VOLUME 3 - ISSUE 2
it’s our best oil yet... www.castroledge.com.au
6th FEBRUARY 2013
STABILITY THE KEY TO FPR’s 2013 ASSAULT The Castrol-backed Ford Performance Racing squad believes stability coupled with unprecedented preparation and fresh ideas has given it the ideal foundation to tackle the introduction of Car of the Future just days before the team holds its 2013 season launch. The team retains drivers Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison who will pair up for a third successive season while David Reynolds returns to be joined Alex Davison in the expanded four-car FPR line-up. FPR has been a leader in the development of the new-for-2013 cars,
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last year becoming the first team to test a final-specification car before becoming the first team to complete and test three cars. “We all knew what a big job it was going to be to get the new cars ready for this season but our entire team has been committed to the deadlines we set ourselves. While they were seen as ambitious by many it’s been very pleasing to hit all our targets,” Team Principal Tim Edwards said. “By having three cars on track in December
we gained a lot of information which allowed us to develop multiple areas of the car simultaneously. While this doesn’t guarantee success it certainly helps us learn faster which should hopefully give us an edge on track. There are a lot of unknowns this season for everyone but I believe the extra time we’ve given ourselves will allow us to be better prepared than our rivals. ” The expansion to four cars has allowed the team to bolster its engineering line-up and having one more car
than last year provides more data to aid development.In order to ensure the team keeps a fresh approach Winterbottom will now be engineered by James Small while Campbell Little will work with Alex Davison. Reynolds, formerly engineered by Small, will work with Nathaniel Osborne who steps up from being Will Davison’s data engineer for the past two years while Davison retains Grant McPherson. “The great thing about our technical line-up is that we have retained all our engineers which is critical for how our group will work together as we unlock the secrets of the new cars,” Edwards said. “We’ve made a few subtle tweaks to the line-up to keep things fresh but ultimately when we all get together at the track or back at the factory we have the same group working together.” FPR conducted its first test of the year at Winton on Monday where Alex Davison sampled his new car for the first time alongside his brother Will, Winterbottom and Reynolds as the team ran four cars for the first time. The team is also finalising the details of its glitzy season launch in Melbourne on
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Thursday night where Winterbottom and Will Davison will unveil their new Pepsi Max colours for the first time. Last week the FPR quartet spent their time in Noosa for a pre-season fitness camp to not only work off any Christmas kilos but also to build team camaraderie as a critical team building exercise. Being a racing car driver is often seen as a profession for the unfit
- but in the ultra-competitive world of V8 Supercars that is far from the truth. Under the direction of Glenn Lindsay who has trained a wide range of drivers including those in Formula One - the week in Noosa is more than just drivers maintaining their fitness. The weather on the Sunshine Coast also provided good grounding for what will be anticipated in the driver’s seat at the opening event of the season - the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
Castrol-sponsored rider profile - PD Allan Peter Daniel (aka PD) Allan is one of Australia’s up and coming enduro racing stars. The youngster is an all-round great sportsperson, dedicated athlete and has a lot to offer as a sponsored rider and team member. Allan is a fast young rider
who exhibits professionalism well beyond his vintage. He takes his promotion very seriously and already has an extensive portfolio of media coverage and the full range of social media accounts. Allan is the complete package where riders are
concerned and is confident he can be an extremely valuable asset to your brand. At 16 years of age PD’s record already speaks for itself and this year is set to be his biggest yet. We will be watching PD with great anticipation in 2013.
PD Allan’s race results: 2010 Husaberg Pony Express Series
2nd
Yamaha Sprint XC Series
6th {Mechanical Failure}
Suzuki X Series
2nd
Yamaha 2-Day Enduro Championship
1st
2011 Australian Off-Road Championship Final Results
3rd
Qld Yamaha Sprint XC Rd1
1st
Qld Yamaha Sprint XC Rd 2
1st
Qld Snap Fitness - Team Moto Sprint Series Rd 1
1st
Qld Snap Fitness - Team Moto Sprint Series Rd 2
1st
2012
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Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship
1st
Yamaha SQ Off-Road Championship
1st
Husqvarna Queensland Sprint Championship
1st
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Castrol EDGE-backed United Autosports recruit F1 test driver for Bathurst 12hr start
F
1 test driver Brendon Hartley has secured a surprise start in a Castrol EDGE-backed Audi at the LiquiMoly Bathurst 12 Hour this weekend. Hartley, who is on the verge of stepping up his role with the grand prix team, has signed up with the Castrol EDGE-backed United Autosports team. The 23-year-old will join South African Mark Patterson and Hong Kong-based Alain Li in an Audi R8 LMS ultra GT weapon.
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Both Mark and Alain are no strangers behind the wheel of the Audi, having raced with great success on several occasions and taken many podiums between them. United Autosports had originally planned to campaign a pair of McLaren MP4-12C entries but instead bought the new R8 which replaces the Audi it ran at Mount Panorama last year. The drive comes just over a week after Hartley drove for the Starworks team
where he shared a Ford-Riley Prototype in the Daytona 24 Hour race. “I have always wanted to race at Bathurst so I am very excited that I have this opportunity,” Hartley said. “I will also be my debut in a GT car with Audi so I am looking forward to the challenge. United Autosports are a top professional team so I’m sure we can get up to speed quickly and be in a position to aim for a top result. I’m really looking forward to it.” The team’s co-owner and managing director Richard Dean acknowledged the growing status of Bathurst as a leading sports car endurance event on the world stage. “Bathurst is one of the most iconic race circuits anywhere in the world. And the 12 Hour race is now a major fixture on the calendar,” Dean said. “For United Autosports this is a very important race and we are very proud to be part of this great event.” Hartley is looking to stoke up his potential grand prix career this year after losing his spot in the Red Bull squad and having to pick up the pieces again. He tested a Mercedes F1 car last September and is the team’s dedicated simulator
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driver. Hartley won the 2007 World Series by Renault – Eurocup 2.0 title before contesting the British Formula 3 Championship and the GP2 series.
Castrol-backed Pata Hon J
onathan Rea and Leon Haslam have completed a two-day test at Jerez in Spain, their first track outing in the new Castrol-backed Pata Honda World Superbike livery and the final European winter test for the team. The team used
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its second test at Jerez – new to the World Superbike championship calendar for the 2013 season – to concentrate on the new electronics package that is being developed from Honda’s MotoGP project.
“I felt some good things, like it’s catching slides a lot more safely now, so that’s encouraging,” said Rea. “It’s been a frustrating test and shown us that we need more track time before the first round, but that’s
nda complete Jerez test coming in Australia, so we’ll hope for better luck there.� Rea and Haslam also tested a heavilyrevised swingarm for their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade machines,
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together with an all-new exhaust system from Termignoni. The Pata Honda World Superbike team will now make the long return journey to its base in The Netherlands to make final preparations to the race bikes before
they are crated up next week for transportation to Australia. The team will take part in two further tests at the Phillip Island circuit there, ahead of the first round of the 2013 World Superbike season on 24 February.
Team Legacy Assist wins Targa Wrest Point Classic Outright The Castrol-backed Team Legacy Assist have secured first place in the Classic Outright category of the Targa Wrest Point rally. Matthew Cardinaels and Jason Page were in a class of their own in the Classic Outright competition, not only taking victory in their 1972 Datsun 240Z, but also winning the Late Classic handicap component of Targa Wrest Point. “Today was good from the get-go and we didn’t want to do anything crazy. We wanted to show that we were still on the pace early,” Cardinaels said. “We then just backed it off for the last couple of stages to ensure the win. We’ll now go back and try to raise some more money for the next event.” The team had the Targa community scratching their heads and raising
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the bar to a new level in the classic competition. Car #541 convincingly beat the favoured A9X of Cooper and V8 Capri Perana, with second place a whopping 1 Min, 7 sec behind with the Legacy crew. This allowed the duo to back off over the final three stages and cruise home to victory. Team Legacy Assist is now second in the Australian Targa Championship Classic Outright, four points adrift first place. Cardinaels finished fourth at the previous round of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship in Victoria, but has upped his pace significantly since, and finished one minute and nine seconds clear of Tasmanian driver Greg Garwood in a 1976 Holden Torana A9X. Team Legacy Assist hold a substantial lead in the ATC Late Classic category.
Team Legacy Assist is an organisation that competes in the Australian Targa Championship with the aim of raising the profile of Legacy and the Commando Welfare Trust. Legacy is a voluntary organisation providing services to Australian families suffering financially or socially after the death of a spouse or parent during or after their defence service. Legacy currently cares for over 100,000 widows and 1,900 children and dependants throughout Australia. The purpose of the Commando Welfare Trust is to provide discretionary funds through a board of Trustees to support the families of serving and ex-serving members of Special Operations Command east coast units, who have been killed or injured in the course of their duty.
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b e F 8 1 g n i v i r Ar
-2013
THE
POWER BEHIND THE
PACK BEHIND THE
PACK!