Castrol EDGE Australia eNewsletter - Vol 3, Issue 1

VOLUME 3 - ISSUE 2

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

23th JANUARY 2013

2013 V8 Supercars field tak as the countdown to Clips With the opening round of the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship fast approaching the final look of the 2013 grid is almost complete, with a number of impending confirmations set to lock down the new field.

It has been reported that former Stone Brothers Racing star Shane van Gisbergen is set to make an unexpected and bold return to the V8 field, linking with Tekno Autosports. The shock news regarding the fast Kiwi’s future is set to be confirmed later this week.

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The role vacated by van Gisbergen at Erebus Motorsport (formally SBR) is yet to be confirmed, with paddock talk linking Chaz Mostert to the drive.

The Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing junior driver is likely to remain a driver contracted to FPR, but could be loaned to the new Mercedes Benz team.

FPR team principal Tim Edwards has said in the past that if he is unable to find Mostert a seat in the V8 Supercars Championship, he will field a Dunlop Series entry for his young charger.

Another set of seats yet to be announced lie with the newly-expanded two-car Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport squad.

Dunlop Series runner-up Scott Pye has been heavily linked to the drive in the #30 iSelect-backed entry, while the team’s second Holden is firming as a new home for Dean Fiore. The West Australian recently confirmed that he will lease his own Racing Entitlements Contract to Dick Johnson Racing for this year. Team owner Lucas Dumbrell could not be contacted for further comment.

See below for the list of confirmed drivers in the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship.

Note: Italics are unconfirmed/rumoured

kes shape sal begins The final vacancy is at Dick Johnson Racing, driving the #12 Falcon that was recently vacated by Fiore. Last year’s DJR driver Steve Owen and former Kelly Racing pilot Karl Reindler are understood to be in contention for the position. Other seats that have not been made public, yet are widely known as confirmed, are Michael Caruso and James Moffat at Nissan Motorsport.

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1

Jamie Whincup

Triple Eight Race Engineering

Holden Commodore VF

2

Garth Tander

Holden Racing Team

Holden Commodore VF

3

Tony D’Alberto

Tony D’Alberto Racing

Holden Commodore VF

4

Lee Holdsworth

Erebus Motorsport

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG

5

Mark Winterbottom

Ford Performance Racing

Ford Falcon FG

6

Will Davison

Ford Performance Racing

Ford Falcon FG

7

Todd Kelly

Nissan Motorsport

Nissan Altima L33

8

Jason Bright

Brad Jones Racing

Holden Commodore VF

9

Chaz Mostert

Erebus Motorsport

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG

11

James Moffat

Nissan Motorsport

Nissan Altima L33

12

Steve Owen

Triple F Racing

Ford Falcon FG

14

Fabian Coulthard

Brad Jones Racing

Holden Commodore VF

15

Rick Kelly

Nissan Motorsport

Nissan Altima L33

16

Michael Caruso

Nissan Motorsport

Nissan Altima L33

17

Steve Johnson

Dick Johnson Racing

Ford Falcon FG

18

Alex Davison

Charlie Schwerkolt Racing

Ford Falcon FG

19

Jonathon Webb

Tekno Autosports

Holden Commodore VF

21

David Wall

Brad Jones Racing

Holden Commodore VF

22

James Courtney

Holden Racing Team

Holden Commodore VF

30

Scott Pye

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport

Holden Commodore VF

33

Alexandre Premat

Garry Rogers Motorsport

Holden Commodore VF

34

Scott McLaughlin

Garry Rogers Motorsport

Holden Commodore VF

47

Tim Slade

Erebus Motorsport

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG

49

Dean Fiore

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport

Holden Commodore VF

55

David Reynolds

Rod Nash Racing

Ford Falcon FG

66

Russell Ingall

Walkinshaw Racing

Holden Commodore VF

91

Shane van Gisbergen

Tekno Autosports

Holden Commodore VF

888

Craig Lowndes

Triple Eight Race Engineering

Holden Commodore VF

FPR moves to all-Australian o Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing (FPR) has undergone a change of ownership with leading Australian motorsport identities Rod Nash and ‘Rusty’ French purchasing the team from British engineering firm Prodrive.

Both Castrol and Ford Australia fully support the acquisition as the sport moves into an exciting new era, with the Car of the Future model set for launch at the opening round of the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship next month in Adelaide. FPR’s management structure will be bolstered by Nash who will play a more active role in the team, overseeing and contributing to all aspects of the business. Nash and the Castrol brand

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have shared many past successes dating back to the early nineties with Larry Perkins and the Castrol Commodore.

We move into the future together under another exciting partnership as FPR transitions to a more direct, hands-on ownership with Nash and French.

Tim Edwards remains Team Principal and will continue to be responsible for the daily running of FPR. The four, star driver line-up will remain the same with Mark Winterbottom (#5), Will Davison (#6), David Reynolds (#55) and Alex Davison (#18) all in deep preparation for the opening round in Adelaide (Feb 28 - Mar 1).

“Rusty and I are pleased we’ve been able to acquire a business as strong as FPR which is not only an icon of Australian sport, but one of this country’s leading specialist engineering firms,” Nash said. “In the last few years I’ve watched FPR grow from strength to strength and to see so many talented people from so many different industries working together is a real credit to Tim and the entire team.

“We are making a long-term investment in a great local business, which allows us to assist with developing all aspects of the team. But at the heart of it Rusty and I are both keen racing enthusiasts

ownership so to now own this team makes us both very proud. We are committed to a long and successful future for the Ford brand.”

Longstanding Team Principal Tim Edwards says despite the change in ownership the operation of the team will be unchanged.

“We welcome Rod and Rusty with open arms as they are two men very committed to ensuring our team continues to be successful,” Edwards said. “They are not only extremely passionate about racing but both are very successful businessmen in their

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own right so I look forward to the fresh approach they can provide us across all facets of the team. Rod will certainly play a more active role, though for our engineers and race crew it will be business as usual as we continue our preparations for the 2013 season.”

FPR will continue to be part of the Prodrive family and its strong strategic and technical links with the company remain unchanged. V8 Supercars CEO David Malone said the series endorsed the change in ownership.

“The FPR brand is one of the most prestigious in world motorsport and an

Australian sporting icon,” Mr Malone said. “As astute businessmen with a lifetime of motorsport history and success, Rod and Rusty will take the team to the next step after just missing out in 2012.”

FPR is coming off the back of its most successful ever V8 Supercars season with 11 wins, 11 pole positions and 35 podiums as all three of its factoryprepared Fords finished in the top 10 of the championship. The entire team at Castrol wish Nash, French and FPR every success for the upcoming season.

Castrol-backed Volkswagen Motorsport impresses on WRC debut Castrol-backed Volkswagen Motorsport has impressed on debut of the opening FIA World Rally Championship round of 2013 - Rallye Monte-Carlo with the team finishing second behind winner Sebastein Loeb. Since the second stage of the event Loeb was never headed winning ahead of Sebsatien Ogier on the debut of the Volkswagen Polo R, with the other DS3 of Dani Sordo in third.

The four day event was a tricky affair with freezing temperatures bringing plenty of snow and ice, plus on the final day - rain.

The final day had a sting in the tail with heavy snow on the 1606-metre summit of the famous Col de Turini and it took its

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toll with third-placed Ford Fiesta RS of Castrol backed Evgeny Novikov, Jari-Matti Latvala’s (fifth place) Volkswagen Polo R and eighth placed Juho Hanninen (Ford) all crashing on the first of the scheduled three runs over the Col. Tyre selection was irrelevant as drivers emerged in a state of shock, describing conditions as the most difficult they had experienced.

“We have already achieved more at the Rally Monte Carlo than we could ever have dreamed of beforehand,” said Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director.

“Both driver/co-driver pairings have done a great job so far. Sébastien Ogier backed up the fantastic results of the first two days of the ‘Monte’ with more top times.”

Castrol EDGE-backed Qatar M-Sport’s Mads Østberg put in a sterling performance on his Monte debut to claim sixth place and get his championship campaign off to a solid start. M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta RS WRC proved competitive throughout the rally with each of the four Qatar M-Sport drivers taking a fastest time from the event – Thierry Neuville on Shakedown, Evgeny Novikov on SS6 and SS7, Juho Hänninen on SS9 and Østberg on SS12. Equally inspiring, Novikov had been running in a strong podium position before succumbing to the perfidious conditions lying in wait through the fearsome ‘Col de Turini’ stage on the 14th test.

Sepp Wiegand won the new WRC 2

support category in a Castrol EDGEbacked Skoda Fabia S2000. The German took the lead on the second stage when Esapekka Lappi retired his similar car with accident damage. Armin Kremer finished second with Ukraine’s Yuriy Protasov third.

Rallye Monte-Carlo : Final results pos

rider

team/car

1.

Sebastien Loeb

Citroen

2.

Sebastien Ogier

Volkswagen

3.

Dani Sordo

Citroen

4.

Mikko Hirvonen

Citroen

5.

Bryan Bouffier

PH Citroen

6.

Mads Ostberg

Qatar M-Sport Ford

7.

Martin Prokop

Czech Ford

8.

Sepp Wiegand

Skoda Deutschland

9.

Olivier Burri

Offshore Peugeot

10.

Michal Kosciuszko

Italia Mini

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Castrol-supported Bray makes semi-final appearance at Slamfest round Castrol-supported Team Bray Racing’s Victor Bray has enjoyed a semifinal appearance at Heathcote Park Raceway’s round one of the 2013 Slamfest Series against eventual winner Peter Kapiris. Victor faced the 2012 Slamfest Champion in front of more than 3,200 race fans after taking victory against Frankie Mamone in the first round, defeating the New South Welshman’s 5.570s/101.01mph effort with a 4.108s pass at 179.07mph.

“I was able to start off pretty strong today with the third fastest time in qualifying which saw me face off against Mamone for the first round,” said Victor Bray. “We were able to make

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it through to the semi-finals with a solid ‘four second’ result, and were hopeful for another win in the semi-final, but unfortunately my long-time friend; Peter Kapiris was first to the finish line.

“For Team Bray Racing, while we didn’t take the win it was still a good day out with some great racing for the fans in surprising conditions – after all of this extreme heat, today we had a top of 26 degrees and by the time the finals were run, it was only 16.7 degrees, who would have thought!”

On his way to facing Victor in the semifinals, Kapiris met Team Bray Racing’s

Ben Bray in round one. Ben had earlier qualified seventh fastest after suffering tyre shake in the right hand lane, with his luck to only get worse with an unexpected problem encountered during his first round. With the starting tree set to the sportsman (full tree) setting rather than the regular Top Doorslammer settings of ‘Pro tree’, Bray left the line upon seeing the flashing amber light – resulting in a red light (jumped start). While Kapiris reacted in the same manner, with Ben breaking the starting beams first he was deemed the ‘first offender’ and so Kapiris was awarded the win.

JFR expands 2013 effort with Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster For the first time in its 35-year NHRA history the Castrol-backed John Force Racing Team will field a Top Fuel dragster sponsored by Castrol EDGE and driven by 26-year-old rookie Brittany Force. After winning a record 217 NHRA Funny Car races and 17 Winston, Powerade and Full Throttle Funny Car championships, JFR will field a Top Fuel dragster for the first time in its 35-year NHRA history.

Drag racing icon John Force introduced his daughter Brittany as the newest addition to the John Force Racing, Inc., driver line-up during a press conference at JFR corporate headquarters. Brittany Force will make an historic professional

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debut, not as driver of a JFR Ford Funny Car but, instead, as driver of a new JFRbuilt Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster prepared and maintained by crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli and assistant crew chief Eric Lane and powered by the Ford BOSS 500 nitro motor.

“It really is a big honour to be the first to drive a Top Fuel dragster at John Force Racing,” said the 26-year-old who will be the third Force daughter to turn pro.

“This team has done so much over the years to evolve and adding a Top Fuel car into the mix I believe will help us continue to grow as a team. Being able to drive the first JFR Top Fuel dragster with my dad’s support and with Castrol

Edge as my sponsor is still very surreal to me, but I think it’s something we’re all excited about, and I’m going to do the best job that I can.”

Meanwhile, Force confirmed that he will be re-united this season in his pursuit of the Mello Yello Funny Car championship with crew chief Mike Neff. He will be joined by daughter Courtney who, after earning Rookie-of-the-Year honours, will be back in the Traxxas Ford for crew chiefs Ron Douglas and Dan Hood, and son-in-law Robert Hight, who will start his ninth season in the Auto Club Ford for Jimmy Prock and new assistant crew chief Danny DeGennaro.

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Castrol-backed Pata Honda WSBK team unveiled at Verona The new Castrol-supported Pata Honda team was finally unveiled at Verona in Italy as it prepares for its dual assault on the World Superbike and World Supersport championships. New sponsor, snack manufacturer Pata, has joined forces with Honda, the world’s largest and most successful motorcycle manufacturer to target this season’s two principal production-based world championship titles.

Sporting all-new livery on their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade machinery, World Superbike riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, both from the UK, took to the stage in front of a big crowd at Motor Bike Expo, Verona’s annual motorcycle exhibition. They were joined by two World Supersport

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debutants, Dutch flyer Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti from Italy, who will compete on Honda’s multiple championship winning CBR600RR. “This is a really exciting moment,” said Rea after the unveiling of the team and its new racing livery. “I think the bikes and the leathers look great and we know that there are some exciting developments for the CBR for this season, so I can’t wait for it to start.”

Haslam added: “It’s great for me to be back with Honda for 2013 and I’m really happy with the whole look of the Pata Honda team. We’ve got a two day test in Jerez next week before all the kit has to be packed up for Australia. The first round can’t come soon enough for me!”

Castrol-supported Porsche dealer returns to 2013 Carrera Cup Castrol-supported Porsche dealer James Burgmuller will make a return to top level motorsport next year after a four-year hiatus. The Victorian will compete in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup, driving a brand-new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machine. Burgmuller’s Porsche will be maintained at his Porsche dealership in Brighton, while Steve Richards Motorsport will offer track support to the new team. The brand-new Porsche was delivered recently to Burgmuller, who competed with Greg Murphy Racing in the 2008 Development Series driver. Burgmuller says that he hopes to be running consistently inside the top five by the end of next year’s championship.

“I’ve been out for four years, so I’ll need

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some time to get the race craft back up to scratch and get my guys to learn how to maintain them,” Burgmuller said “It’s a learning year, and the following year, we’ll be in the new model and we expect to be very competitive by then. It’s certainly not a one or two year project – it’s a five year thing, and we’re hoping to be consistently in the top five next year.”

Meanwhile, Richards hopes that this will be the first step towards an expanded team outfit, indicating that he is willing to take another car full-time under his wing. “I don’t want to become a sweatshop for Porsche customers – my attention has to remain on my own car – but I do feel that there’s room to run one other car from my workshop,

as well as providing the track support for James,” Richards said. “I wouldn’t considering running any more cars than that. There’s plenty of interest in Career Cup at the moment. I’ve had enquires from people who are looking to steep up from GT3 Cup or move from other categories.”

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ARU announce Qantas Wallabies 2013 Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship schedule Australian Rugby Union today released The Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship schedule for the Qantas Wallabies 2013 Test season. The Qantas Wallabies will begin their Championship campaign at ANZ Stadium in Sydney against arch rivals the All Blacks on Saturday 17 August. A week later the Qantas Wallabies will travel across the Tasman to take on the All Blacks in Wellington before a travel bye the following weekend.

The two All Blacks Tests will also see the Qantas Wallabies looking to win back the coveted Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002. On Saturday 7 September The Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship will continue when the Qantas Wallabies take on the Springboks at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Finally, the Qantas Wallabies will wrap up their domestic Test season for 2013 in Western Australia when they tackle the Pumas at Patersons Stadium in Perth on Saturday 14 September. Following another week’s rest, the Qantas Wallabies will head to South Africa to take on the Springboks in Cape Town before heading to Argentina to wrap up their 2013 Championship campaign against the Pumas.

THE CASTROL EDGE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW

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DATE

TEST

LOCATION

Saturday 17 August, 2013

Qantas Wallabies v All Blacks

ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Saturday 7 September, 2013

Qantas Wallabies v Springboks

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Saturday 14 September, 2013

Qantas Wallabies v Pumas

Patersons Stadium, Perth

THE

POWER BEHIND THE

PACK BEHIND THE

PACK!