Motorsport eNews Issue 229 - November 1-7, 2011

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Issue No. 229 November 01 - 07 2011

DUMBRELL READY TO FIGHT DIRTY! PD IS UNHAPPY WITH ANOTHER DRIVER – AND HE’S READY TO TAKE THE GLOVES OFF!

PERCAT CALLS FOR V8 RACE IN INDIA

VETTEL STILL FORMULA 1’S UNSTOPPABLE FORCE www.mnews.com.au

MOTORSPORT NEWS INTERVIEWS THE BATHURST WINNERS

GARTH TANDER AND NICK PERCAT PLUS: THE COOLEST CORNERS IN AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT, A LOOK AT SEBASTIAN VETTEL’S TITLE-WINNING YEAR, WE HANG WITH LOTUS RENAULT GP DRIVERS VITALY PETROV AND BRUNO SENNA, STEAL DANIEL GAUNT’S DIARY FROM BATHURST, DRIVE A LEXUS LFA WITH SOME HELP FROM SCOTT PRUETT, HEAD TO THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL, PROFILE KARTING LEGEND DAVE SERA AND A WHOLE LOT MORE. No. 413 No vem

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Issue No. 229 | 1-7 Nov 2011

news 4

PD tees off Tension lingers over SVG clash 7 Going up North Holdsworth confirmed at SBR 8 Pye = BF3.14159265 Aussie tests with Fortec 12 Not you again ...

Massa and Hamilton fight on 14 IndyCar back in action Testing resumes on DW12

chat 22 Five Minutes With ...

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opinion 24 van Leeuwen Bad Bollards > Bundles

feature 26 Season Preview Summer of Sprintcars

race 30 Formula 1 34 NASCAR 38 Speedway

trade 54 Classifieds

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NEWS

DUMBRELL TO SVG:

LET’S PLAY V8 SUPERCARS

P

Dirk Klynsmith

AUL Dumbrell is not happy with the driving of Shane van Gisbergen and is promising that he is not going to back down from any clashes with the New Zealander in the remaining races of the V8 Supercar Championship.

Dumbrell, who steps out of the Bottle-O Falcon at the end of the season, is unhappy after Van Gisbergen made contact with the back of his car in practice at Surfers Paradise earlier this month.

Dumbrell says that he has not been happy with the driver of the SP Tools Ford for some time.

“It is probably culminating from three or four different incidents this year,” Dumbrell told eNews.

“At Indy, in practice – and I reiterate, it was practice – we were both starting laps and at the last corner, he ran into the back of me. It was not as though it was a small tap, it was a broken bumper, into the boot, and he hit me all the way around the corner.

“At the end of the session, I thought it was appropriate that I went down and said hello to him in the garage. I told him exactly what I thought about him, and he came back with some sort of excuse. I have said all the way along, I only have three race meetings to go, I have a very small ‘hit list’ and he is at the top of it.”

Dumbrell would not elaborate on what could happen at Symmons Plains next week (“Use your imagination”) but did add that he was not going to do anything rash to jeopardise his races.

“I am not going to go out there and throw away good results, or stupid stuff like that,” he said. “But one thing that you need to do in this sport is to

earn respect and nobody needs those stupid things. In qualifying? If that happened I would cop it on the chin. That is just how it happens. We are talking about practice here.

“There are a number of times that I have been held up in practice. I don’t believe that I was holding people up at all. The lap time I did was three seconds slower than my qualifying time, we were all trying to gain space. It was not needed.

“He is very aggressive. He is a very aggressive driver. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I do not respect him, in that sense. He has won a lot of races and, no doubt, he will win some more. But if he is trying to take over the Enforcer tag from Russell [Ingall], he is doing a poor job of it.”

“I am not going to slow down in the races and wait for him and turn him around, into the fence.

But certainly, if I am passing him, or racing him, I am not going to leave anything on the table. He will certainly know that it is me that is coming through.”

Can fans expect to see fireworks between the two drivers?

“Absolutely. Look, if I do not come across him on the track, then obviously, nothing is going to happen. That is all well and good. But if he still wants to play these games, then I would love to [play]. I know that his team is quite worried about it – at Indy, he was behind me and they came on the radio and said, ‘You are behind PD, you have to be very clean’.

“He has a lot more to lose than me. He is third in the championship and I am nowhere, which is unfortunate.

“If he wants to play games, he will be the loser.”

nracegear.com.au www.mnews.com.au

DAVO DISAPPOINTED

BY STONES DECISION V8 SUPERCARS

Peter Bury

ALEX Davison has admitted that he is disappointed with Stone Brothers Racing’s decision to replace him with Lee Holdsworth.

Davison’s three-year stint at SBR will come to an end after this season, with the Victorian driver’s future now uncertain.

“I am obviously extremely disappointed with Ross and Jimmy’s decision,” said Davison.

“I am in the Top 10 in the championship and believe I have done enough to be in the V8 Supercar championship. My hunt for a new drive is well and truly on.”

Ross Stone agreed that having to let Davison go was a regrettable situation.

“Unfortunately, in situations like these, someone is left out of the mix,” said Stone.

“That is the tough nature of this business. Alex has improved year on year with us, and we believe he has a place in this championship and we will do what we can to help him secure another drive.

“The best way we can do that is by giving

him the best car we can in the remaining three rounds of the championship this year. I am sure he will be keen to finish as high as possible in the championship standings.”

The news might not be ideal for Davison, but it is hardly a surprise. Back in August when rumours surfaced that Holdsworth was SBR-bound, Davison confirmed to eNews that he was talking to other teams about 2012.

“Personally, my contract is up at the end of this year,” Davison told eNews that the time.

“It always has been. As we speak I haven’t signed anything for next year, but we’re speaking to a number of teams about driving next year.

So there’s not a great deal to talk about at the moment. We’re working on locking something in, and I’m confident of locking something in, but in exactly which car I don’t know at the moment.”

According to eNews sources, not much has changed since then. Davison is rumoured to be in the mix for drives at Garry Rogers Motorsport and Brad Jones Racing, but eNews understands that no deals have been done.

PERCAT CALLS FOR V8s IN INDIA V8 SUPERCARS

Stuart Bowes

NICK Percat believes the Buddh International Circuit in India could be the perfect track for V8 Supercars to use as part of its international expansion.

The Bathurst winner is the only V8 driver to have raced on the circuit, after becoming the first ever race winner there in Saturday, when he won the first Formula MRF support race. Percat started from pole in Race 2, but was taken out by young Brit Jordan King on Lap 1.

With V8 Supercars Australia’s International Director spotted in New Delhi at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, and V8SA making no secret of its plans to expand into Asia, Percat believes the Buddh circuit might just be the perfect place.

“I think it would be a great track for V8s to race on,” he said.

“The middle section of the circuit, particularly after Turns 3 and 4, is quite technical, and you could throw the car over the kerbs, which would make for good racing.

“The width of the circuit makes for a lot of

good overtaking opportunities. Like Mount Panorama, TV doesn’t do the circuit justice with the uphill, blind, banked corners and undulations. It’s similar to Phillip Island in that respect; it’s a track you can really be aggressive on.

“I think there would be a lot of interest if the V8 Supercars were to race at the circuit.

Obviously the country’s interest in motor

racing is still growing, but the crowd at the circuit certainly seemed to understand and appreciate F1. In terms of on track action, I think V8 Supercars would put on a better show than F1 did. Our series is also far more approachable than F1. Fans would be able to get close to our cars and drivers, which they couldn’t do with the F1 on the weekend.” motorsport news

NEWS

HOLDSWORTH TO SBR CONFIRMED V8 SUPERCARS THE worst kept secret in V8 Supercar racing has been confirmed; Lee Holdsworth will join Stone Brothers Racing in 2012.

Holdsworth will return to his native Queensland to replace Alex Davison in the Irwinbacked #4 Falcon. The move will end Holdsworth’s stint at Garry Rogers Motorsport, a relationship that started in 2006.

According to Holdsworth, the opportunity to join a championship-winning team was too good to turn down.

“First of all, I have to thank Garry Rogers Motorsport for the past six years and Garry for giving me a serious shot at V8 Supercars,” said Holdsworth.

“There has been a lot of speculation about my career in recent months, but we hAve not been in a position to announce

anything until now.

“SBR are a championshipwinning team and I look forward to moving back from Melbourne and being a part of the Queensland-based organisation in 2012.”

Team boss Ross Stone added that having a driver of Holdsworth’s calibre to join Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade will help the team move forward and into the Car of the Future era.

“The V8 Supercar Championship Series is the most competitive of its type in the world and you have to keep chasing what you think will give you an advantage over the opposition,” said Stone.

“The opportunity to sign Lee was presented to us, and Jimmy [Stone] and I thought he would be a great asset in 2012 and then into 2013 with the introduction of the Car of Future.”

FROSTY: GOLD COAST ONLY THE BEGINNING V8 SUPERCARS MARK Winterbottom is confident there’s more to come from Ford Performance Racing on Dunlop’s Sprint Tyre, following a successful Surfers Paradise showing.

The softer rubber has been FPR’s Achilles Heel, but the Gold Coast 600 looked like a breakthrough weekend for the factory Fords. On Saturday, Will Davison and Mika Salo finished second ahead of Winterbottom and Richard Lyons, before Winterbottom and Lyons scored FPR’s first win of 2011 on Sunday.

After a torrid weekend at Queensland Raceway in August, FPR engineers have been working to turn the Sprint Tyre

form around, and Winterbottom feels the team is on the right track.

“It’s probably two things that we’ve found that have made the big improvement,” Winterbottom told eNews.

“The guys have been working really hard, we’re just opening up a whole new window of car set-up now. If we can keep going down that path, I think there’s a lot more in it.

“That’s sort of the first step of the change, what we did on the weekend. There’s plenty more to come, whether or not more will help, but there’s definitely more to come if we can get it right.”

– MITCHELL ADAM For more with Mark Winterbottom, see ‘Five Minutes With’ on Page 22.

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AIMING FOR FORTEC AUSSIES OVERSEAS SCOTT Pye tested with British Formula 3 squad Fortec Motorsports last week, as he looks to lock in an international 2012 program.

As revealed in last week’s eNews, a second year in British F3 with Fortec is Pye’s primary aim – a move that could put him on the path to the DTM – and he joined the team for a test day at Rockingham last Monday. In his

rookie campaign, the 21-yearold finished 10th in the 2011 standings with Double R Racing, finishing the year with a strong second in the opening race of Silverstone’s season finale.

“It was good to get some experience with such a professional team,” Pye said after the test.

“I was impressed with the team and its approach; it is no surprise that Fortec continuously battle at the front

GP3 X 2 FOR EVANS KIWIS OVERSEAS MITCH Evans is set to do a second season in the GP3 Series in 2012.

The young Kiwi made his European debut in the championship this year, running with MW Arden, part owned by mentor Mark Webber.

Evans started the year strongly, grabbing a win at Turkey and leading the championship after three rounds. But a tough second half of the season saw him fall to finish ninth in the standings.

While many of his rivals

have moved on for 2012, Evans fronted for the series’ post-season test at Barcelona with MW Arden. And he dominated, setting the tone for an expected title bid in 2012.

Evans topped all four sessions across the two days, with Manor Racing’s Matias Laine his closest challenger.

Evans’ next outing will be a return to Formula 3, when he tackles the Macau Grand Prix will Double R Racing on 17-20 November.

He’ll then return home to defend his Toyota Racing Series crown.

of the field. Hopefully next year we can take each other to the championship.

“Monday’s test was a great opportunity to test an F3 car before returning to Australia and my aim for 2012 is to secure the funding to compete in the 2012 British F3 Championship with Fortec.”

Fortec has already signed rookies Alex Lynn and Pipo Derani for two of their three 2012 cars.

SCOTT’S FUJITSU SERIES SCOTT McLaughlin will get an FG Falcon for Sandown’s round of the Fujitsu Series.

The Stone Brothers Racing protégé will step up from a BF to an FG, as previously reported, and tested the car – Alex Davison’s in 2009 and the majority of 2010 – for the first time at Queensland Raceway last week. And, making it a good news double for the 18-year-old, Fujitsu General has announced it will continue to back him in

WATERS: NOW F FUJITSU SERIES NEWLY-CROWNED Australian Formula Ford Champion Cameron Waters is eyeing a step into the Fujitsu Series next year.

Back in Formula Ford after making his V8 Supercar debut at Bathurst as the winner of the Supercar Showdown television series, Waters, 17, became the youngest Formula Ford champ when he sealed the 2011 title with a round to spare on the Gold Coast.

For the next step of his career, Waters’ sights are firmly set on more V8 miles in the feeder category.

Through Supercar Showdown,

Waters formed a relationship with Kelly Racing, which has dabbled in the series, while his Formula Ford team, Sonic, also has a Fujitsu Series program.

“Hopefully I can get into the Fujitsu Series next year, it just depends on sponsors and a few other things,” Waters said.

“There’ll be a few talks with [Kelly Racing] and a few talks with Sonic as well.

“There are a few good programs, it all just comes down to money I guess.”

With the title in the bag, Waters is looking forward to his Formula Ford farewell at Symmons Plains next weekend.

“It’s awesome to wrap it up, so we can go to Tasmania knowing motorsport news

NEWS

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S NEW RIDE, DEAL the series next year.

“I’m so pleased that Fujitsu will be continuing to support me in 2012,” McLaughlin, currently fourth in the 2011 standings, said.

“The relationship started back in 2008 when I was part of the Britek Motorsport scholarship and they invested in me as part of their initial youth development program, so I want to repay their continued faith with more race wins and ideally next year’s championship.

“I’ve already started preparing

for next year with a new training program and on the back of running the New Zealand V8 Super Touring races early next year I’m sure I’ll be well and truly ready to go after the title.

“I also want to be part of the V8 Supercar endurance races next year and that’s my other firm goal for the racing season ahead. Sandown is next up then Sydney, where I was on the front row last year, and the new FG feels great to drive, so hopefully I can finish the year on a high.”

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NEWS

LOEB COMMITS TO SPORTSCARS SPORTSCARS

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SEBASTIEN Loeb has launched his own sportscar team – Sebastien Loeb Racing – as a way to safeguard his post-rallying career.

SLR will kick into action in 2012, with two entries in France’s version of the Porsche Carrera Cup, and one in the Le Mans Series’ FML single-make category. In time, SLR – a joint venture between Loeb and his friend Dominique Heintz – will look towards running a prototype at Le Mans.

“I’ve had a few experiences on circuits, in different disciplines, and I liked those experiences as well as the atmosphere around them,” said Loeb.

“Rallying represents a large part of my life and it’s something I still enjoy, which is why I’m continuing in the sport. But in the coming years, when I’ll have more time available, I want to discover a new universe.

“Endurance racing is an attractive discipline.

The World Endurance Championship will be launched in 2012, with three officially entered constructors. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a legendary race and we hope to one day be on the grid as a racing team. To accomplish this, we must put together a

cohesive project and take it step by step.

“This isn’t a one-shot deal. We want to build a serious and professional team, which will be there for the long haul. It’s a real challenge: we can’t underestimate the size of it. But that’s also what’s good about it. I’m going to discover new aspects, aspects that will represent my future, and which will allow me to stay in racing and therefore keep living my passion.”

Heintz added that the timing was right for Loeb to start looking beyond the World Rally Championship, with the seven-time World Championship set to walk away when his next two-year deal with Citroen comes to an end.

“Sebastien felt ready – he has clarified his future as a driver,” said Heintz.

“It’s the right time; after these next two years in rallying, he’ll have the opportunity to get even more involved in the team which will have already gone through its growing pains.

“It’s not an idea that we came up with yesterday. We’ve been talking about it for a while now. We just had to let time do its thing.”

Loeb has raced in both the Le Mans 24 Hours and the French Carrera Cup before.

BMW SIGNS MERC STAR FOR DTM DTM BMW has completed half its driver lineup for next year’s DTM, with Bruno Spengler confirmed to race an M3 GTR. The Canadian, who is in his seventh season in the series with Mercedes-Benz, will join one of the three BMW-backed teams – Schnitzer, RBM and RMG. “In recent weeks we have not only

10

been developing the BMW M3 DTM, but have also been working on the driver line-up for our return to the DTM,” says BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

“Outside our current line-up, Bruno Spengler was one of our top choices.

Despite his youth he has a lot of DTM experience, which will greatly assist us during our development phase and on

race weekends. For this reason, we did not hesitate when the opportunity to sign Bruno up arose.”

Spengler, 28, has been runner-up in the DTM twice (2006 and ‘07) and is currently third in the 2011 Championship, behind Audi men Martin Tomczyk and Mattias Ekstrom. Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus have also been confirmed for BMW seats next season.

motorsport news

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11

CRASH CONFUSES MASSA FORMULA 1

FELIPE Massa has admitted to being confused as to why it was he, and not Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to serve a penalty after the pair’s latest on-track altercation in India.

The pair clashed at Turn 5 during Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix, the latest incident in a feud that has been bubbling away all the season. The crash happened when Hamilton went to pass Massa into the fast left-hander, with Massa turning in on the McLaren mid-way through the corner. Massa was handed a drive-through penalty for causing the crash.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Massa.

“When I saw that he put the car on my side, what am I doing? It was very dirty in

his place, so I braked on the clean side, the grippy side.

“If it is Lewis or not Lewis, whatever the driver is there, I would do the same. I am on the good grip. Whoever is trying to overtake in that place, he will brake later than me and I cannot do anything, but in this case I braked, I was in front of him and he touched me behind, so it is nothing to do with [it being] him, it is something. He touched me.

“My view is that I was in front, I braked later than him and I was in front, I was on the grippy area as well and then I started to turn and I didn’t see him on the left as he was behind. He touched my rear wheel.

“So, to be honest I don’t understand why I have the penalty. It is not really

understandable.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton was low key about the incident following the race.

“There’s not really much to say,” said Hamilton.

“It’s a disappointing day. My team worked hard all weekend as they always do. I don’t really know what else to say.

“We had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other. He hasn’t spoken to me in a long, long time so I put my arm around him and just said ‘good luck for the race’.

“But in the race I tried to overtake and I tried to come out of it because it didn’t look like he was going to give me any space, and we collided. I’m really, really sorry for my team.”

CONFIRMED: JERSEY SHORE TO HOST F1 GRAND PRIX OF AMERICA IN ‘13 FORMULA 1 THE Grand Prix of America has officially been launched, with the New Jersey-based race to kick off in 2013.

The event will be contested on a 5.1 kilometre circuit, which will be set up on existing roads in the Port Imperial area, across the Hudson River from Manhattan in New York City. With this event, Formula 1 is due to have two races in the United States of America from 2013 onwards, with the US Grand Prix expected to be reinstated next year, at a brand new circuit in Austin, Texas.

As previously reported, the New Jersey 12

event is likely to have a June date, which will pair it with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

“I’m pleased that New Jersey will play host to Formula 1 beginning 2013, bringing one of the world’s most popular and exciting sports right to our backyard,” Governer Chris Christie said.

“I can assure Formula 1 that this is one of the wisest decisions you have ever made, to come and hold this event in New Jersey.”

“It will provide a very challenging course,” added West New York attorney Joe DeMarco.

“They compare it to Spa in Belgium, but it will have the feel of Monaco.” motorsport news

NEWS

CUSTOMER CAR DEBATE BACK ON FORMULA 1 THE customer car debate looks like it will be reignited in Formula 1, with the issue to be discussed at this Thursday’s Formula 1 Commission meeting in Geneva.

A team has reportedly requested that the issue be looked at, with the intention to potentially allow full-blown customer car deals. There are currently restrictions in place regarding the sharing of components and intellectual property, but that may be

scrapped, depending on how the talks go.

That would mean that, for instance, the ties McLaren has with both Force India and Virgin Racing could extend to selling everything up to chassis to the minnow teams.

But while Ferrari has admitted it would support the concept, McLaren seems less responsive, with both team boss Martin Whitmarsh and driver Jenson Button commenting on the subject in India.

“I think it’s something we need to think about,” said Button.

“It’s not something we should jump straight into and give a comment. I think it’s difficult for the teams that do build their own car. They put all the effort into designing a car and working on that car over a winter to suddenly be racing against a Red Bull re-badged, or a McLaren rebadged or a Ferrari re-badged.

“It’s a little bit unfair on teams that are in the middle of the pack and they build their own car, but I don’t know the full extent of the conversations that are going to take place and when this is going to be for.

SUTIL ANXIOUS OVER FORCE INDIA FUTURE FORMULA 1

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ADRIAN Sutil is hoping for a quick decision on Force India’s driver line-up for 2012.

Paddock chatter has placed Nico Hulkenberg alongside Paul di Resta at Force India next season, with team boss Vijay Mallya recently stating that he wouldn’t make a decision on which two of the three drivers would have a race seat next season until December.

But thanks to the rumours, Mallya has decided to make the decision sooner rather than later, with an announcement expected before the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – a decision welcomed by Sutil.

“I was hoping to hear this from Vijay, because

December is just too late, and I think it is not fair to the drivers,” Sutil told AUTOSPORT. “I am happy that he understood that and let’s see what comes out. I do the best job I can. I think it should be obvious for the people here and they have to decide.”

Should Force India not work out, Sutil could be on his way to Williams, depending on what Kimi Raikkonen decides to do. Either way, Sutil has admitted that he is considering other teams.

“I am looking around of course, but the priority is always to Force India,” Sutil added.

“I am loyal to this team. I am with this team for very long and I have a close relationship to Vijay.

So let’s see what he says in the next weeks, and then I will have plenty of time to decide.”

sutton-images.com

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13

INDYCAR TESTING KICKS BACK INTO GEAR AT SEBRING INDYCAR

TESTING of Dallara’s new Indycar has continued, with Chevrolet running its new V6 motor in a car for the first time.

As Sebring, Dario Franchitti continued testing a Hondapowered car while Ryan HunterReay gave Chevy’s new turbo motor its first public outing, both V6s installed in Dallara’s

DW12, newly renamed after the late Dan Wheldon.

“I couldn’t be happier to be back in the car, and in the chassis that Dan the ‘DW12’ as it will be called,” Hunter-Reay told Speedtv.com.

“It was definitely special to do the first laps at Sebring in the new Dallara-Chevy. Everything went very well. It’s still early days at this point, and we’re just

going through checklists at this point of everything we have to do with the car and with the engine.

“The new Dallara is very nimble and very responsive— light on its feet, you could say,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of potential there. The Chevy twinturbo is a blast to drive, too.

Great sounds, power, you name it. There’s still a lot to come from

the entire package; we were just trying to log more miles instead of go for lap records, but you can feel the potential of the entire car.”

Tony Kanaan is due to test the car RHR drove this week, while Scott Dixon will step into the Honda-powered car to help Franchitti. No announcement has been made about track testing for Lotus’s new V6.

MOTOCROSS STAR EYES NASCAR MOVE NASCAR JOE Gibbs Racing has signed a new ‘driver’ – motocross star James ‘Bubba’ Stewart.

While Stewart will race for Gibbs’s bike racing division, JGRMX, for the next three 14

years, the Yamaha star has his eyes set on racing Stock Cars and will start testing with the team soon. A test in a JGR Late Model car will take place within a month, and Stewart plans to race in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series, and perhaps even make a Nationwide start, in 2012. Former NW

driver Mike McLaughlin will coach Stewart in driving.

Stewart, 25, has limited four-wheel racing experience, having raced karts and an OffRoad Truck. Ironically, his other experience has been in testing a Formula 1 car, courtesy of his drinks sponsor, Red Bull. motorsport news

NEWS

EDWARDS TO MISS MOTOGP FINAL MOTOGP

‘CRASHGATE’ COMES TO NASCAR NASCAR NASCAR has had its own version of ‘Crashgate’ after Jimmie Johnson was told to bang up the rear of his Chevrolet at Talladega.

Information picked up by NASCAR.com’s RaceBuddy application indicates that Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, appeared to tell his driver to intentionally break the rear bumper of his Hendrick Chevrolet to account for any discrepancies that may have appeared in post-race tech inspection.

“If we win this race, you have to crack the back of the car,” Knaus was heard telling Johnson on a recording of the pit-to-car radio. “Got it?”

“Really?” a surprised Johnson replied.

“Yes,” Knaus said. “Got it? You don’t have to have to hit it hard, you don’t have to destroy it. But you’ve gotta do a donut and you’ve gotta hit the back end, or somebody’s gotta hit you in the ass-end or something. OK?” Knaus and Johnson were summoned by NASCAR officials, including President Mike Helton, director of competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup series director John Darby, at Richmond on Friday. Following the meeting, the governing body issued the following statement; “We had the opportunity to visit with Chad and Jimmie this morning in Martinsville. As the sport’s governing body we were doing our due diligence to look into this and gain some insight into the comments Chad made before the race at Talladega. We have a responsibility to the rest of the garage area to ensure that everyone is competing on a level playing field with the inspection processes we have in place. The 48 organization knows that from this occurrence that their car is likely to be a regular customer at the R&D Center for post race inspection the balance of this season.

Knaus spoke to ESPN.com after the meeting.

“I have a very clear understanding of what they expect and the way they expect us to conduct ourselves,” he said. “I meant no disrespect to NASCAR or any of the competitors by no means.” www.mnews.com.au

COLIN Edwards will miss this weekend’s final round of MotoGP at Valencia.

The veteran Texan, who was injured in the crash that claimed the life of Marco Simoncelli in Malaysia, is due to undergo surgery tomorrow [Tuesday] to repair damaged cartilage in his shoulder. No announcement has been made about a replacement but his countryman, Josh Hayes, is expected to take the seat on Tech 3’s Yamaha. The 36-yearold GP rookie is a two-time AMA Superbike Champion.

The question remains who will fill in for Jorge Lorenzo in

Yamaha’s factory team, a cause not helped by the fact that the company’s works World Superbike team has just been closed. Former GP winner Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty raced for the team but their potential availability has been complicated by their new WSBK deals with BMW and Aprilia, respectively.

Test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga subbed for Lorenzo at the Malaysian round, but was very unimpressive.

Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis told website GPone he was “looking for riders of a certain level – we want something other than a regular test rider.”

DUCATIS FATTEN UP FOR ’12 SUPERBIKES DUCATIS will be carrying more weight in the 2012 Superbike World Championship.

Among a number of rule changes announced last week, twin-cylinder bikes will now have to weigh no less than 171kg, up 6kg from this season.

Four-cylinder bikes will continue to have the 165kg minimum.

There will also be a ban on winter testing, with no teams permitted to test between December 1 and January 15, and teams will be limited to one bike per rider, in line with the current rule in Supersport and Superstock.

LAVERTY CONFIRMED AT APRILIA SUPERBIKES AS expected, Aprilia has confirmed that Eugene Laverty will race for its World Superbike factory team in 2012.

Laverty, 25, will Leon Camier as Max Biaggi’s team-mate.

Camier could join Aprilia’s second-tier team, PATA, to race alongside Noriyuki Haga.

The news was not unexepted after Laverty, who finished fourth this year for Yamaha in his debut WSBK season, topped a recent test at Portimao.

15

LEBROCQ LOOKS AT BRITISH FFORD

AUDI SQUAD COM

AUSSIES OVERSEAS

ANGLO-AMERICAN outfit United Autosports has announced it will run an Audi R8 GT3 LMS in February’s Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

With bases in the UK and US, the team competes in a range of sportscar events, including the British GT Championship, FIA GT3 European Championship, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the Spa 24 Hour and Daytona 24 Hour. This year is their last in European competition with Audi’s R8 before switching to the McLaren MP4-12C GT3, and the team will take an R8 for a tour of long-distance races in early 2012.

After the Dubai 24 Hour

JACK LeBrocq has narrowed his focus for 2012 onto the British Formula Ford Championship.

The CAMS Rising Star will shift his attention to Europe at the completion of this year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship, and got an early taste of international competition recently, when he tackled the final round of British Formula Ford and the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. LeBrocq had originally nominated UK Formula Renault as another option for next year, but the 19-year-old is now focusing on British Formula Ford after the trip.

“I think the plan is that we’ll probably do Formula Ford next year, so I can learn the tracks and budget-wise, it’s probably more in our region at the moment,” LeBrocq said.

“We’ll most likely head that way.”

While in the UK, LeBrocq ran with Jamun Racing, which wrapped up a seventh-straight title in 2011 with Scott Malvern. LeBrocq said Jamun was a front-runner to race with next year.

“I suppose so, yeah. I haven’t closed any doors yet but we’ll probably decide in the next couple of weeks exactly what we do,” he said.

– MITCHELL ADAM

BATHURST 12 HOUR

and the Gulf 12 Hour in Abu Dhabi, they’ll head to Mount Panorama, for the 24-26 February event. The United Autosports R8 will join a pair of factory Audis – to be run

by Germany’s Phoenix Racing and Melbourne Performance Centre, as previously reported – in the Bathurst 12 Hour, with a driver line-up to be finalised.

“We couldn’t find a better way of moving into our third year as a racing team, than by competing in such classics such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Bathurst,” United Autosports Co-owner and CEO Zak Brown said.

“Three exciting endurance events which are considered a ‘must do’ for any aspiring racer. It’s also a fitting way to

KOSTERA’S SUPER SHIFT SHANNONS NATS STUART Kostera will add another category to his varied CV this weekend at Phillip Island – the Australian Superkart Championship.

Having raced in classes including Formula Ford, Sportscars and Formula 3, Kostera has spent recent years in the Australian Manufacturers Championship, sealing the 2010 and 2011 titles in a

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. But this weekend will be his Superkart debut, aboard fellow West Aussie Mark Hanson’s Zip Eagle.

“I’ve never raced or driven one before,” Kostera told eNews.

“I’ll go out for the first time on Friday. It should be interesting.

“I’ve been trying to get a club up and running over here in WA for a while, and one of the guys from over here, Mark Hanson, who drives a Zip Kart, said ‘why

don’t you have a drive in one of mine?’

“I was supposed to do the first round as well, in July I think, but then work got in the way of enjoyment as it sometimes does and we couldn’t quite make that, so we’re going to have a go this weekend.”

Kostera will be part of a 48-kart field this weekend at Phillip Island in the second and final round of the Superkart Championship.

Of the other categories at the final round of the 2011 Shannons Nationals, 26 cars are entered for the Australian Saloon Car Series, 24 for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and 20 for the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series. The Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, Kerrick Sports Sedan Series and Commodore Cup National Series complete the program.

– MITCHELL ADAM

John Morris / Mpix

16

motorsport news

NEWS

MING TO AUS continue our relationship with Audi into 2012.”

Meanwhile, Bathurst City Councilor Warren Aubin attended last month’s Merdeka Millennium Endurance race in Malaysia to talk with prospective competitors from Asia. Bathurst’s Western Advocate newspaper reports Cr Aubin received positive indications from a number of teams.

Among them, Clearwater Racing, based in Singapore, are reportedly set to run their Ferrari 458. Craft Eurasia Racing from Hong Kong expressed their interest in running a Ford GT3, along with the Petronas Syntium Team, who finished 13 with Mercedes-Bens SLS AMG GT3s.

DIY FG V8 UTES

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John Morris / Mpix

FORD teams in the AutoOne V8 Ute Racing Series will be free to build their own FG Falcons at their own pace.

While other models have been built by an appointed entity – such as Brock Race Engineering for the Holden VE – teams will be responsible for putting their own FGs together. A control rollcage will be constructed and supplied by Paul Ceprnich’s Racecar Innovations, and the category’s engine supplier, Cragsted, will provide the 5.7litre, Coyote-derived Ford V8s.

“Any of the performanceoriented elements will be sealed and inspected, but teams can effectively build their own cars in terms of bolting on the suspension, brakes, seats, and all of that kind of stuff,” Craig Denyer from category manager SPHERIX told eNews.

“We’ll give that responsibility

back to the teams, mainly because we’re not under the time pressure that we have been with other models.”

The Prototype FG has now completed two race meetings with Gary Carson, and other competitors will get a chance to sample it in the coming weeks.

“Our intention is that over the next few weeks we’ll give the Ford shareholders the opportunity to have a drive of it,” Denyer said.

“We’ve got a little bit more work to do in the suspension area, because it’s a little bit lighter than the BF, so we’ve got a bit more fine tuning to do there, but once the package is right, let them all have a drive. I think they’ll see the potential in it and want to move as quickly as they possibly can.”

Organisers had originally hoped to have a full fleet of 16 FGs on the grid for the 2012 season opener at the Clipsal 500,

but the realities of importing the Coyote engines from America means that number will be lower, with BFs to remain eligible.

“We’ll extend the life of the BF into next year,” Denyer said.

“One of the issues we have with the FG is that Ford no longer make an XR8 in Australia; you can’t buy an FG XR8 with a 5.7 litre Coyote engine in it, you can only buy the FPV version which is a supercharged engine.

Because of that, we’re bringing our own Coyote engines in from the States.

“By the time we get 16 engines in from the States, it’s going to push us into Christmas and only those teams that want to be active over that period will have their Utes built, tested and ready to go at Clipsal.

“We’ll give the other guys at least the first four rounds of the year to keep running their BFs if they want.

“It’d be nice to have five or six FGs at Clipsal at least, and then have more come online throughout the year.”

– MITCHELL ADAM 17

NEWS

PADDON MOVES INTO R4 FOR WALES RALLY GB WORLD RALLYING

NEW Zealand rally star Hayden Paddon will move to a factorybacked R4-Spec Subaru rally car for the season-ending Wales Rally GB. With the 2011 Production Car World Rally Championship already locked away, Paddon will move to am R4-spec Impreza, which is lighter and faster than a PCWRC-spec Impreza.

“The Subaru R4 is the next step in development from the current Group N production

car we’ve been driving,” said Paddon.

“In a nutshell, they are 80 kilograms lighter, with some lighter body panels, fabricated sub-frames and suspension arms which give the car better geometry and handling. They also have more adjustable suspension with greater travel.

“The purpose of the R4 is to bridge the gap to the Super 2000 cars such as the Ford Fiesta S2000 and the Skoda Fabia S2000. It’s still relatively early in the development of

the R4 cars, but the aim is to have the Subaru Impreza STIbased R4 rally car as a serious contender to win the Super 2000 World Rally Championship title in 2012.

“Driving an R4 car means John (Kennard, Paddon’s co-driver) and I become Priority 2 drivers, starting amongst the S2000 competitors. We will have no pressure of having to try to secure points, and we can focus more on developing the car and extracting as much speed as we can.

“The R4 drive also still fulfils our commitment as a PWRCregistered competitor, where we must compete in all six of our nominated events. So even though we’ve stepped up a class, we’re still competing in the event but just not scoring any PWRC points.

“We have dual aims for the event – to gauge the performance of the R4 and ourselves against the existing Group N cars and the Super 2000 cars. I’ll also be targeting a Top 10 finish.”

sutton-images.com

AUSSIE RACERS TO RETURN TO BATHURST IN 2012 AUSSIE RACERS

18

James Smith

AUSSIE Racing Cars will race at Mount Panorama at Easter again in 2012.

The category featured on the bill of the reborn Bathurst Motor Festival this year, and will return in 2012, joining the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, Production Sports Cars and the NSW Road Racing Club Regularity.

“Aussie Racing Cars see Australia’s most famous racing circuit, Mount Panorama Bathurst as an important part of the National Series and we are excited to be taking the

series back to Bathurst for the Motor Festival at Easter in 2012,” category manager Brad Ward said.

“With the cars being fitted with high aero rear wings and front splitters designed specifically for Bathurst, the four wide racing action and extreme slip streaming that the Pocket Rockets have become synonymous for will again be a feature of each FW1 Aussie Racing Cars competition at the mountain.

“We are expecting a capacity grid of over 45 cars for the event and with four races scheduled over three days, the on track action will be awesome.” motorsport news

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NEWS

MAWSON MAKES A GRAND ENTRANCE TO SENIORS KARTING FUJITSU Cool driver Joseph Mawson has kicked off the start of the new Rotax Rankings points chase with a victory in his very first meeting as a senior driver, taking out the latest Rotax Pro Tour event on the weekend.

Held at Canberra Kart Club’s Fairbairn Park Raceway, the event actually saw the top four junior pointscorers step up into the senior ranks, all going wheelto-wheel in the Rotax Light division, with Mawson joined by Pierce Lehane, Michael Stewart and Renee Gracie.

The Rotax Light category saw a total of 35 drivers, and with a track capacity of 28 it meant the drivers had to be split for the heats. But after qualifying it was local Canberra racer Stewart who was on top of the time sheets.

From then on Mawson set about getting the job done, winning his three heats while Grubel took out two heat encounters and Rochford the other, leaving Mawson on pole over Grubel, Delamont, Geoff Connell and Lehane for the pre-final.

The start of the pre-final saw Mawson lead the way from Connell with Grubel back in third, with Mawson going on to

win by just under two seconds ahead of Jaie Robson, who climbed up the order to take second over Connell, Delamont, Grubel and Lehane.

The opening lap of the 25-lap final saw Mawson again lead away, before contact forced him wide and back to third. However by lap seven the young Arrow kart pilot was back in the lead, and from there was never headed. Lap 12 bought about a premature end to Connell’s race, leaving Robson to take second ahead of Lehane, Stewart, Delamont and Grubel.

“It feels unbelievable to win my first meeting in seniors, I would have been happy to

score a podium but to win feels very special and it’s something that will stay with me for a long time,” said Mawson.

“Tyler [Greenbury] and Dave [Sera] weren’t racing but there were plenty of top competitors here, so it’s a pleasure to race against such good drivers and [it] makes the win even more special.”

Rotax Heavy had a 22-kart field, with current National Champion Troy Woolston claiming the spoils after battling throughout the event with Aaron Rintoul.

Woolston was also the pacesetter in the DD2 class, taking the win over Damian

Ward, Mitchell Bink, Thomas Macdonald and Brendan Nelson.

With the top four Junior MAX drivers stepping up it paved the way for some other young talent to shine, with FA Kart driver Thomas Randle claiming his first Pro Tour win over fastest qualifier Cameron Hill. Joseph Burton Harris put in a solid drive from 10th to third in the pre-final and rounded out the podium in the final, followed by Liam McLellan and Andrew Kahl.

The three remaining class victories went to Bruce Otter in Rotax Super Heavy, Hamish Leighton in DD2 Masters and Nick Karamalis in the Over 40’s division.

SERA FIRES A SHOT ACROSS THE DITCH KARTING TOP Australian karter David Sera has added the North Island 125cc Rotax Max Light title to his already impressive tally, after a dominant display of driving at the KartSport New Zealand North Island Sprint Kart Championship meeting.

Sera, 23, is a five-time Australian 125cc Rotax Max Light Champion, with the 20

Monster Energy driver showing the Kiwis how it is done, qualifying quickest, winning both heats as well as the Pre-Final and Final, the latter from reigning New Zealand class champion Daniel Connor and defending North Island champion Daniel Kinsman.

Sera was one of two Australian drivers competing at this year’s North Island championship meeting, and early in the day it looked like not one but two trophies

might cross the Tasman thanks to a strong early run by Gold Coast-based expat Lane Moore in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy.

Moore qualified quickest and shared heat wins with defending titleholder Zach Zaloum before winning the Pre-Final.

Come the Final, though, it was Zaloum who prevailed to successfully defend his title, with Aaron Cunningham second and Moore third. motorsport news

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21

Five Minutes with ...

MARK WINTERBOTTOM After 20 winless starts, Mark Winterbottom grabbed his first race victory of 2011 on the Gold Coast, taking out Race 22 with Richard Lyons, as Ford Performance Racing found form on the Sprint Tyre. He spoke to MITCHELL ADAM MOTORSPORT NEWS: You’re on the board for 2011!

MARK WINTERBOTTOM: Yeah.

About time, I guess. It’s great to get a win. We’ve been working very hard and trying to fix our soft tyre problems, which is what’s hurt us all year.

It was a really great win and one that we probably celebrated more than ever, because of how tough the year’s been.

With the soft tyres, is there one thing that you’ve found that’s turned it all around, or was it a combination of things?

It’s probably two things that we’ve found that have made the big improvement.

The guys have been working really hard, we’re just opening up a whole new window of car set-up now. If we can keep going down that path, I think there’s a lot more in it. That’s sort of the first step of the change, what we did on the weekend.

There’s plenty more to come, whether or not more will help, but there’s definitely more to come if we can get it right.

Given that Phillip Island and Bathurst events were on the control tyres, was soft tyre form something the engineers have been spending a lot of time on in the last couple of months, or was it put to one side during the enduros?

They’ve been working pretty

hard all year, really. Since Willowbank (that was a really bad round for us) they’ve definitely been focusing on the soft tyre.

We knew what we had on the control tyre was good, we had a pretty good car, so they concentrated on the soft tyre.

But we hadn’t tested it, or been on the soft tyre since [the races at] Willowbank, so the first outing was the Wednesday test at Queensland Raceway, back on the soft tyre. That was our first test of whether or not it had improved.

A lot of focus went into it, because we’ve got three rounds left, two on the soft tyre, and we need to start next year strong. We needed to get the soft tyre right so we spent a lot of time on it.

Overall, for the team, it was a really strong weekend.

Yourself and Richard [Lyons] were third on Saturday and obviously won on Sunday, and Will [Davison] and Mika [Salo] had a second on Saturday ...

Yeah, both cars were really strong, and so was PD. It was great to see all of our cars up there.

We qualified poorly on Saturday due to the rain and then we could actually come back through the field and finish third, which is almost impossible at that track. It was good to have a really quick car. Then, to see Will go from P3 to finish second was also

really promising. He probably would’ve finished third on Sunday, which would’ve been another double podium for the team.

It’s really promising that both cars are up there now. When you’ve got a good car, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be. At the last few rounds, we’ve been trying things, and sometimes one car’s got it good and one car hasn’t, but when you get them both right, they’re up the front, which is what it’s meant to be.

In your car, obviously it was late notice and far from ideal circumstances, but it looked like Richard slotted in pretty seamlessly.

Richard was fantastic, very laid back and he knew what his job was. One minute he was in Japan, trying to do his deal for next year, the next minute he was in Brisbane doing a seat pour.

I’m sure he’s just sitting down now to reflect on the weekend because he hadn’t had time. His whole week was that rushed to get out here, he didn’t really have a chance to sit down and think about it. He did a great job, he’s very professional and good fun as well – he’s a really good bloke.

And that’s why we enjoyed that whole week, it was a fun week, and then to get a result caps it off. Hopefully we can get him again. He’s a great bloke and a good driver.

Having shared your car at Phillip Island, Bathurst and Surfers, you must be looking forward to getting it back to yourself at Symmons.

Yeah. I haven’t started the car for the last couple of rounds.

One of the most fun things in our cars is actually getting the five-second signal or the red lights and taking off. I’m looking forward to doing a start again, getting to do it from the car rather than watching from the garage. Watching other people drive your car, you want to be out there; you’re looking forward to getting it back to yourself.

The enduros are always enjoyable as well, but after three in a row, you’re ready to get your car back.

After fourth at Bathurst and the strong weekend at Surfers, is the rest of this year about continuing that, getting some more wins and really ending the year on a strong note?

Yeah, it’d be nice to get to third [in the championship].

Even though we’ve had a year that’s been reasonably average, if you can still get to third with a few race wins, that’s going to cap the year off a lot better than where we were.

The goal is to try and win more races. We’ve got nothing to lose, we’ll go all out trying to win and make sure we can take some momentum into 2012, and start the way we should to win a championship.

THERE’S DEFINITELY MORE TO COME IF WE CAN GET IT RIGHT WINTERBOTTOM ON FPR’S SPRINT TYRE DEVELOPMENT 22

motorsport news

CHAT

Andrew Hall

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23

MARCO THE ENTERTAINER

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BAD BOLLARD OPINION

Andrew van Leeuwen – eNews Editor

I

T’S time to talk bollards, people.

After the shambles that arose during Sunday’s race on the Gold Coast just over a week back, there is no doubt some soul-searching going on at Commission level over how to avoid a mess like that again.

There needs to be; what we saw on Sunday wasn’t good enough – particularly when we have international drivers taking part, whose good opinions about our series we want to be spread far and wide. We want those guys heading back to their homelands talking about how great V8 Supercars are – not that 24

it’s a rule-less circus. And let’s not forget that race was being beamed live to 40 trillion people, or something like that, in the US on SPEED as well.

In my mind, black-flagging Boris Said very early on in the piece, when he decided that he was going to make no effort to make the first part of the chicane, may well have solved a lot of the problems. The unpunished precedent set by Said led to the late-race antics being inevitable.

But here’s where my opinion is going to make a quick 90degree turn. While I certainly think the corner-cutting was

farcical, I hope it doesn’t lead to the sensor system being banned. Okay, the bollards need to be more flexible and the sensors have to be more reliable, but the concept itself is good.

It’s exactly what V8 Supercars need on street circuits.

Let’s face it, tyre bundles are ugly and useless. They cause more problems than they solve.

Yes, they do give drivers a good visial aid as to how much of the corner can be cut, but they don’t seem to stop drivers crashing into them. They just cause Safety Car periods and often turn innocuous mistakes into big crashes. They are dangerous,

ugly and archaic, and I really, really hope that the GC debacle doesn’t give them a reprieve.

Instead, let’s stick with the bollard/sensor system. Having a limit on cuts is a good idea, and resetting that limit every X amount of laps to avoid guys ‘stockpiling’ cuts for the last handful of laps is an even better idea. Let’s make the system reliable, through testing and practical use at race meetings.

The bollard/sensor system can work. Please, powers that be, let’s keep working on making it as good and effective as it can be. In other words, let’s not overreact just yet. motorsport news

COMMENT

Dirk Klynsmith

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motorsport news

SEASON PREVIEW

AGAIN

AS VENUES ACROSS AUSTRALIA GEAR UP FOR ANOTHER BIG SUMMER OF SPRINTCAR RACING, GEOFF ROUNDS TAKES A LOOK AT THE LAY OF THE LAND

Geoff Gracie

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A

SUMMER feast of open Sprintcar racing in most of all Australian state awaits Speedway followers this season.

Nearly 100 different Speedway venues across the country will feature their own Sprintcar series in the Open (410ci) Sprintcar class.

Rapidly growing car counts and prizemoney again look to attract hundreds of drivers and their teams as the undercards to the major Sprintcar shows and various rounds of World Series Sprintcars.

In Victoria, the 14 rounds of the 2011-12 Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series, conducted by the Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria has just swung into action. This series is rated highly in the sport for its strong sponsorship, professionalism and features some of the country’s best drivers racing in the series on a regular basis.

A massive $240,000 in prizemoney and spoils are up for grabs, including a new 350 KTM for the end of the series award, with a cool $10,000 going to overall champion. The defending series champion is John Vogels who is chasing his sixth consecutive series win.

Wrapping up in March, the 14 rounds will be held at Bordertown, Murray Bridge, Moama, Bordertown, Mount Gambier, Warrnambool, Hamilton and Simpson. The current series leader is Jamie Veal.

On the other side of the country, Western Australia, the Sprintcar Entrants Group (SEG) was formed in 2000 as a marketing body for toplevel Sprintcar racing in WA, and is also one of the most professional bodies in Australia for promotion of Speedway racing. The SEG formed a partnership between the two major WA racing venues of the Quit Motorplex at Kwinana, the Bunbury City Speedway and the competitors themselves – the 28

entrants and drivers.

The SEG will host the 12th season of the AHG Sprintcar Series. Since its inception, the majority of rounds have been held at Kwinana Beach and almost one million dollars in prizemoney has been paid out to drivers. The defending champion is Jamie Maiolo, who is chasing his third consecutive series win, while Mark Wells leads the way early. The 24 rounds of the AHG series

are held at Perth, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Manjimup, Albany and Collie.

In Queensland, the KRE Race Engines Sprintcar Series continues to enjoy a steady growth of popularity with both teams and spectators continuing to lend their support.

With backing from the Modified Sprintcar Association of Queensland, this series has really attracted some of the country’s real talent. On any

given weekend of the KRE, World Series Sprintcars drivers and visiting Americans can be a part of the show.

The defending champion is Andrew Scheuerle and the 15 rounds of the KRE series are all scheduled for Brisbane International Speedway. The current series leader is Bryan Mann.

At Tyrepower Sydney Speedway 15 nights of Sprintcar action are on the schedule. motorsport news

SEASON PREVIEW

Geoff Gracie

Ben Atkinson, driving for Garry Rush, won last year’s track championship and also added the inaugural George Tatnell Medal to his trophy cabinet.

The biggest payday in this season’s Sprintcar class will again be the highlight of the season – the $50,000-to-win Scott Darley Sprintcar Classic.

This race has been dominated by three drivers and they’re all American. Steve Kinser and Joey Saldana who have won www.mnews.com.au

one apiece, while Donny Schatz has tasted victory eight times and will again head a stellar line-up of USA stars over the Christmas and New Year period.

Ian Loudon leads the 2011/2012 points after two rounds.

Tasmania’s hot bed of Sprintcar talent continues to grow and once again the sought after Farmers Union Iced Coffee Series is what all drivers are vying for. Jamie Bricknell leads the chase after the first of seven

rounds, and will also be looking for consistency, as his season is again set to include most of Australia’s major open Sprintcar shows.

The South Aussie scene at Speedway City will again feature the 12-round Revolution Racegear Speedway City Track Championship for 410ci Sprintcars. Defending champ Luke Dillon is aiming for a fourth title, and will be one of the drivers getting ready for the

upcoming national titles at the venue early next year.

In addition to the State and Track championships, the 25th season of World Series Sprintcars will be held over 15 rounds.

The WSS championship chase begins in Brisbane on 26 November, and there’ll be no shortage of talent, with the top-line of Australian Sprintcar drivers taking on some of America’s fastest.

29

FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 17 – NEW DELHI, INDIA

30

motorsport news

RACE

NO SLOWING DOWN He may have the title already sewn up, but Sebastian Vettel proved in India that he is not short on motivation

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I

F there ever needed to be proof that Sebastian Vettel’s motivation is not based just on winning championships, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix was it.

With the title well and truly buried, Vettel showed the world that he is in no mood for taking it easy by qualifying fastest and leading every lap of the race. He even posted the fastest lap of the race, on the last lap of the race, just to round out a perfectly devastating performance.

“It was a long race to be honest,” said Vettel.

“A lot of laps. The circuit is quite challenging; it is one of the difficult ones throughout the season and very easy to [make] a mistake, very easy to go a little bit beyond the limit, a little bit over the limit, get a little bit off line and you end up in the dust and dirt and you have to fight your way back.

“I felt quite comfortable on the hard tyre, so I was able to push throughout and also at the end with the strong laps. Got some calls from my engineer reminding me what is the target, there is not trophy for fastest lap.

“Fortunately, we were able to get both.

The car was great. All in all it was a fantastic event.”

Jenson Button finished second, and was able to keep in touch with Vettel for most of the afternoon, after barging past Mark

Webber down the long back straight on the first lap. Once Button had staved off a very brief challenge from Webber, he held the gap to Vettel to around five seconds throughout the race. But while he was able to keep Vettel from skipping away into the distance, Button was unable to genuinely challenge the German for the win.

“The last race I really struggled on the first lap and lost a lot of places, so I wanted to redeem myself here, and then I was just trying to hang on to Seb,” said Button.

“His pace was good, he didn’t make many mistakes. The tyres, when I came out of the box, felt good and felt competitive, but as soon as Seb got into a rhythm I could not do anything about it.

“For the team, we have done a perfect job today and could not have done anything else.”

Fernando Alonso was a lonely third – well, lonely in terms of his proximity to the leaders. The Spaniard was 24 seconds behind Vettel at the end of the race, but he was only just over a second ahead of Mark Webber, who finished fourth. Alonso took third from Webber at the last round of stops, when Webber went to the hard tyre earlier than the rest of the leaders. Webber stayed close to Alonso, but was unable to re-claim the final podium spot.

“It’s pretty much the general story of this year; I just don’t have the pace at the end of the stints, so I run out of tyres and then lose strategy,” said Webber.

“It means I have to pit earlier and it makes life harder.

“In the end, I wasn’t quick enough. I had a reasonable pace at the start of the stints, but as they go on, we go back into the clutches of the other guys.”

Behind the top four was Michael Schumacher, who put in a brilliant drive from 11th on the grid. Having made a fast start, Schumacher kept his charge going throughout the race, eventually finishing a place ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg after a long last stint.

Lewis Hamilton was seventh after another race interrupted by contact with another car. Once again, it was Felipe Massa that Hamilton found himself clashing wheels with. While both drivers kept going after the contact, Massa was handed a drive-through penalty, and later retired when he broke his Ferrari’s suspension on a kerb.

Behind Hamilton, Jaime Alguersuari, Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez rounded out the Top 10, while Daniel Ricciardo finished 18th, behind his team-mate Narain Karthikeyan. motorsport news

RACE

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Results :: Indian Grand Prix

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Press The Button: Webber tried to get second place back from Button in the opening laps, top, but was unsuccessful. Being in close proximity on the track caused issues for Massa and Hamilton, above, while the wide corner entries caused issues for a lot of the backmarkers at the start, below.

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Pos

Driver

Team

Qual

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

Sebastian Vettel Jenson Button Fernando Alonso Mark Webber Michael Schumacher Nico Rosberg Lewis Hamilton Jaime Alguersuari Adrian Sutil Sergio Perez Vitaly Petrov Bruno Senna Paul di Resta Heikki Kovalainen Rubens Barrichello Jerome d’Ambrosio Narain Karthikeyan Daniel Ricciardo Jarno Trulli Felipa Massa Sebastien Buemi Pastor Maldonado Timo Glock Kamui Kobayashi

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

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

Top 10 Points: Vettel 374, Button 240, Alonso 227, Webber 221,

Hamilton 202, Massa 98, Rosberg 75, Schumacher 70, Petrov 36, Heidfeld 34.

33

NASCAR ROUND 33 – MARTINSVILLE, VA

Smoke...

Where there’s

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motorsport news

RACE

T

HERE’S no Chevrolet like a Hendrick Chevrolet.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon know that, and their Impalas were the cars to beat at Martinsville. Problem was, Tony Stewart has a Hendrick car too, and when there was a restart with three laps to go, he knew how to use it.

Smoke elbowed his way around the outside of the #48, held the lead and even on the last lap, with some chaos back in the pack and Johnson trying to nose his way under the #14, Stewart held on to take his 41st win.

“Just determination,” said Stewart, who has taken all of his three 2011 wins in The Chase.

“We didn’t have the best race car, but we had the most determined pit crew to get [the car] as good as they could.”

For Johnson, he rued what might have been, but second gets his bid for a sixth crown back on track.

Smoked ‘em: Tony Stewart gets the jump on Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon at the final restart to charge to the flag, left, below.

NASCAR Media

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NASCAR Media

It’s been a slow burn of a season for Tony Stewart, but in the all important Championship Chase, the Smoke is really starting to rise. Victory at Martinsville has vaulted him to a close second in the points, with just three races left

“I just didn’t get away from him on the restart,” he said.

“I was more worried about clipping a kerb and not taking him out. I was trying to mind my Ps and Qs and, of course, got beat in the process. I thought about leaning on him, but it’s just not the right thing to do.

“On that last restart, Tony did a great job and I didn’t get it done.”

Gordon was third ahead of Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. The Gibbs driver, a perennial threat in his home state of Virginia, scored his first top-five finish in what has been a disastrous Chase, and is now focused on 2012.

Jeff Burton was sixth ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who recovered well from an early spin. Martin Truex Jr was eighth, and ninth was

35

TOYOTA Media

36

‘‘That ruined my day, along with his and whoever else got unfortunately collected in that mess,’’ said Kenseth, who was clearly unimpressed with Busch in the race.

Brad Keselowski was only slightly better off. He looked well in the mix for a top-10 finish, but spun with two laps remaining, and dropped to 17th.

It was a tough day for Marcos Ambrose, who clashed with Juan Pablo Montoya and was classified 29th.

For Edwards, Stewart had a message in Victory Lane; “He better be worried. That’s all I’ve got to say. He isn’t going to have an easy three weeks.”

And, Edwards on Stewart?

“He’s wound up,” he said. “He won the race. We’ll see what happens at Texas. I feel like we’ll go there and have as good a shot at winning as anyone.”

Bring it on, boys ...

NASCAR Media

not far short of a miracle for Carl Edwards.

The points leader looked to be in peril, twice lapped by the leader, but twice he got the Lucky Dog to gain back the lost position. His #99 Ford was not the sharpest weapon in the field but dogged driving got him back into the top 10 and maintained his points lead. ‘‘That’s just a gift,’’ he said. ‘‘We did not deserve to finish ninth.’’

The first half of the race featured plenty of contact on the bullring track, but a 97-lap green flag run promoted the fast guys, led by Hamlin, to the front of the race. Then all heck broke loose; Matt Kenseth locked the brakes of his Ford and took out Kyle Busch, who spent time in the pits for repairs. It was a terrible day for the Toyota driver; later he had a tyre roll off in the pitlane, earning him a penalty.

He was classified 27th.

Bull ring: Denny Hamlin pitstop shots shows how cramped things are at the tiny half-mile Martinsville, top left. Mark Martin is safely through but Kyle Busch’s day is through, top. Brian Vickers was frequently pointing in the wrong direction, right. Carl Edwards had pole after a washed-out qualifying session, the grid order being derived from the team owner’s pointscore, above.

motorsport news

RACE

Results :: Tums Fast Relief 500, MARTINSVILLE VA Pos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

No. 14 48 24 29 11 31 88 56 99 39

Driver Tony Stewart Jimmie Johnson Jeff Gordon Kevin Harvick Denny Hamlin Jeff Burton Dale Earnhardt Jr Martin Truex Jr Carl Edwards Ryan Newman

Make Chevy Chevy Chevy Chevy Toyota Chevy Chevy Toyota Ford Chevy

Team Stewart Haas Hendrick Hendrick Childress Gibbs Childress Hendrick Waltrip Roush Fenway Stewart Haas

Sponsor Office Depot Lowe’s Drive to End Hunger Budweiser FedEx Caterpillar Mountain Dew NAPA Auto Parts Scotts Haas Automation

Qual.

4 7 10 5 11 23 9 24 1 12

NASCAR Media

Points: Edwards 2273, Stewart 2265, Harvick 2252, Keselowski 2246, Kenseth 2237, Johnson 2230,

Kyle Busch 2216, Kurt Busch 2215, Earnhardt 2200, Gordon 2197, Hamlin 2193, Newman 2184.

NASCAR Media

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37

RUSSO SOLID IN US DRAG RACING AUSTRALIAN Peter Russo had a trying, test weekend at the Big O Tires Nationals in Las Vegas on the weekend after his new, Murray Anderson-built, Supercheap Auto Funny Car suffered from a few teething problems.

Russo and his small, volunteer based team put in a massive effort at the strip to only just get the finishing touches on his Monte Carlo bodied Funny Car completed before their first qualifying

QUINNING AGAIN! TARGA NZ TONY Quinn has added a third Targa New Zealand title to his CV – and this one was the toughest yet.

Quinn and co-driver Naomi Tillett drove the VIP Pet Foods Nissan GT-R to a win in the five-day event, leading the Hawkes Bay-based event from flag to flag.

“I think it was the toughest,” Quinn said.

“It is like any sport; the competition gets older, more experienced and better. It was a tough gig.

There was a young bloke [Ed: Glenn Inkter] and he tried a bit too hard.

“I liken him a bit to me, when I was chasing Jimmy [Richards]. I drove at 100 percent, he went a bit over that.”

Inkster and co-driver Spencer Winn took all seven stages on the final day in their Mitsubishi Evo. Glenn Smith/Andy Lowe were third.

38

runs.

Unfortunately for the Australian crew, their efforts were thwarted by an ignition gremlin in the opening run, and a planned shut-off launch in the second.

Conversely, Russo was using this Las Vegas weekend in preparation for another test session on Tuesday Australian time, before again packing the truck in readiness for the season ending AAA Club World Finals at Pomona, California, on November 10-13.

FARR OUT IN SYDNEY SPRINTCARS MAKING up for last weeks disappointment, World Series Sprintcar champ Robbie Farr blitzed the Tyrepower Sydney Speedway Sprintcar field to win last Saturday night’s A-Main feature race.

Farr was in a class of his own and easily defeated a fast finishing Max Dumesny, along with stand out NT racer Daniel Goldini third.

Goldini initially jumped into the lead from local James Thomson, but overcoming problems from last week was Farr.

Starting from position six, Farr blasted forward, taking control on Lap 4 with Goldini easily holding second until late in the 30-lap affair.

The battle however was on behind Thomson with Ian Loudoun, Grant

Tunks, Mitchell Dumesny, Troy Little, Max Dumesny and Steve Gaunt all battling for positions. Mitch Dumesny rode over the rear wheel of Damian Abbott and spun, having to restart from the rear while both Loudoun and Tunks were forced out late in the race with suspected engine problems.

The Valvoline machine of Max Dumesny steadily moved forward, taking second position following a restart with five laps left to run, but the race was Farr’s, taking the victory over Dumesny with Goldini just behind in third.

Rounding out the six was Thomson, Caunt and Rocket’s Matt Young in sixth.

Sprintcars are back next Saturday night, where they will be joined by the Wingless Sprints, Street Stocks and Late Model Sedans.

–GREG BOSCATO

motorsport news

RACE

DRAMA IN ADELAIDE

MIEDECKE’S SPRINTCARS ROOKIE OF ADELAIDE’S Speedway City THE YEAR blasted into action once AUSSIES OVERSEAS WITH one round remaining in the UARA Stars Late Model Series in the USA, George Miedecke has taken out the Rookie of the Year honours with a sixth place finish at the Concord Speedway on the weekend.

After being the pace setter in both official practice sessions leading into the weekend’s events, Miedecke suffered from ill-luck during qualifying after he was unsettled on an oil slick early on, putting him down in 11th for the race.

Making his way through the field once the 150-lap race had gotten underway however, Miedecke sat as high as third at the mid point of the race, but was forced back to sixth following some close racing with his rivals.

Miedecke would eventually consolidate sixth across the line. NASCAR Nationwide Series runner Steven Wallace meanwhile took out the race.

The finale of the UARA Stars Series will be held at the fast high-banked Rockingham Speedway on November 5.

again for the exciting summer Speedway season for both the 410 and 360 Sprintcars Revolution Racegear Track Championships.

The night proved to be an action packed affair, full of drama that went well beyond the fall of the chequered flag.

The feature race started with several false starts, each one seeing several competitors crash out of the running.

Once the race got under way for real, it was Trevor Green who led Jamie Cobby and the chasing pack behind.

Green was doing a great job defending from behind, until

he retired with mechanical dramas, Cobby also crashed out after tangling with Steven Caruso.

From that point on, Matt Egel raced away to a commanding lead and crossed the finish line in first position, having led the event for the majority of the distance.

Following the hard charger to the finish was defending track champion Luke Dillon who had successfully held position to hold out Bradley Keller, Glen Sutherland, Philip March and co.

When things looked sweet for Egel, things soon turned sour when his Quick Time machine failed to make minimum weight on the scales. A dejected Egel was disqualified from the event after several attempts

to reweigh the car. Dillon was awarded victory and the rest of the field was elevated one position.

The 360 Sprintcar feature race was also a hard fought affair with first round honours going to Shannon Barry over a solid run from Clinton Oliver. New South Welshman Brendan Guerin proved to be the big mover coming from 14th to steal third on the final circulation. Rounding out the top five was defending track champion Shane Hendry and Chris Evans.

The Sprintcars will fire up again next week at Speedway City for the running of the prestige Australian Sprintcar Masters.

–PARIS CHARLES

Brett Hayward, on his way to winning the Australian Hillclimb championships at Bryant Park on the weekend. Our man Justin Collins was on the scene to take this picture.

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motorsport news

rear of grid

Red Dog gives you Wings

sutton-images.com

A CLAIMED 95,000 spectators attended out a red flag. This dog proved so difficult India’s maiden Formula 1 Grand Prix. Plus, to catch that it was nicknamed ‘Sebastian’ a few dogs. by the assembled media.

Friday’s opening practice session on the India’s new Hermann Tilke-designed new $300m Buddh track at Greater Noida track created a largely positive impression was interrupted when a dog (or two) ran on the visiting members of the media onto the track, prompting officials to roll – apart from the odd stairwell that led

nowhere, an intermittent lack of luxuries like electricity and wifi and, of course, the always-popular Delhi belly.

Oh yes, the dog escaped and it whereabouts are unknown. A Bollywood musical called ‘How Much is that McLaren in the window?’ in the near future.

ON THIS DAY 31 OCTOBER 1999

THE great Canadian driver Greg Moore lost his life on this day 12 years ago. Moore went into the final race of the CART season at California Speedway with a Penske contract in his pocket and an injured right hand after his scooter was hit by a car in the paddock the day before the race. Starting at the back after missing qualifying, Moore, left below with Gil de Ferran, made ground early in the race but on lap 9, lost control of his car in Turn 2 and crashed heavily. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. He was 24.

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