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Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST

No. 291

September 1 -14 2004

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Why Seto's leaving fpr ... for DJR

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Rumour Pile Where we air all those intriguing, but to date unconfirmed, rumours dug out by our imperious spies some of which may well turn out to be right on the button ... Spied in the pits at the IHRA World Nationals last weekend, working on Jeff Burnett’s IHRA Alcohol Funny Car was one Jamie Noonan, engine builder of considerable note for Stone Brothers Racing. Noonan was assisting his father John in helping Burnett with his entry. What happens next is ... dynoing a new engine combination at the shop of Robert Yates Racing in North Carolina. A drag racing engine? Nope. A Superspeedway rocketship for the Nextel Cup? Not from what we hear. Oils may be oils - but they ain't fuels, either. We hear that one of the Commodores that will run from the House of Perkins next season may give up the familiar Castrol livery in favour of running in the hues of BP Ultimate. Of course, the oil company is owned by the British-based petroleum giant, which is currently pushing its high-performance premium unleaded petrol in the marketing arena. We were looking forward to seeing the commentators making bungles over the number on one of the HRT Commodores at Sandown and Bathurst later this year. You know, swapping #22 for Peter Brock's famed 05. Well, we hear that there could be a double whammy in store, with the Skaife/Kelly car running 02 for the two-driver races. Alan van der Merwe was, briefly, in . line to be Jaguar Racing's 'Friday' test driver this season before the gig went to Bjorn Wirdheim. The South African, who won the British F3 crown last season, may be in line to leap back into a Cat R5 later this season, with the 'fly-away' races taking regulars to the far ends of the earth. How many people does it take to buy a V8 Supercar licence? With all manner of people currently scurrying about, trying to put deals together for 2005, we hear that one of the Level 2 licence 'leasers’ is considering buying shares in Telstra. As many as 12 different people have been on the blower to the unnamed owner, who is content to sit and watch its value rise by the day. Apart from the departure of Konica Minolta, the second-tier V8 Supercar Show could be in for some changes. Look for the seconds to support The Show at only two events in 2005 Adelaide and Bathurst - and also for a first-time outing at Morgan Park in the sunny northern climes. 4

still a Blue B DJR deal keeps Seton in Ferd camp by PHIL BRANAGAN

GLENN Seton will stay a Ford V8 Supercar driver after signing a deal to drive for Dick Johnson Racing for the next two years. Seton,39, wUl follow Craig Lowndes out the exit door at Ford Performance Racing following the final round of the V8SCS at Eastern Creek in December. This comes despite the Ford factory team's original desire to keep both its drivers for next season and follows a month after Lowndes confirmed that he would race for Triple 8 in 2005/06. Seton agreed to a DJR deal last week,following a series of meetings with team manager Steve Chalker. Seton said that the decision to join Johnson was made over a long period of time. "In early July, I approached David Flint to discuss any possible future with FPR and he asked for a couple of months to decide," said Seton. "I commented that I needed to make a commitment before that. "I had an approach from Dick Johnson and another team and they both wanted to discuss me having a future in V8 Supercars. With FPR out

of the immediate reckoning,I looked at both options. "One of things that swayed me was staying with Ford. I have raced against Dick's cars for a long time and know that the team has what it takes to get the job done.I have a lot of respect for Dick and, with us both in Queensland and both wanting to get back the front in V8 Supercar racing, 1 am confident about the future."

future, perhaps in the Konica Minolta series. "If I owned a team in the future, it would be in the Konica series. With the DJR thing,I might not be able to look at something like that for the next two years at least. But I would welcome the opportunity to become involved with the Johnson Konica team;I would like to be involved in developing young drivers." Seton will replace Warren Luff and drive the #18 Shell Helix Barra. Luff

Ford Australia Motorsport Manager Steve Kruk welcomed the move.

has struggled in his rookie V8 Supercar season but may remain in contention to fulfil long-distance duties witli the Queensland-based team. However,doubt remains over whether Seton will join Steven Johnson in the team. Johnson, who has raced for the team since 1995,is out of contract with DJR at the end of this season and his name has been cormected with a number of other

"1 think that this is great news for Ford. To have two legends, with seven championships between them, and a strong Ford pedigree, working together is fantastic. 1 am sure that the fans will aU enjoy and appreciate seeing the joining of two great icons of the sport." Seton sees that the move to DJR will guarantee that he stays in the sport. "My plan for the future is to run my career out with Ford and DJR. I want to race for as long as I feel like 1 can be competitive and 1 hope that can be another eight to 10 years." Seton did not rule out the prospect of owning a team himself in the

teams in the paddock. However, while no agreement has been reached, we believe that he will remain in the famed #17 Falcon for the next two seasons. Two-time V8 Supercar titleist Seton had been rumoured to be talking with

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AUSTRALIA'S Champ Car driver in the Lexmark Indy 300 will be David Besnard. The WPS Falcon driver will line up alongside Jimmy Vasser in one of PKV Racing's Lola-Cosworths in the event, which takes place on the Gold Coast on October 22-24. The car wiU be backed by WPS,which owns Besnard's V8 Supercar team and which backs Queenslander Josh Hunt in the Toyota Atlantic Championship in the USA. Besnard,left with Hunt, will test the car for the first time next week at a scheduled Champ Car test at Firebird Raceway in Arizona. Hunt had been set to drive the car in the race but, while he has been impressive in his rookie season in the US series, felt that he would not be in a position to get the most out of the Champ Car this year in Queensland. MNews sources say that the teenager approached PKV and Champ Car boss Kevin Kalkhoven and suggested that he stand down from the drive this season. Kalkhoven then cast around for another driver and Besnard entered the frame. It is believed that Hunt will continue to race in the 2005 Atlantic series and is in line to race a Champ Car at Surfers next year. "It was a matter of balancing economics with opportunity," said a source at PKV. "Josh has shown a good deal of maturity in this whole deal and has the support of his team. Our team looks

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forward to working with him in the future. "We know that Besnard has good credentials from his season in Atlantics and Jimmy knows and respects him." Besnard raced in the Atlantic Championship in 1999 for Hilton Motorsport, prior to returning to Australia and going into V8 Supercars with Stone Brothers Racing. With Besnard committed to driving in the PKV car at Surfers, WPS will have to replace him for the Gold Coast round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. An announcement is expected to be made in the next week but MNews believes that Neil McFadyen will race the car, alongside new WPS driver Alex Yoong. McFadyen, the 2004 Gold Star Champion, will join WPS for the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst. -PHIL BRANAGAN

moiorspon news

NEWS

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CAMS set to investigate Perkins decision

I have paced against Dick's cars for a iong time and know that the team has what it takes to get the job done"

-Seton Tasman Motorsport about next season, the Sydney team planning an expansion program with a second Commodore VY currently under construction. However,Seton is believed to have placed a strong emphasis on maintaining his Links with Ford,for which he started racing full-time in 1989. He made his Batluirst debut with the marque as a teenager in 1983,sharing a Capri with his Bathurst 500-winning father. Bo. The Seton/DJR deal will mean that FPR win now need to recruit two drivers for next season (see separate story) as well as incorporate major changes in its structure after recruiting team manager Dave Ward from Veloqx Audi and engine builder Rob Benson from OzEmail Racing.

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SO, who does want an FPR seat?

PAUL Radisich has moved into favouritism to join Ford Performance Racing next season. The vastly-experienced 41year-old is likely to become a man wanted by the Melbournebased works team after the decision by Triple 8 to replace him with Craig Lowndes next season. With the imminent departure of Glenn Seton, the team will be searching for two new drivers next season and having to 'blood' two rookie drivers while racing is a difficult option. Radisich has raced V8 Supercars full-time since joining Dick Johnson Racing in 1999, after completing a successful stint racing in the British Touring Car Championship with Ford and Peugeot. The Kiwi has recently commented that he wanted to keep racing in Australia. Despite this, rumours had connected Radisich to Triple 8's Vauxhall works BTCC team, which will lose the services of former champion James Thompson next season, the Englishman moving into Alfa Romeo's World Touring Car squad. While no announcement has been made by Vauxhall, MNews' UK sources suggest that the team has settled on a replacement for Thompson and is currently finalising a contract with the 1 September 2004

driver. We believe that driver is not Radisich. Flowever, we also believe that it is not Alain Menu either. The Swiss, a two-time BTCC winner, had also been connected with the Vauxhall team, but we believe that he has agreed to stay in the Prodrive fold and develop and race the company's new Aston Martin Le Mans racer in 2005. This would also take him out of the mix for FPR, for which he will race at Sandown and Bathurst. We hear that on top of FPR's I list of wanted drivers were 5 Steven Richards and Jason Bright. Richards has a multi-year deal with the Castrol Perkins team and Bright is working towards a deal that will take him out of PWR Racing and into a new, single-car team for next season. With that in mind, it would seem likely that FPR would want to combine an experienced steerer with a rising driver next season. They tested Andy Jones at Winton last week, the Konica Minolta Champ completing 35 laps and reportedly impressing the team (see separate story). The team was also due to test its enduro regular Adam Macrow, KMV8 runner-up Luke Youlden and Greg Ritter at Winton yesterday. - PHIL BRANAGAIM *T1

THE Perkins Engineering rear suspension case is to be the subject of a CAMS Enquiry. Following criticism from AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane after the original case, MNews understands that motorsport's governing body is shortly to announce the wide-ranging inquiry. While the terms of the enquiry aren't known, an enquiry does have the ability to investigate all aspects of a case,from the evidence to the witnesses, the presentation of the case and the penalty. Perkins pleaded guilty to a breach of the TEGA Technical Regulations in respect to the tolerance for positioning of the lower control arms on Steven Richards' Castrol Commodore. He successfully introduced evidence relating to confusing changes iri the regs between VX and VY models and a subsequent re-wording of the VY regs for this year. There was also expert evidence from respected engineer Ron Tauranac(who has undertaken contract work with the team)that the infrigement was not performance-enhancing. The team was fined $5,000, which provoked a substantial outcry from competing teams and then the AVESCO chief. n AN AVESCO Board meeting this week is scheduled to discuss the final 2005 V8 Supercar calendar. With a Rally NZ date now confirmed, and thus a non-clashing V8 race date able to be finalised, we hear the remaining issue is the choice of venue for the second Victorian round - Winton or Phillip Island. There is some prospect the calendar may be announced during next week's Sandown 500. n Mark Webber flew home to the UK immediately after the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, just in time for the final day's highlights from the Olympics and was stunned when he recognised the protester who tackled men's marathon leader Vanderlei de Lima. "I couldn't believe it," said Webber. "I said straight away it was Cornelius Horan, the same person who ran out in front of us at Silverstone last year- let's be honest, you can't really mistake someone who dresses like that! Then, when I read the papers next morning, there he was! I said he was a complete nutter last year and my view certainly hasn't changed!" You might remember the Rev Serial Pest as the man whom Webber flashed past at around 250kmh in last year's British Grand Prix. 5