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Far all your workshop, hand too! and power tool needs With E8 stares, there’s bound to be one near you.
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Editorial Group Editor Steve Normoyle 5normoyle@chevron.com.au At Large Phil Branagan
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURES
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VIVE LEVS Frenchman Alex Premat had a tough V8 Supercars debut last season but things are staring to pick up for the former Lewis Hamilton team-mate who aims to be the first full time V8 Supercars Euro to win down under.
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Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Dan Kalisz,John Morris, Andrew Hall, Geoff Grade, Sportspics Cover: Dirk Klynsmith and Sutton
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The incredible story of how TWR's American Jaguar teanir puilied a swi% on;the B'rliSh squad to steaili a memoralbl'e iLe A/Ians victory.
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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 O 2013. All rights reserved, Motorsport News is printed by Webstar, Sydney, 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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RATING ROSBERG His dad was world champion, so there's no question as to Keke Rosberg's ability, but the jury remains out on Nico, even thought this is his eighth season in Formula One.
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motorsport news
Unusual Suspects
THE LONG ROAD BACK
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Talented young Kiwi Richie Stanaway has done it tough over the past year but is ready to make a comeback he hopes will put him back on the road to Formula One.
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The folk from Radio Le Maris made the trip down lunder earlier In'the year for the iBsihiiirst 1:2 iHOcir; We caught up with chief commentator John Hindaugh.
SEVENTIESSIDEWAYS It's rallying as it was before turbos and before all-wheel-drive, a kind of in-the-forests sideways seventies version of the Touring Car Masters series.
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REED ALL ABOUT IT
Geoff Rounds chats with Victorian sprintcar ace Matthew Reed.
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NEW BIKE IS ALLEN KEY
Dirk Klynsmith If you have been to a major motor racing event any time in the last two decades or so, chances are you will have seen Dirk Klynsmith, And it's not just that the long-time MN photographer gets around - he is among the very best shooters of motorsport across the world.
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Andrew van Leeuwen It's a long way from Barbagallo Raceway to the Nordschleife, but former Perth boy and MN staffer van Leeuwen these days does indeed reside in Germany - and that gives us the opportunity to get close and personal with some of the biggest names in European motor racing.
Maurice Allen is currently on a roll in the ANDRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship with two wins straight and a new machine that is performing exactly how he wants.
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Motor Mouth with Phil Branagan The Scoop with Steve Normoyle On The Limiter with Chris Lambden United States of Origin Box Seat Model Behaviour My Favourite Race Trade Classifieds From the couch Parting Shot
Professor Victor Haight Professor Victor Haight has been lecturing his students (and anyone else prepared to tolerate his eccentricities) about motorsport related issues for many decades. Now it's your turn to receive the Professor's wisdom so, from his laboratory at a government research facility in an undisclosed location, we give you Professor Victor Haight. 5
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Branagan
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Braaaaanagan". "Michael J". So started I don't
know how many conversations between Winton Motor Raceway's Mick Ronke and myself over more than 20 years, whether in person or on the phone. Actually, most of them were of the latter variety, often while Mick was on one of his many trips between Benalla and Melbourne. I can't imagine how many hands-free kits he must have battered into retirement over the years. Mick passed away late last month after a brief illness. He leaves behind two sons, Matthew and Adam, broken hearted colleagues and I don't know how many friends. And, a racetrack. It is rather an over-simplification to suggest that Winton was a one-man track. The members of the Benalla Auto Club have worked hard, over more than 50 years, to establish the circuit in northern Victoria as an integral asset to the border community and part of the fabric of the sport in this country. But it is hard to pinpoint any discernable line between the track and the Ronke family. Mick's dad Jim was one of the founding members of the BAG; Mick worked there so long, his last 'other' job was with Telecom, which became Telstra in 1995. That is not to say that Mick lost touch or lost influence with his mates at the telco; Telstra users may have noticed over the years that for a relatively remote track, Winton usually has great mobile phone coverage ... Matthew runs the BAC's other track at Wakefield Park; Adam has been working at 6
In all these decades of being in the sport, I have not known anyone who loved motor racing more than Mick Ronke did. Winton since even before he left school. Both practically grew up at the track. You have to be something of a Jack of all trades to run a racetrack and Mick was certainly that, i remember one conversation we had that included bits about insurance coverage, Victoria's liquor licensing and tourism regulations and civil engineeringmore specifically, how it was possible to stuff up the resurfacing of a track if you did not know the intimate details of what racing cars and bikes needed, as opposed to what they put on the roads outside the venue. He was across all of those details, leaping between subjects without apparent effort. And of course, Mick was one of the founders and the President of the Australian Auto-sport Alliance. The AASA was set up to provide an alternative service to competitors to allow them to race at a lower cost than might be the case under the CAMS structure. I remember the conversation that we had after the AASA broke cover; "I feel like an elephant has been lifted off my back!" Mick said gleefully. In spite of that, he and CAMS maintained a relationship; strained it may have been at times, but there was a high
level of respect. Of course, he and the BAC could have carried on under the CAMS system for years, leaving the competitors to bear what they saw as an unreasonable cost burden. Setting up the AASA created more work for Mick but he jumped into it, boots and all, not to make money for himself but to help those in the sport. He was selfless; it only became public knowledge at his memorial service that in one particularly difficult time financially for the BAC, to ease the burden, Mick simply 'forgot' to pay himself a salary for two years. That was Mick Ronke. He put his family and the sport ahead of himself. His health suffered but he made sure that never impacted on the sport. In all these decades of being in the sport,, i have not known anyone who loved motor racing more than Mick Ronke did. If he was around to give advice to those who mourn his passing, I am sure that he would tell us to pull ourselves together and carry on. That is what we will do, then. But speaking for myself, I will really miss him. Mick Ronke was an Australia original. We were bloody lucky to have him. motorsport news
We're busy preparing for this years FUCHS Winternationals. The biggest drag racing event in the Southern Hemisphere. 600 teams, 4 days. the best racers in the country and in each category, there is only one winner.
t's going to be brutal. Prepare yourself and make syfe you have
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