VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 2
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
19th MAY 2011
V8’S BACK AT
WINTON AND
HOLDER WINS SGP CATCH UP WITH JARI-MATTI WINTERS DRAWS CLOSER
TAKE A LOOK
@
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
INTRODUCING SPEEDCAFE.COM BOOTH A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY Castrol EDGE is a platinum partner of Speedcafe.com – Australia’s leading motorsports website. Since its inception 18 months ago, Speedcafe.com has grown to become ‘the authority’ on motorsport in Australia. Castrol sits alongside other platinum partners (of which there will be a maximum 10 each year) including brands such as Vodafone, Norton 360, Jack Daniel’s, Orrcon Steel, IRWIN Tools and HDT. Speedcafe.com is about to announce it’s ninth partner – a large player in the technology and home entertainment space. Castrol utilised its partnership with Speedcafe.com to launch the Castrol EDGE Grand Prix Predictor into Australia and continues to drive interest in the Predictor and the Castrol EDGE Driver Rankings via the site. Castrol EDGE is a platinum partner of Speedcafe.com – Australia’s leading motorsports website. Since its inception 18 months ago, Speedcafe.com has grown to become ‘the authority’ on motorsport in Australia. Castrol sits alongside other platinum partners (of which there will be a maximum 10 each year) including brands such as Vodafone, Norton 360, Jack Daniel’s, Orrcon Steel, IRWIN Tools and HDT. Speedcafe.com is about to announce it’s ninth partner – a large player in the technology and home entertainment space. Castrol utilised its partnership with Speedcafe.com to launch the Castrol EDGE Grand Prix Predictor into Australia and continues to drive interest in the Predictor and the Castrol EDGE Driver Rankings via the site. Additional leverage from having Johnny Herbert in Australia for the Formula 1 QANTAS Australian Grand Prix was gained through Castrol’s partnership with Speedcafe.com, including a news interview on Fox Sports News, a piece on the site’s popular “Where are they now?” and a Q&A for ‘Jack’s 10 Questions’. Speedcafe.com blends news, plus video and other content and traffic is driven strongly via Social Media networks. The site is attracting nearly 40,000 unique visitors per week and growing rapidly. The online e-zines produced ahead of each Formula 1 and V8 Supercar event (which Castrol EDGE has advertising in) are attracting up to 25,000 viewers per issue. Castrol has already been able to tap into the business-to-business elements of being involved with Speedcafe.com – embarking on a series of at-event zones in partnership with Orrcon Steel. The Clipsal 500 eXcellerator Zone yielded around 2000 names from a data gathering and giveaway activity.
Additional leverage from having Johnny Herbert in Australia for the Formula 1 QANTAS Australian Grand Prix was gained through Castrol’s partnership with Speedcafe.com, including a news interview on Fox Sports News, a piece on the site’s popular “Where are they now?” and a Q&A for ‘Jack’s 10 Questions’. Speedcafe.com blends news, plus video and other content and traffic is driven strongly via Social Media networks. The site is attracting nearly 40,000 unique visitors per week and growing rapidly. The online e-zines produced ahead of each Formula 1 and V8 Supercar event (which Castrol EDGE has advertising in) are attracting up to 25,000 viewers per issue. Castrol has already been able to tap into the business-to-business elements of being involved with Speedcafe.com – embarking on a series of at-event zones in partnership with Orrcon Steel. The Clipsal 500 eXcellerator Zone yielded around 2000 names from a data gathering and giveaway activity. Click here for more information on Speedcafe Booths
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
V8s WILL FIRE UP
WINTERY WINTON
V8 Supercars return to the track this weekend at Winton Motor Raceway and all Castrol-supported teams have some work to do after the last round at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth. Soft tyres will be used in both races around the 3.0 kilometre circuit – which is sure to create plenty of action if recent races on the softer Dunlop rubber is any indication. The man they are all chasing is Jamie Whincup – the TeamVodafone driver seems to continue marching forward at the head of the Championship and Holdens fill the first three placings on the Championship ladder, however the two marques are evenly split throughout the top 10. The first Castrol-backed runner is Will Davison in fifth placing. After his first podium for the Ford Performance Racing team in Perth, the Trading Post FPR driver tested at the Victorian circuit last week with team-mate Mark Winterbottom and both are keen for a turnaround in form on the soft tyres. Winterbottom sits ninth in the points chase. Rick Kelly is still beaming after his first win for Jack Daniels Racing in New Zealand, however will be looking to advance from sixth in the Title chase this weekend. David Reynolds in the Stratco racer is the next of the Kelly Gang in 15th and is still thanking his stars after narrowly escaping the massive incident that claimed Karl Reindler and Steve Owen at the previous round. Todd Kelly is looking for consistency and to move up from 19th, whilst Pepsi MAX Crew team-mate Greg Murphy is in 20th. Russell Ingall, Paul Dumbrell, Steve Owen and Tony D’Alberto are in a similar camp, sitting 22nd, 23rd, 25th and 27th respectively. The race format sees all drivers undertake a 20 minute qualifying session on both days, before the 40 lap race on Saturday and a longer 67 lap race come Sunday – which should be a fascinating affair on worn rubber. Coverage on the Seven Network, 7mate and SPEEDTV Australia throughout the weekend – check local guides for telecast times.
V8 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 2 3 4 5 6 9 15 19 20 22 23 25 27
Jamie Whincup Craig Lowndes Garth Tander Shane Van Gisbergen Will Davison Rick Kelly Mark Winterbottom David Reynolds Todd Kelly Greg Murphy Russell Ingall Paul Dumbrell Steve Owen Tony D’Alberto
946 804 737 730 714 713 665 438 418 404 363 362 321 268
WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
ANNOUNCING THE WEDNESDAY REWIND! On Facebook? Then jump onto the www.facebook.com/CastrolEDGERacing page and ‘Like’ it! The Castrol EDGE Wednesday Rewind is going to be a key part of our Facebook offering. We’ve gone back through the archives and found some classic Castrol vision – from ‘Oil’s ain’t Oils’ advertisements through to some huge moments in Castrol Racing history and some unexpected international surprises. Castrol Ambassador, Steven Richards has been linked into the Castrol EDGE Facebook and will add input from time to time.
WE’RE ALSO TWEETING To drive messages. Both mediums will become particularly important this year, especially around product launches.
PREDICTOR IS BACK FOR SPAIN After an Australian entrant took the highest score in the Castrol EDGE Grand Prix Predictor for the previous Formula 1 Grand Prix in Turkey, the pressure is on all the Aussies to tip well this coming weekend in Spain. ‘Webster’ – the round winner – predicted the first six finishers of the Turkish Grand Prix in order – a phenomenal effort! Sebastian Vettel continues his runaway at the head of the Formula 1 World Championship standings, whilst Mark Webber continues to put in some strong performances for Red Bull Racing, he can’t quite match the pace of Vettel on a consistent basis. McLaren continues to be strong, whilst Ferrari are battling to take their first Grand Prix win of the year. Nothing could be better for Fernando Alonso than to take his home race. Spain is not traditionally a race that has spectators on the edge of their seats – given it is the track that teams utilise for pre-season testing. Last year, Mark Webber put in the most dominant performance of his career, taking a lights-to-flag victory by some 24 seconds. Head to www.castroldriverrankings.com and put your predictions in for the race.
TOP 5 AUSTRALIAN CASTROL EDGE GRAND PRIX PREDICTORS (Current overall leader is on 201 points):
1. CJ Sport (190 points – 11th overall worldwide) 2. FRD Racing (187 – 15th) 3. CJC Mayhem Racing (173 – 51st) 4. M100 Racing (173 – 52nd) 5. Spruce Bruce (170 – 65th)
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
HOLDER WINS Castrol’s Australian Speedway superstar Chris Holder has added a second Speedway Grand Prix trophy to his cabinet after taking victory in a rain swept Swedish Grand Prix.
Conditions were so wet, the meeting had to be abandoned after 16 races. The effect this had was riders being unable to score any further points towards the World Championship – only the points they scored during the meeting counted to the Championship, meaning Holder is now in fifth after two rounds. Current World Champion, Tomasz Gollob remains at the head of the standings, despite walking away from Gothenburg with just six points. American veteran, Greg Hancock drew level with the Pole by virtue of his second placing in the Swedish meeting. Hancock has been in dazzling form thus far in 2011 and ran Holder to the wire in heat 14 – the decisive race that placed the Aussie in the highest points position. “I’m stoked, you’ve got to have luck – fortunately it worked out for me this time,” Holder said. “The conditions were terrible and I just had a great run. I had all the (starting) gates and just made good decisions with the bike. I used my head.”
SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER TWO ROUNDS): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tomasz Gollob Greg Hancock Emil Sayfutdinov Nicki Pedersen Chris Holder Jaroslaw Hampel Freddie Lindgren Janusz Kolodziej Kenneth Bjerre Jason Crump
24 24 22 21 19 17 17 17 12 11
CHRIS HOLDER Date of Birth: Place of Birth: Lives in: Status: Children: Car: Hobbies: Sporting Heroes:
24.09.1987 Sydney, Australia Poole, Great Britain Girlfriend, Sealy N/A Audi A5 RAcing, Surfing Tony Rickardsson photo credit: speedwaygp.com
IT’S OUR BEST OIL YET... WWW.CASTROLEDGE.COM.AU
CASTROL EDGE WINTERNATIONALS It’s only three weeks until the Castrol EDGE Winternationals rumbles back into life and the ANDRA Pro Series will come to an exciting conclusion for 2010/2011. Just about every Pro Series category will be decided at the Winternationals and whilst some very likely Championship winners have emerged, the delicious unpredictability of drag racing is likely to rare its head. A lot of interest will centre on Pro Stock – last year at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, the Pro Stock racing was breath-taking and set records right across the board. Huge entries have been carded for crowd favourites Top Doorslammer and Top Alcohol as well, whilst Darren Morgan will be aiming to add the Australian Top Fuel Championship to his mantelpiece – all he has to do is present for Qualifying and the Gold Christmas Tree belongs to the Mildura Missile. The Castrol EDGE Winternationals takes place on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend between June 10 and 13 at Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway near Ipswich (Champion’s Way, Willowbank). This year the event carries over to the holiday Monday for the first time in its history. For more information keep an eye on www.willowbankraceway.com.au
10 QUESTIONS WITH JARI-MATTI LATVALA Recently, WRC.com caught up with Castrol EDGE-backed Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver, Jari-Matti Latvala and asked him 10 questions. The insightful interview is below: What’s your favourite place in the world and why? “It’s behind the steering wheel on a rally in the Fiesta.” How well did you do at school? “I was a good student. I always tried to do my best and was always ambitious whatever I have done and also at the school. I wanted to be good on the subjects. I was not the top student but I was not behaving in a bad way.” What was your favourite toy as a child? “Definitely toy cars, it would have to be.” If you were stranded on a desert island what three items would you need to survive? “Water, matches for the fire and a tool with multiple things on it.” If you hadn’t become a rally driver what job would you be doing now? “I would be working in the family business selling spare parts for earth movers. I always enjoyed to drive those machines and I was actually working on that side before I came a factory rally driver. I was not as good as my father but I have always enjoyed to be among the machines whatever they are.” What’s the most annoying thing about your co-driver? “That’s a difficult one. He doesn’t do many annoying things because he is very neutral in what he does. But if I have to try to think of something small it’s that because I’m not so careful with the timing he’s very careful always with the leaving times and quite often he is looking for me when I’m late. That’s quite annoying.” Who is the unsung hero in your team? “We have great mechanics but there is a guy Willy Verhoven and Danny Naessens.who is the physio. Willy is looking after our helmets, our overalls, our underwear. He does all the transportation for the drivers. Danny is the physio but he’s also helping Willy with drinks for the car and we need to remember it’s not only the factory cars but it’s also the customers. With 10 cars they do really hard work.” What’s in your favourite sandwich? “Slices of steak, egg, some salad like cucumber then olive oil and a little bit of vinegar.” What would you do on your perfect day off? “I would go to an amusement park, I always enjoy the rollercoasters.” Your team boss is coming over for dinner. What would you cook for him? “Some good wine, some steak, oven potatoes with the nice sauce and then I would try to make some mushroom soup for the starter and then coffee and tiramisu. But I can’t do all those myself. My sister would do it because she’s a teacher for home economics.”
UPCOMING RACES 26/05
WRC Argentinia
22/05 NHRA Topeka
20/22
Formula 1 Catalunya Spain
20/22
V8 Supercars Winton Queensland
Nationals 20/22 MX Toowoomba
10/13
Winternats Willowbank Queensland
Kansas
Queensland
JUNE