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features 32 Brock Speaks On the how and they why of his endurance outings with HRT

race coverage

36 The Top Banana Ambrose wins the race but loses the points and the rest do what they do - Richo chases, Skaife spears off and FPR blows things up 46 French tears Alonso and Renault looked the goods but Mikey won anyway 54 All to play for Owen and Jones set up a thrilling end to the KMV8SS 58 Thanks for your support Porkers and Fordsters take to the Paperclip Turkish Bath Loeb wins. On three wheels. And Peugeot gets a poke right in the butt! ARCangas Juha and Julia rule in Tasmania

tiatnurst' AMBROSE LOSES QL0300 POINTS

rnoios; Cover: Dirk Klynsmith, Contents: Holden Racing Team, Ford Racing Media,

regulars 64 Rallying

66 Speedway 68 Drag Racing

70 National Scene

Marketplace

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Brock: I can w Holden's Legend returns to HRT for one more assault on the Mountain by PHIL BRANAGAN PETER Brock says that he can win a 10th Great Race at Bathurst. The 59-year-old touring car legend will return to the scene of his greatest triumphs to co-drive a Holden Racing Team Commodore VY with former British Touring Car champion Jason Plato. The two will share the team's second entry which will be reassigned with Brock's famed 05 number for Bathurst and the Sandown 500 in September. "Absolutely,I can win," says Brock. "I went to the 24-Hour last year with the guys and I said,'let's not forget one thing; we can win this race if we keep our cool, if we hang in there and stay focussed.' And that is exactly what happened. I feel we can win the Supercar race if the same thing happens. Sometimes, you get in the car and it all works out, like it did for Greg Murphy last year. It can happen to me. You never know!" Brock said that there was no hesitation in his mind 10 days ago when he got a call from Mark Skaife, asking him to return to the Hoiden factory team for the two biggest races of thj year. "Why? Why not? There are a lot of blokes in Australia who would like to get a phone call from Mark Skaife and hear him say,'We would like you to come and put your bum in an HRT car around Bathurst'! "It happened last week. I was just flabbergasted. I was cautiously optimistic that it might happen; firstly, he said,'PB, let me work on a few things and see if we can make this happen'. So we went off, he checked with all the people at his end and they all said yes. At that stage, I started getting pretty happy about it. "He was right up front. Skaife said.

'Yes, we have been having a bad trot but the cars are really bloody good and you will love them. We have a new engine, we have found a few things and we are sorting them out. We are looking all right'. "At that stage, I was thinking that this was looking pretty good. I liked the idea of someone ringing me up and asking if I wanted to have a drive in their rocketship! I went from being cautiously optimistic to being pretty chuffed just like that." Brock made his last Bathurst 1000 start two years ago, when he shared the Team Brock Commodore VX with regular driver Craig Baird. After the car qualified in 26th position, it had a troubled run in the race and finished 23rd,25 laps behind winners Skaife and Jim Richards. The announcement ends weeks of speculation as to who would pilot the second HRT entry. The team has traditionally announced its endurance drivers as early as possible in the season and, by waiting until July, there had been paddock chatter that the team was having difficulty finding suitable partners for Skaife and Todd Kelly. While Brock's name had been mentioned in terms of possibly having a Bathurst drive, it has usually been linked with teams without the pedigree of HRT. While some will point to the fact that Brock has not been ultimately competitive since he

Sometimes, you get in the car and it aii works out, iike It did for Greg Murphy iastyear.lt can happen to me. You never know!

- Brock rates his chances

stopped racing full-time in 1997, there is also likely to be a merchandising bonanza for the team, but none of these factors troubles Brock. "My only expectations are that I am going to have a bloody competitive piece of machinery and a very dedicated crew," he says. "They admit that it is going to be a different experience to be going in there what is probably my last competitive run in a Supercar and they are saying,'OK Pete, let's see what happens'. "I suppose that they realise that there will be a certain expectation from the public; that might change things a little. I can rock up, put my hat on,blast around, give them some valuable feedback if they need it or keep my trap shut and just get in the car and blast around. Either way,1 am very flexible and my expectations are get in, put it in gear, drop clutch, bag up tyres, go through comer,lift wheel, wave to crowd, have fun! "If I ever go into any event where I can actually not think about it too much,just relax and enjoy myself, the results are always fantastic. Once you study things to death, you leave that free spirit thing behind and that seems to work for me. "They might look at it from another perspective. It is a bit like being able to play a musical instrument. You learn to do it and every time you do it, you get a rise. You get a great deal of enjoyment from it. You do not necessarily do it to entertain others. If it does entertain others, that is fantastic. That is the stage that I am at in my life." "It is a terrific opportunity for me. It will be a wild old week on the mountain! For more on Brock's return to HRT,see pages 32-34

05, then and now: Brock had a long and emotional send-off from HRT in 1997, left, and s will now bring the famous 05 back to the Clayton team for the Sandown s 500 and Bathurst 1000.

motorsport news

n Bathurst

NEWS

Alex Davo for Winton V8 debut? CASTROL Perkins signee Alex Davison looks set to run a V8 round in the Castrol car currently being steered by Tony Longhurst as a build up to the long distance races. According to LP himself, Tony's strong run in last weekend's OLD 300 has eased his concerns about the twice Bathurst-winners form, to the degree that race miles for the new signing is a likely option. Winton is a possibility. The move also confirms the two as a likely enduro pairing. n Speaking of things Davo, Alex's younger brother Will was at Queensland Raceway. With endurance rides thinning down, he was in meet-and-greet mode with V8 Supercar teams but is working on raising the budget to return to Formula 3 overseas, starting with the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort in August. , n Alain Menu was a guest of ' Ford Performance Racing at Queensland Raceway on the weekend. The Swiss ace was taking in a V8 round before testing at Winton in two weeks time. Fresh from his assault on the Le Mans 24 Flour, the former BTCC winner was in a jovial mood in the media centre on Friday. Fle's going to have to have a sense of humour if things continue as they are at FPR towards the endures...

A Platonic friend

British champ not fazed by a Bathurst assault in 05

JASON Plato is not worried about the responsibility of carrying Peter Brock's hopes of a 10th Sandown or Bathurst win. The 35-year-old Brit, who races for Seat in the British Touring Car Championship, left, will make his second start with HRT after driving at Bathurst with the team four years ago. I am really looking forward to it. said Plato from his base in Monaco on Monday. I can imagine what it is going to be like but there is no additional pressure. The mindset to win Bathurst is like it is for any other major race; you go out there, do the best job that you can and try and win the thing. It is actually goittg to be an advantage to be driving with Peter; what he doesn't know about the place does not need to be known.

This will be Plato's third appearance at Bathurst, after his 1997 Super Touring assault with Renault (co-driving with Alain Menu) and his 2000 drive with HRT, alongside Yvan Muller. Ironically, he will be racing against both drivers. Menu suiting up with FPR and bitter rival Muller racing for the Triple 8/Betta Electrical team. Plato has never raced at Sandown but says that he will be trying to find out as much about the Melbourne track before he heads down under in September. And, can he win Bathurst? I would like to think so. HRT always prepares a great car, the team has a great record there and Bathurst is one of the world's greatest touring car races. To drive a Commodore with 05 on the door ... It's going to be great. - PHIL BRANAGAN

n Interactive software company Atari confirmed last week that the popular console game, V8 Supercars 2, will be released on Playstation 2 in Qctober this year. An international best-seller on Xbox and PC, the PS2 version wiil feature some exclusive content, including a new circuit (Catalunya) and an expanded Championship structure. n FIA chief Max Mosley has unveiled plans to ram through immediate FI regulation reform under the guise of safety. The soonto-depart Mosley's most interesting plan is to introduce 2.4 litre V8 engines in 2006, while allowing teams to retain 3-litre VI Os with an FIA-controlled rev limit if they are not engine-manufacturer allied or unable to produce a V8 in time. Mosley also suggests that engine manufacturer threats to quit if 2.4 litre V8s are introduced are unlikely to happen. "Don't believe them," he said. "They won't do it..." n Chris Alajajian will make his Formula 3 debut at Eastern Creek in two weeks time. The 17-year-old will drive Piccola Scuderia's 2001-model Dallara, the car that Peter Hackett took to championship glory in 2001. 5