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No. 302 February 9-22 2005 Australia $5.95 NZ $7.50 inci GST
HRT s Super$taj! Signing
Dick & Gienn spin the beans - on each other! f 3.
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motorsport news
Issue 302
9-22 February 2005
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Two Janies bond Enduro HRT drives for Courtney and Richo Lights, cameras, colours New Supercar paint schemes In the Nick of time Heidfeld gets the nod over Mark’s ex
12 Daytona 10-Hour Aussies stopped early so we did, too 16 ARC at Bathurst Atkinson misses out on the Mountain! 25 Motor Mouth How I drove a Williams, by Andy Prialux 26 Box Seat Joe Saward’s favourite time of the year 82 Talk Converter Who’s the Boss - or the Barra?
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features 28 Five Minutes With G. Fisichella and F. Alonso The boys in blue lift engines 30 Five Minutes With Marcos Ambrose He likes a Porsche - but he loves a Ford 32 Friends like These Glenn Seton and Dick Johnson are now a V8 Supercar item 38 Six Decades Brock speaks about V8 Supercars and life at (almost) 60 42 Look Mum! No Tusks! A look at Webber’s company car, the BMW.Williams FW27 46 Black Hat Theory 30 years back, Don Nichols and Shadow [briefly] ruled FI 48 Truth or Friction? How do those PR guys got away with do it? We asked how 52 I am indecisive. No, I’m not Mattias Ekstrom; DTM one week, rallying the next 56 Kanaanorama Tony K stops in before defending his IRL IndyCar title 58 WRXing in Sweden About to jump in the deep end - that’s our Chris Atkinson 62 Hail the King No, page 38 is Brock. This is the king of the dirt... Steve Kinser
mOtOfSDOrt news
HRT's Supersi
classic Madness Kerry Madsen made the vvife happier ...
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n Photos; Cover; Marshall Cass. I Coventry Studios ria'UD I Contents: IRL IndyCar Series, I sutton-images.com
regulars
22 Bikes 66 Speedway
68 Drag Racing
60 Rallying 70 National Scene
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Courtney's HRT Skaife signs V8 rookie for Sandown and Bathurst- and Jim's back too! by PHIL BRANAGAN THE Holden Racing Team will take a secret weapon to the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 this year-James Courtney. The Aussie international will join Holden's factory team and drivers Mark Skaife, Todd Kelly and seven time Bathurst winner Jim Richards in the Reds'assault on the classics in two 2005-spec Commodore VZs,the second of which is nearing completion. The appointment of both Courtney, 24, and Richards is expected to be confirmed at HRT's season launch in Melbourne next Tuesday. It will be Courtney's first appearance as a V8 Supercar driver, after a career that includes a Japanese Formula 3 crown,a British FF title and a stint as Jaguar Racing's FI test driver. The Sunshine Coast-based
driver, right, will again compete in the Japanese GT Championship this season for Toyota's factory team. The return of Richards to Clayton poses some interesting questions for the team. Recent practice by HRT and other teams indicates that Skaife and Kelly are likely to share the lead entry, as they did in the last two Bathurst 1000s, leaving Richards and Courtney to share the other Commodore. Richards drove with HRT in the endurance races in 2002 and '03. Richo and Skaife are firm friends and the pairing of the duo last time around yielded a stirring win in '02, perhaps prompting ideas that the team may decide to repeat the scenario this season. However,the following year Richards shared his HRT entry with Tony Longhurst and he not only out-
qualified Skaife (third versus seventh)in the Shoot-out, he finished ahead of the lead car in fifth place after a spirited dice with son Steven. Last year, Richards father and son teamed up in the races with the Castrol Perkins team but problems at Bathurst(including hitting a kangaroo)left them well down the order. Recently, Richards Sr was quoted as saying that he felt Steven's best chance of winning Bathurst was with a regular V8 Supercar driver. Whether that proves to be true, with the two now driving with competing Holden teams, remains to be seen. In the meantime,both 'Jameses' are expected to have seat time in the HRT cars during the team's six test days during the course of the year in the build-up to the Sandown race on 11 September.
We are going West and we
But will they drive together? Johnson Jr, left, and Seton are looking for successes in their Westpoint Ford BAs. 4
AS MIMews reported exclusively last month, Dick Johnson Racing will look much different this season after securing a new sponsorship deal from Westpoint. The team has signed a long term deal with what-is one of Australia's largest privatelyowned property and financial services companies and, while no details of the length of the deal have been confirmed, MNews believes that it is for five years, with another five-year option, Johnson and Westpoint Finance National General Manager Sean Niven confirmed the deal at the Brisbane Motorshow yesterday. "We chose Dick Johnson Racing for a number of reasons," Niven said. "Firstly the team has a following that other sports and teams can only dream of; to be linked to this gives Westpoint an immediate and sizeable profile. "Secondly; Westpoint is impressed with how Dick
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V8s go for launch
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AVESCO will have its official season launch for 2005 next week at Homebush in Sydney. Among all the glitterati and dancing bears at the knees-up, one thing you will see is the new-for-05 and reliveried WPS Safety Cars - which will be missing one thing; four circles on the grilles. As we told you some months ago, Audi will not be back and a new manufacturer has committed to the deal. No, we will not tell you who it is ... we have to leave some cats in the bag.
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: n Also absent is a naming-rights sponsor for the V8 Supercar Development Series. Konica Minolta will not be replaced this season, AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane stating on Monday: "The Series will continue as it is. Whether we have a sponsor or not will not impact on it one bit. It has been a great success in the past and I am sure that will not change one bit."
re feeling Blue Johnson Racing goes about doing business. We believe we share a similar operating ideology; we both carefully plan and rigorously execute everything we do. Our businesses are built on the basis of clear and strategic thinking and then forward success." Johnson pointed out that Westpoint's deal was a boost for the whole category, not just his team. "Westpoint has never had an association with motorsport but it decided upon V8 Supercars because it is the fastest growing sport in the country. "The V8 Championship reaches millions at the track and at home, and those that support it are one of the key target demographics for Westpoint's business interests. Steven Johnson will be joined at DJR by Glenn Seton, who will race for the team for the next two seasons. Long-time DJR sponsors Ford, Shell, Dunlop and Cabcharge stay with the team, though Shell (which has had
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naming rights with the team since 1987) will take a smaller role this season. Seton said that he is delighted to race for his long-time rival. "I think that DJR is a team with a lot of history," he said, "Dick has been the Ford icon in Australian motorsport right up to his retirement, simply because of what he has created since the 'Big Banger' days. It was a team that, in the early V8 Supercar days, was our biggest challenger, with Bowie [John Bowel involved and Dick himself, and the rivalry was intense; friendly, but intense." Likewise, Johnson is enthusiastic about having Seton in his team and is looking to fill in one hole in Glenn's CV-with a win in the Bathurst 1000. "If there is any one thing I would like to deliver to him, it would be a win at Bathurst," says Dick. "That would make his career a lot more complete. - PHIL BRANAGAN For more on Johnson and Seton, see pages 32-37
n We just got the nominations for the Australian Sport Awards, which honour excellence in all areas of sport. The major nominees are the usual lot, with square-jawed swimmers and chicken-chewing cyclists, but it is good to see that Network 10 has a nomination for its motorsport coverage. The opposition looks brutal - cycling and lacrosse but we reckon that Bill Woods has until Wednesday 2 March to get the tux pressed and make it to Darling Harbour to smile nicely for the cameras...
Business as usual
n To tackle the new pit stop rules in V8 Supercar, where only two rattle guns are allowed per car per pit stop, Larkham Motor Sport has introduced a 'pit stop practice car' to its workshop, A dedicated pit stop crew has been selected, who will train three times a week at the gym and with the pit stop car. The car is an exLarkham AU. Another Larkham AU that is getting a birthday is the 2000-model Mitre 10 AU that is currently at Gold Coast TAPE. The TAPE, which has a dedicated Motorsport class, are going to restore the car to its former M10 glory. The car is best remembered for Larko's maiden race and round win at Calder Park, In other LMS news, the team are currently constructing a new Palcon BA, which will hopefully be ready for the endurance races in September and October.
DENCAR is back in the hands of co-founder, Dennis Watson. The Dandenong, Melbourne-based fabrication business, which had been owned by Kees Weel's PWR group of companies, changed hands over the Christmas/New Year period. The business will continue to operate as usual. "It is not really news," said Weel on Monday. . "It was just a normal part of business. There is not much to tell." Dencar will continue its preparation of Holden Commodore V8 Supercar body shells, as well as its k. other
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n Fans of Stone Brothers Racing can get on down to the champion Ford team's base at Yatala, Queensland, for their annual fun day. Knowing those SBR jokers, there's sure to be plenty of fun and games for all the family so keep Saturday, Febraury 26 free from 10am-2pm.
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