THE WORLD OF MOTORSPORT DIRECTLY TO YOUR DESKTOP
Issue No. 230 November 08 - 14 2011
S ’ N O S I V A D E D I INS N A L P R A C INDY :
EXCLUSIVE
VW WORLD RALLY CAR BREAKS COVER
MORRIS OPENS UP ON HIS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE www.mnews.com.au
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LOLA T332 1977 Australian Grand Prix 4th Place Oran Park Driver Alan Jones Limited Production Of 1000 pcs Worldwide
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Item #18416
The battle for pole position for the 1977 Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park was held over three qualifying sessions, with the top 8 places separated by only 2 seconds. Pole position would be set by Warwick Brown in a Lola T430 with the time of 65.7s. The cars were set to race, with the starter ¾EK PMJXIH XS MXW LMKLIWX TSMRX .SRIW´ 0SPE XSSO SJJ WIGSRHW FIJSVI XLI ¾EK LEH HVSTTIH /RS[MRK LMW QMWXEOI .SRIW TVIWWIH LEVH XS XV] and limit the damage from his inevitable 1min WXST KS TIREPX] ;MXL .SRIW WIIQMRKP] SYX SJ contention the race was between Brown in LMW 0SPE 4IXIV +IXLMR MR E 'LIZVSR ERH .SLR Goss in a Matich. .SRIW GLEVKIH JVSQ XLI FEGO SJ XLI ½IPH SR his way setting the fastest lap of 66.4s. He was able to catch up to Goss who sat in 3rd TPEGI FYX LMW GPMQF XLVSYKL XLI ½IPH [EW LEPXIH [LIR LI VER SYX SJ PETW .SRIW ½RMWLIH forth only 2s behind Goss, Brown won the VEGI [MXL +IXLMR ½RMWLMRK W FILMRH MR RH
Available 4th Quarter 2011
With the engine cover removed the fine craftsmanship of the V8 can be appreciated. 2
The race cockpit dash features detailed instrumentation with chrome trim.
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classiccarlectables.com.au A1002 AMN motorsport news
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Issue No. 230 | 08-14 Sept 2011
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Man with an Indy Plan J Davo looks to ECR and AA 7 India? Indonesia? TBA options open up 10 The Wurz is yet to come Toyota looking at Alex for 24 12 No gardening leave for Michael Sam starts early at McLaren 20 Russian Around Novikov scores works WRC gig
chat 22 Five Minutes With ... Jason Bright
comment 25 Branagan: Kyle Kuts Loose race 26 Shannons Nationals 32 Historic Sandown 36 NASCAR
trade 44 Classifieds 3
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motorsport news
NEWS
J DAVO LOOKING AT ECR AND AA FOR ’12 INDYCAR PROGRAM
C
INDYCAR
OULD there be a third Australian driver in Indycar next season? That is the question that is being asked, after the news broke that James Davison will test for Andretti Autosport in Florida this Thursday. The third generation driver, son of former Sandown promoter Jon Davison and cousin of V8 Supercar drivers Alex and Will, will drive a Hondapowered Dallara at Palm Beach International Raceway. Colombian Gustavo Yacamán will also test. “I have been having discussions with Michael since I was in Indy Lights,” Davison told eNews on Monday. “I split his two cars in the championship when I was with Vision [Racing], and that was the best result for a first-year team. He took notice of that.” The other person involved in the discussions was former Indycar CEO Tony George, who was the owner of Vision Racing and who remains on the Board on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Tony and I met Michael at
Long Beach, to discuss a test. He said that he would be able to give me the opportunity at the end of the season, and that it could lead to a race seat with his team.” Andretti’s situation has been affected by two recent matters. One is the decision by Danica Patrick to move full-time to NASCAR next season, and that of her sponsor GoDaddy. com to stay with Andretti’s team. But the seat that Patrick vacated was to be filled by Dan Wheldon, and the death at Las Vegas of the popular Briton has understandably forced a rethink of plans for that entry. “GoDaddy is dictating who will drive that entry,” said Davison. “They are the ones who have the say about who will be filling that seat and understandably, they want someone who will go some way to replacing the exposure that they got through Danica. So that seat is not available to a rookie driver.” Asked whether the fourth AA seat might be where a rookie would slot in, Davison replied, “At the moment, all I am doing is focusing on the test.” Andretti’s team ran four
entries last year, for Patrick, Marco Andretti (who will race the team’s Snapple entry in 2012), Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Of the four, RHR appears to be a possible GoDaddy driver. But, there is another opportunity for Davison on the horizon – and it comes through the George/Vision link. Last week, Ed Carpenter announced that he would launch his own Indycar team, Ed Carpenter Racing, to be managed by veteran Derrick Walker. Carpenter, who scored his maiden win at Kentucky this season, is George’s stepson, and both he and Davison raced for George’s Vision Racing in 2010. “When I met with Tony, two things were discussed,” Davison continued. “One is a testing role with ECR and helping Ed to improve on the road courses. Tony has said, ‘blood runs thicker than water’. Whatever happens, I need to be patient. You cannot graduate from Lights and find you have offers to go race Indycars. Those days don’t happen any more.” Carpenter is far more adept
at racing on ovals than he is on road and street courses, leading to speculation that Davison could race the team’s Fuzzy’s Vodka-backed entry on those tracks while Carpenter tackles the ovals. The other role could be as a driving coach. The other factor that might work in Davison’s favour is the uncertainty that surrounds Indycar’s oval events for next year. The recent tragic turn at Las Vegas has cast a doubt over whether the series will continue to race on 1.5-mile ovals – such as Vegas, Kentucky and Texas – and if those tracks lose their events, only three ovals are confirmed for next year. “Ninety percent of the events will be road or street courses,” Davison said. “The team has to keep its sponsors happy and I have a role to play in that. Indycar has changed a lot, and those changes have happened fast. Oval drivers are being phased out, in favour of kids doing Lights, or drivers who might have the ability but not the opportunity to get into Formula 1. “I have worked hard for this opportunity. I want to make the most of it.”
VIP KEEN, MORRIS STILL LOOKING AT TWO CARS V8 SUPERCARS VIP Petfoods is looking to stay in V8 Supercar racing next season though Tony Quinn is not sure what the company’s exact position will be. Fresh from second place in the Targa High Country on Sunday, Quinn told eNews that he was yet to discuss whether his company would stay with the Paul Morris Motorsport team next season. “If it was up to me, I would do it with him [Morris],” he said. “At the end of the day, the www.mnews.com.au
decision is mine, I suppose. But it needs to be commercially viable.” Quinn, one of the highest-profile sponsors in the sport, with involvements in a number of categories, has been the backer of PMM’s entry since the start of the current season. Driver Steve Owen goes to Tasmania in 17th place in the V8 Supercar Championship points. VIP is believed to have had approaches from a number of teams in the paddock, but Quinn would not elaborate on whether he had proposals in place, and which
teams he had discussions with. But he did say that “you would want to be with a potentially front-running team. If it was just up to me, we will be in V8s next year, but we will have to see.” Morris says that his “Plan A is still to run two cars next season”. “We are having a meeting [with Quinn] this week,” he said. Morris also said that he was intending to speak to Owen about staying and “anyone and everyone else who has driven a V8 Supercar.” 5