Castrol EDGE Racing Newsletter - August 10, 2011

VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 14

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10th AUGUST 2011

DUMBRELL STEPS BACK

VETTEL

THE BEST EVER?

WALLABIES GO DOWN IN NZ

SUPERCAR SHOWDOWN

HEATS UP

JFR KEEPS 1-2 IN NHRA

GC SUNS GET A LESSON

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“...I enjoyed our first podium, race win and pole position so it has been great to do that with such a great friend...”

DUMBRELL F

ord Performance Racing is set to announce a new driver for the 2012 season after driver of the Castrolbacked #55 Bottle-O FPR Falcon Paul Dumbrell announced his decision to step back from full time racing.

Dumbrell will continue to be in the FPR fold for endurance racing, but he has been released from the final year of his contract to pursue other interests.

Paying tribute to the team at FPR and team owner Rod Nash, he said, “the last two seasons at FPR have been great and easily the most successful time I’ve ever had and I am incredibly grateful for that, but it is sad to hang up my helmet from a full time perspective and move onto the next stage of my life at the ripe old age of 28.

TO STEP DOWN

“However, I can now work with FPR to build on the foundation we have established across the last two seasons and I look forward to announcing the identity of our new driver in the near future.”

FPR Team Principal Tim Edwards said the addition of a new driver further strengthens the factory Ford team.

“Together with Rod, I enjoyed our first podium, race win and pole position so it has been great to do that with such a great friend. Our association with FPR over the last two years has really paid off and I wish he and the team all the very best for the future.”

Rod Nash was similarly respectful and reminiscent of the years he and Dumbrell spent together as well as looking to the future.

“Paul and I have been going racing together since he was a teenager so we have enjoyed a long association and in recent times, a successful one,” said Nash.

“It is an exciting time to be at FPR with our improving performances on track, the ever-closer Car of the Future project and now with a new driver set to join the factory Ford team,” Edwards said.

“We have a lot of big plans for the team in the coming years so the addition of a new driver will be a further boost.”

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As with any kind of historical sporting comparison, judging Sebastian Vettel’s start to 2011 against previous season openers is incredibly difficult – not least because the rules of the sport have changed so much since the first world championship in 1950. For example, in 1952 there were only 24 points in total on offer (in a sliding scale of 9,6,4,3,2) whereas today there are 101 points on offer (25,18,15,12,10,8,6,4,2,1).

Statistically, Vettel’s tally of 186 points from the first eight races – which gives him a 77-point lead in the standings – is the highest ever total, but it is obviously flattered by the new points systems.

In addition, the 2011 championship consists of 19 races, compared with just seven in 1950.

“...the 2011 championship consists of 19 races, compared with just seven in 1950.”

To avoid the subjectivity inherent in typical comparisons, the Castrol EDGE Rankings system crunched the numbers from four of the most famous and celebrated season openings – Jim Clark (Lotus) in 1965, Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) in 2004, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) in 2011 and Nigel Mansell (Williams) in 1992. Via the Rankings system, Vettel comes out third, behind Clark and Schumacher, but ahead of Mansell.

Clark’s rating was boosted by the fact that he also raced – and won – the Indy 500 at the start of 1965, but he nevertheless took three pole positions and four race wins from the first four races. Schumacher meanwhile took six race wins from the first seven races, and went on to win 12 of the first 13.

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NO CAPITAL GAIN IN WASHINGTON

“The main goal is to make the Countdown and it looks like I got a pretty The top four drivers in the championship have already secured their starts for the good shot...” finals series with Hight’s spot coming With only two races left in the NHRA Full Throttle Series before the Countdown, John Force is close to clinching his spot in the final 10 Countdown alongside John Force Racing teammates Mike Neff and Robert Hight.

Neff and Hight are first and second respectively in the series with veteran driver Force in seventh position.

from his performance at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceway on the weekend.

Hight recorded the fastest time in round one but finished round two with a less positive outcome after the car suffered some tyre shake. He was unable to get through the semi-finals, where he lost out to Tim Wilkerson. Prior to that, Hight bumped out Bob Tasca III – retribution for Tasca’s defeat of Neff.

“In the semis it went through the trouble area so we fixed our biggest problem of shaking. That was just killing us.”

John Force is running behind his teammates – being knocked out in Washington by Jack Beckman – but is confident he can make it to the finals.

“The main goal is to make the Countdown and it looks like I got a pretty good shot.

I didn’t win the race but you look at how the cars are running we’ll be OK. We could leave here 1 and 2 depending on what Beckman does.

“Neff and Robert would be at the top and I am just one point out of sixth I think with Capps. I can still move up. I want to try and get into the middle of the pack and let Robert and Neff take one and two.”

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SUNS REV UP

FOR DERBY AT DRIVING CENTRE The newest team in the Australian Football League – the Gold Coast Suns – visited the Castrol EDGE Driving Centre on the Gold Coast this week.

Paul Morris Motorsport drivers – Russell Ingall and Steve Owen – hosted 10 of the team’s young players at the Castrol EDGEbacked centre at Norwell in Queensland, where the footballers were given lessons in Advanced Driver Training from the centre’s certified instructors.

A majority of the Suns’ young playing list are on their P-Plates, so it was a good opportunity to drive home some safe

driving attitudes, which will serve the players well in years to come.

The Driving Centre features Australia’s only rotating turntable for driver training, allowing Ingall to safely illustrate the feeling of being in an out-of-control vehicle.

“I’ve never been in an out-of-control car before so to do that in a controlled environment was exciting but a pretty valuable lesson if I ever do end up in that situation,” said Suns midfielder, Maverick Weller.

“These youngsters were full of confidence, as I suppose you would be playing for an

AFL team, but once I took the first guy over the turn table it was a whole different story,” said Ingall.

“They were put through their paces at The Driving Centre, but I was pretty impressed with how well they took it all in and how much more capable they were behind the wheel of the VE Commodore by the end of the day.”

The Suns players also experienced hot laps in the Castrol EDGE V8 Superschool cars.

See video of their visit at http://bit.ly/qAHJ8D

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WALLABIES

HIT A SNAG IN NZ

THE Wallabies Castrol EDGE Tri-Nations campaign took a dent with a 16-point loss to the All Blacks in New Zealand on Saturday.

The All Blacks seemed to get off to a disastrous start with a knock on in the first minute, but that unfortunately wasn’t an indication of things to come, the New Zealanders proceeded to make it to the half time break with 17 unanswered points.

The Australians emerged for the second half chasing points but failed to adjust the score line in their favour; with New Zealand putting the first points on the

board with a drop goal. The Castrol EDGE-backed Wallabies’ Eden Park hoodoo appeared set to continue.

It wasn’t until the 52nd minute that winger Digby Ioane crossed for the Aussie’s first try and Quade Cooper’s conversion put the Wallabies at a 13-point deficit.

However, the Wallabies momentum was cut short with an All Blacks converted try at the restart and penalty goal 10 minutes later.

The All Black’s assault was relentless, however Australian skipper Rocky Elsom

crossed in the 76th minute for a last ditch attempt, however his efforts and Quade Cooper’s conversion couldn’t save the game.

At the final siren Australia trailed by 16 points with New Zealand taking the game and the first Bledisloe Cup test with a final score of 30 – 14.

The Wallabies will be keen to put the loss behind them and look to get their Castrol EDGE Tri-Nations campaign back on track with their second straight win against the Sprinkboks in Durban this weekend.

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TWO DOWN IN SHANNON’S SUPERCAR SHOWDOWN With the Shannon’s Supercar Showdown getting into full swing on 7mate, two competitors have been eliminated.

Kiwi racer, Nick Cassidy was the first to be given his marching orders, then Queenslander – Shae Davies – an early favourite to go deep into the show – exited after being carted off to hospital in a karting accident in the most recent episode.

This leaves just eight competitors as the Series closes its first month this weekend on 7mate and the competition to partner Grant Denyer in a Castrol-backed Kelly Racing car at Bathurst intensifies.

All three of the female racers that started the Series remain, whilst the only international still in the pack is this week’s profile – Andrew Jordan:

Name: Andrew Jordan Location: United Kingdom Age: 22 Series: British Touring Cars Now in his fourth BTCC season, 22-year-old Brit, Andrew Jordan is one of the British Touring Car Championship’s leading young drivers.

Driving a Marcos Ambrose inspired Pirtek-liveried Vauxhall Vectra, Jordan has taken three BTCC victories in the three years he has competed in the Championship.

Rather than come through the traditional karting and Formula Ford route to Touring Cars, Jordan at one stage looked set for a career in rallying.

He was a junior rallycross champion – being selected for a Ford rallying program. He then combined the on/off-road racing with circuit racing in the popular Ginetta Series in the UK and then went onto become a front-runner in the Renault Clio Cup. Jordan scored a podium in his first year of the British Touring Car Championship in 2008.

In 2009, he became the youngest ever pole-sitter in the BTCC and last year took two race victories.

He has earmarked V8 Supercars as the next step in his career – and the Shannon’s Supercar Showdown could be just the ticket he is looking for.

Catch all the Shannon’s Supercar Showdown drama on 7mate each Sunday at 5pm.

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