Foxtales March

FOXTAleS MAR2015

L U B R I C A N T S .

T E C H N O L O G Y.

fuchs.com.au

P E O P L E .

FUCHS uPSTHeANTein V8’s FUCHS Lubricants Australasia plans on being further up the grid and more prominent than ever with a bigger presence in the V8 Supercar paddock then ever before.

The German-based lubricant giant has added to its long-standing support of Brad Jones Racing with an investment into the rejuvenated Charlie Schwerkolt Racing outfit.

FUCHS Lubricants Australasia – Manager Director, Wayne Hoiles was pleased to confirm the new lineup.

“For 2015, we are supporting two great teams, three very fast race cars and three exceptional drivers.

“Jason (Bright), Fabian (Coulthard) and Lee (Holdsworth) have been ambassadors for our brand and products and we are pleased that we are able to continue working with them.

Brad Jones Racing will take an unchanged driver line-up into 2015 and the team is confident of a successful season.

“Our relationship with BJR has been a strong one and they have watched our organisation grow as our involvement with them has matured. I think 2015 will be a great year for both of our organisations.

Hoiles continued on the latest asset for the FUCHS brand, “Having Lee join CS Racing has made it even better as he knows he will have the equipment to get his car and our brand to the front of the field.”

Holdsworth added, “The Walkinshaw cars have been increasingly quick over the later part of 2014 and are taking that momentum into 2015, which can only be good for us.”

“To have the opportunity to be back at the front of the grid is what both the team and I need, and we will give it everything this year to be fighting for race wins.”

The 2015 V8 Supercar Championship kicked off at the Clipsal 500, 26 February to March 1 at the Adelaide Parklands Circuit. See inside for team reports.

The team only recently completed the SuperTest in their new top-shelf Walkinshaw Racing equipment.

INSIDE THIS ISSue 2

Beresfield Update

4

LTFR News

2

Staff feature

6

BJR News

3

Distributor dealings

7

Fuchs Focus - Lee Holdsworth

8

Sea’s the Day!

FOXTAleS MAR2015 FUCHSFAceS Fuchs Faces is an introduction to some names you might know from around the office of Fuchs Lubricants Australasia.

beReSFIeld uPdATe 2015 is gearing up to be an exciting year for the beresfield project. The new beresfield industrial subdivision being developed for Fuchs by Hunter land Holdings is well advanced.

As you can see by the photos, the extension of the Elwell Close cul-de-sac is under construction with kerb and guttering expected to be completed by the end of March. Final levelling and trimming of our site is also continuing with the removal of the remaining sandstone and shale layers at the far western end of the block. The current development schedule places completion of the subdivision by the end of April 2015 pending any further weather interruptions. Fuchs will be conducting baseline soil and water sampling as well as a full geotechnical survey of the site prior to final completion of the land sale.

Our visit to Fuchs Mannheim late last year provided an opportunity to review our current plans for new factory. Several changes to the layout and material flow for the new site were discussed and will been incorporated into the design. Fuchs have just completed a detailed selection process to confirm our engineering design partner to assist in finalising our plans for the new facility. Fuchs will partner with EMA Consulting Engineering Pty Ltd (a Newcastle based engineering company that has its origins in the Hunter Region since 1954) to complete the detailed design phase of the project.

Construction is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2015.

ToNY SWIATeK senioR pRoDuct manaGeR Hi Tony, congratulations on being selected as the next staff member to feature in Fuchs Faces… thankyou!

How long have you been with Fuchs lubricants? since last millennia. this is an ongoing joke that i was out the front waiting for the bus when someone dragged me inside and i’ve been here ever since. (it will be 25 years in august) What do you do you find the most enjoyable aspect in your role as Senior Product Manager? helping people, both internal & external. many people we deal with are comfortable with hard parts, however lubes seem to be a mystery. we try and help where we can.

Have you been given any nicknames from the other staff members? “swizzlestick” is probably the most common. i’ve never asked, however i assume it comes from my name?

Have you any funny stories from your times with Fuchs? in the lead up to the 2000 sydney olympics getting involved with the mood of the time, we held a Fuchs olympics. one of the events was shot put/javelin inspired, which was throwing empty 20L plastic containers the furthest. as incentive we positioned wayne the mD in the firing line. i shouted encouragement that “it’s not every day you get to throw stuff at your boss, make it count!” do you have any clean jokes you can share? mick & paddy go out scuba diving for the first time. they observe the other divers go over the side of the boat and when it comes to their turn mick asks paddy “why is it when we fall in the water, we fall backwards?” “that’s simple,” says paddy “if we fell forward, we’d still be in the boat!”

What are some of your interests when not at Fuchs? playing and listening to music and classic cars. sunshine staff may have seen my old 1967 mercury cougar in the car park on occasion.

Thanks for your time Tony.

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DISTRIBUTORdeAlINGS

ouR ToWN bATTeRIeS & lubRIcANTS

The Foxtales distributor Focus this edition is an independent, small business owner in the Newcastle area – our Town batteries & lubricants. paul clarke has been in the automotive industry for over 25 years, mainly involved in the battery industry. Just over 10 years ago, he and his wife, Lyn, took the plunge into small business ownership. and so our town Batteries was created. paul jumped into what he knew best and was set up as the local exide battery agent. Business was going swimmingly when both he and Lyn thought it might be prudent to diversify. paul approached the powers at exide and sought their approval. Lubricants were suggested as a good “marriage” with batteries. unbeknownst to paul & Lyn, Fuchs Lubricants was looking for a local distributor in the newcastle area and began scouting for a likely distributorship. when our town Batteries was approached, paul was initially apprehensive because,

in paul’s words, “Lubricants and oils were foreign to me. it’s a bit hard teaching old dogs new tricks”. however, with some confidencebuilding encouragement from Lyn, our town Batteries ...& Lubricants was born. that was a little over 8 years ago and from day 1, paul & Lyn’s business has gone from strength to strength, so much so that our town Batteries & Lubricants reached a million Litre milestone in november, 2014. “that’s a lot of oil for a battery man,” laughed paul when he told me. methinks paul is now securely a battery anD oil man; much to the pleasure of Fuchs Lubricants…and Lyn. paul admitted that the road travelled has not always been smooth and that success can come at a price. “Finding the right staff is always a challenge, especially for small business. But, the boys who are with me now are a great team. they wear the our town Batteries & Lubricants shirts with pride and i know that they give 100%.” sometimes, a high service level to his customers can be a rod for his back. But both paul & Lyn realize that having a great product is one thing. it needs to be followed up with great service. and in that regard, the team at our town score a well-deserved 10 out of 10! paul has a small fleet of vehicles to cover his territory and it’s not unusual to pull into his

driveway and see vehicles loaded to capacity with Fuchs oil drums. “with all of the challenges, there are definitely benefits, no doubt about it,” says paul. “the freedom to be your own boss is always a bonus. Decisions i make affect me. i like the freedom to ‘have a go’ if i feel it’s worth-while. and, of course, when the boys come back from one of their runs and give details of a new customer that’s coming on board; there’s always a fantastic feeling of accomplishment with that”.

“But there is one thing i don’t take for granted. that’s the support from the team at Fuchs.

Right from the warehouse staff through to the customer service team and the field staff that stay in constant contact. it really makes my job here so much more pleasant when i know i have the backing of a fantastic product like Fuchs and a great team.” well, paul, how could i have said it any better! we’re pleased that you took a ‘leap of faith’ all those years ago. Your business flies the Fuchs flag exceptionally well. and both you and Lyn are great ambassadors. we wish both you and your staff a very oily future!

FOXTALES MAR2015 Lamattina launches championship chase with

double de Reigning ANDRA Top Fuel Champion, Phil Lamattina has launched his season with a pair of second places at the Perth Motorplex, whilst brother John has secured fourth place in the championship standings following some consistent performances in the second Fuchs Top Fuel dragster at the Nitro Max event.

The qualifying sessions for both days proved to be some of the best and tightest on record, with all six cars tightly locked together in terms of performance in the foursecond bracket.

On day one it was Sydney-sider Wayne Newby in the top spot, followed by the Fuchs dragster of Phil Lamattina heading the field on the following night of racing.

“What a qualifying session!” exclaimed Lamattina. “To have it that tight in Top Fuel racing is something else, it’s great to see everyone stepping up their game.

“Having the two cars will help us get these cars humming but this event shows we will not have it all our own way.

It’s going to be on for the championship”

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deuce Phil made the final on both nights but was unable to get the win light against WA native, Damien Harris who took two round wins from as many nights.

Harris leaves Perth with the points lead, though with Phil Lamattina earning the bonus points for quickest elapsed time and highest terminal speed over the event, the gap between the two is minimal.

The ANDRA Top Fuel Championship now moves on to the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race at Willowbank Raceway on Easter Saturday for the Louie Rapisarda Memorial Trophy.

As a sign of respect and as a tribute to the life of LTFR team chef and friend, the late Adrian Broom, the entire LTFR crew wore aprons on the Perth startline.

“Leading into this event, unfortunately we had a memorial of our own, we lost our good friend and team chef, Adrian Broom. We would have loved to have honoured Adrian with a Christmas Tree Trophy and a win but in the end I’m sure he saw us wearing our ‘Broomy black aprons’ and smiled down on us.”

“We’ll get them in Queensland, Adrian!” smiled Phil.

Santos Super 3 Extreme Drag Race Saturday 4th April 2015 Willowbank Raceway

Phil concluded “To leave with second for me and forth for John in the standings is a good result but we’d obviously like to take the win in Queensland for the Louie Rapisarda Memorial Trophy.”

Runner up Phil Lamattina with round winner Damian Harris.

FOXTAleS MAR2015

CLIPSALcloSe-uP! Jason Bright

Fabian Coulthard

RACES 1 AND 2

RACES 1 AND 2

In today’s first of the two 125km races Jason was hoping to make the most of his starting position of 9th place. He was relegated to 12th early in the race and held on to finish in that same position. Race two was going to be tough work and Jason was more confident with his car heading into the second race. The challenge was starting from position 20 and making up a lot of ground. With most cars pitting early the Team BOC Commodore stayed out on the track trying to make up time in hopes they could take advantage of that during their pit stop. Mid race a safety car was called and Bright quickly took the opportunity to pit and made up a number of positions to re-join the race in 10th. After gaining positions due to drivers making contact and another getting a flat tyre Jason finished the race in 5th position. Gaining a whopping 15 positions in today’s final race is a huge boost going into tomorrow’s 250km race.

Fabian Coulthard has scored Freightliner Racing their first Clipsal 500 win on the hot streets of Adelaide. After a front row start in Race 1 the kiwi claimed his first Clipsal 500 podium finish, ending in third place. The second race saw Fabian start from the second row in 4th position. After getting a good run off the start line to move to third, he kept close to the leaders.

When Jamie Whincup made a wide turn, which resulted in a flat left rear tyre, he swiftly took advantage of that gap and went into the lead. He held the prime position for the last half of the race, maintaining a comfortable lead on James Courtney and Craig Lowndes. The ecstatic team from Freightliner Racing and Brad Jones Racing cheered Fabian across the finish line and are thrilled to claim victory at the Clipsal 500.

“

I was a bit disappointed with our first race, based on starting positions that was set to be our better chance for a good finish the two races. I thought we had a great package for the previous days and we just lost it a little in that first race. It was a little bit of a struggle. I was confident in our setup for the second race and we stayed out quite a long time trying to make up track position and it worked pretty well with the timing of the safety car. We came out of that race with good tyres however when Whincup had his tyre go at turn 8, I tried to miss Tander and hurt the right front. So we didn’t quite have the pace to get past those guys but we definitely had the pace to stick with them.

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Tomorrow we need to qualify a bit better, that is going to be really important and I believe we’ll be in the Top 10 for the shootout. It’s a longer race so we’ve got to do full stints on the tyres and make the most of them.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

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To get a win here at the Clipsal 500 is just awesome. It’s been a sad couple of weeks with the passing of Freightliner’s Geoffrey Paradise, so I’m dedicating this win to him. On the other hand we’ve also got a lot to celebrate, being the 100th round with Holden, our new sponsor in Freightliner, and now to say you’ve won on the streets of Adelaide… It is a great thing. During the race I had a fair idea of what was going on behind me, it was unlucky for Jamie.

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Looking forward I think we’re heading in the right direction and as a team we aim to keep up the consistency over the rest of the championship. The changes in the engineering team have been positive and we’ll keep working at improving and keep putting results on the board when we go out racing.

The 2x 125km races today were not as tough as some years and even “though the break in between races is short, it’s a great thing for us to have

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a little rest. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow and I think we’ve show our form now and are looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.

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RACE 3

RACE 3 After making it into the Top Ten Shootout Jason just fell short on his one lap dash and found himself starting from 10th on the grid. If yesterday’s second race was any indication of what could be, we knew our chances to get through the traffic were still good. Brighty took advantage of the safety cars and pitted with one of them, maintaining a spot around the top ten.

He made slight contact with Todd Kelly on Lap 50 and was using all of the kerbs to try to get the most out of each and every lap. After hitting one of the chicanes a little too hard later in the race Brighty was working hard to ensure the car maintained its position and brought it home in 11th position.

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We we’re running ok today. I think towards the end of the race I bent a shock hitting one of the chicanes at turn one as I went in a little bit hot.

From then I was struggling to pull it up and turn left. I thought we had the best pace mid race. I don’t think we maximised our potential here this weekend. We’ve got a lot left. We’re in the Top 10, we’re in a great spot as a team; I mean all 3 cars have had a good weekend and I’ve left here with a straight car. I think the way we are working together this year is great. It’s been a better start to the year than previous ones, so let’s keep that going.

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Another front row start at the Clipsal 500 was just what the crew at Freightliner Racing wanted. After Saturday’s 1st and 3rd positions, claiming both Fabian’s and BJR’s first Clipsal podium results, the team morale was at a high. Whincup got a good jump at the start moving into 2nd place. With no green tyres on the VF Commodore the start saw Fabian squeezed back into 4th place. Fabian pitted early along with a lot of teams and didn’t pit during either safety car interval; by Lap 48 Fabian was the only car who had not pitted twice. As usual once all the cars had completed their pit stops in the 250km race they all pressed on until the end. Fabian held his position and finished in 6th.

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We were affected a little bit at the start, we didn’t have the best tyres to start the race so I feel like that didn’t help us and a couple of guys got the jump on us. We didn’t stop on either safety car and we weren’t to know that they would be so close together. So I think in terms of strategy, it cost us just a bit. Then I got stuck behind a group of 3 or 4 cars and it was hard to pass.

We were lucky to stay out of that last lap incident too. To come away with a 6th, 3rd and 1st we’re leaving the weekend really happy. It’s a great start to our championship.

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FUCHS [FocuS] – Lee Holdsworth

We take a look into Fuchs racer, lee Holdsworth. With the Victorian racer continuing to be supported by Fuchs, we figured to was time to take a closer look at the man who has settled back behind the wheel of a Holden V8 Supercar.

Lee Holdsworth’s career started in Karts at the age of 7 progressing to a highly successful car-racing career.

In 2004 Holdsworth entered the V8 Supercar Development Series and caught the eye of main series V8 Supercar team owner and renowned identifier of young racing talent, Garry Rogers, who signed Holdsworth for the endurance races in 2005.

Following this he was signed to race for the GRM team for five years.

By the mid-season of 2006 Holdsworth gained his first podium result and in 2007 he qualified in the top ten seven times, gained 11 top ten finishes and won his first V8 Supercar race.

In 2009 and 2010, Holdsworth was had become one of the fastest drivers in the field, which is remarkable given the GRM Holden’s weren’t known for their technical superiority. Holdsworth had the talent to wring every bit out of the car and race against the sport’s leading teams and drivers.

Holdsworth scored his second race win in 2010 on the streets of Sydney at Homebush. In-fact Sydney has been a happy hunting ground for

Holdsworth, winning races at Oran Park and at Olympic Park, and he has enjoyed three poles at Sydney, one in 2009 and two back-to-back in 2010. Also a career highlight was a Bathurst podium in 2009 with his good mate Michael Caruso.

A further year with GRM in 2011 garnered 3 more podiums at Winton, Gold Coast and Hamilton and was signed to join Ford team SBR for the 2012 season. Following the acquisition of SBR by Erebus Motorsport V8 and their history making entry of three Mercedes-Benz AMG E63 V8 Supercars in 2013.

Holdsworth continued his strong career with the new team, achieving the team’s highest championship result, plus highest race finish and qualifying results through a tough development year.

In 2014, he became the first driver ever to win in V8 Supercars for Erebus Motorsport and Mercedes-Benz AMG at Winton Raceway.

In 2015, Holdsworth is back in a Holden with Walkinshaw Racing alongside teammates Garth Tander, James Courtney and Tim Slade.

This will be his best shot to date at getting back to the top step of the podium and bringing the consistency that is needed to fight at the top of this championship.

FOXTAleS MAR2015

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