AUSTRALIA'S N0.1 MONTHLY MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE - WITH LOADS OF CHRISTMAS READING
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No.367 JANUARY 2008 Australia $7.95 NZ $8.50 inc GST
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2008
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Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport
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2 MarkSkaife Holden Racing Team
4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing
6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing
8 Max Wilson WPS/WOW Racing
10 .4-.
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Jason Bargwanna WPS/WOW Racing
12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing
15 Xi. n
Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team
^ 17 L Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing
V8Supercar ChampionshipSeries Unofficialgrid Garth Tander Holden Racing Team
3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport
5 MarkWinterbottom Ford Performance Racing
7 Shane Price Perkins Engineering
9 Stone Brothers Racing
11 Todd Kelly Perkins Engineering
14 Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
16 Paul Dumbrell HSV Dealer Team
18 will Davison Dick Johnson Racing
021 Shane Van Gisbergen Team Kiwi Racing
26 Marcus Marshall Britek Motorsport
34 Garry Rogers Motorsport
67 Paul Morris Paui Morris Motorsport
99 Tony D'Alberto Rod Nash Racing
777 Andrew Thompson Ford Rising Star Racing
? Licencefor sale PWR Racing
Jason Bright Britek Motorsport
33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport
51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport
88 Jamie Whincup Tripie 8 Race Engineering
111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing
888 Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Race Engineering
? Licence for sale Walden Motorsport
2008:Its Christmas time has come,and so has the silly season. MOT
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ITH theVS Supercar Silly Season almost completed. Ford will hold the edge over Holden in 2008, if stability counts for anything. With 14 slots on the 32-car grid changing for 2008,there will be a much different look to the 14round season, which will also return to the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. But with eight driver changes on its side of the fence, Holden has a bigger challenge than Ford to maintain its championship-winning form. Leading the way with be Garth Tander, who joins Mark Skaife at Holden Racing Team.The pair will race the latest Commodore VEs to emerge from Walkinshaw Performance, Skaife debuting his car at Phillip Island and showing sizzling speed. Tander will maintain his key
relationships from his title winning assault at HSVDT, with Rob Crawford stepping in as team manager of the factory team and Matt Techo'Nilsson following GT's switch form orange to red. Another likely switch between the grouped Clayton teams is the sponsor. Look for Toll to appear prominently on the HRT Commodores. If this is the case, it will be the first time since 1999 that Holden hasn't been the primary sponsor of its factory team. To make way for Tander,Todd Kelly has joined Jack Daniel's Racing and tested one of the team's car atWinton last week. The Bathurst winner was pleased with his first experience in the black VE; "We have covered so much ground today that I feel a lot more at ease," he said after along
motorsport news
HEUJS
Silly Seasons Greetings Grant Rowley Deputy Editor DECK the halls with loads of driver changes! That's the theme for this year's Silly Season. At the start of 2007,the team here at MNews were discussing how easy things were going to be for us this Xmas.We assumed that almost
all change!
everyone was going to be staying put and that it was going to be a lean season for big news stories. In hindsight, it was naive for us to think that things in motor racing would go to plan! Fourteen drivers will be lining up next year in new coloured suits - not a record, but damn close. The big change,of course, is at the factory Holden team. Effectively, the Toll HSV Dealer Team - Champions for the past two years - have been stripped of their best bits and moved across the Clayton yard to the Holden Racing Team. How will it work out? Probably very well and very fast. But they'll have to be on their game, because Triple 8 and Ford Performance Racing will come out of the blocks real quick. Bring on 2008, but first, I've been a good boy this year, Santa. I want a new Playstation!
^RSPORT NEWS details the confirmed(and not-so-confirmed)changes for V8 Supercars in 2008 day,"this is a big thing for me. i have gone through so much of the same stuff[at Ciayton] and to iearn new stuff is a chailenge." Paul Dumbrell fills the vacant HSV seat, having switched from the defunct PWR Racing squad. After months of negotiation and rumour about his possibie switch to Stone Brothers Racing, Dumbreil was relieved to have his future sorted. But driving for the championship-winning team means that there can be no more excuses, "if i can't do the job, I don't want to waste anyone's time or money," he said. "Now that I've got the right equipment behind me, I'll able to prove that I can." LookforTasman Motorsport to be the big improvers on the red side. Jason Richards and Greg Murphy are staying put, giving www.mnews.com,au
them great stability. The Tasman team will enter the year with two brand-new VE Commodores. And if the pit talk is true, Rockstar Energy Drinks will be a greater contributor to their racing budget next year... Lee Holdsworth remains with Garry Rogers Motorsport, while his team-mate is not so firm. Dean Canto had a trying year, originally developing the first generation GRM VE and hasn't been told if his services will be required with GRM next season. Two drivers who raced Fords last season make the'jump', with Russell Ingall restarting his Holden career last Thursday, when he tested a Paul Morris Motorsport VE for the first time - a day after he drove a Stone Brothers Ford in a drive day! While a decision has yet to be made,the hot tip is that Ingall
couid run car number'zero'next year(How very Damon Hiil of you, Russelil). The other'jumper'is Andrew Jones, who will race an ex-HRT Commodore alongside Cameron McConville in Brad Jones Racing's new Holden-backed squad. On the blue side, the three leading Ford teams of'07, TeamVodafone, FPR and Jim Beam Racing all go into '08 with unchanged iine-ups. FPR is the only team who will have some degree of change, as they will enter an extra main series Falcon for Jim Morton's Ford Rising Stars Racing team. While it was not confirmed as MNews went to press, Morton was in negotiation with Kees Weel to purchase one of his availabie licences for 2008. Another iicence option for Morton wouid be Walden Motorsport, who will
not enter a car next year and is iooking to sell or lease their recently acquired licence. James Courtney awaits the arrival of a replacement for Ingall at SBR, with Shane Van Gisbergen, Steve Owen and Jonathan Webb in the frame. Marcus Marshail iooks set to join Jason Bright at Britek - and bring a DJR engine supply with him. Fabian Coulthard wiil replace the retiring John Bowe at Paul Cruickshank Racing, driving the chassis Craig Lowndes's 2007-spec T8 Ford that PCR purchased after the final round at Phillip Island. With almost half the grid changing drivers, manufacturers or some kind of engine supplier, the challenge will be for the new combinations to gel quickly to take on those who have familiar surroundings. 5