motorsport THIS MONTH’S FEATURES
Australian
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NEWS
Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au Assistant Editor Mitchell Adam mitchell@mnews.com.au At Large Phil Branagan
The Grid
Unusual Suspects ●4
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Editorial Enquiries
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Contributing Writers
Mark Glendenning, Andrew van Leeuwen Lachlan Mansell, Bruce Moxon, Geoff Rounds, Paul Carruthers
Will Davison is back on the winner's list as part ofFPR's strong start to 2012. MNews caught up with him for a chat
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Gianni Whiz \Ne check in with ex-Fl pilot and current Superstars Series star Gianni Morbidelli
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A happy Gilmour Seven years after almost winning It, Chris Gilmour finally won the AusF3 crown last year
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Hart Attack Last year's Formula Ford Rookie of the Year, Mathew Flart wants the title in 2012
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Grandson of a gun Fiis grandfather is Speedway iegend Garry Rush, but Josh Flunter is eyeing a tarmac career
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Working hard, on track and off To World Series Sprintcaryoung gun Dylan Jenkin, racing and famiiy go hand in hand
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Top Fuel’s Top Gun Damien Harris is closing on the Top Fuel title, but that's not his major Drag Racing passion
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On Corse
After two tough years at Walkinshaw Racing, Fabian Coulthard has headed north in 2012 to join Brad Jones Racing
REGULARS
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The Front Row Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan
BACK IN THE GAME
Romain Grosjean's Formula 1 career wasn't built in a day. We track his rise, fall and chance at El redemption
The Scoop with Steve Normoyle On The Limiter with Chris Lambden Box Seat
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In addition to being the biggest Skoda fan in Australia, Phil Branagan is MNews'man At Large. Each month, he'll get people talking - like his chat with Davo on family, Whincup, FPR and HRT.
V8 Supercar driver Michael Patrizi has gone back to his roots with his own karting squad
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The Davison name is synonymous with Australian motorsport, but the family trophy cabinet doesn't include a V8 Supercar title. Can Will Davison change that in 2012?
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In the February edition of MNews, we listed Randy Bernard as one of the 40 things we liked about the sport. With the revamped series underway, we spoke to the IndyCar chief
The Second Row Model Behaviour Winding Back Trade
It's all-new in IndyCar this year, with a new car and multiple engine manufacturers. We look at the state of play in the series
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Classifieds My Favourite Race J
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The Final Word with Paul Cruickshank X.
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This time last year, Chris Gilmour had zero Australian Formula 3 titles and zero Bathurst lap records. Now the Queenslander has one of each. 5
THE FRONT ROW
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NEWS OF THE MONTH INDYCAR EYEING AUSTRALIAN RETURN
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Will Power leads the IndyCar Series after three rounds,following a pair of commanding victories. Power started the season opener at St. Petersburg on pole, but finished seventh in a strategy-dictated affair won by Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves. In the next two rounds,though. Power's fortunes went the other way. At Barber Motorsports Park, the Queenslander could only manage ninth on the grid but came through to win the race. At Long Beach, he was even better, winning from 12th after all of the Chevrolet-engined cars copped 10 place grid penalties for an engine change. Castroneves is second in the points, ahead of Simon Pagenaud, who was second to Power at Long Beach. Ryan Briscoe is seventh, with a best result of fifth at St. Petersburg.
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FORMULA 1 Three different drivers claimed victories in the opening three rounds of the 2012 championship, but none of them were aboard a Red Bull. After Jenson Button took out the Albert Park season opener, Fernando Alonso held off a spirited challenge from Sauber's Sergio Perez to sccTre a surprise win for the struggling Ferrari amid mixed weather conditions in Malaysia. In China, Nico Rosberg scored his maiden pole position and race win - the first by a factory Mercedes since 1955. Button and McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium, ahead of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Michael Schumacher started second, but his race ended with a loose wheel. As MNews went to print, the Formula 1 circus was, controversiall y, en-route to Bahrain.
WORLD RALLY C’SHIP Mads Ostberg joined the list of World Rally Championship victors after winning Rally de Portugal. No,that's not a typo. The Norwegian emerged on top from a bizarre rally, after the original winner, Mikko Hirvonen was disqualified due to clutch and turbocharger irregularities in his Citroen.That promoted Ostberg's private Ford to top spot and his maiden WRC win ahead of fellow Fiesta driver Evgeny Novikov. Earlier, Sebastien Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg all crashed while leading the rally. Solberg,though, was able to rejoin the rally and eventually finished in third place. He's now Loeb's closest challenger in the points race, sitting just four behind the eight-time champion. Ostberg's win elevates him to third in the standings. Latvala's crash was his third in four rounds. But he won't add to that tally in Argentina - he'll miss the rally after sustaining a broken collarbone while skiing.
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V8 SUPERCARS Ford Performance Racing's strong start to the 2012 V8 Supercar season continued in Tasmania, with Will Davison splitting the Symmons Plains victories with TeamVodafone's Jamie Whincup. The Factory Fords dominated Saturday's race, with Davison and team-mate Mark Winterbottom running in close company,as above, before Davison emerged with his second race win of the season.Their closest challenger, Whincup, was the best part of 10s in arrears. But Whincup laughed last, taking out Sunday's race desptite a mid-race spin at the hairpin. He led home Shane van Gisbergen, with Davison third after surviving a brush with Craig Lowndes while fighting for the lead, the incident ending Lowndes'race. As MNews went to print, Davison headed to Perth with an 18-point advantage over reigning champion Whincup.
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A late addition to the field, Fabian Coulthard took out the second round of New Zealand's V8 SuperTourer Series. Coulthard joined the field at Ruapuna, deputising for the injured Greg Murphy, and quickly got down to business, taking pole and winning the first two races. John McIntyre won the final, but second was enough for Coulthard to win the round. Craig Baird was third for the weekend. McIntyre leads the series, holding a 19-point advantage over Jonny Reid, with Kayne Scott sitting third.
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An Australian race remains on the radar of the indyCar Series. In an exclusive interview with Motorsport News,CEO Randy Bernard confirmed his enthusiasm for the series to return to Australia, with 2008's non-championship race at Surfers Paradise ending a run of IndyCar and Champ Car races that stretched back to 1991. "I love it there, and I'd love to take a race down there," Bernard said. "[But] I'm not sure if Surfers is the right place. Maybe Brisbane. Somewhere up in Queensland. I think Brisbane would be one of my first choices - that, or Perth. I like two things about Perth - one, there is interest, and two, it would be so easy to come from China. I'm having conversations with a couple of promoters, but it hasn't gone beyond that level." For more with Bernard,check out the full feature on Page 42.
THE ALTIMATE RACER? Nissan has confirmed it will introduce its mid-sized Altima sedan to Australia next year, with the model to be the basis for the Japanese manufacturer's V8 Supercar program with Kelly Racing. The 2013 Altima was launched at last month's New York Motor Show, with Rick Kelly and KR CEO John Crennan on hand. "Confirming Altima as the model we will race from 2013 is the next step for us as we gear up for next season," Kelly said at the launch. Meanwhile, Kelly Racing has announced the appointment of former Walkinshaw Racing man Rob Crawford as Team Manager for Greg Murphy and Karl Reindler's entries.
INS AND OUTS AT DJR Dick Johnson Racing has confirmed their eight-driver line-up for the 2012 endurance races. Steven Johnson will be joined by Allan Simonsen for Sandown and Bathurst and former Champ Car racer Max Papis on the Gold Coast. Matt Halliday remains in DJR's enduro fold, and will partner Dean Fiore in the two traditional enduros, with Gianni Morbidelli to be Fiore's'international'for the third-straight year. James Moffat has secured a prime co-driver in the form of Alex Davison, while Peter Kox will join him on the Gold Coast. Steve Owen retains his 2011 PMM co-drivers, and will share his Falcon with Paul Morris at Sandown and Bathurst and Boris Said at Surfers. However,the Queensland team was dealt a blow, with the departure ofTeam Manager Malcolm Swetnam.The Englishman left the team and has returned home,citing family reasons.
PERKINS IN AT GRM Jack Perkins will join Garry Rogers Motorsport for this year's endurance races. Perkins partnered Russell Ingall at Paul Morris Motorsport last year, while Greg Ritter will remain with GRM for a seventh-straight year, it has also been confirmed. GRM will confirm their pairings closer to September's Sandown 500.
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LUFF MAN GOES GERMAN Warren Luff will take part in this year Nurburgring 24 Hour with Audi. 3
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Luff, who has become an Audi regular in the last 18 months, will share an Audi Race Experience R8 LMS GT3 with Alex Yoong, Florian Gruber and Luca Cappellari in the May 19-20 race.
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THE FRONT ROW
since we last met p
NEWS OF THE MONTH INDYCAR EYEING AUSTRALIAN RETURN
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7*k;
fl
INDYCAR SERIES s
Will Power leads the IndyCar Series after three rounds,following a pair of commanding victories. Power started the season opener at St. Petersburg on pole, but finished seventh in a strategy-dictated affair won by Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves. In the next two rounds,though. Power's fortunes went the other way. At Barber Motorsports Park, the Queenslander could only manage ninth on the grid but came through to win the race. At Long Beach, he was even better, winning from 12th after all of the Chevrolet-engined cars copped 10 place grid penalties for an engine change. Castroneves is second in the points, ahead of Simon Pagenaud, who was second to Power at Long Beach. Ryan Briscoe is seventh, with a best result of fifth at St. Petersburg.
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FORMULA 1 Three different drivers claimed victories in the opening three rounds of the 2012 championship, but none of them were aboard a Red Bull. After Jenson Button took out the Albert Park season opener, Fernando Alonso held off a spirited challenge from Sauber's Sergio Perez to sccTre a surprise win for the struggling Ferrari amid mixed weather conditions in Malaysia. In China, Nico Rosberg scored his maiden pole position and race win - the first by a factory Mercedes since 1955. Button and McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium, ahead of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Michael Schumacher started second, but his race ended with a loose wheel. As MNews went to print, the Formula 1 circus was, controversiall y, en-route to Bahrain.
WORLD RALLY C’SHIP Mads Ostberg joined the list of World Rally Championship victors after winning Rally de Portugal. No,that's not a typo. The Norwegian emerged on top from a bizarre rally, after the original winner, Mikko Hirvonen was disqualified due to clutch and turbocharger irregularities in his Citroen.That promoted Ostberg's private Ford to top spot and his maiden WRC win ahead of fellow Fiesta driver Evgeny Novikov. Earlier, Sebastien Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg all crashed while leading the rally. Solberg,though, was able to rejoin the rally and eventually finished in third place. He's now Loeb's closest challenger in the points race, sitting just four behind the eight-time champion. Ostberg's win elevates him to third in the standings. Latvala's crash was his third in four rounds. But he won't add to that tally in Argentina - he'll miss the rally after sustaining a broken collarbone while skiing.
Wi L %
V
I
KTinw ^
Mi
V8 SUPER TOURERS
Casti^ ni
o
I
V8 SUPERCARS Ford Performance Racing's strong start to the 2012 V8 Supercar season continued in Tasmania, with Will Davison splitting the Symmons Plains victories with TeamVodafone's Jamie Whincup. The Factory Fords dominated Saturday's race, with Davison and team-mate Mark Winterbottom running in close company,as above, before Davison emerged with his second race win of the season.Their closest challenger, Whincup, was the best part of 10s in arrears. But Whincup laughed last, taking out Sunday's race desptite a mid-race spin at the hairpin. He led home Shane van Gisbergen, with Davison third after surviving a brush with Craig Lowndes while fighting for the lead, the incident ending Lowndes'race. As MNews went to print, Davison headed to Perth with an 18-point advantage over reigning champion Whincup.
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A late addition to the field, Fabian Coulthard took out the second round of New Zealand's V8 SuperTourer Series. Coulthard joined the field at Ruapuna, deputising for the injured Greg Murphy, and quickly got down to business, taking pole and winning the first two races. John McIntyre won the final, but second was enough for Coulthard to win the round. Craig Baird was third for the weekend. McIntyre leads the series, holding a 19-point advantage over Jonny Reid, with Kayne Scott sitting third.
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An Australian race remains on the radar of the indyCar Series. In an exclusive interview with Motorsport News,CEO Randy Bernard confirmed his enthusiasm for the series to return to Australia, with 2008's non-championship race at Surfers Paradise ending a run of IndyCar and Champ Car races that stretched back to 1991. "I love it there, and I'd love to take a race down there," Bernard said. "[But] I'm not sure if Surfers is the right place. Maybe Brisbane. Somewhere up in Queensland. I think Brisbane would be one of my first choices - that, or Perth. I like two things about Perth - one, there is interest, and two, it would be so easy to come from China. I'm having conversations with a couple of promoters, but it hasn't gone beyond that level." For more with Bernard,check out the full feature on Page 42.
THE ALTIMATE RACER? Nissan has confirmed it will introduce its mid-sized Altima sedan to Australia next year, with the model to be the basis for the Japanese manufacturer's V8 Supercar program with Kelly Racing. The 2013 Altima was launched at last month's New York Motor Show, with Rick Kelly and KR CEO John Crennan on hand. "Confirming Altima as the model we will race from 2013 is the next step for us as we gear up for next season," Kelly said at the launch. Meanwhile, Kelly Racing has announced the appointment of former Walkinshaw Racing man Rob Crawford as Team Manager for Greg Murphy and Karl Reindler's entries.
INS AND OUTS AT DJR Dick Johnson Racing has confirmed their eight-driver line-up for the 2012 endurance races. Steven Johnson will be joined by Allan Simonsen for Sandown and Bathurst and former Champ Car racer Max Papis on the Gold Coast. Matt Halliday remains in DJR's enduro fold, and will partner Dean Fiore in the two traditional enduros, with Gianni Morbidelli to be Fiore's'international'for the third-straight year. James Moffat has secured a prime co-driver in the form of Alex Davison, while Peter Kox will join him on the Gold Coast. Steve Owen retains his 2011 PMM co-drivers, and will share his Falcon with Paul Morris at Sandown and Bathurst and Boris Said at Surfers. However,the Queensland team was dealt a blow, with the departure ofTeam Manager Malcolm Swetnam.The Englishman left the team and has returned home,citing family reasons.
PERKINS IN AT GRM Jack Perkins will join Garry Rogers Motorsport for this year's endurance races. Perkins partnered Russell Ingall at Paul Morris Motorsport last year, while Greg Ritter will remain with GRM for a seventh-straight year, it has also been confirmed. GRM will confirm their pairings closer to September's Sandown 500.
t
LUFF MAN GOES GERMAN Warren Luff will take part in this year Nurburgring 24 Hour with Audi. 3
S,.. .. -
3
l1
www.mnews.com.au
motorsport news A
Luff, who has become an Audi regular in the last 18 months, will share an Audi Race Experience R8 LMS GT3 with Alex Yoong, Florian Gruber and Luca Cappellari in the May 19-20 race.
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