Motorsport eNews Issue 212 - July 5-11, 2011

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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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.

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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

www.mnews.com.au

5

SPECIAL eNEWS FEATURE

DANIEL RICCIARDO – CARE 2006 – After just a handful of local Formula Ford starts, Ricciardo heads to Formula BMW in Asia, taking the rookie title on debut.

2007 – A tough year in Italian Form role with Australia’s A1GP team.

2009 – After a secret straight line aero test during the year, Ricciardo has car with a test for Red Bull Racing at Jerez in December.

2009 – Ricciardo wins the prestigious British Formula 3 crown for Carlin Motorsport.

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motorsport news

NEWS

EER SO FAR IN PICTURES

mula Renault is made better by a testing

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2008 – Ricciardo marks himself as someone to watch by winning the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup. sutton-images.com

s his first proper outing in an F1

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www.mnews.com.au

2010 – A Toro Rosso reserve drive is coupled with a Formula Renault 3.5 race seat. Ricciardo wins at Monaco, setting himself up for the ‘Friday’ driver role he has enjoyed with STR so far in 2011.

7

V8 SUPERCARS ONE of the darkest weekends in the history of the Holden Racing Team, at Hidden Valley last month, was not a factor in Garth Tander deciding to stay with the team.

In spite of the team suffering from its least competitive outing for years in Darwin, Tander last week confirmed that he would stay in HRT red at least until the end of the 2014 season. That news gives the team stability,

with James Courtney currently in the first year of his deal, which expires in 2013.

“One of the most pivotal things in my decision was stability,” said Tander, who joined HRT in 2008 after winning the V8 Supercars title with the HSV Dealer Team.

“In the discussions that we had, I made it clear that this is where I want to be, I want to be a part of this, I want to be a part of HRT, I want to be winning races.”

While Darwin was a tough weekend for all associated,

Dirk Klynsmith

GT STAYS PUT Tander said that it was not a factor and that he felt it was not a true indication of where HRT sits in the sport’s pecking order.

“You do not make a decision based on one bad weekend. Sure, Darwin was not the weekend that we hoped for, but it is very easy to forget that three weeks prior to that we were at Winton, and we the first car in a long, long time to be able to grab the lead from Jamie Whincup, and pass him, twice, and then lead the race on merit, on car speed. A

lot of cars, up and down pitlane, have not been able to achieve that.

“We are going in the right direction. Darwin was a great motivator, we are very, very motivated.”

The deal, thought to be worth in excess of $2 million over three years, gives Tander great job security, which is great news for his growing family. Last week, wife Leanne gave birth to their first child, a daughter they have named Scarlett.

CAR OF THE FUTURE ARRIVES, F V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCARS’ Car of the Future is a reality and has been tested.

Last week, after the car was shaken down at the Holden Performance Driving Centre track at Norwell, the car was given a run at Queensland raceway and Morgan Park.

Mark Skaife, who oversees V8 Supercars’ COTF project, said that the test had been successful.

“We have run about 1200 kilometres now, almost, and it is very good,” he said.

“The whole project is prefaced as being about validating the

technical specification, and testing for durability. We want to make sure that the changes are sound.”

Skaife would not provide any details about whether the car, the first of two prototypes built by Pace Engineering, resembled a Holden or a Ford.

“We have built a ‘blue’ one [ie, a Ford] and a ‘red’ one,” he said. “It [the car that has been tested] is white, and we will be camouflaging it.”

For the time being, and until such time as the full specification of brakes, wheels and tyres is settled upon, only drivers not engaged fulltime in the V8 Supercar Championship will be permitted to test

FOOT SIDELINES WALL FUJITSU SERIES DAVID Wall will miss this weekend’s Townsville round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series through injury, with Dale Wood set to take his place in the Wilson Security Racing Commodore.

Wall broke his foot in a workplace accident, leaving him with a six-week period on crutches and in plaster. He 8

is expected to be fit for the Queensland Raceway round at the end of August.

“To say I am very disappointed does not even come close,” said Wall.

“I was really looking forward to hitting the streets of Townsville in my Wilson Security Racing V8.

We know the car is suited to the track after Tony went really well there last year.”

Wall’s misfortune is likely to

see Wood make an unexpected FV8 comeback. While it is yet to be locked it, eNews believes that Wood is very likely to jump into the car, which will be in Townsville anyway after travelling direct from Darwin with Tony D’Alberto’s main series Falcon.

Wood is signed to drive with D’Alberto in the endurance races.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

ALEX A V8 SUPERCARS FORMER Porsche team-mates Alex Davison and Marc Lieb will be reunited at this year’s Armor All Gold Coast 600.

As revealed by eNews in late May, factory Porsche racer Lieb will be Davison’s international co-driver on the streets of motorsport news

NEWS

TEXAS IS GO V8 SUPERCARS

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V8 SUPERCARS has confirmed what we told you last week – that they will race in the USA for the next five years, from 2013.

V8 Supercars Chairman Tony Cochrane announced in Texas that the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, will host a round of the series from 2013-2017. The launch of the project was attended

by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, her opposite number in Texas, Governor Rick Perry, and founding partner of Circuit of the Americas, Tavo Hellmund.

The two 200km races will be broadcast live in the USA and

throughout South America on cable network Speed. No date for the maiden event has been set.

“North Americans have embraced V8 Supercars through the Speed network in a way that is beyond anything we could have imagined,” Cochrane said.

“It’s an amazing feat for an Australian-born sport, or business, to have such popularity in the world’s largest motorsport market. This is a huge deal for V8 Supercars and one that all Australians should be proud of.”

Premier Bligh, who is visiting the US on a 10-day trade

mission, described V8 Supercars as “a home grown Queensland success story”, in spite of the fact that of the 28 entries that compete in the V8 Supercar Championship, 17 cars, and the staff that run them, are based either in Victoria or New South Wales ...

FV8 DRIVERS GET BUSY the prototype.

To date, Jack Perkins and Scott McLaughlin have tested the car, and fellow Fujitsu V8 Series racers Andrew Thompson and David Russell are also involved in the test program.

The Holden and Ford COTFs will feature versions of the engines currently in use but with a number of cost-saving features.

“We are planning to have refinements of what we have got with the current engine,” said Skaife.

“There are projections of having another engine that will serve us well in the future, and another, subject to whatever manufacturer interest there is.”

Skaife also addressed some recent pitlane discussion that centred on the cost of a generational change, for the new cars coming in 2013.

“What people have got to get their heads around, you cannot run the cars that the teams have now forever,” he said.

“Cars need to have parts replaced, regardless of which cars they are. If you build your business around a proper lead time, and that is what we have tried to do, you will build new cars. There are things you would need to do anyway. Whether you are building a Commodore or a COTF Commodore, we are giving a proper lead time.”

AND MARC TEAM UP ... AGAIN Surfers Paradise. It will be the German’s first taste of a V8 Supercar, but he already knows the Stone Brothers Racing driver well.

The pair have been close friends since competing in German Carrera Cup in 2000, during Davison’s first European foray, and they teamed up for www.mnews.com.au

Team Felbermayr-Proton in Davison’s second – in 2008 – finishing second in the Le Mans Series’ GT2 class.

“It’s a great thing for me to go to Australia and the Gold Coast 600,” Lieb said.

“Alex is a very good friend of mine; I have known him for almost 10 years now. We raced

together in 2008 in the Le Mans Series together; we had a lot of fun. We have shared the cockpit already together so am really looking forward to it.”

“Alex and I are talking a lot, he is always telling me how good these cars are, how fun they are to drive, with a lot of horsepower and very close

competition. I think it’s really hard to get to know the circuit, I am trying to get as many onboards as I can get.

“I spoke to Pat Long, he drove it last season; he said it’s quite different but it’s still a car with four wheels, so I should be OK to drive but it’s definitely going to be a challenge.”

9

CAM DOES THE SPLITS FUJITSU SERIES

CAMERON McConville will run a split livery in the Fujitsu Series this weekend at Townsville.

For his FV8 return with Eggleston Motorsport, McConville has secured backing from Rare Spares and motorsport marketing company DBC2. Like BAR’s 1999 Formula 1 car, each side of the Walkinshaw Racing-built VE Commodore will promote a different aspect of Rare Spares’ business. One side will feature Rare Spares’ primary branding, and the other will have Holden Restoration Parts,

Rare’s GMH-Holden endorsed range of Holden products.

“This is personally a very exciting opportunity to be involved with a large, well known automotive company,” McConville said.

“The Rare Spares connection with Holden makes this a perfect fit for me. All 150 of my V8 Supercar starts have been in a Holden, and I drive one every day. I know that the Rare Spares Directors really love their motorsport. I am looking forward to working with them and making the most of this partnership.”

AFTER GOING GREEN IN WA, PAUL MORRIS WILL FEEL THE LOVE AGAIN IN THE FUJITSU SERIES IN TOWNSVILLE. HERE’S THE UPDATED ‘LOVE MACHINE’ LIVERY. 10

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NEWS

GAUNT JOINS MCM CARRERA CUP

DANIEL Gaunt has joined Money Choice Motorsport for the remainder of the 2011 Carrera Cup season.

The team has until now been running just one driver, Matthew Coleman, but will expand to two, locking the Kiwi in for the remainder of the season. On the operational front, however, little will change, with

Melbourne Performance Centre already running Gaunt’s car alongside Coleman’s Money Choice entry.

“I couldn’t be happier to join Money Choice Motorsport for the rest of the season,” said Gaunt.

“It is definitely one of the best outfits in the championship and I’m proud to drive in the new colours at Townsville.

“Now that I’ve joined Money Choice

Motorsport, I’ll bring greater confidence to the race track knowing I have substantial backing behind me for the rest of the season, which I believe will translate to better race results.

“I’m proud to represent Matt George and the team at Money Choice in Carrera Cup and I can’t thank them enough, along with MPD Dairy Products, for having faith in me to represent their brands.”

THIS IS THE LOOK JASON RICHARDS WILL BE SPORTING WHEN HE HITS THE TRACK IN TOWNSVILLE THIS WEEKEND. ALWAYS A GREAT FEELING TO KNOW ‘JR’ WILL BE BACK IN A RACECAR. GO SON!

12

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INSIDE F1’S NEW ENGINE R

eNEWS INSIGHT :: THE FIA HAS RELEASED THIS Q&A CLARIFYING THE 2014 ENGINE REGULATIO FORMULA 1

QUESTION: The World Motor Sport Council voted on 29 June 2011. What did it decide?

FIA: Following consultation with the various Formula 1 stakeholders and the current Formula 1 engine manufacturers, the WMSC has ratified the adoption of a V6 turbo engine to be used in Formula 1 from 2014 onwards. This required changes to the regulations initially adopted by the World Council on 3 June 2011.

The full regulations applicable to the 2014 season will be published in due course.

Will a V6 use more fuel, or have inferior economy compared with the original proposal?

No. To push the engineers to develop engine efficiency, the technical regulation imposes a fuel flow control. When evolving 14

the regulation to fit with the manufacturers’ new request this parameter has not been changed. Thus the efficiency requirement will be unchanged.

Why has the rev limit been increased from 12,000rpm to 15,000rpm. Is this purely to enhance the sound of a Formula 1 car?

No. This parameter has been updated from 12000 rpm to 15000 rpm to allow engineers more flexibility in power and energy management.

However, as a consequence of the new architecture and the change in rev-limit, the engine will sound different, but will remain representative of Formula 1.

Will the increase in rpm alter fuel consumption?

Absolutely not. As mentioned above, the fuel flow limit will

stay the same. The technologies are the same and as a consequence any increase in rpm will constrain the engineers to work harder on reducing friction and gaining on engine efficiency. The challenge will be even bigger than originally planned and will therefore enhance the technological lead of Formula 1.

Has the FIA retained the energy recover devices originally intended to be used in conjunction with the I4 engine?

Yes, the concept initially presented is respected. All of the technology intended for the I4 is still present. This new power plant will be a dramatic step forward in both fuel efficiency and in energy management.

Will those manufacturers already engaged in the

development of a four-cylinder engine face increased costs now they need to redirect their resources toward designing a V6?

To our knowledge, five manufacturers were working on the proposed four-cylinder engine. They will all need to adapt their project and this will surely involve some additional costs, depending on how advanced each project was.

This evolution has been proposed and supported by all four engine manufacturers currently involved in Formula 1.

Why is the introduction of the new generation of engines now being delayed by year?

The decision to delay the introduction until 2014 comes at the request of the four engine manufacturers currently involved in Formula 1.

Their request for extra time motorsport news

NEWS

RBR: NOTHING IN IT!

ONS

is linked to the change in architecture but also to ensure their projects are more robust.

Will these energy recovery systems and other efficiency devices ultimately influence the development of road cars?

Yes. The clear need for the automotive industry to reduce emissions means energy management will increasingly become a key factor in the development of more efficient powertrains. Kinetic energy recovery is already applied in Formula 1 and the introduction of exhaust energy recovery will add another technology route to be explored.

Formula 1 will also return to its role as a developer of turbo-charger technology. This research will have real-world benefits, contributing valuable knowledge that will be of use to future road car development. www.mnews.com.au

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REGS

FORMULA 1 RED Bull Racing is adamant that both of its drivers are performing.

Despite Sebastian Vettel having finished ahead of Mark Webber in every Grand Prix so far this weekend, the team remains fully committed to Webber. Speaking at last week’s FOTA Fan Forum in Woking, England, RBR’s head of car engineering Paul Monaghan made his thoughts on the subject very clear.

“When you look at the gaps, they are actually minute,” Monaghan said.

“It’s the consequence of such a competitive sport – one small mistake can cost you quite a lot.

In the last part of qualifying, you might see that

one driver makes a mistake in one corner, and then pays the price for it all the way down the subsequent straight. That can produce a laptime difference of two tenths.

“All of a sudden that’s three places on the grid, and you’ve got people saying ‘what’s happening there?’ The gaps are surprisingly small, so I wouldn’t say that anybody was underperforming.

The cars are separated by eight metres on the grid, so all of a sudden you can be 36 metres behind your team-mate wondering what on earth has happened.

“In our case, I’m sure Mark will sort Sebastian out at some point during this year, and he probably can’t wait to do it at Silverstone. So we’ll see what happens.”

JB FIT FOR BRITISH GP FORMULA 1 JENSON Button will be fit for this weekend’s British Grand Prix, despite pulling out of a demonstration at the Goodwood Festival of Speed due to a knee injury.

Button was meant to do a demonstration run in a 2008-spec McLaren Formula 1 car at Goodwood yesterday (Sunday), but didn’t drive the car because of a niggling knee injury he sustained at during a jetski promotion he was involved in for the BBC. He did, however, drive McLaren’s new MP4-12C road car up the famous hillclimb track –

and insisted during a cross to Goodwood’s radio commentary that he’ll be fine for his home race this weekend. “[I’ve] just got a little niggly pain and it’s not worth pushing it, I want to relax it for the Silverstone Grand Prix and that’s the only reason [I didn’t drive],” he said.

“It’s all fine, but it’s also great fun driving this [MP4-12C], because we don’t drive the F1 cars up the hill very fast, we’re doing burnouts and what have you, but this thing I can actually drive quick, so it’s probably the first time I’ve driven up here quick.”

15

CROWN ROYAL HEADING OUT NASCAR THE sponsorship landscape of NASCAR will undergo a change, with the news that Crown Royal is to leave Roush Fenway Racing.

The brand, a division of liquor giant Diagio, is to maintain a presence in the sport, as a sponsor of the ‘Your Name Here’ program, which names a Sprint Cup event after a fan.

The news means that RFR is looking for a new sponsor for the #17 Ford, driven by Matt Kenseth.

“They’ve been a great partner,” said Kenseth, “not just to us but to NASCAR as well, doing the [International Race Of Champions] Series and then moving into the Cup Series when they started allowing spirits on the side of the cars.

They’ve been a great partner

for us and NASCAR and we sure appreciate all of that. They were on our car in ‘03 and ‘04 with the Smirnoff Ice brand before moving up to do a Cup car through Kurt and Jamie and then myself, so we sure appreciate all of that.”

The team’s hopes for a replacement would have been done no harm with David Ragan and Kenseth running 1-2 at Daytona.

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POWER CLEARED TO RACE INDYCAR WILL Power has been declared fit to race at the next Indycar race at Toronto.

The Aussie tested his Team Penske Dallara at Mid-Ohio last week and displayed no sideeffects from his crash in Iowa. James Jakes, who also crashed at the Iowa oval, was also cleared to race and will line up for Dale Coyne Racing.

“It was a hard hit at Iowa, but I didn’t actually get knocked out or anything,” said Power. “I just had a headache for the first night and some neck soreness. I needed to get checked 16

out by the Indycar officials and it was more precautionary than anything, but that’s good, because you can never be too careful.

“Every driver does a test, called an ImPACT test, at the beginning of every season. It basically tests your reflexes, your memory and so on. Then you have to go back and do that test again if you have an incident like what we had in Iowa. I took the test and the doctors cleared me to drive.”

Power’s next engagement is testing on the 1.056-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval on July 5.

Meanwhile, Danica Patrick’s future is not expected to be immediately impacted by the sale of her sponsor, GoDaddy. com. The company, which provided internet domain services, is to be sold to venture capital company KKR & Co for a reported US$2.25 billion.

Patrick led Friday’s Nationwide race at Daytona, but was eliminated in a multi-car crash later in the race.

WALTRIP READY TO MAKE GRAND ENTRANCE NASCAR MICHAEL Waltrip Racing looks set to expand next season, to field a Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series entry in 2012.

SiriusXM Radio reported last week that the NASCAR team, which Waltrip co-owns with Rob Kauffman, is expected to run in the series.

Waltrip and Kauffman are both conspicuous supporters of sportscar racing, recently sharing a Ferrari 458 Italia in the Le Mans 24 Hours. motorsport news

NEWS

SMOKE STICKS TO HIS WORD NASCAR TONY Stewart may not be the most popular man in the Sprint Cup paddock but nobody can accuse the man in the #14 Chevy of being inconsistent.

Stewart, who was involved in two altercations with Brian Vickers last week at Infineon Raceway, said that he would wreck any driver who blocks him, including his own team-mate, Ryan Newman.

“I am drawing a line in the sand and the next guy that blocks me, he is going to also suffer the same fate,” Stewart said in a media conference at Daytona on Friday.

“It doesn’t matter who it is. I’ll make sure that when I do it the next time that the guy doesn’t have the opportunity to come back and wreck me.”

Stewart said that he had spoken to Vickers about the incident.

“We were laughing about it and talking about it,” Stewart said. “He told me that he wasn’t blocking. I just explained to him, I told him, ‘Of all people, I didn’t want it to be you, either.’ But I told him I had drawn a line in the sand with the guys that were doing it.

“When I came in here, I thought I was going to change how things worked, too, and Dale [Earnhardt] Sr. taught me how to do it, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, my teammate Bobby Labonte taught me, had to grab me and shake me beside a trailer one day and say, ‘Listen, you’ve got to understand,’” Stewart said.

“Nothing like that happens in this day and age. It’s so glamorized when two people do something on the race track, it’s made to be such a soap opera, the whole point why it happened in the first place isn’t getting resolved.”

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Justin Collins

SPORTS SEDANS TO BATHURST BATHURST 12 HOUR SPORTS Sedans will race at Bathurst for the first time in almost 20 years next February, following the announcement of the support program for next year’s Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

The class is the big inclusion for February 24-26 event at Mount Panorama. Having made their own return to Bathurst at this year’s Easter Motor Festival after a seven-year absence, Formula Ford will switch to the 12 Hour event, with Saloon Cars and Improved Production completing the program.

While the Sports Sedan racing is being organised by the New South Wales association and won’t be part of the national Kerrick Series, a full field including the national frontrunners is expected, with sixtime champion Tony Ricciardello signaling his interest.

“I’ve spoken to (five-time champion) Kerry Bailey and he is keen, Darren (Hossack, Ricciardello’s rival and a two-time champion) is interested and I think there are already quite a few of the national guys entered already,” he said.

18

“We’re weighing up the options at the moment but we’re certainly hoping to run.

Regardless, it should be a great field.”

Ricciardello believes the weekend could see Sports Sedans set a new outright lap record, lowering Craig Lowndes’ existing V8 Supercar mark.

“When you consider the cars have more horsepower, are lighter, have bigger tyres and possibly a bit more aero I would expect pretty impressive times,” he said.

“The last time the cars ran there, Keith Carling saw more than 315kmh down Conrod and set a lap record that was two-seconds faster than the V8s were doing at the time, so I think the possibility of us going quicker again is pretty high.

“When you look at a track like Eastern Creek we are three to four seconds faster around there, so on a longer lap at Bathurst it could be even more.

“The challenge will be getting them across the top. They will have more grunt going up and down, but getting the cars to handle well across the top and through the Dipper will be key. It should be really exciting.”

THEY’RE COMING B LE MANS PORSCHE is heading back to Le Mans.

The famous German carmaker has revealed plans to revive its Le Mans 24 Hour program with a brand new LMP1 challenger in 2014, having wound up its LMP2 program, which was run by Penske Racing between 2006 and 2008. Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans history, having won the

race outright 16 times, the most recent being in 1998.

“Motorsport was always an essential part of the Porsche brand,” said Matthias Müller, President of the Executive Board at Porsche AG. “So for us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the top league of racing. Porsche’s successes in Le Mans are unrivalled. We want to follow up on this with the 17th outright victory.”

While the technical makeup

motorsport news

NEWS

Mid Year Motorsport Stocktake Sale sutton-images.com

BACK ... of Porsche’s new LMP1 car is still unknown, it is expected to follow a similar line of thinking to the new 911 GT3 R Hybrid racecar.

“We’re looking forward to the task of developing new technologies and to continue on with the success of the Porsche RS Spyder,” said Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport.

“After the conclusion of our works-supported

sports prototype program in the American Le Mans Series, we have kept up with the latest technological advances. Now we will begin with detailed research in order to evaluate the various concept alternatives for our new car. These obviously depend on how the regulations for the year 2014 look in detail. In principle, these regulations are interesting for us because the integration of

our hybrid technology in the vehicle concept is one possible option.”

Porsche’s first Le Mans win came in 1970, with Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann winning in the famed 917. Its 956/962 won all the races between 1981 and ’87, above, while the most recent Porsche success came with Laurent Aiello, Allan McNish and Stephane Ortelli winning in a 911 GT198 in 1998.

COPPIN TO STEP UP RALLY ADRIAN Coppin will debut a new Ford Fiesta rally car at September’s Rally Australia.

Coppin, 25, has been named as the driver for the ambitious new program, although many other aspects remain under wraps. An as yet unnamed team will run the program, with backing from a ‘well known Australian brand’ to be announced in the coming weeks.

The car – built by Ford’s WRC outfit M-Sport, but not a WRC Fiesta – is currently on its way to Australia and expected to arrive in early August. After its debut at Rally Australia, a start in the final round of the Australian Rally Championship, Rally www.mnews.com.au

Victoria, is on the cards ahead of a full ARC program in 2012.

In his first season of rallying, Coppin finished second in the 2010 NSW RallySchool. com.au Excel Series and third in the ACT Clubman Rally Series. He’ll be joined by codriver Tim Batten, who also hails from Canberra.

“It’s a bit of a dream come true, really,” Coppin told eNews.

“It’s a busy time ahead with all of the preparation, it’s only a short turnaround before the event, once the car arrives.

“It’s a car that was built

by M-Sport, but it’s not a full-blown WRC car. It’s the same shape and model of the Fiesta, but not the four-

wheel-drive turbo version.

“I’ve been invited to do at least two events in it this year and we’re looking at doing Rally Victoria at the end of the year in it. And from then on, we’re starting to talk about the prospect of me running the car in the Australian championship, but we’ve got a long way to go, with plenty to do to get ready for Rally Australia.

When we get that out of the way, we’ll start to look at what’s going to happen for next year.

“The sponsor we’ve lined up is a well-known brand in Australia, so it’s going to be exciting news for rallying as well, I think. I’m very excited to be a part of it all.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

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19

NEWS

LORENZO TAKES MUGELLO MOTOGP MUGELLO was once the exclusive domain of Valentino Rossi.

Between 2002 and 2008, the Doctor owned the place, taking wins seemingly at ease in a collection of more and more humorous helmet designs. In 2009, it rained, allowing Casey Stoner to win (on a Ducati); last year, Rossi broke his leg in a practice crash and missed the race.

By the standards of 2011, Rossi had a fair

outing at Mugello on the weekend, starting 12th and finishing sixth, and winning the ‘Ducati Class’. Times sure have changed.

Jorge Lorenzo won on Sunday. He came from behind to run down Stoner, who led easily until tyre problems slowed his Repsol Honda, to take his second win of the season.

Andrea Dovizioso took second after passing Stoner late in the race.

“For a long time it has been one of the sweetest victories,” said the Spaniard aferwards. “The victory in Jerez was not ‘real’

because it was raining. It’s been a tough race because of the hot conditions without water in the camel back. I pushed and tried to be there with all of my heart! I tried to overtake Andrea in the downhill at the chicane and then I did the same with Casey because I thought it was the perfect corner for it.”

Ben Spies was fourth ahead of Marco Simoncelli, who did not hit anything. Alvaro Bautista looked set for a top-six result until he ran off the track after knocking his Suzuki into neutral.

sutton-images.com

GUINTOLI COMING BACK, HOPKINS TOO? MOTOGP THE diminishing grids in MotoGP look set to expand over the coming races.

Sylvain Guintoli confirmed during Sunday’s broadcast that he will return to the category for the next two races. The Frenchman, who raced for Tech 3 in 2007 20

and Pramac Ducati in ’08, will fill in for Loris Capirossi, who was injured in a fall from his Pramac Ducati at Assen.

Guintoli, who was due to test at Mugello prior to taking the seat for the Sachsengring and Laguna Seca rounds, now races in World Superbike for Effenbert Ducati.

Meanwhile John Hopkins is expected to race in the event at Laguna Sea and Brno. The American, who has already raced for the team this season, subbing for Bautista at Jerez, is now racing in the British Superbike Championship, taking his second win of the year at Snetterton on the weekend. motorsport news

RUSSELL INGALL OPEN AND HONEST ON HIS RACING FUTURE

WITH UNCERTAINTY OVER HIS FUTURE IN V8 SUPERCAR RACING, ‘THE ENFORCER’ OPENS UP TO MOTORSPORT NEWS ABOUT RETIREMENT, WHAT HE WOULD CHANGE IF HE HAD HIS TIME OVER, AND WHAT HE PLANS TO DO WHEN HIS FULLTIME CAREER COMES TO AN END

No. 409 July 201 1

PLUS, WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INDY 500 WITH DARIO FRANCHITTI AND BRYAN HERTA, SPEAK ONE-ON-ONE WITH JAMES MOFFAT, CHAT EXCLUSIVELY WITH F1 DRIVER HEIKKI KOVALAINEN, TAKE A DETAILED LOOK AT VOLKSWAGEN’S WRC PLANS AND GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THE NEW MERCEDES SLS AMG GT3

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21

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BUMPER WSS SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED SPEEDWAY THE 25th season of World Series Sprintcars will include a new racing venue in its 15 rounds of action across Australia commencing in late November.

The 2011-12 season will include three, two-night shows and the ever-popular Speedweek while Morris Park, Dubbo joins the annual series for the first time and Timmis Speedway in Mildura rejoins the fixture after a four-year absence.

The series will again fire up in Brisbane on November 26 and Boxing Day will again signal the start of Speedweek; with racing at Murray Bridge, Mount Gambier and Avalon before concluding in Warrnambool on New Year’s Day, 2012.

The rich Australian Sprintcar Open will be the first of the two-night shows on January 6 and 7, with rounds in Bunbury and Perth in mid February to conclude the 25th anniversary of WSS. Robbie Farr is the reigning WSS champion and will again be joined by some of Australia’s most seasoned campaigners and visiting Americans in what organisers are predicting as the biggest and best championship chase in many years.

– GEOFF ROUNDS 2011 / 2012 WSS Schedule 1. Brisbane International Speedway, Brisbane, QLD – 26/11/11 2. Morris Park Speedway, Dubbo, NSW – 3/12/11 3. Timmis Speedway, Mildura, Vic – 10/12/11 4. Speedway City, Adelaide, SA – 26/12/11 5. Murray Bridge Speedway, Murray Bridge, SA – 27/12/11 6. Borderline Speedway, Mount Gambier, SA – 28/12/11 7. Avalon Raceway, Avalon, Vic – 30/12/11 8. Premier Speedway, Warrnambool, Vic – 1/1/12 9. Brisbane International Speedway, Brisbane, QLD – 6/1 & 7/1/12 10. Speedway City, Adelaide, SA – 14/1/12 11. Kalgoorlie Speedway, Kalgoorlie, WA – 1/2/12 12. Attwell Park Speedway, Albany, WA – 4/2/12 13. Manjimup Speedway, Manjimup, WA – 8/2/12 14. Bunbury Speedway, Bunbury, WA – 10/2 & 11/2/12 15. Perth Motorplex, Kwinana, WA – 17/2 & 18/2/12

GENERAL WORK on the first stage of Eastern Creek’s redevelopment is underway.

Ground was broken last week on the construction of a new link road between Turns 4 and 9, which will give the venue the opportunity to operate two separate circuits. Being completed at night to avoid disruptions to on-track activity, the link road is expected to be completed within three months.

Further stages of the redevelopment – including a track extension, new race control tower and amenities buildings – are expected to kick off later in the year.

“Eastern Creek is the only permanent race circuit in Sydney and the only FIA Category Two level circuit in Australia,” ARDC CEO Glenn Matthews said.

“The financial support provided by the NSW State Government has meant that we can increase our capacity to better serve the motorsport-hungry Sydney public.

“The future is bright for Eastern Creek International Raceway, and for motorsport in Sydney.”

COREY MAC COMING BACK DRAG RACING

Geoff Gracie

22

EC DOUBLING UP

NHRA Top Fuel star Corey McClenathan will return to Australia next weekend for the rescheduled Castrol EDGE Winternationals.

McClenathan joined Santo Rapisarda’s Top Fuel squad for the Willowbank Raceway event in June, only for the meeting to be washed out during qualifying. He’ll make another trip to Australia for the July 15-17 event to finish what he started.

“I always love coming to Australia and thanks to Santo, I have the opportunity to come back and race for the Castrol EDGE Winternationals win,” the 34-time NHRA final round winner said.

“It was disappointing that we only got one run in – I used it to get comfortable in the car before putting on a show in my second run.

“The response from the fans to us being at Willowbank Raceway was fantastic. I couldn’t believe the knowledge they have of NHRA racing.

“The atmosphere at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals was second to none – it was right up there.” motorsport news

NEWS

Dirk Klynsmith

WILLIAMSON & BORLAND SPLIT FORMULA FORD AUSTRALIAN Formula Ford Championship contender Tom Williamson has switched teams.

The Brad Jones Racing junior ran with the V8 Supercar squad last year during his maiden Formula Ford campaign, but switched to Borland Racing Developments for 2011. That association started well, with Williamson winning the season opener at the Clipsal 500, but following a tough second round at Winton, the 23-year-old and

the factory Spectrum squad have parted company.

For the third round of the championship, at Eastern Creek next weekend, Williamson – currently fifth in the points – will join Minda Motorsport and return to a Mygale. Another ‘in’ at Minda, statelevel CAMS Rising Star Jon Collins will make his national debut.

A total of 20 cars have entered for the weekend, which will be the championship’s first visit to Eastern Creek (and New South Wales, for that matter) since 2008. It will also be Formula Ford’s first appearance with the Shannons Nationals.

CANTO’S UTE CAMEO V8 UTES DEAN Canto will return to the V8 Ute Racing Series this weekend, running as the series’ Auto One Wildcard at Townsville.

Having raced briefly in the series during its formative years, Canto will get behind the wheel of the Holden Ute driven at Hidden Valley by Tim Blanchard, with Williams Race Tech continuing to prepare the car. With his Ute ride, Canto will forgo laps in Paul Dumbrell’s Bottle-O Falcon in the V8 Supercar practice sessions for endurance co-drivers.

“I haven’t even been in a car apart from test days this year so it will be good to get out and do some racing,” Canto said.

“You can get out and drive laps all day but it doesn’t compare to www.mnews.com.au

racing. I haven’t raced since Bathurst last year so I’m really keen to go race.

“I was watching the Utes in Darwin and it seems like there was a fair bit going on. Tim said it was a really good car, so I’m really excited to get behind the wheel of the Auto One Ute.” In other Ute news, Gary Carson will switch to a Holden VE for Townsville, after his Ford BF was extensively damaged in Darwin.

“This is my first time driving a Holden, so I’m going to have to talk to a few of my teammates to get some tips,” he said.

“I’m devastated my car won’t make it out, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I know a few guys have made the switch before and struggled a bit but I’m sure once I start driving it will all fall into place.”

23

NEWS

YARWOOD BACK IN FORM KARTING

MANY of Australia’s top karters gathered at the Sandy Creek Raceway in Warwick for the 2011 Queensland State Championships last weekend, with William Yarwood returning to the top step of the podium at a state championship for the first time since his victory in Rockhampton in 2008.

For Yarwood, his victory in the Rotax Heavy division was a welcome return to form, as he claimed his 40th state championship blue plate, along with his first victory since switching to the Europeanmade Exprit Chassis at the start of the season.

“After qualifying fourth I was confident that I had the speed to be right up there, but I just couldn’t get a good start in the heat races,” said the 31-year-old.

“The longer races for the prefinal and final really seemed to suit me and the Exprit kart.

It was probably one of the closest Rotax wins I’ve had for a while, it was a good battle all throughout the 20-lap final.”

The Rotax Light division saw a dynamic battle between Intrepid driver Tyler Greenbury and Exprit racer James Macken.

Macken took pole in qualifying over Greenbury by a mere

0.001s, however come final time it was Greenbury who led home a fast finishing Macken.

Greenbury was also one of the pacesetters in the elite Clubman Light category but was involved in a last corner incident riding up the back of leader Cian Fothergill. Fothergill, the current National Champion was slowed dramatically from the contact, allowing Ben Stewart through to claim the win with Greenbury and Fothergill recovering for second and third.

Fothergill did claim a win, comfortably greeting the chequered flag ahead of his Tracksa team-mate John Grother.

There was similar last lap chaos in the Junior Clubman class with race-long leader Joseph Mawson and Brock Plumb coming together, allowing South Aussie Luke Marquis through for his first ever state title.

Mawson did, however, claim a victory of his own with a dominant performance in the Junior MAX division.

Last lap contact from Lucas Price also ended leader Daniel Stein’s hopes of victory in Leopard Heavy, however stewards awarded Stein the victory post-race – the decision now pending an appeal.

Wright Kart racer Jordan

Caruso added the Queensland Midgets title to the Victorian blue plate he won earlier in the year, while the remaining junior class victories went to Jordan McGregor (Rookies), Jordan Boys (Junior National Light) and Anton De Pasquale (Junior National Heavy).

Zeke Edwards showed good pace to win Clubman Heavy, with Remo Luciani adding yet another title (Clubman Over 40s) to his impressive collection.

The remaining senior victories went to Sean Butcher (Senior National Light), Jeremy Landt (Senior National Heavy) and Bradley Moody (Clubman Super Heavy).

KARTS TO TAKE OVER CALDER KARTING KARTING is set to invade the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne, with the announcement of a temporary track being set up for what is hoped to be an annual event on the karting calendar.

Named the ThunderNats, the event will take place on January 28 in 2012, and will hopefully mirror one of America’s most prestigious karting events – the SKUSA SuperNats held in Las Vegas each year.

Ten-time Australian Champion Mathew 24

Wall is one of the main driving forces behind the ThunderNats, and after competing in the USA event last year has high enthusiasm to create a similar event to look forward to each year in Australia.

“Racing in Las Vegas last year was an amazing experience and has me really enthused to try to create a similar event here in Australia,” said Wall.

“When I heard about the Victorian Superkart Club’s idea to host a race at the Calder Thunderdome I thought this would be a perfect opportunity.

“Like the event in America we hope that by holding early in the year we can also attract several higher profile drivers with V8 Supercar driver Jason Bright already confirming his interest providing there aren’t any date clashes.”

The event that set to be sanctioned under the Victorian Superkart Club is expected to cater for six classes, Junior Rotax for the youngsters while Pro Clubman, TaG Light, TaG Heavy, Open Performance (KZ2, DD2, 200cc etc) and combined 250/125cc Superkarts. motorsport news

A celebration of Australasian Muscle Car heritage and a tribute to drivers who raced them FATHERS DAY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 2011 Eastern Creek Raceway - Sydney - Australia AMC’s annual Father’s Day celebration of Australia’s unique muscle car heritage returns to Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway.

Join us in 2011 as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III and the Charger R/T E38, and 25 years of the VN Commodore Group A

Don’t miss out on the AMC Legends Dinner with Allan Moffat, Jim and Steven Richards, plus by popular demand Allan Grice SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER

For travel packages check out

www.travelaire.com.au

WHAT’S ON IN 2011

So get to the Creek for...

- The Sports Sedan Spectacular

New for 2 011

- Touring Car Masters presented by Autobarn - Groups N, C and A Historics Touring Cars - Master Blasts - Best of the Best - Heritage Hot Laps - Ulimate Race Replicas

For all ticket bookings, Legends Dinner reservations, trackside hospitality bookings and event info, check out

www.musclecarmasters.com.au

FIVE MINUTES WITH ...

MARK WINTERBOTTOM Frosty and Ford Performance Racing are headed to Townsville, there they scored a race win in 2011. PHIL BRANAGAN asked him about racing in the Far North, then in the Wild, Wild West ...

People usually think of street circuits being good for opportunists, and rewarding aggression. But there is an element of patience in there, isn’t there?

I think so but you do have to be aggressive to get the time out of it. At the same time, you need to be smart to finish the race. You need to keep a balanced head or, often, it results in someone having a car in the wall.

Last year, it was definitely as case of having the car win the race because we survived. There were guys who were quicker but they failed. That is what got me the race win on Sunday last year.

Speaking of last year, Jamie Whincup seemed to have a fair margin up his sleeve in qualifying. Is something that you carry forward now, or is this a clean sheet of paper in 2011?

I think that he had a very good set-up there last year. I am confident that my car will be quick up there. Yes, he had a good margin there last year but I don’t think that carries through to this year.

The whole field has improved, a lot, but you expect people like him to be quick everywhere. If he does what he did last year, and he had a couple of tenths over 26

Dirk Klynsmith

MOTORSPORT NEWS: You topscored last year at Townsville. Tell us what you need to do to go fast around there.

MARK WINTERBOTTOM: You need to be committed, that is the first thing.

Kerb-riding is really important. Braking is, as well; braking into some of those corners, like Turn 1, Turn 3, down into the third-last corner, that can gain you massive, massive time. If you can do that well, and the kerb ride, you are usually pretty good.

But the trick is to be able to do those things and keep the car in one bit, so that it lasts the race. Last year, that caught out a few guys, and played to our strengths.

They probably ate a bit too much kerb at times, and they damaged their cars.

everyone last year, so be it, but I don’t think that will be the case this year.

I know that FPR has been undertaking a program of evolution of the cars, and Campbell Little, Techo [Matt Nilsson] and the engineers have been working hard on that. How far down that path have you gone?

At Darwin, even though we qualified on pole last year, and then we went back and qualified on pole again, the car is a lot different. We needed to change the car, because the competition has got stronger.

If we had used last year’s car, it wouldn’t win the race. We have definitely gone down that path a bit more. When we have struggled, we have definitely changed the car a lot, as well. Winton and Barbagallo really gave the engineers a couple of weeks to come up with some good stuff, and Campbell has been working flatout. So we have gone even more down the path of what he wants to try, and to develop some new bits, on top of that.

It looked so close, in qualifying at Darwin, so you expect something like that in Townsville?

The gap will be bigger in Townsville.

Darwin is fairly unique. There is always a smaller spread [between first and last] there but Townsville will be bigger, again.

It is so close, you can’t pick who will be on

pole, but you would think that the spread will be a bit more. Up the front it is still going to be pretty tight, I think.

There was big news during the week about V8 Supercars’ future. What do you know about Texas?

I know that they are going to have a pretty awesome racetrack!

Apparently Austin is very cosmopolitan, a fairly trendy part of Texas. I think that it is great for the sport, I think that this is the biggest move that V8 Supercars have had in the time that I have been in there. To go there, and be live across the country [on TV], is a massive thing for the sport.

We all want to race in America. I think that this is a dream come true for most of us.

Is this the race to which you take the family over, for a holiday?

Yes, we have already been looking at flights! They are pretty keen, the family will go to that one, I think that every family will be putting their hand up to go to that one.

Do you have a 10-gallon hat?

I have got the shiny boots!

And even if you are in the USA, you will be able to record it all to USB ...

You can, if you take a look at Teac. They give you more ... motorsport news

CHAT

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

27

THE PATRICK LONG EFFEC OPINION I DON’T think the international driver concept for the Gold Coast 600 is going quite the way V8 Supercars Australia thought and hoped it may.

Following the departure of ChampCar / IndyCar and the A1GP debacle, V8 Supercars stepped up to headline the event, with international drivers joining the fun to keep an international vibe. Last year, there were 18, one per REC, but this year, there’ll be 28, one per car. And I don’t know that those 28 will resemble V8SA’s dream list.

Links to the event’s openwheel history were to have been a big part of the international vibe and that was evident when the first five drivers were announced for last year’s event.

Scott Pruett was a Gold Coast winner, and Alex Tagliani, Mark Blundell and Christian Fittipaldi were event regulars. The odd one out was David Brabham, but his place was never under any

28

doubt or scrutiny.

Of those, Blundell and Fittipaldi didn’t end up making the trip out; Blundell apparently had business commitments, while Fittipaldi was never really mentioned again. Teams clearly had better ideas.

When the event rolled around, ex-ChampCar and IndyCar drivers and drivers from the World Touring Car Championship dominated the rest of the list. But there was one genuine interloper – Patrick Long. Garry Rogers took what looked like a punt, on a lower-profile Porsche sportscar racer and it paid off. Reports suggested Long didn’t meet the Queensland Government’s profile criteria (for want of a better term), so Garry had to pay for the American himself, but Long ended up being one of the standouts.

HRT has nabbed Long for 2011, and I think Garry’s started a bit of a trend. While most of the 28 drivers are known,

only five have been officially announced by V8SA and event organisers. And it’s a very different first five to 2010. Due to Brabham’s SBR enduro drive, he’s no longer eligible for the Gold Coast, while Tagliani is back with Kelly Racing.

But none of the other four have any links with the Gold Coast’s Indys. Like Long, Marc Lieb, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller are sportscar aces, while Andy Priaulx is a three-time World Touring Car Champion, spending 2011 in sportscars with BMW, before they enter the DTM next year.

There’ll still be the usual smattering of ex-Indy types and a couple of ex-F1 guys, but, clearly, V8 Supercar teams have identified sportscar racing as a very viable Surfers source.

They’re racing regularly – far more regularly than, say, Mark Blundell and Christian Fittipaldi – and in machinery that’s more relevant than an IndyCar, for instance.

Mitchell Adam – National Editor

Which is fine, but it seems at odds with what the event is trying to be. They’re all worldclass drivers, but will Germans be bombarding Natsoft to check out Lieb and Muller’s progress on October 21-23? I think not ...

That’s not a sledge, but as best as I can tell, they don’t have the profile of a Schumacher (even Ralf ) or Vettel in their homeland.

Even Heinz-Harald Frentzen (who it must be said was going to race last year but withdrew).

And Hand’s appearance won’t have the same sort of impact in America as his employer, Bobby Rahal, would’ve.

And that’s the thing. Having guys like Rahal, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell out to do the race would be awesome for the

motorsport news

COMMENT

WHEN TONY MET RICK

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T

P.S. If V8SA’s looking at going to India in the future, what are Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandkok doing that weekend?

Surely that’s a no brainer ...

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

Circuit of the Americas

event’s overseas appeal. But they’re all getting on a bit and don’t race regularly, so they’re not attractive prospects for teams, who have to take the Surfers driver choice as seriously as they take their Phillip Island and Bathurst co-driver choice.

Hence you have young and active guys like Long, Lieb and Hand all being scouted and signed by teams to do a supreme job, not sell the race.

Will that change? Probably not, as long as the weekend counts for championship points.

EXAS, eh?

The Lone Star State in a fascinating place. It is Bush country; Governor Rick Perry, pictured, who last week appeared to shake hands, smile and welcome V8 Supercars to his state, took over as Gov 10 years ago when the previous incumbent, George Bush Jr, left office to run for President. Word is that Perry, 61, will be deciding in the next few weeks whether or not to follow in Busch’s footsteps and seek the Republican nomination for 2012.

Let’s hope that, even if he does that, he gets home for the race. And, if it is to be President Perry, maybe we get a race in Washington DC. Of course, there will be challenges to be overcome to have a race in Austin. Some already have been; Austin City Council last week approved the US Grand Prix, the raison d’etre for the Circuit of the Americas, by a vote of 5-2. Then there is the small matter of moving the current 2012 F1 date of June 17 to something, hopefully, in the Fall. June in Texas is hotter than heck, and is one reason necks can tend to be a bit red.

Where the GP lands potentially has an effect on when other international categories, like V8s, get a slot.

Any number of people will be looking forward to going to the event from Australia. At present, of course, that looks like a lock; the Aussie dollar is, if not quite at an historical high against the greenback, then purdy durn close (and I write this wearing any many items of clothing bought from Macy’s in New York and none from Myer Melbourne). But that can be a false idol; two years ago, in July ’08, the dollar bought an average of US96.19c for the month. Four months later, it was at 65.93. Be prepared.

The news from the airlines is not all good either. Yes, Qantas

OPINION Phil Branagan – Executive Editor now flies from the east coast to Dallas/Fort Worth but in the regular emails I get from various travel organisations, the current best price from Melbourne to LA and back is around $1299 – but that is only if I agree to go via either Beijing or Shanghai, which is a bit like a stopover in Perth to get to Townsville.

I am happy to put up my hand and admit to having been not just to Texas but to Austin.

It is an interesting town; plenty of young folks around because of the universities, modern and wide streets, decent infrastructure and a notable choice of BBQ places.

What I am getting at is this; so far, this looks like a good deal. There is a lot of work to be done before we get to pitlane, but if we are going to be watching V8 Supercars from around the world, Austin TX is not a bad place to land in the USA. Lastly, a note to the drivers and teams concerned; I have been to any number of sporting events in the USA, from Little League to the NFL, and folks do tend to take the National Anthem a mite more seriously than we Aussies do.

So, stand, caps off, be quiet and remember; in Texas, people can and do carry firearms ...

29

NASCAR ROUND 17 – DAYTONA, FL

RAGAN TO RICHES

After 145 starts and many near-misses David Ragan scored his maiden win on NASCAR’s biggest stage

I

F anyone, ever, needed any convincing that motor racing is a team sport, we present; the 2011 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

If ever a race resembled the animals lining up to grab a seat on Noah’s Ark, this was it. Prerace – as early as a week ago, in some instances – drivers were 30

naming their drafting partners and, in the main, sticking with them. There were some wrinkles (Carl Edwards crashed early and left Greg Biffle an ‘orphan’) but the further the race went, the more the pairings became more obvious.

So it came down to the other two Roush Fenway

cars, David Ragan and Matth Kenseth, versus two Toyotas; Joey Logano, who lost his partner Kyle Busch a few laps previously, and Kasey Kahne, after fellow Red Bullist Brian Vickers fell foul of a mix-up with Jeff Gordon. For a moment, it appeared that the unlikely pairing would snatch the win

from Ragan, but Ford power prevailed and Ragan held on.

“We feel like we’ve been a player for the Chase all year,” he said, after taking his first Sprint Cup win in his 146th start. “[It] kind of disappoints me being 17th. We should be 13th in points. So we’ve got a lot of work to make up. We’ve got motorsport news

RACE

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the 2012 All-Star race and may have just saved his career.

Kenseth played the team role to perfection with second from Logano and Kahne, who was kind of bemused to find himself helping a rival Toyota team, at a time when the very future of RBR is under a cloud (even if his is not,

NASCAR Media

good tracks coming up. So I’m happy about the win. We should be higher in points than that.”

What he did not say is that he should have won before – notably the 2010 Daytona 500 – and that sponsors UPS is yet to re-sign with the team. The 25year-old earns himself a start in

NASCAR Media

Zero to Coke Zero Hero: David Ragan may have been wondering whether he would have a drive in 2012 but a Coke Zero 400 win at Daytona makes that a much greater likelihood.

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Formation Nation: Day restrictor plate track, w the cars went to the lin and Matt Kenseth lead That is not how they st Logano (20); Kahne (4) Stewart-Haas Chevy (1 Toyota? The Petty Ford Ambrose, #9, or AJ Allm

NASCAR Media

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motorsport news

RACE

Results :: Coke Zero 400, Daytona, FL Pos.No. Driver 1 6 David Ragan 2 17 Matt Kenseth 3 20 Joey Logano 4 4 Kasey Kahne 5 18 Kyle Busch 6 24 Jeff Gordon 7 29 Kevin Harvick 8 27 Paul Menard 9 42 Juan Montoya 10 43 AJ Allmendinger

FORD Media

ytona brings out the strategy more than any other with 2-by-2 formations the order of the day. This is how ne, above, with Roush Fenway team-mates David Ragan ding the ‘make-do’ pair of Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne. tarted; early on, the pairings were Kyle Busch (18) and ) and Brian Vickers (83); but what is Tony Stewart’s 14) doing partnered with Denny Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs ds ran together, though it did not work out for Marcos mendinger. #43.

Make Ford Ford Toyota Toyota Toyota Chevy Chevy Chevy Chevy Ford

Team Roush Fenway Roush Fenway Joe Gibbs Red Bull Joe Gibbs Hendrick Childress Childress Earnhardt Ganassi Richard Petty

Sponsor Qual.

UPS 5 Affliction Clothing 16 Home Depot 37 Red Bull 13 Interstate 38 Pepsi Max 4 Budweiser 31 Quaker State 10 Target 30 US Air Force 9

Harvick 586, Edwards 581, Kyle Busch 576, Kurt Busch

Top 12 Points: 570, Kenseth/Johnson 564, Earnhardt 534, Gordon 519, Bowyer 505, Newman 498, Hamlin 495, Stewart 494.

FORD Media

Chevy awaits him for 2012).

Busch and Gordon were fifth and sixth, and that was pretty amazing.

In the same incident, both looked to have their races shot to heck’ both pitted for four fresh tyres and resumed at the same time and in roughly the same place. So, they teamed up, Gordon pushing a man who would be among the last many would consider a possible partner through the pack to a placing.

Kevin Harvick and his Childress wingman Paul Menard followed, ahead of Juan Montoya and AJ Allmendinger. For most of the race, AJ had Marcos Ambrose as his partner, but when the #9 got caught up in an almost inevitable restrictor plate melee, he found help and made it through.

Running in tandem with his Richard Petty Motorsports team mate A.J. Allmendinger during the race, the duo lost a lap on the race leaders late in the event when Allmendinger ran out of fuel on the final scheduled pit stop.

“All weekend long we showed that we had a strong car, and I was working very

well with AJ throughout the race,” said Ambrose.

“We played the waiting game, but it all came undone at the end. These restrictor plate races are a lottery, and our number didn’t come up tonight.”

Carl Edwards came into the race with the points lead and a clear plan, but it blew up in his face. He got a tap from Greg Biffle and just touched the wall, bad enough to require several trips to the pitlane. He soldiered on, in spite of almost being overcome with fumes and throwing up inside the car …

The other hard luck stories came from the Hendrick drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr had his chances, until he got separated from his pusher Jimmie Johnson, and polesitter Mark Martin was forced to trade his leading spot with Gordon. The statesman driver of NASCAR had the speed but not the luck to score his first win of the season, his last with Hendrick. The team will be doing much over the coming races to give the grand old man a ticket to the Chase in the coming races.

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33

BRIEFLY...

Q CHEVROLET’S inexorable

Q MIRKO Bortolotti won both

FIA Formula Two Championship rounds at the Nurburgring to enforce his hold on the championship title at the weekend.

The Italian won Saturday’s Race 1 in convincing fashion from Christopher Zanella in second place, and Jack Clarke out on the third step of the podium.

Bortolotti was chased initially in Sunday’s race by Will Bratt, until the Spa winner overworked his tyres and fell away suffering from tyre degradation. Bratt managed to battle away to hold onto second from Zanella in third place.

–DAVID ADDISON.

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FIA GT1 Media

march towards a second consecutive WTCC title seems unstoppable, as Alain Menu and Rob Huff shared the race wins in Porto.

Behind them, Yvan Muller pocketed two-second places.

Huff is now of 29-points ahead of Muller.

Huff won the second race after a late and controversial manouvre. Muller had led Huff for most of the race, but Huff hunted him down and made a late-race lunge at the chicanes, with the Brit bouncing over the kerbs and coming out ahead. Each driver had their own view of the pass.

Local hero Tiago Monteiro bagged two thirds on home soil to the delight of his home fans.

Pastorelli And Schwäger win at Navarra FIA GT THE All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Team dominated the Navarra weekend with yet another 1-2 in the Championship Race for Round 6 of the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwäger stepped onto the top step of the podium for the first time having started seventh

on the grid. Schwäger moved up to fourth by the pitstops where the All-Inkl mechanics out performed the rest to turn the car around ahead of the two Sumo Power Nissans, into second place.

The sister pairing of Markus Winkelhock/Marc Basseng were on target for their fourth win of the season, but Basseng had to serve a drive-through penalty for leaving his pitstop while one

of his mechanics was still in the working lane. This dropped the car into second place where it stayed until the chequered flag.

The Sumo Power Nissan GTR of Jamie Campbell-Walter and David Brabham scored its second podium finish of the season, finishing four-seconds ahead of the Marc VDS Ford GT of Maxime Martin and Bertrand Baguette.

–DAVID ADDISON

LYONS ROARS ... AGAIN F5000 ANDREW Higgins was the star of the Kiwi F5000 UK tour as he bagged two second places at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

Michael Lyons meanwhile continues to dominate his brethren.

On his first visit to the former home of the British Grand Prix, Higgins qualified his Lola T400 third fastest behind UK drivers

Michael Lyons (Lola T400) and Neil Glover (Lola T330/332).

Lyons romped away in Race 1 with his greater track knowledge keeping the GT racer ahead of the pack, while Higgins took second place, with Stan Redmond driving the ex-Kevin Bartlett Lola T332 the next best Kiwi in eighth, just ahead of the Lola T430 of David Abbott.

Lyons was unstoppable again

Race 2 with Higgins lapping faster than he had the previous day. But Higgins was still unable to get near Lyons with his local experience still keeping him ahead of the Kiwis. Lyons’ father Frank, a prime-mover in the Kiwis’ visit, took third place, while Stan Redmond was again the second Kiwi home ahead of Abbott.

–DAVID ADDISON

motorsport news

RACE

MIEDECKE BUTTER IS STILL ON A ROLL ... TAKING IT TO THE STATES! AUSSIES OVERSEAS

US FORMULA F

GEORGE Miedecke has won yet another Rookie of the Race award at Lonesome Pine Raceway, finishing in fourth at the weekend in the UARA Star Series.

Dialling his car in superbly in the warmer daytime conditions, Miedecke’s Ford Fusion suffered in the night running, dropping from pole position to third.

Then, after getting involved in a mid-race incident, Miedecke managed to claw his way back to fourth. Challenging and even passing his team-mate for the final step on the podium, Miedecke was caught out by yet another caution, rendering his pass pointless.

“Fourth is another really good result for the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport team and all of our sponsors, but after qualifying on pole, I really thought we could have won,” Miedecke said.

“We learnt some very good lessons last week at Hickory Speedway, and we put them to good use here at Lonesome Pine, but we just have to keep up with the changing track conditions.”

–CALLUM BRANAGAN

THE Australian built Spectrum F1600 Formula F has made a stunning US debut at Mid Ohio on the weekend, taking a pair of impressive second places in the hands of Borland Racing Developments mechanic, Mitch Martin.

The battle for the win was extremely close between the Spectrum of Martin, and the Van Diemen of up and coming iRacing star, Wyatt Gooden.

The two swapped positions continuously in Race 1, but luck fell pole sitting Gooden’s way, with Martin settling for second.

Race 2 meanwhile looked

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much more promising for Martin after he secured pole position in qualifying. But after setting the fastest lap, and pulling out a considerable lead, his luck again ran our as Gooden caught back up after Martin slipped on oil, allowing Gooden past to take the first ever F1600 Formula F Championship Series clean sweep.

Despite falling just short of taking the honours from Gooden, Martin and the Australian Spectrum raised a few eyebrows with its impressive speed.

“It was a fun race and the Spectrum was just really good.”

Said Martin.

“We tried to set a pace and we did lead the most laps, but Wyatt was able to get past on the oil that was in Turn 4.

“The racing here has been intense. Wyatt and I raced wheel to wheel for over 35 laps without so much as a touch!

“Full credit to him on the race wins; we were so close, but things just didn’t fall our way with the flags this weekend.”

At the time of print, it was unknown who would be driving the Spectrum at the next round at Lime Rock, with the car staying in the US in the hands of Cape Motorsports.

–CALLUM BRANAGAN.

MORCOM STILL PLAGUED BY PROBLEMS AUSSIES OVERSEAS NATHAN Morcom’s F2000 Season of mechanical gremlins continued at Mid Ohio on the weekend after throttle linkage issues left the Australian struggling in the top-ten for Rounds 7 and 8.

Spending most of his time in the garage with issues, Morcom was unable to dial his Van Diemen in properly during practice, with his car eventually being a whole second off the winning pace. Morcom finished Rounds 7 and 8 in eighth and sixth respectively.

Despite another troubled round, Morcom remains confident he can get over the issues that have plagued his 2011 season thus far, and become a genuine championship contender.

“You can get away with small problems during a normal race meeting, but time was so tight here that the small problems I had turned into big problems.

“I’m still confident of being a frontrunner in this series if I can just get a clear run.

“There are still three race meetings to go – maybe it‘ll happen next time.”

–CALLUM BRANAGAN

35

AFTERNOON DELIGHT

DTM BRUNO Spengler has taken back the DTM championship lead after an emphatic win at the famous Norisring street circuit,

defeating triple-Norisring winner Jamie Green on a wet track.

It was another one-two for Mercedes, well ahead of the best placed Audi of Martin Tomczyk who continues his

impressive season by hauling his one yearold car to third after clever strategy from his Audi Sport Phoenix team, ahead of Timo Scheider and Edoardo Mortara.

–DAVID ADDISON

MAGNUSSEN, NASR, HARVEY WIN BRITISH F3 KEVIN Magnussen, Felipe Nasr and Jack Harvey were the British F3 winners at the Nurburgring on the weekend.

Magnussen dominated the opener, while

Harvey took control of the second race for his maiden F3 win. Magnussen led the bulk of the 40-minute feature race until a misfire slowed him in the final three laps allowing Nasr to sweep by for his fifth win of the season.

Scott Pye suffered a frustrating weekend, 10th in Race 2 being his best finish in what is proving to be a disappointing season for the reigning British Formula Ford Champion.

–DAVID ADDISON

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SIDES BURNS AT BOOT HILL WORLD OF OUTLAWS JASON Sides finally won the Boot Hill Showdown with all guns blazing at the Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas last weekend after 15 previous attempts at the venue.

From the front row, Sides used lapped traffic as a window of opportunity to beat home

reigning World of Outlaws champion and race pole-sitter Jason Meyers, while Sammy Swindell finished third.

Meyers opened up a lead over a speedy Sides for the first 13 laps until slower cars came into play and Sides made his move a lap later without being headed for the remaining 16 laps.

“Lap traffic played a big role in tonight’s race,” Sides said.

“Jason (Meyers) got in there a little bit hot and slid up the track a bit and that opened the bottom up for me. There was quite a bet of wet stuff low so that was the best place for our car. When I saw that open up, I knew I had to take it.”

Craig Dollansky, the previous

night’s winner, settled for fourth with Ben Gregg slotting in the fifth position. Series points leader Donny Schatz finished eighth, just behind Australian Kerry Madsen.

For Schatz it was enough to grab the series points lead by just seven over Joey Saldana, who came home in 13th.

–GEOFF ROUNDS

FRENCH WINS DOUBLES, BUT NOT AT WIMBLEDON FR 3.5 THE Formula Renault 3.5 circus was at the Hungaroring on the weekend, and it was Jean-Eric Vergne who took the spoils for his Carlin outfit.

Australia’s next Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo meanwhile obviously seemed to have other things on his mind, finishing a lowly 12th place for ISR. Taking the first FR 3.5 double of the 2011

season was Vergne, who made great starts in both races to assume the lead ahead of his brethren. In Race 2 however, Sergio Canamasas was setting faster lap times than the Frenchman, but Vergne’s consistency, and Canamasas’ pit penalty, was too much for his Spanish rival to match, allowing Vergne to take the weekend in style.

The Formula Renault 3.5 cars will be back in action at Silverstone, August 20-21.

–CALLUM BRANAGAN

PEUGOET GET REDEMPTION AT MONZA ILMC Sebastien Bourdais and Anthony Davidson scored victory in the Imola Six Hours on the weekend after Peugeot proved to have the advantage over arch-rival, Audi.

Bourdais was fortunate to win as he had made contact with a slower car and punctured a tire. But when the sister car of Franck Montagny suffered the same fate, Bourdais/Davidson were set up beautifully for the win.

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The Peugeot 908s finished one-two and a lap clear of the pair of Audi R18 TDIs in Round 4 of the ILMC. Bourdais led for the first two stints before a poor pitstop let Stephane Sarrazin to move ahead in the car he shared with Franck Montagny.

Davidson was 10-seconds behind Sarrazin, but hunted him down prior to his next stop. He came out ahead and, with the Audis no longer a threat, Peugeot imposed team orders to ensure the onetwo result.

–DAVID ADDISON

37

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ODD SPOT!

rear of grid

Monster at his Peak

Suzuki

OK, we are a fraction late with this, but we didn’t have any pics a week ago.

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ON THIS DAY 4 JULY 1984

THIS one was easy. On the 4th of July in 1984 Richard Petty won his 200th and final Cup race in NASCAR. It was then known as the Firecracker 400, President Ronald Reagan was present (Air Force One landed within sight of the track) and The King averaged 171.204mph in his STP Pontiac. For winning, the 47-year-old pocketed $43,755. As memorable moments go, for any fans of NASCAR, this one is a bit difficult to top ...

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39