Castrol Edge Racing News Issue 5

VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 5

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9th JUNE 2011

WINTERNATIONALS

BLAST OFF

PLUS

CASTROL GIVES PARLIAMENT HOUSE A NITRO FIX!

CASTROL EXTEND PARTNERSHIP WITH JOHN FORCE RACING MARTIN KICKS OFF RANKINGS CAMPAIGN

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CASTROL GIVES PARLIAME

Brisbane’s Parliament House became the first Parliament House in the world to have Nitro waft through the corridors of power as Darren Morgan gave Queensland Minister for Sport, Phil Reeves a personal experience of 8,000 horsepower.

The stunt was in preparation for this weekend’s 44th annual Castrol EDGE Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway – where Morgan is expected to wrap up his second Australian Top Fuel Championship.

The event continues to grow in stature outside Australia, with Cory McClenathan from the USA racing for Australian car owner, Santo Rapisarda. One of the USA’s most influential drag racing writers, Bobby Bennett will be in Australia covering the Winters for his website CompetitionPlus.com.

The four day event will showcase over 520 competitors – including almost 90 ANDRA Pro Series racers. 21 entries will line up in qualifying for both Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock. Top Doorslammer fan favourite – Castrol-backed Ben Bray signaled his intentions early at the Winters Warm-Up last weekend – setting a 5.88 second pass, just 0.08 behind the Australian record held by John Zappia.

The expected 40,000 strong crowd at Willowbank Raceway will provide a financial injection for the Ipswich community into the millions who were devastated in the January floods.

Minster for Sport, Phil Reeves believes that the event will be a great boost for the rebuilding community, “sport plays a major part in the communities and towns of Queensland, the sport of drag racing is a big part of that in Ipswich,” he said.

“It gives people a major boost – in that normality is coming back to their lives – and there’s nothing more normal around Willowbank and Ipswich than drag racing.”

Action at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals begins on Friday, with Group One Qualifying starting on Saturday.

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ENT HOUSE A NITRO FIX!

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CASTROL EXTEND PARTNERSHIP WITH JOHN FORCE RACING Castrol and John Force Racing (JFR) will continue with one of the most iconic racing partnerships in the world, with the lubricant giant renewing its enduring partnership.

The announcement was made by Mike Munro, North American General Manager, for BP Lubricants Americas, the U.S distributor of Castrol motor oils and marks 26 years of continual support for the successful team.

“Our relationship with John Force and his team has been a key element in establishing Castrol as a brand of choice among American race fans,” Munro said, “and we are excited about continuing our association with drag racing’s biggest winner.”

The sponsor relationship - born in 1986 - has seen over 200 NHRA tour victories in the Funny Car division with JFR also winning 17 of the last 21 NHRA Championships.

“We never talk numbers, but I can tell you that it’s a lot more than the first one,” Force quipped. “When I signed my first contract with Castrol, it was for $5,000 and oil.

“That started it and 26 years later my kids are out here racing with me and Castrol is still the mother ship for John Force Racing.”

Since 1984, when it took its first tentative steps in the NHRA drag racing series, Castrol race cars have won 357 tour events and 24 championships in 10 different classes including Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Truck.

Nine different drivers earned their first NHRA professional victories in Castrol-backed race cars. Force, Force Hood, Neff, Robert Hight, the late Eric Medlen, Gary Densham and Tony Pedregon all won for the first time in JFR Funny Cars with Castrol support. Pat Austin (Top Fuel), Larry Morgan (Pro Stock) and Steve Johns (Pro Stock Truck) also earned their first wins in Castrol-backed vehicles.

JOHN FORCE RACING

Chris Holder scored nine points at the Czech GP Photo: Wojta-Foto.cz

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CASTROL SHOWTIME FMX & RICHO HEAD WINTERNATIONALS ENTERTAINMENT THE Showtime FMX Team is set to excite the crowds at the 44th Castrol EDGE Winternationals this long weekend – whilst Steven Richards will get his first taste of drag racing.

Richo will be taking part in the Castrol EDGE Speed Challenge – where he will pilot a Porsche Turbo against an ANDRA Pro Series Pro Stock racer.

ANDRA’s pinup boy – and Pro Stock racer - Shane Tucker – will take to the wheel of an SS Holden Commodore and will pit himself against one of his Pro Stock competitors.

The Showtime FMX team will dazzle crowds for the first time ever - several of the teams’ riders have worked with the Crusty Demons and the Gold Coast based outfit has been wowing crowds around the country with it’s back flippin’ antics, freestyle stunts and showmanship.

Founder Gary Reid says crowds will not be disappointed, “we are constantly working on new stunts and shows that will be bigger and better.”

The team has performed at Nitro Circus and V8 Supercar events and with 40,000 spectators expected at the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend annual, the Showtime FMX team have promised something special for the Winternationals crowd.

Richards – the current leader of the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup Series - is very much looking forward to being part of the annual entertainment extravaganza.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to visit, but have never had the chance,” he said. “Drag racing is just insane really! I think that the Porsche Turbo is going to stun some people with it’s pace, but we’ll see what it has against the Pro Stocker.”

The 44th Castrol EDGE Winternationals will be held from Friday 10th – Monday 13th June at Willowbank Raceway.

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NEFF WINS AGAIN

CASTROL GTX Driver Mike Neff has won the eighth round of the NHRA Funny Car Championship in Englishtown New Jersey and extended his championship lead.

It is the second win in the current season for the John Force Racing (JFR) driver, defeating rival two-time world champion Cruz Pedregon who red-lighted at the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

The win was particularly important to Neff as it coincided with the announcement that Castrol and JFR would continue their sponsorship relationship.

“There were 500 Castrol people here so you want to do well for your sponsor…You always want to do well in the hometown of your sponsor,” said Neff.

JFR founder John Force was knocked out in the first round by Matt Hagan, but sits in 6th position in the championship and fellow driver Robert Hight is in 3rd position.

Neff will next compete June 17 – 19, at the 11th Annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol Tennessee.

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ARBLAST-ING INTO AMERICAN HOT ROD CHALLENGE Mark Arblaster’s Castrol EDGE powered WAR440 Supercharged 1970 Valiant Coupe is set to challenge the Americans on their own turf this September.

Arblaster plans to compete for the ‘Fastest Street Car’ title in the 2011 Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week Challenge by driving 2000kms and competing at five different tracks over the five day competition.

The competition is made more difficult in that competitors cannot accept any help from support crews, they must carry their own tools and spares in the car and the vehicle cannot be towed at any point.

“Our aim is to do what every Australian Street machiner has ever dreamed of; to take a super tough street car to the USA, drive the car 1300 miles in a week and steal the Fastest Street Car title from the Americans,” he said.

The car is running Castrol EDGE 25/250 with Arblaster working with the Castrol technical team to find the best oil for his engine.

“We stripped the motor after the dyno session and the motor was immaculate inside. Clearly the oil is perfect for big bore boosted street engines,” he said.

The car itself will prove to be a tough competitor in the USA competition; Arblaster has a strong team in place to ensure the motor is fully equipped.

“The engine is a 500ci Mopar big block fitted with Indy -13 heads, solid roller cam by Dynamic Cams, machined and dyno tuned at Westend Performance in Campbelltown, in Sydney's western Suburbs,” Arblaster continued.

“The intake is a sheet metal item with dual Kinsler 1100cfm Kinsler throttlebodies by Sumo Fab in the ACT. The motor runs 1600cc injectors and a Haltech Platinum ECU with full data logging and ICE ignition boosters.”

“A F3R Procharger with a liquid to air intercooler provides ample boost and the combination is tuned by Adam Neish from Just Engine Management, on 19lbs of boost the motor made 1728hp and 1260ft/lbs of torque at 7500rpm.”

The competition is made more difficult in that competitors cannot accept any help from support crews, they must carry their own tools and spares in the car and the vehicle cannot be towed at any point.

Arblaster’s car will be featured in the upcoming July edition of Street Machine Magazine.

To see the full Castrol EDGE Rankings and Race for 2011, please visit www.castroldriverrankings.com

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MARTIN KICKS OFF RANKINGS CAMPAIGN There may have been little change in the Castrol EDGE Rankings last weekend for international Australian stars Marcos Ambrose and David Brabham, but John Martin made big progress.

With no V8 Supercars, it was a quiet weekend largely for Aussies – Jamie Whincup still leads that chase, but Mark Winterbottom – by virtue of the Castrol EDGE Rankings system – still sits second of the V8 drivers.

Ambrose hit a snag in his NASCAR Sprint Cup campaign after a strong run of results in his Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. The Tasmanian was delayed after a collision in Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway by the need to make bodywork repairs, then lost out when it came time to roll the dice on strategy.

The Tasmanian finished the race in 26th, but actually made a small net gain in points in the Rankings: under the 12-month rollover system, he discarded his 36th from last year’s race at Charlotte. But the tiny gain was not enough to shift him up any positions in the Rankings, where he remains 67th.

Brabham was at the wheel of his Nissan GT-R in the famous Tourist Trophy race at Silverstone, a round of the FIA GT1 World Championship, when he was involved in a five-car collision. As a result he ends up dropping one place to 75th in the Rankings.

Ambrose and Brabham remain the fourth and sixth-highest Australians in the overall Rankings.

Martin leaps up 29 places to 154th in the overall Rankings after the opening round of the Superleague Formula series at the Dutch circuit of Assen. Martin finished the opening race in second place, took sixth position later on and ended the day with fourth in the Superfinal.

He is now the 11th-best Australian in the Rankings, 10 places overall off the top 10.

Last weekend was the calm before the storm, with Aussie leader Mark Webber out this coming Sunday in the Canadian Grand Prix, second and third men Will Power and Ryan Briscoe contesting the first-ever IndyCar Series double-header at Texas Motor Speedway, and Ambrose in NASCAR action again, this time at Pocono.

Castrol EDGE Rankings Top 10 Australians* DRIVER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mark Webber Will Power Ryan Briscoe Marcos Ambrose Jamie Whincup David Brabham Mark Winterbottom Craig Lowndes Daniel Ricciardo Garth Tander

SERIES

RANK

SCORE

F1 IndyCar IndyCar Sprint Cup V8 Supercars World GT1 V8 Supercars V8 Supercars FR3.5 V8 Supercars

2 6 18 67 71 75 117 129 132 144

21,093 18,451 12,381 7,645 7,584 7,435 5,564 5,304 5,251 4,891

*Data correct as of May 30, 2011

To see the full Castrol EDGE Rankings and Race for 2011, please visit www.castroldriverrankings.com

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