Motorsport eNews Issue 53 - May 6-13, 2008

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 053 6- 13 May 2008

Funny Car Returns

AUSTRALIA TO TAKE ON THE UNITED STATES IN JANUARY WILLOWBANK WARFARE

Denyer’s duties

TV star locks in endurance drive

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Phillip Mahoney philm@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

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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: Will Buxton, Mark Glendenning, 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, 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, Geoff Gracie, Ash Budd, Paris Charles, 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.

Issue No. 053 | 06 - 12 May 2008

news 4 Comedy Cars

6 Short and steady 8 Power fastest!

10 Borland’s moves 18 Mighty MINIs

chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 22 Branagan race 24 NASCAR 28 A1GP 32 Drags 36 OS wrap 39 Karting

FCs for Willowbank FRSR enduro drivers End the month of May now!

Three chats with Zsidy Tune, White and Leanne Garth Tander Parity is a dirty word Bowyer sneaks through Curry in a hurry ...

Nitro explosion Ricciardo’s Renault run McBride dominates

trade 40 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome Here is a look at Borland Racing Development’s new toyshop ...

International photos supplied by Sutton Images, www.sutton-images.com – click here to check out their exclusive poster deals

!

S E K O J O N

Funny Car’s world-class return Willowbank Raceway to host two Funny Car meetings in early 2009 DRAG RACING FUNNY Car racing is returning to the east coast, with two major meetings planned for Willowbank Raceway in January.

Motorsport eNews expects an announcement in a week that a New Year’s Series, in part to replace the Sydney-bound Nationals, will take place, with possibly a frontline USA team and driver competing against a large field of local drivers.

Along with the return of the floppers, which have not been a feature of racing for almost a decade, the second weekend is expected to feature a major Top Fuel field with, again, possibly an American contingent.

While the Funny Cars have not raced on the east coast in recent years, there appear to be few problems attracting a healthy local field. As many as 12 up-todate cars are in Australia, with Darren

DiFilippo importing a brand new chassis complete and two ex-Jerry Toliver Toyota Celica bodies, an ex-Toliver Pontiac owned

by Aaron Lynch and Allan Greene’s Greene Machine Camaro.

Along with that, the Atholwood Brothers have two complete cars, one an ex-Densham car that landed in Oz last summer. And of course, there is some talk that Peter Russo might bring back his operation to Australia ...

FOR FORMULA 1, MOTOGP AND WRC NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS CLICK HERE TO

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Parity Changes?

V8SA looks to review parity system trigger point DRAG RACING THE system that regulates the parity between Holdens and Fords in V8 Supercars could be reviewed in the coming weeks.

Following requests by two Holden teams, the performances of the two marques in the opening three races of the 2008 championship was reviewed and the trigger point, at which adjustments may be recommended, was not reached. However, V8 Supercars Australia may look at a review of the system, in which a predetermined number of laps of the leading cars of each make are compared in a mathematical formula.

V8SA Chief Executive Officer Wayne Cattach said that he supported having the system reviewed independently.

“There is some interest in having it reviewed from the Holden teams,” he said. “We have submissions by two Holden teams, asking for it to be clarified.

“The board, I think, is sympathetic to that view. There is some concern that about the last time that there was talk of the trigger point being reached, last year, and they found that it was not the case.”

But Cattach is clear that his preference would be that the system is reviewed by an independent body, as the V8SA board is, in part, composed of representatives of two members from each manufacturer.

“I think that [an independent review] has to be the case. We have got it remarkably right over the years, you have to take out of play that the side with the best lobbying will get its way.”

CLARIFICATION: V8 Television and Team Kiwi Racing MOTORSPORT eNews wishes to clarify a news story in last week’s edition regarding a report on Team Kiwi Racing on the V8Xtra television program.

While the television report discussed the potential for change of team ownership, there was no suggestion that the team was fighting off closure. Apologies to all concerned for the error.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

O ACCESS THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

BRIEFLY... n THE television coverage of the Bathurst 1000 has won a Logie Award for the Best Sports coverage of 2007.

The race beat out coverage of the AFL Grand Final, the Australian Open tennis, the Ashes Test Cricket Series and the World Swimming Championships. It was the fourth such award for the race in the last five years, and the first in partnership with the Seven Network.

n John Bowe will slide into the driving seat of Andrew Fellowes’ ex-Tim Schenken Brabham-FVA F3 car at the forthcoming Winton Historic meeting. JB drove the 38 year-old car briefly during the Speed on Tweed event, but is “looking forward to having a proper drive on a race track.” n Jason Bright will debut a brand-new Fujitsu Ford falcon at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

“This is a key moment for our team,” said Bright.

“Not only does it represent the first truly designed and built Britek race car, we are confident that it will give us a lift in performance on the track.

“You never stop learning in this game and all lessons we learnt from the previous car, plus our own ideas, have been integrated into this chassis.

Bright will be hoping, though, that his new toy leaves the circuit in better shape than his last adventure west. His aliging car was struck by Jason Richards in practice, taking Bright out for the weekend.

Dirk Klynsmith

n As expected, Tony Cochrane has been appointed the Chairman of V8 Supercars Australia’s combined board.

Cochrane, who has served in the position since 1997, was re-elected unanimously.

Rising (TV) Stars Denyer to partner Patrizi at Phillip Island and Bathurst V8 SUPERCARS GRANT Denyer will drive the Ford Rising Star Racing Falcon at Phillip Island and Bathurst this year.

Denyer will team up with Michael Patrizi in the #777 Falcon for the two endurance races.

The TV presenter has driven for the team in the past, completing the majority of last year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Denyer is competing in the Fujitsu Series this year with Matthew White Racing. He currently is placed seventh in the Development Series, and

is leading the MINI Challenge one-make series. Denyer will be at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend, competing in the MINI series.

An announcement on Denyer’s drive with FRSR will be aired on Channel 7 on Thursday morning.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Polities honoured at Barbagallo V8 SUPERCARS FORD’S racing in this weekend’s fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series will carry tributes to Geoff Polites.

The Falcons will wear a black oval with the

word ‘Geoff’ inside, in remembrance of the late ex-president of the company. A service was held at the MCG last week, attended by many luminaries of the sport (including exFord boss Tom Gorman) and personalities from the AFL world.

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Marshall Cass

Looking Pretty in Black V8 SUPERCARS LOOK for Nathan Pretty to drive in black at Phillip Island and Bathurst this year.

The twice-a-year Holden specialist is set to drive for Jack Daniel’s Racing at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and the Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst.

And Pretty could partner Todd Kelly in the lead #7 JDR Commodore VE, with regular JDR driver Shane Price likely to pair up with Jack Perkins in the #11 machine.

Pretty driving with Kelly will be a unification of sorts. The pair drove together in 2000 at the Queensland 500 in the second HRT Commodore, before pairing up for Bathurst in the Young Lions Commodore, finishing sixth.

In the meantime, Kelly will debut a new Perkins VE Commodore this weekend in the Perth 400 at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

“The new Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore is a very, very nice race car so I’m rapt that it’s got my name on it,”

Kelly said.

“The car has actually been finished for some time. We’d originally planned to have it on track at the Melbourne Grand Prix, but rather than continuing to run what we already had, we’ve evolved its design.

“Hamilton proved we were on the right track with the upgrades, so the time was right to introduce the new car.

“We really only previously had a top 15 car, but I’m confident we will now be well inside the top 10.”

BRIEFLY...

n While all eyes were

on the kiddies on the first Orientation Day, there are several veterans returning to the Speedway this year.

Buddy Lazier, the 2000 IndyCar champion, is returning for his 16th 500 with Hemelgarn Racing, the team that took him to his only 500 win in 1996. n Another American veteran lining up for the month of May is Davey Hamilton. He will make his return with Vision Racing, Tony George’s team, in the third seat for the 92nd running of the Indy 500, joining team-mates Ed Carpenter and A.J. Foyt IV. n Want $10K and all the pasta sauce you can make?

Tomato producer Red Gold will award US $10,000 to the driver who posts the quickest lap time and qualifies on Bump Day. – MARY MENDEZ

Day 1: Australi sutton-images.com

n Indy is at Indy. Marco Andretti’s Andretti Green entry for the Indy 500 is adding Blockbuster Video and LucasFilm to its list of sponsors, as part of the hype surring the launchg of the new movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Walker at Indy?

INDYCAR WALKER Racing may still make it into the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

Although the team no longer has a Dallara at his shop to compete in the IndyCar series, having it reassigned to one of the transitioning Champ Car teams because cars were in short supply, the team is searching for a budget to do the race.

Originally, Walker Racing was ‘paired’ with Team Penske for equipment and assistance.

With a modest Indy budget, Walker Racing could be very competitive in this year’s 500.

“There is a possibility of fielding an Indy 500 entry,” said Derrick Walker.

“We have a good relationship with an existing team, who will help us pull the equipment together that we need. The only thing that I need to do now is to get the money. That’s my mission.”

– MARY MENDEZ

INDYCAR WILL Power has made an impressive start to his first assault on the Indianapolis 500 by topping the opening day of the Rookie Orientation for the 2008 race.

The Queenslander led the five drivers who took to the famed 2.5-mile track in the first of two days of testing before the experienced drivers take over.

Under the watchful eyes of multi-winners Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr and Johnny

Rutherford, five drivers demonstrated that they could complete four 10-lap phases at increasing speeds to acclimatise to the track.

“A lot of people have said Indy is a lot like a super fast road course,” said Power after his first day.

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ia 1, USA 0

Sam, Dario Staying Put

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IndyCar Media

“It is in between a banked oval and a flat road course.

When I first went out I thought, ‘Man, this is quick!

How the hell do you go flat here?’ If you make a mistake here, you are in a bit of trouble. By the end of the day, I felt real comfortable and ended up flat. Now we’ll start trimming out the car.”

– MARY MENDEZ

No Indy 500 one-off for recent winners INDYCAR

IndyCar Media

THE winners of the last two Indianapolis 500s, Sam Hornish and Dario Franchitti, will not race in the 2008 race.

Although Team Penske entered a third car with Hornish’s NASCAR #77, Roger Penske has insisted that Hornish will focus on his commitments for the Charlotte Coca-Cola 600, held on the same day. Penske’s greatest love in racing is still the Indy

500 and third car could go unfilled or be leased out to another team.

Likewise, Chip Ganassi has said no to Dario Franchitti doing the double, the Indy 500 and Charlotte 600, on the same day. Although, Franchitti’s fractured left ankle from a NASCAR Nationwide Series accident at Talladega will keep him out of the car a couple more weeks, he is expected to run at Charlotte.

– MARY MENDEZ

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Is Danica the next F1 tester?

Marco Andretti has tested a Honda F1 car ... is America’s leading lady the next IndyCar driver to cross the divide for a test?

INDYCAR DANICA Patrick is in line to test a Formula 1 car in the near future.

Honda F1’s Chief Executive Nick Fry has told Britain’s Autosport magazine that he is open to testing the 26-year-old Motegi 300 winner.

“We haven’t instigated anything, but if Danica wanted to be test driver then we’d be more than happy to talk about it,” Fry said.

Patrick is in the second year of her Andretti Green Racing contract, which is likely a two-year contract with an option for a third year in 2009.

“Every driver would love to drive a Formula 1 car at some point in their life,” Patrick said.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a real, proper test. I was asked to do a demonstration lap at Indy in 2005, and I said, ‘No way. You’re making me a show.

That’s embarrassing.’

“But I would say that a real test is absolutely something I would do.”

Honda has already shown an interest in American drivers, with Patrick’s AGR team-mate Marco Andretti testing with the F1 team twice, above.

Danica turned some heads when she appeared as a guest of Roush Fenway Racing at the NASCAR Phoenix Sprint Cup race prior to Motegi.

Some owners, like Jack Roush, are open-minded to run a female driver with sponsor backing.

Being desirable certainly will raise Patrick’s value in negotiations for a third AGR season.

– MARY MENDEZ

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Evangelou set for Fujitsu V8 return FV8 stalwart to get “back on the bike” in the next round at Sandown

FUJITSU V8s ANT Racing and Tony Evangelou will return to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series in the next round at Sandown Raceway on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.

Evangelou, who has not contested a V8 Supercar race since his one-off main series

race in the final round of the 2006 V8 Supercar Series at Phillip Island, will complete a test at Winton before making his racing comeback.

Evangelou is excited to be getting back in the saddle.

“It shouldn’t take too long to get back on the pace – it’s just like riding a bike,” he said.

“I think race fitness is what

will take time to get used to again. Driving the car is no different, but racing in the pack will be one of my focuses.

The test day at Winton should help. I won’t have a problem, though. I’m really looking forward to it.

Evanglou’s ex-Ford Performance Racing BA was driven last year by Tim Slade

and Luke Youlden, with Youlden taking victory at the Bathurst Fujitsu round.

The #30 Falcon will run in an all-red colour scheme with backing from minor sponsors.

Evangelou last drove at Sandown with Anthony Tratt in the 500km main series race in 2005.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Tander calls for more Marshals FUJITSU V8s GARTH Tander has called for a greater level of flag marshalling a future rounds of the Australian Formula 3 Championship.

The Tandersport co-owner is disappointed with the amount of damage in a multi-car accident at Oran Park last month, which caused $10,000 worth of damage to the Dallara driven by his wife Leanne.

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The wreck also involved Graeme Holmes, Mat Sofi, Jesse Wakeman and Mathew Radisich, the latter two forced out for the weekend with cars that were vitually written-off.

“The Australian series is a national championship and the series promoters asked the categories to increase the size of their grids this season,” Tander said today.

“Formula 3 did a good job with that, but to have three cars put out for the weekend and, in all probability, two for the season,

simply through a lack of facilities like flag marshals, is a little unprofessional.”

Tander pointed out that the recent difficulties that the category has faced, like the demise of series sponsor Opes Prime, has presented F3 with challenges that it has overcome.

“We had $10,000 damage and we got off the lightest. But to have two cars written off is devastating, to the teams and the series. It was a completely avoidable situation.”

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Marshall Cass

Sieders back with Britek Falcon FUJITSU V8s

COLIN Sieders will lease Britek Motorsport’s spare Falcon for the next round of the Fujitsu V8 Series at Sandown.

After being involved in the major start line shunt at Wakefield Park last month, Sieders has struck a deal with the Jason Bright team for Sandown, with the aim of using the car (BM002, last raced by Alan Gurr last year, above) for the remainder of the season.

It will be Sieders first race in a BA, having

only raced one of Ford’s aging AUs. “I can’t wait,” he said.

“It will be my first race in a BA, so I’m not expecting to win, but it’s a big step forward from what I’ve been driving.”

The Sieders Racing Team will run the car alongside his brother’s Gulf Western Oils BA, and will receive technical support from Britek.

“Bright’s team has really looked after us on this deal,” he said.

“It was too good of an offer to refuse and we thank them for their help in our situation.

Oh, what an Aussie! ARC confirms Toyota support AUSSIE RACING CARS AS previously reported by eNews, Toyota has confirmed that it will join the Aussie Racing Cars Super Series with the TRD Aurion sedan.

Toyota has expressed its desire to have at least four cars competing in the second half of the 2008 season.

“Toyota’s involvement is a glowing endorsement of the credibility of the category,” said Category Manager Phil Ward.

“It gives the series another level of interest and it will be wonderful having a major manufacturer involved.”

Toyota Motorsport Manager

“I want to be inside the top 10. I’d like to be further up, but I won’t really know its true potential until I sit in it and drive.

“The Britek boys are going to mount my hand clutch for me. That should be pretty straight forward.

“It’s going to be great. We’ve never had data from a main series team before so that is going to be heaps better for us.”

Sieders plans to test at Oran Park before Sandown. The last time Sieders raced at Sandown was in the Aussie Racing Cars, where the Sieders boys finished first and second for the round.

Micro machine: The Aussie Racing Cars organisers hopes that Toyota factory support will see more manufacturers join in the fun.

Todd Connolly is excited to be joining the category.

“Toyota is really pleased to join such a fun, popular and exciting series as Aussie Racing Cars,” he said.

“It is a great grass-roots category for young drivers to showcase their talent and for experienced campaigners to race competitively at a minimal cost.”

Adam Gowans will drive one of the TRD Aurions while another car we see guests drivers take on the category including Simon Evans and Neal Bates.

And expect to see other wellknown faces involved in the series, driving the Toyotas.

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New shop for local FFords FORMULA FORD BEFORE Borland Racing Developments gets too excited about heading to the USA, the Formula Ford constructor has taken the wraps off its new toyshop.

BRD’s Braeside, Melbourne base was recently extended, giving the team the opportunity expand on its unique brand of localdeveloped chassis.

“It’s to accommodate not only the size of the business now, but it’s intended to see us through some future growth,” Paul Zsidy said.

“Not for a second do we pretend that we’ve just put in a million dollar machining centre, but the investment of doubling the size of the factory has been significant.”

Zsidy confirmed that while

there has been the opportunity to expand its business into other formulas, Formula Ford remains its core business.

“There’s always been the potential and interest to take on other projects, but first and foremost, we are a Formula Ford manufacturer and that is a distinction we like to make,” he said.

“Formula Ford is what we do, and if Borland Racing continues for 30 or 40 years into the future, whatever form Formula Ford exists at that point, we’d like to think that BRD will still be at the forefront of the design and production of those cars.”

However, there are other avenues of race engineering that Borland’s team have looked at pursuing.

“There are always other opportunities that come

along,” he said.

“It would be great to have the bandwidth to do more historic restoration work. There are some lovely historic cars out there that are being raced, and that’s something that

we have expertise in, we just haven’t had time to take those projects on. It would be nice, moving forward, if we could have the capacity to take those on.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

New sponsor for Carrera Cup CARRERA CUP COMPLISPACE will be the major sponsor of Carrera Cup at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

The Porsches will race in Perth as the primary support category to the V8 Supercars Championship Series, and all 20 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) cars will be adorned with the distinctive CompliSpace logo across the windscreen.

CompliSpace is an internet based corporate governance instrument that produces tailor-made policies for business compliance and workplace safety.

Carrera Cup Australia CEO Theo Psaros welcomed the addition of CompliSpace to the category.

“CompliSpace has been a strong supporter of the category through their partnership with current championship leader Dean Fiore and we are thrilled they have expanded their involvement,” he said.

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Dirk Klynsmith

Looking Good: The Complispace logo will be seen on the entire Carrera Cup field at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

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sutton-images.com

Borland in the USA? FORMULA FORD

BORLAND Racing Developments will expand into the United States market in the near future.

The Australian Formula Ford constructor is entertaining enquiries to build a Formula Ford 2000 chassis, suitable for racing in either of America’s FF2000 classes (one competes on the west coast, the other on the east).

“We’re in contact with some people in the US who are very interested,” said BRD’s commercial manager Paul Zsidy.

“We were already looking at that as a potential market before they made contact with us. We’re quite excited

about it.

“Things are progressing, and it is early days, and we’re a year away from having a car over there, but it’s a very exciting prospect.

Zsidy was quick to stress that “home is where the heart is.”

“As with the UK venture initially, the Australian market is where we live and it’s where we’ve gained our success and its what has made the business today, so we’ll never take our eye off the ball here.

“And we’ve got commitments in the UK as well, so we have to manage all that in anything else we do going forward.

“As the business grows, making sure you keep focus on every aspect is

important, so you don’t get too excited about the latest and greatest project and ruin the good work you’ve done at home.”

Formula Ford 2000 has been around for many years in the United States.

While it will be the first time that an Australian chassis will represent ‘down under,’ Australia has had driver representation. Jason Bright won the championship in the late 90s, while David Besnard, Paul Morris and Mark Noske also raced competitively.

The FF2000 cars compete at a similar specification to Australia, only with a slightly larger engine capacity and aerodynamic wings on the front and rear.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Well, they’ve already got three cars and a podium in the UK! THERE will be three Australian-built Spectrum Formula Fords on the British Formula Ford Championship grid at the next round at Rockingham.

Kevin Mills Racing, which has become a Spectrum team this season, has recently acquired the chassis that John Martin took to victory at Brands Hatch

in 2006, and will run Alex Jones from Rockingham onwards.

In other Spectrum news, Adrian Campfield has taken the Victorian make’s first overseas podium of the year, finishing third in the second race at Brands Hatch last weekend.

“It’s great news, Brands really is a happy hunting ground for us,” said Paul Zsidy, Spectrum’s commercial manager.

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FORMULA FORD

“It’s particularly pleasing for Adrian. He’s been a bit unfortunate this year, so it’s

good to see him get one across the line.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Forstered out of the ARC? AUSTRALIAN RALLYING

Joel Strickland

THE Australian Rally Championship’s disastrous run of events in NSW appears set to continue with news that CAMS and the Australian Rally Commission (ARCom) are canvassing an alternate venue for this year.

Last year’s Great Lakes Rally, staged in the popular holiday town of Forster on NSW’s mid-north coast, had been applauded by competitors for its challenging stages, but was dogged by radio communications failures, which led to timing confusion and safety concerns.

It appears that discussions between the organisers of the Great Lakes Rally and ARCom resulted in a decision to search for alternative venues to ensure NSW retains a round of the ARC for 2008.

The Great Lakes Rally was the latest in a line up of one-off rounds in NSW, including in recent years the Harbour City Rally, the Premier State Rally and Rally Bathurst. Not since the Coffs Harbour Rally, which last ran in 2000, has a round in NSW lasted more than two years

before either changing location or event organiser.

Coffs Harbour has firmed as the favourite to take over the event with a 10-year history of staging ARC rounds throughout the 1990s. While a decision is reportedly imminent, ARCom Chairman Colin Trinder revealed only his desires for the ARC to maintain a presence in Australia’s most populated state.

“The Commission has been working for some months with competitors, officials, commercial partners and organisers about strengthening the support base from state competitors for the ARC competition in NSW,” Trinder said.

“The Commission sees a successful event in NSW as pivotal to the conduct of a strong national championship.”

– RYAN LAHIFF

Boot camp for CAMS youngsters RISING STARS FITNESS was on the minds of the CAMS Rising Stars last weekend, with the trio of young drivers making their way to the Gold Coast for a fit camp.

The Rising Stars made their way to Queensland for a twoday camp

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on fitness, nutrition, and various recovery methods, all designed to better equip them and their bodies for a career in motorsport.

The camp was held at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, with the Rising Stars lucky enough to utilise the knowledge of Phil Young, who, up until recently, was Jenson Button’s Personal Trainer.

“It was a really nice location, in a nice relaxing area,” said Jake Chapman, pictured below. right “It was pretty full on and physical. We were up early doing beach runs in the morning, but we also learnt a lot of things in a range of lectures on nutrition, injury prevention and that sort of thing.

“It was great to learn from the best

guys and learn from their experience. He [Young] works you pretty hard and really lets you know how you’re going.”

Glenn Lindsay, who has previously worked for Jordan and now resides at FPR, joined Young as a trainer at the camp.

– PHIL MAHONEY

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A White MINI ...

MINI CHALLENGE

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Production Car Championship and in the Bathurst 12 Hour, I don’t think the switch will worry me too much,” she said.

“My Formula Ford was based in Western Australia, so I’ve done plenty of laps at Barbagallo, but it’s been a while since I’ve been there, so hopefully I remember which way the track goes!”

Grant Denyer currently leads the championship on 306 points, ahead of former Gold Star champion Neil McFadyen (294) and Wakefield Park round winner Nathan Geier (282).

– GRANT ROWLEY

Dirk Klynsmith

MINI Challenges Uber-Star ‘celebrity’ car will get a big work out over the next few rounds.

Rugby star Ben Tune and Formula 3 driver Leanne Tander have secured rides this weekend at Barbagallo, while actor-turned-TV presenter Paul Mercurio is likely to drive one of the Uber-Star cars at Sandown.

After competing in the Celebrity Challenge at the Grand Prix in March, Tune said he’s looking forward to his Western MINI challenge.

“I’m definitely excited about it,” Tune said.

“It isn’t every day you have an invitation to get behind the wheel of a race car. I’m really looking forward to having a lot of fun while I’m in Perth, but also I hope to develop further as a driver.”

Tander, the wife of reigning V8 Champ Garth, should be on the pace quickly. She has plenty of experience at Barbagallo and in productiontype cars.

“MINI Challenge will be different to the F3, but having driven front-wheel drive production cars in the

Dirk Klynsmith

Who’s a Star?

DAMIEN White will have a one-off drive in the MINI Challenge this weekend at Barbagallo Raceway.

The meeting will be a first for White, who has never driven a MINI, and never been to Barbagallo Raceway before.

“Given the fact that my first sit in the car will be on Friday, it should be interesting,” he said.

“I’ve been impressed by the professionalism of the series and the commercial opportunities, and the MINI Challenge definitely has a lot going for it.”

At this stage, the deal for White to drive is just a oneoff, but there may be more opportunities during the season.

– GRANT ROWLEY

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Youlden to Sports Sedans SPORTS SEDANS

Dirk Klynsmith

LUKE Youlden will contest the rest of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship in the TraNZam Mustang he has been racing in New Zealand.

The FPR enduro driver will kick off his local campaign at the next round of the Shannons Nationals at Mallala in South Australia later this month, where he will take on the local Sports Sedan front-runners such as Tony Ricciardello and Darren Hossack.

“Basically I’ve been running that car in New Zealand, and we’ve dominated,” Youlden told eNews, “so Derin Greenslade, who owns the car, said, ‘let’s go over to Australia and get some competition.’

According to Youlden, it won’t be clear until race day whether the TraNZam car can mix it with the Aussie big bangers.

“I don’t know, but it will be really interesting to see where a TraNZam car fits in,” he said.

“There are ways in which is might be quicker, but there are ways in which it definitely won’t be as well. But it’s a proven package.”

And where is he looking forward to driving the wild Mustang most?

“Phillip Island, for sure. I think we can hit nearly 200mph down the straight.”

Bernie Gillon is another NZ import for the Mallala meeting, driving a Ford-powered Jaguar, while the Sports Sedans will race for the ‘Clem Smith Cup’ and $5000 prize money.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Entrants on the way for V8 Touring

V8 TOURING CARS THERE may only be four entries for the debut race meeting for the Shannons V8 Touring Car National Series, but series administrator Rob Curkpatrick is optimistic that there is a bright future for the ex-V8 Supercar Series.

“We would obviously like to have more

cars on the grid at Mallala, but we’ve got to start somewhere,” he said.

“Interest for the rest of the year has been really strong and long-term the series is shaping up well.

“We’ve received entries for rounds later in the year, and a number of people are preparing and sourcing cars to run – not only later this year, but already looking

towards next year’s series.”

While only four cars are entered at this stage, further entries could be received before the weekend. eNews understands that a number of competitors running older-model cars in the Fujitsu Series this year are already eyeing a move to the SV8TC for next season.

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5 Minutes with ...

GARTH TANDER PHIL BRANAGAN

HRT’s ace goes home to Perth this weekend, just trying to keep it real ...

Is that a conscious decision to keep things real?

It is. By its very nature, for me, it is going to be a busy event anyway. I attend all the corporate boxes that we normally would do, but there are a few extras. There is extra work for V8 Supercars [Australia] and things like that.

It is a busy weekend but I want to keep things as normal as I can, and that means not doing anything extra, if it is not necessary. But by the nature of the beast, you need to keep as may people happy as you can.

Is it hard to say ‘no’, or is that one of the parts of the job that gets easier with experience?

No, it is still hard! It is a part of the job to learn to prioritise what you need to do and when, during the event, from looking after your sponsors on Wednesday and Thursday.

But at the end of the day, we are there to go racing, and we schedule it so that as little interferes with that as possible.

That is, focus when I am on the track and with the time that I spend with the engineers, and so on.

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If I can call those things the ‘external’ agenda, the ‘internal’ agenda is that you are on a hot streak – six race wins in a row. How do you cope with that, given what is coming up this weekend?

What is in the past is in the past.

It’s good to have those wins but that certainly doesn’t influence what happens in the future. No doubt, there are a number of people who comment about winning six races in a row, and that I won all three races there last year.

But all that is past tense. I am only concerned with the future tense at the moment.

So, what does that mean? Is anything less than three wins next week going to be looked upon as a dud weekend?

No at all. What is important is that we get as many points as we can, and have a better weekend than the championship contenders around us at the moment. That would be good. We need to have a solid weekend.

If I can have one win, that would be good. Two would be better. All three? Obviously, I would be ecstatic, again.

How has the HRT experience been for you so far?

It is going as well as can be expected.

It was a disappointing start to have the problems that we had at the front of the car, but we had good speed. But I think that we have done a pretty good job. At Eastern Creek, people think that I was disappointed with third and, probably, I was. But following Race 1, as a group, we made a

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MOTORSPORT NEWS: Do you do anything differently in the lead-up to going west to race than you would do for any other race?

GARTH TANDER: No. I try to do as much as possible to keep it a ‘regular’ round. That means that I do more stuff earlier in the year – obviously, I go backwards and forwards a little bit – so that those things are spread over the whole year, rather than happen all at once this weekend.

change to our tyre strategy and we made a change to the car that compounded that. That was not fantastic.

But since then, obviously, everything has gone pretty well.

Has it been as you expected?

I guess it helped that [team manager Rob] Crawford and Techo [engineer Matt Nilsson] came with you, but from the inside, has HRT been what you saw from outside?

It has been as I expected it to be from the inside, having done two races with the team from 2006. But, it is been as I expected; I have certainly been busier, both on race weekends and away from race weekends, but that is what I expected.

The way that the team operates is what I expected as well. It has been helped by the fact that there are some people who I have been working with for a few years, that has helped for sure.

Leanne is racing the same weekend at the same track, how do you cope with that?

We have done that plenty of times in the past. This will probably be the easiest weekend we have ever had, in

terms of us working together, because Leanne has to arrive and drive. That is much different to us working with Tandersport, not running the operation and that makes a big difference.

At Clipsal, we were racing together and that was just our team, running two cars with Leanne in one of them and me driving my car. We got that done and it was not that bad.

This is a weekend for Leanne to go racing and do something a little bit different.

As far as the opposition is concerned, has this season gone as you expected?

It has certainly been up and down! Much more so than what we have seen in the last couple of years, but that is about what I expected. I thought that Jamie [Whincup] was going to be very strong, that FPR was going to have fast cars and that Rick [Kelly] was going to be in the mix, somewhere.

There were a lot of people who came out of the box strongly, and there were those that people said were going to be superstars this season. This usually settles down by round three or four, so everything is pretty much as I thought it would happen.

This is where the championship is set up. Clipsal is an important start of the season and it is … not easy to get a result there, but often, there is a result that you may not see, consistently, in other rounds. Rounds three, four, five and six is where you set up the championship and that is what I think that you will see in the coming rounds.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

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opinion Phil Branagan eNews Executive Editor ONE of the advantages of being old (so I am told) is that you remember different eras.

No, I am not talking about that almost-forgotten time, before people would run out of the room screaming whenever Daryl Somers was on television. I am talking about the era when one of the most important features in motor racing was lobbying.

There was a time when it was vital; no lobbying and you were in for a long season of making excuses. And the process involved getting decisions made that would not just affect next season, but the next race.

The process hit its peak in 1983 when decisions were made about who would get what and, in their wisdom, the wise heads who ran motorsport announced the changes not just midseason but MID-RACE. It was somewhat entertaining to watch the Oran Park round of the ATCC finish with the drivers in deep conversation about who got what toys, rather than what just

happened in the race.

I mention all this now because of the comments from V8 Supercars Australia CEO Wayne Cattach. He can, doubtless, recall the time when all those shenanigans took place. What we have now is a system that supersedes all this and parity is as level as playing field as there has ever been in the sport.

Without going down the cookie-cutter path of NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow, what we have now is near-asdammit parity between cars that, while similar in some detail, are different enough to encourage fans of both makes to identify with their hero cars. Think about it – when was the last time you heard someone whine about parity?

My point is this; for many years, this has been something that has been right, very right, to the point where no-one talks now even talks about it much. We have been spoiled to the point of forgetting about parity.

With a new model car tantalisingly close, it is time to salute the system that has provided this era, and hope that any changes to the methodology are not made just for the sake of change.

Rememberin

Letters

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

Toddler To Goerdie Pugh’s letter (eNews 29/4) Remember this is Todd Kelly who hits most things that move.

Anyone with any sense would have got out of the throttle, braked briefly and let Whincup go, it may have spoilt both of their laps but that is motorsport.

Todd Kelly is the person who

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while under yellow flags, drove 10-tenths into the back of slowing cars at Pukekhoe a few years ago seemingly without penalty. Do that at a normal race-meeting and you would probably be asked to have a holiday for some time! The rules for Supercar drivers seem to differ from elsewhere!

Lee Nicolle Edwardstown SA

Brocky I agree with Phil Branagan's article on the Brock Bathurst statue.

Brock never stood on top of race cars after wins.

If they really want to portray the Peter Brock I remember, how about a statue of him sitting on pit wall with a cup of tea in his hand, that’s a better memory of the great man.

Rob Power rob@robertpower.com.au Brock’s Monument With all due respect to Bathurst City Council and Julie Squires, the proposed Peter Brock monument sounds positively cringe worthy, regardless of any debate over cigarette advertising.

I don't think the image is a

opinion

ng the Bad Old Days

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true representation of the man.

Peter Brock's monument, in my opinion, should be 2.5m tall (larger than life), casually posed in his race suit; arms by his side, helmet in his hand, standing on the mound at McPhillamy Park (amongst his people), looking out, across the track towards the township of Bathurst.

Simple, understated and cheaper. Pity it's too late.

Matt Treacy email withheld

eLETTER OF THE The Model I have just looked at your back page picture of Brocky and can’t help but wonder why this isn’t the model for a statue.

I am a dyed-in-the-wool

Ford fan and mountain man.

I shed a tear on the hill with every one else in 2006.

This picture epitomises the man, the face of Australian motorsport with the respect and dignity

he deserves. And if put in the right location, maybe a small mountain behind it, the ciggy advertising would be much less noticeable.

Warren Furze Email withheld

Horspwr Clothing is giving away a t-shirt each week for the most creative letter. Send yours to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 23

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 10 – RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

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race NASCAR Media

RICHMOND TIGER

Clint Bowyer started 31st at Richmond and was on the spot when Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr had a meltdown in sight of the chequers.

By MARTIN D CLARK 25

LOCAL hero and pole winner Denny Hamlin looking to have victory in his grasp at Richmond, but after leading 381 of the scheduled 400 laps, he opened the door for Clint Bowyer in his Childress Chev to take a surprise win.

Hamlin had a soft right-front tyre with 20 laps to run, allowing Dale Earnhardt Jr to battle with Kyle Busch for the win.

But Busch got loose under Jr and sent the Impala into the wall with three laps remaining, leaving Bowyer to slip by and take the chequers.

“They were racing so hard,” said Bowyer, who started 31st on the grid.

“You know it’s bound to happen and I just took advantage of the misfortune. I knew the car was going to better than where we qualified, we just slowly marched to the front and things worked out.”

Busch held on for second followed by Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Martin Truex.

As Hamlin slowed, Jr went high and Busch low, leaving Hamlin the meat in the sandwich. But when Hamlin’s tyre blew on lap 390, the race’s 10th yellow gave Busch another shot at Jr. And shoot he did, as the pair slipped up the track in turn three and Bowyer took the lead holding it through the green-white-checker

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overtime finish brought about by Junior’s wreck.

“It was just a product of good hard racing,” said Busch, who now heads the point standings. “I was pinned down there on the bottom and getting loose down there, I apologise to those guys that it happened I didn’t mean to do it on purpose.

“It’s just something that two cars got together and unfortunately, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Denny Hamlin was the class of the field and he deserved to win tonight, but if it wasn’t for myself, Jr. probably could have won or have finished second.”

“I was pretty disappointed to say the

least,” remarked Jr. who finished 15th after repairs. “I had a top three car the biggest disappointment is just not getting what you can get out of the racecar.”

Earnhardt’s losing streak now runs to 72 races, his last win coming two years ago – at Richmond.

The other big incident of the day occurred when Patrick Carpentier spun on lap 230 and wiped out the ensuing pack of cars, including previous points leader Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and a handful of others.

Point standings; Kyle Busch 1495, Burton 1471, Earnhardt Jr. 1458, Harvick 1354, Bowyer 1347.

NASCAR Media

Well, this can only end badly: Busch went low, Junior went high and Hamlin was in the middle when it all went pear-shaped at Richmond.

race

Yee and/or Har: Clint Bowyer got to test the deodorant post-race, left, but Denny Hamlin, right, was the man who set the pace all race.

Patrick Carpentier, #10, triggered a huge wreck, below, that took care of many of the contenders including Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya and Michael McDowell.

NASCAR Media

The Virginian

NASCAR NATIONWIDE DENNY Hamlin did not dominate the Nationwide Series race at Richmond – Kevin Harvick did, leading 98 laps – but the local lad was the man on the spot to take the win.

“This is my biggest win by far, Cup, Nationwide, anything,” beamed Hamlin in victory lane.

“This is my biggest accomplishment as a race car driver, winning here at Richmond, we had the best car when it counted.”

Kyle Busch, who fought an ill-handling Toyota most of the race, came home third followed by David Ragan and Steven Wallace.

After Hamlin took the lead from Harvick with nine laps to run, Harvick had one last chance to pass Hamlin in an overtime green white checker restart, but his older rubber

hampered his chances, leaving Hamlin to take the seventh victory in 11 Nationwide races for Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas so far this season.

Busch and Ragan both ‘had words’ with Wallace post-race after Wallace bumped Busch exiting a turn. Busch went over to Wallace post race and spoke to him in his car; Wallace grabbed Busch’s helmet and the pair were contained by crew and officials.

Marcos Ambrose suffered handling issues all race and never could really get the JTG Ford dialed in, he finished 25th after qualifying 17th.

“It was just a tough night for the Kingsford team but we brought it home and got some more points on the board,” remarked Ambrose.

Point standings; Bowyer 1565, Edwards 1556, Kyle Busch 1553, Ragan 1434, Bliss 1424.

(Ambrose 16th, 1110)

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A1 GRAND PRIX ROUND 10 – BRANDS HATCH, ENGLAND

Welcom

Brands Hatch played host to t India that stole the show with sutton-images.com

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ome to Bollywood

the final round of the championship and Great Britain delivered with a win. But it was h the feature victory, while Switzerland wrapped up the title

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C

ONSISTENCY has handed Team Switzerland the 2007/2008 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the final round of the championship in Brands Hatch.

Neel Jani came home fourth in the sprint race to snatch the title away from championship rivals, New Zealand.

“This is the greatest moment of my career,” said Jani.

“I can’t put it into words at this moment. A1GP has been getting tougher every season and this year we got the title.

“Brands Hatch gave us a

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fantastic atmosphere and a great place to win the title.”

Robbie Kerr gave the home crowd something to cheer about by taking the sprint race from previous round winner, USA’s Jonathon Summerton.

With the title race over, teams had nothing to lose heading into the final feature race of the season and the level of racing didn’t disappoint.

Narain Karthikeyan took India’s second win of the season with some slick final stop pit work, which saw him jump Great Britain and deny the host nation of a popular

double.

“I made a good start,” said Karthikeyan.

“When we came out of the first pit stop I had a coming together with Adam Carroll. I didn’t see him because I had a moment and he tried to go up the inside and I hit him.

“But anyway, a great result for A1 Team India and after the final pit stop, my car was mega.

I made a mistake at Sheene but at the end it was all good”.

Kerr finished second in the feature race and almost managed to jump New Zealand for second in the title race, while Switzerland came

home in third to end a great season.

Once again Team Australia had a disappointing result, with John Martin placing 14th in the sprint race, while a big accident on the back straight with Adam Kahn from Pakistan forced them out of the feature race.

Season 2008/2009 will kick of in September at Mugello in Italy for the first time.

Points: Switzerland 168, New Zealand 127, Great Britain 126, France 118, South Africa 96, Ireland 94, Netherlands 87, Germany 83, Canada 75, India 61, (17th Australia 20.)

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Finally some burnouts: Robbie Kerr, left, put on a show for the home crowd, as Neel Jani, top, secured the championship for Switzerland.

Kerr nearly took the double, above, but was pipped

by Narain Karthikeyan in the feature.

Karthikeyan, right, grabbed India’s second win for the season, while Australia, below left, struggled once again.

After a great season New Zealand, bottom right, struggled at Brands Hatch, but still did enough to take second in the title race.

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NITRO CHAMPS WESTERN SYDNEY

MAYDAY

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Sydney’s night sky lit up with the sight of exploding dragsters – and great performances

By DANIEL POWELL

John Morris/Mpix

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WHILE much of the attention from the Nitro Champs at Western Sydney International Dragway was taken by flaming accidents [see breakout] there were plenty of racing highlights to go along with it.

Understandably, Top Fuel was the most impressive category, and despite the cold conditions over the two nights, there were consistent 4-second passes.

On his march to the final, Martin Stamatis downed Terry Sainty in the opening round of eliminations before defeating Alan Dobson in the semi-final. Read made easy work of ‘Pommy’ Steve Read [no relation] in the opening round and then faced Amanda Shepherd in the semi-final, taking win and a spot in the final.

Both Stamatis and Read posted consistent 4s throughout the weekend, with both logging their bests in the opening round of eliminations – Stamatis took low ET with a 4.576s/324.12mph when he defeated Sainty, while Read’s best was a 4.661s at 324.36mph.

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For Stamatis, this was the second Top Fuel victory of his career, after claiming his maiden win back in February during the running of the Summer Nationals, which was also held at WSID. With his final appearance in the Nitro Champs, Phil Read sealed his championship victory in the National standings for the third year in succession.

In other Group 1 action, 2006/07 Top Alcohol National Champion Wayne Newby took out the final over Aaron Lynch with a slick 5.884s at 203.37mph. Lynch’s runner up position kept his championship hopes alive after points leader Brett Stevens was knocked out in the opening round.

Newby ousted John Cannuli in the opening round before taking the win over Aaron Hambridge, who red lighted in the semi-final, and Lynch downed Stevens in the opening round and Ben Bray in the semi-final.

Stevens did take a win though, claiming the spoils in the Top Bike by defeating Leonard Azzopardi in the final. Despite not being in

championship contention in Top Bike (he is currently third with one round remaining) Stevens was in hot form all weekend. After qualifying second, he defeated Neville Smith in the opening round, and he then knocked off team-mate and current championship leader Troy McLean and booked his spot in the final.

In only his third appearance of the year, Azzopardi took a comprehensive victory over Jay Upton in the opening round, and made it into the final by defeating New Zealander Athol Williams in the semi-final.

Life in the Fastlane

Martin Stamatis was the man to beat in Top Fuel – and he had a wild ride after winning the final

Burning down the House: Alan Dobson had a wild ride in his Top Fuel semi-final, above.

Brett Stevens came up short in Top Alcohol and Doorslammers, and had to be content with a win on the JD Harley, left, John Zappia had a tough weekend. After top-qualifying, he lost to Sean Mifsud in the semi-finals after losing the car in the burnout and crossing the centreline.

IT cannot do the sport of Drag Racing much harm to get national television coverage – but few would have expected the telegenic happenings at WSID last Saturday.

Alan Dobson set the ball rolling in the semi-finals of Top Fuel, with a wild, flaming explosion – but that was nothing compared to what came next.

Fellow West Australian Martin Stamatis took the final with an impressive 4.606s/323.50mph over Phil Read but that was not why the news shows were interested. As it crossed the lights, one of his rear tyres exploded, the car leaned over and the fireworks started.

Stamatis rode the car into the gravel trap and was unhurt – until he hopped out of the cockpit and twisted his ankle in the process!

“I guess it emphasizes the point that motor racing is dangerous!” said a remarkably calm Stamatis after being checked over.

“And we have to thank the designers from past to present, for the safety equipement that they put around us. This gives us a wakeup call, that we should never take anything for granted. We are all alive and completely uninjured.”

Team-mate Read had a fascinating view of the crash.

“Imagine being in a hailstorm but a hundred times worse,” said Read.

“I ended up ducking for cover as brake callipers and other debris pelted my car. There

are numerous big holes in the bodywork of my car and in fact the header pipes have been clean torn off one side of the motor as well.”

Stamatis and the rest of the Fastlane Software Top Fuel team are confident that they will have the McKinney back in perfect condition for the season-ending Winternationals at Willowbank in June.

All images: John Morris/Mpix

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GLOBE TROTTER

n Formula 3 Euroseries was at Mugello last weekend and Nico Hulkenberg took first race honours.

After starting on pole, the ART Grand Prix driver made a great start and led from start to finish. However he was pressured all the way by Koudi Tsukakoshi.

In Race 2, Finn Mika Maki took his second win for the season and won comfortably by over six seconds.

“It was an excellent race,” Maki said. “I had a perfect start, a great speed and all in all a great weekend.”

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FORMULA FORD WAYNE Boyd has increased his lead in the British Formula Ford Championship last weekend with a pair of wins at Brands Hatch.

Boyd was challenged all weekend by former champion Westley Barber who managed two second places.

However the championship leader defended convincingly to increase the points lead to 77 points.

“Westley was very quick today,” said Boyd. “I’m really still learning this circuit, learning

the quick lines, so things have gone pretty well. I made a couple of mistakes in the early laps but once I got into the lead I just kept my head down.”

Having come to grips with the circuit in Race 1 Boyd was unstoppable in Race 2 and cruised to an impressive victory, which included the fastest lap of the race.

“I got a good start,” Boyd said, “and I was able to back off a little towards the end.”

Australia’s Tim Blanchard had a consistent weekend and secured a set of fourth places to consolidate second place in

the championship.

“Having the opportunity to race at Brands Hatch was just a fantastic occasion for me,” said Blanchard.

“Having not raced there before, it was important to get things right first up and finish the weekend still in second place on the points table.”

“Obviously my team-mate Wayne Boyd has set the benchmark, but if I can keep up my consistency there is no reason I can't have a crack at winning the Championship so we will see how the rest of the year pans out.”

Wilkerson Collects NHRA Tim Wilkerson collected his second Funny Car win of the season, and regained the Funny Car points lead with a convincing win in his home state of Illinois.

Wilkerson’s 4.87/317 defeated the close 4.88/321 of first-time finalist, Mike Neff. Joining Wilkerson were Top Fuel winner, Rod Fuller, Pro Stock’s Kurt Johnson and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider, Andrew Hines.

Wilkerson has been the most dominant Funny Car racer this season, taking his fourth No. 1 in qualifying from the seven events contested this year.

The driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala advanced into the final round following a trio of 4.82-second efforts in early wins over Tony Bartone, Del Worsham, and Cruz Pedregon.

Fuller, driving the David Powers Motorsports Caterpillar dragster defeated recent winner Cory McClenathan, low qualifier David Grubnic and Doug Kalitta for a final round shot at reigning

David Ostaszewski

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n The British Touring Car Championship headed to Donighton Park last weekend and it was SEAT that continued its dominance.

Jason Plato and Darren Turner traded wins.

Only Fabrizio Giovanardi was able to put a stop to SEAT’s dominance with a win in semi-dry conditions.

Boyd Smokes Em’

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JAMIE Green has given Mercedes-Benz its first DTM win of the 2008 season in Round 3 at Mugello to break Audi’s early season dominance.

Green led home a Mercedes 1-2, with Paul di Resta finishing second for the round. Tom Kristensen was third for Audi.

series Champion, Tony Schumacher. Fuller overcame a slight starting line deficit to post his quickest pass of the day, stopping the Army dragster, 4.52/328 to 4.58/325.

Johnson scored his first event win of the season, stopping defending event winner, Dave Connolly. Johnson’s ACDelco Chevrolet clocked a 6.63/209 to defeat the Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt, which carded a 6.65/208.

Andrew Hines maintained his Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead with a 6.88/194 win over Matt Smith.

– David Ostaszewski

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Ricciardo Wins FORMULA RENAULT

AUSTRALIAN Daniel Ricciardo has struck the first blow in the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series, taking the opening race at Spa-Franchorchamps.

Coming off a successful start to his West European Cup campaign, Ricciardo made a late pass on his SG Formula team-mate to take his first Eurocup win of the season.

“It was an advantage to start from the front row,” said Ricciardo. “It’s a good result. I started with a win, but I’ll have to wait for tomorrow evening to enjoy it.”

Riccardo beat home 47 other drivers to take the win.

Starting off the front row for Race 2, Ricciardo was forced to battle with Paul Meijer, Cesar Ramos and Daniel Zampieri for the entire race with Meiger eventually taking

the spoils.

“From the fifth row I made a good start,” said Meijer. “Then I saw the collision ahead of me, with cars all over the place. I managed to avoid it and found myself in second place.”

Ricciardo ended up fourth and after his win in Race 1 now heads the points table after the first round.

He will race in the West European Cup next weekend at Dijon.

Brazilian Shines

FORMULA RENAULT UK

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BRAZILIAN Adriano Buzaid grabbed his first win to enter the Formula Renault UK championship fight after last weekend’s round at Doninghton Park.

Having started on pole, Buzaid had a flawless run to the flag, beating home team-mate Riki Christodoulou.

“I was able to get a good lead early on,” said Buzaid, “then it was simple for me and I could ease off at the end. Hopefully I can do the same this afternoon in the second race.”

Buziad had to settle for second in the weekends second race after Dean Stoneman charged to the win.

With the races run in semi-dry conditions, drivers were challenged as they attempted to move forward with the tricky conditions causing a few incidents.

Australian Joshua Scott had a good result in Race 1, finishing in eighth position, however a DNF in the second feature saw him lose some valuable championship points. The series next heads to Thruxton on the May 18.

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Oh, what a Fellow!

David Fellows took Round 2 of the Australian Off Road Championship at Donald OFF ROAD DAVID Fellows and Andrew Kittle converted their awesome outright speed into their first win of the 2008 season at the Donald 500, the second round of the Australian Off Road Championship, last weekend.

After failing to finish the first round at Hyden when they had built an insurmountable lead, Fellows drove a wellcontrolled and managed race to take the chequered flag. Fellows, driving his TRD Peter Kittle Motorsport’s Jimco, finished the event in 4h14m10s.

Fellows, above, finished 2m42s clear of Brad Prout, who backed up his form in WA to claim his second outright performance in two events. Rounding out the podium was Eric Phillips and Gary Friend in the Northstar V8-powered Aceco.

Early challengers at Donald included Glenn Owen, whose pace in the brand-new SR20-powered Jimco was blistering. Owen shadowed Fellows every move during the first section until he was sidelined with engine teething problems.

Former Australian champ Shannon Rentsch was also another early casualty, retiring with a broken drive shaft.

Current Champion Hayden Bentley was

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also in the hunt, until a flat tyre held up his progress.

Matt Hanson’s promising BMW V10 looked the goods until a minor altercation with a gate post ended his run.

Out of the 33 starters in Proclass, only a dozen completed the whole race distance.

Through the classes there were some outstanding performances. Local offroader Cameron McClelland shocked some of his more powerful Proclass competitors, whipping the little Toyota 4A-GE powered Super 1650 into the top 10.

Andrew Mowles cleaned up in the Prolite class in 14th outright, Geoff Dow

in the Sportsman Buggy class, with Geoff Pickering the first of the 4WDs home in 15th outright in the standard Mitsubishi Pajero. Colin Hunter took the Extreme 4WD Class comfortably after early pressure from Sandy Bowman’s V8 Patrol failed to materialise.

In the Extreme 2WD class, Robert Gwynne, above, debuted his new Chevy Protruck with success, taking the class win.

The next event of the Australian Offroad Racing Championship will be the Tattersalls Finke Desert Race, starting in Alice Springs over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.

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Find your own space McBride comfortably won F100, while rest fought for the minor places

Coopers Photography

KARTING HAYDEN McBride won the second round of the Titan Formula 100 Series at VACC Park in Melbourne on the weekend.

McBride (Gillard/Parilla) drove away from the field in the final. Fastest qualifier Daniel Richert (Kosmic) was second ahead of Trent James

(Arrow), Sarron Caddy (Arrow) and Mark Domaschenz (SQ).

Geelong’s Richert had earlier qualified fastest and shared the heat wins with McBride before taking out the pre-final.

Dean Foster, making the world race debut of the Italian One Kart, finished second in the pre-final but retired from the final when his airbox fell off.

Scott Webb (Arrow) won the

F100 Heavy division.

National Champion James Sera recovered from a crash in the heats of Leopard Light to take out the final from Bart Price. Sera scored the double with a classy win in Clubman Light.

Garry Jacobson also doubled up with wins in Junior Clubman and Junior National Heavy.

Winners in the other

categories were Matthew Wall (Clubman Heavy), Neil Silke (Clubman Over 40), Jordan Nicolaou (Junior National Light), Justin Schneider (Leopard Heavy), Liam McLellan (Midgets), Rick Pringle (Rotax Heavy), Troy Woolston (Rotax Light), Adrian Lazzaro (Rookies) and Dominic Lostitch (Senior National).

– MARK WICKS

Coopers Photography

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rear of grid

The Indy 500. And fore!

sutton-images.com

IF you are like eNews’s Exec Editor – hopefully, you are not – you may have spent hours, wondering about what happens at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway golf course.

The idea to put a course inside the 2.5-mile home of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing was that of Eddie Rickenbacker,

the WWI flying ace who took control of the run-down facility in 1927.

One of Rickenbacker’s first decisions was to install an 18-hole golf course on the grounds two years later.

The course, now known as Brickyard Crossing, is very highly rated and is home

to a Senior PGA Tour golf tournament, the Brickyard Crossing Championship, held each September.

But, the course must be shut for the month of May when the racing cars take over, just like the one at Albert Park during the Grand Prix, right?

Wrong. The course, which

features three holes inside the Speedway and 15 outside, will stay open throughtout the month, except on the four qualifying days, Carburetion Day and race day.

So, if you can play with a Dallara Honda blasting by at 225mph, go ahead, make my putt ...

Mirror, mirror – in the wall!

Odd Spot

Martin D Clark

WE miss Scott Speed in Formula 1.

Okay, that bit is a lie. Speed did not quite live up to his name at Toro Rosso and, as soon as the team figured out how to replace him, did so.

So, Speed headed to NASCAR and took some of his finicky preferences with him. In fact, the Eddie Sharp Racing Red Bull team, which prepares his ARCA Toyota, reckons he takes things a little too far ...

“He’s always concerned about the asthetics of the cars,” said crew chief Patrick Donahue.

So, the Camry featured a whole bevy of mirrors at Rockingham Speedway last Friday. If you look really closely, you will see that large, outside mirror came straight off a Harley Davidson.

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