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NEWS
Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle snormoyle@chevron.com.au At Large Phil Branagan
THIS MONTH’S FEATURES
The Grid
Editorial Enquiries Chevron Publishing Level 6,207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Locked Bag 5555,St Leonards, NSW 1590 admin@mnews.com.au
Contributing Writers Mark Glendenning, Andrew van Leeuwen, Mitchell Adam, Geoff Rounds, Paul Carruthers, David Greenhaigh, Danny Gardner, Bruce Moxon
Photography Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris, Andrew Hall, James Smith, Geoff Gracie, Phil Williams, Peter Bury, Michael Vettas, Ken Ferguson, Daniel Beard Paul Carruthers, Rob Lang
STONEAGE One halfof the Stone Brothers dynasty, Ross Stone, discusses Ambrose, the drivers that have come since Ambrose, the V8 Supercars Car ofthe Future, and the future in general
Art Director Chris Currie
Advertising Advertising Director Chris West cwest@chevron.com.au P 02 9901 6376 M 0416125 252 National Sales Manager Luke Finn lfinn@chevron.com.au P 02 9901 6368 M 0423 665 384
We chat with rising V8 Supercars star and the only Sydney-based V8Supercar team owner,Jonathon Webb
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VERGING ON F1 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 publishecJ by nextmedia Ply 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 deta-is 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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He's more than on the verge ofFI, because JeanEric Vergne is there right now, and in a fight for Toro Rosso supremacy with Daniel Ricciardo
1 At Le Mans,in fact, where John Martin took pole position in the LMP2 class
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motorsport news
Unusual Suspects
motorsport News photographer brought . home this collection of images from Le Mans
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TWO MONACOS Danny Gardner finally makes the pilgrimage to Monte Carlo, half a century after the principality first Ignited his passion for Formula 1
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When you apply Andrew Hall's photography skills to the 24 hours ofLe Mans, you get spectacular results - as can be seen from page 52.
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OUTLAW NO MORE Meet Tim Shaffer, one ofAmerican Sprintcar racing's best
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VOODOO CHILD Chris Matheson and the crazy world ofsix-second passes on two wheels
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KARTING IN THE TOP END Darwin hosts historic first national karting title
REGULARS The Front Row Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan
David Greenhaigh was at Le Mans not only to witness the first hybrid victory in the 24 hours, but to observe the debut of Aussie John Martin in the famous enduro.
The Scoop with Steve Normoyle On The Limiter with Chris Lambden Box Seat United States of Origin The Second Row
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Winding Back Trade Classifieds My Favourite Race Parting Shot www.mnews.com.au
Heinz-Harald Frentzen was at Albert Park this year driving a Porsche. It provided the perfect opportunity for the retired German FI ace to catch up with his race engineer from the 1999 Fi season, the man who these days runs Ford Performance Racing. 5
THE FRONT ROW
since we last met
V8 SUPERCARS
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Approaching the halfway point in the season and theV8 Supercars Championship battle between TeamVodafone and Ford Performance Racing continues to intensify. FPR and Will Davison in particular made the early running at the start of the year, but the Tones'grinding consistency has kept Jamie Whincup in the contest long enough for the team to hit back with a winning package. Victory in Race 12 at Flidden Valley was only the third win this season for the defending champ, but last time out in Townsville Whincup broke through for his first clean sweep of the season.Two wins from two races elevated him to a neat 100-point lead over MarkWinterbottom, who was 40 clear of team-mate Davison. Amazingly,the 15 races so far have been won exclusively by FPR Falcon and TeamVodafone Commodore drivers.
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MOTOGP Flopes of Casey Stoner scoring a fairytale world MotoGP title in his final season appear to be fading fast. After winning in the Netherlands, in Germany Stoner dropped his Repsol Flonda on the final lap while holding down second place.Then at Mugello the Australian battled a bad handling bike to salvage only eighth place. Mugello was won by Jorge Lorenzo ahead of Dani Pedrosa, in a reversal of the order from the German race. Lorenzo leads the championship on 185 points from Pedrosa's 166, with Stoner lagging a further 37 points adrift in third place.
QUICK QUIZ 1. How many times has American racing iegend AJ Foyt won the Indianapdiis 500? 2. How many different drivers had won grands prix in 2012 at the conclusion of the recent British GP? 3. After qualifying for round nine of the World Drivers’ Championship, at
Siiverstone, how many times had Australian Daniel Ricciardo been outqualified by Toro Rosso team mate Jean-Eric Vergne? 4. How many times has Stone Brothers Racing won the V8 Supercars Championship?
5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen once dated the woman who would become the wife of Michael Schumacher, but during the 1999 FI season the two German drivers shared something rather different in common. What was it?
QUIZ ANSWERS ON PAGE 98
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motorsport news
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NEWS OF THE MONTH WEBBER STAYS AT RED BULL
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FORMULA 1 Fernando Alonso became the first driver to win more than one grand prix in 2012 with his emotional victory on home Valencia soil in the European Grand Prix. Reigning Champion Sebastian Vettel heid sway early on, and in an ominous display reminiscent of many of his performances from 2011,the German would surely not have been challenged had a mechanical gremlin not grounded his Red Bull after 34 laps. In what was easily the most exciting race yet held on the Spanish harbourside street circuit, Alonso headed home Lotus'Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes Michael Schumacher, in the first podium results in the comebacks of both former world champions. Raikkonen and the fast finishing Schumacher benefitted from the late-race clash between William's Pastor Maldonado and Lewis Fiamilton which saw the McLaren in the wall and Maldonado penalised by the stewards. Alonso looked likely to make it two in a row at Silverstone two weeks later, but Mark Webber had other ideas as the Australian overhauled the Ferrari in the closing stages to snatch the victory.
Mark Webber has ended speculation about a shift to Ferrari with the news that he has re-signed with Red Bull Racing for 2013. Webber admitted that there had been discussions with Ferrari but was'very happy'with his decision to remain at Red Bull for a seventh season. The Australian conceded the fact he is well placed to fight for the championship this year was a factor in his decision, but said that the deal has been close to being finalised even before his win in the British Grand Prix.
DE VILLOTA CRASH NOT CAUSED BY CAR Equipment malfunction has been ruled out as the cause of Maria de Villota's recent FI testing accident,the Marussia team says. De Villota sustained head injuries including the toss of her right eye when she crashed into a truck while conducting straight-line aero tests for Marussia at Duxford airfield on July 3. Team principal John Booth said the findings of the team's investigation of the accident have been shared with the HSE (Health and Safety Executive)for consideration in its own investigation. "This has been a necessarily thorough process in order to understand the cause of the accident," Booth said."We have now concluded our investigatory work and can again focus on the priority, which continues to be Maria's wellbeing. In that regard, we continue to support Maria and the De Villota family in any way we can." De Villota is now out of sedation in hospital and is said to be making a'remarkable'recovery.
JACQUES’ BACK
INDYCAR Ryan Hunter-Reay has stunned the IndyCar scene with a hatrick of victories that has shot him to the top of the points table. The Andretti Autosports driver took his first win for the year on the Milwaukee Mile oval, heading homeTony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe.Then Hunter-Reay backed up in Iowa, before winning for a third time on the streets ofToronto. With bonus points from having led the most laps in Milwaukee and Toronto, Hunter-Reay led Will Power by a healthy 34 points with five rounds still to run.
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Kelly Racing has confirmed that Jacques Villeneuve will substitute for Greg Murphy in the Pepsi Max Crew Commodore at the Queensland Raceway and Eastern Creek V8 Supercars Championship events. The 1997 World Drivers'Champion made his debut for the team last month in the Townsville event, sitting in for Murphy who is recovering from major back surgery. "It is great news for the Pepsi Max Crew and V8 Supercars that Jacques is coming back to race in Australia for the next two events,"Todd Kelly said. "Jacques is a absolute professional and will add a lot of value to the team especially as he secures further seat time over the next couple of rounds. "Jumping in the car at Townsville without testing or for that matter even sitting in the car is a daunting task but he took it all in his stride and was pleased with his efforts and have absolutely no doubt he will quickly move through the field in future events."
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