VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 10
International motorsport
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Castrol EDGE Rugby Report
27th JUNE 2012
Castrol-backed FPR co showing in latest V8 S Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing driver Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom has put in a solid effort in the latest round of the International V8 Supercars Championship with two podium finishes for the weekend at the SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin. His teammate Will Davison had a strong race on Saturday finishing second but could only manage sixth for Sunday’s longer, 69-lap feature race. Despite battling a viral infection all weekend Frosty put in a stellar effort to finish with two third placings and hold a firm third place in the overall championship standings, just 49 points behind current series leader Jamie Whincup. “It was a good day, we started up the front and had pretty good speed on the hard tyres but so did the Triple 8 boys so the key was to get the most out of what we had and two thirds for the weekend is a solid
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result,” commented Frosty. “Townsville is up next and it has been good to me over the years so hopefully that form continues when we head to North Queensland in July.” Castrol-supported Supercheap Auto Racing driver Russell Ingall was one of just three drivers to have contested all 15 V8 events in the Northern Territory but did not even complete a lap on Sunday when his Commodore received significant front-end damage in a first lap incident. While car #66 returned to the pits, the damage to the left front suspension was too severe to repair for Ingall to return to the track.
durable hard compound rubber. After starting ninth, Rick was forced to pit on lap 10 due to a technical issue with his engine, which resulted in his retirement from the race. Brother Todd, in the #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore narrowly avoided a spinning car on the third lap and dropped down to 18th spot from his 13th starting position. Todd was the last car in the field to pit on lap 26 and returned to the track in 16th spot. Changing onto the soft compound tyres gave Todd even greater grip and car speed and he soon moved back through the field, passing 2010 V8 Supercar champion James Courtney on the last lap to finish 11th.
It was a race of contrasting fortunes for the Castrol-backed Kelly Racing duo Rick and Todd Kelly at Hidden Valley Raceway The team elected to start Saturday’s race with Rick on the soft compound tyres and Todd on the more
After collecting pole Davison went with a slightly different setup for Sunday’s race but couldn’t quite match the pace of the Triple 8 cars. Davison now slips back to second in the Championship standings albeit by the slender margin
ontinue their strong Supercars round of just 38 points to Whincup. “We had good one lap speed here but it has been an unusual weekend with this heat and the setup has been a bit of a reversal to really get these tyres to work to their optimum level,” commented Davison. “We’ll take the points, sixth on Sunday wasn’t as good as Saturday’s result but we took a bit of a punt on setup and we’re off to Townsville next where the FPR cars have always had a good showing around the street circuit. Over 40,000 spectators joined in on the action for Race 13 of the Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway over the weekend. The action is set to increase in just three weeks time when teams head to North Queensland for the Sucrogen Townsville 400 – Round 7 of the International V8 Supercars Championship.
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2012 V8 Supercars Championship after 13 of 29 races pos
driver
points
1.
Jamie Whincup
1494
2.
Will Davison
1456
3.
Mark Winterbottom
1445
4.
Craig Lowndes
1247
5.
Shane van Gisbergen
1145
6.
Lee Holdsworth
1079
7.
Tim Slade
1059
8.
Garth Tander
990
9.
Fabian Coulthard
910
10.
Jason Bright
804
V8 Supercars Championship Round 7 preview The next round of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship takes crews to sunny North Queensland for the Sucrogen Townsville 400. The signature street track will also host the Dunlop Series, Carerra Cup,
Formula Ford and Aussie Racing Cars. The street circuit race offers three days of entertainment on and off the track. Kids 12 and under receive free general admission with a paying adult. Jimmy Barnes will team up with his daughter Mahalia - who starred in the hit television show The Voice - for a Saturday night concert as part of the Sucrogen Townsville 400. The event was a huge success last year with 150,876 people recoded through the gates over the course of the race weekend electrifying the atmosphere over both days of racing.
Solberg secures podium place for Ford at Rally New Zealand Castrol EDGE-backed Ford World Rally Team drivers Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson claimed their fourth podium of the season when they finished third in Brother Rally New Zealand. The event was won by Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb Driving a Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car, they battled up the leaderboard after losing time early in the three-day rally and climbed to third in the FIA World Rally Championship driver standings. Team-mates JariMatti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished seventh in the squad’s other Fiesta RS WRC. They held a comfortable third until late in the opening leg when they dropped more than 4min 30sec after their car slid into a fence and became tangled in wire. The Finns claimed maximum bonus points for winning the final live TV Power Stage, with Solberg taking second. New Zealand’s smooth but heavilycambered North Island roads are regarded as among the best in the championship. Drivers enjoyed 413.94km of competition over 22 special stages in the lush, rolling farmland as the championship celebrated its 500th round since its launch in 1973. Solberg lost time on Friday morning when the team mistakenly opted for hard compound tyres in cool and damp conditions. The 90sec time loss dropped the 37year-old Norwegian to seventh, but he recovered to fourth by the end of the day. Solberg moved into the top three early yesterday and was the fastest driver through the second leg, but the time gap to those ahead remained big and he eased through the final day to consolidate third. “We came here with a good car and
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a big opportunity but unfortunately Friday’s mistake ended our hopes of a win,” admitted Solberg. “That was sad for the team, but a podium is still a good result. The key today was to stay calm to secure third, and taking bonus points in the Power Stage was a good ending.
“We need some luck and make sure we’re fully prepared for the next rallies to try to secure that elusive win at last. The speed of the car is fantastic and everyone in the team is pushing hard for victory, so I’m confident it will come soon,” he added.
Rally New Zealand : FINAL RESULTS pos
driver
car
time
1
Sebastien Loeb
Citroen DS3 WRC
4:04:51.2
2
Mikko Hirvonen
Citroen DS3 WRC
+0:29.6
3
Petter Solberg
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
+1:36.4
4
Evgeny Novikov
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
+2:13.6
5
Thierry Neuville
Citroen DS3 WRC
+2:42.4
6
Dani Sordo
Mini John Cooper Works
+3:03.1
7
Jari-Matti Latvala
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
+4:52.9
8
Armindo Araujo
Mini John Cooper Works
+9:36.4
9
Ken Block
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
+10:30.3
10
Manfed Stohl
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
+11:26.3
STANDINGS: Drivers pos
driver
car
points
1
Sebastien Loeb
Citroen DS3 WRC
145
2
Mikko Hirvonen
Citroen DS3 WRC
107
3
Petter Solberg
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
90
4
Mads Ostberg
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
80
5
Evgeny Novikov
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
55
6
Jari-Matti Latvala
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
54
STANDINGS: Manufactures
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pos
driver
car
points
1
Citroen Total WRT
Citroen DS3 WRC
237
2
Ford WRT
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
144
3
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
103
4
Qatar WRT
Citroen DS3 WRC
47
5
Citroen Junior WRT
Citroen DS3 WRC
42
6
Adapta WRT
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
27
International Motorsport
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Fantastic fourth for Bautista in MotoGP at Silverstone Castrol-backed Team San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista followed up his pole position from Saturday with an excellent fourth place finish in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, running with the lead group throughout the race to finish just 5.196s behind the winner. After a positive race in Barcelona two weeks ago and especially two days of testing in Catalunya and Aragon, during which his crew modified steering geometry and front suspension settings to put more weight on the front for better braking stability and turning. Bautista’s confidence with the RC213V has continued to grow here in England and for the first time he was able to battle throughout a MotoGP race at the very front of the pack. It is a result that provides the team with a reward for all their hard work and the promise of even better results to come. Alvaro Bautista (4th) said: “It has been a great weekend and it confirmed the progress we made since Catalunya. I am so happy to finish so close to the podium. Maybe I could have attacked for third at the end, but it would have been too risky. I just wanted to run with them to the end and not make mistakes and eventually it was better that way. I didn’t throw away the race and brought back a result that was important for me and
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the team. Yesterday on pole and today just five seconds off the win – that is a very positive weekend and I hope we can continue from here. I’m pleased with the progress we have made, which is credit to the team engineers and to Showa. Our objective now is to take another step forward and run with the front guys on a more consistent basis.”
2012 MotoGP standings pos
rider
team
points
1
Jorge Lorenzo
Yamaha
140
2
Casey Stoner
Honda
115
3
Dani Pedrosa
Honda
101
4
Cal Crutchlow
Yamaha
66
5
Andrea Dovizioso
Yamaha
60
6
Valentino Rossi
Ducati
58
7
Alvaro Bautista
Honda
58
Castrol-supported Audi team claims historic 1-2-3 at Le Mans The Castrol-backed Audi team has scored an historic Le Mans 24 Hours victory, becoming the first manufacturer to win the classic French race using energyharvesting technology, combined with four-wheel drive. Andre Lotterer guided the #1 Audi R18 e-tron hybrid across the line, scoring his, Benoit Treluyer and
Marcel Fassler’s second-consecutive win at the La Sarthe circuit. The #1 Audi led the majority of the race, only falling out of the lead twice – the first when the Toyota of Nicolas Lapierre snuck through early in the race, and the second when Audi’s #2 car, with Allan McNish at the wheel, took the lead during the early hours of the morning. After the #2 hybrid took the lead, it was involved in a crash with a Ferrari, but the entry pushed on, despite needing the attention of its team. Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen took the car over for the final stages of the race, securing second place, one lap behind its sister car. Audi secured the all top three podium places, with former Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller bringing home the #4 R18 ultra in third, three laps off the lead. The Rebellion Lola of Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld and Neel Jani finished fourth, with Jani completing a mega quadruple stint to deliver the team its best Le Mans finish. Fifth place went to the #3 Audi ultra after suffering several problems during the race, ahead of Australian international driver David Brabham in his HPD, partnered by Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok. The trio finished 21 laps off the leading Audi.
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STRENGTH TO PERFORM
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Championship battles heat up in CIK Stars of Karting Series The battle for championship honours in the 2012 CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE stepped up a notch during Round Three at Ipswich in Queensland. With new championship leaders in two of the three Pro categories – Pro Gearbox (KZ2) and Pro Junior (KF3) – and only three points separating the top two in the Pro Light (KF1) standings, the championship chase has never been closer.
JAM Racing’s Adam Hughes (Mentone, Vic) won both 25-lap main events in the Pro Light ranks and close to within three points of Daniel Rochford in the standings. Reigning Champion Jake Spencer (Wantirna, Vic), who currently holds the James Courtney perpetual trophy, finished third behind Cian Fothergill (Gladstone, QLD). After failing to finish the pre-final due to a mechanical issue, Fothergill charged from deep in the pack to claim the runner-up placing, and the Alpinestars Star of the round award, aboard his Kosmic kart. Queensland drivers were the toast of the track in the Pro Gearbox ranks with Toowoomba’s Tyler Greenbury making his debut in the CRG chassis a winning one. Gladstone’s
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John Grother, who this round changed to the Energy chassis, won the opening final, the first in the series of his illustrious career, while Gold Coaster Chris Hays’ consistency saw him leap into the lead of the championship. Former championship leader Kyle Ensbey was plagued by mechanical issues aboard his Patrizicorse Top Kart across the weekend, and as a result dropped to fourth place in the highly competitive championship. In the Pro Junior (KF3) ranks Canberra driver Cameron Hill won his second straight round, and as a consequence now leads the championship standings ahead of Jake Coleman who finished third. Top Gun Racing’s Joseph Burton-Harris finished second. Western Australian Kurt Kostecki (Dianella, WA) was super impressive across the weekend aboard his Tony Kart to claim a careerbest third and fourth in the two main events. Courtesy of his performance
Kostecki was presented with the Smart Device Powerful Award. In the Yamaha Challenge categories Jason Burns made a last lap pass for the win in the Clubman category to finish ahead of series leader James Greenwood. Toowoomba’s William Brown stood on the top step in the Junior National Light category with Russell Whittaker (2nd) and William Hawkes (3rd) while Nicholas Andrews was victorious over Thomas Chitty and Tom Davidson in Junior National Heavy. Gold Coaster James Macken provided the RK Karts Australia team with their first victory when he won the Light category in the Australian Leopard Challenge ahead of Adam Mercer and Jedd Stojakovic. Frontrunners James Sera and Ben Stewart had a coming together late in the race that resulted in the pair finishing 9th and 10th. Arrow Karts driver Brendan Nelson led home Michael Griffiths and Michael Doherty in the Heavy category.
Rosberg flies into Castrol EDGE Rankings top-10 Nico Rosberg broke into the top 10 in the Castrol EDGE Rankings for the first time ever thanks to his late charge to sixth place in the European Grand Prix in Valencia. The German’s compatriot and team-mate Michael Schumacher may have been the Mercedes driver making all the headlines in the race as he finally claimed the first podium finish of his Formula 1 comeback, but with the Rankings measuring performances across 12 months, that breakthrough podium still only edged Schumacher up to 40th place in the Rankings. In a race packed full of incident and heroics, Rosberg’s late charge was one of the unsung tales. The Mercedes man had been trying to make a one-stop strategy work at first, but was struggling for tyre life and track position, having been elbowed down the order in the first-lap jostling. He admitted defeat and came in for tyres with 11 laps to go, falling to 13th, and then started surging back up the order - setting fastest lap
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by a commanding half a second in the process. It was in the final laps that Rosberg’s progress was particularly dynamic, as he despatched Jenson Button’s McLaren and Sergio Perez’s Sauber with two to go, then dodged round Pastor Maldonado’s wounded Williams and overtook Paul di Resta’s Force India on the final tour to secure the sixth place that elevated him from 12th to 10th in the Rankings, deposing NASCAR man Carl Edwards. Schumacher’s podium gave him a four-place Rankings boost, taking the seven-time world champion up to 40th. Valencia’s wild afternoon did not cause any changes of position at the head of the Rankings, but did lead to some gaps closing up. Sebastian Vettel’s European GP retirement means his Rankings lead over second-placed Red Bull teammate Mark Webber is down from 6,405
points to 5,768 points. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso’s swashbuckling drive from 11th on the grid to a home victory closes the Ferrari ace in on Lewis Hamilton’s third position in the Rankings, as that gap comes down from 752 to 222 points.
The Castrol EDGE Rankings pos
driver
category
points
1
Sebastian Vettel
F1
26,130
2
Mark Webber
F1
20,362
3
Lewis Hamilton
F1
19,867
4
Fernando Alonso
F1
19,645
5
Jenson Button
F1
17,448
6
Sébastien Loeb
WRC
16,805
7
Will Power
IndyCar
16,066
8
Scott Dixon
IndyCar
15,016
9
Tony Stewart
NASCAR
14,993
10
Nico Rosberg
F1
14,583
Richo’s Safety Tip #6 - Safe Highway Driving As a rule of thumb, in fine weather conditions, the best way to know you’re a safe distance from the car ahead of you on the highway is by following the three-second rule. That is – be three seconds behind the car in front. To work out how close you are to the next car – pick a landmark that the vehicle in front is about to pass – such as an overpass, a tree or roadsign. As the vehicle passes it, mentally count “one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand” in a steady manner until you reach that landmark. If you pass before you finish the three one thousand – you’re too close. So drop back a bit. Being three seconds behind gives you time to react should the other driver encounter any problems. Double that distance if the weather conditions are inclement. It’s important to concentrate on what you are doing on the road. Don’t panic if someone is following closely, the easiest thing to do (if on a dual carriageway) is change lanes and allow them to carry on – remember they’ll get the speeding fine, not you.
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
The Castrol EDGE Rugby Report QANTAS WALLABIES RETAIN JAMES BEVAN TROPHY WITH THRILLING AFTER THE SIREN WIN The Qantas Wallabies have left it until after the final siren to secure a hard fought win at Etihad Stadium. In front of 33,888 fans Qantas Wallabies fly-half and new dad, Berrick Barnes, played a vital role in helping his side over the line, setting up the Qantas Wallabies only try of the match in the first half and scoring 17-points off his own boot. In a game that saw the lead changed hands nine times it wasn’t until after the siren that game was finally decided. As was the case in the first half Wales crossed first, in the 43rd minute, to recapture the lead the Qantas Wallabies had snatched from them in the dying stages of the first half. The Qantas Wallabies hit back through the boot of Barnes just five minutes later and as the half continued both sides traded penalty goals. With Wales ahead by a single point with just seven minutes to play Barnes had the chance to put the Qantas Wallabies ahead, however he couldn’t convert the penalty goal attempt giving hope to the Welsh fans and players. Just minutes later the Qantas Wallabies won a penalty inside their
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own half and after a successful lineout, won a penalty from the ensuing maul. With Berrick Barnes substituted minutes before and the final siren having sounded seconds before Mike Harris stepped up to take the winning penalty goal attempt. The gold coloured crowd behind the goals told the story as Harris kicked truly to give the Qantas Wallabies a series winning victory
QANTAS WALLABIES CLAIM CLEAN SWEEP OF THE CASTROL EDGE WALES TOUR WITH A NAIL BITING ONE-POINT WIN A record Rugby crowd has turned out at Allianz Stadium this afternoon to watch the Qantas Wallabies take out a nail biting affair against the reigning Six Nations Champions and secure a clean sweep of the Castrol EDGE Wales Tour. In a game that was dominated by the boot of both sides goal kickers it was the Australians who triumphed by a single point. The Qantas Wallabies entered the half time break up 12-9 after both sides exchanged penaty goals, but it was Wales who struck first in the second half, for a change not off the boot of Leigh Halfpenny. It was Wales Number 8, Ryan Jones, who
crossed the paint for the first try of the match in the 62nd minute and when Halfpenny added the extras Wales went up by four points, 16-12. The Qantas Wallabies struck straight back in the 65th minute thanks to some fast hands and quick work out wide that put Rob Horne over in the corner. Qantas Wallabies fly-half Berrick Barnes was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt and the Qantas Wallabies held a slim onepoint lead, 17-16. Halfpenny put Wales back in front six minutes later with another penalty goal, however the Qantas Wallabies would not lie down and when Barnes slotted his fifth penalty of the match the Qantas Wallabies regained a slender onepoint advantage, 20-19. Wales battled hard in the final minutes, however the Qantas Wallabies held on to the ball to claim a clean sweep of the three Test Castrol EDGE Wales Tour. After his heroics last week with the boot, scoring 17-points himself, Barnes was once again named man of the match, kicking 15 of his sides 20-points, capping off a stellar three weeks in the Gold jersey.
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CASTROL EDGE BRAND AMBASSADOR HOPING TO RECLAIM POSITION WITH QANTAS WALLABIES Melbourne Rebels and Qantas Wallabies rugby union playmaker James O’Connor has confirmed he intends to reclaim his position in the Australian line-up as soon as possible. The recent injury enforced break is the longest time off he has had away from the game since he started playing professional rugby. “It was a brilliant performance against Wales last week and it has made me so determined to get back on the field as soon as possible for the Qantas Wallabies, assuming they’ll have me!” O’Connor said. O’Connor made his Super Rugby debut for the Western Force in 2008, making him the youngest player to compete at the Super Rugby level. In that same year, O’Connor debuted against Italy becoming the second youngest player in Australian Rugby history to pull on the iconic Gold jersey (second only to winger Brian Ford in 1957). Soon after, O’Connor was given his first official start against the Barbarians at Wembley. During match duties playing for the Melbourne Rebels in early 2012, O’Connor suffered a lacerated liver. In training with the Wallabies to try and get back to full fitness, O’Connor then injured his hamstring. These injuries prevented his selection in the Qantas Wallabies team to play Scotland and has seen him sidelined for the Castrol EDGE Wales Tour. With a strong team working behindthe-scenes to accelerate O’Connor’s recovery, his rehabilitation team are confident of an O’Connor resurgence for the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship in the back half of 2012. Melbourne Rebels Head of Performance Mark Andrews said: “With strength comes
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
power, acceleration and speed. In the modern game, players are bigger, faster and stronger and are getting through more on-field work than ever before, which is why it’s imperative to ensure correct systems are in place; from the gym to post-match recovery,” he said. O’Connor said he is working hard to get back to full strength and reclaim his spot in the Qantas Wallabies line-up. “When you have strength, it enables you to explode out of the gates and pushes you over the advantage line – that is one of the keys to my game,” he said. “My general fitness is pretty good at the moment, but I’m obviously lacking some game time. It’s about making sure that I do everything possible in recovery to make sure that I regain strength, endurance and power as soon as possible. Strength is important to performance but it counts
for little without endurance” O’Connor said. To coincide with O’Connor building back to full strength, Castrol is pleased to announce James O’Connor as the official Castrol EDGE brand ambassador. Castrol Australia Marketing Director Diana Hall said: “The pace and impact of physical confrontations in the modern game cannot be underestimated. It is difficult to perform under such testing conditions, but strength and experience are key to ensuring continued performance. The same applies to the pressures in your engine. That’s why you need a strong oil to keep the metal surfaces apart,” she said. “Castrol EDGE is built strong. In fact, it’s 40% stronger than a leading competitor, so it makes sense that James O’Connor and Castrol EDGE have forged a strong connection.”
STRENGTH TO PERFORM
THE
POWER BEHIND THE
PACK BEHIND THE
PACK!