Castrol EDGE Australia eNewsletter - Vol 2, Issue 20

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 20

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

21th NOVEMBER 2012

V8 Supercars fire-up at Winton M Race 27 Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing endured a heartbreaking end to a wild race at Winton with Mark Winterbottom cruelly denied a podium finish after running out of fuel as he crossed the finish line. In qualifying Winterbottom claimed his second Winton pole in as many races to extend the team’s streak to four. He jumped to the top of the timesheets near the middle of the session before confirming his pole with a better lap after the flag fell. Despite saving a remarkable amount of fuel and holding off Lee Holdsworth throughout the closing stages he ran out just short of the line, missing the podium by 0.03s.

“We had a very good car throughout the race and our qualifying pace was fantastic. We went out of sequence at the start to get the soft tyre on and give us a pace advantage,” said Winterbottom. “I thought I was on for a podium but the car coughed as I came up to the line so to miss it by such a fine margin is cruel.”

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David Reynolds finished 11th after using the hard tyre for more than half the race.

Will Davison made up for a poor qualifying by vaulting from 16th to eighth on lap one.

However, his progress was short-lived as on lap 10 Shane van Gisbergen punted him into another car – the same incident which delayed Winterbottom. The impact broke his steering and put him out of the race. After another top ten qualifying session earlier in the day, Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Rick Kelly was looking to an equally solid race at Winton Raceway.

Kelly got a good start from ninth and was just ahead of the first lap turn three scuffle, between James Courtney and Jason Bright, which resulted in a threelap safety car period. While others pitted, Rick and team-mate Tim Blanchard stayed out.

Kelly pitted on lap 27 for fuel and a change to soft tyres, dropping to 18th.

With the soft tyres on, he was looking forward to moving up the field as others struggled for grip late in the race.

Showing plenty of pace, Rick moved his

way up the field to eventually finish 13th and Blanchard 22nd. Supercheap Auto Racing driver Russell Ingall improved 10 positions in Race 27 of the V8 Supercar Championship at Winton Raceway, climbing from 22nd on the grid to finish 12th. The Enforcer emerged fourth once all drivers had completed their pit stops, and although he fell back to 12th as other drivers used their soft tyres, it was still an impressive overall gain.

“Our soft tyre pace was good, and we moved pretty fast up to the pointy end,” Ingall said. “We had a few decent battles, and from where we started we can’t be disappointed with the result.”

Race 28 Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom finished second at the team’s home event at Winton in a race which saw the 2012 title decided but not before a gallant fight from Ford’s championship hope. Winterbottom started third and held the position early

V8 Supercars Championship standings (top 28) after Race 28 of 30

Motor Raceway before taking the lead through until lap 41 when he made his final stop. He emerged ahead of a charging Craig Lowndes but could not resist and slotted into second where he finished the race. Despite his efforts Whincup’s recovery drive to third was enough to claim an unassailable lead heading into the season-ending Sydney Telstra 500.

“We gave it all and did as much as we could but in the end it wasn’t quite enough so we now have to finish the year off strong and focus everything on next year,” said Winterbottom. “Late in the race I had a strange feeling through the wheel so I am glad we finished as I don’t know what it was. Congratulations to Jamie, with a drive like he had today he deserved to take the title here, though we still have a lot to play for as the runner-up position is still up for grabs.”

Not content with a 10 position gain in yesterday’s race, Supercheap Auto Racing driver Russell Ingall moved forward 14 spots en route to a ninth place

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finish in Race 28 of the V8 Supercar Championship. Consistent laps and some typically well-executed passing moves elevated Ingall back to the top 10 by lap 52, where he remained for the rest of the race .

“We’re keeping our near or in the top 10 record going,” Ingall said. “We’re giving others a head start in qualifying, but at least when it comes to the races we’re making progress.

David Reynolds had a far stronger race in finishing eighth despite being pushed off track by Tim Slade 11 laps from home.

He was in a three car Ford battle for the podium until his tyres dropped off in the closing stages. The race proved to be a tough one for Castrol-backed Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Rick Kelly who started 21st and Tim Blanchard who started 24th. Kelly eventually finished 19th and Blanchard 22nd.

pos

driver

pts

1

Jamie Whincup

3639

2

Mark Winterbottom

3322

3

Craig Lowndes

3259

4

Will Davison

2851

5

Shane Van Gisbergen

2554

6

Tim Slade

2532

7

Garth Tander

2363

8

Lee Holdsworth

2120

9

David Reynolds

2037

10

Fabian Coulthard

1975

11

James Courtney

1895

12

Russell Ingall

1891

13

Jonathon Webb

1765

14

Rick Kelly

1720

15

Michael Caruso

1692

16

Jason Bright

1653

17

Steven Johnson

1543

18

Dean Fiore

1293

19

Michael Patrizi

1292

20

Todd Kelly

1263

21

Steve Owen

1237

22

James Moffat

1225

23

Tony D’Alberto

1104

24

David Wall

1097

25

Karl Reindler

988

26

Alexandre Premat

967

27

Taz Douglas

962

28

Greg Murphy

649

Two-wheeled Motorsport

Castrol-backed Bautista secures fifth in 2012 MotoGP Championship

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he 2012 MotoGP World Championship could not have ended any better for Castrolbacked Team San Carlo Honda Gresini, with Michele Pirro taking a career best fifth place to finish the season with a CRT ‘victory’ whilst Alvaro Bautista took fourth to secure fifth place overall in the final championship standings. Bautista narrowly missed out on a podium finish at Phillip Island to departing champion Casey Stoner after conceding third position with just two laps remaining, but fourth place was enough for him to secure his objective before the start of the race and for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini to finish their 2012 campaign on a high. Morning rain had left the slowdrying track still wet in places, despite the earlier Moto2 and Moto3 races, so there was plenty of deliberation about tyre choice before the start. Some riders chose slicks, others rain tyres. Bautista was one of several riders who started the warm-up lap on rain tyres, then decided to change, rushing into the pits and swapping to their slick-equipped spare bikes. According to the rules they started the race from pit lane. The

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Spaniard worked his way through from 19th on the first lap, riding well in the unforgiving conditions and only losing out on the final podium spot when Stoner passed him with two laps to go.

Alvaro Bautista (4th) “That was definitely the most difficult race of the season. On the warm-up lap I decided to come in and swap the bike for the other one with slick tyres on, because I could see the track was drying. I tried to manage the situation as best I could out there and focus on our objective of making sure of fifth in the championship, but I’m not happy with the performance, because again I had no feeling on the front. But anyway, the season is over now and I am happy with where we have finished and with the progress we have made over the course of the season. Thanks to the team, Fausto Gresini and all the sponsors who have supported us. Now we start looking towards 2013 and I am happy to be with the same team and all the guys who have worked so hard this year. We have a good base to work from and improve next year.”

Fausto Gresini “It was a difficult race and we have suffered a lot! The primary objective was for Alvaro to secure fifth in the championship and we have achieved that. He struggled throughout the race, but he managed the situation well and even though it would have been nice to see him on the podium, there wasn’t much he could do about Stoner. Anyway, mission accomplished and this was a good way to end our first season together.”

Final championship table pos

rider

points

1

Jorge LORENZO

350

2

Dani PEDROSA

332

3

Casey STONER

254

4

Andrea DOVIZIOSO

218

5

Alvaro BAUTISTA

178

6

Valentino ROSSI

163

7

Cal CRUTCHLOW

151

8

Stefan BRADL

135

9

Nicky HAYDEN

122

10

Ben SPIES

88

Castrol-backed Honda completes SBK test at Aragon The Castrol-backed Honda World Superbike Team completed a twoday test at Motorland Aragon in Spain as it continues its preparation for the 2013 SBK World Championship season. Along with several of their championship rivals, riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam were frustrated by bad weather at the Spanish circuit, losing most of the first day. Day 2 was dry, however, and once the 4km track had dried, the British pair were able to test new parts on their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades. Both riders declared themselves satisfied with progress despite Haslam crashing at Aragon’s first corner on only his second

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lap with a softer rear Pirelli. He and Rea will rendezvous with the team at Jerez later this month for the last test before the winter break.

Jonathan Rea: It was a little frustrating because we lost the first day and had to wait until late morning before we could get out on day two. We tried some new brake parts at the test and found an improvement in both consistency and performance, so that was positive. The new swingarm worked OK with the new 17-inch wheels but we still need to do a bit of fine-tuning with some other new chassis parts that are coming. We have some other things to test at Jerez, plus the new electronics, which I’m looking forward to.

Leon Haslam: I did a few wet laps on Wednesday but it was only to get more accustomed to bike. When the track finally dried we got to try a load of different stuff and did everything on the harder tyre, which felt good.

When I went out on the softer tyre, I lost the rear going into turn one and the bike ended up in the barrier and too badly damaged to repair. The boys got the spare bike ready but it was quite different and there really wasn’t much time left anyway, so it was quite frustrating in the end. The one lap that I did on the softer tyre told me that the swingarm felt much better, so I’m looking forward to trying that with some other new parts at Jerez.

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Castrol drag racing icon Victor Bray returns to winners circle

L

ongtime Castrol ambassador Victor Bray has recorded his first event win in over six years by taking a sensational ANDRA Top Doorslammer victory at the Perth Motorplex.

It was a big night for the Queensland icon all around. In the semifinals he set a personal best elapsed time – his first into the five second bracket with a 5.96 second pass. He backed that up in the final with a 5.95 as he beat out hometown hero, John Zappia.

Bray’s first win since September 2006 has elevated him to second in the standings.

“What an event, it doesn’t get much better than this!” grinned Victor Bray. “Those five second passes have been a while coming – we have been so close but so far on so many occasions so I am just elated to have finally shook that monkey off my back. It is great to win again, it feels terrific,” said Bray. “It gives everyone an uplift.

It’s been tough with the way John Zappia and all the boys have stepped up over the years.”

The next championship round of Top Doorslammer will be at the return of ANDRA championship drag racing to Calder Park on February 16-17 while Top Alcohol will head to Adelaide on February 23-24.

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Ford farewells the WRC with podium finish A fter Ford of Europe’s announcement to withdraw from the FIA World Rally Championship as a title sponsor after the 2012 season, Castrol-backed Ford World Rally Team driver Jari-Matti Latvala celebrated Ford’s long history in the WRC with a podium result on the final round of the 2012 season - Rally de España. The Finn ended this 13th and final round of the series just 7.0sec from victory in his Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car to clinch a top three series finish for the second time in his career.

“I wanted to finish my career at Ford on a high note and I’m so pleased to have done that,” said Latvala. “ I’ve had many fantastic years here building my career and I would like to thank everyone in the team for their support during that time. I have great memories of my career here that I will carry through my lifetime,” he added.

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Castrol-backed Adapta World Rally Team’s Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson claimed fourth, moving up from fifth when M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Ott Tänak and Kuldar Sikk lost time after hitting a barrier. Although the seasons closing event at Rally Spain did not go so well for Castrol-backed Volkswagen Motorsport with the Fabia S2000 cars of the Groups Skoda brand it is contrasted by a total of eleven class victories in the previous WRC rounds and the eager anticipation of the debut with the Polo R WRC car at Rallye Monte Carlo on 15 January 2013.

Ford of Europe said it made the decision to withdraw from the WRC as part of a review of its European business in the current difficult economic environment.

“For us, the season was intended to be a year of learning from the very beginning. Overall, after twelve rallies and more than 4,500 kilometres of special stages, we can make a positive assessment,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito.

Ford’s long-term rallying partner, UK-based M-Sport, plans to continue competing in WRC with the Fiesta.

Ford is in discussions with M-Sport to provide continued vehicle and engineering support, including for the recently announced Fiesta R5 for the

“Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC and this was not an easy decision,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “At this time, however we determined that it was better for the company and the Ford brand to reduce our commitment to the WRC and deploy our resources in other areas.”

new-for-2013 WRC-2 series, and the Fiesta R2 for grass-roots national and regional driver programmes.

“We have great respect for M-Sport and Malcolm Wilson, who have run the Ford WRC team since 1997, and there is no organization with more expertise and commitment to winning,” de Waard said.

“Working together, we have reached a point where the Ford Fiesta has become the car of choice in rallying, and we want to see this continue in the future.”

Ford also said it wished to thank its rallying fans, drivers, the FIA, and its many WRC partners, including team

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main sponsors BP and Castrol, for their support and commitment. Said Malcolm Wilson, managing director of M-Sport: “I would like to thank Ford of Europe for their enthusiastic support and the

faith shown in the team over the past 16 seasons. We understand that tough decisions have had to be made and look forward to continuing our strong technical partnership into the future.”

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS : Drivers

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS : Teams

pos

driver

points

pos

driver

points

1

Sebastien Loeb

270

1

Citroen WRT

453

2

Mikko Hirvonen

213

2

Ford WRT

309

3

Jari-Matti Latvala

154

3

M-Sport Ford WRT

170

4

Mads Ostberg

149

4

Adapta WRT

83

5

Petter Solberg

124

5

Citroen Junion WRT

72

6

Evgeny Novikov

88

6

Qatar WRT

71

Castrol-backed Force makes Pomona final as Neff closes out NHRA season in third

T

op Rookie of the Year contender Courtney Force closed-out the 2012 season today with a strong finish in both the Auto Club NHRA Finals and in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series points standings.

Force took out the likes of Matt Hagan, Tim Wilkerson and Ron Capps en route to a runner-up finish against two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon.

“We’ve had an amazing season as a rookie team. We had a consistent race car the entire weekend here in Pomona. Coming out to the Auto Club NHRA Finals is something I always dreamed of as a kid, I watched my dad win here in February and we were runner-up this weekend in the Funny Car category,” said Force.

Mike Neff, driver and crew chief of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, had an uphill battle for the 2012 NHRA Funny Car championship that came to an end when Ron Capps and Jack Beckman won their first round match-ups at the 48th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. Neff will finish the season third in the Full Throttle point standings, an improvement over his 2011 fifth place finish.

“I am really proud of our season. We finished third in one of the toughest Funny Car seasons ever. I want to congratulate Jack Beckman and Ron Capps. We fought down to the last day and they came out on top,” said Neff. “My guys have been great all season and I couldn’t be prouder of the car they gave me every

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race. In the past three seasons we have won more rounds and more races than anybody else. This Countdown is tricky.

You have to get hot at the right time.

The win in Reading helped us get in the game and we had a long shot to win it today. I want to thank Castrol and all our sponsors for all their support.”

John Force and the Destination Force Castrol GTX HIGH MILEAGE Ford Mustang came out on the losing end in the first round against fellow Countdown competitor Jeff Arend. Force’s Ford Mustang hazed the slicks as Arend pulled away from him sending Force into the off-season as the No. 9 driver in the Full Throttle point standings.

When the 15-time champion was asked to evaluate his rookie driver’s performance he was pleased with her first season.

“I think (Courtney) evolved as a driver very fast. She had a lot of help from Ashley (sister Ashley Force Hood) who drove the Fuel Funny Car. We have a really good team with Ron Douglas and Dan Hood. She has a great sponsor with Traxxas and Ford that gave her the money to do it. As a rookie she did everything you could have asked of her.

She qualified at every event,” said Force.

As a team owner every year the goal is to win the championship and to have a driver in the hunt on the last day is key to achieving that goal. When Force looked at the accomplishment of driver

and tuner Mike Neff he was equally pleased with how his season turned out even though it did not culminate with a Full Throttle championship.

“Mike Neff did a great job driving and tuning. He gave us a shot at the title here in Pomona. Robert Hight’s car with Jimmy Prock tuning dominated the first part of the season. I got a win at the opening race of the season in Pomona and I won the $100,000 at the Traxxas Shootout,” said Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history. “I was still in the game and we all made the Countdown.

We will salute Beckman at the end of the season and right now we are looking at where we are going for next year. I am really excited about it because the morale is good. We never gave up the fight and fought until the very end.”

FUNNY CAR STANDINGS – 2012 NHRA 1. Jack Beckman, 2610 2. Ron Capps, 2608 3. Mike Neff, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 2497 4. Cruz Pedregon, 2429 5. Courtney Force, Traxxas Ford Mustang, 2393 6. Johnny Gray, 2357 7. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 2302 8. Tim Wilkerson, 2293 9. John Force, Castrol GTX HIGH MILEAGE Ford Mustang, 2281 10. Jeff Arend, 2267

Kiwi Drysdale wins Castrol-backed Suzuki Swift Sport Cup scholarship

J

osh Drysdale has won an exhaustive selection process to win the $35,000 Castrol-backed Suzuki Swift Sport Cup scholarship for the 2013 season. The Bunnythorpe teenager and Palmerston North Boys High School student has secured a Swift Cup car for the six-round calendar to co-incide with the V8 SuperTourer Championship. The 16-year-old has won a package that includes a Winger Suzuki drive car to use during the season, safety apparel from Chicane Racewear, car sign-writing from Hamilton Stripes and Signs and access to an engineer for race weekends.

Drysdale not only had to display his on-track skills but also show ability in fitness, aptitude and interview skills.

He posted the fastest time in a one-lap

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shoot-out around the 2.7km Hampton Downs circuit.

“Josh sealed the deal with his flying lap,” Castrol NZ marketing manager Jayne McEwan said. “Being fit, personable and able are all required traits but to perform under pressure is the true litmus test. We believe Josh has the right mix of ability and capability to fit our Castrol EDGE campaign at a grass roots level.”

Drysdale, who has an extensive karting background, was assessed by NZV8 Championship-winning driver and V8 SuperTourer racer Angus Fogg.

“It was very cool to have someone next to me who is so well-known as a

race car driver and who had the faith at encouraging me to push a bit harder,” Drysdale said. “He was able to help me in areas where I was struggling, turning negatives into positives but it was scary too as I didn’t want to stuff it up.”

2013 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup calendar (provisional) Round 1: Feb 16-17 Hampton Downs Round 2: Mar 9-10 Powerbult Tools Raceway, Ruapuna, Christchurch Race 3: May 11 ‘Special Event’ Auckland City Race 4: Oct 19-20 Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupo.

Race 5: Nov 9-10 South Island (TBA).

Race 6: Dec 6-8 Pukekohe.

QANTAS WALLABIES CAPTURE COOK CUP IN 20-14 VICTORY OVER ENGALND

T

he Castrol EDGE-backed Qantas Wallabies have registered a hard fought, come from behind victory against England at Twickenham, running out six-point winners, 14-20.

The Wallabies entered half time down by just three points and kept the home side scoreless in the second half to reclaim the Cook Cup and register a well-deserved win in front of more than 81,000 passionate English supporters.

While both sides registered a try a-piece it was three unanswered penalty goals to Qantas Wallabies fullback, Berrick Barnes, that proved the difference between the two sides. Four minutes into the second half and it was the boot of Barnes that drew Australia level with

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the English after he secured his second penalty goal of the game.

Six minutes later and the visitors took the lead again thanks to the boot of Barnes, who put the Qantas Wallabies further ahead with his fourth penalty goal of the Test just three minutes later.

The Qantas Wallabies had the chance to push their lead beyond seven-points in the 66thminute, however Barnes saw his penalty goal attempt fall tantalisingly short of the crossbar to leave England with an opportunity to steal the match.

For the remaining 20-minutes the English pushed hard at the Australian line turning down a number penalty goal opportunities instead opting to kick for

touch in an attempt to secure seven points. The Qantas Wallabies held firm though and kept the English out as wave after wave of England players threw themselves at the try line.

Despite a number promising attacks the English failed to penetrate the Australian defence, allowing the Qantas Wallabies to hold on to record a well-deserved victory at Twickenham. Earlier in the night England registered first points when in the third minute fly half, Toby Flood, successfully converted his first of three penalty goal attempts for the half.

The visitors hit back 10 minutes later after Berrick Barnes took a drop goal opportunity following a number of unsuccessful thrusts at the English line.

Flood put England back in front in the 24th minute thanks to another penalty goal before Barnes levelled the scores at six-all in the 30th minute when he kicked Australia’s first penalty goal. Four minutes later England took the lead again, thanks to the boot of Flood and their third penalty goal.

Despite the score-line it was the Qantas Wallabies who were making all the running

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and in the 35th minute Qantas Wallabies winger, Nick Cummins, crossed for his maiden Test try and his sides first of the evening. The try came following a box kick from England was taken by Australia 10-meters inside their own half and the decision taken to run it back at the home side.

A number of good passes and a sniping run by scrumhalf, Nick Phipps, saw Cummins released down the far wing to cross for a try to give the Qantas Wallabies the lead. The Qantas Wallabies joy and lead was short lived after England regained the ball from the resulting kick-off and after a number of phases, and the decision to take a quick tap from a penalty, crossed for a five-pointer of their own just four minutes later. As well as re-claiming the Cook Cup for the first time in over three years the win also provides the Qantas Wallabies with the first psychological victory ahead of the highly anticipated 2013 British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia.

THE

POWER BEHIND THE

PACK BEHIND THE

PACK!