Castrol EDGE Australia eNewsletter - Season Review PART 1

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 21

it’s our best oil yet... www.castroledge.com.au

12th DECEMBER 2012

2012 International V8 Supercars Championship 2012 saw one of the most exciting years in the V8 Supercars history with Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Castrolbacked Ford Performance Racing driver Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom all battling it out in search of V8 racing’s ultimate crown. In the end it was Holden driver Whincup who reigned supreme with Lowndes taking runners-up honours from Frosty in the final race of the season at the Sydney Telstra 500.

Frosty’s Castrol-backed teammate Will Davison secured fourth overall for the year but his dominate qualifying performance in 2012 saw the factory Ford man claim the prestigious Armor

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All Pole Award for the most pole positions secured this season, with eight. Davison picked up a decent sized trophy at the end of season Gala Awards plus a cool $20,000 prize cheque for his efforts. However, it was Winterbottom who took out the V8 Supercars ‘Best and Fairest’ award – the Barry Sheen Medal - at the sport’s Gala Awards at Star City in Sydney. In a close contest Winterbottom finished on 18 votes with three-time recipient Lowndes on 16, tied with emerging star David Reynolds, who finished on the rear bumper of Whincup at Bathurst.

“It’s a great honour, it does somewhat make up for the year that was,” said Winterbottom. “To be recognised by the media as not only a competitive driver but one that has their respect is a nice thing to know after what was a solid but frustrating year in the way it turned out.

I clearly had a shot, a real good chance, but just couldn’t get there. They just did a better job and we’ll have to lift again next year. It hurts but there’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to move on.”

Winterbottom added.

Reynolds tied second on votes was a just reward for the third Castrol-backed

FPR driver who finished the next best of the Castrol-sponsored contingent, ninth overall in the 2012 Championship.

Reynolds highlight was undoubtedly his second place finish at this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. He and The BottleO Racing Ford stormed home on the rear bar of Championship winner Whincup for the closing laps of the great race to the delight of fans on top of Mount Panorama who drowned out the drone of the chunky V8 engine with screams of excitement. Thanks to his great efforts in 2012, Reynolds will remain as a part of the FPR fold, retaining his seat with The BottleO Racing squad next season.

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Our next best placed Castrol-backed driver was none other than Russell ‘The Enforcer’ Ingall himself who had a dominating second half of the season to secure 13th in the drivers’ standings.

Ingall set a raft of top-10 finishes this year and a 1m10.0874s lap in his Supercheap Auto Holden Commodore at Queensland Raceway to take back the lap record he had owned in 2009. Then in the final round at Sydney Olympic Park, The Enforcer produced his best qualifying result all season to claim a spot in the top-10 shootout on Saturday. This remarkable turn of form in the latter half of the year has seen the oldest competitor

2012 Championship Standings pos

driver

pts

1

Jamie Whincup

3861

2

Craig Lowndes

3522

3

Mark Winterbottom

3457

4

Will Davison

3049

5

Tim Slade

2790

6

Shane Van Gisbergen

2554

7

Garth Tander

2462

8

Lee Holdsworth

2189

9

David Reynolds

2187

10

James Courtney

2153

11

Fabian Coulthard

2035

12

Jonathon Webb

1987

13

Russell Ingall

1935

14

Rick Kelly

1894

15

Michael Caruso

1770

16

Jason Bright

1737

17

Steven Johnson

1621

18

Michael Patrizi

1397

19

Dean Fiore

1395

20

Steve Owen

1393

21

James Moffat

1354

22

Todd Kelly

1263

23

Tony D’Alberto

1176

24

Karl Reindler

1147

25

David Wall

1142

26

Taz Douglas

1079

27

Alexandre Premat

942

28

Greg Murphy

649

in the field retain his seat with the Castrolbacked Supercheap Auto Racing team for a further year, running with Walkinshaw Racing.

Right behind the veteran in 14th on the drivers’ standings was another legend of the sport, Rick Kelly who endured a challenging final year with Holden before his Castrol-backed Kelly Racing outfit heads to new pastures with Nissan in 2013. A highlight for Kelly was taking his #14 Jack Daniel’s Commodore to to fifth overall for Race 5 of the Championship at the ITM400 Hamilton event in New Zealand.

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Despite missing the final four rounds of the year due to a shoulder injury, brother Todd in the sister Jack Daniel’s Commodore claimed 22nd in the Championship, one place ahead of Castrol-supported driver Tony D’Alberto.

In less than 48 hours after competing at the Bathurst 1000, Todd Kelly underwent shoulder surgery after injuring it at the team’s annual Endurance Driver Weekend Training Camp before the Sandown race during a routine ‘tug of war’ strengthening regime under the supervision of the Team’s Sport Scientist Damian Prasad.

“It’s certainly been a season of contrasts for the four car racing enterprise when

these types of injuries are so rare in our Sport, yet in the space of six months two of the team’s drivers are forced to be spectator”. Todd said. Todd Kelly was replaced by Tim Blanchard for the final four events this year.

The second driver which Kelly is referring to is none other than teammate and Kiwi great Greg Murphy who missed four rounds in the middle of the season due to a recurring back injury which required surgery. The four-time Bathurst 1000 winner was replaced by David Russell (Darwin) and Jacques Villeneuve (Townsville, Queensland Raceway and

2013 V8 Supercars Championship Calendar

Eastern Creek) while on leave from driving duties of the #51 Pepsi Max Commodore.

It has been announced that Murphy will depart the Kelly Racing fold which sees the Kiwi currently on the lookout for a seat in 2013. Also on the lookout for a drive is fellow, former Castrol-backed Kelly Racing driver Karl Reindler who finished the season on a high with his best result in V8 Supercars racing of seventh coming in the final round of 2012.

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Date

Event

Location

Feb 16

Official V8 Supercar Test

Sydney Motorsport Park

Feb 28-Mar 3

Clipsal 500 Adelaide

Adelaide Parklands

Mar 14-17

Australian Grand Prix

Albert Park, Melbourne

April 5-7

Tasmania Challenge

Symmons Plains, Tasmania

April 12-14

ITM 400 Auckland

Pukekohe, New Zealand

May 3-5

Perth

Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia

May 17-19

Texas 400

Austin, Texas

June 14-16

SKYCITY Triple Crown

Hidden Valley, Darwin

July 5-7

Sucrogen Townsville 400

Reid Park, Townsville

July 27-28

Coates Hire Ipswich

Queensland Raceway, Ipswich

August 23-25

Winton

Winton Motor Raceway, Victoria

September 13-15

Sandown 500

Sandown, Melbourne

October 10-13

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

Mount Panorama, Bathurst

October 25-27

ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600

Surfers Paradise, Queensland

November 1-3

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

November 23-24

Phillip Island 400

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria

November 29-December 1

Sydney 500

Sydney Olympic Park

V8 SuperTourers from New Z T

he all new touring car category to hit the shores of New Zealand was a huge success this year with plenty of tight, action-packed racing and A-grade drivers amongst the field. Castrol-backed Auto Trade Direct driver Scott McLaughlin completed his finest hour of motor racing by sealing the inaugural V8 SuperTourer Championship title with a race to spare at Christchurch’s Ruapuna circuit in late November. The Gold Coast-based Kiwi scored a resounding win after his chief rival Greg Murphy’s race was over in the

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opening seconds when he was taken out on the first corner by Steve Owen. It was a huge achievement by McLaughlin who, at 19 years of age, is the inaugural and youngest V8 SuperTourer Champion.

A stat which will no doubt stand firm for years to come. “It’s my first big Championship and hopefully it won’t be my last. From where our team has come from at the Manfeild meeting earlier in the year when he we had to pull out because of overheating problems it is unbelievable,” McLaughlin said.

Murphy, a Kiwi racing icon, came perilously close to winning the inaugural V8 SuperTourer title but an opening lap of mayhem meant his race was over at the first turn when he was hit from behind by Steve Owen. Murphy limped around with broken steering as officials issued Owen with a drive-through penalty.

“I got hit from behind, it was definitely Steve Owen but I don’t know why it happened,” Murph explained. “I got a very good start and got between Scott and Ant but Ant just kept coming over on me. I had

Zealand my nose in between the two of them and If I’d stayed where I was I would have turned Ant in front of Scott so trying to avoid an accident I backed out of it which probably let Steve Owen up the inside of me. We got down to turn one and I don’t know if he got squeezed by me or not but I got a big smack in the back of the car and after the that the rest was history.” Murph added.

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TOP 10 FINAL DRIVERS STANDINGS

FINAL TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1

Scott McLaughlin

3474

1

93

Auto Trade Direct Racing

1809

2

Greg Murphy

3080

2

51

Team #51

1752

3

John McIntyre

2840

3

10

M3 Racing

1320

4

Andy Booth

2656

4

31

1162

5

Jonny Reid

2654

Tasman Motorsport Group

6

Ant Pedersen

2424

5

96

International Motorsport

1068

7

Kayne Scott

2299

6

27

PSR West

976

8

Richard Moore

2080

7

22

Superlux/Pink Batts

856

9

Jono Webb

2080

8

70

JMR

795

10

Jack Perkins

2023

9

32

International Motorsport

779

10

23

Woodstock Racing

777

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Castrol-backed Victor Bray makes it two from two wins C astrol-backed Drag racing stalwart Victor Bray has stepped into the winners’ circle for the second time in as many weekends, taking victory in a father versus son final at Adelaide International Raceway’s anniversary invitational. The result tops off a massive two weeks for the sixtime Top Doorslamer champion, who on November 17 celebrated a breakthrough win over reigning champion John Zappia at the Perth Motorplex’s Goldenstates championship event.

1000 foot distance in the round robin style of racing, the event promised a valuable opportunity for the team to gather data ahead of next September’s ANDRA Top Doorslammer event. The team came away with more than that however, with Victor and his son Ben making it through to the final for an intense father versus son showdown. A close race saw Victor cross the line at 5.172 seconds and 186.95 miles per hour, just ahead of three-time champion Ben who punched out a 5.316s, 180.83mph result.

Bray was one of six Top Doorslammer racers from all across the country who responded to the invitation to head to Adelaide to celebrate 12 months since the return of championship drag racing to the facility. Held across the

“An all-Bray, father versus son finale at Adelaide Dragway, how good is that!” said Victor Bray.

“Best of all, by taking the win I have workshop bragging rights for both Christmas and the New Year, it doesn’t get much better than that!”

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Radical changes to V8 Supercars race formats in 2013 V8 Supercars has announced a radical change to its race formats at six events of next year’s championship. In what is described as the ‘60/60 Super Sprint’ format, two 60-kilometre halves will be run on Saturdays at Symmons Plains, Barbagallo, Hidden Valley, Queensland Raceway, Winton and Phillip Island. A regular 20 minute qualifying session will determine the starting grid for the nonpoints-paying first 60km race. The result of the first 60km ‘race’ will determine the grid for the second 60km race, which will pay championship points and include a podium presentation. A pair of independent 120km races – both with their own 15 minute qualifying sessions – will be held on the Sunday. The 120km

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races will include no refuelling. The commission has also changed the tyre compound rules for each event. The Clipsal 500, Sucrogen Townsville 400 and Sydney 500 will retain their race formats and tyre compounds, while those events plus the Sandown 500, Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Armor All Gold Coast 600 will be the only ones to feature refuelling during races. Another significant change will be the introduction of double-file restarts – common practice in NASCAR and IndyCar Series. The final formats for the ITM400 Auckland at Pukekohe, the Circuit of The Americas event in Texas and the Abu Dhabi event next November will be finalised next year.

Next year we’ll see a massive shakeup in Australian motorsport with the introduction of the all new Car of the Future model of V8 Supercar which brings with it two new manufacturers in the way of Nissan and Mercedes AMG. The addition of the two brands will bring an end to a 20 year rivalry between Ford and Holden. The new car will have more grip through larger tyres and wheels, less weight and better safety features than it’s predecessor, with those factors contributing to better on-track racing.

The cars will be cheaper too, in order to facilitate a more condensed calendar with a stated goal of 16 races over 40 weeks.

Car of the Future: The Changes l

Smaller, lighter roll cage chassis

l

“Larry Bar� removed

l

Glass windscreen replaced by poly carbonate

l

Engine moved backwards 100mm

l

Fuel cell placed in front of rear axle

l

Independent rear suspension

l

Transaxle gearbox and differential

l

Upgrade to 18-inch wheels, bigger tyres and brakes

l

Option for a control engine for new makes

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Steve Ric

Castrol ambassador and Porsche Carre endured a mixed year to finish fifth overa up second at the Sandown 500 V8 Supe for FPR’s Mark Winterbottom. Richo’s b came in the form of two second place, r streets of the Gold Coast.

ShowTime FMX This year Castrol has supported ShowTime FMX who specialize in performing freestyle moto x shows at a wide variety of large scale events around Australia and overseas. The ShowTime FMX Freestyle Moto X Team was formed in 1999 and performed their first show at the Royal Canberra Show with three mounds of dirt. Since then they have cemented their position as the most spectacular main arena act in the country and with an average of 250 performances a year they are the most experienced freestyle moto x team in Australia. ShowTime FMX has an official signature merchandise line with JetPilot which is sold in all leading surf / lifestyle stores around Australia and New Zealand. The ShowTime FMX team have been a huge success and a real fan favourite at several V8 Supercars events this year.

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chards

era Cup front-runner Steve Richards all in the Porsche series and to pick ercar event as endurance co-driver best results in the Carrera Cup series race finishes in Phillip Island and on the

Le Brocq claims 2012 Australian Formula Ford title Jack Le Brocq officially wrapped up the 2012 Australian Formula Ford Championship leaving the final round at Winton Raceway with the silverware.

Castrol has been a technical partner of the 2012 Formula Ford Championship which is seen as a platform for aspiring young Australian drivers looking to step up the ranks in Australian Motorsport. Le Brocq finished off a very solid season by finishing second for the weekend which gave the Victorian enough points to break the record of having scored the most points in a single season with 406, the previous record being held at 371. The 19-year-old took 11 victories for the season leaving him on equal 5th for the most victories scored in the history of the sport here in Australia. He went on to finish every race for the season and finished it without doing any damage to the suspension of his Mygale Racecar which is generally unheard of in Formula Ford Racing.

“It’s an awesome feeling to now be officially added to the list of past winners which include many of the drivers up and down pitlane in the V8 supercars Championship. We had an awesome season and we proved that consistency was the key and scored points in every race. The car was excellent and it was a huge credit to the Minda Team to get it to where it was and I’m sure this Championship will be the first of many to come for them.”

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CIK Stars of Karting Champions Crowned Q

ueenslander Chris Hays (Gold Coast, QLD), Melbourne’s Adam Hughes (Mentone, Vic) and Canberra’s Cameron Hill (Canberra, ACT) claimed the three national championships up for grabs during the final round of the CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE in Melbourne. Hays entered the weekend’s round second in the chase for the championship before closing the gap to championship leader Kyle Ensbey to one point entering the final day of competition. When Ensbey came together with reigning champion, Tyler Greenbury, in the opening final it all but ended his championship hopes.

Greenbury was excluded from the

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for Hughes to claim the championship victory and etch his name on the James Courtney perpetual trophy. “To win the title for the second year running is a huge feather in the cap for the JAM Racing team,” said Hughes. “All year I’ve had great reliability which has allowed me to be a championship contender and it was a huge relief to know that I’d finally won it.” In the Pro Junior (KF3) ranks Hill entered the final day of competition with an insurmountable lead before signing off with a pair of victories on the Port Melbourne circuit. Hill led home Thomas Randle and Liam McLellan, who made his debut in the category this weekend.

race for his part in the incident. From there, Hays went on to win both 27-lap encounters to secure the championship, along with the $10,000 towards an overseas CIK event that goes with it. His name will also be etched on the John Pizarro perpetual trophy.

“This is just an amazing feeling,” said Hays. “It’s been a tough battle all year long but it’s great to have come out on top.

I can’t thank Vodafone enough for their continued support, Jon Targett (Hays’ mechanic), Adam Graham from Energy Corse Australia and my Dad for everything he has put in to get me this championship.

“I had some good speed this weekend, you never like to see a championship rival on the sidelines like Kyle was in the opening final but in the end we still showed that I had the speed to get the job done.” Finishing

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second behind Hays today was a pair of Melbourne drivers, Lee Mitchener and Matthew Wall.

Hughes’ title in the Pro Light (KF1) category was the second in a row for the JAM Racing outfit. Top Kart driver Joseph Mawson took the round win but fifth place in the final race was enough

All three winners in the Pro categories receive a $10,000 grant towards competing in an overseas CIK event while the runner-up receives their race tyres for the use in the series throughout 2013 and third place free entry into next year’s series. In the Challenge categories, James Greenwood signed off the Clubman category with a win while Jedd Stojakovic and Michael Griffiths were victorious in the Australian Leopard Challenge. Jayden Ojeda’s consistency earned him the title in the Junior National Light category while Torey Blanch won the Heavy category.

THE

POWER BEHIND THE

PACK BEHIND THE

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