Motorsport News Issue 413 - November 2011

THE BEST CORHERSIN AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT

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THIS MONTH’S FEATURES Unusual Suspects 7=^

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The Grid

He's 23-years-old, he's started three main series races in his life, and he's a Bathurst WOO winner.

Of course, we're talking about NickPercat, the first rookie to win the race since 1977.

Since the last MNews, Andrew van Leeuwen has been to the Singapore GP to chill with the Lotus Renault drivers, driven a Lexus LFA with Scott Pruett, and interviewed Bathurst winner NickPercat. Tough life.

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MNews gets the driver's perspect'ivemompiek of the best corners in Australian motorsport.

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Jim Scaysbrook is usually at the helm of our sister magazine. Old Bike. But he did MNews a favour and checked out the Goodwood Revival for us. Thanks, Jim.

NUMBER 1... AGAIN

Sebastian Vettel is now the youngest Double World Champion. We take a look inside his awesome year.

1

We have no idea if Daniel Gaunt usually keeps a journal of his hopes and dreams, but we like to think he does. That's why we made him keep a journal throughout the Bathurst WOO weekend.

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I Lotus Menmult Grand Pmhm ! two drivers that were never expected to make the grades ' But guess what... they're doing pretty darned welli

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NEWS

Editorial Executive Editor Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au Assistant Editor Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Speciai Projects Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au National Editor Mitchell Adam mitchell@mnews.com.au

The Grid 1

Editorial Enquiries

357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East, VIC, 3187 (PO Box 7072, Brighton, VIC, 3186) P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 admin@mnews.com.au

Bathurstis a busy week.

Especially ifyc)u!cedmm§m two categories.Soime'lnow, Carrera Cup and VS enduro driver Daniel Gauntfound time to keep a diaryfor MNews

Contributing Writers

Mark Glendenning, Bruce Moxon, MatCoch, Geoff Rounds, Daniel Herrero, Paul Carruthers, Luke Nieuwhof, Callum Branagan

Photography

Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Andrew Hall, James Smith, Geoff Grade, Phil Williams, Peter Bury, Rob Lang Cover Design: Chris Currie

Advertising National Sales Manager Luke Finn lfinn@chevron.com.au P02 9901 6100 Chairman,Chevron: Ray Berghouse Circulation Director: Carole Jones Subscriptions: www.mnews.com.au

62

Lexus Luthor It's not everyday you drive a Lexus LFA atSandown. Let alone hang with Scott Pruett

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A long way from home We check in with some Aussies in action at the Goodwood Festival ofSpeed

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When Harry met Ford A new ride and environment is paying dividends for V8 Lite driver Ryal Harris in 2011

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The National Party MNews catches up with the contenders forFS's National Class Scholarship

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Still on tour Chris Smerdon and Terry Wyhoon are old hands in V8s, but they're still going strong

chevron PUBLISHING GROUP / a division of ‘v nextmedia Pty Ltd. Level 6,207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555,St Leonards, NSW 1590 Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport News is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 6.207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards NSW 2065 ©2011.

All rights reserved. Motorsport News is printed by CaxtonWeb, distributed by Network Distribution. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner's risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage.

Privacy Policy We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of Motorsport News,this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines.Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our company has to offer.

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Serasational Is David Sera Australia's best ever karterl We look at the numbers and ask some experts

REGULARS 08

The Front Row

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Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan

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On The Limiter with Chris Lambden

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Bits & Pieces

16

Winding Back

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Box Seat

88

Model Behaviour

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Trade

96

Classifieds

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The Final Word with Paul Cruickshank

www.mnews.com.au motorsport news

gumiiiimKii LIMITED PRODUCTION OF 1850 PIECES WORLDWIOE i BATHURST COLLECTION

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AvaiiabSe 4th Quarter 2011

The 1983 James Hardie 1000 race was held on Sunday October 2 at the Mount Panorama, Bathurst circuit.

When the big race got underway, Peter Brock, in the #05 Commodore, made his usual good start and led the field of 58 up Mountain Straight.

Brock was making it look so easy - at least until the end of lap 8, when a large amount of smoke appeared at the end of Conrod Straight. The #05 Commodore turned into pit lane and limped towards the pit box.

A bent valve in the engine had ended its race. But unlike Sandown, when he had illegally hopped into the second car. Brock had a plan.

On lap 20, Harvey, in the team's sister #25 car, headed for the pits and was replaced by Peter ratherthan his brother Phil Brock.

Peter Brock re-entered the race in fifth place. On lap 50, Brock handed over the #25 Commodore to Perkins with a commanding 90 second lead. The lead was never lost.

Brock finished the race one lap and 18.1 seconds ahead of Allan Moffat and Yoshimi Katayama in their Mazda RX-7.

In great controversy Peter Brock had won his seventh Bathurst with co-driver Larry Perkins and John Harvey who was also credited.

, HARV BROC

(S^[R[L[E(STM!B[L!EB m The air tray in the engine bay features fine woven metal mesh and soft rubber edge moulding to seal against the underside of the bonnet.

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THE FRONT ROW since we last met FORMULA 1 Sebastian Vettel's extraordinary season continnued in Japan and Korea but not in the way many may have thought.

The Red Bull Racing ace sealed his second straight title at Suzuka but finishing third in the Japanese Grand Prix.Tyre wear slowed the German, allowing Jenson Button (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) to take the top two steps on the podium.

A week later in Korea, it looked like Vettel would

again be challenged but this time, by Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren man took pole position and led from the start but Vettel was quickly past and disappeared from the field.

Hamilton engaged in an epic battle with Mark Webber, the two running side-by-side on numerous occasions but the Aussie could not find a way past, amd had to content himself with third place.

However that position was enough to ensure Red Bull of the Constructors'title.

The Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa were not far behind.

MOTOGP Casey Stoner won at Phillip Island - but he did not need to.

When Jorge Lorenzo fell in the Sunday morning warmup and injured his hand, he effectively handed his title to the Aussie.With Lorenzo - and his Yamaha team-mate Ben Spies - unfit to race, Stoner sped away from the field to take win #5 at the track.

Andrea Dovizioso was second ahead of Marco Simoncelli.

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WORLD RALLY C’SHIP Could Sebastien Loeb's run of WRC titles come to an end at seven?

It looks a lot more possible than it did two months ago...

After crashing in Australia, Loeb was sidelined in France by an oil pump failure.Team-mate Sebastien Ogier won the rally from Dani Sordo, with Mikko Hirvonen third. It put Hirvonen level on points with Loeb, with Ogier only three behind. As MNews went to print. the crews were assembling in Spain for the penultimate round.

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motorsport news

eNews of the Month THE COMMISH, NOT THE DRIVER Mark Skaife has announced that he will not race in V8

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Supercars in the immediate future.

Skaife was faced with the choice of potentially continuing as an endurance driver with TeamVodafone or taking the role of Chairman ofV8 Supercars'Commision, but not both. After winning at Phillip Island and finishing second at Bathurst with Craig Lowndes, he will not focus his efforts on the new role, but remains free to race in other events, should he choose to do so.

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WATCH

16 V8 SUPERCAR ROUNDS IN 2012

V8 SUPERCARS The 2011 Bathurst 1000 was a belter.

Garth Tander withstood a late charge from Craig Lowndes, to seal victory for himself and Nick Percat by just 0.2917s from Lowndes and Skaife. Pole-sitters Greg Murphy and Allan Simonsen were third, ahead of the first of the Fords, Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards.

Jamie Whincup and Andrew Thompson finished a lap down in 21 St, after an alternator problem, handing Lowndes a 100-point lead in the championship heading to Surfers Paradise.

V8 Supercars has announced a 16-date calendar for next season - but the schedule is not quite finalised.

The Series will run on the same bill as the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix next season but has listed a'TBA'date for the following week.The likelihood is that the event will be in Asia to give the series a two-weekend 'flyaway' schedule.

As expected,the series will return to its traditional opening weekend at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

MORE INDIAN, TWICE THE FORCE The Force India Grand Prix team has a new ownership structure.

Sahara India Parawar, a sports promotions group, as bought 42.5 percent of the FI team fora reported $100m.

Dr Vijay Mallya,the former mahority owner,owns the same stake in the team, with the Mol family owning the remaining 15 percent. Mallya purchased the team from the Mols in 2007.

NEW SURFACES FOR BATHURST, PI There is plenty of roadworks ahead for two of the country's favourite racetracks.

INDYCAR The battle for the Indycar Championship has ended in tragic circumstances in Las Vegas.

Title contenders Dario Franchtti and Will Power were making their way through the field after qualifying badly when a multi-car incident occurred.The car of Dan Wheldon, which started from last on the grid as part of Indycar's $5m contest, struck Paul Tracy's car and flew into the fencing atTurn 2.

The race was red-flagged while officials tended to several of the 15 drivers who

www.mnews.com.au

were caught in the melee.

Wheldon was airlifted to hospital but he died without regaining consciousness.

The race was not restarted but the 19 drivers not involved in the crash completed five laps of the 1.5-mile oval in tribute to Wheldon.

Power was treated in hospital for a back injury but released later that evening.

With the race called off, the 18-point Franchitti brought to Vegas gave him his fourth title.

Indycar officials cancelled the planned presentation gala in the city, while an appropriate tribute to Wheldon was being planned was this edition of MNews went to press.

Bathurst is to have a new surface in place in time for next year's Bathurst 1000, while Phillip Island will close in December 2012 and January 2013 to be resurfaced in time for the 2013 season. Another circuit, Queensland Raceway, is due to be resurfaced at the end of the current season.

CORSER CALLS TIME ON WSBK CAREER Troy Corser has announced his retirement from World Superbikes.

The Aussie, twice a World champion, rode his last race at the final round of this year's championship at Portimao in Portugal. In a two-decade career, Corser set records for the most wins, podiums and poles in the series. He will now act as an ambassador for BMW,for which he raced for the last two seasons of his career.

Marco Melandri will take his seat in 2012.

Motorsport eNews available 8pm Mondays. www.mnews.com.au

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BRANAGAN

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MOTOR MOUTH

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OMETHING funny just happened.Well, not funny, more like, 'unexpected'. Maybe, not even unexpected.

The tennis rankings came out and Roger Federer is at four.

After more than eight years, he dropped out of the top three.

Over at golf, this week.Tiger Woods is at #55.The man who ruled the game for a decade has not won in almost two years.

When he lands in Melbourne in a few weeks for the Presidents' Cup,there will be a media frenzy but honestly, on the course, do we really expect much from a man ranked behind players like Ryan Moore and Peter Hanson?

Which brings me to my point; Valentino Rossi and Ducati.

This season remains a let down. Much was expected when Vale moved to Ducati.

After all, while Rossi had a tough 2010 season, with crashes and injuries, he managed to win twice on Yamaha in MotoGP.

Casey Stoner won three GPs on the Ducati,so with some Rossi genius and Jeremy Burgessled development,surely 2011 would come up all-red, all the time, and The Doctor would roll on.

Of course,the opposite has happened.Turns out that the real gem in the Stoner-Ducati combination was Stoner. We should have seen the signs; when Livio Suppo moved from Ducati to Honda to sort out HRC, pretty much Job #1 was to sign Stoner.The team did-and the rest is recent history.

Don't shoot the messenger but could it be that the Rossi era is over?

Look at the facts. He is 32 years old,and in motorcycle racing terms,that is old. Yep, Michael Schumacher is a decade older, but Formula 1 is not MotoGP. When you crash a Grand Prix car, it generally hurts much less than when you tumble offaGP bike.

Also, if you have been doing this for years and have millions stashed away in a bank vault, surely the thought must occur to you when you are tumbling through a sandtrap at 160 kays that there are other things you could be doing with your time?

During the course of the GP weekend, I spent time hosting the autograph sessions. It is obvious that Rossi remains the biggest star in the sport, with an Elvis-like presence for his adoring fans. He is outgoing,far more so than Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, and successful,far more so than the likes of Marco Simoncelli. He remains Dorna's biggest drawcard.

There were also autograph sessions for the Legends, Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner, and their careers make interesting reading. Between them,the two Aussie champs won 72 SOOcc Grands Prix but only nine of those wins came when they were older than Rossi is right now.{Stoner turned 26 on the day he won for the fifth time at Phillip Island, his 32nd GP victory.)

Hang on, what about Nicky

Hayden? Since the start of 2007, both the popular American and Stoner have been on factory Hondas or Ducatis, so both have had pretty good opportunities to win.The score in that period is is Stoner 30 wins, Hayden 0.

Plus, Nicky is now 30.

Maybe,just maybe, we are already in the post-Rossi, Stoner vs Lorenzo era. Maybe the names to look at are not those at the top of the sport now, but the next generation, led

by Moto2 stars Marc Marquez, Stefan BradI and Bradley Smith.

Of course, next year, there are new regulations.The riders will be on 1 OOOcc bikes, not the unloved 800s. Could fhof aid Rossi's cause? The news there does not look good either; it is usually Honda that comes out hard when the rules change, not Ducati. Yes, I know Stoner won the first 800 title in 2007, but recent history has shown that was more him as the bike.

I wish the Rossi era would go on. In a way, I hope it does. But, when 1 look at the facts, I just can't see how it will. His best may well be behind him.

But gee, I hope I am wrong ...

M£ Ifyou have been doing this for years and have millions stashed away in a bank vault, ^^ surely the thought must occur to you when you are tumbling through a sandtrap at 160 kays that there are other things you could be doing with your time? w

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LAMBDEN . ON THE LIMITER 3.

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HE death of Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon as a result of the huge 15-car shunt at the final Indycar race of the year could well have long-term consequences for Indycar itself, if the post accident reaction is any indication.

It was the category's first race for several years on, what is, essentially, a flat-out NASCAR oval on the outskirts of Las Vegas. And I'm guessing it will be the last, even though it is the first to have modern SAFER

^ barriers around the whole track, -^^Inside the concrete walls, g;' .There was some disquiet * .among drivers even before the eVent,as to the speeds the openwpeler cars would run at,the £®ner speeds,the ability to run three or even four wide,and the consequences if someone got intHiother.

in the field as part of a $5million 'stunt', to try and have a non regular win the race from the back of the grid, hasn't helped calm the critics, it was a difficult 24 hours, as motorsport globally dealt with the first really public, highprofile motorsport death since, probably, Ayrton Senna.

The voice of reason,as it so often is, first came in the form of Mario Andretti. Mario, of course, is The Man in US motorsport.

He pointed out that, while it was a sad time, it shouldn't and wouldn't lead to wholesale over-reaction.

He pointed out that, Wheldon aside,there were 14 other drivers involved In this enormous crash and all 14 of them walked away. Female racer Pippa Mann had a burn to a finger; JR Hildebrand had a bruised sternum,and our own

a year s racing - went on to say that's actually a pretty strong endorsement of the in-built safety features of the current Indycars.

Dan Wheldon,like Senna, was just a bit unlucky. His car flew high enough to clear the SAFER fence by inches, impact was sufficient to tear the rollhoop section from the car and,like Senna, he sustained unsurvivable head injuries.

The poignant thing is that Wheldon, without a full-time drive this year(though signed to a full-time drive with Michael Andretti's team for 2012) had thus been available and undertaken pretty much all the testing of the all-new 2012 Indycar {below)- a ground up new philosophy car built

by Italian production racecar specialists Dallara. It takes a number of steps forward In terms of safety, including rear bodywork designed to stop cars flying over each other's rear wheels - as happened in

come from Dallara, with the company announciing it wouild name the car after him - the Dallara DW001 most likely. At a time when tributes can be a bit so-so, that is the perfect motorsport-styie recognition of the man.

With its new car in particular, indycar wiil bounce back from the tragedy. Racing drivers, while human beings,tend to move on from moments like this pragmatically, it's the low-point ofthe job, but it happens.

Indeed,the disaster seemed likely to seriously impact the following weekend's V8 Supercar race at the Gold Coast, which had six indycar drivers listed among its internationai co-driver line-up, includingWheldon.In the end,our own Ryan Briscoe(who himself walked away from a fiery oval crash six years back). Hello Castroneves and Alex Tagliani all caught the plane to Australia as planned, fhat's not insensitive.

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BITS & PIECES

Coming Attraction Who’s the next big thing?

Michael Hewlett-WA Formula Ford 1600

What is he currently doing?

If you aren't involved in state racing in Western Australia, you probably won't have heard of Michael Hewlett ...yet.

The now 20-year-old made a splash when he arrived at Barbagallo Raceway in a HQ Holden back in 2009, having never raced karts and having only completed two tuning days at the circuit, and won the round.

"I didn't expect to win, or even go close," he told MNews at the time.

"I was hoping maybe to run in the top half of ^ the field, but not right at the front."

Fast forward more than two years, and things are looking just as bright. Howlett is currently an absolute runaway winner in WA Formula Ford, holding a massive points lead with just a few races left for the season.

Where does he want to go?

At 20 years of age, Howlett is no spring chicken in professional motor racing terms.

That sounds nuts, we know, but if Europe were to realistically beckon, he'd need to be further on than state Formula Ford.

But nothing is impossible, and particularly here in Australia,the doors are still wide open.

Howlett clearly has raw talent in spades,so let's just wait and see where that takes him.

Our guess; a long way.

Wit Lane What our readers thought of the last lap at the Bathurst 1000

scarface au Possibly the best finish ever. What would have happened with another lap? We'll never know.

Vat Man Okay, I'll admit I watched the whole lap with my hand over my mouth. I also didn't blink.

beckenward I'm going to need some chamomile tea after this for my nerves. Great race indeed!

WiillWalker Great work on updates guys - couldn't watch last hour but MNews kept me on edge for the last 25 minutes. Good one!

dcr22B Greetings from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. No vision available here, but your updates are brilliant.

Don’t forget to tweet us your thoughts @motorsportnews!

QUICK QUIZ 1

Before Nick Percat, who was the last official rookie to win a 500mi/1000km race at Bathurst?

2

How many Bathurst 1000 starts had Garth Tander made before he won in 2000?

3 What circumstances led to Tander making his V8 Supercar debut with Garry Rogers Motorsport in 1998?

4

Name one of the two traditional names for the long 180-degree right-hander at Barbagallo Raceway?

5 74

In which German state was Sebastian Vettel born? motorsport news

1

MY FAVOURITE RACE

JONATHON WEBB - NURBURGRING 24 HOUR,2008

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HE one race that I loved, I will never forget and that I cross my fingers that I will get to do again one day is the Nurburgring 24 Hour.

I went over there in 2008 with the VIP Petfoods guys in a Porsche RSR, driving with Tony and Klark Quinn and Craig Baird.

It was almost perfect weekend - amazing car, amazing circuit, but unfortunately we only got about halfway through before we were taken out by another car. Still, what an amazing event.

The discrepancy between slow cars and fast cars is so big that it makes it hard. We were lucky in that we qualified in the Top

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20 -1 think we qualified about 14th - which gave us the right to have a bright,flashing light in the windscreen to warn the slower cars. Most of the time people see you coming with the light flashing and get out of the way, but still, the speed difference is staggering, particularly around some of the back parts of the circuit.

I did a night run, and that was where the bright light really helps. I actually really enjoyed racing at night. As long as you can remember where you're going, it's good fun.

The thing about the Nurburgring is that it's such a unique track. I went over there

a couple of weeks before the race, rented a road car and just belted around. 1 think I did about 30 or 40 laps in a road car,just to try and feel my way around. But it was still completely different when I jumped into the racecar.

As I said, the hardest part of racing there is remembering where to go. It's not mastering the corners or getting every lap perfect, it's just remembering where to go.You're concentrating on keeping the car on the track and keeping it tidy, and funnily enough the lap times seem to come from there.

Jonathon Webb spoke to Andrew van Leeuwen

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Some time in the night Michael[Schumacher] came as well and joined us and we had a couple of drinks together. I started mixing a little bit, which wasn’t the best strategy.

Looks like Shumi wasn’t a good influence on Seb Vettel during the younger German’s World Championship celebrations in Japan ...

www.mnews.com.au

75

The Battle to be lll

The Next Big Finn

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In f990two Finns,with identicalcars,enginesandeven hrstnames,Imghtoatthe British Farmaia Jtitle.PHIL BRANMANlooksback toan epicseason

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T seems like there is an over-supply of Sebastians in motor racing at present.

There are a few in rallying, and of course the Vettel example has just banked his second Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship.

But two decades ago,there were not so many. In fact, it seemed like everywhere you looked, there was a Mika.There were two of particular note, they were both from Finland, and were armed with tobacco money when they took on the 1990 British Formula 3 Championship.

In the red-and-white corner was Mika Flakkinen,then 21,joining West Surrey Racing and backed by Marlboro. In the slightly-darker red corner sat Mika Salo, two years older, with Alan Docking Racing, the team he had raced for the preceding season.

Flis backing came from Colt, a Finnish brand of ciggies, less-well known perhaps than the rival brand, but just as determined to win.

Both men would drive Ralt RT34s, with Mugen-Flonda power, after both had switched from Reynards the preceding year, Flakkinen with Toyota motivation and Salo 76

with Alfa Romeos.

The two Finns were in a class of their own.

Flakkinen took first blood at Donington, but Salo struck back the following week at Silverstone,taking the series lead when Flakkinen lost a spot to Steve Robertson.

Flakkinen struck back atThruxton and Brands Flatch, before Salo took two wins on the trot himself.

It was a private battle but there were interlopers. Robertson took his only win of the year at Silverstone in June, and Chrisitian Fittipaldi took his at the next race, at Donington. But from there, the Finns won every race. Salo took out the British Grand Prix support race, and when Hakkinen DNFed,Salo took the points lead, 66-61 and it seemed that he had the momentum.

And that is when Flakkinen stepped it up. Fie won the next five events and the title was decided. Salo chased hard, but the ADR Ralt just did not quite have the pace.

Salo struck back to beat Flakkinen at the penultimate round of the championship atThruxton, but Flakkinen returned to

Silverstone, won the final round and cantered to the title.

It was, perhaps, something of a preview of what was to come.The following year, Flakkinen was at Lotus and a Grand Prix driver. Soon, he would displace Michael Andretti at McLaren, where he would write his name into the sport's history books. For Salo, the path to the top tier of the sport was bumpier, with a drink-driving problem detouring him to Japan for three years. Fie made it to FI ini 994, and looked to be on his way to a maiden GP victory in Germany when subbing for Michael Schumacher in 1999 - until the Ferrari management asked him to make way for Eddie Irvine.

The stats tell the tale of the Mikas; Flakkinen, 165 GP starts, 20 victories, 420 points and titles in 1998 and '99; Salo, 111 GP starts, 33 points.

Ironically, it was another Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, who became pivotal in Robertson's life. As his manager, Robertson became very successful as a driver manager.

And then,the two later started a British Formula 3 team. motorsport news

The Demise ofRalt The Rise ofDailara

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The Finns continued their season long epic at Silverstone. Polesitter Salo f#7J put a move up the inside of Hakkinen, but eventually retired from the race, allowing Hakkinen to take the win. Salo, entering the famous Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch, above,ran an unusual'Oolt'logos on the car in the non-tobacco races and 'Colt'elsewhere,right. www.mnews.com.au

UNTIL the advent of Reynard's 853, Ralt pretty well had the British Formula 3 Championship to itself.

From the time Ron Tauranac's firm took over from March as the car to have in 1978, Ralt was at the top of what is considered by many as a finishing school for potential GP drivers. Derek Warwick, Nelson Piquet, Chico Serra, Jonathan Palmer,Tommy Byrne, Ayrton Senna,Johnny Dumfries and Mauricio Gugelmin all won their British F3 titles in Ralts, with only Stefan Johannson's 1980 title for March interrupting Ralt's 1978-'83 grip on the series.

But Reynard's carbon-fibre tubbed cars broke that grip, and they took two titles before David Brabham, Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello struck back for Ralt.Two more titles went to British cars, Gil de Ferran and Kelvin Burt taking the titles for Reynard in 1992 and '93, before the sport changed, maybe forever.

Dallara arrived.The Italian marque had been a force across the channel and when they came to Britain, the local makers were put on notice.

For the'93 season, Reynard produced the 933.

It won the first five races of the season, but when Warren Hughes won the sixth in a Dallara, that was the end of that.The major teams all switched to Dallaras, and Reynard was out of the F3 business within months.

Ralt continued to make cars for the championship, but was even worse off. The RT37 of 1993 was followed by the 94C, neither of which were particularly competitive.The marque dropped making cars in large numbers,and while a car called the F399 appeared in 1999, after some inconclusive testing, it disappeared and Ralts have not been seen in F3 since.

Since 1994,the British F3 champion has been, almost, a one-make series, other than brief forays

by Lola and Mygale.

s

PENDING any amount of time in the USA is always an interesting experience. For California, double that.

If you spend a while in the former Land of Arnie you soon realise that there is a great deal to see and do. Understandable that; almost 40 million people call the state home,there is great wealth and great poverty (it has the eighth largest economy in the world)and while the state of the US economy may be the subject of much handwringing in the media, in general, Californians appear to be getting on with their lives.

Spend any time wandering around the streets and there are streets you can wander around,in spite of California's car culture - and one thing that is apparent is the total lack of Formula 1 presence. Europe is the home of the sport, and it is not unusual, at all, to see someone in the street, in London or Rome,or other cities big and small, to be kitted out in FI gear. Not in the USA; American sports rule, and there are many little (and not-so-litte) replica LeBrons, Kobys and even Michaels walking around,and maybe the odd NASCAR shirt, but no FI. Then, you walk out of San Francisco's Union Square and there it is; a Ferrari store. In the window sits a Formula 1 showcar circa 2008; inside, an Aladdin's Cave of Ferrari items, all designed to separate major amounts of greenbacks from your wallet.(In fact, why not just leave your wallet and pick up a fresh one? They start at only $143).

Any number of items are available,from clothing, watches, models and memorabilia (including the'Autographed by Alonso'collection), even laptops and iPad covers. It seems to be incongruous that this store is in America, even if San Francisco is about as European as cities get in the Land of the Free. But then you notice that there are other branded stores in the vicinity; Boss here, Prada there and,just down the road,one for Porsche Design,featuring some items that are almost painfully impressive(and expensive).

That is what Ferrari appears to be in the USA;a brand,of cars and accessories. One wonders how many people shuffling in and out of the city's primary retail district even know that Ferrari has a racing team.

We should find out in the next little while. A long way inland from the Golden Gate Bridge is Austin Texas,the site of the new Circuit of the Americas. While construction continues on the site, it appears that there is some friction in the background, with the people funding the track not seeing eye-to-eye about everything with those holding the commercial rights to the upcoming US Formula 1 Grand Prix.

One assumes that such matters will be sorted out well in time for the venue's marquee event next year. In the meantime there are

other matters to be addressed, like the recent comments post-Korea that the future of that event may depend on the financial largesse of Formula One Management,and a reduction in fees if the event is to see out its contract to 2016.

It is good that the sport is going into new markets but hearing such comments, barely two years into a seven-year deal, is not what might be described as reassuring. One hopes that the Americans have been able to secure a deal that may not lead to similar statements two years into their relationship with Formula 1.

Motor racing, particularly these days, is often about money.The Group of companies that oversee the commercial activities of FI is majority owned by CVC Capital Partners, a private equity company. It is CVC's job to maximise return on investment, not to necessarily concern themselves with how many fans will actually show up to watch the races. And there were plenty of half-filled grandstands on display in Korea.

If Americans are going to'get'Formula 1,they will need time to get familiar with it, rather than to watch it come and go - as it has done in the past at Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Dallas, Phoenix, Detroit and Indianapolis,to name just a few venues. SPEED'S Mike Joy said at Bathurst that the network's audience for each FI GP is in the order

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of 300,000, less people than watch it in Australia.

Having 0.1 percent of the population in the world's biggest market watching GPs is not the thing that dreams are made of in the marketing departments of companies associated with the sport.

All this is happening at a time when people are taking to the streets in cities around the world, including in Australia, to voice their displeasure and what they see as the long-term economic inequalities they endure in their lives.The movement is very prominent in New York's Wall Street district which,in spite of the country's recent woes,is still seen as the heartbeat of the financial world.

If you walk to the end of the Wall Street and turn north, you soon find yourself in New York's Chinatown.There, in any number of small shopfronts, you can choose from a wide range of Ferrari-branded watches,and probably a wallet and even Prancing Horse aftershave,for well less than $100.You may have to step through false walls to get to them,and they might have'Ferarri' or even'Ferrani'written on the face, but it will tell the time - for a while, anyway.

If Formula 1 is to make an impact,and thrive, in the USA,one would hope that the Austin race will be more like the watches on display in the Ferrari Store, and last for some time,than the ones in Chinatown. In America,there is always going to be something else to catch the eye.

liji the USA, Ferrari is a brand. One wonders how many people shuffling in and out of San Francisco's retail district even know that Ferrari has a racing team 18

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MOTORSPORT NEWS INTERVIEWS THE BATHURST CHAMPIONS

WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

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Taldng on a rookie driver was a big risk for Gartb Tander and the Holden * Racing Team, but Nick Percat played his part to becomes the first rookie winner ofThe Great Race in 34 years. Afier the race, PHIL BRANAGAN spoke to Tander, and ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN spoke to Percat

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GARTH TANDER

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OTORSPORT NEWS:When did you first take notice of Nick?

GARTH-TANDER: I think he was doing Formula Ford; I think he started in a Spectrum and then he went to BRM in a Van Diemen,and I think that was in 2007.

We were taking a bit of notice of him anyway from a WP perspective,so I was keeping an eye on things because I know most of the Formula Ford stuff and what's going on.

And then when the decision came around with what he was doing in'08, it was to go with Sonic.They were the team to go to at the time, so it was probably late'07 when we started having a pretty close involvement with him.

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hands-on, he's still very hands-on, he's still working on cars. He still works for race teams.

When he's not doing his Fujitsu Series, or sponsor stuff, he still works on racecars.

What are you looking at when you look at drivers? Specifically, what did you see in him?

In a way, he's following in your footsteps.

Well, I don't know. I don't think that's by design, it's just the way it has panned out.

He's similar to me,there's a lot of Garth Tander at age 23 in Nick Percat currently. I think that's coincidence, not by design, as I said.

He can drive, he understands the car mechanically and he's got a good head from an engineering point of view.Temperament; he's very determined to win. At the moment, we're just tempering that and starting to get his head much more level, and I think that he's proven that, with the last two races, we're heading in the right direction. He's doing a lot of work with that and getting much better at it.

Well he can drive, but he's also got the technical aptitude and at the time he was working at his old man's business. He's very

The game has changed hasn't it, since you made that trip? There was a big leap

www.mnews.com.au

-> from Formula Ford to not driving for a while,then V8 Supercars, but has the improvement in the competitive side of the Fujitsu Series sharpened that up a bit, for him?

Yeah, but at the end of the day, he went from a Duratec Formula Ford, which was a little bit faster than when I was racing,to a V8 Supercar. He didn't do anything else, there was no middle ground - he pretty much Jumped straight into a V8 Supercar at the Fujitsu Series level.

But when you compare to when I jumped into V8 Supercars,the Fujitsu level now is probably a lot higher than the main game in 1998.There is obviously some good cars, some good teams and good operators in the Fujitsu Series. It's hard to jump straight in.

Nick went in with the Jay Motorsport team straight away,and that was good,there was no expectation of him. It wasn't a main series team, and the cars were not current spec, so he could learn a little bit.

Then,later in the year, we ran him in the one of the old Bundy VE

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NICK PERCAT AND GARTH TANDER

But it was what he did at Bathurst in 2010 that really said to me'yeah,this guy could be okay if he keeps maturing. By the time we think it's time to make the decision in 2011, he'll be okay.'

He did a good job in 2010 with the Fujitsu Series, and that's why we picked him.

At what stage did you put your hand up and say,'I want Nick,that's it'?

It was March, at the Grand Prix. I spoke to Craig [Wilson], who was still here at the time, and told him I wanted Nick in the car with me.

That was prior to the whole'Paul Morris Perth'incident.

There was clearly some interesting body language going on there; you were clearly miffed about something.

It was unnecessary what was going on there, but I probably have to thank Paul for what happened, because from then on, Nick's races have improved. From then on,the level of improvement in his head,in his level headed nature, it has been astronomical quite incredible,to be honest.

From that point of view,the way he handled himself over the weekend with regard to what was going on, I said to him after the weekend 'that's why I want you in the car with me, because you can come out the other side of all the crap, and still be the better man'.

And now,he stood on the top step of the podium at the most important race ofthe year.

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heading into the endurance races? You're obviously the senior driver of the car what do you do?

Because Nick knew from March what was going on,that he was going to be in the car with me,from a preparation point of view, it was easy for him to get his head around everything. It was a no-brainer.

Obviously,as I was going to qualify the car, I would do most of the set-up work, because he also had his Fujitsu Series work to do.So from a laps point of view, he was getting plenty of laps in.

His Fujitsu Series car was set up to be very similar to our car, so that when he was chopping and changing,the'feel' point of view was much the same. So he was doing laps in the Fujitsu Series car, and 1 was doing the lion's share of the set-up work,and qualifying.

So that was a bit of a no-brainer, but for the race start, it didn't really bother us who started from a strategy point of view. It just worked out better that 1 started, given where we ended up having to qualify. It was easier for me to start and negotiate the opening few laps, and not put that stress on Nick.

So we all knew our roles heading into the race by, I'd say, April (laughs).

So from that point of view, it was very easy for him to get his head around what was going on, because he's taken it all in his stride. But it's still a big deal, your first-ever Bathurst 1000, in the Holden factory team, and in a car that on paper was one of the favourites. You'd be forgiven for him being

very well.

You've been to Bathurst as a 20-yearold, you've been as a rookie, you've even switched teams;is it more clear-cut now that drivers are in their own cars, and other drivers come into support them?

Yes, it is.The days have gone where you put the two number ones in the one car and sort out who's qualifying and who's starting.

We've all got egos and we know we want to do the important stuff.

Now,with the part-time guys coming in, it's a no-brainer.The regular guy will qualify the car and do a majority of the set up work, making sure that the co-driver is still comfortable in the car. And the start all depends on the calibre of the co-driver, and whether you're confident in them starting or not.

Obviously, I was confident from a strategy point of view that if Nick needed to start, it wouldn't have been a problem at all.

You put your hand up relatively early in the process and said 'this is the co-driver I want'. Did you feei not only a sense of elation when you won,but a sense of vindication of knowing you were involved in that process? And there were a lot of people in the press...

Yes,there were a lot of people in the press... ... a lot of people in the press who said it was going to be difficult for a rookie to win Bathurst - and the fact it took 34 years for motorsport news

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MOTORSPORT NEWS INTERVIEWS THE BATHURST CHAMPIONS

it to happen kind of underlines that - and you were right.

Yeah,and I think it was because we made the decision so early. If for instance we had made the decision in September and said 'hey Nick, you're going to be driving the HRT car and sharing with Garth'it would have been a bit of a'Holy Shit' moment.

We made the decision early, and I wanted to make the decision early for him to know he was going to be in the car with me.

Whether there was any extra pressure on him,that's for him to answer, but the earlier he got his head around it, the better it was going to be for everybody involved.

It has been 34 years since a rookie has won Bathurst, but I don't think you can compare Jacky Ickx's 1977 victory with Nick's victory, because those Falcons were miles ahead of the competition. He had such a pedigree following him, he had won Le Mans before he had won Bathurst, so coming to Bathurst would have been easier for him.

For Nick, growing up around here, everything is about Bathurst. I'm not too sure you'll ever see it again in the modern era. We may see it next year, but the fact that it has happened in the modern era shows what a big deal it is.

It's great for me to be part of it. It's been well publicised that I've been helping along the way,and I love it when a plan comes together.

As we sit here, Nick's future isn't completely clear. Priority one for you is to get him back for next year, which you said www.mnews.com.au

straight after the race.

Well of course, why wouldn't you want him back for Bathurst next year?

Obviously Nick is going to have a lot of offers coming his way at the moment. but he's got a great opportunity at Clayton.

Clayton has put a lot of resources into him and now that he's won a

We made the decdsion so early. for Instance, we big race,there's a great j opportunity for Nick i liad m ade foe decision going forward at Claytor and he needs to be part j 111 September and said of that.

I If that means he does hey Nick, yonre going to another year doing what he's doing now to . be driving the HRT car completely sharpen his : and sharing with Garth, pencil, and do another \ year in the endurance ^ it would have been a bit races with me. I'd be I ' moment. ofa ecstatic. And then main :

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game the year after.

By then, he'll be more than ready. He's said in the press that he's more than ready now, but I'm not totally sure he's ready yet.There are a lot of young guys who come in and get spat out pretty quickly,and we want to make sure that doesn't happen with Nick.

There's only one way for Nick to go at the moment and that's down.We want to make sure that when he comes into the main series he'll be more than ready, and hopefully Clayton can give him that nil every opportunity.

NICK PERCAT AND GARTH TANDER

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They've got the grunt you need to beat the heat in summer, and in winter, they'll keep you warmer than a Bathurst hot lap.

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MOTORSPORT NEWS INTERVIEWS THE BATHURST CHAMPIONS

NICK PERCAT

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OTORSPORT NEWS:Let's start right from the start.

Garth is a man with a lot of experience, so how does he build up to the Bathurst 1000?

NICK PERCAT:The first thing he ticks off is making sure he is 100 percent ready to go, right from his training through to everything else.

We ramped up the cycling a lot before the two enduros, because cycling is a bit of a mental game, being able to keep going and going. We did a lot of work up around Garth's house in the hills. We pushed each other hard, we made it a competition up the big hills.

Once we got to Phillip Island, I noticed Garth was pretty laid back. I think he was confident we'd go well there.

But at Bathurst, he was more on edge in the few days before the race.

So you could see the change in his demeanour?

Yeah, I could. Cam McConville said to me on

the Wednesday before the race'that's just Garth, he's like that before Bathurst'.That's pretty understandable.

How did that resonate with you? Did it make you more nervous when Garth got serious?

A little bit, because he's normally so calm.

But Bathurst is a big deal, I knew that before, but to see Garth's personality change that little bit drove it home for me.The other thing Cam said to me was'when Garth's like that, he's going to be fast'. Turns out he was.

Before Thursday, what was Garth saying to you? What advice was he passing on?

Nothing really about on-track stuff- he wasn't saying'you need to do this and this during a lap'. It was more about dealing with the media, like when to put digs into other people and when not to. He told me not to get involved in the whole'Thommo'thing (ED: Garth spent much of the week before the race telling the media that Andrew Thompson was"useless"in the wet), which

was fair enough. I wasn't interested in | getting involved in that anyway.

So it was Just little things like that. He worked on keeping the pressure off me,he took the lion's share of the media work and so on.

On the track walk, he told me a few things over the top. I was learning as we walked the track, which is a good thing.

Once I was in the car, we just compared notes on what the car was doing. It was never a case of Garth telling me what to do, he had complete faith in how I was driving the car. It was more about bouncing ideas off each other for set-up.

So,even though you were a rookie, you felt like the working relationship was at a point where you could suggest set-up changes and Garth and the team were receptive?

Yeah,that started back at Phillip Island. In one of the all-co-driver sessions there we went down my path a bit, and then we brought it back. Garth and I drive nil quite similarly, but no one's exactly

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NICK PERCAT AND GARTH TANDER nil the same,so we had to peg it back so it was good for both of it. It's good to have Al (Alistair McVean,Tender's engineer), Garth and Mike Henry listen and make changes based on what I say.That really gives you confidence.

Even driving the car, not once did I come in over the weekend and get told'you're off line in this corner and you need to do this'.

It was more like'okay, your corner radius is different to Garth's, but you're making it up somewhere else'.The team accepted the fact that Garth and I do drive a little differently.

I thought the whole thing would be more one-sided, but it wasn't like that. Garth knows I can set up a car, he's seen me in Formula Ford, where I helped Michael Ritter develop the Mygale. I've learnt a lot of what I know from Ritter, and Garth respects Ritter a lot, so it made it very easy.

When Garth went quickest in that first qualifying session, did that drive home the point that the car was genuinely quick?

I think it put the situation into reality for everyone in the team. Deep down I knew the car was good, because having driven my Fujitsu Series car, and then Garth's car, I could tell it was hooked up.

I knew we'd be quick there during the co driver session that McConville was quickest in, because I knew that I wasn't pushing. It was early in the weekend,so I was driving well within myself, and I thought'hey, we're in for a pretty good shot here'. I knew how hard I was pushing,and we were already at the top.

How did the team respond to the rain in the Shootout? I mean, you went from being on for pole to being on the fifth row.

Some people took it better than others.

Some people got angry, some people got upset. We all felt a little bit ripped off, because it wasn't a fair playing field.

But in saying that, it wasn't as if anyone in the team had any control of the situation...

That's exactly right. We Just had to accept it.

It took a few people longer than others to accept it.

As soon as I saw the rain I Just figured it is what it is. I was up at a Coates appearance on top of The Mountain before the Shootout, and I said 'we're quickest at the moment, but how do we know it won't be wet for our run and dry for the others? Or vice versa?'

If the shoe was on the other foot, and we'd

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run in the dry and gone from 10th to pole, he would have been happy about it, so we had to suck it up that it went the other way.

And we're talking about a 1000-kay race, not a 20-lapper at Symmons Plains...

Personally for Garth, it was more frustration than anything. To put a Shootout lap together around Bathurst must be unbelievable, and if you can put it on pole its even more unbelievable.

So you're saying he just wanted that chance to have a crack at a time...

He did. I think it fuelled his fire for Sunday, to be honest, because he felt he had a really good shot at the Shootout.

Sunday morning, you get to the track, get through the warm-up, we're an hour from race start; what are you and Garth going over?

We were just talking about how the race would pan out.

We had a plan, and we went through that plan. We didn't talk it up - we knew it was going to be a long, hard day, so we made sure all the details were in place.

That's something that the team >11^

FormulaFord oooooo Formula Ford 1600 Kent cars will be back at the mountain as a support category to the Armor All Bathurst 12 hour in 2012 and you can join us.

All categories of Formula Ford 1600 Kent powered cars are eligible. Get your car out of the shed and onto the track at your next local state race meeting and be part of the action.

For further information on racing a Formula Ford at Bathurst or your local state racing event contact the Formula Ford Association.

R 02 4773 9494 E. admin@formulaford.org.au

www.formulaford.org.au motorsport news

MOTORSPORT NEWS INTERVIEWS THE BATHURST CHAMPIONS

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NICK PERCAT AND GARTH TANDER

As soon as I mt those marbles, which 1 didnt expect to be there so early, I had to chase it all the way to the walL I was lucky that I hit back first, so 1 could make sure the front hit square. nil

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has struggled with in the recent past,the details, but Mike Henry is really turning that around.We crossed everything off, all the one percent things, and it paid off.There's light at the end of the tunnel for where HRT is heading.

The first stint was reasonably important in terms of track position in relation to car #1, because it was being stacked at pit-stops that really hurt car #888. Did you guys recognise the importance of getting ahead of the other HRT car in that first stint?

Personally, it was. And I know it was for Garth as well.

I'm guessing it wasn't discussed, but that was crucial...

It was important, we all knew that. That's why we went for the short first stint and threw me straight in, very similarly to what we did at Phillip Island. We wanted clear track when I got in. My first lap wasn't quick, but the times came down quickly and I knew we were onto something.

We had a debrief after the race, and the guys on car #1 said 'we could have covered you, but that would have been negative for the team'. So I felt sorry for them, but they still did a great Job. If it wasn't for a few issues towards the end, they would have been on the podium.

I was surprised at the end of my first stint when I came out ahead of Skaife, McConville

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and Whincup, because it meant our strategy worked. It pays to have a punt every now and then, because if a Safety Car had come out during that stint it would have all come tumbling down.

As it was,the Safety Cars fell perfectly for you guys.

All day they fell when we needed them! It got to a point where we had plenty of fuel, no issues with the car, and we could just cover everyone. I said to Garth 'let's get into the lead and control the race'. We even said weeks before that we wanted to be in the lead in the last hour.That's exactly when we found ourselves in the lead, and that's when the car had all the pace, so it was weird how the day worked out.

When you tagged the wall, when you realised that you were going in no matter what you did, was it about making sure the car was perfectly side on? Was that a conscious decision-making process for you?

Basically, it only happened because I knew Lowndes was stronger in a straight line. I think that was because of the fuel setting we were running at that stage of the race. I knew he would have a look, so I decided to let him go and just tag onto his rear bar.

But as soon as I hit those marbles, which I didn't expect to be there so early, I had to chase It all the way to the wall. I was lucky

that I hit back first, so I could make sure the front hit square. I mean, you can't really make sure it hits square, but I did make sure I had the steering straight, because you don't want to be on opposite lock.

It was a decent impact. I was surprised when 1 got to The Cutting that there wasn't a broken steering arm.

Was there a split second where you thought you'd dropped the ball?

Yeah,the moment I hit the wall! When I got going, I got straight on the radio and said 'sorry boys'. I thought that'd be us, because I know how weak a steering arm is on any V8 Supercar.

■| gave the car a bit of a wiggle going up to The Cutting to make sure the watts wasn't broken, and the first lap after that I was a bit cautious up to The Grate, because I didn't know if anything was about to break.

It did damage the two wheels on the lefthand-side, so there was a big vibration. It made me a little cautious through The Chase for a few laps, but I knew it was fine. As soon as we changed the wheels the car was fine.

Have you and Garth talked about that little incident?

Oh yes... 1 did buy the boys a slab of beer.

1 jumped in the car with Briony (Ingerson, Percat's partner) after the race, bought a slab and wrote 'sorry boys, from Perdog'on it and left it at the door of the hotel.

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TURN 3 PHILLIP ISLAND WITH JASON BARGWANNA 'ONE of the things about Turn 3 is that it is not a very difficult corner in a Supercar but the speed to carry into the next corner is what is very important. That is part of what makes it so challenging. Your entry speed is way over 200 kilometres an hour and that means that it is critical for a lap time. You can easily lose two or three tenths there if you get out of the throttle because the speed is so high.

"The key is to have a nice aero balance in the car.

Your turn-in point is critical; so is your exit, as there is an overtaking point coming up. You need to have the car nice and flat.

"It all starts at Southern Loop. You need to have track position on the way in, so that all builds to you maintaining the outside position in Turn 3. You come out of Southern Loop and you get over the crest of the hill. If you are in good shape, at the turnin point you are in fifth gear and you are tapped [full throttle]. It is flat from turn-in to apex but it is

easy to run out of road on the exit. It is flat all the way through if you get it right, but not if you don't.

"One thing that people may not notice that much on TV is, it is downhill. A lot of corners at Phillip Island turn to the left but not all of them are fast and downhill and that certainly gets your attention. As you accelerate in fifth, you start to look for the kerb on the left-hand side, and you approach the corner trying to make sure that the car is square - flat and pointing straight. If you understeer through there, you run out of road, pretty quickly.

"If you are even a little bit off-line, it can really effect your braking for Honda, where you need maximum braking. It has a long entry and you need to come out mid-circuit, so you can pick your braking mark and turn-in for Honda.

"We don't actually have that many high-speed corners in Australia. This is one, and it might look easy. It can be, but you can still get it wrong."

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TURNS1&2QUEENSLAND RACEWAY WITH RUSSELL INGALL TURNS 1 and 2 can have a big effect on your lap time at Queensland Raceway.

"Four and five can be relevant as well, but 2 leads onto the back straight. Corners that lead onto straights, it is all about the exit. A lot get excited about barrelling the thing in there, but they come out five kays slower.

In 800 metres, that kills your lap time; you look at the speed trace on the MoTec and you can see the speed line bleed down. It is like looking at the Worm when they grill politicians on TV! "You approach the corner in fifth and hit it down one gear going in. When the track was new, back in the Perkins days, I could

hold it flat and almost turn into the [Turn 1] corner, under full power. You would button off and get through the corner.The bumps have a huge effect, in getting a clean run off the turn.

"It's almost like a NASCAR track; they go into a corner, get a bump and get all loose. You have to drive hard into 1, get off everything and glide for a while, while the car gets loose and does its... everything!

You can't be on the gas; it's still a fairly high speed corner, so if you drag the brake down there, you just kill all the corner speed.

"So you roll off, carry the speed and try to collect the car for 2. You cannot get on the

gas over the bumps,the rear will bounce up and down and oversteer. You clear the bumps and pick up the throttle, rolling onto it NASCAR-style.

"You hope you do not run out of road on the way out; if you have done it right, you are back on the throttle and you will not run out of road. If you don't, you spear off into the bushes.

"The plans to repave the track will have a big effect. I did a [1 m]9.9 in qualifying, on a Control tyre, when the track was new. I stuffed up in the Shoot-out, but I held the qualifying record there for quite a while. I hope it comes back to that again."

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THE CHASE MOUNT PANORAMA WITH GREG MURPHY 'THE Chase at Bathurst is one of the most daunting corners in Australia - it is the fastest corner in Australia, by a fair margin.

"The whole track is iconic but this part of it is particularly so. It just has that extra special part to it, because of the speed.You have to get it right, and you need to build up to it, especially if you have never been there before. Plenty of things can go wrong, and if you misjudge it by even a tiny, tiny bit, you can end up a long way off the road.

"You come down Conrod Straight at just on 300 kays and you are looking for that extra little bit of seal on the road that you run through. It's not that hard to get the reference points right; there is only one place you can turn in.

"You run it right out to the left, using as much road as you possibly can, before you turn it right and veer the car in. You don't want to put a lot of steering input in, you want to change direction gently and be as smooth as you possibly can.

You want the car as flat as possible so that the rear stays behind the front.

"The braking zone is pretty good, no real bumps. Since the place was resurfaced back in '03, it is one of the best surfaces that we go to. You don't hear many complaints about the track as a whole. It doesn't get a lot of racing on it, or does it get a lot of use as a general road.The road is even and you know what you have got.

"The brake pressure you need to apply to slow the car down is just horrific. You can brake reo//y hard, because the road is rising over the last part of the braking zone. You can use that to retard the car.

"You can be in either second or third through the left-hander, depending on what the car is doing there.That depends a lot on how well the car transitions to the right once you go through the left, and sometimes it is second,sometimes third.The last few years, I have been quite happy to use third, but you might use second in qualifying.

"For us old blokes, we are pretty comfortable around the place and you would want to be flat at the Chase the second or third lap, depending on the conditions.

Probably the young blokes are there then,too!

"I was there first in '94, and '95 for the first time in a Supercar, and that feeling you get never goes away. I will miss that when it all ends."

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WITH CRAIG LOWNDES

'YOUR first objective is to exitTurn 1 with good drive.

"It's always difficult at Barbagallo Raceway, because your rear tyres always want to give away,so you generally end up with a bit of oversteer at the exit ofTurn 1.

"For that quick right-left-right over the top of the crest, you want to make sure that the balance is pretty neutral. You're looking to make sure that you can flow the car, and carry throttle across the whole section of road.

"That kerb that is on the entry to the last right-hander is blind, so you're trying to pre-judge where to position the car. From time-to-time, you clip that kerb, which gives the crowd and the photographers a good chance to have a look underneath the car!

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"It's no big deal in a Triple Eight car with our set-up, but some cars can react badly to wacking that kerb. It depends on whether you keep the car straight when you hit the kerb; you don't want to be launching off the ground with any attitude on the car - you don't want to be sideways, because it's going to throw you off the road. And as soon as you're off that kerb, you're braking for the left hander up the hill, so the cars needs to be straight.

"We're not changing gears through that section of track. You come out ofTurn 1 and have an up-shift, you pull a gear as soon as you're out of the corner. We then run third gear the whole way up through the esses, and then downchange to second for the run up the hill.

"There is a lot of elevation through that section of track.That's stage one of the climb before you head up over the hill and down to Kolb,so there are a lot of changes in elevation.That makes it exciting.That makes it a challenging bit oftrackforthe drivers.

"It's good fun. It gets really interesting when the tyre starts to degrade, you haven't got any grip, and the car is sliding around. At that point you actually work on the whole car sliding evenly, rather than oversteering or understeering.

"It's very easy to over-commit yourself into the braking area for the left-hander. I think everyone's been off there at some point. And once you deviate off the bitumen, it's very difficult to get back on the racetrack!"

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THE HAIRPIN SYMMONS PLAINS WITH JOHN BOWE "THERE are two ways to tackle the hairpin at Symmons Plains.

"Different people subscribe to the two different ways, particularly in a V8 Supercar, because the traction is not that terrific.

"The first way is what I call the'Garth TanderWay', which means going past the apex and then coming down the hill.The other way is the'Craig Lowndes Way', which is turning into the corner early and doing your best.

"It has quite an effect on the straight line speed, so you can lose two-tenths on your lap time by simply not getting out of the hairpin properly - which is a lot on a track as short as Symmons.

"I thinkTander's method is actually the better way, but I used to go about it the other way. Now I've been an observer, I think

turning in later is the better way for your straight-line speed. It might be slightly slower in the middle of the corner, but your drive is better and you carry that speed all the way down the straight. If you can make that twotenths, it can be five or six rows difference on the grid! It's crucial to get it right, "The concrete that's now on the exit of the

corner is great for traction. It's not bad on the bitumen anyway since the resurfacing, because it used to be diabolical. But the V8 ' Supercars still have more power than they can use, so you're still looking for grip. I've raced a GT car there, too, and with that it's not an issue. You just turn the wheel and stand on the throttle. Back in the days of the Ford Sierra the track surface was terrible, so they were shocking around there! After 10 laps you couldn't get a Sierra out of that

corner to save your life, they'd just spin the wheels.

"Pulling a car up into the hairpin is also crucial. A MoTec system might call Symmons Plains an eight-turn track, but there are really only three corners. If your car wants to lock the rears, a pretty standard issue in a V8 Supercar, it can be hard to pull the car up and it can cost you another tenth or two. In a V8, you've got to just change up to sixth gear,so you change up,then brake straight away and change down. It's actually very difficult.

"And the pedal pressures are huge, I remember looking at Jason Richards'data a couple of years ago,and at the end of the main straight his pedal pressure was 1300 psi.That's just amazing. I couldn't even press 1300 psi."

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TURN8 ADELAIDE WITH GARTH TANDER

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"THERE is an unusual fact about Turn 8 at Adelaide; once you take the walls away, it is the same asTurn 1 at Phillip Island.

"Obviously, the approach speed at Phillip Island is higher. But there is the same apex speed and the same exit speed. If you mentally take the walls away, it is not that daunting. But of course.Turn 8 is daunting because of the walls. It's an amazing corner; challenging and fast.

"You approach the corner in sixth, probably at the highest speed you are doing on the track - around 255kmh.You brake - it is more of a dab than a hard braking pointand you stay in sixth. You turn in and you carry as much apex speed as you dare. It is all about having a clean apex and going as close to the wall on exit as you dare.

"The rule is that there is no overlapping at 36

the corner but really, they do not need that rule. I think that it is a good idea that we have it, to stop any sort of stupidity, because we have seen some there in the past. It is not the sort of corner where you think, if you are on the outside,'! am going to stay out here and see what happens'. Because there is a wall on the outside, you need to tuck it in and wait it out.

"That is where it is different to Phillip Island.

If someone sticks it down the inside, you can stay on the outside to wait and see what happens.There is no wall there so if it goes wrong, you just run off. Then you might even get the inside for the next left-hander.

"Adelaide is not like that. You come out of the corner and you are almost on top of Turn 9. There is no benefit to be had. You are not going to be around the outside of

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anyone there.

"Tyre wear does not make a huge difference as the races go on. It is not really a tyre-sensitive corner. If you have a little less grip, it is not really a drama. It is more about what sort of car balance you have got.

Adelaide is pretty much stop-start,followthe-leader type corners, so you tend to set the car up for that. Whatever you have got left does not make a lot of difference there; whether it is high-fuel on new rubber or low fuel on used tyres, you just want your balance to be pretty good.

"I had my biggest crash, ever, atTurn 8. It was in 2004, in a Sunday warm-up,of all things. I clipped the Armco on the inside and before I knew what happened, I was hard into the concrete in the outside wall. It was no fun and there is no room for error." motorsport news

TURNS 11 &12 ALBERT PARK WITH MARK WEBBEri 1

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WITH the amount of downforce produced by a modern Grand Prix car, it's easy to downplay the effort required to tackle a fast, sweeping corner.

These days, people say that Eau Rouge isn't a challenge anymore because it's easy flat. Okay, it might be flat - but there's nothing easy about keeping control of a Formula 1 car as it bumps and bounces across bitumen and curves at more than 300 kmh.

While Melbourne's Albert Park isn't considered to be quite the driver's challenge that Spa-Francorchamps is, it does have the fast and frightening Turns 11 and 12. It's a fast left-right combination, taken in fifth gear, on the throttle. Adding to the complexity of the corner sequence is that Albert Park is a street circuit, which means the surface evolves throughout a weekend,challenging the drivers to push harder and harder, lap-by-lap. Run wide on the way in and it's no big deal, but drop the left-hand wheels off the kerb on the exit of the right-hander and you could be in for a heck of a crash.

Mark Webber is a man who has done plenty of laps around Albert Park, and he knows exactly how exhilarating Turns 11 and 12 are in a Formula 1 car.

"Very fast chicanes, normally taken in fifth gear in a FI car - and you arrive at high speed, between 290-305 kmh,"says Webber.

"Positioning the car forTurn 11 is crucial. There's a big chance that the car will be lightly bottoming on the plank on turn-in here. So, once theTurn 11 turn-in point is over, which is slightly later than you think, you are aiming to try and have a slightly later apex on the first kerb at Turn 11.

"You need to carry as much speed as possible through the corner while not compromising your positioning for 12.Twelve is usually a corner that produces understeer, so you need to turn-in a little bit earlier here to then brush the bottom of the kerb right on the apex to get a very important exit along the next long straight.

"This section of corners can be heavily affected by wind and is also sensitive to weight distribution and aero balance, as it demands a high speed change of direction."

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CHiCAlE SURFERS PARADISE WITH WILL POWER O

."THEjJo^ble chicane at Surfers is an impbHaht corner, because it can have such a©ig effectun your lap time.

"You need to arrive at the braking zone on n the left side ofthe track, and the braking is all done in a straight line. You do not want to brake while you are turning; that upsets the car too much.

"You need to miss the kerb on the right completely. You hit the one ofthe left,just bleeding off the brake, and you need to crack the throttle hard, immediately you let

go ofthe brake. You hit the right one,and you are almost - o/mosf-full throttle as you come down.

"There is lot of time to be made up there.

The key is to have a very quick minimum speed through there and flow the car, and carry the speed through all parts ofthe corner.

"I have been through the corner in a Champ Car and an IndyCar, as well as a V8 Supercar, and The funny thing is, the V8 Supercar feels a bit similar to the open-

wheelers. When you look at the data for all the cars, it looks like one long corner, rather than a series of corners. In a Supercar, you can feel the weight ofthe car in the change of direction, bit I was actually surprised how similar it felt.

"The braking point is different, and you get to be a bit more aggressive on the kerbs.

You don't give the car full power as you would in the IndyCar, it just does not have the downforce, but otherwise it is not that different."

"YOU pull fifth gear as you approach the right hand kink there at Hidden Valley, and the reason the car has so much attitude is because you have to get back over to the left for Turn 5.

"On green tyres, it's easily flat the whole way through.

Later In the race, when the tyres are used, the car kicks sideways when you shift to fifth gear. So it's not a hard complex until about Lap 10 in a stint. It quickly becomes very difficult. But you still have to be flat! You have to stay flat, but you're running out of grip.

"When you're on the soft tyre it's even worse when the tyres go off, but you have to be flat because Turn 5 is a big passing spot. You can't afford to be giving anything away.

"That next right hander.Turn 5, is one of the most important corners on the track, because that's where the sector marker is. In qualifying you have time gain/loss on the dash, and when you look at that and you're up,the rest of the lap tends the flow. If you can get into Turn 1 well,flow the car through Turns 2-4, and then get into Turn 5,the rest of the lap takes care of itself because you can drive on the confidence of being up. So that whole complex is incredibly important, especially during a Shoot-out lap.

"The car bottoms out through there as well, and as soon as the tyre bottoms out,the steering gets really heavy.

You always know, because the steering wheel is telling you.That makes it even harder to get the car over to the leftforTurn 5. It looks easy on the track walk, but the first time you go through there you find it hard, because you don't want to go off there.

"That's why at the start of a race you see people go through there two wide and it gets messy. It's a series of corners that deserves respect."

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DANDENONG ROAD SANDOWN WITH WILL DAVISON

"THIS is a really fun bit of track.

"It's very quick, and you brake very late. It's fifth gear over the top and it's very easy to miss your turn-in.

"The whole complex is quite long.

If you turn in too early, you end up too wide and that compromises your whole line down the hill. It's a lot of fun, because you have the car right out on the saw-tooth kerb.There are cones the whole way down,so you aim to have the car turning in between the second and the third cones - that's where you want to apex.

"You then want to be back on the throttle as early as possible. You can afford to use quite a bit of road across the top, because the kerb down the hill, across the right kink, can be used.

"Then you have to straighten the car up to brake into the last left-hander. It's always a challenge, because the quicker you go over the top, the more road you use, which then compromises your line, but you need to be aggressive. If you're aggressive you can carry a lot of speed across the top, get back to fullthrottle across the face of the righthand curve (Turn 7), but then you are on the limit of the braking when you come off the kerb. If you don't have the car perfectly positioned at that point, you'll lock the inside wheel, because the track is still actually turning. You need to land on the far

left-hand side of the track and then diagonal it across to the right, but also have the car unweighted so you don't lock a wheel.

"So track positioning is so important, and to be quick you have to be committed not only across the top, but across the face of the right hander and into the braking area for Dandenong Road itself. If you don't have the car in the right spot, you'll lock a wheel and be straight into the gravel.

"It's actually a tricky spot to pass you can get people there. But you have to be pretty Intelligent about it, because it all has to happen at the last minute.You land off the right-hander, with the car in front of you on the left side of the track ... then at the last minute they drift to the right. You're already on the brakes when you land, and the room doesn't appear on the inside of them until half-way through that braking period, because they're starting on the inside of the track.

"So you can't just dive up the inside, you have to wait for the other car to move over, and then clear the brakes mid-way through the braking zone.

You're actually coming out of the brakes and then braking again.To do that, you're turning the car under brakes, and it's easy to lock a wheel.

"That's the great art of Dandenong Road - avoiding locking the left-front wheel."

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Your V8 Supercars Sh^ciaUsts

becoming The youngest double llJorld Champion in Formula 1 history.

Sebastian Vettel

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REATHING deeply and smelling faintly of champagne, □ ^ Sebastian Vettel tried desperately to maintain his □ composure.

J It'd been a long day for the young German, who just minutes earlier had climbed from his Red Bull in pare ferme, removed his crash helmet and tear-soaked balaclava and jumped into the embracing arms of his team. Quickly ushered to the podium he broke down again, showing the world that beneath the cool, calculated facade lies the beating heart of a mortal. Overcome with emotion he wept;the champagne a welcome distraction and a chance to celebrate briefly before being forced to suppress the tears once more.

Now he sits quietly, the centre of attention in a crowded room that moments earlier had stood to applaud him as he'd entered.

His nerves are jangling, exposed to the world with his body quietly shaking. His breathing is shallow. He's trying to regain control, to subdue himself in front of the worlds press. Fora moment, he puts his head in his hands and cioses his eyes'. They snap open as flashes of light and a symphony of camera shutters remind him that he is not alone.

These were the scenes that greeted Seb, as he's affectionately known,in the immediate aftermath of the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He'd just become the youngest ever Formula 1 World Champion, defying the odds to win the final race of the year to claim the title ahead of team-mate Mark Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. It was the culmination of a lifetime's work, of suffering and sacrifice, and yet rather than enjoy the moment with his friends and colleagues, he was first thrown in front of the world's media, who now hung on his every word. For an agonising' half-hour, Vettel endured question after question as cameras flashed endlessly in the crowded press conference.

Vettel is one of the new generation of drivers who have entered the sport in the wake of the great Michael Schumacher's temporary retirement. He'd quickly been identified as one of the sports brightest stars when he made his debut for BMW in 2007, substituting for Robert Kubica - another of the sport's fast new breed - when the Pole suffered a broken leg at the Canadian Grand Prix.

From substitute driver to World Champion,Seb's journey was now complete.The fresh-faced kid from Heppenheim in western Germany was suddenly the biggest name in motorsport. Everyone wanted a piece of him, and he was still only 23.

After what seems an enternity,the press conference comes to an end, with the room once again rising to give the new champion a standing ovation. He was then whisked away for television interviews in the 'bull pen', a roped off area where drivers are surrounded by yet more of the world's press.There is no hiding for Sebastian Vettel, and seemingly no end in sight as journalists, television presenters, camera men and photographers clamour over one another to reach him. Meanwhile Seb just wants the solitude of his dressing room at the Red Bull hospitality suite and a chance to unwind,to think and take stock of what he's done.

When it's all over, he walks quietly back to the Red Bull suite, heads upstairs and closes the door. It would be some time before he emerges,the youngster taking the advice of outgoing World Champion Jenson Button who suggested the German enjoy what little time he'd get to himself.

"This guy's going to have a busy few hours," Button had warned after the race.

"The world's press will be asking him questions, he will have cameras in his face."

L

ess than 12 months on and the German was running the media gauntlet once more.

Third place in Japan was comparatively lacklustre performance for Vettel, who prides himself on winning every minor-prize along the way; pole position, fastest lap and race wins.The seemingly meaningless statistics feed a racer hungry for success, perhaps nil desperate to justify to himself as much as the world that he's www.mnews.com.au

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no flash in the pan and worthy of his place in Formula 1. After a dominant season in which he dispatched all challengers with ease, perhaps now those doubts can be laid to rest. Perhaps now, he'll allow himself to accept his position at the head of the Formula 1 class, in Singapore he'd deflected questions of his pending title success with a cheeky smile.

The season is long and nothing in Formula 1 should be taken for granted, he claimed.

Nothing had yet been won,and despite standing on the precipice of a rare feat in the competitive world of Formula 1 the world should not count it's chickens just yet.

Despite the confidence of a world title to his name,Seb was taking nothing for granted.

Even as he answered questions ranging from the benign to the ridiculous he spoke with ease and grace, his near-perfect English unchallenged in his responses to the ever probing enquiries. It's what made his demeanour in Abu Dhabi all the more absorbing because here was not a man who wanted to be there, not of a man happy answering straightforward questions. He was a man that wanted more than anything else to get away from the limelight,to lock himself away where nobody could get to him so he could come to grips with the enormity of his achievement.

It was a feat that could be described as a surprise,though not by Seb who maintains he'd simply overcome the greatest odds to take the title. He had still worked hard and remained focussed,and while the attention of the world was directed on Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber,Vettel struck his decisive blow. His latest campaign must therefore have been a walk in the part in comparison.

"It's very likely for people to draw the wrong conclusion,to say that we had a very easy run this year,"counters the World Champion.

"Things like this, they happen for a reason; I strongly believe that, not because things were easy for us. We had a very, very good car, no doubt, but we had an even stronger team.

"Last year we had so many races where sometimes you may say we were unlucky but we made stupid mistakes as well. We did things which cost us a lot of time and cost us a lot of points in the end. A championship is not one race, it's a lot of races pulled together and I think that's where the difference came from this year."

Last year's Turkish Grand Prix was a case in point. A lively battle between he and Webber resulted in the German having an early shower after the pair came together.

It was also the scene for some regrettable gestures.The partisan Australian fans were not impressed at the slur against Our Mark, and took great delight when the Aussie overcame adversity to win in Britain a few weeks later. Of course ultimately it was Seb who triumphed at year's end,leading the championship only at the final counting after it had been headed for so long by Webber.There has been no repeat this season, any frustrations have been well hidden,though in truth there's not been much to be frustrated by.

Still that rivalry persists, though it's been dialled back from eleven to something approaching manageable. Mark and Seb aren't best mates,that much is clear, but there's a healthy level of respect there now where perhaps once there was animosity.

Spats between the pair have been simply non-existent in 2011. Perhaps it's because, with Vettel winning six out of eight races at the start of the year. Our Mark has never been in contention. Or perhaps it's because Vettel's confidence has allowed him to operate without the need to look over his shoulder. Nobody has come close to the German all season as he's annihilated the opposition. His success has been so great it's almost unrivalled in the sports history; a season opening string of podium results

-7

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which lasted until July - where he flopped to just fourth in Germany - set him up for a relatively straightforward defence of his championship crown.

Third in Japan could even be considered below par,though in reality it mattered little given it moved him beyond reach of Button,the only man who was still in with a chance of the title.

"He's driven really well this year," conceded Button, who won in Suzuka.

It was a defiant act, a gallant last stand from the man who needed to win every race for the remainder of the season and hope Seb failed to score a point. Still, the Brit gave credit where it was due,and despite being shoved on to the grass at the start of the race he allowed Vettel to have his moment in the sun.

"To win the championship here is pretty special and a bit funny at the same time, because it's as confusing as the first one,"Seb said in Suzuka.

The only similarity with Abu Dhabi was the faint smell of champagne as he spoke.There were no tears, at least not on the podium.The Sebastian Vettel, World Champion 2011 is different to the raw, emotive animal who won at the death last season.The raw, unbridled emotion was missing,that primordial outpouring mnswssisffijiiaB

or relief and joy which endeared him to many present in that electrifying press conference.This time he sat contented, maybe simply relieved that he wouldn't be exposed to the nerve racking finale which gripped the world last season.

"All of sudden, you're supposed to... yep,that's the moment - now enjoy."

His loss for words was seemingly the only indication that internally he was struggling with the fact he had just achieved something few others had done.

"To win a world title and to have defended Sebastian's driver's world championship is something quite unique and he's just been magnificent this year,"summed up Red Bull boss Christian Horner."He's driven absolutely phenomenally well and he thoroughly deserves this championship.

"I think it was harder (this year) but I think that as a team we've gained strength. We've learnt from last year, we've applied those lessons well and we've maximised our chances," he added.

"I think it's huge. I think what he's achieved and the strike rate and the level of performance against some massive opponents - Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, lll^ Michael Schumacher,they're all

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47

^iii champions that have achieved that in the past - to beat those guys, with the level of dominance he's achieved, is something quite phenomenal."

Put in perspective Homer's words ring true. In the 62 years the Formula 1 World Championship has existed, there have been barely more than 30 men who could call themselves the best in the world. Of them,just eight had managed the feat in consecutive years. Vettel's 2011 crown makes him Just the ninth member in an exclusive club. It's a fact Seb no doubt appreciates, but you'd never really tell. For all his alleged arrogance,for all his fist-pumping and single-digit celebrations, he remains down to earth.

"Did you notice that Michael is the youngest seven-time World Champion," he joked to Fernando Alonso, who had just been asked if he was disappointed to lose his mantle of the youngest ever dual-champion.

"Now we will see who is the youngest three-time World Champion," suggested the Spaniard,throwing the gauntlet at Vettel's feet.

It's a challenge he's unlikely to shy away from, and nor should he.

"Take a race like Monza,"encourages Schumacher,"he didn't need to win that race but still he had the hunger and the will to do so.That's what makes him the champ because you have to fight for it, and he's open for fights."

The two Germans' relationship goes back to Vettel's days in karting.

Then just a promising kid, Schumacher took note.

"We've known each other for a long time, starting from go-kart days when he was very young," he admits.Schumacher can spot parallel's between the pair.

"Naturally I'd say I taught him all the good things," he jokes."I certainly watch anybody,and look at anybody's performance in how and what he's doing in order to maybe make a slight adaption," he explains. "(Vettel) was clever enough to see what he thinks is the best path for his style, and certainly in some moments I have been an example to him."

Taking lessons from Schumacher's book is a good start. With the most successful era in the sport's history to his name,there are few lessons the great German isn't qualified to teach, and perhaps key among them is consistency. It's a lesson Seb and his Red Bull team look to have learnt early, and with design guru Adrian Newey still with the team, it's unlikely it'll lose it's mojo before the 2012 season. Even Schumacher, his face lined with years of experience,admits Red Bull will be a hard act to 1 match.

"It's natural that when you build up such a stability and such a performance that you will take the benefit for a certain time," he says.

How long it will stay and how long they can keep up front is something that's going to be interesting to watch."

Worryingly for his rivals, the Vettel steamroller, like that of Red Bull, shows no signs of slowing. With the championship in the bag the German can enjoy the remainder of the season, an elongated victory lap celebrating his title success.

"Last year, after the chequered flag it was all over,there was a long r. ; > period of time when you weren't in the car again," he reasons."What ●y. we have achieved so far in Red Bull Racing is just incredible and we obviously hope to enjoy the rest of the year."

W^*■i Vettel will enjoying the opportunity.The overwhelming emotion may have been absent this year, but the appreciation is most certainly there while perhaps still just struggling with the idea of being world champion.

"When I was a young boy I loved racing, I enjoyed racing.To be honest I was dreaming about Formula 1 but you never imagine to be there one day. So it was as confusing as the first championship in many ways because it's just so hard to grasp and difficult to understand."

The world championship may confuse him, however a year on, he's grown used to the snap of camera shutters. He's relentlessly pursued by the world's media and the subject of fans attention the world over. He may whiff of champagne more often than noton a Sunday afternoon but with two world titles to his name,there is littie doubt about his credentials.

Some may argue that 2010 was lucky, but they'll have to concede that % in 2011 he was quite simply supreme.

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FORMULA TS

BRUNO SENNA AND VITALY PETROV HAVE VERY DIFFERENT ; BACXSfHXJmS,BUT AS ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN FOUND OUT,FOR Mi-THEVt DFFERENCES,THEY'RE QUITE SIMILAR

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4

IT'S been a long year for Lotus Renault Grand Prix on the driver front.

Back at the start of 2011, it was all looking good.The team had the services of Robert Kubica, considered one of the best in Formula 1, along with the young Russian Vitaly Petrov, who had shown massive signs of improvement in the latter stages of 2010. With Kubica to lead the way, and Petrov ready to back up the Pole, LRGP were in a very good place in terms of drivers.

But how quickly things change. On the first stage of the Ronde di Andora rally back February, Kubica, who was taking part in a Skoda Fabia S2000 for a bit offun, crashed heavily.The injuries he sustained put paid to any chance of him driving a Formula 1 car in 2011. In fact, as this issue of MN went to press, it's still not clear if or when Kubica will ever drive a Formula 1 car again.

Suddenly, LRGP's plans had to change.

Kubica was out, and the start of the season was less than eight weeks away.

The funny thing is, it shouldn't have been an issue. When the season kicked off, before Kubica's crash, LRGP signed five - five - test and reserve drivers; Jan Charouz, Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean, Ho-PinTung and Fairuz Fauzy. With a bench teeming with youngsters just waiting for their chance in the big leagues, the loss of the lead driver shouldn't have been the issue that it was.

But here's the thing; it was the loss 52

of the lead driver. Petrov's rollercoaster 2010 season made it hard for the team to immediately trust him to take the Number 1 role, and without a clear Number 1 in the squad, it was difficult to promote any of the youngsters into the main game.

So it went the way of the outside hire.

German Nick Fleidfeld was brought into the squad to take the lead role... which seemed like a stroke of genius, until he qualified 18th for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Petrov went on to finish third.

It kind ofset the tone for the first 11 rounds of the year. It's not that Fleidfeld kept getting dumped out of Q1 while Petrov was spraying champagne on Sunday evening, but the thing is that Fleidfeld wasn't the clear team-leader. Consecutive DNFs in Germany and Hungary sealed Heidfeld's fate, and he was unceremoniously dumped in favour of Bruno Senna right before the Belgian Grand Prix.

It all sounds torrid, but the strange thing is that everything has worked out.

Senna qualified inside the Top lOat SpaFrancorchamps,and scored his first World Championship points at Monza with ninth.

In Singapore,the Lotus-Renault's lack of mechanical grip put both drivers well on the back foot, but it was Senna who made the better of a bad situation, dumping Petrov out ofQI. If anything, it's Senna,the man who many questioned was ready to return

as a full-time FI driver, who has looked the better of the two in the recent races - to the point where there were those in the Singapore paddock suggesting that Senna's speed was rattling Petrov.

It's too early to make a call on that, but the fact of the matter is that, despite all the team's been through in 2011, LRGP has ended up with a strong driver line up - something not lost on team boss Eric Boullier.

"It is very relieving to see both of them working together, talking together and respecting each other," he says.

'Relieving'is an interesting choice of words.

In fact, it's an admission that taking on Senna mid-season, in the modern age of FI where there is no testing, was a huge risk.

"Before with the testing, we were testing nearly every second day, so you could develop a driver," he adds.

"You knew exactly what the expect. Now, it's a bit of a gamble.

"But Bruno's character is very easy. He built up his relationship during the last six months,and he showed us he is eager to do well. He got to know the engineers, in fact he got to know everybody. He brought a freshness, and everyone in the team was happy to see him racing for us."

Senna is an interesting case study in Formula 1. He had a rapid rise through the junior categories.

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53

k

BEFORE WITH THE TESTING,WE WERE TESTING NEARIX EVERY SECOND D/Y,SO YOU COULD DEVELOP A DRIVER.NOW,IT’S A GAMBLE - ERIC BOULLIER ON SENNA'SPROMOTION

helped on by his rather recognisable surname. But once he got to Formula 1, which was last year in an underperforming Hispania Racing Team car, it didn't quite work. He struggled his way through 2010, and wasn't invited back for 2011. But it wasn't all bad; it taught Senna the important lesson that at this level, surnames aren't enough. It made him determined to take the next chance he got in Formula 1.

"Before Formula 1 [the Senna surname] is great; it helps you move up through the single-seater championships, because it helps you get sponsorship, but at the end of the day it's performance that counts," he says.

"You can have whatever surname you want, but if you don't go fast, if you don't perform, then you don't have a chance in Formula 1. Right now, it's all about driving and not about the name."

The fact that Senna has bounced back in 2011 is quite remarkable. After 2010, it would have been easy for Senna to call it quits. Instead, with next to no testing in between. Senna bounced straight back into theTop 10 in qualifying in Belgium.

"I was surprised in Belgium,for sure," he admits.

"Because of the weather conditions, it was more about adapting to the circumstances rather than actually getting pace out of the car and not making mistakes. In Monza,that was the first real qualifying session, and having raced in Belgium helped me get pace out of the car, properly. It was a good race in Monza.

54

"It was hard to keep the confidence up during the early part of this year. Coming into the season, right in the middle with no testing, is a tough situation ... because everyone is already up to speed, and you have to get yourself up there somehow.

"But, you know,fortunately the experiences I have had with the car even just this year have been enough to get me fairly competitive right from the start in Belgium.There's still a lotto come in terms of potential, but I'm pretty happy with what I've done so far.

"My objective is to be with Vitaly until the end of the year in terms of performance. He's a great reference for me, because he's been doing a very good job this year, and I think if I can be matching his performance, that's a good performance, given that 1 haven't been in the car all season.

"But, you know,the main focus is just to do a good job for the team and make enough of an impression to get a seat for next year."

So on one side of the garage there is Senna, a driver who has struggled to be taken seriously until his recent showing of speed. On the other side there is Petrov, a driver who many assumed only got his spot in the squad last year because of his cheque book. Whether there is any truth to that doesn't matter anymore, because Petrov has proven on enough occasions that he deserves his spot in Formula 1. In fact, Petrov himself believes he deserves the Number 1 spot at LRGP... with or without Kubica in the team.

"To be honest,from the beginning of the

year I was already quick enough," he says.

"The team were asking me sometimes to test parts to put on the car, and I was giving the right answer, so I didn't feel any extra pressure [when the team leadership came up]. I'm comfortable."

"If you look at last year, it was a disaster for me. I made a lot of mistakes, but this year has been completely different. Inside myself I feel much more comfortable, and that's showing in my results."

While Boullier will admit there were some issues with Petrov in his debut season, he won't admit that the team initially saw the Russian as a walking talking dollar sign. In fact, he maintains that LRGP always knew the speed was there, even before Petrov joined the team.

"Vitaly can extract a lot from the car on the limit,"he says.

"I've been watching him for a long time, when he was racing before Formula 1.

"Last year, there were some issues,from a communication and a culture point of view, we had a bit of a blockage. So it was up to me to change this, change the environment, and make people understand what he wants, and vice versa, so he could understand what people were expecting from him."

As this story went to press, LRGP hadn't made a decision on its 2012 drive line-up.

But, while the Petrov/Senna situation had a bit of The Odd Couple about it, it seems to work.

In fact, maybe it's not so odd. Maybe it's just the two drivers that few expect to come good, well, coming good. motorsport news

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SP££OI/I^E£K Sunday’s 12:30pm EST

FOXTELy AUSTAR. The Assassin won its first of 5 bridges in 1977.

mSOAY OCTOBBR 4-6:30FM DAVE Reynolds and I left the castle in Melbourne this morning, it was supposed to be 7am but we left at eight,a bit late. I did the middle stint and when I was driving and Reynolds was co-driying, we seemed to get lost on one of his shortcuts that he looked up on his iPhone.

We had dinner in town first when we arrived, then went to the track and I picked up the key to the SBR house, which is five minutes up the hill. I'm in a house with John McIntyre, Shane van Gisbergen,Tim Slade and David Brabham. I've followed Brabs'career for a long time, known Shane from being team-mates with him in Formula Toyota and obviously drove with McIntyre here and Phillip Island in '09. We all get on really well, there are a few laughs going around already.

mONBSOAY OCTOBBR S- 3iWM WE arrived at the track for a 9am trackwalk, I tried to take in as much as I could for the V8 mainly and also apply some of that to the Carrera Cup stuff.

We went into a lot of detail about how the car was last year and in previous years,the simple stuff like refreshing on gears for corners, braking markers, and stuff to look at to line up certain corners. It all relates, no matter what category you're in, for instance The Grate whatever category you're in, you're always aiming for that.

56

We got back at about 11 o'clock and had lunch, after that I had a rub down with Bluey,the SBR physio and trainer, to loosen my back up.Then we went into town for a signing session with all of the V8 Supercar drivers.There was a good turnout, plenty offans there. You're really in awe of how big this event actually is; it's hard to believe sometimes that you're in what they're coming to look at.

I went and had a quick pre-brief with the Porsche guys, mapped out a rough plan, as much as you can, about how the sessions were going to go. Regardless of whether it's wet or dry, we're going run the first session out and get as many laps as possible to refresh myself with the place.

If^BONBSOAY OCTOBBR S-9:00FM WE had a team dinner; Dish Catering, which is Emily Stone, Dianne Stone and the rest of the girls, put together a good feed for not only SBR, but also FPR and a few other teams. We stayed at the track until about 7pm,then went home and watched a bit of Motocross on TV with the boys.

It's always funny being in someone else's house, with all of their belongings and photos of them around the place, but you soon make yourself at home.Shane ended up moving his bed into the lounge room - he and McIntyre were sharing a room and I think he wanted his own space - so his bed is in the lounge now, which is actually a bit cool.

It gives us more places to sit watching TV, with five grown men in a lounge room, you need more space than what the average house has. motorsport news

COmNm HIS FORSCHB CITY INDEX CARRPW CUP RIDB AND A CO-DmiNCr ROL£ AEONGSIDE TIN SLADE AT HICKY7 RACINCr, DANIEL HAUNT NAS A BUSY man AT BATHURST. NITH MITCHELL ADAM, HE Km A DIARY TO DOCUMENT IT t

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I arrived at Sam for breakfast.The Porsche guys, Melbourne Performance Centre, run Australian GT cars as well,so they were in pitlane for that session. I caught up with them, had a drivers' briefing at 9am and stayed with them for the most part before the first Carrera Cup session.

We tried, I guess, an out-there set-up for the wet and it's something that we wanted tick off the list and see if it worked, which it didn't. We struggled a little bit and I struggled for confidence. It's one of those things we had to tick off, but we wish we didn't now. It didn't put us a session behind, but it feels like it did at this point.

The VS session, which was always planned forTim to do, was straight after that, so I quickly debriefed with the Money Choice guys and our engineer Ceppy, Paul Ceprnich, and I quickly came to the conclusion that it didn't work. If the weather is the same tomorrow, we'll go to a more conventional set-up. I'm hoping I'll have enough confidence to push hard and be on the pace.

I got into the VS for the first time in the second session, which was a 45-minute session. With about 10 minutes to go, we put new tyres on but by that stage, at the top of the Mountain there was a drying lane forming. It wasn't bone dry but you could visibly see a line appearing.

Once we went back out on the better tyre, my new set of wets, it had www.mnews.com.au

glossed over, so the times weren't there, relative to where the team and I thought we would be.

My approach to the weekend and the V8 Is to do a good job on Sunday.There's no point of rushing itonThursday, I'll just keep chipping away at it. When McIntyre and myself were driving together in 2009, our quote was from Happy Gilmore-"just tap it in Happy,just tap it in"- work up to it and not be a hero.

After every session. Stone Brothers debrief as a team.We go through the 4 car, the 9 car and obviously the 47,and we all listen to what everyone else has tried and changed and what we're about to try in the next session, so we move forwards as a three-car team.That seems to work really well, the engineers get on really well, which is great, and all of us drivers seem to as well.

THURSOAY OCTOBBR 6-SiOOFM 3:05PM

V8 SUPERCAR PRACTICE 3:CANCELLED

I wasn't going to drive in the third session, which was cancelled, anyway.Timmy and Wes McDougall,the engineer for the Lucky? car, were going to start working on qualifying. I've got a full session tomorrow morning,so its not like I'm going to be lacking for miles.

Because Tim was fastest in the first session, we ended up in the press conference,the first time I've been at a proper VS Supercar one. It was funny to be there as well -1 guess trying to justify sitting up there when it was the other guy that's done the job. But we're a team.

Timmy did a fantastic job; if we can keep that speed up,and i>«f 57

^iii I can get within striking distance of what he can do in the car, we'ii be a force to be reckoned with on Sunday.

After the press conference, we ate dinner and went back to the room, i took a printout of data from both of the Porsche and V8 home and studied it at night to see where I can potentiaiiy improve and manage that a bit better, it's going to be an eariy night so i can wake up fresh tomorrow.

FRIO^Y OCTOBBK 7-I2:3»PM

8:35AM 9:15AM 11:00AM

CARRERA CUP PRACTICE 2:8TH V8 SUPERCAR PRACTICE 4:21 ST V8 SUPERCAR PRACTICE 5:11TH(SLADE)

I was at the track pretty early for the Porsche session.That didn't go well, we just weren't with it, but once again I was on the extreme cautious side, because I didn't want to bin the thing.

From there, it was straight into the V8 for a co-drivers session, it was dry and my first chance to get a good look around in the V8 and it went reasonably well. In the first sector and the last sector, we were knocking on theTop 10 out of the co-drivers, and in the middle sector I was a little bit shy. It was a drying session again,so I went straight from a wet session in the Porsche to a dry session in theV8, it was just a matter of trying to keep it between the white lines. Off-line was still pretty slippery, my approach was to be as cautious as possible over the top; I didn't want to be the first one to pinball between the walls.

We had a thorough debrief after that to go over everything, compare myself to the other co-drivers and look at areas where I could improve.Tim ran the next session; he needed some dry running before qualifying, so he ran the next session and I was there in support, listening to what was going on,and it was a pretty good session. It gave him a bit of confidence going into qualifying.

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V8 SUPERCAR QUALIFYING:15TH (SLADE) CARRERA CUP QUALIFYING:4TH

TIM did a fantastic job in qualifying. He's only been here twice and only qualified for the first time last year-Tim hasn't been here 15 times like some of the other guys - so to qualify 15th, only threeand-a-half tenths from theTop 10 was a pretty good effort.

I was in the SBR pits during the session, playing the support role and trying to learn as much as I could from Tim's comments. I listened in to Alex and Shane as well, so you could get an idea on the lingo on the radio, and how they approach it. I'm constantly learning, especially around here. Once qualifying finished I sat in the debrieffor a little bit, but I had to head over for Porsche qualifying.

After the first lap, Ceppy came over the radio and said I had pole by a second, but we knew the times were going to tumble by end of the session.Then there was a Red Flag and I had traffic after that, so I was P6 after the first set of tyres. We knew we had the car speed and we went back out and on the second set, the first lap was an '11.8,the second was an'11.0 and the next one was an'11.0 as well, but it should have been a mid-10,1 made a bit of a mistake coming over the hill. I ended up fourth for the session which I was reasonably happy with, given where we were in practice. If you're on the first or second row, you can work from there in the races,so we're reasonably happy with that.

Once that had finished, we had a debrief with the Carrera Cup guys, looked over the data,some vision and once again tried to look at where we could improve. I stayed at the track for another great dinner put on by Dish,shot the gossip with the rest of the SBR guys and put a bit of a gameplan together for the rest of the weekend - who'd do what sessions.

We've got a rough idea now of who's going to do what in the race. At this point it's going to be Tim starting. I'll go second,Tim will jump back in for the third stint, then I'll double after that and he'll 58

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double it home.We went home, had showers and sat around in the lounge room. I love talking to Brabs about what he's done - he's raced everything. Formula 1, Prototypes, GT1 at the moment, he's got some life stories. His way of going about stuff is really methodical, you can learn a lot off him,so I try to pick his brains while we're sitting around.

McIntyre and Shane... having the Kiwi connection, we've been talking about the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup.We had some Motocross from Dunedin on TV,there was some terrible weather, typical New Zealand weather!

SAmPAY OCTOBER 8-2PM 9:50AM 110:25AM

CARRERA CUP RACE 1:5TH V8 SUPERCAR PRACTICE 6:24TH(WITH SLADE)

I spent last night on a borrowed pillow.

I guess because I loaded a photo on Facebook of Johnny Mac and Shane's bedding arrangement-two double beds side by side - they weren't too impressed. When I went to bed, I realised I had no pillows, just pillowcases, I had a Stig helmet (I don't know where they got that from)in my doona cover and I had my soap under one of the empty pillowcases.

Everyone was going to bed at that stage,or getting ready for bed, so I was knocking on everyone's door, trying to figure out where my pillows were.J-Mac kindly leant me one of his for the night, because Shane was sticking to his guns that he had nothing to do with it.

The first Carrera Cup race was up early on the schedule. It was raining early in the morning and I thought we were going to have a wet one, but it turned out to be dry. I had reasonable pace early, I think the tyre pressures were slightly higher than the others, and managed to get back up the inside of Steve Richards into Turn 2;there was a little bit of contact, but rubbing's racing these days,even in our series.

We thought at that stage that we were going to have a pretty good

race, and then I started pinching rightfronts. Given a factor of things, \with the tyre pressures coming up a bit, the tyres going off and me making mistakes locking up, I lost a little bit of confidence with braking, became vulnerable, got passed by Richo, Bairdo and Ben Barker by the end of the race which isn't too pleasing.This weekend is going to be a matter of damage control for us now,trying to finish the races and bag as many points as we can.

In the V8 session, I did the middle part, where it was at its wettest.

Tim started when everyone went out on slicks and just came back in, there was nothing to prove,the track was nine or 10 seconds off the pace. We made a few changes overnight and he couldn't really get a good judge on that, given how slow the track was. It was wet by the time I got in and I was just doing the fuel logging stuff, trying to get a bit more to grips with the car and the track before handing it back to Tim with about 10 minutes to go. Every lap you do around here, you learn something and hopefully by Sunday,the confidence is there and you can do a good job.

After that, we debriefed and went to an appearance at theVS Supercar Paddock Club, lunch and an autograph session in the paddock;sitting up there in awe with Skaifey, Lowndes and the rest oftheSBRguys, it was good fun, all of the fans have embraced it. It's amazing when you look around and virtually everyone has something associated with a team on them - clothes hat or whatever. It's amazing how big the sport has become and to be a part of it is pretty cool.

SAmOAY OCTOBER 8-9PM 4:50PM

CARRERA CUP RACE 2:STH

I watched up until Shane's lap of the Shootout before I had to get changed and go to the Porsche dummy grid and get ready for that race, which once again didn't go as well as we'd have hoped.

Once again the car was a little bit too nervous on entry to

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^iii the high speed stuff-we've been trying to dull it down all weekend but for some reason it's way too nervous and wasn't giving me the confidence to push. We ended up P5 again,and a little bit disappointed.

We left the track reasonably early compared to the last few days, at 8, after dinner and a debrief with the Porsche team. On the walk home,we jumped a fence and Tim managed to catch his foot on the way over and land on his knee. I asked if he was alright, he justjumped straight back up and said he was fine, but he had a big brown mud patch on his leg and all over his hand. We lost it at that for a bit.

Once we got back here, we watched a bit of the rugby, Wales versus Ireland, and had a chat about the day, how the shootout was for Shane.

We're all about to tuck in for an early night.

I've got pillows again, mysteriously.

SUNOAY OCTOBBR 9"6:1SFM 8:00AM 9:00AM T0:35AM

V8 SUPERCAR WARM UP:25TH(WITH SLADE) CARRERA CUP RACE 3:5TH BATHURST 1000:12TH

IT was another early start, up at 5:30 and out of the house by 6.1 did the first half of the warm-up,tried to obviously not fence it but get a feel for how the car was on a full tank.That was pretty important as it was the first time you drive it really, on a full tank, with some decent tyres as well.Then Sladedog went out and had a few cracks at it as well, we thought the balance was good for the race.

It was a jam-packed morning. After the warm-up I went over to race the Carrera Cup car, which was already on the grid. It seemed the changes we made worked and we had better pace, but it came on too late. I guess we probably needed a dry practice to be competitive here in the Porsche. It was a little bit unfortunate there.

I was straight out of that and ran over to the driver parade and driver

intros, had a bit of a massage and before you know it, the race had begun. It was amazing to be out on the grid before the start of the race.There's a band playing on the grid, the chaplain and the national anthem.You're just in awe that you're at a massive sporting event and competing. I watch all of the big rugby games and actually watched the AFL Grand Final and I guess this is similar to that.

You're getting pretty anxious by that stage. I knew 1 was getting in somewhere between Lap Hand 19 and I knew that's only a bit longer than a Porsche race,so 1 thought'geez. I'm not that far away from racing the car here myself.

With the way the Safety Cars fell, I ended up doing half of the second stint and the third stint as well. I jumped out, Sladedog jumped back in and then I did another full stint, virtually, before Tim double-stinted home. During the race, I seemed to be in the thick of it the entire time.

At the end of my second stint, I got hit by Owen Kelly in the #15 car at The Chase, which sent me straight over the exit there. We lost a bit of ground there, but it's a long race and that wasn't such a big deal at the time,even though it would've been nice to keep a bit of track position.

I had to pit probably two laps early with 60 to go.We were outside our fuel window,so we needed a Safety Car, which was the one for Bezzy, unfortunately,so we ended up being able to make it home on one stop. We were running around 14th or 15th in the afternoon when Slade was in, but somehow we got back to 12th, I don't really know how it all panned out. All in all, Slade drove a good race. It's all a learning process for me,and it's such a long, long race.

When I wasn't in the car, I had a shower between my stints,there are good facilities here,so 1 managed to freshen up. I went back into the garage,listened to the radio to see what's going on,and you're always on edge, you're always ready. You can't really relax too much,obviously you try and eat a little bit and drink a lot, so you're hydrated. It's pretty easy to get dehydrated here.

Within about five laps ofknowing when you're getting in the car, Wes would say'we're sort of in the window here if a Safety Car comes out'. We were looking to pit on Lap 78,for instance, so I'd get a rough idea,and those last five laps would fly, the next thing you know, you're standing out there in pitlane and the car's coming at you at 40-kays...

It's a bit weird now that it's all over. It seemed to fly. I think I'll go and buy the boys a box of beers and go and watch the All Blacks. Most of the SBR team are Kiwis, so it'll be a full-on affair.

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,'ELL that was a strange day.

When I arrived at Sandown on the Tuesday morning after Bathurst, I didn't expect to find myself sitting next to the newlycrowned Grand Am Champion, in a VI 0-powered Supercar... at full noise.

Okay, I knew the car would be there. I was at Sandown for the local launch of the Lexus LFA, the same four-wheeled monster that Kyle Busch was busted driving 134kmh over the speed limit in North Carolina back in May. The car itself made this no ordinary car launch. With l everything from a carbon fibre rear diffuser, double wishbone suspension, dry sump lubrication up to 2G, a rear-mounted transaxle and a gurney-flap on the rear wing, this isn't a city car.This is a racing car with indicators and licence plate brackets. In fact, the car was mostly developed with help from Fuji Speedway in Japan and the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany.There's even a Nurburgring edition of the LFA, which is - somehow - lighter, more powerful and more aerodynamically efficient than the'standard'version. Just for the record, the standard version still pumps out 412kW at 8700rpm and weighs 1540kg in Australian specification, so we're not talking about any old standard car. It's also got a $700,000 price tag, so start saving.

But it wasn't just the car that made this more than an ordinary car launch. Upon arriving at the circuit, I saw someone who looked a lot like Scott Pruett, who turned out to be, well, Scott Pruett. Lexus had

decided to fly the man known as Mister LFA out from the United States for the day,just weeks after he and Memo Rojas won their second Grand Am Rolex Series title in as many years (the fourth of Pruett's career).

Pruett came to Sandown with two jobs. Flis first job was to sit, rather nervously, in the passenger seat of the LFA while us journos took it for a skid. It wasn't too bad for the 51-yearold;for fairly obvious reasons, such as the $700,000 price tag and the fact that there is currently only one in Australia, the two-lap stint was somewhat regulated. Former Australian Rally Champion Neal Bates set the pace in an ISF, making sure that none of us amateurs got our ambitions and our abilities confused. It was a sensible move

by Lexus, but it didn't exactly lend itself to us being able to see the LFA at its full potential.

That's where Pruett's second job came into play. When we'd all had a turn driving, it was time for Pruett to show us how it's down. No lead car here,just one of the most experienced sportscar drivers in the United States, a screaming supercar, and a clear run at Sandown Raceway.

My turn was fairly late in the day, but I wasn't worried about that for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Pruett had never been to Sandown before that day, so with every lap he did he got a little bit quicker.

Secondly,some light rain interrupted a few of the runs, and Sandown's infamous ice rink-style inability to cope with bad weather was weighing on Pruett's mind when it rained.

"Slippery,that is so slippery," he shouted to me from the driver's seat while I was waiting for my

turn in pit-lane, after one wet run.

"I'm amazed at how quickly the grip disappears."

This was a comment made by a man who later admitted that he'd done similar hot laps back in America,/nf/iesnow.

Eventually, it was my turn fora ride.Thankfully,the track was 100 percent dry, and Pruett was ready to have a real, proper lash at it."Are you bored yet," I asked him as I plugged the seat belt with a built-in airbag around my waist (yes, you heard

me)."What,are you kidding me?" he responded through his trademark grin. Flours and hours of pounding around Sandown hadn't put the slightest dent in Pruett's enthusiasm.

As soon as we trundled down pit-lane, Pruett hit the go pedal.

It was amazing, not only because 412kW tends to get a car moving very quickly, but because the 4.8 litre VI0 was made as a joint venture with Yamaha. As a result, it sounds like a Grand Prix bike on serious'roids. It's a glorious scream, only topped when Pruett

£,£. Are you Ssorecl yet? I asked him. What,are you kiddiug me? he respooded.Hours of pounding around Sandown hadn’t put the slightest dent in Pruetts enthusiasm.

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SANDOWN RACEWAY,A $700,000 V10SUPERGAR, AND ND AM CHAMPION BEHIND THE WHEEL HE RIDE OF A iPil n LIFETIME WITH SCOTT PRUE p.^

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slams on the carbon ceramic brakes heading intoTurn 1, and hits the downshift lever.The automatic blip is possibly the sexiest sound I've ever heard made by something that isn't a human female.

As you'd expect, the car stops, turns and powers out like a racing car. Also as you'd expect, Pruett drives like a racing car driver. He's smooth,organised, and completely trusting in the car's ability to grip up right when he needs it to. If you had to use a single word to describe his style, it would be 'professional'.

But don't worry, there's still and element of Kid in a Candy Store with Pruett.Throughout the first lap, he mutters things like"Man, I really love this car", and "It might be front-engine, but it just feels so light at the front end"over the scream of the engine. I don't know if he's talking to me or thinking out loud, but at well over 200 clicks up the back straight, I don't seek www.mnews.com.au

clarification.

On the second tour. I'm brave enough to ask Pruett what he thinks of the track.

"It's bumpy... and it's narrow," he shouts across the cabin.

"I love the layout, particularly Dandenong Road, but this track is just so dangerous!There's nowhere you want to go off.

Okay,that's not as issue today because we're just playing around (said just as we smash a kerb on the inside ofTurn 3). But in a proper race? Wow!" So what about a 500 kilometre V8 Supercar race, I ask.

"I can't imagine driving a V8 Supercar around here," he says.

'I certainly can't imagine racing, what,28 of them around here?

That's just nuts, man."

And as quickly as that,the day was over.The LFA was pushed into a garage, Pruett thanked us for our time, we did the same back to him, and then ...

Then it was time to sit back and think, well that was a strange day.

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Goodwood Days

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At the conclusion of the cricket match, NOTHER Pimms and lemonade?

Charles mounts the rostrum in the main Don't mind if I do. marque to welcome everyone to the 14th Greece may be gutted, Spain running of the Goodwood Revival. Actually and Portugal pummelled and Ireland in no-man's land, but the GFC has yet 'Revival'is now somewhat of an oxymoron, because Goodwood is 100 percent revived. to hit West Sussex.There, amid the rolling There's not a square inch of the former splendour of the Goodwood Estate, the frontline circuit and its environs that has world's historic racing elite has gathered missed the attention of the army of workers once again to experience the Goodwood who dress the place for its annual show day.

Revival, simply the biggest, most lavish, According to official figures,the total staff and prestigious event on the international for the event numbers a staggering 3500, calendar. including all catering and Goodwood people, At this point,Thursday afternoon, the but not counting hundreds more who work engines are silent, and the rural ambience over 327 acres of surrounding ground to is disturbed only by the clunk of leather organise parking and camping. A staff of 75 upon willow,to the polite applause of the runs the huge around-the-clock Mess Hall spectators assembled for the cricket match that provides free meals for all competitors, that traditionally heralds the beginning of the Revival. Just a few hundred metres across crews and entrants.The hall itself is comprehensively decorated to accurately the sward stands the imposing Goodwood mirror its wartime counterpart, right down House,these days under the care of Charles, to the 1945 newspapers in the sumptuous.

Earl of March,former fashion photographer Chesterfield-couched sitting room. It's a far and grandson to the Duke of Richmond . cry from Winton in mid-winter, let me tell and Gordon. It was grandad, along with his you. buddy,the Australian flying ace and racing Every competitor and nominated crew driverTony Gaze, who established the motor member receives a'Rations Booklet'with racing tradition at Goodwood when the estate was handed back to its owners when coupons for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. And this is no fast food - roast knuckles the RAF departed what had become RAF of Goodwood-grown lamb,fat turkey, several Westhampnett for the duration of hostilities.

varieties offish and truckloads of fresh vegetables, organically grown on site. In the same building there are showers and change rooms for competitors, even a free tailoring service for driving suits and gloves.

At Goodwood,the competitors are the stars of the show and are treated as such.

But back to the oval, where the cricket match has concluded and Lord March, standing in front of a giant Union Jack, has given his welcoming speech and briefed competitors in the etiquette and driving standards expected at this meeting. It is accepted that these are racing vehicles, priceless though they may be, continuing to do what they were built for, that is to be raced, hard. But biff and barge is not tolerated, and Lord March explains that anyone deemed guilty of unsportsmanlike behaviour or overly aggressive driving or riding may not receive an invitation to compete in future meetings. Yes, invitation.

Entry to both car and motorcycle events is strictly by invitation only, and highly prized.

A vehicle's value can increase exponentially if it is considered'Goodwood eligible'.There are no entry fees and no prizemoney - to put a financial value on competing would be considered vulgar.

Notwithstanding the jaw-dropping I'ni^

There was no Google,no Twitter,no iPhones and no GFC in the 1950s.

The Goodwood Revival brought that era back to life, with fast cars,glamour, ladies,gentlemen and some Aussies,including JIM SCAYSBROOK

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Straights and Curves: Goodwood 2011 featured the usual stunning array of exotic cars - like the Jaguar E-Types - and personalities, like Sir Stirling Moss in one of Mercedes-Benz's Silver Arrows, right. There was plenty to distract the eyes from the cars, planes and motorcycles, too...

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array of vehicles and a veritable who's who of venerable drivers and riders, the Goodwood Revival's signature is the'magical trip back in time'that creates the visual splendour. For unlike virtually every other major Historic Racing event in the world, here the venue is as authentic as the vehicles.The grandstands and circuit verges are still ringed by immaculate white planter boxes full of geraniums.

Not a single vehicle manufactured after 1966 is permitted inside the circuit gates for the three days of activity. Even the excellent fish and chips sold around the track are wrapped in reprints of 1950s newspapers.

Mechanics wear clean white boiler suits and cloth caps, while spectators dress in the finery of the era. Ladies parade in their nowpolitically incorrect fox furs. Men in plus-fours and deerstalker hats carry pigskin shooting sticks and wicker picnic hampers. Goodwood has its own Actors Guild, and troupes of thespians mingle with the crowd.You're likely to be accosted by spivs in pin-stripped suits and spats flogging wrist watches, or a bunch of tarty, bubblegumchewing St.Trinians schoolgirls being hustled along by a matronish school mistress. You constantly rub shoulders with Laurel and Hardy, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Lord Montgomery and other icons of a bygone age.

Of course. Goodwood has a strong military heritage - it became RAF Westhampnett during WWII and was a strategic air force base until 1948 - and the war is still alive and well in these parts. It is still a working airfield, and throughout the weekend fleets of Spitfires and Hurricanes are scrambled to chase off the odd Dornier 17 or Messerschmitt Bf 109 should they stray into home airspace.

This year, the Revival celebrated the role of the Spitfire in saving Britain, and to mark the 75th anniversary of the iconic aircraft's maiden flight there were no fewer than 14 airworthy examples buzzing about. At the Revival, Goodwood staff dress in the blue/ grey uniform of the RAF, while Dad's Army is everywhere.

Only in England:Clockwise from above,the grey skies, a Lancaster bomber and a Spitfire? Must be in Blighty. DualIndy 500 winner Dan Wheldon made what turned out to be his last appearance at a British track, with his mate Dario Franchitti. Martin Brundle and Paul Stewart compared fashions.

Ford was a featured marque;check out this Consul camper. The track has an old-school atmosphere; this pack ofJaguar E-Types is being led by racer-turned-British TV host, TiffNeedell.

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Tour Route 66 in classic American cars.

Drive a different vehicle every day!

An Old, New Challenge TFIE abandoned perimeter roads of RAF Westhampnett form a seriously quick racetrack, as you would expect from a layout that was designed to handle major emergencies in the war years.

A chicane, which is now Goodwood's visual signature, was added In the early 1950s to slow vehicles in the vicinity of the pit lane entrance. Originally built in whitewashed brick, the chicane has been the scene of some spectacular accidents, such as French star Jean Behra's famous assault that scattered masonry and bits of BRM in all directions.These days the chicane, still white and red, is constructed of more forgiving styrene blocks.

A 3.9 kilometre lap of Goodwood first encounters Madgwick Corner, about 300 metres past the start/finish.This is a right hander of more than 90 degrees, with a tightening exit requiring a late apex,followed by a short straight with a very fast right kink (Fordwater).The track continues in a gradual right arc to a slight decline and into St. Mary's, which is flat out if you're game.Then comes a tightish left followed by the double-apex right Lavant Corner. It's important to get this one nailed as It leads onto the quickest part of the circuit, the Lavant Straight, which isn't straight at all as it has a flat-out left kink in the middle.

Then it's hard on the anchors for Woodcote, another double-apex right in front of the main grandstands,followed by the right/left flick through the chicane and back over the finishing line. In 2007 the entire circuit was resurfaced and most of the notorious bumps eliminated, resulting in a wholesale lowering of lap times.

When racing finished at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1966, the official outright lap record stood, and still stands,to Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart at 1 minute 19 seconds, but the track continued to be used for testing and it is well known that Denny Hulme in a Can Am McLaren Chev banged in laps way under the official mark, averaging close to 240 kmh for a lap.

The Revival always has at least one theme,and for 2011 it had two; a tribute to the Centenary of Ford manufacture in Great Britain (beginning with the Model T), and a second to celebrate 100 years since the birth of Juan Manuel Fangio.

In the case of the former,the organisers

assembled 100 vehicles, ranging from T and A Models in all shapes and sizes, to Fordson tractors, V8 Pilots, Police Zephers,Thames vans, Cortinas, Corsairs, Consuls, Capris, Anglias, Escorts, and the rare GTZO.The line up of Fangio cars was simply jaw-dropping, as well as eardrum perforating.The maestro's original desert bashing Chevrolet Coupe was there as well as its 1947 replacement,the VolpiChevrolet.The car that brought him his first world title in 1951,the supercharged methanol-guzzling Tipo 158/9 Alfetta chronologically headed the single seaters that had been graced by Fangio, along with a VI6 BRM,several Gordinis, Maseratis and the awesome Mercedes W196 Streamliner that won first time out in the 1954 French GP. There was also the later exposed-wheel GP car, the W196,and the gorgeous 300SLR he raced in the 1955 Mille Miglia,finishing second behind Moss' sister car. Flis sports cars also included a Jaguar C-Type that he purchased new in 1952, a Maserati 300S, a brace of Ferrari 290 MMs and another pair of 860 Monzas,and perhaps the least-known of all Fangio's mounts,the Kurtis-Kraft Offenhauser roadster - the Dayton Steel Foundry Special - in which he attempted, unsuccessfully, to qualify for the 1958 Indianapolis 500.

A special event for closed cockpit E-Type Jaguars of a type that raced at Goodwood from 1961 to 1966 drew a capacity field of 30 cars in every conceivable configuration from near standard-spec to the alloy bodied Lightweight, Semi-Lightweight Lowdrag and Special, and six Fixed Flead Coupes.

The driver list was as impressive as the cars: ex-FI stars Jackie Oliver, Emanuelle Pirro (teamed with Desire Wilson), Derek Bell, Jochen Mass, Gerhard Berger, plus British champions John Cleland, Stuart Graham and Tiff Needell. In their race, the FordwaterTrophy over45 minutes, the Jon Minshaw/Martin Stretton'Semi Lightweight Special'scored a 2s victory over the Lightweight driven by FI design guru Adrian Newey (the car's owner)and Gerhard Berger, with the Pearson/Oliver and Buncombe/Graham cars staging a blanket finish for third, albeit 50 seconds behind the winner.

www.eUtesetcom.au CALL 1300 8S4 891

SPECIAL ^ EVENT.TOURS

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The Aussie Invasion

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ell, perhaps invasion is the wrong word, maybe more of a polite knock on the door.

Since departing Australia in July, a fourstring squad of punters in the class for rearengined,disc-braked Formula Junior cars from 1960-63 has been enjoying the healthy competition the class enjoys in Europe.The team comprised former Simmons Wheels manufacturer Tony Simmons, with the exGreg Cusack Scuderia Veloce 1963 Brabham Ford BT6; Kim Shearn with his 1961 Lotus Ford 20/22; Bill Hemming,the former owner of Elfin Cars with his 1963 Elfin-Ford Catalina; and Roger Ealand, organiser of Speed on Tweed with the 1962 Koala Ford. Roger is also the president of the Australian Formula Junior club.

The group's tour began at a street circuit in Portugal,followed by Dijon in France, across to England for Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Oulton Park, then to Goodwood.There will be three more continental outings at Charade in France, Imola in Italy and Algarve In Spain before heading for home in November.The boys were quick to admit they were here primarily for the fun of it all, which Is just as well as the top runners In this class don't'arfgo mate.

The top three qualifiers at Goodwood, Stuart Roach (Alexis Ford), Sam Wilson (Cooper FordT59) and Michael Hibberd (Lotus Ford 27), lapped in the 1 m27s bracket, an average of nearly 160kmh (though 99mph sounds much more pukka).Through the speed trap, Wilson's Cooper was pulling 132.9mph, which is pretty impressive for a 1.1 litre pushrod engine. By contrast, the best qualifier from the ANZAC squad was Simmons

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at 1 m35.06s, with a speed trap time of 116.7 mph, which gave him 21 st on the grid, ahead of Ealand (22nd) Hemming (27th) and Shearn 28th. Simmons had his own problems prior to qualifying, after third gear shed a tooth in practice. Fortunately the wayward cog piece was retrieved before it managed to mangle other gearbox components.

The Formula Junior Chichester Cup finally got away more than one hour late at 5.30 pm on Saturday evening on a dry track, and true to form Wilson's flying Cooper took the gold, his task made easier by the first lap departure of Roach. At the flag after 14 laps, Wilson had just 0.183s over Pier Enrico Tonetti's Brabham, with Jon Milicevic's

Takes that,Poms!

Bill Hemming’s home-grown Elfin led the charge of the colonials at Goodwood. That's Kim Shearn,Hemming and Roger Ealand preparing for the battle ahead,above.

Our own Scaysbrook is far too modest to mention that he rode Rod Tingate's Manx Norton in the Barry Sheene Trophy races.

Cooper T59 a coat of paint back in third stirring stuff that earned a standing ovation from the 75,000-strong crowd.

Once again,Simmons was the best Antipodean in 19th, with a fastest lap that carved nearly 3s off his qualifying time.

Ealand came home 20th, Shearn 22nd and Hemming 23rd. Despite looking fairly straightforward on paper,the Goodwood lap is very difficuit to master, and the lads did well to all improve throughout the race and keep it on the black stuff.

The FJ exponents were fortunate that their race was on Saturday,for during the night the circuit was pelted by heavy rain and although Sunday dawned fine, the showers returned mid-morning making for very slippery going.

Once again, the capacity crowd filed out of the gates well satisfied with their notinconsiderable money's worth, and the next event began - the queue to get out of the Goodwood car parks.This requires extreme patience, as the circuit is ringed by narrow country lanes and it can, and usually does, take hours to reach the main road. But there would be few complaints.The Goodwood Revival presents a spectacle that is unmatched in the world - as the official slogan says" a magical step back in time'.

Drive from New Orleans along the scenic Gulf Coast on the way to the Daytona 500

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E DO ALL THE WORK, YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN! Ever wanted to do a motoring tour but not sure where to start? Let Elite Special Event tours take all the hassle out of your 'once in a lifetime'experience.

Ever wondered what it would be like to drive a Mustang along Route 66 or show up to Goodwood in a Jaguar E-Type? We've got it covered. Or maybe you'd like to experience the thunder of NASCAR at the birthplace of speed. All our tours include an Australian guide as well as a support vehicle for all American tours.

We are also able to package tailor-made tours for your club or association to events or activities that hold a special interest and we can help you with contact details for professional associations within your area of interest.

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THE SECOND ROW national racing since we last met

FUJITSU SERIES Andrew Thompson moved a step closer to the 2011 title after securing his fourth round win from five starts at Mount Panorama.

The Triple Eight driver won both Bathurst races, the first in a particularly straightforward manner, but the second less so.There was contact between Thompson and David Russell, and Thompson and Nick Percat as they entered Turn 1 for the first time. Russell emerged in the lead with Thompson second, but Percat lost ground on the exit and dropped down the order.

Thompson soon regained the lead, going on to win the race and round ahead of Russell and Jack Perkins to leave with a 178-point advantage over Russell with two rounds remaining. Paul Morris was fourth for the weekend, ahead of Percat and Tim Blanchard, who fought back from a slow start in Race 2 to finish sixth.

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CARRERA CUP Michael Patrizi joined the list of 2011 Porsche City Index Carrera Cup winners at Bathurst.

Patrizi used the best of his tyres in the first two races and proved too good, leading home Steven Richards in Race 1 and Ben Barker in Race 2. Barker made a mistake at Turn 1 in the final and while Patrizi led early, he was hauled in and passed by eventual winner Craig Baird,Jonny Reid and Richards.

The consistent Richards took second for the weekend, ahead of Baird, who now leads the championship ahead of Reid - who was 13th in Race 1 after a Turn 1 incident - and Daniel Gaunt - who had a quiet weekend,finishing fifth in all three starts.

70

motorsport news

V8 UTES

TOURING CAR MASTERS

Ryal Harris has been a mainstay in theVS Ute Racing Series over the years, but he'd never claimed a round win - until Bathurst.

David Sieders won the opening race, before Harris took over for the rest of the weekend, winning the partially reversed grid Race 2 and the final to wrap up the round. Sieders could only manage eighth in Race 2, but third in Race 3 helped him grab second for the weekend, ahead of Nathan Pretty.

First and second in the points, Chris Pither and Grant Johnson had relatively quiet weekends at Mount Panorama,finishing fourth and fifth, allowing Harris and Sieders to close the gap. As the championship headed to the Gold Coast for the sixth of right rounds, third-placed Harris was level on points with Johnson, with Sieders fourth.

In just its second race meeting, Glenn Seton's new XB Falcon Coupe gave him something many V8 Supercars couldn't - a win at Mount Panorama.

After debuting the Jim Morton-owned and Ford Performance Racing-built XB at Eastern Creek in September, Seton was third in the opening race and second in Race 2, before winning the final to secure the round honours.

John Bowe won the opening race and would eventually finish second for the weekend,to narrow Andrew Miedecke's advantage atop the standings to Just seven with two rounds remaining.Third place for the weekend,and plenty of applause, went to Jason Richards, making a cameo in the category aboard Tony Hunter's HQ Monaro.

AUSTRALIAN GT He didn't win a race, but Klark Quinn did enough to grab the VodkaQ Australian GT Championship round honours at Bathurst.

Greg Crick grabbed pole, but slick tyres in the wet didn't work at the top of the Mountain in the opener,the Viper crashing out on Lap 1. Peter Hackett won the race, leading home Quinn.

The track was drying in Race 2 as some pitted on the formation lap for slicks. Hackett stuck with wets, but was reeled in and eventually had to pit for a change, as Mark Eddy romped to victory.

Quinn spent most of the race trying to pass Kevin Weeks for second, and eventually forced past on the final lap to secure the round win.

www.mnews.com.au

AUSSIES OVERSEAS Nick McBride, below,ended the year as the top Aussie in British Formula Ford.

McBride grabbed his maiden win at Donington and finished third in the points, with Geoff Uhrhane fifth and Spike Goddard 10th. At the Festival, McBride was third in the final, with Uhrhane sixth and Goddard 15th, while Jack LeBrocq failed to finish.

Scott Pye finished the British Formula 3 Championship in 10th.

In Silverstone's season finale, Pye was second in the opener, but a gamble on slicks in a damp Race 2 set his weekend back. His team mate for the weekend, Kiwi Mitch Evans, was fourth in the final on his British F3 debut.

In Formula Renault UK, Mitchell Gilbert finished 2011 in fifth, while George Miedecke is still second in America's UARA Stars Series.

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AFTER MAHV SEASONS SLOGGING AUIAV IN A PRIUATEER HGLDEN. RVAL HARRIS HAS A NEW CAR AND EHTRA SECURITV IN 2G11 - AND IT’S PAVING DIVIDENDS. DANIEL HERRERD SPOKE TO THE NEWEST UO DTE ROUND WINNER

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CASUAL observer of the V8 Utes Series might wonder where exactly Ryal Harris has come from this year.

While Harris certainly hadn't disgraced himself in previous seasons, he also hadn't consistently troubled the very front of the field as much as he has in 2011. However, many of the Gold Coaster's performances, despite not being as spectacular as the likes of Grant Johnson or David Sieders, were still noteworthy in their own right.

"I remember Homebush last year. I went there and the car was bent,there were things failing on the car, I could only afford two new tyres, and I went out and finished third," Harris recalls.

Indeed,a battered Commodore did make it to third in the second race of the Sydney 500 weekend,as it did in all three races at Bathurst a couple of months prior. When you pore over the rest ofthe 2010 results, you notice that Harris did trouble the top 10 quite a few times, t t including in qualifying at five ofthe seven rounds he contested. ●4 However,after five years as a struggling privateer; Harris sold the Commodore,got V his hands on a Falcon,and took it to Big n Gun Racing, he and team-mate Brad Patton l 1 attracting the support of VIP Petfoods in the process.While Harris expresses a preference 5^ . ,. t j for driving the Ford, it's the other changes ' that have really paid dividends.

"It's definitely better,"the 26-year-old explains.'Tve got a bit of a better budget this year-mot a massive budget- but I don't have 4-1, to run around during the week and pick up iparts, and worry about where I'm going to ■’ -get my next meal from. I just come away as a I - ' driver, we all sit down and have a debrief, and ^ ' we go through the car."

How much better? Well, it's no accident that car #58 found it's way to pole in consecutive meetings at Townsville and Bathurst, the r* latter of which Harris converted to his first ever round win in V8 Utes after eight years of trying. Amazing? Yes. Surprising? He doesn't seem to think so.

"In the last four years I've had wins and I've been fast. I've had four or five lap records, but it's a case now that I've got a car that I can be consistent in," he points out.

"I haven't had that since probably 2005 when I was with Team Brock and I nearly won the championship (Ed: Ultimately fourth), so it's nothing I've been doing wrong. I think it's just a matter of how good your equipment is and how good your budget is."

Team owner and team-mate Peter Burnitt is just as delighted to have him around.

"It's been good. He's a good young kid, very experienced with his racing, and he's been a real asset to us," the boss exclaims.

"He was a bit wild when we got him, but we've tamed him a bit, and he's driving well.

He's got a good car, and he loves it."

Of course, Harris has also given something back to the Big Gun Racing team, which he shares with three blokes who race purely for

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the fun of it - Burnitt, Patton, and also Greg Willis.

"I'm the quickest of the four of us, so they sort of relate their data over mine," says Harris.

'I'll sit them all down and we'll go through the in-car footage and what-not."

"He just brings a bit of knowledge," Burnitt agrees. "He's been good with the practice sessions and ride days at QR, and he's been very helpful to us with his racecraft."

Unfortunately for Burnitt, there's a chance that they won't him for much longer. Harris is eyeing off a move up to the V8 Development Series or Carrera Cup to chase the dream, if not next year, then in 2013. However, the obviously level-headed driver is not getting carried away.

"I've got a plan B. I've got half my own sign business, and I've got a clothing label. I realise that I'm 26 now, and Supercars gets further and further away, but you've got to keep trying," says the man behind the'Strife' label. "I'll give it another couple of years, and if something happens it happens.

'There are guys I used to race against and beat in go-karts regularly that are winning in Supercars, so it's not a matter of whether I can do it or not, it's just making it happen."

If he doesn't make it happen, Harris at least has that round win with which to console himself. And who knows? Maybe some day he'll win the Utes series proper.

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I wanted to gain from F3.

But the Scholarship prize was a big part of doing F3, even though we could afford to do the National Class this year, at the motorsport news

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PRIZE IS RIGHT

mo SIMJ FIGHT, THERE’S AN IMPORTANT BATTLE WITHIN THE FORMUU 3 IHAMPIONSHIP.THROUGH THE FORPWIK NATIONAL CUSS SCHOURSHIP AND JUDGED iftS, ONE VOUNG DRIVER WILL EARN $S0,000 TOWARDS AN OUTRIGHT F3 DRIVE IN 3012.

E TO THE THREE CONTENDERS AS THEY PREPARED FOR THE FIN AL TWO ROUNDS

20, MiK MOTORSPORT. 1ST IN NATIONAL CLASS, SIX CLASS RACE WINS start of the year it wasn't certain what we'd be able to afford to do next year. It didn't start out all about the Scholarship, but once we got more information about it, that made me think about next year and what can lead on from that.

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Tell me about your 2011 season.

It's going very well at the moment. I don't have anywhere near the experience of the other guys. 1 have raced Formula BMW and they haven't, but they've got more experience in these cars, which are very different.

Going into this season, I knew it would be very tough.The numbers aren't there but,to me, that's not a big concern, because I know the quality of drivers is there and that's a lot more important than having 20 guys that don't challenge each other.

I knew the start of the season would be difficult. I'd only had two days of pre-season testing, once at Winton and once at Mallala. Mallala was a great place to learn the car, but I didn't get experience on a track we'd race on. Winton was the only one I had experience on,so I've been to new tracks after that, whereas Josh and Ben had raced at some of them.

Ben got one up on me at Eastern Creek, but I went to Morgan Park and knew I'd have to step up my game, because he's a local there. I was really happy to get pole and the first race win there, but I stalled it on www.mnews.com.au

the start and came back from a long way and caught him in the second race, but he held on.

Then I won the feature race,that was certainly the main turning point.

Overall, how do you rate the progress you've made since the start of the year?

I wouldn't say that I'm surprised about how I’ve gone in these cars.

I don't want to sound cocky, but I know I have the ability to run right at the front.There's good time in the practice sessions and 1 think I've used that well. We lacked that in Formula BMW,we only got one 20-minute session, being at the FI races, but I think that's helped me a lot, because you've got to pull your finger out straight away.

I think the progress I've made has been really good. I'm not fully on top of the car yet, I don't think Ben or Josh are either, so we're all still learning, but we're getting very close to that.

I can overlap data and stuff like that. And the same with Ben, we can't look at his data, but we can still swap stories and stuff like that.They're certainly good drivers,they've both proved that in other categories, hopefully we can all move onto really good careers.

If you ended up winning the Scholarship with 50 thousand towards an F3 season next year, what would that mean for your career?

The main focus is to run the Championship Class next year.

If we weren't able to win the Scholarship, we'd still certainly consider the Championship Class.

But I think, like Josh and Ben, we don't have a lot of money,so the Scholarship's going to mean a great deal for whoever wins it.

At most rounds, it's been pretty close between yourself, Ben and Josh - how do you rate those guys,on and off the track?

I've known Josh for a couple of years now. We both went down to Winton forthejunior trial test day in 2009. 1 think Ben was there was well. I get along well with them.

Josh is my team-mate,so there's a great atmosphere in the team as well. Fle's a really good driver, which really benefits me.

77

BEN GERSEKOWSKI

QUEENSLAND, 19, BF RACING. 2ND IN NATIONAL CLASS, SIX CLASS RACE WIR

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YOU purchased your F3 car early in 2010 and did a bit of State stuff before making your National F3 debut at the end of the year; how did you end up deciding to go down the F3 path?

BEN GERSEKOWSKI: My ultimate goal is to race IndyCars in America and we looked at National Formula Ford, but we figure it takes a while to get used to the aerodynamics and slick tyres and everything, so that got us onto Formula 3.

We figured the more time we could spend in these sorts of cars, it would benefit hopefully when I goto America.

From the state and National F3 stuff you did last year, how much of a factor was the Scholarship in deciding to do a full year in Australian Formula 3 this year?

It was a big help. It's not often in motorsport that you get to race for money or sponsorship.

We thought it was a great opportunity. With the state stuff in 2010,that was just a learning experience to get the gist of the car and everything.

I felt comfortable with myself in the car to take a full assault on the National series, and the Scholarship helped with that decision.

Tell me about your 2011 season.

It's been a bit of a shock. I was confident with myself, but didn't have any expectations about challenging for the championship or anything. It's just been great fun battling with Steel and Josh.

The whole season's been a big highlight for me, but the main standouts would be my

first national race win at Winton, my first round win at Eastern Creek and the whole event in Darwin.That was a big event to be a part of, it's good running at those V8 Supercar rounds.

Flow would you rate your progress in the F3 car, based on being in it for the full year?

I've certainly learned a lot more about setting up the car and braking, they're the main things. Just recently. I've been trying more on aerodynamics and it's all coming together quite nicely.

It's been pretty close throughout the year, how do you rate Steel and Josh, on and off the track?

There hasn't been a weekend where one person's dominated.

We've all won one race and the other's one the other, and

the same with the fastest laps.

They're great competition.

With Steel, his international experience in go-karts and Formula BMW, he's got a lot of experience and Josh is just really fast and talented in the cars.

They're team-mates and I'm with BF Racing, Brett Francis sets up the car but I certainly help, I want to learn as much as I can for myself, on how to set-up the cars and that sort of stuff.

Whenever I get some spare time, I try to hang out with Steel and Josh, we all seem to have a conversation and get along pretty well.

If you ended up winning the Scholarship, how big of a deal would it be for your career?

It'd be huge. It'd certainly help a lot and save a bit more money

TASMANIA, 19, R-TEK MOTORSPORT.^M m WE'LL start off at the very start; you've done a little bit of Vees, a little bit of Aussie Racing Cars and a little bit of Formula 3 in the last couple of years, how did you end up doing a full year of F3 this year?

JOSH BURDON: I basically started in Aussie Racing Cars when I was 16,1 got a scholarship to be a CAMS Aussie Young Gun and I raced in championship in 2009, and halfway through that I got a letter from the Formula 3 board.

It offered me a sponsored

test day with Garth Tander and his team, when he had one, at Winton. After that, I got a call from Ian Richards who was looking for a driver for his team and he wanted to help me out, so it's all gone on from there.

How big of a role did the National Class Scholarship for this year play in your decision to go down the F3 path?

We struggle with budget; whatever I find, we race with. I did a couple of one-off rounds last year trying to get comfortable in a Formula 3 car, always having the plan of doing the full scholarship this year.

With a lot of help from a local guy called Scott Goodman, we've made every round.The 50 grand towards next season would near finish it off for us.That's basically why we chose Formula 3 in the end, because it is $50,000 out a season's budget if you win, which is quite a big deal.

Tell me about your 2011 season.

It's been a massive learning curve.

We had a big crash at Morgan Park. I got hit from behind. Race 1, Lap 1, rolled four times and basically wrote the car off.

The team just rebuilt the car in time and my great grandmother gave me the money to get along to Sandown.There, we got our first F3 win and won the round, so it made it that much sweeter from what happened at the round before.

It was the very lows of motorsport to the very highs in the space of a month.

How do you rate the progress you've made,overall?

I think we're doing really well.

The Formula 3 car isn't an easy car to jump into. I've struggled a little bit in practice at each round as I haven't done any test days.

We've rocked up to a race meeting, mostly at tracks I've never been to, then had two motorsport news

I for the American dream. It'd provide an opportunity to drive Australia's premier open-wheel class In an '07 Dallara. Beyond that, we haven't really decided yet, but we'd look at Star Mazda or Indy Lights.

The plan is to do Formula 3 here while 1 complete my apprenticeship,so when I go for my American dream, if it doesn't work. I've got something to fall back on.

YOUR CAR GOES BETTER WITH MYPLATES

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JOSH BURDON lONAL CLASS,ONE CLASS RACE WIN practices to get back into it, learn the track and remember how to drive the car properly. It's been hard, but this year I've done the five rounds so far, which is the most racing I've done in a year.

From where I was at the start of the year to now, I feel it's been a massive step.

At most rounds, it's been pretty close between yourself, Ben and Steel - how do you rate those guys,on and off the track?

I've got a good relationship with Steel, my team-mate. He's very competitive, like I am,so it's competitive on the track but offtrackwegooutand have tea, have a muck around together and a bit of fun. Ben, I say hello, ask how he's going and stuff like that, but he's from another team, so I haven't had a lotto do with him.

They're both very good drivers.

Steel raced Formula BMW last year, he's good straight out of the www.mnews.com.au

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box and Ben has done a lot of miles in that car at his home track, Morgan Park,so they're both pretty stiff competition.There aren't a lot of cars, but the people that are in it are the benchmark.

You touched on it a little earlier, but what would winning the 50 thousand dollars towards a 2012 ride mean for your career?

If I won the scholarship, it'd near guarantee me a drive next year. If not, it'll be a long, hard summer break to first of all race anything.

I've just turned 19,so I think it's going to be one of the most important years of my life in racing, making sure I get a good solid result.

After a full season this year, I think it'd be good to back it up and have a crack at the Gold Star next year. Second in that wouldn't be an option, we're going to be out to win it, and if you win that, it opens lots of doors,so that's the plan.

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VEN in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, the Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series cotinues to make steady progress.

Since a shaky inception in early 2008, with four cars at its first meeting,the category has grown,first up to double dights and then into the teens. Part of that growth has come from new competitors wanting to drive retired, ex-V8 Supercars, but also from established hands looking to regain the V8-driving bug of

old.

With the privateer era in V8 Supercars long gone and the Fujitsu Series evolving into a very competitive feeder category for the Main Game, drivers such as Chris Smerdon and Terry Wyhoon have the perfect outlet to vent their V8 Supercar racing addiction on

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bill.

Former privateers and competitors in the earlier days of what's now the Fujitsu Series,the two have been at the forefront of the V8 Touring Car Series for the majority of its life; Smerdon racing at the inaugural round and winning that 2008 season, with Wyhoon getting involved in 2009.

Now,they're team-mates, in familiar, blue, ex-Stone Brothers Racing Falcons. And they've led the way,even amid growing fields and increasingly close racing.

With only one round left to run at Phillip Island, Smerdon leads the championship table ahead of Wyhoon by a meager 20-point margin.

How are the two feeling heading into the round?

"I am technically leading this

championship, but I'm heading into this final round lucky to be the championship leader. So even though I am the leader, I'm feeling the pressure,"says Smerdon in the lead-up.

"If you look at how the year kicked off, you'll find that the rest of the field has become very competitive, especially with (2010 Champ)Tony Evangelou, who has moved on now. I went into this year knowing it was going to be very competitive with Evangelou,Scott Loadsman, obviously Terry and myself "I think Loadsman is definitely quick, but he has had a few bad rounds which has pushed him back a little bit, and we've started to see the younger guys come forward, like the two Garioch brothers, I think they've done a fantastic job.

"I haven't felt it was easy; we've had to be looking for every

edge to perform. But at the same time, I have to admit that at the last couple of rounds,the confidence has been up a bit, and i'm sure Terry is feeling the same."

Wyhoon is indeed feeling the same. Although the two are even on speed,Wyhoon has done extras testing at the Island to sharpen his game for the November 5-6 finale. But the stalwart believes Smerdon will be hard to knock off, as he seeks his maiden V8TC title.

"I like Phillip Island, we actually went there and tested, which Chris doesn't know about,"says a laughing Wyhoon.

"I think, or I'm hoping, that I will have Smerdon's measure at the Island."

Wyhoon has won more rounds in 2011 than Smerdon, two round wins compared with Smerdon's sole round victory at

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TIGHT AT THE TOP WITH ONE ROUND REMAINING IN THE KUMHO V8 TOURING CAR SERES, THINGS ARE PRETTY TIGHT BETWEEN TEAM-MATES CHRIS SMERDON AND TERRY WYHOON.CALUUM BRANAGAN Ql\UGHT UP WITH THE TWO TO DISCUSS THBR SEASONS AND THE GROWTH OF THE CATEGORY

Mallala. But Wyhoon isn't on the top of the standings, on account of some mistakes,some bad luck and the points system.

"To be honest, I've probably lost the championship,"says Wyhoon.

"At Wakefield Park, I jumped the start, which cost me that round win. Mallala, I broke a tailshaft, which probably cost me that round win.Then I won at Eastern Creek. I was too tight to put new tyres on the car at Sandown on the Saturday in the rain, and I just had to run on old ones which probably cost me that round win after we won two out of three races.

"To be honest, if I lose, I have no-one to blame but myself."

As is the case with most other categories, budgets can be, or will be, the determining factor in overall success. With the growth of the category and an

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season, didn't even unload the increasing competitive edge, car between rounds, because higher running costs are a slight concern to the two leaders. we thought there was no point "The series has definitely - we would go reasonably well grown this year,"says Smerdon. anyway.

"I'm a little bit concerned with "Now we're putting in a the economy at the moment, reasonable effort to keep it at I think that has rattled a few the front. people over the past few rounds.

"Given our car is an older BA, But I think if the economy it's probably going to be pretty continues to perform well, a lot hard to stay at the front of the of these competitors like myself, series next year!" funding, or contributing to the And this has lead to higher constant running,should be costs? Is it a good thing, or a bad better off. So I think that if the thing for the category? economy continues to hold and "Yes we are spending more, improve, 1 think the category will definitely, maybe ten fold, than continue to improve." when we started/'Wyhoon says.

Wyhoon shares the same view "If you think about how much as his team-mate. money we were spending when "We're doing more and more we started, it was basically work on the car now to stay up nothing. Now it's a bit of a the pointy end," he says. program, plus a bit of body "Which,compared to two years development,so it's a good ago, we seriously just used to thing really. blow the dust off the car. Last "You can go a buy a car for

$100,000, and run it for next to nothing. Unfortunately, you can't really do that anymore if you want to run at the front."

Growth oftheVBTouring Car Series gives competitors another viable option to race a Supercar within the Australian motorsport landscape. Although costs are creeping ever so higher, it has grown attract significant interest; not only from onlookers following the history of the cars, but also those watching it as a standalone, V8 product.

But it's perhaps the competitors who love the series the most.Just ask Smerdon. "i love racing, and my plans are to continue to run with the Shannons Nationals Series and the V8 Touring Car Series," he says.

"There is no other category that really appeals to me, I love driving V8 Supercars."

tnotorsport news

S'Deadly'David Sera Australia's best ever karter? It S a not topic throughout the sport,sparked once again as Sera sealed his fifth-straight Australian Rotax Nationals victory recently.

In fact, Sera remains undefeated in a Rotax Light National final .] where he has made it to the chequered flag, with six wins in seven years, only missing:out on the victory in 2006 wherei|!i1S;_ race was cutshort due to meehanical.failure.

This latest victory for the Monster Energy-backed racer mm n moves him to equal second with Peter Ward on the all-time National Championships winners list with 12 victories,three behind the great John Pizarro who many say was the greatest ever.

On top ofihis 12 National crowns,the Victorian has claimefani^'^j impressive 43 State Titles and has been instrumerttal for Arrow Karts,having represented the Australian marq,uefhtliief.SAviitali^ France,Spain, Germany,Japan, Dubai and Mal'aysia vvjthi'sorhf impressive victories,including the Florida Winter Tour, <■'.

After making his debut in the Midgets,class back inVT996, th@ man affectionately known as 'Deadly' has iproven himself as a talent in every class he has raced ih, Asidelrom his undoubted" success in the Rotax ranks. National victories in Junior Nationalt Light (2002 and 2003), JuniorNational Heavy ((2004), Leopard!

Light (2007), Formula TOO Light (2008) and'Clubman Light (200§)1 ^ clearly show heisa talented racer. Not to mention sueeess in|^ other categories, including Sera's latest venture in theCIK Stars"" ■4 of Karting Series driving in the Pro Gearbox KZ2 class in which, i he has claimed three round( wins from four starts, For Sera, his time in karting has been an awesome j:ourney'/ and he feels to even be mentioned as one of the greats iSa fantastic achievement in itself.

For me, it's a real (privilege to even be rated: up there withithe' likes of say [James] Courtney and [Ryan] Briscoe, and even guys likeTroy Hunt or Matthew Wall who haven't really gone onto race cars," the 23-year-old said.

'To be recognised by any of the greats in the industry is a real honour. But to get where we have has been a lot of hard work and 1 have been lucky to have such greatsupport behind me. with Drew and Bart Price from Arrow Karts along with Darren Hossack, my Dad and cousin James, not to mention David Price in the early days and Anthony Bartolo, pretty much from seniors; onwards.

There are plenty of good karters out there but I have to say Mark Winterbottom was a top driver, he was greatih Clubman Light. Of those I have raced against I really rate Andrew Thompson, he was a couple years older than me but always superfast and one (strived to beat along with my cousin James, we have had some awesome battles over the years and he is always a challenge to me.'

Drew Price, himself an eight-time Australian Champion, is the Managing Director of Drew Price Engineering (DPE), who produce the Arrow karts that Sera races, and firmly believes that he is not only the best driver to race one of his karts, but the best he has seen out on the racetrack.

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"I think David Sera is the most successful karter in history and I don't think anyone could argue that point if you analyse the different eras that people have been in,' said Price.

"There has never been a karter in Australia who has been so dominant as Dave Sera is, never, not In my time. We've had some fantastic drivers like Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom but none of them have been as successful in karting as David Sera has been.

"I think the era that Whincup, Winterbottom and Michael Caruso raced in had huge depth -for whatever reason there was.a lot of good young drivers in that era, and that's probably always helpful. For me it's definitely the strongest era in karting I can remember and I could make a list of fO drivers that raced those three guys that were all capable of beating them on their day."

To try to put things into perspective, Motorsport News caught up with several key people within the karting fraternity to get their opinion on the greats in the sport past and present. ill'

TROY HUNT - SIX-TIME AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION TURNED KARTING MENTOR "For me, Mark Winterbottom was very good:in a strong era; especially in Clubman,there was a very strong group of drivers back then.

"The competition is still pretty good today and Dave Sera is probably as good, I really would have loved to race against Sera when I was at my best to see where I was at, but it is so hard to measure up exactly who is the best. I mean Ryan Briscoe was probably one of the fastest people I ever saw in a kart and Adam Clark was simply good in every class he raced in."

JON "JT"TARGETT - ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST EXPORT KART RACERS TURN ED KARTIING MENTOR 'I al ways saw Adam Graham,as one ofthe best. He was always good at getting the best out of what he had in regards to

motorsport news

eqiUiiiipment, even if ihe was a Gouiiple tenths offthe pace in terms of kart speed> he always seemed to be able to find it within himsdlf to get the job done.

"James Courtney was a great kart racer; he may have not always been the fastest but he always knew where to be and was always up the front. In saying all that, I have to say John Plzarro was damn good. He was a very good driver, very fast, very smart,teehnica'I and definitely way ahead of his time."

GR1<3 smith -THREE-TIlIVli AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION AND LONGTIME KARTING MINTOR “The best drivers in karting I have seen or raced against are: one; John Pizarro, he was a very clever racer, very cagey and a hard competitor but very faiir. He was smooth and workman^like and it was ai privilege to race against him.

"Two would be David Sera and while I have never raced him, I have watched him a lot and he is ultra-smooth and a great thinker on the track. He is a freak in a kart. Having said ail that, I have seen him do some driving antics that I do not agree with i say it ike I; see it but this does not detract from his driving talent.

"Number three is James Courtney; he is one of the smoothest kart racers I have seen. Hiis ability to never give up even when all seemed lost was remarkable to say the least. A very great talent in my opinion."

REMO LUCIANll - SEVEN-TIlMi AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION AND LONGTIME KARTING MENTOR 'Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup were two of the best I have seen;those guys could turn pig crap into strawberry Jam and when the tables were against them they Just drove with what they had and still brought it home.

"James Courtney was pretty good too in that era but for me wasn't quite as consistent. These days there are a handful of standouts: Clan Fothergill and both David and James Sera are ail fantastic drivers and even young Joseph Mawson would have to be right up there and has a big future ahead of him."

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HE fierce competition among Top Doorslammers in the ANDRA Pro Series has attracted many racers, keen to match it with some of the best drivers, smartest crew chiefs and most organised teams in the sport.

Marty Dack swore he'd never go back to the drags. He knew how addictive it was. But he gave in three years ago and shortly after purchased a supercharged Mustang to go racing. Since then, his path has taken him to the elevated ranks of the Top Doorslammer category. His'in'was purchasing one of the Ford Falcon racecars that went up for sale in the Brett Stevens auction.

"I'm a Ford freak and I had followed Brett

Stevens a fair bit, and I have a lot of BA Falcons at home," he said."I got the car from Mat Abel by offering him a little bit more money than he paid for it and we ended up buying it. We could have run it in Supercharged Outlaws but we decided to keep it in the same trim."

Doorslammers is a cut-throat category where competition is intense. Just qualifying for the field is a feat with the bracket keeping steadfastly to eight car fields, even though up to 20 cars sometimes turn up to events.The thrill of a pass is something that still takes Dack's breath away.

"I don't know how you describe it. it's something that takes a little bit of getting

bit used to," he said.

"There is a matter of fear there when you swap feet and let the clutch out, you don't know what it is going to do. I'm getting to know it and getting the feel, it is just laps to get used to the car."

Dack's team is rapidly becoming one of the most professional with corporate support from AutoOne, with which he began a relationship back when he used to race go-karts.

"You meet a lot of people along the way, when we stepped it up and got serious, AutoOne wanted to go in a direction and they approached me that way," Dack said.

The sport has seen a lot of movement

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politically in recent times with management rights now returning to the Australian National Drag Racing Association "I think ANDRA is making the right steps to go the right way, I would like to see more from the tracks," he said.

A new semi trailer now rests in Dack's pit area at each event, accompanying a car that is slowly evolving. He explained that they are not trying to reinvent the wheel but need to find the 6.0s pace that is required to qualify consistently.

"A 5.90 is there, it has run a 6.06. We're Just trying to find consistency," he said."We have changed rear gear ratios and we've put a four speed gearbox in the car, which no one else has done."

The experimentation stage of Dack's

racing career is seeing the team endure some mechanical pain, but it is hoped that is just a speed bump on the course to quicker times.

Dack has Just completed some testing at Perth Motorplex and while the team secured plenty more data over six passes, they were also dealing with a gearbox that Jumped out of gear on four of those passes and finally resulted in the motor dropping a valve.

"It's not so bad. I've pulled it all down and we already have the spare engine in," he said.

The gearbox issue reared its head at the opening round of the season in Sydney but Dack was philosophical.

"We've found that we are rolling sprags because we are putting more power into

SYD:(02) 9679 1990 MELB:(03) 9338 7477

the car," he said."We got some points for going there (Sydney)so that sets it up for the two rounds here,then back to Sydney and Queensland. Qualifying is the first part and then taking care of going rounds, that's where we want to try and get some consistency."

The Top Doorslammer category is an arms race and Dack can already see some writing on the wall for the future of his current chassis.

"What do you do,there are so many guys out there and so many 5.9s; there are a lot of guys getting in there and our goal is to change the car if not get a new car," he said.

"We need to make the car work and go step by step to make that happen. We hope to be there with those guys if not better."

TIRE AUSTRALIA

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MODEL BEHAVIOUR

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Consolation

Nota good time rightnow to be a Fordfan, with Holden drivers monopolising the podium atBathurstand hogging the frontpositions in the V8Supercar Championship.Butfor followers ofthe Blue Oval,there issome consolation,howeversmall,in the form ofa bunch ofvery nice Ford models to have been released over the past month.By Bruce Moxon

P

articularly observant readers may notice a heavy Ford leaning this issue. Well, Holden won Bathurst.This is my attempt at balance.

Classic Carlectables has just released a very nice model of the 1970 GTHO Phase II as driven to second place by Bruce McPhee. With the new rules that year allowing one driver to go the whole distance, Barry Mulholland was on his own this time, but McPhee put in yet another sterling performance to back up Allan Moffat with a strong second place.

Late in the race, Moffat had been slowed as his car was ailing, but McPhee was a loyal soldier and hung back, allowing Moffat to take the first of his four Bathurst wins. Moffwas probably lucky McPhee was a Ford factory team-mate that day and not running in customary fashion as a privateer!

88

As usual with Classic releases, the McPhee model is packed with features - full undercar detail, interior, under the bonnet and in the boot. Even stuff like the stickers on the Autolite battery and the Quality Control 'OK'stickers.

Classics has been using this stunning mould for a while now (I have one or two in my own collection) and they're a great looking model to have on the shelf.

Meanwhile Hot Wheels has been at it again. Last time it was the XB Falcon that started a feeding frenzy. A frenzy that continues, as colour variations come on stream. A friend of mine bought a $2 yellow car and sold it on eBay for $64. And he refuses to feel guilty.

Now there's another Falcon; this time a BF V8 Supercar.

They're just starting to appear in shops. And again collectors are elbowing small children aside

i

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Small Fords: Classic Carlectables has released a 1/18 model ofthe Bruce McPhee Falcon GT-HO Phase II that finished second at Bathurst in 1970, above, top right, while Biante has Jim Richards'TCM Series winning Falcon Sprint, right. motorsport news

in their search for the models that will be left in their packets, never to be played with as was their intention.Think of all the disappointed kids who won't have a V8 Supercar to drive up and down the hallway. Fla! No doubt these will be snapped up for modifying too -an easy'Code 3'model of any of several Fujitsu Series cars,for starters.The possibilities aren't endless, but there are many.

How about an FG Greens'-Tuf Falcon?

Speaking of Greens'-Tuf, Biante has produced a very interesting set-of-three models commemorating Dick Johnson's ill-fated 1983 Bathurst assault.

This 1 /43 box set is titled '24 Hours on the Mountain', which covers the time from when Johnson destroyed his Greens'Tuf Falcon XE in the trees

out of Forrest's Elbow during the top 10 run-off, and the subsequent deal to switch to the Andrew Harris/Garry Cooke Falcon, which was'Johnsonised' overnight in preparation for Dick to take the start the following day.

The triple set, therefore. includes the original 17 Falcon pre-crash,the Flarris/Cooke car in the blue-and-white number 9form it had been intended to race, and the former Harris/ Cooke car in Greens'-Tuf livery which emerged on Sunday morning.

A terrific concept - the only thing missing is the Commodore that Harris and Cooke purloined to replace their Falcon.

The triple set was produced by Biante for Motorfocus, especially forthe

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'^iii recent 2011 Diecast Model Expo. Only 400 sets were made,and some are still available for $225 from the following retailers: Motorfocus Diecast Models, Apex Replicas, LismoreToy Kingdom, Coins and Collectables,The Diecast Model Shop, Motoriffic Diecast Models, Sheriffs Minicars, Shire Models, Roadrage Diecast Models, Motormazing and Frontline Hobbies.

Also from Biante comes a re-release of the Jim Richards Falcon Sprint. It's liveried as the 2011 car and in response to the quality issues reported by some collectors last year, the new car's decorations have been done differently;Tampo printing where possible with decals for the rest.

The car even has number 1 this year, signifying that Jim is the series Champion. At about $150 retail, this model is excellent value, I reckon.

Meanwhile, over at Apex Replicas,they're expecting to have some really nice Minichamps models of what I reckon is still the ultimate Ford the GT40.There are a whole lot of early GT40s coming - Le Mans, Daytona and other endurance racers from the sixties and even a current Le Mans car, a GTE class car.

These 1/43 scale cars are the standard against which many others are measured and always have a place in a collection. I have a few GT40s myself- any fan of the Le Mans race will have too, you'd think.

90

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Tale oftwo Fords: There are three models but only two actual cars, with this neat triple set comprising the Dick Johnson Falcon that met its end against the trees in qualifying for the '83 Great Race,and the Falcon which replaced it, in before and after liveries. left, above. motorsport news

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It’s here - Sian) Fest - ai)d here’s your cbapce to recapture all the actioi) from) the hugely successful inaugural evei)ts at Mildura’s SuQraysia Raceway (roupd 1) apd Portlat)d, south west Victoria (roui)d 2). So buckle ii) for slarpfest

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m NSW Water Ski Association ■ The revealed in its magazine, Ski C6umffBulletinr. plans for a Hew water ski race later that month o'n the Hawkesbury River, north west ofSydney.The'Mercury Race'would be held on the Hawkesbury on Sunday November 5. The !u'

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by driver E Eaimer,observer Etawler and Skiers Chieea ipfizer^ohey for the n^w Courtney and Fred Croft.?■- ' wbuid total the'equivraleht of c< $400, with’the outright winner fbey wonIn a ime of ,-j;‘ rninsand' commented. receiving a'pefpetual trophy (valued at $140) and $20 in’cash. > Ihata'IthOufh fatigue did not ' The winner Of the 196i'" ’ : undulybOther Chicea and Fred, they admitted at the finish that Mercury Race, the first Bridge to they G^'rtairfiy were not as freSh Jridge Water Ski Classic, as daisies. was the boat Yogi crewed 'Erbm-this time 50 years ago of 24 boats facing the starter, we now see boats coming frorh ai over Australia, and competitors from ail over the world, to try to break the current record timei A which is only 38mins57seCThe weekend's events this year willbegin with a get together for competitors from today and the past with a function called "SO Great Races"on Thursday evening, November TO, at the Lone Pine Tavern at Rooty Hill.

Manyirneimories and stories wlli be s:hared,e Specia'I GeestiMC wiii lead proceedings, and there wfii be'sorne great old feotage of past races Shown.

The following day sees the registration of all competitors at The Wi ndsor Stadium. A Show and' Shine'w'ill,ta'ke|pfa;ce at McDonalds at McGrath's'.HlB from 3 pm to 6 pm. There wilTbe some great cash prizes to be won by teams.

Racing starts oh Saturday {'November 12) with the traditional SociaiEvents from Sackvill'e tO'WindSorlo'llowed!

by Hawkesbury iH’OtShOts wlhere the Superclass teams race for Sunday's pole position. After that, the boats eOmpetingfor the fop End ChaU’enge Willi 'race to Windsor.

Following the day's raeing at 2pm win be a tribute to ff

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PW50 TURNS30 YEARS YOUNG SOME things just don't look their age.

Like Yamaha's PeeWee 50, which this year turns 30 years old.That's right, the pint sized dirt-tracker was first launched in 1981. Since that time,the PW50 has provided two-stroke fun for countless kids. It's also launched the illustrious two-wheeled careers of the likes of James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed.

In that 30 years, the PW50 hasn't changed too much. Its still a full automatic engine, and its still have two brake levers, like a push bike, to ease a youngsters transition to dirt biking.

And there is still that iconic 49cc two-stroke engine at the heart of the PW50.

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Check in with your local Yamaha dealer for more details.

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PAUL

ICRUICKSHANKi THE FINAL WORD

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T'S easy to continually talk about the established drivers - after all, they are the guys in the news weekin, week-out,and generally taking home the prizes.

One of the hardest predictions to make is who the next group of young men coming through the ranks are, and who will be the ones that can break through from good to great drivers.

We know that Shane Van Gisbergen is weii on the way; we aiso know that David Reynoids is a talent and, in my view, a champion in waiting if his career is managed correctiy.

Tim Siade has shown that when his mind and the car are there he is more than capable.

We still need to see more from James Moffat; as his rookie year in the series has progressed, it's been difficuit to get a gauge on him, particularly in the later part of the season. Dick Johnson

1

Racing have been dreadful since the Queensiand Raceway round - where James had his best weekend in the Championship series, and looked comfortable running intheTop 10. One round is not enough to make a serious judgment, but the signs are there James has the ability, because at the start of the year he looked convincingly out of his league in the premier category.

Andrew Thompson has looked like a different driver to the one that had an absolute shocker last year as the fourth Walkinshaw driver. He seemingly had no pace in 2010, and whenever there was trouble down the back of the field, his car would emerge in varying states of damage, usually bad.

Andrew always seems to have had reasonable speed apart from when it rains, and he has demonstrated that he is capable

of winning races by steamroiling everyone in the DVS series, it has been a dominant performance, and there will be critics that use the 'it's a Tripie Eight package, he shouid win'iine, but i prefer the'you still have to be able to drive it' iine. Plus, he has driven well with Jamie Whincup in the enduros; had the eiectricai faiiure not occurred in the #88 car at Bathurst,Thommo wouid probabiy be a Bathurst winner right now.

Tim Bianchard needs to get aiigned with one of the big teams as soon as he can, and show he has the taient to make the jump into the top ievei.

Nick Percat is now a Bathurst winner, and that must be a great feeling at such a young age.To be able to add that to his racing resume will help make the path a little easier(which seems very well mapped out now,anyway).

Nick has aii the cards starting to piay out for him; he is in the powerful Walkinshaw stable, and Garth Tander is his mentor/ manager. He has a great sponsor on his DVS car in Coates Hire,

There are many defining moments in drivers careers, but .'we may weiiiook back at Nick Percat and remember the day he survived a dust-up with Craig Lowndes and went on to win his first Bathurst

who are investing a great deal of funding into V8 Supercars.

He did a fantastic job in both of the enduros,and made a great recovery after the incident with Craig Lowndes eariy in the Great Race. He kept his composure and just kept at the job in hand and luckiiy handed Garth over a good car, and the rest is history.

It couid have been much worse had he damaged the steering or suspension and Garth didn't have a fast car underneath him to keep the #888 car at bay during those ciosing moments of Bathurst.

Those are the iittie breaks you need aiong the course of making a successfui career in this industry, it's just about taking the opportunities as they come along and making every post a winner.

There are many defining moments in driver's careers, but we may weii look back at Nick Percat and remember the day he survived a dust-up with Craig Lowndes and went on to win his first Bathurst with another great of this era in Garth Tander, who on a rainy day in October 2000 took his opportunity with another'young bloke'named Jason Bargwanna.

QUICK QUIZ

Answers 7. Before Percat,Jackyickx was a rookie winner at Bathurstin 1977.

2. Garth Tander had made two Bathurststarts(1998and 1999)before he won in 2000.

3. Tander was promoted into a drive with GRM when Steven Richards went to be a test driverfor Nissan in the BTCCin '98.

4. The long right-hander atBarbagallo Raceway is traditionally known as'The BowT or'Kolb Corner'.

5.Sebastian Vettel was born in the town ofHeppenheim, which is in the state ofHesse.

98

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