Motorsport eNews Issue 204 - May 10-16, 2011

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Issue No. 204 May 10 - May 16 2011

LOOK WHO WANTS A V8 SUPERCAR DRIVE

PAUL TRACY REVEALS HE IS RARING TO RACE AT THIS YEAR’S GOLD COAST 600

GREEN LIGHT FOR BURNOUTS

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Michael Schumacher has had many great moments in his Formula 1 career. Donging Vitaly Petrov in Turkey wasn’t one of them, though.

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Issue No. 204 | May 10 – 16 2011

news 4

V8 ChromeHorns Tracy wants Surfers seat 6 Team Tall Percat to partner Tander 10 It’s a GT3!

McLaren’s new baby 13 Taking the Michaels Shake-up at Williams F1 17 WRC yes, Dakar no VW shifts rallying focus

chat 24 Five Minutes With ...

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Martin Whitmarsh

comment 26 GTBranners 27 Simon still likes VWs ...

race 28 Formula 1 32 NASCAR 36 World Superbikes 38 Speedway & Aussies OS 40 GP2, GP3, Sportscars

trade 42 Classifieds

ENEWS EXCLUSIVE – Former Champ Car star puts his hand up for Surfers Paradise V8 Superca

PAUL TRACY: I WANT TO B V8 SUPERCARS

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AUL Tracy wants to drive in the Gold Coast 600 – this year.

In an exclusive interview, the volatile Canadian told Motorsport eNews that he is searching for a seat to compete in the event in October. His long-

time friend, media identity Brett ‘Crusher’ Murray, is believed to be looking for a seat for the veteran driver.

“Crusher called me about a week and half ago, asking if I was interested in doing the race,” Tracy, 42, told us.

“I said, ‘For sure, I am interested!’ I really haven’t heard anything back so it is a bit up in the air.”

After winning the Gold Coast event with Newman Haas in 1995, the track holds fond

memories for the driver who will try to end his winless streak at Indianapolis this month with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

“The Gold Coast was a great time. I have been coming down there for a long time, the atmosphere is fantastic, the crowd is fantastic. I would love to come down and do it again. My first race on the Gold Coast was in ’93 and there were many different winners there in Indycar. My only win there was in ’95 and there were some many winners before someone repeated. It is such

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BE BACK ON THE GOLDIE a hard race.

“Last year, I watched as so many of the Indycar guys raced there in V8s and I would have to have a part of that as well.”

Tracy says that he spoke to a number of his fellow Indycar racers after tge 2010 event and that he received positive feedback about the racing.

“Once the season was over, it was a chance for the guys to have a good time and to do something different. They were able to get a vacation in Australia and to do some racing and enjoy some of the off-season.

“It is definitely my kind of racing. The V8s are very, very competitive, and I realise that it is going to be tough to jump into a car and drive something that is not quite what I am used to in a racecar. It is all a little bit foreign to me; you have to shift with your left hand, I am used to the right hand and the driver is on the wrong side of the car, for most people.”

So, what would it take to get the massively popular Tracy back to the GC?

“It would take getting an offer from a team. I understand that there are a couple of teams with seats left, and a couple of people was talking to people for me. I would love to come down there and race, not only at the Gold Coast but at Bathurst – any of the longer races where they need extra drivers.”

During his long career, Tracy has won 31 Champ Car/CART events, placing him equal second on the all-time winners’ list (behind Michael Andretti). He won the Champ Car World Series in 2003 while with Forsythe Racing, and he is also a former winner of the Indy Lights title, in 1990.

Tracy, who just moved to Scottsdale Arizona, will take in four more Indycar races post-500, but with Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing team.

Dirk Klynsmith

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Nick in

V8 SUPERCARS DALE Wood has earned the last of the endurance seats for 2011, signing on to partner Tony D’Alberto at Wilson Security Racing at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

Wood has previously driven for Kelly Racing and Tasman Motorsport at the endurance races, but this will be his debut in a Ford Falcon.

"I’m really happy to be with Tony and the team,” said Wood.

“It’s an exciting opportunity. In the past I’ve been with bigger teams with multiple cars, and given my background coming through Formula Ford with family around me, I think the single car and family team environment will be a good fit.

“I haven’t driven a Ford in V8 Supercars before,

John Morris

WOOD to WSR so to get a chance to drive a FPR car first up is also a great opportunity.”

“Dale has plenty of experience at Phillip Island and Bathurst and knows what is required as an endurance driver," added D’Alberto.

“He’s put in some good performances in recent years and we wanted a driver who could put their head down and get the job done. It helps that Dale is local to us and we’ll get him in the car at Winton in a couple of weeks time to start acclimatising him to the Ford.

“While the focus will be on a few others at Phillip Island and Bathurst, I think it will help us to fly under the radar a bit. I know Dale is super keen to get back out there and together we'll be giving it a red hot go.”

Wood will drive the WSR car for the first time at Winton in a fortnight.

No Lights for QR V8 Supercars V8 SUPERCARS THE Queensland Raceway round of the V8 Supercar Championship will not be conducted as a two-day meeting under lights this year, despite an ambitious plan for the race meeting.

Apparently the concept was well investigated by V8 Supercars, however it was deemed not feasible at this time.

“A comprehensive feasibility study was undertaken and whilst there was a great desire by V8 Supercars, the Ipswich City Council and the Queensland State Government for it to happen, adequately lighting the full facility is simply far too cost prohibitive,” said V8’s Chief Operating Officer Shane Howard.

“There were many variables

to take into account outside of the physical track including the working, public and parking areas. Although it was not feasible this time, the investigation has given us many valuable insights into how to effectively light a race track.”

The meeting will go back to a standard three-day configuration, running August 19-21.

V8 SUPERCARS CAMERON McConville and Garth Tander won’t drive together at Phillip Island and Bathurst this year, with the Toll Holden Racing Team opting to split the pair up.

As a result, McConville will share car #1 with James Courtney, while Nick Percat will make his Bathurst debut in #2 with Tander. Percat raced for Walkinshaw Racing at Phillip Island last year, before Ryan Briscoe took his seat for Bathurst.

“I have known Nick for a long time and worked with him since his days in Formula Ford, so I am delighted that he will be joining Toll HRT and driving alongside me at Phillip Island and Bathurst,” Tander said.

“Every time Nick has tested my Toll HRT Commodore he has been right on the money. There won’t be any extra pressure applied from us, we think Nick is ready, we have absolute faith in the job he will do and this is a great opportunity to give a motorsport news

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Reindler confident for Winton V8 SUPERCARS

young guy a start.”

“When I was first told I would be driving for the Toll Holden Racing Team with Garth Tander in this year’s enduros I was quite shocked,” Percat added.

“Growing up I always followed HRT, and now to be driving one of its Commodores in two of the year’s most important races with one of the best drivers in the field is a massive opportunity, one I will be grabbing with both hands.”

Meanwhile, McConville says he is looking forward to sharing with Courtney.

“Driving for the Toll HRT with Garth last year was fantastic,” he said.

“We had a Bathurst podium and a win on the Gold Coast, so to be back with them and to now be co-driving with the reigning V8 Supercar Champion is a thrill.

“Driving car #1 will be more an honour than unwanted pressure and, if anything, I see this as a tremendous opportunity to contribute to James and the team’s success.”

Courtney echoed McConville’s thoughts.

“I am pretty excited to be driving with Cam at this year’s enduro events, he probably has more experience in these cars than I have and he has definitely driven a lot more miles around Bathurst than me.

“I am going to be able to learn a lot from him as well as having a really strong teammate. We are both very similar in height and size and have a similar seating position in the car, which is going to make a great working environment for the both of us over those weekends.”

KARL Reindler has had successful surgery on his right hand, and remains a strong chance of racing at Winton in a fortnight’s time.

Reindler went under the knife yesterday (Monday) in Western Australia, with burns expert Dr Fiona Woods conducting a skin graft on the back of Reindler’s right hand, which wasn’t healing properly.

With the surgery going well, Dr Woods has told Reindler he is on track to make his racing return at Winton, with a final decision likely to be made this Friday.

“All went will this afternoon,” confirmed Reindler to eNews yesterday evening.

“They took some skin from under my arm and it seemed to go smoothly. The burns on my face and my left hand were healing nicely, but the burns on my right hand weren’t. “[Dr Woods] seems to think that racing at Winton is achievable, even with the operation. Now I just need to do the right things in the recovery to make sure the graft heals properly. We will meet again Friday, and then we’ll have a good idea of whether I’ll be racing at Winton.”

V8 Ownership closes in on deal V8 SUPERCARS THE new owner of V8 Supercars could be in place by the end of this week.

Rumours over the weekend suggest that Sydney-based private equity firm Archer Capital will be the preferred bidder for a majority stake in V8 Supercars, over the World Sports Group. Archer is believed to be in the final stages of negotiation with V8 Supercars’ advisor in the deal, former www.mnews.com.au

Tasman Motorsport co-owner Tim Miles, and that there could be a resolution in a few days. The deal is said to value V8 Sipercars at as much as $300 million, and that each Racing Entitlement’s Contract could be valued at as much as $4m.

Pivotal to the deal is the continued role of current V8 Supercars’ Chairman Tony Cochrane, who has maintained a policy of not commenting on the ongoing negotiations.

“There has been all sorts of speculation regarding the sale since the process commenced,” Cochrane told The Australian on Monday, “and, as has been the case all along, we have not, and will not, comment until the process is complete.”

Miles could not be contacted for comment and V8 Supercars spokesman Cole Hitchcock said that he had “nothing to add”.

Scott Wensley

OUCH! WORLD SUPERBIKES CHRIS Vermeulen was forced to sit out the two Superbike World Championship races at Monza after yet another injury-causing fall.

The Aussie was highsided off his Kawasaki at Monza’s Ascari Corner during Friday’s practice session and landed badly on his left elbow. After treatment at the medical centre, he tried to continue rising his Kawasaki but when trying to put his leathers on, reopened three stitches doctors had placed on the wound. A decision was made for him to withdraw from the rest of the weekend.

“My elbow is the only problem, even though the rest of me is a bit sore after my Friday fall,” said a disappointed Vermeulen.

“They say the gash in my elbow needs about six stitches in it and the elbow has swollen up a lot inside. I have been having it drained of fluid a couple of times a day. They say there is nothing majorly wrong with my elbow and it was only a problem because it got stuck under the bike when I crashed.

I have been advised not to ride this weekend but the good thing is that my knee feels a lot better and we were reasonably quick after only a few laps.”

Vermeulen has only completed seven laps of racing this season after recovering from a knee reconstruction last year.

Review after WA fireball V8 SUPERCARS THE Confederation of Australian Motor Sport has officially started a review of the fiery accident between Karl Reindler and Steve Owen that marred the start of Race 8 at Barbagallo Raceway recently.

Last week, CAMS issued a statement on the matter: ‘The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) has commenced a review into

the collision between two cars at the start of the second race of the V8 Supercars Trading Post Perth Challenge at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia last Sunday.

“As a result of this collision Karl Reindler suffered minor burns and Steve Owen was reported to be uninjured after their cars collided and caught fire.

“CAMS Chief Executive Officer David Morgan said the organisation is in the process

of reviewing information from the incident as part of a continuing program to improve safety at motor sport events.

“The review will be conducted in conjunction with V8 Supercars Australia and the West Australian Sporting Car Club.”

The review is likely to focus on why V8 Supercar team crews were on the scene before trackside safety officials.

Horse Racin’ for Jason V8 SUPERCARS SANDOWN Raceway has donated a full program of horse racing as a fundraiser for Jason Richards’ fight against cancer.

The ‘Horsepower Hero’ meeting will be held on Wednesday May 25, with all sponsorship proceeds going straight to Richards.

Organisers are currently looking for sponsors

for the eight races.

Along with the naming rights to one of the eight races, sponsors will receive a display at the track, a full-page advert in the Race Book, and Eight VIP invitations to the race day hospitality, which includes a free bar, buffet catering, tipping contest and a VIP tour of the facility.

To get involved, contact Lucy Peacock on lucy. peacock@bradjonesracing.com.au.

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Phil Williams

Burnouts in V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCARS Australia has relaxed its stance on drivers doing post-race burnouts.

Following celebrations by Jamie Whincup at Albert Park and Shane van Gisbergen in Hamilton, drivers were reminded that burnouts were reserved for the series champion during Barbagallo’s drivers’ briefing. It prompted almost universal bemusement, and the top three finishers in Sunday’s final race in WA –

Whincup, Jason Bright and Garth Tander – received a reprimand for breaking traction on the cool-down lap.

Now, it seems sanity has prevailed, and V8SA will now allow race winners to perform a burnout in a nominated area.

“This is something the fans want and it is customary across many disciplines of the sport for a driver to display his exuberance in such a way,” V8SA CEO Martin Whitaker said.

“Contrary to the way the issue was reported and interpreted at the Perth

event, we actively encourage displays of emotion from winning drivers but we have to ensure they are performed in a safe and responsible manner.

“From a wider perspective we then need to ensure it is not something we are encouraging people, particularly young people, to do outside of a racing environment.

“This is a facet of the safety message that we encourage through the many school and community activities that our drivers undertake throughout the year.”

Check you local guides V8 SUPERCARS NO further 2011 V8 Supercar telecasts will feature a switch in channels on the Seven Network. eNews received a number of calls and emails from Queensland viewers, expressing dismay about the switch between Seven’s digital channel, 7mate, which carried the first part of the Saturday

broadcast from Barbagallo Raceway, and Seven. The change was listed in printed television guides but, so far as eNews has been able to ascertain, some digital TV’s inbuilt guides did not list the change.

V8 Supercars spokesman Cole Hitchcock said that the switch was unaviodable in the Brisbane market only.

“The switch between

channels only happened once, for this race, and only for one viewing area (QLD),” he said.

“There was plenty of notification about the switch, and it was printed in a number of TV guides. It was also made very clear during the broadcast.

Naturally, if any of our viewers missed out because of it, that is disappointing. In order to show more live V8 Supercars there will be instances when, for

instance, qualifying is on Seven Mate and racing on Seven.

This is so fans can see all of the action, not just the racing component.

“We suggest viewers check the V8 Supercar website for full information on each race telecast in the week before the event. This is the best and easiest way to make sure in each market they know exactly what is on and when.”

LOVE TO TWEET? THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO FOLLOW MOTORSPORT NEWS 1 – GET THE LATEST NEWS AT @MOTORSPORTENEWS 2 – FOLLOW V8 SUPERCAR RACE ACTION LIVE AT @MNEWSUPDATES 3 – FOLLOW THE MNEWS TEAM AT @PHILBRANAGAN (PHIL BRANAGAN) @AVLMELBOURNE (ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN) @DRMITCHELLADAM (MITCHELL ADAM) UR

O HING ON Y GOT SOMET TO ’T FORGET N O D ?

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WHITMARSH WANTS LESS GT CLASSES SPORTSCARS McLAREN boss Martin Whitmarsh has hit out at Le Mans organisers the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) at the launch of the new McLaren MP4-12C GT3 car.

Whitmarsh admitted to having spoken to the ACO about McLaren’s participation in the Le Mans 24 Hours but, “this is a GT3 car and so it isn’t eligible. I have spoken

to the ACO and I don’t think I made many friends when I said that the race would be more appealing if it were for McLaren, Porsche Ferrari, Lamborghini and the other supercar constructors, rather than just for two prototype manufacturers.

“Racing at Le Mans makes sense for us as a supercar constructor, but GT3 cars aren’t eligible so it is not out of the question that we would look at [building] other models. McLaren is interested in winning

overall, not just a class win, but we must remember what our customers want, and many of them will be happy with class wins. We will keep talking to the ACO.” Whitmarsh admitted that McLaren had been approached about building a GT1 car but said: “There are too many GT categories and there needs to be a convergence of them. GT1 is not relevant for us.”

– DAVID ADDISON

MCLAREN SET TO ROCK THE GT3 WORLD SPORTSCARS MCLAREN is set to storm international GT racing, with the launch of its new McLaren MP4-12C GT3.

The car, unveiled at the team’s base last week, is a collaboration between McLaren and top UK-based sportscar team CRS Racing, and is aimed at international GT3 racing.

Powered by a 3.8-litre V8 twin-turbo engine, the car is based on the new MP4-12C road car, and just 20 of the race-ready cars will be built. The car will race in 2011 as part of its development program, and will be handled by CRS Team Principal Andrew Kirkaldy, Oliver Turvey and Alvaro Parente. McLaren’s Chief Test Driver Chris Goodwin, also a regular racer for CRS, may also be behind the wheel at some point.

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McLaren has pledged that as part of the ownership of the car, customers will benefit from a new experience. GT3 racing is aimed at pro-am teams, and McLaren is offering its GT3 customers use of its simulator, a low cost racecar (priced at £310,000), and an easy and complete parts supply service.

“We want this to be the cheapest car on the grid to run,” said McLaren Group Chief Executive Martin Whitmarsh.

“We are going to limit the build number and sell them to the best teams to keep the residual value high.”

A date for its race debut has not yet been given – it is dependent upon when CRS feels it can be competitive – but the May 21/22 Blancpain Endurance Series round at Navarra has been suggested.

– DAVID ADDISON motorsport news

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11 motorsport news

otoGP/ M / 1 F For full /news, e g a r e ov WRC c HERE CLICK o to get t agazine m k e e GPW k.com

Ricciardo to race for Toro Rosso in 2012

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FORMULA 1

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Drive nonFORMULA 1

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DANIEL Ricciardo looks set to be the next Australian to make his Grand Prix debut, after his team boss dropped a huge hint that the West Australian would race for the team in 2012.

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost said in Istanbul that the 21-year-old, who is the team’s test and reserve driver, was undertaking a process that will see him in a race seat next season.

“He should learn the team, all the race tracks, to work together with the engineers, get a little bit of knowledge about the press work, about the marketing and this should be the preparation for him to race for Toro Rosso in 2012,” the Austrian told the media.

But Tost stopped well short of suggesting that Ricciardo, whose main racing assignment this season is in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, will replace either of STR’s race drivers, Sebastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari – though Tost was guarded with his answer.

“No, currently not,” he replied.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner hosed down speculation that Ricciardo could, in fact, move from being STR’s test driver to step into a Red Bull in 2012.

“Of course we keep an eye on how the Toro Rosso drivers are developing but it’s way too premature to be speculating on whether or not they will sit in a Red Bull racing car,” he insisted.

“We’re happy with our current lineup and that’s what we’re focused on.”

World Champion Sebastian Vettel recently signed a long-term deal with the team that will see him stay in Red Bull blue until at least 2014. Mark Webber’s current one-year deal is for this season only.

GRAND Prix racing’s leading drivers are not overly concerned about the number of pitstops that were seen in the Turkish GP. A total of 82 stops were made by drivers during the race, which was the most since the famed and chaotic European GP at Donington in 1993. That number of stops in Turkey was somewhat exaggerated by the fact that of the 23 cars that started the race (Timo Glock’s Virgin Cosworth failed to make it to the grid) only one, Paul di Resta’s Force India, retired – and that was after the Scot had made three stops.

While tyre stops have been pivotal to the sport’s most recent format, the new Pirelli tyres, which are specifically designed to promote speed motorsport news

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Michael, Williams to part ways FORMULA 1

new record for pitstops but ...

www.mnews.com.au

18th to third in China was less satisfying because of the differential in tyre speed between the compounds.

“I think that when you come up against drivers like Fernando [Alonso] and Jenson [Button] and Felipe [Massa], Nico [Rosberg], these guys, and you catch them at 2.5s a lap, it’s nice but it’s not very rewarding in terms of how you pass them.

These guys have absolutely nothing to fight back with, so it was a podium which of course I took. Of course I had to drive well, consistently on the limit, blah, blah, blah as all the other guys were, but that was the tyres they had.”

The real test of the new tyre and DRS regulations may come in the next round in Barcelona, a track that has traditionally provided not so much few overtaking opportunities for GP cars but none whatsoever ...

Monaco will get DRS sutton-images.com

and wear differentials between the Prime and the Option tyre, do appear to have led to a situation where, in Istanbul, more than half the field ran a four-stop strategy.

“It’s difficult to produce a tyre that is a two-stopper everywhere, because tracks are different,” said race winner Sebastian Vettel, who stopped four times, “but I think the real hard time is really for the spectators in the grandstand.

Sure, if they have a video wall in front of them it’s possible for them to follow (the race) but after the first stint, especially when you have pit stops every 10 to 15 laps, I think it makes it really difficult for the people coming here to visit and to watch, to follow.”

His Red Bull Racing teammate Mark Webber put another spin on it, saying that his recent charge from

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ers OK about -stop tyre stops

SAM Michael is leaving Williams.

The Australian has handed in his resignation as the team’s technical director and is planning to part with the team at the end of the season. Chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson has also resigned.

Michael’s role will be filled

by Mike Coughlan. The hugely experienced Briton has been out of the sport since 2007, since he was caught up in what became known as the McLaren Spy Scandal.

Ironically, news of Michael’s departure came just before Williams’s best showing of the season. Rubens Barrichello qualified 11th and Pastor Maldonado 14th, and both drivers ran just outside the top 10 until finishing 15th and 17th, respectively. The Williams FW32 has several updates for the race, including new front and rear wings, diffuser and brake ducts.

FORMULA 1 FORMULA 1’s Drag Reduction System will feature at Monaco after all.

Initial reports suggested that driver concerns regarding the use of the driver-activated system meant that it would be disabled on all cars for the duration of the Monte Carlo weekend. But following the weekend’s Turkish GP, the

required unanimity was not achieved, so the system will be used around the tortuous streets of the Principality.

Teams expressed reservations about the fact that many of them had already developed their highdownforce aerodynamic packages with the use of the DRS in mind and that late changes, or shelving the system, would prove unnecessarily expensive.

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No new look Indy till 2013 INDYCAR

cell is not yet available for them use as a model.

Cotman said that the chassis would be made available this autumn. It may be that Cotman will need to insist that tireframe be met, because with no other manufacturers developing aero kits, Dallara stands to generate over US $2.5 million just in aero kits to start the 2012 season.

Growing fan reaction has been over 90 percent against delaying the variable chassis appearance. Indycar must make a final decision to please the fans or the car owners.

– MARY MENDEZ

Tony Cotman

IZOD INDYCAR Me dia

Indycar’s new unique make-your-own bodywork regulations have been postponed until 2013.

It had been envisaged that teams could start developing their own aero packages for the control Dallara safety cell from 2012 onwards, but this was voted down by INDYCAR’S team owners.

“We had a team owners meeting in Brazil concerning the 2012 car and made some great developments,” INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard said in a TV interview.

“One of those developments that came out of that though

was the team owners voted to not have an aero kit until 2013.”

Tony Cotman, the Project Manager for the 2012 car, announced last month that all teams would start the season with a full Dallara chassis, including the Dallara aero kit (priced at US$45,000).

Teams could start using other aero kits as early as Indianapolis but are still limited to two aero kits a year.

Cotman said the reason for starting the 2012 season with the Dallara aero kit is because the other manufacturers won’t have enough lead time to develop their parts – because the Dallara safety

Ho-Pin Tung for Indy start INDYCAR

Renault Media

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FOR the first time, a Chinese driver will attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Sam Schmidt and Jay Penske are working together to enter Ho-Pin Tung in the #8 Dallara.

“I am very excited to take part in the Indy 500 with Schmidt Dragon Racing,” Tung said.

“The support for me in China has always been tremendous,

and it’s a great honour to be the first Chinese driver ever to take part in this special race, especially being the 100th edition.

“I realise it will be tough since it will be my IndyCar debut, but Sam Schmidt Motorsports has shown great results in the last few races at the Indy 500, and Jay Penske and the Dragon Racing team has proven they can deliver a highly competitive racecar, so

I am confident to have a good chance to qualify for the race.”

Tung, who currently serves as a one of test drivers on the Lotus Renault F1 squad, has previously tested an Indycar at Sebring for the Schmidt FAZZT Race Team.

Previously he drove the Chinese team car in A1 Grand Prix in the 2006/07 and 08/00 seasons, finishing third in the Eastern Creek round in 06/07.

– MARY MENDEZ motorsport news

Donald Trumped by AJ INDYCAR

dia IZOD INDYCAR Me

NASCAR Media

Speed Triple INDYCAR

www.mnews.com.au

Single Mattress big enough for Smith NASCAR REGAN Smith’s win at the Darlington Sprint Cup round has shown that the single-car team is not quite extinct in NASCAR – and that not all NASCAR winners live in North Carolina.

Smith, 27, took his first legitimate win in South Carolina, out-lasting Carl Edwards to the flag in a green-white-chequer finish. The win comes almost three years since Smith took the flag at Talladega before being

NASCAR Media

WHEN qualifying begins for this year’s Indianapolis 500, Scott Speed will attempt to complete a unique triple: to become the only driver to have started all three car races at the Speedway; the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400 and the US Grand Prix.

The former Toro Rosso Formula 1 and Red Bull Racing NASCAR driver will suit up for Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing for the Month of May. “Having the ability to compete in the Indy 500 is a dream for any racing driver,” said Speed, who also hopes to be eligible for the US$5m bonus at the IndyCar season finale in Las Vegas.

Pole Day is May 21 and Bump Day is May 22.

– MARY MENDEZ

DONALD Trump will not drive the Pace Car at the Indianapolis 500 after all.

The property magnate and rumoured US Presidential candidate has been replaced by racing legend AJ Foyt, who will pace the field in the Chevrolet Camaro convertible Pace Car for the start of the world famous race.

“Since I won my first Indy 500 50 years ago, I had hoped to still be racing in it, but driving the Pace Car is the next best thing!”

Foyt said. “Seriously, racing has

always been very important in my life – it’s been my life – and the Indianapolis 500 is the most important race in the world. I lived for that race. When I got hurt in race cars, I always made it back for Indy because it is that important.

That’s where people know me from – Indy.

So being asked by my good friend Mari George to drive the Chevy Pace Car for the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 - well, I couldn’t have a bigger honour come from the Speedway and the Hulman-George family.”

– MARY MENDEZ

disqualified for passing Tony Stewart after crossing a yellow line on the bottom of the track.

Smith drives for Furniture Row Racing, based in Denver Colorado. The team was started six years ago by Barney Visser, who went racing as a hobby after he retired from the business of making and selling furniture, particularly beds. The team’s sponsors come from his own group of companies; on Saturday night, Smith carried ‘Denver Mattress’ signage.

FRR has become a prototype of how a single-car operation might survive in the big-team world of Sprint Cup racing. It sources its chassis from Richard Childress and engines from Earnhardt Childress Racing, and even its pitwork has been improved through a relationship with a muilti-car team.

This year, its over-the-wall crew is being coached by Stewart Haas Racing’s Joe Piette, whose advice was sought after a particularly tough outing in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February.

Smith’s win is the first for a single-car team in two years. Brad Keselowski took the last race win by a single-car entry, for Phoenix Racing at Talladega in 2009.

15

MINI STUNS ON DEBUT WORLD RALLY

MINI has made a stunning debut in the World Rally Championship, with Kris Meeke posting a Top 3 stage time, and Dani Sordo getting to the finish to record sixth place.

Meeke started to rally with a bang, posting the third fastest time on SS2, beaten only by Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen. But the Brit’s day went from great to horrible on the very next stage, when a stuck throttle body saw him crash out of fourth place.

As for Sordo, while not as spectacularly fast as Meeke, he held on to bring the car home in sixth, a credible effort on debut.

“I am happy to finish, the car is good and so is the team,” said Sordo.

“I think the weekend was very positive and after many kilometres on the rally we have learnt more about the car, which is important. Also the team has taken a lot of data, and are now working hard for the future. In the fast parts of the stages we were close to the top times. The positive is

the chassis is really good and it is really nice to drive on the fast road. If you have a good chassis this is most important.”

“We said before the rally we wanted to see the speed of the car and we showed we have entered at a very good level in terms of speed,” added Meeke.

“I have had a minor technical glitch and it appeared on both days, and we didn’t want to take the risk running again [on Sunday]. We know the solution for that but we can’t do it this weekend, but we will put that right in the coming weeks.”

sutton-images.com

16

LOEB EXTEND WORLD RALLY SEBASTIEN Loeb shrugged off the challenge of running first on the road to clinch victory at the Rally d’Italia in Sardegna.

The Citroen driver led from Friday afternoon onwards, meaning he was always first in the dusty roads. But he was fast enough to withstand the pressure from those driving in more favourable conditions, beating home Mikko Hirvonen by 11.2s.

“It’s a great victory, as we won without any particular strategy,” said Loeb.

“We started with the big disadvantage of being first out on the road on the opening day. We managed to take the lead and build up a small cushion, which we maintained yesterday and today. motorsport news

news

VW CONFIRM WRC PROGRAM WORLD RALLY

IT’S official; the World Rally Championship will add a fourth factory team in 2013, with Volkswagen confirming they are building a Polo R WRC. The German carmaker confirmed in Italy on the weekend that it is working on the Polo WRC car, with a minimum three-year commitment to the WRC, running from 2013 to 2015.

“The new technical regulations of the World Rally Championship ideally fit Volkswagen’s philosophy, with respect to the development of production vehicles,” said VW’s Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.

“Downsizing, reliability and high efficiency are top priorities for our customers. The timing of the WRC entry is optimal for Volkswagen. The sporting challenge of designing a vehicle that

is competitive and in contention for victory in a large field of challengers holds great appeal.”

According to Nissen, the development of the Polo R WRC started back in February, with the car likely to run before the end of the year. In the meanwhile, VW will gain some valuable WRC experience with their existing Skoda rallying program, with the Czech brand falling under the Volkswagen Automotive Group banner.

“The concept and vehicle design for the Polo R WRC started in February. The roll-out is planned before the end of 2011. Before in-depth trials in an extensive testing program start with the vehicle in 2012 the team will already receive an opportunity in 2011 to gather initial experiences in the World Rally Championship. At the end of the season entries with vehicles of the Volkswagen Group’s Škoda brand are planned at selected rallies.”

BUT NO MORE DAKAR WORLD RALLY

sutton-images.com

DS TITLE LEAD To do so we had to go pedal to the metal from start to finish. I felt good in the car, and this helped me push really hard. Obviously, it was very fraught at certain moments so it’s a big relief to see the end of the rally.”

Hirvonen and third place finisher Petter Solberg both seemed to be in with a shot at victory, but problems on Friday ruled them both out. For Hirvonen it was a puncture, while Soberg was hit with a turbo problem. Meanwhile, JarMatti Latvala won nine of the rally’s 18 stages – but was running under Superally rules after crashing out on Friday morning.

Sebastien Ogier finished fourth, Mads Ostberg fifth, while Dani Sordo finished sixth on debut in the new MINI WRC car (see separate story). www.mnews.com.au

VOLKSWAGEN’S entry into the World Rally Championship will have an immediate effect on the Dakar Rally, with the carmaker confirming it will have no factory program in 2012.

Having won the last three Dakar Rallies, VW has opted to quit while it is ahead, and focus on its WRC program.

“There will be no factory commitment at the next Dakar Rally in 2012,” confirmed Kris Nissen,

VW’s Motorsport Director.

“The entry of a customer team is being considered at the moment. There are several parties interested in such a project.

“Volkswagen has achieved all of its aims at the Dakar Rally. We are the first and so far only manufacturer to have won the world’s toughest cross-country rally with innovative diesel technology. And not just once but three consecutive times – Volkswagen has gone down in history with this hat-trick.”

Evans: Bring on the new ARC AUSTRALIAN RALLY SIMON Evans will wait for an increase in manufacturer interest in the Australian Rally Championship before making his comeback.

The four-time ARC title winner is currently on a hiatus from the sport, concentrating on his Victorian-based concreting business. But, in an exclusive comment piece in this week’s issue of eNews, he revealed that he is excited about the new direction of the ARC .

“The plan to move to a two-wheel-drive championship, I think that’s a great idea. If you look at the manufacturers in Australia, every one of them makes a small, front-wheel-drive

car. The problem we have had with rallying is that, over the last few years, if you want to win you have to have a Subaru, Mitsubishi or a Toyota. That makes manufacturer interest hard to find.”

Evans added that the right opportunity, preferably with a manufacturer, will see him back in rallying.

“There’s always a plan to come back. I’m definitely not retired. I’m just at a time in my life where rallying wasn’t paying the bills, and I really needed to focus on the business. I’ll be putting my hand up when I see a bit more manufacturer interest out there.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN 17

Cassidy wants Winton FFord start FORMULA FORD NICK Cassidy is continuing his search for backing to remain in the Australian Formula Ford Championship.

The young New Zealander finished third in the season opener at the Clipsal 500, but is yet to lock in the budget to contest Round 2 at Winton next weekend. After making a one-off appearance in Australian Formula Ford last year and finishing second in the 2011 Toyota Racing Series,

Cassidy had been aiming to put together an Australian title bid this year with Evans Motorsport Group.

“I don’t really know, to be honest,” he said of his Winton prospects.

“I want to be at Winton and hopefully get the seat time throughout the year to hopefully go for the championship, but obviously it comes down to funding.

“At this stage, it’s not looking good for Winton, but I’m not going to stop trying.

We’ll carry on searching for sponsorship and if something comes along I’ll be there.”

Cassidy did get some good news recently, though, with the opportunity to complete his maiden laps in a V8 Supercar.

After Hamilton’s V8 round last month, the 16-year-old did five laps in one of Fujitsu Series squad Greg Murphy Racing’s VE Commodores at Hampton Downs, at the end of Murphy’s ride day for personal sponsors.

“A sponsor of mine from TRS has an apartment out there, so I was with him, and then I was talking to Greg and he said ‘why not jump in and do five laps’,” Cassidy explained.

“At the end of the day, there was a couple of minutes left, so I did a couple of laps, really just a ‘have a go’ thing.

“It was a pretty cool experience. It was my first laps in a touring car, fullstop, so it was pretty different, but thoroughly enjoyable.

– MITCHELL ADAM

Man of Steel FORMULA 3 FORMER karter Steel Guiliana looks set to contest this year’s Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship.

The 19-year-old raced Formula BMW Asia last year, but is likely to return to home soil and contest Formula 3’s National Class in 2011 with R-Tek Motorsport. Guiliana tested with R-Tek at Mallala last Friday, completing over 80 laps in one of their F304 Dallaras.

“I loved the F3 car, it’s unbelievable,” he said.

“The series is presented 18

well and gets lots of media compared to other categories I’ve been in, which helps raise a drivers profile and show people what you’re capable of.

“We haven’t put pen to paper yet but it will happen, and we’re looking forward to doing some more testing and then going to Winton for the first round and working out where we stand.”

Irish driver Lee Farrell also tested, as he looks to put together a deal with a new team for the 2011 season. eNews understands 2008 Champ James Winslow is also edging closer to a deal

which would see him return to the series, and is a real chance to line up at Winton.

The Englishman is contesting Indy Lights in the USA, with Andretti Autosport.

Meanwhile, Formula 3 Australia has received a positive response to last week’s on the return of the Trophy Class for older-model F398 or F301 Dallaras. Drivers under the age of 21 with no prior F3 experience are eligible to make four starts in the class, while drivers over the age of 35 can race in it with no restrictions.

Organisers are hopeful of attracting two or three Trophy

Class entrants at Winton.

“We’ve been in contacted by several owners and the general feeling is that there will be support for it this season at selected rounds,” F3’s Richard Craill told eNews.

“I’ve also had calls from parents looking to get their kids into Formula 3 keen to use the Trophy as a way to do it cheaply and outside of the pressure of running for the championship or the Forpark Scholarship – so I’d expect to see a few young drivers use it to get experience at a few points this season before stepping up.” motorsport news

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19

Matt sees Red V8 TOURING CARS THE Holden Racing Team’s 2003 livery will return to use this weekend, through Matt Hansen in the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series.

Hansen runs HRT054, built by the factory team for Mark Skaife in 2003, having purchased the VY Commodore from Geoff Emery in late 2010.

He raced the car for the first time at Wakefield Park’s KV8TC’s season opener last month,

but it’s since received a brandnew look, which he’ll race for the first time at Mallala this weekend.

“It was a popular car back in the day, so we thought ‘why not?’” the West Australian said.

“I haven’t really seen it yet, I’ve only seen a text message of it.

It’s been painted in Adelaide, so I’ll see it on Wednesday.”

Between KV8TC rounds, Hansen made his Fujitsu Series debut at Barbagallo Raceway, deputising for the injured Tony

Bates at Greg Murphy Racing.

Hansen aims to progress to the Fujitsu Series at some stage, and could make further appearances this year.

“GMR had the car already in Perth, they asked me if I wanted to do it when Tony became unavailable, so I said ‘yeah’,” he said of the Barbagallo drive.

“A couple of those guys look after my car anyway, I was probably their next pick to have a drive.

“We’d definitely look at doing something else during the year, for sure. It depends where it is, who it’s with and that sort of stuff. We’re going to do some test days with GMR, we’ll see how it goes.”

Hansen will be part of a 17car field of V8 Touring Cars at Mallala. Tony Evangelou will be missing, having sold his 2010 title-winning Falcon, while Jason George will debut his exDick Johnson Racing Falcon.

– MITCHELL ADAM

SWIFTS READY SUZUKI SWIFTS

20

Dirk Klynsmith

THE Australian Swift Racing Series will kick off at Mallala this weekend.

In the first of six rounds with the Shannons Nationals in 2011, organisers are aiming to have 15 of their newlyconstructed Suzukis on the grid, with the series based on the successful New Zealand class.

As eNews went live, 11 drivers were on the official entry list, with a range of backgrounds, including Jesse Dixon (Formula BMW), Alan Jarvis (Speedway), Rob Jarvis (V8 Utes), Charlie Kovacs

Jr (HQs) and Brooke Leech (Aussie Racing Cars).

“We’re so excited that it’s not even funny,” the series’ Business Manager Shaun Keeley told eNews.

“We’ve got karters, we’ve got Speedway racers, we’ve got, for instance, Harley Phelan who currently drives a VT in the Saloon Cars, and that sort of thing. So we’ve got different driver backgrounds.

“And we’ve got a couple of Kiwis coming over, who have been racing the New Zealand Series.

“They’re going to have a bit of an advantage, they know their front-wheel drive Suzuki

set-up and everything else.

“We’re using the same suspension package and a couple of other bits and pieces, but we’re running on different wheels and tyres, which is what they’re going to have to learn.”

Of the other Shannons

Nationals categories at Mallala, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge is set to have 20 cars, while 10 will race in the Kerrick Sports Sedans season opener, headed by the return of six-time Champion Tony Ricciardello.

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

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DRAG RACING

PHIL Lamattina has experienced a turbulent second half of the season, with crew chief Theo Pavlomanolakos leaving the team and new chief Aaron Hambridge installed.

Hambridge made his debut for the team at the Nitro Champs, with the outfit having to start from scratch with the tune up.

“We have come away from the

weekend feeling confident and very pleased with our decision to appoint Aaron as crew chief,” said Lamattina.

“We had a very short time to get a new team together and ready to race at the Nitros. The crew performed very well given it was their first time working on the car and they performed brilliantly turning the car around for each round.

“Performance wise, we struggled but under the circumstances and the weather

conditions we came away from the weekend in a very positive frame of mind. I am confident as a team we are moving forward.”

Fuel system maestro Spike Gorr was out from the USA to assist Hambridge as he came to grips with nitro methane.

“Spike was an invaluable asset to the team over the weekend,” said Hambridge.

“His knowledge and willingness to share his experience was brilliant and

Luke Nieuwhof

Lamattina confident in new chief

I couldn’t have wished for a better teacher. We had to start from scratch with a new fuel system and clutch set-up. So knowing in my debut I could draw on Spike’s twenty years of experience was reassuring.

“The team really gelled and threw themselves into the challenge of turning the car around quickly between the rounds. Their enthusiasm is a great sign moving forward. The weekend was a major learning curve for us all.”

Not-so easy r DRAG RACING

John Morris / Mpix

22

TWO riders have their eyes on motorcycle championships at the Winternationals in June.

Chris Matheson (Top Bike) and Maurice Allen (Pro Stock Bike) were both victorious in the penultimate round of the 2010/11 series, held at Sydney Dragway, however with almost nothing between them and their nearest championship rivals, anything could happen.

Brisbane’s Matheson is looking for back-to-back

championships in the Top Bike category, while Sydney’s Allen will be looking to break through for his first ever title.

“The win at the Nitro Champs means that we have led the Top Bike series points continuously this season, which is what we were able to do last season on our way to our maiden championship,” said Matheson, left.

“It is a great feeling to have that consistency, and hopefully we can carry that through to claim the title at the Castrol

motorsport news

news

Grand Re-opening for Hidden Valley this weekend DRAG RACING

riders

announcing his retirement from the sport following the event.

“To be leading the Pro Stock Motorcycle points chase heading into the season finale with a handy 56 point lead is a pretty cool feeling,” said Allen.

“At the same time, it’s a nervous feeling, it’s one of those events where anything can and does happen, and we have the reigning champ breathing down our neck, trying to snatch away the title.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

the evening and they have reassured local officials and racers that Hidden Valley is going to be a very competitive track for the Grand Re-Opening,” he said.

“Seeing Scott roll off the

trailer and smash the previous quickest pass by nearly 0.4 seconds shows that we are in for some very quick runs during the official opening.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

John Morris / Mpix

Edge Winternationals.

“We are certainly aware of the challenge poised by Troy Mclean and the rest of the field, though, so we will certainly be on guard and giving it our all on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, to make sure Nitro Voodoo Racing secures back to back honours.”

Allen, right, said it would be a tough battle fought on the grounds of Willowbank Raceway as the reigning champion Andrew Badcock seeks a final blow, after

Luke Nieuwhof

HUDDEN Valley is preparing for the Macmahon Grand ReOpening presented by 7mate, which will feature a full field of Top Doorslammer teams including Territorians Matt Abel and Scott MacLean, and current Australian champion and record holder, John Zappia.

The Doorslammer field will also feature Deno Brijeski, Frank Mamone, Gary Phillips, Ivan Skaramuca, Reece Melenewycz and Peter Kapiris.

MacLean’s Top Doorslammer, recently took to a street meet at the track and set a fresh new track record for the field

to target. His 1953 Studebaker now features a gloss black paint job and had recently gone through a full rebuild which appears to have paid off.

While MacLean’s first timed pass was a little wayward, taking out three of the timing blocks as he crossed the centre line, he turned the Studebaker, pictured, around and raised the bar higher, pulling a solid 6.287s run at 225mph.

Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association president Jay Jukes said the track is getting some special attention ahead of the re-opening.

“We have Willowbank Raceway track curators Rob and David Hunter here throughout

Next ANDRA Pro Series Round: 2011 Castrol EDGE Winternationals Willowbank Raceway, June 9-12 ANDRA Pro Series on TV: Friday May 13, Top Doorslammer, Nitro Champs www.mnews.com.au

23

Five Minutes with ...

MARTIN WHITMARSH

McLaren are aiming to take GT3 sportscar racing to a new level with the new MP412C racecar. DAVID ADDISON spoke to McLaren’s boss about the ambitious project MOTORSPORT NEWS: Why build this new car?

McLaren has racing in its blood, and it was a natural step to take our MP4-12C road car and turn it into the most reliable, efficient and easy to drive GT3 car.

Every car on the grid will have its performance balanced by race rules, meaning our objective must be to select a technical specification that ensures any driver is able to access the 12C GT3’s performance limit with ease.

We have worked with CRS Racing to ensure the 12C’s design and development program is as close as possible to one McLaren Racing would employ in developing a Formula 1 car.

In return, McLaren Racing is able to bring new levels of technology to GT3 racing. No other GT3 car in 2012 will be supplied with a road car carbon chassis, or a steering wheel and other associated technology from a Formula 1 car.

Will there be a factory team?

No. We will not race against our customers.

I am sure that CRS Racing would like to race against customers, but no, we won’t

24

compete against the people that we have sold cars to.

However, if there were to be an event that just one McLaren team entered, then it would be logical for CRS to be that team.

What do customers get with this car?

They get a well-recognised brand, they get a car that is cheap to buy (£310,000) and will keep its residuals high, as we are only selling 20 cars.

The cost of ownership is lower than many supercars and we want this to be the cheapest car on the grid to run. We will extend the use of the simulator to our customers as well – we want this to have a customer experience better than anything before. The parts supply will be the best in segment.

Only 20 cars?

Yes, but we will look at other markets and it is possible that build may be increased or that we look at other models.

Why GT3 and not GT1?

GT1 is not relevant for us. There are too many GT categories and there needs to

be a convergence of them. GT3 is a better market because they are closer to roadbased GT cars, and aimed at pro-am racers as well as being affordable to race and run.

GT1 doesn’t work for us.

We would like to be back at Le Mans but GT3 cars aren’t eligible. I have spoken with the ACO and told them that if the race were between McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini, it would be just incredible.

It would be more appealing I think than just between two prototype teams. I made friends there!

When does the car first race?

When we are happy that we are competitive. Our racing this year is part of the development for our customers fro them to race in 2012, but whenever we race the car we want to be competitive.

We will continue to assess our pace during testing and make a decision. It could be as soon as Navarra in May but we haven’t made a decision yet.

motorsport news

chat

www.mnews.com.au

25

What V MACCAS, BURNOUTS AND (PER)CATS OPINION

A

Phil Branagan – Executive Editor

FEW things are on my mind today.

First off, V8 Supercars gets criticised from time to time for changing direction on certain policies, but the call to allow burnouts from drivers after races was the right one. Warning the podium drivers for smoking the bags at Barbagallo smacked of Nanny-esque officialdom and was a call that placed the rulemakers in danger of making themselves look silly.

One of the attractions of a 650 horsepower RWD V8 racecar is that it can light the tyres at will, and allowing drivers to do so, on otherwise useless Sprint tyres, is a positive for the spectators and viewers. If I want to see drivers not lighting up after the flag, I’ll watch the BTCC. Alan Gow is going to email me for writing that …

Second, I like the look of the new McLaren GT3 car, but I think Martin Whitmarsh is not quite on the money by calling on Le Mans promoter ACO to open up the grid to let his new car in. While the headline act at Le Mans is the prototypes, a number of people do go to look at the support classes, now called LM GTE Pro (formerly GT2; that must have been too easy to understand) and LM GTE Am (formerly GT3; ditto).

Surely, a niche maker like McLaren is perfectly placed to produce a car for the Pro class, and we could see professional drivers in Macs duke it

26

Back in the late 1990s, Simon and Sue Evans were factorybacked Volkswagen drivers in the Australian Rally Championship, running a Formula 2-spec Mk 3 Golf, winning the 1999 Australian Formula 2 Rally Championship.

They eventually went to Group N cars in a bid for outright glory, but the Golf has always held a special place in the Evans’ hearts.

Now, VW is coming back to rallying, with the Polo R WRC. These are Simon’s thoughts on what it means to have the German carmaker back in the sport.

O

ne of the things I noticed with Volkswagen is that they don’t do things

by halves.

When they come out and build a rally car, it is built spot on. We reaped the rewards of that when we drove their Formula 2-spec Golf for those couple of years.

out with the Ferraris, Aston Martins, BMWs and Corvettes. With respect, I wonder whether GT3 is much of a showcase for a brand like McLaren.

Martin, step up and take on the big kids. Give JB and Lewis, and some of the team’s test drivers, some Sportscar ‘homework’ at the 24 Hour race. that will be fun to watch.

Thirdly, I did not make it over to glamorous Altona this morning to witness the Holden Racing Team unwrapping its enduro drivers.

That might have something to do with us doing a deadline in the office, or perhaps that we reported who would be in the mix months ago. But what we did not report, because we did not know at the time, which driver would partner whom, in which car.

We know now that James Courtney has Cameron McConville in #1 and Garth Tander gets Nick Percat. Three questions arise from that information; Will it be good to see Percat in an HRT car fighting it out with Andrew Thompson in a TeamVodafone VE at PI and Bathurst? Hell yes.

Given the success they had together just last year – a podium at Bathurst and a win at the GC600 – are were a little surprised to see the team go with the decision to split Tander and McConkey? Yep. In light of this, will we be shocked to see GT re-sign for, and race in 2012, for the Reds?

Nope; we will be absolutely stunned. motorsport news

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VW means for the WRC Basically, we didn’t change a part on that car during each season.

The gearbox ran all season, the engine ran all season, it was amazingly cheap to run – and competitive, all at the same time. The expendables like oil and brake rotors was all that we threw at the car. It was fantastic.

This is a big step for the World Rally Championship. With rising fuel prices, oil prices and the general cost of living, small cars are the way to go these days. It’s pretty clear when you look at car sales here in Australia; the Toyota Corolla is always right up there. So the small car market is the market to be in, and rallying fits that category.

The FIA have been well onto it.

They’ve seen this happening for a long time, so they’ve provided a category that is affordable, because the cars are a lot simpler now. The sequential gearbox has to be mechanical, it

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can’t be hydraulically operated; all mechanical differentials, not smart diffs in the cars.

Right there you’ve taken out a lot of the costs, just through simplifying the technology.

It’s creating a great driver market, because these cars are built to be driven. They are aggressive and sideways, and they are quite peaky with the power-band, being a 1600cc engine. I know I watch the WRC now with a lot more enthusiasm, because these new generation cars are awesome to watch.

They make a lot of noise and move around, which is what I want to see as a spectator.

More factory teams, and therefore paid drives, has a big flow-on effect through the sport. Young kids have more reason to be motivated, because they see kids from their own state championships, regional championship or

national championships making it the World Championship level, particularly in Europe. It creates the desire to be a WRC driver when you see there are drives available, and people are actually making it. It only helps the lower levels of the sport.

The Australian Rally Championship is heading in the right direction, too. If you look at Scott Pedder’s plan, it’s all there. This year they’ve moved to this ‘unrestricted’ formula just to make the current cars a little bit more exciting – because they were getting boring to watch. From what I saw of the TV coverage from the Forest

Rally, the power that they have now makes it hard to keep the car on the road! It definitely looks a lot more spectacular than what we had last year.

And then there is the plan to move to a two-wheel-drive championship, and I think that’s a great idea. If you look at the manufacturers in Australia, every one of them makes a small, front-wheel-drive car.

The problem we have had with rallying is that, over the last few years, if you want to win you have to have a Subaru, Mitsubishi or a Toyota. That makes manufacturer interest hard to find.

OPINION Simon Evans – Australian Rally Champion

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FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4 – ISTANBUL, TURKEY

SIMP

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PLY TOO GOOD Despite a nasty practice crash and a lack of pre-qualifying running, Sebastian Vettel was just too good for everyone in Turkey, including Mark Webber

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EFENDING against the DRS was almost impossible in Turkey.

The long back straight lent itself perfectly to the system, meaning that anyone within the DRS zone was easily able to breeze past his opposition. But don’t bother asking Sebastian Vettel about it – he’ll have no idea.

The thing is, the DRS only works when two cars are within a second of each other, and that wasn’t something that Vettel ever had to worry about in Istanbul. He was on pole by a whopping four-tenths, and never looked even remotely worried by the rest of the field – including his own team-mate Mark Webber.

The really frightening thing for the rest of the field is that Vettel crashed heavily during a very wet Free Practice 1, and missed a dry, and potentially crucial, Free Practice 2 as a result. Imagine how much he would have won by if he’d done a full quote of dry running ...

“This one is for the guys, as I wrecked the car on Friday, but they got it back together and everyone played his role,” said Vettel.

“Not only my mechanics, also Mark’s mechanics helped a lot to fix the car and get ready for Saturday. I have to say, when I walked in on Saturday morning every little worry was gone immediately, as the mechanics

gave me the impression that nothing happened, nothing is wrong and we will continue as usual.

“I think we had a smooth race.

Obviously a very good start, which was crucial, and then I was able to pull a gap, right at the first stint, which was important as we could then afford to stay out a lap longer, wait to see what the others are doing in terms of strategy and just react.

We always had this three, four to eight-second cushion to the second guy, and it makes my life easier, easier to find out which strategy really works.”

Webber, meanwhile, had a shocking start from the dirty side of the grid. He then

recovered to get back to second place, before a hard-charging Fernando Alonso made a fight out of the position. In the end, Webber was too strong, charging past Alonso in the last stint to make it a Red Bull Racing 1-2.

“The start wasn’t that easy out of that side of the grid, which we probably expected a little bit,” said Webber.

“But it is not the end of the world as we have seen the last race starting 18th, it doesn’t really matter if you are on the dirty side or whatever, even if you’re at the front.

“The fight with Fernando in the middle of the race was a little bit unexpected. He drove motorsport news

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fantastic today. It was a good fight. Both of us used the DRS to get the moves done, so that was part of it, but the tyres play a huge role. In the end I had a fresher set of tyres from qualifying and got the job done on Fernando and that was it really.”

Alonso’s third place was, remarkably, Ferrari’s first podium of the year.

Behind the Top 3 was the two McLarens and Nic Rosberg’s Mercedes. With the DRS and KERS at their most effective, the battle between the three cars was often fierce, with Lewis Hamilton eventually getting home in fourth, ahead of Rosberg and Jenson Button, www.mnews.com.au

who was the highest finisher on the riskier three-stop strategy.

Seventh and eighth was fought out by the two Renault drivers, often very aggressively, with Nick Heidfeld leading home Vitaly Petrov, ahead of Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi, the latter coming from the very back of the grid.

The biggest no shows from the Top 10 were Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher.

After looking quite racey early on, Massa ran wide after his third stop, burying himself in traffic and ending up 11th.

Schumacher, meanwhile, finished 12th, after struggling to match the more impressive pace of his team-mate Rosberg.

Crash, Bang: Vettel’s car looked pretty second-hand on Friday morning, above left, while Massa did his best to destroy his Ferrari in the race, above. Meanwhile, Kobayashi just drove on the grass, left.

Results :: Malaysian Grand Prix Pos

Driver

Team

Qual

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DNF DNF

Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Jenson Button Nick Heidfeld Vitaly Petrov Sebastien Buemi Kamui Kobayashi Felipe Massa Michael Schumacher Adrian Sutil Sergio Perez Rubens Barrichello Jaime Alguersuari Pastor Maldonado Jarno Trulli Heikki Kovalainen Jerome D’Ambrosio Narain Karthikeyan Tonio Liuzzi Paul di Resta Timo Glock

Red Bull-Renault Red Bull-Renault Ferrari McLaren-Mercedes Mercedes McLaren-Mercedes Renault Renault Toro Rosso-Ferrari Sauber-Ferrari Ferrari Mercedes Force India-Mercedes Sauber-Ferrari Williams-Cosworth Toro Rosso-Ferrari Williams-Cosworth Lotus-Renault Lotus-Renault Virgin-Cosworth HRT-Cosworth HRT-Cosworth Force India-Mercedes Virgin-Cosworth

1 2 5 4 3 6 9 7 16 24 10 8 12 15 11 17 14 19 18 20 23 21 13 22

Top 10 Points: Vettel 93, Hamilton 59, Webber 55, Button 46,

Alonso 41, Massa 24, Heidfeld 21, Petrov 21, Rosberg 20, Kobayashi 8.

31

NASCAR Round 10 – DARLINGTON, SC

Mothers’ wo

Regan Smith won on Mothers’ Day, but after the Southern 500 Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick had some explaining to do to NASCAR – and possibly their own mothers as well.

NASCAR Media

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edia NASCAR M

orries

T

HE 2011 Southern 500 was all so predictable.

On the eve of Mothers’ Day, Carl Edwards entered the race as, for the second time, a new dad, his wife having given birth to a son during the week prior to the race. The Roush Fenway driver was the man to beat for much of the second half of the race and, when a yellow flew with five laps remaining, he led the contenders into pitlane. All got two tyres, and when the resumed, he was the bestplaced, on the second row. All he had to do was beat Regan Smith.

But he didn’t. The unfashionably plain black Furniture Row car, from the even more unfashionable

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

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Mothers’ Day madness: Kevin Har vick gets turned around by Kyle Bush (out of frame), inset, the clash culminating in a postrace Days of Thunder style incident. None of this bothered Regan Smith, who celebrated a beautifully judged victor y, left.

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(in NASCAR terms) Denver Colorado, held its line.

Smith refused to yield, Brad Keselowski gave him a push and Edwards, in simple terms, lacked the speed to get past.

Smith got sideways in Turn 2 and belted the wall, but kept his foot down and held on to take the win.

“I don’t really know how to put it in words right now. It is so surreal,” Smith said.

“We had a good car all night and we had to work for a way back. We kept working on it and these guys kept digging and digging and digging. We got track position. It was good out front with clean air. I hit the wall on the white-flag lap but the chances of me checking up there were about zero.

“My biggest concern on the initial restart, I wasn’t as worried. It was the second restart when Carl was on the outside and he had the fresh tyres also or fresher tyres than I did. I spun them real bad on the first one and I just backed it up a bit of a notch on the second restart and went with it.”

There was some justice in Smith’s first ‘official’ win. He took the chequered flag at Talladega in 2008, but officials deemed that in the process of passing Tony Stewart, he crossed the yellow line at the bottom of the track. This time, the win stood.

Keselowski was third ahead of Kasey Kahne, who showed that his first win with Red Bull cannot be far away after taking 34

the pole and threatening all race. Ryan Newman was fifth ahead of Denny Hamlin, while Stewart was next ahead of Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Martin Truex.

Jimmie Johnson finished back in 15th after a tough day, his car spinning twice, once with an assist from Juan Pablo Montoya. He was two spots back from Marcos Ambrose, who ran with the leaders for most of the race.

After the race, nobody was much talking about that, or even watching the winner’s victory lap. Instead, they were focusing on an altercation between two of the sport’s real hard men.

Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch tangled not once but twice, with one of the casualties being Harvick’s own team-mate, Clint Bowyer. That prompted the final yellow, but during the kerfuffle Busch tagged Harvick.

After the race, the two faced off on the track (while Harvick’s unmanned car drove itself into the pitwall!) and later faced NASCAR officials to explain their actions. Both remained tight-lipped later.

Expect this rivalry to play on in future races.

Too tough: They say Darlington is too tough to tame, and it did get the better of Jimmie Johnson, inset opposite. But Marcos Ambrose ran strongly all night to claim an eventual 13th place, inset centre. motorsport news

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NASCAR Media

FORD Media

Results :: Southern 500, Darlington, SC Pos. No. Driver 1 78 Regan Smith 2 99 Carl Edwards 3 2 Brad Keselowski 4 4 Kasey Kahne 5 39 Ryan Newman 6 11 Denny Hamlin 7 14 Tony Stewar t 8 16 Greg Biffle 9 1 Jamie McMurray 10 56 Mar tin Truex Jr.

Make Chevy Ford Dodge Toyota Chevy Toyota Chevy Ford Chevy Toyota

Team Furniture Row Roush Fenway Penske Red Bull Stewar t Haas Joe Gibbs Stewar t Haas Roush Fenway Earnhardt Ganassi Waltrip

Sponsor Furniture Row Aflac Miller Lite Red Bull Tornados Spor t Clips O ffice Depot/Mobil 1 3M Bass Pro Shops/Tracker NAPA Auto Par ts

Qual.

23 4 10 1 2 3 9 22 12 29 TOYOTA Media

Top 10 Points:

Edwards 378, Johnson 355, Busch 339, Earnhardt Jr. 331, Harvick 328, Newman 317, Stewart 313, Ku Busch 306, Bowyer 297, Kenseth 295, Ambrose 240 (22nd).

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35

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4, MONZA, ITALY

Eugene, Genie It took Eugene Laverty four rounds to score a World Superbike double – and he did it in Max Biaggi’s back yard

Yamaha Racing

Monster Mash: Laverty rang up his first SBK win at Monza and backed it up immediately with a double. Troy Corser made his usual fast start, right, but Max Biaggi was an upset man after copping a ride-through penalty, far right.

OUTSTANDING PIT DISPLAYS BY OCTANORM MANY OTHER DISPLAY OPTIONS AVAILABLE PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS REQUIREMENTS

SYDNEY (02) 9556 6012 MELBOURNE (03) 9394 3150

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W

INNING a race in your first season in World Superbikes is an achievement. Doing a double is a ral boost. Doing it at Monza is …

special.

Eugene Laverty did all that, and more, to take his first wins in the WSBK, in only his fourth outing. The Brit put one over Max Biaggi in the opening race to take his first win, and fought back from a bad start to fight his way through from ninth in Race 2. That race looked set to result in only a second place to his team-mate Marco Melandri but the Italian slid wide under huge pressure at the Parabolica on the final lap, and Laverty did not need a second chance.

“I can’t believe I got a double victory today,” said Laverty, who is now ninth in the standings. “I came here aiming for a podium and now I’m coming away with two incredible race wins. It’s fantastic!

“That [Race 1] was a great race, definitely not one of the easiest but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I just kept pushing to the top and my first win couldn’t have come at a better place.

“I didn’t get off to a good start in the second race. I had to avoid a collision on the first corner, causing me to lose time. I also struggled a little with the tyres in the hot conditions. When it came to the last few laps, I couldn’t believe my luck that it was just me and Marco in the lead. This double victory was particularly special to me, being the team’s home track.”

Biaggi was a bitter man after Race 2. Well in the lead, he outbraked himself at the chicane and straightlined it. While he did not gain time in doing so, officials deemed that he had crossed the white line in rejoining the circuit and issued him with a ride-through penalty.

Predicatably, Biaggi was upset after he finished eighth.

Leon Haslam had a tough weekend, third in Race 1 before a tumble at the start of Race 2 left him on the track with a broken toe. Michel Fabrizio scored fifth and third for Suzuki, while Troy Corser was seventh in Race 1 abd fifth in Race 2. Carlos Checa was outgunned on his Ducati. The Althea rider was ninth and 10th on the V-twin but declared himself happy with the results.

Points: Laverty 145, Melandri 118, Biaggi 97, Rea 89, Laverty 85, JHaslam 84, Fabrizio 74, Camier 58, Smrz 55, Haga 47.

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37

Rankin and file SPEEDWAY

Geoff Gracie

A TERRIBLE season of racing was quickly erased by Tim Rankin, when he won his maiden Victorian Open Sprintcar Championship at Western Speedway in Hamilton last Saturday night.

Rankin, of Simpson, led home a south-west Victorian trifecta with Warrnambool’s Darren Mollenoyux and Tim Morse filling the minor placings. On a racy surface, Rankin wasted no time to take maximum points with his first win of the night in the opening heat but at the end of the heat races it was Western Australian driver Ryan Farrell, in the Colin Bulmer V2 Eagle, heading the points.

The starting order after for the feature race saw Geelong’s

Domain Ramsay off pole, with Rankin beside him while Mollenoyux and Farrell behind them. The race started in a scrappy fashion, with two attempts needed and after just one lap Farrell Ashley King clouted the wall and rolled, bringing on the reds.

Unfortunately a couple of drivers reacted to the red light very quickly which created a secondary incident leaving Matthew Reed sitting on the infield with front end damage.

While the drivers were rolling around lining up for the restart, Farrell rolled to the infield and out of the race with a leaking fuel pump. At the restart Ramsay wasted no time opening a handy lead over Rankin and Mollenoyux.

By Lap 9, Ramsay’s race was run. While he attempted to

pass a lapped car, he hit the cushion and was sent into the wall and flicked onto its side.

Rankin inherited the lead with Mollenyoux and Mitch Foster in pursuit until another stoppage on Lap 20, when Foster rolled and he was out also.

With nine laps to run in the State Title, Rankin bolted and opened up a comfortable gap and was driving with precision to be consistent with his laptimes, as Mollenoyux had Morse to contend with in the

run to the flag.

On Lap 29 of 30, Mollenoyux closed in hard on Rankin and had one last shot going into Turn 3, attempting a high line move that was not enough to take victory from Rankin, who took a well deserved victory.

It was a simple but brief and accurate comment from Rankin in Victory Lane.

“We came here to win this race tonight and we did,” Rankin said.

– GEOFF ROUNDS

NOTHING BROKEN ABOUT HENDRY’S RUN SPEEDWAY THE curtain officially came down on the South Australian Sprintcar season with the traditional last blast at the Broken Hill Speedway.

Although the Speedway venue is located in New South Wales, it’s classed as a South Australian operated track and despite only a total of six cars assembling in the pit

38

area, the competitors – Shane Hendry, Jamie Hendry, Tregan Gates, Stephen Lovegrove, Chris Evans and local Brendan Guerin – were all keen to finish the season off on a high note.

With two heat wins and a fourth, Hendry went into the feature race event as the highest points scorer, and Gates, with a win and two seconds, started alongside

on the front row. As top point, scorer Hendry elected to start the 20 lap final from the outside, and at the drop of the green flag set sail around the top side of Gates to take the lead. From there, Hendry went on to take an untroubled victory.

“It’s great to finish the season off with a win, I would like to thank my great team and sponsors who I would

not be able to do this without,” Hendry said.

From further back, Lovegrove and Evans managed to advance forward as they swapped positions several times in the early stages of the journey, and at the finish line it was Lovegrove who got the better of Evans as they rounded out the podium.

– PARIS CHARLES

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Fifth for Reeves, double DNF for Taylor AUSSIES OVERSEAS BRENDAN Reeves sits third in the WRC Academy Championship, after the second round at Rally d’Italia Sardegna.

Reeves and co-driving sister Rhiannon Smyth, above right, bounced back from opening day disappointment to take fifth for the event. The rally started well for the pair, sitting third after the opening three stages. Unfortunately, though, on the fourth stage, an oil cooler in their Ford Fiesta R2 split, ending their day.

“It’s a real shame,” Reeves said.

“The oil cooler just broke - I didn’t hit anything, so it’s really disappointing.”

Under Superally regulations, they rejoined for the second day, and Reeves forced his way back up the order. He was in the top three in all six stages, topping two of them, to grab fifth place. It moves the pair up to third in the points.

The other Australian pair, Molly Taylor and Rebecca Smart,

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right, endured a disappointing weekend. Like Reeves and Smyth, they were forced out on the opening day, as a rock ripped out their sump guard.

They were one of eight cars to retire that way, with just five of the 17 Academy Fiestas finishing Day 1.

Taylor and Smart rejoined for the second day, but a heavy landing damaged their radiator on the second stage, bringing their rally to a premature conclusion.

“What can I say? It’s obviously not the result we wanted,” Taylor said.

“I wish we’d had more kilometres on Friday when we were in such a good position with so many other cars falling by the wayside, but then we did too.

“And we were looking good and feeling quite confident after the first stage on Saturday, only to come unstuck on the next one. Frustrated and disappointed are the only words that describe it all, but we’re taking on board

everything we’ve learned so we do a better job at the next round in Finland.”

Estonian Egon Kaur took the WRC Academy win to extend his lead atop the standings, having won the season opener in Portugal in March.

39

GP2 & GP3 ROMAIN Grosjean and Sam Bird share the lead of the GP2 Series after the season opener at Turkey.

From pole, Grosjean built a handy lead in the feature race, only for Bird to reel him in over the closing laps. Ultimately, Grosjean, pictured, held on to take the win by 0.332s, despite a mistake three corners from home.

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Juniors kick off The pair finished 35s clear of third-placed Jules Bianchi, but then had differing fortunes in Sunday’s Sprint race. With the top eight reversed, Grosjean and Bianchi came together on the opening lap, with Bianchi recovering to seventh and Grosjean 10th, after pitting for a new front wing.

Bird, though, made his way up from seventh to finish third.

Stefano Coletti took the lead on Lap 7, but a late Safety

Nissan on top in Portugal

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Car negated his lead, when Davide Rigon and Julian Leal crashed heavily on the startfinish straight. Rigon sustained multiple fractures to his tibia and fibula in the accident.

It set the scene for a one-lap dash to the flag, with Coletti holding out Giedo van der Garde.

GP3 also kicked off at Istanbul Park, with Nigel Melker and Alexander Sims splitting the wins. Melker went from

third to first on the opening lap to set up his Race 1 victory, while Sims, who started second, faded to eighth.

That gave Sims pole for Race 2, though, and he went on to record a comfortable win over Michael Christensen and Melker, who leads the points.

Kiwi Mitch Evans made a solid European debut, grabbing sixth in Race 1 and seventh in Race 2, having run as high as third.

FIA GT1

2-3, while Bernoldi and Zonta finished eighth after Zonta was turned around at the first corner.

Westbrook and Dumbreck led the way in the second race, too, before striking gearbox problems that eventually led to the car’s retirement. That saw Luhr and Krumm take the win, with Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner grabbing second in their Aston Martin.

Brabham and CampbellWalter were third again, ahead of the Lamborghini of Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager. Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock maintain their lead of the series, despite a quiet weekend in which they could only manage a pair of sevenths.

NISSAN dominated Round 3 of the FIA GT1 World Championship at Algarve in Portugal.

The Japanese manufacturer’s GT-R occupied the top four places in qualifying, led by the Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck entry, which was less than a tenth of a second clear of Enrique Bernoldi and Ricardo Zonta.

That form carried into the opening race, with Westbrook and Dumbreck winning the one-hour preliminary from JR Nissan stable-mates Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm, left. David Brabham and Jamie CampbellWalter claimed the final podium position in a Nissan 1-

motorsport news

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Peugeot gives Audi Spa bath SPORTSCARS PEUGEOT has scored a psychological boost over rival Audi ahead of next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours, winning the Spa 1000km precursor.

Audi were on top early in the weekend, with Timo Bernhard taking pole position in the R18 he shares with Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, leading an Audi 1-2-3. By contrast, the factory Peugeots were only 13th, 18th and 50th after being caught out by a late Red Flag.

But none of that mattered in the race, with Alex Wurz dragging his 908 from 13th to the lead in a storming opening hour, which set the stage for his co-drivers Anthony Davidson

and Marc Gene to complete the rest of the race and secure Peugeot’s fifth-straight Spa win.

It was a one-two for the French manufacturer, with Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Nicholas Minassian grabbing second, 42s in arrears. And it could’ve actually been an all-Peugeot podium, before Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud struck late trouble.

Lamy spun, then the car suffered suspension problems with Pagenaud behind the wheel with 45 minutes remaining, eventually finishing eighth.

Audi took third, fourth and fifth – one, two and three laps behind the winning Peugeot

after a tough day. Late contact with a lapped car prevented Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello from challenging for second.

The pole-sitters were also delayed by contact with a lapped car, early in the race with Bernhard behind the wheel, while the fifth-placed Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler had a variety of dramas.

Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiriet and Jody Firth took a dominant LMP2 win in their TDS Oreca, while Giancarlo Fisichella and Gimmi Bruni took the GT2 Pro Class honours for Ferrari, ahead of fellow Ferrari drivers Allan Simonsen and Dominik Farnbacher.

NEED TO JOIN A CAR CLUB TO GET YOUR CAMS LICENSE? No matter what car you drive, Formula Ford Association membership is a cost effective way to get you on track.

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motorsport news

ODD SPOT! THERE’S no place like Home.

That must be close to the sentiment among the Formula 1 circus, as the Grand Prix teams adjusted to life back in Europe after three flyaway races. That means that the motorhomes get an airing – though that term must seem to

be a fairly mundane in light for some of the magnificent erections that were on show in Istanbul.

We decided to feature Pirelli’s new shack. As the new kids on the block, the Italian tyre giant revealed its mobile HQ

rear of grid

and very impressive it is, too, resplendent in menacing black.

Expert motorhomists may spot some familiar shapes within the ‘new’ unit. In fact, the motorhome was Jaguar Racing’s in a previous life and has not been seen at a GP for some years ...

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ON THIS DAY 8 MAY 1982 OKAY, we are fudging by one day, but we wanted to mark the anniversary of the death of Gilles Villeneuve. The brilliant Canadian drove his Ferrari onto the Zolder track in qualifiying for the Belgian Grand Prix and, after setting the sixth fastest time, crashed with the March of Jochen Mass. He died in hospital at 9:12pm that night. Villeneuve was 32.

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