VOLUME 4 - ISSUE 12
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
10th JULY 2014
INAUGURAL CASTROL TOWNSVILLE 500 A GREAT SUCCESS With over 140,000 through the gates for an action packed weekend of racing the inaugural Castrol Townsville 500 was deemed a huge success as the V8 Supercars Championship continued to entertain.
photos, videos and experiences and being in the running for some fantastic prizes including hot laps at the Castrolsupported V8 Supercars Experience on the Gold Coast and signed V8 Supercars merchandise!
Fans enjoyed plenty of entertainment both on and off the track including performances by Castrol-supported Matty Mingay in the always impressive Hot Wheels Stuntz Inc drift utes.
Spectators at the track and those viewing from home via the telecast and web broadcasts we treated to some high-action racing which saw Jamie Whincup take out the weekend with a win for Saturday’s opening race followed by victory in Sunday’s 250km test.
Fans were also gifted with plenty of fantastic prizes at the Castrol EDGE Zone where the Spin ’n’ Wheel was in full effect all weekend giving away plenty of Castrol goodies and other great prizes. Castrol’s #CastrolEDGE promotion was also a huge success with plenty of fans from the weekend showcasing their
The Holden Racing Team spoiled the clean sweep however with a one-two victory in Saturday’s second race which saw Garth Tander head home teammate James Courtney for the victory.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
2014 Championship Points POS
DRIVER
TOTAL
1
Mark Winterbottom
1634
2
Jamie Whincup
1538
3
Fabian Coulthard
1361
4
Shane Van Gisbergen
1355
5
James Courtney
1354
6
Craig Lowndes
1352
7
Scott McLaughlin
1211
8
Garth Tander
1135
9
David Reynolds
1099
10
Chaz Mostert
1098
11
Jason Bright
1010
Michael Caruso
920
13
Will Davison
913
14
Lee Holdsworth
894
15
Scott Pye
876
16
James Moffat
873
The event also showcased some of Australia’s hottest musical talent with Jessica Malboy and Vanessa Amarossi hitting the stage on Saturday night for the Big Top concert inside the track precinct and all within the ticket price.
In their 300th V8 Supercars race the Castrol-oiled Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altimas finished 18th and 19th respectively in their special 300th edition livery which was plastered to the cars overnight on Saturday.
12
17
Rick Kelly
854
The best of the Castrol-oiled drivers was current championship leader and Ford Pepsi Max Crew pilot Mark Winterbottom who scored two top-10 finishes for the weekend including sixth in Sunday’s feature race.
Round 8 of the V8 Supercars Championship takes teams to Queensland Raceway for the Coates Hire Ipswich 400 August 4-6.
18
Russell Ingall
854
19
Tim Slade
816
20
Nick Percat
790
21
David Wall
740
22
Dale Wood
649
23
Jack Perkins
610
24
Todd Kelly
576
25
Robert Dahlgren
437
He was joined by teammate Chaz Mostert who also enjoyed a double top-10 result for the weekend.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
CASTROL-BACKED VW WIN WRC POLAND Castrol-backed VW driver Sebastien Ogier has won Rally Poland taking maximum points by finishing the event with the Power Stage victory as well. It is the world champion’s fifth win of the seven events contested so far this season, and in a good weekend for Volkswagen, Andreas Mikkelsen was second overall. After two tight opening days of competition, Ogier cleared out yesterday to just over a minute. He kept things in check throughout the opening stages of the final day and then attacked on the 14.9km Power Stage.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
He now heads the driver’s standings by 50 points from VW team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. “I’m really happy and a good step for the championship,” said Ogier. “I had a lot of fun as the stages were really nice this weekend. High speeds and I really enjoyed driving my Polo here. “I knew on the first day I had a big disadvantage with my road position. But I knew that if I could carry the level of commitment on the second and third day it would make the difference, and that is what happened.” Castrol-oiled M-Sport World Rally Team’s Mikko Hirvonen made the most of a challenging Rally Poland – bringing his Ford Fiesta RS WRC home in fourth place. Teammate Elfyn Evans finished under Rally 2 regulations, but the Welshman remains in a positive mood having made another progressive step in his development.
FINAL POSITIONS: Rally Poland Pos
Driver
Team/Car
Time/Gap
1
Sebastien Ogier
VW
2h34m02.0s
2
Andreas Mikkelsen
VW
+1m07.7s
3
Thierry Neuville
Hyundai
+2m13.5s
4
Mikko Hirvonen
M-Sport Ford
+2m32.4s
5
Jari-Matti Latvala
VW
+2m33.1s
6
Juho Hanninen
Hyundai
+2m49.9s
7
Kris Meeke
Citroen
+4m27.9s
8
Hayden Paddon
Hyundai
+4m32.1s
9
Henning Solberg
Solberg Ford
+4m59.0s
10
Martin Prokop
Czech Ford
+6m11.3s
2014 FIA DRIVERS´ STANDINGS
2014 FIA TEAMS´ STANDINGS
POS
DRIVER
TOTAL
POS
TEAMS
TOTAL
1
Sebastien Ogier
166
1
Volkswagen Motorsport
262
2
Jari-Matti Latvala
116
2
Andreas Mikkelsen
83
Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
115
3 4
Mads Ostberg
66
3
M-Sport World Rally Team
90
5
Mikko Hirvonen
52
4
Volkswagen Motorsport II
82
6
Thierry Neuville
46
4
Hyundai Shell World Rally Team
80
7
Kris Meeke
38
8
Elfyn Evans
36
9
Martin Prokop
31
10
Henning Solberg
24
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
REA TAKES FOURTH VICTORY OF SEASON AT PORTIMAO Castrol-backed Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea took victory in a shortened, wet second race in round eight of the 2014 World Superbike championship at the Autodromo International Algarve in Portugal. The 27-year-old British rider was never headed in the race, which was reduced from a scheduled 20 to 18 laps after rain fell on the 4.592km Portimao circuit. At mid-race, Rea saw a comfortable lead reduced by the two factory Aprilias but they both crashed out on lap 13, leaving the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP rider to cruise home almost seven seconds ahead of Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies.
I was really disappointed after race one because we had good pace in warm-up this morning; but I’m not sure if it was the tyre or not because we had changed nothing on the bike.,” said Rea. “When I heard the rain coming on my motorhome roof as I watched a bit of the Tour de France ahead of race two, I started getting a little bit giddy and singing as I was getting changed! I knew that it was a chance for me. “I tried to do my own race from the front but I saw from my lap board that the Aprilias had better pace at the middle point of the race. The track had started
to dry out a bit and we were really suffering with corner exit but, although the conditions were a great leveller for all riders, it’s nice to take a win. “I’d prefer to take it in the dry and we can’t get too excited because it’s a wet win; but we’ll take them any way we can and it’s 25 points not just for me but for the whole team. “They’re consistently working so, so hard to bring the package to the front, and they gave me a really great, userfriendly CBR to ride today, so I’m really happy for them.”
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
2014 SBK Standings 1
Tom Sykes
284 pts
GBR
KAWASAKI
Kawasaki Racing Team
2
Sylvain Guintoli
241 pts
FRA
APRILIA
Aprilia Racing Team
3
Loris Baz
236 pts
FRA
KAWASAKI
Kawasaki Racing Team
4
Jonathan Rea
235 pts
GBR
HONDA
Pata Honda
5
Luca Scassa
192 pts
ITA
KAWASAKI
Team Pedercini
6
Chaz Davies
159 pts
GBR
DUCATI
Ducati Superbike Team
7
Davide Guigliano
140 pts
ITA
DUCATI
Ducati Superbike Team
8
Eugene Laverty
121 pts
IRL
SUZUKI
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
9
Toni Elias
115 pts
ESP
APRILIA
Red Devils Roma
10
Leon Haslam
115 pts
GBR
HONDA
Pata Honda
The win marked Rea’s eighth podium at Portimao in the seven years that SBK has been visiting the circuit, but it was his first victory here. It followed a fifth place in the first 20-lap race, won by Tom Sykes, in which Rea was badly affected by low rear grip after leading on the opening laps. His Pata Honda team-mate Leon Haslam finished fifth in the wet race two, after a strong challenge for the final podium position faded in the closing two laps. The 31-year-old was taken out of race one by another rider but remounted to finish in 11th place at the flag. There is a quick turnaround for the World Superbike championship, which reassembles next weekend for round nine at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California, USA before an eight-week summer break.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
CASTROL TEAM HAHN WINS AT RED BULL RING Jochen Hahn has narrowed the gap to Spanish rival Antonio Albacete to just six points after an impressive weekend for Castrol Team Hahn Racing in Spielberg. Hahn began the fourth round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship by going second fastest in an incredibly close superpole session on Saturday morning at the Red Bull Ring – Hahn was just 0.027 seconds behind Norbert Kiss. Although dark clouds brought an everpresent threat of rain, the dry weather held out for race one, in which Jochen Hahn held off a charging Antonio Albacete to claim second place behind Norbert Kiss. Hahn started race two in seventh place, but battled his way through the field to take fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium place.
Antonio Albacete to just six points. The next event is Castrol Team Hahn’s home race at Nürburgring and takes place between 18th/20th July.
The weather was warmer on Sunday, and the team had Jochen Hahn’s Castrol-lubricated MAN race truck running sweetly. Jochen was too quick for Norbert Kiss in superpole 2 and clinched pole position with a blisteringly quick lap. Jochen made his pole position count with a fantastic lights-to-flag victory in race three, despite Antonio Albacete’s constant attacks. Race four proved to be a little more difficult, with Jochen starting in eighth place. An intense battle at the front made it difficult to overtake, and he eventually had to settle for sixth.
2014 European Truck Racing Championship 1
Norbert Kiss MAN
HUN
178
2
Antonio Albacete MAN
ESP
169
3
Jochen Hahn MAN
GER
163
4
Adam Lacko Freightliner
CZE
125
5
Markus Bösiger MAN
SUI
121
It was a great weekend overall, with Jochen racking-up 47 points and closing the gap to second-placed
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
CASTROL-BACKED JOHN FORCE WINS NHRA NATIONALS Castrol-backed Funny car legend John Force has added another race track and NHRA national to his winning collection. Force raced to victory at the 8th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals securing his unprecedented 140th Funny Car win and moving into the No. 2 position on the Mello Yello Funny Car point standings. “This win today was special to me. I had come to Norwalk decades ago for their Night of Fire events and match races but never won the NHRA event here, and I want to win every race,” said Force. “I came close a few times racing against Ashley and Courtney but I never won the big one at this place. I just couldn’t get a NHRA national event win here and I won them all with the exception of Epping so I really wanted this win.”
Going into race day, John Forces Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang had qualified second with a thundering 4.016 second run at 322.04 that set the track speed record at Summit Motorsports Park.
Crew chief Jimmy Prock and the rest of the team knew just how far they could push the track conditions without blowing away the massive Goodyear slicks under Force’s Mustang.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
While the team owner was racing to victory the rest of JFR was battling tough competition and seeing positive results. Brittany Force drove her Castrol EDGE Dragster to a quarter-final finish. In a classis rematch from last week, Brittany lost a close one to reigning Top Fuel Mello Yello champion Shawn Langdon as both cars fought it out on the tricky track surface. Even though this 27 year old is in her sophomore year driving a 10,000 horsepower Top Fuel car, Brittany’s primed for a trip to the winner’s circle. “We came out today swinging and ran some great numbers. Even though I would’ve liked to have gone to the finals again, I couldn’t be more proud of my guys and how this Castrol EDGE Dragster has run throughout this weekend,” said Brittany Force. It was a tough weekend for the Mello Yello Funny Car points leader Robert Hight. As the No. 6 qualifier it would
stand to reason that the No. 12 qualifier might be a lesser opponent. Not so in the modern era of Funny Car as Hight faced Cruz Pedregon, a twotime Funny Car world champion and winner of the Toyota Summernationals, in the first round. The Auto Club Ford Mustang was charging away for victory when it lost two cylinders on the left side drastically forcing the Funny Car to the right. The headers scuffed the retaining guardwall just before the finish line giving Hight an immediate DQ for the race. MELLO YELLO POINT STANDINGS 1.
Robert Hight
1067
2.
John Force
889
3.
Ron Capps
846
4.
Tommy Johnson Jr.
845
5.
Alexis DeJoria
779
6.
Courtney Force
764
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
PREDICTOR: LOCKWOOD 14 CLAIMS TOWNSVILLE PRIZE Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor team Lockwood 14 has taken round honours for the Castrol Townsville 500 round scoring themselves a $100 BP fuel card. The Lockwood 14 team’s massive 105 points haul came with a prediction accuracy of 48% after they took full advantage of the new-to-2014 bonus points system and collected and additional 80 bonus points. In the overall league standings team Arne’s Mob has maintained the lead with Team Murph taking over SCATTERS who slips back to third overall after sitting second in the standings heading into the round.
The overall drivers’ points winner for the weekend went to the Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander after his win and two second places for the weekend. Ford Pepsi Max Crew driver Mark Winterbottom had a consistent weekend to finish seventh overall and maintain his lead of the V8 Supercars Championship. In the Experts’ league Speedcafe.com took out round honours with 22 points for the North Queensland-based event. Andy Priaulx was second on 17 points while Greg Rust managed 14 points. Speedcafe.com continues to lead the race amongst the Expert predictors.
Signing up for the V8 Predictor is easy and players have the chance of winning the ultimate V8 Supercars holiday in 2015 including flights, accommodation, spending money and behind the scenes access to the V8 Supercars world. There are also $100 BP Fuel vouchers up for grabs for each of the 14 championship rounds contested this year plus bonus prizes on top. Round 8 of the V8 Supercars Championship takes crews to Queensland Raceway for the Coates Hire Ipswich 400 - Aug 1-3.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
2014 Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor - Global Leaderboard RANK
TEAM NAME
POINTS
1
Arne’s Mob
470
2
Murph
429
3
SCATTERS
421
4
bad betty
417
5
red bull 01
405
6
JDM8 Racing Team
394
7
Tarmac
394
8
boats n hoes
394
9
#1V8SCFAN
393
10
Cow tipping dwarfs
392
11
Bloopy Enterprises
392
12
The Flying Bulls!!!
390
13
Team Bolo
389
14
Give it some jandal
389
15
JWS-888-
388
16
Low and Slow
388
17
Team Morpheus
387
18
Datto510
386
19
The NASCAR Offseason
386
20
Arctic Racing
384
2014 Expert Leaderboard RANK
TEAM NAME
POINTS
1
Speedcafe
210
2
Andy Priaulx
164
3
Greg Rust
149
Additional Points POLE POSITION
COURTNEY, James and COULTHARD, Fabian and LOWNDES, Craig
FASTEST LAP
TANDER, Garth and WHINCUP, Jamie
RACE WINNER
TANDER, Garth and WHINCUP, Jamie
Championship Points Weekend Results - Castrol Townsville 500
POS
DRIVER
POINTS
1
TANDER, Garth
282
1
Mark Winterbottom
1634
2
WHINCUP, Jamie
273
2
Jamie Whincup
1538
3
VAN GISBERGEN, Shane
244
3
Fabian Coulthard
1361
4
COURTNEY, James
234
4
Shane Van Gisbergen
1355
5
PERCAT, Nick
213
5
James Courtney
1354
6
MOSTERT, Chaz
184
6
Craig Lowndes
1352
7
WINTERBOTTOM, Mark
183
7
Scott McLaughlin
1211
8
MCLAUGHLIN, Scott
166
8
Garth Tander
1135
9
PYE, Scott
158
9
David Reynolds
1099
10
COULTHARD, Fabian
157
10
Chaz Mostert
1098
11
REYNOLDS, David
147
11
Jason Bright
1010
12
DAVISON, Will
145
12
Michael Caruso
920
13
BRIGHT, Jason
129
13
Will Davison
913
14
CARUSO, Michael
111
14
Lee Holdsworth
894
15
HOLDSWORTH, Lee
109
15
Scott Pye
876
16
INGALL, Russell
108
16
James Moffat
873
17
WALL, David
106
17
Rick Kelly
854
17
KELLY, Rick
106
18
Russell Ingall
854
18
MOFFAT, James
103
19
Tim Slade
816
19
DAHLGREN, Robert
82
20
Nick Percat
790
20
SLADE, Tim
66
21
David Wall
740
21
LOWNDES, Craig
62
22
Dale Wood
649
22
KELLY, Todd
60
23
Jack Perkins
610
23
WOOD, Dale
40
24
Todd Kelly
576
24
PERKINS, Jack
21
25
Robert Dahlgren
437
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE