VOLUME 4 - ISSUE 14
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
7th AUGUST 2014
CASTROL CREWS IN FORM AT IPSWICH 400 It was another solid weekend for Castrol-oiled V8 Supercars as the championship took crews to Queensland over the weekend for the Coates Hire Ipswich 400.
“Pole was a big highlight, not only for me personally, but for the team as well. It’s the first championship pole for Nissan
since coming back, so that’s a great achievement for everyone,” said Moffat.
Castrol-backed Ford Pepsi Max Crew’s Chaz Mostert again showed his emerging class with a smart drive to third securing his second podium in as many days at Queensland Raceway. He qualified stronger than his Saturday efforts and a good start, the right strategy and solid driving brought home another finish on the rostrum. Castrol-oiled Norton Nissan driver James Moffat made history for Nissan Motorsport with pole position – and almost scored a podium result – at Queensland Raceway. Moffat took pole for Sunday’s 200km race, Nissan’s first in the V8 Supercars Championship, before finishing fifth at the 3.1km Ipswich circuit.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
“Our car was excellent in the first stint of the race and I thought we were on for a pretty good day. It goes without saying that we have to keep this momentum going towards the endurance races – a time of year that I really enjoy the most.” FPR’s Mark Winterbottom looked set to challenge his team-mate for a podium place only to be ruled out of contention by a puncture caused by the outside edge of a kerb soon after his final pit stop. He had pace over his main title rival but the puncture and resultant loss of points sees him drop to second, just 15 points back. The next event on the V8 Supercars Championship will be at Sydney Motorsport Park on August 23-24.
Championship Points POS
DRIVER
POINTS
1
Jamie Whincup
1790
2
Mark Winterbottom
1775
3
Craig Lowndes
1628
4
James Courtney
1598
5
Fabian Coulthard
1535
6
Shane Van Gisbergen
1532
7
Scott McLaughlin
1347
8
Chaz Mostert
1322
9
Garth Tander
1309
10
David Reynolds
1201
11
Jason Bright
1125
12
Michael Caruso
1059
13
Scott Pye
1058
14
Will Davison
1043
15
James Moffat
1017
16
Rick Kelly
1005
17
Lee Holdsworth
982
18
Nick Percat
968
19
Russell Ingall
963
20
Tim Slade
936
21
David Wall
855
22
Dale Wood
731
23
Jack Perkins
679
24
Todd Kelly
662
25
Robert Dahlgren
531
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
CASTROL-BACKED VW WINS RALLY FINLAND Castrol-backed Volkswagen Motorsport driver Jari-Matti Latvala has held his nerve to win Rally Finland despite pressure from VW team-mate Sebastien Ogier. In what was his second win on home soil, Latvala led throughout the event, but a brake issue late yesterday saw the Frenchman come within reach of taking the rally. Despite the final leg having just three timed stages, Ogier pressed and even with victory on the final Power Stage fell 3.6sec short at the finish. “It was so hard to take this victory,” said Latvala. “I had a fantastic feeling with
the driving but when I had the brake problem yesterday I was in a difficult position. I was so close to losing the victory but I fought back. I was nervous today but managed to hold it together.” Citroen’s Kris Meeke claimed third, while Andreas Mikkelsen brought his VW home in fourth. Castrol-backed Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen secured fifth in his Fiesta RS WRC
of the rally and on Friday I was really happy with the way we were driving and where we were fighting. But then we made a small mistake and when that happens and you start to hesitate like how I did on Saturday, you just lose so much time. You really can’t afford to do that around here.” Australia’s Molly Taylor finished third in class and 35th overall.
“It’s been a bit up and down and I’m a bit disappointed as we were aiming to be able to fight for the podium,” said Hirvonen. “It wasn’t so bad at the start
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
FINAL POSITIONS: Rally Finland POS
DRIVER
TIME
1
Jari-Matti Latvala
2:57:23.2
2
Sebastien Ogier
3
2014 FIA DRIVERS´ STANDINGS DIFF PREV
DIFF 1ST
2:57:26.8
+3.6
+3.6
Kris Meeke
2:58:13.8
+47.0
4
Andreas Mikkelsen
2:59:15.7
5
Mikko Hirvonen
6
Pos
Driver
Total
1
Sebastien Ogier
187
2
Jari-Matti Latvala
143
+50.6
3
Andreas Mikkelsen
95
+1:01.9
+1:52.5
4
Mads Ostberg
66
3:00:12.9
+57.2
+2:49.7
5
Mikko Hirvonen
62
Juho Hanninen
3:01:52.2
+1:39.3
+4:29.0
6
Kris Meeke
54
7
Elfyn Evans
3:02:49.0
+56.8
+5:25.8
7
Thierry Neuville
46
8
Hayden Paddon
3:03:41.0
+52.0
+6:17.8
8
Elfyn Evans
42
9
Henning Solberg
3:09:30.2
+5:49.2
+12:07.0
9
Martin Prokop
31
10
Karl Kruuda
3:12:07.9
+2:37.7
+14:44.7
10
Henning Solberg
26
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
DAVID SERA HUNTING ANOTHER TITLE David Sera has positioned himself for a last round showdown with Castrol EDGE CIK Stars of Karting KZ2 Championship leader Joey Hanssen after a dominant performance at the penultimate round in Newcastle. Sera was in ominous form, qualifying on pole and then winning every race he entered for a maximum round score, setting up a grandstand finish at his home track - Todd Road in Melbourne - over the weekend of September 20-21. The first final was a canter for the Deadly Kart driver. He won by a considerable margin from Queenslander Kyle Ensbey (Maranello) and Hanssen (CRG). After one of the toughest weekends he’s seen in Castrol EDGE KZ2 competition, Hanssen mustered a third in final one and then came home sixth. The battle for the podium placings in the race saw Chris Hays come home second with Kel Treseder holding off a spirited Matthew Wall. Post-race officials displaced Hays two positions for an early incident with Ensbey, elevating Treseder and Wall.
Victorian Aaron Cameron (Arrow) had a breakthrough victory in the elite junior category, KF3. He took both finals today becoming the first driver since Jayden Ojeda (Exprit) at round one this year to achieve that feat. He was pushed all the way by the winner of the last two rounds of the Championship, Zane Morse (Tony Kart). After finishing second in final one, Ojeda had a first turn coming together in the second final which dropped him down the order. Showing true Championship quality, the Sydney-sider fought back to finish fifth. Finishing third, Ojeda’s strongest challenger for the Title, Bryce Fullwood was able to close the gap, albeit by just four points. The Title battle in KF2 is even closer, just as today’s racing was. Nathan Tigani took out the opening final to bring himself to within four points of Championship leader coming into the weekend, Troy Loeskow.
lead before pulling away out in front. In the end, the gap was 2.665 seconds. He also was awarded the Franco Guaitoli Memorial Shield. Just a handful of points separate Loeskow and Tigani heading to Melbourne. In the TaG Heavy support race, Brendan Nelson kept his unbeaten run in the Series alive this year, crossing the line millimetres in front of local, Andrew Torville. Mitchell Hewitt won the TaG Light race, Tyler O’Leary won the Rookies, TaG Restricted Light was won my Michael Pryor and TaG Restricted Heavy was taken out by Michael Dorman. The next and final round of the Castrol EDGE CIK Stars of Karting will be conducted at Todd Road in Melbourne over the weekend of September 20-21.
Loeskow bounced back in the second final in emphatic fashion, stalking early leader Tigani and then moving to the
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
COURTNEY FORCE WINS SONOMA IN ALL CASTROL-OILED JFR FINAL Courtney Force took home the Wally from the No. 1 spot at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals when she dismissed competitors Peter Russo, Bob Tasca III, Matt Hagan and 16-time Champion John Force to score her fifth career win. Force became the winningest female driver in Funny Car history with the victory. She took that title from her sister Ashley Force Hood, who had four career Funny Car wins. “I’ve just had my eyes set on Ashley for a while. There was a big cluster of people who had four wins and I kind of became obsessed with going for No. 5,” said Force “You always want to do well and I know that once Ashley stepped out of the seat and started a family she had totally made herself. She did a great job and I looked up to her. I knew she had four wins and I looked at where her
stats were to try to see where I was at and compare. She’s just done so well. I looked up to her and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job if I can do half as well as she did. It’s cool to reach No. 5, but I’m very proud of my team because obviously I wouldn’t be here without them and the hard work that they put in. I’m only as good as my team is,” she added.
Mello Yello World Champion he came up on the losing end of this epic family match-up. As their 8,000 horsepower Mustangs left the starting line, John was out on Courtney and was on his way to his third win of the season until the massive Goodyear slicks became unglued from the track at the 660 foot mark. That was all Courtney needed to go around her dad and take the win.
Force currently owns the fastest speed in the history of 1,000 foot racing at 325.37 mph and has posted top speed in seven of 15 races this year. She also won the 100th pro tour event by a woman when she prevailed May 25th at Topeka, Kan. this year.
“I was outrunning her at half-track by a car and then it rattled. It drove through that little bit of rattle and then it blew the tires off. I still thought I had her but she went by me right at the finish line. We were fast all day and they were a little slower,” said John Force.
John Force was looking for his 8th win at Sonoma Raceway today unfortunately for the 16-time NHRA
The good news is the reigning NHRA Funny Car clinched his spot in the Countdown to the Championship with
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
his semi-final win over Alexis DeJoria. So, despite not winning and coming away with a runner-up finish, John Force was excited and happy to see his daughter hoist the Wally with her crew in the winner’s circle at Sonoma Raceway. Despite qualifying number one for the third time this season, Brittany Force was unable to parlay the strong, consistent performance of her Castrol EDGE Dragster to her advantage. The 2013 NHRA Auto Club Rookie of the Year was the odds-on favorite to go rounds today, and potentially make
to the finals at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, but as they say in racing, the sure thing when two race cars line up for eliminations is only one’s coming back for the next round. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Brittany Force. “I am starting to think that the No. 1 qualifier is a curse in Top Fuel. Schumacher went out in the first round last weekend, and we did it this weekend. I was actually talking with him on Friday about it. In Topeka I was No. 1 and was able to go to the semi-finals but we just can’t get the win from the top spot,” said Brittany Force.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
CASTROL RACER FORCE WINS SEATTLE John Force and his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang ended the annual NHRA Western Swing in the winner’s circle as 16-time NHRA Mello Yello champion claimed his 141st career win at the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals. It was also John Force’s third win of the season and fourth consecutive final round appearance. Not only that, the Castrol backed John Force Racing Funny Cars can also claim a Western Swing sweep, as Robert Hight’s win at Denver, Courtney Force’s victory in Sonoma and now John’s success at Seattle have rewritten the NHRA record books. “It’s great anytime you win but you got to look over there at the Castrol green Ford and all those kids around it,” said
Force. “They’re really good, but what makes them really good is they team up with my other three teams with Traxxas and Auto Club and of course, the Castrol EDGE dragster. They all work as a team and that’s what makes it click and if somebody’s in trouble, someone’s helping Mike Neff, John Medlen, Ron Douglas, Todd Smith, Dean Antonelli, the lists goes on and on. It’s amazing how we all work as one team and we all share the money and that’s the way we keep it running.” Courtney Force qualified in the No. 2 spot going into eliminations today right behind her father John Force, but her excitement was cut short when she smoked the tires in the opening round against Gary Densham. This was the first time the
third-year driver has competed against Densham. “We had a rough first round. We went out and blew the tires off. It obviously wasn’t the run we had hoped to make,” said Courtney. “We had a good car all weekend, but we couldn’t get it down in the heat today. On the first pass the car didn’t react how we expected it to. The good news is we are staying in the No. 4 spot.” The 26-year-old driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car is now just nine points out of the No. 3 spot currently occupied by Ron Capps. Brittany Force and the Castrol EDGE team were hoping to rounds today at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, but the 2013 NHRA Auto Club
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
Rookie of the Year was stopped in the opening round. Despite Brittany’s early exit, she still remains upbeat and positive, even though she was unable to get to another final round during this year’s annual NHRA Western Swing. The Castrol EDGE team will get the weekend off from the NHRA races and return to their home base in Brownsburg, Indiana.
MELLO YELLO POINT STANDINGS - FUNNY CAR POS
DRIVER
PTS
1
Robert Hight
1271
2
John Force
1224
3
Ron Capps
989
4
Courtney Force
980
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
V8 PREDICTOR: RICH’S BOY TAKES QR ROUND Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor team Rich’s Boy has taken round honours for the Coates Hire Ipswich 400 event scoring themselves a $100 BP fuel card. The Rich’s Boy team’s 85 points haul came with a prediction accuracy of 48% after they took full advantage of the newto-2014 bonus points system which included a bonus 20 points for correctly predicting a driver on pole position and a race winner.
Meanwhile teammate Jamie Whincup has taken over Ford Pepsi Max Crew driver Mark Winterbottom for the lead of the V8 Supercars Championship by 15 points. In the Experts’ league Greg Rust
took out round honours with 35 points for the Queensland-based event. Speedcafe.com was second on 25 with Andy Priaulx managing a minor score for the round with seven points.
In the overall league standings team Arne’s Mob has maintained the lead with team Murph and SCATTERS also maintaining their podium spots in second and third respectively. The overall drivers’ points winner for the weekend went to Red Bull Racing Australia’s Craig Lowndes after his three second places finishes for the event.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
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 9 of the V8 Supercars Championship takes crews to Sydney Motorsport Park on Aug 22-24.
2014 Castrol EDGE V8 Predictor - Global Leaderboard
2014 Expert Leaderboard RANK
TEAM NAME
POINTS
1
Speedcafe
235
2
Greg Rust
184
3
Andy Priaulx
171
RANK
TEAM NAME
POINTS
1
Arne’s Mob
492
2
Murph
449
3
SCATTERS
441
4
bad betty
431
5
Team Obsolete
429
6
red bull 01
429
RACE RESULT
POINTS
7
The Flying Bulls!!!
425
1
LOWNDES, Craig
276
8
Bryce’s V8 Tipping
423
2
WHINCUP, Jamie
252
9
Cakeevans
423
3
COURTNEY, James
244
10
monty
420
4
MOSTERT, Chaz
224
11
Tarmac
420
5
PYE, Scott
182
12
Bloopy Enterprises
419
6
PERCAT, Nick
178
13
#1V8SCFAN
418
7
VAN GISBERGEN, Shane
177
14
Low and Slow
417
8
COULTHARD, Fabian
174
15
Give it some jandal
416
8
TANDER, Garth
174
16
woko
416
9
KELLY, Rick
151
17
boats n hoes
416
10
MOFFAT, James
144
18
JWS-888-
415
11
WINTERBOTTOM, Mark
141
19
eightor
415
12
CARUSO, Michael
139
20
The NASCAR Offseason
413
13
MCLAUGHLIN, Scott
136
14
DAVISON, Will
130
15
SLADE, Tim
120
16
BRIGHT, Jason
115
16
WALL, David
115
17
INGALL, Russell
109
18
REYNOLDS, David
102
Weekend Results - Castrol Townsville 500
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
CASTROL EDGE LAUNCHES 2014 RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP AT MOUNT PANORAMA Castrol EDGE proudly launched its third year as naming rights sponsor of the prestigious Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. The Qantas Wallabies were joined by Bathurst 1000 winners Mark “Frosty” Winterbottom and Russell “The Enforcer” Ingall to officially launch the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship at a location which has produced strong success for the Castrol brand since the 1960s. Mount Panorama symbolises the most demanding challenge of strength on both man and machine and was seen as the perfect fit to launch the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship. With a notable list of competing rugby nations - New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa and Australia – the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship is considered as one of the toughest rugby competitions in the world. Castrol Australia Consumer Marketing Manager Ben Rose was excited by the
chance to bring together two integral parts of the Castrol family, rugby and racing, to launch what is set to be another exciting season. “We’re extremely proud to once again be partnering with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) as official performance partners of the Wallabies and naming rights sponsors of the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship,” he said. “We wanted to share our Castrol heritage with the Wallabies as they travel through regional New South Wales on their ‘Bush to Bledisloe’ tour. “Castrol EDGE is all about strength and performance under even the most extreme conditions and the link between Castrol EDGE and the mountain is significant, with 19 Bathurst victories won on Castrol oil. The launch at Mount Panorama has allowed the Castrol EDGE brand to bring together two high performance partnerships and showcase the strength required to compete at the highest level,” Rose said.
The ‘Bush to Bledisloe’ tour is the brainchild of Qantas Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie and is designed to bring passionate NSW Rugby supporters closer to the national team than ever before, with a range of community activities planned across a number of regional NSW towns. McKenzie said the squad enjoyed the opportunity to launch the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship alongside some of Bathurst’s elite. “Our Bush2Bledisloe regional road trip is a really important piece of our preparations for the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship, and we know it will serve as a strong platform for when the tournament kicks off next week,” McKenzie said. “We also very much enjoyed today’s experience and learning more about Mount Panorama, an iconic location in Australia. Personally, I’m also an avid fan of motor racing, have been to the
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
Bathurst event before, and physically walked the track a few years ago. It’s great to be back and share in this opportunity with some of racing’s legends.” 2013 Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Winterbottom was delighted to showcase his sport and the mountain to the Qantas Wallabies and talk about strength and performance with some of the country’s most elite athletes. “We train extremely hard to race in an event like the Bathurst 1000 so today
was a great opportunity to show our national rugby side how we prepare for a demanding track like Mount Panorama,” he said. “Some of the guys were pretty surprised at the amount of preparation that we put in, but after taking them for a tour of the circuit in the Castrol EDGE bus they were blown away by the extremes that we face. While we may not have to take physical impacts time and again or engage in a scrum with 900kg coming in from each side, we certainly do face extremes that put pressure on our bodies and our V8 Supercars.
“We face extremes of G-force, heat exposure and intense braking pressures and, at such high speeds, one lapse in concentration can end your race. It’s great that we had this opportunity to share our sport with the Wallabies and hopefully we can both claim Championship victories in 2014,” Winterbottom said. Tickets for the 2014 Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship are on sale now via Ticketek.
STRENGTH FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
NOW IT’S EASIER THAN EVER TO BUY CASTROL... OR TO FIND A CASTROL SERVICE CENTRE
CASTROL LOCATOR
The Castrol Locator app is the easy to use tool that connects you to Castrol. The app is split into two sections: FOR YOUR TRUCK and FOR YOUR CAR. IT TELLS YOU: Where to find your nearest service centre that uses Castrol, and where to buy Castrol if you prefer DIY or top-up. You can search for the outlet nearest your current location, or in any specific suburb or area you nominate. You can view your info on a list, and get directions or choose the map option. It couldn’t be easier.
GET THE APP NOW AND GO DIRECTLY TO CASTROL
WHICH OIL? The app contains a direct link to the Castrol lube selection guide so you’ll never be left wondering whether you’ve made the right choice for your vehicle. AVAILABLE FREE IN-STORE NOW click for iTunes click for Google