Motorsport News Issue 251 - February 26-March 11, 2003

GRAND PRIX V8 SUPERCAR PREVIEW SPECIAL CO to CO CO

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Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST No. 251 February 26 - March 11 2003

FI GP EXCLUSIVE

Mark webberd

nsders Guide The ears The drivers trem inside the cockpit

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V8 EXCLUSIVE

BARRA! We drive Ford’s ’03 V8 Supercar

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motorsport news

Issue 251

26 Fedruary - ii March 2003

news and opinion ●>

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Race time The 2003 V8 Supercars are on the track

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Friday on Jag’s mind As they opt for Friday testing Show us ya V8s Lotsa pics of 2003 V8 Supercars

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10 Grey power Ron and Frank go for the smaller teams 15 Team Emmo Fittipaldi tanked in FI: now he’s trying CART 25 Motor Mouth Why Steve Johnson’s pants fall down 26 Box Seat Joe Saward: the only Pom mentioning cricket 90 Talk Converter That’s where we convert, er, talk

features

28 Five Minutes With Alex Yoong From FI to Malaysia to Eastern Creek 30 Five Minutes With Wayne Gardner WG hangs up the (full-time) helmet 32 Win on Sunday, Barramundi We get behind the wheel of OzEmall Racing’s new Falcon BA V8 Supercar. Brad and JB now have no fingernails left 42 Grand Prix Preview Who will win this season? We all know that, but we asked Mr Webber for his Insights into what else would happen In FI In 2003 52 V8 Supercar Preview Will Skalfe make It 4 straight? Will the DJR cars keep hitting each other? What will Prodrive do? It’s going to be a massive year

race coverage

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Wakefield Park Konica V8s Now is the Winterbottom of our discontent

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made glorious by this son of... Stone Brothers Racing Speed Reiding Jonny Reid takes the ‘honours’ in F4KPBFI 74 Daytona 500 It rained and rained and Michael Waltrip reigned in another huge start to the Winston Cup

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I nsider’ Guide

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Photos: Cover: sultonimages.com and James Smith, r Contents: James Smith, sutton and Marshall Cass.

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20 Bikes

68 Rallying

70 Speedway

72 NASCAR

76 Drag Racing

78 Histories

80 National Scene

83 Marketplace 3

It's timefor the T*; 2

Testing

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*● >● In the Red Comer: Mark Skaife goes to war this year in a slightly revised livery for his Holden Racing Team Commodore VY.

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In the Blue Corner: Second in last year's series, Marcos Ambrose will be looking for one better in the Stone Brothers/Pirtek Racing Falcon AU. This is an interim livery; tbe car will be different next week at Albert Park.

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HRT confirms Toddler - and five more years for Skaife

AS expected for some time, the Holden Racing team has confirmed that Todd Kelly will partner Mark Skaife in red this season.

At the team's official launch in Melbourne on Monday, team boss John Crennan also confirmed that Skaife will stay with the team for another five years.

As an omen to the opposition, Skaife will drive the same car he raced for the last two

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years to wins in the championship and at Bathurst, updated to VY spec. Kelly will race the car designated as a spare last season.

Both drivers wil l start the season with the conventional Chevrolet engine used in previous seasons. New, purpose-built VYs are due in April, while the new 'Aurora' engines (which sit 25mm further back in the chassis) are expected mid-season.

Al l that remains for the Clayton-based

teams to do now is to confirm that Jason Bright and Paul Weel will race for the reincarnated Team Brock this season, with official word coming at a launch scheduled soon.

This is despite HRT's somewhat clumsy announcement last December that Bright "re-signed with HRT" when he had, in fact, signed an exension of his deal with HRT's 'parent', TWR Racing. motorsport news

NEWS

Real Itiing starts in earnest for V8 Supercar season

For all you stat heads...

Statistic of the week: Mark Winterbottom's debut pole at Wakefield Park last Sunday keeps Stone Brothers record intact-that makes three V8 Supercar rookies who have grabbed pole on debut for SBR, the other two being Marcos Ambrose and David Besnard.

■ Latest news on the Fo[,mula : One versus V8 Supercar versus BMW Speed Challenge at Albert Park is that Larry Perkins will be driving an older car in the event, LP's latest Commodore VY is running a little late so he will drive an existing VX in the challenge, as will Steven Richards and Paul Dumbrell in the 'real' races.

■ Speaking of LP, the team was due ^ to test this week at Winton. it is the first time that the team has track tested a Commodore fitted with a MoTeC ECU, Perkins having been a long-time customer of rival company Autronic.

Apparently the change, which will also effect all Perkins's customer cars, have been fairly major but the team expects few major problems.

Barra Attack: John Bowe gets to work at Winton in the B)R/OzEmail Falcon BA last week.

BOTH Ford and Holden camps are exuding cautious optimism after the first round of new car testing last week.

The Holden Racing team and Brad Jones Racing won the unofficial race to be the first on-track when they shook down their new race cars at Winton last Wednesday. A couple of hours later, Stone Brothers Racing got onto the'podium' when Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall tested a 'mixed'SBR Falcon BA at Queensland Raceway, dressed in interim Pirtek colours but with IngalTs number 9 on the side.

All three squads were encouraged by their initial outing with their 2003 cars.

HRT tested at Winton with not one, but two VY Commodores,for Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly. Defending V8 Champion Skaife was very happy with the way the cars, fitted with a front wishbone set-up for the first time, performed straight out of the box.

"It's a good start," he confirmed to MNews."I'm pretty happy with the times we've recorded (unofficially a lm23.6s best), but there's still plenty to do - we're not quite sure yet where we're at in terms of some of the changes we're trying on the car.

"We're only using old rubber at the moment and there tends to be a little bit of inconsistency between sets.

"But certainly, there are no unexpected vices in the car and we can go forward from here with some 26 February 2003

confidence."

OzEmail Racing team manager Kim Jones was pleased with the first day's testing for the team's Barra, despite two holdups. The team lost much of the morning session with an assembly problem of the car's steering rack (caused by an external supplier). Then the Jones brothers were briefly 'interrupted' when they handed the car over to MNews'Chris Lambden for an exclusive track test (see page 32).

After Brad Jones and John Bowe completed the day in what will be Bowe's racecar, Kim Jones was pleased with the results.

"I think that it has the potential to be a much better race car than the Falcon AU we had and the times that we did straight out of the box already prove that," he said.

"His as goodasoup best ^AU-and there's plenty left" - Ross Stone on his new BA "I would like to think that the cars will be consistent frontrunners and that we will be contenders to win a race. The new model cars will be faster early on and,by the end of the year, they will be rocketships."

Jones said that the development process of the BA was just starting.

"We need to improve the race package. With the old car we would

start at the front and finish at the back.

"We need to get a handle on the car. I thmk that we are a little bit luckier than the Holden people; we are already using the front uprights that we had all along.

"Last year, everyone had the same potential but none of the other Holden teams stepped up to the mark to challenge TWR.In the Ford camp, only Stone Brothers and us stepped up. It's hard to see anything oAer than that happening again this year.

"I hope that Project Blueprint will work for both models."

Up north.Stone Brothers debuted a Pirtek Falcon literally completed on the morning of the test. Ambrose and Ingall shared the car, completing some 50 laps.

"For a first run we were quite happy," Ross Stone reported on Monday.

"I guess I'd summarise it by saying that straight up it is as good as our best AU - and there's plenty left.

"It was a very hot day, quite high ambient temperature, but we got a lot of good information and we plan to be back there for another day - with Russell's new car also - before the Grand Prix."

The team expects to be back at Queensland Raceway today (Wednesday). Also due to test was Dick Johnson Racing, which was expected to run two cars for Steve Johnson and new signing Max Wilson.

■ Things have been busy down Dandenong way. Ford Performance Racing has expanded from 10 to 25 since the change from Glenn Seton Racing, with five more yet to be hired.

The team is working overtime to make it to the grid at Albert Park with a new BA for Craig Lowndes and two AUs for Seton and David Besnard.

■ No word on what the final liveries of the FPR cars will be. Flowever, MNews understands that Lowndes will run in his familiar silver and black while Seton (Ford Credit) and Besnard (TBA) will have predominantly blue and white on their cars. We also believe that the Caltex deal that potentially followed Besnard from Stone Brothers Racing has not worked out and that the oil sponsor is likely to be Castrol ...

■ Very Important People: Did anyone notice the VIP Pet Foods stickers on the Milligans/SBR Ford of Mark Winterbottom at Wakefield Park on the weekend? Look for the logos to appear on the Ambrose and Ingall cars in the main series.

■ Garry Rogers this week confirmed that he will again this year offer a $500 cash prize at each round of the 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Series to the team he believes shows all the necessary attributes, both on and off track, of a professional and enthusiastic race team.

"The prize is not about who gets sprayed with the champagne at the end of the day. Whilst we all love that feeling of winning, there can only be one winner and I believe we need to sometimes take a closer look at the teams who don't always cross the line first and the hard work they put in each race meeting."

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Jag takes the Friday option AUSTRALIAN FI fans will get an early chance to see local hero Mark Webber on track at the AGP. Thanks to Jaguar's late decision to join the three teams already signed up for the twohour unofficial session first thing Friday morning, Webber and team-mate Antonio Pizzonia will take to the track at 8.30am.

The decision to join the Friday session follows a smart move by team boss Purnell, who managed to extract a valuable clarification of the testing regs. Originally, the concept was that teams who restricted themselves to just 10 days of testing would be able to benefit from the two hours ontrack at the start of every GP weekend.

Purnell maintained that this would apply to teams running two or more cars and that if Jaguar agreed to run a single car attests, then 20 days should be available. The FIA agreed and, provided the remainder of the teams agreed (given that the original decision deadline was back in December) Jaguar was given permission to go ahead on that basis.

MNews understands that the teams have all now agreed and thus Webber will be one of the first out of the gate at 8.30am next Friday morning.

A Jaguar spokesman explained that: We had 46 days of testing

scheduled for this year. We've achieved 20 before the first race cut-off and we can run 20 single car tests under this regulation.

"There are other obvious benefits. Our drivers will now have an extra two hours themselves with the circuits and, in Antonio's case, this is invaluable given his debut season an FI driver.

"We've done our sums very carefully on this, weighed up every alternative and we are convinced that this gives us considerably more bang for our

buck."

AT the same time,the Jaguar team has received a double boost in late testing with Webber setting the fastest time of the day last Thursday at Barcelona, in the rain, during a full-on GP simulation by the team.

This followed a lap recordbreaking performance by Pizzonia the previous Friday during a late low fuel/fresh rubber run.

During an exclusive pre-GP interview with MNews (see page 40) Webber reports that morale in the Jaguar team is on the up: "We are happy," he said. "The engineers are happy; the factory is a pretty happy place.

"There's still a lot of work to do and we can potentially have some pretty rough weekends, but they (the team) are really enjoying it at the morhent."

Still the

Ferrari fast in testing-and is Wi i

THE Formula One circus heads Down Under this week with expectations that Ferrari will win the World Championship again though the gap appears to be closing.

While Ferrari's F2003GA and F2002 (with which it will start the season) still look the class of the field, great news for Australian GP fans is that the team that has made great strides recently is Jaguar Racing. Mark Webber and Antonia Pizzonia have

been showing genuine speed in the new R4, Webber rimnmg 112 laps at Valencia before leaving a day early, allowing Pizzonia to set the fastest lap of the winter the following day, beating Williams-BMW's Juan Montoya.

Webber backed the performance up last week at Barcelona when he set the fastest time during a wet session.

McLaren has been consistently quick in the tests, David Coulthard sutlon-images.co/n j

And I was gonna sleep in: Pizzonia, right, will be making an earlier-thanexpected start to his FI career.

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and Kimi Raikkonen showing impressive speed in the team's updated MP4/17D, which is a development of the 2002 car. Like Ferrari, McLaren will save its new car, the MP4/18,for later in the season.

The inconsistent performer appears to be Williams. The FW25 is very different to last year's car, one team member commenting that they are yet to full imderstand what the car likes.

Ralf Schumacher ran as low at eighth in a test at Barcelona before bouncing back to top the final test day of the winter last Friday, admittedly against little opposition.

The other news appears to be a switch in the relative performance of the tyre companies. Last season, Bridgestone teams appeared to have an edge in qualifying trim and Michelin teams made gains on wellused tyres. In testing so far, thing have been the opposite, with the French tyres providing a speed gain out of the box and the Japanese runner coming on during the final laps of a stint.

Teams will have far greater tyre options this season, with suppliers expected to bring as many as eight moiorsport netMS

NEWS

No warmups

... and qualifying moved to 1300

#1

Hams stru^ing?

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THE FIA has finally released details of the timetable that will be used at all the Grands Prix this year.

The major change is that the Sunday morning warm-up session has been axed and there will now be a 15-minute warm up session just before the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. As expected, the qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday will start at 14,00 rather than the traditional 13,00.

Although the federation did not specify the details, we understand that the Friday times will not count towards the grid but only towards establishing the running order of the cars on Saturday.

The other novelty will be the two-hour test session which will begin at 08.30 on Friday morning and will be open only to those teams which agree to restrict their testing at other venues to just 10 days between March and November. The Friday session

will see these teams using as many cars and tyres as they wish to use. There will a 30minute break before the first free practice session begins at 11.00 and after that hour-long session there will be a two-hour break before qualifying.

Saturday's timetable will begin with free practice sessions from 09.00 to 09.45 and 10.15 to 11.00. There will then be a two and a half hour break before a warm-up session which will run from 13.30 to 13.45. Final qualifying will then run at 14.00.

There will be no FI on-track activity on Sunday mornings and the races will start at 14.00.

There are five exceptions to this rule, mainly to better facilitate TV coverage in Europe. The Malaysian GP will start at 15.00, Japan at 14.30 and Canada and USA at 13.00. The British GP will also start at 13.00 to avoid a clash with another sporting event.

- JOE SAWARD

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Aussie a|Jag?

Could new 'face'be Hogan - orAJ?

THE word on the street in Milton OK, put those toys away!

Marc Gene, top, and the rest of the Williams team appear to have much to do. Could The French Connection, Ollie Panis and Michelin help Toyota, above, the beat the boys from Grove?

choices. Teams will be able to choose to each, though one team's choices could be completely different to another team using the same brand.

Ferrari was due to test further in Spain in a four-day testing ending on Friday, with Michael Schumacher and test drivers Luca Badoer and FiUpe Massa due to run both F2002 and F2003GAS at Jerez. WOliams was plarming to share the Jerez test, as well as testing at Imola in Italy until Thursday. Testing at two circuits simultaneously is not the sign of a team pleased with its car ...

There was also a test due at Silverstone today (Wednesday), where a number of English-based teams due to shake down their spare cars prior to packing up for the trip to Melbourne.

26 February 2003

Keynes is that Jaguar Racing will shortly announce that its new Sporting Director is to be John Hogan,the man who spearheaded Marlboro campaigns in Formula 1 between 1973 and his retirement in 2002.

Hogan, an Australian, will represent t^e team in its political, commercim,and media activities.

He is a highly-experienced FI politician, having sat on the Formula 1 Commission since its inception in 1982.

Hogan moved to Europe from Australia in the late 1960s and worked in advertising in London.

After he joined Marlboro, he was put in charge of the company's FI operations, starting in 1973. He remained there through the glory years of the mid 1980s when Marlboro McLaren won World titles with Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Frost (1985-86-89) and Ayrton Senna (1988-90-91).

Marlboro stayed with McLaren until 1996 when it was decided to

switch the backing to Ferrari.

He eventually became Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Philip Morris International.

Since his retirement, Hogan has joined the financial company NWD but was recently named as a possible chief executive of Formula One when there werg i suggestions of a compromise’! between the GPWC and SIlEC. While Hogan now takes up the front running for the 'front man' job at Jaguar, an intriguing rumour - confirmed by the man himself- suggested that our own Alan Jones was also under , consideration for the job.'

Having been turned dowii'^by former drivers John Watson and, apparently, Martin Brundle, Jaguar apparently sounded out AJ - now without his former Nine Network FI gig - for the role.

However, if the rumours are correct, Hogan's experience behind the scenes of FI for so many years provides a very good option for Jaguar.

Let’s play some Black Jack IN a hectic week of GP engagements, Sir Jack Brabham is to be the beneficiary.of a testimonial dinner next Tuesday evening.

The Sir Jack Brabham Tribute Dinner, at the Grand Hyatt in central Melbourne, is an initiative of Here for Life, Australia's leading charity dedicated to reducing the rate<of youth suicide in Australia. A highlight of the evening will be a tribute to Sir Jack, who will attend as Guest of Honour, along with Lady Brabham.

Vanessa Amorosi will headline the entertainment.

Corporate tables are still available for the evening - contact Stacey Greaves on 03 9548 7240. n Reader Magrit Falls, from Jerrabomberra (ACT) is a happy little Mark Webber fan this week. Magrit was the winner of our huge Meet Mark Webber at the GP competition and, along with her husband Graeme, will fly to Melbourne next Wednesday for a big weekend at the GP, including a guided tour of the Jaguar FI garage with Mark himself. n Don't think you're seeing double at Albert Park in the Nations Cup support races. With backing from Crazy Johns returning for 2003, Team Lamborghini Australia are expanding to running two cars this year. Paul Stokell returns, while Sam Newman will step into the other team car. n There were some faces in different colours at Wakefield Park on the weekend. John-Paul Messenger, who engineered James Manderson to his Aussie F3 title last year after working with Takuma Sato at Carlin Motorsport, made his V8 Supercar 'debut' at Paul Cruickshank Racing by looking after Kevin Mundy's Actron Air Ford.

Also in different colours is former Gulf Western and Paragaon engineer Matt Boniface, who's joined OzEmail Racing for 2003. n Formula 1's loss has become a gain for the Nations Cup. Following a decision last week by the FIA to end Sunday morning FI warm-up sessions at Grands Prix, the Cleanevent Nations Cup has been allocated a fourth race on the Sunday, meaning that the class will race each day of the four-day event.

In other calendar news, PROCAR also confirmed the previouslyprovisionai date for the Bathurst 24Hour race as 21-23 November.

The date for round three of the PROCAR Champ Series at Wakefield Park has been moved back two weeks to avoid a clash with Targa Tasmania.

The new date will be 30-31 May and 1 June.

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No Cheap sales here Kelly I

SUPER Cheap Racing has taken the covers off a new BA Falcon that Steve Ellery will pilot in this year's V8 series.

"Not only does the BA look fantastic, we're confident that it's going to be a fast car on the track," an excited EUery said.

"From today we forget about the past, start fresh and look towards a successful 2003. The team has spent a far greater amoimt of time and effort with getting tlie BA right.

"The AU Falcon was a solid car for us and the lessons learnt from three years with that model is sure to help us as we race the BA. "This year is about regular top10 finishes, a strong reliability record and a podium or two."

-AARON NOONAN

by AARON NOONAN

KMART Racing has confirmed what was reported as long ago as December 11 last year by Motorsport News,in that Rick Kelly will replace brother Todd at Kmart Racing alongside Greg

Murphy.

Last year's Mike Kable Rookie of the Year takes over his brother's ride as Todd joins Mark Skaife at the Holden Racing Team and Rick 'graduates'from the Holden Young Lions program.

With all of the shuffling during the off-season, only Skaife and Murphy stay in the same drives as last year.

This is what the team's VX

Konica re-signs m u for three

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Dynamik’s new VY

THIS is the first all-new VY Commodore to come out of the Team Dynamik workshops in South Australia, with Simon Wills and Jason Richards to steer the striking-looking machines this year.

Still devoid of any naming rights sponsors, the new cars will debut at the Australian Grand Prix support races.

- AARON NOONAN

KONICA has re-signed with AVESCO to back the V8 Supercar feeder series through to the end of 2005.

"We are very excited Konica have renewed their commitment to the series," said AVESCO Chief Executive Officer Wayne Cattach.

"They are a fanfastic sponsor who have been with us since the inception of the series and we are excited iey will be with us as we step up and take the series to the next level.

Commodores will look like to begin the season, with VYs to come on stream as season 2003 progresses.

In terms of endurance races, expect confirmation, perhaps at the team's launch, of the signing of Cameron McLean to the squad for the Betta 500 at Sandown and Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst.

DJR conf

"As this series continues to grow at such a rapid rate we have increased our resources, providing dedicated personnel to market and promote the Konica Series.

"It really has become the breeding groimd for up and coming Championship drivers."

-AARON NOONAN

Gardner calls time WAYNE Gardner has announced his retirement from full-time driving.

The 43-year-old, who has raced for Toyota's factory teams in the All-Japan GT Championship for the last three years, will not stop driving entirely and intends to race in the V8 Supercar enduros.

"In the last year, I was not racing with the same passion I have had in the past," said Gardner last week "I kept thinking, 'Do I want to quit or not?' and I could not really come up with an answer. I 8

committed myself to go back and race for one more year but when the team contacted me because it was time to go testing, I could not commit myself to get on the plane.

"It was a big commitment; four months, in total, in Japan. So I decided I wanted to stay here with the kids."

Gardner ran his own Holden Commodore team for four seasons and has raced with distinction at Bathurst, finishing third twice.

For more, see 5 Minutes on page 30.

- PHIL BRANAGAN

SHELL Helix Racing has unveiled its new-look BA Falcon and confirmed the signing of Max Wilson to partner Steven Johnson as it vows to turn around its form after a horror 2002.

"2002 was by far our toughest year

motorsport news

lefund at Kmart

Yoong tests irms Max Wilson for Lansvale

NEWS

Finally, they figure it out ...

THE other Formula 1 teams have finally noticed that the decision by Jordan, Jaguar, Renault and Minardi to forego more than 10 days of free testing, in favour of their exclusive new, two-hour Friday morning test session during Grand Prix meetings, might give them an advantage in selecting tyre compounds.

"The testing on Friday was supposed to be a cost-cutting device," said one team principal, "not a means for Renault to work its way through a lot of different tyre constructions before making its choice mid-morning."

Renault FI MD Flavio Briatore is unrepentant: "A lot of people didn't think about doing this, because they thought it was for the low-budget teams. But we have two hours testing at the place we (are going to) race, so for tyre choice it is much better." n The Formula 1 Commission is to consider eliminating the $48 million bond that must be lodged with the FIA in advance by any new teams wishing to enter the World Championship.

The requirement was introduced late in 1999 after Honda had abruptly cancelled plans to run its own team at the last minute. Its elimination would remove a major financial obstacle facing prospective new teams.

Another has already been removed by the rule allowing constructors to sell components to fellow competitors. n The auction of the assets of Asiatech in Versailles last week gave an indication of the state of the Formula 1 economy at the moment with available VI0 engines being sold off at around US$7500 apiece and the company's dynos fetching only the market rate. The company's transient dyno was bought by Peugeot — which built it in the first place before Peugeot Sport's FI operation was sold on to Asiatech - but otherwise there was little money raised with only the office furniture fetching decent prices ...

ever and,for a team used to winning, it was very demorahsing. V8 Supercar racing has moved at an incredible pace over the past two seasons and it's a fact that we fell behind," said team owner Dick Johnson.

26 February 2003

"But we took a long hard look at ourselves mid-year, identified what needed to be done, and since then we have really 'reinvented' ourselves.

For Motor Mouth with Steven Johnson, turn to page 25.

-AARON NOONAN

ALEX Yoong has tested a V8 Supercar - and may race one.

The former Minardi driver, who was left without a Formula One drive at the end of last season, tested Lansvale Racing Team's Commodore VX at Eastern Creek two weeks ago.

The Malaysian had been working on securing a drive in the CART series but prospects to race in the American open-wheeler championship dimmed, prompting him to look at the growing V8 Supercar Championship Series, For a Five Minutes, turn to page 28.

n WilliamsFI and BMW Motorsport, whose current contract will expire at the end of 2004, are negotiating to extend the partnership under terms allowing for much more technical input from the German manufacturer.

Sir Frank Williams commented; "One of the reasons why the negotiation is taking longer than you might expect is that we're talking about a much closer technical and commercial partnership. There's a lot of fine detail in that, involving intellectual properties and so on. But the bottom line is that involving ourselves more closely with each other will accelerate our progress. We will have useful input from BMW." -QUENTIN SPURRING/ JOE SAWARD 9

ten home of [motorsport] 2003 VS Supercar Championship* Mar 9 . . . .Albert Park .. .(non championship) Mar 21-23 .Adelaide .... .Rd 1 ,Rd2 Apr 13 Phillip Island .Rd3 May 4 ... .Eastern Creek ,Rd4 May 25 .. .Wlnton .Rd5 June 8... .Barbagallo .. ,Rd6 Jun 29 ... .Hidden Valley .Rd7 Jul 20 ....OLD Raceway .Rd8 Aug 17 .. .Oran Park ... .Rd9 Sep 14 ...Sandown ...

2003 Konica V8 Series* Mar 22 ...Adelaide .Rd2 .Rd3 May 4 ... .Eastern Creek ,Rd4 July 6 ... .Phillip Island ,Rd5 Aug 3 ... .Wlnton 2003 FIA Formula One Championship* Mar 9 ... .Albert Park Mar 23 ...Malaysia .Brazil Aprs Apr 20 ....San Marino May 4 Spain ....

,Rd1 .Rd2 .Rd3 .Rd4 ,Rd5

2003 CART Championship* .Rd 2 9+Mar 23 .Monterrey ... .Rd 3 Apr 13 Long Beach . .Rd 4 May 5 ... .Brands Hatch .Rd 5 May 11 ...Germany ...

2003 MotoGP Championship* .Rd 1 Aprs .Japan .Rd2 Apr 27 Africa .Rd3 May 11 .. .Spain .Rd4 May 25 .. .France Jun 8 .Rd5 .Italy 2003 World Rally Championship* Mar 7 ... .Corsica ..

Mar 24 ...Catalunya Apr 19 Cyprus ..

May 16 .. .Argentina

.Rd3 .Rd4 ,Rd5 ,Rd6

Ron and Frank speak up McLaren, Williams take on FIA on cost-cutting measures

McLaren and Williams announced

last week that they intend to challenge the FIA's decision to re interpret its Formula 1 regulations in order to cut costs.

Both teams say that they support change but that it is unacceptable that FIA President Max Mosley should force change upon the teams.

"The FLA has introduced sweeping new regulations for the 2003 season without proper consultation with the teams/' Dennis told FI pressmen.

"It was effectively a ciictatorial process. Our objective in going through this process is to ensure that we have a stable, well mn and professionally administered sport.

"Change in Grand Prix racing has to be long-term and strategic, not short-term and knee-jerk. We don't think revolution is the way forward just as a dictatorial stance by the governing body is not conducive to securing the future of Grand Prix racing."

Williams said that some of the changes were "against the spirit of Formula 1 and its restless drive for excellence and its need to live on the technological cutting edge.

The two men claimed in a letter to Mosley that the FIA is "in breach of the contract that covers the running of the World Championship" and so they intend to pursue the arbitration

process laid down in the Concorde Agreement. This involves a case at the International Chamber of Commerce

matter as something of a storm in a teacup."

While most team bosses remained

in Lausanne and it is expected to take

quiet, David Richards, the boss of BAR,told The Guardian that he,was

at least a year before there is a ruling in the case.

"We are not looking to damage FI," Dennis said."We are not looking to resist change. There is no doubt that FI needs to change and evolve and McLaren and Williams FI have always played a constructive role in initiating and supporting positive measures to improve our sport. Sensible proposals are already on the table."

The statement issued by the two teams suggested that there are deep concerns that the FI Technical Working Group, which is made up of the technical directors from each of the teams,believes that the changes could increase the safety risk for drivers.

This would seem to imply that there is support for their cause from other teams although there is little evidence that this is tlie case. There are some who were irritated by the way in which Mosley got what he wanted but most accept that this was probably the only way anything was going to happen.

Mosley himself played down the news, telling The Guardian newspaper in London that "they are quite entitled to take the action they have" but added that"we regard the

"horrified and absolutely astounded" that Williams and McLaren had decided to go to arbitration.

"This is the last thing the sport needs at the moment," he said."We should all be pulling together to make it a success."

While the dispute over the rules has been the major story there is no doubt that behind the move is the issue of the way in which Formula 1 divides up its money.

Both Williams and Dennis talked about the need to renegotiate the way FTs revenues are divided up.

"Only a fraction of those revenues generated by Formula 1 remain in the sport and go to the teams," says Williams."Addressing this issue is the surest way of delivering stable and successful independent teams."

Dennis said;"The teams only get 23 per cent of the revenue generated by Formula 1. If there was a more balanced share of that money to the smaller teams, we would be in better

shape."

-JOESAWARD

r 5^.

V -

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A

2003 Australian Rally Championship .Rd 1 Mar 30 .. .Forest Rally(WA) ,Rd2 Jun 15 ....Rally Queensland Jul 6 ,Rd3 .Sydney ,Rd4 Aug 10 ...Melbourne 2003 Procar Championship Mar 6 ....Albert Park ...(non Championship) Mar 20 ...Adelaide ,Rd 1 .Rd2 Apr 25 Symmons Plains

rten1 A

home of motorsport All event dates in this calendar were correct tracks at the lime of printing.

Please consult any individual ^ and/or associations lor date changes.

n

I

_ Series or events telecast on Network Ten are B marked with an asterisk. Check your local guides lor screening details.

* sutton-images.cort)

TWR follows Arrows down the gurgler TOM Walkinshaw's TWR Group has been placed in receivership and the future of the specialist automotive engineering and racing firm is in considerable doubt.

The company employs 500 people at its Leafield and Worthing facilities. The failure of the company is being blamed on the loss of US$30m which TWR invested in the Arrows FI team and the fact that there is not much work in the sector at the moment, as car 3

manufacturers are slashing back on their overheads and margins.

The administrative receiver says that he will try to sell the company to pay the debts.

The fall of TWR is not expected to effect TWR Racing Australia, which runs Holden Racing Team and Kmart Racing Team as well as Holden Special Vehicles, The team issued a statement immediately after the UK announcement, stating that it was "business as usual."

- JOE SAWARD

motorsport news

NEWS

Stoddy under fire

by JOE SAWARD

THE new IVlinardi-Ford Cosworth ran for the first time at Fiorano last week with Jos Verstappen at the wheel.

And although the team now has a deal with Bridgestone and has paid for its engines for the first four races of the year, there are still worries that there will not be enough money to make it through the season ahead.

In part, this is due to the fact that sponsorship money that has been promised has yet to materialise. The team is getting money from both Jos Verstappen and Justin Wilson and the recently re-signed test driver Matteo Bobbei. The 24-year-old Italian will take part in the new Friday morning test sessions at each Grand Prix.

Paul Stoddart has not had it easy in recent days because remarks made by Tony Purnell, the boss of Ford's Premier Performance Division, led to stories that the team was in trouble, which in turn led to worries amongst the sponsors.

No sooner had Stoddart dampened these fears than he was faced by some ill-considered remarks by McLaren boss Ron Dennis.

Dennis was asked if he would pay to support the small teams, given that he was against the current cost-cutting measures.

Both he and Frank Williams declined to give a firm answer, although Dennis indicated that the teams' position with regard to support for small teams is "documented and sits with Bernie Ecclestone."

Dennis said that this includes "a process by which the two teams that are currently under pressure are financially assisted.

But it also carries with it the necessity to resolve some other outstanding issues and to ensure that whatever financial help is given, if it is given, is nothing other than a stay of execution.

"The reality is that there is a limit to how much money we can provide them with and, at the end of the day , if you are running your business badly, no amount of money is going to make it survive."

Dennis went on to launch a stinging attack on Minardi, saying that he did not believe that the small teams should be treated in 26 February 2003

sunon’images.com

the same way.

"There is no comparison," he said. "Jordan have a long established history of competing in Grand Prix racing. They are led by a colourful, aggressive individual who has finely honed skills of survival. Whilst he has been known to complain to a degree, it pales into

insignificance in comparison to the complaints of Paul Stoddart, who has little track record in respect of Grand Prix racing. I feel strongly that whatever help is given, it should not necessarily be equal to those two teams because I don't see them as equal in their status."

Flistory relates, in fact, that Minardi has been surviving six years longer than has Jordan, as the Italian team entered the sport in 1985. Jordan only came to FI in 1991. Jordan has won three races but in terms of popularity, there is no doubt that Minardi is ahead as it has always enjoyed the status of being the FI underdog.

Stoddart was not impressed by Dennis's remarks: "I have so much to say that it is best that I say nothing," Stoddart said, mimicking the remark made by Dennis after the January 15 meeting. "I think this matter can wait until I see Ron in Australia where we can sort it out." sunon-ilmges.cam

L It's black, it's a Minardi: No, it's a Jordan. But it might be a Minardi next season ...

MINARDI could buy its Formula One chassis next season.

A month after Peter Sauber suggested the idea of common chassis in Grand Prix racing, Minardi principal Paul Stoddart has admitted that he is considering running year-old cars built by another team in the future.

"Could you see a Minardi that is actually a clone of somebody else's car next year?" the Aussie said.

"You could see -1 don't want to really name names, Jjut people know where the alliances lie in terms of the manufacturers in Formula 1, you could well see another private team running last year's championship-contending car. It could be a very, very interesting time and I think overall we have probably done just enough

SHELL says that the new rules in Formula 1 which mean that drivers will have to race with the same fuel load with which they qualified will see fuel economy becoming much more important in FI, as the^ighter the fuel load the faster the car will go in qualifying while at the same time the further it needs to go in the race.

Shell is already looking at how to squeeze more laps per tank from the two Ferraris, which will mean a compromise between horsepower and consumption. n Bizarre rumour of the week: Ralf Schumacher to Toyota. Don't blame us, it's just what people are reckoning overseas. Apparently Willi Weber has come out and said that he's going to have a chat to them about Ralf's future once his current Williams deal is up at the end of this year. n Sebastien Bourdais was the first driver in the 25-year history of CART to lead the first laps of his veryfirst Champ Car race on the weekend in St Petersburg. Nigel Mansell won the pole in his first race in 1993, but lost the lead to Emerson Fittipaldi on the first lap of that race in Surfers Paradise. In fact, Mansell was at the race to check out the CART action, seeing his first Champ Car event since leaving the series in 1994. n CART has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wl. The suit was filed in a US District Court in Indianapoiis, IN, where CART is based.

It contends that Road America officials have not paid the first US$262,500 instalment of the US$1.7m sanctioning fee for this year's event.

ir-

If ya can't beat'em

Schuey to watch the fuel gauge?

n nn

to give back to the public what they needed: more exciting racing."

While Stoddart would not name a potential source of his future cars, it is obvious that Jordan is a likely candidate. The teams have a common engine supplier, both running Cosworth's CR-4 xmit this season, and both are struggling for financial survival, with the effect of the FIA's cost-cutting policies yet to be fully felt.

By sharing the development costs of major and expensive items(such as transmissions) with a customer, a team such as Jordan would get a new revenue stream, which would aid both teams'survival. Adding to the possibility is that both teams now share a tyre supply with Bridgestone, following Minardi's recent switch from Michelin.

n The disappearance of BC Motorsports in CART means that Giorgio Pantano is currently out of work.

The Italian's deal with the abortive team has been cancelled by Brask Management, which looks after Pantano. Brask issued a statement recently warning other teams and drivers to beware of Dana Brewer, the man behind BC, claiming that "it is not the first time that he has let drivers and teams down when it came to actually executing agreements," n Anthony Davidson, the BAR test driver, is to race for the Prodrive Ferrari team in the Sebring 12 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours races.

Prodrive is running the Ferrari team with the intention of showing its abilities in Sportscar racing with the long term goal of landing a manufacturer-backed program in order to challenge for victory at Le Mans after the new regulations are settled.

-JOE SAWARD/ QUENTIN SPURRING 11

Mur

by AARON NOONAN

Reddy to rumble: Briscoe was fast in Euroseries testing in Italy, above, while Davison and Alan Docking Racing had the track all to themselves for four days in Spain, below.

3 Aussies in F3s

V8 SUPERCAR star Greg Murphy will be keeping an eye on more than just the V8 Supercar Championship Series timesheets in 2003, as the two-time Bathurst winner has announced that his Greg Murphy Racing outfit will field three cars in the new Australian Carrera Cup. Murphy has big plans for 2003 in his Kmart Commodore,but sees the Carrera Cup as the perfect place to start putting something back into motorsport.

"Dad (Kevin) and 1 have always wanted to put something together but we've never had all the vital

Briscoe, Davison and Manderson all hit the Euro testing trail ingredients-now we have the

AUSTRALIANS will have plenty of drivers to look for in Formula 3 around the world this year, with three of them hitting the testing trail last week in Europe.

Ryan Briscoe was joined by Australian Champion James Manderson in Euroseries testing at Adria in Italy, while Will Davison and his Alan Docking Racing squad started preparations for the British championship with four days at Guadix in Spain.

Briscoe, driving for Prema Racing, was quickest on the first day, with a lml0.305s lap, though couldn't repeat it on day two, running second on lm09.860s.

Manderson, who flew overseas with the help of the CAMS Foundation and a private investor, was towards the tail of the timesheets on an unfamiliar circuit, having again linked up with the Swiss Racing Team with which he's previously tested.

"We still don't have the money for a full year, but at least I'm in at the start, and we will continue to look for investors and sponsors," said Manderson.

Davison, meanwhile,shared the Guadix ti-ack with ADR team-mate Scott Speed,running some 400-odd laps over the four days.

"The weather was really good bar for the second day, where it was so cold it was snowing for a while," said Davison."I did a few race simulation distances of 28-odd laps and didn't do any laps that were more than twotenths apart from one to the other so I'm feeling comfortable in the car.

ADR has a very good baseline set-up to work from so we weren't fiddling around with things too much."

Throw in James Courtney racing in Japan and WiU Power in Britain, and it's going to be a very big year for Ausrtalians in F3.

-AARON NOONAN

12

necessary infrastructure to field a fully-professional racing operation," said Murphy.

"After a few years campaigning Formula Holden machines we're excited about stepping into the Carrera Cup Championship with the same three drivers we've had success with in FH, which has proven to be a great breeding ground for us.

"Tim Leahey is a proven race-winner and Peter HiU scored his first race I

victory last season after winning the SUver Star Championship in 2000, which Roger Oakeshott secured last year-so we have a good combination.

"My absolute priority is to win this

PROCAR lands 7

Monan

1

DlrkKlynsmim

THE PROCAR Champ Series will air on the Seven Network this season, with bonus news that the broadcaster is expanding its coverage of the Bathurst 24 Hour, above, in November.

Viewers will now see eight hours live, with all of the Nations Cup, GT Performance, V8 BRutes, Formula 3 and Production car races to air in 32 regular Saturday afternoon programs.

"We're absolutely delighted to have reached this deal with Seven,” said PROCAR Deputy Executive Chairman John Cowley.

“Joining a major free-to-air network will lift our five championship series to a new level of visibility and expand our fan base considerably.”

The telecasts are expected to start on March 29 with round one of the Nations Cup from the Clipsal 500 meeting in Adelaide.

-AARON NOONAN motorsport news

NEWS

f owns up!

Black and white for 2003:

n The new IRL IndyCar chassis from new US manufacturer Falcon Cars in might not be raced this season. Falcon co-owner Michael Kranefuss commented: "I would say there's a 50/50 chance of the car racing this year. We're talking to three or four teams about running a limited programme, maybe just at the (Indy) 500, but certainly not before." All the IndyCar Series teams have ordered chassis from either Dallara or Panoz G Force,

year's V8 Supercar Series with Holden and I'm singularly focused on running at the front in V8 Supercar for as long as I can. The Carrera Cup program is an expansion into something I'm enthusiastic about and with a great bunch of people,but it's pretty much Dad's show with me involved in the background."

Murphy has sampled briefly one of the team's 2003-spec GTS Cup machines at Calder and Phillip Island, right, with Leahey, Hill and Oakeshott all testing at the Island last Friday in damp conditions that eventually dried out.

t aiming at British GT

28 February 2003

MICHAEL Andretti has emerged fastest in a two-day IRL IndyCar Series test at Homestead-Miami last week. The Andretti Green team partner ran 207.378 mph, topping Gil de Ferran (206.756 mph) and Scott Sharp (206.320 mph). n A couple of IRL IndyCar veterans have landed seats for 2003.

Greg Ray, the 1999 series champ, will run from the second round at Phoenix for Access Motorsports, a new team running a Panoz G Force/Honda and based out of the old Blair Racing premises. Former Target/Ganassi pilot Jeff Ward will join Bradley Motorsports with former Cheever crew chief Owen Snyder over-seeing the Panoz G Force/Toyota.

CMR has launched with a stylish look. This is Peter Hill's machine.

Cummins

He may be retiring, but he’s stiii quick...

THE British GT Championship is set to rock with the sound of Australian thunder.

A Holden Monaro, the sister car to the Bathurst 24 Hour-winning leviathan, is planned to hit the tracks mid-season in a new team run by former Ascari sports car boss Allen Orchard.

Called ‘Emotional Engineering’, the squad is tipped to sign ex-Ascari racer Ben Collins as its lead driver with amateur single-seater racer Tim Whale.

Said Aussie Orchard: “It’s a project I’ve been working on for a long time.

The Monaro is very solid and the only thing that can hold us back is the inexperience of the team. We expect to run haif a season before a full crack at the title in 2004.”

The car is expected to be built by Garry Rogers Motorsport. Whether the car may contest the Bathurst 24 Hours is unclear, as Europe remains a priority to begin with.

- DAVID ADDISON

n Mygale Cars, which is working on its first prototype Formula 3 chassis, is also evaluating a future application to the Indy Racing League to build an IndyCar. Bernard Decoster has set his Magny-Cours company a target to win the Indianapolis 500 within 10 years, but a prototype F3 chassis will be built this year and may be marketed for 2004.

Mygale currently produces onemake chassis for Formula ADAC BMW, Formula Renault Campus and Formula Novis (for a Portuguese series). It also produces Formula Ford Zetec and 2000 racecars. n Super Nova Racing, the Britishbased FIA Formula 3000 team, will race as Jordan Grand Prix Junior Team this season, in a new collaboration with the Formula 1 company. The link reunites Eddie Jordan with Super Nova principal David Sears, who was the first driver for Eddie Jordan Racing when it started in the British F3 series.

Jordan commented: "David and I have been talking for some time about a collaboration. We'll work together on a number of fronts, developing driver programmes, encouraging sponsorship into the sport, and providing technical assistance where relevant."

Italian driver Enrico Toccaceio has signed for this year's F3000 series.

-QUENTIN SPURRING 13

A Boostfor Flav

FLAVIO Briatore has been put in charge of the Renault Sport operations in Paris as well as heading the team in Enstone in England.

Jean-Jacques His, who had been doing the job at Viry-Chatillon, has been pushed back into a more technical role after a rather disappointing season in 2002. Renault has always denied that there are problems with the company's wide-angle V10 engine but the news that His is to return to a strictly

SUttOH'

technical role would seem to add weight to suggestions that it needs more input from a man of his knowledge and experience.

It is likely that there will be a local manager put in beneath Briatore, duplicating the structure in Britain, where Steve Nielsen runs the Enstone operation.

-JOE SAWARD

Emmi

by PHIL MORRIS EMERSON Fittipaldi is returning to the Champ Car paddock this year, but for the first time as a car owner.

The two-time World Drivers' champion,1989 CART titleist (for Pat Patrick's team)and Indy 500 winner has become a co-owner in FittipaldiDingman Racing with business partner James Dingman.

Portuguese F3000 graduate Tiego Monteiro will drive the team's Reynard/Ford-Cosworth, which will be run out of the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing headquarters in Indianapolis.

The team has entered a partnersliip with the Eric Bachelart's team that

WRC service backflip Panoz:Gunnar gets

AFTER mandating that all rounds of the World Rally Championship must come up with a program centred around a single service park, rally supremo Dave Richards has now announced he believes multiple service parks will be a better option.

Richards announced this week that the single service park option was restricting the variety and nature of some rallies, with organisers forced to restrict the route to an area within a reasonable distance of the service park.

What has resulted is rallies being forced to use the same stages four and five times to 14

meet the service park requirements.

What started as a cost saving measure has grown into a massive extra expense, with massive motor homes and pantechs being built for European rounds of the series and money being squandered in other areas.

Richards now says that shorter and more frequent services up to 10 minutes in length should be the standard allowing teams to service from a 'kit box' in the back of a small van or estate car allowing organisers to expand the rally routes over a wider area.

- JON THOMSON

a partner in Beretta

JML Team Panoz has signed its first drivers for the 2003 attack on the American Le Mans Series two-time ALMS GTS champion Olivier Beretta and young American Gunnar Jeannette.

An ex-Formula One driver, Beretta took the American Le Mans Series GTS championship for Viper Team Oreca in 1999 and 2000 and drove the Dallara prototype for the Oreca squad at Le Mans for the past two years.

Jeannette has graduated to a full-time role aboard the Panoz LMP-01 after having served as the factory test driver for Panoz Motor

Sports in 2002.

Beretta recently tested the Panoz at Road Atlanta, quickly adapting to the front-engined LMP-900 prototype.

"I was very impressed with the Panoz when I drove it at Road Atlanta and I am really looking forward to getting back into the American Le Mans Series on a full time basis," Beretta said.

"The car is certainly very different to drive from the Dallara, but it didn't take me long to get used to it. The seating position in the Viper is actually pretty similar." moiorsDort news

NEWS

I's CART team will run its first Champ Car season with Mario Haberfeld at the wheel.

Montiero was team-mate to fellow Champ Car rookie Sebastien Bourdais at Super Nova in F3000 last year and tested for Renault FI during the off-season.

"I am very proud to return to Champ Car racing at a time when the sport is m the midst of its most significant turnaround in history under the leadership of Chris Pook," said Fittipaldi, left.

"This time however,I will race as a team owner,in a partnership with James Dingman. I have known the Dingmans through James's father, Michael Dingman,for several years

and I am confident that this

partnership will be successful on and off the track."

The 1992 Gold Coast Indy 300 winner retired from Champ Car racing as a driver in 1996 after a massive accident at Michigan left him with bad back injuries. But he has stayed close to the series, as the promoter for the dormant CART race in Rio and by holding the TV rights to the series in Brazil.

A lack of time prior to the first race of the season on the weekend in St. Petersburg has forced the team into the 'share' situation with Bachelart's squad, with an independent set-up in the works for 2004.

... and will Arden be next to join in?

THE Arden Formula 3000 team, which came close to winning the international Formula 3000 title last year with Tomas Enge, is rumoured to be planning to embark on a CART program later this year.

CART is currently offering some attractive deals for new teams in an effort to build up the series and Arden boss Christian Horner is believed to be interested in taking advantage of this to expand the company he started to run his own F3000 program in 1997.

Horner raced in British Formula 3 and Formula 2 before embarking on his F300 team. He stopped

racing in 1999 to concentrate on the team and showed himself to be a good wheeler-dealer, landing a major sponsorship deal with Russian oil giant Lukoil and going into partnership with Prodrive. The team was thus able to build up to become a force in F3000 initially with Darren Manning and then with Tomas Enge. The team also expanded into the Italian F3000 series and won the title with Warren Hughes.

Horner eventually split with Prodrive and, in the last couple of years, has expanded his operations to include an engineering division under Nick Wasyliw.

- JOE SAWARD

s s

No FI bondage It looks likely that the US$48m performance bond required by teams wanting to enter FI in the future will be waived in an effort to help build up the FI grid which has been of late by the failures of Frost and Arrovirs. The bond was introduced in 1999 when there were too many applications for the 12 available FI 'franchises'. The FIA hopes that the cost-cutting measures now being introduced will bring new teams into the sport. n The disposable assets of the Arrows Formula 1 team will be auctioned in about a month and could provide a welcome chance for FI teams to pick up bits and pieces that they need without having to spend too much to do it. At the same time, the money raised may help to pay the unpaid salaries of some of the team's former employees who were left high and dry when the team went bust.

But as unsecured creditors the staff will be at the back of the queue for money. Most of the company's assets went to secured creditor FISBC. The Bedford windtunnel is mortgaged to the Bank of Wales although there is believed to be some doubt that it was ever paid for and so the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, the previous owner of the windtunnel, may have a claim. n Ousted Ferrari test driver Luciano Burti is going back to racing and will be testing an Adrian Campos Racing Telefonica World Series Car in Barcelona shortly. Campos Motorsport has already signed up drivers for the coming season with Williams test driver Marc Gene being joined Sante Porteiro. n The Motorsport Industry Association is taking a trade mission to NASCAR this week with visits to many of the team factories in the Charlotte and Mooresville regions. The MIA hopes that the mission will increase the penetration of British motor racing firms in the NASCAR world. There will be two other government-backed trade missions involving MIA members in May, the first to China and the second to Japan.

FORMER Indy 500 winner and Indy Racing League champion Buddy Lazier is heading back to the series.

Hemelgarn Racing has confirmed that the team will field a Dallara/Che\ rolet for 2t1tUl IRL champion Lazier at the season-opening e\ ent Toyota Indy 3011, the opening round of what is now the IRL IndyCar Series on March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Lazier, the 19% 500 winner, and Hemelgarn have the most enduring team-driver combination, and one of the most pi'pular, in League history. Team and driver have entered ever\- IRL event together since Lazier won pole 26 February 2003

for the mamgnral race in January 1996 at Orlando.

Meanwhile, brother Jaques Lazier will return to the series after breaking his back at Nazareth last season.

The 32-vear-old will returne to Team Menard, for which he was racing at the time of the accident.

"I am thrilled to be back as a driver for Team Menard," said Lazier, nlvzv.

"It has been a difficult road to recovery with a good fi\ e months of rehabilitation, but now I feel better than I did before the crash."

-PHIL MORRIS

n The Ford Motor Company has announced plans to slow its expansion of its luxury brands and switch the emphasis to cutting costs. The plan, announced by Mark Fields, the chief executive of the Premier Automotive Group, includes a revamp of the management which sees Jaguar and Land Rover brought under the same management. Bob Dover has been named as the new chairman of Jaguar Cars, The need to cut back has been occasioned by the current economic problems and come in spite of Jaguar sales having increased dramatically in recent years. They were not however as strong as had been forecast.

-JOE SAWARD 15

NEWS

Do youp homework!

Merc expands in F3 Euroseries MERCEDES-BENZ has expanded its engine programme for its second term of Formula 3 and is to contest

MELBOURNE Year 12

student Tony D'Alberto is gearing up for a full assault on this year's national Formula Ford

the promising new Euroseries by supplying three teams.

Markus Winkelhock, who secured the first Mercedes F3 victory at the Nurburgring in 2002, will continue with Mucke Motorsport with Christian Klien as a new team mate.

French-based ASM will field three

Championship in addition to his studies.

The karting graduate has the ex-Luke Youlden/Jamie

cars, for Korean F3 Superprix champion Olivier Pla, French Formula Renault champion Alexandre Premat and the Canadian Bruno Spengler.

Team Kolles has enlisted the 2002 British Formula Ford Festival

Whincup Mygale for 2003, with backing from Belhnont.

"I have got a lot on my plate this year but 1 am sure that with the support of my family and team that 1 will be able to achieve some

champion Jan Heylen and Dutchman Charles Zwolsman. The Formula 3

great results both on the track and in the classroom,"

Euroseries, which is an amalgamation of the French and German

said the youngster.

championships, has attracted 28 entries for its inaugural season.

Haliiday tests FRenault

n An American murder case against former stadium racing promoter Michael Goodwin, who has pleaded not guilty of arranging the mob-style execution of his famous business partner Mickey Thompson 15 years ago, might not go to trial.

Goodwin's lawyers have filed a legal challenge to the jurisdiction of the court in Orange County, CA. Thompson and his wife Trudy, who had won a civil judgement against Goodwin for US$500,000 in 1986, were both shot by unidentified assassins in March 1988, in the driveway of their home near Los Angeles.

Goodwin, who had filed for

Formula Renault V6 test may see Kiwi head to Europe rather than USA KIWI Matt Haliiday has impressed in a test in a Formula Renault V6 Eurocup machine and may divert his attention from racing in America to spending his 2003 racing season in Europe.

After a late call-up, Haliiday headed to Albacete in Spain to test for the RD Motorsports squad and was one of the quickest drivers among the 50-odd other drivers who were testing for a variety of teams under the supervision of senior Renault Sport personnel.

"All of us were totally impressed how quickly he adapted to the left foot braking technique and the semi automatic gearbox," said team

bankruptcy after the judgement, was charged in December 2001 with ordering the killings as revenge, but has denied the charge.

-QUENTIN SPURRING

manager Alex Zoechling (formerly at Larkham Motorsport and Briggs Motorsport here in V8 Supercars).

"And when on lap 18 the recorded time was Im 24.11s we were all totally stunned. We must find now a way that we can have Matthew with us for this season."

After arriving back in Auckland, Haliiday has been working on seeking backing to enable him to run in the 10-round series in Europe.

However, Haliiday will return to Australia for the Australian Grand Prix, having a one-off drive in the Carrera Cup support races with the backing of 42 Below Vodka.

- AARON NOONAN

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Bent-ley

THE second of Bentley's brand new Le Mans contenders has been seriously damaged in testing.

Briton Johnny Herbert crashed the EXP Speed 8s at Jerez on the fourth of four days testing at the Spanish venue the week before last. The damage was enough for car to have to be returned Team Bentley's British headquarters for a "thorough investigation", although speculation suggests that the chassis has been written off.

The shunt came at the end of the first proper run for the allnew 2003 Bentley, which had been hindered by poor weather in previous tests at Snetterton and Vallelunga. The two cars, with five of the six Team Bentley signings driving, completed about 1500 miles in the two cars.

Herbert is reported to have crashed after setting Bentley's best time of the test at the end of a low-tanks run. The accident, at Turn 2, is understood to have been driver error.

The remaining Bentley was due to run for two days at Paul Ricard in the south of France on Sunday and Monday, but snow limited Guy Smith to a dozen laps on Sunday before the team packed up and left. =GARY WATKINS

by GARY WATKINS FOUR of MG's lightweight prototypes run by four different teams should be on the grid for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

Two privateer squads rimning the Lola-built EX257s in North American have unveiled plans to contest the French endurance classic at the same time that it has emerged that MG's official Le Mans campaign will be split between a brace of factorybacked teams.

Former British Touring Car Championship-winning team Ray MaUock Limited was set to run a pair of MG-Lola EX257S in the 24 Hours but is now planning to run just one of the LMP675 class contenders in the US. It is now concentrating on just one car, while the other will be looked after by veteran sportscar entrant Hugh Chamberlain, who was part of the factory MG set-up for the past two seasons.

RML's Mike Blanchet said that it was pushing ahead with plans to be on the grid at Le Mans, despite scratching its entry from next month's Sebring 12 Hours. He explained that

Please Contact Peter McDougall 04D7 S58 E4E or Tristan Fischer 0413 53E EI3 18

the team was close to finding the funds to contest the 24 Hours.

"MG wanted to see both cars running and we didn't feel we could raise the budget to do that," he said, "so we have released one of the chassis."

That car is now in Chamberlain's Essex workshops,something neither the team nor MG are admitting.

MG motorsport boss Rob Oldaker said: "Hopefully we will have two cars on tire grid operated by two teams. We are talking to a number and Chamberlain is one of them."

Dyson Racing, wliich will lead MG's assault on the American Le

Mans Series with two cars, has posted a solo entry for the 24 Hours and is expected to push the green light on its campaign after Sebring.

The Dyson entry looks certain to be driven by James Weaver, Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace.

Intersport, the pacesetter in LMP675 in the ALMS last year, has also confirmed it has entered the big race.

Meanwhile, Didier de Radigues, LMP675 class winner in the 2001 ALMS,has been recruited by Dyson for the Sebring and Mexico City rounds. He will share the second car with Chris Dyson and Chad Block.

Walkden signs a Finn for ARC

FINNISH young gun Juha Kangas will inject some real spice to the 2003 Australian Rally Championship and will take the wheel of a Les Waikden-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII for the full season.

The 27-year-old arrives in Australia next week to prepare for the opening round of the ARC in WA in late March.

The former Subaru factory driver will drive a new left-handdrive Lancer purchased by Walkden in Europe over the off season, and will replace Michael Guest, who drove with the team last year.

According to Walkden, Kangas is an ideal fit for the team and comes after long period of discussion with the Finn, who finally agreed to the do the Australian national series, "Juha has a great deal of experience but is not to old and, with a lot of Finnish companies operating in Tasmania in the paper industry and so forth, he brings a some support from his homeland," Walkden said.

"We would have liked to

continue with Michael Guest but he is very busy with his own floor covering business and I don't believe he could offer the project his full attention.

"We tested a couple of young Australian drivers and one in particular is a very good prospect but is not quite ready yet, "Juha will be a real force and take the fight up to the works cars this year. It is a very exciting project."

Kangas has run for Subaru over many years, completing a limited campaign in a full works World Rally Car for the Prodrive team after also driving one of its semi works All Star machines.

He is typical of flying Finns with an attacking style that will see him challenging for fastest times whenever the wheels are on the road.

Walkden, a Tasmanian trucking operator who was a long time backer of Ed Ordynski, has purchased the LHD car especially for the young Finn and will keep his right-hand-drive car from 2002 as a back-up machine.

-JON THOMSON motorsport news

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Suzuki gets radical

SUZUKI has debuted a radical GSV-R MotoGP prototype at Jerez.

The new GSV-R, codenamed XRE1, uses last year's machine as a basis, but with many changes. It has a wider V-angle between the cylinders, up five degrees to 65 degress.

The bodywork is also much smaller.

All-new 63-deg V4 for new season IKS

T'

"It's an interesting weekend," said team manager Garry Taylor.

"Some of our major opposition is here, though not all of it, and it's a chance to assess the potential of the new bike.

"There is still a lot of work to do, and a lot more testing to come. We're in this for the long haul," he concluded.

The redesigned package was warmly greeted by both riders - former World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr. and Suzuki new boy John Hopkins.

s

THING may not go all Honda's way if the latest series if MotoGP testing is any indication.

New Gauloises Yamaha signing Alex Barros took nearly half a second off Valentino Rossi's Jerez lap record set in last's year's race with an impressivelm42.588s lap.

The former Honda rider was conducting back-to-back testing of Yamaha's carburetted and fuelinjected bikes.

"Early on we concentrated on the carburettor bike and then switched over to the injected machine, progressively bringing its set up in line with the other bike," said the Brazilian."Then right at the end 1 had a little crash and we decided to call it a day.

"Looking at the lap times you can see that they were virtually identical for the two machines. The main difference is that the injection makes the engine more linear and a little easier to ride."

Second quickest on the day was Fortuna Yamaha's Carlos Checa, ahead of 2002 Superbike World Champion Colin Edwards (Aprilia). The Texan is coming to grips with the three-cylinder Cube and recorded a lm43.699s.

Troy Bayliss showed some encouraging speed on Ducati's MotoGP prototype. The Aussie was within a quarter-second of Barros

Barro on the final day of the test, just behind Checa. The Kawasakis of

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5 sets pace Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt were both inside the

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In 250cc testing. Ant West made a fine return to GP racing by topping the times on the final day. The Queenslander's Azzurra Aprilia was twotenths faster than Toni Elias, while Sebastien Porto (now on a Honda), Roberto Rolfo and Manuel Poggiali rounded out the top five.

Testing continues before the opening race of the season on April 4.

Fortuna-ate: Carlos Cbeca's move to

Yamaha looks like providing some serious opposition to Honda, top.

Still rivals: Colin Edwards won a titanic battle in the 2002 SBK championship and is coming to grips with his Aprilia, below. Red rocket: Troy Bayliss, bottom, will have the definitive Ducati next month.

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21

CHAMP CARS

Tracy tnumphs Canadian wins on debut for Piayer's/Forsythe in St. Petersburg

by PHIL MORRIS IN the opening of a new era for the Champ Car World Series, it was appropriate that a CART stalwart in Paul Tracy was the one doing the winning in his first-up start for Player's/Forsythe Racing at St. Petersburg in Florida.

The Canadian took his 20th career Champ Car victory,leading 71 of the 105 laps in his Lola/Ford-Cosworth, having started second and spent the first 30 laps of the event chasing down the impressive Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.

"Well,1 guess for me,I never down-talked CART," said Tracy.

"I never down-played where 1 wanted to be. So from my standpoint, I mean, winning this race is significant to me. It's an inaugural event. It's nice to be a first-time winner at a track like this, at a facility like this. It's an enjoyable moment."

Bourdais, who claimed pole for Newman/Haas Racing, pushed hard early, though brought himself rmdone after his first pit stop, when he brushed the wall and broke a

New race, new era, familiar face: Paul Tracy did the winning for Player's, above and left, while Michel Jourdain Jr, below, took his best-ever Champ Car result for Team Rabat.

wheel, which took eight laps to repair in pitlane. He pressed on to finished 11th and pick up some championship points.

After the first three or four

TIMKEN

corners, I knew that I wasn't going to get him," Tracy said of Bourdais.

"I just basically stayed behind him.

I was about two or three seconds

3'

behind him, not trying to use too much fuel.

"Later they radioed me and told me that he had brushed the wall and did some damage or something.

From there, I knew that we were kind of in control of the race. I just had to pace myself, not make any mistakes."

Brimo Jimqueira, Bourdais's team mate who shared the front row of the grid, had a long-time battle with Michel Jourdain Jr, though the Mexican took a career-best second clear of Junqueira, with rookie Mario Haberfeld finishing fourth, though not winning his countryman Junqueira as a fan, after weaving in front of the Newman/Haas driver.

"I think on the second lap,I came inside Mario on turn one, on the straight," Junqueira said.

"He started to squeeze me to the wall. I lifted a little bit. After the wall w'as finished, he still was squeezing me. I broke inside of him and said that that was my position. I didn't believe that he could block me that much. I was set to do the corner, then suddenly I see Jourdain doing the 22

comer.I said that I had to go straight.

I almost hit Jourdain. Oh,my God. I had to go straight, make Jourdain pass, then I turn right, then I went wide, but I passed him."

The Brazilian rookie was the top finisher among the rookies and among the Reynard drivers,locking down fourth place ahead of veteran Roberto Moreno (back in the saddle with Herdez Competition), while Jimmy Vasser ran sixth after starting from the back of the grid for American Spirit.

Rookie Tiego Monteho was seventh in the Fittipaldi-Dingman Reynard,ahead of Patrick Carpentier (who crashed on lap 48 but resumed), and rookies Joel Camathias and Patrick Lemarie.

Delayed but fast: Bourdais, above, starred on debut, while Vasser, below, got his 2003 started with a steady sixth after starting at the rear.

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OPINION

Training to the Max ^ I T'S been a pretty busy offseason for everyone, and I have been working pretty hard.

I have been training harder than ever and it's been pretty tough - and I haven't finished yet. I will keep training all year and I have goals to lose as much weight as 1 have already.

When I get to my goal weight I will be able to back it off a bit and maintain it.

The program is intense. It's a total of 18 and a half hours a week and we have been doing cycling, boxing, running and a lot of cardiac work, A lot of the training has been on the beach, with weights, but no swimming. I have had an operation on my ear and I cannot go in the water yet.

bodyweight, the measurements have been coming down. They measure at six places around your body and I have lost 62cm from around the various measurements. That means that none of my clothes are fitting; I have a lot of new belts. otherwise my pants keep falling down I A mate has a clothing shop, so 1 went shopping there in December, 1 spent around a grand and I am yet to wear anything but I am determined that it will not be long, There is another incentive as well. If I miss any sessions with my personal trainer, DJR will fine me $1001 I haven't missed any yet and I am pretty determined to keep the money in my pocket!

■^he results have been really good. When I started on November 18, I was up to 116 kilos and now I am 105kg. I have a fitness assessment every '18th' - December, January and February - and the results have been consistent.

The average person my age is rated around 24 on a scale and when I started, I was 25 slightly over the average. I am now rated at 41; the average AFL footballer rates at 50 and I intend to be at that level around the middle of the season.

Apart from the loss in

M

26 February 2003

ax Wilson has arrived at the team and that has been a pretty good incentive as well.

So far Max has proven to be pretty quick in qualifying and he is feeling like he has a point to prove when it comes to the races. Fie will be trying very hard to make sure that his race

performances are a better indicator of his ability, so that will make me work pretty hard, I think that my qualifying improved quite a bit in the last two years, even if it didn’t show last season. That will be something I want to work on and comparing data with Max will help that.

have not has a test of the new DJR Falcon BA yet; it is due today and I can't wait to get my hands bn it.

Every time I get to the workshop, 1 have been more and more impressed with what has gone into the new cars.

They are much different; the electronics are different, the footwells and the pedals are different, just to make things a little better for the driver.

The team has worked really hard. On Sunday, the team had my car on the set-up pad, so we know that the car will be spot-on at Queensland Raceway, while Max's car still had a few little things that needed to be done, but we will make it to the track.

With all the changes among the drivers and the teams, the

"If I miss any sessions with my personal trainer, DJR will fine me $100! i haven't missed any yet and I am pretty determined to keep the money in my pocket!

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Motor Mouth with Steve Johnson

field will look a lot different this season. There hasn't been this much change since I started racing; no, there hasn't been this much change since 1 started watching, which is a while. It will take some time to sort out who is where in the field.

I guess now that V8 Supercar racing is more like Formula One in that regard. People are moving around so that they can have the best opportunity to win races. I am contracted to DJR and sure, it is the family business, but I wanted to stay because I believe that the team provided the best opportunity ● for me to win races. You have to do what is best for yourself and that is what I have done.

But, I gotta run. More training.

See you in Melbourne . ..

Max,it just

M

AX Mosley is something of a sportsman. At 62 years of age he is still hurtling down Alpine slopes on a snowboard like someone a third of his age.

Back in London he regularly walks from his home in Chelsea to his new offices overlooking Trafalgar Square. He keeps a close eye on his diet and while some people of his age have spread in other directions, Mosley remains skinny and fit.

But when it comes to sport there is one activity which Max absolutely hates- and it is a hatred that will do him no good in Australia. Mosley hates cricket.

This is probably down to the fact that he grew up hunting, shooting and fishing in Ireland before being packed off to boarding school in France and was later sent to Bavaria to learn German. Thus he did not develop the love of the game that afflicts so many Englishmen.

For a while I liked the game and went to Lords with my dad and watched Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson demolish the English batsmen of the era (I have the scorecards somewhere) but then I drifted away.

But Mosley never understood the joys of a lazy afternoon in the sun with the sound of leather on willow and the polite applause that greets the batsmen when they return to the pavilion.

Perhaps it is this gap in his education that has led him to look at problems in a different

way to the man in the street.

With Mosley, rules are not rules and perhaps this is the best way to explain the remarkable revolution that toppled the FI status quo on January 15, when Mosley met the FI team bosses, told them what he was planning to do and left them reeling without a defence.

I

n the strictest sense of the word, Mosley's 'revolution' was not actually a revolution at all. A revolution, so it says in my dictionary, is "a fundamental change of reversal of conditions or ideas," not a reinterpretation of existing rules. How can it be a revolution if nothing officialiy changes?

But reading through screeds of clarifications which re interpret the FI regulations, one is left with the very clear impression that everything has changed and the FI teams must move with the times.

The other day, I found myself in Berne, Switzerland, at the same time as one of the many anti-war demonstrations that have been taking place around the world.

The protesters were a colourful bunch but my favourite was a man who was wearing a Che Guevara teeshirt and reading Karl Marx. Most of his generation probably think that Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers but he was clearly an educated man, although he had apparently missed the fact that capitalism some years ago triumphed over Marxist principles.

He seemed to me like Robinson Crusoe, stuck on a

lonely island unaware of what was happening away in the real world.

'Some of the Formula 1 team bosses must feel a little the same way after that Heathrow meeting for Mosley left them with no exit and no course of action but to accept. The reactions to that have been interesting. Some of the team bosses have been very steamed up about it all and on a number

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not cricket! of occasions I have had my ear bent by those who were upset at what Mosley has done. One told me (in all seriousness)that he is convinced that Mosley is a lunatic with totalitarian tendencies and that he has to be stopped.

I tried to talk him out of his rage but it was an impossible task.

One can appreciate the brilliance of Mosley's move but what I had failed to appreciate until I went to London to see him at one of his now traditional pre-season media lunches was that all my colleagues in the FI media were delighted that the rules have been shaken up. Everyone

seems to think that FI needed the change.

Max did not seem to have developed any totalitarian traits which were not previously visible. He seemed on very fine form and the mood that day was jolly. He fielded the difficult questions (if one can use a cricketing term) like a nightwatchman and everyone seemed satisfied with the responses.

The seeimportant how it all thing worksnow when is to the cars get to Melbourne. I have decided that I will spend a large part of the plane journey to Australia reading and rereading the various clarifications so that I know exactly what is going to happen and when,for the World Championship will be vaguely recognisable when the cars head out one by one for qualifying in Melbourne.

Come what may, it will be more exciting than FI was in

2002. The qualifying is likely to create a slightly jumbled grid and so the early laps of each race could be much more interesting. Some of the engineers are not happy because, they say, they would have built very different cars had they known what the new i regulations were going to be.

They are stuck with what they have and now have to deal \ with the additional problem of fuel - Mosley's second little bombshell. Teams now have to start the race with the fuel load with which they finished the qualifying session.

Not long after that came out, a former FI engineer rang me and was enthusing about the fuel regulation. Marvellous, he said. With one stroke Mosley, right, has completely changed the shape of Formula 1 and opened up all kind of strategic possibilities.

I was not sure. The new rules It is hard to imagine that the will mean more strategic Italian team will not be quick thinking, I argued, but who again. McLaren will be there always has the best strategy? too but Williams seems to be Ferrari," he said. struggling a little with its allnew FW25. The folk at Grove are actually worried that their cars might even end up behind the two Toyotas.

I guess we will all just have to wait and see.

And I have a feeling that it will be a lot more exciting than cricket.

1

suuon-images.co

Five minutes with

Alex Yoong

Formula One to V8Supercars? Coultlit happen in one year?

Alex Yoong toU PHIL BHAIYAGAIV about his future amihis testin Lansvaie Racing Team's Commoilore MOTORSPORT NEWS: Tell us how the test with Lansvaie Racing Team came about. l ALEX YOONG: It came up pretty quickly really. I was not really looking so much at a V8 Supercar deal but, while I was growing up, I saw the cars on television: I have watched Bathurst. So I knew a little but about the cars.

Someone called me up and asked if I wanted to have a test, so I didi MN: Why Lansvaie?

AY: It was the only team with two cars and one driver. We were looking at the possibility of doing something for this year, and when the opportunity came up to do something, I thought, "I would really like to give this a shot." it was a pretty logicai choice.

MN; What we your expectations before you drove the car at Eastern Creek?

AY: I knew it would be quite a heavy car with a lot of compromises and that it would be a lot slower than a Formula One car.

The biggest effect that the weight has is on the brakes. It takes quite a time to slow the car down; it doesn't realiy 'stop' it! But I was pleasantly surprised about how much corner speed the car has. It was quite enjoyable to drive; with a little more mechanical grip, it would be really enjoyable to drive.

MN: Other drivers who have come from open-wheelers, like Max Wilson, have taken time to adjust to an H-pattern gearbox.

AY: Max is right! I was missing gears a lot at the beginning but 28

something to happen and, obviously, I want to hang on for that for as long as I can.

Co KL/LRT: Yoong gets comfy in Lansvale's Commodore VX at Eastern Creek last week, above. He is still working on a CART deal for this year and getting used to fatherhood with new son Alister Yoong Yi-Ming, right. after a while, I managed to sort it out and it was okay.

It is quite a tricky car to drive.

There is so little grip available and you have to make the most of what is there. But a racecar is a racecar, at the end of the day, so you learn what you like to have and get the best out of it.

MN: V8 Supercars are not that sophisticated compared to what you have been racing most recently.

AY; Yes, and that took me a while to get used to. The feel of the car, especially under brakes, was foreign to me; it took me a whiie to realise what a locked

There are still a few seats open with some of the teams. Like everything else, it is all a matter of money

It

- Yoong on his hopes of a CART program this season

MN; What experience have you had in sedans before you drove the Lansvaie Racing Team car?

AY: When I first started out in racing, i was in a saloon car. It was a long time ago and it was not that relevant to what I was doing last week, but it was something.

brake felt like in the car.

Sometimes, I had to wait until I saw some smoke coming from the tyre ...

MN: So what are your priorities for this season?

AY: I still have options to get into Champ Car racing this year.

It is a matter of waiting for

MN: You have missed the first race of the CART series in Florida. Is the opportunity still there to join the championship?

AY; I think so. There are still a few seats open with some of the teams. Like everything else, it is all a matter of money.

There have been a lot of changes but the emphasis is still on the driver to try and get the budget together to do it properly.

MN: What are the chances we might see you here in a V8 Supercar this season?

AY: if a good opportunity comes up, maybe, it would be a matter of seeing what the teams here think. I wouid iove to come and do the endures, especiaily Bathurst, i have seen that and I think that it would be incredible.

MN: What do you know about the drivers in our series?

AY: I know a few of the drivers.

Some of them have been racing in Europe and, obviousiy, the standard in Australia is very good. From what i have seen it is recognised as a very good, very ciose championship.

MN: China is on the horizon.

Will the 2004 race in Shanghai potentially open the door to some Asian drivers, or sponsors, in our series?

AY: It might do! Right now, the Shanghai race is very exciting and it will be a good thing for the V8s. it may open the door but it will be one of those things we will have to see. motorsport news

26 February 2003

Five minutes with

Wayne Garilner

The tormen dOOcc worhlchamp is no longer a full-time racing Uriver-hutlook for his name In the V8Supercar endurace races.

Gardner told PHIL BRANAGAN why he has decided to 'take It easy' MOTORSPORT NEWS: You have hung up the helmet - but only for 'full-time' racing.

WAYNE GARDNER: Yep. I want to keep racing but not on a 'professional' basis.

I want to keep my involvement with motor racing but I have a few other businesses to keep me busy and sustain my lifestyle. I have my kids as well; I want to have more time with them.

In the last year, I was not racing with the same passion I have had in the past.

I kept thinking,'Do I want to quit or not?' and I could not really come up with an answer.

I committed myself to go back and race for one more year but when the team contacted me because it was time to go testing, I could not commit myself to get on the plane.

It was a big commitment; four months, in total, in Japan. So I decided I wanted to stay here with the kids.

MN: That doubt, in itself, is a reason. You have always been very passionate about your racing, on two wheels or four.

WG: It's great to race with passion. That is when you get the best out of yourself. You concentrate better, you get the most out of it and nothing stands in your way.

I believe that you cannot commit yourself fully without that passion. And it's just not there at the moment.

I still want to go out and do some races; especially Bathurst.

But, for the rest of the time, business and the kids come first.

MN: Toyota has had some tough seasons in Japan. Was that part of your decision making process?

30

MfCC*

Changing places; Gardner came to grips with many different cars in his career, including the TOMS Toyota Supra GT racer, above, and Holden Racing Team's Commodores, below.

Peter Hennessy

'MobileNet

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Castrol Castrol

"In the last year, I was not racing with the same passion I have had in the past. I kept thinking,'Do I want to quit or not?' and I could not really come up with an answer tl

- Gardner on his decision to retire WG: TOMS has had some problems and that has been a battle.

We have been on Michelin tyres and we’have been racing Bridgestone in their own backyard. There were only two Michelin cars in the whole field of Bridgestone cars and they fell a little behind; they don't understand the basics, compared to Bridgestone.

It was always a struggle. That was a contributing factor.

MN: Highlights in Japan?

Winning at Fuji in 2001 must have been up there?

WG: Yes, but I have had a few other wins. Last year I was leading at Sugo and, with 10 laps to go, they decided to penalise me over something that happened 40 laps before! That is still going on, as a matter of fact...

But we have had some good results. It could have been better but we were struggling a bit with tyres.

MN: You said you wanted to do some endurance racing here. Is it important to form a link with a team quickly and get in some testing through the year?

WG: It would be nice. I am not committed to anyone at the moment; I would like to have something where I can do a little bit of testing here and there and then go to Bathurst with a competitive car.

Apart from that, if I do not get a good seat, I will sit at home like everyone else and watch it on tellyl MN: A number of drivers have retired from full-time racing and gone into other events, like Targa Tasmania. Any interest there?

WG: Not that much. I don't think so but, if something came up ... maybe.

Look; I am always open to possibilities. You have to keep thinking laterally. But I am not hanging out for a drive; I am quite happy to do my own thing and see what happens. On a full time basis? No; that's for sure.

MN: So, now what? Golf?

Playstation?

WG: Funny you say 'golf'. At Christmas, I went out to a golf day to raise funds for the Manly Lifesaving Club and I ended up winning a golf set in a raffle! It's in the garage right now, still in the wrappers. That is how much golf I play ...

Right now, I want to have the time with the kids, I still have Broc Parkes's World Supersport program to look after and the family business to help run.

There is also some property stuff, the promotions I do for Honda, surfing ... I am certainly not going to be bored! moiorsport news

INTERVIEW

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31

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32

motorsport news

U8 SUPERGARS

It's new and

got to drive it!

YM/3ZQ1

Would you let anybody into the hotseat ofyour brand new BA Falcon V8 Supercar-during its first test day? Most, understandably, wouldn’t; but the Jones brothers did-Just for MNews.

While John Bowe took a bhefbreak from shaking down OzEmail’s latest, CHRIS LAMBDEN donned a race suit

w

HAT were pretty smart pieces of machinery some 2-3 years ago, when this writer last sat in a V8 Supercar, have refined themselves even more,the regulars will tell you - and I'm here to tell you they're right.

A lot of that is to do with construction methods, chassis stiffness, and so on. In turn, that improves teams' abilities to make very fine adjustments to shock absorbers in particular, which have to an increasing degree become the crucial element in gaining that tiny little gain in grip - and thus speed.

The concept of strapping into a brand new BA Falcon, during its first ever day of shakedown testing, was something I thought just wouldn't happen. Frankly, Td be damned if Td let anyone into my latest technical masterpiece if it were me,but I guess Editor Phil Branagan must still have the negatives, so OzEmail team boss Kim Jones relented...

And so we found Ford's rising force garaged at a warm Winton on Tuesday February 18 - the date isn't that significant, except it turned out to be the day that Holden and Ford tied in the race to get an XY or BA onto the track. Yup, a dead heat. A few metres away up pit lane, Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly were busily going through their stuff with a pair of partiallyliveried XYs while, up north at Queensland Raceway, the Stone Brothers team had Network Ten on hand as it unveiled the Pirtek BA, claiming to be first "on track". In fact they probably ran second by and hour or two ... but hey, that's PR. While a small steering rack problem had delayed kick-off, Jolin Bowe was already busily working away behind the wheel of the #888 Ozemail Falcon when MNews rolled in. First day,establishing just what you've got, how it compares with

26 February 2003

what you had,is important and JB was already deep in discussion with the team's engineers (see separate story).

It would be later in the day before our turn would come -in the meantime, time to watch the real-time car-to-pit telemetry as Bowe wheeled around (a good way to check the gears at the various corners) and to realise, with some concern, that the last time I had ventured out onto Winton,it was a lot shorter than it is now. Yes, this was going to be a bit of a learning exercise!

Eventually, later in the afternoon, the time came and Brad himself helped strap me in.

First impressions are interesting.

For the first time, I felt a little

w

The modepn V8 Supercar is in all respects a piece of craftsmanship If

hemmed in. Not claustrophobic -just a little more enclosed than I remembered.

Two reasons I guess. Firstly, the 'Petty Bar'- that integral strengthening element of the rollcage, diagonally across the front screen - imposes itself on your outlook. It's magnified a bit by the second, Bowe's slightly 'sit-up' seat position. No-one's going to argue that it works just fine for him,but me ... well. I'd probably be a bit further away.

That's it for the negatives. The modern V8 Supercar is in all respects a piece of craftsmanship. The seat is very re-assuring - comfortable, but firm and with a high degree of lateral support. Cockpit layout is practical and follows a pretty common layout

- switches up on the fascia, anti-roll bar adjusters down by the gearlever, and the ubiquitous MoTeC dash centrally-located and visible through the steering wheel.

Brad reminded me of just some of the data that could be checked while mobile,including of course lap times, but on this occasion I reasoned it'd be best to simply keep an eye on where we were going...

What amazes me,and it is a function of modem electronic engine management,is that a machine with over 600 horsepower on tap can also be so docile. Other than the 'clunk' as the HolLnger gearbox clicks into first, getting mobile is no more difficult than easing your average road-going manual away from the driveway. The clutch takes up smoothly, a mere handful of revs, and you are away.

From here on it's a bit different, though...

Even with the TEGA-approved Winton diff ratio installed, fifth gear (of six) is only used for a brief burst along pit straight. Much of the time is spent in second and third gear, exiting second and third gear corners, so simply getting power to the ground effectively is one of the key issues.

How well does the BA Falcon do it? For a definitive answer, that's best left to the pros, but I'd comment that regardless, particularly through Winton's sequence of second gear corners, the throttle in any modern V8 has to be judiciously used. It's ridiculously easy to smoke the rears if you're heavy-footed (yes, yes,I did) and I dare say you could burn up a set of Dunlop's finest rears quite quickly.

A lap of Winton starts, across the finish line, in fifth, dropping straight to third under heavy brakes for the Motorsport Neius esses.

continued on page 34 33

71

Co left young wan: No, it ain't Jelly Bean, it's Lambo at the wheel of the BJR Barra. Rear suspension, below left, features revised pickup points compared to AU, but same five-link rear end, AP brakes, etc. Cockpit, centre, uses conventional MoTeC ADL dash and it, like the footwell below, is a picture ofsimplicity. Attention to detail is impressive; note Bowe's drilled accelerator and pre-scuffed brake pedal...

continued from page 33 The torque of the V8 through and up the hill is impressive and, again, at full-on race speed, throttle application would have to be measured.

Up to fourth, then back to third for what used to be the turn one/two right-handers - again, the drive through the apexes is impressive, the slight banking on the first slingshotting the car out towards the next.

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Even so, in third gear, it's possible for the rear to break traction if you are clumsy with the throttle.

Up to fourth as you head towards the long left-hand sweeper, easing outward,feathering throttle as it tightens into the left-right flick before the esses. The change of direction is positive, a trace of understeer (a bit more confidence on the throttle could balance that out) and the car gathers itself before the heavy brake into the first right-hander.

Winton isn't a bumpy circuit, but even so, what lumps and bumps there are, or the act of putting a wheel on a kerb, is countered swiftly by the modem spring/shock technology lurking under each corner of the car.

It settles down extremely well.

From here it's all second gear, feathering around the left-hander, a quick stab, brakes again into the last 180 degree corner, where it's all about setting up for the best possible exit onto the old back straight.

Up to fourth - no clutch on the upchange;just a brief throttle lift (the stars 'flat-change' without even lifting when they want to - wonderful thing the modern Holinger) before another heavy brake for the left-hander, another second gear corner which leads onto the new section.

The brake pedal is extraordinarily confidence-boosting. Not a smidgeon of 'give'- just firm, solid feel. It's one of those areas that has leapt ahead in recent years.

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motorsport news

V8 SUPERCARS Up to fourth, then back down again for the two right-angled right handers that bring you back onto pit straight.

Winton is definitely a place that is all about turning in positively and getting the power down smoothly and efficiently and,certainly, the modem V8 Supercar has no real vices in any of those areas. It's aU about refinement; small margins of improvement. At this speed, which you'd describe as 'brisk' rather than race pace, it's very secure - as long as you are intelligent with the throttle.

At competitive race pace,the little nuances and differences would

fmstration -like you've had an exquisite entree at a great restaurant, but the waiter's just told you the kitchen's closed and there won't be a main! You want more; you want to get back to the point where you don't have to think about every gearchange, every movement of the wheel- but JB and Brad have work to do.

The GP is just two weeks away and they need to understand their new machine better.

... no matter who you are,600hp in second gear, around Winton's tight confines is FU-N

show more starkly. One of the AU Falcon's problems, with its front/rear aero compromises, was getting the power down,especially out of faster comers. Bowe is hopeful progress has been made in that area. But, as he cautions: "Anyone who thinks the BA is just an AU with more front downforce,is very much oversimplifying it."

As for me? Well, a little while after returning an undamaged OzEmail Falcon to its garage (clear signs of relief all round), the feeling is one of

ir

They are talking pitch, roll, dive, squat, ride height, roll centre, and so on. Time to leave them to it.

I have the

greatest admiration for the modem drivers who eke out that last tenth or two over the rest - by finding that 'sweet spot' as Bowe calls it, in set-up terms. It's an art form way beyond this particular writer.

And stopping and turning a 1350kg machine with the sort of power and torque available in 2003 certainly separates the aces from the also-rans.

But 1 do have to teU you that, any way you look at it, no matter who you are,600hp in second gear, around Winton's tight confines is F-U-N.

BE ’-

^ NVi

y

Searching for the sweet spot J

OHIM Bowe undertook the driving of the OzEmail Team's first BA Falcon at Winton and emerged, in his own words,"encouraged, but a little bit frustrated."

Out of the box, the car was immediately a fraction quicker than the team's old AU, but there is still work to be done before it is where Bowe wants it to be.

"Touring cars these days are a bit like it used to be in openwheelers," he explained.

"While they are simple in racing terms, they are more intricate than they used to be and the margin between having it right and not is quite small.

"Once upon a time near enough was good enough that's not the case any more.

"It's a bit like shooting at a target. It's possible to hit all around the bullseye, yet be quite close to it, then suddenly you'll find that little spot - I call it the sweet spot - where it's right.

"It's all about grip. Any fraction more you can get out of it, the faster you go - that's obvious, I guessi "We're not there yet, but already we have got a clearer picture of what is needed. The

BA is very definitely a different car to the AU - anyone who thinks it's just an AU with more front downforce is wrong.

"Time is what makes the difference. It's no coincidence that FI teams spend 15-20 days in pre-season testing, finding the best set-ups for their cars. So far, we've run half a day. I guess it could take us a few race meetings to get it right."

The most distinguishing feature of the BA is its relatively long front splitter - negotiated as part of the aero package aimed at equalising downforce between XY Holden and BA Falcon.

"The one downside to it is that, if you run the car a bit low, the splitter is more likely to touch the road under brakes," Bowe explained. "Raise the car and you lose downforce. And we don't necessarily want to run heavier front springs.

"Those are the sorts of issues that we have to work on - as you would with any new car and as quickly as we can."

The OzEmail team hopes to test once more before the car's race debut, at the Australian Grand Prix meeting, next week.

- CHRIS LAMBDEIM

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I did hall mya Getting a new Formula 1 car from computer to reality and making it work is a big achievement JOESAWARD spoke to a number of the designers and team principals of the class of2003 to see what they think of their new creations

% s

Ferrari "MY first job at British American Racing was to rebuild the technical team: some of the original people have now gone and we have recruited others.

"Once that was done, we started work on the 2003 car.

That was in June last year and the early start allowed us to develop the close relationship that we have with the 200 engineers at Honda Research & Development in Japan. They have modified the layout of their engine to help us out with out problems.

"At the same time, we were working towards integration

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because Honda is more than an engine supplier. It is a partner.

Honda has been involved in the suspension, structural analysis, electronics and vehicle dynamics of the car. We designed it but we used Honda data, calculations, simulations and experience.

"Our first priority was to reduce the weight and the size of the car. We now have three times as much ballast on the 005 than we had on the 004.

"The second priority was to improve the aerodynamics. You have to look at what the opposition is doing and try to understand it but at the same

"THE C22 is my third car as Sauber Petronas technical director and having followed the same design concept with the C20 and the C21 we decided that for the C22 we would go for a totally new construction we redefined the entire car from top to bottom.

"Everything from the nose to the rear wing is new and although the car's dimensions are ^^^^^only slightly changed its proportions are totally different. In comparison to the C21,the potential of the

36

time if you copy the others you will not be quicker and you must be led by your own windtunnel program and your own research and development.

"We tried to apply the same principles that Ferrari used with a very narrow front and a very low bodywork at the rear.

"I thought that by the end of last season we would have got to around 75 percent of where I want the team to be and I think we have pretty much achieved that.

"Now we have to make another big step forward and I hope that next year we will be competing at the top level."

'THE 1998 car was the first one that we produced as a group that was quite a good step but in recent years this is the biggest single step of improvement we have made, certainly much bigger than we made 2001 to 2002, and that is the theory.

"We obviously haven't nm the car yet but all our studies and calculations tell us that that is the case. Between 2001 to 2002 was a good step for us,1 wouldn't consider it to be a quantum leap, but there was a situation where Williams and McLaren were not

as strong as we might have expected.

"So we went forward a good step and, perhaps because of the tyre situation or perhaps other considerations, they didn't seem to make such progress. So I think our improvements were a little bit amplified by their situation.

Willy Rampf ifc.

CATIA

CREDIT SUISSE

“

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new car is much greater and so we hope that will mean that we can continuously improve the car as the season goes on and that it will help us challenge for fourth place in the Constructors'

Championship.

"We know that there is a lot to come from the car and our aim is to not only to make the C22 more aerodynamically efficient but also to ensure that it will react sensitively from an aerodynamic point of view.

That is very important.

"We went through a comprehensive series of calculations on the stability and some very thorough simulations and we confident that we will faster and faster ad we get to know more about the car. Already the drivers are saying that it is much more stable at the rear than the C21 so we have made a lot of progress."

motorsport news

FORMULA 1

;elf!

loss Brawn

McLaren - Martin Whitmarsh

“WEST McLaren Mercedes said that we would start the 2003 campaign with a significantly-modified version of the 2002 car, which would be called the MP4-17D, before introducing a radical new package called the MP4-18 several races into the season.

‘The name MP4-17D should not be misleading. We are certainly not taking the 2002 car and engine to the Australian Grand Prix. The MP4-17 package has already undergone considerable change since it appeared at the start of last year but we felt there was still a lot more that we could exploit from it.

“However the only carry-over item from 2002 will be the monocoque. There are substantial changes to all areas beneath the skin, including a new rear-end and transmission. We don’t want to catch Ferrari. We want to overtake them.

“There has been some change in the design team. Long-time McLaren designer Neil Oatley is taking on a new role as Executive Director of Engineering, to focus on engineering standards, configuration control, quality, reliability and risk management. Mike Goughian,formerly of Arrows,joined the team in September as Chief Designer and will manage the design team.

Williams - Patrick Head The brains and Brawn: Brawn, top middle, with designer Rory Byrne and engine director Paolo Martinelli.

So we hear McLaren are bringing their car out late because they want to make a big step, so we can't predict what will happen this year. we can only work on our package. work on our car, try and develop it and try and beat our rivals.

"There are a lot of new challenges with the regulations, with qualifying and certainly will make it more interesting and we will toss the dice and see how they fall."

-a

EARUS

I "SECOND place in the I Constructors'Championship last I year was a step forward from 2001, ^ but you can't duck the old adage ^ that we were,in truth, the first of the losers and so we decided that we would take a completely new approach to the problem and decided in the middle of last year to start building up the team.

"The growth to goes right across the company, but from a technical perspective, we have expanded the design group, the wind tunnel operation, and manufacturing as well. We are constantly developing our windtunnel but are also looking at building another one in the future.

4

"This new car is not radical because the regulations do not allow for such things but is very different from previous designs,featuring the same low rear end which made the Ferrari so competitive last season.

"The 2002 season showed us that our chassis was a model of reliability, but that there was still room for improvement particularly on the aerodynamic front. That's why the FW25 is not an iteration but a completely new race car.

"We will have to see how it goes but I am sure that it will be a step forward for Williams although we may be a little behind because we need to fully understand and develop the way the car works."

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Renault Mike Gascoyne Jordan Henri Durand "THIS is the first Renault born of our twin-shift organisation, which has given us 12 months to design the car.

"Having said that, in FI one of the real secrets to performance lies in continuity and starting from scratch every year is the best way to never win anything. The R202 gave us a good base to work from, and we retained its strengths: a good aerodynamic package which gave it very good efficiency in the quick corners, very sophisticated electronics, and excellent liigh-speed change of direction. After that, we looked to fill in the gaps, and have gone even further in some areas.

"The engine-chassis integration is very different to what it was 12 months ago. Equally, we have high

hopes for our titanium-carbon gearbox. On paper, the car is much more competitive than the R202 and should be around 15 percent more aerodynamically-efficient.

"I will be disappointed if we don't score several podium finishes. That would mean I hadn't done my job properly. The design of the R23 was obviously guided by performance targets, but also reliability.

"In 2002, we realised that when we finished races we almost always did so in the points. The first priority was to make the car quicker, more responsive to set-up changes and easier to drive. But we also had to

make sure that the car was going to cross tlie finish line. Our aim is to finish 80 percent of the races this season, and score points every time."

Jagucir — David Pitchforth

"WE learned an awful lot of lessons last season from the Jaguar R3 and even though we began the season with a less than satisfactory race car, we actually finished the season with a sound platform that has benefited some areas on R4.

"With that in mind, we have not taken a radical approach to R4. Some would say that we have gone back to basics but overall, we have opted for a conventional, low risk and robust design.

"The philosophy for the R4 actually started with the R3, We wanted to take the R3 and develop it so it responded logically to the changes and could be used as a platform for the R4.

"We have targeted maximum and continuous aerodynamic downforce development and efficiency whilst maintaining the balance capability of the package.

"It is fair to say however, that we didn't extract the maximum from the Michelin rubber last year

sutton-ima^cs.t

and, given the competitive edge that tyres have to offer in this business, we have worked very closely with Michelin to better understand the issues we needed to address on R4."

“FIVE months ago, the technical team decided on our technical objectives and approach and we have achieved all that we set out to do. The concept of the car is based on having good aerodynamic efficiency, allied to engineering simplicity.

‘The Ford Cosworth RS engine is obviously a very important aspect of the new'^ car, which has been easy to integrate into the new design and has all of the qualities we would expect from a top ranking engine.

“It Is lighter, smaller, more powerful and has better fuel consumption than our previous engine.

“Because the engine is comprehensively different, that meant a completely new chassis and gearbox. We have created a brand new design concept for the EJ13.

This Is why we did not do any testing until the new car was ready.

“When you have a radically different package, testing Is really irrelevant and it is not practical to build an Interim car. That is only done when you are keeping the basic ingredients the same.

“We were totally confident that the Ford Cosworth engine will be one of the best on the grid and one of the most reliable. As a result, we simply did not have any technical reason to build an Interim car.”

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Same time next 12 months after his spectacular FI Uehut, much has changetlfor Mark Wehher. The young Aussie goes into 2003spearheatiing a manufacturer-hacked team looking tor a hig change offortune,its a pressure situation.

He spoke to CHRIS LAMBOEOI

MOTORSPORT NEWS: 12 months ago you went into your first GP with just two or three days running in the Minardi. Can you compare the difference this year - with 20 days behind you and a team with real resources?

MARK WEBBER: There's no question that the mileage I've done and working with the team in so many different areas of the car, the work with Michelin, prepares you so much better for the season.

We certainly are much, much better prepared this season, but we have to be - our goals are different.

MN: Different pressures as well - you are now representing a manufacturerbacked team.

MW: Yeah, exactly. So we have to be well prepared - that's what is expected of us, on the driver front and the team front.

There are no easy excuses

like we had at Minardi. It's the same most years for Minardi - a couple of test days then off to Melbourne ...

It is nice to have the mileage under my belt going into Melbourne. The drivers I'll hopefully be racing with, a little bit further up the grid, have had that sort of mileage as well, so we're in the same boat, really.

MN: The decision originally made last year by Niki Lauda - to take on not one, but two relatively inexperienced drivers, in FI terms, drew both positive and negative responses around the industry. Do you feel any pressure to prove the doubters wrong?

MW: No pressure. I'm absolutely comfortable with my role in the team - and I'm sure Antonio (Pizzonia) is as well.

There are so many reasons why I want it to work for us.

There are a few people out

there who want us to fall on our face - that's the nature of the sport and some of the egos around it. But I hope we can come out the other side of it with some really good respect.

I'm sure that we'll show that the decision was a good one.

Okay, there'll be weekends when, maybe, a bit more experience could have been useful. But I think the team is 'buzzing' at the moment and I don't see any reason why that should dwindle too quickly ...

MN: Last October you told us that the testing times wouldn't mean much until people started to show their hand in the last week or so. In the last week the Jaguar has (a) broken the lap record at Valencia, and (b) finished top of the times on your final day of testing, in the wet at Barcelona. On that basis, the main men at the team would have to be reasonably happy to date...

MW: Yes, we have been happy.

But we know we've still got quite a bit of work to do on the aero side - in the dry at Barcelona, we're still a bit off, to be honest.

You don't, as you know, make a Ferrari overnight, but the steps we have made, compared with last year, are substantial. What Jaguar had going into Melbourne last year was sutton-images.com

FOSTER’S

unbelievably bad-what we've got this year is a pretty solid little race car. We can 'talk' to it - but we have to keep making progress and not get carried away with the fact that it has come out of the box pretty well.

But yes, we are happy: the engineers are happy; the factory is a pretty happy place. We'll see, in the first four or five races, at quite a variety of circuits, how the R4 will compare - then after that, we'll be focussing quite hard on the R5!

MN: Have you noticed a measurable boost in morale at the team - which as we know wasn't too happy a place last year?

MW: No question about it. I wouldn't say they are pinching themselves - as I said, there's still a lot of work to do and we can potentially have some rough weekends - but they are really, really enjoying it at the moment.

When you knock out 112 laps in one day at Valencia ... not many people have done that this year with their new cars. Even though you may only do 30 laps the next day because you've got problems, that's the sort of thing which really boosts morale.

At the moment, they are pretty bloody happy!

MN: The R4 is clearly a step forward over the R3. Can you identify the main areas where it is a better car?

MW: Even though I just said the aero is still a little short of where we're aiming to be, it is already a massive step forward from last year. The car can also use the aero - we've got a much more sensible race car under the skin in terms of all the layout of the suspension, uprights ... the whole thing is really, really sound now, whereas the R3 was designed with, I guess, 2006 in mind! -

Retro: one of the enduring images of 2002- "that was a 'moment', we seized it and brought the bacon home,"says Webber 12 months later. motorsport news

INTERUIEW

year

I

V -r

ie, they were doing things they really didn't understand.

We understand the R4 quite well - it's very good on the entry to the corners compared with the R3 the R3 was very nervous on the entry to some types of corners.

MN: Is there a noticeable difference between last year's and this year's engine?

MW: Not as yet. The latest spec version of the new engine is potentially a good thing - once we unlock some of that potential over the next six to eight months, it's going to be a super engine, no question.

We saw how good the Cosworth was last year and it's still a very good engine, but they will chip away at the new one as time goes on.

WilM: What are your expectations out of this year?

MW: I want to finish on top of Antonio, in terms of points. That's the first thing - I won't be happy if he scores more points than me in the same equipment as me. That'll be a good battle through the year I'm looking forward to that one. It could prove frustrating at times, but equally rewarding at others.

MIM: People understand that there was an element of fate, the first corner shunt, which opened the door for that fabulous fifth place last year - do you think you'll feel any kind of pressure to match that result'at home'in Melbourne?

MW: Look, we could qualify around 10th or 12th - depending upon how people choose to go with the new regulations with regard to starting the race on your qualifying fuel.

If we can then get to the finish ...

Melbourne is traditionally a race where you can get points .

We saw what can happen last year, but if things went well, I could finish a much more rewarding fifth place, in terms of being on the same lap as the leaders, not three laps down.

I don't feel pressure from last year, because that was a 'moment', we seized it and brought the bacon home.

We could be lucky again - but I could also walk back half way through the race with a failure. It can happeni 26 February 2003

sutton-images.com

Mark Wfebbep's

hsUer'sBuUe to the FI GramIPm Its haph to get the insiile scoop on Formula One from 20,000l(m away - hut whatIf you were 20cm from a Ferrari or a BAR-HonUa -at SOOkmh? Thatis where Mark Webber Is so we conscripteU him to tell usjust who's hot and who's not as the 2003FI season gets under way, starting with a look at the substantial changes made to the structure of the OP weekend

2003

sees probably the greatest change in the way FI teams practice, qualify and go racing for many, many years and in the early races at least, the teams will be under pressure to make the most of each of the changes.

From that point of view, it's probably worth going through the changes and how they will affect the show that the public will see.

It's aU about optimising your performance on Sunday,but it starts on Friday morning quite early for the handful of teams taking advantage of the bonus two hours of track time in exchange for a limit on testing away from the races.

As you will have read elsewhere.

Jaguar has belatedly joined Minardi, Jordan and Renault in deciding to opt for Friday morning's additional two hours.

We were always going to be doing single car test days through the year - unlike the likes of Ferrari, Williams and so on - and we clarified the situation and suggested that 10 test days with two or more cars is the same as 20 days with one.

For us, that pretty much covers the testing schedule we had in mind,so it was sensible to take up the Friday offer and get those two hours ontrack at each race.

It has been suggested that this gives us cnrte blanche to conduct a serious tyre test, while the teams that aren't in the two hour session will have to nominate their two

over 40 sets - for just one car!

Michelin simply can't do that logistically, so I expect we'll actually have a modest number of options to try on the Friday morning if we choose to. And in the end, everyone will still have to nominate their single chosen tyre prior to Saturday qualifying However,in general set-up terms, those two hours will be a big plus to those teams who have nominated to forego a lot of mid-season testing.

Because of the flexibility which has now been cut from our qualifying to race spec car - we have to race the car we qualify, give or take a few aero adjustments - the second hour of that extra session, once some rubber has been put down, will be quite valuable in terms of getting some quality information with a bit more fuel on board.

Then we can probably do a bit of lighter fuel work in the all-in one hour session before Friday's preliminary qualifying run - which will be done on very low fuel, unlike Saturday, where we will now have to have the fuel on board that we intend to start the race with.

Friday Qualifying his will be the first chance for

T

anyone to see FI drivers going for it one at a time, over a single lap - it will be-well worth watching.

You will need to be pretty aggressive, because it will be important to get the best, latest slot for Saturday afternoon's run - under normal conditions. The fastest on

preliminary tyre options on Thursday.

It's not as clear cut as it might seem. During that morning session you could, conceivably, test five or six different types of tyre, but to do that Michelin would then have to have

Friday gets to rmr last on Saturday.

Under the old qualifying system, a car could well gain,say, a second between its first and fourth run in the

seven or eight sets of each particular tyre on hand for that one car. That's

qualifying hour. Of that, maybe two or three-tenths might be given up by

42

the track, the remaining seven or eight-tenths coming from gains by the team and the driver.

So, the track gain during Saturday qualifying won't be huge,but it will be there. What won't be pretty is if you are among the first two or three cars out on Saturday afternoon. After that, the main bulk of the cars in the middle will get a fairly consistent track and if you can be among the last few ... well, that'd be good!

continued on page 44 molorsport news

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26 February 2003

MARK WEBBER'S DBtsider's Guide to the Australian GP continued from page 42

Saturday Qualifying ith the recent 'clarification'

w

that you have to start the race with the fuel left in the car after qualifying, it now becomes a massive one for the numbers boys in terms of how much you want to sacrifice for that one lap, for your grid position.

You'll have to look at your rivals during Saturday morning's free sessions, to see where you're potentially going to slot in.

If you are consistently three or four-tenths ahead of someone else or a group of cars, there's some flexibility. If you've got a couple of cars just a tenth away, then you're going to consider running a little bit lighter to ensure you stay in front of them on the grid.

Added fuel, ie weight, makes a significant difference to a lap time in FI. It varies from track to track, surface to surface, type of corners etc. Around Melbourne, it's something like 3.6 tenths (0.36 sec) a lap for every 10 kilos.

So, if you're going to qualify with 60 kgs as opposed to someone with just 20kgs, he's going to be a fair way ahead - aromid 1.4 seconds before he's rolled out of the pit lane.

But he's then going to have to stop for fuel ridiculously early!

After a few races, I think it'll settle, with everyone doing a similar thing. Most races will be twostoppers, so you'll see everyone qualifying with 50-60 kilos maximum of fuel on board.

I think it's very unlikely that we'll see any big,long, one-stoppers because if you do, you'll qualify very badly and over the first 25 minutes of the race, you'll get destroyed unless you have a phenomenal package and you think you are fast enough get away with a one-stopper.

Interestingly, I think a number of teams would have designed their cars with smaller tanks if they'd known this rule was coming. Some cars can take on up to 120kgs of fuel, but I don't think we'll see anyone line up with that much fuel on board all year. I don't think you'll see people going as long and as far into

'After a few races, I think it'll settle, with everyone doing a similar thing. Most races will he twostoppers, so you'll see everyone qualifying with 5060 kilos maximum of fuel on board"

races as they have done in the past.

Tyre performance will also play a big part in those decisions.

If there's one area where the new rules have gone a little bit too far, then this is it. There's nothing better than driving an FI car with low fuel - it's good for the drivers, the engineers ... and the spectacle.

Tliat'll now happen on Friday.

Saturday could make it'a bit harder for people to get a feel for where the individual teams and cars are, performance-wise, but hopefully it will shake itself out and I reckon that in the end most will run quite similar fuel for Saturday afternoon.

Race Day Other than the fuel biggest change onstrategy, race daythe will be the ban on pit to car telemetry the ability of the team to make adjustments to the car on the fly.

It's pretty amazing what the guys can do in terms of real-time telemetry, adjusting things from the pits, but now we've got the blindfold on a little bit they are going to be in the position of seeing things unfold in front of them, yet be unable to do anything about it.

At the moment they can send through different diff maps, tractioncontrol settings and so on and that won't be possible.

It won't make much of a difference to how the race looks for the spectator -it's just one of the technical constraints now imposed by the FIA - and to be honest, not a bad one.

Once the red light goes out - mrtil July at least- the different strategies will be tire only real, visual difference to last year.

From July on, though, quite a bit changes. Firstly, we'll be back to a manual launch. It'll be interesting to see how they police it, how they control certain things involved in a car pulling away - like clutch input and how the engine is going to respond to certain things the driver is not asking for.

At the moment tliey can do all sorts of trick stuff with clutches, for example,so I'm not quite sure where it will all end up.

Personally,I hope it is just a normal 'clutch in, first gear, bang, away you go, manage the wheelspin as best you can'situation ...

FORMULA ONE The same goes for traction control.

At the moment there are all sorts of throttle mappings and things to give more efficient drive off the corners, to be more consistent. Without that traction control software, they are a lot more lively - that's for sure!

Again,I hope it is just a simple matter of switching all that off - as a few have already been doing briefly in testing so far.

When you do,there's suddenly a lot of attitude going on with the cars, a lot of rubber down out of the tight corners. You can hear them playing with the throttle - it sounds awesome!

While automatic gearboxes will also be gone, we won't exactly be reverting to an'H'pattern manual either. It'll be the 'paddle' type of change. Nevertheless, the driver will now have to call the gearchange, whereas currently we have 'auto up' (you don't touch anything!).

In the lower gears, these cars gain revs remarkably quickly - less than a second between some gearchanges so it will require a fair degree of judgement from the driver and provide an area for a better driver to make a gain.

These are the sorts of changes that all real racing drivers want. It provides more driver input and therefore more possibility for error.

It'll provide the changes to the spectacle that the FIA was looking for.

In meantime, the seasonpages. is upon usthe and, over the following we take a look at each of the teams, their car and their drivers based on what we've seen as the pre-season testing has come to its close.

All photos by sutfon-ima^es.a

Scuderia Marlboro Forrari Chassis - Ferrari F2002 and F2003-GA

Engine - Ferrari VI0

Tyres - Bridgestone A-

1 Michael Schumacher (Germany) 34,177 starts. 64 wins, 50 poles, 51 FLaps,945 points

2 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) 31, 161 starts, 5 wins,6 poles,8 FLaps, 272 points

-tier-

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THE TEAM: A phenomenal season last year gives them a great base line to roll into this year with. They can be fairly 'low risk' in terms of what they want to chip away at - if they took last year's car to every race they'd still have a pretty good season!

Apart from Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, they've got phenomenal depth in the team. On the engine side, they're very strong and consistent now. It's almost impossible to pick a weakness in this team at the moment.

THE CAR: As far as I'm aware the new Ferrari chassis is pretty much similar to the 2002 chassis - the chassis itself is the item which probably changes and develops least over a three-year period. It's primarily the gearbox and all the revised bodywork which is new. If the new car is half a second or so quicker than

the old one, then they add on the tyre development, they've got a superb package yet again as the season moves along.

To say they're bringing the 'old' car to Melbourne is to disguise the fact that it has benefited from all the mods and suspension development, wings, engine gains that have gone into the new car. So while the base chassis may be the car that ran for most of last season, everything around it will have evolved considerably.

THE DRIVERS: They have the best driver in the world, along with Rubens, who plays his support role perfectly.

If, ever, Michael's motivation starts to wane, then he could and probably will - get beaten.

But with his motivation where it is, he's after six world titles and I think he can do it. A lot of people think they are professional ... but

show me a photo of Michael Schumacher and show you what professional is ...

When and if someone comes out of the ruck to regularly challenge him, some may think that we won't see the Michael of his mid-20s banging wheels with the opposition. He's got a pair of kids at home, five world titles, probably six, so might be a little less aggressive, but I don't think so. He's still a very proud person and won't want to leave the sport being knocked to the canvas by anyone!

Rubens is getting better all the time - with Michael in the other garage, you're going to learn plenty all the time! He's the one who's going to learn - Michael might learn a little off him, but not as much as Rubens is picking up. He's going to have a job on his hands this year finishing second in the championship again.

45

MARK WEBBER'S Brssider's GuWe to the Australian CP THiE TEAM: 1 think they are actually going to have a harder time than they did last year - 1 think McLaren will be the secondbest team this year.

Williams has a tradition of pushing its drivers, pushing them to compete with each other, and that will continue with Ralf and Juan. They also push their engineers - it's a good thing most of die time.

THE CAR:Phenomenal engine ' no doubt the strongest in FI at the moment. Amazing how quickly BMW has achieved that. They struggled with the car last year - it was quick in qualifying, but struggled in the race. The ! Ferrari/Bridgestone combination made them look a little more ; average in the races.

It has to be said that the Williams hasn't been spectacular aero-wise for a few years and they would like to get tha t better - McLaren and Ferrari are very good at that...

THE DRIVERS: It's always a big year for any driver in FI, but it's a particularly big year for both the Williams drivers

BMW.Williams FI Chassis - Williams FW25

Engine-BMW P83 VI0

Tyres - Michelin

3 Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia)

Juan would desperately like to show he can win races, ns well as being super-fast over one lap. He's got the pace, but has to put it together consistently.

Ralf is happy to look for the points, to risk less. He doesn't work as hard as his brother ... hopefully the two of them, the Williams duo, will be busy battling each other...

27, 34 starts, 1 win, 10 poles, 6 Flaps, 81 points

4 Ralf Schumacher (Germany)

He doesn't work as hard as his brothern

11

27, 100 starts, 4 wins, 1 pole,6 Flaps, 177 points

- Webber on RalfScbumacher

MU Seven Renault FI Team Chassis - Renault R23

Engine - Renault RS23 VI0

lyres - Michelin

7 Jarno Trulli (Italy) 28, 97 starts, 0 wins,0 poles,0 Flaps, 38 points

A

8 Fernando Alonso (Spain) 21,16 starts, 0 wins,0 poles,0 Flaps,0 points

46

molorsport news

FORMULA ONE

Utest McLapen Mercedes Chassis - McLaren MP4/18

Engine - Mercedes-Benz V10

5 David Coulthard (Gt Britain)

Tyres - Micheiin

We^

very straight ship there. They are real, real racers-like Williams absolutely hate losing. They are on their way back up.

While the Ferrari/Bridgestone relationslrip has been crucial to Ferrari's success,IdcLaren is now gelling very well with Michelin, understanding where they are going, and that will be a part of their comeback process.

THE CAR:They have what you'd callaninterim/newcarfor *● Melbourne - the new one will appear in four or five races. You don't really know what fuel loads they've been rmming, but the car has looked pretty strong in testing.

■ Mercedes are big enough to know they've been imder-performing a little bit. Assuming they have been able to make some horsepower gams, McLaren will be in very good shape. Some weekends, they'll give Ferrari a very hard time.

THE DRIVERS: Kimi and David wiU both win races this year. There's no question about it, as a driver you have everything possible done for you at McLaren.

Kimi is very, very fast. I don't know where he'll be in two, three, four years time, though. At the moment he's bombing around on sheer talent, without the feel that Michael has in terms of getting everything running and flowing witliin a team. DC is possibly not quite as fast, but does imderstand that it's a weekend; understands the trend of the weekend, where to go with set-up and so on. David will have a 'David' year - win some races and do a very solid job. Kimi will occasionally qualify very, very well and have some strong races.

31,141 starts, 12 wins, 12 poles, 18 Flaps, 400 points

6 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) 23, 34 starts, 0 wins, 0 poles, 1 Flap, 33 points

THE TEAM: Could have a pretty hard season, I think. By their own admission, they've been disappointed with engine development and tliat puts pressure on everything and everyone else.

Horsepower's not everything in this game, but it does help - you spend a bit of time on full throttle these days, so you need plenty of ponies in behind ...

You can't underestimate Renault, though. With Pat Symonds there, the way they go about it (they made some shrewd mid-race calls last year), their launch systems and so on, they have some good elements.

Great team internally, super people - they just need a few more ponies ...

THE CAR: It's quite tidy. We saw a few races last year where it worked well - the middle sector in Brazil they were nearly the fastest.

26 February 2003

THE TEAM:Super team. Very business-like. Ron Dermis rims a

It's one of the best cars out there probably in the top four.

If they had a BMW in the back of it, they'd be doing a very, very good job! ...

THE DRIVERS: Fernando (Alonso) has come into FI the same way I did, via Minardi. He's quite relaxed, whereas Jarno is a very intense person. Sometimes he wants to engineer the valve caps into a perfect position when it might just be best to get in and drive it...

Jarno's very Italian. If the wind's blowing in the right direction, he can be one of the fastest in the world, for sure; if not, he has a bad day at the office.

"tr they had a BMW In the hack of it, they'd be doing a very very good job!"

- Webber on the Renault chassis 47

MARK WEBBER S Insider s Guide to the Australian CP THE TEAM:The best asset this team has is its deal to get the justsuperceded Ferrari rear end each yeah which is an amazing thing to get to roll out in the new year with.

They therefore have reliability from day one and can concentrate on worliig to improve the performance of the car.

It's a rrice thing to have in your top drawer!

THE CAR;A tidy car, no real vices.

As I said, they start with the terrific bonus of a fully-sorted and reliable rear end.

They've gone okay in testing though it's one of those teams where you don't know how much fuel they've been carrying.

Testing can be a little misleading if someone is running low fuel every now and then to try and do times to impress prospective sponsors...

It'll come out of the box pretty well, but then they tend to drift off a bit as the year goes on and other teams maintain development of their new cars.

THE DRIVERS:Peter Sauber has

Chassis - Sauber C22

Petponas Engine -Petronas 03A VI0

9 Nick Heidfeld (Germany)

gone back to the experience of his old faithful, Heiitz-Harald Frentzen in place of Massa, who was fast but did a few crazy things last year.

Nick Heidfeld is as solid as. He

25, 50 starts,0 wins,0 poles, 0 FLaps, 19 points

gets on with the job and is very quick. A very balanced pairing.

10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany)

"trii come out of the box pretty well, but then they tend to drift off a bit. n

35, 141 starts, 3 wins, 2 pole, 6 FLaps, 161 points

- Webber on Sauber early in the season

Chassis - Jaguar R4

Janiar Racing Engine - Cosworth CR-5

Tyres - Michelin

14 Mark Webber (Australia) 26,16 starts,0 wins,0 poles, 0 FLaps, 2 points

15 Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) 22,0 starts, 0 wins,0 poles, 0 FLaps,0 points moiorspon news

FORMULA ONE

Jordan Powered By Ford Chassis - Jopdan EJ13

Engine - Ford-Cosworth RS VI0

IVpes - Bridgestone

THE TEAM: At one point Jordan was close to challenging the big three, but the team has been feeling the pinch financially since mid-way through last year, when there had to be a number of redundancies.

That makes it difficult, despite having a super little engine (last year's CR-4 Cosworth)and one of the best drivers in the world in Fisi.

It means there may not be the flow of development as the year goes on.

There are good people there always has been. Eddie's a real racer -but it could be a tough yeajfor him.

THE CAR:Has done limited running to date, but will be a nice little car. However, the team will be down the priority list, if you like, with Bridgestone and will have to run with what they get. That relationship with the tyre company is critical. Doing Friday's 'optional' two hours of testing will help to some degree, though.

THE DRIVERS: Fisichella is a

11 Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) 30, 107 starts, 0 wins, 1 pole, 1 FLap, 82 points

12 Ralph Firman (Gt Britain) 27, 0 starts, 0 wins,0 poles,0 FLap,(On Debut)

; 3 n I g

^ o

26 February 2003

THE TEAM:People have said thait stairtimg again with virttaaiy a whole new team,in a management sense, the pressure is on for Jaguar to perform -and they are tight, However, we have a much,much better understanding of why and how we're going to go about racing.Even though 1 wasn't there last year,from the first test on I had;a reasonable idea of what was going on for this year.

Tliere's a lot more understanding of how the car's been designed, the concept of it, how it's going to develop through the year, what we still have to work on - there's definitely some areas stil needing work.

The rela tionship w ith Cosworth has always been good and weTe gaining the respect of Miclielin day by day - which is important.It's on the right track for the next couple of years.

There are some super people there now -real racers-and less egos, which is good...

THE CAR;It has to be said, the new car is a good step forward and was nof slow at Valencia and stacked up pretty well in the wet a t Barcelona - where we ended up quickest d uring a full race simulation.

fantastic driver - super, super guy; super, super quick. Just a really good racing driver - always amongst it, getting it home if he can. He's got a great record for getting a car home in one piece and also very quickly. Good driver.

Ralph? I don't know how he'U go, to be honest. He's been in Japan for four years and while it's strong over there, there isn't the intense mentality of Europe. A reaUy good bloke, though,and he'll be determined to make it work,although it will be tough initially for him.

"Hsicheila is a fantastic driver-super,super guy; super,super quick" - Webber gives Fisi a tick How that aM translates at Melbourne remains to be seen- the car's speed en tering slow and medium comers is pretty good; there% sill a Me work to do getting off the comers,lut R4 has some very strong points and we have to clip away at the others.

Melboume isn't tradiionally a Michelin circuit, whereas Malaysia is, although with a year's extra information and development, things willl be closer in Melbourne.

THE ®M¥ERS:Triekyl One's a#@%?er and the other's from Brazil!...

Both of us have come to the team via a similar route- done all the categories, been an FI test driver. We had some interesting races togeiier in the junior categories. He wants to beat me;I want to kick his butt.

Again;he's non-Brazilian in some ways; pretty methodical in the way he goes about it; very, very fast. I really am happy to ha ve someone like him in the garage next door because when you do get it together and win out, you know you've done a good job. A very healthy rivalry.I'd suggest.

49

MARK WEBBER’S Insider's Guide to the Australian gp THE TEAM:Looking quite regimented in the way they are now going about it all. Dave Richards makes things happen - he's a wily old fox. They've now got Geoff Willis from Williams, who has seen how a top team operates. It's a good challenge for him to go there,step up to the plate and see if he can do it himself. A good gain for the team.

They've got one of the better 'boxing' pairings in pit lane, with Jacques and JB ...

THE CAR:The car looks like a good step forward. Honda have made probably some of the biggest progress on the engine side of all the teams- they didn't have anything spectacular last year in terms of weight, reliability or power.

To drag those three back to a sensible number in relation to your competition is not easy to do,but I think they have done it. They've stiU got a bit to do in terms of reliability and power,but they are much closer than before.

THE DRIVERS:The chat about the two of them not speaking is exaggerated-they've had a few lunches together.JB is pretty relaxed about it-but once the season starts, the helmets go on and they're potentially qualifying next to each other, they won't be worried about putting each other in the dirt-that's for sure!

They'll race each other - but have to be careful that they don't end up with two bar's in the barriers!

Lucky Strike BAR-Honda 1 Chassis - BAR 005

Engine - Honda RA003E VI0

Tyres - Bridgestone

16 Jacques Villeneuve 1 (Canada)

31, 116 starts, 11 wins, 13 poles, 9 FLaps, 213 points

17 Jenson Button (Gt Britain)

Jacques would never, ever,admit it, but there is big pressure on him to perform - especially after the public discussion over his salary.

He's a bit of a sitting duck-Jenson's got everything to gain,but he's going to have to work hard as well,because Jacques is quality. He can step up to the plate when he needs to ...

23, 51 starts, 0 wins,0 pole, 0 FLaps, 28 points

Panasonic Toyota Racing Chassis - Toyota TF103

Engine-Toyota RVX-03 VI0

20 Olivier Panis (France)

Tyres - Michelin

'

36, 125 starts, 1 win,0 poles, 0 FLaps, 64 points

21 Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) 29,0 starts, 0 wins,0 poles, 0 FLaps,(On Debut) motorspon news

fcfVlC

FORMULA ONE

Mnani CosworUi

Chassis-Minardi PS03

Engine - Cosworth CR-3 VI0

THE TEAM:Again, it's going to be tough financially. If ever a bloke needed a leg up,or points for trying, it's Stoddy.

There are some very clever people in the team, but up against the budget of the big teams it's tough. That's why we looked a bit average some of the time last year and they may well be average again this year.

It's been a horrible winter for

Tyres - Bridgestone

||

JUSTiN MVtLSON

Stoddy, with the battle with the tyre companies as well, but I hope the team comes out the other end of it with a decent package.

Minardi is definitely a team which could benefit from the new regulations this year. They could have some interesting weekends.

THE CAR:Like Jordan, a good engine from Cosworth, which will be the best part of the package compared to last year.

The car appeared in time for a couple of runs at Fiorano,last week - not really enough to know whether you have tire relaibility issues covered.

THE DRIVERS:Justin WUson is a talent, for sure. He'll do a good job for Minardi- although he'll find that FI is quite a bit different to tire other categories he's raced in.

Joss(Verstappen) has proved before that he can be very fast. He'll be waiting for July when the launch control gets banned - he's a specialist at starts!

Minardi is definiteiy a team which could benefit from the new regulations this year

II

- Webber on on his oU team I

THE TEAM: If they don t get too big nternally, I think this team will be one of the movers of 2003 - they could well finish fourth in the championship.

The one possible disadvantage of a team representing such a big corporation is the potential for management overload people sometimes don't know who to go to for certain jobs. However, their R&D is apparently very special The team is representing one of the biggest manufacturers in the world and their goal is quite simple - they want to win a world championship within five years.

They are going to be the big improvers.

They'll get a lot of points this year.

THE CAR: A big step forward over what they had last year. I did follow last year's car in some races and it wasn't a brilliant car by any means. An amazing engine, but the car itself wasn't that good.

Nothing changes overnight, and they' stii have issues to work on with this year's car, but they have taken a good step 26 February 2003

forward. The car looks quite reliable at the monnent - very important at this time of the year.

THE DRIVERS: If Da Matta can get a feel for it very very quickly, then they'll have two guys who can both run strongly.

Olivier (Panis) is a very, very good driver in modern FI. He understands the tyres; understands all the systems really well.

Toyota aren't stupid - that's why they grabbed him. Given that he worked a lot on development with Bridgestone (while McLaren's test driver and then at BAR), Michelin are doing a lot of work with him now. A strong card for Toytota - they can put a lot of trust in him.

Da Matta is obviously good; he won in CART, but there have been drivers who've come across and struggled to get a feel for FI. But he's got the right frame of mind very un-Brazilian in some ways - more laid back and unemotional, which will work in his favour.

51

Kick we Tyres m T HE 2003 V8 Supercar Silly Season has been, to paraphrase Darrell Eastlake, huge.

With all the ons and offs, the moves, the rumours and as many as 20 new cars appearing in the early races, there wUl be a lot to watch.

There will be only one thing better than watching the Silly Season we had to have; watching the season itself.

Already, much has been done.

Drivers have moved teams and,in some cases, moved manufacturers and even states. There are new engines (in the Commodores - well, some of them anyway),new aero kits (a story in itself) and new faces (no, we are not talking about cosmetic surgery).

As well, there is a new points system, designed to iron out some of the bumps from previous years, a new driver code of conduct and judicial system and even a new brand of Safety Car. But even with all the changes, the Name of the Game will remain the same; beat Mark Skaife and the Holden Racing Team and you have a pretty good look at taking the championship. Skaifey is shooting for four straight titles and will start the season as favourite but the sheer weight of change during the summer means that the crystal ball is looking a little less clear than it has been in recent years.

TWR Racing has changed internally, with Jason Bright and Todd and Rick Kelly all having new seats this season. Castrol/Perkins

and Valvoline/GRM have gone for youth, with Paul Dumbrell and Jamie Whincup, while Team Dyanamik has started with a clean sheet of paper for its Adelaide-based 'Kiwi'team of Simon Wills and Jason Richards.

On the Ford side ... look, you could write a novel. The Prodrive/Ford Performance Racing saga has been a story in itself and FPR will be the object of much attention from the fans and media. It could all have been so different... a battle within a battle to watch could be Greg Ritter versus Ford's factory team.

Don't forget, it was Stone Brothers Racing and Brad Jones's OzEmail team that carried the flag for Ford for much of 2002 and they will be at the forefront of the Blue Oval assault this season. Both teams hit the track before any other Ford outfits and that might be telling, especially early in the season.

SBR has constructed what new

The 'Silliest' Silly Season in V and now it is time to put ui PHIL BRANAGAN looks at 10 2002 VS Supopcap Cha

recruit Russell Ingall describes as the best-built V8 Supercar he has ever seen, while the OzEmail car feels just right. We know - Brad and JB said so when they shook it down and the only other person to have driven the car is ... us(see page 32).

What else? Well, the gyms are full of racing drivers, all getting ready for the new 300km races - and 400km sauna at Eastern Creek to finish the season. New stands have been built in Adelaide for all the fans coming to the season-opening Clipsal 500, Network 10 is going to take us to places we have never been before ...

Hell. Enough talk. I feel the need, the need for speed ...

More( T r

HE Holden Racing Team has built a dynasty. Over the past three seasons, the Red Army has been virtually untouchable on a consistency basis, as three championships straight for Skaife demonstrates.

Will it go that way this year? No,it won't.

The latest - and greatest?

Todd Kelly shakes down HRT's Commodore VY at Winton last week. The cars were running interim livery.

52

ffloiorsRon news

V8 SUPERCARS

111 Uaht nefwes

B Supercar history is over I or shut up and go racing, ssues that couid decide the mpionship Series

Keep an eye on the rookies WITH endurance drivers now getting experience before getting full-time rides, there is almost no such thing as a 'rookie'any more (with the possible exception of relative unknown David Thexton).

Among the list of the drivers who have secured full-time V8 rides for the first time are some impressive performers;former Konica Series champs Dean Canto and Paul Dumbrell and ex-Formula Ford titleists

Marshall Cass

Greg Ritter and Jamie Whincup. Of those, Whincup has the least actual V8 Supercar experience but,like the others, he will bear watching.

Canto starred at Bathurst in 2001 and,last year, it was Ritter and Dumbrell who stole the headlines with mature,impressive performances. A recent quote from Larry Perkins about Dumbrell applies to most of the rookies; "I can hardly be more impressed with what Paul has done so far," LP mused."And it's not like he is going to get worse at this; he can only get better."

Watch for the rookies to lower the colours of some of the stars this year.

A short conversation:

// I really look up to you. Dean". // Max, matey, that means a lot".

the same?

That is not to say that HRT and Skaife will not win the championship this year; they ma\' well do. But even HRT will admit that, in recent times.

Ford and its teams have gime above and beyond the call of duty to find new wavs to lose motor races.

Whether they got the cars wrong, made bad decisions or were just plain unluckv. Fords have been awful in recent times..Most of its teams had at least one piece missing from their pux/les; on the occasions when they threatened, the cars broke down or ran into each other.

28 February 2003

Ford has learned from its mistakes.

Its teams ha\ e better hardware, better drivers and better resources than before. Simply by the statistics, Ford cannot keep screwing up the way it has - or can it? And will that be enough to beat HRT at its own game?

Hey, if I could answer that, I would be talking to a bookie ...

Red shoes sonny, red shoes: Skaife, centre, will be looking to make it four straight titles with help from new team-mate Kelly.

i 53

Happy New Holden Peter Points and j

There will be major changes down Peter Brock Avenue this season; with Holden stepping in to take Mr Perfect back into the 'fold'.

The reasons for doing so are welldocumented. No matter how wellintentioned, the 2002 version of Team Brock was never going to be a threat to the front-runners and giving Brock and co access to new hardware is going to fast-track the team's progress at warp speed.

When the Kmart Racing Team was integrated into the TWR Racing fold in 2001 there were a few who questioned whether it would 'dilute' the concentration on HRT's quest to win championships. It didn't, so on the face of it, going from five cars last year to six under the new 'umbrella'shouldn't pose too many dramas this season. If it did, it would be the worst nightmare of a few people - with M. Skaife at the front of that queue.

Jason Bright is likely to thrive in his'own'environment this season, with Paul Weel hitching a ride in the second TB Commodore (both in VXs to start with). Brock will be there, merchandising will be huge and the team will get plenty of attention. One to watch.

54

Penalties

ONCE a time, a driver's wholeupon season could hinge not so much on what happened but when it happened.

Take the Adelaide 500.If tilings went awry on Saturday, a good Sunday residt could salvage the weekend, because there was a different points structure on the two 250km races. But if it was tlie otlier way aroimd - a good Saturday and a Sunday DNF- tilings went pear-shaped.

Not now. Tlie points system has been revised so that aU rounds are equally weighted, regardless of whether the format is single-race, h\'o races, three races. Win all the races on a weekend and you pocket 192 pointsand you can drop your worst result.

Tlie changes are designed to extend the'Uve' time of the championship -in other words, make srrre that Mark Skaife (or anyone else) cannot lock die thing away widi a handful of races left on the program.

The odier change is to the judicial system. After an extensive review, die new system wilt see the penalty fit die crime;in other words,there will be less

Will Murfcop it out of babittWith a new system in place this year, no. 'interpretation' by officialdom, whicli is where much of the controversy in recent times has started. A team and driver knows diat if they do 'X', they get an 'X' penalty.

In addition, all cars wiU now carry TV cameras so that officials can view incidents from the driver's viewpoint, hi other championsliips, this practice has been pretty effective in tidying up on-track manners and it has also led to some odd incidents-like the time that one BTCC driver who was sprung asking his team which plug he had to puU to disable his cam on a warm-up , lap.

Is that kosher?

I don't diink so, Tim ...

moiorsport news

V8 SUPERGARS

And^ on this season of Friends GLOBAL MACHIIHERY COMPAIMY

Presents *^tnade! af the month WW b)

May The Enforcer be with you: Ingall, left, and Ambrose will make a pretty potent lineup at Stone Brothers Racing. former team-mate David The January 1 unveiling of Besnard and Ingall handled the Russell Ingall’s new arrival of Steven Richards at SBR/Caltex deal was longawaited and, when it Perkinsville as well as anyone could. Hell, they almost won happened, all the Usual Bathurst together.

Suspects made the Usual Noises.

But the question is still to be Russell loves Ford. Russell answered ... will Ingall and loves Caltex. Russell loves Ambrose really be able to run as team-mates or will the Marcos. Marcos loves Russell. whole thing implode? Both are How long is THIS going to last? making the right noises but, until they go racing, no-one The first bloke you want to (not even them) will know for beat in any form of racing is sure. Both want to win, your team-mate. Ingall and Ambrose both have what it Nigel Mansell and Nelson takes to be successful in the Piquet did not get along as team-mates. Neither did Ayrton sport; they are smart, fast, fit Senna and Alain Prost, and tough. But, just like all Maybe Ingall and Ambrose . racing drivers have to be, they will. are selfish and they want Maybe, things their own way.

We are not saying that they will punch each other up.

Ambrose didn’t do it with

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55

U8 SUPIRCARS

Keep an eye out for Prodrive

in the David Richards 'correct' way. goes about motor racing The former WRC navigator has deals in place with major car manufacturers. He hires the best people he can get, puts them in the right job and lets them get on with things. With the responsibilities he has Subaru, BAR-Honda,the World Rally Championship - he could not do it any other way.

So the new Prodrive V8 Supercar team marches into battle with Glenn Seton, Craig Lowndes and David Besnard driving, an impressive line-up of staff, a healthy budget(provided largely by Ford) and a pedigree of success. Can the team win the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series?

Not a chance in hell.

The model for the technology-led, well-budgeted V8 team wanting to win - no, dominate - the class is Holden Racing Team and,to put it simply,HRT is so

good at what it does that you cannot catch it from a standing start in a single season. The Claytons keep moving the goal posts; if you aim for where the team is now, you will never catch it. You need to looka year, probably two,ahead.

Prodrive will make waves this season. It may,in the Big Picture, be a Player. Lowndes and Seton have won championships in the past; Bezzy is a racewinner as well. There could be good results, even wins,this year.

But to be a race-to-race, week-toAveek Contender, Prodrive needs the one thing Gibson and 00 Motorsport never got from Ford; a second year. And even then, HRT will make life tough for them.

Third time a charm: After up arid down seasons with Gibson Motorsport and 00 Motorsport, will Lowndes finally be a contender with FPRl

AProdrive, WORLD away from the brothers Stone and the brothers Jones go motor racing a different way.

Given a stark choice, Ross and Jimmy, and Bradley and Kim would probably rather

(OZEmail M ■ - ■ ft

' <● »

.rv'Vs-

I '■ac® than eat and, because of ^ IBU that mentality, the two have been the leading Ford teams ’ I over the last season.

Which, kind of, flies in the : face of the whole Prodrive/Ford deal. There has been more than one person wondering during the off-season whether the Blue Oval brigade would not have been better advised to pump some more dollars Stones and Jones-side rather than start 'from scratch' with GSR and Prodrive - and Ford would still be left with change.

That said, SBR and the OzEmails have a solid basis from which to leap into 2003.

r

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Marcos Ambrose finished second in the 2002 championship, Russell Ingall's arrival in the team will only motivate him to greater heights and it is those two who many see as the leaders of Ford's challenge this season.

Up Albury way, John Bowe is driving better than ever and Jones has been matching him stride for stride in the most recent races. And two things both teams will have in their favour this season; identical cars, which makes testing a whole lot easier than in the past, when both teams had to 'translate' data from car to slightly-different car.

And, after Ford invested heavily in FPR, will the two 'little' teams be particularly motivated to lower Prodrive's colours?

What do you think?

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U8 SUPERCARS

IN the dim ~ dark past.

Sandown held the traditional Bathurst warm-up in September but,in recent years, it has been the Paperclip 500 that showed Bathurst form.

Now,the Sandown,er, Melbourne 500 is back, which is just as well. The Q500 ne\ er reached any kind of heiglrts(even if it provided some cracker finishes)and let's be honest; the Sandown Ultimate was never a big e\ ent. Now,it will be up to Sandown,;7g/;h to provide the kind of old time September rock and roll fans used to enjoy in past races.

The Ultimate moves to Eastern Creek. VS Supercar's next big thing needs to be in Sydney; the Creek has been an awful spectator track and produces processional races.

Now,with the Grand Finale of the championship, it will need a major spict'-up to capture the imagination.

And a Sydney street race? Maybe not... bipartisan support for NSW go\ emment assisted improvements to Bathurst is fine but it makes the prospect of NSW taxpayers pumping in more money for a temporary' track fairly dim.There has been a lot of talk about a race in the Olympic precinct but do not hold your breath waiting for that to happen; But then again, who would ha\ e thought that next year, we would be having a race in Shanghai?

Lnaditibn

\

Who did what in the off-season After The Silly Season we Had to Have,' only 14 drivers will line up with the same team/sponsor/manufacturer package that they had in 2002

Driver Mark Skaife Jason Bright Rick Kelly Cameron McConviile Marcos Ambrose Glenn Seton Craig Lowndes Rodney Forbes Russel] Ingall David Besnard Mark Larkham Larry Perkins Todd Kelly Steven Richards Steven Johnson Paul Radisich Brad Jones Jason Richards Paul Romano Dugal McDougall Neil Crompton Paul Morris Steve Ellery Garth Tander Jason Bargwanna Cameron McLean Paul Weel John Faulkner Greg Murphy Craig Baird Tony Longhurst Max Wilson Simon Wills John Bowe Anthony Tratt Various Various

New blood Greg Ritter Paul Dumbrell Dean Canto Jamie Whincup Mark Noske David Thexton

2003 2002 TWR/HRT TWR/HRT Team Brock TWR/HRT TWR/Holden Young Lions TWR/Kmart Racing Lansvale Racing Team LansvaleRacing Team SBR/Pirtek SBR/Pirtek Prodrive/FPR/Ford Credit Seton/Ford Credit Prodrive/FPR/CAT 00 Motorsport 00 Motorsport 00 Motorsport SBR/Caltex Castrol/Perkins Prodrive/FPR SBR/Caltex LMS/Orrcon LMS/Orrcon Castrol/Perkins Enduro only TWR/HRT TWR/Kmart Castrol/Perkins Castrol/Perkins Shell Helix/DJR Shell Hellx/DJR Shell Hellx/DJR Briggs/Betta OzEmall/BJR OzEmail/BJR Team Kiwi Team Dynamik TBA Romano Left V8s Pepsi/McDougall No drive 00 Motorsport Morris/Sirromet Morris/SIrromet Ellery/Super Cheap Ellery/Super Cheap GRM/Valvoline GRM/Valvoline Larkham/TBA GRM/Valvoline Enduro only (TWR?) Paragon Team Brock K&J Thermal Retired JFR TWR/Kmart Racing TWR/Kmart Racing Team Kiwi Team Brock Enduro only(TWR?) Briggs/Betta Shell Helix/DJR Briggs/Betta Team Dynamik Briggs/CAT OzEmail BJR OzEmail/BJR Toll Toll Franchise to Noske Imrie Motorsport Franchise to TWR Imrie Motorsport DJR enduros Konica V8SS Briggs enduros Formula Ford TB/GRM enduros NZ

00 Motorsport Castrol Perkins Briggs Betta Valvoline GRM MSport Paragon/Larkham

Mum, make him stop! Kelly gets the Kmart seat vacated by, er, Kelly.

58

motorsport news

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U8 SUPERCARS

No gain without strain This one's dead: Even HRT can have mechanical dramas, as evidenced at the 2002 Queensland 500. With teams pushing their cars harder than ever, look for more blue smoke this season.

Parrot E

I JUST couldn't bring myself to write a 'Parity' headline. We may have thought that, after all the toing-and-froing over the summer and aero development and testing, the P word was dead.

We would be wrong.

Project Blueprint is designed to have two marques of car as similar in specification and performance as possible - but it is not perfect. The fact is, no matter how hard the powers-that-be have worked on parity, we will not know how successful PB has been until we see a few races. And TEGA (rightly) maintains the right to make adjustments one way or the other if required.

If one make dominates early, expect a response from the other.

Ford is now much better-equipped to lobby for aid than it has been in the past. On the other hand,should Fords win the opening handful of races this season, Holden and its teams, used to having most of the On the nose: Most of the off-season talk have been about the downforce success, will whine like a stuffed diff. supplied by splitters of the Commodore VY, above, and the Falcon BA.

MAJOR format changes this season will be seen in the large number of 300km races - not to mention the Creek's 400km, single-driver Ultimate. ^ The long races will place a great strain on drivers, stretch the reliability of cars and turn up the heat on pit crews. A bad stop may not mean the end of the world drivers will have longer to recover from a SNAFU - but it would still, probably, put winning out of the question.

V8 Supercars are fairly reliable - but not QUITE bulletproof. Yes, Skaife did make it home at Bathurst with marginal cooling but HRT cars blew to bits in the Q500 and at it failed at Indy.

The hardware is wellestablished but teams are pushing the performance envelope so, if a race leader crawls to an oily halt in a race, don't be shocked.

0

.Dirk Klynsmith

The Darth Vader look: Exhausted drivers, like Todd Kelly at Adelaide last season, and gizmos to stop them getting that way may be a common sight in 2003.

26

61

Kdiiioa ITS Supercar Series — Wakefield Park

Wintepbonom Wb Stone Brothers Racing has another young gun on its hands in the form of Mark Winterbottom, who dominated the first round of the Konica V8 Series.

AARON NOONAN watched on Dirk

I

UST as season 2002 ended with victory for Stone Brothers Racing,season 2003 started with same result, as new signing Mark Winterbottom steered the Milligans-backed Falcon to a firstup win in round one of the Konica V8 Supercar Series at Wakefield Park on the weekend.

A:--

msmith

Winning team; Engineer Campbell Little, Crew Chief Ben Croke and Nick and Ross Stone, above left, watch as Winterbottom, above right, pressed on to victory. Porter and Youlden, below, scrapped in race three, while Tony Ricciardello, right, hit the podium first time out as well. o

The Formula Ford graduate simply didn't put a wheel wrong all weekend. Aided by the benefit of experienced heads m Ross Stone and Campbell Little (not to mention Marcos Ambrose), the former karter took pole position, dominated two races and ran a calculated and cool sixth in the reverse grid race to give him a debut victory.

"I couldn't ask for a better start," said a delighted Winterbottom.

"I had to work hard all weekend.

Getting pole was a bonus and winning race one was bloody good but winning the round is awesome.

Marcos has been great to just sit down and talk it all over with."

Winterbottom admitted that on the eve of his V8 Supercar debut(with just two test sessions under his belt full stop), he'd have been happy with a top five round result.

"1 thought if 1 finished in the top five then I'd be doing cartwheels all the way home!"

We're pleased to report that he used four-wheeled transport to get home...

Starting on the front row of the 62

grid in race one left Winterbottom clear of the carnage and action that affected most of his rivals and one point in time or another.

While Andrew Jones(BOC Gases/BJR Falcon AU)got the jump on him in race one, Winterbottom had passed his former FFord rival on lap three and cleared away to record a clear five second victory over Owen Kelly, stepping into the Smith's Trucks Commodore at the last minute, to take second.

Besides Winterbottom and Kelly, the changeable weather and/or contact with other cars struck just about all of their rivals. Jones disappeared off the back'of the Milligans Ford when he looped on lap six and delayed the following Luke Youlden (Super Cheap Falcon),

who had qualified a bit further back than expected in seventh.

Jones managed to press on through the varying level of drizzle that circled around the Goulburn circuit, clawing his way back to sixth before a masterful drive through the traffic in the reverse grid event landed him second behind winner Brett Peters.

That put the V8 new boy at the front for race three, but he got turned around at turn one and the rear of the Ford received a modification to its rear that wouldn't cut it in the wind tunnel by an innocent Youlden.

Pressing on for ninth and some points was the result for the Albury lad.

"I'm not really too sure who hit me,it was pretty heated heading into turn one," offered Jones later.

"I got a whack up the back and so I

had my hands together praying that no-one (else) hit me. I don't know how they didn't!"

Youlden had one of the busier days in the field. After getting moving again in race one following Jones's spin, he found himself in contact with Dale Brede(who had been bounced off the road and back down the pack at the first turn in the HRT Young Guns Holden)and Geoff Full in the Imrie Holden on lap eight.

"He(Youlden) went to pass the car in front (Full) and committed and then backed out,so I committed up the

continued on page 64 molorsporl news

nderland

U8 SUPERCARS

5

s-

POS HO 1 41 2 12 3 64 4 46 5 72 6 88 7 30 14 9 22 10 28 11 98 12 71 13 25 14 56 15 55 16 94 17 110 18 40 19 300 20 68 21 35 22 23 77 24 87 25 26 26 49 27 666 28 47

fQualifying^ DRIVER Mark Winterbottom Andrew Jones Mark Porter Dale Brede Owen Kelly Peter Gazzard Luke Youlden Geoff Full Todd Wanless Matthew White Grant Elliott Tony Ricciardello Terry Wyhoon Kevin Mundy Jose Fernandez Mark Howard David Russell Brett Peters Tony Evangelou Shane Beikoff Clyde Lawrence Jamie Miller Richard Mork Graham Crawford Robert McDonald Tim Gordon Phil Nichols Craig Bastian

GAR TIME 1:00.4708 Milligans/SBR Falcon AU BOC Gases/BJR Falcon AU 1:00.5950 1:00.7401 Hydraulink/IRC Commodore VX HRT Young Guns Commodore VX 1:00.7550 Smith's Trucks Commodore. VT 1:00.7600 3M/HMS Falcon AU 1:00.7651 1:00.8653 Super Cheap Auto Falcon AU Imrie Motor Sport Commodore VX 1:01,0151 1:01.0701 Metalcorp/PCR Falcon AU VIP Pet Foods Commodore VT 1:01.1351 Sydney Star Commodore VS 1:01.3001 Dick Johnson Racing Falcon AU 1:01.3900 1:01.4852 Kitome/Lubrimaxx Falcon AU 1:02.0403 Actron Air/PCR Falcon AU 1:02.0560 Fernandez Racing Falcon AU 1:02.1551 Howard Racing Falcon AU Chance of a Lifetime Falcon AU 1:02.1703 1:02.2250 Greenfield/Century Falcon AU 1:02.3852 ANT Racing Commodore VS Diesel Tech Commodore VS 1:02.6602 Karingal Haulage Commodore VS 1:03.0252 Pedders Commodore VX 1:03.1853 1:03.5801 V8 Racing Commodore VS 1:03.5953 Centre Stage Falcon EL Doulman Auto Commodore VT 1:03.7203 1:04.4752 Howard Racing Falcon AU Nichols Falcon EL 1:04.7754 Abacus Falcon AU 1:26.1071

Round 1

Wakefleld Park Marshall Cass

K<oni|

smTHSTRUCKS l « ^l All smiles: Owen Kelly, below left, joined Winterbottom and Ricciardello on the podium, above, while there were some familiar faces on hand checking out the action. 2002 Champ Paul Dumbrell, below left, was in the Porter/Hydraulink camp, while Dick Johnson kept an eye on Ricciardello.

Aaron Noonan

■●7 o

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7t 26 February 2003

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63

Wakeflelil Park

Wucking On OWEN Kelly was looking at having a very quiet season 2003 with not much more than an outing or two in the endurance races,though the Melbourne-based Tasmanian found himself in a ride in the week leading up to the opening round - and for the full season in the Smith's Trucks Commodore owned by Robert Smith.

"It all came together in a week," reported Kelly. "Ryan McLeod rang me up and said that Smithy didn’t want to drive. It beats what I was doing - which was nothing!"

The ex-Gibson Motorsport VT proved it was far from a spent force. with Kelly taking third overall for the round. With Adelaide to come, he’s

g Si

predicting a bit more speed out of the #72 machine.

"We’ll be a bit better organised for the next round at Adelaide so we should be a lot better off. Add in that we’ll have another engine and different brakes and we’ll have a good run."

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the team. After finishing second in the final race, smoke began to pour out, prompting Kelly to stop on the cool-down lap There was oil everywhere and it started smoking up through the gearbox so I pulled it up and had the belts off, window net down and drink unplugged before the thing had stopped, just in case!"

- AARON NOONAN John Morris/Moix

continued from page 62 inside and he turned in and I had no road and it bent the steering," reported Brede, who wouldn't repeat his 2001 victory and was out for the race.

He jumped back with fourth in the reverse race, but a tyre valve that popped out forced a tyre stop in race three and he ended up with a weekend he'd rather forget.

On the other hand, Youlden had a busy day. He ran off himself after the incident with Brede and the innocent John MorrisfMpix

Full, but he wasn't happy about the Brede incident.

"1 went to pass Full and he tried to pass both of us," he said.

"It must have been brain fade or something, there's no way you can pass two cars in the one go into that comer."

Forced to settle for third in the reverse race after locking a front tyre in turn one in pursuit of Peters and Jones, race three saw more contact, this time an innocent party after Jones looped it.

"Owen (Kelly) as going to pass Jones and those two touched one another and Jones got out of shape and continued on around but 1 snuck through and he collected my door as he was sppirming, which completely destroyed it. There was glass aU in the cabin and it bent the left front steering geometry,so it wasn't handling the best and (it was)a battle of survival."

The quietest two achievers of the day were Kelly and Tony RicciardeUo, who filled the podium behind Winterbottom.

Kelly grabbed second in the first race, ninth in race two and again was runnerup in the last event. Without the pace to match Winterbottom,Kelly did a superb job with eyes on closing the gap in Adelaide.

"It's going to be a long race so the guys who keep their pace and stay consistent will be the ones at the end," he said.

64

;GYRONK

Ricciardello's drive was a strong start to his campaign in a DJR Ford.

With team boss Dick Johnson on hand to check out the multiple Sports Sedan Champion's debut,the West Aussie qualified back in a disappointing 12th, though such is the competitiveness of the Konica Series, he was just ninetenths off pole.

A calm and steady third in race one followed by fifth in the reverse race left him to start from the second row in the final, but try as he might, didn't have enough to take a win.

Running second, he miscued at the hairpin and dropped the spot to Kelly, though still held second for the round.

"There's so much knowledge in the team," reported the V8 rookie.

"We got the car pretty consistentgot it to go from nothing to something, so we'll take it a step at a time."

Another shining light was also Ford mounted in two-time GT-Performance

Bash and crash: Andy Jones had his Ford re-arranged by an unlucky Youlden in race three, above, while the Super Cheap driver tangled with Brede, left, in race one. The HRT Young Guns car under John Faulkner would be forced to pit in race three, below.

la ENGINEERING

continued on page 66 motorsport news

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Kranioa VS Supercar Series — Wakefield Park T

Konica V8s Rd 1 Wakefield Pk Race 1 (17 laps)

POS DRIVER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

RRCniME/UPS

FSSTEST

Winterbottom Kelly Ricciardello White Wanless Jones Youlden Porter 9 Mundy 10 Fernandez 11 Howard 12 Full 13 Lawrence 14 Peters 15 Crawford 16 Elliott 17 Bastian 18 Beikotf 19 Miller 20 Mork 21 Evangelou 22 7 Gordon DNF McDonald DNF Russell DNF Brede DNF Wyhoon DNF Gazzard DNS Nichols

17:54.1070 1:01.6159 17:58.1177 1:01.7294 18:06.9214 1:02.0458 18:07.3810 1:01.9797 18:09.1339 1:01.9417 18:09.5529 1:01.2692 18:12.4151 1:01.0661* 18:19.3385 1:02.0246 18:24.0833 1:02.0835 18:29.1724 1:02.0257 18:32.0796 1:03.1634 18:33.4533 1:01.9723 18:44.0597 1:04.0827 18:44.9558 1:02.5733 18:47.2642 1:03.7892 18:47.7314 1:02.4158 18:53.6958 1:03.0076 1:03.6242 18:58.4787 1:03.6674 16 laps 1:04.8650 16 laps 1:05.3287 16 laps 1:05.3274 16 laps 1:04.7025 15 laps 1:02.8255 9 laps 1:01.0812 8 laps 1:25.4339 1 lap 1:29.9959 1 lap 0 laps

Race 2(17 laps) 1 Feters 2 Jones 3 Youlden 4 Brede 5 Ricciardello 6 Winterbottom 7 Bastian 8 White 9 Kelly 10 Fernandez 11 Evangelou 12 Forter 13 Gazzard 14 Mundy 15 Wanless 16 Lawrence 17 Howard 18 Mork 19 Miller 20 Gordon 21 Beikotf 22 McDonald DNF Crawford DNF Elliott DNF Full

18:02.5578 18:03.2758 18:03.8613 18:07.4641 18:08.6346 18:09.1502 18:12.8025 18:13.2049 18:15.4689 18:17.7240 18:18.5874 18:22.6778 18:24.0410 18:25.2503 18:30.8104 18:45.6538 18:50.0848 18:52.6923 18:54.4593 16 laps 16 laps 16 laps 12 laps Slaps Olaps

1:01.9140 1:01.6204 1:01.6062 1:01.7737 1:01.6482 1:01.2308* 1:02.1412 1:02.3401 1:02.0591 1:01.9695 1:02.7545 1:02.0600 1:02.1763 1:03.2720 1:02.5162 1:04.0722 1:03.3330 1:05.0664 1:04.5277 1:04.2963 1:02.6414 1:05.7718 1:03.7550 1:03.3834

Race 3 (30 laps) 1 Winterbottom 2 Kelly 3 Ricciardello 4 Forter 5 Youlden 6 White 7 Feters Gazzard 9 Jones 10 Mundy 11 Basb'an 12 Beikoff 13 Evangelou 14 Wanless 15 Howard 16 Brede 17 Miller 18 Crawford 19 Lawrence 20 Gordon DNF McDonald DNF Full DNF Mork

31:10.7962 31:15.5465 31:18.5151 31:25.0710 31:26.4787 31:30.7270 31:32.9219 31:33.6840 31:48.3034 31:52.6894 32:00.2820 32:11.1392 29 laps 29 laps 29 laps 29 laps 29 laps 29 laps 29 laps 23 laps 20 laps 9 laps 1 lap

1:00.7883* 1:01.4898 1:01.5036 1:01.8055 1:01.6423 1:01.5237 1:01.8170 1:02.0338 1:02.3201 1:02.0197 1:02.6868 1:03.1148 1:01.9306 1:03.0754 1:01.5077 1:03.6235 1:03.5689 1:03.8520 1:04.5031 1:04.1063 1:01.6080 1:33.1381

Points: Winterbottom 182, Ricciardello 176, Kelly 172, Youlden 168, Jones 164, White 162, Peters 154, Porter 150, Mundy 132, Wanless 130, Bastian 128, Howard 112, Evangelou 108, Lawrence 102, Beikoff 96, Brede/Fernandez 92, Gazzard 90, Miller 88, Crawford 86, Gordon 74, McDonald 66, Mork 56, Full 42, Elliott 34, Russell 18, Wyhoon/Nichols 0.

continued from page 64 Champion Brett Peters in the Greenfield/Century Batteries Falcon.

With not enough rims,he didn't get a shot at qualifying on new tyres so started 18th, only to work his way to 14th and take advantage of some strong car speed to hold out Jones and Youlden in the reverse event to take the win.

It seemed like it was back to the PROCAR Series, with Peters joined by former rival Full in the Konica Series.

12th in race one was followed by two retirements for the Imrie/Big Toys Commodore. Contact with Graham Crawford entering turn one in race two put him out, while a blown oil line made race three just as successful.

FuU's co-driver from the enduros

right, took his first V8 Supercar win in the reverse grid event in the Greenfield/Century Batteries Falcon.

●o.

“Y,

CYRONF6

I

I

3^ C

& S.

Exit, stage right: Full and Crawford collide, above, while Jamie Miller lopped it on lap one of race two, below. Matthew White kept out of trouble, bottom, pictured ahead of Todd Wanless, on debut in tbe exAmbrose Ford run by Paul Cruickshank Racing.

O

last year, Mark Porter, had a tough weekend in the Hydrauhnk Commodore prepped by Marty Brant's IRC. With former occupant Paul Dumbrell on hand to offer

X

S i.

assistance, the Kiwi qualified fiftli but a couple of excursions in race one hurt dearly, as did a spin in race two after contact from Jones.

On of those weekends? "Yep,it was a decent hit,I didn't get much of a chance to collect it," said the quietly spoken Porter, who fought back for fourth in the last race.

Matthew White was his usual consistent self in the VIP Pet Foods Commodore but just lacked speed, while debutant Jose Fernandez(the ex-Group N racer in the ex-Bowe/BJR AU)impressed, as did Grant Elliott, back in the Sydney Star Commodore, who qualified 10th before race day dramas stopped his weekend.

Peter Gazzard had a clutch failure that stopped the 3M Ford in race one, with a 13th and eighth at least taking the South Aussie HMS team back home with some points.

Adelaide and a one-hour race await at the Clipsal 500 in the first-ever meeting where the Konica kids have supported the main series in a championship event.And if Wakefield was anything to go by, we bet we know which race wiU be more entertaining...

66

The bill will be pretty good: Robert McDonald smacked the armco on the pit straight in race three, above left, while Brett Peters, above right and

motorspoirt neiNs

i-

FORMULA HOLDEN Dirk Klynsmflh

|o .^ERiES^ ^ "B

A

Reid in the Ram THE sorry state of Australia’s premier open wheeler category was highlighted when only 10 Formula 4000(formerly Formula Holden)cars took to the grid for round one of the 2003 Holden Australian Drivers Championship at Wakefieid Park.

And it was one of the five foreign invaders who took the honours.

Nineteen-year-old New Zealander Jonny Reid, right, is hoping to follow Scott Dixon to an international career via Australia after an impressive performance.

But the rain that was welcomed by farmers around Goulburn played havoc with Reid’s first Formula 4000 race.

“It was drizzling on the warm up lap in race one and 1 saw the green flag as I came into the straight and the crew telling me to go," Reid said.

Reid gave his Reynard a boot full and crossed the start line millimetres ahead of pole-sitter Akihiro Asai.

“I didn't realise the officials had decided on a rolling start, that was just inexperience on my part 1 suppose.”

The indiscretion led to a drive through penalty, but that was not the end of the race one woes for Reid. He was pinged for speeding in pit lane and called in again.

Reid’s luck was not all bad and Asai’s engine gave up while the Kiwi was clawing his way back

uirK-KiynsmiUi

through the field.

Third in race one and a convincing seven second win in race two wrapped up the round for Reid from Ricky Occhipinti, above.

Lack of numbers on the grid did not detract from the impressive win-on-debut performance in race one by Occhipinti in a Hocking Motorsport Reynard 98D. The boy from Geelong lost the round on a countback, but the results in the drive deal that was thrown together in the days leading up to the race, has

inspired the former Formula 3 competitor to look for ways to contest the entire series.

“I did a test with Hocking and they made me an offer that was too good to refuse,” he said.

Occhipinti inherited the lead from team-mates Mikel Miller and Asai when both cars withdrew with plumes of blue smoke billowing from their 98Ds in race one.

Beaten off the line in race two he struggled in the dirty air of Nelson Hartley’s car to claim a creditable third.

- MARTIN VAN REE

s^iig^Philllp Island Classic Motor 1 Racos - March 1st & 2nd TRIBUTE TO ALPA ROMEO

Racmg ^

■FlUSJ

1

Saud Marouf, US ● Alfa Romeo TZ2 Zagato Coupe 1965 i ● Alfa Romeo 8C Grand Fix 1935 Peter Giddings, UK ● BRM P26 GP car ex Graham Hill Peter Wunsch, Germany Lotus’, Elfins, Brabhams, Dean Butler, UK FSOOOs, Coopers, Healeys, ● Miller 4WD Indianapolis (only one active in the world) Paul Busby, UK ● Cooper BRM GP car ex Bonnier, Siffert, Baghetti Mustangs, Falcon GTs, ● Jaguar ‘D’ Type 1955 Le Mans Winner - Bueb/Hawthorne Wyn Percy Toranas, Minis & more.

Lou Sellyei , US ● Jaguar ‘D’ Type XKD 504 ex Ecurie Ecosse Racing siarls ● Maserati 250F Clive Smith, Aus Saturday 1pm or Sunday 9am Stephen Curtis, UK ● HWM Jaguar ex Phil Hill Admission Saturday $15 or Sunday $25 Dean Butler, UK ● Maserati 8CTF ex GP & Indianapolis Two day pass $35. Free pit entry Peter Giddings, UK ● Talbot Lago ex “Phi Phi" Etancelin Enoulrles 03 9744 1807 or 03 9877 2317 26 February 2003

67

Au revoir, Francois!

FRANCOUS Delecour and Mitsubishi Ralliart have agreed to end their contract and part company.

The former Monte Carlo Rally winner has in effect been without a drive since Mitsubishi chief Sven Quandt's decision last December to suspend the World Championship campaign for 12 months and concentrate on development Delecour was unavailable for comment. In an official statement, Mitsubishi offered no explanation for the split. It is understood Alistair McRae remains under contract to the team.

- JON THOMSON

i

I

Ralli

Australian round o

..

No more Mitsubishi: Francois Delecour and Mitsubishi have parted ways.

Bosses and budgets

Team bosses not happy with single boat blowout THE rumours about changes to the calendar for WRC and the failure of plans to transport all teams on a single ship this year have seen some team bosses lash out over a budget blowout in WRC operations.

Ford chief Malcolm Wilson, right, is the most vocal at the moment following the collapse of negotiations to ship aU works teams'equipment in a single ferry. Ford and Hyundai have both had to press old service vans back into service after having them on the market as surplus to requirements.

The failure of the single ship concept just weeks before the first out-of-Europe foray to New Zealand has tlirown budgets into chaos and given team logistics experts migraines.

Manufacturers were budgeting on a single set of equipment under the one ship plan are now faced with creating three sets - one more than they have had in the past. Teams now have to come up with budget to airfreight many extra tons by air to make the schedules.

Wilson is disappointed not only that costs will rise, but that teams will look unprofessional.

"The most important priority for me now is the calendar. Unless the calendar is sorted out, the championship isn't going to go forward," he said.

The plans to ship all of the works teams on one boat was one of the main factors in shaping and delaying the 2003 calendar, including moving Rally Australia to September.

The boat deal collapsed when

Citroen and Peugeot declined to agree to a proposal to use a roll on roll-off ferry for all rallies.

"We're having to mix and match to make the best you can with what you've got. You do find a solution.

sut!on-images.com

by JON THOMSON

Unfortunately, all the solutions do cost a lot more money," one source commented.

-JON THOMSON

^Pon

A Better Dai r'K*.

TIMES have been tough at the MSD-run Hyundai team in recent times, with some serious doubts being expressed about whether the team would make it through the year ahead.

Delays in agreeing to the 2003 budget saw staff axed and the testing program curtailed as well as costing the team the services of Carlos Sainz. However team boss David Whitehead believes that the team’s prospects have now been revived following meetings with company officials in Seoul last week.

“We had two days of positive meetings and we’re putting together a test program and hoping to put up a good showing for Turkey," he said.

- JON THOMSON

DON'T book your tickets to Perth in September - that's the advice rally observers are giving following an extraordinary week of ructions that will almost certainly see the Australian WRC round struck off the calendar.

Exactly how the event- which has been acclaimed as the best organised in the World Championship - could be so close to being cut is the question on everyone's lips at the moment. FIA President Max Mosley has come out and described the chances of Rally Australia remaining in the World Championship this year as remote.

The answer lies in a contract between the Western Australia Government and CAMS which is now being questioned over the level of autonomy the contract give the WA Tourism Commission particularly in areas of sporting control.

Motorsport News understands that the contract has remained largely without change in this area since the event started back in 1988. The difficulties started when long-time clerk of course Garry Connelly resigned his post and left the rally back in December. However, the real trouble began when the WATC

moiorsDon news

r Oz in doubt

f World Rally Championship headed down the toilet

Neil Blackboum

Nose-diving into the drink: Rally Australia has been a mainstay of the WRC calendar for over a decade. to find his position virtually untenable under a new WATC management, was not willing to comment about the trouble except to say the loss would be a tragedy.

Connelly was in hospital in Brisbane when the story broke last week and spoke to MNews from his bed.

"It would be an absolute tragedy if the event was lost," said the former Clerk of Course.

■iii

Bistro

refused to ratify the draft agreements seen and approved by FIA Secretary Yvon Leon when he visited Perth last month for a new contract that gives CAMS and the FIA the sporting authority. It takes power away from the WATC in this area.

MNews understands that a WATC negotiator agreed to the changes in a meeting with CAMS but the board would not sign off on the changes, causing the impasse One WATC insider who did not wanted to be named told MNews that the contract had not caused problems in the past and wondered why it is such a hurdle now.

"The rally has run for 14 years without problem and has been hailed 28 February 2003

as the best in the world so what has changed that could drive CAMS and FIA to make these demands," the insider said.

According to Mosley, the problem is not what has happened in the past but the prospect of future interference m sporting matters.

"The problem in Australia is that the local promoter, the Tourist Commission, can interfere m certain aspects of the event that would make the event impossible to put on," said Mosley.

"It hadn't come to our notice before. It's axiomatic that the sport has to be independent of the commercial side."

Cormelly, the man who took the event to the heights of acclaim only

"But I fear it is gone and there is not a lot of anyone can do about it."

Connelly believes that if the rally is struck off the calendar it would be virtually impossible for it to regain its place and that bringing it to the East Coast is not an option given the time available. That hasn't stopped the speculation, with pundits pointing to Connelly's impeccable record with the FIA and his ability to pull a plan together quickly as the potential qualities needed to get the WRC up and running on the other side of the country.

While Victoria and Canberra have been mentioned in the past as potential replacement venues, we understand Queensland is in the picture. Although there is a chance the event can be saved, no-one should get their hopes up.

It appears September will be a quiet month in World Rallying ...

RALLYING

So if it isn’t Oz, where is it?

WITH the problems in Perth and Rally Australia, speculation has started on what event would replace the Australian round if it failed to be run on the WRC calendar.

A revival of the African Safari was said to be the most likely scenario, however, with debts to the FIA still outstanding and a cool response from teams, the Kenyan event is really not an option.

Team bosses have been the least impressed with the African suggestion that was put forward by . FIA President Max Mosley.

Subaru, which is the only team to have unveiled its 2003 car so far, has designed it in the knowledge that it would not be going to Kenya.

Team director David Lapworth is unimpressed with the idea of returning to a rally that is rougher and has three times the competitive distance of any other round.

"We keep trying to reduce costs, it's difficult to take this idea seriously," he said.

"We haven't designed a Safari version of this year's car so If we were to substitute a rally, we would like something similar, to the others."

"It is impossible to do a rally in Kenya," said Peugeot director JeanPierre Nicolas, the Frenchman who won the 1978 Safari.

"There is no money. The rally is not in a good specification for the World Championship. A rally in Africa, yes, but in South Africa."

RA re-affirms its support for Rally of Turkey THE threat of war In neighbouring Iraq won't stop this week's Rally of Turkey going ahead and making its WRC debut.

FIA President Max Mosley has dismissed safety fears and insisted that an impending war doesn't justify dropping the rally from the World Championship.

"It's been suggested that it's a security risk, but it's very difficult to see any conceivable scenario where you're going to get fighting in those mountains and the locals all assure us that that won't happen," said Mosley.

None of the teams or drivers have actually spoken to us, it'll only be cancelled if the organiser and a very substantial number of the teams wanted it cancelled and could produce good reasons for doing so."

Interestingly enough, Mosley himself won't be attending the rally...

-JON THOMSON 89

Mighty Maher

ADRIAN Maher, right, has been in top Sprintcar form, taking two feature wins on consecutive weekends in two different states.

Last weekend the Bevelite Glass Maxim driver started from second to win the PRC Super Sprint Series round at Wagga, leading home points leader Matthew Reed and American Jayme Barnes. A week earlier, he scored his second Parramatta A-Main victory of the summer, leading home Brooke Tatnell (Shell Helix Maxim) and Trevor Green (Adrad Radiators Eagle).

"I'm happy as!" he said of the PCR win.

"Everything was working well, I had the speed but I was a bit worried when Brooke got by me mid-race. I managed to get back past him and I thought that Nathan (Smee) might slow towards the end but he sort of

4

John Morris/Mpix

Paris Charles

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M'' . 1Lr didn't. He kept the highline too long and there was still a lot of drive down on the bottom so I managed to pull away from that."

Round 14 of the Titan Garages Sprintcar Series saw Max Dumesny, Tatnell, Farr and American racer Jamie Barnes joining the PCR regulars giving

the meeting an ultra-strong 42 car field.

At Wagga, Ian Lewis, John Vogels, Rod Matthews, David Swayn, Grant Anderson, Allan Barlee and Adrian Parr rounded out the top 10 finishers, - GREG BOSCATO/STAFF

Rain hits Oz Super Sedans

With drought taking its grip on New South Wales and indeed the rest of the country, the rain hit the wrong target in the form of the Australian Super Sedan Championship at Parramatta, which forced organisers to be unable to do anything other than cancel the-feature. But not before our own John Morris of Mpix got some of the action that did go on ...

molorsport news

SPEEDWAY

Paul stands Tall

American McMahan clinches inaugural George Tatnell Gold Cup in South Oz

by DAVID McNABB

PAUL McMahan more than compensated for his dismal showing at Speedway City a year ago, when the Adelaide racetrack this time proved a happy hunting ground on February 20.

The jockey-sized American Allstar professional turned in a recordbreaking performance to claim the George Tatnell Gold Cup - an event designed by promoter Wendy Turner to mark Sydney legend Tatnell's contribution to Sprintcar racing.

Driving for the Luch Monte team out of WA,McMahan had only arrived back in Australia a day earlier for his third tour, but wasted no time during the heats, taking high points and winning the pole shuffle to start the 30 lap feature from position 1, In the final shuffle duel, the American dispensed with main rival Robbie Farr, posting a two lap time which chopped Garry Brazier's name from tire record books and threatened the all-time lap record, also held by Brazier.

In fact, the track, which had been rendered almost too hooky by heavy overnight rain, turned very drivey by feature time, proving so fast that records also tumbled in the support sections.

-

Monte's Muncber: Paul McMahan, above, took the George Tatnell Cup, while young Danny Reidy bad a strong third spot, right. Phil March, below, finished behind in fourth.

O

"Yeah, there's a good groove out there - we're going to chase hard and hope for better luck," offered McMahan before the A-Main, referring to Iris last Adelaide outing when he dropped two motors in a bad day at the office.

Non-starters for the Protec Paintssponsored feahire included rookie Damian Eve who was hospitalised after trashing his J&J during hot laps, and David Murcott, who holed a piston in the opening heat. From the green, Farr give no-one else a chance in the early stages, streaking away to a decent break over McMahan, Danny Reidy, Mike Van Bremen and PhU March.

March had hastily transplanted a new rear end in his Mildura Cranes/Cool after breaking an axle in the final heat, but the local star pulled the first of two loops on lap two,causing Luke Dillon to throw his car and forcing Dillon to restart from thetear.

Four laps later Karl Enderl stopped

on the back straight with driveline failure, a similar fate claiming Monte and Harold Brennen mid-race, but out front it was all Farr for whom traffic was working well.

The traffic proved entertaining for the crowd as both Farr and McMahan were dudded,then helped by lapped cars. At two-thirds distance, Dennis

Burford held up Farr, allowing McMahan to blast past on the highline and open up a healthy lead.

Farr tried ("He did a better job in traffic," Farr later said) but was forced to concede to the Tennessee Tearaway, with Alice Springs youngster Reidy travelling well for third. Behind them finished March, Van Bremen, Mark Reuter, Dillon, Dennis Burford, Michael Burford and Owen Pitt.

Max Dumesny Motorsport

2003 WORLD OF OUTLAWS CHAMPIONSHIP

Xoo$ifr

PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY FEB 22

Australian Distributors for

1. Danny Lasoski 2. Brad Furr ^^ RACING TIRE 3.

Jac Haudenschild For more information on Hoosier Drag and Speedmrylyres calt NSW:02 9679 1990 l Fax 02 9679 1187 4. Brian Paulus Via 03 9331 6477 l Fax 03 9331 7444 SA-08 8332 0800 l Fax 08 8364 0296 5. Steve Kinser 26 February 2003

6. Joey Saldana 7. Daryn Pittman 8. Craig Dollansky 9. Tim Shaffer 10. Shane Stewart

11. Jeff Shepard 12. Dennis Moore, Jr. 13. Jason Sides 14. Calvin Landis 15. Sammy Swindell 71

Doctor J returns Jarrett overcomes Busch to take round two at Rockingham

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Those flying Fords: The old stagers still can teach the young guns a trick or two, as Dale Jarrett, above and below, had enough to beat home Kurt Busch in the Subway 400 at Rockingham.

by MARTIN D CLARK DALE Jarrett returned to victory lane at on Sunday, taking the lead from new points leader Kurt Busch with three of the 393 laps remaining in a thrilling finish.

"We had to work on the car throughout the race, we were loose most of the race, but we got it the best at the end and that's what you always want," said Jarrett. "1 could get a really good bite coming off the turns, it was a heck of a race."

Pole winner Dave Blaney headed the way early, before Mark Martin and Ricky Craven led the fray.

However, by lap 27, Rusty Wallace flexed his muscles and looked to have the dominant car, leading four times for 182 circuits. Martin beat Wallace off pit road numerous times, but Wallace powered by within one lap on every restart, Busch, who started 27th, passed Wallace for the lead on lap 220 and the latter faded back, bringing his Penske Dodge home a disappointing sixth after such a strong run.

Bobby Labonte did not stop during the final caution on lap 299 and that ended his chances. He led Jeff Burton and Blaney, who elected to take two tyres, but they were no match for Busch, who blew by his Roush team mate Burton with 83 laps to run and looked to have the race under control.

However, as the laps wound down, Jarrett closed in and made a

!■

move in traffic with nine laps to run.

However, Busch, right, charged back into the lead with four circuits to run.

"I didn't know Busch had come back I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to get back by him," continued Jarrett, who started ninth.

"He was great to race with and you know how competitive Kurt Busch is."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a horrible day, making contact early and then blowing a tyre to air the first caution on lap 46. He was involved in five of the seven cautions, spinning out three times and then causing Jeff Gordon to loop in the frontstretch grass when Junior slowed and Gordon checked up. Gordon finished 15th a lap down, Earnhardt Jr 33rd and three laps off the pace.

Jamie McMurray had an excellent race in his Ganassi Texaco Dodge, finishing fifth. moiorspoti news

NASCAR

Blaney springs a surprise 1^ Id

I

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t's a Toyota 'niick TOYOTA made the official

announcement on February 13th that they will enter the NASCAR Truck Series in 2004 with their V8 Tundra pick-up Truck.

Speculation has either Penske South or Ganassi Racing as having possible ties to the oriental manufacturer as both organisations have Toyota-powered cars in the IRL, but Bill Davis Racing has also surfaced in the rumour mill.

The street version of the Tundra is built m Indiana, while Toyota Racing Development headquarters in the US are stationed in a Los Angles suburb.

"These trucks are manufactured in the US," said NASCAR President Bill France Jr. of the first non-US badge to compete in the top three NASCAR divisions.

Toyota is now searching for three teams to run the marque and a new

"We should have run out of fuel with three laps to run," said McMurray.

"We had a great run, but this is my favourite track so I don't tliink you can judge it off of one race."

Elliott Sadler showed he could be a force to be reckoned with this year, finishing ninth after two penalties that saw sent to the back of the grid, the second when an errant wheel rolled from his pit stall and hit his Yates stablemate Jarrett in the door.

Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip finished 19th with Tony Stewart 20th after he got into Jerry Nadeau early and damaged the front of his Joe Gibbs Monte Carlo.

Final result; Jarrett (Ford), Busch (Ford), Kenseth (Ford), Craven (Pontiac), McMurray (Dodge), R Wallace (Dodge), Martin (Ford), Johnson (Chev), Sadler (Ford), Blaney (Ford).

Points standings; Busch 345, Jarrett 314, Johnson 312, Martin 306, Waltrip 291, Kenseth 278, J Burton 262, Craven 255, Stewart 254, Harvick 248.

26 February 2003

east coast facility for TRD. As for its speculated entry into Winston Cup in 2007, "We're gomg to take it one step at a time," said Jim Aust President of TRD. "We'U see how tlris works out, assuming things are favourable, we'll take the next step."

The racing Tundra made its wind tunnel debut in June of last year so development is well underway and has US automakers concerned that with the news will come massive spending both in the racing program and advertising, something that in a struggling US economy they may not be able to match.

When France drove through the Daytona Speedway during Speedweeks he was driving a Lexus, built in Japan by Toyota and very possibly a bargaining tool...

- MARTIN D CLARK

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DAVE Blaney was somewhat of a surprise pole winner at Rockingham, the former World of Outlaws star taking his first career pole in his three year Cup career with a 154,683 mph lap.

Autumn 2002 race winner Johnny Benson qualified his MBV Pontiac to the outside of Blaney's Jasper Motorsports Ford.

"We were a little bit scared coming in we had a brand new car that we had never tested or anything," said Blaney, whose new crew chief Robert 'Booty' Barker cleaned house over the winter, bringing in a new type of chassis and fresh ideas.

Several teams used the hour long practice prior to qualifying to test the car under race and qualifying conditions, many forgoing a good qualifying lap in favour of a solid race set-up just in case rain prevented further practice - which it did.

Only 43 cars showed to make the grid so no one failed to make the field, but seven provisional slots were still allocated to Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Jeff Green, Todd Bodine, Larry Foyt, Tony Raines and Derrike Cope.

■ For the second week in succession, rain played havoc with the schedule at Rockingham, Cup teams only getting one practice session of one hour before qualifying on Friday and no practice on Saturday before the race on Sunday.

Qualifying ended under almost dark skies with no lights to turn on at The Rock. The Busch Series race scheduled for Saturday was held on Monday morning.

■ Seven crew chiefs were fined for various violations post-Daytona.

Peter Sospenzo, Joe Nemechek's crew chief, was hit the hardest at US$2000 for illegal spring mounts.

Other warnings were handed out for illegal underbody pans, adjustable fender braces and non-conforming larger fuel filters, which of course hold more fuel.

- MARTIN D CLARK 73

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It's heavy but it's so worth it: Michael Waltrip, above, became a two-time Daytona 500 Champion on a rainy day in Florida while the rest of the 42 car field, below, tried to figure a way to out-run Waltrip and the weather.

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AIN played havoc with proceedings at Daytona on February 16, but those rain drops played right into the hands of Michael Waltrip who won his second Daytona 500, or in this case, Daytona 272.5!

Waltrip may have been happy, especially after picking up a cheque for US$1.4 million, but many of the fans felt they were cheated by NASCAR,which made the race official following two rain delays, after just 109 of the 200 scheduled laps were completed.

Rain continued into the night and next day so NASCAR really had no choice. It's the first time since 1966 that the 500 has been rain-shortened and only the third time in history, "You just don't know what its like to win at Daytona," said Waltrip.

"The history and significance of this race took 45 years to build. It's crazy enough to figure out how to win the Daytona 500, but who would have thought you had to figure out a way to win it after 109 laps. I just feel blessed we were in the right place at the right time."

Waltrip passed Jimmie Johnson who grabbed the lead with a fuelonly pit stop -four laps before the red flag came out for the second and final time. He passed Johnson with

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help from his DEI stablemate Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was two laps down after a dud battery kept him from completing what probably could have been a Daytona sweep.

Waltrip waited an hour until around 5.30 pm for NASCAR to make the race official, something they can do once the race goes past the halfway point. molorsport news

NASCAR

Its Daytona #2

Green grabs pole

It rained and rained in Florida, but it wasn't enough to stop Michael Waltrip from taking his second Daytona 500.

MARTIN D CLARK reports on a win that will be remembered much more fondly than Mikey's first in 2001.

JEFF Green, in his AOL Richard Childress Chev, was somewhat of a surprise pole sitter for the Daytona 500 with a 186.606 mph lap after qualifying was rain delayed for one day. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second quickest at 186.382 mph, to make the duo the only two front row positions locked in for the 500 from qualifying alone.

Two 125-mile qualifying races held on Thursday determined the remainder of the grid, with Earnhardt Jr and Robby Gordon taking the wins.

Get out there and beat the rain! Waltrip stops for service on his way to completing 109 of the 200 laps. Mark Martin, left, ended up fifth in the Viagra Ford as he tries to go one better than second spot in last year's Winston Cup. Kurt Busch finished a worthy second after starting back in 36th, while Johnson hung around for third in front of Kevin Harvick(who started 31st), Mark Martin in a backup Roush Taurus, a strong looking Robby Gordon and Cup Champion Tony Stewart, who was less available to the media than ever.

Mike Wallace did a great job to bring the Phoenix Racing Dodge home in ninth, a car Geoffrey Bodine finished third with in 2002.

Ryan Newman went for a wild looking ride in the tri-oval, rolling five times before coming to a halt on his roof and, amazingly, emerging unscathed.

The incident started when Ward

DEI cars in theJiands of 'Little E' and Waltrip have now won seven of the last nine-restrictor plate events held at Daytona and Talladega. Little E made one of his laps back and finished the race 36th.

"If we could have restarted the race I know we could have made the other lap back and still had a chance to win the race," commented Junior.

26 February 2003

Burton tagged Ken Schrader on the front stretch. Schrader then made contact with Newman sending the sophomore into the wall and on a rollercoaster ride.

"It was a pretty hard hit," said Newman."When I saw the grass I figured I was more in trouble than hitting the wall. I had a wad of turf about eight inches thick and two feet long sitting in my lap and I couldn't get out of the car."

Schrader was forced down pit road and hit by Bobby Labonte in his pit stall. Labonte had spun previously to air the first caution on lap 42.

Aside from the two yellow flags for rain, two more cautions uncoiled for pole-sitter Jeff Green who,along with defending 500 champ Ward Burton, both blew right rear tyres and took tough hits against the wall.

Jack Sprague was the highest finishing rookie in his Haas CNC Chev coming home 14th. Greg Biffle finished 21st, Casey Mears 27th, Tony Raines 33rd and Christian Fittipaldi 35th.

With all the Cup and Busch races won by a Chevrolet at the 'Beach, one has to ponder how long it will take NASCAR to implement an aero rule change to even up the playing field?

Watch this space ...

Final 20 positions; Waltrip (Chev), Busch (Ford),Johnson (Chev), Harvick (Chev), Martin (Ford), R Gordon (Chev), Stewart (Chev), Mayfield (Dodge), M Wallace (Dodge),Jarrett (Ford), J Burton (Ford),J Gordon (Chev), Petty (Dodge),Sprauge (Chev), Rudd (Ford), K Wallace(Dodge), Marlin (Dodge),T Bodine (Ford), Benson (Pontiac), Kenseth (Ford).

n Rusty Wallace was moved from eighth on the gird for the Daytona 500 to 38th after his carburetor failed to meet post race scrutiny following his 125-mile qualifying race. Flis crew chief Bill Wilburn was fined US$10,000 by NASCAR for the smaller venturi infraction. Penske Racing also forfeited the prizemoney from the 125 miler.

n Open-wheel stars Jimmy Vasser and Christian Fittipaldi, above, did not fare too well at Daytona.

Vasser finished 28th in the Busch Series race having run up front, but was involved in a late race wreck, Fittipaldi started and finished his first Daytona 500 in 35th with the Andy Petree Monte Carlo. n Dale Earnhardt Jr started second, leading 87 of 200 laps to win the Daytona Busch Series race.

Kevin Flarvick was the only other leader of a mundane event, finishing third with Matt Kenseth second.

Earnhardt Jr. was driving a car for Chance2, a team co-owned by himself and stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, wife of his late father. No driver has ever one the Bud Shoot Out, Busch race. Twin 125 and Daytona 500, Little E managed three of the four.

- MARTIN D CLARK 7S

Bernstein Junior Wins

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IN just his second professional start, Brandon Bernstein claimed his first Top Fuel victory by stopping ^ reigning NHRA POWERade Champion Larry Dixon in the final round of the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals last weekend.

new career best during the final session. In eliminations he defeated a tyre smoking Mike Strasburg, a tractionless Jim Head,and defending event Champion Tony Schumacher in a close 4.55/320 to 4.58/320 semi-final round race.

Dixon's Miller Lite team

Funny Car winner Ron Capps cut a psychic .003 light in the final to vault himself into the Funny Car points lead for the first time since midway through the 1998 season.

Greg Anderson also moved into the POWERade

continued to string together mid 4.5-second runs in

championship points lead for only die second time in his career with his victory in Pro Stock.

Contmuing the long-time rivalry between two of the country's biggest breweries, Bernstein and his Budweiserbacked dragster strapped a huge .030 to .088 second reaction-time advantage on Dixon's Miller Lite machine at the starting line. At the finish line, Bernstein's 4.57 at 322 mph was more than .02-second ahead of Dixon's much quicker 4.53 at 321 mph.

Bernstein had qualified second at 4.51/321, carding a

Phoenix, posting wins over Melanie Troxel,IHRA Champion,Clay Millican, and back-to-back event No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta.

Andrew Cowin in the Carrier Boyz entry failed to qualify for the second consecutive event, posting a final session best of 4.89/280.

Fellow Australian, David Grubnic, did manage to make the program, hanging on to the last spot at 4.76/310. Grubnic's day, however,came to an early end when he was tossed in the opening frame by low qualifier, Kalitta.

Ron Capps' 14th career win didn't come easy as he led a fast-closing Gary Densham, wire-to-wire in the final round to take a close 4.86/310 to 4.81/318 holeshot win. The

Don Prudhomme-owned Skoal team,led by tuner Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch moved intodhe points lead, giving the Snake Racing team the lead in both fuel classes.

After a ninth best 4.88/318 in qualifying, Capps piloted the Skoal Camaro past Tim Wilkerson,low qualifier and Pomona winner Tony Pedregon and surprise semi finalist Frank Pedregon before lining up with Densham in the final. Densham beat a pair of former NHRA champions, Cruz Pedregon and GaryScelzi, as well as Whit Bazemore to reach the 13th final roimd of his 30-year career. The veteran driver, who is coming off of a career best of fourth in the 2002 championship chase, is currently third in the NHRA POWERade standings.

Tony Pedregon's low qualifying shot of 4.789 seconds at 322.11 mph set both ends of the Firebird Raceway record for Funny Cars. Team Force enjoyed a 1-2-3 sweep at the top of the qualifying list. Densham ended up second with a 4.80 in the Auto Club of Southern Califomia Ford,while team

Stott's first Doorslammer 5!

PRO Modified racer Mitch Stott made history on Friday, February 14, when he drove his supercharged Radiac Abrasives '63 J Corvette to a 5.982-second run during the NHRA Winter Nationai Open event at k Dariington internationai ® Dragway. n Stott’s run is the first sub-6 B second run for a fuil-bodied vehicie.

After the run, the NHRA Southeast Division Certification team confirmed that Stott’s car conformed to current NHRA Pro Mod rules, which do not have restrictions on rear end gear, transmission, or tyre size.

Stott opened the event with a 6.020-second run at more than 231 mph before making the historic 5-second blast.

- DAVE OSTASZEWSKI

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IHRA announces TV deal with SPEED Channel

IHRA President Bill Bader has announced SPEED Channel as the television broadcast partner for the 2003 Hooters Drag Racing Series.

SPEED Channel will air 24 hours of original IHRA programming, with each broadcast replaying at least once. The deal brings the series a minimum of 48 hours of airtime in 2003, a 100 percent increase over the 2002 television schedule.

Mopar renews sponsorship of Denver event

owner John Force started third after a 4.82/321 in the Castrol GTX Mustang.

Force was defeated in the second round by Bazemore.

Greg Anderson defeated Troy Coughlm in the Pro Stock final. The former crew chief of six-time champion, Warren Johnson, Anderson showed himself as an early contender for the 2003 title with his first career victory at Phoenix. After near identical reaction times.

Anderson stretched out his margin of victory, crossing well ahead of Cougidin to take a 6.86/201 to 6.90/200 victory.

Anderson, who drives Ken Black's Las Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am, advanced into the final round after taking early round wins against Ron Krisher, Mark Pawuk and defending series Champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. Behind the wheel of his Jeg's Mail

Order Chevrolet Cavalier, Coughlin moved from 15th to fourth place in the POWERade points by racing to the final. Coughlin had earlier defeated Greg Stanfield, Kurt Johnson, and No. 1 qualifier Bruce Allen.The next event on the $50 million POWERade series will be the 34th annual Mac Tools NHRA Gatomationals, March 13-16, in Gainesville, Florida.

-DAVEOSTASZEWSKI

Mixed start for Aussies

AUSTRALIANS Andrew Cowin

and David Grubnic began their drag racing seasons in Pomona.

Grubnic, driving the Bill Miller Engineering dragster, qualified for the show in 12th position at 4.66 seconds at a career best speed of 321

mph.

A round one, tyre smoking 5.72/148 was enough to take out 2001 Pomona victor Darrell Russell, who redlighted away a 4.72/245, clicking it off when he saw the win light in Grubnic's lane.

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In the next round, Grubnic was defeated by eventual runner-up, Cory McClenathan, 4.59/324 to 4.71/311. On that pass Grubnic had a wild ride in the shut-down when the right front A-arm collapsed and he rode the car to a safe halt on three wheels.

For Cowin, the 2003 event did not share the same success as his 2002 effort, which saw him top qualify at 4.49 seconds, a time that held up for the quickest run of the year. In the newly-formed team of the Carrier

Boyz, Cowin's opening run was lost due to a timing system failure and he recorded no numbers.

He staged the car, lighting the prestage bulb and as he made final preparations in the car before lighting the second bulb, looked up and saw both bulbs lit. Cowin, surprised by the incident, thought that the car had rolled in and he waited for the tree.

At the flash of amber. Cowin recieved a red-light as if the car had never been in the beams.

The on-board computer showed the run was probably a high 4.60 or a low 4.70, which may have been enough to better the programme's bump spot of 4.732 seconds.

On his second pass. Cowin launched hard but at mid-track the engine exploded with a big boom and fire, slowing to a 5.53/180.

The third run saw officials force the car to be shut off following the burnout with an oil leak.

The final pass saw Cowin push out a head gasket, slowing him to a 4.83/293, to keep him out of the field.

- DAVE OSTASZEWSKI Launch! Cowin had a mixed weekend at Pomona

26 February 2003

Mopar Performance Parts has reached a multi-year agreement with the NHRA and Bandimere Speedway to continue as title-rights sponsor of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event held annually in Denver, Colorado.

The 24th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, July 18-20, is the 13th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series for 2003.

Geoffrion unhurt following round one accident

Pro Stock driver Scott Geoffrion emerged unscathed from a dramatic, high-speed accident in Sunday's opening round of the 19th annual Checker Schucks Kragen Nationals.

Geoffrion had just completed a 6.88/199 mph pass in a loss against V. Gaines when his parachutes apparently failed to deploy.

As he tried to slow the car by the brakes, his Ford Mustang turned slightly sideways and to the left before it turned back to the right and passed in front of Gaines, striking the right-side retaining wall at a high rate of speed and nearly head-on.

Gaines managed to stop before coming in contact with Geoffrion's car, which slid for several hundred feet.

Geoffrion had announced this would be his last race in the Mustang as his Hurley Blakeneyowned team prepares to debut a Ford Escort ZX2 at the next stop on the POWERade tour in Gainesville, Florida.

In a related note, NitroFish Apparel will sponsor Pro Stock driver ScottGeoffrion in Hurley Blakeney's new Ford Escort ZX2 during the 23race campaign.

It marks the first time his company has provided financial support to a team outside the nitromethane-fueled Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.

- DAVE OSTASZEWSKI 77

On Black Jack on the Attack: The familiar sight of one of Australia's legends of the racetrack will grace Albert Park's 2003 Fosters Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Black Jack frenzy Brabhams and Coopers fill Tribute to Sir Jack' at Albert Park

by BRIAN REED IT is fitting that our own Sir Jack Brabham will be honoured at this year's Australian FI carnival at Albert Park (Match 6-9) where the field for the Tattersall's Historic Demonstrations will be essentially Coopers and Brabhams.

The theme will be "A Tribute to Sir Jack Brabham" and 10 Coopers and 19 Brabhams, as well as an assembly of other worthy cars, wHl take to the track for demonstration laps on each day of the event, led by Sir Jack in his 1966 World title-winning BT19.

Other significant cars that played a major role in the development of Brabham's amazing career will also be on display in the Tattersall's Historic Garage,including the J.A.P. Speedcar of Andrew Halliday. This little racer was the car in which Jack commenced his racing in 1948 when he won the Australian, NSW and South Australian speedway titles.

Brabham also raced an MG TC Special and this car will be driven by its current owner John Gillett in the demonstrations.

Brabham then acquired a Mk.4 Cooper for hillclimbs and circuit racing, and Garry Simkin's car will be on display. Also on show will be Earl Davey Milne's Cooper Bristol, another car that helped establish Brabham's reputation before he tried his luck in England.

After a not-so-illustrious time with a Maserati 250F (Clive Smith's replica 250F wiU take part). Jack Brabham 78

began a long and successful association with Charles and John Cooper in England, and Tom Roberts will drive the immaculately restored Cooper Climax Type 41 which Brabham drove in the 1956 Australian GP at Albert Park.

Another of Brabham's former Coopers, the 1958 Cooper Climax Type 45 which is now owned by Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker, will be driven by one of his former arch rivals, Sir Stirling Moss. And Melbourne's Ray Gibbs, a former employee at Cooper, will run his Type 53, the car Brabham used to win the 1960 World Drivers' Championship.

The first car designed in 1961 by Jack and Ron Tauranac (a Formula Junior) was known as the MRD,and will take its place on the grid with owner John Best driving. The first Repco Brabhams were also Formula Juniors, and two examples will be driven by Nick McDonald and Colin Haste.

The 1960s will long be remembered for the Tasman Series, and two BTllAs will take part. One is the Bob Jane car which will be have its original driver behind the wheel-Spencer Martin. This will be the car's first

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STANDARD car owners are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the British manufacturer whose first vehicle - a single cylinder six horsepower machine known as'Motor Victoria', chugged out of the factory in 1903.

Not known for its achievements in motor sport, it's worth recalling that the Standard Motor Company supplied William Lyons (later of Jaguar fame) with the chassis and running gear for his twodoor Swallow saloons in the late 1920s.

Also, Standard took over the Triumph company in 1945, and Triumph roadsters and saloons achieved some success in races and rallies, especially with the TR series of sportscars.

The first Australian landmark was in 1938 when the Standard Motor Co. began assembling vehicles here.

The Standard Vanguard was released in 1947, and according to The Times it represented "....a turning point in the history of the British Motor industry." The Vanguard was built in 11 countries (including Australia) and it earned a reputation for reliability and versatility.

Australian Motor Industries was responsible for assembling a range of vehicles in the mid1950s including MercedesBenz, Studebaker, Standard and Triumph, and then in the early 1960s, its main bread-winner, Toyota.

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appearance after being in storage for many years. The second BTllA will be driven by Mike Ryves from Sydney.

Many other fine examples of Brabham's genius will take part, and the 35-car field will be augmented with the inclusion of some rare Austin Healey lOOSs, Porsche 356A and a Robnell Cobra.

motorsport news

HISTORICS

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In the first Armstrong 500 in 1960 at Phiilip Island, a 500-miler for standard production cars run in various classes according to price, A.M.I. entered a Standard Vanguard for Norm Beechey and Queenslander John French, above.

"I thought I had hit the big time," recalled Beechey. "It was my first works drive and I got a new shirt, a new pair of pants and 250 quid ($500)from AMI. I reckoned I was made!"

Former racing driver and Production Manager of Mercedes-Benz, Don Swanton, was team manager, and team leader was none other than Flarry Firth. AMI also entered a pair of newly-released Triumph Fleralds with a driver lineup including rally ace Graham Floinville, open wheeler star Austin Miller and the experienced Ern Abbott.

'Stormin' Norman' came back to earth with a thud when he rolled the Vanguard in practice.

"I had no technique, and was terribly vigorous behind the wheel," he said.

"Because I was more brutal than John French, the steering was locking on me in left hand corners, and it locked solid going through Southern Loop. Over I went."

Beechey was full of praise for his experienced team leader Firth. "Flarry knocked the rough edges off me, and I think we went on to finish second in class," he said.

Apart from Beechey, other high profile names competed in Standard Vanguards in the early round Australia rallies,and became heroes with the crowds who came out to watch along the way.

Included were 'Floot' Gibson, a well-known racing driver in the 1950s who teamed with Phil Irving, the brilliant engineer responsible for the FIRD Vincent and Velocette motorcycles and who played a major role in the development of the all-conquering Repco Brabham racing engines.

Today, the Vanguard's legacy lives on, thanks to the Standard Vanguard Enthusiasts Guild which now boasts 170 members.

Their next social event will be a dinner on March 1, and a big Queen's Birthday rally is being planned to Flay, NSW ("because it's in the middle!") Later, a Tour of Tasmania will take place on Melbourne Cup weekend.

New members are welcome, and for further information contact the president Kate Foliard on (03) 9434 4707.

- BRIAN REED

at Classical event NOT only is there quantity at the Shannon's is

26 February 2003

^|o Phillip Island Classic, but the quality of the field for February 28- March 2 is first class.

A Scuderia Ferrari works car, the Alfa H Romeo Tipo 8C/125-35 driven by Italian ^ legend Tazio Nuvolari in the 1930s, and which later competed in 3.8-litre form ip the ~ 1937 Indianapolis 500 in the hands of Rex S Mays, wiU head a strong international field. ^ These days the priceless car is owned and H driven by Peter Giddings, and is now fitted H with a three-litre engine with twin Rootes H type superchargers and Weber carburettors |P^ producing 300bhp at 6000rpm.

Giddings has been coming to Australia to compete in Historic events for almost 20 years, and always arrives with a 'gem'from his collection. This year is certainly no exception ...

The Victorian Historic Racing Register has received a whopping 440 entries, which must surely be some sort of a record.

Included are some 32 Groups J and K cars,52 have entered for the pre-war regularity and more than 70 for the crowd-pleasing Group N touring cars.

It's going to be a blockbuster!

- BRIAN REED

Gardiner Memoriaf kicks off at VMRC THE opening round of the Victorian Motor Racing Championship Series has traditionally become known as the Bob Gardiner Memorial meeting and was run at Calder Park on February 15.

Bob was an active member of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia, both as competitor and office bearer, and later became President and Competition Secretary of the Marque Sports Car Association, the club responsible today for the championship series.

A triple AROCA club champion and class winner in the 1977 Australian Motorkhana Championship, Gardiner tragically lost his life when he crashed his Alfa Giulia Sprint GT at Sandown on April 12, 1981.

In recognition of his great contributions to motor sport, Alfa Romeo Australia donated a perpetual trophy known as the Bob Gardiner Memorial Trophy which is presented each year at the ALFESTA. , The Feb. 15 championship series ; attracted 210 entries, but only 11 ^ were historic cars. After an impressive performance at the recent VHRR Practice Day at Calder Robert Braune continued his good form by dominating the Group N races at the meeting.

His flying silver Chrysler Charger led home Mark Brewster's Torana XU-1 and Paul Dobson's Falcon GT in the opening six-lapper by a comfortable four seconds. n The VHRR will be holding a welcoming reception for the international competitors who will be taking part in the Shannon's Phillip Island Classic the weekend before, and a special guest will be Sir Jack Brabham.

The function will be held at the VHRR clubrooms in Lexton Rd., Box Hill on Wednesday, 5 March and further information can be obtained by phoning Sandra Caffin (during the day) on 9744 1807. n And get your calendars out, because here are some upcoming events: Mar 1-5 Trading Post Grand Prix Rally Mar 2 Chrysler Day, Geelong Grammar (Corio Campus) Mar 12-16 Drive Safely East Coast Classic Rally Mar 16 Bendigo Sports & Classic Car Club Drive Day, Calder Mar 22-28 RACV Fly the Flag Tour - BRIAN REED 79

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Baile/s First Blood

by MARTIN VAN REE

KERRY Baily made his season's intentions clear with a dominant performance in his awesome Nissan 300ZX in round one of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship.

With arch rival Tony RicciardeUo striking tiouble in each race, BaUy blasted the opposition away in the first two races.

"It's a pity Tony wasn't there. He was quick in race one yesterday (Saturday) but something gave up in the drivetrain. He was quicker than me in a couple of spots in race two, but he broke down again."

RicciardeUo left Wakefield Park

without a point after three DNFs. But Baily predicts a championship fight back from RicciardeUo: "I've got more speed than him in a few places but he is very quick out of the comers.I had a bit of a look at

him a couple of times and he just went away from me."

The third race was somewhat anticlimactic.

"Race three (reverse order start) was frustrating. We finished the race behind the pace car with Mark Stinson's Holden Calibra stuck in the sand," siad Baily.

The Tasmanian had blasted his way to second when the Safety Car was called out.

"I was keen to make a race of it.

but this is still the best start I've had to a season for a long whUe." Two fuel pump failures in the first four races cost Baily the title in 2001.

"I couldn't come back from there and last year we broke an engine at Phillip Island,something that just never happens."

But the clock is ticking for Baily.

"I've just got to win this championship again -I'm not getting any younger."

The Baily-Ricciardello rivalry is what is inspiring the Tasmanian.

"I've got to win a fifth title. I've just got to get ahead of Tony again!"

Graham Smith in his Opel Calibra was leading race three when Stinson speared off and finished the weekend second,11 points in arrears of Baily.

Commodore Cup

Marshall Cass

IT was a case of'as you were'in round one of the Commodore Cup for defending Champion Geoff Emery.

While Emery was taking the spoils, an enthralling battle between Victorian young guns Marcus Zukanovic and Daniel Richer! revealed that each will be serious contenders for the title.

In typical Commodore Cup style the trio flashed across the finish line motorsport news

Baity, left, dominated the Sports Sedans while defending champ Geoff Emery, below left, was the man in Commodore Cup. Paul Kemal, right, raced from grid 25 to overhaul the Aussie Race Cars field, while Croft led early but had to bow to the consistency of Peter Dane in the Saloon Car category, below right.

separated by less than two seconds in race two.

Zukanovic proved he has speed when he was the only driver to break the lm09s barrier in race two with a lm08.7456s on lap eight.

With the track washed by constant showers, that time was ordy around 0.1 outside banana bender Brett Holdsworth's 1:08.6293 lap record.

Victorians dominated the event with the other Holdsworth,Lee, the first non-Victorian home in ninth place.

Mark Papendell ran with the front runners early but slipped to fifth place behind Geoff Fontaine.

Aussie Racing Cars

PAUL Kemal overcame what he

Marshall Cass

challenge anyway," Kemal said.

James and Brad Ward took second and third respectivelym while Canberran youngster Tim Monte impressed with two top fives in his first-ever motor race meeting.

Saloon Cars

believed was an injustice caused by a timing system malfunction to pick his way through the field and clinch the Aussie Racing Cars event.

Kemal cursed the rain that was welcomed by many.

Water-induced gremlins placed the 2001 champion on position 25 for the start of the second of four races.

"Td finished race one in third but

PETER Dane piloted his EA Ealcon home ahead of a strong field of Saloon Cars.

for some reason they (officials) made me start back down the grid. I had no choice," he said.

KemaTs inspired drive from near the back of the grid netted him seventh position. From there he was able to win the final two races.

crammed onto the tight Wakefield Park circuit.

"You just cop that stuff on the chin and in the end it just made it a bigger

Keeping out of trouble was the key. according to Dane.

It was a dream weekend. We hardly had a spanner on the car and kept our nose clean.

Staying out of trouble was no mean feat with 42 Saloon cars

Finishing third in the first race. second in race two and winning the third, Dane amassed enough points to take the early series lead.

The number of competitors in the category around Australia is growing at staggering pace.

Marshall Cass

The next round will be on the support program for the Clipsal 500, where large numbers are again expected.

"It's just such a fantastic category and the cost containment make this probably the most affordable racing around at the moment," Dane said.

Robinson tales Nicole Franks Memorial

BRETT Robinson won a sensational final at the inaugural Nicole Franks Memorial kart meeting at Newcastle recently.

Held in honour of the 'Princess of Speed' who lost her life in a crash at Wollongong last year, the Clubman Light race was a special by-invitation

event that featured some of the

sat down to watch the race unfold!

country's best drivers.

In fact, the battle between half a dozen karts for the lead was so good that several of the other drivers who had fallen behind (and therefore had no chance at the $5000 prize) virtually pulled up off the track and

Pre-final winner Jason Hryniuk held the early lead with Nick Agland, Robinson, Dean Paine, Luke Wood and several others challenging.

Robinson (Kosmic)and Paine (Azzurro) eventually broke free late in the race, Paine receiving much

KartStars calendar for 2003 set THE dates and venues for the 2003 Ford KartStars Formula Rotax Championship have been finalised.

All are firm, except the timing of round three (in conjunction with the V8 Supercar event): Round 1. Coffs Harbour, NSW May 17/18

29 January 2003

Round 2. Geelong, VIC June 14/15 Round 3. Ipswich, QLD July 18/19 Round 4. Oran Park, NSW August 9/10 Round 5. Bolivar Raceway,SA September 20/21

All rounds are stand alone Kartstar and Junior BUtz meetings except the Victorian round, which will be part of the Winter Cup at Geelong.

The Formula Rotax Nationals are scheduled for September 5-7 at Newcastle, NSW.

support from the vocal crowd as the last remaining Kartworks driver in contention (Kartworks is owned by Nicole's parents Rod and Lyn Franks).

A last comer lunge for the lead didn't pay off and he had to settle for second behind Robinson. Bart Price (Arrow) made a good recovery for third having struggled mid-field for much of the meeting, while New Zealand's Wade Cunningham(CRG) fought back from problems in the heats for fourth.

Kristian Lindbom (Top Kart) held the upper hand in Junior Clubman despite challenges from Mitchell Martin (Arrow) who was making his debut in the class. Nathan Antunes

(Top Kart)finished third.

-MARK WICKS 81

NATIONAL SCENE

Karting Briefs n Arrow Karts' race team for the Australian CIK Championship series has now been finalised with the confirmation that Matthew Wall will drive for the Melbourne-based manufacturer in Formula A. Wall, who has vast CIK experience aboard Haase, CRG, Tecno and most recently Tony Kart, has put a car racing career on hold for the time being and will concentrate on Formula A, as well as the major Rotax Light events. Ace mechanic Jon Targett will head up the team which will also field Shane Price in Intercontinental A and Paul Laskazeski in Junior ICA. n Tasmanian Dion Wyllie has won the Victorian Speedway Karting Title, taking victory in the KT100 Open class at Nyora on Februai7 16. Wyllie beat home Luke Woodmason and Jason Andretta to claim the title having earlier taken out a heat and winning the pole shuffle.

Simon Elliott won the Outlaw division after starting from pole alongside Outlaw rookie Karl Neilson.

Neilson held a comfortable lead before his engine stalled while under yellow. Peter Stevens took second with Neilson recovering for third.

Liam Williams won Juniors ahead of Jake Smethhurst and Ashleigh Odell. The National Tiles will be held at Laang Speedway on March 7-9.

. Rick Pisano

REIF Corbett has won the Portland Grand Prix for the second year in succession. The South Australian led the final from start to finish having controlled the pace throughout the meeting.

Unlike previous GPs,the 2003 event was raced at Portland's permanent karting facility rather than through the streets of the town.

While this impacted on the number of drivers attending the meeting, the Grand Prix classes (Rotax Light and Junior Clubman)still had healthy and high quality fields which paid out huge prizes.

Australian Champion Josh Arandt (Arrow) qualified fastest for Rotax, but he couldn't match Corbett's pace in the racing, Reif winning both heats and the pre-final. Arandt spent most of the final battling with Tyson Pearce (Omega),the two taking the bottom steps of the podium. Simon Leech (Swiss Hutless) put in a consistent drive for fourth while Mark Hester(Monaco)recovered from a pre-final crash to take fifth.

Out of luck was Ben Savage who was leading the first start before the field was re-grided, only to be bumped off tlie track on the second

n The JDT Transport Champions of Tomorrow Junior Sprint Classic was raced at Toowoomba recently, over 60 of Queensland and northern NSW's best juniors competing in the five categories.

Classic winners were Ryan Deckett (Midgets), Kyle Ensbey (Rookies), Victoria Whitley (Junior National Heavy), Ashley Walsh (Junior Sportsman) and Brent Reading (Junior National Light). n Following the announcement last issue of CAMS investigating the AKA's financial and management practices comes news that, as far as CAMS is concerned, the AKA is fine.

"It is pleasing that the report showed that the AKA is solvent and well insured" CAMS president Colin Osborne said in a statement. "(However) a significant problem for the AKA is that its current structure is state-based and there is a definite need for a more national approach into the future."

Ironically, this announcement was made only days prior to CAMS confirming that they will now use AON Risk Services as their insurance broker, effective immediately. The AKA has been using AON Risk for their insurance for many years.

Rick Pisano

Dominant: Corbett, above, controlled the Senior CP category most of the day, but for Small, below, victory in the Junior CP only came after a last-lap pass on Sera.

start, charging from last up to seventh.

Corbett might have been able to walk away with the senior win,but the Junior Grand Prix was maximum pressure the entire distance, David Sera and Ben Small running nose to tail every inch of the way before Small hit the lead with just two corners to go after a rare mistake from Sera.

Sera(Arrow) qualified fastest before he and Small(Tony Kart) shared the heat wins. Small also winning the pre-final. Justin Schneider(Monaco)followed closely all race to take third while Josh Tynan (Top Kart), who had qualified second before suffering a string of DNFs, recovered for fourth.

Sera also won the two Junior National classes as Remo Luciani (Clubman Heavy),Jack LeBrocq (Midgets), Leigh Nicolaou (Rookies) and Jason Holding (Rotax Heavy and Clubman Super Heavy) won the remaining support classes.

-MARK WICKS

Vic Super 8 Kicks off Nationai series

The first KartOz Super-8 Series meeting for the year was held at Todd Road last month with the opening round of the Victorian series.

Jesse Fenech edged out Jordan Ford in a brilliant four-kart battle for the Midget win while Max Carter snatched Rookies after Joshua Hughes and Leigh Nicolaou made contact late in the race.

It was a similar situation in Rotax Heavy, Grant Christensen

picking up the win after Adrian Rosetto and Dale Paterson collided, Matthew Wall demoralised the Sportsman Light field, although action for the placings was fierce, Adam Klunyk and Jace Lindstrom filling the podium.

Jason Pringle did likewise in Sportsman Heavy benefiting from a DNF by nearest rival Danny Buzadzic.

Robert Munnerley broke away from the pack to win Junior

National ahead of Jonathon Taylor. Taylor then picked up the win in an all-action Junior Sportsman final, although placings are provisional following a collision between Ben Small and leader Paul Laskazeski rounding the final corner.

Troy Woolston won Rotax Light while support classes of Senior National and Leopard 125 went to Dale Beaton and Timm Weitzel respectively.

- MARK WICKS moiorsport news

NEWS

Classic Tander Manely Valves THE GRM Valvoline Commodore of Garth Tanders is the latest 1:18

scale V8 Supercar to be released from Classic Carlectables. The latest range of Classic Carlectables has seen a huge improvement to the detail and accuracy of the models.

All the 1:18 scale models feature opening doors, bonnet and and boot lids. The attention to detail is is carried throughout the car including the engine bay,interior and under carriage, aU giving a true representation of the original car. The carbon fibre engine cover is also removable revealing the air intake trumpets.

Each car is unique in its presentation on the track and so is each Classic Carlectable. Garth uses a black Cobra seat and blue 1 Willans seat

extinguisher mounts on the left hand side alongside the drivers driidc bottle. The gold painted MOTEC Box is mounted on the

MANELY Titanium

finished with inserted hardened

valves are recognized as a leader in international

tips and are moly coated stems for increased product live and

passenger side floor, The fuel system is accurately detailed showing the new 'Siamese' system with both filler and overflow on the right hand side.

Gary Rogers cars have a large diameter hose which runs from

competition delivering performance and reliability.

Many valves on the market are produce in two parts which are then frictioned welded

below the parcel shelf to the boot lid, once again accurately replicated in the 1:18 Classic Carlectable model.With full colour packaging and a numbered certificate of authenticity the limited production of only 1000 units is sure to sell out quickly.

Check out the website at www.classiccarlectables.com.au or

together. This weld creates a weak point in the valve.

The Manely Titanium valves are forged,one piece construction creating greater strength and reduced weight.

The forged manufacturing process also creates a uniformed

reliability. ^ Manely valves offer a choice of two materials,'Orange' or Manely's exclusive "HT" Manely claim the HT valves will withstand 100°F in temperature tolerances. Metal fatigue is greatly reduced adding to the life and reliability of the valves. The HT valves suit high compression drag racing and many other racing applications.

For more information on the full

call 08 8276 7722 for your nearest dealer.

grain flow within the titanimn,further

range of Manely products contact Fabre Australia on 02 9758 1966 or visit www.fabre.com.au

increasing strength.

All Manely Valves are

/

Splatt New Headers Pack

DI FILIPPO PERFORMANCE exhausts has released a new range of sprintcar headers.

Manufactured from mild steel the 4 to 1 style header features a 17/8 inch primary with a 3-1/2 inch collector outlet.

The header is finished with a

high temperature black coating.

Established for two years, Di Fihppo Performance Exhausts have been producing quality exhaust systems for performance Holden

Ford street machines and have

quickly built a reputation for quahty and performance.

The new sprintcar header is designed to meet the needs of the Australian Sprintcar racers with plans to export to the U.S. market in the near future.

For further information regarding the new sprintcar headers contact Di Filippo Performance Exhausts on 03 9747 0747 or visit www.darrendifilippo.com.au

Rachelle Splatt has launched a new range of merchandise to coincide with her record breaking return to Top Fuel Drag Racing.

Designed by The Creative Ones a complete range of caps,T-Shirts, stubby holders and available.

A Splatt Pack contains a

poster, T-shirt, | cap,stubby holder and bonus CD-Rom containing 20 digital pictures, all for only $55.

You can purch; directly from the www.rsr639.com track.

The website ah photos and infori Rachelles racing c records and will 1 date with her con upcoming events

26 February 2003

lascwa Cq_3_p:

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news

RAGESHOP gives you the opportunity to promote your products and services to the widest possible range of motorsport competitors and enthusiasts. Advertising in RAGESHOP costs as little as $60 per issue! Call Brendon Sheridan on 03 9550 0870 now!

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H New & used karts H servicing H Spares H Helmets H suits & aii your karting needs Factory 9,19-25 Grange Rd Cheltenham VIC Ph 03 9585 5340 Fax 05 9585 5320

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protection at start-up Rocket Industries is the Manufacturer’s Appointed Distributor for Torco Automotive Racing Oils in Australia. All trade enquiries should be directed to: Ph 0260251900 Fax 02 &6251911 or Email sales^rocketind.com

specialists m l Turbochargers ball bearing and non ball bearings l Kils & overhauls available l High How inlercoolers and kits l Link engine Tianagemenl systems l Oil coolers and oil coolers kits* Silicon hoses and bends l Tein suspension kils

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CP Pistons Custom made pistons to suit 4,6 & 8 cyciinders Ph 07 3290 5911 Fax 07 3290 5933

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swift scOS complete with spares,

Competitor in the 2002 Nation S Championship, Current spec ,y-g Lamer engine (2 x races only) I 10/31 cwp, Dash loger. New body L panels and paint. 497 Kgs with g 74 kg driver excellent condition, I spares package value $10950 inc I with car. owner changing class. ® This car is a bargain and hard to pass. $22,000 ono. www.myl05.com/67223 John 02 8802 4044.

VN Commodore Sports Sedan, Unfinished Project VN Commodore Space Frame, Rolling Chassis Selling as a Complete Rolling Car, will not Separate. Genuine Reason For Sale. Parts include 6 pot AP calipers for front 13" Rotors, Front Koni Coil Overs, Front and Rear Kings Springs, Full Floating 9”,Carbon Fibre V8 Supercar Wing to many parts to list. 318,500 Or Best Offer.

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Lotus Super 7, Genuine Lotus factory built car with complete history from March 1965.

All original parts plus many Lotus upgrades including extra engine, gearbox, rear ends all in excellent condition, too many to mention. The car is in perfect working order and set up for Tarmac Rallies. $50,000 ONO. Mike Wilson B(03) 9439 3111 or H (03)9439 4029. 253 www.myl05.eom/62830

Gemini Sports Sedan, turbocharged, intercooled, 036 bosch injectors, mtx-8 mircotech, with 4 line handset, 16x7 ROH alloys, with michellin slicks, Commodore rotors all round, with 4 piston calipers, 1 ton holden diff on custom 5 link setup, 5 speed, heavy duty clutch, brake balance-bias setup. Just dynoed with over 150 kw's at the wheels on 15psi boost. $7500 ono. David 0409 803 762. 253www.my105.com/30583

Commodore rolling chassis. Car comes with NEW OMP seat. Fuel tank. Hydraulic clutch kit and gauges. Spare panels, lights, exhaust system and various other parts. Car would also be suitable for improved production. MUST SELL. $4,000 Neg. Colin 0417 655 223 or (08)8671 2775. 253 www.myl O5.com/12996

29 January 2003

all round. Front on Pedders with pump up rear shocks. Near new Dragways with 95% rubber. Regrettable sale. Buying new car with girlfriend. $11,000 Neg. Kane 0414 474 738. 253www.my105.com/922

VN Commodore Saloon Car, Motor just Re-Built, Well Maintained. $15,000. Glenno (07) 3216 5558 or 0419 787 031. 253 http;//www.my105.eom/54680

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i

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AU XR 8 Future Tourer Team for sale, AU XR 8 Future Tourer Team for sale, New AU XR8 built from bare shell, new engine, big horsepower, air jacks, all harrop suspension and heaps of spares including engine. Still in development stage with huge future potential. Included EL Falcon currently used as promotional car. Race at Bathurst this year. "Genuine clean the shed deal". POA. Tony Ross 0438 370 793 (day) 08 82501903 or 0427 501 903 (evening). 253 www.myl05.eom/48094

Mazda RX7, Improved Production, Injected 13B - Needham, Torson 28 spline floater diff, alloy cage, foam filled tank - Caider 1:05, Sandown 1:24, Phillip Island 1:49, Mallala 1:17, Hidden Valley 1:20, Spares.

Well sorted nicely detailed car. $15,000.

Tracy 0418 824 282. 253 www.myl05.com/84009

Holden HG ute. Show Winner!!!, Head turner! Older rebuild. Mild 283 chev, detailed engine bay. Customised interior (awards) and unique ext paint. 5spd Supra box to Ford 9". Brand new twin exhaust. Lowered

£?ynologTc^^

Honda Integra Type R, Engine & gearbox completely rebuilt by Nizpro only 6 hours use’since. Best of eveything, Motec M4 Pro with data logging, Koni Alloy coil overs, full chromoly cage, Sparco seats, harnesses, 2 spare sets std wheels, heap of tyres, spares etc. Winner of class in 2002 Rally Tas, ciipsal 500 race in 2000. Proven car. $40,000 Neg. Guy 0419 355 376. 253 www.myl05.com/6865

: ls

m

Nissan Puisar GTIR, Lightweight rally version. C/R g/box, roll cage, FIA spec seat/harness, 3 inch exhaust, Centreline suspension, Pagid race pads, surge tank, competition radiator. Very competitive.

Second Group 5 & PIARC sprint championship 2000 & 2001. Numerous top 3 finishes. Rally registration (PVN 490), 40,000km. $16,500. Ron 0438 881556 or (03)9480 0929. 253 www.myl05.com/67400

Commodore Cup Car, 2002 Victorian State Series winner. National Round winner at

HQ Monaro Historic Touring Car, One of the fastest Nc cars in Australia. Has won

Winton. Top 5 in every meeting entered in last 12months. Very competitive, reliable and in excellent condition. New shockers.

Ready to race. Heaps of spares. $28,000

numerous outright races and has held most lap records throughout Vic. Currently holds lap record at Ciipsal 500 Adelaide. Running gear is the best of everything and the car is in showroom condition. Includes all spares.

Serious buyers only please. $65,000 Neg. Tino Leo 0408 577583 or (03) 5821 4014.

252www.my105.com/54982

ONO. Cliff(03)5243 4082. 253 www.myl05.eom/77071

Saloon Car VN Commodore, One season old ready to race includes registered car trailer with tyre rack & electronic brakes .dorian laptimer. logbook.spare tyers & rims, panels, quick release steering wheel, new brake rotars still in box. & spare 5 speed gear box. $22,000 Neg. John 0412 069 534. 253 www.my105.com/742 Peugeot 405 shell, Peugeot 405 shell Ex BTTC. Excellent condition. Factory roll cage. Spare panels and doors Ideal for Sports Sedan. $2,500 ONO. Garry 0407 272 1 65. 252www.my105.com/74405

Torana Sports Sedan, fast and reliable, 202 Duggan Head (alloy), 48 Weber 330 HP, fresh rebuild, no expense spared, winner of Australian NSW, QLD, SA Hillclimb Sportsedan Championship, log book, car is complete, ready to race. $13,500. 0418 311 320. 252 www.myl05.com/59617

87

Open Wheelers EW Improved Production RX7 NSW number 12, Most winning car Outright NSW 2002, Outright club champion 2002. Oran GP 1;18.4; Wakefield 1:07.23; ECreek 1:45.6.

QR 1:20.7, top HP Ric Shaw 13B, Carbon Fibre Air Box and tuned length manifold, Modena C/R DogBox, Microtec, Proflex, factory LSD, adjustable suspension. Limited spares. As raced 2002 $32,000 or $23,000 less Gear Box. As seen Zoom Magazine 2002 motorsport edition. $32,000 Neg. Nick 0418 271 753.252 www.myl05.eom/76903 XY GRPN, NSW 86, competitive car. Wild Violet, 4 spot calipers, steel cage. $20,000 + spares package. Mark (02) 4646 1603 or 0410 502 854.252www.my105.com/28036

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Honda Prelude Sports Sedan, Australia's Fastest 2Lt Sports Sedan, Full Space Frame Construction - 770Kg, Nissan SR20 Super Touring Engine, Hilux Rear LSD, Willwood Brakes, Motec, All Lap Records At Willowbank and Morgan Park, Willowbank National CCT 1-15-2, Spares Include Engine, G/Box's, Diffs, Moulds. Includes Trailer. $38,000 may except trade.

PH: David 0408 720 560. 25i www.myl05.eom/40279

2 Litre Sports Sedan, Ford Zetec Twin Cam, 121 kw at wheels, 5 speed 2 x LSD + ratios, weighs 740kg, 5 link. Bell crank rear suspension, adjustable Bilsteins front and rear, new mounted wets and spare slicks, heaps spares, log booked and race ready, laps PI 1,51, Calder 1,07, Dyno sheets and official current lapi times available. $12,500 Neg. David 0418 358 197. 251 www.my105.eom/37003

^'0

Toyota Corolla Sports Sedan,fresh Yager built 4AGE 20V with MoTeC, W57 Supra box, 4 spot brakes, Koni's ali round, Sparco seat, mounted wets and spares, 2nd place last 3 previous years in QLD, under 2lt sports sedan series, $14,500 ONO. Scott 02 6621 3993 or 02 6621 8131. 251 www.myl05.com/4200

Dallara, 397/98 Chassis, Driven by Team BRM driver Darren Palmer, 2nd 2001 Aust F3 championship (2 round wins), holds lap record Eastern Creek and Sandown Raceway. Spiess engine spec 2000, Bosch ECU 2.2.1, PI System 3 dash/data logging.

Comprehensive spares package. Trailer to suit also available. $90,000. Bronte (08) 8254 8444 or 0412 846 997. 263 www.my105.com/24129

Toyota Corolla Improved Production Car, 1975 Toyota Corolla KE35 Coupe, 3J TRD Improved lOOkw 4 age, C/R 5 Speed, 4W Discs, Haltech, , was 2nd under 1600 In 1998/99 Nationals, rebuilt ready to race.

Levin Dash & Lights, E/Creek 1.54 With Dud Driver, spares available at extra cost, motors, body shell etc. $5,500 ONO. Neil 0417 659 205 or(02)9520 0808. 251 www.myl05.com/44345

'●'●V

Formula Vee Mantis, John Dean engine, 2 sets wheels, Koni shockers, long and short gearboxes, lap timer, VDO gauges in carbon fi bre dash, lots of spares, no expense spared, enclosed trailer $1850, tyre rack and storage bin, drop tailgate and ramps, side door. $9,500. Guy 0410 614 737 or (03) 9761 4045. 253 www.myl05.com/85814

KH Laser Sports Sedan Rolling Chassis, suit under or over 2 litre, complete with dry sump, Harrop full floating 9 inch 31 spline rear end, Williams diff, Haltech, Simmons 16 inch wheels, AP brakes, etc. $10,500, John 0428 858 926 or 03 5762 7766, 250 www.myl05.com/88587

Mallock 21B Sports 1300, Build 95 Top HP Corolla C/R gearbox, 2 bodies Hill climb and race with moulds very competitive, custom enclosed trailer with spares. $25,500 total package Neg. Gary 0412 085 563. 252 www.myl05.eom/70693

Porsche GT3 Club Sport Perhaps the best prepared GT3 in Aust.[Fitzgerald Racing] fresh engine & gearbox rebuild.

New light weight clutch, brakes & pads, Bllstien shocks, comp, diff, dry brake fuel sys. airjacks, uprated ECU, Motec dash, multi sensors & beacon, GTP logger, dorian, 3 x sets wheels & good rubber, upgraded cup suspension, + original GTS factory parts. $198,000 c/w race pack.

Russell 0411 724 176. 250 www.myl05.com/41055

Formula Vee, very competitive car, fresh /Oder engine, consistant top three runner, some spares, includes trailer. $11,500.

Russell 0412 532 249. 252 www.myl O5.com/10566 Formula Vee Renmerk, top 5 runner in NSW championship when last run about 1996 has had alloy wheel upgrade & ready to race. Just add fuel & compete in NSW Championship or just lap dash, hill climb etc. $5500,00 ONO. Neil 0417 659 205. 251 www.105.com/14223

msRS online classifieds Category: □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers

news Description:

□ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers

□ Speedway

□ Wanted □ Photographs

□ Jobs

□ Other

Please keep ads to no more than 50words,plusupto6 photos if desired.

●( Name _ Address Email Ph( 88

□ Drag

)

Formula Vee, Formula Vee (MAKO 1994)2001 Nationals Winner, State Titles, Bathurst & Eastern Creek Lap records, ready to race package for 2003 season includes heaps of spares. Excellent package to race at the front. $12,500 Not Neg.Gary 0409 622 091.252 www.my105.com/17230

Welsor Clubman, The first car built by Colin Wear in 1969 & raced successfully by Ron Kearns in 1970/1.also raced at the last BATHURST Easter meeting in 1973 winning the class.Has only been back on the racing scene for a couple of years & set new track record Oran Park 26/01/03. comes with heaps of spares. $14,500 Not Neg. 0418 653 023.252 www.my105.com/69977

Formula Vee, Nationals and 3 State titles winner. Second in 2002 Nationals. No expense spared preparation of this attractive Vee. Fresh Elliott engine. Roll on short and long gearboxes and suspension.

Numerous spares including long and short circuit exhaust systems,2 sets wheels etc.

One of the very best and fastest packages in Australia. $19,800 Neg. Tony Boequet (0419) 164 279. 251 www.105.com/43939

fly Sidewinder, 500 Yamaha twin cylinder, electric start, full suspension, adj air shocks, powder coated frame, extremely robust, very quick, will fit on 6 x 4inch trailer. $4,300 ONO. Clarrie 02 6026 3464.

251 www.105.com/60247

rif£way to sellyourgear! from lust $25* just logon

(*$25 applies to ads entered directly onto my105.com) Advertising can also be supplied using this form ($10/S15 surchage to text only/text -i- pic advertisements) Advertisements will appear in next possible issue of Motorsport News PLUS themylOS.comwebsiteforsixmonths.

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NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Please use the form provided and print clearly. Please note we are unable to return photographs supplied for use in classified ads. Ads will appear as soon as possible after receipt. MN/myl 05.com classifieds are for the sale of private goods and vehicles only, not business advertising Photos marked "prooP will not be used.

motorsport news

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CLASSIFIEDS Modified Production, Very clean modified production 15" wheels power head reduction steering comes with spare head,diff,panels wheels and much more ready to race, also available tandem trailer$2000. $6000 ONO. Phil 0412 540 760.252 www.my105.com/37152 Formula 3 Dallara F390 Alpha Nova, level 2 Australian Championship winner 2002, car maintained with no expense spared, many spares included eg noses, wings, suspension arms, wheels, etc, ready to race. $38,000. Trevor 0412 567 440. 251 www.105.com/22915

Engines 355CI Small Block Chev Drag Engine Motor, comes with Carb, 850 Meth BoLaws, Bo-Lawsbelt-Drive, Fuel Pump, Stefs Hi-Torque Starter, MSD Dist. $10,000, Glenno (07) 3216 5558 or 0419 787 031 253 www.myl05.com/33006

aa

Ford 4.1 Cross Flow Engine. Never used since built. Nothing spared when building. $5,000. Glenno (07)3216 5558 or 0419 787 031 253www.my105.com/9579

1967 Lamco Formula Vee, Very original and eye catching Formula Vee, Full history available. Maintained in excellent condition.

Very competitive for age having won the 1999 and 2000 Qld sprint series and 2nd in 2001. Reluctant sale as had many years of fun. Complete with spares and purpose built trailer. Call for full details. $5,990. Zach 07 3233 3581 or 0414 739 855.

251 www.105.com/99657

Speedcar Engine, in good condition with spare parts-headers, valve springs, valves, lifters, pistons etc. $25,000.00 Not Neg AUD. New Zealand. Ray 027 4472468.

251 www.my105.com/35117 Cosworth BDD, race engine - fresh motor unused since top to bottom rebuild, complete motor ready to bolt in. including carby's oil pump, ignition, flywheel etc. suit many Historic vehicles & other applications. $10,800. (03)9710 1444. 251 www.myl05.com/84342 Ford Crossflow, all steel Corrillo rods, Cosworth pistons gear drive, 170 HP. $3,000. Ron 0419 777 229, 250 www.myl05.com/2338

I

Spectrum 07, Lowe's National Series Car. Qld Championship winning car. In very good condition with maintenance help from BRD. MOTEC Dash with all set up information. Top HP Speedtech Engine.

Penske shocks. Spare set of wheels and tyres, springs, swaybars and ratios. il0,000 Complete. Fully enclosed twin axle trailer with AL-KO suspension - $ 6,000.

0409 648 633.

250 Ashley www.105.com/88323

Speedway i J

Hi

9^

Cosworth BDD, complete fresh engine, no ks, with new 3 plate Tilting clutch, 48 Webbers, complete electronic ignition, all best internals, cracked tested and balanced, 210 HP. $22,500. Ron 0419 777 229. 250 www.myl05.eom/80985 Porsche Race Engine, Porsche 3.2 litre twin plug race engine.Just fully rebuilt, only 2 hours dyno time. All new parts. Autronic ECU and harness plus Injection Perfection individual! throttle bodies and harness. Race exhaust system. Boxes of spares including Haltec ECU, extractors, coolers, barrells and pistons. All receipts for approx $ 30,000. Sell for $ 22,500 ono, Robert 02 9529 5353. 250www.my105.com/85254

Parts

iJl

■-"T

W.S.S. winning Team Sprintcar Sellout, Eagle Sprintcar Rollers from $17,500, Sprintcar Motors from $33,000, Sprintcar packages to suit your needs or budget.

Phone Glenno for further details - 0419 787 031 / 07 3216 5558. 253 http://www.my105.com/11990 Pit/DrIver and Race Car Parts, Alloy 6 pump USA made jack still in box $1100, vertex mag ext coil, leads and cap $1000, Parker pump helmet cooler $300, Sweet p/steer pump with billet pulley $375, used alloy pro shocks $130 ea, KSE alloy p/steer box $1200, used coil kits $65ea. 252 www.myl05.eom/84305

Sprintcar NSW 75 Hliborn Gambler, 12 Brodex 372 Chev fresh engine, as I am retiring from racing my car goes with all spares too many to list, this car is ready to race, every assistance given, priced to sell. $27,000. Ray Warner (02) 9531 5581 or 0402 075 230. 252www.my105.com/96230

29 linuary 2003

Various race parts, * Barnes 5 stage dry sump pump $1500. * Weaver 3 stage dry sump pump, tank and pan for Ford V8 $900. * Pushrods chrome.moly 3/8 one piece $100/set. * Holley 750 D/P modified $300. * Tilton flywheel suit 7 1/4" clutch $250. * Nascar wheels with slicks (4) $200. * AP six spot calipers $1300. Ring Graham on 0412 351888 or a/hrs on 46 327197. 253 www.myl05.eom/59044 Super T10 gearbox / Holden 308, Comes with bellhousing to suit Holden V8, Group A style clutch and shifter. MUST SELL. Holden 308 with Harrop 355 stroker crank.

All new brand name parts used. Top HP engine still needs to be run in $7000neg.

MUST SELL. $3,200 Neg, Colin 0417 655 223 or(08)8671 2775. 253 www.myl05.eom/3073 Rover Parts, Rover V8 Huffaker race inlet 4 barrel as used in works TR7 V8 sell $475, Rover V8 4.6RAM tube inlet manifold complete with throttle body and injectors sell $950. Rover V8 Thor latest spec inlet system complete with injectors 70mm throttle body sell $1,250. Ian (08) 8384 6933 or0414 815 955. 253 www.myl05.com/57965 Rover Parts, Roller rockers brand new 1.6 ratio suit Rover V8, sell $930. Rover V8 stroker crank brand new as used in TVR Tuscan Racing handle 8000RPM 1 only very rare sell $1,250, Nissan RB26 GTR engine complete long engine only 48,000kms sell $6,000. Holley 600DP as new sell $450. Ian (08)8384 6933 or 0414 815 955. 253www.my105.com/5359

Rover Parts, TVR 4.0 Rover V8, brand new crate short motor assemble by TVR UK high compression, 1 only cost $5,950 to sell $3,750. 4x4mm Delloro to down draught carbs on inlet suit Rover V8 or P76 complete with linkages 7hours old, sell $2,280. Rover V8 Ram tube injection manifold complete like new cond sell $675.

Ian (08) 8384 6933 or 0414 815 955. 253 www.my105.com/61387 2 Way Radio Equipment, Icom brand, 2 mobile units, 2 handhelds, battery chargers, power supplies and aerials, needs new headsets, great starter pack. $800. Colin 0418 976 517. 252www.my105.eom/49050

Trailer, professionally built steel/alloy dual axle enclosed front, tyre racks, full floor with full length alloy ramps, alloy wheels, fresh paint/no signage, suit historic towing cars, sport sedans, etc. $4,500 ONO. Gary 0412 670 422. 25iwww.my10S.com/83282

For Lease

Tyres, Mostly Used, 18“, Some 19", slicks and some wet, various brands $50 each.

John 041 4 274 369.

250. www.my105.com/74191

Transporters/Trailers

Konica 2003 VS Commodore, fastest at Bathurst 2002, fully maintained, transport and personnel team expanding to two cars, phone Matthew or Tim 02 9521 5255. 251 www.myl O5.com/17600

Wanted

Transporter, SBR 6cyc 6 speed gearbox fold up ramps elect winch work bench heaps of storage wheel rack 240 lights good tyres 9 months registraflon goes very well. $11,000 ONO. Darren 0438 217 334. 253 www.myl05.com/68445 Transporter, Mitsubishi FK415 truck, 37ft gooseneck trailer-12 months old, 240v power, lights, ramp door, benches, cupboards. First to see will buy. $27,000.

Jac 0419 789 739.252 www.myl05.com/2559

.nTl

/,j

lmLL

j_2 Gooseneck Racing Trailer, Enclosed with checker plate aluminium, lined with carpet on roof and weatherproof material on walls.

Fibreglass sides and rear, one piece aluminium roof. 6 wheel electric brakes with breakaway kit. Heavy duty al-ko rubber suspension. 12 volt wiring plus 240 volts lights and power points. Absolutely a show piece, $26,000 ONO, Tino Leo 0408 252 577583 or (03) 5821 4014. www.myl05.com/58382

Tanden trailer. Banana Back. Electric brakes. Spare wheel. Good tyres. Winch.

Ramps. Easy loading. Strong built.

Excellent towing. Designed for Speedway Sedan but used for wide body Porsche race car. Suit any wide vehicle. Easy loading.

Great for home mechanic as trailer allows free access to under body of car. $2,400 Or Best Offer. Mat 0405 134 091. 251 www.myl05.com/26592

Super Tow Vehicle / Campervan, LWB, hi roof, dual wheel, Chev turbo 350, registered as campervan, Stratos seats, fridge, stove, double bed, wardrobe, etc, comfortable, quick, economical and legal tow vehicle, mechanically as fresh, professional paint, no signage, race car sold, $15,500. Gary 0412 670 422. 251 www.mylO5.com/10007

Wanted, chevy Nova or chevyll parts from 1962 to 1967. Mainly require 63 sedan body panels & any parts for 67 sedans or coupes.Anything considered please phone or email , tippo@fastrac.net.au. Bob 0412 810 815. 253 www.myl05.com/29009 Drive Wanted or Chance to Provel , Mr Kerry Kokotis looking for a drive in GTP, Production, Konica, etc, Enduros and Sprints. I offer determination and ability with fitness. You have nothing to lose but a driver to gain. Experience 600HP Dragcar and Club Sprints. Kerry Kokotis 0418 835 727.252www.my105.com/94097 Wanted, I am looking for any RF91 to 95 Van Dieman Formula Fords. With or with out engines. Any condition looked at. Bnjin Beasley 0438 530 698 or (03) 5997 5075.

251 www.my105.com/64087

Heuer 24 Hr Rally Master Dash Stop Clocks, Any condition, chrome cased or flat black models. Also Rally Haldas, Twinmasters, Tripmasters, Speedpilots and Lap Timing Boards. Glenn 03 9867 6200 or 0418 389 549. 248www.my105.com/13160

I WylOS-conTI Product Launch Driver Sites Ciub Sites

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09

OPINION

motorsport EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Phil Branagan "editor@mnews.com.au Assistant Editor: Aaron Noonan " noonz@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Mark Glendenning l mark@mnews.com.au

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CONTRIDUTORS FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper Europe: Quentin Spurring, Gary Watkins, David Addison US: Phil Morris, Martin D. Clark Speedway: Brett Swanson, Julie Pearce, Geoff Rounds, Wade Aunger, Tony Millard (UK), Greg Boscato Rally: Jon Thomson Histories: Brian Reed Drag Racing: Greg Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Nick Nicholas, Steven White, Ken Ferguson National: Mark Wicks, Sean Henshelwood, Erin McCowatt, Mark Jones Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Burnett, API Images, Neil Hammond, Slipstream Photographic, Phil Williams, Allsport, John Morris/Mpix, Frank Midgiey, Peter Bury, Mike Patrick (UK), Chris Carter, James Smith, Paris Charles, Bob Potts Motorsport News is published by Australasian Motorsport News - ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Printed by: Offset Alpine Printing Pty Ltd, Lidcombe, NSW. Distributed by: NDD Ltd Material published by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Australasian Motorsport News does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

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90

Brock Medal?

tire role he has in other teams

On the day of the AFL Grand Final, the football player who is considered the best performer of the match is awarded the Norm Smith Medal.

For future Bathurst 1000s, why not do something similar?

The Peter Brock Medal could be awarded to a driver who officials consider to be the best performer on the day of the Great Race.

during Iris career and lifts Jaguar out of the mire and into a competitive situation -even if it is only to finally silence Irvine!

Best of luck, Mark,for a superb season.

Michael Patterson Brisbane, QW

This prestigious award could go to the lead or co-driver, and not necessarily the winning team. It should be presented on the podium, along with the drivers who come first, second and third in the race.

As Peter Brock has won more Bathurst enduros than any other driver, it would be entirely appropriate to name the award after him.

For a lot of drivers who aspire to winning Bathurst, but don't do so, to receive a Peter Brock medal would ceretainly be the next best

thing!

Malcolm Webster Croydon South, VIC ED:Interesting concept. Hopefully AVESCO might run with it...

converter Send US your thoughts: mail: PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au

development classes in the small end of the sport. Can't motor racing learn from that?

It a shame the Pacific Peso makes it so expensive to bring in some of these beautiful things in from offshore.

Andrew McKinna And7vwJ^_McKmria@acipc!ckaging.co

Romantic fool!

Whats wrong with sports cars?

I have just been surfing the web and came across a web site via the SCCA web site, dsr.racer.net, a web site devoted to sports cars.

TU admit I am a sports car racing fan, but it all seems to happen somewhere else.

It seems that sportcar racing in Oz is something of an enigma,limited to Lotus 7 replicas, histories and the odd F1300. This is the grass roots of the sport and the birth place of good ideas to overcome a lack of budget, yet we seem hell bent on doing what we've been doing for years.

The C & D series sports car classes in the US seem to be a place for creative engineering, passionate people and some pretty quick and dose racing.

It seems we are flooded with single make categories that really are dull, (Daewoos hardly get the heart racing, now do they ?)and the arena that bred so many great drivers is all but gone. I can't imagine Graham Hill looking down with interest at a Mirage grid, can you?

Am I romantic fool, pr is there a place for this category in Australia, running space frames slicks, wings, and motorbike and small car engines, with an open cockpit and full body work?

The era of live rear axles and Corolla 1300 engines can't be where it stops in 2003 surely, and replacing fuel injectors on a twin cam Suzuki with a pair of Webbers does seem an odd direction to take. Yachting has

The Norm Smith of V8 Supercars?

Reader Malcolm Webster would like to see that...

Go Mark I've been monitoring the recent FI testing results and,is it my imagination, or is tlie Jaguar team starting to look more competitive than it has for three, long Eddie Irvine years?

I wholeheartedly agree with your Motor Mouth column last month, where you offered the view that Irvine had been over-rated for years.

In my view, the real star of the Irvine camp was his manager,Enrico Zanarini, who managed to negotiate such a huge contract,earning Irvine far more than his journeyman talent ever justified.

And then Irvine has the gall to announce last month that "I have decided not to race in FI this year..."

Er, Eddie,nobody seemed to want you, old boy.

I really hope that Mark Webber fills

Thin edge of the wedge?

Well, V8 Supercars have finally been Shanghaied by AVESCO and Tony Cochrane.

Australian fans had better enjoy the next few years' races while they can,because if Cochrane has his way, we will be seeing a lot less of them in years to come.

BUnd Freddy can see he intends to take as many races as he can offshore to make more money for himself-he must have Bemie , Ecclestone's FI book on how to make rruUions!

I guess his aim is to only have races at Bathurst,Surfers Indy, Melbourne AGP,Adelaide,Sandown and, possibly, Eastern Creek. The othersWinton, Oran Park,Phillip Island, WUlowbank,Darwin and Barbagallo will go,as he doesn't earn enough money out of these meetings.

The people who go to meetings at this second group of venues are the genuine fans who want to take their kids to a race meeting on a Sunday. He prefers the people who can spend a smaU fortime and turn up for two or three days at a street race, where you only see 100 metres of race track.

I guess AVESCO's answer wHl be 'if you want to go to Oran Park,attend a Konica meeting."

It's time a magazine had a reader/race fan questionnaire to answer a handful of key questions: 1. More overseas races? Yes/No; 2. Limited field numbers? Yes/No; 3. Anyone who enters a meeting should be able to try and qualify?

Yes/No; 4. Less aero package? Yes/No. Neil Stratton Hornsby, NSW ED: What do our readers think?

Still crying over spilt fuel?

It's impossible to have an intelligent debate with hysterical Holden fans! (eg: Ed May,#250).

They get "ragged up" with anyone who dares speak out against Holden or ITRT. They are blinded by arro gance:"Ford did this. Ford did that; bend over, blah, blah, blah!"

Third degree burns or death ver sus some accidental panel damage? I know which one Td prefer - but not our Ed! Give yourself a five minute penal ty and think about it!

PS: Who was TWR? Lionel Harris, NSW. bobbyarrisesyoiingfulla@hotmaU.com

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Manley makes your choices easy.

0 Superior strength 0 Exact stem to seat concentricity IZI Closely controlled margin heights IZI Fully machined combustion faces 0 Swirl polished underheads

r 4 FRAZER ST, LAKEMBA NSW 2195 Ph. 02 9758 1966 Fax: 02 9758 1155 email: info@fabre.com.au

Also available for Japanese applications

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Feel the Comfort se

The A539 combines excellent dry and

wet-road grip with low noise characteristics

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Phil Branagan - Motorsport News

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Now available at: YOKOHAMS NATIONAL NETWORK

131 509W

COST OF fl LOCAL CAg FROM ANYWHERE IN AUSTRAUft

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