SHANGHAI ALL THE V8 NEWS FROM CHINA THE IMEWi
BBHMIMO THE IXIEWL
HUI Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST
No. 288
July 21 - August 3 2004
I Webber’s Williams debut set for Albert Park
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motorsport Issue 288
21 July — 3 August 2004
news and opinien 4
Grab a seat Holden drivers to drive ... different Holdens
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BMW Mark Webber After a long courtship, engagement I like Chinese ... Tracks. All the news from Shanghai
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10 More Pizza Jungle Boy gets the call-up from Williams 12 Dubai Dudes Well, Jordan is in the Middle East 25 Motor Mouth Anarchy in the UK - and Chinese takeaway 26 Box Seat The Silliness of the FI Silly Season 82 Talk Converter Write. The Editor gets lonely, you know
features 28 Five Minutes With Garth Tander GRM’s leader on getting back to form 30 Five Minutes With Greg Ritter SBR’s endurance man chats about life 32 After the Race We look at the questions (and some of the answers) post-Q300 34 Time is on their side Rick and Frosty define what is ‘young’ in V8 Supercars 38 Only Fuels and Horses Ever wonder why FI fuel is so different? Here’s why 42 Dyer ’Ere Chris Dyer has a chat about life with Ferrari and you-know-who 46 Big Brother Looking back 20 years at a classic time in touring car racing
race couerage
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so Ten and Counting McLaren threatens and so does the weather but Michael still takes his 80th GP win at Silverstone 58 PROCAR Few Nations Cup cars at The Creek but the racing was intense ■< I
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Webber's Williams debut set for pi Alberi Parh |i
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Web Gee that PWR VY looks quick: Look for Murf to be piloting a Weel Commodore next season.
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Musical Chairs Murf to PWR, Garth to Kmart and a new team beckons Bright by PHtL BRANAGAN
HOLDEN'S V8 Supercar line-up could look much different in 2005, depending on some major driver moves in the coming off-season. While many of the details are yet to be settled, and some way from being announced, MNews believes that the major players in the changes are Kmart Racing's Greg Murphy, Repco Valvoline's Garth Tander and PWR Racing's Jason Bright. The three Bathurst-winning drivers all appear set to drive for different teams next season, with Tander looking set to join KRT to replace Murphy, who
will join PWR Racing. All this appears to leave Bright without a seat. "I am looking at things for 2005," Bright said last week. "I have an offer from PWR for next season and the team has been really good to me. I am hoping to have things worked out soon." While Bright could not be reached on Monday to discuss his moves in light of the other news, we believe that he has been linked with a new Melbourne-based team, which will race a Commodore VY next season. No other details were available to MNews when we closed for press on Monday.
PWR Racing principal Kees Weel was not available for comment. We were however able to reach Tander and Murphy,the West Australian stating that "I have nothing to tell anyone at the moment" while Murphy said that "I am not sure what it is you are talking about..." The moves mean that, apart from taking on new teams for 2005, all three drivers look set to remain in Holden colours in the medium to long-term, quashing rumours that Tander and Bright, in particular, have been sought to join the 'blue' side in V8 Supercar racing.
Out of the Green: Webber will see out the season at Jaguar Racing but is headed to BMW.Williams next season. His
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I have seen you before: Rick Kelly and Tander look set to join up while Bright's seat is going to Murf...
manager and Renault principal Flavio Briatore, right, has been instrumental in getting Webber in at Williams and now expects Giancarlo Fisichella to rejoin the Renault Sport team. motorsport naws
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It for Albert Park debut in blue and white by CHFIIS LAMBDEN in LONDON
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21 July 2004
MARK Webber will debut for the BMW.Williams Grand Prix team at next March's Australian Grand Prix.
NEWS
Keep your Castrol eyes peeled... LOOK for a Castrol-coloured Commodore VX to run in the final round of the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series at Mallala on August 21/22. We cannot possibly say who might be preparing the car for the weekend - or who might be driving it - but gee, which Castrol-coloured team might have a young bloke looking to benefit from a few racing miles before the endurance races? ■ An Alex Davo-for-KMV8SS deal means that the lad will not suit up in a Castrol VX at Winton this weekend. As usual, Tony Longhurst will drive the car at the Benalla track.
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That exciting prospect is expected to be confirmed with an announcement as early as this weekend's German Grand Prix. Although Webber himself is remaining non-committal, MNews understands that the conclusion of simultaneous negotiations will see he and Giancarlo Fisichella sign contracts within days, for Williams and Renault respectively. Webber's FI contract manager (and Renault team manager) Flavio Briatore has been central to the outcome. In the end agreeing to let Webber go to his preferred team, rather than Renault, Briatore has at the same time had to find a suitable team-mate for Fernando Alonso, after running out of patience with Jarno Trulli's contractual demands. If Trulli does not now cement a rumoured Toyota offer, he faces the FI wilderness.
the Constructors Championship in order to take up its option on him. Going in to the weekend. Jaguar needs a 1-2 to pull that off. It is ...unlikely. As this is written, Jordan's Nick Fleidfeld, above, has moved into favouritism for the second Williams seat in 2005. Reports suggested that the German was going to race a Williams in his home GP this weekend but attempts to organise a release in order to test him at last week's Jerez test came to nought. Pizzonia will race in place of Marc Gene but Heidfeld remains the new favourite for the full time seat, according to UK sources.
Webber's expected multi-year deal with Williams will commence in January, scotching recent rumours that Williams would attempt to buy-out the balance of his 2004 Jaguar contract and move him across with immediate effect. That much has become apparent following the naming of test driver Antonio Pizzonia to drive the second Williams this weekend. That will bring the number of drivers to start a GP in a Williams this year to four the maximum allowed by the FIA. There is also now the possibility that Ralf Schumacher will be fit enough to contest the latter races of the season. Webber's official availability to Williams will also be confirmed this weekend. The mid-year break, after the German GP, is the point at which the Jaguar team must be in the top six in
The irony of that situation, should it occur, would be that BMW's two race drivers next season would both be graduates of the driver program instigated by arch-rival Mercedes-Benz in the late 1990s. The German was a McLaren test driver from 1997 to '99 while Webber raced Mercedes's Sportscars in 1998/99. David Coulthard and BAR test driver Anthony Davidson are prime contenders for the now vacant seats at Sauber and Jaguar. In the meantime, Australian FI fans can look forward to an announcement of Webber's Williams deal imminently - most likely in the days following this weekend's GP - and the prospect that, 22 years after Alan Jones left the same team, Australia will in 2005 have a genuine Grand Prix contender.
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■ Speaking of all things Davison, younger bro Wili had his first taste of a V8 Supercar when he drove a Team Dynamik Commodore at Mallala last week. It was not, however, a full blown test - instead, the open wheeler star did a handful of laps at a team drive day, chauffeuring guests around the circuit. Davison could not be reached for comment, and there is no word on whether another, more serious, speli in the car is scheduled in the near future. While he is still hopeful of resuming his career in the British F3 Championship, Davison attended the recent V8 round in Queensland, where he confirmed to MNews that he was talking to a few teams about getting some miles in a tin-top. ■ Last issue's Queensland V8 coverage included some remarks from Team Dynamik first-timer Neil McFadyen about his debut race. To alleviate any misunderstanding that may have been caused by the context in which the remarks were reproduced, McFadyen was more than happy with both his equipment and the team, and any disappointment that he felt was directed towards himself. ■ None other than Prime Minister John Howard has joined in the congratulations for AVESCO's signing of the sanction agreement in Shanghai for the V8 Supercar China. The message to AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane read: "On behalf of the Australian Government, I congratulate AVESCO and all those who have helped secure what I understand is the biggest sporting export deal between Australia and China. "Under a five-year deal, V8 racing will for the first time travel outside Australasia. This is an exciting and historic event and one which will add a further dimension to one of Australia's most important relationships. "Australians wish you well in the opportunities that will follow today's signing ceremony." And he never mentioned the election once ... 5