Castrol EDGE Australia eNewsletter - Vol 2, Issue 14

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 14

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

22nd AUGUST 2012

V8 Supercars set for s return to Sydney Mot

T

he 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship will make its long awaited return to Sydney Motorsport Park (formerly Eastern Creek Raceway) for the latest round of the V8 Supercars Championship this weekend. Castrolback Ford Performance Racing drivers Mark Winterbottom (2nd) and Will Davison (3rd) will be raring to go as they look to hunt down current championship

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leader Jamie Whincup. The V8 Supercar category has not ventured to the Sydney-based track since 2008 where it’s last two race winners were in fact Davison and Winterbottom who won each of Sunday’s races respectively.

Castrol-backed Kelly Racing driver Rick Kelly has also tasted success on the western Sydney-based track in 2004 and will be looking to reignite

that form this weekend. Fellow Kelly Racing teammates Todd Kelly and Karl Reindler will also be hoping for the strong performances on the 3.93 kilometre track as will former F1 winner Jacques Villeneuve who again joins the V8 Supercars fold with in the Pepsi Commodore, replacing the injured Greg Murphy. Castrol-backed Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall also has a strong track record around the circuit

speedy torsport Park and will be looking to continue his fine form from the previous round at Queensland Raceway where the veteran driver secured a fifth and sixth place result respectively.

Sydney Motorsport Park is a 3.93km, 12-turn circuit owned by the New South Wales Government and is the only permanent track in Australia with an FIA Grade 2 International license. It

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is a fast and flowing circuit with plenty of passing opportunities and previously hosted the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix from 1991 to 1996.

2012 V8 Championship standings pos

driver

points

1.

Jamie Whincup

2052

2.

Mark Winterbottom

1970

3.

Will Davison

1876

4.

Craig Lowndes

1796

5.

Shane van Gisbergen

1472

6.

Tim Slade

1344

7.

Garth Tander

1323

8.

Fabian Coulthard

1261

9.

Lee Holdsworth

1217

10.

David Reynolds

1017

Strong finish for Castrol-backed Team San Carlo Honda Gresini at Indianapolis

A

weekend of hard work from Castrol-backed Team San Carlo Honda Gresini paid off with a fifth place finish for Alvaro Bautista at the Indianapolis Grand Prix - Round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship.

The Spaniard made an excellent start from eighth on the grid (having gained a place due to the non-participation of Nicky Hayden) and he fought hard for a podium for three quarters of the race before finally losing touch with Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner.

Dani Pedrosa won the race with Jorge Lorenzo second and Andrea Dovizioso third.

Alvaro Bautista (5th) “This result is fruit of all the hard work the guys in the team have done this weekend to get the

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feeling back that we had before Mugello.

I knew I could have a good race today and after making some positions up at the start I was able to run with the front guys for most of the race. At the end Dovizioso and Stoner were two or three tenths quicker than me so I couldn’t follow them but I think this is a positive result for us, especially after a couple of difficult races for us. I hope this means we are on the right lines for the upcoming races but I want to thank everybody in the team for helping me to get my confidence and feel for the bike back, as well as all the sponsors and everybody who has kept faith in us.”

Fausto Gresini (Team Principal) “Alvaro had a good race. It wasn’t an easy race but it certainly was an intense one. He kept a good pace and improved his pace from practice to get a fifth place

which makes me happy, especially for him because he needed a boost after some tough races. It is a boost for the whole team, we needed it and it refocuses us now as we look to continue our quest to perform to our full potential.”

World Championship standings: pos

rider

bike

points

1

Jorge LORENZO

Yamaha

225

2

Dani PEDROSA

Honda

207

3

Casey STONER

Honda

186

4

Andrea DOVIZIOSO

Yamaha

137

5

Cal CRUTCHLOW

Yamaha

106

6

Stefan BRADL

Honda

94

7

Alvaro BAUTISTA

Honda

92

8

Valentino ROSSI

Ducati

91

9

Nicky HAYDEN

Ducati

84

10

Ben SPIES

Yamaha

66

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JOHN FORCE RUNNER-UP AT BRAINERD

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astrol-sponsored John Force has finished runner up in the latest round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in a bizarre day at Brainerd International Raceway. Force lost to new points leader Ron Capps in a classic Don Schumacher Racing versus John Force Racing Funny Car final round. Force smoked the tires at about 200 feet in his Castrol GTX HIGH MILEAGE Ford Mustang. In the opening round Force, the No. 6 qualifier, shockingly red-light to Alexis DeJoria handing the rookie a first round win and putting a dent in Force’s hopes of holding onto his position in the Top Ten. Seconds later in a dramatic turn of events DeJoria smoked the tires in her Tequila Patron Toyota Camry and crossed the center-line. That infraction was worse than Force’s red-light and he moved on to a round two match-up with Cruz Pedregon. Force outran Pedregon and then defeated Ford Racing veteran Tim Wilkerson to set up his final round race with Capps.

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“What is most important is I have a race car now. It has been showing signs of life since Denver and Sonoma. Courtney should be pretty close to clinching but it isn’t official. My improvement went way up this weekend. I was running 4.0s all weekend,” said Force. “I have no complaints after first round. The guys stood by me which is most important.

When I failed they stood right up. I have to push that starting line against these cars to see what I can get away with.

Sometimes you goof up and that is what I did in the first round. I’ll move on from here and we’ll be ready to test in Indy. To make the Countdown is great but I don’t like to make something if I can’t compete in it. Just like Tony Stewart said last year.

He barely got in last year and then he got on a roll. We’ll see what happens.”

In the second round Mike Neff pulled up beside Ford Racing teammate Tim Wilkerson. Neff had a slight ET advantage from his first round win over Robert Hight and was awarded lane choice. After both

Mustangs pulled up to the lights Neff hit the throttle a few thousandths of a second early and gave a round away as he red-lit. Wilkerson advanced to face his third Ford Racing opponent of the day in John Force.

“We got a break first round; smoked the tires against Robert. Luckily he did the same thing so I was lucky to get by that.

Second round, I just don’t know. I jumped before the tree came down. I don’t know if it was a long light or if I wasn’t focused,” said Neff, the driver and tuner of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. “I don’t even really know what happened. I feel bad for my team, my sponsors, everybody involved because they all put the work in and to just blow it like that, I’ve done that too many times. We’re going to go back to Indy and test and try to stay positive.

The Countdown is getting ready to take off soon and it’s a blank slate. We locked in a Countdown spot this weekend so we still have a great shot at the championship this year.”

Robert Hight’s woes continued at Brainerd International Raceway. In the first round he dropped a tire smoking battle to teammate Mike Neff. Hight had a slight advantage off the starting line but at half-track his Auto Club Mustang lost traction and he had to watch as Neff also smoked the tires but he was further down track and that was all he needed to get a 4.475 to 4.653 win.

Hight also lost his grip on the points lead as Ron Capps got the win today. He will have a strong chance to take back the Full Throttle points lead at the Mac Tools US Nationals in two weeks.

“We will go into Indy trying to get that point lead back. This was a set-back but we’ll go testing in Indy and be ready for the Mac Tools US Nationals. That will be a big race. We are in the Traxxas Shootout so our goal is to win that $100,000 and then win the race. Once the Countdown starts it is a whole new ballgame,” said Hight.

Courtney Force and the Traxxas Ford Mustang continued their streak of qualifying for every race this season and with one more regular season race on the schedule the Rookie of the Year

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front-runner is poised to clinch her spot in the Countdown to the Championship.

She dropped a first round race to Ron Capps but she will leave Brainerd in 6th place with a 132 points lead over 2011 Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in 11th place. Only the top ten in points will have a chance to race for the Full Throttle Championship.

“Not getting that last run in qualifying hurt us. It would have helped us a little bit more in the first round to see what our car would do after making some changes to it. We had a tough competitor.

Unfortunately we didn’t have lane choice, but you have to do the best you can and get your car running good no matter what the situation is, especially when you’re paired up with someone like Ron Capps.

He ran good all weekend and he qualified good. Our biggest thing was, I think, we just overpowered the car in first round and it ended up spinning the tires at the other end,” said Force. “It wasn’t a great weekend for us, but my dad went on to the final round and we remain sixth in points which is good for our Traxxas ford Mustang team and we’ll be going to the ‘Big Go in Indy,’ trying to clinch a spot in Indy and hopefully we can get into that Traxxas Shootout since voting starts today.”

FULL THROTTLE POINT STANDINGS pos

driver

points

1.

Ron Capps

1228

2.

Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang

1175

3.

Jack Beckman

1068

4.

Johnny Gray

999

5.

Mike Neff, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang

988

6.

Courtney Force, Traxxas Ford Mustang

883

7.

Cruz Pedregon

861

8.

John Force, Castrol GTX HIGH MILEAGE Ford Mustang

842

9.

Jeff Arend

781

10.

Bob Tasca III

770

Richo’s Safety Tips:

#10 Surf Safety I

love taking the family to the beach in summer as much as the next Aussie, but there are a few things that I always make sure we get right at the beach so we come home in one piece.

Always pack the highest grade sunscreen you can find. With the colour of my hair, it doesn’t take long to start burning, so I get the 30-plus on pretty thick. We generally put the kids in long sleeve rash shirts and hats to protect against the sun, too.

We teach the kids to look out for the flags and swim between them. It must be a nightmare for surf lifesavers - who are volunteers – to be chasing people up and down the coast line that just don’t care or don’t want to listen.

Chances are if you drown, its going to be a young, volunteer surf lifesaver that has to drag your body out of the water – so think of them as much as yourself and just swim between the flags.

If you do get caught in a rip, try and stay as calm as possible. Swimming against the rip will just make you tired and make things worse. Always try to keep your head above water and raise your arm if you think you’re in trouble. A surf lifesaving patrol will recognise that you have an issue and come to get you.

But the most important thing is to have fun – and if you get dumped – don’t be frightened – get back up and into it again!

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QANTAS WALLABIES 19 v ALL BLACKS 27 – FULL TIME IN THE OPENING TEST OF THE CASTROL EDGE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

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he Qantas Wallabies have fallen to their trans-Tasman rivals the All Blacks by eight points at ANZ Stadium this evening in front of a strong crowd of 76,877.

The All Blacks led by the same margin at half-time and despite a number of efforts by the Qantas Wallabies to pull back the All Blacks they couldn’t quite stem the New Zealander’s ability to score.

The Qantas Wallabies cut the eightpoint half time gap to just five points in the 45th minute, through a penalty goal from Berrick Barnes.

The All Blacks pulled back to an eight point break three minutes later thanks to another penalty goal from All Blacks fly half, Dan Carter.

Another penalty goal to Barnes in the 50th minute kept the Qantas Wallabies in the hunt pegging the New Zealanders back to just five points.

The Qantas Wallabies and the All Blacks continued to exchange penalty goals with the All Blacks kicking away again in the 63rd minute before being pegged by the Australian’s an the boot of Berrick Barnes again in the 76th minute.

Despite a desperate push in the final few minutes the Qantas Wallabies couldn’t break the All Blacks line and following an after the siren penalty goal to Dan Carter will head to Auckland next week looking for revenge.

The final penalty goal by the All Blacks denied the Qantas Wallabies a bonus point in the opening Test of the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship.

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THE

POWER BEHIND THE

PACK BEHIND THE

PACK!