VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 4
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4th APRIL 2012
R P F r o f 2 Another 1 Hight’s hatrick in Vegas Ostberg claims maiden WRC win
Castrol teams display dominance at Albert Park
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astrol EDGE has once again tasted success in the latest round of the V8 Supercars Championship at the Tasmania Challenge with the Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing (FPR) team picking up their second 1-2 result for the year. Will Davison won Saturday’s 120km race by a mere 0.63s over teammate Mark Winterbottom but it was clear the Castrol-backed FPR cars were the ones to beat as they finished some nine seconds ahead of third placed Jamie Whincup. The pair qualified first and
second with Winterbottom on pole, though Davison’s superior start proved the difference between the two. Sunday’s 200km race was a much similar affair with Davison and Winterbottom qualifying second and third respectively before laying down some blistering pace throughout the race. Winterbottom looked good for the win on Sunday until his car stalled coming out of his final pitstop, losing the Orrcon Steel driver valuable seconds as he eventually finished fifth with Davison
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managing to hold onto third as Whincup blasted away to race victory. Castrol-backed Kelly Racing driver, Todd Kelly was the biggest mover and shaker of the Castrol-supported mob as he moved into 10th place in the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship points standings with a 10th place finish in the final race of the weekend. The Bottle-O FPR driver David Reynolds also moved up four spots in the points standings to 15th after a superb sixth place result for Saturday’s race.
2012 V8 Supercar Championship standings DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1) Will Davison – Ford Performance Racing: 567 points 2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 549 3) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Performance Racing: 471 4) Shane van Gisbergen – Stone Brothers Racing: 432 5) Garth Tander – HRT: 354 10) Todd Kelly - Kelly Racing: 282 11) Rick Kelly - Kelly Racing: 273 15) David Reynolds – Ford Performance Racing: 225 18) D’Alberto - Tony D’Alberto Racing: 198 19) Ingall - Supercheap Auto Racing: 195 23) Reindler - Kelly Racing: 159 28) Russell - Kelly Racing: 42
David Russell put in a solid performance to finish in 21st place in what is the Queenslander’s first ‘solo’ V8 Supercars Championship race, substituting for the injured Greg Murphy in the #51 Pepsi Max Commodore. Castrol-supported Tony D’Alberto put in a well crafted drive on Sunday to finish 15th while Russell ‘The Enforcer’ Ingall led the 200km race for several laps only to be penalised for a pitlane infringement. The Castrol-backed Supercheap Auto Commodore dropped off its jacks before its refuelling had finished – Ingall
exited the pit immediately and ripped the fuel hose apart, fuel spraying around the pit. The incident drew a 10 second pit lane penalty, which Ingall served on lap 60, officials then handing down a drive-through penalty for allegedly not fully completing the first penalty. Round 3 of the V8 Supercars Championship takes crews across the Tasman for the ITM400 Hamilton in New Zealand.
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29) Murphy - Kelly Racing: 33 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1) Ford Performance Racing: 1038 points 2) Triple Eight: 891 3) Stone Brothers Racing: 819 4) Holden Racing Team: 564 5) Jack Daniel’s Racing: 555 12) Kelly Racing: 234 13) The Bottle-O Racing Team: 225 14) Tony D’Alberto Racing: 198 15) Supercheap Auto Racing: 195
Castrol EDGE-supported Ostberg claims maiden WRC F
ord have claimed a 1-2-3 finish with the Fiesta RS World Rally Car in Rallye de Portugal following a late-night decision to exclude winners Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen for a technical infringement on their car. The decision means that Castrolsupported Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson claimed their maiden FIA World Rally Championship victory in this fourth round of the season. Evgeny
Novikov and Denis Giraudet were promoted to second, while Castrol EDGE Ford World Rally Team’s Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson took third. With another strong performance Sébastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia took victory for the Castrolbacked Volkswagen Motorsport team in the S2000 class at Rally Portugal. In the overall classification, the French duo
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that had won the WRC class in Portugal in the past two years again managed to leap into the top-ten in eighth place and scored four championship points. Turbulent weather changes caused extreme track conditions on the 368.43 kilometres of special stages. After the rally, the Volkswagen team is staying in Portugal for tests with the Polo R WRC. Castrol Ford WRT’s Solberg now lies
Mads WRC win second in the drivers’ standings, just four points from the lead, after a remarkable recovery in Portugal. The 37-year-old Norwegian slipped to 13th, almost seven minutes adrift of the podium, after sliding into a ditch early in the second leg of this four-day event.
points. Hirvonen was excluded by the rally stewards following a report from the FIA technical delegate which stated his car’s clutch did not comply with the homologation form. The report also stated that the turbine wheel in the car’s turbocharger exceeded the maximum authorised diameter. A decision on this was suspended to allow the FIA technical delegate to carry out further examinations. Hirvonen’s Citroen team appealed the exclusion and the results remain provisional pending the outcome. “Nobody likes to see the results settled in the officials’ room and I feel sorry for Mikko and Jarmo,” said Solberg. “But tonight’s events mean I’m now only four points from the lead of the championship and Ford has made a big leap forwards in the manufacturers’ standings. I can’t wait for the next round in Argentina!”
Ford WRT remains second in the manufacturers’ standings but has narrowed the gap at the top to just 12
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Rallye de Portugal - Results 1. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Ford Fiesta RS 4hr 21min 16.1sec 2. E Novikov/D Giraudet RUS Ford Fiesta RS 4hr 22min 49.3sec 3. P Solberg/C Patterson NOR Ford Fiesta RS 4hr 23min 11.7sec 4. N Al Attiyah/G Bernacchini QAT Citroen DS3 4hr 27min 21.9sec 5. M Prokop/Z Hrůza CZE Ford Fiesta RS 4hr 27min 25.3sec 6. D Kuipers/R Buysmans NED Ford Fiesta RS 4hr 28min 03.4sec 7. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Skoda Fabia S2000 4hr 28min 25.1sec 8. T Neuville/N Gilsoul BEL Citroen DS3 4hr 29min 54.0sec 9. J Ketomaa/M Stenberg FIN Ford Fiesta RS 4hr 31min 08.9sec 10 P Van Merksteijn/E Chevaillier NED Citroen DS3 4hr 31min 27.1sec
2012 Drivers’ Championship standings 1. S Loeb 66pts 2. P Solberg 62pts 3. M Østberg 53pts 4. M Hirvonen 50pts 5. E Novikov 39pts 6. J-M Latvala 28pts
2012 Drivers’ Manufacturers standings 1. Citroen Total WRT 108pts 2. Ford WRT 96pts 3. M-Sport Ford WRT 69pts 4. Qatar WRT 31pts 5. Mini WRT 26pts 6. Citroen Junior WRT 18pts
Castrol-backed JFR driver Robert Hight nails third straight win in Vegas J
ohn Force Racing’s Robert Hight has continued his good run of form in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series taking out his third consecutive 2012 Funny Car victory defeating Bob Tasca III at The Strip in Las Vegas. Hight had a relatively easy passage to the finals, overcoming Terry Haddock, Gary Densham and Bob Bode. Meantime, Tasca III had his work cut out – being forced to eliminate tough competition in Jeff Arend, Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon. The win by Hight
was the highlight of a sorry day for the Castrol GTX-backed John Force Racing team with Force, daughter Courtney and Mike Neff all being eliminated in the opening round of competition. Hight will take the points lead in the Full Throttle Funny Car Series after the weekend’s solid results. TOP FUEL Spencer Massey’s performances in Top Fuel this season have been
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sensational and he continued that by defeating Antron Brown in the Las Vegas final with a 3.830 lap to Brown’s 3.849. Brown had to account for Tony Schumacher and Morgan Lucas on his way to the final. Three Australian linked entries were involved across the weekend, with Dave Grubnic being the only one to make the 16 car field. Grubnic knocked out Clay Millican in the opening round and then met his fate with Steve Torrence in the second. The two-car Rapisarda Racing assault
didn’t make it through Saturday. Aussie Damien Harris had a troubled run – he did a time quick enough to put him on the bump spot during the final qualifying run, however broke an engine at the top of the lane and covered the track with oil. Under NHRA rules, they disallow the time and apply a points penalty, thus putting Harris out of action. The other Rapisarda Racing car of Cory McClenathan was the only other machine not to qualify.
PRO STOCK Allen Johnson took out the win in Pro Stock car defeating Vincent Nobile. The veteran racer knocked out Greg Anderson in round number two – after Anderson walked away with both the low ET and fastest speed points. He then defeated lady racer, Erica Enders to make it into the final. Nobile got around heavy hitters Jeg Coughlin in round one, Jason Line and Greg Stanfield in his charge to the Final.
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QANTAS WALLABIES TOWN SET TO RETURN TO THE GRASSROOTS AGAIN IN 2012 Following the success of last year’s Qantas Wallabies Towns campaign Australian Rugby Union today announced it would again run the hugely popular grassroots initiative in 2012. Last year Qantas Wallabies Towns returned 16 players to their home towns to visit their former schools and Rugby clubs engaging local communities and encouraging hometown support in the build up to the Qantas Wallabies Castrol Edge Tri Nations and Rugby World Cup campaigns. In 2012 a total of 11 towns across four states will host a member of the Qantas Wallabies 2012 squad for
the day with the player visiting schools, Rugby clubs and businesses in the Town. Fans will also be given a chance to win some great prizes, including tickets to Qantas Wallabies Tests and signed jerseys. ARU Managing Director and CEO, John O’Neill AO, said he was excited to see the innovative campaign continuing in 2012. “The Qantas Wallabies Towns initiative was a huge success last year with every player given a hero’s welcome when they returned to their home towns,” Mr O’Neill said.
The campaign will continue throughout June, July, August and September before wrapping up in Ipswich on Thursday 18 October, two days prior before the third and final Bledisloe Cup Test at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 20 October. Players for each of the 11 Qantas Wallabies Towns will be announced in late May following the Qantas Wallabies squad being selected for the Castrol Edge Rugby International against Scotland and the three-Test Castrol Edge Wales Tour.
LOCATION DATE Newcastle Thursday 31st May Geelong Thursday 14th June Bondi Thursday 21st June Dubbo Wednesday 27th June Armidale Tuesday 31st July Parramatta
Friday 10th August
Chatswood Thursday 16th August Mackay Thursday 30th August Perth Thursday 6th September Gold Coast Thursday 13th September Ipswich Thursday 18th October
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Rea secures two top-1 rides for Castrol-back Honda WSBK team
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astrol-backed Honda World Superbike team rider Jonathan Rea took two top-ten finishes during the second round of the World Superbike championship at Imola in Italy, both of which were won by Spain’s Carlos Checa over the weekend. Rea’s Castrol-backed Honda World Superbike team-mate, Hiroshi Aoyama, continued his improvement on the CBR1000RR Fireblade and, in the opening 21-lap race, lapped almost one second
faster than his qualifying time. Aoyama fought his way up from 23rd on the grid to 11th place before grip problems dropped him back to 18th. Meanwhile, technical gremlins forced the Japanese rider out of contention in race two. “Well, it finished better than it started, for sure, commented Rea. “ In the first race, we flat-out picked the wrong tyre – we didn’t do so much work on the hard tyre in the practices so we were reluctant to go with it. Also, this was the
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first big temperature change we’d had and it got very cold. All in all, I’m happy to have points on the board in both races, and I’m really pleased with the way I rode in race two. I’m happy with my riding and happy that we have a two-day test at Assen to try and find the front feeling that I’ve been lacking.” Championship points after two of 14 rounds: 1. Checa 75, 2. Biaggi 71, 3. Sykes 69, 4. Haslam 47, 5. Melandri 46, 6. Rea 40
10 ked Canary Islands Rally dominated by Castrol-backed KODA S2000 cars Taking place on asphalt roads in Gran Canaria, the second event of this year´s Intercontinental Rally Championship offered a thrilling spectacle. The fans saw a fierce battle for every second between winner Jan Kopecký of Castrol-backed KODA Motorsport and second-placed Andreas Mikkelsen of KODA UK Motorsport. Although Mikkelsen had a 3.6 second lead after the last-but-one stage, it was Jan Kopecký who celebrated victory in the end. KODA has thus achieved a second consecutive double to reinforce its lead in the Manufacturers category
San Carlo Honda Gresini reveals new bikes Castrol-backed Team San Carlo Honda Gresini has officially unveiled its new liveries ahead of the 2012 MotoGP season. The squad took the wraps off its new bikes at the event in Milan Polytechnic. Alvaro Bautista will ride the Honda RC213V, while Michele Pirro will handle the Honda CBR1000RR-powered FTR bike for the new CRT class. Both bikes will sport a new black livery.
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and Mikkelsen tops the standings in the Drivers category. Both cars have backing from Castrol. Audi takes 1-2 win in World Endurance Championships Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish gave Audi the perfect start to the newly formed World Endurance Championship, leading a one-two victory in a frantic first round at Sebring. Loïc Duval, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas secured second for the squad, providing the perfect send-off for the Castrol EDGE-lubricated Audi R18 TDI – due to be replaced by the new R18 TDI Ultra and e-tron quattro.
International Motorsport Aussie Brad Cox robbed of US truck win Castrol supported Australian Brad Cox has been robbed of a certain win in the#94 KT’s Reel Grinding Super Truck Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway in the US. Clearly the fastest truck, Cox blasted the field in qualifying, claiming pole by over 2 tenths of a second. Come race time, Cox again showed his dominance, but on the second restart missed a gear shift and dropped to 3rd. Undeterred, the talented 17-year-old made it three wide into turn 1 reclaiming the lead. With another caution period Cox was set for a great restart from the lead position. This is when NASCAR officials got it wrong, when they claimed that Cox was not the leader, but running in second position. Cox was then black-flagged
for jumping the start and on the next stoppage he was ordered to the pits. With rain approaching, NASCAR officials then decided to shorten the event by 10 laps to a green, white checkered finish, leaving Cox only 2 laps to get back to his rightful position. Cox drove a great two laps, but came up short by one car length of claiming the victory. Bonus for Castrol EDGE CIK Stars of Karting debutants Competitors looking to compete in the 2012 CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE now have an extra bonus to make their debut at the top level of karting in Australia. For the remaining rounds of 2012, all debutants in the Pro categories will receive a free set of Dunlop tyres for use during their debut round courtesy of Dunlop Kartsport and Series Organisers
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Perez soars up Castrol EDGE Rankings following outstanding drive in Malaysia Sergio Perez surged to an all-time high in the Castrol EGDE Rankings on the back of his outstanding drive in a remarkable Malaysian Grand Prix. The Mexican came within a small mistake of his first ever grand prix victory, as bold calls in changeable conditions thrust him into a spectacular and unlikely fight for the lead with Fernando Alonso. Second was enough for Perez to jump 20 spots to an all-time high of 58th in the Rankings - a perfectly timed rise given the current rumours linking him to Felipe Massa’s seat at Ferrari. In holding off Perez, Alonso sealed his 28th grand prix victory to move fifth in the all-time list, behind only Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna
and Nigel Mansell. Alonso also moved into an unlikely world championship lead, and closed the gap to the Rankings’s top four drivers: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Of that quartet Vettel fared the worst in Malaysia, sliding to his lowest overall points total since May last year. The German effectively counted the cost of his 2011 brilliance – when he won from pole – as he came home in 11th and surrendered a hatful of Rankings points. He remains comfortably ahead of Webber however, even if he currently trails the Australian in the championship. Webber managed to edge away slightly from Button, whose race was undone by contact with Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT. To see the full Rankings, visit www.castroledgerankings.com.
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RICHO’S CASTROL SAFETY TIPS #1 Fatigue
minutes roughly every two hours is recommended.
One of the biggest factors in fatal road accidents is fatigue. Driving uses similar concentration levels to when you’ve had a busy day at work or when you’ve been studying for long periods of time and the words start to run into one another.
Other tips include drink plenty of water, take some lollies or snacks with you (as low blood sugar is a contributing factor to fatigue) and above all if you do start to feel fatigued – pull over and have a rest.
If you are embarking on a long journey, make sure you have a good night’s sleep the night before and stop regularly – for 10
There are some common misconceptions about fatigue, including drinking coffee or energy drinks. They will only provide a short term solution.
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You are better off stopping at planned intervals throughout the journey and eating regularly.Another is that playing loud music or opening the window will help – again, this will not help you combat tiredness.
Be fully aware of the signs of fatigue – drowsiness, blurred vision, aches and pains in your body or you start drifting about the lane – pullover, have a power nap or a break and ensure you get to your destination safely.
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