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EXCLUSIVE: We reveal all the 2016 driver, team and sponsor movements

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CHAMP IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE Why Scott Dixon is a champion off the track, too

AUSTRALIAN GT’S GLOBAL AMBITION European GT supremo to meet with local bosses

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING Jenson Button’s

retirement on hold... for one more year

FABS MOVE UNLOCK V8 SILLY SEASON

Major driver moves and big team sponsor changes are done deals or in the works, as uncovered by Mark Fogarty

Q

UICK KIWI Fabian Coulthard is set to lead a revived two-car assault by DJR Team Penske from next year, triggering major driver moves as big new team sponsorship deals also fall into place.

Coulthard’s imminent signing with DJRTP opens the way for revamped line-ups at Brad Jones Racing, Prodrive Racing Australia, Nissan Motorsport and Garry Rogers Motorsport.

David Reynolds, James Moffat and Dunlop Series dominator Cameron Waters are in play and ready to move in a domino effect, while the futures of Scott Pye, Tim Slade, Jason Bright, Dale Wood, David Wall and Tim Blanchard are unresolved.

Absent from the silly season conjecture is Marcos Ambrose, who has already decided not to pursue a full-time return next year.

As well as driver moves, sponsorship reshuffles will see Supercheap Auto switch from Walkinshaw Racing to PRA and Caltex step up as primary backer of a standalone Triple Eight entry for Craig Lowndes. Supercheap is to take over as title sponsor of would-be champion Mark Winterbottom’s Falcon, with Pepsi Max staying on as the sponsor of Chaz Mostert’s car.

Along with Triple Eight’s expansion to three cars, DJRTP is almost certain to return to running two Falcons, retrieving its leased licence from PRA-run Super Black Racing, which in turn

For the complete rundown on who goes where in 2016 turn to page 4 3

will need to buy a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) or organise an interim lease for another season.

There are more RECs potentially available than might appear, including Walkinshaw Racing’s third entry if funding to replace Supercheap can’t be found.

Coulthard’s impending transfer to DJRTP is a key placement that clears the way for Reynolds and Moffat to secure their futures, with the repercussions affecting Waters and those unplaced or unconfirmed.

Garry Rogers is actively participating in the driver market ahead of the final year of his existing deal with Volvo, while Tekno Autosports now appears committed to continuing and is again pursuing a replacement for Shane van Gisbergen, who is joining Triple Eight’s expanded three-car squad.

Rogers is looking at replacing David Wall, who has struggled this year, with an established performer to back-up super-talent Scott McLaughlin. He is also preparing his team for the likely withdrawal of Volvo from V8 racing at the end of 2016 and, according to informed sources, is already in serious talks with two new manufacturers.

Still an outside contender for this year’s championship, Coulthard is said to have been seeking a big salary hike – $600,000 a year, according to V8 pitlane scuttlebutt. Although the Melbourne-based Aucklander is yet to formally sign with DJRTP because he is not contractually free to commit until October, AA understands that he has agreed to a multi-year deal with the American-controlled squad.

It is also believed that with renewal talks stalled, BJR co-owners Brad and Kim Jones have given up on retaining Coulthard and, according to an insider, have “moved on”.

His replacement will be Albury born Reynolds, who won’t be renewed at PRA-run Rod Nash Racing and has agreed to move north. Reynolds is expected to fit in well with the family run team, which should be more suited to his quirky character and be better placed to nurture his innate speed.

Reynolds’ slot at RNR is to be taken by PRA protégé Cam Waters, a more affordable signing who brings with him EnZed backing from his development series program to augment reduced Bottle-O backing. Although the Metcash-owned bottle shop chain was poised to pull out, latest word is that it will continue with RNR as a non-naming rights partner.

Along with Supercheap Auto’s arrival and Pepsi Max’s renewal, in addition to significant continuing support from Castrol – which is understood to have brokered the auto accessory chain’s move – the combination of EnZed and Bottle-O will drive a turnaround of PRA’s finances.

With one of PRA’s drivers likely to take the title – as well as the teams’ championship – Supercheap will be joining a frontrunning squad after more than a decade of backing

4

COST INFLATI DESPITE RECENT conjecture over DJR Team Penske expanding to two cars next season, the move is not yet a fait accompli.

“We’re still working through things,” Managing Director Ryan Story told AA. “As we’ve said before, we’re in the business of running competitive racecars and we’ve had our struggles this year. But for us to go back to two cars, the model has got to be right. We’re not interested in running a car that is lean and not doing the program justice.

We’ve still got quite a bit of work before we get to that point.

“In terms of running two cars, the benefits are along the lines of economies and having drivers who can share experiences. It works well in debriefs and having more boots on the ground across the board.

“We’re fortunate to be in the position where we own two RECs. And if we do step up to two cars, we’ll do it with our own RECs. “We, of course, have a responsibility, like all teams do, that we operate the cars and have the largest grid we can possibly have.”

The second REC, leased by Super Black this year, would leave the Kiwi team in search of another licence should it continue next year.

Coulthard s impending transfer to DJRTP is a key placement that clears the way for Reynold and Moffat to secure their futures” strugglers. Its departure from Walkinshaw Racing casts doubts on the future of the entry and Tim Slade, who has been largely unconvincing at Clayton.

Depending on Bright and Wood, Moffat is also a contender to join BJR, as well as figuring in a possible change at GRM. He also remains in the frame to stay at Nissan if funding can be raised and could also be in Tekno’s calculations.

Although he has expressed a desire to continue, the future of 42-year-old Bright – the oldest full-time V8 driver – depends on BOC continuing its long-running backing of a BJR car.

BOC’s deal has always been year-to-year and another renewal is pending. In any event, Bright is expected to keep his REC at BJR, currently used to field Wood’s entry and dependent on the funding the characterful former DVS champion brings.

Tekno’s renewed interest in continuing could be a lifeline for Pye, who is understood not to figure in DJR Team Penske’s plans for next year.

But he could be attractive to Tekno as part of a boosted support package from Triple Eight, whose owner Roland Dane is Pye’s manager and mentor. Tekno is also an important part of Triple Eight’s expansion to three cars to

accommodate the addition of van Gisberge With the mercurial Kiwi to be paired with Jamie Whincup in the Red Bull Racing Aust line-up, Lowndes will switch to the third en with title backing from Caltex.

Likely to run under revived Caltex Racing banner, Lowndes’s car is scheduled to share the pit boom with Tekno in what would effectively be a satellite Triple Eight effort.

The fuel and oil giant is returning as the branding sponsor of a car for the first time since being the primary sponsor of Russell Ingall’s Stone Bros Racing Falcon from 2003 to 2007.

Caltex has been a major Triple Eight partner sponsor in recent years, with significant signage on both RBRA Commodores since last year.

Lowndes, who has signed a two-year extension to his contract until the end of 2017, has a long association with Caltex as a brand ambassador. He also has a personal deal with Red Bull, which is expected to continue, along with branding for the energy drink giant on his Caltex car.

Coulthard’s teammate at DJRTP is the big question mark.

A return to Stapylton by Moffat has apparently been ruled out and the widespread Edge Photographics

expectation is that Ambrose will confirm after the enduros that he will not be returning fulltime. Unlike Nissan Motorsport, which will need a funded driver if Moffat leaves, DJRTP will look for a proven back-up for Coulthard or gamble on a promising young gun.

Although funding for a second car is still to be finalised, it is anticipated that DJRTP will reclaim its REC from Super Black for political and practical reasons. It is believed the team

“Supercheap Auto’s departure from Walkinshaw Racing casts doubts on the future of the entry and Tim Slade”

The pieces of the 2016 Silly Season puzzle are starting to fall into place

is being ‘encouraged’ by V8 Supercars to run a two-car team befitting its status, with suggestions the REC rules may be about to change to restrict leasing to one year.

Although currently eligible to lease the licence for two years, it is known that Super Black’s deal with DJRTP was for this year only. The NZ team plans to continue its customer arrangement with PRA and is on the hunt for a REC to buy or lease, with plenty of options said to be available.

THIS WEEK’S RACE CALENDAR Brought to you by: www.speedflow.com.au DATE

EVENT

ROUND

Sep 11-13

V8 Supercars

R9/14

Sep 11-13

NASCAR

R26/36

CIRCUIT/VENUE Sandown, Vic Richmond, USA

Sep 11-13

WRC

R10/13

Sep 11-13

Carrera Cup

R6/8

Sandown, Vic

Australia

Sep 11-13

Australian GT

R5/6

Sandown, Vic

5

Losing our traditions I

ED’S DESK

Rob Margeit

’VE BEEN thinking a lot about history and tradition. What does that mean in motorsport? If you believe Bernie Ecclestone, not a whole lot.

Last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix brought into sharp focus how important tradition is in motorsport. Rumours continue to float around that the Italian Grand Prix’s days are numbered, that the Monza circuit will not be able to afford Bernie’s ever-increasing sanctioning fees and that 2017 could well be the last time Autodromo Nazionale Monza hosts a grand prix, despite a rich heritage of grand prix racing that dates back to 1922.

Ditto, the French Grand Prix, gone from the F1 calendar since 2008 when Felipe Massa won for Ferrari at Magny-Cours.

Remember, the French invented grand prix racing with what is widely regarded as the first-ever grand prix for motorcars held at Le Mans in 1906, won by Hungary’s Ferenc Szisz in a Renault.

This year, another marquee race, the German Grand Prix, disappeared from the calendar, ostensibly for the first time since 1955 (in 2007, the Nürburgring hosted the European Grand Prix). And the British Grand Prix seems to face a now almost annual threat from Ecclestone’s Formula One Management group as it seeks to extract more and more money from circuits to host the F1 circus.

Of course, motorsport is a big business, where money rules over everything else.

But we are also now seeing the stark reality of that cash-grab. Last week, news came through that the venue for the Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul Park, which was opened in 2005 having cost and

estimated A$180million to build, has been turned into a car dealership. Meanwhile, India’s Buddh International Circuit, host of the Indian Grand Prix from 2011-2013 and built at a cost of A$640million is now overrun with grazing animals. And Korea’s International Circuit, host of the Korean Grand Prix between 2010 and 2013 and built at a cost of A$1billion, has fallen into disrepair and is, according to F1 insiders who have seen it, a “sinking wasteland”.

It’s a cautionary tale for Formula 1.

State-of-the-art billion dollar facilities might look good on the prospectus, but without the rich heritage, the people won’t come in the numbers needed to keep the tracks in business. Meanwhile, the heritage venues are slowly disappearing, each lost ‘traditional’ race a hole in the fabric of history of grand prix racing.

In Australia, I fear for the day when the owners of Sandown Raceway, the horsey Melbourne Racing Club, decides it can no longer ignore the huge dollar value of the swathes of land it sits on deep in the heart of suburban Melbourne. Permanent circuits in Australia have a habit of turning into urban sprawl – think Warwick Farm, think Oran Park.

So maybe it’s time to do your little bit for our motorsport history and tradition and head on out to Sandown this weekend. It might not have the mystique or prestige of big brother Bathurst, but its history is every bit as steep as Australia’s Great Race.

Go be a part of it, before it’s too late.

The French invented grand prix but history counted for nought

6

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THE SPY

The latest scoops and hottest gossip from AA’s man of mystery

Put two and two together and you get 12 Hour!

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AN INTERESTING pic popped into the Spy’s inbox the other day. A man, dressed in a Red Bull Racing Australia suit and wearing Jamie Whincup’s helmet was seen jumping into an Audi R8 LMS at Sydney Motorsport Park. Is there some smoke with this fire?

SMALLER SETON, BIGGER PORSCHE

AARON SETON, the son of Aussie motorsport legend Glenn Seton, will make his Carrera Cup debut at Sandown.

Seton junior is only in his second year of racing cars and competes full-time in Porsche’ GT3 Cup Challenge alongside Scott Taylor. The Spy hears Taylor will be unable to make it to the Carrera Cup round at Sandown this weekend and has enlisted the second generation racer to fill his seat, as well as continue to drive his car in Australian G

run its cars, particularly when it was set to share the track with Tekno and Triple Eight. No replacement day has been confirmed.

GOOD CHAT

THE SPY’S good mukka and colleague Phil Branagan will be at the pub this Friday. Nothing much new in that, but the veteran motorsport journalist has an open invitation to come and have a chat about some of the funny things that have happened during his 25-plus years in the sport. He will joined by fellow scribe Andrew van Leeuwen at the Arcadia Hotel in Melbourne’s South Yarra, it starts at 7pm. Book or get more details from motormouthtalk@gmail.com.

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TESTING TIMES

EREBUS MOTORSPORT took the surprise option not to test last week at Queensland Raceway ahead of the enduros. With mileage limited all year, it does ask a bigger question about why the team opted out of a rare opportunity to

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A super-soft option may be taken off the table for 2016

The FG X has made all the difference

V8 Supercars tyre test prompt rethink on 2016 rubber V8 SUPERCARS’ switch away from Dunlop’s softer Sprint tyre may be reversed next year, following tyre testing conducted last week.

While the results of the test are still being assessed

by V8 Supercars, Auto Action sources report that the early observations point to a possible expansion of the use of Dunlop’s Sprint tyre in more events in 2016.

This would represent something of reversal of policy for the category, which substantially reduced the amount of Sprint tyre usage for 2015 in the wake of teams’ concerns over costs. The overall tyre allocation was also reduced substantially, though there have been changes in the numbers involved during the course of the season.

Part of the recent test included assessing even softer variants of the current Sprint tyre in a bid to provide drivers with more grip and, presumably, greater opportunities to overtake. However, the recent performance of the Sprint tyre is believed to have somewhat diminished the calls for the softer rubber.

AA has been told that change may be due, in part,

to the experience that the teams have had with the current Sprint tyre under the new guidelines, which include a minimum starting tyre pressure.

Concerns over teams starting races with what might be considered artificially low pressures led to the introduction of a 17psi minimum pressure prior to last year’s Bathurst 1000. The pressures, which are now being monitored by a sophisticated pressure sensor system, have led to a reduction in the concerns of tyre failures during events.

One source told AA, “Most teams have got their heads around 17psi now. It’s taken a while, but nearly everyone has it working.”

The introduction of the even softer compounds now appears to be less likely than it did last month.

It is expected that the Sandown and Bathurst endurance events will continue to use Dunlop’s harder Control tyre.

V8 Supercars’ 2016 race formats are expected to be announced close to the end of the current season.

Phil Branagan The changing of the eligibility rules provides current Dunlop Series teams with the opportunity to pass their existing cars to Kumho Series teams. Next season will be the first in which ‘Car Of The Future’ V8 Supercars will be eligible for the second-tier V8 category.

The Kumho Series started in 2008, and has featured ‘retired’ V8 Supercars such as Holden’s VT/VX/VY/VZ Commodores and Ford’s AU, BA and BF Falcons.

The Commodore VE first competed in the V8 Supercars Championship in 2007 before being replaced by the VF in 2013. Ford’s FG made is V8SCS debut in 2009 and continued in Project Blueprint form until 2014, when a COTF version of the car appeared. Phil Branagan

VE and FG for Kumho HOLDEN’S COMMODORE VE and Ford’s FG Falcon will be seen in the 2016 Kumho Tyres Australian V8 Touring Car Championship.

The cars that currently feature in the Dunlop V8 Supercars Series are to become eligible for the ‘thirdtier’ series that currently competes as part of the Shannons Nationals. That series has recently become wholly owned by CAMS and is expected to continue in a modified series in 2016.

8

Jayco backs girl racer FORMULA 4 will welcome its first female to the grid this weekend at Sandown.

Formula Ford racer Caitlin Wood will contest the CAMS Formula 4 round in Melbourne with backing from series sponsor Jayco, and the teenager is eager to impress on her debut.

“I think a win is out of the picture,” Wood told Auto Action. “But I have confidence in my own ability and know I will be competitive. By the end of the weekend I would like to be in the top-five.”

Wood currently competes in Formula Ford, and despite the visual difference between the two cars, is confident she will make the shift to F4 easily.

“I don’t think it will be too difficult making the transition,” she said. “The only difference between Formula Ford and F4 is really the wings and slicks, and it isn’t a huge leap so I will be able to transition pretty easily.”

While her 2015 F4 campaign could start and end at Sandown, the 2013 Women of Australian Motorsport Scholarship recipient has big plans for the rest of her career.

“The end goal for me is definitely V8 Supercars,” she concluded.

A number of Jayco dealers banded together to fund Wood’s cameo, ala ATCC Ford Dealer Team in the ’70s, with the possibility of sponsoring a car full-time in 2016.

Cameron Kirby

Edge Photographics, LAT Photographic

SYDNEY SPEEDBUMP

MARK WINTERBOTTOM is putting his Sydney Motorsport Park disaster behind him, insisting he is still the man to beat for the championship.

After teammate Chaz Mostert closed the points gap to ‘Frosty’, the Ford star says he now has the package to challenge for the title, whereas last year he lost grip on the championship at this point.

“Before Eastern Creek [this year], we were running at about a 3.8 average finish, which shows that we have a good car,” he told AA. “Last year we were probably running at an average finish of seventh and still had a points lead, which proved that we really didn’t have the car speed to win the title. We’re in a similar position [pointswise to this time last year], but a completely different feel on how we’re tracking.

“We have speed now. Saturday [at Sydney]

was really good, Sunday not so much. We just have to be smart with our set-up on the car, and what we chase and what we don’t.

We went into the trap of chasing a car that lost its strength and gave us weaknesses, really, and in qualifying it’s too close to be doing that, so we just have to be smart. But we have car speed.”

While Mostert is the clear qualifying king this year, Winterbottom’s own improvements are becoming apparent with his number of front-row starts.

“Last year, if we qualified 10th, I was happy. It was a really tough car last year.

It feels different than last year and our average finishing positions are a lot higher.

Last year it wasn’t that high; it was just people were failing, which made our championship position look better than probably what it was.” Mark Fogarty

TEION

with,” he said. “I include V8 Supercars and CAMS in that. We have gone back to our teams a number of times, we are working on what is probably the final design, but it is unlikely that we will see a vehicle built before Sandown, Bathurst or Gold Coast.”

With specifications not finalised for the first car to be built, the planned introduction of the EvolUTEion to the 2016 V8 Utes grid is on shaky ground.

“In an ideal world [a 2016 introduction] would be the case, but the longer we leave it the more difficult that is going to be,” Denyer added. “I would like to think probably within the next month we will totally finalise the specifications and then if CAMS signs off on those then we can

The EvolUTEion platform was anno in 2014, but V8 Utes category manage Craig Denyer says plans to have a car on-track demonstrations this month h gone out the window.

“That would have been perfect in an world, but that isn’t going to happen,” h Auto Action. “We are very much still in design phase of the vehicle and there h been a fair bit of to-and-fro regarding th final specifications of the vehicle.

“We haven’t actually commenced the yet; we are still working with CAMS on the final specifications of what the vehi will look like. It is a kind of work in pro V8 Supercars and V8 Utes announce technical partnership earlier this year t ensure the project’s success. However, D explains involving more people has for deadlines to be pushed back.

“It really is just time, and basically co up with a concept that all parties are ha

AGT+SRO = More GT3 AUSTRALIAN GT bigwigs will sit down with Stéphane Ratel in Europe next week to discuss the possibility of linking a New Zealand event with the Blancpain GT series. AGT owner Tony Quinn and category manager Ken Collier will meet with Ratel, head of the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) to discuss his Asia-Pacific plans.

SRO runs both the Blancpain Sprint and

10

Endurance GT series, and conducts Balance of Performance tests used by both Australian GT and the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Collier denied rumours that the meetings could result in SRO purchasing a stake in AGT, instead stating both Quinn and Ratel are keen to form a partnership to get Blancpain to New Zealand.

“The primary reason for the meeting was

Hampton Downs and how we could do something with SRO at Hampton Downs,” Collier told AA. “That may lead into something for AGT, but at initially we were just going to talk about Hampton Downs. Stéphane’s discussion with Tony on the phone was that he wanted to know a little bit more about what Australian GT were doing, and how we could be getting more new cars over here, and more interest. Which for [Ratel], leads to more interest in his Asia activities.

“I definitely see the partnership as an interest in developing GT racing, and not as a financial partnership.” Cameron Kirby

Edge Photographics / LAT Photographic

THE TOP UP All the big stories from the week in motorsport Several prominent teams have entered the 2016 B12H

BUMPER BATHURST GRID

FOR ALL the talk that came about when V8 Supercars reached into the coffers and purchased a 50-percent stake in the Bathurst 12 Hour, the changeover hasn’t stopped entries from rolling in. Already there are 46 cars on the grid, with 55 the event’s capacity. Any interested parties (like Prodrive, Nissan and Belgium’s WRT which have all been touted) must get their paperwork filled out and faxed in or else they may miss out. Notables on the entry list so far include two cars each from previous winners Erebus and Maranello Motorsport, while Germany’s Phoenix Racing will also return.

NEW LOOKS FOR SANDOWN

MAWSON WINS AGAIN

AUSSIE LAD Joey Mawson won again in Europe last week. The German Formula 4 racer nabbed a victory and podium at the Sachsenring and currently sits third in the championship with two rounds remaining. He’s had the measure of his teammate, Mick Schumacher, all season and is hitting form at the right time.

THE NEXT FERRARI FOR OZ

FERRARI’S NEXT GT weapon, the 488, got its first run in Italy last week. The car is expected to compete as both a GTE racer and in GT3 categories. Aussie GT team Maranello Motorsport has already put its hand up to grab a couple of new cars when they’re available. However, given how late in the year testing and homologation is happening, it’s unlikely they will be ready for the Bathurst 12 Hour.

TODD KELLY and Lee Holdsworth will have some new stickerwork for the next V8 round. Both unveiled the looks ahead of their pre-endurance Read more at autoaction.com.au test and both had international co-drivers fly in for the day. Alex Buncombe, the YouTube whiz Todd Kelly’s who drives more cars than a Nissan is up for hotel valet, got his second crack carsales at the Altima, while Sébastien Bourdais, who just finished his IndyCar campaign, jumped in Holdsworth’s Commodore.

With Rally Australia beginning this Friday, we give you the quick run down on what to watch at Coffs

W

INTER’S OVER, and thank the lords of motorsport for that.

With spring in the air, it’s time to head to the coast, thaw out, and catch a glimpse of some of the world’s best.

Rally Australia begins this week at Coffs Harbour and it’s an event that’s growing in stature. The weather is perfect (touch wood), the world’s best drivers are in town, and no amount of words on any pages will ever do justice to seeing a WRC car racing in the flesh.

You’ve really got to check it out first hand. And then spend the next few minutes picking up your jaw.

Until you get that chance, here’s your quick-fire guide…

SÉBASTIEN OGIER

WELL, LIKE in the days of old, it’s pretty hard to go past the Frenchman name Séb. Ogier, not Loeb, that is. The Volkswagen driver can wrap up his third title in a row this weekend after a dominant season so far.

JARI-MATTI LATVALA

THE FINN is the man who would be rallying’s king…if it weren’t for his VW teammate, Ogier. JML is bloody quick, but his results are as consistent as a gypsy’s postcode.

KRIS MEEKE

THE NORTHERN Irishman broke through for an overdue debut win earlier this year but has struggled since.

He’ll be driving for his career at Rally Oz.

12

ELFYN EVANS

THE COURSE

THE LOCALS

DOMESTIC BATTLE

THIS YEAR marks the fourth consecutive running of Rally Australia at Coffs Harbour.

The dusty stages on the New South Wales north coast trek through forests and make p one of the most compact events on the calendar.

The 17 stages are held over 311 kilometres of running, including a visit to Slim Dusty’s infamous ‘Pub with no Beer’ around Taylors Arm. For 2015, the eightkilometre Valla stage will be run on the Saturday night, replacing the SuperSpecial held downtown. It’s a proper chance to see the cars at full pelt as they battle through the dark.

THE CLOSEST thing we get to an Aussie driver in WRC this year is our neighbour, Hayden Paddon, but there’ll be a coupla Aussies in the WRC2 class looking to put on a good show on home turf.

Reigning Australian Rally Champion Scott Pedder will drive an M-Sport-prepared Ford Fiesta R5 in WRC2 as he hopes to further impress on the international rally scene.

The Aussie has competed in select WRC2 events this year and scored an impressive fourth in class at Finland.

Nathan Quinn will also make a return to the event where he made a major impact back in 2013. The Aussie commandeered a WRC-spec Mini back then and impressed plenty of onlookers with his speed on the road and his laconic style off it. He’s back in a Mitsubishi EVO IX and hoping to kick butt in WRC2.

RALLY AUSTRALIA doubles as the fourth round of the Australian Rally Championship.

Eli Evans and Glen Weston lead the points table for Citroën but Molly Taylor and Billy Hayes are hot on their tailpipe. The rally is also a chance to see former champion Simon Evans have his first crack at the Coffs Coast event and get a glimpse at Harry Bates – the son of local legend Neal –who already has a series podium to his name.

The Classic category is chockers again, while Mark Pedder will run a Peugeot 308 Maxi car as a preview of the future direction of the local series.

HAYDEN PADDON

THE FAST New Zealander was impressive at Rally Oz in 2014. This year he’s improved further and is the makeshift home hero with plenty of support from across the ditch.

THIERRY NEUVILLE

THE BELGIAN is earmarked as the WRC’s next big thing – but the bigger question remains; can Hyundai give him a car worthy of his talents and will he still be there to drive it?

ANDREAS MIKKELSEN

ANYONE WHO knows anything about rallying will tell you Mikkelsen is fast, but that first WRC w remains elusive. Maybe Oz is t ct place to change that?

MADS ØSTBERG

IT’S THE best name in the WRC, and Mads is earning himself a reputation as a safe pair of hands. The 27-year-old has come of age in 2015 and has been the best man not in a Polo

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IMPERFECT PARTNERS I

T’S BEEN intriguing to see how McLaren and Red Bull have handled the situation with their underperforming engine suppliers, Honda and Renault, respectively.

How do you get the best out of a person, or a group of people or a company in any mode of life, be it family, a company, sport or some other endeavour? Red Bull’s approach has been aggressive, public and upfront. McLaren and Honda have kept things internal and presented a united we-support-each other front to the media and to the world.

Red Bull certainly has lost patience with Renault’s inability to come up with a quick fix to make its power unit as competitive as those of Ferrari and Mercedes. Yet there still exists some camaraderie between the people from Renault and Red Bull, who work

together at the race tracks around the world.

“The Renault guys here trackside, many of them are the same guys who were here when we enjoyed a lot of success together,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “They are as frustrated as anybody else. The bigger question is what Renault’s plans are for the future. And hopefully that will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.”

And what, I asked Horner, are Red Bull’s plans for the future?

“It depends on Renault,” he replied. “We have an agreement with Renault until the end of 2016 and anything other than that is purely speculation.”

With Renault closing in on buying the same team for a second time – from Lotus now and previously from Benetton – I

“We have an agreement with Renault until the end of 2016 and anything other than that is purely speculation” CHRISTIAN HORNER

THE F1 INSIDER Dan Knutson

believe Red Bull will become a MercedesBenz customer, even though there was nothing in writing between them as of late August.

Meanwhile, is McLaren losing patience with Honda? “No,” was the immediate reply from McLaren’s Racing Director Eric Boullier.

“As we said many times, we are happy to have Honda as a partner and Honda is happy with McLaren. It is just a project that didn’t have the maturity to be performing as much as we were expecting. So we are working very hard as a works team, and this is very important for us to be a works team.”

McLaren has to make things work with Honda because there is no easy or immediate alternative. They are far more than just commercial partners: they are

A MYSTERY BIDDER

RENAULT HAS a rival mystery bidder seeking to buy the financially struggling Team Lotus, Auto Action has learned. For now all that the team members and drivers can do is wait and see what happens.

“There are a lot of rumours,” Pastor Maldonado told Auto Action. “But we don’t know. I wish the best for the team from my side. They are good people. I have a lot of

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affection for my team. Even in my short time here I have made a lot of good friends. So I feel really good. We deserve a good car and we have all the facilities to have that car.”

Whatever happens, Maldonado is confident that he will be driving for the team in 2016.

“I have a contract for next year,” he said. “The team needs to confirm that when they want to do so. I want to put the team in the top again.

They have all the tools and everything they need to be there fighting for good places and podiums. For sure we need a bit more budget.

But that will come at some point because it is a good team and they deserve it.”

Any buyer would first have to pass a vetting process by the FIA, which recently turned down two bids from new outfits wanting to join the Formula 1 ranks in 2016. Dan Knutson

LAT Photographic

THE FIGHT IN FERRARI

GOING OFF in the wrong direction on car set-up and having problems during the two practice sessions on Friday is not the ideal way for a team to start a grand prix weekend, yet Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene is pleased that the Scuderia now has the depth to be able to fight its way out of such a situation. He points out that in Hungary and Belgium the team was struggling on Friday only to work through it and win in Budapest and be in contention for the podium in Spa. “When you are looking for extreme performance with the material that you have in your hands, and what we have had since the beginning of the year, it is normal that you have many problems

married, and, for better or for worse, they are stuck together. And when things finally do click, which should happen given the racing pedigree of both organisations, it will become a happier marriage.

Red Bull, on the other hand, has had a wonderful and successful affair with its mistress Renault that has now fallen apart.

Red Bull has had the choice of staying with Renault if they can patch things up and Renault can prove it will act like times past when it provided potent power plants, or Red Bull can look elsewhere for a new engine partner.

There will no doubt be a long honeymoon between Red Bull and Mercedes, but how will Red Bull react if things start to go bad after that?

in the car,” he said, “You could have a thousand mini or maxi problems. And you need to fix it. Now there are two ways: one the team is getting lost and the other one is that the team is getting focused and working well. I have to say that the reaction of the team makes me happy.”

Furthermore, Ferrari does not go for qualifying lap times on Friday by running with light loads of fuel.

“The fact that we are a bit more conservative on Friday is a clear choice of our Technical Director James Allison,” Arrivabene said. “He is makes more sense to be quite real on Friday instead of going around the track with 20 kilos of fuel.”

Dan Knutson

Red Bull and Renault will soon part ways

Ferrari boss chuffed with the team’s ability to recover

BUTTONSECURE McLaren likely to announce the retention of Jenson Button for 2016 M CLAREN WAITED until December 11 last year to announce it would retain Jenson Button rather than Kevin Magnussen to be the teammate to Fernando Alonso who rejoined the squad for 2015. Alonso has a long-term contract, but Button’s deal is for one year and McLaren has the option for a second year. McLaren’s three main contenders for 2016 are Button, Magnussen or GP2 championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne.

“I am not going to tell you which parameters we are going to use,” McLaren’s racing boss Eric Boullier said. “This is our own discussion internally and our own strategy as well. What I can tell you is that we are happy with both Jenson and Fernando. I hope that we will make the decision much, much sooner [than last year].”

McLaren is always pointing out how it and Honda are one team, so will both parties be equally involved in the driver decision?

“Yes, both parties will be

equally involved in the driver decision,” Boullier said, “but at the end we (McLaren) will decide.”

Gone are the days when Honda could dictate that its partner team takes on a Japanese driver.

But Honda is extremely happy with Button, who has had a long relationship with Honda and who has strong ties with Japan.

The limiting factors right now are the engine and, yes, even the chassis, not the drivers. Boullier told Auto Action that Button’s rapport with the team’s partners and sponsors and cannot be underestimated, and this makes the 35-yearold Briton, who is still driving superbly, an invaluable asset to the team. AA can predict with certainty that Button will be back next year.

Dan Knutson

“We are happy with both Jenson and Fernando” ERIC BOULLIER

SPARE PARTS REDS RETAINED

Not that there really was any doubt, but Red Bull will retain Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat in 2016.

Both drivers have long-term contracts with the team, which is set to take up its options on them for next year.

HAAS HINT?

Esteban Gutiérrez said on Facebook that he’s had an important meeting that will have a big repercussion on his personal life. This has to mean that he is closing in on a seat with the new Haas F1 team. Gene Haas said recently that Ferrari test drivers Gutiérrez and JeanÉric Vergne were among his top three candidates along with Nico Hülkenberg.

Fath adv for N

SALES DATA

If Renault buys Team Lotus it would of course use its own engines in the cars and that would free up a supply of Mercedes engines for a another team – Red Bull for example. But what engines would Lotus use if the mystery buyer ended up owning it? The mystery buyer has complicated the situation. Renault’s offer was 65 million pounds [A$147m] for 65 percent of the team – 20 percent from Andrew Ruhan, 45 percent from Genii Capital, and Alain Prost would take over the 10 percent owned by the Russian company Megfon, with the payment coming from Renault.

Meanwhile, Vijay Mallya offered to sell Renault 95 percent of Force India for US$150m [A$214m].

TYRE BOUNCE BACK

“We have learnt from our mistakes and will bounce back even stronger!” Valtteri Bottas said of the gaff Williams made by fitting two different types of tyres on his car during the Belgian Grand Prix.

BERNIE’S BAILOUT BERNIE ECCLESTONE has, according to Britain’s Times newspaper, dipped into his own pocket to pay the August wages of the some 400 people who work for Team Lotus.

“I thought I should cover the wages of the people there to make sure they were all right and so that

16

Lotus would at least get to Spa and, hopefully, to Italy,” Ecclestone said. “But they really need to make progress with Renault [buying the team] now to make sure everything is okay.”

While Lotus has had its severe financial problems it has at least until now always paid the staff on time.

There have been a number of times in the past when Ecclestone quietly has spent his own money to bail out a team that has been struggling financially. But it remains to be seen how long his generosity towards Lotus lasts. Dan Knutson

IN DEMAND

Nico Hülkenberg won’t be lacking for work anytime soon. Force India extended his contract for two years and Porsche wants him back for Le Mans in 2016.

Hülkenberg, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber won the endurance classic for Porsche this year. DK

LAT Photographic

herly vice Nico

BECOMING A father, Romain Grosjean, a father of two, told Nico Rosberg will change his life but should not affect his performance on the racetrack. Nico and Viviane Rosberg are the proud parents of their baby daughter who was born in Monaco on August 30.

“It helps your life in general,” Grosjean said. “You don’t do things for yourself anymore, you do them for them. They are everything for you. When you have a tough weekend – or a tough day – you call then, you Skype them in the evening, you see the face of your son, or your sons, and you just

laugh. It probably helps to relax your mind in the evening, to think about something else and come fresh in the morning.”

Once the helmet visor goes down, however, Grosjean warned: “If you think about your family, you’re not going to stay flat out.”

Getting married and having children (and working with a sports psychologist) made a huge difference in Grosjean’s racing abilities and his personality as it helped bring him out of a real rough time he had been going through. Dan Knutson

Closer to the sweetspot The sweet spot is easier to find now

GIVEN THE strong performances by Red Bull in some but not all of the recent races it is obvious that the team has made a significant step forward on the chassis side while it copes with the Renault engine that can’t match the horsepower output of its rivals.

“It’s a big positive for us as a team that the car is working well,” Daniel Ricciardo said.

“Sure we know about the lack of power from the engine, but there have been times when we feel that the chassis has been underperforming as well. In the last few races, particularly as we saw in Budapest, if we get it in the sweet spot it is back to where it was last year.

“It is a very strong car. Our understanding of where the sweet spot is is a lot better. I have confidence that we will find it more often than not, so the car has come a long way.”

Dan Knutson

Sauber feels good about its next upgrade

SAUBER RETURNS TO THE HUNT

SAUBER’S DIP in performance should be coming to a close since it received the updated Ferrari engine at the Belgian Grand Prix and will get aerodynamic upgrades for the chassis in Singapore.

The factory Ferrari team introduced an upgraded version of its power unit for its cars at the Canadian Grand Prix in June and another for the Italian Grand Prix in September. Sauber’s plan was always to have the first upgrade in Belgium and the second one later on, possibly at the United States Grand Prix in late October. Sauber will not use the third upgrade that Ferrari will debut in the final races. There’s a price for the lease of the basic version of the power unit, and then customer teams have to pay

extra for the upgrades. Sauber paid for two upgrades and that’s what they’ll get.

Sauber gets a five-million euro [A$7.8m] discount because it is running Ferrari protégée Raffaele Marciello as its test and reserve driver. That, plus because driver Marcus Ericsson keeps paying in advance, means that Sauber is up to date on its payments to Ferrari.

Of course, other teams keep upgrading their cars as well, but Sauber should be back in the hunt for points.

“I’m always optimistic, actually, otherwise it is difficult in this job!” Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn said when Auto Action asked about the upgrades. “We have a good feeling for the package.” DK

17

CHAMPION BLOKE

Scott Dixon is proof that champions are born, not made

CAPTAIN AMERICA Curt Cavin

SCOTT DIXON not only has nailed down another IndyCar Series championship, he confirmed he has a contract extension to remain with Ganassi Racing.

“It’s more than two years,” he said of the deal signed in August.

Figure three years and probably more for the 35-year-old driver, who’s driving in the prime of his career. Dixon’s race win at Sonoma gave him 38, one short

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of tying Al Unser for fourth place on the sport’s all-time list and within reach of Michael Andretti’s 42 next season.

Dixon has won at least two races per season since 2006 and this was the sixth time he’s won three or more. In 2008, another championship year, he won six races.

The fourth series title (second in three years) gave Dixon a spot alongside Mario Andretti, Sébastien

Bourdais and former teammate Dario Franchitti for second place in that category. A.J. Foyt won seven in his career.

Team owner Chip Ganassi called Dixon “arguably the IndyCar driver of our generation,” and there’s not much counter to that.

“There’s not anybody I’d rather have driving our cars, I can tell you,” he said.

Curt Cavin All Images: LAT Photographic

S

COTT DIXON is called the Iceman for his coolness under pressure. But don’t just think racing. Think tragedy.

Dixon’s boss, the often-gruff Chip Ganassi, was at the lectern for last week’s IndyCar Series championship celebration in San Francisco when he got moist in the eyes and fought back tears. Ganassi was speaking about the champion who had done something heroic.

Dixon had stayed in Pennsylvania on the night of August 23 to help a friend. Justin Wilson, who was in a coma, didn’t know he needed Dixon, but Dixon knew Wilson’s family needed him and his family. So he stayed. They stayed.

Scott and Emma Davies-Dixon are champions not because the driver scored the most points in this recently completed season or the ones in 2003, 2008 and 2013.

They are champions because they care.

They stayed in Pennsylvania, where Wilson had been struck by debris in the crash of Sage Karam, and offered support, just as they had in 2011 when Dan Wheldon’s widow, Susie, needed help. After Wheldon’s death, the Dixons moved their family to St Petersburg, Florida, for much of the off-season to help Susie and her two young boys.

And they stayed with Wilson and his family, even as others not named Dixon might have gone about the business of concentrating on winning a championship.

“Dixon knew Justin Wilson’s family needed him and his family so he stayed in Pennsylvania” “Nobody asked him to do that,” Ganassi said.

Dixon’s coolness was evident in the finale at Sonoma Raceway, too. He entered the finale 47 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya, a distance close enough to be considered a legitimate contender but not enough to be given much of a chance. He’d need to win a race expected to be dominated by Will Power, and he’d need to have Montoya stumble. One might happen, but both?

It didn’t help Dixon’s cause that Power led 26 of the first 34 laps in pursuit of those two valuable bonus points for leading the most laps, but Dixon stayed calm and cycled to the lead on lap 51. Thirty-six laps remained.

He could still overtake Power, and he could still win the race. And that’s what he did.

Stayed calm. Delivered in the clutch.

Showed why he’s a champion, on and off the track. Again.

SPARE PARTS

It was double or nothing for JPM at Sonoma

BITTER BRIDESMAID

Juan Pablo Montoya said Scott Dixon had “a shit season”, but it’s worth noting Dixon won a seriesleading three races and delivered a win in the finale when Montoya couldn’t.

Montoya almost led the standings from the start of the season to the finish.

Dixon, meanwhile, finished 15th in the first race and never was higher than third in the standings until taking the lead at Sonoma.

MOST SWEETEST

Because of the way the #9 team kept fighting this season, Dixon called this championship, his fourth, “the most sweetest championship we’ve had”.

Dixon described his march to the title as “very Darioesque”, in reference to his former Ganassi teammate Dario Franchitti. “Quite nice to slip through there and take it,” he said.

SIX FROM EIGHT

Chip Ganassi’s team has won six of the past eight IndyCar titles, three each by Franchitti and Dixon.

LEAP OF FAITH

Ganassi had a simple explanation for deciding to body surf into the crowd in Sonoma’s victory lane. “They all came over and started saying, ‘Jump, jump’, or whatever,” he said. “I lined myself up for that, and I couldn’t say no then.”

DOUBLE DRATS!

INDYCAR SERIES drivers are not in favour of having some races worth twice as many points as others, but it’s unclear what the sanctioning body will do for the 2016 season.

Team Penske drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power lashed out at the double-points system minutes after watching Scott Dixon of Ganassi Racing swipe the title at Sonoma Raceway, one of the two events where additional points where awarded. Never mind that Montoya and Power received the standings boost in May when they finished 1-2 in the Indianapolis 500.

“We’ll see if they change, but they like the excitement for the last race,” Montoya said of IndyCar officials. “Is it fair for a normal championship? No, but it’s the rules they want to play with and if you don’t like the rules, don’t race.”

Graham Rahal said he didn’t think any race should have double points and he

didn’t like the plan to award extra points for Indianapolis 500 qualifying, although that was scrapped when IndyCar changed the format after three Chevrolet cars got airborne in practice.

“I know what they’re trying to do, trying to make it more interesting, trying to get everybody [involved],” Rahal said. “But everybody is already hanging out on the [edge] and all you’re doing is benefitting the big teams.

“Just like we tried double-file restarts [last year]. We don’t need gimmicks in this sport to make it exciting.”

Power’s beef with IndyCar is more over the closing of the pits during caution periods. That disadvantages leaders if they haven’t yet pitted.

That hurt several leaders this season, especially Montoya at Mid-Ohio.

“We’ve got to decide if we’re a sport or a casino because it’s just the luck of the draw here,” Power said. Curt Cavin

KILLER DROUGHT

Remember when there was pre-season talk of Team Penske’s stellar four-car team winning all the races?

The team went the season’s final 98 days without a win.

Montoya got the team’s final win in the Indianapolis 500.

ROOKIE AWARD

Gabby Chaves, who finished 15th in IndyCar points, was named IndyCar’s Rookie of the Year.

KARAM COUNSELLED

Sage Karam, the driver who crash debris struck Justin Wilson, admitted to seeing a psychologist to address his mental anguish. Karam still doesn’t know what caused him to spin, and he’s still asking the question “What if I didn’t spin?” CC

TeamPenske’sWTFmoment TEAM PENSKE will have trouble digesting how it lost this year’s IndyCar Series because the turning point was last-race contact between teammates.

On the restart at lap 39 at Sonoma Raceway, Will Power was sizing up Josef Newgarden in Turn 4 when series leader Juan Pablo Montoya bumped him from behind. The contact sent Power’s car spinning, and Montoya was forced to make an unscheduled pitstop with a broken front wing.

The ensuing stops left them 23rd and 24th in the 25-car field when the next restart came.

“Josef went up the inside,” Power said, trying to explain what happened. “I tried to switch back to get around and obviously Juan got my back bumper there. We spun and unfortunately [the contact] damaged his bloody wing.

“And yeah, that just set the day there.”

Montoya refused to discuss the incident. “It doesn’t matter what happened,” he said.

One of Roger Penske’s cars has finished second in the standings six consecutive years with only a single championships.

It has failed to convert in seven of the past eight season finales. Curt Cavin

19

Peugeot denies Dakar dramas

SPARE PARTS HIGGY’S LUCKY 13TH

Manxman David Higgins continued his astonishing run with victory on the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Minnesota, his 13th consecutive American victory. He overcame a puncture and broken driveshaft. Subaru teammate Travis Pastrana was second.

PAOLO POWERS ON

PEUGEOT SPORT Director Bruno Famin has dismissed talk that the French firm’s Dakar program is in disarray.

Despite not finishing in the top-10 on this year’s event, Famin described the 2008 DKR’s debut in South America as a success.

The car is now being systematically redesigned ahead of next year’s marathon, while ex-World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb is still considering joining the team.

Last weekend the 2008 returned to competition on the China Silk Road Rally – already modified with work on the suspension and engine.

This interim car will be known as 2015+.

The 2016 car, to be tested as soon as possible after China, will be 200mm wider and longer – but is unlikely to compete ahead of next January’s event.

Although sources close to Peugeot’s drivers have said the program isn’t yielding the kind of success that had been hoped for, Famin rejected such views.

“On this year’s event we focused on reliability and we did quite well with this by bringing two cars to the finish,” Famin said. “There were some incidents, of course, and the result was the best we could do last year.

“Development of the car has been intensive since and its evolution will be ready for 2016. It will be wider and longer, but based on the same concept of twowheel drive, diesel engine and big wheels.”

He avoided saying he hopes for a win in 2016.

“We are not even in the middle of this program yet,” he said. “We talk about three years of Peugeot in Dakar, but there’s no limit to how long.

“We could say we go to win in 2016, but most likely we say that for 2017.”

He said Loeb was welcome to test the car again.

“We don’t know whether Sébastien will join us again. Everybody knows he would like to do Dakar; everybody knows he visited the event in 2014 and everybody knows he tested with us.” Jerry Williams

20

Italian Paolo Andreucci clinched his ninth domestic championship with victory on the Rally del Friuli in his Peugeot 208 T16. Giandomenico Basso’s gas-powered Fiesta R5 was third.

Meeke and me, by Mads MADS ØSTBERG is keen to stay at Citroën next season – with Kris Meeke as a teammate and a two-year deal for them both.

The Norwegian says he and the Ulsterman need a longer-term commitment from their team.

“It’s difficult [with] one year deals,” he said. “You can’t fight for the whole season if it’s like this; you feel you have to prove yourself all the time.”

He is talking to other teams but would rather stay with the French outfit

alongside Meeke, whom he described as a “very good companion in the team”.

“We like to compete and neither of us likes to be beaten by the other – but that’s good,” Østberg said. “We speak well together and we test well together.

My feeling, at least, is that it would be good to carry on.”

Citroën’s Yves Matton will not confirm any drivers until the end of the season, after the firm’s future in the WRC has been decided.

Jerry Williams

TOYOTA TWINS

Toyota’s young Japanese drivers Hiroki Arai and Takamoto Katsuta finished third and fourth in their class on Ralli Turku, the latest Finnish round, driving Tommi Mäkinenrun Subaru Imprezas.

RUN, BABY, RUN

In a gruelling pre-Rally Australia outing VW star Andreas Mikkelsen completed three of eight stages on the Transalpine Run. He ran 96.5 kilometres, climbing 2083 metres en route from Oberstdorf in Germany to Landeck in Austria.

MALCOLM’S VISION

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson wants drivers Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak to take second place in the manufacturers’ title race.

“We’ve seen that when things are right, we’re capable of it,” Wilson said. “We just need a bit more consistency from the drivers.” M-Sport is fourth in the standings, 23 points behind Hyundai and 10 off Citroën.

POLE POSITION

Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz extended his ERC standings lead with a podium on the Czech-based Barum Rally, moving 23 points clear of Ireland’s Craig Breen. Breen suffered three punctures, finishing seventh in his Peugeot 208 T16. Škoda’s Jan Kopecký won the rally in an R5. JW

Østberg says he and Meeke are good together

Todt: ‘I call the shots’

DESPITE TOTAL opposition from WRC teams, FIA President Jean Todt has refused to rule out the possibility of next year’s WRC calendar ramping up to 14 events.

Citroën and M-Sport have insisted they cannot budget for an extra rally in 2016 but Todt said he would not bow to pressure from any of the WRC stakeholders.

WRC Promoter has accepted 13 as the optimum number of events. But if China came in then one of Portugal, Germany or France (Corsica) would have to go.

LATPhotographic

VW FULL SPEED AHEAD Marcus Grönholm gives developing 2017 Polo the thumbs up after early evaluation

LESS THAN three weeks after saying its nextgeneration Polo would test this year, VW has started evaluating the 2017 car.

The speed with which the German team is moving ahead will further alarm rival teams.

Former double world champion Marcus Grönholm drove the car for three days in Finland but afterwards said he was limited in what he could say about it.

“It’s been a while since I drove like this in Finland,” Grönholm added. “So, the first couple of runs, it was like: ‘Okay, this is fast…’ It takes time to come to the speed again. But the car was nice.

“We drove for three full days on stages like Hassi and Vaheri. Really, it was good. There are some changes on the car, they changed many small things and, of course, it sounded nice – that is

The first two have reportedly been assured of a place on the calendar, leaving France in the firing line. Current speculation is that Frenchman Todt would not let that happen.

Todt would not be drawn on the question of whether there was room for both China and Corsica next season.

“It would be inappropriate for me to respond to speculation,” he said. “There is a specific process for the selection of a new event – the same applies for the formation of the calendar. The calendar is not a matter of two events, rather all of the

VW’s 2017 Polo has started testing in the hands of Grönholm definitely in the right way.”

YouTube footage shows that the Polo does sound somewhat different to today’s cars, adding to speculation that it is more than a 2015 Polo with extra bits bolted on.

The test gave VW initial data for the 2017 season – 17 months before the car’s debut in Monte Carlo.

However, team boss Jost Capito downplayed the moment, saying, “We were ahead of schedule, so we adapted a car to take a first look at the aero.

We just wanted to see how it behaves in the highspeed stages.

“The car looks okay with the wider body and the front splitter, but it’s not so different from what we have now. And it will change before we get to 2017. These are just some parts we have added. It hasn’t been in the wind tunnel yet.”

“It’s been a while since I drove like this in Finland. It takes time to come to the speed again.

But the car was nice” MARCUS GRÖNHOLM

Another team source added: “This is something which has been worked on for some time. Like Jost says, this is by no means the finished article.”

Meanwhile, Toyota Germany’s 2017-spec Yaris is expected to run early in 2016 as the Japanese program continues to spread confusion.

Tommi Mäkinen Racing is reportedly planning also to have four of its Yaris test cars running by February – double the number originally expected and a month earlier.

A Japanese source admitted Mäkinen was going to have his work cut out.

“Two test programs running early next year with two cars being run at each test is a big, big [thing to be] taking on,” the source told AA. “Everybody wants Tommi to succeed but we need to see some action now.”

Recent speculation in Germany was that Tokyo could soon lean on Toyota Motor Group Germany more heavily.

A source close to TMG said: “We’re looking at a natural evolution of our current car towards the 2017 WRC car we always set out to build. The whole program was and is geared towards 2017.”

Asked if there could be more assistance beyond the already agreed engine work, the source added: “Yes, it’s possible. We are here with a very workable car, which has been through an extensive testing program.” Jerry Williams

rallies applying for inclusion.”

Citroën’s British-born CEO Linda Jackson said in July: “We’re looking for something with the same number of races – 12 or 13, including China.

We need to make sure we can work on the same budget or less. Yes, Citroën Racing and sport is important for us, but it would have to be within the budgets we have already got.”

M-Sport’s Malcolm Wilson echoed her words.

Todt added: “I respect, of course, the opinion of the manufacturers, but it is up to the FIA to decide the number of events in its championships.” JW

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STACKS BETTER

IT IS so nice to see two championship contenders battling it out at the front at the same team without double stacking ruining the others chances all the time!

How many times have we seen Craig Lowndes being stacked behind Jamie Whincup in pitlane, being forced to lose positions hand over fist just because he was running second and his teammate was first? I think without the double stacking Whincup may not have been as dominant as he was.

But look at Prodrive; Chaz and Frosty are one and two in the championship, and always up the front in the races, and no bloody double stacking! It is a wonder Mr Dane and his brains trust never figured out how to do that!

James Fontane via email

GETTING UP FOR SANDOWN

THIS IS supposed to be the most exciting time of the year in V8s, but it’s hard to get a grasp on how everyone feels. It’s Sandown time but I can’t help but notice not having the races on free TV regularly and the gaps in the calendar has sapped some enthusiasm.

It’s not fair on Sandown, which is usually a great race, but I hope for the sake of V8 Supercars it kicks up some interest for Bathurst. Otherwise we could be in for some amazing racing, but no one interested in seeing it.

Dave Broadhead via email

BRIGHT IDEAS

I THINK it is a great idea to get some lights put up at Sydney Motorsport

Park. Was there in the mid ’90s when they raced under lights and it was spectacular. Definitely what the series needs to boost it. They do need to make it more appealing to the fans, though. Maybe cheaper [tickets] and the grandstand is included in the price of general admission. With the lights, maybe if the state government stopped wasting money on Homebush they would easily be able to assist SMP with permanent lights?

Andrew Hayes via Facebook

TRACKING NUMBERS

SO V8 Supercars decide to lock in a venue for 10 years (Sydney Motorsport Park) which has one of the poorest spectator numbers, and, from what I’ve heard, is a poor track to view the racing. I like the idea of locking in a permanent track and not another street circuit, but they seriously need to look at what they can do to pull in the crowds. Everything else V8SC has done in the past has failed.

Steve Mackey via Facebook

BURNING THE RUBBER

SUPER-SOFT TYRES? [AA #1657] You kidding me, V8 Supercars?! With current allocations we should be testing tyres that will last 10,000km. Racing on preused rubber? Even if it has been used in the same race, come off it! This super-

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Auto Action 2010 Winner Motoring Magazine of the Year Niche Magazine of the Year

22

BRAIN TEASERS

finish in his Bathurst 1000 debut?

8. What position did Mark

1. What year did Jamie Whincup first win the Sandown 500? (Pictured)

4. Who won the first Rally

Winterbottom start from on the grid the year he won the Bathurst 1000?

2. Who partnered Geoff Brabham to victory in the 1993 Sandown 500?

5. Who was the first winner of

Nissan’s GT Academy?

9. At what track did Scott Dixon win his first IndyCar/CART race?

3. How many times did Sébastien Loeb win Rally Australia?

Australia held at Kingscliff?

6. How many times did

Sebastian Vettel win the Singapore F1 Grand Prix?

7. Where did Mark Winterbottom

10. What year did Scott Dixon start from pole and win the Indianapolis 500?

Answers on page 47

Images: Edge Photographics, LAT Photographic

“I want to see who is the fastest driver, not who is best at racing on used tyres” ERIC CIPPLE soft nonsense will be even more of a headache unless V8s can sort their mess out with tyre allocations. How hard can it be? Just give them a fresh batch of tyres for every single session, and then fresh tyres for each race.

I want to see who is the fastest driver, not who is best at racing on used tyres, or which car is ‘kinder’ to its tyres. It’s a racecar, it should be destroying tyres without prejudice! I’m sick of this pansy-footed conservation nonsense. Fix it or I am done!

Eric Cipple via email

JUAN MASSIVE SOOK

JUAN PABLO Montoya needs to stop his complaining! In the end [Scott] Dixon won the IndyCar title because he won an extra race than Montoya. It was Montoya who hit his own teammate in the last race. And yes, there may have been double points for the last race of the year, but it’s not over until the final black and white flag is waved. Poor loser on Montoya’s part.

Regan Muirhead via Facebook

DOUBLE THUMBS-DOWN

I HATE the double-points finish in IndyCar. Montoya was the most consistent driver and the last race saw him lose the title when in most circumstances he wouldn’t have...

Not saying Dixon doesn’t deserve it, and I congratulate him, I just don’t like the double points.

Cameron Larry Tenardi via Facebook

* We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity and accuracy. Letters will not be published without an email or a street address. We also reserve the right to check bona fides.

FACEBOOK FEEDBACK AA’s Facebook mates tell us what they think about Turkey’s F1 track, Istanbul Park, being bought by a car dealership Used car dealers

GOOD DEALERSHIP to go for a test drive.

I’d love to have seen the WEC race there.

HOLY CRAP, how big are car dealerships in Turkey that Istanbul Park seemed like a good choice?

THE FOOLS were – and still are – the governments and commercial promoters who swallowed F1’s blatantly uneconomic lure – hook, line and sinker.

NATHAN WONG

NATHAN DE ROVER

SUCH A shame as it was the best modern F1 track and only Bernie’s greed is to blame.

BRAD CHILD

TILKE TRACKS are boring as all hell. This was one of the better ones, though.

JASON ROBERTS

AFTER READING the FIA track spec document I can’t blame Tilke. Just an engineer/designer working to what he’s allowed.

DAN HAMMOND

will fill Bernie’s shoes in Istanbul

MIKE JACOBSON

IRACING, PLEASE immortalise this.

BENNY SMITH

HOW AWESOME is this track? I remember Red Bull were the only team able to go full throttle through the quadruple Turn 8.

JAMES MORGAN

JOHN-ROSS MITCHELL

TURNING A track into a car yard is still better than into a housing estate...

GUY MURPHY

AND YET we continue to pay squillions to Bernie and his thieves.

SEAN CARTER

THE PERFECT circuit in the wrong place.

23

CLASSIC

HOT SHOT

David Coulthard Williams FW17 Renault Italian Grand Prix, Monza, September 10, 1995 Photo: LAT Photographic

I

T’S CRUNCH time. Sandown and Bathurst loom, and with them rest the fortunes of the V8 championship contenders. Big races, big points, big stakes.

The man with the most to gain – or lose – is title leader Mark Winterbottom, who is having his strongest season yet and has his best shot at claiming Jamie Whincup’s crown. Yet there are questions and concerns.

Winterbottom and Prodrive Racing Australia (in its former guise of FPR) have a history of championship capitulation. This time it would seem PRA can’t lose because its FG X Falcon is the car to beat and Frosty’s teammates are also in title contention.

Winterbottom, though, is vulnerable because younger teammate Chaz Mostert is on a roll, with his recent conversion of poles into three wins in the last four races vaulting him into second in the standings.

After a scrappy weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park, all eyes are on Frosty to see whether he consolidates or collapses in the enduros. But in his 10th season with the factory Ford team, 34-year-old Winterbottom is in his prime and, while being wary of the enemy within, remains confident about his title prospects.

UP FRONT WITH

FOGES

OVER 40 YEARS OF AA’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE MARK FOGARTY

CHAMPING AT THE BIT As he prepares to fend off friends and foes, would-be V8 champion Mark Winterbottom opens up to Mark Fogarty about the pressures and possibilities of what’s becoming a tense title race 26

LAT Photographic, Edge Photographics

Determined to keep his grip on the championship Are you still in control of this championship battle or is it getting a bit shaky?

I think I’m still in control. Eastern Creek was not a good round, but it hasn’t ever been for me. For some reason, it’s just a track that dislikes my style and although I finished second on Saturday (in the first sprint), I find it really hit-and-miss and it always has been for me. But I still feel like I’m in control.

I looked at last year’s championship and going into Sandown, I think Whincup only had a 100-point lead or something, so we’re in the right position to try to win it.

Qualifying’s not that important for the next three rounds, which the other guys have been doing a better job at, so I think I’m still in control. If I’m good enough, I’ll win it and if I’m not, I won’t.

We’re in the perfect position to have a go at it, but it’s by no means home and hosed. A lot’s going to happen between now and the end of the year, but if we do it right, we can win and that’s the good thing.

It all started to unravel last year at Sydney Motorsport Park, didn’t it?

Probably earlier. Townsville was horrible last year. At Willowbank, the tyres literally fell off the bus there and at Eastern Creek we really struggled. But in the run home, there’s no round I’m really nervous about. The rounds I was nervous about were Townsville, Willowbank and Eastern Creek. One of them I won 300 points (two wins at Townsville), Willowbank we scored really high and then Eastern Creek failed, but in the run home, there’s not really any track that you’re worried about, which is nice. Eastern Creek was the last of them.

Unusually, particularly given your form in the past, qualifying has been your weakness while Chaz is on fire.

It’s just that it’s working for him. I don’t think I’m doing a bad job, but he’s really hooked up. On Fridays I can beat him when we put greens on. At Eastern Creek, I was quicker than him with new tyres, but what he has is a lot of confidence. He rolls into qualifying, and he and his engineer do something that just clicks, and he’s just nailing incredible

“You hit Lowndes and everyone hates you.

He hits you and it’s just a racing incident.

He’s a protected species” FROSTY

lap times. I’m qualifying second more often than not, which is seen to be a weakness, but it’s still pretty good. The car is not suiting the way I like to drive it, but I’m trying to adapt.

Chaz’s qualifying form is exceptional. He’s just nailing it. I can see where he’s doing it and it’s hard to replicate how he’s achieving his lap time.

And he’s putting it together in the races now, too.

Yeah, he’s doing a good job in the races, but we should be able to out-qualify him, There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do it, but in every condition, he and his car just seem to be in sync with the track. Dave [Reynolds], Andre [Heimgartner] and myself are more a bit hit-and-miss on weather conditions and track conditions, but Chaz is nailing it. He has a set-up that he’s not fluctuating far from, so in any conditions it’s capable of working. We need to get better at that and just make sure we get on top of it because if he keeps out-qualifying you, he’s going to keep beating you.

Chaz has become your main title rival rather than Jamie Whincup. Didn’t think we’d be saying that earlier in the season.

He’s quick and the car is quick. In the last few rounds he’s come on really strong. And you can’t see many weak tracks for him between now and the end of the year, either, so he’s definitely a big threat. If he keeps qualifying the way he has, that’s his biggest strength, it’s going to be tough.

I don’t imagine that you would have expected Jamie to be struggling as much as he has.

No, but now we have good cars. We have four cars up there now and also Scott Pye when he’s going well. If we all perform, we instantly have five cars filling the top spots, so Whincup might finish sixth or seventh or eighth. Our team’s really lifted and gone forward. But, yeah, you don’t expect him to back in the midfield. And even Eastern Creek, for him to do what he did Saturday (runaway win in the second sprint), it sort of looked like that on the softs he might be back and

27

So everyone’s under pressure for different reasons.

I want to win it, but you don’t go thinking about it all the time. Put the helmet on and just try to do the best job, not thinking about the championship. Leading is not a bad feeling, but you think about that when you get to December. Once you get to Homebush with a 100-point lead or 100-point deficit, then the pressure’s really going to hit hard.

Is it time for team orders?

You can’t give team orders to the two battling for the championship.

normally on Sunday they back it up, but he faded.

So it’s interesting to see the way that team and he are having to tackle the year. But, again, from this point to December last year, he gained 400 points on the field, so he has the potential to flick the switch and bounce back. But now he has to pass a lot of cars, not just one car, so it’s going to be tough for him.

It’d be a huge mountain to climb.

It would, but I still think he’ll get in front of [Craig] Lowndes. I do think he’ll pass Lowndes pretty quickly. But, yeah, Chaz is the real danger. It’s really hard to beat someone when they’re always out-qualifying you.

I guess we can confidently expect that at some stage, probably in the enduros, that Jamie is going to become a nuisance.

Yes, but you just have to monitor who you’re racing and who you’re not. But, yeah, he still races hard when he’s in the championship lead, let alone when he’s not in it. So he’s going to race hard and try to win races, but it’ll be no different to any other year. He’s always up there and you expect him to win races between now and the end of the year. Who knows, he might get back in the championship. You just don’t know. A lot’s going to happen, but it’s going to be tough for him.

You don’t think you deserve priority after the effort you’ve put in over a decade with the team?

No, no. If it comes down to the last round and I need help, and Chaz s out of it, sure. But, otherwise, no.

We all think we’re in it. Chaz thinks he can win it; I think I can win it; eynolds thinks he can win it. Andre roke my steering at Eastern Creek, things just happen. He didn’t mean hit me, but sometimes you just end up running into each other through circumstance or whatever. But there are no team orders, no way – not at the moment.

You would obviously prefer to win the title in a straight fight.

Oh, you have to win it in a straight fight.

You don’t want to be handed it. And I’m not owed anything. We work together, but it’s every man for himself. Last round, if I need pit priority or something and he’s 400 points off, I’m sure they’ll look at it, but even then, you still want to win it fair and square. You don’t want people moving over.

Do you agree with the team pursuing the protest against Lowndes (seeking a points

“Losing it when you’ve been close in the past just motivates you and this year I’m really hungry.

I’m desperate” FROSTY

It feels good to have Triple Eight on the back foot

penalty for punting Winterbottom in the Sunday race at SMP)?

I’ve seen the footage and he smashed me off the track, no doubt. On the in-car footage on the TV, it doesn’t show who’s on the throttle, who’s on the brakes and everything, so from the data, I braked 10 metres deeper than any other lap, so I braked deep and he’s on the accelerator and hits me and bumps me off the track.

He’s semi-out of control, though, isn’t he?

Not by that point, I wouldn’t think. He was coming back onto the track and whatever, but I wasn’t involved in that incident before (that put Lowndes off), so that’s his problem, not my problem. The fact was, I had passed him cleanly, gave him room, got on the brakes and was smacked off the track.

It’s just the inconsistency. Last year at Surfers, I passed Tim Slade (after bumping him through the final turn) and got knocked off the podium for costing him one spot.

With Lowndes, he smacks me off the track and I lose effectively 10 spots but nothing gets done about it. It’s the same IPO (Jason Bargwanna), the same everything. But I don’t care. The best way to get back at them is to beat them, so I don’t really care about protests, but the team felt it was worthy of it.

Is there any particular bad blood between you and Lowndes?

Lowndes is a funny one. You hit him and everyone hates you. He hits you and it’s just a racing incident. He’s a protected species, a bit. Anyway, I don’t really care, to be honest. It happens when you race people.

But people need to see the incident for what it is, not who are involved. He’s the most popular guy by a long way and they turn a blind eye a little bit. They shouldn’t.

They should see incidents as they are, not the people involved. That’s where you get lost a bit when Lowndes is involved.

I don’t want to be going before the stewards

Are you under pressure?

Not really. You are and you aren’t. Everyone has different pressure. Someone like Whincup’s under pressure because he hadn’t won a race for nearly five months [before SMP] and he’s under the pump. Reynolds is under pressure to try to keep his drive. Chaz re-signed, so he’s under pressure to try to up his market rate. Lowndes is coming to the end of his career and he’s under pressure to win it. He might not ever win one again.

28

LAT Photographic, Edge Photographics

team and believe you have the best team to win it. That’s why you sign long deals.

Next year we’ll have the same car, so if you win this year, you’d be hopeful that you could back it up. Or if you don’t win this year, you’d be hopeful you could turn it around.

So you don’t have any concerns about the team’s financial future?

No. They’ve just signed a couple of new sponsors and commercially we have a really good set up. We’re getting the results and we have two people involved, Rusty and Rod, who are pretty trustworthy. I have another three years there, so I’m confident.

Bathurst is one thing, but it’s not a title and stuff – I just want to race – but the team thought it was worthy of it and they think they’ll win it. On the flipside, Roland [Dale] dragged me into the stewards’ box at Phillip Island for something stupid, so [Triple Eight] would do the same if it were the other way around. His comment that it was a racing incident makes him a bit of a hypocrite.

It must feel good to finally have Triple Eight on the back foot after so long.

It’s really good. Times are pretty tough for our team financially. Like, we lost some staff last year, but we increased our performance, so it’s pretty rewarding, really. We’re rapt with the way we’re going.

Morale’s good. It’s a team that everyone wants to come to now – drivers, personnel.

I’ve been there for a long time and this is probably the calmest everyone has been – and the results are showing it. We have fewer people, but people in the right roles. We’re being more productive with fewer staff, which is kind of bizarre. It’s good with (co-owners) Rod [Nash] and Rusty [French], too. They’re really steering the ship. Rod’s there day-to-day, and he and Rusty play a massive part in how well we’re doing.

A lot of people have been waiting for the team to descend into its old championshiplosing ways, but it’s not happening.

No – and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to happen, either. People keep saying that, but it doesn’t feel like we have any weaknesses like we previously had. It’s not like we’re sitting on our hands thinking things are good. We have heaps of things to test (at preenduro test at Winton last week) and we’re still going forward. So, yeah, it all feels good.

Last year it felt like the wheels were coming off the bus. And that’s not a team thing; that was just tracks and rule changes and stuff. Even this year, when they brought the soft tyre in for the Saturday sprints, we were dominant on the hard tyre then they bring the soft tyre in and we still maintained

that performance. So even with things changing, we’ve still been competitive. Last year, tyre pressures, soft tyre, everything, that just ruined us.

The FG X factor is crucial to all this, isn’t it?

Yeah, it is, but we’ve done a lot to the cars that is underneath the bodywork. Adelaide’s a good example. We went to Adelaide with the same external (new FG X body panels and aero kit) and weren’t that competitive, to be honest, and then we went to Townsville, which is a very similar track, and we were really competitive. The outside hasn’t changed, but the internals have changed, so I think we’re doing a good job underneath as well as the external aero.

The guys have done a lot of work on the cars to get them up to speed. If you looked at last year’s set-up compared with now, they’re massively different.

Mark Skaife declared that it’s now or never for you – that if you don’t win the championship this year, you’ll never win a championship. Harsh or fair?

He’s said that every year for the past five years. If I don’t win it this year, I have a contract for another three years, so I won’t be turning up just going, “Oh, well, that was it”.

It’s a big statement. Who knows? We could go to Bathurst and (co-driver) Steve Owen could crash or we have a failure. Something happens out of your control and suddenly your 170-odd point lead becomes a 230 deficit. That’s not a now or never type of thing, so it’s a big statement by him. But he’s entitled to his opinion. He’ll always throw out comments like that. He has for the past five years and he has again. It’s not surprising.

But there are some uncertainties after this year, aren’t there?

Not really. Next year we’re in the same car and then in 2017 the whole sport changes.

We could be running a V6 turbo, could be running anything. But you still back your

The team is not expected to ask Chaz to move over

You got the Bathurst 1000 monkey off your back, so explain how important it would be to finally win the championship?

Oh, the championship’s the biggest prize.

I’d pick it over Bathurst. To be the best for 12 months and have #1 on the door, that’s everything. If you finished your career and didn’t win it, you still have to be proud of what you’d done, but you’d feel empty.

I’ll just keep trying. I’ve come close a few times and this year feels really good. I really want to win it and I sort of have one hand on the trophy, but then a bad round can take that hand away. Losing it when you’ve been close in the past just motivates you and this year I’m really hungry. I’m desperate to win the championship. It’s the #1 on the door that’s always been most important to me.

I imagine you’re feeling pretty good about your chances at Sandown and Bathurst.

You could anchor the championship in those two races, couldn’t you?

Yeah, I need good results in both. Reliability has been good so far and I have full trust in Steve Owen. I think he’s probably the pick of the people to put in with me.

We can really set ourselves up if we get good results at Sandown and Bathurst – but, equally, we could really hurt ourselves if it goes bad. Sandown should be good. The car should be quick there. And for Bathurst I think we have a really good car.

Doing well would really help for the championship because after Gold Coast there are only three rounds to go and the tracks all suit us. New Zealand’s really good for us; Phillip Island’s really good for us; and then if you go to Homebush with the points lead, you can be smart strategically. So if we can do well in the enduros, it’s really only the run home then.

Do you expect the title to go down to the wire; that you’ll be fighting for it at Sydney Olympic Park?

I hope not! Seriously, I hope not, but it usually does. Last year was a bit of a rub on the face (when Whincup had already secured the title), but if you could wrap it up before Sydney, whoever it is, they’d be pretty happy. The Sydney 500 is a big danger round.

You could score zero points there easily.

We’ll see what happens after the enduros, but if we get a good lead there, I think you could wrap it up before Sydney, but if you have a bad run, it could be anyone’s.

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S

IR JACK Brabham is a legend of Australian motorsport for his incredible achievements in Formula 1, the most significant of which is becoming the first, and likely only, man to design and build the car he raced to a world championship. It is incredibly unlikely that anyone will repeat that feat in Formula 1, or most other top-tier categories. However, one Aussie is doing his best.

Richie Crampton is already one of the most successful Australians to compete in American drag racing. In two seasons in the NHRA, the Adelaide native has earned himself six Top Fuel event victories with Morgan Lucas Racing, and is in with a serious chance of this year’s title.

But as Crampton explains, he didn’t get to where he is in the usual manner.

“My story is kind of a little unorthodox, being that I was a crew member that got given the golden ticket and the opportunity to drive,” he tells Auto Action. “I was able to achieve some success pretty early in my career because of the fact that I stepped right into top-class equipment. If it weren’t for that, I would be still trying to get to where I am at right now.

“It just speaks volumes about the MLR organisation and Toyota and everyone that allowed me as an unknown quantity to get into the driver’s seat and get out and race. It has kind of been up to me to repay them by doing my job in the driver’s seat and trying to win races for them.”

And win Crampton has. In his first year in the seat, the 36-year old collected two wins – including the biggest and most prestigious Top Fuel event in the world, the US Nationals at Indianapolis – and was named the NHRA’s Rookie of the Year.

One of the secrets to Crampton’s success is his desire to get his hands dirty. He hasn’t stopped working as a crew member, and takes pride in the fact he wrenches on the same car he is strapped into on race day.

“That is what I do from week to week, that is what I did before I became a driver,” he explains. “I was a crew member on the weekend and would work at that chassis shop building racecars that Morgan [Lucas] drove. Nothing has really

Crampton is a rare driver who helps prep his racecar

changed from that aspect aside from now I can get in the driver’s seat.

“It is pretty neat to have a hand in building your own racecar that you take to the track and then win races with; it is pretty rewarding. It is not that common anymore. It is kind of the old-fashioned way of doing things. I think the statistic is that the last person that won the US Nationals that had a hand in building their own car was Don ‘Big Daddy’ Garlits, who is a legend of our sport. I take pride in that and I don’t want that to change.”

It is esteemed company that Crampton is keeping in the record books, and it isn’t just for working on the car.

“The only other rookie to win at Indianapolis is Larry Dixon, only two rookies have ever done that,” he points out. “The statistics are just amazing and they still blow me away when I read them like that.”

Crampton has been a long-time fan of NHRA drag racing, and gets a major kick out of racing against the likes of Dixon, Tony Schumacher and Doug Kalitta – people he has looked up to and admired. Despite being only in his second year of Top Fuel

E NHRATopFuelco

30

Ameri racing an und

d in building your he track and then mmon anymore” RICHIE CRAMPTON

racing, he is not overawed when he looks across the start line and sees that he’s lined up alongside a legend.

“I have staked my claim in the Top Fuel field,” he reasons. “A lot of that is because my team is so good, and my crew chief (Aaron Brooks) is one of the most respected and aggressive young crew chiefs in the sport. They know they are going to have to bring something good to the starting line just to compete with us just based on the performance that my team can give me in the racecar.

“I feel right at home. I think there is a mutual respect now, and I am still the rookie in a lot of senses, but I feel a lot more at home racing against these guys who are the best in the world. A lot of them I used to watch from the other side of the world sitting on a couch, so it’s pretty cool.”

Drag Racing in America is faster than ever. Although the NHRA only races to 1000 feet in contrast to the 1320 feet that ANDRA runs in Australia, records are being broken regularly, and speeds are as fast as ever. Such fierce competition motivates Crampton.

“It is amazing,” he says. “The parity in Top Fuel this year is, it’s just… we have never seen it before. The races are being won and lost by the narrowest of margins, and the performance of the racecars, it is really staggering how far we have come really quickly in this last couple of years.

“To have won the event where finally that 3.6-second milestone was broken (the quickest 1000ft pass in Top Fuel history at Brainerd in August), to be the guy that walked away with the trophy from that event is pretty amazing to me. I am not sure what the next barrier is that we are working towards, but one thing is for sure, there are just so many great crew chiefs and drivers over here right now it is a very exciting series.”

Crampton was preparing to defend his US Nationals title as AA went to print.

And, as he continues to turn spanners as well as taking the steering wheel in emulation of Australia’s greatest motor racing hero, he is well on his way to becoming one himself.

K 31

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I definitely donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take it for granted. know that I am in t spotlight because th program is amazin MATT SIMMONS

32

REAT

Matt Simmons is on a journey from postie to pro-racer, and he has the attitude to become Australia’s next big global star, writes Cameron Kirby

A

FEW months ago, Matt Simmons was a regular bloke just like you and me. The 26-year-old from Brisbane used to drive an Australia Post courier van for a wage, which he would spend on his car. The closest he got to being a racing driver was having a crack at Gran Turismo on his lounge with mates.

That was then.

Now, Simmons is a member of NISMO’s Global Athlete Program. Catapulted into the life of a professional international racing driver, he is set to race a Nissan NISMO GT-R GT3 at the Dubai 24 Hour thanks to GT Academy.

The first time I spoke to Matt was as a judge at the national GT Academy finals.

Along with a panel of fellow journalists, I was tasked with grilling contestants to see if they were up to the task of dealing with the media attention given to a pro driver.

Simmons spoke well, didn’t crack under the pressure, passed all other tests and earned himself a nod from my colleagues

FOR

TNESS

Simmons is in training for his Dubai debut

and I to represent Australia at the GT Academy international race camp in Silverstone. There he survived a week-long intensive contest against representatives from around the globe to be crowned the winner, and is now a member of NISMO’s global roster. He keeps esteemed company, with GT Academy racing in GP3, LMP1, and winning the Bathurst 12 Hour.

It sounds all well and good to go from racing video games to being a pro-racer, but it doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it happens over three months.

After a brief return home to see friends and family, Simmons has already returned to the UK to begin his training, where he will undergo a three-month racing boot-camp to get the appropriate international licences.

Speaking to Simmons for the second time was in the Nissan Motorsport V8 Supercars garages. Decked out head-totoe in Nissan gear, and wearing the grin of a man who has achieved his childhood dream, Simmons recalled what it was like trying to get through race camp.

“It was a pressure cooker,” he tells AA. “You don’t get much time to perform over there so you really have to prepare well. Because that gives you a sense of confidence that whatever they throw at you, you will be ready to give it your everything. That is what I fed off in myself, I had an inherent confidence I could do it, but when you are rocking up to a gymkhana course or buggy course and you haven’t done it before, you just go, ‘Ahh, I hope I can do well’.”

He can certainly speak like a racer. But despite the fact that he now writes ‘racing driver’ in the little box that asks for his occupation on customs documents, it hasn’t all been beautiful women and fast cars straight out of the box.

“I haven’t seen a GT-R for long enough yet, nor any ladies,” Simmons laughs. “But I don’t think my girlfriend would be too pleased with that.”

But for the ex-postie, the high life isn’t the life he strives for; just the fast life.

“For me it is not about that,” he says when asked about the potential riches he could make should this plan of his all work out. “I am really just happy about being able to chase my dream and hop in a racing car. I am still pinching myself that I get to wake up and go, ‘I don’t actually have a daily job. My job is I get to race cars.’ That is all that matters, everything else is obviously a bonus.”

Victory at race camp is a life-changing experience. Along with becoming a part of NISMO’s driver line-up Simmons was subject to intense media scutiny following his win. His story was national news.

Simmons is brief in his summation of what it was like to be thrust into the spotlight literally overnight.

“Overwhelming,” he recalls. “It is one of those things where I try and take it all in my stride, but I am so grateful for it all. I definitely don’t take it for granted. I know that I am in the spotlight because this program is amazing and people really support what it is about.

“I am really here to enjoy the experience and try and have people follow my journey so they can feel like they are part of it.”

Along with the media attention, Simmons feels he now has the weight and expectation of a nation with him. But it doesn’t stress the laidback Aussie, who plans to just do his best to make us proud, and maybe encourage others to follow in his footsteps.

“I have definitely helped a lot of people get inspired, so that has been the most amazing, humbling, and overwhelming thing,” he says. “I achieved my dream, but I also feel like I have achieved some of the Australian community’s dream, and the celebration from that has made everything so much more amazing for me.”

As a former Nissan owner, the fact Simmons got his big break with NISMO gives the story a heart-warming symmetry. Out of all the cars in NISMO’s racing stables, Simmons already has his favourite picked out, and will make his international debut in it no less!

“I am a GT-R fan at heart, I have owned a road-going R33 GT-R, so for me it would have to the GT-R GT3,” he says with a grin. “I am so humbled that I get to drive that in Dubai, and hopefully a full-time race seat if everything works out well.

“I would be content with a GT-R GT3, and then working my way through the NISMO program to even maybe LMP1. It would be such an honour to be a part of such an innovative program.”

Although the R33 GT-R has been sold, Simmons joked about buying back his old ride with his first pay packet as a proracer. He didn’t earn his spot as a pro in the traditional manner, but don’t think Matt Simmons won’t be doing Australia proud for years to come.

33

Prost did not put a foot wrong all day at Calder Park

Moreno, Leffite and Prost clowning on the podium

Piquet’s car climbed over Williamson’s

Remember When...

AUTO ACTION #301 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1982

T

HE 1982 Formula 1 World Champion will contest this year’s 47th Australian Grand Prix – whether it’s Keke Rosberg or Alain Prost who ends up winning the coveted title.

Both Rosberg and Prost are confirmed entries in this year’s race, to be held at Calder Park on November 7.

It is the third year in a row that the reigning world champion is set to contest the Australian Grand Prix for Formula Pacific cars. In 1980 it was Alan Jones and last year Nelson Piquet. Jones is again confirmed for this year’s race, whilst negotiations are currently underway to bring back Piquet.

Like last year, Frenchman Jacques Laffite will also start what is now the premier open-wheeler race in Australia, as will last year’s winner Roberto Moreno.

Prost and Laffite will team together in two of Bob Jane’s Ralt RT4s, while Ralt

34

distributor Graham Watson will run Rosberg. Moreno will drive a car run by manager Greg Siddle, with 1981 World Champion Piquet likely to join him in that team.

Auto Action #305, dated November 5, 1982, included a special AGP preview lift-out where it was noted that Keke Rosberg, who had won the 1982 World Championship, had pulled out of the AGP due to a conflicting tyre test on his Williams F1 car in the US. The following issue, #306, dated November 19, carried a full report of the race, which was won by Alain Prost. From pole position, the French ace shot his Ralt into the lead and was never headed during the 100-lap race.

The Renault F1 star was chased all the way by fellow countryman Laffite, who finished 15 seconds behind Prost but still 10 seconds ahead of third-placed Moreno.

World Champion Rosberg was a lastminute cancellation

AD OF THE WEEK

“Smith was left with nowhere to go and hit Watson, while Piquet slammed into Williamson.

Williamson, Watson and Piquet were done for the day” Moreno stalled his car at the start and got away dead last after the field had cleared out. He sliced back through the field but simply could not catch the two French frontrunners.

High drama came as the leading cars were completing their 35th circuit. As a bunch of cars accelerated onto the back straight, Peter Williamson (Toleman Toyota) and Graham Watson (Ralt) collided, spinning in-field. John Smith (Ralt) was left with nowhere to go and hit Watson, while Nelson Piquet slammed into Williamson.

Williamson, Watson and Piquet were done for the day.

Prost continued to stretch his lead all the way to the chequered flag, despite Laffite recording the fastest lap of the race, a 39.62, well outside the record of 39.4 previously set by multiple Australian champ Alf Costanzo.

Costanzo claimed his fourth successive Australian Drivers’ Championship at Calder Park, despite almost throwing it away with a spin on lap 94. He finished the race in fifth, two places ahead of his nearest championship rival John Bowe to clinch the title by a slender four points.

Prost edged ahead on the first lap and was never headed

READING THE inside story on the new Brock Bathurst cylinder heads is liable to give you a migraine, but the bottom line is they’re going to make Brocky’s Commodore go faster for longer on the Mountain.

Even if you struggle to understand all of this engineering jargon, you should probably get them for your road car anyway.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE…

KATAYAMA BACK

NO, ENZO

SIX-TIME JAPANESE Touring Car Champion Yoshimi Katayama will be back at Bathurst this year with Allan Moffat’s Peter Stuyvesant Mazda team. Katayama, whom Moffat drove with at Le Mans in June, will share Moffat’s RX-7 at Bathurst. Katayama is best remembered in Australia for his only other Bathurst appearance in 1977, where he barrel-rolled Allan Grice’s RX-3 at the end of Conrod Straight. Lucio Cesario will drive the team’s second RX-7 with fellow team newcomer Gregg Hansford at Sandown and Bathurst.

ALAN JONES has knocked back an approach from Ferrari to replace the team’s injured F1 driver Didier Pironi. Enzo Ferrari has confirmed the team sought Jones to drive one of its 126Cs in the final three rounds of the World Championship this year with a view to a full contract. Jones declined due to being committed to a full program of races in Australia. With Jones’s decision not to accept, former world champion Mario Andretti has taken up the offer.

FEW BOB’S WORTH

BOB JANE will pour millions of his own money into upgrading Calder Park in preparation for a round of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1984. Following the Victorian State Government’s decision to withdraw from the project, which was to have been joint funded by the state and federal governments, Jane will “go it alone”, pledging to pump in excess of $5million to develop a world standard 3.9-kilometre track. “This is not pie-in-the-sky or vague promise,” Jane told AA. “The new Melbourne Internationals Raceway, Calder Park, will be one of the finest motor racing circuits in the world.”

35

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TCM SLR 5000 TORANA

Car not yet run Built by Sunliner Racing Complete ready to race with G Force dog box, 9 inch dif, 2 sets wheels, Bembro brakes, Bilsteins/coil over fronts, etc.

Comes complete with Holden 308 530hp steel engine

Price $89,000 or with 302 610 hp Chev $120,000 Ph Tony Hunter 0427 314 943 or BH 03 8761 6411 for full specs

HONDA INTEGRA DC5 TYPE R

Subaru WRX STi S 4 door – J Spec Group G N Motorsport homologation car.

FALCON - V8 SUPERCAR • Finance Ezi Falcon BA 032 002 • Ready to race for upcoming Khumo V8 tour car series (very competitive) • Car has very good history as winner in V8 Supercars in 03 & 04 season A5 Supercheap Alloy • Sequential gear box installed and car has been updated to latest specs for the time • Full restoration in 2012 • Car now reduced to $85,000 • Detailed spares available - POA

PRICE - $85,000 + GST Contact Maurie Pickering – 0438 018 425

FOR SALE VOLVO FH12 420 HP

The car is new and it has approx 16 KM’s in total on speedometer.

As delivered by STi this 11MY - GVBC4VH model is fitted with 2.0 Litre, twin scroll turbo, this is a geenuine factory motorsport car and wass purchased new for competition only use by Subaru Australia. l b dday, circuit i it racing i andd ttarmac rallies lli andd would ld This vehicle has been preparedd ffor club make a great track day car and would be an extremely competitive vehicle. This is a fantastic, low maintenance super reliable car. A list of performance upgrade options is available on request.

Standard equipment includes Brembo 4 piston brakes and 17” ventilated discs front and rear, quick ratio power steering, option gearbox ratios.

Now fitted with a full current spec CAMS approved Brown Davis multi point safety roll cage, STi factory alloy bonnet, STi factory- big capacity intercooler spay kit with auto timer kit, on board fire system, Cobra head restraint seats, Velo 6 point harness, window nets, carbon footrests on both sides, anti glare dash, braded fuel lines internally, bonnet pins, Project Mu brake pads, mounting for spare racing wheel.

Price of vehicle as described is $70,000 OBO - plus GST. Ph 0418 349 555 or email bruce@overdrivemedia.com.au for full spec sheet

Multiple 3 E AMCHAMP Class Winner Complete with extensive Spares package too many to list including S/H Tyres. Car comes with twelve Wheels--Factory Brembos with DBA 5000 Rotors. Hondata ECU--Transmission Cooler--Quaife LSD. Eligible for Production Touring -AMCHAMP--Tarmac/Targa Rallies.

GREAT BATHURST 6 HOUR CAR DOES 2 HOURS ON A TANK New project reason for sale.

$26,000 Contact Terry Conroy 0423 734532 M conroy.msport@gmail.com

THIS IS A RACE WINNING CAR TOURING CAR MASTERS

1998 MAZDA ASTINA • Engine Built by Synergy Race Engines • 650 HP / 510 ft torque • 351 Cleveland Dry Sump • Dart Block, 3V Heads • Gearbox: G-Force • Diff: 9” Strange Spool • Brakes: AP Pedal Box & Rotors • Brembo Mono Block Callipers • Suspension: Watts Linkage • Adjustable Sway Bars & Shock Absorbers As new, only 53,000 km – Rego December 2015

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Price: $130K (inc TCM licence) Further Options -- Spare Rolling shell with cage and Watts Link and spare Cleveland 351 Engine

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Twice AMCHAMP Class E National Champion, has competed at Bathurst--Sandown and Sydney Motorsport Park Enduros with 100% finishing record.

Fitted with AP 4 Piston Calipers and DBA 5000 Rotors --M Factory LSD--Factory Headers--4 Spare Alloy Rims and Tyres plus Spares. Eligible for Bathurst 12hr.

$8,000 CAR IS COMPLETE AND READY TO RACE. Contact Terry Conroy 0423 734 532 Econroy.msport@gmail.com

37

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BIANTE COLLECTOR’S CORNER YOUR MONTHLY NEWS RESOURCE FOR AUSTRALIA’S FAVOURITE LIMITED EDITION MODEL CARS BROUGHT TO YOU BY AUTO ACTION DALE WOOD & CHRIS PITHER’S 2014 BATHURST 1000 VF COMMODORE IS NOW IN STOCK

FROM THE EDITOR

INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

BIANTE has yet again dropped some interesting model releases for collectors in the past month. In 1:18 scale, Biante has released a Ford Falcon Sprint which was driven by Jim Richards to win the 2013 Touring Car Masters. This model has been produced in a limited edition of 1200 pieces and comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity by ‘Gentleman Jim’ himself.

Also now in stock is a plain body prototype of the Mercedes Benz E-63 AMG which is essentially a stripped back

FORD GT

version of an Erebus Motorsport V8 and the Holden Commodore V8 Supercar driven by Dale Wood and Chris Pither in last year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Biante is also the Australian distributor for international manufacturer AUTOart and some of their recent releases can be seen on the right. The LM Spec Ford GT and the Red Bull X2010 are two models which are particularly impressive.

All of these models can now be purchased from stockists or online from the Biante website. Ed

LM SPEC II RACE CAR SCALE: 1:18 | CODE: A80515 | RRP: $215.00 | ETA: IN STOCK

FORD GT GULF LIVERY #40 SCALE: 1:18 | CODE: A80513 | RRP: $215.00 | ETA: IN STOCK

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SCALE: 1:18 CODE: B18502C RRP: $175.00 LIMITED EDITION OF: 1200 PIECES ETA: IN STOCK

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ALL DELIVERY DATES, STOCK AVAILABILITY AND INFORMATION CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINTING AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

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STATEWIDE Stuart Edwards

STATE RACING / HILLCLIMB / OFF-ROAD / KARTS / CLUB RACING / MOTORKHANA / HISTORICS / RALLY

National HQ title at last V

ICTORIAN ROD Raatjes finally claimed his first HQ Holden Nationals at Symmons Plains on August 30. The five-time state champion has finished runner-up in his previous Nationals attempts, but was rewarded for a virtually flawless weekend in Tasmania.

Track conditions were dry, but singlefigure temperatures and a strong southerly wind made for a frigid weekend, but the conditions failed to slow Raatjes, qualifying pole position for heat one.

He went on to win all three of his heats and take pole position for the 20-lap final, which he led for the entire distance, eventually claiming victory by 2.4 seconds from reigning Tasmanian champion Andrew

Raatjes broke through for his first HQ Nationals win

Toth and Victorian Warren Trewin.

Raatjes was ecstatic about winning the title in his first visit to Symmons Plains.

“I had a strong engine and we made a few changes to fuel and timing after Friday practice, but that was about it,” he said.

“Everything went according to plan.”

Toth started alongside Raatjes on the front row and held second for most of the race after fending off early attacks from former national winner, Queenslander Gary Bonwick, Victorian John Wise, and Tasmanians Duane Preece and former Bathurst winner David Parsons, who was third briefly in the opening laps but dropped off the pace by mid-race.

Victorian Andrew McLeod qualified on grid

three, but gearbox issues off the line saw him slip back to 11th before charging back to third with two laps to go. Unfortunately, his charge ended on the second-last lap when he pitted for good.

While Raatjes went on to win from Toth and Trewin, post-race scrutineering revealed anomalies with Toth’s carburettor, along with that of fourth-placed Preece. Both were excluded, with Preece accepting his penalty and Toth choosing to appeal his. If Toth is excluded, Trewin will be elevated to second and Bonwick, who crossed the line in fifth place, could be elevated to third.

While Raatjes won three of the six heats on offer, other heat wins were recorded by Toth, McLeod and Trewin. Martin Agatyn

41

SPARE PARTS

Craig OBrien

TWO-FOR-ONE WIN

y Championship resumed on August 23 for the Pyrenees Rush Rally. Back with regular navigator Jamie Sargeant, the pair clinched both heats in their Subaru Impreza WRX. The VRC round four was held in the forests of Avoca and Amphitheatre in central Victoria with a competitive 42-crew field, including the return of Alan Roe with Brent McKenzie in a Mitsubishi Lancer after a couple of years contesting the ARC.

Murky Mogumber THIS YEAR’S Mogumber 240, round four of the West Australian Off Road Championship on August 22-23, was a wet and muddy affair won by Steven Phillips and Stephen Ketteridge-Hall in their Steveco/Cadillac Pro Buggy.

They finished over 15 minutes in front of the ProLite Buggy of Brett and Deanna Smith (Southern Cross/Nissan) with a further 22 minutes and 15 seconds to Greg Pickersgill and Greg Finlay in their Extreme 2WD Chev Silverado Trophy Truck.

Fourth outright and the winner of the Extreme 4WD class was Owen and Mitchell Davies (Nissan Navara) ahead of John and Jenni Flynn’s Super 1650 Bullet/Toyota and the Production 4WD Nissan Patrol of Travis Epis and Blake Pugh, the last car to finish on the lead lap.

One lap down in eighth was the V8 Nissan Patrol of Brad Krepp/Mal Yeardley, finishing third in Extreme 4WD. Tenth was the UTVwinning Polaris of Garry Connell/Tim Jackson.

42

p g g of the next four to secure the morning heat, 31 seconds clear of Roe with Warren Lee and David Lethlean (Mitsubishi EVO) a further 10 seconds adrift.

Windus had an indiscretion with a tree on SS7, dropping his rear bumper and 28 seconds. His son, Arron, driving an older model WRX in only his fourth rally, was third-fastest on the stage. Justin Dowel and Simon Ellis (VW Polo S2000) were the stars of the second heat, scoring two stage

outright, y th Lee rounding out the podium.

In the Excel Rally Series, former ARC regular Glen Raymond made a guest appearance with Blaise McNamara calling the notes, however, series leader Andrew Murdoch Jnr and Jamie Allan were too good, winning the class. Brian Semmens and Dan Parry were victors in 2WD aboard their Nissan, a minute clear of Grant Walker and Correne Seabrook (Ford Escort RS1800). Craig O'Brien

Masters of IROC

THE IROC Challenge was the drawcard at round three of the Master of Mallala on August 22-23 where Victorian Sven Burchartz took the overall result.

Jason Palmer (Porsche 993) set the pace in qualifying and race one but problems in Sunday’s warm-up put him on the back foot. Burchartz (Porsche 911) was the man to beat on Sunday, although Amanda Sparks (911) got the jump on him at the start of race three and Burchartz had to work for his win.

Graeme Cook (911) just edged Palmer out of third overall.

The Excels stole the show, with a 20-plus field and the next generation of racers dominating. Fifteen-yearold Brodie Cook topped qualifying and took outright honours, beating state champion Asher Johnston fair and square in race three.

It looked to be business as usual

for Johnston after two wins but the competition got tougher and then he was excluded for a non-performance related technical infringement. Another teenager, Max Vidau, claimed second and displaced Johnston as the lap record holder.

Adam Allan (Datsun Bluebird) returned to his winning ways in Improved Production but Chris Brown (Toyota AE86) made him work for it until he was forced out of race four.

Keith Williamson (Farrell) took a well-deserved win in Historic Sports & Racing. Joel Heinrich (AU Falcon) won Saloon Cars on debut despite breaking the gearbox in race three. Darren Jenkins (HQs), Brenton Grigoul (Sports Cars), Michael Mohr (Formula Ford), Jackson Freer (Formula Vee 1600s) and Brian Pedersen (1200s) made clean sweeps in their classes. David Batchelor

Eric Schlifelner won the Bruce Fiske Memorial Enduro on August 22-23, taking out the fifth round of the Victorian Off Road Championship as well as round five of the Vic State Mallee Shield Series. Held at the Bagshot Motorsport Complex, the ProLite singleseat driver beat home the Super 1650 Southern Cross of Jim and Glenyce Coombs and the Pro Buggy of Tim Lloyd and Kevin Collier.

Dean and Rebecca Bennett were fourth in their Extreme 4WD Holden-powered Nissan Patrol but since they were only competing in the VRC, it gave fifth-placed Alan Dixon and Johnny O’Conner’s ProLite fourth in the Shield.

TIGHT FINISH AHEAD

Just one point separates Mathew Galea and Justin Montesalvo heading into the final round of the Polaris RZR Australian Championship at Bacchus Marsh MX Track on September 19. Montesalvo narrowed the gap by finishing equal-second behind Tom Evans at Shepparton’s round five.

Evans is fifth in the points, just 13 points adrift of Galea. In between and also in contention are Peter Carr and Ewan McClue. The series has featured the likes of guest drivers Matt Mingay, Shane Jacobson, Simon Evans and Molly Taylor.

SUPER SUPRA

John MacKenzie and his big horsepower turbocharged Toyota Supra were well ahead of the opposition throughout the fifth round of the Victorian Supersprint Championship at Sandown on August 23. His best time of 1min16.5732sec bested the HSV Clubsport R8 of Francois Habib by almost two seconds. Third was Craig Wehner ahead of Peter Nowlan (Bullet Clubman), John Ippolito (Clubsport), Ross Tomaino (Mitsubishi EVO), Brett Zieren (Porsche 996), Adrian Allisey (Commoodore), Dirk Van Heer (Subaru WRX) and Kyle Reid (WRX).

Riccardo Benvenuti

FVee racer Thomas proved just as quick in a tin-top

DYLAN THOMAS backed up his domination of Formula Vee with an equally impressive win in the Production Touring Car endurance event in round five of the CAMS NSW State Championships at Wakefield Park on the weekend of August 22-23.

Driving his Mitsubishi EVO X, Thomas qualified on pole position for the one-hour race after topping Sunday morningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Top-10 Shootout but was beaten off the line by fellow Mitsubishi driver Daniel Oosthuizen.

The majority completed their compulsory pitstops during a mid-race Safety Car, deployed when championship leader Matthew Holtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Clubsport was stopped on the side of the circuit.

A swift pitstop allowed Thomas to gain almost a lap advantage, and he cruised to victory ahead of Oosthuizen and the HSV Coupe of Cary Morsink.

Chevrolet Camaro drivers Steven Lacey and Birol Cetin battled for supremacy in the Sports Sedans, Lacey winning the first race before Cetin turned the tables in race two. In the third race,

the two made contact at Turn 10, with Lacey spinning back to fourth place. Cetin capitalised to take another win from Chris Jackson (Holden Calibra) and Anthony Macready (Nissan 300ZX).

Andrew Kahl, Chris Lazarevic, Lachlan Gibbons and Anthony Colombrita jostled for the lead in each of the Formula Ford races. Kahl (Spectrum) won the first two races but was overtaken by Gibbons (Mygale) at the start of race three, who withstood extreme pressure from both Kahl and Colombrita (Spectrum) to win by just 0.07sec.

IN THEIR Ginetta G50, Craig and Adam Burgess won the Production Sports Car one-hour endurance race after a troublefree run at Wakefield Park on August 23. They finished ahead of Alex Cook/Damien Meyer (Porsche 911) and Glenn Townsend/ Anthony Soole (Lotus Exige).

Marcel and Tadros Zalloua led the opening part of the race but lost significant time when their Porsche would not restart immediately during their compulsory pitstop. They eventually finished sixth.

The Mazda RX-7 of Paul White qualified fourth for Over 2 Litre Improved Production, but a blinding launch in race one enabled him to rocket to the lead by the first corner. From there, he was able to take victory in all three races. Matt Ingram (RX-7) and Michael King (Mitsubishi EVO) were second and third, respectively, in the opening two races, but problems for both in the last enabled Rod Thorpe (Mazda 808) and Andrew McMaster (BMW E30) to fill the podium positions.

Improved Production U2L delivered three different winners.

Points leader Justin McClintock took a comprehensive victory in race one, but retired in race two, allowing fellow Toyota Sprinter driver Ben Algie to win. Algie drifted backwards in race three, with the Honda Civics of Mathew Harris and Graham Bohm finishing first and second, respectively, with McClintock charging from the rear to third.

Riccardo Benvenuti

Father and son win enduro

Craig and Adam Burgess (#78) came through

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Elgee

One of the Wolf machines still in Formula 1-spec with Jody Scheckter

Wolves at our door The sight of two Walter Wolf cars and an Ensign in the 1979 Rothmans International Series was a rare one for the times

T

HE TASMAN Cup was gone after the 1975 series and Australia pressed on alone with F5000 while New Zealand went to Formula Atlantic.

Pressure from within for Australia to follow the same path led to our premier open-wheeler formula losing stature.

In the midst of this, and to overcome some of the complacency, the Rothmans series for 1979 was allowed to include notquite-up-to-date Formula 1 cars. And so Teddy Yip entered two of the Walter Wolf cars and an Ensign, all DFV Cosworthpowered. They won one race but struggled in the others.

I was reminded of this when visiting ‘Big

44

Dave’ Mawer a couple of weeks ago. He and Bruce Cary were drafted into helping look after these cars while they were on our shores.

I’m quite sure that Dave, as one whose life is totally involved in improving racecars, looked upon this as a great opportunity to see how things were done in the much more-advanced world of Formula 1 – a rare chance to get a real close-up look at components and how they were made.

These things are always changing, of

“Teddy Yip entered two of the Walter Wolf cars and an Ensign, all DFV Cosworthpowered” RAY BELL

HISTORICS

MAN OF THE AGES

Ray Bell

course. There is always a better way and it’s very often that Formula 1, with its immense budgets and lavish workshops, prized designers and intense competition, will find them first. And often it will be very small things.

It’s this same thinking that had led John McCormack to fund a trip to England for Garrie Cooper in the early ’70s when he wanted Elfin to build a new car to replace the aging MR5. That the MR6 didn’t really include these advances, however, reflects on Garrie’s insistence on keeping the build costs down more than anything else.

Notably this led John to buy the McLaren M23, which was very much more ‘state of the art’ in the immediate pre-ground effects era.

But, returning to the 1979 appearance of the Wolf WR3, WR4 and the Ensign, these were the first relatively current cars to race on our shores that complied with the current F1 since 1960.

Since then, of course, we’ve become used to seeing F1 come here annually with all its regalia. But we don’t see any local engineers or spanner men asked to join them for the duration of their stay.

Mick Oliver

A perfect Ledger HEADLINING THE Spring Race Meeting at Barbagallo on August 22-23 was the annual Tander Trophy for Improved Production where Kevin Ledger and his Subaru Impreza WRX were comfortable victors in all three races.

Kerry Wade (BMW E30) was second in each, while third-places were shared between Matthew Stiles, Dion Panizza and Wayne Chrystal, all in Commodores. Stiles was third overall ahead of Glen Melling (Commodore). The Excels ran with them and Nikola Mitic was the best of them on all occasions.

Commodore drivers Garry Hills and Grant Johnson renewed their Saloon Car rivalry with the former taking a two-one winning advantage.

Similarly, Ford Falcon drivers Michael Sciorio and Travis Sharpe battled for third with Sciorio netting two to Sharpe’s one. Among the older cars it was all Chris Kneafsey in his Holden.

In Historic Touring Cars, Will Colton (Falcon GT) won both scratch races ahead of Stuart Young (Holden Torana XU-1) and Owen Satchell (Ford Escort). Mike Gallagher (Jaguar) was out for the day after contact with the Graeme

Formulas for Sunday THE SATURDAY of Barbagallo’s Spring Race Meeting on August 22-23 was exclusively for tin-tops, while on Sunday it was all about open-wheelers. Michael Henderson’s domination of Formula Classic in his Ralt RT4 was put to the test by Simon Barrett until his similar Formula Pacific was a retiree. Henderson carried on to win ahead of Lance Carwardine (Jane Brabham) and Glen Caple (Birrana 274).

Homan Ho took the first Formula Ford race from Jason Youd and Andrew Goldie in a tame Van Diemen shutout. But in the second race, the three clashed and were all out. After a Safety Car period, Tayla Dicker won a two-lap dash from Calan Williams and Declan O’Brien. Dicker and Cade Bell touched going down pit straight in the last, which put both out. Oliver Baxter won after the

Woodhouse Ford Mustang in race one.

Ashly Barnett (Mazda RX-7) took out both the Street Car scratch races, and a second in the reverse-grid. The Nissan 180SX of Andrew Stevens was second in the first race but was unsighted from there on.

Super GTs started well for Ron Moller, who led race one until the Chev Camaro retired. Grant Hill (Falcon) won from Dean Kovacevich (Commodore) with John Zelesco (Ferrari) third. The second race ended with the same placegetters.

Mick Oliver

resumption from William and Ho. In Formula 1000, Jez Hammond and Stewart Burns clashed at the rolling start. Jordon Oon went on for three wins, Ben Riley scored two seconds and Adam Lisle two thirds and a second. Rob Appleyard took the other third.

Austin Pearson (Jacer) and David Campbell (Stinger) battled hard in Formula Vee 1600s with many lead changes. The first race went to Austin but David came back to take the other two as Rod Lisson, David Caisley and Cameron Edwards shared thirds. In 1200s, Jason Fowler, Franz Esterbauer and Daniel Linehan each had a win and shared in the points. Mick Oliver

September 11-13 September 12 September 12 September 12-13 September 12-13 September 13 September 13

Australian Off Road Champs State Supersprint Champs Historic Race Meeting State Hillclimb Champs State Hillclimb Champs State Supersprint Champs State Race Series

4 8 9 1 6 3

Coffs Harbour Jack’s Hill Collie Huntley, Dapto Collingrove Wakefield Park Lakeside Park

New South Wales Western Australia Western Australia New South Wales South Australia New South Wales Queensland

SA Hillclimb heads to Collingrove

Elgee

WHAT’S ON NEAR YOU September 11-13

45

Klarich was handed the lead and went on to win the KZ3 final

RESULTS City of Adelaide Titles Southern Go Kart Club, Bolivar, SA, Aug 29-30

KING KLARICH West Australian ace Jake Klarich stands tall in the KZ3 class at the coveted King of the Hill event

J

AKE KLARICH has continued his outstanding year with victory in one of the most prestigious events on the West Australian domestic calendar – the King of the Hill – on August 30.

With huge fields across all 16 classes, the Wundowie circuit was inundated by an impressive 286 entries, with Klarich taking an impressive win in the KZ3 class.

Klarich set the pace in qualifying before veteran BD Soutar-Dawson crossed the line first in both the opening heat and the prefinal. When Soutar-Dawson struck trouble on the opening lap it allowed Klarich to

open a commanding lead before crossing the line well clear of Simon Gwilliam.

Third place went to Amrit Kandola after starting eighth in the final, while Hayden Patrizi charged from 10th to fourth. SoutarDawson’s damage and a mid-race excursion saw him cross the line 11th.

Gwilliam had to also settle for second in the Clubman Heavy class where Thomas Sparkes claimed the win.

In the younger classes, Luc Nici crossed the line first in the Cadet 9 final. His job was made easier when the early weekend pacesetter Jett DeMarte failed to start in the main event. Cody Leunen was too good for

2016 INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR SET

THE CIK-FIA has released its 2016 schedule in a timely fashion compared to previous years with a draft calendar released on September 1.

Over the past few years the CIKFIA has undertaken several significant changes, however, it appears as though next year’s structure will look similar to 2015.

Once again, the European championships will be held over multiple events with three rounds for each of the KZ and KZ2 classes, while the champions in the new OK and OK-Junior categories will be decided across four events.

The world championship for the KZ

46

class and KZ2 International Super Cup (which has received 38 and 101 entries, respectively, for the 2015 event in LeMans, France this weekend), will be held in Kristianstad, Sweden next year.

Unlike 2015, Germany and Great Britain don’t feature on the schedule.

The Bahrain International Circuit makes a return to host the world championship for the OK and OK-Junior categories to round out the year on November 20.

The calendar keeps the opening three months of the year free for the standalone Winter Cup in Italy and also the WSK Euro and Master Series events to be held prior to the CIK Championships kicking off. Frank Joseph

CADET 9 the opposition in the Cadet 12 ranks.

Damon Papasergio has spent a lot of the year travelling to compete in the Australian Kart Championship rounds and he used this experience to take the win in the Junior National Light class ahead of Aaron Love. In Junior Clubman, Love went one better to take the win.

After dominating the early part of the weekend in Junior National Heavy, Terrence Flynn-Dowell dropped to the rear of the field in the pre-final. He then charged through in the final to fall one place short of victory with Brock McGregor taking the win.

In the TaG 125 classes, Lewis Shugar proved too good in the Light division while Ryan Barron outpaced Taylor Thomas and Bayley Bell for the win in Heavy.

Other wins went to Nikola Mitic (Clubman Light), AJ Nash (Open), Saverio Ferraro (Rest 125 Light), Ryan Burke (Rest 125 Heavy), Thomas Gray (Snr Nat), Paul Hughes (Masters) and Thomas McPherson (Super Heavy). Frank Joseph

BENIK LANDS IN AUSTRALIA ANOTHER NEW kart brand will be launched on to the Australian karting market this month.

In a true multi-national operation, the BENIK Kart is designed by British duo Nick Mitchell and Ben Cruttenden, manufactured in Italy, and assembled in America. The brand is set to be distributed in Australia by long-time karting operation Pro Karting with Jace Lindstrom at the helm.

Unlike most brands on the market, the BENIK brand currently only focuses on the Cadet classes with the first chassis set to take to the circuit for the first time at the Junior Sprint Classic in Puckapunyal next weekend. Frank Joseph

1. Jessica Fortanier 2. Christian Cowie 3. James Piszcyk

CADET 12

1. Blake Purdie 2. Troy Fortanier 3. Aaron Oliver

JUNIOR NATIONAL LIGHT 1. Jack Hutchins 2. Jackson Rees 3. Nikki Watson

JUNIOR CLUBMAN

1. Benjamen Delaney 2. Jacob Dowson 3. Joshua Denton

RESTRICTED 125 LIGHT 1. Daniel Boorman 2. Leigh Willians 3. Scott Boorman

RESTRICTED 125 HEAVY 1. Craig Henderson 2. Michael Mangos 3. Anthony Di Mauro

RESTRICTED 125 MASTERS

1. Giuseppe Caon 2. Paul Williams 3. Giancarlo Vantagiato

CLUBMAN HEAVY

1. Luke Marquis 2. Blaine Grills 3. Hamish Ribarits

CLUBMAN MASTERS 1. David Rinaldi 2. Robert Reid 3. James Gorman

TAG 125

1. Paul Pittam 2. Tyler Morrison 3. Julian Lunetta

KZ3

1. Daniel Price 2. Jonathon Mangos 3. Benjamin Redjepi

Dixon can feel that elusive win is just around the corner

SPARE PARTS CALENDAR CHANGES

Dixon on droughtbreaking mission

A

USTRALIAN RECORD holder Larry Dixon insists a first win of the season is just around the corner after finishing runner-up five times since returning full-time to the NHRA series in 2015.

“Yes, a win would be nice,” Dixon told Auto Action. “And, as all ‘Aussies’ who follow drag racing will know, three of those final losses have been at the hands of your very own Richie Crampton.

“This season has gone great, better than I would have expected or hoped for at the start of the year. We have raced and won

against everyone in the top-10, including Richie. We’ve had a strong car and great set-up from the start of the season and I’m confident the win will happen.”

The California native made his debut in 1995 and has racked up an imposing record of three Top Fuel championships and 62 wins. He set an Australian record of 4.50sec during a short-lived stint with Rapisarda Autosport International in 2013. Then, after a fruitless chase to secure sponsorship to run his own team, returned to the Fuel ranks when veteran team owner-driver Bob Vandergriff retired at the end of 2014.

1965 DRAG NATIONALS REUNION

OCTOBER 2 and 3, 1965 are dates etched into the history of Australian drag racing, for this was when the first Australian Drag Racing Nationals were held at Riverside Dragway, Fishermans Bend. Flash forward 50 years and many of the warriors of that weekend will assemble in Melbourne on October 4 for the ‘First Nationals’ reunion.

Many of the pioneers from the early days of the sport are expected to attend the reunion,

TRIVIA

including John Fleming, Max De Jersey, Greg Goddard and Paul Rodgers. Driving force behind the event is Jack ‘Fizzball’ Collins, who won Top Eliminator in a 179 Holden rail over the legendary Eddie Thomas, who drove a supercharged Chrysler-powered dragster.

Thomas is credited with introducing the first fireproof driving suit in Australia.

“Safety was not much of an issue back in the ’60s,” Thomas recalled. “There hadn’t

The straight-talking Dixon was candid on the challenges of securing a drive in the Mello Yello series.

“For-hire rides are very few and far between in this sport,” he said. “So you have got to get out there and bring money to the table or, in my case, attempt put together a deal to run my own team. I spent a ton of money chasing sponsorship to make it happen and it didn’t come together. I failed miserably at doing that.”

Dixon’s comeback season will also be remembered for a spectacular crash at the Florida Gatornationals when his chassis split in half and was flung into the air in a mirror image to the Phil Lamattina crash at the 2015 Winternationals. Dixon was saved from serious injury when his car landed on the rear tyres.

“I hated what happened to Phil and the injuries he sustained,” said Dixon. “He’s a great guy. We were both lucky to walk away. It definitely made me feel blessed. I think the sport in Australia is really going to miss the Lamattina family.” John Doig

been many accidents. I remember reading in an American drag magazine about this new material Mylar, they had made fire suits from it, and so I wondered if it was available in Australia. I rang the 3M company and they gave me enough to make a fire suit.

“I only used it once, at Fishermans Bend, and that was the day I burst a clutch and the car caught on fire at the end of the run.

“My hands were burned because they were not covered. The driving suit had holes all over from the molten metal. I spent about three months in hospital. A collector bought the driving suit and my helmet.” John Doig

1/ 2007 2/ David Parsons 3/ Once 4/ Mikko Hirvonen 5/ Lucas Ordóñez 6/ Three 7/ DNF 8/ Second 9/ Nazareth Speedway, 2001 10/ 2008

The opening round of the 2015-16 Group One ANDRA series, The Spring Nationals, scheduled for Adelaide International Raceway on October 17-18 has been cancelled following the decision by the governing body to dump long-term venue operator Racing Onn Promotions. According to ANDRA Chairman Michael Fotheringham, “Racing Onn Promotions has made a number of unreasonable demands and has continued to change conditions that we had previously all agreed to. The delays have been extremely frustrating.

We have made the difficult decision to replace the current promoter.”

RACING ONN FIRES BACK

“Racing Onn has been advised that their services are no longer required for the running of the Spring Nationals,” said Rino D’Alfonso, Head of ROP. “We have worked so hard for so long and for it to be taken away by our governing body, who holds the current contract at the raceway, is gut wrenching.”

HOMETOWN STOUSH

ANDRA and Racing Onn have been involved in a major dispute over the future of the venue that has included an online petition, instigated by D’Alfonso, to force a members’ vote of no confidence in the ANDRA board and recently ousted CEO Malcolm Bulley in November 2014. D’Alfonso is believed to have been fined $5000 for bringing the sport into disrepute.

NEW TEAM IN WAITING

A new team is believed to be planning to enter the Group One category for the 2015-16 season. A car and transporter have been sourced and final approval from a sponsor is pending.

No announcement is due until after the calendar is finalised. JD

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