Castrol EDGE Australia eNewsletter - Vol 3, Issue 14

VOLUME 3 - ISSUE 14

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

24th JULY 2013

TEAM EDGE RACE PREVIEW: V8 Supercars - Ipswich 360 Castrol-backed crews head to Ipswich this weekend for the second of three Queensland-based V8 Supercar events the Coates Hire Ipswich 360.

Castrol-backed Pepsi Max Crew FPR will be looking to produce the same speed that saw the team finish one-two at the previous V8 Supercars Saturday Race from the Townsville 400 earlier this month. Will Davison currently sits third in the drivers’ standings and will be looking to close the gap to current championship leader Jamie Whincup. FPR teammate Mark Winterbottom has moved right back into championship contention and currently sits one spot behind Davison

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after a solid performance in Townsville.

Nissan Motorsport’s quartet of Altima V8 Supercar drivers are quietly confident of a strong showing at the manufacturer’s debut meeting at Queensland Raceway this weekend. All four drivers are eyeing different elements of the race weekend to get the most out of their new Altima V8s, with team director/driver Todd Kelly looking forward to the soft tyre that will be used across the entire weekend.

“I’m looking forward to two things this weekend, I really enjoy the shorter 60/60 races because you can get out there and the racing is pretty intense, you don’t

really need to focus on saving fuel or tyres, you’ve just got to focus on trying to get in front of the car that’s in front of you,” Todd Kelly said. It does produce good racing and it is good fun. Secondly, I seem to really enjoy the soft tyre a lot more than the hard, I enjoy racing on it, and even more so qualifying on the soft, and I think a lot of the results I’ve had this year have been on the soft tyre.”

For the Norton Hornets Altima drivers James Moffat and Michael Caruso, they see Friday’s new practice format (two 75 minute sessions separated by a short 15 minute break) as a key factor to their weekend success. Castrol-backed

V8 Supercars Championship standings

Supercheap Auto Racing driver Russell ‘The Enforcer’ Ingall will be racing at QR for the last time behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar. The Enforcer has raced every Ipswich round since 1999 and won three times with 12 podiums to his name.

In his final season as a full-time driver,

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Ingall has tasted success at the circuit and will be looking to use his wealth of knowledge to perform on the paperclip this weekend. Track action begins on Friday, followed by the return of the 60/60 Super Sprint race on Saturday.

Sunday will see two 100km races held.

Pos

Driver

Points

1

Jamie Whincup

1591

2

Craig Lowndes

1480

3

Will Davison

1376

4

Mark Winterbottom

1337

5

Shane Van Gisbergen

1310

6

Garth Tander

1302

7

Fabian Coulthard

1291

8

Jason Bright

1269

9

James Courtney

1243

10

Jonathon Webb

1104

11

Scott McLaughlin

966

12

Rick Kelly

905

13

David Reynolds

898

14

James Moffat

825

15

Alex Davison

814

16

Tony D’Alberto

753

17

Alexandre Premat

725

18

Russell Ingall

711

19

Michael Caruso

637

20

Dean Fiore

630

21

Tim Slade

597

22

David Wall

581

23

Tim Blanchard

533

24

Chaz Mostert

532

25

Todd Kelly

532

26

Lee Holdsworth

523

27

Scott Pye

510

28

Maro Engel

390

29

Jonny Reid

149

MotoGP News

Castrol-backed Bautista fifth at MotoGP Germany Castrol-backed GO&FUN Honda rider Alvaro Bautista’s German Grand Prix finished better than expected with a top five result at Sachsenring following a troublesome weekend of practice and qualifying.

Despite losing significant ground to his rivals in one particular section of the track Bautista held it together around the rest of the lap to pick up a result that gives the team a timely boost ahead of the trip to Laguna Seca.

Bautista rode a strong first few laps, coming through from the third row of the grid to fourth place on lap three, just behind eventual race winner Marc Marquez.

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“We finished in fifth place which at the end of the day is not a great result but after a great start I just wasn’t able to keep in touch with the riders at the front,” said Bautista. “We had some traction problems in the second sector, which is where I was losing a lot of time and I could only just hold the gap in the other sectors. I tried to get closer but I couldn’t manage it and fifth place is still a positive result for us after the Dutch race because it’s a step forward. Now I am sure we can make more progress at Laguna with the help of the team, who are doing a great job.”

However, the Spaniard wasn’t quite able to maintain his impressive progress due to some traction issues in the faster part of the track and slipped back to fifth place, which he held from lap four

all the way to the finish. Australian Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda) had a disappointing day at the Sachsenring, sliding off without injury with three laps remaining.

Castrol-backed Bautista perilously close to Laguna podium Castrol-backed Honda rider Alvaro Bautista narrowly missed making it an all-Honda rostrum by less than a tenth of a secondat Laguna Seca - Round 9 of the MotoGP World Championship.

The Spanish rider has enjoyed a solid weekend at the Californian circuit right from the first free practice session on Friday and it culminated with a breathtaking attack on Valentino Rossi for third place in the closing laps of the race.

“I was so close to the podium! I would really liked to have been up there, but we have to be happy with this result and especially for the way we achieved it,” said Bautista. “Obviously you can’t get much closer than 0.059 seconds, but the most important thing about today was that we showed we have taken a massive step forward and hopefully we can continue in the same way at the next race. This result gives us confidence after a less than positive period and it’s a nice boost for the rest of the season. I am also happy for the team, who have been working so hard

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and really deserved to celebrate a result like this today.”

2013 MotoGP Standings Pos

Rider

Points

Despite missing out on the podium this fourth place provides Alvaro and the team with a big confidence boost and a solid foundation to build from in the second half of the season. Grand prix rookie Bryan Staring (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda) finished 17th, his hopes of adding to his points score thwarted in the later laps. Series first-timer Staring rides in the CRT category, his machine powered by a race-tuned CBR1000RR motor.

1

Marc Márquez

163

2

Daniel Pedrosa

147

3

Jorge Lorenzo

137

4

Valentino Rossi

117

5

Cal Crutchlow

116

6

Stefan Bradl

84

7

Andrea Dovizioso

81

8

Alvaro Bautista

71

9

Nicky Hayden

65

10

Aleix Espargaró

52

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Castrol EDGE-backed BMW Team RLL finishes fifth and sixth at Mosport The Castrol EDGE-backed BMW Team RLL has finished the fifth round of the ALMS, held at Bowmanville, fifth and sixth in the GT class. Both BMW Z4 GTE cars held the lead during the mistakefree race. Maxime Martin set the fastest lap (1:15.907 minutes, on lap 102) in the closing minutes of the race. Unfortunately, the top speed deficit of the BMWs to the opponents was evident on Mosport’s long straights and, while able to run a single quick lap, they were unable to stay in front of the larger displacement cars.

Dirk Müller and Joey Hand, driving the no. 56 BMW Z4 GTE, finished fifth, completing 123 laps of the 2.46-mile, ten-turn circuit during the race to retain Müller’s lead in the GT driver standings by five points. Müller started the race from third on the grid, after qualifying fourth and moving up at the green flag

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after the second place qualifier moved to the rear of the grid. Hand took over just past the one-hour mark and ran a strong third before being demoted to fifth in the closing stages of the race.

“I was hoping for more for sure. It was a tough day. We did everything right. Joey did a great job. The team did a great job, but we couldn’t defend,” said Müller. “P5, P6 was the best we could do. I was hoping for a podium, but we collected the points and stayed clean. Not one touch to the cars. No penalties. We still have a long season ahead and we’ll fight every lap.”

Bill Auberlen started in the no. 55 BMW Z4 GTE, moving up to start the race in fourth after qualifying fifth. The Californian ran a strong stint to hand over to Martin from fourth on lap 46, one hour into the race. Martin raced into the lead, but

dropped back to sixth after his pit stop on lap 90 for fuel and new Michelin tyres. He was unable to improve his position in the final 45 minutes of the race.

Castrol-backed Coppin and Bailey podium at Rally QLD The Castrol-backed Canberra based rally team of Adrian Coppin and Tim Batten celebrated the best result of their short rally career last night with an extraordinary second outright in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

Coppin was driving his Castrol EDGEbacked Ford Fiesta R2, a specially built left hand drive rally version of the popular Fiesta hatchback sold in the thousands by Ford Australia.

In the Australian Rally Championship’s 4WD category Mike Bailey and Matthew Harriot also finished second behind the wheel if their Castrol EDGE-backed BP Ultimate Racing Mitsubishi EVO VI. It was a fine result for Bailey who continues to impress on the Australian rallying scene in his 4WD machine.

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“I really can’t believe it,” a beaming Coppin said at the finish. “I entered the APRC round to gain some valuable international experience and to have a clean run. Tim and I competed in this event last year and we knew it is a tough event. After recce we decided maturity and patience would be rewarded and that if we kept our run clean, we would have a good event, but a podium, let alone 2nd outright, wasn’t in my wildest dreams!” Coppin said.

Coppin and co-driver Tim Batten were considered underdogs by many observers, as they would be up against more experienced competitors driving more powerful machinery. But a mature drive meant he [Coppin] rose up through the order by setting consistently

competitive times and not taking unnecessary risks. He secured 2nd place on the final stage after Atsushi Masamura ran wide in his Lancer and punctured. Coppin and his team are headed for a busy time in the run up to the Australian round of the World Rally Championship to be held at Coffs Harbour from 12-15 September.

“The car is packed in the truck and I am heading for Coffs Harbour tomorrow to participate in the launch of Coates Hire Rally Australia on Tuesday. Then, it’s back to the workshop to re-prepare this car, and build a new car for my team mate in the WRC round, Molly Taylor.

And then we’ll be at the WRC event in 8 weeks” Coppin added.

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