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Australian
riT»10W>I.Tit THIS MONTH’S FEATURES U news Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle 5normoyle@1chevron.com.au Assistant Editor Mitchell Adam mitchell@mnews.com.au At Large Phil Branagan
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TWENTY-20 2012 is the 20th season of the current V8 Supercar formuia, so we asked our experts - who have been the Top 20 drivers so far?
Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Andrew Hall, James Smith, Geoff Grade, Phil Williams, Peter Bury, Michael Vettas, Paris Charles Paul Carruthers, Rob Lang
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Winless since 2004, Williams returned to the top step ofthe FI podium In Spain. We chat to the man behind the wheel, Pastor Maldonado
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UP AND ABOUT it no longer hosts a Formula 1 Grand Prix, but Imola remains one ofEurope's most-popular circuits. We checked it out
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 C 2012. 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. We may also give your information to other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products,services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia. Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590.
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Caterham is the lateststop in Mike Gascoyne's Formula 1 career. MNews had a chat about getting involved on the ground floor
motorsport news
Unusual Suspects —
Young Kiwi Richie Stanaway is making waves on a global stage. We catch up with him
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Be honest now, who thought Pastor Maldonado would win a Formula I Grand Prix this year? \Ne spoke exclusively to the Venezuelan and look at his breakthrough victory
Taking it to the Max In the Elite Class of Carrera Cup Australia, Max Twigg is the man to stop Waltzing on into V8 Utes Former Saloon Car driver Kris Walton has taken to V8 Utes like a duck to water It’s Radical, man MNews chats to the key players behind the growing Radical Australia Cup The six-second man Peter Ridgeway has taken Australian Pro Stock Drag Racing into uncharted territory Going global We check in with the young Aussies set to tackle the Under 18 World Karting Champs
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Most people associate Ferrari with their own circuit at Fiorano, but Enzo Ferrari was instrumental in the formation of another Italian circuit, Imola. Decades later, it's still going strong
REGULARS The Front Row Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan The Scoop with Steve Normoyle On The Limiter with Chris Lambden Box Seat United States of Origin The Second Row
Richard Craill is a busy man, but he took the time to chat with V8 Ute sensation Kris Walton for this edition of MNews. Flere he is in Walton's sunglasses V
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Model Behaviour Winding Back Trade Classifieds My Favourite Race Parting Shot www.mnews.com.au
The first man into the 'sevens', it's fitting Peter Ridgeway was the first driver to record a 'six' in a Pro Stock drag racer in Australia. 5
THE FRONT ROW since we last met sort.
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V8 SUPERCARS The last month in V8 Supercars has been about Ford Performance Racing and thrilling finishes. In the final Hamilton street race, FPR continued their strong start to 2012, with Will Davison winning on Saturday and Mark Winterbottom on Sunday. Winterbottom,though, had to hold out a late charge from TeamVodafone's Jamie Whincup, with the pair split by just under a second at the line. A fortnight later at Barbagallo Raceway, Davison won a pair of races but lost the championship lead to Whincup. An opening lap incident in Saturday's race saw him finish 25th as Winterbottom led home Whincup. But Davison recovered on Sunday, winning Races 8 and 9. Whincup was his closest challenger in Race 8, and then again in a thrilling finish to Race 9, in which a host of drivers were hurt by a bungled Safety Car introduction. On aging Sprint Tyres, Davison's mission was to hold out Whincup and Winterbottom, both on the harder tyre.The gap closed rapidly and the three started the final lap nose-to-tail. In the end, Davison did enough, while Winterbottom snuck past Whincup at the final corner to make it an FPR 1 -2. As MNews went to print, Whincup headed to Phillip Island with a 29-point advantage over Davison.
INDYCAR
WORLD RALLY C’SHIP
Will Power leads the IndyCar Series standings heading into its marquee race, the Indy 500. Power's victory in Brazil was his third in as many starts, but this one was different to the previous two - he started from pole, rather than having to fight through the pack. Incidents and Safety Car periods riddled the race, but Power did enough to hold out Ryan Hunter-Reay when it counted to seal the win, while Takuma Sato rounded out the podium. The win saw Power take a 45-point championship lead over Hello Castroneves into the famed Month of May. Penske's other Aussie, Ryan Briscoe crashed out early in Brazil and sits seventh in the standings.
Sebastien Loeb now has three wins from five events in 2012 as he seeks a ninth-straight World Rally Championship. Loeb led home team-mate Mikko Hirvonen in a Citroen 1 -2 to record his 70th WRC victory.The win also boosts his lead at the top of the standings to 18 points over Petter Solberg. Solberg did himself no favours, crashing out of the lead on the first day before eventually recovering to sixth. His Ford team-mate for the weekend, Dani Sordo - in for the injured JariMatti Latvala - was third before retiring on the final stage with mechanical problems. That handed the final podium spot to Portugal victor Mads Ostberg.
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QUICK QUIZ 6
QUIZ QUESTIONS 1. Who won the first full round of what’s now the V8 Supercar Championship Series in 1993?
2. Which manufacturer has won more Bathurst 1000s since 1993- Ford or Holden?
3. Before the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, who had scored more World Championship points for Williams - Pastor
motorsport news
NEWS OF THE MONTH EASTERN CREEK RETURNS
FORMULA 1 Victories to Sebastian Vettel and Pastor Maldonado have taken the 2012 Formula 1 season to five different winners from the first five events. In Bahrain, Vettel withstood a mid-race challenge from Kimi Raikkonen to score his first win of the year. Remain Grosjean's maiden FI podium made it a Lotus 2-3, with Mark Webber fourth and Daniel Ricciardo 15th after starting sixth. Barcelona was,simply, a big weekend for Williams. Celebrating Sir Frank Williams'70th birthday, Maldonado won his first FI race and the team's first since 2004. A post-race fire in the garage fortunately without serious injury - added to the drama. Maldonado started from pole after Lewis Hamilton qualifying without enough fuel to return to the pits and was sent to the rear of the grid.The Williams team helped Maldonado take the lead mid-race and he held out Fernando Alonso's challenge to eventually win by 3.1s. Raikkonen was third while Webber and Ricciardo could only manage 11 th and 16th. Vettel, sixth in Barcelona,shares the points lead with Alonso.
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MOTOGP
4. Who won the last Formula 1 Grand Prix held at Imola?
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SAFETY CARNAGE Roland Dane and Russell Ingall were among those to open fire on V8 stewards on social networking site Twitter, after a bungled Safety Car deployment during Race 9 at Barbagallo Raceway. Instead of picking up race leader Jamie Whincup,the Safety Car started to bunch the field behind Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes, who had already completed his pitstop from fifth place. As a result, a host of drivers lost ground. "5 podiums forT8/TeamVodafone this weekend and still unhappy, mostly with ourselves but also with Stevie Wonder in the control tower...." Dane Tweeted. Ingall's ire had already been irked, after he'd been excluded from the race's qualifying session for a minor procedure breech by Walkinshaw Racing, dropping him from fifth on the grid to 28th. On Sunday night. Ingall didn't hold back with a series of Tweets. "Never been as embarrassed to be part of this @v8supercars as I am today. What a Joke with the pace car. How many times has this happened," he led with. "@SCARacing was totally done over today by @v8supercars. About time for a clean out with the powers to be. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. "The race fans and sponsors deserve better than this. I hope @ v8supercars stop sitting on the fence this time and start acting."
TIME TO KLIEN UP?
Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner claimed his maiden victories at Estoril and Jerez to move to the top of the MotoGP standings. After finishing third in the season opener in Qatar, Stoner's Spanish and Portuguese wins came after resisting challenges from Jorge Lorenzo. Three rounds into the 18-event season, Stoner holds a one-point lead over Lorenzo at the top of the standings. Maldonado or Bruno Senna?
V8 Supercars has confirmed a switch to the 2012 calendar that will see the series race at Eastern Creek Raceway for the first time since 2008. The Sydney circuit will host an event on August 24-26, one week before Muscle Car Masters on Fathers'Day.The V8 Supercar round will mark Eastern Creek's relaunch after an $11 million upgrade. The August date on the calendar was originally slated for Winton Motor Raceway, but the Victorian venue has been moved to become the penultimate event of the year on November 16-18 after an international race to partner Abu Dhabi failed to materialise.
5. Including the current 2012 season, how many seasons of Carrera Cup Australia have been contested?
Former FI driver Christian Klien is continuing to pursue a V8 Supercar opportunity, testing with Walkinshaw Racing at Winton in April. The Austrian, who contested 51 GPs with Jaguar, Red Bull and Hispania between 2004and 2010, was an'international'on the Gold Coast last year with Bottle-0 Racing. At Winton he turned over 100 laps in Nick Percat's Dunlop Series Commodore. "Steve Hallam, Managing Director of Walkinshaw Racing, invited me to drive at the team's April test day - it was a great opportunity for me to get back behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar," Klien wrote on his website. "Steve has worked with some of motor racing's biggest names including Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Mika Hakkinen so I was very excited when he contacted me. I really enjoyed the track time - V8 Supercars certainly are a lot of fun to drive."
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