■■■■■ SHOCK EXCLUSIVE: PERKINS TO SELL? THE IMEW. BEHMlVia THE IMEVl/i Ta CO CO CO CO
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Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 incl GST No. 279 March 24- April 6 2004
MARCOS MAULS’EM AT CLIPSAL, niT
Webber'S EXCLUSIVE diary
^ What grid, Mark?
How he got on the front ^ row - and why it went ^ wrong on race day
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news
Issue 279
24 March — 6 April 2004
news and opinion 4
A Price for Perkins IP’s licences are on the market?
6
is GRM, is damaged Two big repair jobs ahead before Eastern Creek
8
A Frank Kiwi? Dixon gets a foot in the FI door
12 About time Marshaii finally sorts out his Supercup deal 25 Motor Mouth MN’s Publisher plays couch potato 26 Box Seat Michael is still the boss. Here is why 82 Taik Converter Mark Webber vs Homer Simpson and the cast of Amercian Idol
features 28 Five Minutes With Adrian Fernandez Preparing for life on the ‘other side’ 30 Five Minutes With Jenson Button Hey Dad, did you see me on the podium? 32 El Presidents Tony Cochrane has a lot on his plate - and he's still hungry 34 Analysis Bathurst needs bucks, but the federal government isn’t in a hurry to hand them over. Here’s why
race coverage
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Rumour Rile Where we air all those intriguing, but to date unconfirmed, rumours dug out by our imperious spies - in this edition, we cover everting from SBR’s enduro iineups to some Formula One geography Don't bet large sums of dough on this ... but we hear that Stone Brothers Racing is not going to follow last year's example with its 2004 endurance line-ups. The story goes that Marcos will be in the Pirtek car and that Rusty will be in Havoline hues. Co-drivers are still up in the air but, damn it, that name Ritter keeps on coming up ... The whole Ralf Schumacher/Renault thing from last week has been pretty well debunked by the expert FI media, who largely predict that Schuey Two has Toyota as his most likely destination. But... we have heard from the oddest source that where there is smoke, there is fire. Our man on the inside insists that the deal IS done and that it is all part of a swap to get some Renault-contracted bloke in Williams blue next season. And no, not any of the ones with the funny accents. Smoke signals 'States-side say that there will be a big announcement regarding Champ Cars in the next week. What could it be? Well, it seems that the promoters of the three Canadian events are standing firmly behind the series because they believe that one of their countrymen will be getting a ride this season. So, make yourself a list of Canuck racing drivers and, if you feel lucky, strike out the names of all the drivers who don't wear glasses - or baggy race suits. Remote control? Heard the one about the motorsport mag whose AGP coverage was attributed to long-time GP reporter Mike Doodson? The experienced and popular FI journo (one of only three in the '500 Club') must have been skulking in the darkest of pit lane bunkers, 'cause noone actually bumped into The Dood in Melbourne. Indeed, our UK spies report that a figure of alarmingly similar proportions was seen shopping near his East Sussex home that very weekend, muttering about slashed budgets ...
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And talking AGP, how about equally famous international FI scribbler Alan Henry who wandered about as far as it's possible to get from the homely comfort of the media centre, to the Minardi pit, to interview Zsolt Baumgartner. It was only after a handful of questions and a number of confused answers that the learned scribe realised he was chatting to Gianmaria Bruni ... 4
IP'S Licences en the market Testing restriction prompts dramatic action LARRY Perkins has put his two Level 1 V8 Supercar licences on the market. The six-time Bathurst winner notified the Touring Car Entrants' Group TEGA of his intention to sell the licences, under which Steven Richards and Paul Dumbrell race the Castrol Perkins Racing Commodores. "I have notified TEGA of my intention, as I am required to do by the rules," said LP on Monday. "I have to go through the steps and I have done that. My next step is to proceed with intended buyers and make the sale or not make the sale." Perkins has made the decision because of the fact that the TEGA Board has deemed that his team, and those of Rod Nash Racing and Toll Racing, have been 'grouped'. Because of that fact, none of the cars will be allocated more than two days' testing this seasons, as Kmart Racing and Team Brock were restricted to that amount last season because they were grouped with Holden Racing Team. "The way that the Board is interpreting grouping is too big a burden for Perkins Engineering," continued Perkins.
"My business is racecar engineering and I intend that to continue. But (the testing restriction) is too severe a penalty. The Board's decision is most disappointing." IP's move is not likely to affect the Castrol Racing program for this season. While Perkins declined to comment on what might happen, or what the duration of his deal with the oil company and his other sponsors were, it is improbable that he would accept an offer from a 'hostile' party (ie, another V8 Supercar team) but would look favourably on an offer from a person or entity that would allow Richards and Dumbrell to continue racing their Holdens. Of course, any such sale would be subject to approval by the TEGA Board. It is also likely that, as it did with the Holden ownership matter last year, the Board would grant Perkins a period of grace to sort the matter out, during which he could continue to run the racing team. Ironically, the move comes on the day that Richo gave the team its best start to a season in memory, with two second ■places in the Clipsal 500. - PHIL BRANAGAIM
Dumbrell fined at 500
CASTROL Perkins Racing's Paul Dumbrell has been handed a $10,000 fine and a 75-point penalty for his involvement in the four-car pile-up in Race 2 of last weekend's Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. The team has appealed the decision and a hearing is due to be held in relation to the matter, which severely damaged the four cars. The appeal is likely to be held tomorrow night (Thursday) in the V8 Supercar Court of Appeal at CAMS headquarters in Melbourne. Dumbrell keeps his race results though drops from finishing seventh for the round to equal 19th. The 21-year-old, who finished
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by PHIL BRANAGAN i HOLDEN Racing Team leader j I j j
Mark Skaife has vowed to return to form at the second round of the - ’■ 2004 V8 Supercar Championship ■S.-. Series at Eastern Creek, despite suffering "one of the worst weekends I have ever - experienced" at the Qipsal 500. Skaife and the team had a series 3 I of disasters in Adelaide, leaving I him equal ninth in the points and 1 team-mate Todd Kelly in equal 17th
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after the two 250km races. Worse for the team, neither Commodore VY showed any speed over the weekend, both Skaife and Kelly missing the top 10 shoot-out. Worse, HRT was
strongly in the top 10 the day before and was looking strong to equal the feat on Sunday, tapped Cameron McConville's Valvoline Holden into a spin at the high speed turn eight. The resultant carnage saw Mark Winterbottom, Steven Johnson and Brad Jones all suffer severe damage to their Falcons with Eastern Creek less than a fortnight away. Dumbrell was fined $5000 for careless driving at the Clipsal 500 last year after an incident with Dean Canto. The former Konica Series champion was unavailable to make comment on the incident on Monday. -AARON NOONAN notortport pews
n Look for a new Stone Brothers Racing Falcon to hit the track after Pukekohe. There's a new shell ready and waiting in the workshop for running gear at the team's Yatala workshop. Not that there's much wrong with the two current cars though! n No more pooch food at the Creek. Telstra BigPond will be the naming rights sponsor of the final round of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship at Eastern Creek in December. The meeting may or may not continue to use the 'Main Event' title used in 2003, and will continue to be promoted by AVESCO Events. The race wiii be held on the shorter version of the Creek, which was last used for V8 Supercars in 1996.
'last year at tte Creek, we aet-iiMified the tteU by Mf a secoNl,so left net be too aiaraied" - Skaife Is not getting too carried away by a bad Adelaide 500 comprehensively out-sped by its 'sister' Clayton-based team,PWR Racing and Kmart Racing. KRT's Greg Murphy qualified on pole position and finished fourth overall while PWR's Paul Weel and Jason Bright were third and fifth overall respectively in their VYs. "We were disappointed with our car speed," admitted Skaife after Sunday's race."We did make it better on Sunday morning but we were still nowhere near it. But it was
Adding to Skaife's mechardcal woes was an old injury, which flared up and compromised his driving, "I had no feeling in my right foot. In 1999, when I crashed out of this race, I had a prolapsed disc(in my back) and that makes my foot go numb.I have not had a drama with it, we do a lot of work with seat posture and control it with medication and so on. "Yesterday (Saturday), my foot went numb half-way through the race. I missed the brake pedal once altogether and I could physically not drive it any faster." Skaife did nof say that there were any specific areas in which the team's Commodores were deficient.
an improvement.
Apart from detail changes,like brands of brakes, the main difference between the HRT cars and their 'cousins' is the fact that HRT uses the HMS engine in both cars, while PWR and KRT use Chevrolets. Skaife said fhat his team would bounce back in Sydney; "It is the same pool of guys that
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It started badly and went downhill from there: Kelly hit the wall early in Race 1, adding to the team's woes. Skaife has pledged a reversal of form in
Sydney.
24 mrcl 2004
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have made HRT the number one
racing team in the country. We have the same faces in the team; nothing has changed. "I could have been worse. Everyone will have bad days. We just have to be sensible and correctly do the things that we can do correctly." Despite the fact that Marcos Ambrose became the first Ford driver - in fact, the first non-HRT driver - to win in Adelaide on Sunday, Skaife vowed that the car would be competitive at Eastern Creek, where Ambrose won twice in 2003. "We have to wheel the car out at Eastern Creek and show the speed that we have shown there previously. Let's not get too carried away; last year at the Creek, we outqualified the field by half a second, so let's not be too alarmed."
n Hitting a concrete barrier at just under 240 kph does not generally leave one feeling as fresh as a daisy. Alan Gurr did just that during the first Konica Minolta race in Adelaide on Friday, and the slightly groggy Qidbased Sydneysider was taken to hospital for a once-over afterwards. The driver was rushed through the doors into the emergency department ("just like in Hollywood," he reflected later), where he was immediately surrounded by a swarm of doctors and nurses jabbering away in medical jargon. The news of the nature of Gurr's accident, however, apparently took even these seasoned road crash professionals by surprise. "We have a car accident victim here, male, age 22." "What was the impact speed in the accident?" "238kmh," "Oh, *●**!" Someone musn't have told them that the cars on Adelaide's streets last weekend were a bit faster than normal traffic... ■ Adelaide's Clipsal 500 sure packs 'em in. On Thursday 33,600 people attended, there were 51,300 at the track on Friday, 71,800 on Saturday and 80,700 Sunday, giving a four-day total of 237,000. 5