THE WORLD OF MOTORSPORT DIRECTLY TO YOUR DESKTOP
Issue No. 212 July 05 - 11 2011
OUR NEW F1 STAR RICCIARDO GETS HIS GRAND PRIX CHANCE. SO WHAT DOES HE HAVE TO DO TO MAKE IT WORK?
FROSTY’S TOWNSVILLE PREVIEW
HAS SKAIFE GOT A NEW JOB?
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A0983 Australian Motorsport News
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Issue No. 212 | July 5 – 11 2011
news 5
It’s The Comish! Skaife linked with new role 6 The Dan Plan Ricciardo, so far, in pictures 8 Scarlett’s Dad re-signs Tander in red, 3 more years 12 Jason’s new company car JR’s CCup racer 14 Six of the best F1’s new, new engines
chat 26 Five Minutes With ... Mark Winterbottom Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport eNews is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 5, 55 Chandos St, St Leonards NSW 2065 © 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this e-magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher.. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage. Privacy Policy We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of Motorsport eNews, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our company has to offer. We may also give your information to other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590.
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comment 28 Adam: Long and Short of it 27 Branagan: Austin’s Power
race 30 NASCAR at Daytona 34 World GT1 36 DTM
trade 38 Classifieds 3
RICCIARDO’S F1 DREAM CO FORMULA 1
F
OR the first time since 1977 there will be two Australians on the Formula 1 grid at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, following Daniel Ricciardo’s signing to Hispania Racing Team. As revealed by eNews’ Twitter account last Thursday evening, Ricciardo will join Tonio Liuzzi at HRT for the remainder of the 2011 season. The only race he will miss will be the Indian Grand Prix, with Narain Karthikeyan set to re-join the team for his home race. Ricciardo and Mark Webber on the grid together means the British Grand Prix will mark the first time since ’77 that two Aussies
have been on the same F1 grid. Last time, it was Vern Schuppan and Alan Jones. The Ricciardo deal is a football-style loan deal, with Red Bull Racing temporarily allowing the 22-year-old to drive for another team to gain some Formula 1 experience. Red Bull did a similar thing with Sebastian Vettel, who made his F1 race debut with BMW back in 2007, sparking a brief contract dispute over the German’s services. “It’s a dream come true for me – for the first time on an F1 starting grid!” said Ricciardo. “I had to pinch myself a couple of times to be sure that it’s real. I’m excited and can hardly wait to drive at Silverstone. It’s a new challenge, a new experience, a new team,
but I’m ready and will give of my best in any event.” HRT owner Jose Ramon Carabante said that the Ricciardo deal shows where HRT is going. “This agreement is a reward for all the hard work Hispania Racing has shown since we started in Formula 1 last year,” he said. “We’re proud that the Formula 1 World Champion team has trusted us in their effort of developing their drivers. Let’s hope that this is just the start of a fruitful relationship.” This is the second time that HRT has gone for a mid-season driver replacement. Last year, Karun Chandhok was dumped for Sakon Yamamoto mid-way through the season.
THE DEAL IN RICCIARDO’S WORDS
“I
t is just a dream come true to be given the opportunity to race in F1. “I’m so excited I can hardly wait until the first race at Silverstone. Thankfully Silverstone is a track I know really well, and, other than Australia, it’s probably the next best thing to a home race for me – so that will make it a slightly easier experience.
“People have been asking me if racing in two different championships (Formula 1 and Formula Renault 3.5) is going to be too much, but as a young driver you just want as much experience as possible. I think that racing in two different championships is awesome! I’m just so grateful for the opportunities that I’m getting.
“It will be a steep learning curve working with a new team and racing a car that I’ve no previous experience of, but I’m determined to do my best. Even though I’m a young driver I really want to try to help the team and develop the car. “Hopefully my experience in the Friday sessions with Toro Rosso will help with that.”
NEWS ANALYSIS WITH eNEWS EDITOR ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN
T
HERE will be those that think this whole HRT thing isn’t as good idea. On the surface, that’s an easy conclusion to draw. Once the excitement and shine of signing for an F1 team wears off, the next realisation is that HRT, without a single doubt in the world, is the worst F1 team on the grid. Even in Minardi’s most crackpot days they weren’t building their cars in the garage during the practice session at the season-opening Grand Prix – which is exactly what HRT were doing in Australia earlier this year. So, Ricciardo’s weekend at Silverstone is very likely to end
up being a case of qualifying 24th (he might beat Jerome d’Abrosio if he’s lucky), and then trawling around at the back of the grid hoping to salvage a few spots through attrition. And then it will start. The general media will go ‘hang on, this kid isn’t that good’, and people will begin to wonder if he should have just stayed a test driver at a good team until the right opportunity came up. Of course, it isn’t that simple. And luckily for Dan, the people who will be wondering that will mostly be people who don’t matter. The people who do matter
have already taken notice. Dan has the full support of everyone at Red Bull, to the point where this HRT appointment must be making Jaime Alguersuari and Seb Buemi sweat even more. And the key people at Red Bull, the people who will control Dan’s destiny in the near future, know exactly where Dan is and exactly where HRT is. They won’t be expecting points finishes. They won’t be expecting the odd Q3 appearance. In the first few races, they won’t even be expecting Dan to beat Tonio Liuzzi, simply because it takes time to adjust to a new car – particularly when you’re used
to driving super quick RBRs and rather capable STRs. What the key people in Dan’s career will be looking for is for Dan to keep edging closer and closer to Tonio, and the Virgins, as the year wears on. They’ll be looking for him to begin to flourish as a Grand Prix driver, and soak up the pressure of a race Sunday like a Grand Prix driver should. They’ll be looking for his knowledge of the Pirelli tyres, and how they react across a full 300km of racing, to develop. And in 2012, if all goes to plan, they’ll be looking to put Dan back in a Red Bull driving suit.
People have been asking me if racing in two different championships (Formula 1 and Formula Renault 3.5) is going to be too much, but as a young driver you just want as much experience as possible. RICCIARDO ON HIS FORMULA 1 RACE DEBUT 4
motorsport news
NEWS
OMES TRUE
MARK SKAIFE LINKED TO V8 COMMISSION V8 SUPERCARS
M
ARK Skaife appears to be in line to be the first Chairman of the V8 Supercars Commission. The five-time title winner and six-time winner of the Bathurst 1000 is the favourite to be named to the position, which comes about after the significant restructure of V8 Supercars a month ago. The Commission is separate to, and complementary to the Board of V8 Supercars, which will maintain its role in administering the business side of the category. Skaife gave a firm “no comment” when contacted by Motorsport eNews on Monday. We believe that the structure of the Commission has been finalised and will be unveiled in Townsville this Friday. One potential sticking point with such an appointment may be that Skaife is currently under contract to one of the teams, TeamVodafone, as an endurance driver. As the defending winner of the Bathurst 1000 (which he won last year with Craig Lowndes), it would appear unlikely that he would withdraw from that role to take up a Commission appointment with immediate effect. What would appear a more probable solution to such a sticking point would be to follow the example that has occurred in a number of other sporting arenas. It is not uncommon that someone with a potential conflict to complete his contracted commitments (in Skaife’s case, racing at Phillip Island and Bathurst) and then assume the position. This would also be in line with previous practice by V8 Supercars, when Shane Howard acted as CEO until such time as Martin Whitaker completed his tenure at the Bahrain International Circuit, before moving into his current position.
Dirk Klynsmith
Dirk Klynsmith
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