VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 17
it’s our best oil yet... www.castroledge.com.au
10th OCTOBER 2012
Castrol perilously clos win on 50th year anniver C
astrol-backed Ford Performance Racing fell agonisingly short of claiming the 2012 Bathurst 1000 crown after David Reynolds and Dean Canto put in the drives of their careers to claim second place by a mere 0.3 seconds after 1000-kilometres of racing. Reynolds stalked eventual race winner Jamie Whincup for the final 20 laps and the pair were never more than 1.5 seconds apart. “Driving to Bathurst I had a thought that I would pass a Triple Eight car on the last lap of Bathurst and while I thought it would be (Craig) Lowndes it almost became reality today,” said Reynolds. “We were an unproven duo a few weeks ago but I think after this weekend we’ve proven that we make a great team.”
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The Castrol-backed Supercheap Auto Racing duo of Russell Ingall and Christian Klien drove superbly from 25th on the grid to finish inside the top-10 with a ninth place result for the 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing has endured the full range of emotions at Mount Panorama title contenders Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison suffering a day to forget in what many experts are calling one of the greatest races in the event’s 50 year history. Winterbottom and Richards had a low-key race and despite dropping four places on the opening lap, the pair used their vast experience to recover the ground. They were never more
than a few seconds away from the lead throughout all the safety car cycles and heading into the last quarter of the race were well-placed to make their push for the podium. However, on lap 139 Winterbottom was forced to pit to replace a cut tyre which dropped him to the back half of the field. He would recover to 11th but a potential podium chance went begging.
“It was a frustrating day with all the tyre issues. There wasn’t much we could do though the only saving grace was the fact all but the last one fell into our pit windows,” said Winterbottom. “We definitely could’ve got a podium as we had the same set-up and tyre pressures as Dave and Dean and we did a few tyres and they didn’t have an issue
se to 18th Bathurst 1000 rsary so we are scratching our heads at the moment.”
Castrol-backed Kelly Racing’s Rick and Todd Kelly showed impressive speed, getting the two Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodores well into the top ten on several occasions throughout the day in front of a record crowd of 207,000 at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1,000. The strategy the team worked towards included a late safety car period. Unfortunately the safety car failed to materialise and Rick was forced to pit for a final splash of fuel on lap 153 to eventually finish 15th. Todd pitted on lap 142 for the final time and like Rick, took on a full tank of fuel and new slick tyres and resumed in 18th place where he would eventually finish.
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“Bathurst was very promising for us to make a significant improvement in our general car speed and we definitely had the car speed to finish in the top few which is really good from earlier in the year,” said Rick. “It’s really good to make those improvements but there are so many good drivers and teams out there and a lack of safety cars out there and we really needed one late in the day for our strategy. Had the safety car appeared, I’m sure we would have finished around sixth or seventh.” Jamie Whincup now leads team-mate Craig Lowndes in the championship standings by 161 points after 21 of 29 races. Castrol-backed FPR driver Mark Winterbottom sits a further 27 points adrift in third.
2012 International V8 Supercars Championship pos
driver
pts
1
Jamie Whincup
2772
2
Craig Lowndes
2611
3
Mark Winterbottom
2584
4
Will Davison
2302
5
Shane Van Gisbergen
2020
6
Tim Slade
1854
7
Garth Tander
1824
8
David Reynolds
1680
9
Lee Holdsworth
1629
10
Fabian Coulthard
1613
Legends of the Mountain - 50 years at Mount Panorama STRENGTH TO PERFORM
W
ith the great race celebrating it’s 50th year of running, there was plenty going on in the paddock with a true retro feel. The Castrol grid girls were certainly an eye opener with their elegantly stylish go-go girls replica uniforms fresh froExtram the 70s. Also bringing back some memories and stories to share were legends of their era and Bathurst winners on Castrol oil. Legends included the likes for Larry Perkins, Tony Longhurst, Colin Bond and Allan Moffat just to name a few. All of these legendary drivers spent time at the Castrol corporate area to share some of their Bathurst tales with Castrol
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guests for the weekend. Longhurst, a two-time Bathurst 100 winner, even threw the helmet back on as the guest driver in the Auto One Wildcard Entry for the Australian V8 Ute Series. Despite not having driven around the mountain in anger for a few years now, Longhurst put in a creditable effort to finish 12th in the final two V8 Ute races for the weekend.
the mountain in 50 years of celebration were several Castrol-backed machines from their respective eras. Greg Murphy’s 2003 K-Mart Commodore, Tony Longhurst’s Benson & Hedges Ford Sierra and Russell Ingall/Larry Perkins 95 winning Castrol Commodore were all driven around the mountain by their legend drivers much to the delight of mountain fans.
To mark the 50th year of the great race V8 Supercars put on a real spectacle for fans, with a selection of the greatest Bathurst 1000 winning cars physically taking to the mountain for a trip down memory lane, and a lap fans will never forget. Of the cars to parade around
Overall Castrol really did celebrate the 50th year of Bathurst 1000 in true retro style and was regarded by industry experts as the brand which, more than any other, captured the true retro style with their unique branding approach to the event.
Castrol Legends Lunch - Celebra T his weekend Castrol will celebrate 50 years of Bathurst 1000 racing as the V8 Supercars Championship heads to Mount Panorama for this milestone event in Australian Motorsport. In aid of this celebration Castrol held a unique photo shoot this morning with the legendary pairing of Larry Perkins/ Russell Ingall and Mark Winterbottom/ Steven Richards with their modern day and historic V8 Supercars on the waters edge of Sydney’s Circular Quay. Perkins and Ingall have right to argue they are
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the ultimate Bathurst 1000 champions with the pair literally driving their #11 Castrol Commodore from last place to first to win the great race back in 1995.
“It was great to see the Castrol Commodore again after so many years and what a wonderful site it was in front of the Opera House this afternoon,” said Perkins. “Bathurst is a special event each year but it’s even more special with the 50th year celebration this weekend so it was nice to share some memories today at the Castrol legends lunch.”
In recognition of one of the greatest efforts in Bathurst 1000 history Castrol celebrated in style by obtaining the actual car from 1997 which took the Perkins/Ingall combo to victory only this time with the mountainous Sydney Opera House as it’s backdrop.
“I started my career with Castrol and now I’m heading to the final stages with Supercheap Auto and Castrol who have a great association with my team and the great race this weekend,“ commented Ingall. “There’s something about Bathurst
ating 50 years of Bathurst 1000 that just turns my neck hairs on end each year and this time will be no different. It’s been quite a while between Bathurst wins [last in 1997 with Perkins] but we’re not heading there this weekend without anything but victory as our target.”
“”I’m the only one of these four guys yet to win my first Bathurst 1000 but we’ve got the most competitive package ever this year and I know I can count on Richo to do an awesome job as always.” Winterbottom said.
Yet to win his first Bathurst 1000 but currently gunning for the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship title is Winterbottom who is relishing the chance of a maiden Bathurst victory after hearing the 95’ victory story as told by Perkins and Ingall.
Castrol Bathurst 1000 Facts
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• Seventeen Bathurst 1000 victories have been achieved on Castrol oils • The late, great Peter Brock won eight of his record-breaking nine Bathurst 1000 victories on Castrol oils
• Castrol first tasted success at Mount Panorama in 1969 when Colin Bond and Tony Roberts took their Holden Monaro GTS 350 to victory • Castrol has played an integral role in many teams engines since the first Bathurst 1000 was raced in 1963
Castrol-backed Mike Neff wins Auto-Plus Nationals
O
n a record-setting weekend Mike Neff and the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang played it smart and took home the driver and crew chief’s 10th career win and fourth this season in the NHRA Nationals. Neff tuned and drove his Mustang to four round wins with an average ET of 4.029 seconds, an astounding tribute to the conditions at Maple Grove Raceway, as well as Neff’s tuning abilities and crew. “We hadn’t seen conditions like that in quite some time. You saw the dragsters and that was really impressive. It was really awesome to watch. What those guys were running is just unbelievable. That showed you what the conditions were like out there. It was a really exciting day of racing,” said Neff, first time winner at Maple Grove Raceway. Neff is now within 54 points of Jack Beckman with two races to go. Beckman padded his lead by 20 points for setting the national ET record, 3.986 seconds. It was a stellar performance weekend but in crunch time and with a possible
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record looming for Neff he decided to race smart. Going into the final Neff did not have lane choice against Johnny Gray who beat new points leader Beckman on a hole-shot in the semi-finals. Fortunately for Neff, Gray made that run in the left lane and Neff had made his winning run in the right lane. “I thought the lanes were pretty equal. Johnny Gray made a great run the round before in the left lane. I am sure they felt comfortable over there. It was nice for me to not have to change lanes even though I didn’t have lane choice. It just worked out,” said Neff. With two races left in the Countdown to the Championship, Neff once again has a chance to become the first driver and crew chief to win a Full Throttle Funny Car championship in the modern era. Last season he battled down to the last day with eventual champion Matt Hagan before finishing No. 2. Castrolbacked Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team had a tall order in the first round when they pulled up
beside teammate John Force. It was a tough matchup as both drivers had championship aspirations. After Force out ran Hight, the 2009 Funny Car champion immediately shifted his focus to making the strongest effort over the final two races. Courtney Force was ousted in the first round by 2011 Funny Car champion Matt Hagan. It was a tough loss for the rookie of the year front-runner who was racing a pink Traxxas Ford Mustang to raise awareness for breast cancer research. COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS pos
driver
pts
1.
Jack Beckman
2437
2.
Ron Capps
2414
3.
Mike Neff
2383
4.
Johnny Gray
2246
5.
Cruz Pedregon
2244
6.
John Force
2217
7.
Courtney Force
2216
8.
Robert Hight
2211
TO TEST OUR STRONGEST OIL WE ENGINEERED THE ULTIMATE TESTS OF STRENGTH.
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World Rally Championship news f
J
ari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila matched their career-best performance on asphalt when they finished second in Rallye de France - Round 11 of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Castrol-backed Ford World Rally Team duo finished just 15.5sec from victory in a Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car, to equal the second place they secured in Germany in August. Latvala won six speed tests and the 27-year-old Finn described the result as ‘my best driving performance
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on asphalt’. Latvala has won once and twice finished second in the last three rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship to climb to third in the drivers’ standings after a tough opening to the 2012 campaign. “My target was to improve on my performance in Germany and I achieved that,” said Latvala. “I made one small mistake yesterday, and when you’re trying to beat a nine-time world champion on his favourite surface over his home roads,
that’s one error too many. But I finished only 15sec behind Loeb so I feel there is just one more step to take. I really want to beat him on asphalt! Team-mates Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson finished 27th in a similar Fiesta RS WRC. After retiring yesterday following a spectacular accident which felled a telegraph pole and provided huge global coverage on TV and video sharing websites, they restarted today to ease through the final leg. The
Drivers’ Championship
from Rallye de France Castrol-backed Volkswagen drivers Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen celebrated a dominant one-two victory at Rally France in the large field of the Super 2000 class. In front of their home crowd, Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) in the Skoda Fabia S2000 finished in twelfth place overall ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N). In changeable conditions, the French duo Ogier/Ingrassia set the fastest time in class on 15 of the 21 special stages.
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The two Norwegians Mikkelsen/Fløene were the quickest contenders six times. Volkswagen Motorsport is fielding two Fabia S2000 cars of the group’s Skoda brand in the FIA WRC this season in order to prepare for its entry with the Polo R WRC as of 2013 in competitive conditions. Citroen superstar Sebastien Loeb secured an astonishing ninth World Rally Crown after holding on to a narrow win the Rally de France Alsace.
pos
driver
pts
1.
S Loeb
244
2.
M Hirvonen
173
3.
J-M Latvala
131
4.
M Østberg
125
5.
P Solberg
119
6.
E Novikov
69
Manufacturers’ Championship pos
driver
pts
1.
Citroen Total WRT
388
2.
Ford WRT
259
3.
M-Sport Ford WRT
137
4.
Citroen Junior WRT
72
5.
Adapta WRT
71
6.
Qatar WRT
63
Two-wheel Motorsport Castrol-backed Honda-rider Rea rounds-out 2012 WSBK with French podium
to take his sixth podium of the season and consolidate fifth place in the final standings.
Castrol-backed Honda World Superbike Team rider Jonathan Rea finished second in today’s thrilling finale to the 2012 World Superbike Championship at Magny-Cours in France. The last race of the season, upon which the destination of the title depended, was won by British rider Tom Sykes, but it was Italian Max Biaggi who took the championship spoils, finishing in fifth position and taking the series victory by half a point. In wet conditions, Rea began race one from sixth place on the grid but a great start and a good set-up for his Honda CBR1000RR allowed the 25-year-old to move to the front and open a 10-second lead. However, on lap 12, he was caught out by the conditions and crashed out, limping back to the pits for some repairs to his machine. Rea eventually re-joined the race to take three championship points at the flag. Another good start to race two placed Rea fourth before he made a steady move forward, passing Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli
Rea’s team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama was unable to complete his last outing for the Honda World Superbike Team in the way he wanted. The Japanese rider suffered serious grip problems in race one and, despite pitting to make adjustments, was unable to complete the race. Aoyama suffered similar issues in race two but, determined to finish the race, brought his CBR home in 14th place. Despite Magny-Cours being the last event of the 2012 season, the Honda World Superbike Team still has work to do before the year end. New rider, Leon Haslam, will have his first shakedown test on the CBR1000RR Fireblade at Assen, Netherlands on Wednesday, before a comprehensive pre-season testing and development programme begins at Aragon in Spain next month.
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Jonathan Rea (13th and 2nd) “I needed some wings in race one when I got caught out by the conditions but it was frustrating because my team gave
me a great bike for the wet. Everything was feeling good but I felt a bit like an amateur when I was in the gravel. At the beginning of race two I was a bit wary of the conditions and although I was able to get to the front, Tom (Sykes) didn’t make any mistakes. I’m really happy to be part of this championship and congratulations to Max on a great job. At the end of a long season I want to thank the team for their continued hard work. On certain days we’ve struggled but, on others we’ve capitalised on the strengths of the bike through the great work ethic we have as a team. We’ll go away this winter and I’ll make sure I’m in the best condition possible for the 2013 season; I’m sure the team will do the same with the CBR.”
Final championship points: pos
rider
points
1
Biaggi
358
2
Sykes
357.5
3
Melandri
328.5
4
Checa
287.5
5
Rea
278.5
Castrol-backed Bautista 6th in MotoGP at Aragon Under sunny blue skies but in cool temperatures the MotoGP race at Aragon got underway with Castrolbacked Team San Carlo Honda rider Alvaro Bautista starting from 12th on the grid. Unlike at Misano the riders got off the line without any problems and a good first few laps brought Bautista up to 7th position with Nicky Hayden going off track in front of him and suffering a nasty crash after running into a wall, fortunately without serious consequences for the American. Having been a bit off the pace all weekend and not looking very competitive in qualifying, Bautista did well to hang on to his 7th position which soon became 6th as Stefan Bradl crashed out. He quickly lost a fair amount of time on the entertaining battle for third between the three Yamaha riders Dovizioso, Spies and Crutchlow, but carefully maintained his gap on replacement rider Johnny Rea behind him. It then was a rather lonely race for Bautista, having plenty of space in front and behind him and steadily clocking his laptimes without any disturbances and going faster than in qualifying. At the front it was Dani Pedrosa who soon established his dominance,
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opening a gap over Jorge Lorenzo which he extended to almost 6.5 seconds over the finish line, the first two positions being settled early while the fight for the last podium spot went all the way to the line with Andrea Dovizios keeping the upper hand this time and snatching third from his teammate Cal Crutchlow. Bautista eventually brought it home in sixth, but with a gap of almost 15 seconds to Spies in 5th and 28 seconds behind winner Pedrosa, which he won’t be too happy about. But considering the difficulties he had during the weekend, struggling with confidence in the front and rear, he did well enough to hang on to that position and score more valuable championship points to consolidate his seventh position in the overall standings, level on points with Valentino Rossi and only seven points behind fifth place. Alvaro Bautista (6th) “Considering how practice went sixth place is a positive result. Obviously I’m not particularly happy with it, because I think we can do much better and be fighting for results like Misano, but that
was always going to be difficult today. I tried my best to chase the second group, but it wasn’t possible and I was having to take too many risks, so in the end I decided to play it safe and bring the bike home for as many points as possible. It is difficult to race like that and we need to find a solution to our front-end issues if I am going to be able to push this bike week in and week out. We have salvaged a difficult situation today, but we need to keep working and knowing this team as I do, I’m sure that’s what they’ll do.” pos
rider
points
1
Jorge LORENZO
290
2
Dani PEDROSA
257
3
Casey STONER
186
4
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
179
5
Cal CRUTCHLOW
135
6
Valentino ROSSI
128
7
Alvaro BAUTISTA
128
8
Stefan BRADL
115
9
Nicky HAYDEN
93
10
Ben SPIES
88
Castrol-backed Holder still coming to grips with World Championship triumph Australia’s newest World Speedway Champion, Chris Holder has admitted he is struggling to realise his new status upon return to his base in the UK. Returning with the greatest prize in World Speedway competition, Holder is having trouble believing that he is the youngest World Champion in nearly 60 years. “I just keep shaking my head saying there’s no way that I’m the World Champion,” Holder said. “It’s an unreal feeling.” The controversy after the first attempt to run the semi-final where Holder and Danish triple World Champion, Nicki Pedersen came together ignited the Torun arena – where Holder represents the local league team. Although both riders were placed back into the semi-final, a fiery exchange ensued between Holder and the Dane. Outgoing Australian three-time World Champion, Jason Crump pulled Holder aside after the fracas and re-focused the 25-year-
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old who made it through to the Final but couldn’t complete the perfect night when he out with an engine issue. “He just told me to breathe and focus on what I had to do,” Holder explained. “I’m pretty stoked that he did that and then he was the first one to come and shake my hand. He’s done it a million times throughout his career and I’m grateful for how he helped me out.” After the meeting, Holder said that semi-final was the hardest race of his life. Entering the decider with just two points between himself and Pedersen, had he missed out on making the Final and Pedersen got through, he had potential of losing the Gold Medal by a slim margin. It could not have been a better climax for Series organisers, with the 2012 Championship being one of the closest in the Grand Prix era. Holder was joined in Poland by his parents, Mick and Karen, his two brothers James and Jack, partner Sealy and son Max.
“It’s unbelievable, we’re still pinching ourselves,” said Mick Holder. “To win the World Championship is something we never thought could happen. It’s been the perfect week – we arrived in England and met Max for the first time, now we’ve watched Chris win the World Championship.” The four times Australian Champion will tomorrow morning (Australian time) race in Leg 1 of the British Elite League Grand Final for the Poole Pirates with fellow Aussie, Darcy Ward. They will race off against Australian riders Troy Batchelor, Jason Doyle and Nick Morris who race for the Swindon Robins. Following on from the Elite League Grand Finals, it is anticipated Holder will return home to Appin in Sydney’s South-West where he will no doubt receive a huge reception from the extended Holder clan and friends. Holder became the fifth Australian to win the biggest prize in Speedway.
Richo’s Safety Tips #13 - Bushfire Safety A
s the weather’s starting to warm up a bit now, its important to make sure your property is fire ready. The Australian summers are harsh as we all know and when a bushfire takes hold, it can be ultra-destructive and uncontrollable. Even though you may not live in the direct path of a bushfire, you may still be affected by flying embers, which can take hold a long way from where the bush actually lies. To fire prepare your property, get up and ensure those gutters have no leaves or other items that may ignite. Around the house and sheds, clear anything that could provide fuel to the fire – like fallen leaves, twigs and dead grass. If a fire is coming, block the gutters and fill them with water. Above all –have a plan of how you are going to get out of there and communicate it to your family. It’s important that you plan well in advance and should the fire be coming – know where you are going. If you can, have two or three options just in case one is blocked off by fire. It’s a good idea to have a battery powered torch should the power go out and an AM/ FM radio and spare batteries to listen to the latest news. Also have your mobile phone charged up. Fill the bathtub with water, wet some towels and place them around doors and windows. Wear natural fibres like cotton and if you have a swimming pool or dam, you may want to have a portable pump on hand or consult the local bushfire brigade on signage so they know your water is available should they need it.
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QANTAS WALLABIES WRAP UP SECOND IN THE CASTROL RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 25-19 WIN OVER ARGENTINA
T
he Qantas Wallabies have secured their third win of the inaugural Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship with a strong six-point win over Argentina in Rosario this morning. After a first half that was dominated by penalty goals the game opened up in the second half with both sides crossing for a try in the second half. The opening try nearly came in the 51st minute when Qantas Wallabies flanker, Michael Hooper broke the line and ran 85-meters only to be pulled down 12 meters short of the line. The Qantas Wallabies had another chance to extend their six-point half time lead in the 57thminute however Qantas Wallabies
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fullback, Mike Harris couldn’t continue his accurate first half kicking. The missed opportunity allowed the Pumas to reduce the visitors lead to just three points in the 63rd minute when Pumas inside centre Marcelo Bosch, slotted his first penalty goal attempt. Two minutes later the Qantas Wallabies won a scrum, 25 meters out from the try line in centre field and took full advantage with a set piece play sending Digby Ioane in for his second try of the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship. The five points extended the Australians lead to 12-20 and when Mike Harris converted Ioanes try the Qantas
Wallabies led by 10-points. The Australians went further ahead in the 74th minute after Harris kicked truly again for his sixth penalty goal of the Test to extend the visitors lead to 12-25 with just six minutes remaining. Boosted by a passionate and vocal crowd the Pumas weren’t to be denied and when Brett Sheehan was shown a yellow card in the 75th minute the home side took full advantage and crossed for their first try of the match. The successful conversion attempt by Bosch saw the Qantas Wallabies lead reduced to just six points with only five minute on the clock. A long
CASTROL EDGE ARGENTINA PUMAS range penalty goal attempt by Qantas Wallabies fly half, Kurtley Beale in the 79th minute could have put the game out of reach for the Pumas, however the kick sailed wide. A final thrust by the Pumas was cut short with some solid defence by the Qantas Wallabies who notched their third win of the inaugural Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship and in doing so claimed second place in the Championship. The Qantas Wallabies will return home and enjoy a well-deserved week break before entering camp in preparation of the third and final Bledisloe Cup Test on 2012 at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 20 October.
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THE
POWER BEHIND THE
PACK BEHIND THE
PACK!