Motorsport eNews Issue 5 - May 22-28, 2007

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 005

22 – 28 May 2007

Young Blood

alex to take over from JB in ’08

“Everyone Bleeds”

Winton winner says title chase not over

Aussie, AUSSIE, Aussie Another MotoGP Winner

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

Issue No. 005 | 22-28 May 2007

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

Advertising National Sales Manager: Calvin Wood cwood@mnews.com.au P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 M 0439 566 265

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 – click here to check out their exclusive poster deals

news 4 Alex for PCR

7 Rusty in Red? 8 Fuel efficiency 12 Breakthrough

chat 16 Five minutes with ... opinion 20 Neil Crompton 21 Scott Goodyear 41 The Punter

Glenfords goes for youth It could happen ...

Turbo-diesels for F1 Our Ryan on top in ALMS Alex Davison Credit where it’s due US ‘Cromley’ on Indy 500 On the bleachers at Winton

race 22 Webbed Whinners

V8: Ford kiddie dun good 28 Winning without a win FV8: Consistency pays, mate!

32 Aussie, Aussie!

MotoGP: Vermeuuuuuulen!

34 Luck of the Finnish WRC: Loeb crashed? What!!!

trade 38 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 40 Classifieds

Need a Motorsport eNews back issue? CLICK HERE

welcome Win a V8 round; get your mug on camera in Motorsport eNews.

That’s how it works.

Jamie Whincup needed no more motivation than that ...

John Morris/Mpix

Davo firms as JB’s replacement V8 SUPERCARS WITH the impending retirement of John Bowe from V8 Supercar racing at the end of this season, Alex Davison has emerged as the ‘man most likely’ to replace the former touring car champion in the #111 Paul Cruickshank Racing Falcon next season.

While a deal has not been inked, Davison is the red-hot favourite to get the drive with the rising team.

Davison, the current Carrera

Cup leader, drove for PCR’s Cup Car squad last year, and enjoys a solid relationship with the Queensland-based team.

After a difficult rookie season in the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Cruickshank’s team is on the rise, having improved with every outing this year.

Bowe scored more championship points at Winton last weekend, and save for a mechanical drama, would have scored many more.

And with the team still in its

infancy, Cruickshank wants to ensure that his team continues to move forward.

“It’s my preferred option to have a young guy in the car,” he said.

“I want someone who can grow with the team. Alex has been around our team before, he has an existing relationship with the sponsors and he’s one of the best drivers out there who doesn’t have a full-time V8 Supercar drive.”

Davison’s full-time V8 debut came in 2005 with a Larry

Perkins-prepared Autobarn entry. It was an unsuccessful venture, and he told eNews that he is looking forward to his next chance in Australia’s premier category.

“It’s looking quite good at the moment. PCR is a great team, I’ve raced with them before and they have a very solid plan for the future.

“Right at this moment, though, nothing is signed off, so until then we’ll keep plugging away.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

Whincup: Clayton can be beaten WITH victory coming on the weekend at Winton from 20th on the grid, Team Vodafone’s Jamie Whincup isn’t writing 2007 off as the ‘year of the Clayton cars’.

The 24-year-old declared post-round that “everybody bleeds” after beating the might of the Toll HSV and HSV teams in their own backyard and declaring that the previously unbeaten Clayton Commodores are not invincible.

“No-one’s unbeatable – everybody bleeds,” he said.

“We will race these guys and the rest of the field for the next 10 rounds. We are making a massive step up. We are miles ahead of where we were last year.

“We just didn’t have the pace early but we are improving on that.

“The results hopefully should start to come.”

Whincup’s race one win remains the only Ford race win all season from the 11 run Whinners all around: Whincup, above, bounces so far. through the eNews Esses. For our Winton V8 – AARON NOONAN Supercar coverage, click to page 22.

news

Marshall confirmation

k – directly to your

desktop

Australasian

The world of mot orsport every wee

V8 TEAM SOLD Issue No. 001 – April 24

2007

V8 brake issues

Lights out at AGP

SHUNT!

Spectacular sequen ce inside This issue of Motorsp brought to you with ort eNews the support

Pukekohe’s final fling

of

Ingall: Staying for 08?

V8 SUPERCARS SUPERCHEAP Auto Racing has been sold to John Marshall’s No Limit Group.

A formal announcement of the sale, mooted by Motorsport eNews in April, was made at Winton Raceway on Friday, following the completion of negotiations the previous day. The official ‘takeover’ date has been set for June 1.

Weel offered the expansion of his PWR Performance Products business – run with son Paul, whose racing career wound down last year –as the primary reason for his get-out: “I try to take all the emotion

out of business decisions. Paul (Weel) and I have big plans for PWR Performance Products and with the new PWR state of the art facility at Yatala nearing completion the time was right for us to narrow our business focus.”

For his part, new owner John Marshall has lofty ambitions for the team: “We have the greatest of respect for the teams running at the front of what is a very competitive motorsport category,” he said, “but it is our intention to get in among them and compete at the front.”

Good news for Marshall is that there doesn’t appear to be any significant staff movement.

The team will remain under the management of ex-HRT boss Jeff Grech. Long-time motorsport administrator John Benson has joined the team to look after commercial matters.

On the driver front, Cameron McConville’s contract ends at the end of this year, while the team has an option on Paul Dumbrell for one further year.

Weel will stay on as team principal until the end of the year. At the same time, his required offer of resignation to the TEGA Board has been refused, and so he will remain until at least the next TEGA AGM – in September.

Shock! Horror!

PWR sold!

SHOCKED? Of course not – you read about it on April 24 in the launch issue of Motorsport eNews: “Super Sale – John Marshall takes the reins at Supercheap Auto Racing.”

However, you may have been confused if you get your motorsoort information from other sources which, a week later, reported “Kees’ wheels stay put – PWR boss Kees Weel has rubbished reports that he has sold his V8 Supercar team ...”

Moral? If you really want to know what’s going on, there’s only one reliable source ...

What now for PWR Racing?

There is No Limit to where future drivers may come from ...

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

WITH John Marshall in control of Supercheap Auto Racing effective June 1, all eyes look to the future of the team – however it appears that the new team owner is already looking well into the future.

At the media conference announcing the transfer of ownership on Saturday at Winton, Marshall made reference to wanting to help create a pathway for young drivers from Formula Ford through to V8 Supercars.

Having seen his own son Marcus progress through the

same ranks from Formula Ford to Carrera Cup to V8 Supercars and Champ Cars, it is worth keeping an eye on a possible relationship between No Limit Racing and Sonic Motorsport in the future.

Marshall Jr drove for Sonic during his time in Formula Ford from mid-2001 to 2002 and motorsport administrator John Benson, who has been brought in by Marshall Snr to be involved in the commercial and marketing aspects of his new acquisition, has had a close relationship with Sonic over the years.

Sonic team boss Michael

Ritter, whose Melbournebased team runs three Carrera Cup cars as well as three

Formula Fords in the national series, admitted to eNews a fortnight ago that making the step up to running in the Fujitsu V8 Series is next on his team’s agenda.

With the Fujitsu Series now featuring a range of Level 1 teams or Level 1-affiliated teams, such a tie-up with an existing main series squad would be an attractive way to enter the category in its current climate.

A link-up or alliance between the teams would help provide the platform Marshall Snr spoke of at Winton.

Watch this space …

n The Hamilton V8 Supercar street race has taken one more step closer with the announcement this week that NZ’s governing body of motorsport MotorSport New Zealand has agreed to sanction the race for the next seven years. As part of the agreement, the promoters will run four yet-to-be finalised NZ Championship categories as supporting races. n South Australian V8 Supercar fans had reason to feel neglected, with the Winton telecast delayed until 10:30pm on Sunday night.

In a kick-back to the bad old days when TV coverage of the Group A era appeared late at night, the Adelaidebased V8 Supercar fan base was left in the dark as part of a coverage reshuffle involving AFL matches.

Channel 7 decided to air the AFL match between Port Adelaide and Sydney between 12:30pm to 3:30pm.

Instead of delaying the telecast until after that match, Adelaide, like the rest of Australia, was then shown the match between Western Bulldogs and Collingwood between 3:30pm and 6pm.

The V8 Supercars were then aired later that night between 10:30pm to midnight.

Holdsworth heals up GRM begin the task of re-building the VZ that has turned heads in 2007 STILL feeling dizzy from the big hit that took him out of action at Winton on the weekend, Garry Rogers Motorsport pilot Lee Holdsworth was back at the team’s Melbourne workshop yesterday as the Valvoline Cummins crew went to work repairing his heavily damaged VZ Commodore.

After observation in Wangaratta Hospital following the race two accident, where he spun backwards into the concrete wall on the exit of turn four, Holdsworth was released and returned home to Melbourne on Sunday.

“I’m not doing too bad considering,” Holdswoth told eNews on Monday.

“In terms of the physical side I feel fine, I haven’t got any bruises but having a look at the car I’m fairly surprised I’m not in more pain.

“All I remember is starting to spin off backwards. I don’t remember the impact and then I was sitting there trying to catch my breath. I turned everything off and let the team know I was all right but I can’t remember whether I got out myself.

“I had been sick with gastro the night before and up until 1am – and five of the team were as well – so I felt shocking the whole race anyway and probably not

performing at my best.”

The VZ Commodore has been sold to Fujitsu V8 team Sydney Star Racing so has to be repaired either way. The plan is to fix it for the next round at Eastern Creek and introduce a new VE, hopefully at Queensland Raceway.

“All the bars behind my head are bent,” said Holdsworth.

“The floor is crumpled up and even the seat mounts are all bent. The right rear chassis rail is gone, the diff was split in half and the tailshaft was a mangled wreck.”

– AARON NOONAN

Six of one, six of the other V8 SUPERCARS RECENT pit chat concerning the future of Russell Ingall has grown, with suggestions he could even re-cross the divide to the Red Holden side.

Ingall has recently said that he rates himself a 50:50 chance to remain at SBR in 2007.

Tomorrow’s edition of Motorsport News (monthly) details the facts and rumours – including the possibility of a return to Holden.

The latter would require a renegotiation of Ingall’s Ford contract, which is scheduled to expire at the end of 2008.

Difficult, but not impossible.

Weight was added to the rumour over the weekend, where Ingall was sighted in open discussion with Holden's Simon McNamara. Serious chat?

Or just catching up?

Given the flow of drivers from Red to Blue in recent seasons, they would probably welcome Ingall back ...

Dirk Klynsmith

n Former Australian Rally Champion Cody Crocker has confirmed that the Singapore-based Subaru Motor Image team will contest the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for two seasons.

The move came as a surprise for many as it was expected that Crocker would only contest the APRC this season before shifting focus to the Production World Rally Championship.

At this stage it is unclear if Crocker will remain with the team in 2008.

Dirk Klynsmith

BRIEFLY...

news

Oran Park for 2009?

As planning continues for its future, the V8s may rumble for one more year V8 SUPERCARS ORAN Park could host a V8 Supercar race meeting as late as 2009 – but after that, it will circum to urban sprawl.

The historic south-western Sydney race track can only confirm that V8 race meetings will be held in 2007 and 2008.

Over 7500 homes and 22,000 new residents will reside at the suburb – appropriately called Oran Park – which will begin construction early next year.

“The issue of 2009 is not fully resolved yet, there is a chance the V8s will race here then,” said Laurie Rose, advisor to Greenfield, the company in charge of the redevelopment.

“We will find out about that in due course. Developments will begin early next year, and people at the race track will see developments happen.”

Rose told eNews that the racing heritage of the circuit will not be lost.

“Oran Park might go missing, but it won’t be forgotten.

“Much of the main straight, as

well as most of the last corner will be captured as part of the redevelopment.

“The hill at the last corner and the grandstand will remain and the names of parks and some streets will represent its racing history.”

There will also be a motor

racing museum in the new suburb.

Meanwhile, land owner Tony Perich still holds his dream of ‘recreating’ the Oran Park circuit, with possible locations including Wilton and Horsley Park.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Special Offer for the month of May! Spend $60 or more BY ordering on-line or in-store during May, AND receive an SBR Revs (reversible) Beanie FREE - Perfect in the lead up to winter! Offer is made exclusively, available online at www. stonebrothersracing.com.au or our Team Shop at Yatala, Queensland.

sutton-images.com

Bernie ups the AGP ante F1 supremo starts to pile the pressure on for a change to the Melbourne GP –or else he takes his bat and ball FORMULA 1 BERNIE Ecclestone has made it clear that he wants the Australian Grand Prix to be held at a time when it will produce better global viewing figures – or he will move the race to somewhere which can.

While many people are assuming that means a ‘night’ race (and the Grand Prix Corporation says it is planning a feasibility study into a night event but that process has yet to begin), that overlooks

the obvious concept of a race in mid-February – which could run as late as 9pm under natural light (as MNews highlighted when the subject was aired in March).

However, locally, there are fears that a switch to the evening will stir up opposition among local residents and will drive away spectators with families. People making that inference forget that most football is played in Melbourne at night – as late as 10pm.

Melbourne has a deal with

Formula One Management until 2010, with options beyond that, but it has not stopped Ecclestone throwing a few drops of fuel on the fire: “When the contract comes up, we have to have a look and see exactly what we will be doing with Melbourne,” he said.

“Unless they can come up with something satisfactory, I’m pretty sure we wouldn't be able to continue there. I would like to make sure we can watch in Europe and other parts of the world at a respectable time

rather than having to get up at three or four in the morning.”

Ecclestone is a close friend and collaborator of AGPC chairman Ron Walker and expects a solution to be found.

“Ron is not stupid and he knows exactly what is at stake,” he said.

However, if the cost of accommodating a night race is too prohibitive, the Victorian government will come under pressure to justify an extended contract.

– JOE SAWARD/STAFF

news

FIA looks to F1 bio-diesel What the

FIA said of its proposal ...

FORMULA 1 AFTER a period of speculation, the FIA has finally broken cover with its proposal for a future F1 with 2.2-litre V6 turbocharged engines, running on bio-diesel fuels.

sutton-images.com

If the FIA gets its way, these will be introduced by 2011.

According to the preliminary proposal, the engines would be used for five Grands Prix and would be restricted to 10,000rpm.

The proposal has been put to the manufacturers of the world – those inside F1 and those who are currently not involved.

Most of the car companies have such engines in their ranges, including the likes of Peugeot-Citroen, Hyundai, GM, Jaguar and Volkswagen.

The current engines may not be much use in F1 terms, but may provide the manufacturers with the chance to think again about F1 as they could use the 2.2-litre engines to advertise their products and use the sport to develop their products.

There is some confusion as to what else is included in the proposals with suggestions of some controversial ideas, such as traction-control, four-wheeldrive, power-boost buttons and identical bodywork for all the teams.

The FIA says that none of

Earth warriors: Honda is struggling on-track but their environment awareness is starting to hit the halls of the FIA for the F1 rulebook.

these proposals have been made but that some of them are under consideration.

The most controversial suggestion is that the cars should have identical bodywork. This would create a storm of protest as it is seen as something which undermines the foundation of pure competition on which F1 is based.

Aerodynamic research may be wasteful, within the confines of the rules as they now are, but this is because teams are forced to build cars that look similar to one another, leaving only a small amount of leeway. Unfortunately, it is this leeway that decides which teams win and which do not.

– JOE SAWARD

opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher A step too far? As usual, motorsport’s governing body has gone to the far end of the ambit claim scale in putting what is, basically, a sensible proposal.

Turbo diesels are already sweeping the auto industry and it’s logical.

But 10,000rpm? Five Grands Prix per engine?

Identical bodywork?

No. You may as well race sewing machines. Knock out, or at least modify, that rubbish and F1 will make a worthwhile step into the world of turbo diesels.

THE FIA justifies its radical proposal by saying that the two principal reasons for change are: “The need to create a healthier commercial outlook for participants by lowering their costs; and the need to react to public concern about the environment.”

The federation does seem to understand the need for caution with regard to how far to push the restrictions: “The main constraint will be to avoid damage to the emotional attraction of Formula 1 for its fan base,” the federation said in an executive summary that went to the manufacturers.

“In particular the technical awe of Formula 1 and its sheer speed must be retained. Step one is to develop a framework for the regulations aimed at fixing the power-train.

The power-train is the determining step and must be decided before the remaining regulations can be detailed.”

BRIEFLY... n There has been a movement of personnel at Red Bull Racing following the recent departure of Ben Agathangelou. The management of the wind tunnel programme having now been taken over by Chris Saunders, a former Williams and Lola engineer.

n It emerged during the Champ Car European media tour this week that the promoter of the two new races, at Zolder in Belgium and Assen in the Netherlands, has a five-year deal, through 2011. Bart Rietbergen also confirmed that future races would not necessarily be staged at those venues.

– JOE SAWARD/ QUENTIN SPURRING

10

The jewel in the F1 crown MONACO’s Grand Prix, this weekend, provides the best possibility for an upset in the current F1 pecking order.

The street circuit, with no reliance on highspeed aero and more emphasis on mechanical grip and driver input, has often thrown up a new contender – none more so than our own Mark Webber, who has been a genuine top three runner for the past two years, when driving for Williams.

Webber finished an unhappy third in 2005 (after a team decision allowed team-mate Nick Heidfeld past), and retired from last year’s race when again running in contention for a top three finish.

Intriguingly, McLaren super-debutant Lewis Hamilton has never been beaten at Monaco – having won in both F3 and GP2. He goes in brimming with confidence as world championship leader …

Honda switches testers HONDA Racing F1 test driver James Rossiter has been switched by the Japanese firm to the Super Aguri F1 operation.

Honda has Christian Klien doing all its available test work in his role as Honda's ‘reserve and test driver’ and so cannot offer Rossiter much and so has decided to move the youngster to Super Aguri in the rather vague role of ‘test driver.’

Giedo Van der Garde is currently under contract as Super Aguri's ‘reserve and test driver’ but wants to join Spyker

F1. He is being prevented from doing this because of a valid contract with Super Aguri – and no sign of a settlement.

The reality is that Super Aguri needs someone else to do some testing.

If Van der Garde is not available and its second ‘test driver’ Sakon Yamamoto is in a largely honorific role, it made sense for the team to call upon Rossiter.

– JOE SAWARD

sutton-images.com

n Assuming that the controversial Formula 1 European Grand Prix project at Valencia goes ahead as planned, the newly announced renewal of the Spanish Grand Prix contract at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, through 2016, means that Spain will host two rounds of the World Championship annually for at least the next eight seasons.

Meanwhile the latest European city to investigate possibilities for a street circuit is Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.

sutton-images.com

n Renault gave Renault World Series champion Alex Danielsson a test at Silverstone last week as part of his prize for winning the Renault series. The test was a shakedown for the R26 chassis that will be used in the forthcoming Renault road show event in Warsaw and took place on the small Stowe circuit. Danielsson has been struggling to move up from the Renault series and this year is racing in the Euroseries 3000 with ELK Motorsport.

news

Winging it to F1

Bourdais has another Toro Rosso run coming sutton-images.com

FORMULA 1 CHAMP CAR star Sebastien Bourdais has an option to race for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2008 and the fact that the Frenchman is now testing for the team – and a further test planned later in the year at Spa in July – suggests that he is a very serious candidate for a drive next year.

There is also talk that this may be part of a bigger deal involving the purchase of shares in the team by Bourdais's manager Nicolas Todt and his partners in the ART GP2 team (and the ASM Formula 3 team): Frederic Vasseur and Bahrain Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The suggestion is that the group would buy Dietrich

Mateschitz's shares in the team, which would put them into partnership with Gerhard Berger.

On the face of it, this does not make much sense as Mateschitz created the two teams in order to get maximum exposure for

minimum cost.

However, as Formula 1 moves into the era of fourcar ‘super-teams’, things could change.

It is expected that, over time, Red Bull will form a closer alliance with enginesupplier Renault, while Torro

Rosso, with Nicolas Todt and Gerhard Berger involved, could maintain strong links with Ferrari – thus giving both manufacturers a strong second arm.

– JOE SAWARD

11

news

Ryan breaks through in ALMS AMERICAN LE MANS RYAN Briscoe heads to Indianapolis with the taste of champagne after winning his first outright event in the American Le Mans Series on the weekend in Utah.

The Penske Porsche pilot, paired with regular team-mate Sascha Maasen, right, made the most of an early pit stop to beat home the diesel Audi R10 of Allan McNish and Rinadlo Capello and win the duo’s first race outright of 2007.

Both Porsche RS-Spyders qualified on the front row of the grid but dropped back in the race’s opening stages. But a smart pit call, where Maassen

was called into the pits on lap four during a caution period, gave him clear air to run the race’s fastest lap.

Briscoe stepped aboard for the final 80 minute stint

without having to stop again for fuel and drove to a comfortable 10 second win.

“We didn’t make the best of starts but we knew the car was super quick and the decision to

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

2007 Indianapolis 500 Starting Grid – May 27 1. Helio Castroneves 2. Tony Kanaan 3. Dario Franchitti 4. Scott Dixon 5. Sam Hornish Jr 6. Dan Wheldon 7. Ryan Briscoe 8. Danica Patrick 9. Marco Andretti 10. Tomas Scheckter 11. Michael Andretti 12. Scott Sharp 13. Jeff Simmons 14. Ed Carpenter 15. Darren Manning 16. Buddy Rice 17. Kosuke Matsuura 18. A.J. Foyt IV 19. Vitor Meira 20. Davey Hamilton 21. Sarah Fisher 22. Buddy Lazier 23. Roger Yasukawa 24. John Andretti 25. Al Unser Jr 26. Alex Barron 27. Jon Herb 28. Jaques Lazier 29. Milka Duno 30. Marty Roth 31. Roberto Moreno 32. Richie Hearn 33. Phil Giebler

12

#3 Penske Dallara-Honda 225.817mph #11 Andretti Green Dallara-Honda 225.757mph #27 Andretti Green Dallara-Honda 225.191mph #9 Ganassi Dallara-Honda 225.122mph #6 Penske Dallara-Honda 225.109mph #10 Ganassi Dallara-Honda 224.641mph #12 Luczo Drgaon Dallara-Honda 224.410mph #7 Andretti Green Dallara-Honda 224.076mph #26 Andretti Green Dallara-Honda 223.299mph #2 Vision Dallara-Honda 222.877mph #39 Andretti Green Dallara-Honda 222.789mph #8 Rahal-Letterman Dallara-Honda 223.875mph #17 Rahal-Letterman Dallara-Honda 223.693mph #20 Vision Dallara-Honda 223.495mph #14 Foyt Dallara-Honda 223.471mph #15 Dreyer & Reinbold Dallara-Honda 222.826mph #55 Panther Dallara-Honda 222.595mph #22 Vision Dallara-Honda 222.413mph #4 Panther Dallara-Honda 222.333mph #02 Vision Dallara-Honda 222.327mph #5 Dreyer & Reinbold Dallara-Honda 221.960mph #99 Schmidt Dallara-Honda 221.380mph #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Dallara-Honda 222.654mph #33 Panther Dallara-Honda 221.756mph #50 Foyt Dallara-Honda 220.876mph #98 Beck Dallara-Honda 220.471mph #19 Racing Pro Dallara-Honda 220.108mph #21 Playa Del Racing Panoz-Honda 219.409mph #23 CITGO Dallara-Honda 219.228mph #25 Roth Dallara-Honda 218.922mph #77 Chastain Panoz-Honda 220.299mph #91 Hemelgarn Dallara-Honda 219.860mph #31 Playa Del Racing Panoz-Honda 219.637mph

pit early for a splash of fuel and then charge hard gave us the advantage,” said Briscoe.

“The strategy worked, both Sascha and I drove to the plan and the crew did a fantastic job – it was great team result.

“We knew it was a long race and that if we could conserve fuel then we could make one less stop than the Audis and have a chance of outright victory.

“Going into Indy with a fresh win under my belt is the perfect scenario, but racing an Indy car on an oval is completely different to racing a sports car on a road track so I will need to re-adjust my driving style.”

Lining up 13 rows of 3 IRL INDYCAR THE field for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 has been set in stone following the final weekend of qualifying.

While Bump Day didn’t have the high drama it has in years past, it saw 48-year-old veteran ‘super sub’ Roberto Moreno, above, qualify for the 500-miler.

Moreno stepped into the Chastain Panoz after Frenchman Stephan Gregoire was injured in an accident and, after withdrawing his time and re-qualifying for fear of being bumped, comfortably made it

into the race on Sunday with a speed of over 220mph.

Also scoring a starting spot was veteran Richie Hearn in a last-minute deal with 1996 500-winning team Hemelgarn Racing and rookie Phil Giebler who fought back from crashing on his first qualifying attempt to score the last spot on the grid.

The American bumped Jimmy Kite from the field, while countryman P.J. Jones was another to miss out on a start after failing to record a qualifying attempt to bump the slowest car of Marty Roth.

ON SALE TOMORROW * AT NEWSAGENTS ISSUE 360 JUNE 2007 • LP – on life, and politics, outside the race car • Is this the next V8 Supercar?

• In depth – Jamie Whincup • Inside the McLaren F1 fortress • Retro – the SBR Fords • Paul Stoddart – life at Champcar • Five Minutes with … Nigel Mansell • Joe Saward – F1 Box Seat ... and plenty more

Like to subscribe to Motorsport News magazine? CLICK HERE * Available in New Zealand on Monday May 28th

13

BRIEFLY... n CAMS has appointed a former Country Fire Authority manager as its new CEO. Graham Fountain, whose most recent CFA most recent role was as Deputy Chief Officer, where he was responsible for managing the Emergency Management portfolio, will take up the position in three weeks. Bob Glindemann, who stepped down from the CAMS Board in late 2006 to take on the Acting CEO role, will return to the Board.

14

KAYNE Scott will drive a Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE at Sandown and Bathurst this year.

Scott will drive the #7 Perkins Engineering car with a yet-to-be confirmed fourth JDR driver.

The Kiwi tested with the Melbourne-based team in April at Winton and has since secured the drive.

Scott races for Mark Petch Motorsport in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. He finished third overall at Winton Motor Raceway last weekend and runs fourth in the series.

Winton was his first podium finish.

Scott is a former New Zealand V8 Champion and V8 Supercar race winner, having won a pair of reverse grid races in the Fujitsu V8 Series at Queensland Raceway and Mallala last year.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Sharpe heading back to Le Mans LE MANS 24 HOUR ADAM Sharpe will contest the Le Mans 24 Hour race next month.

Sharpe, who drives for Howard Racing in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, is likely to drive a Corvette C6-R with the PSI team.

The Englishman is currently flying back to his homeland where he will drive a Ford Falcon AU in the Britcar Series at Oulton Park, before heading to Le Mans for his fourth start in the classic French event.

“I had a podium finish there in my class last year,” he said. “I think the Corvette can go one better.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

sutton-images.com

n In somewhat of a surprise move, the engine departments of Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc will merge, obviously in an effort to overcome the Chevrolet dominance of Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. The pairing will open a new facility midway between the team’s current facilities in North Carolina and will be due to open in mid-2008.

– SPURRING/STAFF

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

n Audi Sport might yet enter its R10 TDI sportsprototype in a round of the European-based Le Mans Series at some date after the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Peugeot, which has committed to the full LMS championship, has won the first two 1000km events at Monza and Valencia, prior to the head-to-head confrontation between the two 5.5-litre diesel V12 racecars in France next month. Audi is contesting the entire American Le Mans Series and stated before the season that it had no plans to race in the LMS. However Audi Sport director Wolfgang Ullrich confirmed this week that the company was now discussing a possible intrusion on Peugeot’s LMS party.

Scott in at Perkins

Sharpened: Adam Sharpe finished third in Porsche GT2 class last year.

Brock Austin restored HISTORICS PETER Brock’s famous first car, the Austin 7, has been restored.

The car will be officially unveiled at the historic race meeting at Winton Motor Raceway this coming weekend, where it will complete a parade lap.

news

Dirk Klynsmith

The next Paul Radisich?

FUJITSU V8S NEW Zealander Gene Rollinson made an impressive Australian motor racing debut at Winton Motor Raceway during the third round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Rollinson was only confirmed as the driver of the second Prodigy Motorsport Falcon last Tuesday, but that

did not faze him. The 22-yearold finished 10th overall, with a best result of ninth for the weekend.

Rollinson has only raced in limited sedan motorsport, having contested selected NZV8 races over the past year, after a season in Formula Challenge.

“Compared to what I’ve driven before, this thing is a Rolls Royce!” he quipped.

“The gearbox is the biggest difference (in comparison to the NZV8). That was the hardest thing to get used to.

The brakes are different as well. The NZ cars use a brake booster, where these cars run a pedal box.”

Rollinson hasn’t inked a deal for the remaining rounds, but is keen to race in a V8 Supercar again.

“I’d love to keep doing it,”

Team VIP confirm 24H drivers NURBURGRING 24H TEAM VIP Petfoods has confirmed its full driver line-up for the team’s twocar Nurburgring 24 Hour campaign next month.

As previously reported in MNews (Issue 357), Craig Baird, Klark Quinn, Tony Quinn and Kevin Bell will steer a brand-new Porsche RSR (Type 997), while the 996 that contested last year’s race in the hands of Baird and Co will be driven by Paul Kelly, Shaun Juniper, Max Twigg, and John Teulan.

“All of our drivers for the 996 are currently racing, or have raced at some point in the past, in either Australian or

New Zealand Porsche championships,” said team manager and star driver Baird.

“Paul is currently enjoying his fourth season in the NZ Carrera Cup, while Shaun Juniper and Max Twigg are both in the Australian Carrera Cup championship and in the Australian GT Championship.“ The Team VIP team received international recognition after finishing ninth outright in last year’s event and will be in serious contention for this year’s race with the use of their new car, which will be officially unveiled at Queensland Raceway this Thursday.

Rollinson told eNews.

“It’s definitely a great category and I’d like to have a bit of testing before coming out and having another race.”

Rollinson now heads over to Germany for the Nurburgring 24 Hour, driving a Honda Civic Type R with a New Zealand team, spearheaded by current NZV8 Champ Johnny McIntyre.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Tony calls it a day FORMULA FORD

John Morris/Mpix

LAST weekend’s third round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Winton was the last for series veteran Tony LeMessurier.

The 54-year-old Queenslander has decided to call it quits from the National Series, instead planning on concentrating on his historic racing program.

But his Van Diemen RF06 won’t be lost to the series. Experienced karter Victoria Whitley has bought the car, and is likely to make her debut in the championship at Eastern Creek.

“That’s the plan, although we haven’t finalised all the details yet,” she told eNews.

“We’d like to do more rounds and get ready for next year, but it all depends on getting the funding.

“But I love driving the car, and it’s a challenge, but I’m ready for the challenge.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

15

BRIEFLY...

n Don’t go looking for the Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of the Gold Coast in 2008. The company will relinquish the naming rights sponsorship of the event after this year’s race in October, however will continue as a secondary backer next season. n And also in sponsor land, look for Falken Tyres to be supporting the Symmons Plains round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series later in the year in Tasmania. n MNews is saddened to report the passing of Ken Hastings. Ken had a racing career that spanned more than 20 years, competing in Sportscars, Sport Sedans and open wheelers before son Glen began his own racing career. A popular character in the pit lane, Ken is survived

by Lorraine, Glen, Kenneth Jr and Danni.

16

New World Series Order SPEEDWAY ROB Harris is the new CEO of World Series Sprintcars.

Harris, who moves into the role from being General Manager at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool for the last four years, was announced to the position to run the series for Speedway Promotions Australia – which consists of six tracks including Kwinana, Speedway City, Premier Speedway, Latrobe Speedway, Parramatta and Brisbane International.

He will continue to work with Premier

Speedway to assist with the appointment of his replacement but is already getting down to the business of planning for the upcoming season.

“It’s a huge job and there’s a lot of work to do,” said Harris, who will be based in Torquay, Victoria.

“I guess our two critical positions to fill are chief steward and our announcer and the others should fall into place. We’ve got to start talking about our television package, but until that is locked away we can’t do the sponsorship, so it’s full steam ahead.”

Inaugural Kartprix postponed KARTING THE inaugural Kartprix National series has been postponed.

Having created an immense amount of interest with its unique-for-karting 16 team concept, the promoters have now elected to kick the series off in 2008.

The major problem to get the series up and running for ’07 was that of securing suitable dates at national venues.

The AKA was also keen to have the series resurrect the CIK categories of karting in Australia – a goal Kartprix is also aiming for, but not until the newgeneration of CIK engine has a proven track record.

– MARK WICKS

Ash Budd

n Adam Macrow has asked the big question. No, it wasn’t if he can do the first driving stint at Bathurst with Britek. The 2006 Fujitsu V8 Champion asked long-time girlfriend Sarah to be his wife, and lucky for him, she said yes! And for all you other ladies, you’ve missed a good catch. Adam popped the question to Sarah in no lesser place than Lake Como, Italy ...

Shaddock

n Queenslander Wayne Wakefield made a return to the Fujitsu V8 Series on the weekend. Driving the Rod Dawson-run #40 AU that he campaigned last year, it was a tough weekend with gearbox problems afflicting the start of his return. Wakefield told eNews that a BA Falcon may come on-stream for him for the next Fujitsu Series round at Queensland Raceway in late July.

news

Joy and Sadness MOTOGP MIXED emotions swept the Suzuki MotoGP team at Le Mans on Sunday, with its first MotoGP win since 2000 – by Aussie Chris Vermeulen – tainted by news of the death, on the same day, of Suzuki’s first-ever GP winner, Aussie Jack Finlay, who passed away, at the age of 72.

Vermeulen dominated once conditions turned very wet, after a not too encouraging lead-in to the race and a grid 12 start.

“Initially it was really difficult.

We didn’t have any wet testing here, no wet practice, so the bike wasn’t set up perfectly, but it was good enough. I had to compensate in some areas,” Vermeulen said.

“I hate riding in the rain. It takes a lot of concentration

and it’s not fun at all. You put it on its side and hope like hell it grips.”

“Still, I don’t know how you improve on your first Grand Prix win – maybe win the world championship!”

Vermeulen has catapulted himself to fifth in the championship with two Australians (he and championship-leader Casey Stoner) now sitting inside the top five – and Australians have won four of the first five Grands Prix of the season.

Sunday’s win was Suzuki’s first win since four-stroke racing was introduced and the first time two Australians have stood on the podium in the MotoGP era – since Mick Doohan and Darryl Beattie.

See page 32 for our coverage of Chris Vermeulen’s sensational win.

Joel Strickland

RALLY NEAL Bates has given the latest version of Toyota’s Super 2000 Corolla a glowing report following a short test session in Queensland.

Bates, who has run an interim S2000 Corolla during the first two events of the season, was full of praise for the new car that he will debut at next month’s Rally of Canberra.

“I couldn’t be happier with

how the new car has come along,” he said.

“We have a few areas to work on, in Queensland for example the car felt like it was sitting ‘on’ the road rather than ‘in’ the road before the gravel surface cut up a bit, so we have some grip issues to work towards.

The Toyota team will conduct a full day test session in the forests of Canberra ahead of next week’s rally.

– RYAN LAHIFF

Bristol cancelled DRAG RACING NHRA and Bristol Dragway officials cancelled this last weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The event has been rescheduled for July 6-8, 2007.

The concrete launch pad of the racing surface had been recently resurfaced and track officials, along with NHRA officials, were making preparations to the track for the

David Ostaszewski

S2000 shake-down Bates test latest S2000

upcoming NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event.

Track officials contacted NHRA officials last week to advise them that the process of getting the racetrack raceready was taking longer than expected, and after a weeklong process of trying to correct the situation, both decided that the track’s new concrete surface still was not setting properly and would not be ready for the event.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

17

5 Minutes with ...

ALEX DAVISON

Davo chats about winning Cup Car at Winton and his future in V8 Supercars

The category is so damn close.

Some might argue too close.

Generally, unless someone makes a mistake, who ever gets to the first corner first will win. Do you agree?

Yeah, with any competitive category, all the fast guys are braking right on the limit. If you try and brake any later than that, you spear off the track. That makes it very difficult to overtake. The cars are so close – not only in engine performance but handling as well.

It makes it good, though.

When you have a lunge, it means you have to have a big one and it makes it very satisfying if you pull off a big manoeuvre.

18

Dirk Klynsmith

MOTORSPORT eNEWS: It was a close battle between yourself and Craig Baird in Carrera Cup at Winton. A little oops between the pair of you, but it all worked out well for you …

ALEX DAVISON: We were actually struggling in the first part of the weekend. Even in the first couple of races, we didn’t nail the set-up of the car.

We weren’t far off but we just didn’t quite have the edge to fight with (Marcus) Marshall, (David) Reynolds and Baird, who all had a bit of an edge over me.

We chipped away in the races and still managed to graft a result out of it. Obviously, all along we were tweaking the car. We found the right tweak in the last race and got the car going better. Although Craig wasn’t there at the front, we had comfortable speed over Marshall and Reynolds and the others.

GRANT ROWLEY

The only reason i came back from germany was to get into v8 supercars ALEX DAVISON You’ve got the championship lead now. What’s the game plan from here?

This doesn’t change my game plan as such. I’m out pushing as hard as I can to win races, but at the same time I’m just keeping in mind some of the mistakes I made last year.

You can’t win every race and its very difficult to overtake, so I reckon the person who wins won’t be the one who wins the most races, it will be the one who spears off the most.

So, only two rounds into the new season and we’re already about to ask you about 2008. Paddock talk suggests you’ll be at Paul Cruickshank Racing next year. We have no doubt it’s a category you see yourself getting back into?

Absolutely. The only reason I came back from Germany was to get into V8 Supercars. That all went well until the season actually started.

My aim is to break back into the championship. The little mishap we had that season set

me back a couple of years but its making me more hungry to get back in and have success.

I love the category, I love the cars. It’s one of the strongest touring car championships in the world at the moment.

It’s looking quite good at the moment. PCR is a great team, I've raced with the before and they have a very solid plan for the future.

Right at this moment, though, nothing is signed off, so until then we’ll keep plugging away.

news

Dirk Klynsmith

19

Winners should be Grinners OPINION Neil Crompton Driver / Commentator race on the day. That sort of confusion starts with the Clipsal 500, where the round winner isn’t necessarily the person who wins the big race on the Sunday.

It carries on into three-race weekends, where a driver can win a couple of races, have one shocker, and not figure in the ‘podium’ at all.

That’s why I prefer to talk about our series as a 37-race championship, rather than a 13round one.

Credit where credit’s due, I reckon.

in a moment of confusion, go your way.

I felt a bit sorry for Mark Winterbottomlast weekend.

He’s a top young driver but, for the second time, a tyre decision turned his weekend upside down (remember he got caught out in NZ with one hot, one cold front tyre after his tyre stop).

And yet on the other hand, things can just fall your way.

The two Triple 8 cars made a

huge gain from their early stop in Race 1, both emerging on wets, and both doing well from then on.

I did hear that, in fact, the team had decided to split their options, retain one car (Whincup) on wets and Craig on slicks – only a miscommunication between Craig and his crew resulted in wets going on.

Sometimes, things just go your way!

Dirk Klynsmith

A CONFUSING exchange between Matty White and myself over the weekend reminded me of one of those little things which grates a bit sometimes.

Matty reckoned we’d had four different round winners, and I disagreed (and I was right).

And it highlighted the occasional confusion and, to my mind reduced credit, that some drivers get – despite being race winners. We’re told one ‘winner’ is a must – that ‘the media’ wants it. Well. I’m media and so are the MNews guys, and I’m not sure we quite agree with that.

The more I think about it, I think we over-emphasise the need to have a ‘round’ winner, who can in theory be someone who hasn’t actually won a

Funny how things can, even

Letters

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

More open-wheeler pilots!

Where is the next Australian F1 driver coming from?

Our Aussie contingent o/s at the moment are doing us proud. We have more depth than that, though. Look at our V8 Supercar and Fujitsu Series – they are stacked with talent.

Our open-wheel classes are being left behind. The V8s are fantastic, and I’m first at the telly when they are on, but are we to watch the Kelly's, Tander, Whincup and the rest of the young drivers go around for another 20 years? It has been proven you can be a V8 driver at 50.

Ever since Tony Gaze fired up the HWM at Silverstone for

20

the 1952 British Grand Prix, us Aussies have been a force to be reckoned with. Our record thus far is up with the best.

It’s not inconceivable that an Aussie driver could take out any title in any class in any country.

Scott Pryce scopryce@hotmail.com Grey skies and blue flags What an exciting weekend of racing at Winton, especially with the weather throwing the entire field into turmoil.

Well done to all teams whose strategy paid off.

Now, down to business. Race 2, in my opinion, was simply disgusting. If race organisers

and marshals don’t know how to use a blue flag, what the bloody hell are they still doing on the calendar?

I, myself, am from Sydney so no one can accuse me of being bias when I say ‘Give the round back to Barbagallo,’ or at least someone who knows how to actually run a race meet.

I can understand when some tracks may be omitted from the calendar due to facilities not being up to standard, but when the marshals are of a low standard, how can V8 Supercars Australia justify keeping Winton part of what is supposed to be the most superior and advanced

touring car championship in the world?

Credit to all those marshals who do such a great job at all other rounds.

Paul Dumbrell has been in this championship for a number of years now, and you would think by now he would know when to move out of the way when he is nowhere near being in contention.

Darren Short Sydney, NSW Dear Mr Cochrane, I am writing to you directly to complain about the disgusting and appalling telecast, or should I say delayed telecast, that the South Australian race

The big two ... and some LIKE last year, the Penske and Ganassi teams stand out for this year’s Indy 500. But there are so many people running strong.

Now you have to throw in, which you didn’t have to consider last year at the beginning of the race … but did as the race went on, Andretti Green Racing. They look like they still are missing what they need to be up front.

In the Indy 500 so many things play out. The fastest car, and I’ve lived it, doesn’t necessarily win the Indy 500.

There are about 12 people who have a shot at being fast enough but just not lucky enough to win.

You also have to factor in the people who have

opinion Scott Goodyear ESPN Indy Commentator experience. Buddy Rice seems to enjoy what he is doing. He understands about letting the race come to him. Will the lower budget teams have the extra 2 - 3 miles per hour if it comes to a shoot out? Maybe not.

I’ve said Michael Andretti could win the 500 with his experience level but at his age (44), he doesn’t have the speed of someone like Sam Hornish.

Michael was very upset with me last year. He came to me and said, ‘You said I’m not fast enough and I can’t win this race.’ I really don’t think he has the speed to hang it out

completely the last five or 10 laps.

I think you will find drivers like Sam Hornish and Marco Andretti will be able to do that.

If Michael is winning with a 10second lead that’s great. But if it comes down to a shoot out it’s a different deal.

There are great stories here this month. Roberto Moreno hasn’t been in this race since 1999 but gets respectable speed in 20 laps. The biggest feel good story is that of Davey Hamilton who has come back since his big accident in 2001 (severe lower leg and foot injuries at Texas Motor Speedway). He looks really respectable and driving for the two-seater program has helped him.

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

fans received from Channel 7 on Sunday.

It seems that Seven has not learnt anything during the 10 years that Channel 10 had controlling rights.

I do understand that they had a responsibility to telecast the Port Adelaide AFL game, but they certainly had no local interest televising the second game between two Victorian teams.

As to the 10:30pm telecast (Channel 7 of old), Race 2 has been severely edited, laps 412 have been chopped and laps 18 - 31 have also been chopped. The Lee Holdsworth incident on lap 17 was shown with no replay or commentary.

Race 3 had lap 13 and part of 14 edited, as well as laps 22-26 and 34-36.

In total, Seven have edited 21 laps out of Race 2 and eighth laps out of Race 3, in doing so have been able to shorten the three hour telecast that all other states received

Reader Scott Pryce wants to know where our next Mark Webber is coming from. Fair question, Scott ...

down to a pathetic 90 minute delayed telecast.

I will look forward to reading your response but please don’t come back with the standard reply of we are getting more motor racing on television. To be honest I don’t go to Clipsal every year for the support acts, and my main interest is the main game. It seems the old adage of ‘If it ain’t broke don’t

fix it’ stands true.

Darren Harvey dcharvey@kern.com.au

Another happy viewer …

I love nothing more than my V8 Supercars, and I like to watch them in the afternoon, not at 10:30 at night.

I am very angry at Channel Seven for showing a lousy football game instead of the

V8s at Winton Raceway.

It was a bad idea for Channel Seven to host the V8s and the footy because I knew that there would be a clash between the both.

Just let Channel Ten host the V8s. At least they could sort things so everyone would be happy.

Mitchell Down bluey_the_bogan@hotmail.com

21

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUND 4 - WINTON

Webbed Whi 22

Dirk Klynsmith

hinner

race

Producing exciting, unpredictable V8 Supercar racing is as simple as adding water ... By GRANT ROWLEY 23

R

AIN is a rare and valuable commodity in Australia these days. Our farmers need it. Our dams need it. And for entertaining racing, V8 Supercars needs it as well.

Jamie Whincup would be the first to agree with that.

In a round of changeable weather conditions, the TeamVodafone driver took his third V8 Supercar round victory with a win and two second places. And that all came after qualifying a lowly 20th!

Whincup’s win was set-up by an awesome Race 1, which had more twists than a Texas tornado.

There were too many twists and turns to document, but at the end of the excitement, it turned out that quick thinking and a bit of luck gave Whincup (among others) a huge advantage, thanks to an early compulsory pit-stop for wet tyres.

Both Race 1 and 2 were semi-wet, and many teams tried varied strategies with different degrees of success. Triple 8, though, had the best ticket. Dragging Whincup from the back to the front was quite a feat and while he admitted he didn’t have the outright speed of the likes of Toll HSV/Holden Racing Team in the dry, he was glad to not just be the top Ford, but the top dog …

“We had a very slow start to the weekend,” he admitted.

“Then the rain came down and we were very, very quick in the wet. We made some massive changes to the car from qualifying which we took a gamble with.

“Towards the end of the race, I was as quick as anyone.”

Second place for the round was Garth Tander, who took the other two race wins, and probably would have won outright, except for a clash in Race 1 with ‘team-mate’ Todd Kelly.

“We had a chat after the race,” Garth said. “But we are still mates.”

Pole-sitter Todd was dirty on himself for bumping GT. “I wish I could do that first race again,” he rued.

“Garth was upset, as he should be. I’m sincerely sorry for that.”

Like the last round at Pukekohe, Rick Kelly joined Garth and Jamie on the podium. Rick maintained an impressive statistic, having finished every race of the 2007 inside the top four. This year’s point system though won’t allow him to cruise and collect …

“To stay at the top of the championship I going to be difficult,” Rick said.

Fourth overall was Greg Murphy. Remember him?

Murph hasn’t been at the top of the results sheets for a while, and even the man himself didn’t expect it, especially considering he didn’t finish Race 1.

Behind Murphy was Lowndes, who suffered from similar setup woes to Whincup in qualifying, but with the aid of rain and strategy, was an equal for almost everyone. A couple of driving errors cost him a chance at a podium finish.

Strategy-wise, Ford Performance Racing outsmarted themselves on more than one occasion. While Steven Richards was leading Race 2, they used the compulsory pit stop to take a gamble and throw on wet tyres, just as the rain re-arrived. It didn’t pay off.

Likewise for Winterbottom, who pitted too early for slicks in Race 1. Sometimes, the cookie doesn’t crumble your way.

The cookie was definitely brittle for James Courtney. The JeldWen driver was one of the few who had slicks on at the end of Race 1, and with four laps to go and running eighth, he looked like the man most likely to win. It wasn’t to be, though. He was held up by a spinning Lowndes, and then passed Rick Kelly under yellow flags on the last corner. Courtney crossed the line third, but was classified 17th.

The next round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series is at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney from June 9-11.

24

race

Dirk Klynsmith

V8 Supercar Championship | Round 4 WINTON Pos #

Dirk Klynsmith

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Driver

Team/Car

Q

r1

r2

r3

88 Jamie Whincup Team Vodafone Falcon BF 20 1 2 2 16 Garth Tander Toll HSVDT Commodore VE 2 4 1 1 1 Rick Kelly Toll HSVDT Commodore VE 7 3 3 3 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Commodore VE 22 DNF 4 7 888 Craig Lowndes Team Vodafone Falcon BF 12 18 6 5 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Falcon BF 17 23 16 12 17 Steven Johnson Jim Beam Racing Falcon BF 13 6 5 DNF 9 Russell Ingall Caltex Racing Falcon BF DNS DNF 8 6 22 Todd Kelly HRT Commodore VE 1 27 11 4 55 Steve Owen Autobarn Racing Commodore VZ 11 13 7 11 25 Jason Bright Fujitsu Falcon BF 10 7 9 24 33 Lee Holdsworth Valvoline Cummins Commodore VZ 6 5 DNF DNS 4 James Courtney Jeld-Wen Motorsport Falcon BF 18 17 15 8 18 Will Davison Jim Beam Racing Falcon BF 15 DNF 14 9 7 Shane Price Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VE 5 10 13 18 67 Paul Morris Team Sirromet Commodore VE 24 8 DNF DNF 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Falcon BF 21 24 12 13 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Falcon BF 23 9 DNF 9 5 Mark Winterbottom FPR Falcon BF 4 26 20 10 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Falcon BF 25 11 22 15 12 Andrew Jones Team BOC Falcon BF 19 DNF 10 20 50 Cameron McConville Supercheap Auto Commodore VZ 28 12 21 22 34 Dean Canto Valvoline Cummins Commodore VE 9 19 23 14 111 John Bowe Glenfords Racing Falcon BF 26 14 DNF 17 26 Alan Gurr IRWIN Racing Falcon BF 30 15 24 25 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE 3 23 DNF 16 39 Fabian Coulthard Team Sirromet Commodore VE 27 20 19 19 20 Paul Dumbrell Supercheap Auto Commodore VE 14 25 25 21 14 Simon Wills Team BOC Falcon BF 29 16 DNF 23 2 Mark Skaife HRT Commodore VE 16 21 17 26 11 Jack Perkins Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE 8 22 18 DNS

Dirk Klynsmith

Points: R Kelly 224, Tander 223, Whincup 168, T Kelly 153, Courtney 112, Skaife 104, Lowndes 104, Johnson 103, Ingall 97, Davison 90, Winterbottom 87, Murphy 83, S Richards 80, Holdsworth 49, Bright 37, Radisich 36, Owen 26, J Richards 25, Wilson 21, Price 16, Morris 14, McConville 13, Canto 11, Bargwanna 11, Bowe 8, Jones 8, Coulthard 2, Gurr 2.

25

Winton Notepad

n A 12 second pit stop for Jason Bright’s #25 Fujitsu Falcon in Race 3 spoiled what was set to be Britek Motorsport’s bestever round result. When Brighty pulled up at his pit bay, the rear wheels didn’t stop spinning, causing the delay. He finished seventh, ninth and 24th in the three races. n One for the historians – Is there something in chassis #10?

Whincup’s car is the same chassis that Craig Lowndes used to take victory at Winton last year.

It’s the chassis’ 10th round win, including Whincup and Lowndes’ Bathurst triumph last year. n Before Winton, Team BOC had no championship points. After Winton, they have championship points – and almost a win!

Andrew Jones was the ‘theoretic’ leader of Race 1, after completing his compulsory pitstop early. With a podium, or at least a top 10 on the cards, Jones was turned around

by Dean Canto. Canto was penalised, and Jones was left thinking what might have been.

26

John Morris/Mpix

THE young Jack Daniel’s Racing pair of Shane Price and Jack Perkins were the surprise packets of qualifying. The former Fujitsu V8 stars qualified fifth and eighth respectively. “(Before the weekend) The team were talking it down, but I feel I would have been disappointed to not be in the top 10 in qualifying,” Jack said.

“We aren’t expecting to be in the top 10 at Eastern Creek.

We’ve never been there in a V8 Supercar, but overall, we’ll be in better positions from here on.”

Racing didn’t go quite to plan for the duo. Shane scored 12 points, while Jack walked away with zero – a non-starter in Race 3 after he sheared a rear axle.

Rain offers hope (and truth) YOU couldn’t imagine a bigger turn around within one team.

Here’s a quick Tasman Motorsport weekend run down. Jason Richards was the team’s quick man in practice and qualifying, despite trying to deal with a car that was ‘almost undriveable’ on the edge. He took third on the grid but speared off in Race 1 on the first lap. Race 2 saw him hit the wall at Penrite. For JR, Winton brought no points.

On the other side of the garage, Greg Murphy was battling early on. He tried his own set-up, JR’s set-up and a combination of both and still couldn’t find the right balance. Subsequently, he qualified 22nd.

Things turned around for the Kiwi hero in Race 1. He was one of the few to put slicks on – and it looked like a Tasman Motorsport master stroke – but it wasn’t to be. Murphy

had two clashes within one corner – the second with Paul Radisich – which broke the steering rack. Murphy’s bad old luck had returned ...

Then came Race 2. Murphy started at the back and finished fourth in the semi-wet race. Seventh in Race 3 gave him fourth outright, but Murph told eNews that there’s still a way to go with the Tasman VEs. “In the wet we had good pace,” he said.

“Going to slicks on the wet track, I was comfortable and made some good headway. “ (But) The last race highlighted our problems. We were nowhere near Toll HSV or Todd. I was holding up Courtney and the mob who were menacing behind.

“The result is really a falsification due to the changeable weather.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

Yellow and Red Cards Practice Pit blend line infringements: James Courtney $300; Simon Wills $300; Paul Radisich $500 (two offences) Pit Lane speeding: Mark Skaife $300 Qualifying Pit lane speeding: Steven Richards $600 Missed scales – loss of times to date: Russell Ingall (at end of session, so rear of grid for Race 1) Race 1 Black flag – rear door opening: John Bowe Pit lane drive-through penalties: Dean Canto (infringement on Andy Jones); Cam

McConville (infringement re John Bowe); James Courtney (passing Rick Kelly under yellows, last corner) Race 2 Pit lane drive through: Dean Canto (infringement re Alan Gurr) Race 3 No judicial matters in Race 3.

TOTAL revenue: $2000 (Fujitsu series drivers proved far more ‘revenuepositive’ at Winton, racking up $4200 in Practice and Qualifying alone ...)

race

Juniors and Seniors

Youth sets the pace but the old blokes regain some respect – well, some of them!

IT’S hard to draw any serious conclusions from a race like Winton, with the conditions turning it into a lottery, but again a number of young blokes showed their more senior team-mates how to do it in terms of raw speed.

However, on this occasion, a couple of the more experienced types came back strongly when the going got really tough.

You have to be mentally tough to deal with that sort of pressure from young teammates, which suggests that maybe Skaifey isn’t one of those handling his team-mate’s pace as well as others. He would have to be the first to admit he had a shocker.

Who’d have thought you’d see Ingall and Murph outside the top 20 in qualifying, but both put in a solid effort to get to the serious end of the

ANALYSIS Tomas Mezera Bathurst champion pack by Sunday afternoon, while their faster team-mates tripped up. I felt sorry for James Courtney, who I think is a talent, copping a penalty for the last-corner pass. I know from experience that the last thing he’d be looking out for at that point, and with no visibility, would be flag points – although perhaps his radio man should have warned him.

There was an interesting contrast in pit calls, and their outcomes, amid all the wet and dry confusion. Good call of the day had to go to Triple 8, who stopped both drivers very early in Race 1 and kept them on wets. When you’re at the back, it’s worth gambling. There’s

MAYBE SKAIFEY ISN'T HANDLING HIS TEAM-MATE'S PACE AS WELL AS OTHERS ... nothing to lose – and in this case, with Safety Car periods, it got both their drivers up near the front and, in Whincup’s case, into a race-winning position.

In contrast, FPR took gambles with both of their drivers – but did so when they were leading. And both times they got it wrong. As it worked out, it was far too soon for Winterbottom to risk slicks in Race 1 and pulling Richo out of the lead for a tyre change on Sunday wasn’t smart either. When you’re leading, you really shouldn’t gamble … It was a shame because both drivers had done a good job – again the

young bloke beating the more experienced one for pace, but Richo was another to do a mature job on race day.

A question or two: I know Todd Kelly took himself out of Race 1 shortly after, but where was the drive-through penalty for that earlier clear punt on Garth Tander? One shouldn’t have affected the other.

And is it true that drivers were told it was okay to cut across the grass, cut out four corners and rejoin if they went off at the sweeper, as long as they gained no places? (ED: Yes!) So … for that error you get no penalty at all? That’s wrong … you should lose places.

Dirk Klynsmith

27

FUJITSU V8 SUPERCARS ROUND 3 - WINTON

Winning without winning

Marshall Cass

He may not have won a race at Winton, but Tony D’Alberto won the round – and is looking red hot for the championship. By ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

W

HEN Tony D’Alberto took his maiden Fujitsu V8 Supercar round win at Wakefield Park last month, he did so with only one race win from the three. When he backed that round win up by taking out Round 3 at Winton last weekend, he didn’t need to win a race at all.

Consistency was the key for Holden’s main man in the development series, running right at the pointy end all weekend to not only guarantee round honours, but build a mighty handy lead in the standings. His position was safe enough that when it came to battling for the Race 3 win with Andrew Thompson, D’Alberto was happy to think big picture and let Thompson go.

“The first race Thompson got away really quick, so we tried to make the car come on earlier,” he said.

“And it did, and it was really good that first few laps, but it became a bit of a handful at the end. Andrew had more

28

speed this weekend so we’re happy to be on the podium.”

Having struggled through the year’s opening two rounds at Adelaide and Wakefield Park, Thompson looked to be getting his campaign back on track after dominating Race 1 at Winton. But Race 2 would be his downfall, a poor set-up making his car slow in the damp conditions and forcing him back to 26th – well and truly out of the points.

He recovered in the final, hunting down early leader D’Alberto before breezing past and cruising to a two-second victory. “[Race 2] cost us the weekend,” he said.

“But we had really good dry pace and had a good race set-up” Third for the round was Kayne Scott, who, freed from his NZV8 commitments across the Tasman, was able to give it a good shake at the front of the Fujitsu field.

Having finished hot on the heels of secondplaced D’Alberto in the opening race, the Kiwi finished fifth in the wet Race 2 and a

lonely third in the final.

Making the most of the reverse-Top Ten start to the second race was Luke Youlden. The local grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Robbie Jones on the second lap, before driving into the distance in his HPMbacked ageing AU Falcon. Having finished ninth in the first race, Youlden looked on for a solid round result heading into the final race. But a jump start from the front row and subsequent drive-through penalty dropped him to 15th.

D’Alberto’s good weekend was made even better by the absence of Michael Caruso at the front of the field in the opening race. His Ford Rising Star machine struck differential problems just laps from the finish, the DNF furthering the gap between Caruso and D’Alberto in the points. Caruso finished fifth in the final.

Points: D’Alberto 181, Caruso 122, Jonathon Webb 93, Scott 92, Thompson 88, Damien White 75, Jose Fernandez 70, Marcus Zukanovic 65, Tim Slade 53, Marcus Marshall 52.

John Morris/Mpix John Morris/Mpix

John Morris/Mpix

Soggy sorrow: The wet Race 2 killed Thompson’s weekend, top. But it worked well in the favour of Luke Youlden, left, who was able to rack up HPM Racing’s first win. Robbie Jones, above, made a return to the series, and to the Top 10. Another surprise Top 10 finisher was Kiwi debutant Gene Rollinson, below. Marcus Zukanovic had a good weekend in the ex-Toll HSVDT VZ Commodore, below left.

Dirk Klynsmith

John Morris/Mpix

29

Marshall Cass

Just like Garth: Nick Percat was sec ond Walkinshaw-backed for the round in his #16 Spectrum.

Marshall Cass

Blanchard breaks away Sonic youngster grabs Formula Ford title lead with three from three at Winton FORMULA FORD SECOND generation Formula Forder Tim Blanchard has taken control of the Australian Formula Ford Championship thanks to three race wins at the third round at Winton last weekend.

The young Victorian dominated proceedings from start to finish, claiming pole position and leading each lap of all three races through the wet conditions. And thanks to his closest championship rivals James Moffat and Ash Walsh both recording poor results, the weekend also saw

30

Blanchard move 30-points clear in the Championship.

“It’s been a really good weekend,” beamed Blanchard after the final.

“I think the slippery conditions this weekend really suited the Mygale. We’ve done a lot of testing and a lot of hard work and the results proved that.”

But while Blanchard had everything go his way, the same couldn’t be said for Walsh. Having qualified a close second, Walsh’s weekend came crashing down when he tagged Blanchard in an attempt to snatch the lead in

Race 1. The incident resulted in a DNF for Walsh and Taz Douglas, who struck Walsh’s wounded Spectrum on the way past and was pitched into the wall. Walsh recovered to finish fifth in the final.

Moffat’s weekend wasn’t much better. Having finished fifth (from 15th on the grid) and second in the opening two races, Moffat was slow away in the final after failing to see the starting lights. He was subsequently struck from behind by the luckless Douglas, who had recovered from the Race 1 crash to make his way to fourth in Race

2. The contact ended both drivers’ race on the spot.

The demise of Moffat and Douglas allowed Nick Percat to storm to second place, consolidating his top five finishes from the opening races and securing second for the round.

Kristian Lindbom had a quiet weekend on his way to being the best-placed CAMS Rising Star, finishing fifth, third and third from the three races to be third for the round.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN Points: Blanchard 156, Moffat 126, Lindbom 112, Walsh 78, Glen Wood 74.

race

Davo’s day in the rain Alex Davison makes hay at Winton CARRERA CUP

Dirk Klynsmith

ON a weekend where there were three different winners from three races, Alex Davison took out the second round of the Porsche Carrera Cup at Winton.

Davison wasn’t the fastest man all weekend, but he certainly was the most consistent. Having chipped away with second place finishes in Races 1 and 2, the OAMPS pilot drove a faultless final race to take the win and round honours.

“It was good to finish on a high note as at the start of the weekend I felt I wasn’t on pace with the others,” said Davison.

“I learnt from last year you can’t afford to have a bad round, so I’m pushing as hard as possible.”

Early in the weekend the round looked to belong

to Craig Baird. Having comfortably taken out the first race, Baird stormed into a massive lead in the second race. But then came the rain, the slippery conditions catching out Tony Quinn and causing a Safety Car. Baird’s race went sour on the restart, running off the road and handing the lead, and eventually the win, to Marcus Marshall.

Baird recovered to finish sixth in the final, but it wasn’t enough to retain his championship lead.

With second for the round going to Marshall, David Reynolds was shuffled back to third for the weekend, having scored two fourth place finishes and a third in Race 2.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN Points: Davison 336, Baird 282, Reynolds 276, David Russell 192, Marshall 189.

King of the dark PERFORMANCE CARS

16th in Race 2 after having a collision with Graham Alexander. He recovered to finish third in the final.

In the Privateers Cup, newcomer to the category Jim Pollicina clinched victory

in front of Anthony Loscialpo and Peter Leenhuis, with only two points separating the trio.

– AARON SHAW Points: King 58, Young 56, Nesbitt 50, Alford 38, Philip 38.

Dirk Klynsmith

MARK King and his Mitsubishi Evo dominated Round 1 of the Australian Performance Car Championship by winning two races over Gary Young at Winton Raceway last weekend.

King started from pole position and scored the Race 1 victory with headlights ablaze after a fantastic start.

Race 2 he proved to be just as dominant in the shortened six lap race.

“The cool conditions really suited the turbo,” King said.

“We have also been developing a new spring which we used this round and with the new control tyre it made the car handle superbly.”

The final 18-lap event with a compulsory tyre change was won by Young who jumped King in the pits with a lightning quick stop.

James Philip claimed third overall for the meeting despite having a turbulent weekend that saw him finish

31

Vermeulen break

Y

beamed the Aussie.

“I am really happy for myself, my crew and everyone involved in the team. We’d had a difficult weekend coming into the race as not everything quite went to He may hate riding in plan. the rain but, from a grid 12 “The conditions were slippery starting position, the Suzuki to start with and it was difficult rider mastered it at Le Mans to know how hard to push. on Sunday, to shrug off the Some guys came past me challenge of rain-master Marco and then a lap or so later they Melandri and ease away to a crashed!” comfortable win.

Although the race started in “I’m absolutely over the moon!”

OUNG Aussie Chris Vermeulen has grabbed his first MotoGP win in dramatic and, ultimately, poignant circumstances (see news pages).

32

dry conditions, light mist soon turned to heavy rain.

Forcing a switch to rain tyreequipped bikes, Vermeulen was one of the first to switch and soon found solid pace, sweeping past Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha, Casey Stoner on the Ducati, and Melandri.

The second Aussie in the race, Stoner, rode a mature race for third, extending his championship points lead over Rossi (who ultimately struggled,

to finished sixth), to 21.

W

ORLD championship leader Jorge Lorenzo extended his lead in the 250s, with a win over Andrea Dovizioso and Alex De Angelis, while Sergio Gadea took his first ever 125 win, from Lukas Pesek (Derbi – extending his championship lead), with young Brit Bradley Smith earning his first podium.

race

ks through Le Mans is an historic place, the perfect venue for Chris Vermeulen to score his first MotoGP win

Winning is such a yawn! Vermeulen and Stoner share the podium with Marco Melandri at Le Mans. Two Aussies from three. We are not complaining at all ...

33

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 7 - SARDINIA

Luck of the Finnish Sebastien Loeb may have all the speed at the moment, but slow and steady got Marcus Gronholm the win in Sardinia. As for the championship, it’s officially game on

T

HE 2007 Rally Italia almost followed the script – Sebastien Loeb comes flying out of the blocks, builds a 30something second lead over the first couple of days and then cruises to victory, leaving Marcus Gronholm to lead home a bunch of Ford Focus’s.

But there was only one difference.

Having done the flying start and 30something second lead part, Loeb actually made a mistake on the final day. No, that’s not a typo. Sebastien Loeb threw away certain victory by simply running wide and collecting a rock during the final leg’s first stage.

“I felt that I wasn’t driving well and I had to push myself,” explained Loeb.

“It was starting to get a little better, but about halfway into the stage, on a fast portion which I had noted a little too

34

optimistically, I hit the crest a little too fast and the car went light. I was no longer on the ideal line for the following right-hander and I had a wheel slightly on the verge.”

The big winner was, naturally, Gronholm.

Having not had the speed to run with Loeb early in the rally, he was gifted the win, and the championship lead, thanks to Loeb’s mistake.

“It’s nice to see he does not drive like a machine all the time!” Gronholm said.

“It’s a great feeling to be back on top of the podium and the team deserves this result because everyone has been working so hard.”

Gronholm led home his factory Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen and Citroen number two Dani Sordo.

Included in the hard luck stories was Stobart Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala, who

led the rally early during the first leg. He was running second when he hit a rock during the fifth stage, taking him out of contention.

Chris Atkinson also found a rock on the first day, ending any chance of a good result in the Subaru Impreza. Having lost so much time thanks to the crash, the rest of the event became a test for Atkinson.

“I don’t like to make excuses, but it was almost as if somebody had put the rocks there,” said Atkinson.

“Hitting those rocks on SS5 was a big setback for our rally and I’m disapointed in light of the competitive stage times we set on the first morning. Those times were a clear sign of this car’s potential.”

Points: Gronholm 55, Loeb 48, Hirvonen 44, Sordo 28, Henning Solberg 20, Petter Solberg 20.

race

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

Crunch and jump: Loeb was cruising to yet another victory when a rock jumped out and attacked the front of his Citroen, left. ‘Atko’ had a similar problem on the opening day, but still found time to jump for joy, above.

sutton-images.com

35

GLOBE TROTTER sutton-images.com John Morris/Mpix

BRITISH F3 AUSSIE John Martin has taken his best ever F3 result on the streets of Bucharest in Romania.

Martin came home fourth in the second race on the street circuit, having charged from outside the Top 10 at the start.

The first race of the weekend was less successful for Martin, coming home 14th.

Marko Asmer and Sam Bird shared the race wins.

Morley wins NSW FFord NSW STATE SERIES REIGNING champion Ben Morley has bounced back to the winner’s circle, claiming the second round of the NSW State Formula Ford Championship last weekend at Eastern Creek Raceway ahead of Rob Storey and Daniel Erickson.

Morley and Storey battled it out throughout the weekend with Storey taking pole position ahead of Morley and

Team Sydney driver Glenn Welch, while in the opening race Morley claimed the victory spoils with Storey and Tom Tweedie making up the podium.

In Race 2 it was Storey that pipped Morley at the line in what was a thrilling finish, with Welch trailing them in third place. The third and final race of the weekend saw Morley and Storey continue their exciting battle, ending in Morley’s favour.

Others winners over the course of the weekend included Adam Proctor (Formula Vee), Chris Jackson (Sports Sedans), Edward Gavin (AF2 / Supersports), Peter Grant (Clubman Challenge), Geoff Fear (Improved Production Over 2 Litre), Jacky Yick (Improved Production Under 2 Litre), Jim Stewart (Combined Touring), Garry Pilkington (HQ Holdens), and Iain Pretty (Production Sports).

– DANIEL POWELL

King dominates South Oz SA STATE SERIES STAR MAZDA

36

Paris Charles

ACROSS the Atlantic, James Davison was on the pace in Star Mazda.

Having qualified fastest, Davison finished second in Utah to Lorenzo Mandorino.

“I am very happy with my performance under pressure this weekend, claiming pole position in the dying moments of qualifying and recovering from my mistake early on to claim second on the last lap," he said.

"It was a fantastic race at a great track.”

Davison now sits second in the series behind Dane Cameron. The next round will be run in conjunction with the Champ Car World Series in Portland.

ROUND 2 of the South Australian Motor Racing Championships was held last weekend at Mallala Motorsport Park.

The Formula Ford category saw a close battle between Graham Knuckey and Robert Munnerley. Knuckey started the weekend with two race wins while Munnerley retaliated with a win in the next two races. Munnerley eventually sealed the deal by driving his GJ Gardner Homes Spectrum to victory in the final race, taking the round win.

An impressive driving performance in the Saloon Cars saw Wayne King dominate the round. The Falcon driver took victories in all five of the weekend’s races, taking victory for the round with ease.

The battle up-front in the HQ Holdens was immense as Gavin Porteous and Mark Jones fought for the round win.

Splitting the wins between themselves in the first four races, Porteous was able to revive from fifth position from

Race 4 to win the final race. This left the pair equal on points at the end of the round.

The Formula Vee category was won by Michael O’Donnell who achieved top two finishes in all five races.

– DANIEL JORDAN

race

Harvick takes All-Star crown NASCAR KEVIN Harvick is now a million dollars richer thanks to the annual non-points Nextel AllStar Challenge at Lowes Motor Speedway last Saturday night.

The Nextel Open started with a bang when race favourite Juan Pablo Montoya executed a three-wide move at the start, and carried so much speed entering Turn 1 that he slipped and wiped out a handful of cars.

“What a dumb butt,” said one of his victims Joe Nemechek.

“He’ll get it back.”

From there on the race continued to be a wreck-fest, with race dominator Carl Edwards getting passed by

NASCAR Media

WA STATE SERIES

DTM

FORMER World Champion Mika Hakkinen took his second DTM race win at Lausitz last weekend.

The Fin was awarded the win, although not after grumblings from several Audi drivers regarding positions following a Safety Car period.

Paul di Resta and Bruno Spengler rounded out the podium.

Thompson does the double in Spain WTCC JAMES Thompson was the big winner at Valencia last weekend, taking a World Touring Car double.

The Alfa Romeo pilot took a straight forward victory from pole position in Race 1, before firing his way from eighth on the grid to take the double in Race 2.

sutton-images.com

THERE was carnage at Barbagallo Raceway last weekend, with crashes in both HQs and Saloon Cars.

Myrv Nabbs and Rob Bateman got involved in a crunching tussle in the second HQ race, pictured, while Paul Williums and Peter

Bowra tangled during the Saloon Cars.

In the winner's circle was Cade Bell, who dominated Formula Ford, Grant Johnson did likewise in Saloon Cars, while Matt Cherry and Troy Stones shared honours in Street Cars.

Jez Hammond set the pace in Formula Vee.

Hak is bak

sutton-images.com

Brian White

Crunch in the West

both Martin Truex and Johnny Sauter late in the going.

The first three segments of the All Star Challenge were somewhat mundane, with Matt Kenseth heading the way after 60 laps. But he was nabbed for speeding exiting pit road, and started at the rear for the final 20-lapper.

Just three laps into the final segment Kyle Busch went low on brother Kurt and wiped them both out, causing the only caution of the race, and although Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin came within striking distance of Harvick, neither could make a serious challenge for the win.

– MARTIN D CLARK

The BMW pair of Jorg Muller and Andy Priaulx finished the weekend second and third respectively.

37

38

39

40

rear of grid

Youngsters on the up ... but someone needs a break. The Punter watched the Winton action from the hill ...

T

the Sweeper, you rely on the track commentary to keep you up to date. It did, and there was plenty going on.

Compared with last year the supporting races were miles better and as such there was plenty to watch apart from the main event. Having the Fujitsu V8s at the same race meeting is a big plus and having their main race after the last V8 race (for TV reasons I know), actually was a plus – some of the less-interested spectators around us drifted off home after Whincup won, so when we came to go there wasn’t the usual crush.

Worth considering by other promoters?

EVEN THE STRONGEST HOLDEN SUPPORTER AMONG US WAS SHAKING HIS HEAD ON SATURDAY WHEN #2 KEPT SPEARING OFF THE ROAD. WAS IT SEVEN TIMES?

S

kaifey needs a holiday.

Even the strongest Holden supporter among us was shaking his head on Saturday when the #2 car kept spearing off the road. Was it seven times?

All the stuff that’s been going on with HRT and who owns it and all the other stuff he’s involved in has to have a price. Right now things are worse than when he owned

Odd Spot

Peter Bury

HE Punter, suitably wellprepared for the dour weather, had a superb weekend at Winton and there was plenty to keep our little group (a cosy mix of Ford and Holden types) talking.

It was a lot to expect Larry Perkins’ two youngsters to carry on and get top 10 results in such mixed conditions, but I hope the pair get the credit that’s due for their qualifying performance – both in the top 10.

I know it is their home track, so if ever there was going to be a strong result it was here, but there were quite a few other ‘home track’ runners behind the JD pair.

It’s been a show of faith by Perkins’ sponsors to go with two young and inexperienced drivers, but maybe Larry’s grow-your-own driver philosophy might just work out.

The rest of the weekend provided the sort of confusion you get when the weather is so hit and miss. And where we are, across the back of the circuit between Turn Four and

the team outright (before Walkinshaw came back).

Take a week or two off mate, and clear the head. Rejuvenate.

The other three in the team

(ooops, I mean in the two teams …) are all putting it together. If this was footy, you might find yourself on the bench for a quarter.

CRA$H COUR$E sutton-images.com

ATTENTION all Formula Ford drivers.

Please print off the following photo and attach it to the inside of your toolbox, so next time you take a corner off your Spectrum or Mygale or whatever you drive, you can thank the heavens that it won’t be as expensive as fixing this guy’s old EuroBoss car.

Or the two historic Grand Prix cars he smashed in to.

41