Castrol EDGE Australia eNewsletter – Vol 4, Issue 13 by Castrol EDGE

VOLUME 4 - ISSUE 13

IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU

24th JULY 2014

CASTROL EDGE ANNOUNCES MAJOR SPONSORSHIP OF GOLD COAST’S PREMIER SPORTING EVENT ON THE STREETS OF SURFERS PARADISE • Castrol EDGE announced as three-year naming rights sponsor for the Gold Coast 600

world renowned Surfers Paradise street circuit this October and for this, and the following two years, will be known as the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.

• Castrol reinforces their commitment to supporting V8 Supercars in Australia

• V8 Superfest returns with key events right across the Gold Coast

Castrol continues to broaden its investment in V8 Supercars from teams to events and the series itself as the championship’s official oil. Castrol is investing into the continued growth of the sport which has become an iconic part of Castrol’s DNA and through new event sponsorships will look forward showcasing the brand at both a national and community level. Castrol Australia Marketing Director Diana Hall said the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 was an iconic event for Castrol to partner with to reap substantial exposure from the broadcast and at-track offerings.

Castrol EDGE was announced today as the naming rights sponsor of Queensland’s largest sporting and entertainment event which this year will be taken to new levels on, and off, track. The iconic Gold Coast 600 returns to the

“As the Official Oil of the V8 Supercars, Castrol is both proud and excited to be the naming rights sponsor for what will now be known as the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 – one of the most exciting and dynamic rounds in the V8

• Return of Australia’s most popular and powerful drag cars on Friday evening • Australia’s premier hip hop band Hilltop Hoods perform free concert

Supercars Championship,” said Hall. “With over 100 years of rich history anchored in motorsport, Castrol has become synonymous with passion, technology and innovation. Firmly entrenched within our DNA, these are the three values that drive our performance, both on and off the track. And you couldn’t ask for a better location to bring these values to life than here at the Gold Coast in beautiful Queensland. The street circuit is one of the most challenging rounds in the championship. “This is a round that is perfectly suited to showcase the strength of Castrol EDGE, our strongest oil ever, because of the extreme and punishing conditions that the Gold Coast circuit brings for both the cars and their drivers. Castrol EDGE is all about pushing the boundaries and that is what will happen here on the Gold Coast for the Castrol EDGE 600. Castrol is proud to be part of one of the largest racing championships in the world. And we look forward to working closely with the V8 Supercars, the Local and State

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Governments, Media, Fans and all other stakeholders to make this year’s Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600, the most spectacular experience yet!”

of last year’s event and a completely refurbished corporate structure on pit straight with enclosed, air-conditioned suites on the bottom level.

V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton welcomed Castrol to the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600, which is Queensland’s largest sporting and entertainment event annually and confirmed its status as one of the best in Australia.

Tickets are available from as little as $30 for general trackside and $75 for a fan stand seat. At the corporate end of the spectrum there are numerous options available for the full experience on pit straight or in any of the VIP areas around the circuit. Australia’s premier hip hop band the Hilltop Hoods will feature in a Saturday evening concert which will be free with an event ticket.

“Castrol EDGE is a global brand with deep roots in motorsport, business and corporate Australia,” Mr Warburton said. We are enormously proud to have Castrol as the major naming rights partner of the Gold Coast 600 following on from the great success of the partnership at the Castrol Townsville 500 – Driven by TAFE Queensland just a few weeks ago. Castrol is a global power brand and widely acknowledged as the world’s leading specialist provider of lubricant solutions. Their support over the next three years will drive the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 to new heights.” Queensland Minister for Tourism and Major Events Jann Stuckey welcomed the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 back to Queensland in 2014. “The Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 will showcase the best in Australian motorsport coupled with an outstanding entertainment program providing locals and visitors with another ‘Famous for Fun’ Gold Coast experience,” Ms Stuckey said. “The Queensland Government’s 20-year plan for tourism, Destination Success, outlines the need to support events such as this which drive repeat visitation to Queensland’s destinations.” Mr Warburton announced a completely refreshed approach to this year’s Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 by bringing the entertainment into the precinct, making it an all-encompassing hub of activity for everybody. Traditional race fans, families, party goers and corporates will have a myriad of options to plan their own experience. The event has also invested in 770 additional grand stand seats around the track after they were completely sold out well in advance

The multiple Aria Award winners will play the Gold Coast event for the first time, adding to the all-round party theme and entertainment package.Also returning for a night of high octane fun are Australia’s biggest and most powerful drag racing machines for a two-hour adrenalin packed show on Friday evening. The announcements were made at a who’s who launch at the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa this evening with internationally acclaimed DJ Brooke Evers giving the audience a taste of the pumped up party precinct. “As a major point of difference we have invested our resource and focus into providing the highest level of entertainment at-track that the event has had in many years, making this a mustattend event for all ages,” Mr Warburton said. “The drags have also been added to the program while not forgetting the real core of the weekend which is a crazy 600kms of V8 Supercars on Saturday and Sunday as well as the Carrera Cup, V8 Utes and Aussie Racing Cars.” Mr Warburton said the return of V8 Superfest after its success of its first year was a great benefit for the community, with a raft of free and ticketed entertainment offerings leading into the event.

V8 Superfest will be condensed with a focus on delivering the biggest and best community events we can, while retaining the highly successful elements of its’ first year.” New to the V8 Superfest calendar is a Festival of Fuel and Fire in Surfers Paradise and a celebration of urban art and creativity that brings renowned visual, digital and urban artists together on the Gold Coast. More events are being planned for the V8 Superfest calendar in the coming weeks. Also new to V8 Superfest is a Student Safe Driving program at the V8 Supercars Driving Centre at Norwell, a ute muster at Mudgeeraba and a Gear Up Gold Coast competition for local business and schools. Returning is the V8 Superfest Parade which will now feature on the Friday evening, Tapas and Torque on Tedder to follow the parade, the Miss V8 Supercars program, the CIK Race of Stars at Pimpama, the runners’ hot lap which attracted 500 competitors at last year’s event, the V8 Billy Kart Derby at Burleigh and a V8 Utes charity golf day. “With the return of the V8 Superfest – this power packed weekend will be nonstop entertainment from start to finish,” added Hall. “Castrol has a rich history from a raft of motorsport disciplines including drag racing – so it will be exciting to see the thrilling competition that the drag cars in full force as they push the boundaries and light up the strip once again on the Friday night. The flames, the noise, the crowd – what an atmosphere and what excitement! With so many events happening on the Gold Coast leading up to the race, we believe this is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our brand and to be heavily involved at a community level.” The Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 will run from 24 to 26 October. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketek at ticketek.com.au

“V8 Superfest was an integral part of engaging the community last year and helped generate a 98 per cent level of awareness amongst the people of the Gold Coast,” he said. “This year

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MAIDEN DTM WIN FOR MARTIN, ONETWO FOR CASTROL-OILED BMW Maxime Martin crowned a perfect weekend at the Moscow Raceway with the first win of his fledgling DTM career. After 46 laps of the 3.931-kilometre circuit on the outskirts of the Russian capital, the Castrol-oiled BMW Team RMG driver crossed the line as the comfortable winner in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. Bruno Spengler followed 4.259 seconds behind in the BMW Bank M4 DTM to finish runner-up and make his second appearance of the year on the podium. The one-two marks the 16th time in the history of the DTM that two BMW drivers have occupied the top two steps of the podium.

Saturday’s qualifying had seen Martin secure his first pole position at only his fifth DTM race weekend. Martin’s victory also presented BMW Team RMG with its third win in five races this season. The previous two victories came courtesy of Marco Wittmann, who this time came home fourth in the Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship. Team Principal Stefan Reinhold’s outfit also regained the lead in the Team competition. Timo Glock (DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) in sixth place and Augusto Farfus (Castrol EDGE BMW M4 DTM) in

tenth also finished in the points at the end of an eventful race, which included two safety car phases. BMW added a further 64 points to its tally in the Manufacturers’ Championship. António Félix da Costa (Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) narrowly missed out on the points, coming home eleventh and 13th respectively. Joey Hand (Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M4 DTM) finished 17th. Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was a fantastic race for us – the most successful of the season so far.

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2014 DTM standings

Maxime Martin produced a dominant display and a magnificent race against a great backdrop and in only his fifth race in the DTM. He was simply unbeatable this weekend. Bruno Spengler also put in a very strong performance to finish just behind him. Despite the fact that it was, at times, hard to keep track of what was going on, this one-two was never in doubt. I feel sorry for Timo Glock: a problem with the fuel pressure

meant he dropped back to sixth place shortly before the end of what had been a great race for him. Marco Wittmann also scored a lot of points and extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Augusto Farfus rounded off a good result for us in tenth place. We once again leave Moscow very happy and are now looking forward to Spielberg – and we obviously have our fingers crossed for the German national team tonight.”

POS

DRIVER

POINTS

Marco Wittmann

Mattias Ekström

Bruno Spengler

Edoardo Mortara

Mike Rockenfeller

Maxime Martin

Christian Vietoris

Adrien Tambay

Miguel Molina

Robert Wickens

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CASTROL TEAM HAHN RACING TASTE NÜRBURGRING SUCCESS Team Castrol Hahn Racing once again delivered during round five of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship at the Nürburgring which lived up to its reputation as the highlight of the series after a thrilling weekend in Germany. It was stiflingly hot day on Saturday, with track temperatures reaching a scorching 57°C, so the drivers knew they’d have to manage the tyre-wear carefully. Hahn began race one in fourth place behind Adam Lacko, but he didn’t stay there for long. The European Champion managed to jump ahead of the Czech driver, to claim third place and clinch his first podium of the weekend behind Antonio Albacete in first, and Norbert Kiss in second. Jochen Hahn turned the tables on his rivals in race two, though, fighting his way through the pack from sixth place to finish in second in front of his packed home crowd. It was Markus Bösiger who took the victory, while Kiss took third and Albacete fourth. Sunday

wasn’t quite as hot as the previous day, and the conditions seemed to favour Hahn. The man from Altensteig was extremely quick in Superpole 2, but qualified second to Kiss by just 0.065 seconds. However, the story wasn’t over as Norbert Kiss was handed a penalty for impeding Antonio Albacete, so Hahn was promoted to pole position. The Castrol Team Hahn Racing driver made it count, too, driving to victory after a thrilling race-long battle with Antonio Albacete. It was a fantastic result in front of the ecstatic home fans, and with Kiss finishing in fifth behind Lacko and Vrsecky, Hahn gained some valuable points over his rivals. Unfortunately, Hahn couldn’t make it four podiums from four races, though. After starting in eighth place, Hahn fought his way through the pack, and was about to move up to fourth place when he was shunted off the track by Benedek Major. The crash put Hahn down to eleventh place but he bravely battled back to

claim seventh. He was later promoted to sixth after Major was penalised for causing an avoidable accident. Overall, it was a successful weekend for the team in front of a packed home crowd. After racking up 46 points, Hahn is just 11 points behind new championship leader Antonio Albacete. The next event takes place in Most, Czech Republic, between 30th/31st August. Drivers-Championship 1

A. Albacete

220

N. Kiss

217

J. Hahn

209

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CASTROL-OILED JFR WINS MOPAR MILE HIGH NHRA NATIONALS Castrol-oiled John Force Racing had not one but three opportunities to win the Mopar Mile High NHRA Nationals with two Funny Cars in the final round and Brittany Force’s Castrol EDGE dragster in the Top Fuel final. Funny Car No. 2 qualifier Robert Hight outran a tire smoking No. 1 qualifier John Force in the Funny Car final, 4.166 seconds to 5.953 seconds, setting the stage for a JFR double-up win. Unfortunately the third time was not the charm and Brittany Force was beaten by JR Todd in the Top Fuel final to claim second. Hight picked up his fifth win of the season, tying a career high, and his third win at the Mopar Mile High Nationals. He also evened his career record with Force, 16-16 and he now

has a 3-2 lead in final round meetings. Force and Hight have lined up against each other four times at Denver before the final and Force was undefeated until today. Hight started the season with four wins including three in a row earlier in the year. Today’s win was the eighth for JFR in fourteen races this season, Since his win at the Southern Nationals Hight had only one semi-final round appearance. “We were doing well and we just had some bad luck here and there. You need to have some luck and even when we were winning earlier we were getting some luck. It is good to be back. In 2012 we won four races in a row and then it took another year to get a win. Stuff like that was crossing my mind.

If you look around it is not that easy to win out here. There are a lot of good Funny Cars in this class,” said Hight, a 34-time winner. “I was racing the 16-time champ in the final. He won last week so he is on a roll. We just had to go up there and do what we knew we could do. We came out with a brand new race car this weekend. We want to make sure it is all ready for the Countdown. If my guys wouldn’t have told me it was a new car I would not have known. Usually new cars drive me crazy because there is different stuff in them. These guys are so good they put this car together perfectly and I would not have known it was different.” This was the 43rd all-JFR final round and the second time Robert Hight and

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season and career victory number 141, John was the odds-on favorite to hoist the Wally over his head in the winner’s circle but it was no to be. Force’s Funny Car got out of shape at the 300-foot mark as it began to lose traction. The seasoned veteran tried to pedal it but he couldn’t get the car to hook up and all John could do was watch Robert Hight cruise on down the track. However, for the reigning NHRA Funny Champ, it was a great weekend as not only was it an all JFR Funny Car final, he also got see his daughter, Brittany Force, go to her third final round appearance of the season. John Force have opposed one another at Denver where Robert also beat John to win in 2010. This was the 11th Denver wins for JFR. Hight has won in 2005, 2010 and 2014. “We just go one round at a time. That is how Mike Neff races. Usually that pay off with a lot of round wins. Nothing would mean more to me than to go to Sonoma and win because that is like my home track. This is a big win and we are going to celebrate this one tonight,” said Hight. “That is exciting. We have some unfinished business. We want to win this Western Swing. We are working really well together. Mike and Jimmy are talking and we are working well as a team. That 4.17 was a step in the right direction since we learned some things yesterday when it was hot. We’ll be ready for the next round,” said Hight after a first round in that clinched his Countdown spot. Brittany Force went to her third final of season behind the wheel of her Castrol EDGE Dragster. Despite having only one good qualifying run all weekend, her crew, led by Todd Smith and Dean “Guido” Antonelli, got it together on race day and gave the 2013 NHRA Auto Club Rookie of the Year a car that almost went all the way to the winner’s circle. In the final Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster left the starting line first with

Todd in hot pursuit. At the halfway mark, Brittany was still out on Todd but then her engine began to lose power due to a mechanical failure. Brittany stayed in throttle as long as she could, determined to get to the finish line first but it was to no avail as Todd got around her before the finish line with a faster 3.878 second run to Brittany’s slowing 3.968 second pass. “I told my guys earlier, I’m so proud on how we did all weekend. With four qualifying runs, we only made one good pass so to be able to only work off one good run and go all the way to the finals here in Denver on race day is pretty exciting. I know I’ve already said it but again, I can’t tell you how proud I am of every single one of these guys, they’ve worked so hard, especially my crew chiefs, Todd Smith and Dean Antonelli, they’ve been so patient with me, they are awesome in how they got this dragster turned around,” said Brittany Force. As a driver, Brittany earned her pay today as she had a better reaction time in three out of the four rounds of eliminations. The fact she has been practicing her routine is paying off as the 27-year-old driver knows races can we won or lost on the starting line. John Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang stampeded past the competition today heading into the final. Hoping to claim his third win of the

“Well, in the Funny Cars, we had Robert’s Auto Club Ford and my Castrol Mustang was going to the finals so one of us was going to win. With Brittany, I’m really looking forward to her to get her first win. I don’t want her to be a bridesmaid like me. I went to nine or ten finals before I finally won but it’s very important that she get a win but was beat by a great team. So, we’ll just move on from there, it’s like you don’t win the ESPYS but it doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying,” said John Force. “I think it was a great weekend for John Force Racing. We had an all-JFR final in Funny Car and my sister Brittany went onto her third career final in Top Fuel. Our Traxxas team was even able to move up in points and I think that’s the most important thing. We’re going to keep our heads up and look at the positives and move forward into Sonoma. “Hopefully we can get some rounds there because the most important thing right now is to clinch into the Countdown to the Championship just like my brother-in-law Robert Hight has done this weekend.” NHRA FUNNY CAR STANDINGS 1.

Robert Hight

1179

John Force

998

Ron Capps

921

Tommy Johnson Jr.

882

Courtney Force

817

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CASTROL-BACKED HONDA THIRD IN STANDINGS AFTER LAGUNA PODIUM Castrol-backed Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea took his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to third place in a truncated race two at round nine of the 2014 World Superbike Championship at Laguna Seca in the USA this afternoon. The two races were won by Marco Melandri and Tom Sykes with Rea’s Pata Honda team-mate Leon Haslam scoring two seventh place finishes. Starting from tenth place on the grid after his Superpole crash yesterday, Rea got a good start to the first 25-lap race around the 3.610km Californian circuit. However, while running in fifth place, the 27-year-old ran wide at turn

three and dropped to tenth before fighting his way back to sixth place at the flag. Race two was red-flagged after nine laps with Rea holding seventh place but a second red flag was shown immediately after the restart. Lining up seventh on the re-formed grid for a seven-lap sprint, he got another good start and a bold move past Toni Elias in turn 10 secured his 40th World Superbike podium. Haslam had matched his team-mate’s pace for most of the Laguna Seca weekend but front grip issues restricted

progress for the 31-year-old in the first race, in which he finished three seconds behind Rea. The grip issue transferred to the rear of Haslam’s bike in race two and he was forced to settle for another seventh place finish. Next week, both Pata Honda riders will fly to Japan to join other Honda CBR1000RR-powered teams in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours race on 27 July before an extended summer break, with the World Superbike Championship re-grouping for round ten at Jerez in Spain on 5-7 September.

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2014 WSBK Standings POS

DRIVER

PTS

TEAM

Tom Sykes

325

Kawasaki Racing Team

Sylvain Guintoli

281

Aprilia Racing Team

Jonathan Rea

261

Pata Honda

Loris Baz

253

Kawasaki Racing Team

Marco Melandri

217

Aprilia Racing Team

Chaz Davies

159

Ducati Superbike Team

Davide Guigliano

153

Ducati Superbike Team

Toni Elias

137

Red Devils Roma

Eugene Laverty

134

Voltcom Crescent Suzuki

Leon Haslam

133

Pata Honda

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FROM CRASH TO VICTORY FOR CASTROL EDGE-OILED VOLVO Castrol EDGE-oiled Volvo driver Fredrik Ekblom’s STCC weekend in Falkenberg went from crash to victory after a strong team effort to repair the triple STCC champion’s Volvo between the two races. ”I am deeply impressed by the team that got the car together after the crash, I didn’t think I would make it to the second race. This is one of the best victories in my career,” said Ekblom.

setting the fastest lap. Ekblom crossed the line ahead of main title rival and BMW driver Fredrik Larsson. ”It is one thing to get the car on four wheels and another to get it fast. It feels awesome to come back from the crash to set the fastest lap and win,” said Ekblom.

Falkenberg turned out to be a challenging weekend for Thed Björk with third in the first race but a puncture and ninth place in the second race. ”If you start further down the field you get into trouble. The flow and the speed wasn’t really there this weekend. Third in the first race was okay, but the puncture was not much to do about in

Ekblom recorded the fastest ever lap time by an STCC car on the Falkenberg circuit and claimed pole for the second race. The first race ended early though as Richard Göransson slid into him, forcing them both to retire. Ekblom’s car was heavily damaged and the team faced a race against time to repair the car for the second race. With just minutes before the second race, Ekblom’s car was ready and the Volvo Polestar Racing driver pulled up a commanding lead in the race, as well as

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the second race. I am going to reload and get back for Knutstorp after the summer break,” said Björk. Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte had a tough race weekend as well where he collided with Linus Ohlsson in the first race but still managed to secure tenth place and a championship point. The second race saw him just as Björk get a puncture and crossed the line in tenth place thanks to a fast pitstop to change tyre. ”It has been a tough weekend, but a tough weekend where I still managed to get some points with me. I had a good pace in the races and I bring that with me to the Knutstorp race in August,” said Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte.

Ekblom gains on Larsson in the drivers’ championship and is ten points behind. Björk loses one spot to third and is 26 points behind Larsson. STCC enters the summer break and resumes action on August 23 at Knutstorp.

Championship standings - Top 10 (6/12 races) 1 Fredrik Larsson BMW SR 135 points 2 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 125 (-10) 3 Thed Björk Volvo S60 109 (-26) 4 Mattias Andersson Dacia SE 98 (-37)

”The mechanics has done an amazing job to get Ekblom out for the second race and especially that they managed to deliver a car that was fastest of all in the STCC field. The championship has turned out to be very close at mid-point of the season and we are looking forward to an exciting battle in the remaining races,” said Derek Crabb, Motorsport Director of Volvo Cars.

5 Richard Göransson Saab 9-3 94 (-41) 6 Linus Ohlsson Kia Optima 75 (-60) 7 Mattias Lindberg Kia Optima 73 (-62) 8 Erik Jonsson BMW SR 60 (-75) 9 Philip Forsman BMW SR 59 (-76) 10 Andreas Wernersson Kia Optima 31 (-104)

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