 at the centre of the development process that includes his own department, a steering group, an engineering group, homologation teams Triple Eight and DJR, engineering consultancy D2H, engine builders KRE and Mostech, and manufacturer reps GM Racing and Ford Performance.

After an initial burst of information at Bathurst, further information had only leaked out in dribs and drabs to teams, media and the public, prompting significant speculation and concern, especially over launch timing at the start of 2022.

Some team owners have consistently opposed that timing and privately expressed their concerns to the media, including Auto Action.

Burgess indicated the timing of Gen3’s debut was a complex issue.

“Things are sort of out of our control that we are working with and accommodating everybody’s wishes and everyone else’s plans, so it’s not that straight-forward.

“There are a lot of a stakeholders involved in this size program, not necessarily just teams and manufacturers. You’ve got state governments, there are lots of broadcasters, there lots of moving parts.”

The in-season switch has some Supercars stakeholders concerned more than others. Apart from adding complexity in terms of build and logistics, one example that comes up more than once is the arrival of the new car could potentially influence the championship battle because of a technical parity imbalance.

On engines, Burgess said a significant amount of work has being undergone to achieve technical parity. He declined to confirm the size of the Chevrolet engine, but a 5.7-litre option has

been previously reported.

“The two manufacturers have submitted engines to us. We have run both engines on the dynos and our job at the moment is to run through a variety of tools to use; cam timing, injection timing, ignition timing, air restrictors.

“We are going through a lot of runs on the dyno establishing how big an effect each of those areas has in changing either the peak power or the power curve.

“Once they present their final engines, it will be our job to get those jobs as close as we can.”

BURGESS ON PADDLE SHIFTS During the briefing Adrian Burgess made clear electronic actuation of shifting will be introduced, either by paddle-shift or the current gear-lever.

But he also clarified heel and toe manual gearchanging would “not necessarily” become a lost skill.

Current drivers have opposed the loss of heel and toe, some arguing it would mean less mistakes and therefore less passing opportunities.

Supercars and team owners are convinced electronic actuation is needed to prevent costly engine wear and damage caused by over-revs.

“We can leave the gearbox as it is and let the driver do the blip or we if we want to save costs and protect the engines better and have more life out of then gearboxes, then you go to the other extreme and take control of the blip and have a paddle shift gearbox.

“So there is a few ways to set this thing up and it’s a big debate; should it be in the driver’s hands, should it be in the hands of the software writers?

“There’s a lot of implications for the show, for the product, but equally for the teams, for the engine life, for the gearbox life.

“It is not a straight-forward answer; you can still have a gear-lever, the key thing is whether you do the blip or not.

“That’s the bit where we have to have a debate and make a decision.”

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EREBUS COMMITS TO CAMARO Rising rookies Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown will “come out swinging” in Chevrolets in 2022. Erebus boss Barry Ryan tells BRUCE NEWTON why

Digital Images: Scott Yorston/SS MEDIA Design

EREBUS MOTORSPORT has officially committed to racing the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro in the Supercars Championship.

The ambitious Melbourne-based team owned by property mogul Betty Klimenko will continue an allegiance with General Motors that began when it swapped from the Mercedes-Benz E-Class to the Holden Commodore in 2015.

These official Erebus images show how the 2022 Gen3 ZL1 coupe should look in Boost colours, campaigned by star rookie Brodie Kostecki.

While Kostecki is a confirmed starter in 2022 for Erebus, alongside current rookie team-mate Will Brown, Boost is yet to be re-signed.

However, the expectation is the telecommunications provider will continue its relationship with the team and Kostecki, who currently sits 10th in the Supercars championship and has already claimed a podium in 2021.

Erebus CEO and team principal Barry Ryan told Auto Action there was hardly any debate internally over whether the team would choose the Camaro or the Ford Mustang for Gen3.

“We didn’t really discuss racing the

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Mustang,” he confirmed.

“There’s no official affiliation with GM, it’s just that Betty is more of a GM person than a Ford person. It’s as simple as that.

“Hopefully a lot of our fans like us partly because they like the Holden thing or the GM thing and a switch might lose some fans. It might gain some fans, but we can’t see a reason to change.

“There’s more reason to be in a Camaro in my head because it’s never been in the Supercars championship. There might be more interest in that than the Mustang.”

Having received CAD data for the new Gen3 racer from Supercars, the team is already underway with preliminary chassis build preparation.

“We have months of work without getting one more drawing,” said Ryan.

Gen3 is promised by Supercars to be substantially cheaper to build and race than the current cars. They will also lose most of their current downforce, promoting an emphasis on mechanical grip and hopefully creating more passing. The engines will be production-based and the front uprights are becoming a control item.

Like all Supercars teams, Erebus will have access to data and be allowed to attend

when the prototypes begin their testing program, which is currently slated for late August at Sydney Motorsport Park. Erebus as yet hasn’t got a locked in date for its own on-track program to begin.

Also yet to be finalised is Gen3’s race debut. It could be at the start of the 2022 season if the testing and build program can be completed on time, or it could be during the season, a prospect that concerns Ryan less than some other team owners.

“It’s no different to the transition from VS to VT Commodore in 1998 [in the Australian Touring Car Championship],” Ryan argued.

“I’d like to see it at the start of the year, I don’t see why not. But if there are reasons I don’t know about, or people that don’t think it can happen, we’ll work on that to see if we can help. But if it ends up being mid-season it will be mid-season.”

Whenever it does arrive, Ryan is confident Gen3 can deliver Erebus – the winner of seven Supercars races including the 2017 Bathurst 1000 - an opportunity to be even more competitive with the dominant teams.

“We know we should be able to start off on the same sheet of paper as every other team and if we can do a good job initially then we can be competitive with anyone,” he said.

“It’s going to be a positive because it’s going to be more affordable. There is obviously going to be less development, so the bigger teams will come back to the smaller teams.

“You are not going to have the opportunity to outsmart every other team in more technical ways. You have to outsmart them by managing what you have better and having better drivers.

“I guess we’ll back ourselves whatever the situation is to be a better than other teams.”

A key asset for Erebus will be the additional testing days available to Kostecki and Ryan in 2022 in the second year of their rookie program.

“It’s a little bit of strategy I guess that our two rookies get two years of extra test days which means we are going to get a bit of a leg-up.

“We have two very talented rookies and very good technically; Will has a good feel for the car and Brodie is very technical. An extra test day even at the start of the year before everyone else is a huge thing with a new car.

“The drivers are going to have to extract everything out of the mechanical side of the grip, so having the right feel and knowing what you need to go faster is going to be as critical as ever, if not moreso.

“Our expectations will be high because hopefully both drivers will be podium finishers this year and we’ll have at least one win. They both will be ready to come out swinging in 2022.”

More generally speaking, Ryan is a believer in what Gen3 and its highly prescriptive technical content can deliver to Supercars racing.

“It is definitely what we need in this day and age,” he said.

“The best thing about it is everyone is going to have the same stuff, we are not all going to go out and develop a new upright or a new widget here and there,” he said.

“Once something is tested and proven once, everyone knows it is tested and proven.

“That is a big difference over the current cars.

“We will have pretty much the same rear-end, the same transmission, the driveline will be very similar as in the shaft and so on, so it’s not a massive change from what we have got in those areas that can be critical to reliability.

“The chassis is not going to be a reliability thing; it’s been ticked off by enough really good engineers to know it’s going to work.

“The front-end is not going to be a problem, again it’s had a lot of good engineers go over it, so it’s not going to fail.

“The steering rack is probably a little bit

of an issue, but again if we have a couple of failures it will be fixed for everyone.”

On the engine side Ryan was less communicative, professing to have little knowledge of what was coming: “The engine thing is – again - once it’s right we’ll put it in the car. I am not too concerned about that, we’ll let the experts worry about that.”

Ryan weighed in on the paddle-shifter debate, arguing electronic actuation would encourage more youthful drivers into the sport who don’t have experience with heel and toe.

“It limits kids that have never done it and if they have never done it, you would never

even consider putting them in the car,” he said.

“I am not with it or against it, but with that young guy thing it is really a good thing if we do it because it gives more young kids an opportunity they might not have got.”

BRODIE: READY TO RACE

BEING A racer’s racer it’s no surprise Brodie Kostecki isn’t that fussed about what he drives in the Supercars championship, just as long as he can win with it.

So it’s fair to say he is taking the switch from Holden Commodore ZB to Chev Camaro ZL1 in his stride.

“I’m not too worried what the car looks like … I just like to drive them,” he laughed.

The 24-year old rookie from Perth has set Supercars racing alight with his 2020 Bathurst co-driving heroics and stellar Sandown podium this year. He is also regarded as one of the most technically capable among the Supercars field and that should be an asset finding pace out of the new car.

“With what I have learned throughout the years hopefully we can shortcut the learning period and jump a few other guys,” he said.

But Kostecki admits his knowledge of Gen3 is as yet limited. He understand there will be less downforce but also more control parts. He is worried those two factors might cancel each other out

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when it comes to the quest for more passing.

“If all the cars are quite similar and make lap time in the same part of the corner, then it is going to be quite difficult to pass,” he said. “It’s going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out.”

An area of performance he thinks might open up more potential is how the Dunlop control tyres will react to the new chassis, which will be wider and heavier. A grippier tyre is possible for introduction.

“The tyre we have now seems to get pretty hot, so while we are racing around we are managing the temperature of the tyre, which makes it hard to pass.

“When you follow another car the tyre temperature goes up quite a lot, which is a determining factor of why we can’t pass at the moment.”

One thing Kostecki doesn’t want in Gen3 is a paddle-shift and electronic actuation.

“I think going away from that part of Supercars racing [manual heel and toe gearchanges via a lever] will make it harder to pass because the drivers will make less mistakes with paddle-shift.

“I am definitely not a fan of it.” BN

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HOLDSWORTH PLOTS 2022 RETURN Lethal Lee aims for Bathurst win with WAU and a full-time Supercars drive

By BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS RACE winner Lee Holdsworth has overcome the anger and anguish of losing his drive in the off-season and resolved to get back on the grid full-time in 2022.

Holdsworth was left on the sidelines by Tickford Racing despite a driving contract and qualifying fastest for the 2020 Bathurst 1000. He is now putting the processes and planning in-place to return to the grid and says there is interest in his services.

“I thought I could accept being out of a full-time seat, but as time goes on it’s become more difficult,” Holdsworth told Auto Action in an exclusive interview.

“The way it went down, it’s not the way I wanted to end my full time career.”

Holdsworth stressed the desire for a 2022 drive would not detract from his total focus on supporting Chaz Mostert and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s assault on the Bathurst 1000 in October.

Holdsworth is convinced the partnership with Mostert in the Appliances Online WAU Holden Commodore ZB is one of his best shots yet at standing atop the podium at Mount Panorama.

“I’m really focussed on doing a great job for WAU and Chaz and helping them achieve their goal of winning the greatest race in the country,” he said.

“I realise my job is not to be the fastest driver of the weekend, but the best co-driver.

“I can already see from the first test day to the second test day how they’ve improved the car. It’s exciting to know I’ll be steering that car around Bathurst.

“I feel there’s more to come from the team. They’re pushing extremely hard to be a championship contender.”

Holdsworth has assistance from a couple of key advisers in his 2022 full-time quest. While he is not willing to name them, AA understands they include a well-known money-hunter and negotiator who has aided other drivers secure seats in the past.

“It helps having sponsors,” said Holdsworth. “It’s almost become an essential part of securing a drive. The more sponsorship you can bring, the better the outcome for everyone.”

Holdsworth says he has not started actively negotiating with teams for a potential 2022 drive, but there is no doubt he is on the radar. One otherwise chatty team owner clammed up when the subject of Holdsworth was raised by AA during an interview.

“At this point there has been some interest, a few phone calls,” Holdsworth confirmed Any one of at least five Supercars championship teams could be a home for Holdsworth in 2022. That even includes Tickford Racing, where he was forced-out in-part because of a cash shortfall triggered by the loss of its Supercheap Auto backing.

Tickford is looking to expand back to a four-car entry in 2021, while Matt Stone Racing wants to add a third entry and could also be a candidate for Holdsworth. Other possible homes include Brad Jones Racing, Kelly Grove Racing and even WAU, if Mostert or sophomore team-mate Bryce Fullwood move on.

Holdsworth found himself watching on in 2021 despite his Bathurst 1000 heroics and finishing 10th and 11th in the championship the two years he raced for Tickford. Before

that he drove for Garry Rogers Motorsport (2006-11), Stone Brothers Racing (2012), Erebus Motorsport (2013-14) and Charlie Schwerkolt Racing (2015-18).

Holdsworth moved on to race in the TCR Australia Series in 2021, as well as securing the WAU co-drive.

He revealed to AA how hard losing His Supercars drive had hit him.

“I was pretty shocked and upset by it all as well because it came at pretty short notice,” he said.

“At that point I was pretty burned and over it and thought I was ready to put Supercars to bed.

“There was a point where I couldn’t bear watching it at all. But at the same time wanted to know what was going on. I found myself having to go for a run to burn off the anxiety.”

Gradually, Holdsworth revealed, that attitude has evolved.

“Watching racing from home and getting to drive the WAU Supercar has re-sparked that desire to be in a Supercar. So I’m in a different frame of mind.

“Nothing gives you the same rush as Supercars; the competitiveness, the parity…. ultimately it’s a drivers category and that’s what draws me to it.

“Sitting out has been a true reminder of how much I love this sport. I still have more to offer.”

In part that refers to the category’s transition to the Gen3 technical rule-set, which could happen as soon as the start of the 2022 season.

Holdsworth says his enormous experience in Supercars would aid a team’s development process.

“I believe teams will benefit from having established drivers. No doubt most drivers can guide the development path, but experience should count for a lot with Gen 3.”

At 38, Holdsworth acknowledged some people will question his right to a seat, arguing he’s had his shot.

But he pointed out a couple of high-profile older drivers in Tim Slade (35) and Will Davison (38) returning to the category as proof that argument is flawed.

“The older guys aren’t getting any slower and I think if anything they’re showing their consistency and their strength as the seasoned campaigners,” he said.

“Stability is a huge factor… There are some young, fast drivers coming up, but they might benefit from having some experience around them. The development of the cars can be very difficult.

“I finished 2020 with a fast car and showed my speed. Ability is one thing, but having the right package around you is a big part of it.”

Bearing that in mind, Holdsworth stressed he wasn’t going to return to the category at all costs as an uncompetitive drive would be counter-productive.

“It’s not as simple as saying, I would take anything, that’s not my attitude.” Holdsworth has claimed three Supercars wins across his 15-year full-time career, 19 podiums and four pole positions. His best Bathurst finish was third with Michael Caruso in 2009 in a GRM Holden Commodore. His best championship finish was seventh with GRM in 2010.

LEE HOLDSWORTH’S exit from Supercars has increased his belief a drivers’ association should be established.

Kelly Grove Racing’s David Reynolds has been a public campaigner for an association this year, along with his podcast colleague and former full-time Supercars driver Michael Caruso.

While Reynolds has focused on the benefits an association could deliver during a driver’s career, Holdsworth said it could also be an aid for life after full-time racing.

“We have all got the same challenges once we get out if racing and that is to find another career.

“It would be great to see a drivers’ union or association formed that would help lead you into another career path.” Holdsworth pointed to the AFL and NRL players associations that encouraged and aided their members to study and work experience during their sporting careers.

“I have been committed to this since I was seven years old and there was nothing else ever on my mind,” Holdsworth said.

“You gain a lot of skills during that time – communications skills, data analysis, public speaking, people skills – but it doesn’t put you in another job.”

Earlier this year Supercars COO Shane Howard rejected the need for a drivers’ association. BN

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MOSTERT SET TO STAY AT CLAYTON

By MARK FOGARTY WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United is confident Chaz Mostert will renew for next year and beyond to lead the resurgent team’s Gen3 Camaro assault.

Amid speculation Mostert is a prime target to replace retiring Jamie Whincup alongside Shane van Gisbergen at Triple Eight, WAU team principal Bruce Stewart confirmed moves were underway to keep the storied Clayton squad’s driver line-up intact.

Stewart also revealed that WAU was set to stay in the GM fold, switching to the Chevrolet Camaro in 2022.

While the word is that Mostert has already decided to stay at WAU on a multi-year renewal, his team boss was guardedly optimistic about holding on to his racewinning star.

“We’d really like to,” Stewart said in an extended interview on WAU’s revival featured in this issue. “We’re working hard to keep him. He’s a super-asset for us and that’s the aim.

“I’d feel reasonably confident that he’ll want to stay because we’ve rebuilt our team around him and he feels really comfortable and at home here.”

Although sounding like a new deal is

imminent – if not already done – Stewart would only admit he hopes to re-sign Mostert “as soon as possible, I would think”.

He also hoped to retain promising young gun Bryce Fulwood.

“We haven’t really discussed that at the moment, but that would be the plan and the vision, I would say,” he hedged. “We’re just

trying to support him to get the results that he wants and we want. But we really like the young man.”

Despite team co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw’s proclamations that WAU is looking to introduce a new manufacturer, Stewart indicated the former factory Holden team would at least start Gen3 with the Commodore replacement Camaro.

“I would say so,” he allowed. “We’ve been a Holden team for a long time. [Walkinshaw Automotive Group] build Chevy Silverados and we were doing Camaros, so at this stage it would make sense to race the Camaro.”

WAU’s unconventional boss on Clayton’s comeback – see ‘Up Front With Foges’ on pages 24-27.

DARWIN ALL SET TO GO

By MARK FOGARTY

MELBOURNE-BASED Supercars teams were due to be in NSW by now to ensure they can race in Darwin in two weeks.

The six southern teams – Tickford, WAU, Erebus, KRG, Team 18 and BRT – set off before Wednesday (June 2) to isolate for two weeks, before heading into the Northern Territory in time for the June 18-20 Darwin Triple Crown.

They moved under Supercars advice to make sure they could join BJR and Team Sydney, and southern Queensland-based Triple Eight, DJR and MSR, in Darwin by Thursday, June 17.

Despite Erebus’s qualms about joining an exodus, it was understood they would join the convoy across the Vic/NSW border.

The Melbourne squads were able to flee Melbourne during the city’s latest lockdowns under exemptions for sporting teams.

They had to hit the road and set up in NSW by Wednesday to comply with the NT’s two-week exclusion for Victorians.

Melbourne has been in lockdown since last Friday following new local community outbreaks of COVID-19. The shutdown was due to end at 11.59pm tonight (Thursday), but early this week looked likely to be extended.

Supercars No.2 Shane Howard explained that the bolt across the border into NSW was necessary to make sure the Darwin round happened.

“It’s very important that we protect the Darwin round, so our teams are organising themselves to move (to NSW) to be compliant with the health regulations to enter the Northern Territory,” Howard said on Monday. “They’re all geared up for that move.

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“The teams will be able to enter NSW. They will serve the same lockdown conditions as applied in Victoria.”

He assured the Vic teams that they wouldn’t be stranded away from home like the 2020 coronavirus exile. “Last year, the teams packed within six hours’ notice and didn’t come home for 140 days,” he said. “People would be very hesitant to embark on that sort of time away from their families, etc. But that won’t be the case with this situation.

“We’re working on different options for accommodation, etc, so that’s a work in progress with the individual teams.

We’ll ensure that the teams are back with their families after Darwin.”

The Indigenous Round celebrations will go ahead as planned at Hidden Valley.

According to Howard, there are no contingency plans to postpone the Hidden Valley excursion, which becomes the next round of the Supercars championship following the

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postponement of the Winton SuperSprint.

Scheduled for last weekend, the Winton round was put off until July 31-August 1 because of the Melbourne lockdown.

“We’re working on Darwin proceeding on its current date,” Howard declared.

The Queensland teams are free to travel into NT via Mt Isa. If the Melbourne lockdown ended as planned, the Vic teams could be free to return home before setting off to Darwin by June 15.

“It’ll be linked to what the border restrictions are and advice from the NT government’s heath department,” Howard said. “It’ll just be dependent on advice from NT Health on how they apply their restrictions.”

According to Howard, the Melbourne lockdown has had no impact on the post-Darwin schedule, starting with the July 9-11 Townsville 500. “All the other events are on track and as per the schedule,” he said.

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LATEST NEWS

TWO-TIME SUPERCARS champion Marcos Ambrose will return to the TV broadcast for a further three rounds this year. The NASCAR Cup Series winner made a guest appearance at the Tasmania SuperSprint and proved popular with fans. Ambrose will return to the broadcast for the Bathurst 1000, season ending Gold Coast 500 and potentially the revised Winton round as he originally was before the event was postponed last week. DM

REIGNING SUPERCARS champion and current Team Penske IndyCar Series driver Scott McLaughlin has been inducted onto the New Zealand Motorsport Wall of Fame. The 28-year-old New Zealander won three straight Supercars titles from 2018-2020 and a total of 56 Supercars race wins. Eight of which came with Garry Rogers Motorsport, while the final 48 victories all came with the Dick Johnson Racing outfit. DM

AT THE pre-event Winton test, Kelly Grove Racing full-time drivers Andre Heimgartner and David Reynolds were joined by two familiar faces. After months out of the saddle, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Rick Kelly returned, hopping behind both Reynolds’ and Heimgartner’s machines. As well as Kelly, team co-owner and former Super2 driver Brenton Grove also got behind the wheel. DM

DICK JOHNSON Racing (DJR) has announced that team founder Dick Johnson, CEO Ryan Story and DJR Advisory Board Member Rob Herrod, have been named official ambassadors for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA). In recent months former DJR driver John Bowe, and the voice of Supercars Neil Crompton have both been diagnosed with prostate cancer. DM

TWO-TIME DEFENDING champions of the Pirtek Pitstop Challenge, Brad Jones Racing holds the points lead after the first three rounds.

However at The Bend Motorsport Park, it was Walkinshaw Andretti United mechanics on the #25 Chaz Mostert machine who made the fastest stop, moving them up to third in the standings. Brad Jones Racing hold a 19-point lead over Dick Johnson Racing and sit 21 ahead of WAU. DM

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HELIO STARS AS SCOTTY STUMBLES SUPERCARS CHAMPION Scott McLaughlin was a disappointed ‘Rookie Of The Year’ as veteran Helio Castroneves scored a history equalling fourth Indianapolis 500 victory.

McLaughlin finished 20th in his debut in the world’s biggest race – a creditable result he felt should have been so much better.

Although never a contender for victory, he was on for a top 10 result until incurring a pit lane drive-through penalty just after half distance.

Castroneves, 46, became the fourth – and first non-American – four-time Indy 500 winner.

The ebullient Brazilian joins IndyCar legends AJ Foyt, Al Unser Snr and Rick Mears – McLaughlin’s Team Penske oval racing coach – as a quadruple champion at ‘The Brickyard’.

His previous victories were 2001/02 and 2009.

Castroneves is arguably the greatest character in American racing.

TICKFORD RACING and Matt Stone Racing are both still in the hunt for an additional Racing Entitlements Contract, while Auto Action understands a mystery third bidder continues on as well.

All three entities are understood to have lodged formal tenders ahead of the May 21 deadline with Supercars, after earlier lodging expressions of interest.

An announcement of successful tenders will not be made until after the next meeting of the Supercars board in the first week of this month.

If both RECs are sold and no RECs handed back at year’s end, the Supercars Championship grid will grow to 26 permanent entries for the first time since 2018.

Tickford is after a REC to grow it back to traditional four-car lineup, after two years running as a three-car squad and filling out its two garages with a customer entry.

MSR wants to expand to three cars, potentially to add an

He is well known in the USA after winning Dancing With The Stars in 2007.

The veteran racer overtook Alex Palou on the second last of 200 laps of the 4 km Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to win the fastest 500 in history at a record average speed of 190.690 mph (306.886 km/h) in his Meyer-Shank Racing Dallara/ Honda.

He performed his famous ‘SpiderMan’ climb of the fence in front of the main straight grandstands to celebrate his late-life success.

He gave privateer team owner Michael Shank his first IndyCar race victory in the most important race.

Castroneves’ first three Indy 500 wins were scored with Team Penske, which failed this time at its usual happy hunting ground.

2019 winner Simon Pagenaud was a fast-finishing third, with Josef Newgarden a very distant 12th McLaughlin came home 20th, with Australia’s 2015 winner Will

Power struggling to 30th, three laps down.

The triple defending Supercars champion killed his chances of a top finish with a self-confessed error, arriving too hot in the pit lane on lap 114.

He entered too fast and earned a drive-through penalty that ended his chances of a starring result.

McLaughlin ran as high as fifth in the closing stages before a late refuel dropped him to the tail of the lead lap in his ‘Yellow Submarine’ Pennzoil Dallara/Chevrolet.

“One mistake, it just eats you,” he said. “You can’t make mistakes here, it needs to be a perfect day. That’s why experience is so important in this sport.

“It’s a place that really bites you, especially when you don’t see it coming. I didn’t quite pump my brake pedal up and had a stonecold set of rotors coming into pit lane. I’m thankful that no one was hurt, as I came in there pretty hot.

“I’m happy to get rookie of the year, that was the main goal,

Images: Motorsport Images

but I would have liked to have finished higher up, in that front group.

“I feel as though I could have been a factor, so it’s a bit bittersweet. But for my first Indy 500, to see Helio get his fourth, is tremendous.

“It was amazing to hear the crowd as I was getting out of the car!”

McLaughlin was the highest finishing rookie – but there were only two.

The other was Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of twice F1 world champion and 1989 Indy 5t00 winner Emerson.

Fittipaldi finished 25th, a lap down.

While McLaughlin was the top rookie finisher, the ‘Rookie Of The Year’ award is subjective and isn’t always given to the highest placed debutant.

Although disappointed with his Indy 500 performance, McLaughlin is looking forward to the Detroit Grand Prix twin street races on June 12-13. Mark Fogarty

THREE REC TENDERS

Images: Motorsport Images

experienced driver or to reboot its Superlite concept in which two rookies share the drive in one car.

One AA sources described the third bid as coming from an unexpected source, potentially a youthful driver or team owner.

The two RECs were handed back by Tickford Racing in 2018 and Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2019. If Tickford is successful it will in effect be buying its own REC back.

However, it will split the proceeds with Triple Eight

Race Engineering as the two organisations both handed back RECs at the end of 2018.

T8’s REC was purchased by Tekno/Team Sydney and the proceeds split with Tickford.

The same will happen this time round. BN

PIASTRI LEARNT LOTS IN SILVERSTONE F1 TEST IT HAS been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Australian F2 Championship competitor Oscar Piastri, who performed solidly at Monaco and took part in his second F1 test.

The Alpine Junior Academy driver got his second taste of a Formula 1 car at the legendary Silverstone circuit in England, after previously testing a car at Bahrain.

Due to F1 rules, Piastri has to test with a car raced over two seasons ago, nevertheless the young Aussie found the test incredibly beneficial, learning a lot more about the limits of the machine. “(I found) just how much grip an F1 car has, especially in high-speed corners,” he explained to AA “With the nature of the Bahrain circuit, I felt much more the braking power of an F1 car rather than the high-speed capability.

“Here (at Silverstone) it’s very much the opposite, not a whole lot of braking and a lot of high-speed corners.

“Learning to trust the car in high speed took a few laps to get used to. But once you’re confident in the car and confident that it’s going to stick, not snap and fire you into the wall, it’s pretty awesome.”

Piastri described it as the coolest day of his life, and despite damp conditions in the morning he completed a total of 86 laps, which amunted to over 500km of on track running.

A large majority of these laps took place in the afternoon, and Piastri was happy to report that his neck was up to the task.

“Driving an F1 car at Silverstone there’s not really many combinations where you’ll fully exploit the potential of an F1 car,” he explained. “I thought Bahrain was cool but this definitely took it to a whole other level.

“I did a couple of very long race stints at the end, it was nice to put myself through that challenge, physically and mentally. To be able to see that I could still hang on, and my neck be okay afterwards, was also a positive sign.”

Piastri was asked if there were any more tests on the horizon and explained that if he performs, it is a strong possibility.

“Alpine have some tests organised,” Piastri said. “But there’s no guarantee that I’ll be a part of them. I don’t have anything locked in.

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“I’ll try and put myself in a position to be considered for them, but at the moment it’s back to F2, and when the next test gets a bit closer hopefully my name is in the hat to have another go.”

When asked whether he is targeting a test or reserve role for 2022, Piastri said that he is focussed on the job at hand, F2, and he’ll let his driving do the talking.

“I have no idea to be honest,” he replied. “These tests are very much organised for the academy as part of our

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development.

“It’s still very much related to the academy rather than the F1 team. In saying that, the F1 team keep a close eye on it, they are in all the meetings.

“We actually did a few little mapping tests for the F1 team, it was cool to have their faith in us.

“But I don’t really have any more involvement, I don’t really know. We’ll just see what the future brings in that regard.” Dan McCarthy

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IT WAS a very solid second round for Piastri in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, at the notoriously tight and twisty Monaco circuit.

Piastri bagged two second place finishes and an eighth over the three races, propelling the Prema Racing driver into second in the standings.

The 20-year-old explained that he didn’t have the pace of Theo Pourchaire in qualifying, but does not expect this to become a common occurrence.

“I think Monaco is a very special one and a unique circuit in that regard,” Piastri said to AA. “I think if you can get into a good rhythm early on, which is what he did, then you naturally keep that rhythm going (in Monaco).”

The Victorian highlighted that qualifying performance was the weakest aspect of the Prema package, however he would no longer call it a weakness.

“We’re in a pretty good spot in both qualifying and race pace,” Piastri believes. “I still think our race pace is probably our main strength, but I wouldn’t really say qualifying is a weakness of ours now.

“Monaco, we showed with qualifying second and third, we’ve got a good strong qualifying car when we get it right.

“So now we just need to consistently get it right, if we do that, I think we’ll be in a pretty good place.

“Naturally that’s going to lead to a good position in the championship if we’re getting it right and if I’m getting it right.” DM

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CURRENT SUPERCARS Championship leader Shane van Gisbergen is eager to make his debut on Australian gravel. The Kiwi has previously rallied in his native country, where he won the Battle of Jacks Ridge event and took his class in the City of Auckland Rally last year. But he is keen to compete in a round of this year’s Australian Rally Championship after inspecting the Ford Fiesta R5 owned by Luke

A PERSONALITY from behind the scenes of the Australian Touring Car Championship of the late-1980s and early-1990s, John Thompson has passed away. Working with Shell during its early sponsorship of the ATCC by providing promotional content including foam and grid signs, hospitality, garlands, trophies, the winner’s dias and the grid girls. He was also integral to supply and distribution of Sheel fuels across the company to competitors. Auto Action sends its condolences to his family and friends. HM

TRIPLE EIGHT Race Engineering team manager Mark Dutton will join two-time Dakar Rally motorcycle class winner Toby Price as navigator, in this year’s Tatts Finke Desert Race. Price is a six-time Finke winner on a motorbike, however in 2021 he will drive a world-first Mitsubishi Triton Trophy Truck. The car will be sponsored by Red Bull, with the pair to commence their Finke campaign on June 12. DM

THE WSC technical department has announced a new Balance of Performance bulletin for TCR machines globally. Both the Honda Civic Type R and Peugeot 308s are allowed to take weight off their cars. The Hondas have lost 20kg, reducing them to 1275kg and the Peugeots a further 10kg to 1255kg. The newly built Hyundai Elantra N has also had an adjustment to the Turbo Pressure’s Limit Support Points. DM

IN 2021 the Hyundai Excel Nationals will be held in Perth at Wanneroo Raceway on October 15-17. The Nationals will take place over three days, however the track will be open to competitor access from Thursday. At this stage, the weekend format will see setup and practice on the Friday, Saturday will contain qualifying and some heats, and Sunday hosting the remaining heats and final. DM

10 AutoAction

FORMULA FORD FORUM TO BE HELD

FOLLOWING THREE workshops to decide the future path for Formula Ford, a forum set to include the powerbrokers of the renowned junior category will take place this month.

The workshops held between Motorsport Australia officials, Ryan Story, Andrew Jones, Formula Ford Australia administrator Phil Marrinon, and long-time entrant Mick Ritter took place last month, where items presented included Roland Dane’s proposed new openwheel category.

Dane and fellow constructor Michael Borland were also in attendance for the first workshop, as detailed by Auto Action last issue.

Motorsport Australia director of motorsport and commercial operations, Michael Smith, revealed a forum will now be held to determine what is the next step for the development class.

“We’ve had three meetings now of the working group and now the next stage is that we’re going to convene an information forum for interested parties, where the working group will present their initial findings or recommendations to try and get feedback from the industry at large,” Smith told Auto Action.

“This will be this month sometime, so we’ll probably announce the date of that forum very shortly.”

Smith was pleased with how the meetings progressed and believed a lot of ground had been covered.

“Really good,” he complimented.

“We were very clear from the outset that we wanted this to be an industryled decision so the working group has representatives from the different stakeholder groups.

“We’ve also had presentations from various Formula Ford stakeholders as well throughout the meetings that we’ve had so far. We’re pretty keen in the next step to go out to the broader Formula Ford community and get their in-put or feedback based on what we’ve looked at so far.

“The truth sticks been handed around a lot in those working groups and it’s something we were very keen to make sure was retained, and a clear focus of the working group deliberations.

“It’s been really good, I have to say, it’s been really productive and positive.

2022 SHANNONS PLANNING UNDERWAY ORGANISING OF next year’s Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships is already underway, as scheduling has been contentious during the opening three rounds of the 2021 season.

Many categories led by Aussie Racing Cars were disappointed by the scheduling at Sydney Motorsport Park last month, with 10 categories taking part in a crammed program.

As planning for next year’s series is in its early stages, Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships director Michael Smith has acknowledged the governing body is investigating the possibility of more rounds or even running a second program of events.

“We’ll look at all those options and look very seriously at them,” Smith told Auto Action.

“We’re well down the track in the planning for our 2022 calendar and all of those things are being seriously looked at.

“Next year I think there will be a combination of things that will happen, there’s certainly going to be more events, but also more variety in the offering that we put forward to those categories to, I guess, pick and choose what they want that can accommodate their needs.

“There is a huge demand for us to accommodate categories and in amongst all that a variety of race formats, so we also need to be cognisant of that in making sure the

“There’s still a lot to be done, don’t get me wrong. After three meetings, we now think we’re at a point where we can present some initial findings to the broader community and those findings will come out at the meeting in the next couple of weeks.

“But ultimately, we want Formula Ford – or whatever it might evolve to, mind you – to be the destination of choice for our aspiring, young professional drivers.

“It’s then just a matter of what’s the best way to get it back to where it needs to be and there’s a lot of considerations in that; it’s the car, it’s the safety of the car, it’s the event platform, it’s the category management, it’s all sorts of things.”

Safety will be where the future lies and it is envisioned Dane’s unnamed concept will feature a halo, something missing from the current Formula Ford package, but retrofitting is being discussed.

However, competitors are concerned about the change of chassis and cost, which has been kept low by running one Supercars event a season, on a predominately statebased schedule. HM Images: Insyde Media

categories get the race formats that they want.

“Currently, they’re not getting that with the way the product is structured.”

Commenting on the scheduling at SMP, Smith admitted some categories were displeased and the governing body is endeavouring to avoid the same difficulties encountered at the event.

Changes have been made to the Morgan Park schedule through the dropping of local categories.

“We’re acutely aware that there’s certainly been some issues with the demand this year and trying to cater to everyone’s needs, whether it be race formats or timing on the schedule,” said Smith.

“We are aware we’re going to have to do some work with categories to accommodate the formats and needs of each.

“We’re going to work with them until the end

of the year and certainly put in place for next year some strategies to ensure we’ve got a product that meets everyone’s requirements.

“Certainly, we’re aware that a number of categories weren’t that happy with the schedule and of course the fog didn’t help us on Sunday morning, which put some pressure on us.”

Although the packed program at a Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship event is providing one problem, it also ensures the long-vaunted festival of motor sport Smith has been aiming for, has been achieved.

“From a spectator and fans point of view it was a feast of motor sport,” Smith emphasised.

“There was a heap of categories there, it was category after category after category, and basically a real smorgasbord of racing.”

HM

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THE UNKNOWNS FOR SUPER2 & 3 AT THIS stage it is unknown which generation Supercars will be eligible for both the Super2 and Super3 in 2022, and this has got teams and drivers concerned.

One of these drivers is Jon McCorkindale, the New South Welshman who won the opening round of the Super3 Series at Bathurst but has elected to surrender his lead and step up to the Super2 Series with next year in mind.

Currently Gen2 machines are raced in the Supercars Championship with a plan to move into Gen3 machinery at some stage next season.

Second-tier Super2 Series competitors currently race Car of the Future cars (built and run in the main game from 2013-2016), with Super3 running cars from 2012 and older.

At this stage Auto Action understands that Super2 competitors will be able to race Gen2 Ford Mustang’s and ZB Commodores from 2022, however they will be paritised against the current VF Commodores and FGX Falcons in the category.

It is unknown what the future of the Super3 Series looks like, however for McCorkindale, the purchase of a COTF machine secures his place in at least one of the lower tiered categories.

Adding to the confusion, AA has heard from several sources that both the Super2 and Super3 cars will be slowed drastically, in order

O’KEEFFE CLOSE TO CO-DRIVE

to keep the top-tier Supercars Championship as the fastest category.

The Gen3 machines are expected to be several seconds a lap slower than the current spec cars, meaning that unless some alterations are made, the lower tier series’ will be faster.

AA has heard that the older spec cars will run with taller diff ratios, have the rear wing altered to take downforce from the car, as well the undertrays shrunk.

McCorkindale himself would like to run in Super2 next year and believes that the parity between the two types of Supercar is a must for the category.

“If they said we’re going to bring Mustang and ZBs down, I’d have no dramas with that if it means more numbers on the grid,” McCorkindale told Auto Action.

“I’d like to see them paritise it because I don’t

think we’re going have 15 ZBs and Mustangs come down. It’d be beneficial for the class to prioritise those cars.”

There has been talk within Supercars of cutting the Super2 Series into two classes, with Super2 A running the Gen2 machinery, while Super2 B will run with the existing cars This is something that McCorkindale disagrees with heavily.

“I don’t like the idea,” he said. “If they had 30 cars, I would say let’s do it. But if they’re only still going to have 15-18 cars, I would say prioritising the older and newer cars would be better for us.

“If they did have class racing, as long as the exposure is equal for both classes, it could work, but realistically unless they are both getting good numbers, I can’t see the benefit for the class”. DM

HANSON SPLITS WITH ASM TCR AUSTRALIA rookie Jay Hanson has split from team Ashley Seward Motorsport and is on the search for a drive to finish the season.

Hanson was announced as joining the team at the end of 2019, but his debut was delayed until Symmons Plains this year due to the impact of COVID-19, which postponed the second season of TCR Australia.

Finishing third on debut but later penalised for contact with Melbourne Performance Centre’s Chaz Mostert, Hanson has had a mixed campaign. Currently 16th in the points, the 17-year-old finished a best of fourth in the opening race at Bathurst, followed by a retirement related to the turbo in the next.

A similar failure was also experienced by

experienced teammate Lee Holdsworth onelap into the final race, when the Alfa Romeo caught fire.

However, Hanson struggled at Sydney Motorsport Park as fellow Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR driver Michael Caruso won his first TCR Australia race in the final.

Auto Action understands Hanson is pursuing a drive with a team in TCR Australia, but won’t compete at Morgan Park on June 26-27, where Garry Rogers Motorsport is expected to enter a third Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR for Zac Hudson, who will join Caruso and Jordan Cox for his local round. HM

VICTORIAN DYLAN O’Keeffe is confident of securing one of the remaining Supercars codrives for this year’s Bathurst 1000.

O’Keeffe is a front runner in the TCR Australia Series, racing one of Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Renault Meganes.

The 23-year-old is a two-time Supercars race starter, making his debut with GRM in 2019, as a last-minute sub for benched Kiwi Richie Stanaway.

In 2020 O’Keeffe made his Bathurst 1000 start with Kelly Racing, driving alongside Andre Heimgartner in the Ned sponsored Mustang.

Kelly racing has already filled in its 2021 co-drives, opting to re-form 2017 Bathurst 1000 winning duo David Reynolds with Luke Youlden, and with placing Le Mans 24 Hours winner Earl Bamber with Heimgartner.

Just four co-drives remain in 2021, two at Matt Stone Racing and the remaining two with Team Sydney, nevertheless O’Keeffe explained a deal is nearly secured.

“They (co-drives) are filling up quickly,” he told Auto Action. “I’m still in the hunt with a seat, I’ve been hoping to lock it in for the last little while.

“It hasn’t been done as yet, I just want to get it locked in sooner rather than later, and then I can get on with what I need to do to get the best result for them.”

When pointed out that he seemed optimistic, O’Keeffe responded saying that he expects to find out the good news soon.

Although O’Keeffe would not reveal what team the deal is with, AA understands it is with Team Sydney.

Matt Stone Racing is on the lookout for two experienced Supercars co-drivers to pair up with full-time rookies Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki.

This matches up with what the Queensland based team did in 2020, when they brought David Russell into the fold.

With just two Supercars starts, MSR is looking for more experience, and so Team Sydney seems like the most likely option.

Team Sydney squad owner Jonathon Webb is likely to take one of his two seats, placing O’Keeffe in the other car. DM

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CANADIAN ENGINEERING group Multimatic will provide the LMP2 chassis on which both Porsche and Audi will base their LMDh in 2023. Currently, Multimatic is the chassis supplier for Mazda’s IMSA DPi entry, an arrangement that comes to an end this season. The news of Multimatic’s involvement follows confirmation Team Penske will run Porsche’s factory assault on both the IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while Audi is thought to be entering the latter. HM

COVID-19 IS doing the rounds in WRC. Oliver Solberg has been forced to miss his second top-tier WRC round in Italy after his father Petter Solberg tested positive. Andreas Mikkelsen missed Rally Portugal due to catching COVID, but will return this weekend. Fellow WRC2 driver Ole Christian Veiby has also been banned from racing in the championship for six months because the Norwegian ignored advice to self-isolate and upon returning to his home country tested positive. DM

RICKY CAPO UNLIKELY TO RETURN TO S5000 SEVERAL WEEKS since the conclusion of the inaugural S5000 Australian Drivers Championship, many competitors have already signalled intention to return for season two.

However, one driver not expected to return is former Formula 3 front-runner Ricky Capo.

“We’ll see if we’re going to continue in the championship going into season two but I’d say it’s unlikely at this stage,” Capo told Auto Action.

“I’m always open to options, it is a fun category and a fun car to drive, so we’ll see what happens. But at this stage, probably not. We’ll try and focus on something else.”

The second season contains the three round ‘Triple Crown’ mid-season, in which international drivers are invited to race an S5000 at iconic Australian venues in a miniseries.

Taking place at three of this country’s biggest events, the Australian Grand Prix, ARG’s inaugural Bathurst International and the Supercars finale on the Gold Coast, the ‘Triple Crown’ is expected to attract wide international interest.

Capo admitted the events were attractive, but fell short of committing to a renewed campaign.

“It’s quite a calendar that they’ve put out

which is really exciting,” he said. “It will be even more exciting if they get some international drivers coming as well, again we’ll just have to wait and see.

“I think S5000 is accomplishing what it wants to accomplish, the racing is close at times and I think it’s gathered a lot of interest, nationally and internationally.

“I’m really happy to see it doing well and hopefully it can continue doing well.”

For Capo it was a challenging year, he recorded a season best finish of fourth which was achieved in the opening race of the year.

But bad luck and misfortune continued to hamper the Capo family run Modena Engineering team.

At the final round at Sydney Motorsport Park, Capo ran out of fuel in Race 1 before crashing out in the last encounter.

However, was pleased that the team made

considerable gains, enabling him to fight against championship contenders Thomas Randle and Tim Macrow.

“I think we’ve unlocked some secrets,” he said. “Unfortunately, at times I just didn’t put it all together, so (it was) quite a scrappy weekend in retrospect, but at least I went for it.”

Auto Action has already revealed that reigning champion Joey Mawson is seeking a return and that his rival Macrow wants to expand his single car operation.

Other drivers wanting to return include Garry Rogers Motorsport youngsters Nathan Herne Luis Leeds.

As well, sole international S5000 race winner, Kiwi Kaleb Ngatoa plans to come back to Australia to compete.

This issue’s Young Gun Cooper Webster and speedway racer Braydan Wilmington have also spoken of plans to return.

GRM AT TCR CAPACITY NTT HAS signed a multi-year extension for the naming rights sponsorship of the IndyCar Series.

NTT, a global technology and business solutions provider, became the title sponsor at the start of the 2019 season. The company has extended this partnership as well as its agreements with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500, and the NASCAR Brickyard Weekend. DM

WITH REIGNING champion Sebastien Ogier set to retire full-time from the FIA World Rally Championship at the end of 2021, Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala has outlined his plans for next season. The threetime championship runner-up has signalled his intentions to re-sign Elfyn Evans. It is understood that Toyota also hopes to re-sign Takamoto Katsuta, while employing Ogier and another driver to share a third car during the season. DM FORMER SUPERCARS TV race-caller Leigh Diffey has scored a primary commentary role at the Tokyo Olympics with American broadcasting giant NBC. Just weeks after calling the Indianapolis 500, Brisbane-born Diffey will be NBC Sports’ lead track and field commentator at the XXXII Games of the Olympiad. Along with swimming, track and field is the showcase of the Summer Olympics, headlined by the glamour 100 metre sprints. MF

12 AutoAction

GARRY ROGERS Motorsport team owner Barry Rogers has declared that seven TCR cars is the limit for his operation in a full-time capacity.

The former Bathurst 1000 and two-time 24 hour winning operation currently runs seven cars in TCR Australia, with three Peugeots, two Alfa Romeos and two Renaults.

Along with the seven TCR cars, GRM fields three machines in the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and now, as revealed by Auto Action, the National Trans Am Series.

However, running seven TCR cars full-time is the limit according to Rogers.

“We have got another two brand new Peugeots, another Alfa and the Renault (that was damaged in Round 1),” Rogers detailed to AA. “We can’t run any more cars ourselves, we did a deal with Peugeot Sport at the time to buy the five Peugeots.

“We could have run them ourselves, (but) it sounds funny, we didn’t buy them with the plan of running them ourselves.

“We haven’t gone out in the market to try and do anything, but we would sell or lease them to get them on the grid for sure!

“There is an interest out there and they (all the unused cars) are certainly available to someone that wants to run them.”

Earlier this year Zac Husdon ran a GRM prepared Alfa in the nonchampionship round at Baskerville Raceway, and Rogers said that he was likely to make an appearance

at his home track of Morgan Park.

Rogers said that although they are at capacity with seven cars, they still remain willing to field a car for the Queenslander in a oneoff round.

“He did a great job when we he had that demo round at Baskerville,” Rogers said. “He’s a

real talented young guy.

“We initially spoke about running him at Morgan Park. We’re still hoping to put something together to run him at Morgan Park, it’d be great if we could because he’s pretty familiar around there, and I reckon he will put on a pretty good showing.” DM

AMRS WINTON POSTPONED

Images: Insyde Media

ROUND 1 WINNER DQ’D SCRUTINEERING AFTER the opening round of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series found technical irregularities in the Sieders Racing driven by Cameron Crick, which also won the title with Aaron Borg in 2019.

Crick dominated in the 86, clean-sweeping the weekend, but as Motorsport Australia’s director of motorsport and commercial operations Michael Smith confirmed, irregularities

discovered in post-event scrutineering rubbed the entry out.

“There was a technical issue identified at the Bathurst with that particular car,” said Smith.

“That car was deemed ineligible from a technical point of view and was disqualified from that event as a consequence of that.

“They were offered an infringement notice and that’s been dealt with.” HM

THE AUSTRALIAN Motor Racing Series will now hold its Winton Motor Raceway round on July 16-18, due to the current lockdown situation in Victoria.

Originally due to occur on June 11-13, the decision to delay the event came after consultation with categories taking part in the round, according to AMRS series manager Matt Baragwanath.

“While the current Victorian lockdown and uncertainty about border restrictions made it necessary to postpone the event, we’re pleased we

have been able to find a replacement date in July,” Baragwanath said.

“I would especially like to thank the management team at Winton Raceway for accommodating our rescheduling request, along with the AMRS competitors and categories for their flexibility in accepting the date change.”

Categories due to take part at the event are SuperGT, TA2 Muscle Cars, Thunder Sports, Australian Formula Ford, Australian Formula 3 and Invited, Enduro Champs and Victorian Sedan Series. HM

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HEIMGARTNER KEEN FOR SPORTS SEDAN RETURN A LATE starter for the opening round of the Precision International National Sports Sedan Series at Wakefield Park, Andre Heimgartner concluded the weekend by taking a race victory and is now eager to make another start in Australia’s fastest tin-top category.

Replacing the unwell Mark Duggan in his ex-Kerry Bailey, championship-winning Chev-powered Aston Martin DBRS9, Heimgartner had to play catch up early on the weekend due to brake bias problems, but came home strongly in the final.

“It’s been an eventful weekend, but it’s pretty cool to come out on top in that last race for the Duggan Family Racing team,” the Kiwi told Auto Action.

“It was cool to win the race but it wasn’t

without some issues early on. There were a few things the team needed to tune up with the car, but they did an amazing job.

“In the last race the car was very, very good and much improved on when we started the weekend.”

Heimgartner encountered problems in the first two heats after qualifying second behind Supercars Wildcard racer Thomas Randle, in his Chev-powered SAAB 9-3.

A spin resulting from the brake problems in Race 1 left Heimgartner with work to do in the second, in which he scythed his way to second before entering pit lane.

Coming from 10th in the final, Heimgartner took the lead in the final lap after round winner Steven Tamasi was

baulked by a backmarker.

“It’s a shame we didn’t have clear air at the start,” he lamented. “We could have had a proper go at getting the lap record, but in a way, it is what it is and we won the race, which is really the most important thing.”

Reflecting on the weekend, Heimgartner is eager to drive the unique Aston Martin again, but is unsure when it will be.

“It’s cool that I can come along and help them in that way,” said Heimgartner. “It was an amazing experience and I’d love to do it again in the future.

“At this stage it was just one off, but you never know. I think there’s a bit of time between this round and the next one. We’ll wait and see what happens.”

Heimgartner lauded the category and its machines, declaring it a new challenge to Supercars.

“It’s a great category,” Heimgartner remarked. “It’s nice compared to Supercars stuff just to be a bit more relaxed and the cars are so interesting.

“There’s so many different varieties, so much horsepower, I think mine’s got about 800hp. You really feel like you’re alive when you’re racing it, you really have to manhandle it, which is cool as a driver.”

The next round of the Precision International Sports Sedan Series is at Morgan Park (Qld) on the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships bill on June 25-27. Heath McAlpine

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th Luke West iith wit

AA’s columnist considers the impact of the fickle finger of fate at Indy.

GT ‘SURPRISE PACKET’ AIMING TO UPGRADE AUDI GT3 GT TROPHY leader Brad Schumacher is aiming to upgrade his current older-spec Audi R8 GT3 Ultra, to enable he and co-driver Tim Slade to compete in the Australian GT Endurance Championship.

Slade was originally scheduled to share Schumacher’s current model but Pro-Am does not encompass the older generation GT3 models.

However, impressive performances in his near 10-year-old R8 has spurred the Bathurst businessman to search for a current-spec model.

“Getting the current-spec is something that we need to look towards if we want to race against the top guys,” Schumacher told Auto Action.

“A new Audi is something that we’ve been looking at as our current R8 LMS GT3 is ineligible as a Pro-Am entry, with Tim Slade as my co-driver. It just all depends on what’s available between now and then.”

Schumacher believes upgrading will enter him into outright equation.

“The newer Audi is renowned for being a more on the edge car compared to the Ultra I’m currently in, so speaking to the engineers at Audi, who know the car really well, I think the new

model will suit my driving style better than what the Ultra does,” he said.

Schumacher will continue to run his current Audi R8 GT3 Ultra at the final round of the title at Sandown in September, and hopes to contest the Vic State round at the same venue in July.

On choosing GT World Challenge Australia, Schumacher explained that the allure of contesting the Bathurst 12 Hour swayed him in this direction after he started to race four years ago.

“I’ve won a couple of championships at state level and I thought there was one of two avenues for me, either go into the national Porsche series or into the national GT series,” he said.

“Ultimately, I love the Bathurst 12 Hour, which I have driven in two in the past standing on the podium each time, which was great.

“I went down the GT route. They are the types of cars that I like the most and it opens up the options as a driver in the Bathurst 12 Hour more frequently.”

Schumacher will also undertake selected rounds of the Australian Production Car Series this season in his rebuilt Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Heath McAlpine

MOTO3 RIDER DUPASQUIER KILLED IN ITALY SWISS MOTO3 rider Jason Dupasquier has passed away from injuries sustained crash during Saturday’s qualifying session at the Mugello Circuit in Italy.

Despite the best efforts of circuit medical staff and the medical team at the Careggi Hospital in Florence, Dupasquier sadly succumbed to his injuries the following day.

Late in the qualifying session, Dupasquier was riding in the middle of a pack when he fell off his bike exiting Arrabbiata 2.

Directly behind was Ayumu Sasaki, the Japanese rider who had nowhere to go and fatally struck the fallen Dupasquier.

Jeremy Alcoba was also caught up in the incident, thogh fortunately he and Sasaki were able to walk away uninjured.

The qualifying session was immediately red flagged and not restarted.

The FIM medical intervention vehicles arrived at the site within seconds of the accident and attended to the Swiss rider for several minutes on track, before he was transferred by medical helicopter in a stable state to the Florence hospital.

Around 24 hours after the accident it was confirmed that Dupasquier had lost his life.

Due to the crash, the Prustel GP team (for

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which he rode) elected not to race in the grand prix.

Before the start of the MotoGP race the whole paddock stood silent for one minute in memory of the bright young Swiss star.

The 19-year-old made an impressive start to his second season in the Moto3 category. In all of the first five races he finished inside the points including a career best seventh in Spain, and he sat 10th in the standings.

Auto Action sends its deepest condolences to Jason Dupasquier’s friends and family. DM

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HOW GOOD is the Indy 500? So much tradition. So much at stake. Such compelling viewing.

Last Sunday’s 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 didn’t disappoint, with the result unclear until the final corner. Helio Castroneves timed his move on leader Alex Palau to perfection two laps from home, then deftly used lapped traffic to prevent the youngster from returning serve and pipping him at the post. More on, this is what makes it the greatest spectacle in racing.

First though, I want to reflect on Castroneves’ incredible career and the way the fickle finger of fate picked him for greatness. It’s a tale of opportunity in the face of tragedy and disappointment. It contains as many twists and turns as ups and downs and has the racing fortunes of an Aussie and a New Zealander intertwined.

The ever-cheerful and ever-upbeat Brazilian has deserved every success that has come his way. That now includes a fourth Indy 500 victory.

Yet for me, there is so much more to Castroneves’ career story than him joining AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as the winningest drivers in the grand event’s history.

You see, back in 1999 Castroneves was just another well-funded South American driver on the American open-wheel scene. He finished 15th in the CART championship, in his second season, ending the year with lacklustre results of 26th, 26th, 21th and 20th. The latter came at Fontana, California, the day Greg Moore was killed.

Moore, in contrast to Castroneves, seemed destined for greatness. The young Canadian was already a multiple race winner and had signed to joined Team Penske for 2000, replacing Al Unser Jnr. Moore’s death meant that one of the most coveted seats in all of motorsport needed filling. It was, of course, filled by Castroneves, who had shown some promise early in the season.

Within 18 months the driver from Sao Paulo was an Indy 500 winner. He went back-to-back in 2002, adding a third in 2009. Now, another 12 years on, he has four victories – the only non-American member of that club. He scored a papal-like kiss from Mario Andretti last Sunday for his efforts.

It’s an incredible tale of success, made possible due to the ultimate misfortune of another aspiring driver who was just three weeks older than he.

Not that Castroneves should feel any guilt about the circumstances that gave him his big opportunity. For motorsport’s game of swings and roundabouts works both ways, although thankfully not usually in such extremes.

When Castroneves found himself in trouble with the law over his tax affairs, he was forced to sit out the 2009 season-opener. That opened the door to Team Penske for one William Power from Toowomba, Australia. Power seized the opportunity and has remained with The Captain’s team ever since, becoming the first Aussie to win the 500 and an IndyCar title.

Castroneves’ full-time IndyCar ride dried up a few years ago, but he stayed on Penske’s books as part of its IMSA program while retaining a seat in #3 at Indy – up until this year, when a certain three-time Supercars champion took over. Thus, the incredible opportunity afforded Scott McLaughlin stems from Castroneves’ demise at Team Penske.

It is interesting to ponder whether the Brazilian would have contended for the 500 victory this year had he remain in #3. Maybe. Yet, his old ride was Chevrolet powered, while his victorious #06 Meyer Shank Racing Dallara was equipped with the more powerful Honda engine. The fickle finger of fate at its very best…

ONE CAN only hope that world motorsport’s movers and shakers were watching the Indianapolis 500, for it puts other forms of topline motorsport to shame in so many ways.

Firstly, the cars can still pass each other, something that doesn’t seem a priority for other self-important series. Indy also remains true to its traditions and cares about the fan experience.

Most significantly, Indy is not an event where everybody wins a prize.

In fact, not everybody gets to start if more than 33 cars are entered. That was the case this year with 35 cars gunning for 33 starting spots. It made qualifying almost as enthralling as the race. There was genuine concern for several teams and drivers about missing the show.

Our own Will Power was a ball of stress throughout the qualifying weekend. His plight made for riveting viewing. Yet he ultimately made the field and enhanced his reputation after scraping the wall during Last Chance Qualifying, keeping his boot in it to complete this run, not knowing if his car was damaged. Had he not kept his boot in it, he would not have qualified.

Maybe having more entrants than available spots on the grid is something motorsport needs to work towards. It’s a bit like a soccer league where no team gets relegated and therefore few folk care about the outcome.

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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S W E N A R T EX

VALE - MAX

Max Mosley filled the role of driver, racing car manufacturer, team representative, lawyer, barrister, FIA President and more. HEATH McALPINE pays tribute to one of motor racing’s most influential figures RESPECTED AND revered, Max Mosley led the FIA through an era of change that included significant safety improvement, that also ended the French domination of the global motoring governing body.

Mosley lost his battle with cancer aged 81 last week.

A statement released by the Mosley family read as follows: “The family of Max Mosley can confirm that he died last night after a long battle with cancer.

They ask to be allowed to grieve in private.”

The youngest son of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, Max Mosley was a racing driver, team owner and lawyer up until becoming FIA President in 1993, a role he held for 16 years before passing the batton onto former Peugeot Sport and Ferrari Formula 1 team boss Jean Todt.

Oxford-educated, Mosley’s driving career began once he became a qualified barrister. As a driver he set a number of national lap records in the UK before forming the London Racing Team together with Chris Lambert in 1968, as both pursued careers in Formula 2.

Another future Formula 1 team owner, Frank Williams prepared the entries though the dangers of motor sport were ominously evident as Mosley’s two teammates, Lambert and Piers Courage, were both later killed in crashes.

In 1969 Mosley retired from race driving as he founded MARCH Engineering with Robin Herd, Alan Rees and Graham Coaker.

Handling the fledgling team’s legal and commercial matters, Mosley

Max Mosley the race car constructor - here with his fellow March founders at the reveal of the team’s ultimately unsuccessful 1972 Formula 1 car, the 721X. guided the team to Formula 1 in just its second year in operation. Sponsorships with Firestone and STP were negotiated as Mach was successful almost immediately, when a customer 701 Formula 1 entry fielded by Tyrell Racing won the Spanish Grand Prix in 1970.

A popular manufacturer of customer cars in lower formula, success came particularly in the European Formula 2 Championship as a successful relationship with BMW won five titles.

By 1977 Mosley had sold his share of March and began working for the Formula One Constructors’ Association full-time.

Formed a year previously, FOCA took over from the Grand Prix Constructors’ Association, which both Mosley and then-Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone were part of.

His relationship with Ecclestone was formed in 1971 and became stronger as Ecclestone led FOCA, with Mosley as his legal advisor, through a turbulent

p period.

The infamous F FISA-FOCA war of the la late-1970s and early1 1980s resulted in the C Concorde Agreement, a do document that resolved a dispute that threatened th the very existance of Fo Formula 1.

A After briefly leaving m motor sport to take up ap position in politics, Mo Mosley returned to be become President of FIS FISA’s Manufacturers’ Co Commission and take a sea seat on the World Council.

At this time, Mosley established (together with former March employee Nick Wirth), Simtek Research, which later entered Formula 1, though by then Mosley sold his share holding.

Challenging Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre for the FISA presidency after the fallout from the infamous on-track incident involving Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, Mosley won the vote comfortably.

He then stood down a year later to fulfil an election promise, and was re-elected immediately.

Mosley had taken over from Balestre as President of the FIA before FISA was then merged into it as its sporting arm, in 1993.

The deaths of Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix sparked the formation of the Advisory Expert Group, chaired by professor Sid Watkins, to improve safety. Their findings included to reduce the capacity and power of engines, the use of grooved tyres, the introduction of the HANS device, circuit re-designs and an increase of crash testing.

Serving four terms as FIA President,

Mosley aided in the growth of safety on the road too through the promotion of Euro NCAP, which was initially negatively received by manufacturers, but has since become a standardised safety measure and marketing tool.

Mosley also launched the FIA Foundation to promote safety and environmental protection, while the FIA Academy stimulated research to achieve these objects.

Another Mosley initiative was Formula Zero in an attempt to reduce fatalities and injuries both on and off the track.

For his contribution to improving motoring safety and its environmental impact, Mosley was awarded the ‘Chevalier de l’Orde National de la Legion d’Honneur’ in 2006.

Controversy was never far away from Mosley, due to his close relationship with Formula 1 supremo Ecclestone.

Television rights, tobacco advertising, ‘Spygate’ involving Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, plus the introduction of technology for road-car applications were just some of his initiatives, some of which received mixed responses from the Formula 1 teams.

However, his relationship with Ecclestone is also credited with lifting the professionalism of Formula 1, the rights for which were transferred to Liberty Media in a $301 million deal Max Mosley the driver - already a qualified barrister, here racing in Formula 2 in a team run by Frank Williams.

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MOSLEY

ahead of the 2017 season.

Mosley left his role as FIA President in 2009 in the aftermath of a controversy when the News of the World newspaper released a compromising personal video.

A major controversy was the video’s association with Nazis, which Mosley vehemently denied, and proceeded to sue the News of the World for invasion of privacy, which he won in the High Court.

After the video was revealed, several FIA member bodies including the ADAC of Germany and the AAA of the US considered withdrawing from the FIA, in response to Mosley winning a vote of confidence held in the wake of the newspaper story.

Although he considered a fifth term, Mosley instead endorsed Todt as his successor, as he continued to be an activist for privacy.

He financially supported victims of the News of the World hacking scandal as well as continuing to fight his own cases against Google in France and Germany for showing images of Mosley’s video. He won both.

Long-time ally Ecclestone paid tribute tlast week o his friend as he reflected on Mosley’s legacy to the motor sport industry.

“It’s like losing family, like losing a brother, Max and I,” he said.

“He did a lot of good things not just

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Max Mosley the king maker - with Bernie Eccelstone (above) and JeanMarie Balestre (above right). The controversional March six-wheeler Formula 1 car (right) was another project to involve Mosley. for motor sport, but also the [car] industry. He was very good in making sure people built cars that were safe.”

Todt also reflected on Mosley’s influence.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Max Mosley,” Todt revealed.

“He was a major figure in Formula 1 and motor sport. As FIA President for 16 years, he strongly contributed to reinforcing safety on track and on the roads.

“The entire FIA community pays tribute to him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

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KLIMENKO EXPLAINS BORDER DECISION EREBUS MOTORSPORT team owner Betty Klimenko has explained her stance on the most recent Victorian team border dash.

Through her social media channels, the charismatic Klimenko confirmed Erebus Motorsport did not want to leave Victoria due to fears of replicating what occurred last season.

In 2020, the Victorian-based Supercars teams had six hours to leave the state and were unable to return until after October’s Bathurst 1000. In most cases, many personnel were away from their families for this duration, however some were reunited during the more than 100 days away.

Klimenko confirmed that she and team boss Barry Ryan did not want to leave the state unless they were assured of a return following the upcoming round in Darwin.

“The only reason I and Barry agreed to Darwin is that we were promised that it is a one-time thing, and everyone will go straight home after,” she said on Facebook.

“I know the sport is important and that we all do whatever we can to get out there and Erebus will, but not at the cost of the team.”

The passionate Victorian has responded to the ‘keyboard warriors’ who have sat at home blasting Erebus Motorsport for not wanting to cross the border this week.

“Let’s just get this straight once and for all,” Klimenko said. “Last year, I, and no

one else made a promise to go through what they went through in 2020.”

“This year it was me consulting with Barry, no one else that said no to running the border.

“So, all those out there who think we should drop everything and run for the good of the sport, leave your home, leave your wives and children, your parents, everything you know for 100 days and then tell me you want to do it again.

“Think of the big picture.”

Klimenko further elaborated on the difficulties experienced by some of her own team personnel from being on the road in 2020, which is why she doesn’t want a repeat of this.

“We had crew who had to leave their wives with small kids to go through the lockdown on their own,” she recalled.

“Families were torn apart, children left with relatives and older parents not seen for over 100 days, animals were left alone, mortgages (still) had to be paid, the list goes on and on.

“So, when some idiot says that we should just drop everything for the good of the sport, I see red.

“I love my sport, but there is a duty of care that comes from having a team.”

Supercars teams are currently preparing to move into New South Wales after category management successfully received approval to enable the next round at Hidden Valley to take place. It is envisioned Victorian-based teams will return after this round.

Dan McCarthy

GEN3 CAD DRAWINGS REVEALED SUPERCARS RELEASED the 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) images of the recently revealed Gen3 chassis, which Auto Action understands will be track tested in the coming months.

The reveal of these drawings follows these CAD drawings being sent to Supercars teams prior to the Gen3 meeting held a fortnight ago, as disclosed

by Auto Action.

It also is another step for Gen3 after both Triple Eight Race Engineering and PACE Innovations built chassis were showcased, but these CAD drawings highlight the key differences initiated for the next generation.

The detachable front and rear clips will improve repairability, but are on display in these CAD models.

Also highlighted is the evolution of safety, with the driver now situated closer to the centre of the chassis.

“We’re always looking at what’s new on the market, and how we can build a safer chassis for the drivers,” category head of motorsport Adrian Burgess told Supercars.com

“That’s something that was always looked at with the Gen3 car.

“We’ve taken that into consideration; the position the driver will be in the car, they’ll be further away from any side-intrusion.

“We were a little bit restricted to how far we could go left due to the tailshaft, but

the outer skin of the car will be further away from the driver than they are in the current car.”

A small hatch similar to what is featured in the roof of GT3 and TCR models is shown in the images.

The current chassis tunnel is made from

sheet metal, but this will change for Gen3 to a carbon composite material.

Elsewhere the firewall also appears closer to the current chassis.

The colour coding indicates the different sizes of tube, in diameter, thickness, or both. Dan McCarthy

SHANNONS MUST NOT LOSE ROOTS SHANNONS MOTORSPORT Australia Championships director Michael Smith ensured categories, which have been a staple on the series program since the beginning will be catered for ahead of an expected restructure in 2022.

The influx of Australian Racing Group categories and live television on Network Seven has added interest, but also a scheduling nightmare for organisers.

Further events and a second series to run under the marquee ARG categories are being considered for next year’s season, with Smith stating these categories will not be lost in the process.

“We’ve also got to remember what the Shannons was remembered for and traditionally it’s always provided a home for categories that perhaps weren’t suitable for whatever reason to run on a Supercars program

chiefly around their preferred race formats,” Smith explained.

“We need to make sure we continue to do that because that’s where the Shannons has come from. That’s been a lot of our thinking and planning around how we continue to do that next year.”

The benefits of ARG’s portfolio of classes on the program is beneficial to the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships through the growth of spectators and increased profile, a process started when the governing body took over the second-tier program.

“There’s no doubt the addition of TCR, S5000, TCM and Trans Am has bought a different dimension to the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships,” said Smith.

“We’re now getting bigger crowds, more interest, but also we started this process four or five

MILLER EXPLAINS LACK OF SPEED AFTER FINISHING sixth in the Italian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Australian MotoGP rider Jack Miller was subdued in his reflection after a tough weekend at Mugello.

Following back-to-back victories in Spain and France, Miller’s recent form failed to be translated at the home circuit of the factory Ducati team.

Although Miller scored his best result at the venue last weekend with sixth, Ducati Corse had won the previous three MotoGP events held at Mugello through Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci.

Miller’s struggles weren’t translated to his Italian teammate Francesco Bagnaia as he took pole and held an early lead before crashing out on the second lap.

In a race dominated by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, Miller was unable to progress from fifth on the grid, losing position to both Suzuki riders to finish sixth.

years ago when we took over the management and ownership of the Shannons.

“We set a path then, and have incrementally every year invested, improved and I think we’re now starting to see the benefit of that.”

Smith emphasised the

importance the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships plays on the local scene as it adapts to include the most categories it has ever had to juggle.

“It’s now a destination that categories want to race on, we’re

really grateful for that and we’re really happy with the product that we’ve got now,” Smith said.

“We need to make sure we’re continually evolving and adapting to ensure we’re providing a home for the categories that need to run with us.” Heath McAlpine

Post-race, Miller and Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco declared bike stability proved a problem where the Italian manufacturer was no match for its Japanese rivals.

“I had a nice fight with the boys (several riders), but it seemed to be with the wind that we struggled a little bit,” Miller explained post-race.

“I wasn’t able to ride the bike as comfortably as I’d like.”

The Ducatis did begin to come on strong towards the race’s conclusion, however it was all too late as Miller failed to pass KTM’s Brad Binder and Zarco unable to take a podium position.

“I started coming back towards the front group towards the end, but it was too late,” he said.

Though disappointed he failed to extend his winning streak, Miller was pleased to score points in what was a difficult event for the riders.

“I mean for me the race was what it was,” a downbeat Miller said. “I tried my best to bring the bike home, I managed to get some points and that was the main thing.”

Dan McCarthy

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CAMPBELL WINS IN FRANCE AUSTRALIAN MATT Campbell along with his co-drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Earl Bamber, won the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard in France.

The trio qualified in sixth position, but during the 1000km race distance worked their way forwards to take an impressive race victory.

The race went down to the wire as the GPX Racing Porsche trio snatched the victory in the final hour, giving the brand its first GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup win at the French venue.

Starting from the third row, Bamber made progress during the first two stints of the race, handing the car over to Frenchman Jaminet in fifth spot.

Jaminet then overtook several cars to become a contender for victory, as the race passed half distance. However, the #63 Lamborghini held a substantial lead.

All this soon changed, with just over two hours to go a safety car was called onto circuit as the #2 Mercedes stopped on track.

When Campbell jumped behind the wheel several minutes later, he sat in third position.

He made light work of Sheldon van der Linde, before setting off in pursuit of the long-time race leading Lamborghini.

As the race approached the closing hour, Campbell had closed the gap to less than twoseconds.

Night had fallen, but with just 41-minutes the

on-track action was heating up. Campbell made a move down the outside of the Mistral Straight to take the lead, however a mistake at Beausset two turns later allowed Marco Mapelli back through as the pair made significant contact.

The following lap, Campbell got back into the draft on the Mistral Straight and made an identical move. This time the Australian held position and was not headed.

In the end, Campbell finished 5.97s ahead of the Team WRT Audi R8 driven by Dries Vanthoor,

Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts, with the the Mapelli-led Lamborghini coming home in third.

Campbell was surprised to take the win considering the bad luck they encountered leading into the race.

“Yeah, wow! Going into the race we certainly didn’t expect that,” Campbell said. “We had a troubled lead up but the boys did a fantastic job and the GPX crew were flawless during the pit stops.

“It wasn’t easy – we had a bit of contact in the last stint – but we got it done.

“I’m so thrilled for GPX. We didn’t have the best event at Monza so to fight like this… yeah, it’s fantastic.”

Fellow countryman and Carrera Cup Australia winner Jordan Love did not make it to the finish.

He, Miklas Born and Yannick Mettler completed 119 laps in their Mercedes-AMG GT3, but were not classified as finishers Dan McCarthy

KRISTOFFERSSON AND ROSBERG PRAISE TAYLOR THREE-TIME FIA World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson and former Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg were ultra-impressed by Molly Taylor’s showing in the second Extreme E event.

Kristoffersson and Taylor share the Rosberg X Racing car and after winning the opening round in they went back-to-back in Lac Rose, Senegal to extend their margin in the championship.

The 2016 Formula 1 world champion that it was Taylor that did the heavy lifting work in Senegal by taking the wheel for the opening stint.

“It’s so cool that in Alula, it was Johan that very much did it at the start and Molly followed on, but today it’s Molly that made the magic in the final and then Johan brought it home, that’s fantastic to see,” he said.

Kristoffersson was impressed by Taylor’s wheel to wheel combat in the final. Despite a sub-optimal grid slot, the Australian made a great start and forcibly made a move to take the lead from championship rivals Lewis Hamilton’s Team X44.

“Molly executed everything perfectly,” Kristoffersson said. “She did an amazing job taking care of the traffic in her lap – I was really impressed with that.

“The team also did a fantastic job, I have to say a big thanks to them for bringing me and Molly up to speed over the weekend, as we really weren’t

the fastest coming into this event but in the end, we were quick where we needed to be and got good starts, so we couldn’t wish for more than that.

“I’m super happy to be Extreme E winners for the second time!”

Despite her rally roots, winning the Australian Rally Championship in 2016, Taylor is not unfamiliar to wheel-towheel racing after contesting five rounds of the TCR Australia Series in 2019.

She recalled the task that she was facing heading down the incredibly long main straight and the battle at Turn 1.

“Obviously we didn’t get to choose our grid position for the final,” Taylor recalled. “We were where we were and that for me was on the inside.

“It was all about trying to get the track position – I really just tried to get that established as early as I could and then hold onto it.

“It’s a steep bank and pretty tight coming into Turn 1, and as I went through, I made some contact, but this is close racing and that can happen.”

The Team X44 car was forced to retire from the damage, while the Jenson Button run JBXE also failed to make it past the opening turn.

A red flag was flown with only two cars able to make the restart.

Kristoffersson made a blinding start and was able to comfortably beat Jamie Chadwick to the finish line.

Dan McCarthy

PIASTRI EXPECTS AN ‘INTERESTING’ BAKU ROUND ROUND 3 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship takes place this weekend on the streets of Baku in Azerbaijan and Aussie Oscar Piastri expects action aplenty.

In previous years, chaos has ensued for FIA Formula 2 in Baku where its fast, yet technical layout will be foreign to Piastri and many of his rivals, however fellow Alpine Academy Guanyu Zhou will be one of the few with experience.

“It’s a bit different to Monaco where some of us had been there in lower categories,” Piastri told Auto Action.

“Zhou and (Ralph) Boschung are the only people that have been there at all, it’s going to be a new challenge for basically the whole grid, which should be interesting.”

Two of Formula 1’s rising stars have had success at the street circuit from lowly grid positions with George Russell taking a win from 12th and Lando Norris finishing fourth in the same race from pit lane.

Antonio Giovinazzi is the sole driver to take multiple wins at the venue in both Formula 1 or its second-tier category. The Italian driver’s achievement was made more surprising due to him achieving this feat in the same weekend when inverted grids were part of the GP2 schedule.

Piastri compared the Monte Carlo and Baku street circuits, but came to the conclusion that walls were the only similarity.

“Obviously you’ve still got the walls to stay out of,” he said. “That’s sort of the only similarity to Monaco, the rest of the circuit is very, very different.

“It’s going to be a new challenge for everyone, I think the racing should be more exciting.

“I think we’ll see a lot more overtaking, depending on where I am in the race, hopefully, or hopefully not.”

A couple of weeks ago, Piastri’s former F3 rival Theo Pourchaire was ultra-fast in Monaco qualifying, being a couple of tenths faster than the rest of the field.

The Australian does not expect this to continue at Baku.

“Monaco is a very special unique circuit, I think if you can get into a good rhythm early on which is what he (Pourchaire) did,”

the Victorian said. “He was consistently quickest throughout the qualifying session, if you can get yourself in a good rhythm, straightaway, then you naturally keep that rhythm going.

“So, I think it was very much a Monaco related thing, I don’t really think it will be a trend we see going forwards, I hope not

anyway.

“I think it’s going to be much more about getting it right, the setup and tyre pressures (each weekend).”

Piastri is currently second in the FIA Formula 2 Championship approaching the third round in Baku this weekend, 16-points behind Zhou. Dan McCarthy

MORGAN PARK SHANNONS ROUND POSTPONED

THE NEXT round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Morgan Park has been postponed due to the extension of metropolitan Melbourne’s lockdown.

Instead of taking place on June 2627, the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships first trip to the rural Queensland circuit located near Warwick in a decade will now take place on August 13-15.

This is expected to allow competitors, fans and officials to attend the event, which was to feature the fourth round of TCR Australia,

the Trans Am National Series, Touring Car Masters, Australian Production Car Series, Porsche Sprint Challenge, Aussie Racing Cars and the National Sports Sedan Series.

These categories will be given the option to race on the revised date.

Tickets will be transferred to the new date.

Following a non-season in 2020, Motorsport Australia director of motorsport and commercial operations Michael Smith is delighted to reveal a revised date for the event.

“This round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships is one we have been looking forward to for some time, with a unique ‘country round’ feel expected at Morgan Park,” Smith said.

“We obviously are disappointed that we can’t hold this round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships in June, however we are delighted to be able to secure a new date in August to put on a great show for competitors and fans alike.

“Motorsport Australia is working closely

with Porsche, the Australian Racing Group and all our loyal categories to work on a track schedule for the new date and will release details of the full line up shortly, but we are hopeful everyone can join us as originally planned.

“A big thank you must also go to the Southern Downs Regional Council and the Warwick and District Car Club for their ongoing support of this event and making sure it’s a success for Warwick and the surrounding areas.” HM

with Dan Knutson

MIND GAMES ALPINE JUNIOR and AA columnist Oscar Piastri has driven an Alpine F1 car for the second time, on this occasion at the legendary Silverstone circuit. Piastri is limited to testing three-yearold F1 machines, as testing restrictions and rules do not allow testing current machinery outside mandated F1 test sessions “Silverstone in an F1 car. What a day,” he said on Twitter.

“So ridiculously cool. I now have a newfound appreciation for downforce.” DM

SCUDERIA FERRARI has confirmed the cause of pole winner Charles Leclerc’s DNS at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver crashed in the final seconds of qualifying causing a red flag. There was concern over his gearbox, however Ferrari has determined that it was a cracked driveshaft hub (as a result of the accident) which failed on the way to the grid and meant that the home hero was unable to start the race. DM

SITTING IN second position, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was forced to retire from the Monaco Grand Prix when his mechanics were unable to remove the right-front wheel.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed that the design and material of the German brand’s wheel nut will even be examined to stop this occurrence again. DM

F1 RACE director Michael Masi has confirmed that the FIA and Formula 1 are considering bringing in IndyCar’s red flag rule, following Charles Leclerc’s controversial pole position in Monaco. The Scuderia Ferrari driver was on provisional pole when he crashed in the dying moments of Q3, bringing out the red flag and stopping any of his rivals from beating his time. In similar circumstances, the IndyCar rule sees drivers have their best two laps cancelled and are not allowed to take any further part in qualifying. DM ALPINE FORMULA 1 driver Fernando Alonso has labelled Williams driver George Russell as a future F1 world champion. Alonso, a two-time champion himself, praised Russell as the greatest talent of the young generation of F1 stars last year. After the Monaco Grand Prix Russell and Alonso swapped helmets with the Spaniard writing, “George, you rock!! Future world champ.” DM

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A MAJOR factor in the battles that some F1 drivers have is the psychological “mind games” they play off the track.

Not all of them do it, of course, but a good example was the way Nelson Piquet used to constantly needle and insult his Williams teammate Nigel Mansell.

This year, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are having a fierce battle on the track for the drivers’ title.

Off track, Hamilton, who had 100 pole positions and 98 wins as of the Monaco Grand Prix, said that, unlike him, Verstappen “feels perhaps he has a lot to prove.”

Hamilton added he himself has nothing to prove.

“Lewis loves all that rubbish,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Sky TV when asked about any mind games that might be being played.

“Max does his own thing, he’s his own man,” Horner said. “The fact that Lewis feels he needs to do that means that actually Max is probably getting under his skin a little.”

Indeed, Verstappen is well known for shrugging his shoulders and saying he does not care.

“We’re only at the beginning of the

championship,” said Horner. “Can you imagine what it will be like if they are that close going into the last few races?”

Horner also enjoyed making a few digs at Hamilton’s team boss Toto Wolff.

“I think Toto’s more focused on our rear wing than he is on next year at the moment,” said Horner, referring to the flexing rear wing controversy. “I don’t know what’s going on in their business. Toto knows what’s going on in everybody’s business!”

Wolff has said that Mercedes has stopped

developing its 2021 car and is now fully concentrated on its 2022 car.

“Can Mercedes afford just to turn everything off? You’d be a very brave person to do that (now),” Horner said.

Verstappen certainly won the war in Monaco, winning the race and taking the lead in the points, while Hamilton finished way back in seventh.

“Actions always speak louder than words,” Verstappen said. “That’s a good lesson after this weekend. You know you have to talk on the track. That’s what I like.

IMPROVEMENT NEEDED

FOURTH PLACE for Sergio “Checo” Pérez in the Monaco Grand Prix might have been third place, but it is so difficult to overtake in Monte Carlo that he had little hope of getting past McLaren’s Lando Norris.

“When we get to (the last race of the season in) Abu Dhabi no one will remember this race,” Pérez said. “They will only remember the number of points you scored. In that regard it’s a good result, we managed to minimize the damage from Saturday. We tried to find a better direction with the car and be very competitive.”

That “damage” on Saturday was when Pérez qualified far back in ninth place.

As for the previous four races before Monaco, Pérez also finished fourth in Portugal. His other two finishes in the points this season were fifths in Bahrain and Spain.

“Checo has driven some great races this year,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “Bahrain, he was very strong. His race pace in Barcelona was very strong, his race pace in Portugal was good. There’s no doubt about that, he’s just got to qualify in position and then he will be a factor.”

Pérez did qualify second for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

But that was the one race where he has not scored points this season.

“The conditions out there were really difficult today and I made quite a

few mistakes that were very costly,” he said after finishing 12th in Imola.

Thanks to Max Verstappen’s win and Pérez’s fourth place in Monaco, Red Bull is now leading the constructors’ championship for the first time since 2013.

“The team has done a fantastic job,” Pérez said, “but it’s only the fifth race of the season. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I think once I’m comfortable with the car then we’re going to see very big steps and add a lot of points for the team.”

Is Pérez close to achieving that?

“On Sundays, yes,” he said. “On Saturdays I still need the time. In Monaco we took the wrong direction; we didn’t get the car as good as Max did, but hopefully in the coming races we are able to get there.”

Horner agrees with that assessment.

“Checo is finding Saturdays harder than Sundays,” Horner said. “His race pace has generally been very, very strong. Saturdays…we need to work with him, to help him, to get comfortable. That will come.

“You can see that the majority of drivers, probably with the exception of Carlos (Sainz who moved from McLaren to Ferrari) who have changed teams for this year, it’s taken them a while to get up to speed. I think the tyres are trickier as well this year, which throws in another dynamic. He’s getting there and a performance like Monaco only helps that.”

MCLAREN’S CONTINUITY Images: Motorsport Images

We as a team, so far, made the smallest mistakes and that’s why we are ahead.

So I hope we can keep that going for the rest of the season.”

Hamilton responded: “I’m not playing mind games. It’s interesting what Christian comes out with, but I couldn’t care less! They did a great job this (Monaco) weekend, and that’s that.

We’ve had some good races also. But there are 18 races to go. It’s childish in the end when you start getting into a war of words.”

CONTINUITY IS a crucial ingredient for success in Formula 1, and now that Lando Norris has signed a long-term contract with McLaren, it means the team will have that stability.

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo has a three-year contract with McLaren, so he and Norris will be teammates at least until the end of 2023.

“I was going to joke and say that was a massive surprise, but it was expected,” Ricciardo said of Norris’ new deal. “It is good for us as a team. We are both set in for the future.

“Lando started the season really strong. The team is really happy with him and what he is doing. They wanted to get that (contract) done nice and early and move on. With us locked in for the future it is all eyes forward.

Now they will not get thrown any questions midseason or anything.”

This is Norris’ third year racing for McLaren,

but he has been with the team since he signed on as a junior driver in 2017. So he has been part of the revival of the team founded by Kiwi Bruce McLaren in 1966. Norris has had two podium finishes in the first five races of 2021.

“The biggest thing that has changed is the morale – the energy when you walk into the factory,” Norris said when comparing 2017 to 2021. “Everyone is happy and smiling a lot more. They are excited to make the step and bridge the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull.

That is the thing that has really changed: the energy levels within the team; the excitement and the motivation. And it is all in a good direction.”

Team bosses Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl outlined to Norris their plans for the team’s future. What about those plans has excited Norris?

“There are a lot of things we have coming up,” Norris said, “and the new wind tunnel

is one of the biggest. A lot of things are still fairly new within the team and within the structure of the team. That still is solidifying, and how we work as a team is still quite new because of the structure. So following that up in the next two seasons, it will only get better.

“We still have plenty of areas to work on as a team and not just on the car. The plans in place for that are very good. Those things you like to see as a driver from the team side.

They make you feel confident that you are in the right place. Andreas and Zak have told me the things you want to hear as a driver. And that is always a good confidence booster.”

Norris had two podium finishes and was third in the drivers’ championship after five races in 2021.

“He stepped up this year,” Ricciardo said.

“It’s his third year with the team, and that is where you really start to hit your marks. He is good, there is no denying that.”

“I think if the limbo wings are on in Baku, with the advantage that we see, it’s going to go to the stewards,” Wolff told Sky TV. “And if the stewards are not enough, then it’s going to go to the ICA (International Court of Appeal). So I guess the FIA is going to clarify things before Baku, because if not, it could be very messy.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is equally adamant that the current cars will be completely legal until 15 June, and that the teams need the time to make the changes.

“You can’t expect parts just to be magicked up overnight with the costs that are incurred with that,” he said. “The car complies with the regulations that have been there for the last 18 months or so with these load tests. And when the test or the regulations have been changed or the test has been changed, then there has to be a notice period for that.”

A budget cap of US$145 million was introduced this year.

“For a team like us that is obviously running

up against the cap, then of course strategically you have to make choices,” Horner said.

“The impact of something like this is probably about half a million dollars, so that will prevent something else from happening.

So that’s the juggling act that we’re now having to make with the budget cap and financial regs.”

The front wings flex on both the Mercedes and the Red Bull, so it makes no sense for either to protest the other’s front wing.

BENDY, MESSY BAKU FORMULA 1’s bendy wing debate could be heading for a messy protest controversy.

Quite a few teams – most notably Red Bull – have rear wings that bend back to reduce drag on the straights and then pop back up to create downforce in the corners.

The FIA issued a technical directive saying that it would impose more stringent tests on the rear wings beginning on 15 June.

Article 3.8 of Formula One’s technical regulations stipulates that components influencing a car’s aerodynamics must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.

The current flexi-wings could therefore still be used in the Monaco and Azerbaijan Grands Prix. That didn’t make too much of an impact in Monaco, which is a high downforce track but Baku, with its long straight, would clearly benefit the bendy wing cars.

Mercedes’ rear wing does not bend, so it would certainly be at a disadvantage. Team principal Toto Wolff was adamant that the other teams could update their wings before the Azerbaijan weekend and, if they didn’t, then Mercedes would lodge a protest with the stewards at the event.

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Publisher Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 Editorial Director

with Dan Knutson

Bruce Williams

Editor-At-Large

Mark Fogarty

Deputy Editor

Heath McAlpine

Production

Jason Crowe

Special Contributor

Bruce Newton

Staff Journalist

Dan McCarthy

National Editor

Garry O’Brien

Historic Contributor Online Editor

F1 INSIDER

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Mark Bisset Rhys Vandersyde

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

AGENTS

Dan Knutson Mike Brudenell

Photographers Australia Ross Gibb, Rebecca Hind, Mick Oliver, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Rhys Vandersyde, Richard Hathaway, MTR Images, Bruce Moxon, Ray Ritter International Motorsport Images Advertising Manager Bruce Williams All Advertising inquiries Bruce@autoaction.com.au (0418) 349 555 Editorial contributions may be sent to Auto Action. No responsibility will be accepted for their safety. If you require the return of any sent item or items, please attach a separate, stamped and fully addressed envelope

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20 AutoAction

Images: Motorsport Images

THE GOOD news for George Russell is that this is the last year of his three-year contract with Williams. This means that he will be a free agent and therefore able to talk to other teams about driving for them in 2022 and beyond.

The bad news for Russell is that rides with top teams are currently scarce. Now that Lando Norris renewed with McLaren, it means that Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will both stay there until at least the end of 2023.

Ferrari, of course, is focused on Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. As is Aston Martin on Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel.

There could be an outside chance for Russell at Red Bull if that team decides that Sergio Pérez is not fast enough.

And there is the possibility of Russell replacing Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes to become Lewis Hamilton’s teammate next year.

Hamilton is on record saying he will not retire, and that he wants to sign a

new multi-year contract by August. Bottas, of course, would love to stay on at Mercedes, but he and the team have yet to begin any negotiations.

But Russell is feeling positive.

“I definitely think in the position I am currently, being a free agent going into next year is a good position to be in,” the British driver said, “but I think stability and longevity is important.

I think it’s so clear with people moving around recently how difficult it is to jump in and adapt to a new team. Wherever I find myself next year I’d like it to be for a couple of years as it’s so important to have that consistency to be able to grow and progress.”

There is no room for Russell at Alpine because the team wants to sign Esteban Ocon for a third consecutive year.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, making a F1 comeback at the age of 39 and after two years of racing in IndyCar and sports cars, has an Alpine contract

for 2022. But Ocon, age 24, only has a contract for 2021.

Ocon is also a free agent but Alpine’s CEO Laurent Rossi wants to keep the same driver line-up next year.

“Esteban is doing everything to make me consider keeping him in the team,” Rossi said. “I would be remiss if I didn’t think about him.”

Ocon is a Mercedes protégée, so there is a chance that Mercedes would bring Ocon in to replace Bottas next year. But that is a very slim chance indeed. If Mercedes decides to replace Bottas, and that is far from certain, the team is far more likely to hire another of its protégées – Russell.

“At the moment, we are already engaged in some conversations with Esteban’s agent, his management team and Mercedes,” Rossi said.

In the first five races of 2021 Ocon earned 12 points while Alonso scored five points.

And Ocon qualified in front of his experienced teammate four times in five races.

There have been rumours

WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE ON SALE JUNE 17

that AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly would move to Alpine in 2022 – a French driver to a French team. But Rossi said: “We’re not looking at any drivers (from outside the team) for next year. At the moment I’m obviously considering Esteban, and Fernando is here next year with us. So if we want to carry on the momentum we have, we’ll do that.”

Perhaps Russell’s best bet – and maybe his only option – would be to stay at Williams.

Last August Sir Frank Williams sold the F1 team he had founded 43 years ago as Williams Grand Prix Engineering to the private investment firm Dorilton Capital. The money that Dorilton is putting into the team will result in the car improving – especially in 2022 when the technical regulations will change radically.

Russell is only 23. He could sign a two-year deal with Williams. Then, when he becomes a free agent in 2024, hopefully for him some seats with other teams will be open.

Living Legends - Spencer Martin; Fly on the Wall - Testing with Erebus; Baku F1 Grand Prix; Catalan MotoGP; Young Gun - Bayley Hall; latest news & views

with Mark Fogarty

THE FOGES FILE AA’s persistent pundit praises Supercars’ new Gen3 openness and remembers an old F1 foe FINALLY, SUPERCARS is talking Gen3.

After months of silence, we’re now getting inundated with information.

None of it is especially new. We’ve been revealing key details – and concerns – since 2018. Trying to keep secrets in Supercars is futile, especially when it’s such a big issue as the future technical package.

To be picky, Auto Action first revealed Gen3 in 2016 and has been all over it for the past three years.

Lately, getting official Gen3 info has been like pulling teeth. Now, we’re drowning in information.

After months of rebuffs, Supercars Head Of Motorsport Adrian Burgess opened up about the next-gen cars in a Zoom meeting with key motor sport media.

Auto Action was represented by newshound Bruce Newton and I. As you can imagine, we grilled ATB thoroughly.

Actually, to be fair, he volunteered more information than we asked.

It was the first time a Supercars official with technical proficiency outlined how the project was going.

My head is still spinning from the amount of detail we were given.

ATB’s candour was surprising and illuminating – and encouraging.

My takeaway was that Gen3 is far more advanced than we were led to believe – but still short of being ready for the start of next season at the Newcastle 500 in late February.

Burgess was adamant Gen3 would happen in 2022 – but didn’t rule out a mid-season changeover.

That was the most honest official acknowledgement the new cars won’t be ready at the start of next year.

You’d still think a delay until 2023 would be sensible, but Burgess is adamant Gen3 will be a goer sometime in ’22.

Other headlines of our chat with Burgess:

www.autoaction.com.au

• The Camaro and Mustang prototypes won’t start testing until August • Cost of car and engine will be close to $400,000 – close to half current cars • Engine parity is close – 5.4-litre Ford V8 versus GM3 LS3 variant, probably 5.7-litre rather than 6.2-litre • Paddle shift debate on-going – but electronic actuation a given. Auto blip downchange still favoured for engine life.

More details of Gen3 are on our web site, autoaction.com.au.

The discussion with Burgess was illuminating and long overdue.

Supercars executives seem to have finally realised that informing the media – and, therefore, the fans – is better for everyone.

The teams – as revealed by AA last month – have CAD designs of the Gen3 chassis, which were finally released to the media late last week.

Suddenly, the floodgates are open and Gen3 details are abundant. As they should be.

I never understood why Supercars was so reluctant to talk about its future cars.

Fans are hungry for the details of how their blue or red reps will look and be configured.

Supercars and Burgess have undertaken to keep the media more closely informed about Gen 3 from now on.

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They have come around to the truth that the more they withhold, the more we learn.

If you’ve been paying even scant attention, you’d know AA has broken every major Gen3 story in the past three years.

Better to work with us than against us. We will always find out eventually and tell you.

From now on, hopefully, Supercars will keep us and you much better informed on Gen3’s progress.

ATB undertook to be more available and more open to the motor sport media as Gen3 develops.

The Gen3 Camaro and Mustang prototypes are due to make their public debuts at the Sydney SuperNight from August 20-22.

I’m excited about Gen3 – but I’ll be more excited by a constant flow of development information.

Gen3 is the biggest change since Car Of The Future in 2013 – and arguably much more important, defining Supercars’ future in the midst of motoring’s wholesale shift to hybrids and electric cars.

Hybrid assistance is a part of Gen3’s future – trends indicate it should be introduced by 2024 at the latest.

MAX FACTOR

HE WAS both the most inclusive and most divisive president of the FIA, the architect of great reforms and instigator of big rifts.

Max Mosley, who died last week aged 81, did more good than harm in his nearly 20 years at the top of motor racing and motoring.

He unified the Federation International de L’Automobile as the world governing body of car racing and auto clubs, after taking over as president of FISA in 1991.

NCAP road safety tests and radical motor racing safety improvements following Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994 are his over-riding legacies.

Mosley split F1 in the mid-2000s with his autocratic rule that triggered a breakaway movement.

His sex scandal in 2008 doomed him, but as the son of British 1930s fascist Oswald Mosley, he was always controversial.

Mosley was sharp and committed. His intellect was vastly superior to the likes of then McLaren boss Ron Dennis, whom he eviscerated in the 2007 ‘Spygate’ scandal.

In my many run-ins with Max, he fought fire with immolation.

His verbal acuity enabled him to evade close questioning. The thrust and parry of interviewing was challenging and enjoyable.

Mosley had bigger automotive aims that make the cars we drive today much safer.

For all his foibles, he made a huge contribution to motoring and motor racing safety.

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T A Z HOW !

Walkinshaw’s racing revival is being led by a marketing man who wouldn’t know a rose joint from a rose bud – but ex-cricketer Bruce Stewart is hitting sixes

HE IS not your typical Supercars team principal. In fact, Walkinshaw Andretti United boss Bruce Stewart is almost as unracing as you can get. Never drove, never wielded a spanner, never read a data screen.

OK, Stewart did gopher for Peter Brock – sort of, a very long time ago. But, really, his skill is selling.

He’s a commercial guy who brings in the dollars.

He knows how to sell the sizzle of Supercars. Which is how – and why – he has ended up as team principal of WAU, running an onthe-rise V8 squad co-owned by scion Ryan Walkinshaw, IndyCar second-generation legend Michael Andretti and McLaren F1 chief Zak Brown.

Once the famed Holden Racing Team, WAU is back as a frontrunner, led by the mercurial

22 AutoAction

driving talent of Chaz Mostert.

The man who admits to little technical knowledge is suddenly sitting at the controls of the fourth-best team in Supercars – vying for wins.

Stewart, 50, grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, playing cricket at a handy enough level to cross the ditch as a teenager to play for the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Club.

He has the chunky physique of famously unathletic England captain Mike Gatting and despite his talent with the willow, never progressed beyond club grade.

But his playing background got him into sports marketing, beginning in the late 1990s with Octagon, which then managed Peter Brock. A decade as Clayton’s commercial director in the fading HRT era qualified him

to become co-team principal with accomplished engineer Mathew ‘Techo’ Nilsson in 2018, the WAU partnership’s first year.

Stewart became standalone team boss mid-way through last year, once WAU’s technical fortification and surprise recruit Mostert’s brilliance – aided by deal-or-no deal accompanying race engineer Adam de Borre – started to shine.

The commercial partnerships he has retained or gained – Mobil 1, Appliances Online, Middy’s Electrical, GOMO, et al – speak to his ability to attract meaningful sponsorship.

Motor racing insiders know Bruce Stewart – he’s been a friendly face in the paddock for more than 15 years with HRT/ Wakinshaw Racing/WAU – but fans might wonder how he came

to run the team still regarded as GM’s flagship squad despite Triple Eight’s takeover of the HRT moniker in 2017.

So we decided to speak with him to find out who he is, why he’s different and how he plans to reestablish WAU as the V8 racing powerhouse the Clayton squad was in the late ’90s and early 2000s.

Inspired by original HRT/HSV chief John Crennan, a marketing guru, Stewart stepped up to the challenge and, commercially and resultswise, has so far delivered.

Not quite the antithesis of most modern Supercars team principals, he is nevertheless a very different day-to-day team boss, juggling the expectations of high-powered owners with the reality of a difficult commercial environment.

Ex-MCC batsman Stewart credits delegation to talented line managers for his success at the helm of WAU. Chaz Mostert is leading from the front, contending for poles and race wins, while mentoring promising young gun Bryce Fulwood.

It’s not unprecedented, but it is unusual for a team principal to come from a commercial and marketing background.

So how does your role as team boss work?

Most of the team principals would have a direct input and make most of the decisions and, certainly in the past at HRT, the team principal was the person who had a massive input into the decisionmaking around engines, engineering, mechanical works, R&D, all of that. So when I started to come into this role, it was co-team principal initially and then sole team principal, and you have to realise that you’re not one of the classic racers. I’m not going to tell my engine guys how to build engines or engineers how to set the car up, but what I can do is use the business skills I have to focus on what I can do to help those people step up. We quickly realised that I have four or five leaders in the team who’d I’d known for a long time – for 10 years – and that you empower those guys to stand up and make decisions. My job is to try to help our managers facilitate what their plans are for their areas of responsibility, whether it’s engineering, mechanical, whatever it may be. I’m the conduit to help them be successful. And that sounds

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like a whole lot of business-speak, but to be quite frank, it’s the only course I could take. I can’t try to emulate one of those other team principals. I have to focus on what my strengths are, which is being a business/commercial type and looking at, well, what are your plans, what do you need to do, how can I help facilitate that financially and with manpower? My job is to provide people with the tools to lift the team’s performance. People like Anthony McDonald (team manager) and Darron Tait (manufacturing manager), with whom I’ve been working for more than a decade and I have massive respect for them. My job is to help them be more successful.

Equally, you then have the magicians like Carl Faux (technical director) and my role is to help make his life easier so he can create the best engineering solutions for our cars. It’s pretty simple, but for me that’s the only way it could work. Hopefully, we’re seeing the fruits of those labours come through because four years ago we decided we needed to reinvigorate the team, restructure, look at our personnel – not only drivers, but in other key areas – and set ourselves up for a journey where we steadily improve.

We’d been chasing the magic bullet for so long and been mediocre for so long that we had to change.

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So, essentially, day-to-day, the buck stops with you?

Yes, it does.

And you participate in the major decisions all the way down the line?

Yes. But it’s fair to say that I’m passing on a lot of trust and support to the key people who know those areas the best.

Sometimes we get it wrong, but hopefully we get it right more often. Equally, I won’t shy away from making the hard decisions. I think we stagnated at times by not making tough decisions. For me, it’s all about trying to weigh up what we’re trying do and what the objective is, what tools we have and make a call and get after it.

I imagine a big part of your job would be liaising with the owners. That requires a bit of juggling, doesn’t it?

It does, but they’re all super-supportive and have their own strengths. I’ve known Ryan for a long time and we have a really strong relationship, but he knows me really well and will pull me up in the areas I need to concentrate on. When you work with someone like Zak, you have

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the commercial leader of world motor sport, which is a pretty cool resource to be able to get on the end of the phone to chat about contractual matters or opportunities. Ten minutes with him can set you on the right course pretty quickly.

And a super-racer like Michael Andretti is another great resource to talk to about race team direction and what he thinks will make us more successful. So I think they work really well together. There’s a lot of amazing camaraderie between them and they all lend me their strong suits to use as tools to try to help us.

Are they heavily involved?

We get on the phone almost fortnightly and have management meetings monthly. We also have a live WhatsApp channel and every morning something will be there, and that’s great because having access to what Zak and Michael are doing is invaluable. That provides a lot of information and insight.

So you’ve been the sole team principal since July last year. Is that working better because it seems to me that having two team principals was awkward and smacked off co-captains in footy, which never really works.

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Look, I have massive respect for Mat Nilsson. ‘Techo’ is an extraordinary operator. There might be times where we would cross paths, but we tried to sit on our own sides of the fence. Whether it’s working better or not, I think a large part of our success would be from some of the seeds that ‘Techo’ has sown, so I can’t speak highly enough about the bloke. But, certainly, when you go through COVID-19 and you’re away for a long period of time, it makes it easier if there’s just one person steering the ship. It was a moment in time when that decision was semi-forced and it worked out OK. But reiterating, Mat’s one of the best organisers and analysts in the business. He knows more stuff than I will learn in the next two years. I think we have a good team that allows me to empower other people to step up and, thankfully, they have.

You’re in the happy position of being in the driver’s seat since the team’s demonstrable turnaround. So what has made the team competitive again?

It’s been a three- or four-year plan in regard to reinvigorating our driver lineup – and that’s with utter respect to the previous steerers (James Courtney and Scott Pye), who are still both doing really well – and reinvigorating our culture. It’s a series of constant improvements. You’re just trying to constantly improve every area, whether it’s preparation for events, whether it’s your review of events, whether it’s how you develop the car – and there is no magic bullet. But I think probably the biggest bastion of the success has been the fact that our key leaders internally have stood up. So I’d love to claim it, but I don’t think I can. I reckon I have an amazing group of people around me that make the success of the team look like it’s happened because I’ve taken over. But it isn’t. It’s because these people have all stood up and done a role. And if there’s one thing that I’ve helped, it’s empowering them to take more ownership.

As you rightly point out, it’s team effort, but high-profile signings like Carl Faux and Chaz Mostert have led the revival, haven’t they?

I would say they’ve been amazing, but equally I would say people like Anthony McDonald and Darron Tait, and Bryce (Fulwood) as well, have contributed to it.

But, yes, with a guy like Carl, you have what I call a mad scientist in that he’s an amazing thinker. He sees stuff down the track that we’ve been looking for and help set the direction for us, so he’s been great.

And Chaz as well. What you see on the TV is him completely. I could walk into the truck 20 minutes before a session and he’d in his jocks dancing to whatever music he’s listening to – and that’s just him because he has the ability to be fun, relaxed Chaz and then pull on the helmet and be an absolute focused demon in the race car in a flash.

Surely a talent like Chaz, though, must lift the team on performance alone?

He is amazing and, culturally, he creates

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Stewart is in awe of the rapport between race engineer Adam De Borre (foreground, above) and Mostert. He also praises team manager Anthony McDonald (middle) and welcomes advice of commercial guru coowner Zak Brown (right). such a warm buzz around the team. He makes everyone feel super-involved and appreciated, and that’s such a massive thing to have someone like him around the team. I think the other part we should recognise is getting Adam De Borre as well because he and Chaz have this amazing relationship. It’s like a marriage because they do have their quibbles and they do have their moments, but, man, they have each other’s backs. Chaz trusts Adam implicitly. They do rag each other at the same time, so they have a pretty special relationship.

Speaking of Chaz, [Stewart laughs], will you be able keep him for next year and beyond?

We’d really like to. I think he feels at home at our place, he feels comfortable. We’re working hard to keep him. He’s a superasset for us and that’s the aim. I’d feel reasonably confident that he’ll want to stay because we’ve rebuilt our team around him and he feels really comfortable and at home here, and we’re changing. We’re constantly developing and improving our cars. We’re allowing his individuality to flourish, particularly with Adam, and we are genuinely all getting on really well. It’s like a family team. We have a really strong bond.

It sounds like you haven’t done a new deal, but you’re suggesting that he’s still available. So he hasn’t done a deal elsewhere?

I wouldn’t think so. But I wouldn’t want to create too much furore around it.

No, please, as much as you like!

If I were a betting man, I’d wager Chaz is staying.

Well, I would say that’s a reasonable thought to have.

When would you hope to lock him in, then, for an extended deal?

As soon as possible, I would think. It just adds solidity to your program. And he’s just an awesome person to have in our team.

And what’s Bryce’s status going forward?

So we have a long-term vision with Bryce.

We’re just trying to support him to get the results that he wants and we want.

But we really like the young man. He’s been amazing for us culturally as well.

He’s super-quick, he’s a great person and our team has a really nice working collaboration between him and Chaz and the engineers. There’s no bullshit. It’s a really strong package. We would all just like to see better results from that car and steady improvement.

[Laughs] Nah. Have you re-signed him?

You expect to get around to negotiating with him quite soon – if you haven’t started already.

Yes, if we haven’t started already. I haven’t got much more to say on that one, Mark.

We haven’t really discussed that at the moment, but that would be the plan and the vision, I would say.

Wearing your commercial hat, the

whole sponsorship game has changed dramatically in recent years. How tough is the market for Supercars team sponsorships?

We’re in the business of entertainment and we have to use the pulling power of the fans and the people who watch and live and breathe Supercars, to create value for our partners. I think we have a good methodology in how we do that and how we position ourselves as a team (which) is also attractive to a number of sponsors. We made a conscious decision a few years ago that we don’t want to try to emulate Triple Eight in so far as we have to have our own proposition and our own business position, and we are the family team that hopefully has a good buzz around us. Equally, we have a strong social media presence and we work hard on our videography and digital assets with the amazing work of Andrew Wiles, who heads up that area. He does a really good job, so in that respect we have a strong package. I think there are partners who want to invest in good teams with a vision of where they’re going. I think we sell hope and we have a strong idea of what we’re trying to do on and off track, and that is appealing. If you can’t talk about what you’re trying to do with your team and your commercial assets and what you stand for, it’s a very transactional position you’re in, whereas we want to build longterm relationships. We’ve been with Mobil for 28 years. Their business has changed

Mostert’s breakthrough win at Symmons Plains rewarded the dedication of the whole Clayton squad (top) to becoming a competitive force again. Stewart expects WAU to stay with GM when Gen3 happens, switching to the Camaro (above left), and also to keep Mostert amid speculation about a Triple Eight bid. so many times and yet the brand is still one of our major partners.

But isn’t it harder than ever to attract the big-name, big-dollar sponsors?

Yes. So are the days of the multi-milliondollar title sponsors gone?

I don’t think they’re over. I think if the package is right and you have the deliverables right, they can still happen.

We have great coverage on Seven now, we have strong events, so once we get through this COVID period, commercial parties will want to spend good dollars on Supercars if we have the package right entertainmentwise. So Gen3 is a good thing. It will help us with what we deliver visually and for the fans.

Is Mobil 1 the team’s primary sponsor?

We have co-naming rights partners – Mobil 1- Appliances Online and Mobil 1 - Middy’s – so they umbrella both cars.

And does their exposure reflect their investment?

I think it does and I would say they think

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it does. We have so many programs for Mobil outside of what we do on a racetrack. We have a significant B2B relationship with Walkinshaw Automotive Group (Mobil 1 is the first-fill oil). We have a significant digital videography content creation for them. So if you just stack it up with the power of the Mobil 1 on the bonnets, it’s a significant amount of exposure they get, but we ensure that we build it up and bolster all areas of their business – B2B, their distributors and digital content – so I think when you look at the whole package, it’s really strong. They pay the right amount for the package they get and, importantly, we never lose sight that without companies like that, we don’t go racing.

Where do you guys stand on Gen3 – a) the concept and b) the push for next year or wait till 2023?

I won’t get involved in the second part of the question, but the concept is good. We have to have cars that are recognisable and cars that create entertainment. We’re entertainment for the fans, so you need passing, you need big moments on track, you need all of the excitement that makes this a great TV sport as well as if you’re at the racetrack.

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As a team principal, surely you have a view on the timing of it?

[Laughs uncomfortably] I want us to do it properly, so if that’s the start of next year, that’s great. If we can do it properly, let’s get into. All I want us to do is deliver the best package. But as far as the timing goes, it’s probably best you speak to Supercars, Mark. But, for me, it’s the product. Get the product right.

Should we assume that you’ll be running Camaros next year?

I would say so. We’ve been a Holden team for a long time. Certainly, Ryan’s been pretty outspoken in the media about looking for another manufacturer and we’re always looking to see if we can bring in a manufacturer that would give you an element of strength. Otherwise, we build Chevy Silverados and we were doing Camaros, so at this stage it would make sense to race the Camaro.

Can the team get back to the glory years?

That’s the aim. The bottom line is that we want to reward our legion of fans.

We have a huge number of fans who are coming out of the woodwork and want

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to support the team they knew as the Holden Racing Team again.

So the focus is on rewarding them – but not only them. Also our sponsors and partners, our staff and the families of our staff. There are quite a few people in our team that I’ve known for a long time and we’ve gone through some harder years and it’s important to us – and to me – to enable all of our team to get the reward.

Reward the fans, reward the team, reward the families. But it ain’t easy and it ain’t going to be immediate. We certainly have a lot of amazingly passionate fans out there. We have a belief that there are a whole lot of fans out there who are waiting for our team to become great again and that helps drive us. It pushes us to keep improving and you see it more and more at each event. I’ve had so many people come up to me and go “I was an HRT fan, but I left your team when you weren’t HRT anymore. But I’m back. I can see what you’re doing.” That’s great.

One by one, we’ll earn all the fans back.

Merchandise sales have increased significantly this year despite the semiCOVID compromised environment at the events so far. The sales have been extraordinary. At Sandown and Symmons Plains, the number of Walkinshaw Andretti United jackets we sold was huge.

People are buying back into our team.

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COOPER-JAGUAR: Le Mans to Lowood

Peter Whitehead’s 1955 Cooper-Jaguar was a European co-star but became an Australian winner. CJ-1-55 then disappeared before resurrection in the ‘80s. MARK BISSET tells the tale of the most successful of the six Cooper-Jags, which lives in lazy retirement in Queensland PETER WHITEHEAD pitted his Cooper T38 Jaguar at Le Mans in 1955 just after a catastrophic chain of events catapulted Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes Benz 300SLR through the crowd at 6.26 pm.

The accident cost 85 lives and destroyed a multiple more.

After completing only 38 laps, Peter and half-brother, Graham Whitehead’s CooperJaguar race was over almost before it started. In the fourth hour, running 14th, they were losing oil pressure and oil, and were black-flagged.

It was a big disappointment, as Peter had won the 1951 race aboard a works Jaguar C-type with Peter Walker.

Despite the subsequent cancellation of many races, CJ-1-55 – which made its debut in the Silverstone International in May – contested the Circuito do Porto and Circuito do Monsanto in Portugal, the Goodwood Nine-Hours, the Oulton Park and

Peter Whitehead in the Cooper T38 at Le Mans (above) in 1955. Graham Whitehead at Dundrod (below) in 1955 ahead of the Musso/Bordino works Maserati 300S. An interesting note is that this 300S-chassis 3055, was raced by Jean Behra at Albert Park in 1956, and then run successfully for five years by Doug Whiteford.

Aintree In Internationals, nternattiona n ls and the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod.

Whitehead’s best was fourth in the Circuito do Porto.

A competitive run at Dundrod was ruined when a chassis-tube broke, a sad end to the program started at Peter’s initiative in late 1953.

Usually characterised as a ‘wealthy gentleman driver’, he was a fast, reliable seasoned pro – one of that age-group whose best years were taken by the war.

A member of the W&J Whitehead family, operators of a large Laisterdyke, Bradford, wool-scouring and spinning business – in its 1950’s heyday they employed 1200 people – Whitehead applied business acumen to his racing.

The Yorkshireman had profitable fun for years contesting non-championship singleseater and sportscar events around the world, selecting those with good start and prize money.

He thought a lighter, better handling, Jaguar powered car superior to the C-Type and forthcoming D-Types would be just-theticket for these sportscar events.

Well familiar with Coopers, having raced a Cooper T24 Alta in 1953/4, Whitehead approached them with his idea. After Charlie grumbled about brand damage if the sportscar wasn’t successful, John, and Cooper designer/draftsman Owen Maddock, met with Whitehead and his racing manager, David Yorke, to flesh out the brief.

The essential elements of the resultant Cooper Mark 1, or Type 33, was a strong, light, typically curvy spaceframe chassis made of 1½ inch steel tubing. It had four-main longitudinal members and oval-outriggers between the front and rear wheels. Double wishbone suspension was used front and rear, with transverse leafsprings and Armstrong shock absorbers.

Both Jaguar racers had live rear axles, so the Cooper’s planned independent rear suspension should have better traction than the Jags.

Dunlop disc brakes were a Whitehead mandatory, despite a cost of £750, a big chunk of the £4000 car’s price!

The heavy, cast-iron block, aluminium head Jaguar XK, DOHC, two-valve 3.4-litre engine and gearbox sat well back in the frame (the 1955 Mark 2 or T38 engine was canted eight-degrees to the right to lower the bonnet line). The gearbox was attached to the cast-alloy Cooper/ENV diff via a short driveshaft, with a quick-change rear-end made for fast final-drive ratio changes.

The wet-sump engine used in the T33

The fun-of-the-fair: #11 Whitehead/Whitehead Cooper T38 Jag, #6 is the winning works Hawthorn/Bueb Jaguar D-Type, being followed by the sister D-Type, #7 Rolt/Hamilton. In the background is the #26 ill-fated Macklin/Leston Austin Healey 100S. Peter Whitehead #11 Cooper T38 Jaguar leads the #15 Mieres/Perdisa Maserati 300S through the Le Mans esses in 1955. gave about 225 bhp, the T38’s dry-sump unit, also fed by three 45DCO3 Webers, gave about 250bhp. A four-gallon oil tank was mounted on the chassis’ left-front with 37 gallons of fuel carried at the rear.

Clad in a swoopy 18-gauge aluminium body, it looked-the-goods, weighing 17cwt; about 1.5cwt less than a C-Type and 1cwt less than a D. Six Cooper Jags were built, three of each type.

Whitehead’s Type 33, CJ-1-54, first raced in the May 1954 Silverstone International, then the Circuito do Porto and Circuito do Monsanto in Portugal, the Snetterton International, Wakefield Trophy, and Aintree International at home, and finally the GP Penya-Rhin in Barcelona.

First in the Snetterton 20-lapper was his best result. The successful cars were Ferraris, victorious at Silverstone, Monsanto, Aintree and Penya-Rhin.

Images: Motorsport Images/Autopics.com.au/Ian McDonald & Stephen Dalton Collections

Villoresi’s works-Lancia D24 won at Porto, and Gallagher’s Gordini T15S took the Wakefield Trophy at Curragh, Ireland.

The 1955 T38s had Jaguar’s official blessing. CJ-1-55 took its bow naked, sans curvaceous body on the Jaguar stand at the Brussels Motor Show in January.

Honours in Whitehead’s T38 races were more widely spread than in 1954. Silverstone, Oulton and Goodwood fell to the Aston Martin DB3S, Jaguar D-Types won at Le Mans and Aintree, and the Ferrari Monza at Hyeres.

The Maserati 300S won at Porto. Mercedes Benz returned for the season ending Tourist Trophy championship round, winning with the 300SLR – a timely step back to centrestage for the sportscar of the year.

Crystal-clear to Whitehead was the depth of competition. Works-commitment was needed to break into the leading sportscarpack, but Cooper had bigger single-seater fish-to-fry. Coventry Climax had decent customer F2 engines and Cooper were happy to build suitable chassis’ – F2 success led quickly to F1.

It was time to sell the Cooper-Jag. New Zealand’s first internationals were in 1954, with Ken Wharton’s howling BRM P15 V16 was the headline act. Tony Gaze was there too, despatched by George Abecassis to race and sell an HWM Alta 2-litre s/c, a task he dutifully completed.

For 1955 Gaze suggested Whitehead join him in NZ and Australia. Whitehead was amenable, he mixed business and pleasure during an extended 1938 Australian tour, including his first international win, the Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst, aboard his ERA B-Type.

Peter’s Ferrari relationship produced a pair of 500/625 3-litre four-cylinder, Formula Libre cars, mildly updated, the same cars made the ’56 trip. In addition, Whitehead took CJ-1-55, and Gaze his HWM-Jaguar VPA9 – the plan was to race, win and collect, then sell four cars.

Peter’s machines were beautifully prepared

by Stan Elsworth and Arthur Birks at his Motor Work garage in Chalfont St Peter, then despatched to Auckland for the NZ GP at Ardmore Airfield on Jan 7, 1956.

The grid included Whitehead and Gaze, Stirling Moss aboard the family Maserati 250F, Reg Parnell in the one-off-prototypeGP Aston Martin DP155, Leslie Marr’s Connaught B Type Jaguar, and Jack Brabham’s Cooper T40 Bristol.

While Moss disappeared into the distance,

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Stan Jones pushing typically hard in his first circuit drive of the Cooper T38 at Albert Park during the March 1956 Moomba meeting (above). Stan Jones #6 in his first run in the car at Templestowe Hillclimb in February 1956 (below right). winning the 340km race from Gaze and Whitehead, CJ-1-55 had an unexpected NZGP support role. Parnell raced it to fifth place after his Aston Martin misbehaved in practice, Whitehead loaning his pal the car.

Moss raced Australian Porsche importer Norman Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder to victory in the sportscar race, from Whitehead’s Cooper and Gaze’ HWM. Those performances were more than enough to convince Stan Jones – father of 1980 F1 World Champion Alan – one of Australia’s fastest ‘50s drivers, winner of the

1958 Gold Star and 1959 AGP, to buy the Cooper-Jag. Jones raced and traded more racing cars than many have had hot-dinners, most of them he made sing too, and the Cooper was no exception.

Whitehead and Gaze had a great summer.

The Brit won at Wigram and Ryal Bush, and then on the Gnoo Blas road-circuit in New South Wales, while the Aussie was victorious at Dunedin. To cap it off, they sold their cars, as did Moss and Brabham theirs.

These colonial trips were manna-

from-heaven for visiting racers and local competitors alike, selling and buying yearold racing cars – this pattern of Antipodean racing commerce was well established before the Tasman Cup. CJ-1-55’s Australian debut was at Templestowe Hillclimb on February 5, two records was the yield of a good days work close to Jones’ Melbourne home.

At Fishermans Bend in mid-February, Jones won the Lucas Trophy and sportscar scratch, but retired from the blue-riband Victorian Trophy after clouting a hay-bale.

A staggering 100,000 people attended the first day’s racing at Albert Park’s March, Moomba meeting, in a double-header a week apart.

Gaze, in his last drives of the HWM-Jaguar (sold to multiple AGP winner Lex Davison together with his ex-Ascari Ferrari), won the 150-mile Moomba Tourist Trophy from Bib Stillwell’s new Jaguar D-Type. The star of the show was Jones, a press-on driver of the first degree – Alan was very much a chip-offthe-old-block.

The stocky little racer had trouble getting the Cooper off the line in the Le Mans start, but then charged. He led by lap four but, driving unnecessarily hard, ran his engine’s bearings, the temperature of which was sky-high.

His team had removed the grille fitted by Stan Elsworth to protect the radiator from leaves, which were partially the cause of Jones’ demise. The pace of the T38 was proved with a lap-time two-seconds clear of Gaze and Stillwell.

Peter Whitehead #24 in the Ardmore paddock, New Zealand, January 1956. In the background, the #25 is Tony Gaze’s HWM Jaguar VPA9.

The Jaguar XK 3442cc 3442cc, DOHC DOHC, two two-valve, valve straight six (above) was one of the great post-war race engines. T38 is a D-Type dry-sump specification engine fed by three 45DCO Webers. Its spaceframe chassis is pictured here (left) during its mid-1961 rebuild by Greville Edgerton in Melbourne.

Jones’ mate and mechanic – the gifted Ern Seeliger who was a top-line racer, fettler and car-builder – rebuilt the Jaguar engine at his modest Richmond Temple of Speed in time for the following weekend’s racing.

Jones went at it hammer-and-tongs again with Stillwell in the 50-mile Argus Cup, but Stillwell took the honours in a battle of the Melbourne Holden Dealers, from Jones, with Gaze third. Stillwell and Jones set a new sportscar lap-record of 90.5mph.

Jones ran the car again at Templestowe in early April, again collecting two classrecords, before offering CJ-1-55 for sale.

Jones senior had raced three Charlie Dean/Repco Research built Formula Libre

Maybachs since 1951. Maybach 3’s SOHCsix let go at maximum revs during the South Pacific Championship at Gnoo Blas that January, spinning Jones down the road on his own oil.

Devoid of a spare block, and wanting a more competitive mount, Jones bought a new Maserati 250F. The Cooper had to go to help pay for the sleek-red Italian, Mobil also helped with funds.

In short order, CJ-1-55 passed through John Aldis and Allan Gray’s hands without notable success, then Wangaratta, Victorian racer, Ron Phillips bought it.

Son of between-the-wars ace Jack Phillips, Ron was a Wang motor-trader like his father.

He raced Eddie Thomas’ Autocrat Special and an Allard before stepping into a Austin Healey 100S – sold to him by Jones and prepared by Seeliger – in which he was very quick in 1956/7.

Phillips painted CJ-1-55 a distinctive light blue. She looked a little tatty about the body, but the well prepared, skilfully driven car found its sweet spot in Ron’s hands.

He opened the batting with third in the 100-mile Australian Tourist Trophy (ATT) at Bathurst in October 1958 behind David McKay’s Aston Martin DB3S, and Derek Jolly’s 2-litre Lotus 15 Climax FPF. Second in the 100-mile Victorian Tourist Trophy at Albert Park’s final meeting (until the modern era) in November 1958 was equally impressive. Thrice Australian GP winner Doug Whiteford’s Maserati 300S won.

Having got the hang of it, 1959 was the bring-home-the-bacon year for Phillips and CJ-1-55.

He contested his first AGP at Longford

in March. Among the Coopers and Jones’ Maserati 250F, Phillips started fifth but scored a DNF with diff problems after completing 14 laps. Jones took a welldeserved victory.

At the Bathurst Easter meeting he won two races from Frank Matich’ Jaguar C-Type – Matich, later Australian Sportscar Champion, ATT, AGP and Gold Star winner, was already a star – these were strong wins on the toughest of road circuits.

In April, Phillips squeezed in Tarrawingee, near home. There, the high-born Le Mans racer ran on a part dirt-part bitumen surface.

Ron took wins in the Cooper, and also in Jones’ Seeliger fettled Maybach 4 Chev.

In June, the 100-mile ATT was held on the Lowood, Queensland former RAAF base, and finally the bellowing, blue-beastie won a championship.

Phillips took the 35-lap race from Bill Pitts’ Jaguar D-Type and Bob Jane’s Maserati 300S, while back in fourth place John Ampt looked longingly at CJ-1-55 from his Decca Climax.

Ron Phillips in CJ-1-55 at inner-western-Melbourne’s Fishermans Bend track (top) in 1960. Side view (above left) shows the degree of difficulty in staying in the seat in those prebelted days. John Ampt pushing hard at Phillip Island in 1963 (above right). It was a hard worked old-warrior by this stage.

Phillips also won the Victorian Sportscar Championship, and the NSW Road Racing Championship for sportscars, at Bathurst in October.

Into 1960 Australia’s sportscar grids were little changed, albeit the Lotuses were coming.

It was no surprise when Phillips popped the Cooper on pole for the ATT, at Longford.

He wasn’t in the hunt though, retiring while running third with a mechanical failure after completing 14-laps. Jolly’s Lotus 15 won from Whiteford’s Maserati 300S and Matich’s Jaguar D-Type.

Equipe Phillips headed up the Hume Highway for Mount Panorama again at Easter.

Whiteford’s 300S won both their Bathurst encounters with Phillips second; the Maser did 147.54mph, and the Cooper 150mph on Conrod Straight.

After a great run together Phillips offered the car for sale.

Accomplished young racer, Rainbow, Mallee wheat and barley farmer, John Ampt, was the purchaser at £1995 pounds – he too extracted the best from the car.

Ex-works Jaguar and Ecurie Ecosse mechanic, Ron Gaudion, had returned to

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Australia and settled in outer Melbourne’s Glen Waverley.

“I got lucky there, I had a BP contract and Ron worked for BP, he was happy to look after the car, the arrangement worked really well,” Ampt recalled.

The young farmer’s high-speed, 400km drives towing the Cooper behind a Ford twin-spinner V8 became legendary, before and after race meetings between Melbourne and the Mallee.

He raced at Templestowe in September 1960, then Bathurst in October, taking off where Phillips left things, finishing second to Doug Whiteford in the qualifying heat, and third behind Matich’s Lotus 15 Climax and Doug Chivas’s Jaguar D-Type in the 13lap NSW Sportscar Championship.

“It was a step-up in power but the Cooper handled nicely, just like the Decca, only the corners seemed closer together!” John said, chuckling at the memory of his early drives.

He ran in the Ballarat Airfield International in 1961, again at Easter Bathurst, this time finishing second to Matich’s Lotus 15 in the scratch race and 10-lap feature.

In 1961 Gaudion rebuilt the engine but his

attempt to obtain a special wide-angle head from the factory was unsuccessful. About then, forever young racer and panel-beater Murray Carter fabricated a new nose.

CJ-1-55’s final appearance on the national stage was fittingly during Mallala’s October 1961 AGP carnival. Ampt qualified 11th amongst a horde of Coopers but DNF’d after completing 26 laps of the race won by Davison’s Cooper T51 Climax.

With single-seater aspirations, Ampt took off for England, leaving the Cooper in his brother’s hands to sell, with Melbourne’s Greville Edgerton was the buyer in 1963.

“It was bloody nice to drive! Not long after I bought it the crank broke, so I stripped it back to the bare-frame and rebuilt it.

I changed the colour of the frame from grey to black. The engine was (by then) 3.8-litres, I bought five second hand-cranks to get one which wasn’t cracked!

“I ran at all the Victorian tracks, it wasn’t really suitable for Calder and Winton, both very tight, but was great at Sandown.

“I remember the body used to rattle whatever we did to it but it was a fantastic car.”

At the Easter Bathurst 100 Gold Star

round, he was unplaced, but was first in the over 3-litre sportscar scratch, and third in the 10-lap feature behind Matich’s Lotus 19 Climax and Pete Geoghegan’s Lotus 23 Ford 1.5.

With plans to race overseas, Edgerton sold the car to Norm Crowfoot, an employee of Bryson Industries in Richmond, the Australian Jaguar importer.

Crowfoot had the old-darlin’ looking glorious in vivid red but didn’t race it after meetings at Calder in 1963, and Lakeland, close to his Lilydale home, in August 1964.

Then the voluptuous machine disappeared from view, but didn’t move from Crowfoot’s garage, albeit she was forgotten by most.

As Jaguar, and Jag powered racers were in demand for historic racing, David Robison ‘found’ the car and made Crowfoot an offer he couldn’t refuse in 1977.

CJ-1-55 was complete but very tired, in need of an extensive, expensive rebuild. Adelaide’s Col Riley, then Melbourne’s Brian Burnett progressed the body slowly, until Melbourne adman, the very experienced racer/restorer Ian McDonald, bought it in 1981.

Gavan Sala restored the body and Sid Fischer the mechanicals.

“It took a little over two years, Burnett had the original seats in his loft, I did a deal with Lou Molina to get those, and Reg Hunt helped with the original Cooper green. He reckoned his Cooper 500 and the T38 were painted from the same pot!,” Ian chuckled.

The T38’s modern debut was at the Amaroo Park August 1984 Tribute to Jaguar meeting.

Unlike McDonald’s other cars, CJ-1-55 was used in demonstration events and sprints rather than racing, such was its value. It regularly ran in AGP demonstration events in Adelaide and ‘at home’ in Albert Park. Stirling Moss ran it in the Geelong Sprints, where it bellowed in fine style down Ritchie Boulevard in the mid-13s with Moss and McDonald at the wheel in 1989.

McDonald offered the car for sale in the late-’90s, and Brisbane’s Frank Moore was the purchaser.

The Cooper now makes the very occasional appearance, most recently during the 2017 AGP. The HWM-Jaguars were the most successful of the XK-engined sportscar genre, but the Whitehead inspired CooperJaguars should not be forgotten.

With some works support and development, who knows what could have been achieved?

CJ-1-55 was the most successful of the six Cooper-Jaguars. Albeit, an Australian Tourist Trophy win at Lowood doesn’t have quite the cachet of a Le Mans victory …

Whi Whitehead #41 at Snetterton in 1954 a rare shot of the very first Cooper-Jaguar (above). Whitehead’s T33 CJ-1-54 as restored with Ian and Helen McDonald at the (abo ‘85 AGP’s ‘Eagle On The Hill’ run (below). The Cooper-Jaguar, dressed in red, at Hume Weir during Norm Crowfoot’s ownership (below centre).

Hum

Postscript: CJ-1-55 Pilot Destinies STAN JONES’ highly geared car sales empire was knocked-for-six during Australia’s 1961 credit squeeze. He couldn’t chase the cost-curve down quick enough, so the receivers wrought their usual scorched-earth destruction.

After a stroke, Stan was cared for by Alan and Beverley Jones, the future World Champion just starting to break through in F3 when Stan died in London in March 1973.

Ron Phillips moved to the UK after a few Lotus single-seater drives in Victoria in the mid-’60s.

He partnered Brian McGuire in a motor-caravan business in London

John Ampt at the Templestowe hillclimb circa 1962, note the air-duct.

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during i the th same early-’70s l ’70 period i d that th t McGuire combined with Alan Jones in the Australian International Racing Organisation.

This grandly titled but smell-of-an-oilyrag operation entered their F3 Brabhams.

Both Phillips and McGuire died in the UK – poor Brian at the wheel of his F1 Williams FW04 Ford at Brands Hatch in August 1977 after component failure.

Greville Edgerton chanced his hand overseas too, racing an Elfin Mallala Climax 2-litre FPF sports-racer in England in 1964 but returned not long after.

His sporting pursuit since has been bluewater yacht racing, funded by a successful property-development and construction business.

John Ampt raced Ausper T4 Ford and Alexis Mark 5 Ford FJ and F3 machines in Europe with great speed from 1962-1964.

He returned home and raced sporadically until 1971. Hale and hearty, he still lives in Rainbow, watch out for him in our first Forgotten Heroes feature soon.

And Peter Whitehead?

After two decades of international racing, he died after Graham Whitehead dropped a wheel off a bridge during the final section of the September 1958, Tour de France Automobile. Their Jaguar Mk1 dropped 30-feet into a ravine and landed on its roof. Peter was killed instantly. Graham was only bruised but carried that awful burden for the rest of his life, and died in January 1981.

Special thanks to Ian McDonald & Stephen Dalton for material from their collections.

AutoAction

31

cooper

webster

From Excels to S5000 Cooper Webster has made an unlikely transition, but it has proved a successful one. DAN McCARTHY discusses Webster’s U.S. goals

INDY AMBITION

Images: ARG/Daniel Kalisz

VICTORIAN COOPER Webster shot into the spotlight earlier this year by taking his maiden S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship victory in a mature display at a drenched Phillip Island.

At just 17, Webster held off more experienced rivals, including former European ex-pats Thomas Randle and Joey Mawson, in what was a starring performance.

It was a win that instantly vaulted him into the limelight, with many observers taking note of the performance of the former Hyundai Excel race winner and Australian Junior karting champion.

“I haven’t experienced something that very often in my career, (maybe)

the Nationals in go karts is the only thing I can compare to winning that race,” he told Auto Action.

“I screamed in my helmet on the cooldown lap just because of how excited I was.”

His successful transition from Excels took just five races, and he became the youngest winner to date of an S5000 race.

“I was definitely surprised how I went in that encounter,” he recalled.

“I’d never driven the car in the wet before and I didn’t really know what to expect, it was just instinct.

“That race I was just thinking, I can’t fall off, I can’t make a mistake, I’ve got to stay on the track and that was the goal halfway through the race.

“It was crazy (crossing the line), the whole team was just so happy, it was

just an awesome day.”

Webster punches above his weight competing for the single-entry 88Racing team owned by a former open-wheel driver during the Gold Star’s Formula Holden era, Albert Callegher.

“We’re doing our best and I think you could say we’re the underdogs at the moment,” Webster feels.

“It makes those wins and when you beat them all that much more special, because they’ve got that bit more experience and more resources.

“We all run the same cars, and everyone’s got the same power and tyres, so there’s no reason why we can’t beat them if we do a better job.”

Webster was born into a motor sport obsessed family, but his first chance to race was on two-wheels, through

BMX, at the age of four.

Four years later, Webster’s father bought him a kart in which he debuted at T.U.K.E. in South Morang.

By 2016, Webster moved up to Juniors and was an instant contender for the KA4 title, taking the title that season.

“To be honest it was quite unexpected,” he explained. “At the start of that season I was just really focusing on a top five, as it was my first year in a junior kart.

“I was sitting fourth going into the last round at Todd Road, I clean swept the round, it went right down to the wire.

“That was my first plate win (big title). I’d been dreaming about it, I’d come so close before that, to win was just a whole different emotion.”

Cooper Webster competed in the inaugural S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, taking an impressive victory on a very wet day in Phllip Island (above and right).

32 AutoAction

Cooper Webster’s car racing debut came in the Victorian State Excel Circuit Racing Championship (above) in which he finished second in 2019). The youngster was a karting ace, winning the Australian KA4 title in 2016 (above right).

By winning the championship Webster got the opportunity to compete in Europe against 130 competitors. He won a heat race in France, before a loose chain derailed his chances, but the opportunity to race overseas further encouraged his pursuit of a racing career.

“The experience and being over in Europe was amazing,” Webster reflected.

“I don’t think at the time we thought about pursuing anything internationally because it was just a huge step to make. It wasn’t really an option.”

After pipping Jay Hanson to the Kart title in 2016, it was the TCR Australia driver who struck back to win the 2017 championship.

For 2018 Webster moved into car racing, electing to race in the Victorian Hyundai Excel Championship Webster explained why he chose that over anything else: “Mainly because it was so accessible and it just gave me a shot at racing at Winton, Sandown and

Phillip Island,” he said.

“In any other category it would have been a lot bigger effort to get it organised, it was just the best value for money to get experience and see how I’d go in a race car.

“I learned a lot more than I would have thought In Excels and that has even helped me in S5000.

“Just racing around other people in something that weighs 800,000kg compared to a go kart.”

In his first full campaign in 2019, the consistent Webster finished as championship runner-up, a result he was delighted with.

“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t really sure how I’d stand up against everyone else in the category,” he said.

“We did a couple rounds and we were heading towards the front end of the field.

“We were aiming to take that championship, but I was totally happy with second. It was a pretty good achievement and we got one win at Phillip Island.”

As his career in racing was picking

up momentum, the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, forcing Webster, like many other drivers, onto the sidelines for 2020.

However, one silver lining was that the pandemic did help secure him a drive in S5000, as New Zealander Jordan Michels was stranded over the ditch and unable to race for 88Racing.

“When I first got told that I’d be driving an S5000 I couldn’t believe it, that had never ever crossed my mind ever before, so I was ecstatic.” he recalled. “(The first drive) was ridiculous.

I sort of knew what to expect but nothing really could have prepared me for what it was like.

“I remember going to 80 per cent throttle and just thinking there’s more throttle to go, I couldn’t believe how quick it was.

“They’re wicked the drive, the most fun ever.”

After finishing seventh in the inaugural S5000 Championship, including the win at Phillip Island, he hopes to return for the second

season later this year.

“I think I did reasonably well,” he said. “With my limited experience, every race is just a huge chance to learn more things about the car.

“Our dry speed wasn’t as competitive, but it’s going to take time to learn the car and how the car needs to be set up.

“At the moment we’re aiming to take on Season 2 and take what we’ve learned this season into that one,” the now 18-year-old explained.

“The aim is to continue into season 2 and do better than this year.”

Webster has investigated a career in Supercars but admits after his openwheel exploits, pursuing the IndyCar path is a lot more appealing.

“The goal would be either going to the top in America in IndyCar, or the top in Australia, Supercars,” he said when asked by AA. “As I continue in S5000 the motivation to go overseas and give that a go, is growing.

“I’m excited for the future and hopefully we get to head down a path that’s exciting.”

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“My first gig that season was at the Adelaide 500, alongside Murray Walker. I had to pinch myself several times that I was calling races with this man whom I had listened to commentating F1 in such an entertaining style since I was a kid,” Marinelli said.

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“Bob’s talent as a champion racing driver was the stuff I grew up reading about and watching on TV,” Marinelli said. “Working with him across both his motor sport and automotive aftermarket businesses was mind-blowing. Bob’s business acumen was truly incredible.”

In marking this business landmark, Marinelli looks back fondly.

“I went from living off a credit card in my first year and not knowing how things would go, to running a business that has taken me all over the world and provided the most incredible opportunities. It has been a fantastic journey.”

Formula 1

Round 5 Monaco Grand Prix

MAX’S MONACO Verstappen wins in Monte Carlo as the opposition fumbles

Report: Dan Knutson Images: Motorsport Images MAX VERSTAPPEN and Red Bull were firm favorites to win the Monaco Grand Prix prior to the start of the weekend, but fumbles by Ferrari and Mercedes handed him his first victory in the Principality on a platter.

“Of course it all looked under control,” he said after leading all 78 laps, “but to keep your focus for so many laps is the hardest part because it’s easy to relax when you’re in the lead and make a mistake. So you have to keep reminding yourself to leave your thoughts on the road and stay focused.

I think pace-wise, we were always in control because every time someone tried to push me in terms of lap time, we were able to respond and increase the gap.”

Indeed Carlos Sainz, who finished second in his Ferrari, and Lando Norris who took third in his McLaren, were never a threat to Verstappen.

“P2 was the maximum we could achieve today from where we started,” Sainz said. “We are still missing the final step with the car that we want to make.”

For Norris, this was his second podium of the season.

“The car’s been pretty good to drive,” he said.

“I’ve had a lot of confidence to push the car.”

Meanwhile, there were notably other drivers missing from the top three mix, and that was all related to what happened the day before.

Qualifying well is crucial at Monaco because it is so difficult to overtake on the narrow, twisting streets.

Hometown hero Charles Leclerc slammed his Ferrari into the barriers in the final moments of

qualifying, forcing others who were on their flyer laps – including Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Sainz – to back off.

All three were convinced they could have been on pole, but that honour went to Leclerc and his heavily damaged Ferrari, which the team thought they had repaired in time to make the race start.

But then, on Leclerc’s warm-up lap heading ng for the starting grid, the Ferrari’s left-side driveshaft hub broke.

Critics suggested that Ferrari should have changed the gearbox but this would have resulted in a five-place grid penalty, but Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto disagreed.

“It is not a matter of gambling with the gearbox, the gearbox was okay,” he said. “If we would have changed the gearbox those parts (which broke) would still have been on the car.”

Ferrari later discovered that although the right-side of the car had been damaged in the accident, the left-side driveshaft hub had also sustained damage that had gone undetected.

The end result was that the number one grid slot was left open at race start.

“What I will try and remember from this weekend is all the positive signs we’ve had,” Leclerc said.

“We have done a good job by improving race after race.”

When the red lights went out to start the race, Verstappen grabbed the lead ahead of Bottas, Sainz and Norris – the same order in which they qualified.

It then turned into a static race. There was not even a single safety car – rare for Monaco – to mix things up. Perhaps Leclerc and Verstappen could

Max Verstappen took advantage of the struggles experienced by his rivals to take his win in the principality. Lewis Hamilton (above, right) lost out during the pit stop sequence to finish in seventh.

have battled for the lead – the current Ferrari excels on high-downforce settings – but it was not to be.

Bottas would have played a role in the fight for the podium spots but he retired after the right-front wheel nut jammed on the car during his pitstop.

Meanwhile, his teammate Lewis Hamilton was having a lackluster race in the other Mercedes.

“I’m often grateful for crappy days like this as it is when you learn the most,” he said after qualifying seventh and finishing seventh.

“If you’re winning all the time you learn less.

There’s a lot to take from this weekend. We don’t

have all the answers, but it will force us to have to go and search for them.”

Daniel Ricciardo could certainly commiserate with Hamilton.

With a victory, two podiums and two poles in his Monaco F1 pocket, Ricciardo was really looking forward to attacking the streets in his McLaren.

But the Aussie just couldn’t get the car hooked up. He qualified and finished 12th.

“A weekend to forget,” Ricciardo said. “All weekend was a disaster. I would not have expected it here in Monaco. It is something we want to

Lando Norris again out performed teammate Daniel Ricciardo, lapping him on the way to third (above). Pole man Charles Leclerc was a forlorn figure after a driveshaft hub failure on the way to the grid, as a result of his qualifying crash the previous day. (below). analyse and understand. But I don’t want to over analyse it. I do not want to drive myself crazy.

Hopefully we will find some answers but just try to move forward now.”

To add insult to injury, Norris lapped teammate Ricciardo.

“He is driving well, but not well enough so that I should be getting lapped!” Ricciardo said.

What does Ricciardo take away from all of this?

“I don’t want to take anything away from this weekend!” Ricciardo said. “I want to leave every single thing that happened here here. I want to bury it in the ocean and never see it again. It is the best thing to do with weekends like this.”

What race winner Verstappen took away from the weekend was the lead in the drivers’ world championship for the first time in his F1 career.

And Red Bull is leading the constructors’ world championship for the first time in F1’s hybrid era, which began in 2014.

“Mercedes had a rare off day and it was important to convert that,” Red Bull Honda boss Christian Horner said.

“As a team we’ve done that. Nobody is getting carried away, there’s still an awfully long way to go in this championship. But to be as close as we are at this stage is very encouraging.”

Sebastian Vettel (below) scored his first points for Aston Martin with fifth, the best result for the new team to date.

Carlos Sainz saved a bit of face for Ferrari by scoring his first podium in red (above). Valtteri Bottas held second before his race ended when a wheelnut failed to release during his stop (below).

2021 MONACO GRAND PRIX 78 LAPS Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DNF DNS

Driver Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz Jr. Lando Norris Sergio Perez Sebastian Vettel Pierre Gasly Lewis Hamilton Lance Stroll Esteban Ocon Antonio Giovinazzi Kimi Raikkonen Daniel Ricciardo Fernando Alonso George Russell Nicholas Latifi Yuki Tsunoda Nikita Mazepin Mick Schumacher Valtteri Bottas Charles Leclerc

Team Red Bull Ferrari McLaren Red Bull Aston Martin AlphaTauri Mercedes Aston Martin Alpine Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo McLaren Alpine Williams Williams AlphaTauri Haas Haas Mercedes Ferrari

Laps 78 78 78 78 78 78 78 77 77 77 77 77 77 77 77 77 75 75 29 0

Margin 8.968 19.427 20.490 52.591 53.896 78.231

Points: Verstappen 105, Hamilton 101, Norris 56, Bottas 47, Perez 44, Leclerc 40, Sainz 38, Ricciardo 24, Gasly 16, Ocon 12, Vettel 10, Stroll 9, Alonso 5, Tsunoda 2, Giovinazzi 1.

Constructors’: Red Bull-Honda 149, Mercedes 148, McLaren-Mercedes 80, Ferrari 78, Aston Martin-Mercedes 19, AlphaTauri-Honda 18, AlpineRenault 17, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1.

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MOTOGP

QUARTARARO DOMINATION Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES FABIO QUARTARARO took an emphatic MotoGP victory at the Mugello Circuit in Italy, dedicating his win to Jason Dupasquier who died from injuries sustained in a Moto3 qualifying crash.

Jack Miller did the best he could, limiting the damage, the Aussie came home in sixth, breaking his hoodoo at the Italian circuit by finishing in the top 10 at the venue in MotoGP for the first time.

The shocks and surprises began in qualifying when Round 1 winner Maverick Vinales missed out on a Q2 spot.

The Spaniard, rattled by Marc Marquez following him for much of the session, looked set to progress on his final attempt however a mistake at the final turn meant he

would start 13th.

In Q2 nobody could match Quartararo’s record setting pace, the factory Yamaha man over 0.2s clear of the rest of the field.

Factory Ducati rider and teammate to Miller, Francesco Bagnaia, qualified in second ahead of brand mate Johann Zarco.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was knocked off the front row in the dying seconds, but fourth was nothing to complain about, and he was ahead of Miller.

Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Rins and Joan Mir followed, while further back Marquez could qualify no higher than 11th.

There was a more sombre atmosphere around the circuit on Sunday after the news came through of Dupasquier’s passing.

The race was then dominated

by Quartararo, he cruised to a

comfortable 2.6s victory.

Despite making a great start with the new Yamaha holeshot device, Quartararo was still beaten into Turn 1 by the grunt of Ducati, with Bagnaia taking the lead.

This would not last long as the man second in the championship threw his bike at the scenery around Arrabbiata 2 on lap 2.

This allowed Quartararo to lead, however Zarco snatched it from him into Turn 1 on lap 3.

Quartararo knew he had to overtake Zarco and break away before the Ducati could fly back by on pit straight.

After several attempts, on lap 4 the Yamaha rider did just that, and from that moment on was never headed.

The fight for second was intense throughout the race. It began with Oliverira stalking the Pramac Ducati of Zarco, while the two Suzukis

were in their own fight exchanging positions lap after lap.

Eventually the two Spaniards stopped fighting each other and were slowly able to catch Zarco and Oliveira.

On lap 16, Oliveira snuck by Zarco at Scarperia and scarpered away from the Frenchman. Zarco was struggling for pace and Oliveira was soon followed by Mir on lap 17 and Rins on lap 18.

Now in clear air, Oliveira and Mir were flying, while keen to keep up, Rins was pushing which caused him to crash at the final turn, resulting in his fourth non-point score in succession.

Out front Quartararo cruised to victory and Oliveira held off the charge from Mir to take second position, his and KTM’s first podium of the season.

The drama was not over yet, as

post-race Oliveira was docked a position for abusing track limits on the final lap. Several minutes later Mir also received the same penalty, which meant the that Oliveira regained second with the reigning champion third.

Zarco came home in fourth, ahead of KTM rider Binder and Miller.

Aleix Espargaro collected more solid points for Aprilia in seventh ahead of the recovering Vinales.

Defending Italian Grand Prix winner Danilo Petrucci finished ninth, the best of the Italians, while Valentino Rossi scored his first top 10 of the season.

On lap 2 Marc Marquez crashed out of the race after contact with Binder.

Standings: Quartararo 105, Zarco 81, Bagnaia 79, Miller 74, Mir 65, Vinales 64, A Espargaro 44, etc

REMY GARDNER WINS MOTO2 EPIC

A LAST lap overtake from Remy Gardner in Italy secured the Australian his first Moto2 victory of the season, and first with the KTM Ajo team.

The margin was the second smallest in Moto2 history, taking the win by just 0.014s from his teammate and major championship rival Raul Fernandez.

It had been a consistent start to the season for Gardner, who had only once finished off the podium in the first five races, however a race win had eluded the Aussie until this Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

Gardner made a lightning start from fourth on the grid and held second into Turn 1 behind Fernandez.

The teammates immediately began to break away from the field and were followed from a

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distance by championship rival Sam Lowes.

As the race approached half distance Gardner began to drop off Fernandez and fall into the clutches of Lowes.

The Aussie and the Englishman exchanged positions several times on lap 10, but Lowes eventually made it stick.

Fernandez held a 2s lead at that point, but immediately Lowes began to cut into the margin.

By lap 16 Lowes closed the gap to 0.8s before he crashed out of the race at Arrabbiata 1.

With Lowes out of the way Gardner found a new lease on life, from 3s back he began to cut the margin by more than 0.5s a lap.

After catching his Spanish teammate on the

Image: Motorsport Images

penultimate lap Gardner bided his time.

On the final lap, with a great run out of Arrabbiata 2, Gardner fired up the inside at Scarperia.

Out of the final turn Fernandez got in the Aussie’s tow but came up just a few millimetres short, Gardner taking the win by 0.014s.

“I was trying to keep calm in the beginning and strike in those last few laps and I think my plan worked out perfectly,” he felt.

“So happy, can’t believe it, it’s another win for me, I just want to thank the team and everyone who supports me, I’m lost for words.”

Joe Roberts finished third but was demoted to fourth for ignoring track limits on the final lap, giving Marco Bezzecchi his third successive podium.

Standings: Gardner 114, Fernandez 108, Bezzecchi 88, Lowes 66, Di Giannantonio 60

osla

Images: Motorsport Images

REA’S RACEY START SEVEN-TIME REIGNING FIM World Superbike champion Jonathon Rea made a lightning start to the 2021 season winning, two of the three races at Aragon in Spain.

The factory Kawasaki rider won the first two races of the season and finished second in the final encounter, after former MotoGP rider Scott Redding made a tyre gamble that paid off.

Race 1 of the championship was dominated by Rea. The Northern Irishman took off into the distance, taking the win by 3.965s, his 100th victory in the category, becoming the first person to achieve this feat.

There was a scintillating four-way scrap for second position in which Alex Lowes came out on top, pipping Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu to the line by 0.04s. Just two tenths back were Redding and Chaz Davies.

The track was wet when the Superpole race commenced on Sunday morning, but despite the treacherous conditions Rea was similarly untouchable, going on to

beat Lowes home by 3.5s.

In his debut round with the factory Yamaha team, American Garrett Gerloff came home third.

Similar conditions greeted riders in the final encounter, only this time Rea was unable to break away.

The two factory Ducati riders elected to gamble, starting on slicks while the rest of the front runners opted for intermediates.

Redding made the decision before the warmup lap and started eighth, while his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi elected to pit at the end of the warmup lap and start from pitlane.

Redding remained patient in the greasy conditions early on, but once track conditions came to him, he charged to the front.

The Englishman took the win by 9.8s from Rea, who was lucky to survive a mid-race tangle with Gerloff.

Gerloff fell off his bike trying a move on Rea, but impressively the American recovered to finish in seventh position.

Lowes came home in third ahead of the factory BMW riders, Tom Sykes and Michael van der Mark. DM

WSC HONOURS SHARED THE SECOND round of the FIM World Superbike Championship took place at Estoril in Portugal, and once again race wins were shared by Jonathan Rea and Scott Redding.

Despite starting from pole, Rea was unable to convert that into victory in the opening race of the weekend.

There was a fascinating battle for the lead between three riders racing for three manufacturers.

In the end it was Scott Redding who earned a hard-fought victory for Ducati, and in doing so took his first consecutive WSBK wins.

Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu came home in second ahead of championship leader Rea, riding for Kawasaki, the top three separated by less than a second.

In the Superpole race the podium positions were reversed, this time Rea took the win from Razgatlioglu, as Redding rounded out the top three.

Chaos ensued in the final WSBK encounter.

Razgatlioglu jumped the start and was forced to take two longlap penalties.

This left Redding and Rea to fight alone out front, however the pair chose different tyre compounds and this resulted in drama.

Redding, with the softer tyres, pulled out a sizeable lead early however Rea began to close in as the laps wound down.

On lap 14 Redding ran wide at Turn 3, and allowed Rea into the lead, and in an attempt to repass at Turn 4, Redding fell off.

Rea went on to take the win from Chaz Davies, while Razgatlioglu recovered to finish in third. Redding scored two points by crossing the line in 14th. DM

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without the great support that I’ve received from Ducati and the whole team during the last months, and I want to thank Gigi, Paolo, Davide, and Claudio for the faith they had in me.

“Now I can solely concentrate on the current season. The championship is still very long, I will do my best to continue this positive trend and fight for the title. Forza Ducati.”

Ducati Corse team manager Luigi Dall’Igna is thrilled that Miller has put pen to paper, and expects him to be a title contender.

“We are delighted to be able to announce that we will continue with Miller also in 2022,” he said.

“In this first season, Jack has shown great talent, professionalism, and strong determination.

“He is one of the riders that better knows how to understand our Desmosedici GP to fully take advantage of its potential in any condition, as the recent success in Le Mans has demonstrated.

“As always, our goal remains the championship title, and we believe that with Jack and Pecco (Bagnaia), we will be among the main protagonists of the 2022 title charge.”

DM

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ITALIAN TEAM Pramac Racing has signed a deal to remain as a satellite Ducati squad until the end of 2024. The two parties have been together since 2005 and this new extension would see the partnership run for two straight decades. In the last several years the team has grown many MotoGP riders before they stepped onto the factory machines. Danilo Petrucci, Australian Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia all moved from Pramac to the factory team. DM

Standings: Rea 110, Razgatlioglu 75, Redding 72, Lowes 62, Davies 48 MARC MARQUEZ revealed that he considered putting a stop to his MotoGP comeback after the Spanish Grand Prix (the race in which he returned), due to severe pain in his right shoulder. However, his doctors advised him it would be best to continue racing once he started. Several races into his comeback Marquez is still suffering from shoulder pain, however his injured arm appears to be almost fully healed. DM

MILLER RE-SIGNS WITH DUCATI IN THE lead up to the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, it was announced that Australian Jack Miller would remain with the factory Ducati Corse outfit in MotoGP next year.

After racing for satellite Ducati outfit Pramac for three years scoring nine podiums in that time - the Queenslander was promoted to the factory Bologna based squad for this season.

It was a shaky start to the new relationship when Miller failed to finish any of the first three races inside the top five.

However, Miller turned that form around in May, winning a race at Jerez in Spain, and followed it up in a wet French Grand Prix, before signing the deal to remain with Ducati Corse.

“If you’re unhappy in my situation, I mean you’ve got something wrong,” Miller joked in the pre-Italian Grand Prix press conference.

“I’ve has a pretty phenomenal couple of weeks, it feels unreal to get the contract signed and not have to worry about that for another eight months or so, just focus on what I enjoy the most, which is riding my motorcycle.”

Miller explained that it means a lot to him when he puts on the red leathers and rides the famous Italian bike.

“Wearing these colours is a great honour for me, and having been able to win the last two races on the Desmosedici GP is a real dream,” he said prior to the event.

“It wouldn’t have been possible

THE FACTORY Aprilia MotoGP team has announced that 15-time Grand Prix winner and three-time championship runner-up Andrea Dovizioso, will continue to test its machine for the remainder of the 2021 season. In recent days the Italian has stressed he does not plan to run as a wildcard with the team this year, however a full-time ride in 2022 appears more likely as he was seen with the team in Italy. DM

ROSSI DECISION COMING SOON

MOTORCYCLE LEGEND Valentino Rossi has confirmed that he will make the decision on his MotoGP future in July, during the lengthy mid-season break.

The seven-time MotoGP world champion moved from the factory Yamaha outfit with which he won four titles, to the satellite Petronas Yamaha team in a direct swap with up Fabio Quartararo.

Rossi has had a torrid start to the 2021 season with the Malaysian based outfit, scoring just twice in the first five races.

Before the mid-season break, ‘The Doctor’ will be racing on some of his favourite circuits and admits that they could be vital in his decision to continue or not.

“We now have a very important period of the championship,” Rossi said before the Italian Grand Prix because.

“Important racetracks like

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Barcelona and Assen, and without Finland (which was cancelled) we will have a onemonth break.

“For sure during that period (the break) everybody starts to think about 2022, so, at that point I will make my decision.”

Rossi alluded to the fact that the decision is not only up to him, he must also discuss it with several other parties.

“It not only my decision,” he explained. “I have also to speak with the Petronas team and also with Yamaha to understand what their plans are for next year.

“We will see, but for sure now, these races are very important to try to find some good results!”

Rossi’s VR46 team will expand too, entering the premier MotoGP Championship in 2022, and this could also play a major part in his decision. DM

IN THE first race of the 2021 FIM World Superbike Championship, six-time reigning champion Jonathan Rea became the first ever rider to take 100 race wins in the category.

In fact, the win in Aragon made the Northern Irishman the first person to win 100 races in a single class of FIM road racing world championships. Even 15-time champion Giacomo Agostini was unable to achieve this in a single class, while Valentino Rossi holds the MotoGP record on 89. DM

FORMER INTERNATIONAL motorcycle rider and current Australian Superbike team co-owner Troy Bayliss is recovering after a serious bicycle accident. Bayliss collided with another bicycle, losing consciousness, as well as serious injuries to his C4 vertebrae and spinal cord. Bayliss has no recollection of the crash, but it is believed the other bike exited the roadway between two-cars resulting in a head-on collision. HM

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INTERNATIONAL

INDY 500

HELIO TASTES WINNER’S MILK AGAIN

Report: HEATH MCALPINE Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

INDYCAR VETERAN Helio Castroneves has tasted the traditional winner’s milk for the fourth time, after winning a thrilling 105th Indianapolis 500, the fastest in the race’s history.

Castroneves won a five-car battle for the lead, nearly interrupted by lapped competitors, as the Brazilian held off young gun Alex Palou to join A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears on four wins at the Brickyard.

“This stage is incredible,” he said post-race.

“I love Indianapolis!

“You guys don’t understand, the fans, they give me energy. I’m serious, this is absolutely incredible and from the beginning we were so comfortable, happy, kind of like home. I tell you Helio Castroneves celebrates his fourth Indy 500 win (above) and the first ever for Meyer-Shank Racing, narrowly beating Alex Palou (below) to the line. what, I’m just excited.

“The car was incredible, I knew it was good, I knew I was going to have to fight and get the elbows out.

“What an incredible feeling, but I couldn’t do it without my mum and dad back in Brazil, I love you.

“I’ve only done two races and won two, I think I’ve still got it, don’t you think?

“I don’t know if this is a good comparison but Tom Brady won a Superbowl, Phil Mickelson won and now here we go.

“To all the guys who’ve still got it, still kicking the young guys’ buts, we’re teaching them a lesson!”

Castroneves did just that as Palou took the lead on lap 199 but the Brazilian passed back on the outside at Turn 1, and the pair duked it out for the final lap and a half with lapped traffic

Images: Motorsport Images

expected to play its part in the final outcome.

However, its influence was minimal and Castroneves beat Palou to the line.

Polesitter Scott Dixon finished the event in 17th, Scott McLaughlin finished 20th and the last driver on the lead lap, while Will Power was three-laps down in 30th, capping a particularly poor Indy 500 for the 2018 winner.

It was a frantic start to the event as Dixon led for a mere three corners before Colton Herta passed the five-time IndyCar champ down the inside, to lead first-time over the bricks. A lap later Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay ran at the front after drafting by Herta, but it was Castroneves making an early charge to be sixth from eighth on the grid.

After a struggle to even get into the field, Power’s Team Penske Chevrolet failed to fire on the grid and was forced to be restarted in pit lane, rejoining the race and just beating the rest of the field to avoid losing a lap.

Castroneves continued to charge, moving past Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan to be fifth as he began to work on Ed Carpenter.

VeeKay had dropped his speed at the front and was the first to pit on lap 31 along with Carpenter, but his stop was a disaster, a stall after falling off its jacks delaying Carpenter significantly.

The first caution came out after Stefan Wilson crashed coming into pit lane. This was ill-timed for Dixon as he entered the lane dry of fuel, then his engine failed to fire, a fate Alexander Rossi experienced a lap later. Both dropped a lap.

It was a long caution but the race was restarted on lap 47 with Herta and VeeKay battling for the lead, while Castroneves lurked in

Poleman Scott Dixon led away at the start (above) but had a troubled race, while Scott McLaughlin (below left) was in the mix until a pitlane speeding penalty. Australian Will Power (below right) had a nightmare Indy 500 from start to finish, his car even refusing to start on the grid!

led Palou and O’Ward, but the lead changed multiple times allowing Simon Pagenaud and Carpenter in with a sniff.

Felix Rosenqvist and Takuma Sato could also have played pivotal moments in the closing stages as both were about to be lapped, but the pair then pitted. Rosenqvist was then quickly back in and he then had to serve a speeding penalty.

Palou and Castroneves continued to fight for the lead, as O’Ward, Pagenaud and Carpenter gave chase.

But it was the wily veteran Castroneves delivering Meyer-Shank Racing its first win at the Brickyard by 0.492s clear of a heartbroken Palou.

Pagenaud pipped O’Ward on the line to take third from 26th on the grid, while Carpenter finished ahead of a remarkable recovery drive from Santino Ferrucci, after incidents during qualifying.

Ex-Supercars racer Simona De Silvestro finished 31st after spinning in pit lane.

Palou’s runner up position now gives him a championship lead of 36points heading to Detroit’s doubleheader on June 12-13.

Points: Palou 248, Dixon 212, O’Ward 211, Pagenaud 201, VeeKay 191, Newgarden184, Herta 154, Rahal 148, McLaughlin 143, Ericsson 138.

fifth, before grabbing fourth from Ryan HunterReay.

The Brazilian was firming as a driver to watch as he elevated to third at Herta’s cost, leaving VeeKay out front with ECR teammate Conor Daly for company. First VeeKay on lap 68, then Daly a circuit later pitted, leaving Castroneves in the lead ahead of Herta but the latter snatched the lead just prior to his second stop on lap 77.

VeeKay and Daly shared the lead before the next round of stops began on 103, but a slow stop for Daly dropped him 4s, leaving the Dutchman clear in front of Pato O’Ward in the lead Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

McLaughlin had been leading rookie for much of the event but a drive-through penalty after his third stop for speeding in pit lane cruelled his chances of a strong finish.

Graham Rahal bought out the next caution as his right-rear wheel was not fitted properly and departed, forcing him into the wall in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda on the exit of Turn 2.

The loose wheel was hit by Daly but miraculously it appeared his front wing was undamaged.

Palou led at the restart from Castroneves but these positions were quickly swapped, the Meyer-Shank Racing Honda was demoted by O’Ward, then it was the turn of the Chip Ganassi Racing driver to respond.

Palou was in on 148, with Castroneves a lap later, then O’Ward in what promised to be a fierce battle to the end.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was also a shot, running an off-sequence strategy, but his teammate Power had no brakes when entering his pit and promptly spun, loosing a lap.

Dixon gambled on fuel as he emerged 22nd with 38-laps remaining.

After the final sequence of stops, Castroneves

Helio Castoneves climbs the fence in front of the fans in trademark style (above) and leads the field into another lap (below), while Rinus Vekay (right, top) also ran at the front early, was a factor all day but ultimately finished eighth.

INTERNATIONAL

HENDRICK MOTORSPORT MAKES HISTORY KYLE LARSON set a new record for squad Hendrick Motorsport as it overtook Petty Enterprises to be the most successful NASCAR Cup team in history.

By winning the prestigious Coca-Cola 600, Larson won Hendrick Motorsports otorsports 269th Cup victory, breaking the 60-year record held by Petty Enterprises.

“With nearly 40 years of excellence, Hendrick Motorsports has set the gold standard for race team success,” NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France said.

“Rick Hendrick has already cemented his legacy as a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and now adds another incredible accomplishment to an exemplary NASCAR career.”

A list of 20 drivers have combined for all of Hendrick’s successes, as Larson led 328 of the 400 laps at Charlotte to add to his success at Las Vegas.

TOYOTA THROUGH Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin won the Rally of Portugal, despite Hyundai being the dominant force during the event.

Evans led through shakedown, but Hyundai emerged after the opening morning in a commanding 1-2-3 lockout at the top as Dani Sordo and new co-driver Borja Rozada made a dream start to their new relationship.

A stall prevented the Spaniard from cleansweeping the morning, nonetheless he held a 6.7s lead ahead of the sister i20 WRC of Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja.

Rounding out the Hyundai treble was Thierry Neuville and Martin Wydaeghe, while Evans was the best of the rest, though already 17.8s behind Sordo.

In his best showing so far, Japanese Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta with co-driver Daniel Barritt alongside was fourth ahead of the lead M-Sport Ford Fiesta driven by Adrien Fourmaux and Renaud Jamoul.

However, Hyundai’s challenge began to falter during the afternoon’s stages as Sordo stalled for a second time and Neuville contacted a bank. This flipped his i20 on its side, which damaged the right-rear suspension and forced him into retirement.

In comparison to his teammates, Tanak struggled for set-up but still held a 6s lead from Evans at the end of the opening day. Toyotas filled fourth and fifth with Katsuta leading Sebastien Ogier, who was struggling in the sandy conditions in his Yaris.

After Saturday’s opening leg, just 9s separated Tanak, Evans and Sordo, but the Estonian notched up three stage wins to grow his

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Hendricks Motorsport drivers took four of the top five positions with Chase Elliott in second, William Byron fourth and Alex Bowman fifth.

Kyle Busch broke the team’s monopoly at the front by finishing third.

Dominating the race from the outset, Larson’s only challenges were from teammates Elliott and Byron in what is the longest race on the calendar.

Two cautions were required after Kurt Busch had an engine problem and Ryan Newman was the only driver to find the wall.

Series leader Martin Truex Jr lost time with a flat and the subsequent pit stop when his crew struggled to remove the tyre.

Australian James Davison finished 33rd.

The previous week, it was chaos at Circuit of The Americas where Elliott won an

action-packed, wet event.

A big incident caused by poor vision involved Cole Custer slamming into the rear of Truex Jr, causing the former’s Ford to burst into flames. Custer emerged from his car uninjured.

Larson finished second ahead of Team Penske’s Joey Logano, as Elliott gambled by staying out, despite not having enough fuel to finish the race and relying on a red flag.

Logano won Stage 1, while Kyle Busch took the second, while Davison was 29th.

Heath McAlpine

EVANS WINS IN PORTUGAL

Images: Motorsport Images

advantage to 19.2s as his Spanish teammate dropped more than 30s behind the Toyota in second.

However, Hyundai’s attack was further depleted when Tanak damaged his rear suspension during the penultimate stage of the

day. Unlike Neuville, Tanak’s failure was not due to contact with the scenery, instead the right-rear wheel began to buckle forcing him to retire 4km from the end.

This left Evans to assume a 10.7s lead from Sordo, whose Hyundai was still battling starter motor problems.

Ogier was third, but was more than 1m behind the lead pair and had Katsuta for close company.

M-Sport pair Gus Greensmith and Fourmaux battled behind for fifth after Kalle Rovanpera’s demise when his Toyota developed a technical malady.

Not wanting a repeat of Croatia where the Brit was overhauled in the final stages, Evans straight away doubled his 10s advantage to safely navigate the three remaining stages as he

won by 28.3s ahead of Sordo, leaving Ogier a distant third.

“We weren’t maybe the fastest crew this weekend but still we had really good pace, kept out of trouble and did enough to keep Dani behind today,” said Evans post-event.

“This comes at a really good time for our championship challenge as we move into some tough gravel rallies.”

Behind, Katsuta finished a career-best fourth ahead of Greensmith and Fourmaux as the remaining WRC finishers.

Ogier now leads the title by just two-points ahead of Evans, while Neuville a further 20-points behind.

Rally Italia Sardegna is the next round of WRC on June 3-6. Heath McAlpine

osla.

DOUBLE MONACO PODIUM CONSISTENCY WAS king for Oscar Piastri in the second round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Monaco, vaulting him to second in the championship.

Two seconds and an eighth was a solid bag of points for the Australian, who closed in on championship points leader Guanyu Zhou.

ART Grand Prix driver Theo Pourchaire qualified on pole for the feature race ahead of Prema Racing driver Robert Shwarzman and his teammate Piastri.

After qualifying 10th, championship leader Zhou was given the luxury of starting from pole position as the top 10 were inverted for Race 1.

The Chinese driver went on to take a dominant win, despite a late race safety car still able to win by 2.396s from his UNI-Virtuosi teammate Felipe Drugovich, with Williams test driver Roy Nissany next best.

Further back Piastri made a good start from eighth, however at Turn 1 Pourchaire ran around the outside and pinched the position.

Piastri sat in ninth for much of the race until Christian Lundgaard’s mid-race retirement promoted the Aussie into eighth, where he remained.

An inverted top 10 from the Race 1 results saw an all-Kiwi front-row with Marcus Armstrong set to start ahead of Liam Lawson.

However Armstong broke down on the way to

AUSTRALIAN MATT Campbell, along with his co-drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Earl Bamber, won the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. The trio stayed out of early in the 1000km race and as daylight faded emerged as contenders for victory. Campbell took over the car for a two-hour segment and hunted down the race leading Lamborghini, taking the lead with 40 minutes to go. Fellow Aussie Jordan Love failed to make the finish. DM

Oscar Piastri finished second in two of the three FIA Formula 2 Championship races in Monaco.

Images: Motorsport Images

the grid, having to take the start from pit lane.

The race took place in damp conditions and it was Piastri who made the better jump from third grid position.

With nobody ahead Piastri quickly shot by Lawson and led the race into Turn 1.

Despite the strong start it was clear that the Victorian did not have much pace in wet conditions. He was overtaken by Lawson at La Rascasse on lap 5 and followed soon after by Englishman Dan Ticktum at the Nouvelle Chicane.

As the track dried out Piastri’s pace lifted, but it was too late to catch the men ahead, coming home third behind winner Lawson and Ticktum, and holding off a hard charging Juri Vips in the closing laps.

Post-race however, winner Lawson was disqualified, the Kiwi found to have started the

race with a throttle map not allowed until the car reaches 50km/h.

Therefore, Piastri was promoted to second behind Ticktum, with Red Bull junior Juri Vips rounding out the podium.

Pourchaire started the Feature Race from pole ahead of Shwarzman and Piastri.

From third Piastri held position until the pit stop sequence, when he overtook Shwarzman who had a slow left-rear tyre change.

Soon after the compulsory pit stop sequence Ticktum attempted a move on Piastri which did not come off. Around the outside at Rascasse the Englishman got on the marbles and slid towards the barrier and, unable to get reverse, Ticktum was out.

Porchaire went on to become the youngest ever F2 race winner, with Piastri in second ahead of Drugovich. Dan McCarthy

AUSSIES SHINE IN BRITISH F3 JAXON SECOND ON MONACO STREETS KIWI JAXON Evans was unable to stop Dutchman Larry ten Voorde from taking a lights-to-flag win in the opening round of the Porsche Supercup on the streets of Monaco.

The race was red-flagged twice but this didn’t hamper ten Voorde, who took a 3s victory ahead of Evans, as behind rookie Dorian Boccolacci fended off Austrian Christopher Zochling to stand on the final step of the podium.

It wasn’t long after the race started that it was stopped after a multi car crash on the uphill section approaching the Casino. This eliminated six drivers from the event.

Just one lap after the restart, it was neutralised under safety car again for a single lap, before ten Voorde immediately set about building a gap to Evans, who comfortably held second ahead of the battling duo of Boccolacci and Zochling.

Evans was unable to respond to reigning Supercup champion ten Voorde, who admitted post-race the Kiwi is his main rival for this year’s title.

“That was the perfect start to the season,” said ten Voorde. “I pushed hard in the first few laps to gain an advantage over Jaxon Evans – he’s the guy I feared the most. My tactic worked. Towards the end, I was even able to ease off a bit and control the gap.”

The next round of Porsche Supercup is at Red Bull HM Ring on June 25-27.

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THIS YEAR two Aussies are competing in the British F3 Championship, and both kick started their seasons with success at Brands Hatch.

Bart Horsten remains in F3 championship, moving from the Lanan Racing team to Hitech Grand Prix, and this year he is joined by 2020 British Formula 4 rookie of the year Christian Mansell, racing for Carlin.

On debut Mansell took a victory while Horsten was extremely unlucky not to score a podium finish.

Race 1 of the season was won by Ayrton Simmons, who beat home Ollie Bearman and Zak O’Sullivan.

Horsten finished in a lonely fourth position, 5s behind the front trio, and 3s clear of his teammate Reece Ushijima.

Mansell started from 13th but made up five places over the course of the race to finish in eighth.

Rain fell on the circuit minutes before the start of the second race.

In those tricky conditions Horsten made a great start from third and overtook O’Sullivan at Turn 1.

With strong momentum out of the corner, Horsten challenged Simmons for the lead around the outside at Druids. The pair made rear wheel to rear wheel contact, which propelled Simmons into the air and onto the rear end of Horsten’s machine.

When Simmons eventually fell off the back of Horston’s Hitech, he crashed into the wall and out of the race, while Horsten was able to return

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AUSSIE MOLLY Taylor and co-driver Johan Kristoffersson won the second round of the all-electric Extreme E round on the coast of Lac Rose, Senegal in Africa. In the qualifying sessions the pair took 11 points after being beaten by the Team X44 pair of Cristina Gutierrez and Sebastien Loeb. In the Semi-Final Taylor converted a great opening lap from Kristoffersson into victory. The pair both drove with their elbows out in the final, to take an emphatic victory. DM

Images: Motorsport Images

to the pits but now without a rear wing he was unable to continue.

Mansell meanwhile stayed out of trouble and collected 11 points for finishing in 10th.

The reverse grid affair concluded the weekend and saw Mansell start from seventh.

Incredibly, with a brilliant start, Mansell swept around the outside of everyone to lead into the first turn.

The Aussie had to survive two safety car restarts but kept his cool and broke away from the field on both occasions.

Mansell went on to take the win by 1.9s from Javier Sagrera and third place man Dexter Patterson.

“The start was just absolutely nuts,” Mansell said.

“Either everyone was caught napping, or I just got a blinder! I’m not sure, I don’t even know how to explain it, it was just awesome.

“Honestly, I’m buzzing. I’m so proud to be representing Carlin and everyone in the team, and I’m just so, so happy to be here.”

Horsten also marched through the field, starting from 15th on the grid the Sydney born racer stormed through the pack to finish in eighth.

Mansell sits fourth in the standings, while the DNF in Race 2 means that Horsten is 10th.

Dan McCarthy

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THE FIRST oval Indy Pro 2000 race of the year took place in the lead up to the Indy 500, at the Lucas Oil Raceway. For the Freedom 90 New Zealander Hunter McElrea qualified seventh, however over the race he made his way up the field. At the end of the race McElrea crossed the line in fifth position and retains fifth in the championship. DM

IN THE fourth round of the Formula Regional European Championship at Circuit Paul Ricard, Tommy Smith scored his best result of the season. Racing against 34 competitors the Australian qualified in 31st position and over the 14-lap race worked his way up to 23rd.

The Victorian started from 29th in the final and charged his way to his first top 20 result of the season. He finished 17th, only 9.3s off the lead.

DM THE OPENING round of the British GT Championship took place at Brands Hatch.

Aussie Harry Hayek was driving for the Jenson Team Rocket RJN in a GT4 class McLaren 570S GT4 alongside Katie Milner, but had a challenging start to the season. In the two-hour long race the duo finished eighth in class, five laps behind the overall race winners. DM

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

Image: Elgee

BATES REMAINS UNBEATEN Eat my dust! Harry Bates and John McCarthy were again victorious in a Australian Rally Championship round, this time in Queensland (above). Bates led home brother Lewis and his co-driver Anthony McLoughlin, while Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic put in an impressive performance to finish third (at left).

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: Motorsport Australia/CH Images HARRY BATES and John McCarthy have continued on their winning way in the Australian Rally Championship with victory in Rally Queensland, in a streak that began back in 2019.

Bates took a clean-sweep of stage wins to dominate the weekend, while brother Lewis co-driven by Anthony McLoughlin took second in another Toyota/Bates 1-2.

The younger Bates didn’t have it all his own way as Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic challenged in their older Subaru Impreza WRX STI, falling 17s short of second.

Although it remained a Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 1-2 at the front, Lewis Bates was in the thick of the action after exiting the road on Stage 9, leaving Harry to build an advantage of 2m.

A holed radiator for Harry failed to stop his clean-sweep, so too an overshoot on the final Power Stage, enabling him to leave Gympie with a full allocation of points.

“It’s a very special feeling getting the clean sweep. We have tried a few times and fallen short by one stage. To finally have it under the belt is nice. Probably a dumb goal to

have in the back of mind but it was a goal nonetheless,” Harry said.

“I had to dig deep. Arron and Lewis and other guys like Clayton Hoy were close on certain stages. There was not any point where I could take my foot off the pedal and that was the key to getting the stage wins.

Staying committed all weekend.

“We developed a small issue with the

radiator before the third stage today, but the Neal Bates Motorsport team fixed it during Service and it held through for the rest of the day.”

The battle for second was tight after Lewis Bates had his off, which put Windus in the lead despite picking up a puncture on the same stage. It was only for a brief moment, though, as Lewis recovered to go faster on

the final three stages to overhaul the ARC Production Cup leader.

Two R5-specification models completed the top five as Luke Anear and Andy Sarandis took fourth in their AGI Sport Ford Fiesta, while the Hyundai Dealer Team i20 driven by Tasmanian Marcus Walkem partnered by John Allen completed its first run in two years.

A stunning performance was provided by Clayton Hoy and co-driver Erin Kelly, who placed eighth, and were runners up on the Power Stage driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI. The top 10 was completed by the leading 2WD entry driven by local team Ryan Williams and Brad Jones in an R2Tspecification Ford Fiesta.

Next, the ARC moves to Tasmania for Round 3 based in Launceston on July 2-3.

Windus and Brkic charged to the podium in their older-spec Subaru Impreza WRX STI (below left), while Ryan Williams/Brad Jones finished in the top 10 to take their class (below left).

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Images: WARC-Dugite-J Sierociak

MUDDY FOREST TO O’DOWD/FEAVER UNCERTAIN CONDITIONS were overcome best by John O’Dowd and Toni Feaver to take out the Make Smoking History Forest Rally, round two of the WA Rally Championship, out of Bunbury on May 22-23.

The final day’s heat over 191km started in good conditions before the rain returned. In his Skoda Fabia R5, O’Dowd staved off Ben Searcy and Daymon Nicoli (Mitsubishi EVO 9) by 24.5s, as they charged through from 24th on day one. Third place went to Craig Rando and Stephen Wade (Subaru Impreza WRX) a further 13.6s away.

The event started with the Bunbury Super Special stages.

It combined parts of both Bunbury Speedway and the Autocross track, to form a tight and technical 1.8km course for the 45 teams before they head out onto the Nannup forestry roads.

O’Dowd was the fastest overall on Friday and Saturday.

Rando finished second and Kody Reynolds and Anthony Staltari (WRX) were third with a day to go.

Unrelenting heavy rain on day two saw two of the planned stages cancelled due to safety concerns.

Only half the 2WD Championship field made it to the finish line. Glenn Alcorn and Jonathan Charlesson (Ford Escort) won Saturday’s heat and looked good before the diff let go

on the first stage of the last day.

Mark Travers and Jeremy Edwards (Toyota AE86 Sprinter) and Alex and Lisa White (Nissan S13) took a couple of stages each. Travers finished less than a minute ahead, while Gary Mills and Mitch Gray (Ford Fiesta) were third.

Mike Joss and Megan Logue were in third with a day to go but an off in their S15 put them out.

Rain and two cancelled stages meant Clubman Cup and Masters did not run on the final day. Andy van Kann celebrated 50 years since his first rally, with a win in Clubman Masters. Normally behind the wheel, this time he navigated his Toyota Corolla TE27 for Tom Wilde.

Carl Rattenbury and Ashley Burton (Ford Escort MkI) were second as John Ludham and Murray Hynes (Datsun Mazda hybrid) clinched third.

Michael Connor and Eden Hughes (Hyundai Excel) took out top honours in Clubman Cup, as they pipped Glenn Cawood and Murish O’Connor (Mitsubishi Lancer) by 18.7s.

GOB

Images: CH Images

to Carrigan, with Badenoch another 1min 43s away.

However as he was cross-entered in the ARC, Hoy did not take in the last two stages.

Menzies won the penultimate stage ahead of Carrigan and Badenoch, and finish second on the final stage to Glenn Brinkman and Steven Richardson (EVO 9).

Carrigan had to deal with fading brakes yet still remained in the top six for the stages, and had a sufficient lead to take overall victory.

Competing the top 10 were fourth placed Andrew Carrigan and Jay Davidson (Mitsubishi Magna Evolution) ahead of Brinkman, Ronnie Bustard and Peta Davies (EVO), Brian Neill and Muireann Hayes (Ford Escort MkII), Todd Webster and Melinda Bergmann (WRX), John and Chris Black (Datsun 1600), and Rod Reid and Ray Priest Mitsubishi Lancer. GOB

WILD WINTER AT MARYSVALLE A WILD Sheen Panel Services Group Marysville Stages on May 15 produced just about every weather condition imaginable, and saw Darryn Windus and Joe Brkic come away with a clear-cut victory.

The event was held in and around Victoria Blue and the Black Range State Forest. A heavy dump of snow early, followed by intermittent snow for the remainder, caused much of the scheduled route to be deemed impassable or dangerous. There were many stage cancellations, and several other changes.

Windus and Brkic won six of the seven stages and took out the third round of the Till Hino Motorsport Australia Victorian Rally Championship by 57.1s in their Subaru Impreza WRX. Second went to Brendan Reeves and Kate Catford in their Datsun 510 with a further 17.1s to third placed Bodie Reading and Mark Young (WRX).

The rally winners were beaten on the first stage by Franco Liucci and Barry Sheridan (Mitsubishi EVO 6), but hit back with a second stage first over Warren Lee

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57

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QLD RALLY TO ALFA PAIR THE SECOND round of the Harcourts Solutions Group Queensland Rally Championship on May 23 was held as part of Rally Queensland as well as the Australian Rally Championship.

The state title chase outing was won by Tristan Carrigan and Neill Woolley in their FWD Alfa Romeo 147. The Qld state component took in eight stages where Carrigan and Woolley finished 1min 51.8s ahead of Clay Badenoch and Catriona Kelly (Toyota Celica).

Ian Menzies and Robert McGowan (Mitsubishi EVO 9) were third a further 15.3s behind and would have been second but had a 40s penalty added for being 8mins late into a stage.

Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly (EVO 6) were the leaders at the end of the first stage from Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith (EVO 10), with Carrigan third. Quinn won the next three stages and had a 17.8s advantage over Hoy by the end of stage four, with Carrigan another 1min 24s adrift.

The rally would be over on the stage five for Quinn, however, due to a blown engine. Hoy won the next two stages and had the overall lead by over 1min 30s

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and David Lethlean (EVO 9), and had a 16s advantage over them at the end of the first heat.

By then Reading was third in front of Reeves, Luke Sytema and Tracey Dewhurst (Ford Escort RS1800), and Tim and Leonie Clark (WRX). Peter Schey and Michelle Canning missed several stages due to crash damage to their WRX on stage one, before a strong comeback in the second heat where they were fourth behind Windus, Reeves, and Liucci.

The latter was fourth overall, in front of Sytema, Clark, Lee, Tony Moore/Troy Hutchins (Ford Focus ST), Steven Porter/Tony Robinson (Mazda RX7), and Philip and Damien Wilson (Toyota Soarer).

Forty-eight crews tackled the event with 33 classified finishers. It was also the Victorian Club Rally Series third round (over five stages). Cary and Russell Seabrook (Datsun Stanza) won from Daryl King and Chris Barrett (Toyota Corolla). GOB

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45

NATIONALS wrap d by garry o’brien ed ile pil comp com

TURNBULLS TAKE MUMBANNAR WIN THIS YEAR’S GT Bobcat Mumbannar 160 off road event was won by Gary and Tamara Turnbull in their Chev powered Jimco Unlimited class buggy on 15 May. They were victorious by 6.3s and 1min 17.2s respectively over outright and class rivals Andy and Fletcher Murdock (Element Off Road Prodigy/ Chev), who won the event two years ago, and 2018 winners Todd Lehmann and Aaron Bermingham (Jimco/Chev).

Situated 30km East of Mount Gambier in South Australia, the event covered 150km over three eight-lap heats, where the 28 nominated teams took part in two each.

It was a cold and wet start before conditions fined up and became ideal as the day progressed.

The first heat was for Classes 2, 3, 5, 6, 66, 7 and 8. Glenn Pike (Class 6 Can-Am Maverick X3) was the quickest ahead of Brenton Davey (Class 5 Mitsubishi L200), Tim Walker (Class 3 Furner Burner MK2/Suzuki), Jake England (Class 2 SS Race Frames Murco/Suzuki Cultus) and Connor Corrigan (Class 2 Raptor/ Toyota 4AGE).

Image: Show N Go Photography

Lehmann won the second heat which catered for all classes, while second was Murdoch ahead of Turnbull, Brad Knight (Class 10 Sabre/Suzuki) and Marty Scott (Unlimited Scott Avenger/Chev).

The final heat was for those not out in heat one and was headed by Turnbull from Murdoch, Lehmann, Knight and Jake Douglass (Class 10 Razorback/Honda).

Eleven crews completed their

16 laps with Knight fourth outright and Pike next. Then came Davey, Douglass, Dean Russ who won Class 1, Travis Telford (the Class 2 winner) and Jason Gibbons (second in Class 1). Garry O’Brien

15 YEAR OLD KYE FLOYD WINS OUTRIGHT! THE TOP eight finishers in the Pats Diesel Services 100 on May 22-23 were driving Can-Am Maverick X3s, with 15-year-old Kye Floyd the outright winner.

The third round of the Mickey Thompson ARB Queensland Off Road Racing Championship was held on the Pat Philp Property at Weranga, west of Dalby. It was staged over six sections of varying laps of the 15km course.

Floyd won by 1min 16.1s over Bailey Coxon, with almost a minute and half back to Kye Camilleri. Among the many top running Class 6 machines, fourth place went to Josh Wiedman in front of Richard Tassin, David Loughnan, Brice Derrick and Darren Brandon.

Image: AORRA

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Stuart Chapman debuted a new single seater Unlimited class Chenowth/Mitsubishi 4B11T, and set the pace over the first two sections. He placed third in the section three before he failed to finish the fourth.

Clayton Chapman opted for the team’s Class 8 Mitsubishi Triton turbo and was second in section one before a DNF in the second.

Third at the end of section one and fourth in the second, Christian Trusz was sidelined in the third when his Holden V8 powered Nissan Patrol broke the steering box.

Jason Keane (Class 10 Racer Engineering/GM Ecotec) was another who was strong early, sixth before a DNF on heat three.

Over sections four and five Floyd and Coxon were the pacesetters with a win each, before Floyd won the last and consolidated the overall victory. Outside the top eight Guy Hicks finished ninth in his Sollitt/Subaru and was the winner of Class 1, while 10th went to another Class 6 entrant in Gary Taylor at the helm of a Polaris.

In 11th was Michael Ranson (Mitsubishi Triton/Holden V8) which made him the Class 5 winner. Class 4 was taken out by Myles Newbon (Chev-powered Ford F150) in 14th outright, one spot ahead of the Class 8 winner Ross Challacombe (Mitsubishi Triton). Jan Kraaij (BAT Spec/Nissan Turbo) won Unlimited, and Michael Topfer (Mitsubishi Pajero V6) was at the front of Class 7. GOB

RAPER’S ROB ROY HISTORICS IN HIS Monoskate Ford Special, Graeme Raper took the fastest historic time at the annual Victorian Historic Racing Register’s Historic Rob Roy Hillclimb on May 2.

Not unexpectedly, however, fastest overalls went to more modern combinations.

Raper’s best time was 24.25s, just outside his own Group K record set in 2012 with the same car. Philip Gray in his Flathead Ford Special had a narrow lead on his first run, although he could not match Raper for the rest of the six runs and finished second Historic on 25.01s.

Although taking the historic accolades, they were actually fourth and fifth outright as the invited classes, which were too modern to qualify as historics, stole the top three positions.

The youth of Daniel Leitner in his Subaru Impreza WRX on 22.36s just

beat the age of Col Hunter in a similar machine by 0.4s. Mike Barker in his Elfin Clubman, which has been brought out of its retirement home again, took third outright.

Spectators, who were allowed at Rob Roy for the first time since Covid, were treated to the return of a Cooper-Irving MkV that has recently been acquired by Rodney North. He had been trying to buy the car for some time as it was owned and raced by his uncle Graeme in the ‘60s. The younger North finished first in his class on 31.30s.

In these days of equality and political correctness there would be those who object to a special award for females. The VHRR has been happy to keep tradition alive, however, and awarded Marjorie Halford the Fastest Female Trophy for her 19th outright and class win in her Mazda MX5. Gary Hill

50

years of publishing 1971- 2021

As part of Auto Action’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Auto Action is paying tribute to our many valued contributors, writers and photgraphers alike. Long-time contributors have been asked to submit a memory or an image as an insight into what Auto Action means to them. This issue it is one of our wonderful Victorian photographers - Ross Gibb.

I AM very proud of this image as it appeared on the front cover of the very first Auto Action as resurrected by Bruce & Mike. I have been contributing to AA since 1998 when I first started professionally shooting at Calder Park and I haven’t looked back. This is one of my favourites for where it appeared (front cover), when (1st AA back after being saved) and who the driver is (Craig Lowndes)! RG

Image: CH Images

EMPIRE BREAKTHROUGH WIN FOR DEAN TIGHE DEAN TIGHE took a debut win for his supercharged Hayabusa-powered Empire Wraith, at the NSW Hillclimb Championship fourth round on May 2.

A deluge before the first runs and intermittent rain throughout the day made for an unpredictable track, sometimes wet, sometimes dry.

Tighe managed two good runs out of the four on offer to nail the FTD of 29.55s and also won the over 2.0-litre Formula Libre class.

Any chance of being toppled by the winner of the first three rounds were ruled out when Dean Amos crashed his Nicholson McLaren V8-engined Gould GR55B around 100m into his third run. He would be classified 13th overall and third in O2L F/L For a while it looked like Greg Boyle might

pull off an upset result when he was fastest on the first runs in his Sports Sedan Nissan Skyline R32 GTR. He ended up second overall, was the quickest of the tin tops, and the only other competitor to go sub-30s.

Third outright was Darren Reed (13012000cc F/L Haywood 09/Hayabusa) in front of three All Wheel Drive entries – Peter Akers (Subaru Impreza WRX), Les Maloney and Theo Poteris, both at the wheel of a Ford Focus.

Wayne Penrose (VW Bug), who set a new U3L Sports Sedan record, and Colin Mayman (Improved Production VW Beetle) were the next two of the 42 that contested the event.

In ninth place was 2020 champion Ron Hay (O2L F/L Synergy Dallara) ahead of Andrew Fraser and his Chev Corvette.

GOB

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47

HISTORIC WINTON RETURNS

Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Ian Smith/Bec Hind/Neil Hammond AFTER A year’s absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ever-popular Historic Winton returned.

The 2021 edition of Australia’s longest running, all-historic motor race meeting took place from May 22-23, and saw cars and bikes dusted off and returned to the track for the first time in two years.

Competitors raced around the original 2.03km Winton Raceway layout, now known as the club circuit, which cuts out the final few corners added in 1997.

More than 200 cars and 100 motorcycles contested the event, which took place under sunny blue skies.

Passionate, hardy race fans had barbeques set up and their race car liveried eskies were being transported on wheels around the venue.

“Competitors were thrilled to be back at Historic Winton and the buzz in the atmosphere was fantastic, as people we so incredibly glad to be back,” said event organiser and president of the Austin 7 Club, Len Kerwood.

“We thank all competitors, more than 200

There was plenty of variety in Group S with Alex Webster leading the pack in his 1975 Porsche 911 (above left), as there was in the LB Sports & Racing field (above right). volunteers, Winton Motor Raceway and the people and businesses of Benalla, for making it a truly memorable weekend for all.”

Due to the late notice of the event proceeding, the usual off-track car car clubs displays didn’t happen, however many car owners attending lined up their classics in the car park on the approach to Turn 1.

On track, the action was largely clean and fair, with very little wheel to wheel contact made.

The racing got better as the weekend went on, with many of the categories saving its best action until the final race on Sunday afternoon.

The final handicapped J&K race was a particular spectacle, the fast men from the

weekend forced to start nearly a lap behind their slower opposition.

It was a race that went down to the final lap and certainly had the crowd engaged, the eight-lap encounter won by Graeme Raper.

Formula Ford turned on a show as always with nail biting wheel to wheel action all weekend.

Group N had some great racing with the Mini Coopers taking on the Cortinas and even a Volvo in Group N (below left). Alex Davison had a run in his father Richard’s Ralt RT4 Formula Pacific (below right), the famous racing clan also recognised with the Firth Motors Family Trophy for its three-generation participation at Historic Winton. Laurie Bennett has also been a Winton Historic stalwart, racing his Elfin 600 (right).

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Scott Whittaker racing his beautiful Milano GT2, one of two Holdenengined racers built (left).Over a dozen J&K cars built in the ‘30s and ‘40s featured as well. (right).

CHR

NOMETRIC

All things historic with Mark Bisset Owen Bailey’s ex-Chiron/Whiteford Talbot-Lago T26C #110007 at Fishermans Bend in February 1958

RESULTS

Groups M & O Sports and Racing/Formula Vee Race 1: Nick Bennett (Elfin 600B), David Hardman (Elfin Mono), Laurie Bennett (Elfin 600B) Race 2: N Bennett, Hardman, L Bennett Race 3: N Bennett, Hardman, L Bennett

Groups J & K

Race 1: Graeme Raper (George Reed), Michael Shearer (Ford A Special), Douglas Sterry (Ford Northwood) Race 2: Raper, Shearer, Andrew Box (Dodge Hartwig) Race 3: Raper, Stuart Steinfort (Austin 7), Shearer

Groups Q & R Sports and Racing

Race 1: Andrew Makin (March), Michael Gibson (Lola T590), Grant Kelly (Ralt RT3) Race 2: Alex Davison (Ralt RT4), Kelly, Kim Jones (March 80A) Race 3: Davison, Makin, Kelly

Formula Ford

Race 1: Nick Bennett (Elfin), Steve Willing (Elwyn 003), Phil Oakes (Elfin 600) Race 2: Bennett, Willing, Grant Walker (Titan Mk6C) Race 3: Bennett, Willing, Walker

Groups Lb Sports & Racing and Invited

Race 1: Nick McDonald (Repco Holden), Shane Bowden (Prad 5 Sports), Peter Fagan (Cooper Mk6) Race 2: John Davies (MG Monoposto), Graeme Wright (MG Regah), Michael Woodall (Slotus Clubman) Race 3: McDonald, Bowden, David Reid (Prad Mk3 Repco)

Group S

Race 1: Alex Webster (Porsche 911), Michael Byrne (Lotus Seven S4), Ray Narkiewicz (Chevrolet Corvette) Race 2: Webster, Bryne, Joe Calleja (Chevrolet Corvette) Race 3: Bryne, Narkiewicz, Hugh Harrison (Alfa Romeo GTV)

Group N

Race 1: Nick Cascone (Ford Cortina GT), Linda Devlin (Morris Cooper S), Richard Fairlam (Holden EH) Race 2: Cascone, Devlin, Don Knight (Ford Cortina GT) Race 3: Cascone, Devlin, Knight

The final Groups Lb Sports & Racing encounter was shortened after Geoff McInnes, driving his 1948 Riley Special, was tipped into a roll and taken to hospital for a precautionary checkup.

Group S turned on a show in the penultimate race with the Morris Coopers fighting against the Ford Cortinas and Capris.

Several legendary motor sport names were also seen around the track, including twotime Bathurst 1000 winner John Bowe who was helping his mate Joe Calleja run his 1965 Chevy Corvette.

Several awards were handed out to

competitors over the course of the meeting too.

One titled ‘Car of the Meet’ was given to the driver with the best presented car. This year that was won by Andrew Green for his 1927 Alvis 12/50, a car which participated in the Regularity contest.

The ‘Firth Motors Family Trophy’ was also awarded and goes to a family that has made a significant contribution to Historic Winton and motorsport in general.

That 2021 award went to the legendary Davison Family, whose three generations have raced at Historic Winton across its 44 years.

Images: Autopics.com.au/Mark Bisset

RIP Owen Bailey - July 25, 1931 to May 15, 2021 ANOTHER LINK to the 1950s Australian Grands’ Prix was lost recently with the death of 89-year old Owen Bailey in Melbourne on May 15.

Bailey was ninth in the ’54 Southport race aboard his Harry Firth built MG-Holden Special. “He was in Queensland running Bailey’s Motel in Noosa then. Dad’s family built Australia’s first motel (Google shows a few claimants to that title), so it was easy for him to do the race” Rob Bailey told AA. Bailey cut his teeth racing an MG TC at Fishermans Bend in October 1949, before stepping into the MG-Holden in March 1953. It was built at Firth’s famous temple-of-speed, the Marne Garage in Glen Iris, Melbourne.

“Dad owned that servo, his family were wealthy, they owned the Chic Salon, a retail chain of 100 stores they later sold,” Rob Bailey said.

“He operated Owen Bailey Caravans for years on the Burwood/Auburn Roads corner, and had land there. Later he ran a coffee-lounge in town, restaurants, and further on, traded in cars.”

The caravan business moved to Auto-Alley next to Reg Hunt’s Holden dealership on the Nepean Highway, Elsternwick.

By the way, Hunt is alive and well, celebrating his 98th birthday on May 14. Does that make him our oldest surviving AGP competitor? Reg contested the ’53 AGP at Albert Park in an Allard J2 Cadillac.

From October 1956, Owen Bailey raced the ex-Brabham Cooper Mk4 HRD in Victorian events into 1957, before entering the Formula Libre big-league.

“Dad got on really well with Les Agnew, a Toowoomba racer and hardware store owner. It may have been through him he bought Doug Whiteford’s 1952/3 AGP winning Talbot-Lago T26C, which lived in Queensland for a while.”

He raced that car, chassis 110007, from October 1956 to February 1958, including meetings at Bathurst, Gnoo Blas, and another AGP start among all the hot-shots, Stirling Moss, Jean Behra, Peter Whitehead, Reg Parnell and Jack Brabham, at Albert Park in 1956.

By that stage the Lago was well past its use-by date among the Maserati 250F and Ferrari youngsters, but he was out there having-a-crack.

“A very young Ian Tate was among the Marne Garage crew looking after his car,” Bailey explained.

Sadly, his race was over before it started with a half-shaft failure on the line.

“He knew Len Lukey well (’59 Gold Star champion and of Lukey Mufflers fame) and bought his re-shelled Ford Customline, having great fun and some success in that form in October 1957.

“Owen and Norm Beechey had a famous coming together at Albert Park in 1958 which put them both backwards into the trees and out of the race. I was born that year, that took the wind out of his racing-sails a bit!

“He raced the Cusso on into 1959, (but) by the time my sister was born in 1962 he had stopped racing.

“Later he was into road cars and boats, he had some fantastic cars, some were tradingstock. He lived a good, long, full life, racing in a dangerous era and loved it – he certainly passed the racing passion onto me!”

Special thanks to Rob Bailey and Stephen Dalton

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

ONE DAYER TURNS INTO THE NIGHT THE FOURTH round of the QR Drivers Championships was held at Queensland Raceway, a one-day meeting on May 22, that attracted a huge response of Excels and Touring Cars, as well as Production Sports, Trans-Am and Superkarts.

TRACK ATTACK HYUNDAI EXCELS

WINNING A race was not an easy task, but Cameron Bartholomew managed three out of the four. He came off the second row at the start of race one to grab the lead by Turn 1. For the first half he generally had his pursuers covered but strong challengers from Brett Parrish and Mitch Wooller tested him in the latter stages.

In the end, half a second covered the top five with Simpson and Beggs close behind while Bradi Owen and Luke Pink finish sixth and seventh, and nose to tail. Expected strong challengers from Ryan Casha (fuel pump), Treigh Maschotta (puncture) and Darren Whittington fizzled into retirements.

Wooller was the early leader of race two from Parrish, while Bartholomew dropped to fourth behind Owen. A clampdown came when Liam Moyes fired off at Turn 3. With the return to speed, the leading trio bolted. Parrish won as Owen pinched second off Wooller but the three were penalised 30s for clampdown infringements.

That gave the victory to Beggs from Simpson, Ryan O’Sullivan and Bartholomew.

There was a clampdown after the start of race three with Jordon McNamara parked at pit exit. A second clampdown came a couple of laps later with Josh Dremel stranded after Turns 1. Shortly after there was a two-car incident at Turn 6 between Ben Gomersall and Stephen Scales that terminated the race.

Bartholomew was the leader at the time, ahead of Beggs, Parrish, Treigh Mashotta and Simpson.

In race four under lights, there was early jousting between Bartholomew,

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John English won TransAm again but this time without a perfect score (top) while Murray Kent returned with his Torana (above) to claim Qld Touring Cars. Superkarts honours (below) were shared.

Beggs and Parrish. Beggs led for some laps before Bartholomew won.

Second was Beggs from Wooller, Maschotta, Owen, Simpson and Pink. Parrish was ninth behind Jarrod Hughes.

QLD TOURING CARS

THE RETURN of Murray Kent and his Holden Torana LH for round two was not good news for 31 others, as the combination was unbeaten across the four races, despite the use of all three track configurations.

Although Chris Brown only qualified sixth, the Holden Commodore VT driver was runner-up in each.

Matt Haak (Commodore VL) was second in race one initially before being relegated to third, for not only that race but also through the next three. Robert Bellinger (BMW E46 M3) was fourth each time ahead of Gary Lange (E46). Round one winner Stuart Walker qualified third but did not get one race result in his Commodore VE. Haak became the new outright and Group A points leader ahead of Cameron Haak (Commodore VE), who was sixth at round two. Despite a broken axle in race two, Gary Anger was the Group B winner ahead of Rob Droder. Lance Jurgeleit (E36) was third behind the two Holdens.

Matt Devitt (E46) won Group C from Paul Bonaccorso (Ford Falcon) and Andrew Knight (E36).

PRODUCTION SPORTS CARS TWO WINS to Duncan MacKellar and his Porsche GT3-R gave him overall victory in round three, ahead of Darren Berry (Ginetta) and Gerry Murphy (Porsche GT3 Cup Car).

The 2F class win across the three races went to Shane Freese (Mazda MX5) ahead of Shane Plohl (Eunos Roasdster) and Chris Battista (MX5).

Berry was the fastest qualifier, although he had to chase MacKellar for the first four laps before he grabbed the lead. Andrew Adams (Ginetta) held third until sidelined on the final lap. Third went to Gerry Murphy after fellow Porsche GT3 Cup Car pilot Wayne Hennig ran into dramas late in the race and finished 20th.

Lachy Harburg (Porsche) was fourth ahead of Greg Waters (Chev Corvette) and Chris Hatfield (RCR T70).

MacKellar led all the way in race

two, and finished just in front of Berry, with Murphy next, narrowly ahead of Hennig, Waters and Michael Learoyd (Corvette). It was a similar tale in the last for MacKellar with another victory, handily ahead of Murphy. Graham Lusty (Mosler GT) was second briefly before finishing third. Then came Berry, Waters, Harburg and Hennig.

AUSTRALIAN TRANS AM

OUTRIGHT HONOURS at round two went to John English in his Pontiac Firebird, while the 5.0-litre class was a clean sweep for Patricia Chant (Ford Mustang).

English was also set to score four from four, but Anthony Tenkate (Mustang) took the last after trailing seconds in the other outings. They swapped places a couple of times before Tenkate made the final move at Turn 3 on the last lap to secure the win.

In each race Russell Wright (Mustang) was third while fourth was always a scrap between Ian Palmer (Plymouth AAR Cuda) and Alwyn Bishop (Plymouth Duster). Palmer was the best in three but power steering failure in the last allowed Bishop to secure one fourth.

Behind Chant was Gareth Jones (Mustang) on three occasions with Mike Collins (Mustang) ahead in one after Jones spun at Turn 1. Collins missed the qualifying and the first race, while Ron Prefontaine started race one from pitlane but only did one lap all day in his Mustang.

SUPERKARTS

OVERALL WINS were shared between Tim Weier (Anderson Maverick) and Gareth Crisp (ADE) in their 250cc National karts. They had two each as well as a pair of seconds, with Weier declared the round winner as he won the last race.

Lachlan Crisp (Anderson Mirage) was a distant third in race one before overheating put him out.

Tim Philp (Avoig Elise) picked up three thirds after race one where he was fourth, and was the 125cc gearbox winner ahead of Greg Hack (Stockman MR2) who suffered brake issues, and Jonathan Bothamley (Anderson) with two DNFs. David Dyson (IWT Scorpion) was the front runner in TAG Heavy and came away with a first up eighth, a pair a sixths and a best of fifth outright, while Paul Buckley (Intrepid) was only a place or two behind as the leader of TAG Light. GOB

Images: MTR Images

XXX

JOHNSON’S SEVENTH HASTIE MEMORIAL THE ANNUAL Ernie Hastie Memorial race meeting laid claims to being the biggest held at the Collie Motorplex.

The May 15-16 event featured 10 categories plus a couple of Regulatory classes.

SALOON CARS PRO

FOR THE seventh year in a row, Grant Johnson won the Ernie Hastie Memorial with victory in race three races for the later model Saloon Cars. Johnson (Holden Commodore VT) also won the two earlier races and beat Brock Boley (VT) each time. Grant Dyson (Ford Falcon AU) was third ahead of Matt Martin in race one with the latter third in the following two outings.

SALOON CARS PRO-AM

THE THREE races were won by Michael Holdcroft (Ford Falcon EA) who was never headed. In the races one and two, Justin Chaffey was just in front of Chris Kneafsey in their Holden Commodore VNs in a dice for the minors. Chaffey went on to take second in the last where Michael Hanlon (EA) was able to displace Michael Koberstein (VN) for third.

SPORTS SEDANS/SPORTS CARS/STREET CARS

A GREAT weekend for Ryan Humfrey (Falcon/Chev Sports Sedan) started with the first race victory.

Second went to Arthur Abrahams (Lamborghini Huracan) with Grant Hill (Ford Falcon BF) third. Humfrey led race two, this time from Hill with Abrahams third until he affected a pass on lap five.

Abrahams jumped Humfrey to lead race three. Humfrey pressured until Abrahams made a mistake on the last lap and snatched the win ahead of Hill, while Abrahams was third.

Street Cars started 10 seconds after the others. Jason Hallam (Nissan Skyline) and Ben Peachey (Datsun 200B) exchanged the lead several times before Hallam won race one. Philip Crouse (VW Polo)

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ran third until he was passed by Chris Cheverall (BMW E36 M3).

Hallam and Peachey continued to dice in race two before the former retired. Cheverall was out a lap later and Crouse stopped not long after.

Peachey won from Wayne Hastie (Pulsar} and Stephen Taylor (BMW E36). Peachey led Hallam away in race three but retired mid race and left Hallam to win from Hastie and Taylor.

FORMULA FORDS

FORMULA VEES

EXCEL CUP

FOUR RACES were scheduled and David Caisley (Jacer) won each as well as 1600cc honours. The first race was red flagged after an incident between Jarrod Vening (Spectre) and 1200cc competitor Callum Lamont (Sabre). After the restart Rod Lisson (Sabre) ended up a close second with Mark Horan (Stinger) third.

Lisson held second until he clipped the tyre wall at Turn 2. Austin Pearson (Jacer) started rear of field and eclipsed Horan for second.

In the third race Lisson came into contact with Allan Reid (Jacer), with both off the track. Pearson and Horan filled the minors and the last race produced the same result.

In the 1200s Brett Scarey (CD-Vee) led the first encounter until a miscue allowed Andrew Lockett (Ajay) ahead, along with Robert McAfee (Polar) and Mackenzie Matthews (Gerbert). Lockett won the next two races. Scarey filled second ahead of McAfee and Matthews, respectively with thirds. Scarey led the last, but not for long and eventually finished third to Lockett and Matthews.

Images: Mick Oliver

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OVER THE three non-championship races, Ben Leslie (Stealth) won each. In the first he led throughout and won ahead of Craig Jorgensen (Van Diemen RF93) and Marc Redmond (RF92). The second was a repeat of the first after Jorgensen had the early lead.

In the last Jack Sheldon (Stealth) overtook Leslie and Redmon had to pass Jorgensen for the win.

AFTER A close race one victory over Carlo Ambrosio, Brett Sherriff was slightly more comfortable in his race two and three victories. Jake Passaris was third early in the first, but was passed by Thomas Hamlett and then Harrison Douglas.

Ambrosio and Hamlett swapped places several times early in race two before Ambrosio skipped clear.

A 5s for a starting line breach relegated him to third behind Hamlett. In the last Ambrosio and Hamlett traded places several times and ultimately Hamlett finished ahead.

Overall Passaris was fourth ahead of Douglas and Connor Wroth.

HQ HOLDENS

OVER TWO rounds and six races, Ryan Davis had four victories.

Michael Woodbridge won two races for second over the weekend while Michael Howlett was third on Saturday and Adam Butler took third on Sunday.

In the first race Davis held off Woodbridge to win while Howlett passed Mark Mettam for third.

Woodbridge atoned to take the second race from Davis with Howlett third. Woodbridge led the last until Davis passed him. Howlett was third but not until he overtook Mettam again.

Woodbridge won the fourth outing from Davis, who had Butler on his tail throughout. The fifth was a repeat except Woodbridge was handed a start line 5s penalty and relegated to third behind Butler.

In the last Davis led throughout, narrowly ahead of Woodbridge and Butler.

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IN THE first two races, Reuben Romkes (Holden Monaro) was too strong. Ron Coote (Ford Escort) was second and Rachel Beers (Holden Commodore) third in the first encounter, before Garry Edward (BMW E90 318i) passed them both for second in race two. Beers finished third after he passed Coote midway in.

The last started with Romkes in the lead. Coote was second when he lost out to Beers and Edwards.

On the last lap Romkes stopped near flag point two which gave Beers the win from Coote, who repassed Edwards.

FORMULA RACING

THE FIRST two races went to William Norman (Ralt RT4) from Martin Bullock (Chevron) and Simon Alderson (Van Diemen RF88 FF2000). In the last Bullock won the start and held off Norman for the win. Alderson was third.

Mick Oliver

DOUBLE DECKER GETS ENDURO THE TEAM of Double Decker Racing went one better at the second round of the MotorsportSales OzEnduoCup for Production Cars, where Peter Jolly, Brian McDonald, Gerard Forde and Mark Vilgan were the winners in a BMW 325.

They were second, one lap behind the winners at round one, but this time with 577 laps in the book of the Lakeside Park circuit were 19 laps ahead of second place.

That went to the 53 Raceway Track Time Nissan Pulsar driven by Tim Shaw, Jackson Shaw, Andrew Shaw and Brett Holdsworth.

The series has been put together

by Ontic Sports around low-cost endurance events over two days for vehicles with a Redbook tradein value of $2000 or less.

The Ford Focus of Team 71 was third and the winner of 1kCup was Dave Perkins, Gavin Broadbent, Rob Walters and David Owen, who completed 549 laps. Fourth and fifth spots were filled by the Toyota Corollas of the SS Signs teams.

Round one winner, Synforce Lubricants with Russell Greaves, Darren Goddard, Shane Logan and Darren Holland, were the leaders on and off for 240 laps, but the Audi A4 Quattro crew fell short by around two hours due to a blown turbo. GOB

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS have started to emerge in the Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championships, following the third round at Symmons Plains on May 15-16.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

WITHOUT A doubt the best racing came from the Excels, which also had the biggest field.

Series leader Charlie Parker was under the pump from the outset with multiple challenges from Callum Bishop, Campbell Logan, Jeremy Bennett, and Alex Bird.

There were three different winners and plenty of excitement in every race, with multiple lead changes and intense dicing.

Logan won the round with victories in races one, three and four, to move into second in the championship. Bishop had top qualified and won race two but struggled after accident damage in race three.

Bird saved his best to take his first race victory in the double points final and finished second for the round. Although his series lead was diminished, Parker’s third, third, second, fourth and second (double points final) was enough for him to remain on top.

SPORTS GT

IN A small field of Sports GTA cars Liam Hooper (Subaru Impreza WRX Sti) had a blemish-free weekend, to jump up to second in the championship.

Series leader David Paine (Holden Commodore) could not match his pace with second places each time yet maintained a decent points buffer.

Notably, Tony Warren (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) had crashed in qualifying.

CREAM STARTS TO RISE IN TASSIE

In Sports GTB, Tom Taglieri (Subaru Impreza WRX Sti) had his best meeting this season with three victories, including the double points final. David Wrigley started well and he topped qualified, before finishing second in the first two races.

It all turned sour in race three when Wrigley destroyed his Mustang in a massive rollover near the end of the back straight. He had hit the tyre wall after an apparent brake problem but luckily emerged unharmed, in one of the biggest crashes seen for several years.

Meanwhile in Sports GTC Mick Williams (Datsun 240Z) continued his unbeaten run for his third consecutive clean sweep. He

extended his series lead over Brett Mansfield (Holden Commodore) who placed second in each outing.

Lance “Spike” Jones (Holden Torana Hatchback) stayed in the top three to advance to second in the title and close the gap.

SPORTS SEDANS

SPORTS & RACING CARS

IN HIS incredibly quick Nissan Skyline R32, Brad Sherriff was in awesome form and dominated with five massive wins. He also smashed the Sports Sedan lap record by almost 2s in the opening race and then lowered it again in race two.

Series leader Laurie Williams (Mazda RX-7) was tangled up in an incident just after the start of race three and sustained rear suspension damage, which ended his weekend. Despite that, Williams banked enough points to finish sixth and protect his championship lead.

VICTORIES WERE shared around in the combined categories.

Phil Sutton (Ralt RT4) won the opener narrowly over Rod Bender (Radical SR3 RSX) with Noel Clark (Reynard 88F) and Kevin Miller (Elfin 300) not far away. Sutton also won race two, over Clark and Miller, with Tayla Heath (Reynard) a distant fourth.

Miller won the next from Clark, the two well ahead of Sutton and Bender, who collected the wins in the last two outings. Sutton was second third of the Australian 1000. Benny Tran was a close second ahead of Anthony Soole (BMW M4), Lloyd Godfrey (Integra), and Jimmy Tran.

SUPERKARTS

ALL FOUR outright wins went to Anton Stevens (PVP), which were never in doubt. His only 250cc International competition came from Lucas Vitale (Anderson Maverick) with a pair of second places, but two DNFs went on top of that.

Meanwhile, the battle among the best of the 125s was also to decide second overall. Lee Vella (Anderson Maverick) and Aaron Cogger (Avoig Elise) had several position exchanges before the former came out ahead on three occasions to Cogger’s one. Right behind them was Mark Robin (Avoig) and at times, Laurie Fooks and Adam Stewart in their Andersons.

ANOTHER 300 FOR HERRING A SOLID trouble-free performance secured Todd Herring victory in the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300, under lights, in the second leg of the Australian 1000 at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 15.

The 300km 77-lap event was the feature of the third round of the Motor Racing Australia Series.

Herring took on the event single-handed in his Mazda MX5 for his second outright and Division A win, after he won the first leg at Wakefield Park earlier this year.

After a heady dice with Benny Tran (sharing his Honda Integra with Matt Longhurst) where there was even light contact in the opening phase, Herring went on to lead 32 laps before,

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in between, and after his two 5min compulsory pitstops.

Tran had a CV failure and was out of contention early as the team’s second car, the Honda Civic driven by Jimmy Tran and Drew Hall ultimately finished second. They also completed 77 laps, were 48.25s in arrears, and the Division B winners after one 5min and one 2.5min CPS. Division B teams filled the next four spots with Dean Kapetanovic and Adam Thompson (BMW 328) third a lap down. Jason Miller (Mitsubishi EVO 9) drove solo to fourth ahead of Jimmy Vernon/Harrison Gray (EVO X), and Tom Vucicevic/Bob Pupovac (Civic).

Charlie Viola and Ben Hanrahan (Integra)

finished seventh and were first in Division C (one 5min stop only) 14.8s ahead of class rivals Julian Burke and Matthias Herberstein (BMW M Coupe). The Division D winners were Shane Fowler and Gavan Reynolds (Nissan Pulsar) when they placed 15th outright.

Forty cars started with 27 classified as finishers. There were two safety cars, both within the first dozen laps, one for the stranded Travis Condon/ Toyota Corolla and the other for when the Martin Voormeulen/Jamie Martin MX5 parked up.

Despite a poor start where he dropped numerous spots from pole position, Herring charged back to win the earlier sprint race which made up the 33-odd kilometres for one-

CLUBMANS

EVEN ONE muffed start could not stop Ivan Srejber (PRB Birkin) from victories in the three races. As he cantered off to the first win, there was a four-way battle for second which eventually went to James Dick (PRB Widebody) over Graham Roberson (Locust), Stuart Shirvington (Birkin) and Chris Barry (PRB Clubman).

Roberson was second in the next, clear of Dick, while Shirvington eclipsed Jos Kroon (Birkin) and Barry. When Srejber stalled on the race three grid and dropped to last, Dick and Shirvington diced for the lead, as Roberson failed to go past Turn 3.

Srejber regathered and surged to the win, Dick held onto second from Shirvington, while Barry edged out Kroon.

SERIES X3 NSW

THE SECOND round of the sprint series went to Wil Longmore while runner up Cody Burcher was able to extend his points-leading margin. The two were engaged in a race one dice throughout with Burcher

Images: Angryman Photography

in each as Clark and Miller scored a third each, just behind the Ralt.

third in the first two heats, and second in all other races, to advance to second in the title chase.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

HQ HOLDENS

THE BIGGEST championship leader after the mid-season round was Michael Cross (Holden Torana XU1) who amassed enough points that he could miss the next two rounds and still be in title contention. He is one of a handful to complete every round.

Cross did not win a race this time but placed second each time to Milan Zizek (Ford Mustang) who top qualified and won the five races.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

WELL ON his way to his first title, Jared House (Holden Torana A9X) had a clean sweep. Matt Grace (Nissan 200SX) was impressive after a solid second in the first two races. A suspected broken rocker arm in the third heat ended his weekend prematurely and saw him slip to third in the championship.

House’s cousin Jason House (BMW E30) finished the victor by 0.012s. Jeremy Hodges was third in front of Sam Christison, George Mawad and Harrison Field.

Burcher had the second race lead at the outset until Longmore passed him. Despite only having two gears, Burcher held off Hodges for second while Mawad was third clear of Tim Colombrita, Field and Christison.

Race three finished with a one-lap flyer to the flag after a safety car. Longmore won from Burcher and Hodges. Ben Crossland was next ahead of Preston Breust, who progressed from a second to last in race one, due to a pitlane start after a loose wheel. The safety car was called after Mawad contacted the Turn 1 wall after running side-by-side with Field.

ALFA ROMEOS

SPINS WOULD determine the outcome of round three. Daniel Gatto (Alfetta Giulietta) looked assured of a first race victory until he spun at Turn 6 on the last lap. Michael Musumeci (GT) picked up the win as Gatto recovered for second ahead of Darren Harris (Giulietta).

John Carigliano edged out fellow 147 GTA pilot Carmelo Mirabella for third.

Musumeci crossed the second race finish line in front of Harris, Alfio Musumeci (Giulietta turbo), Simon

THE DRIVER to beat was Andrew Toth who was only vanquished once all weekend. He finished second in race four, and moved up to fourth in the championship, despite not competing at the opening round. Otis Cordwell was consistent with a string of second places, to move into the championship lead ahead of Phil Ashlin, who was third in every race.

FORMULA VEES

WITH HIS colours lowered only once – in race two – Wade McLean (Elliott) extended his championship lead. While he dominated the meeting on points, McLean was forced to work hard for every victory, with some great racing with multiple lead and positional changes in almost every race.

Chris Neil (Spectre), Michael Vaughan (Spectre), Jeremy Dyer (Elfin Crusader) and Richard Gray (Jabiru) were all in the mix at various times.

Martin Agatyn Greirson (Giulietta) and Mirabella, but a 5s penalty relegated Michael Musumeci to fifth. The race finished after a late safety car when Richard McKee (147 Twin Spark) parked at Turn 3.

Michael Musumeci took out the last after a brilliant start, and finished ahead of his dad Alfio, with Greirson third just in front of Harris. Gatto was next after a first lap spin.

STOCK CARS/SUPERTT

THE FIRST race came sometime after the track was declared wet, but by race start it was dry.

On wet tyres it was a tight tussle between Brett Mitchell (Oztruck), Dan Flanagan (HSV GTS) and Barry Kelleher (TA2 Ford Mustang), with less than 1s between them in the end. Stephen Chilby (Oztruck) was a distant fourth and well clear as Pawel Faber (Honda Civic) and Corey Gurney (Pontiac) duked it out for fifth.Mitchel cleared out for a big win in race two where Kelleher was second and Chilby third.

In Oztrucks Danny Burgess and Robert Marchese were next, the latter just ahead of Gurney who was involved in a Turn 1 clash in race three. It involved Kelleher while Marchese was also out. It was enough to red flag the race. GOB .

STATE RACING HITS THE BEND THE SOUTH Australian State Motor Racing Championships made their first trip to The Bend Motorsport Park for 2021 on May 15-16, and there was no shortage of action.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

IN A narrow win, Greg Faggotter (Datsun Bluebird) kept it all together to take the win over Andrew Bailey (Nissan S13). Andy Sandaris (Mitsubishi EVO 8) and Chris Brown (Toyota AE86) set the pace but Sarandis was a nonstarter on Sunday and Brown’s dominance was interrupted by DNFs which left him a distant third for the weekend. Haydn Clark (Toyota 86) was the best of the Under 2.0-Litre runners.

CIRCUIT EXCELS

AGAIN THE win fell to Asher Johnston who lowered the lap record three times in the process. Johnston had to work hard for it as Brad Vaughan and Jayden Wanzek also spent some time in the fresh air out in front.

Vaughan hung on for second overall while Wanzek lost points due to a couple of rule breaches late in the event. Andrew Hobby was stuck back in the pack a couple of times as he hustled for position, but managed to claw back to third for the round.

RACING CARS

THE MAN to beat was Max de Meyrick in his Dallara F307 Formula 3. Ray Yu Wang (F307) ran hard and picked up a win on his way to second ahead of Bo Jensen (F304). Blake Purdie (F304) made a big impression when he topped qualifying and won race one, but the car didn’t come out of the garage for rest of the event. Of the Sports Cars, Tim Cook (Radical SR3) was the best with Mark Goldsmith having a breakagefree weekend in the Elfin 400 to win Historics.

In race two the Henry Beasley and Matthew Simms Porsches crashed out, with extensive damage to both after they put on a good show in the first race.

Keith Short (Trans Am Mustang) was the dominator in Sports Sedan ahead of Stephen Short (Toyota Corolla). Myles Bond (Ford Escort) had to settle for third after he crashed out of the lead in race five, while he tried to avoid someone else’s incident. Josh Pickert (Holden Monaro) struggled with a fuel problem and Matt Wildy’s new Mazda RX7 showed some promise but dropped its tailshaft on Saturday.

SALOON CARS

IT WAS Shawn Jamieson (Holden Commodore) who comfortably defeated Wayne King and Peter Holmes in their Commodores. Joel Heinrich took the fight up to King until the Ford Falcon AU had problems on Sunday.

HQ HOLDENS

A CLOSE battle for HQ supremacy saw consistent winner Darryl Crouch coming out on top from a winless Darren Jenkins and race four winner Corey Bradley.

FORMULA VEES

IN THE 1600cc and outright class, Daniel Westcott (Jacer F2K5) was on top just in front of Matt Bialek (Stinger) and Sean Grimmond (Merlin PE08).

As usual Ben Forgan and Adam Newton in Sabres set the pace until they both encountered problems in race one and lagged behind in the points thereafter.

Rhys Rolland (Spook) was totally dominated in 1200s and he easily outpaced Nathan Clifton (Spectre) and Frank Chessell (Elfin Crusader).

David Batchelor

SPORTS CARS/ SPORTS SEDANS

Images: Riccardo Benvenuti

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BY REMAINING out of trouble Mark Rosser (Audi R8 LMS) was rewarded with the top Sports Car spot ahead of race one winner Panayot Boyaci (Porsche 991).

There was a big gap back to Grant Perryman (Ferrari 430 GT).

Images: David Batchelor

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

Image: Elgee

HOT ACTION AFTER MISTY START FOG AND more fog contributed to three hours less of Wakefield Park track time at Round 3 of the NSW Motor Racing Championships on May 22-23.

When the cars did finally hit the track, the action was hot at the well patronised event.

Besides National Sports Sedans, the feature category was the second round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship, where the wins came doggedly and Race 3 culminated in a dramatic rollover.

FORMULA FORDS

ROUND ONE winner Tom Sargent (CHE Racing Mygale) snared pole and was a narrow Race 1 winner over Cody Burcher (Synergy Motorsport Spectrum). Third went to Valentino Astuti (Sonic Racing Mygale) from Noah Sands (CHE Mygale) and Jake Donaldson (Spectrum).

Jude Bargwanna (Spectrum) and James Piszcyk (Spectrum) were non-finishers due to separate contact with Harrison Goodman (Mygale) and Kiarra Jones (Van Diemen), respectively.

Visibility was just sufficient for Race 2 where Sargent led up until the last corner on the final lap, when Burcher pinched the win. Sands was right behind them for third while Astuti headed Donaldson, Zach Bates (Mygale) and the McLeod brothers Nick and Cameron, both in Spectrums.

Sargent gained the jump on Burcher in Race 3 with Sands third in front of Astuti, Donaldson, Cameron McLeod, Bates, Nick McLeod, Goodman, Conor Somers, Adrian Sarkis, Bargwanna, and Piszcyk.

Donaldson lost his engine cover on the second lap and there was a brief safety car to retrieve it.

At the resumption he gained several spots and was ahead of Astuti until Turn 8. The latter ran up over Donaldson’s rear wheel and barrell rolled several times. He crawled from the wreck unscathed, as the red flags came out and the race was abandoned.

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PRODUCTION TOURING

AT ONLY his third race meeting Dean Campbell came away with two race wins, one being the feature Enduro.

In his Mitsubishi EVO X he won the Driver A Sprint ahead of Dimitri Agathos (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) and Garth Walden (BMW M3).

The Driver B Sprint went to Josh Muggleton (HSV Clubsport), clear of Agathos and David Kruza (BMW 135i).

The fastest qualifier was Anthony Soole, whose BMW M4 blew a turbo and missed the sprints. The combination was back for the Enduro but lasted less than a lap when the BMW went into limp mode.

The fight for the lead was between Campbell, Agathos and Matt Holt (Clubsport). The latter handed Muggleton control for the second half after the compulsory pitstop and he led until a late puncture dropped him to fourth and a lap behind.

In the meantime Agathos headed Campbell after their stops but the latter passed the Subaru and won.

Krusza was third and on the lead lap.

Fifth went to Chris Reeves and drift ace Beau Yates (Volkswagen Scirocco) ahead of Daniel D’Aquino and Paul Pearson in their Holden Commodores.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION UNDER 2L

WHEN PACESETTER Kurt Macready had a control arm failure in his Nissan Silvia whilst in the lead of Race 1,

Tom Sargent was finally defeated in Formula Ford but it didn’t stop him from taking the weekend (above). David Williams was a winner in Under 2.0-litre Improved Production (left), while there was close racing in Production Touring (below). Images: Riccardo Benvenuti/Sportzfotos

it opened the door for Honda Civic drivers to win the four races. David Williams won the first in front of Henri Price, with Graham Bohm third from 10th. Mathew Harris was second in the next, behind Williams, with Peter Cusato third in his Ford Escort.

Macready was back for Race 3 and stormed through to a close second behind Harris. Cusato was third ahead of Williams and Bohm. Macready went one better in the last when he slipped past Harris at the very last corner. But it was to no avail as he copped a 5s penalty and was relegated to second ahead of Bohm, Williams, and Price.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION OVER 2L

IN SOMETHING of a twist, a Mitsubishi EVO didn’t win the third round of the NSW Over 2.0-Litre round. Hot favourite Trevan Spiteri and his EVO were towed in after qualifying

with a broken transfer case, forcing him miss the first two races.

Lachlan McBrien (BMW E46 M3) came through to win both and finish second in the third to take top honours ahead of Darren Herbert (EVO) and Andrew McMaster (BMW E30).

Scott Tutton (EVO) was another with first day problems. Both he and Spiteri returned for the single race on Sunday before time constraints canned the fourth race. Spiteri won race three from McBrien, Herbert and Tutton.

FORMULA VEES

ONLY TWO races were completed with the third cancelled due to program time isues.

Aaron Lee (Jacer) was fastest in qualifying and won both encounters where he beat John McDonald (Jacer) in each. Third in race one was William Pym when he edged out fellow Jacer drivers Leigh Porter, Geoff Bennett,

and Simon Duffy. Pym was third in the next, just in front of Angus McDonald (Jacer), who was a DNF in Race 1.

In the 1200cc class, Stephen Butcher (Stinger) win on both occasions, despite a pitlane start in the first race due to a fuel issue.

Greg Johnston (Nimbus) was third each time, behind Bernie Cannon (Kingfisher) and Grant Cassell (Nimbus) respectively.

SUPERSPORTS

RADICAL SR8s won the three races.

Peter White made a blistering start from the outside of the front-row for an all the way Race 1 win. His task was made a little easier as pole sitter Brad Shiels (SR3) was second and for many laps, held off Neale Muston and Nick Kelly. Ultimately, they did get by to fill the minors, while Shiels was fourth ahead of Darren Barlow (Stohr).

White spun in the second race whilst second and finished well down the order, as Muston won ahead of Kelly, Shiels and Barlow. Muston held off Kelly to take out the last. Ultimately Barlow passed Shiels for third while White came through to take fifth.

PRODUCTION SPORTS

THE SMALL field for Race 1 was further reduced as a Glenn Townsend’s Lotus Exige interrupted the first qualifier with mechanical dramas.

Andrew Macpherson (Porsche GT3-R) led every lap while Casper Tresidder had to work his way past and then hold off fellow Porsche GT3 Cup Car driver Drew Hall to take second place. The latter pair jumped Macpherson in Race 2, and held him out throughout. Hall won while Tresidder was relegated to third with a 5s penalty. GOB

XXX

2018 TITLIST TAMASI LEADS SPORTS SEDANS THE 2018 National Sports Sedan Series winner Steven Tamasi leads this year’s title after the opening round at Wakefield Park.

The Precision International National Sports Sedan Series held its first round since 2019 at the rural New South Wales circuit, near Goulburn.

Supercars co-driver Thomas Randle entered as favourite and was joined by Supercars series regular Andre Heimgartner.

Tamasi strung together a weekend of consistency, winning one race and finishing second in the remaining two, to hold a ninepoint lead over Steve Lacey.

Sunday’s race was one of attrition when Randle failed to complete Race 2 and the rest of the weekend due to a gearbox failure, while Heimgartner overcame brake bias problems to win the final event in the Duggan Family Racing Chev-powered Aston Martin DBRS9.

After testing an Audi R8 LMS GT3 at Sydney Motorsport Park, Heimgartner changed his plans to contest the weekend at Wakefield Park when car owner Mark Duggan fell ill prior to the round.

Just 0.385s separated the two Supercars drivers on the front-row of the grid, while Tamasi was joined by NSW Sports Sedan competitor Brad Shiels in the Joe Said-owned, 13B rotary-powered Fiat 124 on row two.

Randle in the title-winning SAAB 9-3 Chev dominated the opening race as Heimgartner’s brake bias struggles forced him into a spin at the final corner, which dropped the recent Supercars winner down to 11th.

Images: John Morris

This left Tamasi to finish second ahead of Shiels, but the battle for fourth was where the action was all at.

It was a GM exclusive battle between the Holden Monaro of Michael Robinson and Steve Lacey’s Chevrolet Camaro, decided when a transaxle failure hampered the latter’s run to the line.

A three-hour delay due to fog reduced the National Sports Sedan action to two 12-lap encounters, and these both proved full of mechanical attrition.

Randle led away but the safety car was required when Chris Jackson spun his Calibra exiting Turn 2 and was unable to get it restarted.

Starting from 11th, Heimgartner had already progressed to fifth by the conclusion of the opening lap, progress he continued once the race restarted.

Randle’s race came to a halt due to a gearbox failure on lap 6, which also ended his weekend, and elevated Tamasi into a lead he held to the finish.

Heimgartner had climbed to second but entered pit lane and dropped to 10th as a result.

In turn, Lacey finished runner up ahead of Shiels, the Chevrolet Corvette of Stuart Inwood and Robinson.

With it all to do in the final race, Heimgartner was fifth by the end of the first lap and second a lap later. In clear air, the Supercars driver set a 56.942s in his pursuit of Tamasi.

Within the closing stages, Tamasi not only had Heimgartner to contend with, but also lapped traffic.

It led to a thrilling final lap where Tamasi held off Heimgartner until encountering a slower car while entering the fishhook, which ran the Calibra wide and enabled the Aston Martin to take the win.

In a giant killing performance, Shiels rounded out the podium ahead of Lacey and Inwood.

Tamasi leaves Wakefield Park in the series lead ahead of Lacey and Robinson, who finished sixth in the final.

“Our car doesn’t like the tight and twisty tracks, it’s more suited to the high-speed, flowing

circuits,” said Tamasi.

“Slowly, slowly with our front aero and a few different areas behind the scenes, we’ve managed to do some respectable times at tracks like Wakefield Park. The car was working, it was working on the weekend and we’re pretty happy with it.”

Tamasi said the team was delighted to lead the title after the opening round and now heads to Morgan Park with further confidence.

“We should do well,” he declared. “I have a tiny bit of experience there. I haven’t been there in about 10 years, when I won the Australian Superkart Championship there.

“We’re happy with the results and how the car is handling the tighter tracks at the moment, so hopefully we get some good competition up there as well.”

Next, the Precision International National Sports Sedan Series joins the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Morgan Park on June 26-27.

It is expected Tony Ricciardello’s Alfa Romeo and the John Gourlay’s Audi A4, to driven by Jordan Caruso, will re-join the battle for top honours. Heath McAlpine

Points: Steven Tamasi 129, Steve Lacey 118, Michael Robinson 113, Andre Heimgartner 108, Tim Tritton 90.

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s w e n Y A W D E SPE

56 AutoAction FEATURE

MILBURN WINS NIGHT, CHARGE TAKES TITLE

Reports: PARIS CHARLES Images: BRETT SWANSON AS THE chequered flag fell on the third and final round of the 2021 A Plus Powder Coating SRA 360 Sprintcar Triple Crown Series at Simpson Speedway Brett Milburn clinched his maiden win.

Going into the 25-lap feature event, Milburn lined up on the outside of the front-row alongside fellow veteran Domain Ramsay. As the green flag dropped, Milburn raced around the outside to take the lead.

From this point forward the reigning Australian 360 Sprintcar Champion set the tempo as the lead car until Ramsay made a successful challenge on lap 12 and held command for the next eight circulations before Milburn stole back the lead only to be relegated for a second time by the hard charging Ramsay on lap 23.

Unfortunately, for Ramsay he fell agonisingly short of a maiden Sprintcar victory after an epic race long battle with Milburn as he expired just as the white flag was being unfurled.

Crossing the line in second was the fastfinishing Jordyn Charge, who had worked his way forward from sixth and in doing so wrapped up the series points after claiming back-to-back victories in the preceding rounds held at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool and Avalon Raceway.

Milburn’s victory netted him second overall in the series points score while Brett Smith took the final podium step. His consistent performances across all three rounds would also earn him a well-deserved third overall in the series.

Following the podium placegetters across the

line was a trio of veterans in Phil Lock, John Vogles and Dennis Jones rounding out the top six. Sam Wren was next followed by Supercars competitor Cameron Waters in eighth place.

Failing to travel the distance was Ramsay, Phil Micallef and Shane Steenholdt who rolled over on the maiden lap.

Heat race victories were shared by Brett Milburn, Brett Smith, Sam Wren and Domain Ramsay who also proved his dominance to clean sweep the Bronze, Silver and Gold Pole Shootouts.

SRA 360 A Plus Powder Coating Triple Crown Sprintcar Series Top 10: 1. V60 Jordyn Charge 1319, 2. A1 Brett Milburn 1178, 3. V39 Brett Smith 1112, 4.

V19 Sam Wren 1006, 5. V17 Dennis Jones 983, 6. V4 Phil Lock 921, 7. V73 Charles Hunter 840, 8. VA3 Kaidon Brown 840, 9.

V29 Michael Tancredi 817, 10. V11 Grant Anderson 812.

BLIGHTS WIN OPENS WINTER SEASON Report: Paris Charles Image: Richard Hathaway KYE BLIGHT started off the new season in the west with victory in the opening round of the Renegade Race Fuels Winter Series, at Ellenbrook Speedway.

A healthy field of 16-entries competed featuring a mixed bag of regular Pro Dirt drivers, some less experienced racers, and a couple of Late Model rookies in the field.

Although not eligible for the development series points tally, reigning Australian Champion Blight was determined to travel the distance and conquer his Ellenbrook Speedway hoodoo, after failing to finish from his last four outings at the venue.

Blight came from fourth in the caution riddled 15-lap main event to take the win ahead of Matt Goodlad, though he too was ineligible in the series due to being classified a Pro Dirt competitor.

Third across the line, however claiming maximum points, was Nathan Callaghan, a racer who is adept at both bitumen and dirt racing.

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Graham Murray and Greg Horan rounded out the podium of points scorers, while Willy Powell, Robbie Cox, James Whatley, Pat Van Brakel, Richard Wells, Rob Wells and Rob Waters completed the dozen finishers.

The trio of Richie Freeman, Brendan McKeagg and Darren

Ahearn failed to travel the distance, while female racer Laura Byrnes’s day ended prematurely after crashing in an earlier heat race.

The four 8-lap heat race wins were shared by Goodlad, Ahearn, Blight and Murray.

Image: Declan Brownsey/44 Photography

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FEATURE AutoAction 57

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BRITTEN CLAIMS V8 DIRT MODIFIEDS 5 STAR FINALE

KENNEDY CLAIMS MAIDEN QUEENSLAND FORMULA 500 TITLE Report: Paris Charles Image: Declan Brownsey/44photography AFTER FIVE years of being the bridesmaid, James Kennedy proved too strong against 20 other contenders in the running of the Maine Streme Automotive Queensland Formula 500 Championship.

Kennedy won the 25-lap feature and $2000 winner’s prize purse from Victorian Liam Williams, after taking the lead with only a lap and a half remaining.

Defending champion Kaydon Iverson took final step on the rostrum.

With 25-laps on the board the first caution was out when Ryan Newton spun at Turn 3, throwing away seventh place starting position.

At the drop of the green again Williams opened a handy margin back to Kennedy, at times placing three lapped cars between them, until the caution lights were trigged by another spinner with eight laps to run.

For the third time, Williams set the tempo in front while Kennedy tried both high and low lines to narrow the gap. However, Bryan Upshall and Brodie Davis tangled, then flipped together.

With only four laps remaining this was Kennedy’s last chance to challenge the leader.

Persisting with the top line Kennedy slingshotted to the lead as the duo raced down the backshute for the second last time.

From that point Kennedy held off Williams,

who had held command for 23-laps, before settling for second ahead of outgoing Queensland champion Kaydon Iverson.

New South Wales champion Lachlan Caunt was next, followed closely by Brady Argles and Kurt Wilson rounding out the top half dozen.

Caunt, Taylor Morgan, Williams, Wilson, Kennedy and Ryan Newton each took a single heat win.

Also on the card was the AMCA Nationals where Steve Potts took victory from Steve Price and Matt Hardy.

Jason Rae took victory in the Lightning Sprints over Tyler Stralow and Wayne Iacono.

The Formula 500 Juniors podium was Bailey Leeson, Chay Corbet and Charlie Bowen.

WALKER RUNS TO ECL ROUND 11 VICTORY

WITH 17 competitors in attendance, representing all three states of the eastern seaboard, the final round of the V8 Dirt Modifieds 5 Star National Series racing proved to be an exciting affair.

Reigning Australian V8 Dirt Modified Champion Kevin Britten made every post a winner aboard his KBR Trailers entry, to lead from start-to-finish in the 20-lap feature event.

This was despite some strong challenges from runner up Mark Robinson and Andrew Pezzutto, who completed the podium despite being tailed by Andrew Firth.

Blake Eveleigh took the Sportsman mantle in fifth outright followed by Josh Rose, Trent Schofield and Zak Blanch, who rounded out the eight finishers.

Kevin Britten proved unbeatable on the night, claiming all three of his heat races, while Scott Cannon, Craig O’Toole and Blake Eveleigh posted single wins.

In the supporting classes Wayne Bourke piloted his Commodore to victory in the Production Sedans over Johnny Ralph and Wes Barnes. Brendan Wakeman proved too strong in the Street Stockers with Mark Eveleigh and Chris Campbell rounding out the top three. The Junior divisions podiums went to Blake Matthews, Jac Laneyrie and Charlie Bowen in the Formula 500s, and Jaiden Healey, Jake Smith and Alisha Payne in the Sedans class. PC Image: Shane Sharrock

Report: Paris Charles Image: Declan Brownsey/44photography DESPITE MOTHER nature’s best efforts to delay the running of Round 11 of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Series at Archerfield Speedway, persistence paid off with racing taking place on the following night.

Callum Walker landed his second victory at the venue this season to lead the oddson favourite Lachlan McHugh and Ryan McNamara across the line in the 30-lap feature event.

Brent Kratzmann and Richard Morgan rounded out the top five in an action-packed journey.

After the heats were run and won, Walker was on the outside of the front-row alongside Ryan McNamara, who earlier took the six-lap dash event.

From the outside Walker was able to use the momentum to carry him to the lead, following McNamara, as Kratzmann settled into third.

McHugh started his journey from seventh while Andrew Corbet and Dave Fanning were locked in a dog fight ahead. The pair touched down the back straight, allowing McHugh the chance to advance past. In doing so he made contact with Fanning, resulting in an early retirement for the latter.

McHugh passed Darren Jensen for fourth

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REA DOES IT THE HARD WAY!

and set his sights on the tail of Kratzmann before Jy Corbet spun at Turn 1 to bring the field back together for an Indian file restart.

Walker led the field away as McHugh advanced past Kratzmann to third before the leaders hit lapped traffic and then Aaron Kelly and Dan Murray made heavy contact, ending the latter’s run. Kelly soldiered on with a wounded car.

With 12-laps remaining Walker again checked out with clear track ahead and McHugh quickly moved to second. As the race entered the final third, yellow lights were ablaze again for Jy Corbet, this time spinning out of the race at Turn 3.

All eyes were on McHugh at the restart as he was right behind Walker and with little real estate between them, both duelled it out in a run to the finish line. McNamara, Kratzmann, Morgan and Jensen followed

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for the top half dozen positions.

Singles heat race victories went to Richard Morgan and Andrew Corbet, while Darren Jensen claimed double wins and Arron Kelly proved too strong in the 12 lap B-Main.

The Petzyo Development Series for Sprintcars feature was won by Nicholas O’Keefe, who came from fifth position in the 12-lap journey from fast female Libby Ellis, while Brad Keiler rounded out the final step of the podium.

Brant Chandler proved the man to beat after topping the qualifying sheet. However, Chandler failed to make the most of his pole position start and was a non-finisher with Jeremy Gaudry and Craig Hyde.

Heat race wins were shared between Chandler and Ellis, who ran double duties on the night as she also competed in the Queensland Formula 500 championship.

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REIGNING VICTORIAN Formula 500 Champion Jordy Rae gave himself the best possible 21st birthday present by winning the New South Wales Championship at Morris Park Speedway complex in Dubbo.

Rae earlier steered his V9 TJ Chassis Team entry to two heat wins and a second, placing him as equal top point scorer.

His wins were even more impressive given Rea was a late entry and as per the rules started from the rear in his heat races.

Taking pole and sharing the points lead was defending title holder Lachlan Caunt, but Rae led 19 of the 21-lap feature to finish 0.065s ahead of fellow Victorian Terry Rankin.

Caunt finished third ahead of Matthew Turner and Scott Connole, who rounded out the top five of the 19 entries.

Paul Gray, who had shown so much promise in the earlier qualifying heats, was out of the final on lap 16.

The six heat race victories were shared

by Paul Gray, Jordy Rae and Lachlan Caunt with two apiece. PC

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We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago 1971: IT WAS a great weekend for Bob Jane at Calder Raceway. Despite spinning on the penultimate lap, Jane won the Sports Sedans final and then defeated arch-rival Allan Moffat in the touring car championship race, driving his Chevrolet Camaro. Not so good news was that Warwick Farm was told it would have its track licence revoked on safety grounds, if steel barriers did not replace the sleeper fences.

1981: THE CONFEDERATION of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) announced that three categories were on the chopping block.

Formula 5000, Sports Sedans and Production Sports were to end within two years, after a CAMS quarterly meeting. Vern Schuppan finished third in the Indy 500, while Geoff Brabham finsihed fifth.

1991: AFTER DOMINATING the first five rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship, the Nissan GT-Rs were finally defeated by BMW M3 driver Tony Longhurst at Amaroo Park. It was expected for 1992 that CAMS was going to require the Nissans to compete with rear-wheel-drive only. In the USA Rick Mears took his fourth Indy 500 victory, while Nelson Piquet won a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix.

2001: IN JUST his fourth V8 Supercars Championship round, a young Tasmanian named Marcos Ambrose broke through to take his maiden round win at Hidden Valley. Despite not winning a race across the weekend, a second, a fourth and a third was enough to stop HRT’s domination. It was also announced Caterpillar was expanding its support to Briggs Motorsport.

2011: HOLDEN RACING Team driver Garth Tander predicted a ‘tough’ round at Winton Raceway, after a mixed bag of results to start the V8 Supercar season. In America Marcos Ambrose finished the Fedex 400 at Dover International Speedway in third, his best top-tier NASCAR Cup Series result to date.

Across

2. In what country was IndyCar ace Scott Dixon born?

9. Along with Geoff Emery, who is the only other driver to win three Australian GT titles? (full name) 10. Ford took a famous 1-2 finish in the 1977 Bathurst 1000, who finished second alongside Colin Bond? (surname) 11. What brand of car won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1977?

13. Aged 52 Peter Brock’s final pole position made him the oldest Supercars pole sitter, at what track did this occur?

16. Who am I? I race for Team Penske in the IndyCar Series, I am a two-time champion, winning most recently in 2019? (full name) 18. Along with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna who is the only other driver to start every Formula 1 race on the front row in a single season? (full name) 19. Who was the first Australian to win the Macau Grand Prix? (surname)

Drivers’ Championship races in a single weekend? (surname) 29. Who has the record for the most amount of consecutive Formula 1 front row starts with 24? (surname) 30. With what team did Jean Alesi make his Formula 1 debut in 1989?

Images: AA Archive/Motorsport Images

20. One Supercars Championship race in Darwin has not been claimed by a Ford or Holden, what car won this race? (make and model) 23. Who was the first Australian F1 world Champion? (surname) 24. Which Brazilian driver won his home Grand Prix in 1975 and, after his death, he had the circuit renamed in his honour? (surname) 27. Who is the only driver to win two S5000

Down

1. For what manufacturer did Barry Sheene win both of his MotoGP titles?

3. Which second generation racer won the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 1994? (full name) 4. Who won the first Supercars Championship race in Darwin back in 1998? (surname) 5. Who crashed into the wall on the final turn of the Indy 500 in 2011, costing him the race win on debut? (surname) 6. Excluding the Triple Eight drivers, which

current full-time Supercars driver has the most amount of podiums? (surname) 7. Who was the first World Rally Champion to take back-to-back titles? (surname) 8. How many times did Derek Bell win the Le Mans 24 Hours?

12. How many different drivers won races in the inaugural S5000 Championship?

14. Who was the first international driver to win a TCR Australia race? (surname) 15. With what F1 team did Nigel Mansell make his final Formula 1 start?

17. Who was the last driver to win the Super2 Series in a Ford Falcon? (surname) 21. What country does second generation racer Oliver Solberg represent?

22. Who was the last driver to win the Australian Formula Ford Championship not driving a Mygale? (surname) 25. Who has completed the most Indianapolis 500 laps in total, completing 4909 laps over 35 race starts? (surname) 26. With what new team did Jody Scheckter finished second in the 1977 Formula 1 World Championship? (the common shortened name)

#1811 Crossword Answers 1 down – Hunt, 2 down – three, 3 down – Brands Hatch, 3 across – BMW Sauber, 4 down – Salo, 5 down – Bagnaia, 6 down – Sheene, 7 down – twelve, 8 across – Ingall, 9 across – twentyseven, 10 across – one, 11 down – Hidden Valley, 12 down – Whincup, 13 across – Watson, 14 across – five, 15 down – Fitzpatrick, 16 down – Australia, 17 across – Jim Richards, 18 across – Hungary, 19 down – Germany, 20 down – Randle, 21 down – Ngatoa, 22 down – Pagenaud, 23 across – McLaughlin, 24 across – Team BRM, 25 across – Seton, 26 across – Mears, 26 down – Moss, 27 across – two, 28 across - Suzuki

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Whether you are into V8’s, Motorbikes, Rally cars or transporting your pride and joy, if it has a motor or not, we can design a build for you. Is your business moving into new technologies, we can build office spaces into our Transporters to cater for autonomous services?

The standard of commitment to our customers, means that they save time and money because what we build for you is guaranteed to last.

You don’t want to give your project to just anyone and certainly not to a backyard operator who lacks the equipment needed to do the job right.

And you shouldn’t leave your expensive equipment with anyone but a trusted manufacturer like Allweld.

When you need to upgrade your vehicle or want to buy a custom made race car transporter or gooseneck trailer, you need it done by the professional team who will deliver the outcomes you want … and you will find that team at Allweld.

Customers have been putting their trust in Allweld for the past 25 years because we listen to you, we take care of your equipment and we deliver the outcomes you want within budget.

Allweld Manufacturing will build you durable, reliable, cost-effective on time design for your business and individual needs, and you can be sure that the end result is a transporter that you are proud of and on that withstands the toughest Australian conditions and driving.

For further information call 07 4123 4244 or visit the web site www.allweldmanufacturing.com.au E: sales@allweldmanufacturing.com.au 11 - 13 Gateway Court, Maryborough QLD 4650

R A E Y L IA C N A IN F F O D EN

ED EXTEGNHD OURS!

SALE

TRADIN

PM! OPEN UNTIL 3TH TH

TH 9 26 TH SATURDAY 5 12 1

OF JUNE 2021

HEAD PRICE INCREASE AAVE! SHOP NOW TO S 21

E 30 N U J E R O F E ORDER B

TTHH

MKP-2 Mobile Knee Pads • • • •

Durable high impact plastic frame Built-in tool storage tray 113kg weight capacity 6 x oil resistant swivel wheels

TCS-3 - Mobile Tool Storage Cabinet Seat • • • • •

29

APW-76 Auto Parts Washer 76 litre tank 180L/hr, 240V pump Safety fusible lid 700 x 480 x 250mm

/( )/(;,% )/8,' ( 12==/

Order Code: N001

Order Code: T758

99

$

$

SAVE $22

SAVE $22

1200W 240V motor Portable on wheels 30L stainless steel tank Auto-switch power tool socket • Include: brush, crevice tool, wet & dry floor nozzle

169

SAVE $29

X6 Industrial Bench Grinder • Ø150mm wheels • Fine/coarse grit • 0.5hp, 240V motor

16mm drill capacity 2MT spindle 12 spindle speeds Swivel & tilt table 1hp, 240V motor

()7 7,/76 / 2 7$%/( 7 72 2 + ,*

5 (6 527$7

429

399

SAVE $66

SHST-1.2HO - Foot Operated Shrinker Stretcher

10 Tonne Bench mount 180mm ram stroke Adjust. ram position

• • • •

121

1.2mm mild steel 130mm throat depth Shrinking dies Stretching dies

396

495

SAVE $33

• • • • •

1.2mm mild steel capacity Variable speed control 450mm throat depth 12 sets of hardened rolls 240V motor

1,309

Order Code: K088

990

IAN AL TR

TESTED &

K25SDL - Pilot Super Duty Air Compressor • • • • •

R ED AT

Order Code: C511

1,848

$

SAVE $187 off RRP

371l/min.

Cast iron pump 100 litre tank 160psi pressure 3hp, 240V motor

1 TONNE CAPACITY

$ U

E

TY

SAVE $56 off RRP

2540-3600mm adjust. height 2300mm width inside frame Swivel wheels with brake Includes mobile girder rail, 1T x 3M chain block & 1T girder trolley AU S

• • • •

TR

329

$

MBR-450 Bead Roller

GREAT VALUE!

MGT-1TGT MOBILE GIRDER RAIL GANTRY PACKAGE DEAL • 1 tonne load capacity

+

Order Code: S289S

429

SAVE $66

$

SAVE $77

• 835 x 510 x 360-550mm blast area • Includes light, tempered glass screen, gloves, gun & ceramic nozzle • Package includes SB-200 Sandblast Cabinet + Garnet 25kg

3 )2/' 8 /(*6

Order Code: S631

$

SB-200 WORKSHOP SANDBLASTING CABINET + GARNET PACKAGE DEAL • Heavy-duty steel cabinet

450kg load capacity 360º geared rotating head Six swivel caster wheels Fold-up legs for storing

$

Order Code: S2264

$

SAVE $22

• • • •

SAVE $63

Order Code: P141

$

ESR-450 Engine Stand

Order Code: A337

$

$:6 29$/ -

Order Code: G158

SAVE $44

Order Code: D592

PP-10HD - Workshop Hydraulic Bench Type Press • • • •

• • • • •

$

SAVE $31

319

$

PD-325 - Medium-Duty Pedestal Drill

Order Code: T755

189

Flat: 100 x 5mm Square: 16 x 16mm Round: Ø18mm dia.

Includes additional bending plates

Order Code: B043

139

865 x 510 x 1050mm 320kg total load capacity Key lockable system 5 drawers with ball bearing slides • 4 wheels (2 with swivel & brake)

$

• • • •

SAVE $26

• • • •

Order Code: V504

UB-100 - Workshop Manual Bar Bender

$

SDC-5E Steel Service Cart - Deluxe

• • • •

$

740 x 510 x 20mm top tray 860~1200mm adjust. tray height 34kg tray load capacity Padded vertical support

3 )2/' 8 /(*6

WDV-3P - Workshop Wet and Dry Vacuum Cleaner

Order Code: A368

• • • •

(/ $/ 67( 237,217 1876 ( 5,9 %/( $9$,/$

99

SAVE $9.50

STT-4W Service Tool Tray

• 130 piece kit suitable for sheet aluminium or steel Includes: • Aluminium rivet nut inserts: M5, M6, M8, M10 - (10 of each size) • Aluminium blind rivets: Ø3.2, Ø4.0, Ø4.8, Ø6.4mm (20 of each size) • Mandrel spanner & blow mould case

Order Code: A001

$

• • • •

RNB40 Nut & Blind Riveter Set

406mm seat height 3 x drawers with ball bearing slides 420 x 235mm padded seat 2 x magnetic side trays 360º swivel wheels

Order Code: A3615

ly 20

Due to increase 1st Ju

WO

AC R KIN G C AP

I

2300mm

SAVE $44

BUY & INSTALL BEFORE JUNE 30TH

TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF NOW!* UNIQUE PROMO CODE

EOFY21 ONLINE OR INSTORE! Specifications & Prices are subject to change without notification. All prices include GST and valid until 30-06-21

FOR SPECIAL DEALS VISIT

MACHINERYHOUSE.COM.AU SYDNEY

BRISBANE

MELBOURNE

PERTH

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(07) 3715 2200

(03) 9212 4422

(08) 9373 9999

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05_AA_030621

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