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REVERSE GRIDS: TEGA BOARD STANDS FIRM
motorsport THE NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS
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No.335 10-23 May 2006 Australia $6.50 NZ $7.95 inc GST
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motorsport
news ^ news
opinion 28 „
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VEryNice
A peek atHolden's VE V8Supercar
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No Reversing
Two more rounds,atleast
8 Michaelstays 10 Peace at Last
Two more years,atleast Expectan IRL/CCWS deal atIndy
12 Hunt,Collect
New Talentfor Fujitsu V8Series
25 Motor Mouth 26 Box Seat
Maybe V8s need better hooters
28 Opinion
Beattie, Borland,Branners and...grids
Issue 335 10-23 i\l\ay 2006
www.mnews.com.au
Newey and Byrne, together atlast
82 Talk Converter Christian,JB's head and more Grace
f&^ure 44
30’ Five Minutes With Franck Montagny 5 32 Five Minutes With Gerhard Berger 34 VictorEcho A took atthe developmentofthe VECommodore
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38 First Rock from the Son Steve Johnson chats aboutlife in 2006
Caruising J < 42 Michael Caruso has his eyes on biggerthings
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ncliniquM«ifi| 44 TAG4Porsche-GoodiFooWvork4Porsche-Bad How the Germans cleaned up,then screwed up
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48 Marioexplains Dr Theissen clears upsome myths aboutBMW and FI
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52 Mike takes 2
Schumacher takes Europe by Storm as Webber has all of Williams's bad luck
58 On Target
Richo and Baz clean up Down South
I 60 Loeb Again
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62 Worldwide
Around the motor racing planet
18 Stateside 22 Rallying
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national & international \
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66 Speedway 70 Drag Racing 78 Race Shop
80 Classifieds
72 National Scene
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VOTING FOR THE INDEPENDENTS AN independent board for the Touring Car Entrants'Group looks to be a step closer following last Friday's V8 Supercar Owners' Forum in Melbourne. The owners of the 17 teams were addressed by Ross Oakley, the former commissioner of the AFL, who has been consulting to the group on a number of issues, including cost containment. While the details of Oakley's submission are confidential, MNews believes
that he received a positive response from the majority of team owers. One called Oakley's presentation 'enlightening"and "a step in the right direction". "He could not volunteer some of the large amount of work he has put in because of possible conflicts of interest," said one, "but what we saw and heard was impressive." Richard Boland, V8SA Brand
and Communication Manager and most recently of integrated communications agency Publicis, addressed the owners about the marketing and advertising and earned a positive response. But the key area of discussion in the morning session was cost containment, with Oakley presenting models including salary caps and a board without member's aligned to any manufacturer or sponsors.
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WORK continues to make the 2007 model Holden Commodore VE into a V8 Supercar but there is some doubt whether all teams will have cars ready for the start of the season. Holden has stated a preference for all its teams to run the car from the Adelaide 500 next March but it appears a couple of teams, at least, will wait and field one VE and an older VZ at the early rounds of next season. "It's my wish that the Holdensupported teams will run two cars from the first race of 2007,"
Saindown 500 moves forward a week to Father’s Day THE Betta Electrical Sandown 500 will move to September 3, Father's Day. A confidential settlement was reached late last week between promoters IMG and Network Ten, which had a contractual commitment to both the 500 and the opening weekend of AFL finals on September 10. IMG had originally sought an underwriting of the'gate'at 2005 level, but it is believed a compromise was agreed which will assist IMG in future promotions,should the crowd be down. No details were available from either party, although Ten's David White did teli MNews that 'it is far better to have a marquee V8 race such as Sandown away from the first weekend of AFL finals. If it transpired,for example,that there were 4
two Melbourne teams competing on the day - of which there's every possibility - it would have been far more damaging for the V8 race." There was never any prospect of the AFL finals moving,even to a twighlight time slot to miss the 5pm Sandown finish - indeed, we understand the AFL wasn't involved in the negotiations. Sandown event manager Jon Davison believes the agreement represents a fair outcome for the event: "We didn't get the underwriting we sought, but the agreement does provide some form of support if things fall below expectation," he said. "Having said that, we will now be promoting the race as a terific option for anyone looking for an obvious Father's Day present!"
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RACE AGAINST TIME
Holden wants its teams in VE-spec for Race 1 2007 says Simon McNamara, Holden's Motorsport Manager. "I do not want a guy sitting in the grandstand, with a VE SS in the carpark, watching VZs run around. It's a wish I have, and I like to think that it will happen. We are in the process of talking to our teams [about that] at the moment,so that we can go forward from there. The is going to be a problem but there are some smart fellas in the teams who know their jobs." However, MNews believes that a number of teams have already expressed concerns about the
workload required to complete the season with the current cars while building two completely different cars. "I have not stated that [I would run two VEs],"says Jack Daniel's Racing's Larry Perkins,"that is not necessarily true." The new car is substantially bigger than the current Commodore,as much as 100mm wider in the body and 75mm longer in the wheelbase.That means that the car will need to be slightly compromised to fit inside the maximum dimensions
permitted under the current Project Blueprint measurements. In the meantime, developing the new car's aerodynamic kit is the main priority, according to TEGA. "By the third quarter this year, we need to evaluate aero," confirmed Kelvin O'Reilly,TEGA's Chairman."When you get to the busy end of the season, you jump from Bathurst to Christmas to the end of January pretty quickly.The aero tests we do take a fair bit of time, it takes time to get them right."
VE Mule:Above, Herald Sun’s spy pics ofthe VE Commodore. Below, the prototype Torana, which has a resemblance to the VE's rear.
FLOORPAN OUT FOR 2007 V8 SUPERCAR'S Control Floor Pan will not be in use with the 2007 racecars. After evaluating the prototype, MNews believes that the teams have decided to stick with the tried and true method of building a racecarfrom a production bodyshell. However,there appears to be considerable doubt about the status of the project, which revolves around a single chassis being used for both Holden and Ford V8 Supercars. Some team members were under the impression that the project had been permanently shelved while TEGA
10 May 2006
board member Garry Rogers,speaking on Network 10's RPM,said that was not necessarily so. "I would not ^ay that, no,"said Rogers. TEGA brought a prototype chassis to Phillip Island last December for viewing by the teams.The reception for the project was mixed, with some team members suggesting that there was insufficient time to develop the project in time for use in the Commodore VE and Falcon BF builds. The decision to stick with production bodyshells moves V8 Supercars away from the notion that it directly follows
NASCAR practices.The USA-based governing body continues to develop its single'Car of Tomorrow'project, largely as a cost-cutting measure for its teams. "To have Technical Parity, you would have to have the same car running under two different guises,"explains TEGA Technical Manager Steve Brow. "You would have the one car, with either a Ford badge or a Holden badge. That is what you have in NASCAR racing now but they are moving away from that, to something that more closely resembles the relevant road cars."
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