AMBROSE SPEAKS! MARCOS ON LIFE AFTER RACING SINCE S INCE 1971 1971
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MUSTANG SET TO BE HOBBLED
EXCLUSIVE: TICKFORD FIGHTS BACK IN BATTLE TO KEEP MOSTERT
FRENCH MUSTARD
Renaults join Aussie TCR menu
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BOOST BOSS BUYS IMAGE AUSTRALIAN JAMES Davison will return to Dale Coyne Racing for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 in May. The American squad will partner with Jonathan Byrd’s Racing, Hollinger Motorsport and Belardi Auto Racing to run the No. 33 car for the cousin of Supercars racer Will Davison. The 32-year-old last competed with the IndyCar squad in 2017 where he led two laps before an incident took him out of the race.
PORSCHE HAS completed the initial shakedown of its new Formula E car ahead of its works entry in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship for Season 6 (2019/20). The German manufacturer confirmed that Neel Jani’s first drive with the newly developed fully electric Porsche powertrain passed without incident. “I am very proud to have been behind the wheel the first time our Formula E racing car was driven.” said Jani. “Being allowed to drive the rollout is not only a great honour, it is also very exciting. We’re breaking new ground. It was a fantastic feeling for me.” BRAD JONES Racing has announced that is has signed Madeline Stewart to their now twocar Super3 Series squad in 2019. Stewart has raced for nine years, working her way through the cadet and junior karting classes and has been competing in the top tier KZ2 class for the last two years. The third-generation racer explains how she got behind the wheel. “It’s been a challenging learning curve getting behind the wheel of the Super3 Commodore,” Stewart said. “It’s a big deal going from karting straight into Super3. If I can keep progressing, learning and moving forward through the field then that will be a pretty solid first year.” THE CONFEDERATION of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) has announced that Andrew Fraser and Thea Jeanes-Cochrane have been appointed to the CAMS Board. Fraser, the former Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland, has significant sports governance experience, including at the Australian Sports Commission, the National Rugby League (NRL) and New Zealand Rugby League. He is also currently the Chair of Sunsuper. “I was raised in the back of a family car dealership in North Queensland – and probably pre-programmed to be a motor sport fan,” said Fraser. “Joining the CAMS Board provides the opportunity for me to combine my recent background in sports governance, and my public and private sector experience to a sport that I love.”
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Owning the team not needed if the look and message controlled: Adderton By BRUCE NEWTON
OUTSPOKEN Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton says he will not make a bid for an ownership share of Garry Rogers Motorsport or any other Supercar team as long as his brand dominates the team’s public image. The telephone reseller moved on from a cosponsoring Walkinshaw Andretti United with Mobil to take over primary backing of the two GRM Commodores for 2019 after the withdrawal of Wilson Security. With Adderton’s financial involvement came suggestions he was also interested in a stake in the team as he has previously considered becoming a Supercars team owner. But Adderton says because of the way his deal is structured with GRM that’s not needed. At the same time, Garry Rogers has publicly made it clear he’s not interested in selling a portion of his team to Adderton or anyone else. “If we get what we have right now with the Boost Mobile Racing and the whole thing,
then great,” said Adderton. “I want go like Red Bull. I want our team and our name and that’s what I want people to know.” “But if no team is willing to do that for us, then absolutely we will come in.” Rogers has ceded control to Adderton of the team’s public face and also agreed to release Garth Tander from the final year of his deal and replace him with controversial Kiwi Richie Stanaway. “We own the front-end and GRM do the back-end,” Adderton explained. “They do the team but we do the marketing, the social
branding, we put the drivers profiles up. “I want to have garages that look like an E-sports game. When a kid comes into our garage I want them to feel at home. I want our garages to be open and accessible.” Adderton said the only thing that might prompt a buy-in offer to GRM is if Rogers decided he wants a co-investor. “Right now Garry is passionate about this, but if he gets to the point where he doesn’t want to do it anymore and he came to us and said ‘we are interested in having an equity partnership with you guys’ … then 100 per cent we are interested in that.”
a number have been sold,” Thomas said. “We are going to play a wait and see game on that one for this first season. “But we think that the championship could be quite popular. We are certainly considering it for next year, it’s just a matter of the return on investment for us and what it does for us as a brand. “But remember through all this TCR is for independent teams, it’s not for manufacturers, so we would have to employ some people to race for us.” Reeves, who was involved in localising the popular road-going i30 N’s chassis and suspension calibration, has been developing his Targa entry in the Whiteline Tarmac Rally Sprint Series over the summer.
The car’s 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine will remain standard and the driver-adjustable multi-mode suspension will have only minor revisions. But Reeves has high ambitions in a field containing cars many times the price of the $39,990 i30 N “We’re aiming for a top 10 result, and if we can get into the top five by the end of the event that would be awesome,” he said. Reeves, who first raced in Targa 10 years ago and has a best finish of fourth in 2011, will team up with his sister Rhianon Gelsomino for the event. Caltex is confirmed as a sponsor of the car, which may race in other tarmac rally sprints this year. Bruce Newton
HYUNDAI’S FIRST AUSSIE DEAL
Targa toe-in-the-water could lead to TCR backing in 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN arm of Korean giant Hyundai will make its first official foray into local motorsport at Targa Tasmania, ahead of a potential involvement in the new TCR category in 2020. International rally driver Brendan Reeves will race an i30 N hot hatch in the GT2 class, with an outright top 10 the target. But this toe-in-the-water exercise could be followed up with a significant commitment to the TCR Series, which launches in Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park in May. “TCR would be a serious commitment for us and we will be looking at that for 2020,” Hyundai Australia’s new marketing boss Bill Thomas told Auto Action. Several TCR-spec i30 Ns are slated to race in Australia in 2019 via HMO Customer Motorsport, a private outfit that has no formal connection to Hyundai Australia. Supercar ace Chaz Mostert was planning to race one of those cars for the Morcomb family until Tickford Racing stepped in to stop that plan. Thomas said Hyundai would be paying attention to TCR in 2019 to see how it stacked up. “We are keen to see the cars in action, we are not sure how many cars are confirmed, but
MOBIL F1 EDGE FOR WALKINSHAW By MARK FOGARTY
GLOBAL RACING fuel and lubricants giant Mobil is trying to help Walkinshaw Andretti United gain a small performance edge. Mobil is working with WAU to develop a special transmission oil for the team’s ZB Commodores. Mobil 1 lubricants has been a long-time sponsor of the Clayton squad from its days as the factory backed Holden Racing Team. ExxonMobil’s global motorsports technology manager David Tsurusaki revealed that the fuel and lubricants giant is developing a special transaxle oil for WAU utilising the company’s F1 experience. Mobil is Red Bull Racing-Honda’s fuel and lubricants supplier, developing power- and
efficiency-boosting petrol and oil for the team. USA-based ExxonMobil is also involved with leading WEC, WRC, IMSA and NASCAR teams. Tsurusaki was in Melbourne at the weekend overseeing the fuel and lubricant requirements of Red Bull-Honda, which finished third on the debut of the partnership in the AGP. He also connected with WAU technical staff, with whom his group is working to develop a more efficient transaxle oil. Tsurusaki also confirmed ExxonMobil had been actively developing special engine oils for HRT/ Walkinshaw Racing/WAU for nearly 30 years. “What’s now the Walkinshaw Andretti United team has been a Mobil 1-sponsored team for
many, many years,” he said. “We still support them.” Speaking exclusively to Auto Action at Albert Park, Tsurusaki revealed his racing research and development team, based in New Jersey in the USA, was working on a new transmission oil for WAU. “We’re testing a gear oil with them,” he said. “There’s only a few things you can do in Supercars. Obviously, engine oil is the primary area, so there are areas to improve efficiency on the engine, just like in F1. “It’s a five-litre V8, so it’s a little bit different, but there are areas for improvement. We use what we refer to as a lower-viscosity racing oil for WAU
and we are testing a bespoke gear oil to try to optimise the gearbox efficiency. “You look at the timing of these cars and if you can gain a half a second or three-tenths of a second, that’s the race win right there.” According to Tsurusaki, WAU benefits from the ‘trickle down’ from Mobil’s F1 lubricants. It is likely that Shell-backed DJR Team Penske and BP/Castrol-supported Tickford Racing and Kelly Racing also benefit from F1-developed lubricant technology. Triple Eight has a commercial alliance with Caltex, which is part of global petro giant Chevron, but it is not clear if the relationship includes technical support from its Havoline oil brand.
explained Burgess. “Some of these things will be implemented this year, but we have some clear rule changes that will be in place for 2020 and for sure it will save the teams some money and the aim is to get more life out of these engines.
“A lot of these people rebuild these engines early just because they can and they have the resources to do it. Is it necessary? No it’s not.” Factory Holden team boss Roland Dane said mandated engine rebuild schedules were a “no-brainer”. BN
MORE ENGINE COST CUTTING Supercars plans to limit rebuilds A MANDATED engine rebuild schedule is being introduced by Supercars as another cost cutting measure. The timing of the schedule’s introduction and how it would work are not public, but Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess confirmed it was on the way. “We have a lot of R&D to do on it,” said Burgess. “It’s not that complicated, for me they are fairly easy and straight forward things to adopt, but we are not in a position to tell the world about it. “We are not inventing anything special here, but we need to finish the process before we start to talk about it.” This is one of a number of engine-related cost cutting initiatives Supercars has under
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consideration. As exclusively revealed by Auto Action previously, it has exploited the introduction of the updated Motec ECU by introducing a fuel/ air mixture limit to stop teams running their V8 engines ultra-lean and damaging internal components. Burgess said the Supercars ETAP (or Engine Technical Advisory Panel) had been reconstituted and the rebuild minimum had been signed off, along with some other initiatives. All engines builders on the Supercars grid were at the meeting. “It [ETAP} identified a clear path forward which will help save the teams from themselves and try and reduce the costs of the engine programs across the board,”
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TWIGG LEADS A MERCEDES 1-2-3 OVER FOUR 25-minute races, Max Twigg won the opening round of the Australian GT Championship, held at the Australian Gran Prix on Albert Park last weekend. In doing so, he beat Eggleston Motorsport’s Peter Hackett and his Scott Taylor Motorsport US-based Aussie team mate Kenny Habul for a Mercedes-AMG one-two-three. “I like to think we had two race wins. We went all the way to the last lap against a McLaren that wasn’t homologated, then we were thwarted by a lapped car on the last lap whilst leading race three,” said Twigg. “I think we had speed, which was good and in the last lap I just had to finish well, stay out of trouble and that’s what we did.” Habul had two race wins but failed to finish race one while Fraser Ross won the other, though it was a controversial debut for the new McLaren 720S. It might have looked easy when Ross took the opening race by 2.2s, but it was far from that. He had to battle through from third. Ross put an aggressive move on Habul for second which saw Habul suffer a right rear puncture and retirement. Then Ross passed polesitter and race leader Twigg. Hackett had only a short qualifying session as he had early contact with Geoff Emery (Audi R8 LMS) which caused damage to his Mercedes and ruined one of his marked tyres. In the race he held off Emery for third while Ryan How drove splendidly for fifth in the older Audi R8 LMS Ultra and took the GT Trophy class. Tony Bates (Audi) was sixth ahead of second in Trophy, Nick Kelly (Audi) and Tony Quinn (Aston Martin Vantage).
Lee Partridge (Audi) had a big moment on the first lap, a result of contact with Bates, and dropped to 19th before fighting back to ninth ahead of Porsche GT3-R drivers (Trophy fastest qualifier) John Morriss and Scotty Taylor. First in GT4 went to 14th placed Glen Wood (KTM X-Bow) ahead of Ryan Simpson (McLaren 570S) while David Greig lost out to fellow Porsche driver Nick Karnaros in Challenge due to a last lap spin. Class pole sitter Luke Seidler fenced his Porsche 991 on the opening lap. There was a separate qualifying session for race two where Ross was fastest. Habul was second and led from start to finish after out-dragging Ross to the first corner. He held the McLaren driver at bay for the duration as Twigg maintained third throughout. Hackett occupied fourth just ahead of Emery and How until he surrendered to both on the last lap. Partridge came through to take seventh, fighting his way past Bates and Quinn. Bates held his spot despite a
Ryan Simpson won GT4 in his McLaren despite not everything going smoothly.
5.0-second penalty for a starting infringement. Quinn on the other hand, spun out and tagged the closely following Kelly. Morriss finished ahead of Taylor in battle of the Porsche GT3-Rs. Both finished in front of Kelly who was 11th overall. Challenge Class went to Shane Barwood (Porsche 911) ahead of fastest in practice Karnaros. Simpson improved four positions and took out GT4. The third race grid was based on the race one result. Hackett tookk line honours ahead of Twigg and Habul. Pole sitter Twigg held the lead from the start until penultimate lap on which Hackett grabbed the lead. Habul came from the rear of the grid to snare third while How finished fourth. Behind the 17-year-old came Emery and Ross who started ten grid spots further back – a penalty for contact with Habul in race one. Bates and Kelly had contact late on the first lap which put the latter out. Bates was able to continue and took seventh ahead of Morriss who maintained eighth despite a 5.0-second penalty and a hit from Taylor at the first corner. That put the latter’s Porsche out. Morriss was second in Trophy ahead of Richard Gartner (Lamborghini R-EX). Tenth place Karnaros was the first of the Challenge class cars while the GT4 class went to 12th placed Simpson, just in front of Wood. The fourth race was based on the results of the second. There was drama at the start with Ross and his McLaren stranded on the
PRETTE SEES OFF FERRARI CHALLENGERS PHILLIPPE PRETTE got his Asia Pacific Ferrari Challenge Championship off to a great start by taking the opening round at the Australian Grand Prix. A charge from Kazuyuki Yamaguchi placed him as the surprise leader after the opening lap of Race 1, after starting fourth, but it was the opposite for Prette, who had started from Pole but he dropped to fourth. A Safety Car was required to collect the stricken Ferrari of Makino Fujiwara from the Turn 3 gravel trap, and this closed up
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the race. At the restart, Prette attacked James Weiland at Turn 1 but it proved unsuccessful and compromised his exit, giving Go Max the opportunity to attempt a pass on Prette. The pair collided and the latter spun, dropping to ninth. Weiland snatched the lead off Yamaguchi on lap 5 and was certain to open his account with victory, however an upright failure meant the American retired, leaving Yamaguchi to pick up the pieces and take the win ahead of Max and Dave Pun.
Prette dominated the second race, leading from start-to-finish comfortably. The experienced Hector Lester made a poor start and dropped from second to fifth, but by race end had been able to make limited progress to fourth. The race was curtailed by the Safety Car due to Atsushi Iritani firing off into the Turn 1 gravel trap on lap 8, and the race was not restarted. Behind Prette, Weiland and Max rounded DMCC out the podium.
Ryan How was untouchable in the final GT Trophy standings. Images: Insyde Media. grid with the front brakes locked on. The race started from lap two when the safety car departed, and Habul cleared out for a comfortable win as Twigg and Hackett diced and finished a close second and third. Emery was a lonely fourth while his team mate Bates successfully held off How who had to overcome a gearbox issue to hold off Partridge. Morriss and Taylor exchanged places a couple of times before eventually placing 10th and 11th respectively, having had Kelly and Quinn go by. Behind 12th placed Dale Paterson (Chev Camaro) who went out of the previous race with a broken tyre valve stem, Barwood headed Karnaros and Greig for Challenge honours, and Simpson again won GT4. How was untouchable in the final GT Trophy standings. With two wins, Karnaros topped Challenge ahead of Barwood, and similarly so, Simpson won the GT4 over the Wood and Justin McMillian KTM. GARRY O’BRIEN
WRC
Ogier tasted victory for a second time in 2019, this time in Mexico.
OGIER BACK TO WINNING WAYS
REIGNING WORLD Rally champion Sebastien Ogier took a comfortable 30.2s victory in Mexico to put his title defence back on track. Citroen’s number one led from startto-finish, although he had to overcome a number of issues including a failing differential and an incident involving a tyre wall during Saturday’s Super Special stage, to hold off a charging Ott Tanak. “It has always been a special place since the start of my career and I’m glad it remains that way,” Ogier said. “It’s been a tough weekend in difficult conditions. It wasn’t a trouble free rally for us, but we managed to make the best of it and came out with maximum points.” Tanak’s second place came after he forced to open the road as championship leader on Friday, losing a massive amount of time as he ploughed through the thick gravel. The
Estonian overhauled Ford’s Elfyn Evans on the final leg’s opening test and extended it to 19.2s by the close of the rally. The rally was one of attrition from the outset, with Andreas Mikkelsen the first victim while holding a slender 1.6s advantage over Ogier during the morning’s mid-point. He hit a stone and broke the Hyundai’s suspension, which handed the advantage to teammate Dani Sordo, the Spaniard also failing to see out the day due to an electrical issue. Next to hit issues was Jari-Matti Latvala as an alternator failure ground the Toyota Yaris to a halt, leaving it to Evans and Kris Meeke to challenge Ogier. Evans was forced to deal with an overheating Ford Fiesta and trailed Ogier by 14.8s, but was crucially 6.3s ahead of Meeke. Championship leader Tanak was next, followed by Esapakka Lappi and an
ill Thierry Neuville in the sole remaining Hyundai i20. It was a dramatic opening stage on Day 2 as both Citroens struck trouble, Ogier’s overnight lead being wiped out after picking up a puncture while his teammate Lappi finished his rally in a ditch 800 metres from the end of the stage, partially blocking it. Meeke and Evans squeezed through before organisers stopped the stage for safety reasons. Ogier’s puncture occurred before the stoppage and with
Tanak (above) and Evans (left) squabbled for second on the final day.
nominal times being awarded, Ogier was given a time 22.4s slower than Meeke, leaving the Ulsterman with a 1.6s lead. It was short lived as on the very next stage Meeke picked up a puncture himself, damaging his suspension and dama ddropping a combined 3m 15s as hhe limped through the next pair of stages. TThe battle for second intensified between Evans and Tanak as a be mere 2.2s separated the pair. It me had been more than 20s during ha the morning, but the title leader charged during the afternoon cha stages. stag Neuville was in fourth as he Ne continued to struggle with sickness cont and car set-up. The final day of competition provided less action than the previous three days as Ogier safely guided his Citroen home to take his second win of the year and his 46th WRC victory. Tanak charged, demoting Evans and closing to within half a minute of Ogier, but as his title margin closed to four points. Fourth for Neuville meant he sits 10-points behind Tanak heading to the fourth round of the series, the first tarmac event of the year, on the island of Corsica on March 28-31. Points: Tanak 65, Ogier 61, Neuville 55, Meeke 35, Evans 28, Lappi 20, Loeb 18, Latvala14, Mikkelsen 12, Guerra 8.
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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie
OASTLER TOPS HILLCLIMBS TWO-TIME STATE Hillclimb Champion Malcolm Oastler kicked off a bid for a third NSW Hillclimb Championship with victory in the opening round at Mt Panorama on March 2. He sent his turbocharged OMS 28 up The Esses course, which ran from the top of Conrod Straight to Skyline, in a best of 21.71s, beating the 2016 champ, Queenslander Dean Tighe (Dallara F395/ Judd V8) by 1.7s. Then Oastler backed up to take the second Mantic Clutch round the following day, where his 37.69s toppled Dean Amos (Gould GR55B) by 1.8s. The course started at the crest of Mountain Straight and ran upwards through to just before McPhilliamy Park. At 1.7km it is the longest on the NSW calendar. Amos was third in round one on the Saturday, ahead of Ron Hay (Synergy Dallara) with Formula
Libre over 2.0-litre class cars filling the top four spots. Fifth overall and fastest of the tin tops was Phil Heafey in his Mitsubishi EVO 6 with a quick 25.22s best run. Sixth was Neville Shears, running his Nissan Skyline GTR R35 in the new Time Attack class and finishing ahead of Zac LeLievre (Group 2A Open/Closed Sports Westfield Megabusa). Michael Von Rappard (FL O2L Dallara F392), Wayne Penrose (Group 3D Sports Sedans O3L VW Superbug) and Troy Nicholson (HSV Coupe 4) completed the top 10. Dave Morrow (FL under 1300cc Krygger Suzuki) and James Pearson (Group 2B Prodsports over 1600c Mazda RX7) were equal 11th. The fastest junior was Riley MacQueen (Holden Commodore)
Image: Bill Pearson
and Karen Wilson (Ford Focus RS) was quickest of the ladies. Tighe was third on the second day, ahead of Hay as Von Rappard appeared to like the faster course and came in fifth. Heafey was again fastest of the tin tops and many of the open wheelers and posted a new class record, placing sixth ahead of LeLievre,
also with a new class record, Penrose and Matt Cole (RX7) in the best of the Sports Sedans. Class rival to Cole, Daryl Small (Commodore) was next, finishing 10th, and ahead of Nicolson and Shears. MacQueen was again the best of the juniors as Wilson doubled up as the fastest femme. JAMES PEARSON Image: Wishart Media
HASTY HARDING IN THE HASTINGS CONDUCTED OVER the forest roads in the Hastings Shire on March 9, the second round of the Shannons NSW Rallysprint Championship was won by Michael Harding and Jason Thornthwaite in their Subaru Impreza WRX STi. It was the second year of this venue – around 20mins south west of Port Macquarie and based out of Wauchope – for the Blue Range Rallysprint. Harding was fastest over both the short and long stages, finishing with a combined time of 38mins 57s. Second and some 37s in arrears were fellow 4WD class competitors Andrew Penny and Rhys Llewellyn (WRX), while third outright went to the 2WD winners Aaron Casmiri and Adrian Pallister (Mitsubishi Mirage). Russel Winks and Steve Hodgkin (Holden Commodore) were the runners-up in 2WD and fourth outright ahead of Peter Dimmock and Peter Hellwig (Datsun 1600). The Blue Range Rallysprint followed the opening round held at Nabiac in February. That event was won by 2018 Champions Michael South and Justin Goodreid (WRX) ahead of Dan and Ken Maurer (WRX). Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith (Mazda RX2) finished third. GARRY O’BRIEN
MITTA MOUNTAIN RALLY FOR THREE STARTERS GLEN RAYMOND and Kate Catford dominated the Border Oils and Batteries Mitta Mountain Rally on March 2, which was the opening round of the MTA NSW Rally Championship, the Hino Geelong CAMS Victorian Rally Championship (VRC) and East Coast Classic Rally Series (ECCRS). The 2017 Victorian champions have entered the NSW championship this year in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 and the win on home territory was the perfect start. Tristan Kent and Robert Males (EVO 9) nominated for both state championships, and whilst finishing some three and a half minutes behind the winners, secured the VCR victory, while Richard Shimmon and Jim Gleeson (EVO VII) rounded out the podium in third. Tony Sullens and Kayleigh Newell had a sensational run to fourth overall (first NSW 2WD) in a Citroen DS3 ahead of the Andrew Penny and Rhys Llewellyn (Subaru Impreza WRX STi). Ivan Register and Paul Humm (WRX) completed the top six overall and third in the VRC. Other winners included Justin Walker and Blaise McNamara Ford Escort RS1800) in VRC 2WD, Nick Seymour and Ognjen Jovanovic in the Fiesta Rally Series,
and Lochlan Reed and Will Murphy in the Grant Walker Parts Hyundai Excel Series. With temperatures searing into the mid-30s and featuring the longest stage on the calendar at 55km, it was a demanding event on both man and machine. Of the 50 crews that started, 16 failed to finish. Tom Clarke and Ryan Preston (EVO 9) won at Mitta last year, but didn’t fare as well this year, sliding off the road on SS2 but re-joined for heat two. Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic also came to grief a little further down the road but their Mitsubishi’s excursion was terminal. Current NSW champs Glenn Brinkman and Harvey Smith (Evo 9) were out early with an intercooler issue, and Victorian title holders Ben and Cathy Hayes (Holden Commodore) retired with overheating. In the ECCRS, Thomas Dermody and Eoin Moynihan slipped off the road and ended with their Ford Escort RS beached on logs. They re-joined to take victory in heat two. Luke Sytema and Adam Wright (Escort RS1800) were on course to win both heats, before a puncture 20km into the final stage dropped them to second, and elevated Brian Semmens and Dan Parry (Nissan 200SX) to victory. CRAIG O’BRIEN
“Coming up at the nation’s action and spectator tracks” Wakefield Park
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March 28 Speed Off The Streets/Test & Tune March 29 HSRCA – Test Day March 30-31 HSRCA – Autumn Festival April 3 WPM Trackschool Track Day April 5 Champions Ride Day April 6 Speed Off The Streets/Test & Tune Track Day
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Winton
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March 22 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers March 23 AWCC Rapid Lap Dash March 27 Performance Test Day March 29 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers March 31 Nugget Nationals April 5 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers
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Image: Elgee
HAYWARD BACK AND BLITZES THEM
ONLY COMPETING occasionally these days, Brett Hayward put in a masterclass performance to go FTD in the second round of the Trydel Up & Go Victorian Hillclimb Championship at Bryant Park last month. He finished almost 3s ahead of the opposition on the challenging clockwise figure eight track, with all four of his runs good enough for the win. South Australian Michael Bishop (Hayward 019) finished second outright and took out the up to 1300cc Formula Libre class, while Mike Barker completed the Hayward top three in his 07. Barker still holds the Championship lead ahead of Bishop while David Mahon (Ninja GA7) is level with Garry Martin. Martin again suffered front end problems but says he will be upgrading by the next round. With his Martin a16 back on the trailer, Martin accepted an offer from Andrew Mizzi to drive his GAK-Martin and set the car’s owner a new target.
Mirko Grbic (Mitsubishi EVO 7) was the quickest tin top for eighth place ahead of Tim Boyd (Mazda RX7). Completing the top 10 was Wesley Inkster who showed his son Tom how to take the Spectrum Formula Ford home unscathed. The latter was less than 8s slower than his father despite driving a Hyundai Excel, although he paced 47th and fourth in Improved Production up to 1600cc. The class was won by Ian Grinter (Mini Cooper) also finishing 13th outright. Historic Group N had a great mix with Larry Kogge (Holden Torana XU1) in the over 2.0-litre class proving quickest. Steve Weymouth Wilson (Mini Cooper S) topped the up to 2.0-litre class ahead of Peter Owen (Ford Escort MkI) and was followed by Callum Ross (Hillman Imp), while Geoffrey Bower (Austin A40 Farina) was next ahead of Neville McCleod (Morris Major). GARY HILL
HUTCHINSON WINS SERIES OPENER THE TIGHE Cams Queensland Hillclimb Series began at Mt Cotton on March 2-3 with Warwick Hutchinson achieving the round one win. Despite a couple of light showers, Hutchinson (OMS 28 RPV03) and second placed Ed McCane (turbocharged DJ Racecars Firehawk) were in the exclusive Under 40s Club. Both have been there before but this was the first time in their current hillclimb specials. Hutchinson went FTD with a 39.81s on the last of 12 available runs while Ed McCane was just 0.07s slower on his final attempt, albeit he did go quicker (39.73s) in the Top Six. Behind the two over 1300cc Formula Libre class cars was third placed James Milliner (under 1300cc FL OMS 2000M), Steven Woodbridge (Dallara F396) and David Quelch (Honda DPQ Special), who was second in class behind Milliner. Sixth outright was David Homer (Grp A GAE001) ahead of Greg Tebble in his Group R Van Diemen FF2000. Rounding out the top 10 were Matthew Read (Readster MTR1), Michael Larymore (Production
Image: Ian Colley
Sports Toyota MR2) and 2018 outright champion Ross Mackay (Ford Escort MkI). Just one record was broken, by Philip Dalton (Honda Integra) who went under his own record time in the Road Registered Sedan 16012000cc class by over half a second. Best MG Award went to Peter Andrews (TF) and Most Improved to Jeremy Mattea (Hyundai Excel X3). GARRY O’BRIEN
BIG WIN IN ROD HATTER MEMORIAL IN CONVINCING fashion Darren Agrela and Ryan Barton won the GTurbo Rod Hatter Memorial Perenjori 360, round one of the West Australian Off Road Championship on March 2-3. Of the 39 starters, just 19 managed to complete the full six laps with some of the fancied runners falling by the wayside, with Agrela/Barton (Jimco/Chev) winning the event by over 14 minutes. Second place went to Phillip and Stewart Shepley (Extreme 2WD Chevrolet Pro 2), with Mark Harris and Gloria Viggiano (SXS Turbo Can Am Rotax X3) another 25s behind. Finishing fourth were Garry Povah and Dennis Duncan (Ext 4WD Holden), ahead of Mathew Birnie and Rochelle Funneman (Can Am), Mark Murray and Jim Ingham (Ext 4WD Nissan Patrol/Toyota), and Peter Barrett Callan Barrett (SportsLite Bullet/Honda). The remainder of the top 10 at the finish were Karl Richardson and Shane Walsh (Performance 2WD Nissan), Graeme Bentink
Club Rally, Canberra ACT, Mar 22 Wellsford Wander Club Rally, Axedale – Wellsford/Knowsley Forest, Mar 23 Southern Cross Rally Series Rd1, Rosewood NSW, Mar 23 Multi Club Khanacross, Powranna Dragway TAS, Mar 23 Club Motorkhana, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Mar 23 The Byfield Fire Tower Rallysprint, Byfield QLD, Mar 23 Multi Club Supersprint, Barbagallo Raceway WA, Mar 23 Top End Mud Racing Series Rd6, Downes Park NT, Mar 23 Cub Khanacross, Bunbury Autocross Centre WA, Mar 23 Multi Club Supersprint, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Mar 23 Tighe Cams Qld Hillclimb Series Rd2, Mt Cotton QLD, Mar 23-24 Club Rallycross/Autocross, SEAC Park SA, Mar 23-24 Multi Club Tri Series Hillclimb, Mount Cooperabung NSW, Mar 23-24 Club One-Car Sprint, Wodonga Logic VIC, Mar 23-24 Club Hillclimb, Mount Porcupine Hillclimb NSW, Mar 23-24 Club Short Course Off Road, Milbrodale NSW, Mar 23-24 Club Quarter Mile Sprint, Shark Lake Road Esperance WA, Mar 23-24 Tarmac Rally Championship Rd2, Lake Mountain Sprint, Marysville VIC, Mar 23-24 State Hillclimb Championship Rd3, Mt Leura VIC, Mar 23-24 State Circuit Racing Championship Rd2, Baskerville TAS, Mar 23-24 NAMSC Circuit Racing Pointscore Rd1, Hidden Valley NT, Mar 23-24 Club Hillclimb, Mt Gladstone Cooma NSW, Mar 24 Multi Club Khanacross, Bryant Park VIC, Mar 24 State Supersprint Championship, Sydney Motorsport Park Rd1, Mar 24 Multi Club Supersprint, Sandown Raceway VIC, Mar 24 Multi Club Motorkhana, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Mar 24 State Motorkhana Championship Rd2, PAC Grounds Pakenham VIC, Mar 24 State Motorkhana Championship Rd1, Mallala Motorsport Park SA, Mar 24 Multi Club Motorkhana, Boisdale Hillclimb Track VIC, Mar 24 Multi Club Hillclimb, Mount Stuart Townsville QLD, Mar 24 Multi Club Khanacross, METEC Driver Training VIC, Mar 24 Rally De La Vie Sprint and Hillclimb, Ringwood Hillclimb NSW, Mar 27-29 State Motor Race Championship Rd1, Morgan Park QLD, Mar 29-31 State Rally Championship Rd2, Ada River Rally, Wesburn VIC, Mar 29-31 HSRCA Historic Wakefield Park NSW, Mar 30-31 QR Drivers Championship Rd1, Queensland Raceway QLD, Mar 30-31 State Clubman Rally Rd1, Mini’dulla, Ulladulla NSW, Mar 30 State Rally Championship Rd1, Rally Southport TAS, Mar 30 Multi Club Quarter Mile Sprint, Eddington VIC, Mar 30 Club Motorkhana, Rob Roy Hillclimb VIC, Mar 30 Mt Alma Mile Hillclimb, Mt Alma SA, Mar 30-31 Multi Club Dirt Khanacross, Benaraby Motor Sport Complex QLD, Mar 30-31 State Circuit Racing Championship Rd2,0 Collie Motorplex WA, Mar 31 State Rally Series Rd1, Ada River Rally, Yarra Forest VIC, Mar 31 Interclub Challenge Hillclimb Rd1, Rob Roy, Mar 31 Club Hillclimb, Bryant Park NSW, Mar 31 Multi Club Khanacross, Booral Road Booral QLD, Mar 31 State Supersprint Championship Rd2, Sandown Raceway, Mar 31 State Motorkhana Championship Rd1, Tiger Kart Club WA, Mar 31 Oh’ What a Feeling Autum Autocross, Nabiac Motorsport Complex NSW, Mar 31 Motorkhana and Go-To-Whoa, Barbagallo Raceway WA, Mar 31
Image: Jason Galea
and Caleb Bradfield (Production 4WD Toyota Landcruiser), and Gavin Rodgers and Latia Reeves (Can Am). Current and three-time state champion Jared Percival and Darryn Beckett (ProLite SS Racetech/Toyota) failed to finish the Prologue. Colin and Peter Doney (Ext 2WD Volkswagon Baja/Nissan Maxama) were fastest over section three but had a DNF on the previous section. Agrela was untouchable in the first section, with a 92s lead over Doney and Justin and
Archer Steadman (Pro Buggy BAT Spec 3/ Chev). Malcolm Yeardley/Alex Cowan (BAT/ Nissan), Brad Cooper/Aaron Smithson (BAT/ Chev) and David Hickey/Ash Ruthers (Jimco/ Chev) all fell out of contention. On section two, Doney suffered a flat tyre and Steadman broke an axle. As a result Shepley moved to second outright and Harris to third. Shepley had a flat tyre on section three and dropped a lot of positions on the road, but held onto his second outright. GARRY O’BRIEN
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