Motorsport eNews Issue 3 - May 8-14, 2007

Australasian

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 003

8 – 14 May 2007

SHOULD I

STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

Brad Jones considers his racing future SBR key man jumps ship

This issue of Motorsport eNews brought to you with the support of

Dick’s team not for sale

f3’s leading lady wins at PI

motogp: stoner Storms Shanghai

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Aaron Noonan noonz@mnews.com.au National Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Production Graphic Design & Web: Jayne Uthmeyer design@mnews.com.au

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Administration 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East, VIC, 3187 (PO Box 7072, Brighton, VIC, 3186) P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 admin@mnews.com.au

MD / Publisher Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

Contributing Writers F1: Joe Saward, Mark Glendenning, Adam Cooper, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, David Addison US: Martin D. Clark, Phil Morris Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Ryan Lahiff Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher National: Mark Wicks, Mark Jones, Daniel Jordan, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell.

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Paris Charles, Bob Potts, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Motorsport eNews does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

International photos supplied

by Sutton Images www.sutton-images.com

Issue No. 003 | 8-14 May 2007

news 5 Stay or go?

7 SBR team changes 9 Ferrari Flies 12 Ryan flyin’ at Indy

chat 16 Five minutes with ... opinion 20 Mezera & Beattie 37 The Punter

race 22 MotoGP

28 International 30 Drag Racing 32 Local racing

Brad considers options Forgie vacates #4 Reds quick, Bulls seamless RB gets to work for the 500 Allan Simonsen Northern Opinions Winton Warrior Red hot Stoner CoT, Busch, BTCC et al Nitro Fire!

Shannons Nats and karts

trade 34 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 36 Classifieds

welcome ... the Toll HSV Dealer Team boys did this little number in one take. Just like the race track, Garth and Rick have set the benchmark ...

Brad at career crossroad DJR/Carlin no deal

Marshall Cass

V8 SUPERCARS DICK Johnson Racing has denied that there is any deal to sell the team, or any part of it, to Carlin Motorsport.

Team manager Steve Chalker has denied our report in last week’s eNews that there was a deal to sell a share of the team to Trevor Carlin.

“Yes, we have had a conversation with the bloke,” said Chalker this week, “but it is not going to go anywhere.

It (the conversation) was pretty broad, but it was about the future and about the costs involved in going V8 Supercar racing. It was not

a case of having anything on the market.”

Last issue, eNews reported that there was a deal being discussed for Carlin to take a quarter-share in the team in the short-term, prior to completing its acquisition at the end of the season. Both DJR and Carlin Motorsport issued cautious denials to our report but Chalker went further than that on Monday.

“The story is absolutely, totally wrong,” he affirmed.

The Jim Beam-backed team is preparing to race at Winton next week in the fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

news

V8 SUPERCARS

James Smith

THE future of Brad Jones will be decided in the next few days – and the Team BOC driver may not race next week at Winton.

The Albury veteran will sit down this week and discuss his future role with brother and team co-owner Kim, after assessing the form of several drivers yesterday and today (Tuesday) at Winton Motor Raceway.

Apart from testing for potential endurance drivers, the Joneses will determine whether or not Brad will continue in the cockpit of the #14 Ford Falcon.

However Jones, 45, denied reports that he had decided to step aside as a driver.

“That is getting well ahead of things,” Brad said. “But that is all I am going to say about that.”

David Besnard was due Dirk Klynsmith

to test for the team today (in addition to Kiwi Simon Wills) and has the most experience of the drivers under consideration – also the Joneses and the Besnards have a long history together.

Our Winton spies say that Christian Murchison and Fujitsu V8 Series youngster Brett Hobson drove on Monday in a 'Rookie Day', with the remaining steerers to line up for today (Tuesday).

But one sticking point that may have to be resolved should they decide to do something with Besnard is to sort out the former Queensland 500 winner’s status with Stone Brothers Racing.

While no announcement has been made, eNews sources suggest that Besnard has been pencilled in to drive with James Courtney at Sandown and Bathurst and that potential conflict would need to be resolved.

A scenario where Besnard races for Team BOC until Oran Park, then leaves to join SBR for Sandown and Bathurst, appears unlikely.

While Brad Jones has not commented on why this process is happening now, eNews sources confirm that it has little or nothing to do with his Pukekohe incident, in which he had a high-speed clash with Paul Morris.

We believe that the recent Winton testing outing in a BJR

car by Jason Bright, whose Britek team borrowed a BJR bodyshell to replace his crashed Fujitsu-backed car for the NZ race, brought a fresh perspective to the team, particularly Brad Jones.

Bright’s outright speed and rapid assessment of the car (which he had never driven before) prompted the team to seek more fresh ideas and, possibly, assess potential race drivers.

Besnard, Wills and Murchison all have V8 Supercar experience, the former two having won the 2002 Queensland 500 together (with SBR, pictured inset).

Jonny Reid was also to have tested with the team Monday, but was called away due to other commitments.

Should Jones decide to step down, it would bring to an end an extremely successful career behind the wheel which has seen championships in Super Touring, Production Cars, NASCAR and AUSCAR (in which he won five titles at Calder Park’s Thunderdome) and a number of podium finishes in V8 Supercars – but that elusive win has eluded him.

If he exits the cockpit, he is certain to stay involved with his team and he also has a number of media commitments, with Network 7 and Telstra BigPond.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

n Some familiar faces

will be back among the Australian Performance Car Championship at Winton on May 18-20. James Philip’s Ford Falcon GT and Steve Cramp’s HSV GTS will make their first starts of the season in a field that has bumped over 20 entries, as will Bob Pearson’s Pro-Duct Lancer Evo 8.

Paul Ryan, Richard Buttrose and John Pagonas will add three more Lotus Exiges to the fleet for the series opener, while Brian Smallwood will step up from the Queensland Gemini series to a Subaru STi for Wilson Brothers Racing.

The team has plans to run another STi later in the series.

n Peugeot’s 908HDi diesel Sportscar has won for the second time in its secondever appearance. Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy won the 1000-kilometre Le Mans Series race in Valenica on the weekend, while the second car of Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene came to a halt with a suspected clutch failure.

Lengthening Winton – again!

V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCARS Australia has acted to correct a problem with the race lengths at Winton’s fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series later this month.

A fortnight ago, it lengthened all three of the races to 40 laps each after

it was discovered that the proposed 32-lap races fell well short of the minimum race distance of 120km. The original race distance would have represented a reduction in laps of more than 30 percent, as the 2006 event hosted races of 34, 46 and 46 laps.

One difference between the 2006 and 2007 rounds will be

the amount, and quality, of support categories. Last year, the V8s were joined by Lotus Trophy, Victorian FF1600, HQs and Historic Sedans.

This year’s program will highlight Fujitsu V8s, Carrera Cup, National Formula Ford and Australian Performance Cars.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

Verdnik tests with Tasman

John Morris/Mpix

n Former Ironman Guy Andrews wants to join the Carrera Cup in 2008. He drove in last month’s Targa Tasmania in a Sherrin MotorSportprepared BMW and works at the Sherrin MotorSport team in Brisbane as a physical trainer.

James Smith

n Former V8 Supercar privateer Chris Smerdon will return to race in the Fujitsu V8 Series at Winton. The South Australian will drive his ex-Mark Winterbottom SBR AU Falcon under the #96 Hobson Motorsport entry, while Neil McFadyen won’t be back to steer the #40 V8 Race Experience AU. A massive 40-car field is entered for the third round of the championship, with a handful of TBAs remaining in the list.

V8 SUPERCARS JAY Verdnik is testing with Tasman Motorsport at Winton Motor Raceway today (Tuesday).

The 21-year-old Fujitsu V8 Supercar driver will get 30 laps around the rural track, while Kiwi NZ V8 driver Andy Booth will also test with the Victorian team – his first V8 Supercar miles.

Tasman is evaluating the pair for the Sandown and Bathurst endurance drivers seat alongside Mark Noske in the second Tasman Motorsport Commodore.

Verdnik, currently eighth in the FV8 Series

after finishing fourth in the final race at Wakefield Park, told eNews that he was looking forward to his first test with a Level 1 team.

“It’s going to be a bit different,” he said.

“The team has been very welcoming. I’ve got along well with them so far. It will be a good experience for me and hopefully I’ll get a look in for the endurance races.”

Tasman Motorsport’s regular drivers Greg Murphy and Jason Richards tested at Winton on Monday before Booth and Verdnik stepped aboard for Tuesday.

– GRANT ROWLEY

news

Shake-up at Stone Bros Two-time championship engineer heads to USA as departure pre-Winton forces internal shuffle

V8 SUPERCARS STONE Brothers Racing have been forced into a re-structure following the departure of Paul Forgie, above.

Forgie, who was Car Manager for Marcos Ambrose from 2001 to 2005, below, (including two championships in 2003 and 2004) and has since continued the role with James Courtney, finished work on Friday and is heading to the United States to investigate the possibility of re-uniting and working with Ambrose in the Busch Series.

MNews understands that the relationship between Forgie and Courtney had been strained and never grew in the same way that it had with previous driver Ambrose.

Push came to shove and Forgie who departed, prompting a re-shuffle before the next round at Winton on May 18-20.

The re-jig sees Barry Hay, above right, – Car Manager for Russell Ingall and with SBR since 2000 – now the Crew Chief overseeing both SBR Falcons at both the race track and in the workshop, with engineers Wes McDougall and Dave Stuart

to manage cars #4 and #9 respectively.

“We wish Paul all the best in his new role in the US; it’s certainly a great opportunity for him,” said Ross Stone.

“In many ways we still think of Marcos as being a part of SBR and we are pleased to continue that relationship with Paul now joining him in the US. “These changes will promote an even closer working relationship between the two cars, and Jimmy (Stone) and I believe that this will assist with the speed of new development and improvements.”

Marshall Cass

Going out in style: Forgie helped Ambrose to his two series crowns before Marcos bowed out of V8s with a win at Phillip Island in 2005, left.

news

Ferrari racing ahead Seamless and Bullish FORMULA ONE

FORMULA ONE FERRARI dominated the Barcelona test last week and looks set to pull away from the opposition.

The F2007 has been heavily revised since the first three races and while the team is not calling the the car an F2007B, the indications are that it is a rather different car, which hints that the team started the year with a lot of elements from the 2006 car still on the F2007 and that these have now been dumped as new developments have come along.

This might also explain the rather odd launch of the car this year which was clearly designed to hide what was

happening at the rear of the car. This may be because the team did not want expert eyes to figure out that the back of the car was not really changed from last year.

The team now has a better handle on Bridgestone’s 2007 tyres and, with the evolution in the rear suspension, the designers have been able to alter the rear of the car with a reshaped engine cover and smaller sidepods, thanks to a revision of the cooling system.

The modifications were tried out initially by test driver Luca Badoer at the Vairano circuit and the grapevine suggested that the car was two to three-tenths a lap faster than previously. The Ferrari

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... while the others fight it out for the ‘Ugliest Wings’ Award

test team then headed to Barcelona where Felipe Massa was quoted as saying that the car was “at least half a second faster than before”.

This could mean that Ferrari will go into the Spanish GP with an advantage of as much as one second a lap. This is despite the fact that the team has redesigned the floor of the car to withstand the FIA’s latest flexibility tests.

Other teams did try out some interesting new developments on their cars with McLaren using a ‘bi-plane’ front wing in an effort to tidy up the airflow over the car, while Honda tried new winglets that were quickly dubbed ‘Dumbo’ wings.

– JOE SAWARD

MARK Webber has reported strong progress at Red Bull during last week’s Barcelona test, where the team debuted its full ‘seamless’ gearbox.

“It proved to be very reliable straight away and, when they’ve pulled everything apart afterwards, it’s all brand new. That’s very encouraging,”he told eNews this week.

“Along with a couple of other little aero things, I think we probably made something like a fourtenths gain out of it all.

“Hopefully that will get us up ahead of the midfield group we’ve been in, although I don’t think on paper we’re able to threaten the top three yet – but we’re making solid progress.”

Webber reckons Ferrari will very much still be the team to beat this weekend in Barcelona: “They were running a fair bit of fuel all week,” he reported. “They may well blow everyone away ...”

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BRIEFLY... n The plan to publicise Spyker, the Rich Prosecco drink and starlet Paris Hilton at Monaco may have run into trouble with Hilton (26) having been jailed for 45 days by a judge in the United States. Hilton was sentenced for driving without a valid licence, thus violating her probation for a previous traffic offence as a result of a alcohol-related reckless driving charge last September. n Alistair Watkins, the head of marketing at Honda Racing F1, has been headhunted by Team Alinghi, to work finding sponsorship for the Swiss America’s Cup syndicate in the world of yachting.

Watkins won the job in competition with another top marketing name in F1 and an executive from the world of soccer. The outcome of the current America’s Cup will be decided in June and Watkins’s job will be to find the funding for the next Cup challenge.

He has a head start in this respect as the team already has considerable financial support from the UBS bank and from British Telecom. n There is to be a Formula

1 sports bar in Holland following the announcement of a deal between Heineken and Spyker.

Heineken will become the official beer supplier of trackside events organised by the Etihad Aldar Spyker team.

The bar will, presumably, have branding from ’Spyker F1’ rather than simply ’F1’ as this would be frowned upon by the Formula 1 group which claims that it owns the term F1 and happily throws lawyers at anyone who cares to argue that point.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

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Ferrari: Different Branding FORMULA ONE FERRARI has set up a new Global Brand Department, a new business unit that will operate alongside the Gestione Sportiva and the road car production department. Its goal will be to maximise the profits from merchandising.

The new department is to be headed by former Red Bull executive Dany Bahar. The Turkish-born Swiss executive will report directly to Ferrari’s managing director Jean Todt.

Ferrari has been building up its merchandising structure since 2002 and has around 1800 products in its range,

including clothing, leather goods, toys, gadgets, luxury goods and even old parts from the F1 and GT cars. The aim of the collection is to use the glamour of the Ferrari brand to sell items to people who aspire to buy Ferrari road cars or wish to be associated with the company’s racing successes.

The concept is not dissimilar to what the Porsche car company has been doing with Porsche Design over the last 30 years. Ferrari currently has 13 stores located in Maranello, Rome, Bologna, Milan, Venice, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing. The company also sells items on the Internet.

The aim is for this chain of stores to expand globally to around 50 different outlets although the company does want to limit the number of shops to try to maintain the exclusivity of the Ferrari brand.

The company produces around 40 percent of its merchandise itself and has licensing deals for the rest with companies such as Puma, Mattel, Lego and Acer. The company is believed to turn over as much as US$800m in merchandising and this obviously produces healthy profits for the group.

This will increase as Ferrari embarks on the construction of a theme park in Abu Dhabi.

– JOE SAWARD

RBS helps Frank FORMULA ONE THE Royal Bank of Scotland has expanded its involvement with Williams in F1 for a rumoured five more years.

The Scottish bank came into Formula 1 at the start of 2005 with a three-year deal with Williams. The new deal will take the sponsorship to at least 2012 and will give the team a solid foundation on which to build.

The team also has a major new long-term

deal with computer manufacturer Lenovo, expected to least at least five years, and the title sponsorship (but not the biggest coverage on the car) is owned by AT&T. The RBS deal is believed to be worth around US$30m a year.

RBS is also involved in sponsorships in rugby, golf and tennis and has also just announced that it will support British equestrienne Zara Phillips, a member of the British royal family.

– JOE SAWARD

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25 years on ...

Gilles Villenueve’s untimely death in 1982 still stirs emotions FORMULA ONE TODAY (Tuesday) marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Canadian Formula 1 hero Gilles Villeneuve.

The famed Ferrari driver was killed on this day in 1982 during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. He was 32 years old.

Villeneuve’s Grand Prix career began at Silverstone with McLaren in 1977, coming

off the back of a highly successful Formula Atlantic career in North America and Canada.

He then moved to Ferrari for the 1978 season, winning his first Grand Prix in Canada that very year.

While never winning the World Driver’s Championship, Villeneuve was one of the most famous drivers of the time, known for his aggressive driving style and outstanding car control.

His death came following his notorious rift with then team-mate Didier Pironi, the pair falling out after Pironi allegedly failed to adhere to team orders at Imola just weeks earlier.

A special tribute to Villeneuve’s life will be held in Montreal in the week leading up to this year’s Canadian Grand Prix in June.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

GP2: Ammermuller hurt FORMULA ONE MICHAEL Ammermuller, who drives for the ART Grand Prix GP2 team, is currently out of action because of a fracture to the scaphoid bone in his wrist as a result of his accident with Kazuki Nakajima in the first GP2 race in Bahrain.

The injury means that Ammermuller will not be Red Bull Racing’s third driver in Spain and may be forced to miss the GP2 races as well.

It remains to be seen who, if anyone, will replace him in F1 and what ART GP will do in GP2.

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n ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Patrick Dempsey will drive the Chevrolet Corvette pace car for the Indianapolis 500 in May. Dempsey, a driver himself in selected sports car racing, is co-owner of Tony George’s Vision Racing IndyCar team.

The team has also added a fourth car for the Indianapolis 500. American veteran Davey Hamilton, who hasn’t raced since badly injuring his legs in an IndyCar smash in 2001, will join Tomas Scheckter, Ed Carpenter and AJ Foyt IV. n Americans Phil Giebler and Jaques Lazier are the latest entries for the Indianapolis 500. The duo will drive for Playa Del Racing in the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ on May 27.

Giebler, who has represented Team USA in A1GP, will be making his IndyCar debut while Lazier – the younger brother of 1996 Indy winner Buddy – drove for the team at the ’500 for the last three years.

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Briscoe op

Penske satellite car turns seco

DEI to stay Chev?

NASCAR NASCAR powerhouses Dale Earnhardt Inc and Robert Yates Racing have admitted they have started preliminary talks regarding a possible merger of the two organisations.

The possible deal would see DEI buying RYR and, although under first scrutiny it would seem unlikely, there is a possibility something could materialise.

First off, there are only nine regular Ford Cup teams, the five of Roush-Fenway, two from Yates, one from the Wood Brothers and one from Robby Gordon versus around 21 Chevrolet teams.

All the big three manufacturers – Ford,

Chevrolet and Dodge – have admitted they are cutting back on funding and right now, DEI is probably not at the top of the pecking order for support from Chevrolet.

Ford has actually admitted having talks with DEI as their contract is up with Chevrolet at the end of the year, plus DEI has disclosed they want to add a fourth team for next year.

Earnhardt Jr laughed off the stories on the weekend at Richmond.

“We’ll be driving Chevys, I’ll promise you that,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Foyt/Unser team up TWO big names are teaming up for the Indy 500 this month – Foyt and Unser.

Al Unser Jr will return to the event for another one-off IndyCar start, driving a second Dallara/Honda for A.J. Foyt alongside regular team driver Darren Manning.

Unser Jr will carry the #50 on his ABC Supply Companybacked Dallara/Honda as recognition of Foyt’s 50th anniversary in Indy car racing.

This year’s Indy 500 will be Foyt’s 50th consecutive year of involvement at the Brickyard.

– PHIL MORRIS

IRL IndyCar Series

n Scott Wimmer is suing Bill Davis Racing, his former employer in the Nextel Cup Series, for US$1.2 million loss of earnings for the 2006 season.

Wimmer claims he was released in a manner not conducive with his contract, including a 30-day written notice.

Davis kept Wimmer employed during 2004, even after he evaded police when he crashed his truck. He and his wife ran from the scene then hid in his house after finally being charged with drink driving.

Wimmer is currently under contract with Richard Childress Racing, running a limited Busch and Cup schedule.

– MARTIN D CLARK/STAFF

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BRIEFLY...

IRL INDYCARS ON-TRACK activity has begun for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 with Aussie Ryan Briscoe starting his month of May in perfect style in the Rookie Orientation Program at the Speedway on Sunday.

The Penske Porsche pilot, making a one-off IndyCar start for the year and his first at the Brickyard since his debut with Target/Ganassi in 2005, ran a 218.215mph lap in the #12 Synamtec Luczo Dragon Racing Dallara/Honda as part of the program for rookies and drivers returning to the IndyCar Series that is observed by former Indy 500 race winners Rick Mears, Al Unser Snr and Johnny Rutherford.

“It was great to be out there,” said Briscoe.

“We just shook down the car today and made sure that everything was bolted on right.

I felt really comfortable and we got right up to speed. I'm looking forward to getting more laps in the rest of the week.

“I think the big thing for me is we're going to try to keep things as simple as possible.

“Being a one-off, we’re going to have to build a good race car and try to keep cool heads

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pens Indy assault

ond-fastest lap in Rookie Orientation Program refresher IRL IndyCar Series

Oh he has the fans does Ryan! Briscoe turned his first laps at Indy since 2005, above, and had some supporters, below, as well!

IRL IndyCar Series

all the time. I’m going to have to miss some days of practice the second week because of my ALMS racing. Obviously, it’s a huge event and it would be nice to have a more comfortable feel going into it.

“It will be really important for us to qualify on the first weekend. That first week we're not just going to concentrate on qualifying. We’re going to need to work on race set-up.

“We’ll get a good feel of where the car is and what I’m going in the car and what our pace is after the first day and make a plan of how much race practice and qualifying practice we'll need.”

Michael Andretti topped the timesheets in Andretti Green Racing’s Dallara/Honda at 219.871 mph.

“It was great to get back out there today, get a few laps in and get all of the cobwebs out.

I’m looking forward to a great month of May.” Rookie Milka Duno was fifth fastest of the seven cars on track, clocking 214.128 mph on her first visit to the Speedway.

Rookie practice continued last night (Monday), while first official practice for the Indy 500 for all drivers is on Wednesday (May 9).

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BRIEFLY...

n Former Formula 1, sportscar and touring car race driver Hans Stuck Jr is recovering from injuries he received in a crash on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Racing a BMW Z4 in a round of the circuit’s Langstreckmeisterschaft (long-distance) race series, Stuck, 56, collided with a back-marker he was lapping and was pitched into another car that had been stopped at trackside.

He was helicoptered to hospital in Koblenz where doctors diagnosed a broken vertebrae, a cracked breastbone and bruising to the heart. n An FIA-sanctioned rally in Iran? Its under-employed national motorsports body has formed an alliance with its counterpart in the United Arab Emirates following an undertaking that a restriction on ‘motoring tourists’ travelling to the Islamic republic will be lifted. This will allow UAE and Iranian drivers and riders to compete against each other in a range of motorsports events.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

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Sonic eyes Fujitsu V8s Victorian team looks to V8 Supercar Development Series in 2008

John Morris/Mpix

n The second season of A1 Grand Prix racing ended on such a high note at Brands Hatch that even Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone was moved to comment.

Ecclestone confirmed that competing with A1GP was among his motivations for trying to establish a new GP2 series in the Middle East and Asia during the European offseason. He noted: “There’s a future for a series which brings in drivers who can step up to Formula 1, which is my business. I’m not sure A1GP does that. A lot will depend on whether we get another series running in Asia. If we do, it would be difficult for them.”

“The series is changing.

There’s more people doing it on a professional level. That’s CARRERA Cup and Formula what makes it interesting for us.

Ford stalwart Sonic Motor We want to be involved in at Racing is poised for a future in the highest possible level and V8 Supercar competition. as it has continued to grow, it’s The Victorian-based team is become more attractive. It is seriously investigating viable the next step.” options to enter the Fujitsu V8 Ritter said that a larger Supercar Series in 2008, with a premises and an increased view of eventually competing level of staff would be required in the main V8 Supercar to make the step up to V8 Champion in the future.

“It’s very much on the agenda,” Supercar. He also admitted that he has no allegiances to either Ritter told eNews.

“We are looking at exhausting Ford or Holden, but said the best deal, for both the shortsome avenues towards a term and long-term, would be possible involvement (in the the deciding factor.

Fujitsu V8 Series) next year.

“We won’t go in underdone,” “It’s just a matter of the timing he said. being right, but that time is “The timing has to be right getting closer. We are looking and we have to have access to to see what’s out there now.” the right equipment.”

In terms of professionalism, Ritter was sure though that Ritter recognises that the his new ambitions would not Fujitsu V8 Series is getting affect his other racing interests. stronger by the year, and that “In an ideal world, V8s would now is the time to invest.

FUJITSU V8

need to fit in and not detract from other things we are doing.

We have to stay every bit as focused on what we doing now.

“Our long-term objective would be to take a kid from Formula Ford all the way to the top.”

Ritter also dabbled in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series recently, preparing a car for Tim Slade two weeks ago at Pukekohe. Ritter says that TRS is another category he’d look at if it came to Australian shores.

“I’ve been meaning to do if for a while,” he admitted.

“It was an interesting exercise and something I’d like to see come across here.”

Sonic Motor Racing Services is a multiple-national championship winning outfit, having taken the likes of Will Davison, Jamie Whincup and David Reynolds to Formula Ford titles.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Rodney Jane (Carrera Cup), James Moffat (Formula Ford) plus two Australian GT entries make up a strong seven-car Sonic Motor Racing team this year.

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Jack’s new ride V8 SUPERCARS AS reported last issue, Jack Perkins will debut his new VE Commodore at Winton in two weeks time.

The car, left, will travel to the Benalla circuit for a shakedown today (Tuesday).

“The guys have done an

outstanding job,” Perkins said.

“It’s a $500,000 exercise to build one of these from scratch. That includes eight days full on post-fabrication and 2000 man hours.

“This is the 46th race car we’ve built since 1986 and took much less time than the previous VE build.”

WEEK Leanne makes Gold Star history THIS ON SEVEN FORMULA 3

V8 ACTION Saturday May 12 1.00pm – 1.30pm AEST

V8 XTRA Saturday May 19 2.00pm – 5.30pm AEST

V8 Winton Race 1&2 Sunday May 20 12.00pm – 3.00pm AEST

V8 Winton Race 3 Dirk Klynsmith

LEANNE Tander has added another first to her curriculum vitae, becoming the first woman to win a race in the Australian Drivers Championship with victory at Phillip Island last weekend.

Tander started the second race of the weekend from the front-row of the grid, diving past Race 1 winner James Winslow early in the race before taking a commanding victory.

“I’ve been really close for the last three rounds or so, and it was becoming fustrating that the win wasn’t happening,” Tander told eNews.

“For me it’s just a personal success, rather than worrying about whether I’m the first woman to win or anything like that. I want to win the Championship and to do that I need to win races, so this is just a step towards doing that.”

Ironically, Phillip Island was the circuit at which Tander became the first woman to win a round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship back in 2000.

“It’s always been my favourite circuit, I guess it suits my driving style, but I’m hoping I don’t just win specifically at Phillip Island.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Next V8 Supercar Round:

Eastern Creek June 9 -11

A New Spirit at Winton FORMULA FORD

John Morris/Mpix

BRAD Lowe will make the Australian debut for a Duratec-powered Spirit WL07 Formula Ford at Winton later this month.

Lowe ran one of last year’s chassis at the season-opener at Adelaide in March, before sitting out the Barbagallo round while waiting for the new car to arrive.

While it will be the National Championship debut of the WL07 in Australia, it won’t be the first outing for the chassis

on local soil. Rob Storey took a Kent-powered WL07 to victory at the NSW state round at Wakefield Park last month. The WL07 has also ran in the British series in the hands of Garry Findlay.

Luke Wood and Grant Doulman will drive Spirit

WL06 chassis at Winton.

Lowe joins a 23-strong car field for the third round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship, with Doulman, Yudi Doyle, Trent Ulmer, Sam Sewell and Mark Samson all rejoining the grid.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

WORLD MOTORSPORT CALENDAR May 12/13 WSBK F1 NASCAR

Monza Spain Darlington

May 19/20 V8s FV8s DTM WRC MOTOGP WTCC

Winton Winton Eurospeedway Sardinia Le Mans Valencia

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Drag power struggle Shane Gore to take on ANDRA for control of Australia's premier drag racing classes

John Morris/Mpix

DRAG RACING AUSTRALIAN drag racing administrators ANDRA and a new management group – Straight Line Events – are in a fight to control professional-level drag racing in Australia.

And regardless of the outcome, top level drag racing in Australia is set to change forever, with competitors being asked to spend more on entry and licence fees in a bid to raise the profile and awareness of the sport.

Straight Line Events, an initiative of Shane Gore, has proposed a new business plan to transform Group 1 drag racing and “accelerate the sport’s growth.”

The main change under Gore’s plans would see all Group 1 entrants in Australia (Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol, Top Bike, Pro Stock Bike) purchase a franchise and/or licence, similar to V8 Supercar Australia’s successful business model.

This proposal is in direct competition to ANDRA’s new Drag Racing Development Fund (DRDF), which the National Control Council announced just a few days before Gore’s plans.

The DRDF calls for a significant rise in competitor licence fees, national event entry fees plus with contributions from event promoters. Proceeds to the DRDF would fund ANDRA Championship Drag Racing

marketing and promotional activities, including a proposed national television deal with Network 10, media and sponsor liaison and market research.

As MNews went to press, ANDRA and SLE had not made fruitful contact, despite SLE claiming that its events were to be ANDRA sanctioned.

It should be noted that ANDRA owns the rights to the classes, the copyright, management rights, and it also owns the events.

Another stumbling block that SLE faces is that ANDRA has a joint venture with Australia’s three main tracks – Willowbank, WSID and Kwinnana. The joint venture is called Drag Ltd.

Simonsen to debut at Le Mans Fogarty ba SPORTSCARS

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For more with Allan Simonsen, turn to page 18

SUPERBIKES

Dirk Klynsmith

ALLAN Simonsen will race at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours for the Autorlando Sport squad.

The TeamVodafone enduro driver drove for the factorysupported Porsche squad during last year’s Le Mans Series, however this year’s classic he will be upgraded to a new 997 GT3 RSR in the GT2 class. He will share with fellow Dane Lars Erik Nielsen and German Pierre Ehret, a combination that Simonsen is confident can take the class win.

“We’ve got works support from Porsche and Pirelli,

and it’s a brand new car, so there’s not going to be any problems with the equipment,” Simonsen told eNews.

“It’s going to be down to us to get the job done. Driving for 24 hours means you need a bit of luck on your side, but as long as you use your head as much as you drive fast, then class victory is in reach.”

Simonsen will drive the Porsche for the first time at the official Le Mans practice early June, with the Le Mans 24 Hour kicking off on June 16.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

THE identity of his riders may be unknown but Carl Fogarty is back in the World Superbike Championship.

The four-time champion, who closed down his Petronas team at the end of last season, has entered into a long-term deal with MV Agusta. Two of the Italian marque’s F4 312s will be entered from the start of the 2008 season after an extensive pre-season test program.

“Our initial aim was to continue racing in 2007 but it soon became clear that a start date of 2008 made much more

news

A WOMAN was killed during last weekend’s Rally Argentina.

On Saturday’s SS14, the Group N Subaru of local driver Gonzalo Alenaz was getting up to speed at the tail of the field after losing time with a balljoint problem when the woman and two boys attempted to cross the road in Cosquain. They were struck by the car and all four were taken to hospital. The woman died from injuries, while the two boys sustained minor injuries.

“The car when out to the right side where there were people that shouldn’t be there when Alenaz was going to start the SS14,” stated Pablo Kracoviak, a member of Alenaz’s team.

... WRC stages cancelled RALLY Argentina descended into farce last weekend when all Friday stages except for a superspecial had to be cancelled.

For the first time, rally organisers scheduled a Thursday night superspecial at Buenos Aires’s River Plate stadium before the cars were trucked 700km to the event’s main service area in Cordoba.

The cars and most of the crews flew to Cordoba without problems but heavy rain and high winds prevented a third cargo plane and some of the competitors and officials from landing in Cordoba.

At first, organisers cancelled only the morning stages but eventually were forced to cancel the afternoon tests as well.

Both the River Plate stage and a Friday superspecial at Cordoba were won by Mikko Hirvonen but eventual winner Sebastien Loeb took the lead took the lead immediately on Saturday morning’s first ‘proper’ stage.

ack in Superbikes

sense for this project,” said Fogarty.

“This is a very exciting opportunity and one which is sure to capture the imagination of racing fans around the world.

“My team are now committed to finding sponsorship for next year in order to start preparations for the 2008 season as soon as possible.”

It is logical that Fogarty will hire a British rider for his squad and former champion Neil Hodgson, who is currently Ducati’s MotoGP test rider, is a likely candidate. However, the two Brits are not friendly and should a partnership occur, it is not likely to be a smooth relationship.

Whoever rides, after 63 world titles for MV and four for Fogarty, the world will be watching.

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5 Minutes with ...

ALLAN SIMONSEN

A couple of weeks ago he almost won Targa Tasmania, now he’s confirmed a drive in the Le Mans 24 ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN Hour and gone Sportscar racing at Valencia. As usual, Allan Simonsen’s a busy boy MOTORSPORT NEWS: You’ve just confirmed a GT2 deal for the Le Mans 24 Hours, how excited are you?

ALLAN SIMONSEN: Pretty excited, obviously! It’s the biggest Sportscar race in the world so to be able to do it is amazing.

Earlier in the year I was tesing with Aston Martin and Prodrive, which in the end went to a Formula 1 driver, which is understandable.

But to have the opportunity in a works Porsche is as good as it gets.

So is a Class victory realistic?

100 percent. We’ve got works support from Porsche and Pirelli, and it’s a brand new car, so there’s not going to be any problems with the equipment.

It’s going to be down to us to get the job done.

Driving for 24 hours means you need a bit of luck on your side, but as long as you use your head as much as you drive fast, then class victory is in reach.

How do you prepare for an event as unique as this one?

Well at the end of the day, the track itself is pretty lit up at Le

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You spend half your life in Sportscars. This must be a lifelong dream come true …

It sure is. I’ve always wanted to win the 24 Hours, and the two drivers that I’m driving with finished second last year after leading for a long time, before a gearbox problem made them come second.

So I’m going to try and make the most of it.

All night long: Our favourite Dane has 24 Hour experience, including last year’s Spa 24 Hour in Belgium.

The track itself isn’t that technical, it’s the history that makes it special ALLAN SIMONSEN Mans. Other places, like the Spa 24 Hours and even the Bathurst 24 Hours, there is total darkness. You don’t have that at Le Mans.

And the track itself isn’t really that technical. But it’s the history behind the race which makes it so special, because the actual task isn’t as big as other races I’ve done.

Will you get a chance to drive the new Porsche before the event?

Yeah well there’s the official Le Mans practice session on June 3, where every driver has to do 10 laps to get the starter’s approval, and that’s going to be the first time I drive the car.

But the team I’m driving with is the same team that I drove for in last year’s Le Mans Championship, so I know them all really well.

So once you’ve done 24 Hours at Le Mans, is six hours at Bathurst going to seem pretty easy?

Driving a V8 Supercar is never easy. You’ve got to be on the ball the whole time, because V8 Supercars are at a world-level.

So no, it’s not going to make Sandown and Bathurst easy, because I’m not looking at Le Mans as a hard task, I’m looking at it as a great race.

The actually driving and being

at the race is not going to be hard at all.

On a different track now, you must have been disappointed not to keep your 100 percent winning record in tarmac rallies alive at Targa Tasmania?

Yeah it was disappointing, but a winning record has to stop somewhere (laughs).

At least I retired while leading. I think James Hunt used to say he didn’t mind retiring as long as he was leading at the time!

Circuit racing is my main priority, but I would like to have another crack at Targa next year.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

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Dirt and Stone(r)s opinion Darryl Beattie Network 10 commentator the canvas but it was a blast.

People there said I was onepoint-something off the pace, which is still a lot, but they seemed to be pretty satisfied.

There may be no future for me in Speedway, it was great to have a run in a car like that and if anyone has a Sprintcar out there, I am available! The exhilaration would be mindblowing. Maybe next season, I could have a few practice runs and take in a few races. It is always good to look at other forms of motorsport.

Anyone who has been watching MotoGP this year cannot help but be impressed with Casey Stoner.

I'm surprised that Ducati can keep paint on the bikes,

John Morris/Mpix

I RECENTLY had the opportunity to drive Mark Brown’s Speedcar at Parramatta and the experience will stay with me for a long time.

Brown is one of the dominant forces in Speedcars and the good thing about his car is that it has the Australian-developed Hawk engine, developed by Steve Smith in Newcastle.

Greg Rust put the drive together for an RPM story and he was the one who asked whether I wanted to drive it. I was a little hesitant because the only thing with four wheels I have driven in anger is a V8 Supercar and this sure was not one of those!

So, I had a run, I had a spin and then we had some problems with the onboard camera, so I got to have a break and think about it a bit.

The track was drying out and I wore one of the tyres down to

so quick is it in a straight line!

I interviewed Jeremy Burgess last week and he suggests they paint a white line down the straight; one side for the Ducatis and one for everyone else. People are raving about the bikes but Casey is doing a great job. Loris Capirossi is in a slump, he has had a big fall this year, he has had a kid and Casey has stepped it up. If Valentino Rossi’s bike was as quick as the Ducatis, he would not be complaining, would he?

In any form of motor racing, you've got to take it when you’ve got it. Casey is riding it really well, fingers crossed that Bridgestone can keep it up for all 17 rounds of the championship. Yamaha has a better chassis, without doubt, it is great under brakes and its electronics are very strong. If Rossi gets the engine he wants, he will be back.

Stoner needs to bank his points while he can get them and so far, so good …

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point.

Lift your game, Rick!

Well, the record may show that Rick Kelly has two round wins this year, but not in my book.

We all know about Adelaide, with brother Todd finishing eight points clear of Rick, but no silverware to show for it.

Now it seems winning two from three races and finishing equal on points was not enough for Garth to take the round in New Zealand. Rick, with only one win, expands the trophy collection again.

Unless the laws of mathematics have changed since I went to school, Todd

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and Garth are entitled to be pissed off!

Rick may as well put those two trophies with his Clayton’s Championship.

Tony Bailey Narooma NSW Pain in the guts I have been tearing my hair out trying to find the full race results of Saturday’s heat of the 1999 Clipsal 500.

Everywhere I have looked, including old copies of motorsport magazines like Motorsport News, Natsoft race results and other websites,

there are only the Sunday results.

I’m going to kick my computer in the guts if I can’t find these results. Can you possibly help me?

Darren Ward Loxton SA ED: Tough question Darren, as the first heat wasn’t a stand alone race, as such. Your best bet would be to track down a copy of the Shell Series magazine review for the year, which could still be available through Chevron Publishing in Sydney.

Shame Shame Shame I just wanted to say Shame Shame Shame to the free-toair television channels, namely Seven and 10.

Now that Seven has the V8 Supercar Championship Series, who shows the Champ Car series? Nobody.

What is even more ridiculous is that I was at my local shopping centre in Brisbane and when I went up to the guys selling Foxtel subscriptions and asked do you have the Champ Car World Series, both guys asked ‘what’s Champ Car?’

The world according to Tomas opinion Tomas Mezera Bathurst champion I know that there is a control brake package but there is a lot of other items to set up, like master cylinders, lines and so on. They're really on top of that.

It is rather ironic that the points system is different now.

HRT dominated the title so much a few years ago that Tony Cochrane had to change to a communist system, with three points between places, to keep the title alive, so Marcos and Stones had to work very hard to win their championship. Now, Tom even has ‘his’ points system back, so it will be twice as hard for the other teams to close the gap back. It seems everything is running on his favour!

The other thing that is

Dirk Klynsmith

THREE rounds into the V8 Supercar Championship Series, it is pretty obvious that there are two races going on – a race for the championship between the HSV and HRT and one for fifth position between the rest of the cars.

Tom Walkinshaw is just too smart. Every time he has proper hold of a racing team, that is what it comes to. It took him a year to get on top of it and last year, it came down to the last race and the team tactics at Phillip Island. That was bullshit, but that it the way is works.

This year, his teams are absolutely on top of it. Did you watch Mark Skaife at Wanneroo? He was sliding past cars under braking, not just the slow cars but the faster ones. Their brake package is so much better than the others’.

obvious is that some of the younger drivers are showing up their more experienced team-mates.

Look at HRT, with Todd Kelly and Skaife; FPR, where Mark Winterbottom is showing Steven Richards the way. At Stones, James Courtney is beating up Russell Ingall. In the first three rounds, James Whincup has had the measure

of Craig Lowndes.

Greg Murphy is finding it hard at Tasman. There are a lot of highly-paid drivers not looking like they are earning their money.

At Winton, there will be a lot of teams that test there trying to peg back the gap but it takes a long time to gain an advantage like that, and even longer to get it back.

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Round and round: Will the famous 500 be on our screens this month? Or will we be racing down to our nearest pay TV outlet?

What’s going people?

Matthew Johnston excel22@hotmail.com.au Free Indy?

With all of the debate and conjecture about Champ Cars not being on television in Australia this year, my next

question is: will the Indy 500 be on free-to-air TV? The May classic has been a regular ‘must watch’ for me for years and, while I know it will be on ESPN on Foxtel again, Channel 10 have shown it over the last few years, even though it is an IRL race and they have

covered Champ Cars.

Last year they advertised that they would show it and it didn’t pop up until being shown a few weeks later – I’m just hoping the same thing doesn’t happen again and I don’t stay up only to watch some dodgy old movie re-runs!

Keith Mullan Ringwood VIC ED: Keith, we’ve placed some calls with the guys at Network Ten and don’t have an answer for you as we finished off Issue 003. We’ll chase it up for you for the next issue.

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MOTOGP ROUND 4 - SHANGHAI

Chase-Casey Sure the Ducati is a pretty handy jigger, but in Shanghai Casey Stoner proved that’s its not all about the bike – this kid can ride

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MOTOGP FOR 15 laps, the 2007 Chinese MotoGP was nothing less than a battle between two Italian Divinities.

Divine Biology won the first battle.

Valentino Rossi earned all of his substantial salary and bonuses in Saturday’s qualifying after riding, perhaps, the best qualifying lap of his long career to take pole by 0.9s – despite the fact that his Yamaha could not get within 10km/h of Ducati’s fighter planes on the Shanghai track’s 1.2km straight. Asked post-session what he needed to stay with the red bikes, he noted, “I need a gun”.

A gun might not have stopped Divine Technology winning the war. In the end, Rossi’s inspirational riding was no match for Ducati’s horsepower or aerodynamics, and Michelin’s reinvigorated tyres no match for Bridgestones.

John Hopkins won the start, Rossi fixed him up at the last corner of the opening lap but, on the next straight, Casey Stoner blasted by and the tone of the race was set. The red bike had the straightline speed and the blue one had the corner speed – and Rossi. For 15 laps, it was the

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best battle of the year and they swapped the lead at speed.

It was Rossi who cracked. Under pressure himself from Hopkins, he dived too hard at Stoner into Turn 1 with six laps remaining. The Yamaha ran wide and Rossi was suddenly lost 2s in a single lap.

He fought back and, with a few laps left, jumped the Suzuki for second. But Stoner was out of reach and both men knew it.

“At that point I had to decide whether I had to be content with finishing second or to go for it,” Rossi told Italia1.

“Unfortunately I went a bit wide, I was really on the edge. Anyway, I’m happy with second, I was quick all the way to the end.”

“In my career I’ve never seen a bike that goes so much quicker than any other bike.”

But Stoner had a different view.

“People are saying ‘Ducati this, Ducati that’ about speed,” Stoner told the BBC. “The bits where we knew we were good, we were strong. Just tried to stay safe in the bits we weren’t. And it worked out again today.”

What was no shock was the maiden podium for Hopkins, pictured above. The Anglo American has shown the odd flash of speed and the Rizla Suzukis were the

only bikes able to hang into the Ducatis’ tow on the ‘Shanghai Motorway’. Teammate Chris Vermeulen also battled a Ducati, leading Loris Capirossi for most of the 22 laps until the red bike flew past for sixth.

The battle behind Hopper’s first podium finish was intense, with Dani Pedrosa holding off Marco Melandri. Toni Elias never made it around the first lap, after a clash with Alex Barros (who retired on the spot) and Nicky Hayden, who was delayed and went on to 12th.

Stoner has now won three of four races.

He will win twice more; any circuit with a straight longer than 700 metres will be a Ducati playground; in China, the only bikes to top 330km/h in the race were the four Ducatis, Randy de Puniet’s impressive Kawasaki and the Honda of Pedrosa.

Twice or three times? Casey’s red missile will have too much speed at Barcelona and Phillip Island and it will also have a huge edge at Mugello. But that is in Italy and if Rossi was an inspired man far from home in China, imagine how he will ride in front of his Chihuahuas.

Points: Stoner 86, Rossi 71, Pedrosa 49, Melandri 41, Hopkins 39, Elias 35, Edwards 31, Capirossi, Hayden and Vermeulen 30.

Ready or not?

KRT Media

OLIVIER Jacque is recovering from injury and may yet be fit to race in his home race at Le Mans next week.

Jacque gashed his arm when he was spat off his Kawasaki in Friday’s practice session. He was immediately transferred to hospital for an operation, before leaving immediately to return to Europe. Because Jacque, 33, did not require a skin graft, he is expected to make a speedy recovery.

Should he not be fit to race, Kawasaki is expected to approach Ducati to request that test rider Neil Hodgson be allowed to fill-in alongside Randy de Puniet.

Jorge takes his time 250cc & 125cc IT took Jorge Lorenzo a long time to shake off Andrea Dovizioso but once he did, the Spaniard cleared away.

The reigning World Champ took his third win from four starts by 4s and it was Alvaro Bautista who got into second,

the reigning 125cc Champion getting by Dovizioso on the penultimate lap. Alex de Angelis was fourth while Miko Kallio, who led from the lights on his KTM, was fifth from Hector Barbera.

Ant West tangled with Jules Cluzel on lap 1 and dropped to 20th before mounting a

comeback to 13th.

Points: Lorenzo 95, Dovizioso 68, De Angelis 59, Bautista 56, Barbera 34, Luthi 32, Simon 26, Kallio 21.

IT was a race of firsts in the 125s, with Derbi’s Lukas Pesek taking his breakthrough win.

The 21-year-old edged out the Aprilia of Hector Faubel,

while Honda’s Esteve Rabat claimed a debut podium after leading a GP for the first time.

Gabor Talmacsi crossed the line just 0.7s from first, but his fourth place drops him behind Pesek in the points race.

Points: Pesek 71, Tamalsci 69, Faubel 67, Corsi 47, Espargaro 34, Olive 33, De Rosa 30, Koyama 26.

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WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 6 - ARGENTINA

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Rain, Hail or Shine

Conditions were tough in Argentina. But so was Sebastien Loeb WORLD RALLY

EVEN when the going gets complicated, Sebastien Loeb makes the World Rally game look so simple.

Take last weekend’s Argentinean round of the World Rally Championship, for example. Inclement weather caused all bar two of the stages from the opening leg cancelled, leaving a host of confusion as to whether the times would stand, or even whether the final rally results would be counted as official.

To make matters even more controversial, the shortened first leg saw Ford and Citroen’s second drivers set the pace, with Mikko Hirvenon leading Dani Sordo, Loeb and Gronholm rounding out the top four.

But when the rally proper got underway at the start of the second leg, Loeb was simply unstoppable. The morning

loop saw him take five from five in the stage win stakes, and by the end of the leg he had a total of seven stage wins and almost 20s up his sleeve from Gronholm. Yep, it was situation normal for the reigning World Champ.

Behind him there wasn’t really a battle anywhere in the field. Hirvonen’s third place was a lonely one, hydraulic issues had dropped Sordo well and truly out of contention, and the Stobart Fords running fourth and fifth weren’t about to chase down their factory counterparts.

Gronholm’s only glimmer of hope came in the form of an extended final leg, with an extra stage added to make the rally’s results official. But any advantage the Finn had hoped to gain was negated on the opening stage of the day, Loeb setting the pace by 8s.

Game Over. Gronholm did get one stage win for the leg,

but Loeb took the spoils by 36s.

“I had decided to push from the outset just in case Marcus Grönholm tried something,” said Loeb at the finish. “That enabled us to extend our lead and give us a little more breathing space for the final stages.

“With the exception of the organisational hiccough on Leg 1, it’s always a pleasure to compete here in front of such enthusiastic crowds. The C4 ran like clockwork and we now have a lead of three points over Marcus in the Drivers’ standings. It’s very close.”

Behind Loeb was a truckload of Fords, with Hirvonen a distant third, Jari-Matti Latvala fourth and Henning Solberg fifth. The next Citroen was the recovering Sordo in sixth.

Chris Atkinson pretty much drove a faultless rally in Argentina, but seventh place was the best he and the Subaru World Rally Team would muster.

Issues with traction on the

changeable surface and the fact that it was the first competitive event with co-driver Stephane Prevot made the result a credible one, especially with Petter Solberg retiring from the rally with a damaged radiator during leg two.

“It’s good to have completed the event in the points, and I’m pleased about how things have worked out with my new co-driver, but it’s hard not to get frustrated with the speed when I know I can go quicker,” said Atkinson.

“Even though we managed to set some reasonable times on the first couple of stages today I know I could have been faster if I had more confidence in the handling of the car. We made some positive steps at the recent test but there’s still work to do before we unlock the potential of this car.”

Points: Loeb 48, Gronholm 45, Hirvonen 36, Sordo 22, Solberg 16, (Atkinson 12).

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Close but no cigar: Gronholm, left, was fast in Argentina, not nowhere near fast enough to overhaul Loeb. Atko had a similar problem, above, while Latvala, right, looked good in the semi-factory Ford Focus, holding out highly rated team-mate Henning Solberg.

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One for the oldies

FORMULA V6 ASIA ANY chance of Karl Reindler taking a result away from his Formula V6 Asia debut at Sepang last weekend went up in smoke at the first corner.

He was hit by an overeager Adderly Fong, while Seth Ingham went on to win.

DTM HE might be driving a yearold car, but Garry Paffett was still the man to beat in DTM at the Oschersleben last weekend.

The McLaren test driver pedalled his old-spec Mercedes to a 3.7s victory ahead of teammate Paul di Resta.

Mike Rockenfeller’s third place meant that none of DTM’s 2007 model cars

finished on the podium.

Pole-sitter Mika Hakkinen dropped out of contention with a puncture.

Points: Mattias Ekstrom 12, di Resta 12, Martin Tomczyk 12, Paffett 11, Rockenfeller 6.

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Foxy Troxy

FORMULA RENAULT David Ostaszewski

NATHAN Caratti took a best finish of ninth place away from last weekend’s Formula Renault UK round at Thruxton.

Earlier Caratti struggled through the opening race, improving for the final.

NHRA

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TOP Fuel driver Melanie Troxel collected her first event victory of the 2007 season at the 11th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

Troxel joined Funny Car winner Ron Capps, Pro Stock’s Dave Connolly, and Pro Stock Motorcycle victor Matt Smith in Gateway International Raceway winner’s circle.

Troxel defeated Cory

McClenathan in the final round, 4.74s/274mp/h to a tractionplagued 5.35s/254mp/h.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI Top Fuel: Fuller 499, Bernstein 476, Todd 408. Funny Car: Capps 645, Hight 524, T. Pedregon 404.

Two from three BRITISH TOURING CARS

FORMULA BMW

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Points: Plato 107, Giovanardi 98, Tom Chilton 68, Matt Neal 66, Colin Turkington 44.

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SAM Abay has snuck into the top 10 at Round 6 of the Formula BMW UK series at Thruxton.

Abay was 12th in the first race, before recovering to seventh place in the second race.

FABRIZIO Giovanardi was the big winner at the weekend’s BTCC round at Thruxton, taking out two races for VX Racing.

Championship leader Jason Plato kept his position at the top of the points intact by winning the third and final race from Gordon Shedden’s Honda Civic.

Jimmie’s looking good NASCAR HENDRICK Motorsports continued its dominance with the new ‘Car of Tomorrow’ at Richmond this past Sunday.

The race was delayed a day by rain, with Jimmie Johnson stealing the show over fellow Hendrick driver Kyle Busch.

Denny Hamlin in a Gibbs Chev was third, clear of the third Hendrick Chevy of pole-sitter Jeff Gordon fourth.

It was Johnson’s fourth win of the year and four for four in the ‘new car’ races, showing the ground in research the organisation has covered.

Johnson took the lead from Busch on a restart with eight of the 400 laps remaining.

“This place has been tough on me,” said Johnson, whose only scored one prior top 10 finish at the track.

“To run strong all day, race hard with my team-mate and win this thing is pretty special.”

What was to be a great day for Kevin Harvick – who was leading at halfway – went sour in the pits when he spun David Ragan as he was entering his stall and Harvick was exiting.

It caused severe sheet metal damage to Harvick’s RCR Impala, although he did rally to beat Tony Stewart to the flag for seventh place on the last lap.

– MARTIN D CLARK Points: J Gordon 1691, Johnson 1480, Kenseth 1431, Hamlin 1359, J Burton 1352.

NASCAR Media

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Gab takes a SEAT WORLD TOURING CARS GABRIELE Tarquini held off a train of BMWs to score Seat’s first win of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship.

Helped to the front-row of the grid thanks to his seventh place in Race 1, Tarquini braved constant

pressure from Augusto Farfus to win Race 2 at Zandvoort, with Jorg Muller third.

Race 1 saw Chevrolet take its first one-two finish, with Alain Menu leading home Nicola Larini.

Points: Farfus 28, J Muller 22, Tarquini 21, Andy Priaulx 21, Larini 13.

Bowyer blows ‘em away BUSCH SERIES CLINT Bowyer extended Richard Childress Racing’s win streak to four at the three-quarter mile Richmond speedway with his victory over Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton on the weekend.

Bowyer grabbed the lead during the last of seven cautions when leader Kenseth’s Roush crew had a front wheel change issue that put them on track third behind Bowyer and Burton at the final restart with 23 laps to run.

Juan Pablo Montoya came home where he started in

11th position, while Marcos Ambrose started 40th and finished 26th, two laps off the fast pace after fighting handling issues all night.

“The short tracks are still my bogie races and where I’ve got to make the most progress in my learning curve,” commented Ambrose of his first visit to Richmond.

“In saying that though I feel as though tonight was another good step forward.”

– MARTIN D CLARK Points: Carl Edwards 1793, Kevin Harvick 1391, Dave Blaney 1280, David Reutimann 1264, Kenseth 1223, (Ambrose 1094).

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AUSTRALIAN DRAG RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS NITROCHAMPS

Dobson takes Nitro win

The Australian Drag Racing Championships have just one round to go, but the action stays alive DRAG RACING

A

LLAN Dobson was the big winner in the penultimate round of the 2006/07 Australian Top Fuel Championships at WSID’s Nitochamps last weekend.

Dobson, the number four qualifier, defeated Steve Read, which was Read’s car’s first defeat in this country.

Read smoked the tyres early in his run and couldn’t recover. It didn’t matter, though, as Dobson set his quickest pass of the weekend – 4.684s/310.48mph.

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Dobson can thank his overall success to an amazing performance in the semifinal. Dobson pipped reigning Champion Phil Read by 0.024s in a close and classic race.

Read had earlier topped the qualifying charts.

On his way to his final defeat, Read defeated Top Fuel’s latest acquisition, Martin Stamatis in the semi-final and Terry Sainty in the first round.

Bob Shephard had a round he’d won’t forget after a major engine blow up, pictured above.

In Top Alcohol, Brett Stevens grabbed a great win, and at the same time, kept alive his

championship chances.

Stevens beat Steven Reed (5.788s/242.71mph) after defeating Tim Watkins and Wayne Newby on his way to the final. The Jack Daniel’sbacked driver and team owner now sits just 35 points behind Newby with one round to go.

Reed beat top qualifier Aaron Lynch in the semi-final, but both cars had problems.

Reed got his car to the end of strip, but his team were forced to complete an engine change before the final. And what engine did they use? Debbie Reed’s, of course!

Troy McLean red-lighted in

Top Bike, gifting Mark Drew the win. Not that Drew was mucking around. He set his second quickest time for the weekend in his victory pass – 6.674s/188.73mph.

Drew made it to the final after beating Top Bike stalwart Jay Upton, after Upton battled with his new engine combination all weekend.

Top Doorslammer saw Maurice Fabietti defeated Mark Belleri in a lopsided final.

The final round of the Australian Drag Racing Championships will be held at Willowbank Raceway for the Winternationals.

John Morris/Mpix

John Morris/Mpix

Great balls of fire: Allan Dobson won Top Fuel, above, while Bob Shephard had a major blow out, main pic. Life was better for Steve Read, below, who was Top Fuel's runner up. Brett Stevens won Top Alcohol, left, Maurice Fabietti took out Top Doorslammer, below left, John Bosher

John Morris/Mpix

John Bosher

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Dan the Man – just ...

SHANNONS NATIONALS

Dirk Klynsmith James Smith

PHILLIP Island hosted Round 2 of the Shannons National Motor Racing Championships on the weekend.

Daniel Richert took round victory in Commodore Cup, winning two of the three races in front of Geoff Emery, who won Race 2. Half a second was the biggest margin between the two in all three races. Marcus Zukanovic had the pace to run at the front but an engine failure in Race 2 sidelined him for the remainder of the meeting.

John Goodacre’s one victory and two second places cemented him round spoils in Saloon Cars. Main rival Kris Walton succumbed to front right tyre dramas in Race 2, dropping him down a lap and to 17th. He recovered to win Race 3, his second win for the weekend.

Sam Zavaglia was handed

Superkart 250cc Internaional round victory when Warren McIlveen blew a tyre in the final race, putting an end to a dominant run after winning the opening three races.

250cc National was won by Jason McIntyre while Chryss Jamieson won the 125cc class after son Russ blew an engine.

Leigh Mertins overcame brake issues and a power steering failure in his new Holden Commodore to clinch Production Car round victory in front of Garry Holt.

Mertins won two of the three races, missing out on a clean sweep due to overzealous handicapping in Race 2.

Queenslander Shane Hart blitzed the Formula Vee field in the three races, winning comfortably each and every time. George Panagiotidis finished second while carnage unfolded behind with a rollover at MG in Race 2.

– AARON SHAW

Island Magic: Mertens overcame Bathurst 12-Hour winner Garry Holt to win in Production Cars, top. Shane Hart was good enough to win all three FVee races, above, while Goodacre used consistency to grab Saloon Car honours, below.

Chris Carter

Dirk Klynsmith

32

History in the making Leanne Tander becomes first female Gold Star race winner at The Island FORMULA 3

Dirk Klynsmith

both races,” Winslow said.

Mapelli charged hard throughout the race to finish third and was the most aggressive of the drivers in the field as he showed when passing Macrow for position.

The next round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 championship will be held at Mallala on June 29.

– AARON SHAW Championship points: Macrow 80, Hollings 72, Tander 69, Winslow 65, Kostera 49.

Dirk Klynsmith

FORMULA 3 made history last weekend with Leanne Tander becoming the first female driver in 51 years of the Gold Star to win a race during the Shannons National Motor Racing Championship round at Philip Island.

A fantastic move around James Winslow saw Tander hit the lead in the early stages of Race 2. It was a lead she never relinquished throughout the 14-lap event, crossing the line 3s ahead of nearest rival Winslow.

“The last three laps were probably just about the slowest laps I’ve driven around here all weekend, but there was no way I was going to make a mistake and spear off,” she said.

It was an action-packed race with an opening lap collision between Stuart Kostera and Charlie Hollings at MG Corner, sending the two towards the rear of the field.

Mat Sofi looked like claiming a solid second place until two late race off-track excursions, both at Honda Hairpin, shuffled him down the order to fourth leaving Winslow to claim second in front of Italian Marco Mapelli.

Winslow, pictured right, scored pole position by almost half a second for Race 1 and assumed control of the race early. From there the Asian Formula 3 champion consistently scored faster lap times than the chasing pack and broke away to an eventual 4s victory from Hollings.

“The car was just fantastic, we got a really good lot of points – I’d love to go to Mallala to win

33

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36

Winton: A real fan’s weekend

T

HE Punter and his mates are getting ready for the annual trip down to Winton in 10 days time. Got the tickets weeks ago.

We haven’t missed a Winton V8 round for years – except for when Cocko took the race away.

Clipsal is fantastic, along with some of the other high profile races, like the Gold Coast, Phillip Island ... and of course the Big One at the Mountain, but we were really pissed when they took Winton’s race away.

It was a classic case of walking away from your roots for the glamorous big-time deal, that then went sour anyway. The last thing I reckon V8s need to do is upset their real long-time fans – that’s me and people like me.

Winton, where the weather can either be red hot or bucketing down, with not much in between (it will snow one day), is the equivalent of an up market country horse race.

It pulls in a big audience from an area where people probably don’t travel too much to other races, and it’s a great crowd.

You can see a lot of the track and the atmosphere is ace.

There have been some great races there too and it looks good on TV. So where is the downside?

Leaving Winton was just an ego thing (at V8 Supercars).

But Winton will still be there when the various street races that V8s seem to want come to an end. They’ve improved the place heaps and, while it may not appeal to the chardonnay

Remember Gricey in the wet, keeping all the turbo shitboxes at bay? set as much as some, it’s a real motorsport weekend.

There were some great races there even before V8s were invented, if you know what I mean. Remember Gricey (okay, in a Commodore) in the wet, keeping all the turbo shitboxes at bay? And Richo in the Nissan?

The message is clear: (a) get yourself down there if you can

and (b) don’t ever take it away again Cocko or you will start to seriously piss off a lot of people who’ve supported V8s for a long time. In fact, I have a question: is Winton’s deal a year-by-year one (which I think it is)? So why not give them the same long deal as the big-time races so they can spend a few bob more on the place without being dumped anyway?

Odd Spot

MS turns 20

Mark Skaife has joined The 20s Club.

Having just notched up his 40th year on planet earth, Skaife celebrates 20 years as a professional racing car driver.

He started his career at the wheel of a factory-backed Nissan Gazelle in the opening round of the 2-litre Australian Touring Car Championship at Winton in March 1987, finishing third behind Toyota drivers John Smith and Drew Price.

Twenty years on, Skaife now races against Drew’s son Shane ...

Since then, he has gone on to amass a record almost unsurpassed in Australian motorsport, including five ATCC/V8 Supercar crowns and five Bathurst wins.

Skaife currently shares the record for the most ever ATCC/V8 round wins with Peter Brock at 37.

“The Gazelle had just over 200hp,

weighed a little under 900kg and had a small tyre. It was a bloody good little car to drive,” Skaife said.

Skaife won his first Touring Car Championship in 1992 at the wheel of the Nissan GTR dubbed ‘Godzilla’. He also won his second Australian Driver’s Championship ‘Gold Star’ that same day.

When MS retires, there won‘t be many boxes he hasn‘t ticked ...

37