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GEN 3 SUPERCARS COST BLOW-OUT HURTING TEAMS

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GEN3 BLOW-OUT IS HURTING TEAMS

Com Gen Image: Nick Moss design

Revisions to the front ‘clip’ (right) are among the changes delaying Gen-3 construction

SMALL TEAMS COUNTING THE EXTRA COSTS OF THE CHANGE FOR 2023

By Paul Gover, News Editor TECHNICAL CHANGES and price rises for raw materials are hitting and hurting teams as they prepare for the Gen3 era in Supercars.

Build work on the new-generation cars is already running behind and some team bosses are reporting their frustration with the process.

All are now facing the extra spend that comes with every day of delay, even as new revisions are planned for the front clip and steering on the new cars.

“I’ve seen how these things happen. Even if it’s my first time as a team owner with a new model coming in. Every one has been expensive and difficult,” says team boss Matt Stone.

He had expected to already have two new cars in build for 2023 but is still waiting and worried by the big picture for Gen3.

“I’m disappointed that one of the key metrics for these new cars was cost saving,” he tells Auto Action.

“The disappointment for me is that it was advertised as cost saving. But when it’s advertised without any ability to achieve

that, it disappoints me. The nature of these cars means you cannot cut cost out without changing the nature of what makes a Supercar.”

Stone has been working hard to improve the competitiveness of Matt Stone Racing and the second-generation team boss believes that target should be hit by the Gen3 racers.

“If we get the racing right then everything else won’t matter. It will all be worth it provided they tick the box in making the racing more competitive. We need to get more overtaking, better racing, more teams capable of winning.”

The exact details of Gen3 revisions are being kept secret, but other team principals report changes to the chassis which have delayed the sign-off process and the ability to order raw materials including steel tubing.

“A lot of it has been signed-off as it’s finished; the chassis, the rear suspension and the internals and odds and ends. They are going into the very early stages of preproduction.

(But) “I understand development is still going on over the front suspension and front clip. That hasn’t been signed off.”

Stone is prepared to defend the Gen3 cost increases on the basis of similar rises in building materials and the worldwide impact of Covid-19.

“I haven’t seen the full breakdown. But we could see it coming.

We planned for it.

“All of these cost things – every business in Australia is going through the same things.

A lot of the problem is materials shortages and shipping costs.

“We all say the cost is blowing out, but on a global scale it’s not that bad. If you look at the costs in the building industry, the raw materials have gone up 40 per cent.”

He says it is hard to put an exact figure on the extra costs until the build program is finalised.

“If raw materials are half the cost of the car, then it’s at least 20 per cent. It’s hard to know.

“I wish I had a solid answer. At the moment it’s all speculation.”

“You have to think about the budget that was put into developing the new Carrera Cup car. It was tens of millions.”

He also recognises the impact of the pandemic.

“A lot of parts in this process could have been run better, but I understand the pandemic has been the top priority and Gen3 has been left in the background for too long. It’s obviously ramped up now.

“The most important thing is we get out there and go racing.”

Stone had been preparing to begin construction of his new cars around now, but expects it will not begin until October.

“We’ve got two workshop bays now cleared for the Gen3 cars.

Timing wise, we had planned to have the resources assembled from now to have these cars in build.

“We’re basically acquiring the sum of the parts and assembling the cars in-house. The Gen3 build probably won’t ramp-up for us until after Bathurst.”

Despite uncertainty and big bills, Stone is still talking like a racer and is prepared for all challenges.

“I still see a fair few months to wait. I’m not too worried. We‘ve been through these situations many times.

Even in good times it’s still last minute.

“We’ll probably turn up at the first test day with a lot of unknowns. It’s what we do.

We’ve done it before.”

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COLLECTING POINTS PAYING OFF FOR VAN GISBERGEN MORE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS IN THE BAG AFTER A MEASURED APPROACH TO WINTON

By Paul Gover, News Editor SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP leader Shane van Gisbergen has added another dangerous weapon to his arsenal.

It’s patience.

After a pair of second-place finishes behind Cam Waters at Winton, van Gisbergen admits he took a moremeasured approach to the wintry weekend.

He attempted a bump-and-run on the final lap on Saturday afternoon, in a failed move that left him still in a lucky second with broken steering arm, but resisted the temptation for another late

lunge in the finale on Sunday.

“The old Shane would have jammed it in, whacked him in the B-pillar, won the race and fought about it later,” says van Gisbergen.

Talking about the race, van Gisbergen admitted he was thinking about the championship situation during his battles with Waters.

“I’m conflicted in my own head this weekend,’ he says.

Not that he is remotely ready to talk about repeating as Supercars champion . . .

“I’m a bit gutted to be second for the weekend, but still had good racing. I still enjoyed myself and scored a lot of

points compared to the guys I am racing in the championship, although Cam is one of them now,” he says.

The patience played out as he was stalking Waters, but also working on strategy with his new race engineer Andrew Edwards.

The plan began with tyres, but finished with his approach to the dying laps.

“I asked for all the info on the radio, we took three tyres (A) to do something different but (B) to get the fastest lap,” he says.

“Getting the fastest lap you only lose three points. We had that and Andrew said not too much risk.

“Maybe I didn’t get to him enough

anyway, but definitely the last two or three laps I left a bit on the table. It’s only a three-point loss at the end of the race.”

Results from the Winton weekend leave van Gisbergen with a slightly improved margin at the top of the points table, with a 281-point break.

But it’s Anton De Pasquale who sits second, despite a lacklustre weekend where he failed to podium. Waters is looking stronger as he moves into third place with Will Davison – who was even worse than De Pasquale at Winton – sliding to fourth and a full 358 points off the championship leader after 15 races.

CAM ROARS INTO FORM ON CARNIVORE DIET

By Paul Gover, News Editor

Images: Isaac Wishart

EATING LIKE a lion helped Cam Waters to savage the Bulls at Winton.

The Monster Mustang driver switched to a carnivore diet in the week ahead of the latest Supercars stoush on the advice of David Reynolds and says it helped him get the edge on Shane van Gisbergen through qualifying and the first sprint.

He lost three kilograms with protein eating and also says he felt sharper.

“I’ve been feeling really good on it. And I’m going fast,” Waters tells Auto Action.

Reynolds was quick to claim credit for the success of his fellow Mustang runner.

“I’m not going to help Cam Waters any more,” he joked after finishing third in the opening Supercars sprint.

“I gave him my secret. I tuned him up.”

The pair got talking about the diet during the Bathurst 12-Hour, as Reynolds explained his love of steak for every meal.

“We were at the 12-Hour and I’m on this funny old diet. On the Monday, Waters decided to adapt it,” Reynolds says.

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“So he’s been eating the way I’ve been eating. He lost three kilos in a week. He reckons he’s happier and fitter.

“At the podium, as soon as he got out of the car, he said to me ‘I think it’s the diet’.”

Reynolds has always been one of the most diet-conscious drivers in Supercars, even investing in a super-costly food processor called a Thermomix, and has been heavy on the

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carnivore diet since the start of the year.

“I was always a weirdo. I like to try different things and this is the one diet that’s easy to stick to.

I’ve been doing it since January and I’ve lost about seven kilos, and it makes you feel good.

“You can eat anything from an animal. So that’s eggs and butter, and lots of meat. I’ve got lots of bone marrow. And organ meats are exceptionally good for you,” Reynolds says.

“Back in the day, everyone’s parents used to eat meat all the time. When you’re in the jungle, and you kill an animal, you can feed the whole tribe.”

Although Waters believes his new way of eating can help, he also credits his speed at Winton to his car and crew.

“I don’t think it’s all down to the carnivore diet ...” he says.

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EDWARDS: TICKFORD HAD PACE ALL ALONG HEIMGARTNER STRIVING FOR CONSISTENCY AFTER WINTON SUCCESS

Image: Mark Horsburgh TICKFORD RACING Team Principal Tim Edwards was relieved that the Blue Oval team has shown the pace he knew has been in the car all season after Cameron Waters won two of the three Supercars Championship races at Winton Motor Raceway.

It has been an incredibly tough start to the season for the team, scoring just three podiums and securing no wins in the first four rounds was not the start Tickford wanted.

However, it was not as bad as it appeared as incidents have plagued their season to date – namely Perth when Waters won on the road but was handed a post-race penalty and when Courtney was spun at the final turn by Chaz Mostert at the Australian Grand Prix.

At Winton Waters scored two poles and two wins and got the better of van Gisbergen throughout the weekend, Edwards was delighted to get the monkey off the back.

“It was tough start (to the season), but not

through not having car pace, because we’ve had it,” Edwards said to Auto Action.

“It’s been a tough start, because we’ve either had incidents with other cars, they’ve run into us or we’ve had penalties – a whole host of things have meant that we certainly haven’t had as many podiums, as we should have this year, but not through a lack of car speed.

“It’s probably more frustrating when you’ve got the car speed, and you’re not converting, but we certainly converted this weekend and it was probably great redemption for what happened in Perth.”

Edwards is particularly pleased with the last three rounds – at the Grand Prix, Perth and Winton, three completely different tracks and the fact the team has been incredibly competitive at all of them.

“It’s encouraging that we’ve been to a lot of different tracks: the Grand Prix we were quick, Perth quick ... they are very different

tracks,” he reiterated.

“The important thing in this particular championship is that you are using pretty much the same tyres and the same cars wherever you go. We don’t turn up like Formula 1 and there’s a whole new aero package for Winton and then turn up to Bathurst and there’s is a completely different one – we’ve got a base car that we have to tune for very different circuits around this country.

“It’s probably most pleasing that on all these different types of track and surfaces, we’ve been able to roll out a fast car.

“We’ve had podium car speed pretty much all year.

“Of course we want to continue doing this, but it’s probably more of a relief that our car speed has now been demonstrated to everybody else, because we knew we had the car speed.”

Dan McCarthy

GROVES FAST ANYWHERE

AT WINTON Motor Raceway, Grove Racing again showed on another different circuit that it can fight for podiums and pole positions – and this has got the team excited.

On the tight and technical Winton Motor Raceway layout, David Reynolds secured another two podiums and his teammate Lee Holdsworth appeared to have got on top of the qualifying woes that had been a frustration in his season to that point.

For the fourth round this year, Reynolds felt that he was Reynolds and Holdsworth capable of fighting at the front and spoke about how he has are working together as now come to expect this. a team and reaping the results.

“We’ve been to five tracks and we’ve been had a top Ross Gibb Photography four car pretty consistently in the last four rounds so we were always aiming for those podium spots now,” Reynolds explained to AA. “But everyone that works here is working as a unit – they’re working “At the start of the year, if we ended up in the top 10 we would have happily, there’s no egos, (team principal) David Cauchis come in and he’s been stoked. doing an amazing job in his new role.”

“The team’s on a roll; everyone’s happy, we’ve got some very smart Holdsworth came away with a fourth, fifth and sixth and belives that people here, got some awesome backers in the Groves ... what more they’ve found a direction in his car for qualifying and racing. could you want?”

“I don’t want to get too confident, but I feel like we’re in a pretty good Is the next target a win? window now with my car,” Holdsworth said to AA “Obviously, we’re always looking to win every time we roll out,” he said.

“We deviated quite a bit at the test day, and we found a bit of a “But the guys we are racing know their cars and what they have – their direction and we’ve just kept on chipping away at that and ended up tools – a lot better, a lot better than we do. with a really good balance, a balance that I’m happy with.

“Every track you go to you’re going to win, but the guys we’re racing The car is predictable, it’s hanging on to its tyres, we’re getting good know their cars so much better. quali pace out of it ... but we still need a little bit more.

“They know the tools they’ve got. We’re still learning everything “To come away with a lot more confidence and feeling like we got because it’s been such a drastic change this year. Unfortunately they are something to build on now (is great), because I was a bit frustrated with changing the car next year, just as we are starting to get on top of it,” he where we were at before with the car. We’ve got a direction, now we can laughed. keep moving forward.” Dan McCarthy

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ANDRE HEIMGARTNER did not expect to have two podiums to his name just five rounds into his time at Brad Jones Racing, but now he is looking to turn those results into consistent top 10s.

Heimgartner crossed over to BJR this year from the team formerly known as Kelly Grove Racing, bringing with him plenty of optimism after scoring a maiden race victory inImages 2021.

Image: Motorsport After a difficult start to life at the four-car team, the Kiwi has made things click at Perth and Winton, stringing together six consecutive top 10 finishes including two third place results.

The results have come as a surprise for Heimgartner, who now sits 12th in the Supercars Championship standings.

“I guess I didn’t expect it, but I thought there were all the tools there to do well,” he said after the Winton round.

“When I first walked in the front door, I was very surprised at how good the engineering crew was, the depth of knowledge and understanding they had.

“We came here this weekend not really thinking we had a very strong base car and it didn’t roll out very well, so we had to tune the car a lot. Every time we tuned it luckily, we went the right way, it just got better and better.

“We’re starting to understand what we need on a race car and qualifying car.”

Determined to prove that his form is not a flash in the pan, Heimgartner made it clear that more of the same will be the aim at upcoming events.

Hesitant to put numbers to his targets, the 26-year-old is more interested in maintaining the harmony he has with his crew and the #8 BJR Holden Commodore.

“I think you can only keep trying to get better and better,” Heimgartner explained.

“It’s not so much of a position thing more so a result of the car speed and the feeling amongst the team and getting the setup done.

“Hopefully we can continue being in the top 10 and get that consistency.

“Consistency is what we’ve lacked, it’s so hard to be consistent. We’re trying to be consistently in the game up the front.”

The next stop on the Supercars calendar is Hidden Valley Raceway, the Darwin Triple Crown slated from June 18-19.

Beyond that the Townsville 500 awaits in early July, an event that Heimgartner is targeting with confidence.

“I think we’re going to some tracks that suit our cars historically better,” he concluded.

“Winton wasn’t one of those, Perth wasn’t really one of those either, so to get the car how we have it now, we’re excited going to Townsville where the cars are pretty speedy.”

Josh Nevett

SCOTTY MAC IS DONE WITH OZ INDYCAR IS HIS ONLY FUTURE

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE FORMER Supercars champion and Bathurst winner has slammed the door shut on Australia, to focus entirely on his future in IndyCar racing.

McLaughlin had been hoping to return to Bathurst for a Wildcard start in October, after a similar plan for 2021 failed because of his commitments with Team Penske, but he now says he is finally finished with Supercars.

The problem, apart from scheduling difficulties, is the “bad habits” he might pick up from returning to Supercars.

“I need to put my best foot forward here.

I’ve achieved what I need to achieve in Australia,” says McLaughlin.

“I want to make sure that I’m 100 per cent head-in-the-game for this car over here. For me this is where I want to build my future.”

McLauglin admits he agonised over the decision not to return to Mount Panorama.

“I think it was a decision that didn’t come lightly. I had to think about it a bit, talk to (his wife) Karly, my mom and dad and other people close in my inner circle.

“There was not nothing bad, Ryan (DJR team chief Dr Ryan Story) was fantastic, fully understanding of my

decision, and Dick and the whole team.

But it’s a lot, I need to make sure that I’m 100 per cent here and I’ve always been that way. I’m all-in when I put my best foot forward.”

McLaughlin was speaking ahead of the Indianapolis 500, where he believed he could be a contender despite starting 26th after gambling – and losing – on set-up for qualifying.

“I definitely think we can win it,” McLaughlin says.

“I feel like we’re in a really good spot in terms of my race car and we’ve had a really good run through the practices.

“I’ve been one of the few cars that can move through the pack when we’re deep in the pack, so I feel pretty comfortable there.

“It’s going to take a lot of smarts, being smart with where you put the car and the risks you take, the risks you take that move you forward at the start depending on how aggressive you are.”

McLaughlin says the Indy 500 is a lot like Bathurst, and he would pick a win at The Brickyard over an IndyCar championship because it sets any driver up for the rest of their life.

“For me, I look at it the same way I look at Bathurst. I probably wanted to win

Bathurst more than a championship. If I won the Indy 500 it would make my year, make my life.”

Looking at Bathurst, he admits there is still a strong pull from Mount Panorama.

“I love that race and I’d love to be back there when the time’s right.”

But the pull is not enough to overcome the potential downside.

“But what I’ve had to un-learn and really put in the IndyCar basket, I’ve had to drop some things from Supercars driving – style-wise – to help me in IndyCar. It has taken so long to get rid of that.

“Straight away, after (the IndyCar finale at) Laguna Seca, getting on a plane going home and then spending test days and stuff, re-learning how to drive a car that realistically isn’t going to move me forward in the future, because it’s not my main job …

“I had to really think about what I was doing there. It was a tough decision,

Image: Motorsport Images but a decision I made ultimately for my career.”

McLaughlin admits he would consider Supercars at some point.

“I’m not going say never,” he begins. But the bottom line is obvious.

“Right now, in this part of my career in America, while I’m still trying to get my feet on the ground and a few things, I think the best thing for me is to focus on what I’m doing here. This is my future. I want to retire here.”

DO YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR MOTORSPORT? WANT EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY, AND WOULD LOVE TO GET CLOSE TO THE ACTION BEHIND THE SCENES? Our news team at Auto Action - Australia’s No.1 motor-racing read since 1971 - has an opening for a motorsport journalist.

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• For more than 50 years Auto Action has been the go-to source for Australia’s motorsport news, event reviews, race coverage and reports, as well as in-depth and behind-the-scenes features.

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• In 2022, Auto Action’s news and information is distributed through print, digital, and social media platforms.

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For further information and to apply for this position, please send your resume to bruce@autoaction.com.au 50 YEARS OF REPORTING - for more than 50 years Auto Action has been the go-to source for Australia’s motorsport news, event reviews, race coverage and reports. As well as in depth and behind the scenes features. Today, across print, digital and social media, Auto Action is a truly multimedia motorsport news and information platform.

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Image: Isaac Wishart

OLD GUY RULES BLANCHARD SERVES UP A FORMULA FORD MASTER CLASS Image: Motorsport Images

SUPERCARS COMMITTED TO SAFETY AMID CREW INJURIES SUPERCARS HAS reinforced its commitment to safety in the aftermath of multiple serious crew injuries at the Bathurst 12 Hour and Winton SuperSprint.

The first injury was sustained at the Supercars-owned Bathurst 12 Hour, where a team member suffered a severe head injury after the race which bordered on critical at one stage.

Just one week later, two crew members walked away from the Winton Supercars round with hand injuries, both prevented from continuing their work.

The incidents remained under wraps for a short period afterwards, however now Supercars has released a statement acknowledging their occurrence.

Supercars also restated that it is committed to the safety of all people who attend motorsport events.

“The safety of competitors and spectators is paramount, with circuits certified to the highest global safety standards by the governing body, Motorsport Australia,” read the statement.

“Safety remains a prime concern and we will always work with

Motorsport Australia and teams to ensure regulations are in place to provide the safest working conditions possible.”

Notably, there is no mention of an investigation into the injuries sustained at Supercars events during May, or of any change to safety protocols.

Australian motorsport was also rocked by a safety scare at the beginning of May when five Jim Read Racing Top Fuel crew were left hospitalised after an explosion at Sydney Dragway.

All five individuals were released from hospital without serious injuries.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) which sanctions Top Fuel events announced an investigation shortly after.

“A full investigation is underway into the cause of the incident in question in conjunction with the organisers of the Australian Top Fuel Championship and the sanctioning body at Sydney Dragway, IHRA Australia,” the IHRA said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with the team members involved and hope to see them back at the racetrack soon.” Josh Nevett

QUINNSLAND RACEWAY READY TO ROCK GALA OPENING PLANNED FOR JULY 2

By Paul Gover, News Editor A $10 million update at Queensland Raceway will be ready for action from July 2.

Tony Quinn has splashed cash and commitment on his first Australian racetrack, importing the lessons he has learned at his three New Zealand circuits including the Highlands Park layout he created from a vacant block of dirt.

There have been massive changes at QR – which its owner refers to, jokingly, as ‘Quinnsland Raceway’ – from toilets and catering to the pits and spectator areas.

Quinn admits he has no plans for a circuit extension, despite previous plans for a major revamp and a business park, although there will be a slight tweak to the track to suit clublevel racers.

Although he does not admit it, Quinn is clearly aiming for a return of Supercars racing to the circuit.

“The past 10 years have been tough on the track. It was a lack of investment,” Quinn tells Auto Action.

His massive spending has been focussed on three areas - for a start.

“There are three things that are really stand out. They are shade, food and toilets.

“We did the toilets straight away. I think that has turned out really well.”

He has followed the lead of spectators, as

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many have driven their cars onto the spectator re-opening of Queensland Raceway, with lots mounds to provide protection from the of action and the official naming of the Dick Queensland sun, with his shade plans.

Johnson Straight in front of the pits.

“We now have proper shade at Turns 1 and 2.

“I want the locals of Ipswich to some and I’m not sure exactly how many square metres see what they’ve got on their doorstep. There we’ve covered, but it’s in the hundreds.” will be plenty of action for fans, too,” Quinn “We’ve built cover above the new pits as well says. to create a new viewing areas.”

“We will have everything except actual The pitlane is massively different, with racing. Demonstration laps. Displays. Matt proper weather protection and facilities for Mingay will be there with his Hot Wheels stunt teams. show.

But even the hidden work has been massive.

“I just want it to be a bit of fun. We’ll have “We’ve done a massive amount of work about 50 cars and bikes on display. And we’ve on drainage. It’s actually been a blessing. got 100 cars registered already for a showOtherwise the circuit would have been under and-shine. water three times this year.”

“I’m going to give my Formula One car a But Quinn says he has no intention of run. And there will be a lawnmower race for extending the circuit or changing its basic the maintenance crew, to help thank them for shape. their work.”

“The most common question I’ve been QR’s improvements are aimed at bringing Supercars back ... asked is if I’m going to extend the circuit.

The answer is no – and yes.

“We cannot make it any bigger, but we’re going to add a little bit of length inside the circuit to make it better for the slower cars and motorbikes.”

Quinn is now finalising the gala

By Paul Gover, News Editor Supercars team boss Tim Blanchard gave a driving lesson to the next generation of touring car hopefuls at Winton.

Blanchard scored three wins as he swept the Formula Ford supporting races as part of his preparation for co-driving duties alongside Tim Slade at Bathurst.

It was a heroic comeback for the 2007 Australian champion in Formula Ford, but a sharp uppercut for the youngsters who usually race at the front of the category – and hope for a future in Supercars.

Blanchard was only bested in qualifying and, even then, he was only beaten by thirdgeneration racer Ryder Quinn.

Tony Quinn’s grandson lapped in 1:24.6948, to edge Blanchard by 0.2697 as the old-time roller out in his Mygale SJ2012.

Once the racing got underway, it took Blanchard only a couple of corners to get to the front and he stayed there all weekend.

“I’m loving it. It’s good cars and good racing, where you can follow and can pass,” Blanchard tells Auto Action.

“I’ve been doing some historic races in Formula Ford and this was another chance.

It’s a Supercars weekend so I would have been here anyway.”

The winner of this year’s Formula Ford series will earn a test drive in a Ford Mustang with Dick Johnson Racing but Blanchard says that his not his objective.

“This is just a one-off,” he says.

“Actually, Ryan Story and I joked about that. Taking a chance from a youngster …

“But what’s the point? That won’t happen.”

Despite his racing rampage, the 34-yearold was not down on his teenaged rivals.

“I think it’s just my experience. They are all young kids and I’ve done a lot,” he says.

“I haven’t done a lot lately, but I’ve done about a million laps in Formula Fords over the years.”

He also says that any sort or recent racing will be helpful when he returns to co-drive with Tim Slade at the Bathurst 1000 in October.

“I haven’t really announced it or anything, but it’s pretty obvious I’ll be back,” he says.

And what about more racing in Formula Ford.

“Probably not, but we’ll see how we go. It’s a fun car to drive, but I have no plan … at the moment.”

Blanchard did admit that he is looking at a contesting a Super2 round.

“I haven’t locked anything away, but that is the plan. Can’t just rock up to Bathurst and go well with no race miles. I need to get into something a bit more relative (than a Formula Ford) to what I’m going to go through at Bathurst – so that is definitely the intention.” With Dan McCarthy

HAS MONACO SAID “ADIEU” TO FORMULA ONE? Image: Motorsport Images

By Formula 1 Correspondent Luis Vasconelos SÉRGIO PÉREZ may have been the last driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix, as negotiations between the race promoters and Stefano Domenicali have got to a stumbling block and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how the two parties will be able to find a compromise that will allow this historic event to remain in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship.

The thought of Formula One skipping Monte Carlo seems too far-fetched to be realistic, but the local promoters, led by the man who has led the local automobile club for the last 50 years, Michel Boeri, seems to have missed the fact the sport has changed a lot since Bernie Ecclestone left and that new venues, like Zandvoort and Miami, have raised the bar in terms of overall experience

for the fans, as well as paying way more money than Monaco to Formula One’s coffers.

Until now, the Monaco promoters were the only ones who could sell advertising space on their tracks for Formula One races and the local TV is the only one to be in charge of the broadcasting of the event – in all other 21 races, it’s F1TV that controls the footage you get at home. Then, of course, the track is great for qualifying but dull for the race; the facilities are small and ancient and, last but certainly not the least, the promoters fee is less than 10 per cent of what the likes of Qatar and Saudi Arabia pay to host their Grands Prix.

While Monaco accepts it will need to pay more for the event, it isn’t budging on the

other four bones of contention and, going completely against Liberty Media’s express request, the ACM has just signed a new five-year deal with TAG Heuer to have advertising space around the track for the Grand Prix.

That, together with an interview Boeri gave to local newspaper Nice Matin, accusing “the Americans of just following the money” seems to have been the final straw for Greg Maffei, the man who leads Liberty Media.

The word in the Monaco paddock was that Stefano Domenicali had been instructed to stop all negotiations with Boeri and the Monaco government, labelling the race as ‘lost’ for Formula One. The way Boeri left the track on Sunday morning, four hours before the start of the

race, after a brief meeting with the Italian manager, hints that he might just have beentold of Liberty Media’s decision. The veteran Monegasque looked shocked as he got into his car and drove to the Palace to pass the news to Prince Albert and then return to the circuit with the royal family, to take part in the usual protocolar ceremonies before and after the race.

Unless the ACM and the Monaco government find a way out of the hole they’ve dig themselves into, last Sunday’s race may have been the last ever for Formula One around these historic streets – in what would be a clear sign the sport is changing quickly and those who don’t adapt are going to be left behind, no matter how important they were for Formula One in the past. . . .

ANDERSON TO HELM 28TH BATHURST 1000 ENTRY MICHAEL ANDERSON will run a Ford Mustang purchased from Dick Johnson Racing in the 2022 Bathurst 1000.

Racing under his Anderson Motorsport banner, Anderson has been confirmed as the wildcard entry linked to DJR, which was the source of rumours for several weeks.

Anderson, who runs his squad in Super3 and finished runner-up in the series last year, initially purchased the car for use in the 2023 Super2 Series as current generation Supercars are set to be repurposed in the second tier once Gen3 regulations take hold in the main game next year.

The sponsors and second driver for Anderson’s entry are yet to be announced, however the Super3 race winner and Bathurst local has officially had his entry and Superlicence exemption signed off by Supercars.

While the entry was viewed by many

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as a Shell V-Power Racing wildcard, the powerhouse squad distanced itself from Anderson in a statement.

“The Shell V-Power Racing Team and Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) wish to clarify reports made today regarding the Anderson Motorsport Bathurst 1000 wildcard entry,” the statement read.

“The team can confirm that Anderson Motorsport has purchased a DJR Mustang that will be raced by Anderson Motorsport with minimal technical support from DJR over the event before racing in the Super2/3 Series field in 2023 as the Gen2 model cars retire from current Supercar racing.

“The DJR team’s efforts are focused on cars #11 and #17 for the Great Race and the continued development of the 2023 Gen3 Ford Mustang.

“The team wishes the Anderson Motorsport Team the best of luck for their Bathurst 1000

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campaign.”

The car that Anderson has purchased was first raced back in the DJR Team Penske era, built as a Falcon FG X and driven by Fabian Coulthard in 2018 before undergoing a Mustang conversion for 2019.

The car then served as Coulthard’s regular car during the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.

As such, it was the machine at the centre of controversy in the 2019 Bathurst 1000 when DJR were slapped with a $250,000 fine for an Obligation of Fairness breach.

Anderson’s newly acquired Mustang has not been raced since the end of the 2020 season.

In other Shell V-Power Racing news, Shell

V-Power and Viva Energy Australia will continue as naming rights sponsors of Dick Johnson Racing, extending one of the longest partnerships in Australian sporting history.

Shell V-Power and Viva Energy have signed a multi-year deal with DJR, reaffirming a 53-year relationship between the Shell Brand and Dick Johnson that commenced in 1967.

As such, the yellow, red and white colours of Shell feature prominently on the DJR Ford Mustang’s into the future. Josh Nevett

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OJEDA IMPRESSES ON SOLO DEBUT

FOUR-TIME Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander has joined the Karting Australia Board of Directors. Tander accepted the invitation to join the Board which had a vacant spot, as Troy Bundy has moved to America to take up the role of managing Porsche Motorsport in the USA, a role he held in Australia for four and a half years. The appointment of Tander not only adds racing experience to the board but also commercial knowledge. DM

Image: Ross Gibb Photography

TEAM BRM S5000 driver Joey Mawson could only apologise after a lap 1 collision with Aaron Cameron which eliminated the latter from the TCR Australia Series race on Sunday. Mawson got a hot start when the lights went out, swerving left to avoid contact with the cars in front of him, taking out Cameron in the process who was forced to retire. “Unfortunately, I hit Aaron. I apologise to him, I obviously feel really bad for ruining his race,” Mawson said.

“The penalty was fair to me and it’s just a shame. JN

HMO CUSTOMER Racing Hyundai driver Josh Buchan didn’t hide his satisfaction after taking a professional victory in the first TCR Australia Series race under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park. “It’s righting the wrongs from Tassie, I’m still filthy about that,” Buchan said. “It’s so good to get one for the team. I wish I could swear because they work so hard. I’m so happy, so pumped.” JN

JACK MILLER is one of the hot topics in the MotoGP silly season this year and Sky Sports Italia is reporting that the Queenslander is set for a move to KTM alongside fellow Australian Remy Gardner. Following the departure of Suzuki, the MotoGP silly season has gone into overdrive with factory Ducati rider Miller right in the middle, linked with a move to the satellite KTM squad Tech3. DM

IDENTITY UNKNOWN- but internationally renowned gun driver ‘The Stig’ from TV show Top Gear took to the track at Sydney Motorsport Park aboard the Stan Sport Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR to promote the new season of Top Gear. Acknowledged as motorsport royalty, The Stig was one of many personalities at Sydney Motorsport Park over the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships event. The Stig took Today Show host Belinda Russell for a hot lap, before setting his own pace around the 3.9km Sydney circuit. BW

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WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United Wildcard Jayden Ojeda impressed on his solo debut getting in and amongst the regulars – his race pace was particularly strong.

The finishing positions of 17th, 22nd and 21st don’t indicate how strong his race pace was, but neverthelaess Ojeda came away with some great knowledge and experience which he can take forward to his second Wildcard round in Darwin.

“Definitely getting into the knack of doing those longer races,” Ojeda told Auto Action.

“You just learn so much about what the car needs on the used tyre, and how you can get the most out of it.

“All I want to do is learn throughout these wildcards and I’ve learned a lot so far. So hopefully we can keep that up and keep

that progression going on to Darwin.”

Leading into the weekend Ojeda said he wanted to prve he could fight amongst the regulars and he certainly did that.

“Jordan (Boys the other Wildcard) and I were quite lucky; we did the test day here last week, which does give you a bit of a leg up before coming out and going racing, so you’re not trying to learn a track and everything else that comes with going to a new venue in the first few practice sessions.

“In saying that we didn’t have that many runs on the SuperSoft ,so you’re trying to learn the tyre and getting the phasing right from qualifying, it’s obviously very important when it’s so close and then learning how hard you push in the race to make it last.”

WAU Team Principal Brice Stewart was mightily impressed by the former Super2 race winner.

“He was super impressive both on and off track,” Stewart said to AA. “I don’t think his final positions showed how well he drove.

“He’s a young man that people have known is very fast for a long time. I’m personally so rapt for him that he showed how maturely he could drive, bringing the car back straight but equally made a lot of passes.

“I’m really looking forward to Darwin with Jayden, he’s acquitted himself so well with the engineers and the crew. This young man has got huge talent.”

Dan McCarthy

BETTER RESULTS AROUND THE BEND FOR BOYS JORDAN BOYS came away from his debut Supercars Championship race weekend disappointed he was unable to show more.

At Winton Raceway, Boys made his solo Supercars Championship debut as a Wildcard with Super2 outfit Image Racing – however a pit stop problem in Race 1 and an early off-track excursion in Race 2 after contact hid what was some strong pace for Boys.

When asked if he was satisfied with the weekend he replied: “At times, but for me, I wanted to put some good results together and just do a good job consistent job and I think that I’ve made to too many errors; so I wouldn’t say that I’m stoked on how I’ve done the weekend.

“Overall, it’s been frustrating for sure but I guess that’s why we do these things to try and learn and try to get that sort of stuff together.

“Qualifying for me has been frustrating but our race has been pretty positive. The second race I stuffed the front tyres, with big flat spots, and then from there you are a bit of a passenger for the rest of the race.”

The multiple-time Super2 race winner is confident he would have finished inside the top 20 without a pitstop bungle in Race 1.

“For me, I would have been really happy with that result,” he said. “So that was pretty gut wrenching. In saying that, everyone’s trying their best and they’ve given me a good car.”

Boys admitted that he would have likely performed stronger if he was able to race Super2 this year – but he is more confident about The Bend.

“It would have been ideal if I’d done Super2 this year and come in with racing miles under my belt, but that obviously wasn’t an option,” he said.

“It definitely doesn’t help that these guys get to do this once or twice a month, and I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for six months ... but that’s what I signed up for.

“The biggest, best thing about doing my first one at Winton is I’m a little bit familiar, so when we go to the second one, at Tailem Bend, I’ve done so much learning now, hopefully I climb up the ladder a little bit further.”

Dan McCarthy

NEW TARMAC RALLY ASSOCIATON FORMED

Image: Ross Gibb Photography

WAU HAS WORK TO DO THE SUPERCARS round at Winton raceway was another challenging ordeal for Walkinshaw Andretti United, leading Team Principal Bruce Stewart to state that the team is not where it wants or expects to be.

After a dominant display at Bathurst last year, it was expected that Chaz Mostert would be a contender for the title in 2022.

He came out of the blocks firing at Sydney Motorsport Park, however just two top 10 finishes in the last two rounds is not championship winning form. Stewart puts qualifying down as the weakness.

“We expect to be fighting for podiums and race wins,” Stewart said to Auto Action.

“Clearly qualifying is still an issue for us.

“We made some steps on what was an extremely difficult round in Perth. But equally, we’re not where we want or expect to be with very experienced and talented drivers, engineers and crew, so we’ve got work to do.

“It’s exciting that we go back to Darwin, a

track that we’ve had recent success on, but equally we’ll be going back to the workshop with a lot to do to improve our base package and give our drivers the best opportunity of being at the pointy end.”

Nick Percat joined WAU this year replacing Bryce Fullwood, but has found qualifying a particular challenge, starting at the back on a number of occasions.

“I would say the challenge we have was across both cars; it was exacerbated in Nick’s car,” Stewart said.

“It’s really a team challenge and we’ve got to give him the best car we can for him to show his talents which we know are strong and credentialled.”

Stewart was asked if the team found any setup direction on Sunday.

“I’m reasonably sure but I’m not an engineer, I’m the humble Team Principal,” he smiled. “I’ve got a lot of expertise around me and I’ll let the people who know this business better than me break it down and

analyse where and how we can improve.”

“There are certainly circuits that we’re more competitive on and some where we struggle with some of the idiosyncrasies with our car.

“To fight for a championship in the series, you need a car that can race at the front in all conditions and at all kinds of tracks, and clearly, we’ve got work to do.”

Stewart does expect WAU to be more competitive in Darwin but noted that the game is always progressing.

“Well, the one thing I know about this sport is that everyone constantly improves and so you’ve always got to be analysing your race package and how you operate and constantly improving yourself,” he explained.

“Because anytime you stagnate, you’re actually going backwards.

“It’s our job to ensure that we can improve at a better rate and give our drivers the best opportunity to fight at the front.”

Dan McCarthy

BRABHAM WANTS IN FOR SUPERCARS THIRD GENERATION RACE CHASING A PLACE IN AUSTRALIA

By Paul Gover, News Editor A YOUNGSTER with a famous name, Sam Brabham, is the latest hopeful with his eye on a spot in Supercars.

The son and grandson of champion Brabhams, David and Sir Jack, has transplanted from Britain to Australia in search of a professional racing career.

He is already racing in GT sports cars and lurked as a special guest in the Triple Eight garage through the Winton weekend in Supercars.

“Ideally I’d like to get into Super2. That would be the next step for me,” Brabham tells Auto Action.

“Ultimately, I want to do this – Supercars.”

He began his motorsport career much later than many young hopefuls and only competed intermittently in Formula Ford and Carrera Cup before moving to Australia in time for the pandemic.

“I moved here in 2019 and now I want to go racing. I was visiting my brother, who was playing cricket,” he says.

“I decided to stay for a while and I loved it.”

Le Mans winner David Brabham’s son, like his father and uncle Geoff, was never gifted

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anything because of the Brabham name and He is now racing a Mercedes-GT in the GT4 has had to battle for any sort of foothold in category alongside Chris Batzios. motorsport.

The T8 connection comes through Batzios, “I had to nag my dad for years before he as he has a Triple Eight crew running the car would let met get in a go-kart. I was pretty in the GT World Challenge. frustrated at the time, but now I completely But Brabham knows there will be no favours understand. Once I went karting I loved it.” and his only way to advance is through But motorsport was not his original sporting success. dream.

“We had two wins and and a pole position “I wanted to be a footballer. Soccer. Real at Phillip Island. It’s not a big field but we’re football. But I wasn’t any good . . . “ doing well,” he says.

His early racing in Britain was in Formula But Brabham knows what he really wants.

Ford but, despite showing promise, he never “I’m trying to find a sponsor who can help got any traction. me with Supercars.

“I was second in the championship in That’s the end game, the target.”

Formula Ford before I ran out of money,” Brabham says.

“I did a half-season in Carrera Cup in 2019. I had multiple Top 10s. But I won in my class, which was Pro-Am.” There was a little Formula 3, and something surprising.

“I also did some development work for Honda on their IndyCar project, driving the simulator for Nick Wirth at Simtek.”

Once he got settled in Australia, Brabham III targeted GT racing while doing some driver training Image: Paul Gover and coaching.

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A NEW independent tarmac rally association has been formed, with a committee including Tony Quinn as President.

The Tarmac Rally Competitors Association of Australia (TRCAA) will represent competitors in liaising with Regulators and Event Organisers, operating as an ‘impartial body with no specific allegiances’.

A group of experienced tarmac rally competitors will head up the new body, led by Quinn who is known as an owner of Triple Eight Race Engineering and several national circuits including Queensland Raceway.

Quinn also has a Targa Tasmania win to his name.

The committee consists of 11 individuals all up – Phillippe Etienne will chair the committee with experience as a former CEO, Non-Executive Director of a number of ASX100 company boards and Chair of the Board Health, Safety & Environment Committees.

Samantha Winter will act as Secretary, bringing business history as well as 25 years of experience in tarmac rallying – she is the current Motorsport Australia Targa Rally Champion for Classic Outright and Classic (Handicap).

The formation of the TRCAA comes just two weeks after Motorsport Australia decided to stop issuing permits for Targa style tarmac rally events due to the deaths of four competitors at Targa Tasmania over the last two years.

TARGA was not mentioned by the TRCAA in its release.

At this point, the TRCAA has given no indication of hosting its own events.

TRCAA spokesperson Mark Clair explained that the association will help to give competitors a greater say in Australian tarmac rallying.

“Competitors have been a bit of a voice in the wilderness, with many of us often feeling that nobody is listening to our concerns. The formation of TRCAA is the opportunity for competitors to help change that and help the sport” Clair said.

“This founding group has come together to get the Association up and running and intends to hold elections for the various roles and for other participation options.”

Initially, TRCAA will offer Gold Foundation Memberships to competitors that have taken part in at least one time-based category in a special stage Tarmac Rally in Australia within the last four years.

“Gold Foundation members will get exclusive access to a range of website services including Newsletters, Polls and Member Only Forums for discussing matters of importance, and most importantly enable them to provide feedback and make suggestions for the benefit of our sport” Clair said.

Annual Gold Memberships will cost $50.

Josh Nevett

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RACE 1 and Race 2 at WTCR Race of Germany, scheduled as rounds three and four of the 2022 World Touring Car Cup, were abandoned for safety reasons. During qualifying and free practice sessions at the Nurburgring, a number of teams reported tyre damage. After lengthy consultation Goodyear Racing could not guarantee that the tyres provided for the event would perform as intended, leading to the cancellation of the rounds. A decision on whether the two races will be rescheduled as part of another event later in the season is expected soon. JN

APRILIA RACING has re-signed factory riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales on two-year deals, keeping them at the MotoGP World Championship team until at least the end of 2024. Vinales has had a tough 2022 campaign after making a mid-season switch to Aprilia in 2021, while Espargaro has risen from the midfield to become a championship contender this campaign, chalking up a win and three podiums. JN

EIGHT-TIME FIA World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier has confirmed that he will return to defend his Safari Rally Kenya round win in June. Ogier, who is only competing part-time this year with Toyota, will make his third appearance in the legendary Safari rally from June 23-26. Toyota confirmed that Ogier will be fielded alongside the regulars, championship leader Kalle Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans and Katamoto Katsuta. DM

TOYOTA TCR INTEREST IN AUS AT SYDNEY Motorsport Park last weekend, it surfaced that there is interest to run the brand-new Toyota Corolla TCR Down Under, notably from the Bates family.

The TCR Australia Series continues to move forward, the fourth round of its series at SMP saw the first ever TCR Australia night race and was well received by fans, drivers and teams alike.

One brand that has been missing from TCR competition globally has been Toyota – that was until the Corolla sedan underwent homologation tests just prior to Christmas.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina holds the exclusive rights to produce and market the Toyota Corolla Sedan TCR car. If bought from Argentina, Toyotas can race in TCR Australia.

Australian Racing Group CEO Matt Braid confirmed the interest in the Australian Motorsport landscape to run Toyotas in the Aussie series.

“We’re watching it very closely,” Braid said.

“I think there’s a lot of interest. We know people are asking the right questions locally, so fingers crossed. I think you’ll see Toyota represented on the grid.”

Harry Bates, current Australian Rally champion and son of four-time Australian Rally champion Neal, have Toyota blood running through their veins.

Neal Bates runs the factory Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia team in The national rally championship and is also heavily involved in the Toyota 86 Racing Series.

When asked on the telecast if he was

looking at getting Toyota involved, Harry Bates confirmed the news.

“It’s really exciting that obviously there is a Toyota (TCR Car) happening and I hope that we can see it in Australia one day,” he said.

“We’re certainly in talks about getting one here into Australia, so wait and see … watch this space.

“I absolutely love the category and I’d love to have as steer in it one day.”

Likewise, Braid feels it would be a further boost to have Toyota involved in TCR Australia.

“Well, I think when you’ve got Toyota being the number one selling brand in the country, as a Touring Car series, you’d love to have Toyota represented of course.”

Dan McCarthy

COUNTDOWN IS ON FOR WEC 2023 PORSCHE HAS begun testing an electric version of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 race car. The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance is all-wheel-drive and uses the chassis of the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport model. The electric motor and battery technology can run up to 450 kW for 30 minutes in simulated racing, i.e. the duration of a Carrera Cup race. In terms of lap times and top speed, the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance is on par with the performance of the current 992-generation 911 GT3 Cup. DM

DESPITE A rocky start to the 2022 World Rally Championship season for Adrien Fourmaux and talks of him potentially being replaced, M-Sport Ford has again thrown its support behind the Frenchman. “We believe in him and I think it would be detrimental to his development if we were to take him out of the car,” “M-Sport has always been at the forefront of developing young drivers and what Adrien’s going through this season is part and parcel of that process.” Richard Millener said DM

12 I www.autoaction.com.au

THERE HAS been plenty of positive FIA World Endurance Championship news stories in the lead up to the Le Mans 24 Hours: here is a summary of the lot.

In the fortnight since the last edition of Auto Action went to print, Lamborghini announced that it would enter the top-tier of both the WEC and IMSA Sportscar Championship from 2024.

The LMDh machine is being developed by Lamborghini Squadra Corse and is the 11th manufacturer to confirm entry in the new Hypercar era of Sportscar competition.

Since 2015, Lamborghini has competed at the pinnacle of GT racing, but this is the next step up on the ladder as they will now be competing for outright 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona victories.

Lamborghini Chairman and CEO

Stephan Winkelmann explained why this was such an important move for the legendary brand: “This step up into the highest echelon of sports car racing marks an important milestone for our company,” he said.

“We will be measuring ourselves against the very best, on the most demanding proving grounds.

“On one hand, this will give our successful motorsports program even more visibility, but it will also allow us to test future technologies: our LMDh prototypes will become our most sophisticated open laboratory on four wheels.”

The second announcement is that, in the race following on from Le Mans, the 6 Hours of Monza, not one, but two Peugeot 9X8s will make their race debut.

The highly anticipated French machines have been in the works for

some time and will finally race for the first time at the ‘Temple of Speed’ on July 10.

The driver line-up in car #93 consists of Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Gustavo Menezes, while car #94 contains former Le Mans 24 Hours winner Loic Duval, ex-F1 driver Paul di Resta and James Rossiter.

Paul di Resta and Loic Duval will head the squads for the fourth round of FIA WEC in the #93 and #94 entries respectively, with the rest of the driver line-ups drawn from the squad of Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, James Rossiter and Jean-

Eric Vergne yet to be allocated to particular cars.

Team Penske has announced that the team will no longer race in the LMP2 class for the remainder of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, following the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month.

Elsewhere, Team Penske confirmed Le Mans would be its last race in LMP2 as it now turns its sole focus to development on the Porsche Hypercar ahead of its debut at the Daytona 24 in January next year.

Dan McCarthy

DOOHAN LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE F1 TESTS JACK DOOHAN explained that he was like a sponge in his very first Formula 1 test with the Alpine Formula 1 team and is looking forward to more in the future.

The Alpine academy driver was given the day to test last year’s Alpine Formula 1 car at the Losail Circuit in Qatar a couple of weeks ago and explained to Auto Action how much he took on board.

“To be honest, it was a lot different than anything I’ve ever driven. It’s just a completely different beast,” he said.

“Acceleration is the same, but it continues through the whole RMP range; the braking performance is just unbelievable – superefficient, and you can brake super late.

“The downforce, it’s just extreme – how much you can push on the car; and the car is definitely moving less than an F2 car when it’s on the limit.

“After the first run or two it’s something you pick up fairly quickly – where the brake limit is and how the downforce works.”

For the 2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship runner-up driving an F1 car was a dream come true, however he did not get taken away by the moment.

“I didn’t take it for granted and made sure that I kept it on the track and also tried to perform as well as I could while doing so,” Doohan explained.

“We had 83 laps, no technical issues, but there were a couple aggressive curbs which sliced some tyres up – other than that there were no dramas, which was positive.

“I’d say we were close to the performance height early on but then I was trying to find

Image: Motorsport Images what works for me. Making adjustments in the car throughout the lap when I needed to was pretty cool.”

Doohan was incredibly grateful for the opportunity presented to him. He explained that F1 testing was discussed before signing with the Alpine Academy and is optimistic that more will fall his way in the future.

“I was very happy to be able to participate in the test and super thankful to Alpine for giving me the opportunity,” he said.

“Testing was discussed when I joined the Academy and it helped persuade me to join the academy – the ability to do tests and learn about the cutthroat environment of Formula 1,” the Queenslander explained. “Not many

LMP2 SCHOOL FOR HYPERCAR THE ENDURANCE racing world remains a hive of activity in LMP2 as drivers continue to audition for drives with factory teams from 2023.

Australian James Allen is adamant that the incredible interest in the second-tier prototype class LMP2 this year is due to the fact that no less than 10 manufactures are set to race in the Le mans 24 Hours top-tier Hypercar class in 2023.

This year there are 27 LMP2 teams, 17 in the outright class and 10 in Pro Am. Last year Allen finished on the outright class podium, however he returns seeking Pro Am glory in 2022.

“The standard in LMP2 is unbelievably high this year because of LMDh and Hypercar interest,” Allen told Auto Action.

“I think it’d be hard to say anything different.

I mean, there are new high budget teams from Italy and Belgium with ties to Ferrari (AF Corse) and Audi (Team WRT) – I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence.”

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Academies provide that opportunity; to have some experience before going into Formula 1.

“I think there are some (more testing) things on the horizon but I need to focus on performing in Formula 2.

“It was an awesome day. And yeah, looking forward to ones in the future.”

Dan McCarthy

SVG LOOKING FORWARD TO LE MANS CHALLENGE

Image: Motorsport Images Allen himself explained that he is on the lookout for a seat with a manufacturer.

“I am very much looking to be up that end of the grid next year,” he said but was not willing to elaborate any more.

The interest from manufactures continues to rise with Lamborghini the latest to commit, entering in 2024.

“We’ve seen a lot of new manufacturers showing interest and also committing –

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we saw Lamborghini a few weeks ago committing to Hypercar with LMBh,” he said.

“Cadillac have been going back and forth.

It’s a lot better than what it was obviously, with Toyota, Audi and Porsche.

“The manufacturer interest is definitely very, very large with the top class at the moment, which is fantastic. So you have to be cautiously optimistic, I guess.”

Dan McCarthy

SHANE VAN Gisbergen makes his Le Mans debut this year – the Supercars Championship leader is very much going into the unknown with a new track and new car.

He will race a Ferrari 488 in the LMGTE Pro class for Riley Motorsports and is very much looking forward to the experience.

“Obviously the GT cars are the slowest class – the prototypes are just so quick,” he said to AA. “You’re looking out the rear mirror or the rear camera, all the time trying to work out what’s coming and there’s an art to letting the Prototypes go without losing too much time.

“It’s something I haven’t done for a little bit; it’s going to take a bit to get used to.

The Hypercars, even though there’s not many of them, look like they accelerate so fast with the hybrid and the four-wheeldrive, it’s gonna be a cool experience.”

For more thoughts and views from SVG and Allen leading into the Le Mans 124 Hours, read our full preview on pages 30-31. Dan McCarthy

www.autoaction.com.au I 13

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JAPANESE DRIVERS SPOILED BY NEW CIRCUIT TOP FUEL FIRES AGAIN EARLY DETAILS FOR SEASON 2023 POINT TO ANOTHER BUMPER RUN

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE REVIVAL of Top Fuel drag racing in Australia will shift up a gear in season 2023.

As Peter Xiberras and Phil Lamattina continue fighting for this year’s Australian Top Fuel Championship at Hidden Valley in Darwin the series has already been expanded for next year.

Seven races will be run including three new ones – at Alice Springs, Willowbank in Queensland and the new strip at The Bend in South Australia. For Queensland fans, it’s a comeback plan for one of the country’s most popular tracks, while The Bend will be all-new with construction of the drag strip currently underway.

The season starts in September and, typically for drag racing, runs through to the middle of 2024 to ensure events can be run – spectacularly – in the cool of the night.

This year’s Top Fuel revival, under new co-promoters Andy Lopez and Nathan Prendergast, has served up competitive and reliable racing to big attendances.

The biggest, ahead of Darwin when the Fuel cars will share the weekend with Supercars at Hidden Valley, is a combined 16,000 people at Heathcote Park in Victoria.

“It’s going so well because Top Fuel is a product that appeals to people. But they have never been able to see it at their local track,” Prendergast tells Auto Action.

“We’ve taken Top Fuel to parts of Australia that have been starved for years and it’s delivering.”

Apart from the venues, next year’s series has the potential for bigger fields under the round-robin format that keeps every car running through the whole event.

There are 12 cars in Australia, including the third car at Rapisada Racing that was driven

by American Larry Dixon at Sydney Dragway and the Rachelle Splatt car that could run with help from Peter X at Premiair Racing if sponsorship can be found.

“We are always looking for new teams and drivers. We’re very pleased with the product we deliver. When other teams are ready to come and race we’re ready to accept them with arms wide open,” says Prendergast.

While 2023 is being set, Prendergast says the 2022 title is still wide open.

“The top two are only 10 points apart, and third to fifth are covered by another 25 points. There are 30 points for a round win, and bonus points for finals entry and victory.

“So Lamattina and Peter X need to win, and go quick, to wrap up the championship.”

AUSTRALIAN TOP FUEL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON 2023 September 1-2 Alice Springs, Northern Territory October 1-2 Heathcote, Victoria November 11-12 Perth, Western Australia January 7-8 Willowbank, Queensland March 11-12 Tailem Bend, South Australia May 5-6 Sydney, NSW TBC Darwin, Northern Territory

14 I www.autoaction.com.au

A PRIVATE DRIVING PARADISE IS HEADING FOR COMPLETION

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE TILKE Engineering team which created most of the world’s new Grand Prix circuits, and helped to update the home of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, is doing something special in Japan.

It’s a private circuit called The Magarigawa Club that incorporates a state-of-the-art race-track with luxury villas in a package to rival the world’s best golf courses.

The circuit is set to open early in 2023 and so will membership of Magarigawa – priced at a ‘if you have to ask you cannot afford it’ level.

Only 50 memberships are open and the eye-watering joining fee is $330,500. More fees will follow.

If you want a villa, that’s extra, and certain to drain millions from your bank account.

The developers, Cornes, sell Rolls-Royces and Ferrari cars in Japan and their well-heeled clients are expected to top the list of members.

Their membership fees are also being used to help fund the building of the track.

The circuit is 3.5 kilometres long, with an 800-metre pit straight and 22 corners. It’s a truly up-and-down layout, with a maximum climb of 20 per cent and a steepest descent of 16 per cent, for a total elevation change of 80 metres.

Apart from the circuit, the ownership package includes a special clubhouse,

access to air-conditioned pit boxes, and everything from a fitness rooms to hot springs baths.

Members are likely to include company CEOs and IT entrepreneurs to supercar collectors, with Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini badges expected to dominate the pitlane.

All members will be provided by instruction on safe, fast driving from a safety team led by the 72-year-old former Le Mans winner, Masanori Sekiya. He shared a McLaren F1 GTR with Yannick Dalmas and JJ Lehto when they won in 1995.

The Magarigawa Club is sited in mountainous country in the Chiba Prefecture in Japan, about an hour from Tokyo and Haneda Airport.

MARQUEZ SET FOR ANOTHER INJURY LAYOFF SIX-TIME MotoGP World champion Marc Marquez will spend an extended period on the sidelines as he heads into hospital for a fourth round of surgery on his right arm.

The Honda rider has been plagued by injury over the last few years, missing nearly the whole 2020 campaign and the start of 2021 with separate concerns.

After starting six of the first eight races this year, Marquez will now head to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for more surgery on his troublesome right humerus, which will keep him away from competition for at least a couple of months.

Marquez has been hampered by the injury recently after last receiving surgical treatment 18 months ago, managing a best race finish of fourth in 2022.

Dr. Joaquin Sánchez Sotelo will oversee Marquez’s treatment and recovery, which he will complete in Spain.

“Unfortunately, I have to take a break from the 2022 season that will keep me away from competition for a while,” Marquez said.

“After all these months of intense work with my new medical team in Madrid, my physical condition has improved and I have reduced the discomfort in my right arm to be able to

compete at the Grands Prix, but I still have significant limitations in my humerus that does not allow me to ride the bike properly and achieve the goals I have always set for myself.

“I have made the decision to carry out a new operation with the aim of improving my position on the bike that will allow me to ride without the current limitations.

“Personally, I have the maximum motivation and enthusiasm to continue working and to make the effort to return to compete at the highest level.”

Dr. Sanchez Sotelo explained the medical intervention that Marquez would receive.

“Given the lack of sufficient clinical improvement with the rehabilitation treatment, and advised by his medical team, Marc Marquez will undergo a new surgical intervention at the Mayo Clinic in the US, to improve the discomfort in his right arm

derived from the loss of mobility in the arm,” Sotelo said.

“The surgery will consist of the extraction of the osteosynthesis material from his shoulder associated with a humeral osteotomy to increase the external rotation movement of the arm and maintain shoulder stability.”

Marquez won his last MotoGP title in 2019 and has not finished higher than seventh in the standings since. Josh Nevett

BLANCHARD QUESTIONS PROMISE OF

2023 FACTORY BACKING IN LINKING with Walkinshaw Andretti United, Ford stated that it was providing factory backing to all Mustang teams in the Gen3 era of Supercars – however that is news to Blanchard Racing Team’s Tim Blanchard who is yet to see support from the manufacturer.

Shell V-Power Racing Team, Tickford Racing, WAU, Grove Racing and BRT will all run Ford Mustang machinery in 2023 when Gen3 comes into effect.

WAU made much out of gaining factory backing during the announcement of its defection to the Blue Oval, correlating the deal with a better shot at Supercars titles.

Manufacturer support does not mean

the same thing to all teams under the Ford umbrella though, and currently to BRT Team Principal Blanchard it means nothing at all.

“We’ve had meetings with them and are still having meetings with them but at this stage there’s no backing in place,” Blanchard told Auto Action.

“We haven’t had any support from Ford and don’t have any currently.

“The more backing and partners you have the better you’re going to be, with more resources at your disposal. It’s not a detriment to us not having Ford backing but it would be beneficial in the future.

“It was news to me (the announcement that Ford will back all its teams). When I read it, I

thought ‘no one has told me that!’

Grove Racing, a team that has shown significant improvement so far this year, should also benefit from Ford’s promise in theory.

Team Owner Stephen Grove was unable to shed too much light on the details of his deal with the manufacturer but revealed that 2023 will see Ford up its support of the team.

“It just means that we have a commercial relationship with the Ford business here in Australia,” Grove told AA. “There’s some correlation back to Ford motorsport in the US, but that’s more based around the development of Gen3.

“2023 and beyond is an overflow of what we’ve had in 2021 and 2022. The relationship was originally established by Todd in 2021 and then we had the same relationship with Ford in 2022 and we’ve extended that relationship beyond 2023.

“The relationship with Ford is based on what car we want to run.

“There are some commercial realities around it, but that’s not the decisionmaking process.

“Our decision was based on what brand we want to support going forward, it was about the relationship we have, the commitment they have to the sport and also the ability for us to run Mustangs.” Josh Nevett

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www.autoaction.com.au I 15

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VALE - BRIAN CALLAGHAN FORMER SPEEDWAY star and privateer touring car driver Brian Callaghan died on May 19 after battling long-term heart problems. Born in May 1942, he passed away just days shy of his 80th birthday.

He and wife Helen were married for over five decades, and raised five children before becoming grandparents.

He is remembered for the Galvanising Services silver supercharged Holden Torana XU-1 that made him a speedway star with giant killing performances, particularly against touring Americans and their big block V8 Chevs. In later years he raced a Chev Corvette.

Among his many career highlights were victories in the 1975 and ’76 sedan 100-lap Marlboro Grand Nationals.

The ‘75 victory was arguably the best after he stoutly repelled the challenge from American Donnie Graham that continued for 65 laps as fellow American Ed Wilbur finished third.

He was virtually unbeatable on the blacktop of Liverpool Speedway, against the likes of Paul Ash, Peter Crick, Rick Hunter, and USA stars Gene Welch, Ed Wilbur, Charlie Swartz, Mike Klien and a host of others.

Brian’s races against Barry Graham went week-to-week as they turned it on for the fans. There was such a fierce rivalry, the promotors savoured and exploited it. Ironically the two ‘speedway

boys’ teamed up later and competed at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 1000 on eight occasions.

Brian displayed his motorsport versatility when he switched to circuit racing. He made his Bathurst debut in 1981 in a Ford Falcon XD, co-driven by journalist Peter McKay, and finished 14th. The following year Brian updated to the XE – the first of the new model to make it to the racetrack. It was a brandnew body shell with bits purchased from Ford and mated to other items from the XD. He went to Bathurst that year with Bob Muir.

The next two years he was joined

by Graham in the Falcon for 20th and seventh respectively. From 1985 onwards the duo raced on the mountain in Holden Commodores after the change from Group C to Group A regulations. Their best result was a sixth in 1988.

Brian Callaghan was a regular in the Amaroo Park-based AMSCAR Series and took a pole position at the second round in 1989, stating at the time, “I’ll have to race with the doors open and make the Commodore wider to keep those turbos behind.”

Brian’s last Bathurst start came in the 1991 Tooheys 1000 where he shared the Everlast Commodore with son Brian Jnr and Bill O’Brien. They completed 116

laps and finished the race, but were not classified.

Brian Callaghan is fondly remembered by current racer Jason Bargwanna.

“Brian was larger than life and personified the ‘make it happen’ attitude,” Bargwanna said.

“In 1990 he took a risk and gave me a chance to race with Freddy (Brian Jnr) at Bathurst in the Tooheys 1000 and we finished my first Great Race (21st) at only 18 years of age.

“He was a legend in his speedway career and a Bathurst battler in the Group C and Group A era. My thoughts are with Freddy, Michelle and the whole family,” Bargwanna added.

Callaghan’s funeral service was held on Monday at the North Chapel of the Pinegrove Memorial Gardens, Minchinbury.

Auto Action extends its condolences to Brian’s family and friends.

Garry O’Brien

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16 I www.autoaction.com.au

NEWS EXTRA

ROD JANE IS BACK ON TRACK

SON OF THE TOURING CAR LEGEND IS BACK DOING WHAT HE KNOWS AND LOVES

By Paul Gover, News Editor IT’S BEEN a while since Rod Jane strapped himself into a race-car.

More than 10 years, when he thinks about.

But he’s back, racing Carrera Cup in the Pro-Am category with a giant smile after a pair of runner-up finishes at Winton.

“It’s a funny story,” Jane begins with Auto Action.

“We didn’t have a driver for one of our cars. So my wife Penny says to me ‘Why don’t you drive it?’ so I set up a test with Mick Ritter from Sonic. And here I am.

“Now Penny swears she was joking . . . “ Jane, of course, has never really been away from racing.

He’s been a long-term backer of the Sonic Motor Racing cars in the Carrera Cup, backing several champions along the way, and no-one should ever forget his ownership of Calder Park and the Thunderdome.

But his wild days in AUSCAR and NASCAR are deeply into the rear-view mirror and even his time as a Super2 racer is a fading memory.

So why exactly is Rocket Rodney, now 50 and with four great kids, back on track?

Because he can, obviously. Because he enjoys it, obviously. Because it’s a total break from his life as CEO of the Bob Jane T-Marts empire, not so obviously.

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“Life is short. If you’re not enjoying it, don’t do it,” Jane says.

“I used to work at every race meeting but now I’m concentrating on this. It’s a good way to put everything else away.”

‘Everything else’ is a lot when your name is Rod Jane.

Apart from his family, and a new kelpie, and his giant business interests, and Calder Park, Jane Jnr has been mired in one of the messiest family feuds in Australia in recent years.

The final years of Bob Jane’s life were chaotic and combative, and it took a toll on everyone including Rod. He has many memories of his father, but they all boil down to one thing – love.

“When I was about nine he dragged me into his life and I never really left. I’m proud of my dad. I miss my best friend,” he says.

Bob taught Rod about building a business, about winning in motorsport, and about the commitment it takes to be successful at anything in life.

“I’m never really off. I’m always doing something.”

But there are plenty of other life lessons for a man who now runs a business empire valued at more than $250 million.

Rod recalls how his father got Jim Richards started in Australia, setting him up with a T-Marts outlet to help finance his racing.

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He is proud of how Bob put his branding and his backing behind a string of drivers - including Frank Gardner and John Harvey - who would go on to become legends.

He also talks about helping David Reynolds when he was just a youngster in Carrera Cup. “We like having young guys coming through. It’s great for our brand,” he says.

But it’s more than just marketing, which helps explain his late-life return to race driving.

“It’s nice to be back. I missed the racing, but it’s really about the crew and everything else. It’s the team. I’ve met some great people through the Carrera Cup.” He also remembers the frantic days of oval-track racing, and his favourite finish.

“Probably my favourite was in NASCAR, on the Adelaide short course, where my cousin Kim was first and I was second.”

Jane says it’s too early to talk about his plans for Calder Park, although he talks about the $1 million that’s already been spent on renewing the drag strip.

He can see the potential for track-day use on the road course and there is always his father’s passion project, the Thunderdome . . .

Turning to his Carrera Cup racing, Jane tells the story of his work with Ritter.

“He told me ‘You’ll have to test’. He wasn’t just going to let me have the car.

But he was pretty happy. I wasn’t miles off the pace,” Jane says.

“We started at the GP and I qualified last there. But in the last race I was running 17th or 18th, which wasn’t too bad.

“I’m actually fitter now than I was when I was in Super2. I’m not here for the ’nice’ story. I’m 50 and I want to get better.

“At my age I’m never going to run at the front in the Pro category, but I hope I’ll be up at the front in Pro-Am. I want to enjoy my racing and not mess-up anyone else’s race.”

www.autoaction.com.au I 17

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SUPERCHEAP AUTO BATHURST 1000 WILDCARD ANNOUNCEMENT IMMINENT

THE TRIPLE Eight Race Engineering Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Wildcard team for 2022 will be announced at a family friendly public event this Sunday, June 5 in Brisbane.

Supercheap Auto has sent out an open invitation to all fans to attend the unveiling, which will host the Wildcard drivers plus special guests from Triple Eight Race Engineering.

The event kicks off 9am will be held at

Riverside Green Parklands in Southbank, opposite South Bank Piazza and is free to attend.

Giveaways and an autograph session are planned for the event, which can only be accessed from the Southern entry of the Parklands.

Speculation has been rife about the identity of the possible Supercheap Auto Wildcard drivers, with seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes tipped to take one

of the seats alongside either a Triple Eight Super2 driver or an international name.

The 2022 Bathurst 1000 could be Lowndes’ last start in the main game, so the announcement of his entry would surely be a huge drawcard for Supercars diehards.

Cameron Hill and Declan Fraser are both candidates for the co-driver position as current T8 Super2 steerers.

Neither has started in the Great Race but both currently sit in the top five of

the second-tier standings and have impressive racing résumés.

Alex Premat could also add some international interest to the grid. The Frenchman won the 2019 race alongside three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin and has not been seen at Mount Panorama since then, however he has confirmed conversations with teams around a return for 2022.

Supercar champion Russell Ingall and

MA TO RUN FERRARI DRIVER ACADEMY CAMP IN MALAYSIA MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA has announced details of the next local selection program for the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA).

The next Asia Pacific and Oceania regional selection program will be held in June via an online webinar.

The webinar, which will be held at 7.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday June 7, will include details about the application process as well as what to expect at the selection camp.

For those that can’t make the webinar, a replay will be available on Motorsport Australia’s website.

In September this year Motorsport Australia will run a Ferrari Driver Academy selection camp for the Asia Pacific/Oceania region in Sepang, Malaysia.

Motorsport Australia Director of Motorsport & Commercial Operations Michael Smith explained the 2022 selection process would identify young talent in the region.

“We’re delighted to be hosting our first ever Asia Pacific/Oceania Ferrari Driver Academy selection camp in Malaysia, giving young drivers from the region the

opportunity to shine and set up their future careers,” Smith said.

“We know there are many eligible young karters in particular who will be eager to showcase their talents and why they should be part of the FDA in the future.

“Motorsport Australia and the FDA work closely together throughout the selection process, and we look forward to welcoming interested applicants to our information session on Tuesday, 7 June.

“This will be a terrific opportunity to learn about the whole process and the various requirements that will need to be completed throughout the application process.”

Drivers selected for the camp will get the opportunity to drive a Formula 4 car on the Sepang International Circuit and take part in a range of exercises and assessments for the selection panel.

In 2020, Motorsport Australia was selected to work with the FDA to run the Asia Pacific and Oceania regional selection program.

Every year drivers aged between 14 and 17 are invited to apply to be included the

selection process. Countries included in the Asia Pacific and Oceania region of the Ferrari Driver Academy include, Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka and many, many more.

In 2020, Australian James Wharton was selected as the global winner and has since been part of the FDA, and this year is driving in multiple European Formula 4 Championships with FDA support.

Following the webinar applications for the 2022 FDA camp will open.

Motorsport Australia and the FDA will then select the best applicants to attend the Sepang selection camp, where one driver will then ultimately be chosen to represent our region at the FDA Scouting World Finals in October this year.

Dan McCarthy

Another Aussie could join James Wharton as an FDA driver in 2022

Broc Feeney and Russell Ingall were in Supercheap Auto colours in 2021... who will it be in 2022?

A packed crowd is expected for the 2022 Bathurst 1000

BATHURST 1000 TICKETS GO ON SALE young gun Broc Feeney represented the Supercheap Auto name last year, retiring less than 20 laps from the finish.

All details on the 2022 Wildcard will be revealed this Sunday. The Supercheap Auto Wildcard confirmation comes after it was announced last week that Super3 driver Michael Anderson will represent his squad, Anderson Motorsport, in a car purchased from Shell V-Power Racing.

Josh Nevett

GRANDSTAND AND trackside 2022 Bathurst 1000 tickets are up for sale and are expected to be snapped up quickly.

Trackside tickets, Paddock Passes, Priority Parking and Reserved Grandstand seating located on the main straight and in one covered grandstand at Turn 1 are all on sale to the general public.

It has been announced that the Bathurst 1000 will return to normal in 2022.

Notably the pre-event Drivers’ Parade and Autograph Session in Bathurst’s CBD will return this year, along with a precinct filled with merchandise, team and sponsor displays at Mount Panorama.

Bathurst 1000 Event Manager Ryan Jones said that many thousands of fans have already renewed their camping and

grandstand spaces for 2022.

“It’s pleasing to see so many fans have already locked in their spots on the mountain for this year’s event, which in 2022 returns to its traditional October dates,” Jones said.

“We encourage fans planning on heading out to purchase tickets as soon as possible to ensure they are trackside on October 9 to see this year’s King of the Mountain crowned.”

The remaining campsites that have not been renewed will go on sale on June 7.

This year’s Bathurst 1000 is already set to be another classic, reigning Bathurst 1000 Champions Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth are now in different teams, Mostert remains with Walkinshaw Andretti

United, while Holdsworth has returned to the championship full-time with Grove Racing.

There has already been a number of Wildcards announced, Bathurst legend Greg Murphy will team up with fellow Kiwi Richie Stanaway in an Erebus Commodore.

As well as this, a newly announced Ford Mustang Wildcard that will be driven by born and bred Bathurst-local Michael Anderson, a debutant in this year’s race.

The Supercheap Auto Triple Eight Race Engineering wildcard team will be revealed on Sunday, June 5 in Brisbane.

The Bathurst 1000 is set return to its traditional slot, taking place from October 6-9. Dan McCarthy

ADELAIDE 500 TENDERS OPEN THIS WEEK THE SOUTH Australian Labor government has announced that tenders are set to open this week for local businesses to secure work for the Adelaide 500.

In 2020 when the pandemic broke out it was announced by then Premier Steven Marshall that the Adelaide 500 had been dumped, however Labor leader Peter Malinauskas announced that if he was elected into power, he would revive the Supercars Hall of Fame event.

He was elected in March and has promised the event will take place in December.

The recently announced State Budget will include $18 million in 2022-23 to run the event in December.

With the Labor party adding an additional $3 million which has been set aside to buy back infrastructure sold off by the Liberals.

The opening of tenders for the Adelaide 500 delivers an opportunity for local South Australian firms to secure work after the Supercars Championships two-and-a-halfyear absence.

The tenders set to open include a wide

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range of things from track facilities including grandstands, overpasses and fencing to hospitality air conditioning and everything in between.

HERE IS THE FULL LIST OF TENDERS: Temporary Grandstands Hospitality Platforms Portable Toilet Hire Pedestrian Overpasses On-Ground Marquees, Fit Out & Furniture Site Fencing Ticketing Services Security Services Greenery & Timber Decking Hospitality Air-Conditioning Hospitality Fridge Hire Temporary Shade Sails Track Resurfacing & Civil Works Cleaning and waste management services Pit Pavilion Air-Conditioning Grounds Maintenance Catering rights & supply Malinauskas is excited to make yet another step towards bringing the Adelaide 500 back.

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Anticipation is growing for the return of the Adelaide 500 “Momentum is building for the return of the Adelaide 500 and the issuing of tenders is yet another tangible sign the race is coming back,” Malinauskas said.

“This is also a great opportunity for local businesses to tender for work, which will help support jobs and generate local economic activity.

“That’s why this event is so much more than a car race – it’s a generator of jobs and a driver of economic activity.”

The event has been set for a return date of December 1-4, with race categories, musical acts for the event and the launch of ticket

sales set to be announced in due course.

SA Motorsport Board chief executive Mark Warren is delighted to open the tender process.

“It’s hard to believe it’s only six months until the great race returns,” said Warren.

“We’re working to a tight timeframe and we can’t afford to waste a second, which is why it’s exciting to begin the process of issuing tenders.

“This also presents a massive boost to the local events industry, who have been starved of major events over the past couple of years.”

Dan McCarthy

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PEREZ SIGNS NEW RED BULL DEAL

Perez clinched his first win of the year at Monaco and also left with a new Red Bull contract SERGIO PEREZ will race for Red Bull in Formula 1 until the end of 2024 after signing a two-year contract extension with the powerhouse team.

Perez agreed to the new deal during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, a successful one for the Mexican driver who claimed his first victory of the season on Sunday.

The announcement means that Red Bull will enter at least the next two seasons with an unchanged driver line-up, after defending champion Max Verstappen signed a bumper five-year deal back in March.

Perez has been impressive since joining Red Bull in 2021, chalking up a victory in Azerbaijan and four further podiums to

finish fourth in the Drivers’ Championship last season before managing three podiums and a win in just seven rounds this year to sit third in the standings.

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner was full of praise for Perez in announcing his contract extension.

“Since joining Red Bull Racing, Checo has done a fantastic job,” Horner said.

“Time and again he has proved himself to not only be a magnificent team player but as his level of comfort has grown he has become a real force to be reckoned with at the sharp end of the grid.

“This year he has taken another step and the gap to World Champion Max has closed significantly, evidenced by his

superb pole position in Jeddah earlier this year and by his wonderful win in Monaco just last weekend.

“For us, holding onto his pace, race craft and experience was a no-brainer and we are delighted that Checo will continue to race for the team until 2024.

In partnership with Max we believe we have a driver pairing that can bring us the biggest prizes in F1.”

Perez is one of the more experienced steerers on the grid, currently in his 11th season of Formula 1.

The 32-year-old is thrilled to extend his career into a 12th season in 2023.

“For me, this has been an incredible week, winning the Monaco Grand Prix is a dream for any driver and then to follow

that with announcing I will continue with the team until 2024 just makes me extremely happy,” Perez said.

“I am so proud to be a member of this team and I feel completely at home here now. We are working very well together and my relationship with Max, on and off the track, is definitely helping drive us forward even more.

“We have built tremendous momentum as a team and this season is showing that, I am excited to see where that can take us all in the future.”

Formula 1 heads to a happy hunting for Perez next weekend, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix set to take place on June 12 at Baku City Circuit. Josh Nevett

MCLAUGHLIN CONFIDENT OF FUTURE INDY 500 SUCCESS KIWI INDYCAR Series driver Scott McLaughlin has backed himself to be stronger in future Indy 500 appearances after crashing out of the 2022 race.

McLaughlin made plenty of inroads from P26 on the starting grid, sitting in 17th after making nine early passes.

The three-time Supercars champion did not see the chequered flag in his second Indy 500 appearance though, crashing out from 12th at Turn 3 on lap 152.

The highest ranked Team Penske steerer at the time hit the outside wall hard after his car got loose at the rear, ending his day prematurely.

Speaking with optimism in the aftermath of his crash, McLaughlin was confident that he will achieve future success in the crown jewel of IndyCar racing.

“I will be back stronger and better next year,” he said.

“I felt like I was making passes today that I had not made before, and I was really

confident with things.

“We really settled into a good rhythm and had a good couple of changes. We ended up being right there in the top 10 or thereabouts but unfortunately you get caught up one time. I felt like I was on top of things, but it just caught me up. “[I’ve got] a bruised ego and the Pennzoil Chevy is a bit dented and stuff.

“I was feeling really good, so I am gutted for everyone because they gave me a good car this weekend and I am gutted that I didn’t finish it off.”

McLaughlin has shown marked improvement so far in his second IndyCar season, registering a win and further podium after taking out ‘Rookie of the Year’ honours in 2021.

Many have talked up the 28-year-old

VERSTAPPEN BELIEVES RED BULL MAXIMISED McLaughlin will be keen to atone for his Indy 500 wipeout in 2023. steerer as a potential title contender, however failing to finish in the double points Indy 500 has left McLaughlin seventh in the standings after running as the series leader early on.

McLaughlin does not have long to lick his wounds, as the premier American open wheel series heads to Belle Isle Street Circuit this weekend for the Detroit Grand Prix. Josh Nevett

Australia’s influence is set to expand in Extreme E

AUSSIE TEAM ENTERS EXTREME E AN AUSTRALIAN based racing team backed by former soccer star Tim Cahill will enter the third season of Extreme E in 2023.

The team named XE Sports Group has announced it will enter next year’s allelectric off-road series.

XE Sports Group is the first team to enter from the Asia Pacific region as a whole and joins the likes of legendary teams Andretti Autosport and McLaren.

“Since its inception, Extreme E has demonstrated to be a major drawcard for both extreme racing and climate awareness plus diversity,” said Director of the XE Sports Group Luke Todd.

“This aligns perfectly with the XE Sports Group’s focus of raising awareness of global climate and social challenges with the ability to make a real impact at the ground, local level.”

Todd added that the team is not joining the championship to make up the numbers, they are determined to win for Australia.

“Competitively, we are joining Extreme E to race and win,” he said. “We will be delivering a world-class racing package

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and eagerly await to line up against the likes of the X44, Rosberg X Racing, and JBXE teams as well as the rest of the topclass field.

“Australians are renowned for overachieving in the sports arena, and we aim for nothing less in Extreme E. We will be racing for the planet and racing to win.”

XE Sports Group is the impact sports division of EVDirect.com, the distributors of BYD Passenger Vehicles within Australia and New Zealand and its participation in Extreme E will enable them to showcase BYD’s vehicles.

Cahill will be a member of the group and is hopeful that soccer fans can find interest in Extreme E. “I’m really excited to be a part of this team,” Cahill said.

“The combination of thrilling, competitive racing and leaving a lasting, positive impact makes the sport totally unique. We look to bringing a significant new audience to Extreme E from within the millions of football fans across the world.”

Category founder Alejandro Agag is

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delighted to welcome another new team to the championship.

“We extend a huge, warm welcome to Luke and the XE Group to Extreme E, and we can’t wait to see how the team performs in its racing debut,” Agag said.

“Not only that but it is a great to see the goals of the team so closely reflecting our own in terms of climate and community impact, and we are very excited about the possibilities we have together in these shared purposes.

“The grid is really filling up now and it’s great to have our first Asian Pacific team involved. This championship is growing and the countdown to Season 3 starts now!”

The current Extreme E grid includes teams run by legendary motorsport names including McLaren, F1 world champions including Lewis Hamilton (X44), Nico Rosberg (Rosberg X Racing), Jenson Button (JBXE), and World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz (ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team).

Season 3 of Extreme E will get underway in early 2023, with dates to be confirmed in the coming months. Dan McCarthy

MAX VERSTAPPEN feels that he and his team maximised with a third place in Sunday’s unique Monaco Grand Prix in which he was able to extend his championship lead.

Verstappen started from fourth after his teammate Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz crashed out in the dying seconds of qualifying, while his closest championship rival Charles Leclerc qualified on pole.

However, in very tricky conditions Red Bull mastered the strategy calls, Perez won, while Verstappen finished third and was able to extend his lead in the championship.

“I did the best I could, of course, after yesterday,” said Verstappen. “Once you got blocked with that red flag in qualifying you start fourth.

“I tried to do the best I can. I think as a team, we did a really good job with the strategy to basically get ahead of the Ferraris.

“Today was really about strategy and making the right calls. And I have to say the team was very relaxed and on it with their calls, like, very straightforward. There was no doubt. It was like: ‘pit now, we go on this tyre’; ‘pit now again we go on this tyre’. They did a really good job with that.

“And yes, I think as a whole team we can be very pleased with the Sunday. I mean, it was a very hectic one with the rain and stuff, but I think we executed it well and I extended my points lead, which I didn’t expect last night, so I think that’s a positive.”

The only issue Verstappen had all race was that he caught the attention of the stewards for touching the yellow line of the exit of the pitlane.

After several hours reviewing the footage, it was found that no breach had been made and he kept his third place.

The Dutchman explained that he needed to push the limits of the pit exit to stay ahead of Leclerc on track.

“Yes, I needed [to push hard on exit]. I mean, otherwise he would have passed me because you would not have the traction,” admitted Verstappen.

“So, my pit exit was quite… probably that was the most fun I had in the race, just my pit exit, trying to stay ahead, which summed up a bit my race.

“I mean, of course, after yesterday, not being able to do that final lap, you know you have to start fourth and you know, your race is going to be a bit compromised.”

After winning the race, Verstappen’s teammate Perez now closes to within just 15 points.

“An amazing result for Checo, so very happy for him,” he said.

“The strategy paid off with Checo winning so that was the biggest positive of the day. I’m really proud of the team effort this weekend and to get two cars onto the podium.” Dan McCarthy

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SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE CREEK

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AA’S LONGTIME COLUMNIST PONDERS THE SPEEDSERIES SHOW. LET ME tell you how I spent last Saturday night. I was originally invited by a mate to the NRL’s 5.30pm Tigers versus Rabbitohs game at Homebush as his guest.

I was about to leave home at 4pm when he texted saying he felt as crook as Rockwood. Bugger!

Suddenly I was all dressed up with no place to go...

Except, I did have somewhere else to go that mild late-autumn evening: the SpeedSeries at Sydney Motorsport Park. This was a pretty good like-for-like substitution. The Creek offered an alternative sporting event under lights in Western Sydney across a similar timeframe, 5pm to 7.30pm, as our kyboshed night at the footy. The SpeedSeries’ four main categories – Touring Car Masters, S5000, Trans-AM and TCR – would all be ‘playing’ across that time slot. Thus, I arrived at the track with a mindset of comparing this motorsport package’s entertainment value against an evening viewing NSW’s number one spectator/ televised sport. Are you smelling what I’m cooking here?

I’d also be comparing the exact

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with Luke West

REVVED UP same Australian Racing Group show from 12 months earlier, albeit my outing to 2021’s event was mid-afternoon Sunday. Truth be known, that wasn’t much of a show, unless you get your kicks from Safety Car laps.

Before I proceed any further, I want to be clear this column focuses on my experience last Saturday evening, at the SpeedSeries’ first night-time spectacular, not the round as a whole. Okay, first the positives...

SMP looks fantastic at night, especially so for those ‘on the ground’. Credit where credit is due: the ARDC has worked wonders with the joint’s presentation. The 32-year-old circuit now has atmosphere! It’s not only the lighting towers that have transformed the trackside experience, with schmick electronic signage hitting you in the face too. It’s vibrant, colourful and cutting-edge, especially for paddock dwellers. The State Government-owned facility now presents at night like an

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extension of Vivid Sydney – the harbour city’s annual Destination NSW-championed winter light festival. Big tick!

As an extension of this, the racecars look faster under lights.

Plus, their liveries truly punch against the night sky.

A case in point was Touring Car Masters – still a hugely entertaining category representing a variety of makes, models and eras. TCM put on the night’s best race, won by the Peter Pan-like John Bowe. I loved the coloured headlights some machines sported, such as the blue-tinted ones on Cameron Tilley’s fan-favourite Valiant Pacer.

Someone needs to take the lead in simplifying TCM engine rules to minimise the spend.

No one would care if these charismatic old bangers had 200 less horsepower. This category is all about the unique shapes, sounds and famous nameplates, rather than being motorsport’s usual engineering masturbation,

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horsepower arms race and spend-a-thon.

Anyway, next up was S5000, for me the evening’s major drawcard. A field of eight cars was less than ideal, but even a four-row grid attacked the senses of those watching from the grandstand upon blast-off, as I did. Great stuff! These beasts were loud, fast and spectacular.

But what cheesed me off was that cars formed up on the grid, then sat idle for over 10 minutes for no apparent reason. Okay, I know the reason: the telecast’s producers were eager to bore viewers and spectators stupid with the usual hackneyed and unimaginative “let’s take a lap of the circuit onboard” pre-recorded piece among other outdated TV cliches. Seriously guys, it’s time to drop these laps and develop fresh ideas which build anticipation. Onboard laps are boring enough for TV viewers, but they are of zero relevance for trackside punters who now have the television commentary pumped over the PA system. Little wonder fewer than 500 punters were trackside Saturday evening.

I counted less than 50 people in the grandstand, 100 atop the pit complex, another 100 within ‘The Garage’ café and maybe 250 scattered along the fences. How has it come to this?

I would be delighted if ARG’s bigwigs accompanied me at the corresponding round next year for tips on engaging paying punters, as, on the strength of last Saturday evening, this hasn’t been their priority. I appreciate ARG has done a tremendous job laying the foundation for their great classes, then weathered the perfect storm of COVID. But their efforts – and their competitors – deserve a bigger audience.

My other major complaint from the night was the lack of a big screen for those in the grandstand. This is a must-have when spectators are charged an entry fee, with the main action spot, Bond Bend (AKA Turn 2), out of view from Gardner Straight.

Both Trans-Am and TCR put on a good show, with vastly improved driving standards, but don’t seem to be developing a following.

That’s seriously worrying for the hot hatch class given the wide popularity of many marques represented. Conspicuous by their absence at the Creek on Saturday were the car clubs, as I remember the Hyundai N brigade were out in force last year.

Building punter attendances won’t be easy, but a wellsupported annual Saturday night SpeedSeries round in May at SMP is possible with some simple fan engagement measures.

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WHY WINTON SHOULD STAY IF WINTON is dropped from the Supercars championship it will be both a tragedy and travesty.

Winton has earned, and deserves, its spot on the calendar.

It serves up something special each year and this year there was nothing to complain about.

The crowd was a belter, both big and fully enthusiastic.

Shane van Gisbergen was beaten – twice.

The local heroes at Brad Jones Racing got Andre Heimgartner onto the podium.

Merchandise sales were huge, even with the Chevy Racing fans, who have nothing substantial to cheer until next year with the Gen3 Camaro.

The Winton crowd would have been even bigger if Heathcote, not far down the road for country

with Paul Gover

THE PG PERSPECTIVE travellers, had not been hosting a packed-house return of Top Fuel drag racing to the track.

The attendance does not rival Townsville or the Gold Coast or Adelaide, but these are the rusted-on fans who have been supporting touring car racing since the start of the V8 Supercar era – and even earlier.

Plenty of people think that Supercars cares more about money than fans, but the race program was also good

– including Sports Sedans, Formula Ford and the cashed-up contenders in Carrera Cup – and there was great access for fans.

If the new owners at SAFE are serious about engaging a new generation of fans, then the kids at Winton with their parents are a good place to start.

The teams might complain about cramped garages and a narrow pitlane, but if Winton got a long-term commitment from Supercars then it would allow

proper planning and long-term spending on upgrading the facilities.

The weather – once the sun burned away the overnight chill that took temperatures close to zero – was fantastic. It was clear and bright; perfect winter conditions.

The trackside colours were bold and bright, with more green grass than I can remember. And remember I’ve been trekking to Winton since the 1980s . . .

The campers were wonderful.

Driving into the circuit at 7am was a little like Le Mans, with the smell of smoke and bacon drifting on the dense, cool air.

It was a lot like Bathurst as well, from the campers at the back of the pits for the return of the 12-Hour last month to the regular camp city at The Great Race.

Winton wasn’t a lock-out, but there was a big crowd for a meeting which has become pivotal for Victoria with a giant question mark over Sandown.

It’s a long way from the country to Phillip Island, and the AGP at Albert Park is very costly.

As a fan, Winton was a great weekend.

The crowd was so engrossed on the grid that even the CEO of Supercars, Shane Howard, had to help to clear them away.

And the place looks good. A lot of work has gone into revamping Winton, not on the track but with proper fencing and pathways in the spectator areas, and that commitment deserves to be rewarded.

But, most important of all, the fans have earned the right to a race at Winton each year.

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STOP / GO

HUNTER MCELREA scored his best results of the 2022 Indy Lights season to date at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, keeping himself in the championship conversation with a podium at the iconic venue. The Andretti Autosport driver finished second in Race 1 and backed it up with a sixth-place finish in Race 2, lifting himself to seventh in the standings as countryman Matthew Brabham struggled.

Brabham, also an Andretti Autosport steerer, finished 10th and ninth in the races at Indianapolis, leaving himself 56 points in arrears of standings leader Linus Lundqvist. JN

GARNET PATTERSON took his first podium of the Le Mans Cup season after a stunning charge through the field at Imola. Driving the #22 Ligier in the LMP3 class with Andres Latorre, Patterson played a key role in lifting his United Autosports squad to third from 22nd on the grid. “Podium!

22nd to 3rd in Le Mans Cup,” Patterson said. “Massive thanks to everyone at United Autosports for all the hard work this week to give us a rocket… that was good fun!” JN

NOAH LISLE scored his first podium in the British F4 Championship at the Thruxton Circuit, finishing third in the second of three races. Driving with JHR developments, the young racer also managed a top 10 finish in the final race to take a solid haul of points which left him 14th in the standings. Kiwi Louis Sharp also scored a podium in the final race of the weekend. JN

MARCOS FLACK and Tommy Smith both had a round to forget at Donington Park in the GB3 Championship, chalking up just one top 10 finish between them over three races. The Aussie Douglas Motorsport teammates were off the pace until the final encounter, in which Smith managed to come home sixth. Smith and Flack now sit 18th and 21st in the standings, respectively. JN

AFTER SIX podiums in 2021, Melbourne driver Dylan Young will take on Formula 3 Regional European racing in the Ultimate Cup Series with Graff Racing.

Young will look to solidify himself as a frontrunner before making the transition into a Le Mans prototype career with the French squad. Full details of Young’s campaign and calendar will be announced shortly. JN

22 I www.autoaction.com.au

AUSSIES

DOOHAN CONTINUES TO IMPRESS

Jack Doohan has continued his consistent rookie year run, while Calan Williams (below) was taken out on the verge of a top-10 finish.

JACK DOOHAN led the Australian contingent in the Formula 2 round at Monaco, scoring two top-10 finishes as championship leader Felipe Drugovich and Dennis Hauger took race victories.

In Race 1, Virtuosi Racing’s Doohan finished seventh as Dennis Hauger scored his maiden Formula 2 win thanks to a fast start.

The Norwegian PREMA Racing driver jumped reverse polesitter Jake Hughes as the lights went out and took a lead which he never relinquished, finishing 6.711s clear of teammate Jehan Daruvala.

Kiwi Marcus Armstrong completed the podium for Hitech Grand Prix.

Daruvala held on to second after late pressure from Armstrong.

Fittipaldi held sway to finish fourth, while Vips took fifth.

Pourchaire and Doohan came home sixth and seventh, the latter managing the fastest lap at the death.

Aussie Calan Williams was 14th in his Trident machine.

Drugovich was forced into the pits with a puncture, falling to last after just a single tour.

He later retired 20 laps in.

However, Drugovich cemented himself as the man to beat in F2 this year with his fourth win of the season, while Aussie Jack Doohan finished fourth in the Feature Race.

Drugovich held off Theo Pourchaire, as both drivers ran supersoft tyres for 22 long laps.

Hitech Grand Prix driver Juri Vips rounded out the podium, ahead of Doohan who continued to demonstrate consistency in his rookie year.

There was early drama on the streets of Monte Carlo, as Kiwi Liam Lawson stalled on the grid during the formation lap, forced to start from pitlane.

Trident’s Williams was a big winner on the opening lap, jumping up four positions to tenth.

Behind Drugovich and Pourchaire, a battle emerged for third between Doohan, Vips and Sprint Race winner Dennis Hauger.

A Safety Car period came on lap 19 due to

Images: Motorsport Images Van Amersfoort Racing’s Amaury Cordeel hitting the wall.

Drugovich maintained his lead from the restart, before an incident between Liam Lawson and Clement Novalak required a second Safety Car. Stretching his tyres to their absolute limit, Drugovich managed to hold on for victory after the final restart.

Pourchaire crossed the line to secure second, ahead of Vips and Doohan.

Aussie Calan Williams looked on for a top 10 finish, however a last lap overtake attempt from Iwasa put both into the wall and out of the race. Iwasa was penalised 5s post-race for the incident. Josh Nevett

CONSISTENT CONTENDER

CHRISTIAN MANSELL solidified his position as a Euroformula the chequered flag after passing Filip Ugran at Turn 1.

Open Championship title contender with his second race victory Mansell was pleased with his consistency when summarising of the season at Circuit Paul Ricard. his weekend.

The 17-year-old Aussie renewed his battle with fellow title “It’s been another really positive weekend for us. We’ve been on fancy Oliver Goethe in the third round of the campaign, the latter the pace in every round so far this season, and it’s good to see it ultimately extending his points ascendency with two wins in continue again at Paul Ricard,” Mansell said.

France.

“That keeps us in the hunt heading to Spa. It’s a circuit I love, Mansell set the pace at the beginning of the weekend, and I’m confident we’ll be quick there too.” dominating practice and qualifying to score pole position in his With a win and podium in the bag, Mansell remains second in Motopark-run CryptoTower machine. the championship to Goethe heading into the fourth round at Spa Fortune did not favour the former British F4 and GB3 which will take place from June 18-19. Josh Nevett Championship race winner in Race 1 though, as he fell victim to contact at Turn 1 which sent his car into a spin.

Looking to salvage a result from the rear of the field, Mansell mounted a scintillating fightback, passing several cars to vie for a spot in the top five.

A lap five move on teammate Josh Mason was followed by a pass on Sebastian Ogaard at the final corner, completing Mansell’s recovery from 12th to fourth at the finish.

Starting from the front row in Race 2, Mansell moved into the lead on the opening lap, extending his advantage to over 3s in quick time.

However, Goethe showed why he is the one to beat this season, gradually gaining on the Australian and forcing him to defend grimly for the victory which he successfully managed.

Mansell started from P6 in the final reverse grid Mansell takes second place into the Euroformula final in two weeks time. encounter, moving up the order to take second place at

Image: Motorsport Images

NEW CARS SEE BIGGER GAPS BETWEEN TEAM MATES

PUBLISHER

Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Bruce Williams DEPUTY EDITOR NEWS EDITOR

Dan McCarthy

Paul Gover

STAFF JOURNALIST ART DIRECTOR

Josh Nevett Neville Wilkinson

PRODUCTION

Caroline Garde

NATIONAL EDITOR

Garry O’Brien

HISTORICS EDITOR

Mark Bisset

SPEEDWAY REPORTER ONLINE EDITOR

Paris Charles

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AUSTRALIA Bruce Newton, Mark Bisset, Garry O’Brien, Geoffrey Harris, Bob Watson, Bruce Moxon, Gary Hill, Craig O’Brien, Mick Oliver, Martin Agatyn.

FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconelos US CORRESPONDENT Mike Brudenell PHOTOGRAPHERS AUSTRALIA Daniel Kalsz, Mark Horsburgh, Ross Gibb, Rebecca Hind, Mick Oliver, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Rhys Vandersyde, Richard Hathaway, MTR Images, Bruce Moxon, Ray Ritter, autopics.com.au

Image: Motorsport Images DANIEL RICCIARDO’S struggle to get to grips with his McLaren MCL36-Mercedes are painfully known to all Australian fans but the popular Aussie is not the only one that find himself massively outpaced by his team mate in this first third of the 2022 Formula One World Championship.

More than in any other recent year, the average qualifying gaps between team mates are quite big in some cases – starting at Ferrari, where Carlos Sainz hasn’t been able to match Charles Leclerc in most weekends and ending with the biggest gap of all, between the highly experienced Valtteri Bottas and Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou.

What could be the reason for such gaps? There are almost as many theories as people talking about it, but the bottom line is that the 2022-spec Formula One cars handle very differently than the previous generation of Grand Prix cars and have very little in common with anything the 20 Formula One drivers have experienced throughout their career. Heavier, stiffer, with a lot more suspension movement, bouncing enormously in some cases, the 2022-spec cars are also a lot faster around the medium to high-speed corners, due to the return of ground effect, while being way slower than last year’s

with Luis Vasconcelos

F1 INSIDER car in the slower corners. That, as well, requires a different approach to the way cars are set up. With the DRS-flap being a lot more powerful than in previous years, straight-line speed has become even more important than before, so finding a compromise that makes your car quicker in the lowspeed corners but also quite fast down the straights is not an easy one to find.

The solutions most teams have found has been to trim a bit of downforce, relying on the fact most downforce is now generated by the underside of the cars, and that has made the cars quite nervous mid-corner. With the front end of this new generation of cars being quite sharp, most drivers are experiencing midcorner snap oversteer and that’s something very few can handle at the limit. Most drivers favor a bit of understeer in their cars and a very stable rear end, as that gives them more control on corner entry and the confidence to put the throttle down as quickly as possible.

Now, though, most cars are very pointy – the style that served Michael Schumacher so well during his long career and is also favored by the likes of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. No surprise, then, to find those three drivers have an edge over their team-mate, even though Pérez’s recent progress has brought him way closer to the World Champion that before.

Looking at the average qualifying gap between teammates up to the Spanish Grand Prix – and taking away Imola’s wet qualifying, as visibility and traffic made the comparison less relevant – we find that Lewis Hamilton’s 0.02s advantage to Russell is the smallest gap on the grid, followed by Verstappen being, in average, 0.097s ahead of Pérez.

Things are still evenly matched at Alpine – where Alonso is, on average, 0.142s faster than Ocon – and Aston Martin, Vettel leading Stroll by 0,146s in average. But then the gaps start to grow.

Carlos Sainz has been, on average, 0.23s slower than Leclerc; then we have Ricciardo trailing Norris by 0.235s and, almost at the same level, Gasly beating Tsunoda by 0.243s.

But it’s in the three smaller teams in the field that the gaps are really significant, Kevin Magnussen beating Mick Schumacher by 0.35s in average, Albon being 0.399s faster than Latifi and, finally, the rejuvenated Bottas leaving his rookie team mate 0.47s behind.

While these gaps are likely to be cut back as the struggling drivers get to grips with the characteristics of the new cars, in some cases they’re costing their teams important points.

So it’s no wonder Ricciardo is under pressure at McLaren, Mick Schumacher is fighting to keep his seat at Haas, and Latifi seems to be on his way out of Formula One at the end of the season.

As for Zhou, Fred Vasseur seems willing to give him another season, as the Chinese driver is learning fast and his presence in the team has also attracted a large number of sponsors to Alfa Romeo.

That’s a luxury Ricciardo doesn’t enjoy and with time running out, he really needs to quickly find his mojo again to be retained by McLaren for 2023.

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WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE? ON SALE Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City circuit, full coverage of the Le Mans 24 hour race, all the colour and action of the Alice to Finke desert race, Indycars from Detroit and Road America, AMRS from Winton, plus all the regular news and features from Australia and around the world.

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JUNE 16

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FORMULA 1 NEWS

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RECENTLY RETIRED Formula 1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen will make his return to racing in the American NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen in August. The 42-year-old will drive a Team Trackhouse Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the premier stock car series. Raikkonen is best known for his record 349 Formula starts, in which he amassed 21 wins, 103 podiums and a championship in 2007. The Finn retired at the end of 2021, finishing his F1 career with Alfa Romeo. JN

LUIS VASCONCELOS

THREE OPTIONS FOR PIASTRI AS BROWN QUESTIONS RICCIARDO’S FUTURE WITH MCLAREN

AUSSIE MCLAREN driver Daniel Ricciardo could not come up with a positive after finishing 12th one lap down in the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix. It was another down day for the charismatic Australian who elected not to sugar coat the performance. “It wasn’t a good race today. I’d love to find something positive, but it was just a struggle from the start,” Ricciardo said. “I was slow, and I simply had a lot less grip than everyone else around me.” JN

THE RUSSIAN Grand Prix will not be replaced on the Formula 1 calendar this year, reducing the season to 22 races. Russia’s event, originally scheduled for Sochi Autodrom from September 23-25, was removed from the calendar on February 25 following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. There was plenty of speculation over whether a replacement event would be announced, however it has now been announced that there will be no additional Grand Prix added to the calendar. JN

THE FATHER of Ferrari Formula 1 racer Carlos Sainz has weighed in on his son’s struggles, suggesting that Sainz Jnr needs to rebuild his confidence. Sainz Jnr has made some uncharacteristic errors this season, crashing out in the race in Australia and in qualifying in Imola. “At the moment he is going through a period that he really needs to rethink and try to go step by step,” Sainz Snr told F1 Nation. “I think he has to sit back and try and build the confidence again.” JN

LANDO NORRIS has detailed the difficulties he faced at the Spanish Grand Prix after suffering from tonsilitis. The McLaren driver battled through the illness to secure eighth and was sent for medical checks immediately after the race. “Today was tough,” Norris said. “I was feeling really unwell before the race as I’m suffering with tonsillitis, and that, in combination with the high temperatures, made this one of the hardest races I’ve ever done.” JN

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Images: Motorsport Images ZAK BROWN fired a warning shot at Daniel Ricciardo while attending the Indy 500 Carburation Day, on the same weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix. The McLaren CEO admitted Ricciardo’s contract with his team runs until the end of 2023, but added, “there are contractual mechanisms in which we are not committed!”

Even before the start of FP1 in Monaco, Daniel Ricciardo clarified some comments that hinted he needed to negotiate a new contract with McLaren for next year, saying that, “I have a contract with the team until the end of next year, so I’ll be definitively be driving for McLaren in 2023.”

But much later in the day, across the Atlantic, Zak Brown was clearly playing to a different tune, when he said that, “without wanting to get into the contract details, there are mechanisms in which we’re committed to each other and then there’s mechanisms in which we’re not.”

The American then added that, “I’ve spoken with Daniel about it – we’re not getting the results that we both hoped for, but we’re both going to continue to push.

I think he showed at Monza he can win races. We also need to continue to develop our race car. It’s not capable of winning

races, but we’d like to see him further up the grid.”

And when asked when a decision could be made, Brown just said, “we’ll just play it ... I don’t want to say ‘one race at a time’ because we’re not going to one race at a time ... but we’ll just see how things develop, what he wants to do.”

Brown is desperate to get a US-based driver into Formula One, courting Colton Herta openly and also keeping Pato O’Ward amongst his options, but recently clarified that, “when I first talked about that I was thinking more about the future, not necessarily 2023.”

With Ricciardo adamant he’ll stay on for next year, McLaren’s only option to get him out of the team would be to pay him a full year’s salary just to sit it out, an extreme solution Brown won’t be taking in these days of budget cuts and economic crisis.

But as one Australian may look set to exit Formula One, another one is all but certain of getting a race seat for next year, even if he’s not sure with which team. For Oscar Piastri, it looks increasingly likely Alpine will take the option over his services before the British Grand Prix, opting against keeping Fernando Alonso alongside Esteban Ocon for another year, even if the Spaniard is

still regularly outpacing his team mate. But Alpine’s CEO Laurent Rossi has made it clear that, “we want to put Oscar in Grand Prix racing next year and if we cannot offer him a seat in our team we’re more than happy to do a deal with another team to get him valuable track time.”

Williams is the team most likely to be willing to take the young Australian on loan, as the previous experience with Mercedes driver George Russell and the current experience with Red Bull contracted Alex Albon have been very positive for Jost Capito’s team. An Albon-Piastri line-up would be one of the best on the grid and with Latifi’s time in Formula One coming to an end in Abu Dhabi, if not sooner, Williams would be delighted to welcome Piastri for one or two seasons.

There is, however, a third possibility that is directly linked with Daniel Ricciardo’s place in McLaren. Although Zak Brown wants a US-based driver, Seidl and the rest of the management seem to believe putting Piastri alongside Norris would be the best possible solution – so one Australian could replace another one at McLaren if, eventually, the Woking-based team decides to terminate its contract with the veteran driver from Perth.

FIA PRESIDENT WANTS TO “REINFORCE OUR STRUCTURE”

FIA PRESIDENT Mohammed Ben Sulayem is determined to “make our structure stronger. ” He has plans to hire a lot more personnel, “to put us in a much better position to regulate the sport than we are currently in, because I found the Federation is massively understaffed”, he said during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the World Rally Championship that took place in Portugal.

With most of the great champions from that discipline attending the ceremony, including former stars Walter Röhrl, Miki Biasion, Ari Vatanen, Petter Solberg, Marcus Gronholm and Carlos Sainz, as well as current top drivers Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier and Ott Tanak, Ben Sulayem revealed that he believes, “Formula One needs three full time Race Directors, rather than the two we currently have; but Race Directors don’t grow on trees and we need to develop them before they’re given such a huge responsibility.”

The Emirati, who did quite a lot of rallying in the past, admitted that, “rally co-drivers are logical candidates for such a job, because they’re very good at organizing things and they’re used to make quick decisions under tremendous pressure. That’s why I’m 100 per cent convinced the co-drivers will rise to the top of the pyramid quickly, to be ready to work in Formula One quicker than people coming through other routes.”

Ben Sulayem admitted that, “you cannot just pick someone and train them, we need to have a structure in place and that’s what I’m about to set up. And maybe we’ll need to have more than three Race Directors available at any given time, because it’s not possible to rely in just one man like the FIA did for many years, as with so many races per season now it’s clear we have to rotate them, to keep them sharp.”

The new President of the FIA seems determined to get Formula One back into the Federation’s control and has been making sure Formula One and the teams get the message. His blocking of the increase of Sprint Races to six per season from 2023 and his push against Lewis Hamilton competing with jewellery pierced onto his body are just two ways he has found to show Domenicali and the 10 Team Principals who is in charge. Those who know him well have assured us Ben Sulayem won’t back down, as he’s used to getting what he wants and very few people, during his life, have dared to say “no” to his commands. Formula One may thus be in for some turbulent times until a new balance of power between the FIA and the other players in Formula One is established, after 12 years during which Jean Todt, the previous FIA president, was happy to work on a road safety campaign, leaving the running of Formula one to the Commercial Rights Holder and to the teams.

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RED ALERT AT FERRARI AFTER THREE PU FAILURES FERRARI’S ENGINE department is overloaded with work after three Power Unit issues during the Spanish Grand Prix set the alarm bells on at Maranello.

On Friday afternoon, Valteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo suffered a massive ICE blowup after completing just one lap in FP2, forcing the Finn to skip an entire session for the third time this year. Then, of course, midway through the race, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had to retire from a comfortable lead, feeling “I have no power”, just a few minutes after Guanyu Zhou was called into the pits by his race engineer at Alfa Romeo, as the telemetry was showing his Ferrari Power Unit was about to fail too.

Three Power Unit issues in just one weekend is not acceptable during these times of controlled costs and limited parts for the whole season and ,on Sunday night, a Ferrari truck drove straight to Maranello, with the three defective Power Units, arriving at the factory in the early hours of Monday, to be fully stripped and analysed,.

The Scuderia is working flat out to eliminate the issues in time for the Azerbaijan and Canadian Grands Prix, two races where the Power Units are heavily punished by long straights and constant accelerations our of slow corners.

On Tuesday after the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari issued a statement, confirming it had found the reason behind Leclerc’s retirement in Barcelona: “Having examined the PU from Leclerc’s car, we found the turbo and MGU-H are damaged and cannot be repaired.

“However, having fully analysed the failure and its cause, we are satisfied it did not occur through a design fault or reliability issue with these two components or any other elements of the PU.” Down at Alfa Romeo the team is certain Valtteri Bottas’ PU is gone for good. As the Finnish driver told us: “I’d done my first lap in FP2, a pretty good one, when I first felt a different smell, the power started to go and immediately after there was a

big bang, so all my senses got the same message instantly: the engine was gone.

That’s why I immediately pulled out of the racing line and got into the grass before Turn 1, because I didn’t want to leave a lot of oil in the track.”

The engine blowout was so violent that, “it damaged the floor, and even cracked the engine cover”, Team Principal Frederic Vasseur told us, “leaving us very short of parts for the rest of the weekend, because we didn’t have many spares for the aerodynamic upgrade we introduced in Valtteri’s car here.”

To make matters worse for the Swissbased team, Guanyu Zhou was the first retirement of the race when the team saw on the data, “something related to the cooling system.”

Xevi Pujolar, the team’s Head of Track Operations, explained: “We had to retire the car to avoid it damaging the Power Unit, but we haven’t yet got the reason for that issue to occur.”

CHINA ASKS FOR 2023 OCTOBER SLOT CANCELLED FOR the third season running in 2022, the Chinese Grand Prix may make a comeback to Formula One next year, even though the pandemic situation in the country remains completely out of control.

Shanghai has remained in lockdown for the last two months and other big cities also face partial or total lockdowns, as the government seems unable to succeed in a battle that all developed countries have already overcome, with normality resuming, with some restrictions, pretty much worldwide.

Trying to secure a date in the 2023 calendar that will minimise the risks of a fourth consecutive cancellation of their event – and desperate to hold a Grand Prix while Guanyu Zhou is in Formula One, to attract a larger number of spectators to the Shanghai International Circuit – the promoters of the Chinese Grand Prix have asked Formula One to schedule their race for October, six months after the normal April date.

With Stefano Domenicali and the Formula One teams pushing to organise the schedule better, putting races in the same geographical region together to reduce the amount of traveling required by the 3.000 plus people that have to go to all the races, China is hoping to get a slot after the Singaporean and Japanese Grand Prix, making it an Asian triple header that would come after

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the end of the European season.

While Domenicali is open to the change, Formula One’s preferred solution would be to have the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for two weeks after the Italian Grand Prix, on September 24th, as entering Shanghai is still going to be a logistical challenge for everybody, given the country is unlikely to reopen its borders fully even at the end of next year, so a few extra days to sort things out entering China will be welcome.

That would keep Singapore and Japan in their usual spots and wouldn’t force Austin and Mexico City to more from their traditional dates at the end of October. Domenicali faces big challenges to organize a more rational schedule due to the demands of some bigpaying promoters, so don’t expect even a provisional 2023 calendar to be released until September, as tense negotiations will take time to bear any fruit.

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CAUCHI

DAVID REYNOLDS AND LEE HOLDSWORTH ARE BENEFITTING FROM A T8 INJECTION AT GROVE RACING Words: Paul Gover Images: Motorsport Images EVERYONE THOUGHT that David Cauchi was part of the furniture at Triple Eight Race Engineering.

And then he wasn’t …

After standing in race control in The Bulls garage as a long-term pillar of the team’s success, engineering Jamie Whincup to titles, Cauchi has flipped to the dark side at Grove Racing.

Cauchi tells Auto Action it’s too early to be talking about the details of his red-to-blue defection, and the critical technical differences between a Holden Commodore and a Ford Mustang in Supercars racing, but is happy and open on just about every other topic.

“I’ve learned that life is weird and wonderful,” Cauchi says.

“I never say never these days. I knew I needed a different challenge in life.”

Cauchi is not the first high-profile defector from Roland Dane’s crack outfit, following such successful engineers as Ludo Lacroix, Adrian Burgess, Campbell Little and even Jeromy Moore – although he returned after time at Porsche in Europe – into something new.

He’s also graduated from a race engineer into a Team Principal, the best it gets for an ambitious front-line fighter in Supercars.

“Running a team was always something that interested me. And I knew that for an opportunity to arise I had to make the really, really hard decision to hand in a letter to Triple Eight that I wasn’t going to be there.”

So Cauchi is admitting he didn’t have a job when he left the crack Banyo camp? And that the Grove Racing deal came later?

“Yes. That’s right,” he begins.

“I was ready for a change. I had to make the decision so I could go and look for another opportunity.

“If you don’t resign you get to the end of the year and then you have another six months before you can leave. You have to bite the bullet.

“I was just looking for something different. I had been at T8 for 14 years, which is a very long time, and I had had an amazing time. And was still having an amazing time.

“It’s a great bunch of people. Most of my best friends in life still work there. At end of the day, friends are the most important thing to me in life.”

So what is the big BUT that took him into the unknown?

“I was looking for a new challenge. I would still love to race engineer. But I also knew I needed a different challenge.”

So how did he end up in the driving seat at Grove Racing?

“That came out fairly organically. That just sort of came about. They were still finalising their take-over, transitioning to 100 per cent ownership. That eventually played out for them.

“Brenton had driven for T8 in Super2, so I had a relationship with Brenton already. We would keep in touch, in general, socially. We got talking … “ But then he had to tell Roland Dane, as T8 quickly launched a legal challenge over the details of Cauchi’s move to Grove. It’s now been settled, and it’s something else that Cauchi will not talk about.

But how did Dane, a notoriously tough boss in business, react?

“He was fine. He was understanding. Plenty of people have resigned before. Jeromy left when he was at about the same time in his career as I was.

“I think he understood I was looking for a different role. I wasn’t looking to race engineer another car in Supercars.

“He knew I was looking for a different challenge. And so was Jamie. I spoke to Jamie first, to let him know.“

Above and right: David Reynolds is back to his best ...

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The change meant Cauchi, now 38 and with his partner Allyson, moved from Brisbane to Melbourne. It was a disruption, but no different than his original move from Sydney – where he had grown up in Greystanes and attended the University of Technology – to Queensland.

The pair are happily settled in Southbank, one of the chic urban areas in the heart of Melbourne.

But life for Cauchi is now focussed on Grove Racing and he is already making a big impact, driving the team’s Mustangs forward into solid podium contention at Winton.

David Reynolds is back to his best, bouncy and fast, and Lee Holdsworth – even with a one-year deal that means he is near-certain to lose his seat to Matt Payne for season 2023 – is also happy.

Cauchi has never smile as much and even

his trademark stubble from T8 is now mowed more regularly.

“There are a lot of differences. We are at very different stages of our history “Triple Eight is a very well-established team that’s had very consistent management and leadership for a very long time. They ‘ve won races, won championships; they’ve ticked all that stuff off. Now they are venturing into other categories and doing other things.

“We’re at the very beginning of our journey. We’ve been Grove Racing for not quite six months.

“But we’ve had some amazing success already, which has been unbelievable. That’s down to the hard work from everyone this year, in terms of bringing everything together.

“And they are working with a new driver in Lee Holdsworth, welcoming myself and the Groves as 100 per cent owners.”

MAGIC The change from Kelly Racing is another ‘later’ topic for Cauchi, but he is impressed with his crew.

“I literally couldn’t ask any more from any one of them. That’s why we’re starting to see results.

“We still have all of these wonderful things to look forward to. That’s the biggest difference.

We’re at a different stage of our life.”

But can he point to some specifics? After all, he now has 23 staff including the drivers, where Triple Eight is more than 50.

“When you have less people it’s a little bit more inclusive. You rely on people, and it’s more like a little family. Once you get to the size of 35-40 people it’s a lot of different personalities, with lots of internal conflicts. You need to put a lot more time into people management.

“Right now we’re very tight-knit little family and we all understand each other very well.

It’s a great little bunch of people.

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“We’ve got some very talented people. We are a very focussed business. And we basically just go racing. And we’re having a lot of fun.”

It sounds like a dream job for the youngster who headed for university with a focus on mechanical and mechatronic engineering.

“Even though I did that degree, I arrowed it more towards mechanical design. I always had the desire to work in motorsport, so that’s where I channelled most of my energy.”

Like many kids, he has his roots in karting.

“I don’t have a family history, as such, in motorsport. But my father was very mechanically minded. He would take us to Parramatta speedway, watching Sprintcars, to Oran Park for some Supercar races there.

“From a young age I was always drawn to Supercars. I can remember watching Bathurst from 6am. Always being drawn to that day. It just grew from there.

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“I did a little bit of kart racing with my good friend Rob Storey when I was at uni. I’ve got a few trophies at home, but nothing worth talking about.

“At that time I didn’t know what I was doing.

I was just winging it. But Rob Storey is Wally Storey’s son and Wally is actually responsible for getting me involved in motorsport.

“I did work experience with the Lansvale Smash team in Year 9. I met Wally and he took care of me. I would work for him and he’d teach me a thing or two.

“I went racing with Wally and Rob when they were doing the Formula Ford state series. And that led on to getting the job at Triple Eight.

Wally put in a good word with me with Ludo Lacroix.”

Cauchi became part of a dynasty at T8 and has been instrumental in many victories.

So, which is his favourite?

“I think we had five championships in my time at Triple Eight. As a race engineer it’s three – two with Jamie and one with Shane. And five wins at Bathurst.

“I actually never won a Bathurst 1000 as a race engineer. But we won the Bathurst 500 with Shane in 2021 – when it was the first sprint round.

“Your first championship is a massive achievement. When I won my first championship in 2014 as a race engineer, even after winning with the broader team, it’s a big achievement.

“But you’re also very respectful and grateful that it’s the broader team that gets you there. It’s definitely a team sport in many, many ways.

“On a personal level, race engineering is a very challenging role. You do have quite a lot of exposure and pressure on you to extract the most out of the car and driver.

“You learn to live with it. It’s always there. I found you always carry that weight throughout the year.

“No matter what you’re doing, it’s always somewhere in your mind. You might have won a race, and you celebrate, but your brain very quickly turns to how to do it again the next weekend.

“There is the pressure on you for how to make this thing go fast. It’s very rewarding.”

Cauchi has an insight on success.

“You have work with your driver, and be at one with them. Sometimes you have to . . .

“ ”

L to r: Reynolds, Cauchi, Stephen and Brenton Grove.

Podiums already: wins coming ... how do you say . . . put the technically correct thing aside a little bit to deal with the human side. Sometimes what makes the most sense technically might not make the most sense. It’s not just drivers, it’s the broader team as well.

“There are a lot of moving parts. So you do absolutely have to factor all that in to a decision.

“Sometimes it can be a purely technical decision, but not always. It might be just knowing that set-up X is the best direction but we cannot maximise that set-up in the time we have. There are always a lot of direct factors at play in how to set up the car or approach a race weekend.”

His approach also had to consider the drivers, and he’s had a few.

Favourite driver?

“It’s not just Shane and Jamie. There is Skaifey, Paul Dumbrell, Garth Tander. There are so many great drivers, championship-winning drivers.

Russell Ingall last year and young Broc Feeney.

“I’ve been very lucky to work with that calibre of driver.”

So, has he seen a common denominator, beyond raw speed?

“They are all different. They all approach their craft in a different way and achieve their speed in different ways. And that’s what so interesting At the end of the day we’ve trying to achieve the same goal but there is no ‘one size fits all’.”

But he knows one thing.

“Some people go about it the wrong way.

There is no one magical formula. It comes down to the little things.”

Those things are obvious to anyone who has seen neat-freak Whincup and free-wheeling van Gisbergen up close “They both approach the race weekend very professionally, they are both very diligent, and have a massive desire to win.

“They are just very different humans. The way they process things, they want they talk about the car, the way they prepare.

“They are very different, but on track, on their day, there is nothing between them. All of us like different things – that’s what makes the world the way it is.”

So which of the drivers would he choose for a social night out?

“That’s not a fair question. I’m not going to answer that!” Cauchi says.

But he will talk about his favourite wins.

“It’s the races that you get a result, it might not have been a win, that you probably shouldn’t have got. It’s hard to pinpoint one. ... it could be when we came third when we should have come fifth.

“Last year, when we got a win at Sandown with Shane having his broken collarbone. We qualified poorly, so to then to come and win the race ... they are the sort of wins that mean the most to you.

“They stand out because they are massive achievements. They mean more than starting from the front row and then winning.

“Race wins are never easy. To win a race in Supercars is a massive achievement. The competitiveness of the category is phenomenal.

There are no easy wins these days.”

So what does it take to win, and how will Cauchi make it happen with the Penrite Mustangs?

“There is a reason that winners win and losers lose. Motorsport is a very complex sport.

You have the human element and the machine.

“That’s what makes motorsport so massive.

The human and the machine have to work together, and it’s not just the driver and car, but the driver, car and the team around them.

“It’s a big, big machine and a big cycle to get that working together. But, again, there are ways that work and ways that don’t.

“I’ve been lucky to be part of teams that make it work. I hope I have a winning mindset and a winning way.

“You’ll have to ask someone else about being a loser.”

Even so, there must be some examples of what Cauchi has changed at Grove Racing?

Some people say it is money – Stephen Grove admits there are lots of new parts on the cars, and Brenton Grove, like Cauchi, is smiling more in 2022.

“You always need to spend money, but what’s important is spending money in the right areas. I don’t think we’re spending more money.

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Lee Holdsworth (above and below right) has fitted into the new Grove squad seamlessly.

Cauchi comes to Grove Racing after 14 years with the benchmark Triple Eight team.

“You always need to spend money, but what’s important is spending money in the right areas.

I don’t think we’re spending more money.

“There are plenty of other teams that have more money than us. We’ve very calculating in what we’re doing.

“We’ve grown the team a little bit and trying to hire the right people. We’re spending money where it matters and focussing on improving, not just the cars, but the team and our systems and processes. In some cases that saves you time and money.

“It’s easy to say we’re just spending more money, but if that’s what people think then I’m perfectly fine with it.”

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Winton brought podium success, but the next target has to be a win. So, when?

“I don’t think it’s too far away. We’re hungry for a race win. We’ve had seconds and thirds at Winton. I believe we genuinely had the car pace to win if we’d started from a better qualifying position.

“I think we’ve shown the pace to win. But we need to improve our qualifying to start from a position where we can maximise our pace.

“We’re not putting any pressure on it. There are some very in-form teams and drivers. We are going to have to keep pushing.

“Is it possible for us to win? Absolutely it is.”

His enthusiasm is obvious, but the first win

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is just the first objective.

“A new challenge refreshes you. It reinvigorates you. The role here and the job at hand is way harder compared to beginning again in a very well-established team.

“You feel like you’ve got Everest to climb.

There are times when you feel it’s a big challenge. But I’m enjoying the journey.

“I want to win the next race. But I’m also understanding of the journey, in this sport and in this life, that you don’t always win straight away.

“And that’s what makes the winning so rewarding – you’ve been though that journey.

I’m seeing the team, together, going through

that journey. To do it with a different bunch of people has been very rewarding for me.”

The Cauchi plan, not surprisingly, goes beyond the here-and-now and well into his personal future and his time with the Groves.

“I’ve got no plans to work for anyone else until I retire, at this point. When I made this commitment to the Groves it was a longterm commitment.

“I don’t see any reason why I won’t be here for 14 years or longer. I’m having a great time in my role and Stephen and Brenton are great guys to work for. I’m learning so much from them. “I’m not thinking about anything else. Not even for a microsecond.”

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ALL TO PLAY FOR THE FIGHT FOR LE MANS 24 HOURS GLORY IS THE MOST OPEN IT HAS BEEN FOR MANY YEARS, WITH BOTH ALPINE AND GLICKENHAUS POSING A REAL THREAT TO THE TOYOTA GAZOO RACING CARS. DAN MCCARTHY TALKS TO A NUMBER OF THE AUSTRALASIAN HOPES INCLUDING OUR SUPERCARS CHAMPION

THE MAXIMUM 62 entrants across four classes will take to Le Mans again in 2022.

This year, the race returns to its traditional date in June, Toyota doesn’t have a stranglehold on the top-tier Hypercar class, and there an impressive total of six Aussies and Kiwis competing in the 99th edition of the most famous endurance race.

HYPERCAR DESPITE ONLY five entrants in the top-tier World Endurance Championship class of Hypercar this year, for the first time since 2017 Toyota does not have the race sewn up before it has even begun.

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Balance of Performance changes this year have allowed both the Alpine and Glickenhaus machines to get not only closer to Toyota, but take legitimate race wins from them.

The Alpine took pole in the season opener at Sebring and converted it to its first ever Hypercar class win.

At Spa-Francorchamps it was Glickenhaus’ turn to break-through. The team took pole and were in contention all race long – only a late strategy blunder saw them finish third.

Toyota has won the last four Le Mans 24 Hours with relative ease. But this year, the Japanese brand will have to push its

technology hard for 24 hours.

In the most recent race, at Spa, the technology failed and resulted in the #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Kiwi Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa retiring from the race lead.

Both Toyotas have retired from at least one race – the reigning champions in the #7 car failed to finish at Sebring when Jose Maria Lopez firstly clashed with a backmarker and the resulting damage saw the car crash later in the lap and spectacularly roll onto its roof.

Toyota are lagging behind in the championship; however one saving grace is that its Le Mans aero package proved very effective in race trim at Spa. Spa, the traditional precursor to Le Mans, is usually a good indicator of what to expect as it boasts similar downforce levels.

The Spa win will be a good boost of confidence for Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway who look to go back-to-back at Le Mans.

Despite Toyota’s difficult start, the performance at Spa places the number #7 car as the slight favourite.

The #8 contains three-time winner Buemi and two-time winner Hartley – however it also contains Japanese driver Hirakawa.

Due to the early mechanical failure at Spa, Hirakawa has only contested one race this year; he has not raced at Le Mans since

2017 and never in the top-tier class. He will be leaning on his experienced team-mates over the weekend.

As it did last year, Alpine is fielding one car for its three well-known quantities Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

The Alpine has great race pace, but does not have the same fuel mileage as the Toyotas. This could play a big part if the race is largely uninterrupted.

Glickenhaus will field its regular car with Pipo Derani, Romain Dumas and Olivier Pla, as well as an additional entry.

Former IndyCar driver, Australian Ryan Briscoe, who has raced in selected rounds for the team, will drive the #709 machine alongside Le Mans veterans Richard Westbrook and Franck Mailleux.

Glickenhaus has improved its reliability this year and, like Alpine, are now more than capable of taking the fight to Toyota over 24 Hours.

LMP2 A STAGGERING 27 LMP2 entries are competing in the 24 Hours this year, 17 in the traditional class and 10 in Pro-Am. LMP2 is more competitive than ever, containing ex-F1 drivers, IndyCar champions, Formula E champions, Formula 2 frontrunners and even a World Rally Champion.

“Things will be okay, but it’s all about how the test goes, making sure we get everything right; and it’s all about that preparation in the weeks leading up.

“I just go out there, do my best, enjoy myself and if we get a good result, that’s awesome.”

Ferrari, Porsche and Chevrolet are all fielding a pair of factory Pro cars in the race this year.

Chevrolet has only fielded one car this season, but will add an additional car for Le Mans.

The Porsches have been the ones to beat in 2022 and, despite winning in Spa, the Ferraris have looked very much on the back foot – the reason that AF Corse won at SpaFrancorchamps was due to wet weather.

However, Ferrari always lifts its game at Le Mans, and BoP changes in the lead up to the race could see the form guide change.

Left: The 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours is go ...

Bottom: Defending WEC champions in the #7 Toyota, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez and Mike Conway are hoping to go back-to-back at Le Mans. The sister #8 car can’t be ruled out either.

Right: Already this year the sole Alpine has broken through taking its first pole and first race win, the #36 is a serious contender.

Right lower: Australian Ryan Briscoe raced at Sebring and will drive the additional #709 Glickenhaus at Le Mans this year.

Images: Motorsport Images

So far this year, Team WRT and Real Team

by WRT have been the outfits to beat, with both entries finishing on the podium in the first two races.

They are the favourites heading into the race this year, although JOTA has looked in typically consistent form as has United Autosports and new team Prema.

Australian James Allen finished on the podium in the LMP2 class at Le Mans last year and returns in the Pro-Am division.

Allen feels that the team is getting stronger and is very confident of a strong result in the 24 Hour.

“We had a third at Sebring and a second at Spa – we were quite close to taking the win at Spa,” Allen told Auto Action.

“We seem to be coming together more as a team and looking forward to racing at Le Mans. I feel like we’re getting better and better as a team and I think the target is

definitely to win LMP2 Pro Am and get that big haul of points for the championship.”

Allen will share the car with the incredibly experienced Rene Binder and bronze ranked driver Steven Thomas.

Could the Pro-Am teams can take the fight to the outright LMP2 cars?

“We’ve seen in WEC (this year) that even the top Pro-Am cars have been generally quite a fair way behind the Pro cars – like you said, the standard in P2 is unbelievably high this year.”

In 2017 an LMP2 car nearly won the race outright as the Toyota and Porsches lacked reliability over 24 Hours.

At Spa, Toyota showed it had a couple of chinks in its armour with reliability, but also its inability to hunt down LMP2 cars in wet conditions.

“I think it’s a very long shot,” Allen said. “In the wet, the LMP2s did seem to have a good measure on the Hypercars.

“But we have to remember that the Alpine Hypercar is basically an LMP2 just beefed up all round.

“It’s not as complicated as the Toyota or even the Glickenhaus. Regardless of the situation, there’s always one Hypercar that should outperform us.

“An LMP2 car on the podium is a very real and very serious possibility, but to win is quite a long shot.”

LMGTE PRO Reigning Supercars champion van Gisbergen will be competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours for tjhe first time.

Van Gisbergen, teamed with former

factory Ferrari driver Sam Bird and DTM driver Felipe Fraga, will be the sole privately run team against the factory operations.

Nevertheless, SVG is optimistic of competing strongly in the 488.

“We’re up against it, but Riley Autosport are a great, great team,” van Gisbergen said to AA. “I drove for them in 2017 (at Daytona); they’re an awesome bunch of guys and a proper race team.

“It’s not often you get to race in that class, and not be a factory driver, to get the opportunity to race in the Pro class with a private entry ... it’s pretty cool.

“It’s certainly going to be tough, but the GTE cars are all pretty similar – hopefully we’ll be okay.”

Riley Motorsport is a team that competes in the IMSA Sportscar Championship and therefore has vast experience in long distance racing.

For van Gisbergen, it will be a week of learning. Not only is it a new track, but he has never raced a 488 or a higher downforce GTE machine.

“I haven’t driven a GTE car. They’ve got more aero, more power and they don’t have ABS. They’ve got traction control, but it’s still going to be a big challenge ... it’s not going to easy that’s for sure.”

When asked about his targets and expectations for the race SVG says he has none – he just wants to enjoy the experience.

“I don’t know what to expect, but it should be fine; the co-drivers I’ve got are really good and experienced, the team is good and Ferrari won there last year as well.

LMGTE AM LMGTE AM will be fought between 23 entries across three brands – Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin.

Once again, Aussie Matt Campbell, former Le Mans 24 Hours class winner, returns with Porsche.

This year, Campbell is not competing in the full-season and therefore is racing for European Le Mans team Proton Competition.

Campbell will be paired with IMSA driver Zach Robichon and well-known actor Michael Fassbender. Fassbender has raced a Porsche in ELMS for several seasons, but this will be his Le Mans debut.

Despite only fielding three of the regular 13 entries, Aston machines are 1-2 in the Am championship, which so far has very much been a battle between Porsche and Aston Martin.

Top: Matt Campbell will race for European Le Mans outfit Proton Competition this year in the LMGTE Am class teaming up with a well-known actor.

Above: After finishing on the outright LMP2 podium last year, Australian James Allen is one of the favourites for the LMP2 Pro Am class this year.

Below: The #51 Ferrari took victory in LMGTE Pro last year, this year Shane van Gisbergen will drive a 488 for American IMSA team Riley Motorsports.

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NATIONALS WRAP WET, WET WAKEFIELD A CHALLENGE RAIN PLAYED havoc with Round 3 of the NSW Motor Racing Championship at Wakefield Park on May 14-15. The soaked off-track areas meant that even when there was no rain, rivers continued to flow across the track, particularly between Turns 1 and 2, and out of the Fishhook, Turn 8. Cars off the track punctuated many of the races over the weekend.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION U2L Regular front-runner Kurt Macready put his Nissan Silvia on pole and won the first of four races, but from then on the weekend went downhill. In the wet second race, he had a spin and went down a lap as he tried to get out of the trackside slop. Then in Sunday’s third race, an oil leak sent him to the pits.

Meanwhile, Ian Price (Ford Escort) and Matt Harris (Honda Civic) took the minors in the first race, with the second race going to Harris from Charlie Viola (Honda Integra) and Bob Jowett (Civic). Saturday’s third race went to Jowett from Harris and Mark Larmour (Renault Clio).

In the final, it was Harris all the way, while Jowett and Larmour both spun on the opening lap. From the rear, Macready made good progress early, before a late moment saw him drop to fifth where he’d finish. Harris took the win, from Matt Birks (Toyota Corolla) and Viola.

PRODUCTION TOURING AFTER POLE went to Dimitri Agathos (Subaru

NATIONALS WRAP with Garry O’Brien Impreza WRX STi), it was second-fastest qualifier Harrison Cooper (Mitsubishi EVO X) who won all three races; Saturday’s dry one and Sunday’s two wet events.

Matt Boylan (EVO X) took the fight up to Cooper, and led the first race for a lap, andt spent the races looking for a way past.

Agathos took a trio of third places. Best of the 2WD cars was Stewart Follows in his Ford Fiesta.

FORMULA FORD IT WAS a near perfect weekend for James Piszcyk (Mygale) with pole and three wins.

Only Adrian Sarkis (Mygale) gave him any opposition, and led the first three laps of Sunday’s trophy race.

Edison Beswick (Spectrum) took second in the opener, from Sarkis. Race 2 finished under Safety Car, after Kiarra Jones was beached at Turn 2. Sarkis was second, from Patrick Heuzenroeder (Spirit).

In the trophy, Sarkis got the best start

Trevan Spiteri dominated 2-Litre Imptoved Production. Image: Riccardo Benvenuti before Piszcyk got past at Turn 2. Sarkis kept Piszcyk in sight until late in the race. A mistake dropped him back to over 20s behind at the finish, but still well clear of third-placed Heuzenroeder.

In the Kent class, the wins were shared between William Lowing (Listec), Jason Liddell (Swift) and Max Mason (Mygale).

IMPROVED PRODUCTION O2L ALL-WHEEL DRIVE ruled the weekend, with the slippery conditions making traction critical.

Trevan Spiteri (Mitsubishi EVO) took pole and four race wins, but was kept honest most of the time by the similar car of Scott Tutton.

Race 1 went to Spiteri, from Tutton and Nigel Williams who had put his HSV GTS on the front row. Tutton made a great start in Race 2

and headed Spiteri for the first six of 12 laps, before he slipped sideways and allowed Spiteri into the lead. That’s how they finished, with Williams third again.

In Race 3, Tutton launched brilliantly again, but Spiteri was past at the end of the first lap.

The result was a copy of the first two races.

In the trophy race, Tutton again won the start and led for three laps. Williams spun at Turn 2 and finished up bogged, far enough off to allow the race to go on. Spiteri built his lead steadily over Tutton, with Andrew McMaster (BMW M3) next, from David Ellis (Holden Commodore).

FORMULA CARS AGi SPORT had a great weekend. Their three-car team topped the grid positions,

ANOTHER TROPHY FOR JOHNSON AN ANNUAL event at the Collie Motorplex on May 14-15 was the Ernie Hastie Memorial with the Trophy race contested by Saloon Cars. For the eighth time in nine years it was won be Grant Johnson.

SALOONS CARS PRO IN A Holden Commodore VT, Johnson dominated and started with an all-thewin in Race 1. The minor places changed throughout before Mason Harvey (Ford Falcon AU) secured from Michael Holdcroft (VT). In the second outing Johnson won from Harvey with Matt Martin (VT) third.

The last race was the Ernie Hastie Memorial Trophy race which Johnson led from the start as Martin jumped ahead of Harvey. It took three laps for the latter to get by Martin which is the way they crossed the finish line. However, Harvey received a 5s penalty as he gridded incorrectly. Martin was elevated to second from Chase Hoy (VT).

SALOON CARS PRO-AM THERE WERE three different winners as overall honours went to Marc Watkins (Ford Falcon EA). In Race 1 Shane Eather (EA) led Michael Koberstein (Holden Commodore VN) throughout while Watkins filled third place.

Koberstein got the jump on Eather at the start of the second encounter and led all the way. Eather crossed the line in second, but

34 I www.autoaction.com.au

Grant Johnson took a trio of wins in Saloon Cars Pro. Image: Mick Oliver a 5s penalty for a false start relegated him to fourth behind Watkins and Reg Ralph (Commodore VP). Watkins made the most of a good Race 3 start and led to the finish.

Koberstein was second until Eather found a way past.

HQ HOLDENS THE MEETING featured two rounds of the popular single-make series which were both won by Michael Howlett.

He led round two’s Race 1 from lights-out to flag and won ahead of Dennis Russell and Grant Ord. It was similar tale in Race 2 although Ord was able to displace Russell for second. Ord was able to lead Race 3 by the end of lap one while Howlett muffed the start and was well back. Howlett was second by mid-distance and took the lead

on the penultimate laps while Russell was third.

Michael Woodbridge had carby issues on Saturday but came out strong for Round 3. He passed Howlett for the lead but lost it shortly after. Then, on the last lap, Woodbridge overtook Howlett to win with Ord chasing for third. Howlett staved off Woodbridge’s challenge in the second and had a small advantage in the last when Ord took second briefly before finishing with two more thirds.

STREET CARS/IMPROVED PRODUCTION IN HIS Improved Production Subaru Impreza STi, Michael Sciorio led every lap of the three races. In the first he beat category rival Reuben Romkes after the Holden

Michael Howlett (7) and Michael Woodbridge (74) in close HQ company. Image: Mick Oliver Monaro driver passed Grant Gellan (Ford Escort). Fourth went to Lib Palermo (Holden Commodore) from Ashley Seisun (Holden Torana) and Ron Coote (Escort).

With Gallen a non-starter, Romkes placed second in Race 2, ahead of Palermo and was second in the last.

Best of the Street Sedans was Drew Watkins (Nissan 180SX) with seventh in the opener. Class leader Wayne Hastie (Nissan Pulsar) spun and retired with Luke Streat (Honda Civic) took over but couldn’t hold off Watkins.

Watkins placed fourth in Race 2 before a third in the last. He took the class win in the second from Streat. Shaun Mulquiney (Nissan Skyline) made it to the last race and was second until Streat pushed him back to third.

ONE-MAKES STAR IN TASMANIAN CIRCUIT RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS NUMBERS WERE down in several categories at the second round of the Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championships at Symmons Plains on May 14-15, but it didn’t detract from the racing, especially in Hyundai Excels, HQ Holdens and Formula Vees.

Changing weather conditions as well, on the Sunday, threw a few curve balls with a dry, then wet, then mostly dry track that tested the skills of drivers.

Crossed-up Piszcyk and Beswick head a busy Formula Ford field. Image: Bruce Moxon Nathan Gotch (F3 Dallara F307) ahead of the F4 Mygales piloted by Costa Toparis and Gianmarco Pradel.

Gotch had a spin in Race 1, and dropped a lap in the mud, to finish ninth after a quick pit stop to check for damage. Toparis led Pradel the whole way, with Rod Baker (Dallara F399) next.

Gotch was up to fourth in Race 2 after one lap. A Safety Car for a spun and bogged car closed the field up. At the restart Toparis led from Pradel and Gotch who moved up to second on lap 5, then the lead with two laps to go. He headed an AGI Trifecta from Toparis and Pradel.

In the final race, there was a bit of early action – two cars fell off the track at the top of the hill, which brought out the Safety Car.

Once the race restarted, Toparis, Gotch and Pradel lapped in formation until another interruption, again due to a spinner. From the restart normal service resumed and the AGi trio finished in that order.

FORMULA VEES THEY SEEMED to suffer more than most with grip issues when several cars speared off in the variable grip. Craig Sparke took three wins in his Jacer, with few if any mistakes. Sparke led every lap of every race.

The first event had had fellow Jacer drivers Aaron Pace and Hayden Crossland take the minor placings. In Race 2, Pace led Simon Pace (Checkmate) over the line. Aaron Pace and Crossland took the minor silverware in the Trophy Race. Bruce Moxon

races, the first ahead of David Charnley who didn’t come out again, while third place Tyson Sadler was second in the others.

FREE FORMULA AHEAD OF a trio of victories, Daniel Gate (Ralt RT4) led from start to finish in Race 1.

Marc Redman (Van Diemen RF92) came home second, and Lance Carwardine (Jane Brabham) was third. Gate repeated his performance in the second race, however Carwardine got the better of Redman.

While the third race went the same way, Bob Creasy (RT4) was slow out of Turn 2. It created some angst for the closely following Craig Thompson (Lola T204) and Neil Woodward (Befa Ford) as both ended up off track. They both continued while Creasy retired.

EXCELS AS IT was a non-championship round, only three fronted. Craig Charnley won all three

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FORMULA VEES RIGHT FROM the start of Race 1, Jacer pilots McKenzie Matthews, Franz Esterbauer and David Caisley along with Rod Lisson (Sabre) comprised the leading group. Until the last lap Matthews led until Lisson passed him on the last lap for the win while Esterbauer was third from Caisley.

Matthews trailed Lisson throughout Race 2 with Caisley third after Esterbauer pitted with an accelerator glitch. In the last, the lead seesawed between Lisson and Matthews with the former in front when it counted. Esterbauer was back and finished third.

In the 1200s, each race was taken out by Brett Scarey (CD-Vee) from David Campbell (Gerbert). Allan Yeo (Ajay) retired from race one with major engine problems.

SPORTS CARS/SPORTS SEDANS THE OVERALL win went to Walter Epple in his Porsche 997). Daniel Gonzales (Audi R8 LMS) jumped ahead in Race 1 but went wide at Turn 1. Epple slipped through and led for six lap before overhauled by Gonzales, with Brett Niall (TA2 Camaro) third.

The second race started badly for Gonzales when he was last to the grid and returned to the pits before the end of lap one. Epple went onto record a win from Niall with Ron Moller (Camaro) third.

Mick Oliver

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HYUNDAI EXCELS ARGUABLY THE best racing was in the Hyundais, where numbers hadn’t suffered at all, with a field of over 20 cars. There were battles that raged all the way through the pack. But for much of the weekend, the leading quartet featured reigning champion Charlie Parker, former champion Josh Webster, experienced veteran Tim Shaw, and the much-improved Jeremy Bennett.

Series leader Josh Webster was the most consistent over four heats and the double-points final, with two win and four seconds to win the round and extend his points break. Defending champion Charlie Parker had his hands full but was on the podium in all but the first race.

Tim Shaw was in everything and would have won the round, but for a mishap in race two when he finished seventh. However, he still won three races for the weekend, including the double-points final, to slip into second in the championship ahead of Parker and Bennett Webster led from the front in the final, before Shaw took the lead at the start of the last lap. Webster forced his way to the front with two corners to go, before Shaw edged ahead on the line to win by 0.0052s in a thrilling finish.

HQ HOLDENS A smaller field than usual field turned it on, but it was not the one-horse race based on the time sheets. While the results show series leader Andrew Toth won every race and Otis Cordwell was second each time, it was far from a walkover. Both drivers made earn every

podium ahead of the likes of Andrew Bird who had four thirds, Wayne Nichols with one, Anthony Viney and Neville Rattray.

In the last, Toth led the charge and Cordwell challenged early before he dropped back to third and then charged through again to take the lead on the penultimate lap. Cordwell hit the lead on the back straight in the final lap and led Toth to the finish straight. Toth finding a smidgen more speed to snatch victory on the line by 0.004s.

FORMULA VEES CONSISTENCY WAS the key for series leader Jeremy Dyer (Elfin Crusader) who won three races including the final and was second and third in races three and two.

Those two ere won by Richard Gray (Bee Cee Jabiru) who was also on the podium in every race except the first, which he didn’t finish. However, he scored enough points to jump into second in the series ahead of Michael Vaughan (Spectre), also in the mix in every race (two seconds, two thirds and a fourth).

SPORTS GT/IMPROVED PRODUCTION/HISTORIC TOURING FIELDS WERE very small. Mick Williams (Datsun 240Z) was the only competitor in Sports GTC. Sports GTB series leader David Walker (Datsun 1200 Ute) won every race in his category apart from race four, which was taken out by Dennis Howard (Nissan 350Z), while Troy Johnson (Subaru WRX Sti) scored four seconds and a third in the five-car field to move into third in the series.

Jared House (Holden Torana A9X) won every race in a small field of improved Production, although Shane Bond (Datsun 1200 Coupe) did manage to take the fight up to him on occasions. Phil Ashlin continued his successful switch to historic touring cars, winning every race in his Holden Torana XU-1.

Martin Agatyn

Jared House and his Torana took out all the Improved Production races. Image: Angryman

Josh Webster and Tim Shaw were in the lead battle all weekend. Image: Angryman

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NATIONALS WRAP ANOTHER FTD AT WODONGA FTD NUMBER four for the season came at the Wodonga TAFE Logic Centre on May 15 for David Mahon in the Eziup & Go Victorian Hillclimb Championship fifth round.

His best effort aboard the Up to 1.3 litre Hayabusa-powered Dallara F394 Formula Libre at the Albury and Wodonga District Car Club event was a 40.5285s run. It was held using much of the 1.6km “horizontal” course, labelled as such due to the lack of elevation.

His time was 1.6s faster than Mike Barker (F/L 1.3-2.0lt Hayward 6) with third place taken by Glenn Latter (Sports Cars 2WD over 3.0lt Mazda RX7) 7.4s off the quickest time and best of tin tops.

Latter had less than half a second on Jordan James (Mitsubishi EVO 4 4WD Sports Sedan) and 1.5s on Steven Buffinton (Sports Cars 2WD up to 1.6lt Westfield Clubman) and class rival Colin Newitt (Locost).

Seventh on the day was Warren Heath (2WD Improved Production up to 1.6lt Ford Laser Sport) 0.18s ahead of Pun Hy (4WD IP Volkswagen Golf R), Mark Atkinson (F/L Falkenberg Jinx), Stuart Javerkort (1.3-2.0lt SS Honda Civic) and Steve Grinstead (Over 2.0lt SS Holden Commodore VL), the four covered by 0.31s.

There were 45 cars that competed in 18 classes, the closest of which was IP 2WD over 3.0lt where Ray Dore (Chev Camaro Z28) beat Geoff Cooling (Ford Falcon) by 0.13s. Garry O’Brien

SEARCY GETS HIS FIRST WIN RUN IN conjunction with the Australian Rally Championship, the second round of the West Australian championship part of the Make Smoking History Forest Rally held in Bunbury and Nannup was won by Ben Searcy and Damon Nicoli (pictured).

It was Searcy’s maiden victory. Despite a few boost issues in his Mitsubishi EVO 9 on the Saturday, he persevered and recorded a stage win, five stage seconds, and was in the top six in the others.

Second place went to Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) with rookie Daniel Gonzalez and Caleb Ash third in their Hyundai i20N. Heat 1 was dominated by 17-year-old Max McRae and Mac Kierans (WRX), fastest on seven of the 12 stages as one stage was downgraded due to an ARC

car on fire. They finished the day with a 20s lead over Rando who had one stage win. In the second heat, McRae overshot into a ditch on the second stage. It didn’t damage the car or end his rally, but it took some time to extract and that put him out of podium contention. He won two more stages to finish the heat 16th for fourth outright.

Searcy won the first stage of Heat 2, to lead by 11s which kept him in front of Rando for the last four stages despite the latter nabbing a couple of wins.

Equal fifth were Dave Thomas/Mandy Lister (WRX) and John O’Dowd/Toni Feaver (Skoda Fabia R5) ahead of Garry Whittle/Ryan Doe (WRX).

Ali Aslam and Camden Puzey (WRX) shared eighth with the 2WD winners, Glenn Alcorn and Jonathan Charlesson

who won all but four class stages.

The Ford Escort RS crew did have clutch issue which they were able to overcome.

Equal second in 2WD were Gary Mills/ Mitch Gray (Ford Fiesta), and Alex and Lisa White (Nissan Silvia S13).

With seven of the 12 Clubman Cup stage triumphs Hayden and Adam Wright (Hyundai Excel) finished 53s ahead of Damien Cadoux/Gaetan Taglialatela (Mitsubishi Lancer) with another 8.0s to Michael Connore/Eden Hughes (Excel).

Andy van Kann and Catherine Saayman (Toyota Corolla TE27) won every Clubman Masters stage for a big win over Carter Smith and Lachlan White (Excel).

Garry O’Brien

GRAVE’S VICTORY HIS FIRST

NIC GRAVE scored his first rally win at state championship level in the round one of the Tasmanian Rally Championship, the Pirtek Rally Natone on the North-West Coast on May 15.

Driving a former Subaru Australia Rally Team Impreza WRX STi with Craig Sheahan as navigator and in atrocious conditions, the local pair (pictured) won the title opener by 21s. Second were Elliott Ritchie and Doug Austin, also in a WRX. In an amazing performance for a 2WD car, father and son, Jacob and Adrian Walsh (Mazda RX7) finished a further 50s back in third place.

North West Car Club officials were forced to change the order of the eight stages in the forests near Upper Natone due to the heavy rain, which flooded one of the non-competitive transport stages. The conditions also took their toll on the field, with a third of the starters not making it to the finish.

Two-wheel-drive favourites Kade Barrett and David Guest (Plymouth Fire Arrow) were the outright leaders after four stages, but they crashed heavily on the next stage.

Experienced husband and wife Ben and Reubecca Sheldrick (Holden Commodore)

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Image: Shayne Andrews suffered a similar fate after they lost vision in the conditions, caused by faulty windscreen wipers.

Former champion Bodie Reading with Mark Young (WRX) suffered turbo boost problems and lost seven minutes, but still

limped home to finish eighth. However Grave and Sheahan managed to steer clear of any dramas to score a well-deserved win with a bit of local knowledge coming in handy.

The RS Subaru teams battled hard with

Aiden Peterson and Mitchell Newton on top and fourth outright. They were followed by Tim O’Connor and Ian Wheeler, and Michael Nicholls and Callan Randall with 1min 26s across them.

Martin Agatyn

ORANGE’S LATE OPENER THE 15TH year of the John Giddings Memorial Rally of Orange on May 7 signalled the late start of the Pipe Kings AMSAG Southern Cross Series, and it was won by Conor Ferguson and Domhnall McCarthy in their Subaru Impreza WRX (pictured).

While they only scored one stage victory of the eight contested over 160kms in daylight hours, it was their second half consistency that earned them a 15s advantage over Jody Mill and Snow McMahon (Mitsubishi EVO 8) in the end.

Seemingly out after a broken rear suspension arm, Ron and Joe Moore (EVO) fought back to finish third a further minute and a half behind.

Darren Sweeney and Pierce Lennon (WRX) won the first stage ahead of Josh and Matt Redhead (EVO 3) who then turned the tables on the second.

Sweeney was a retirement on Stage 3 with a damaged wishbone and Redhead continued to lead despite a fifth behind stage winners Simon and Luke Jamieson (EVO 7).

On Stage 4, Jamieson was second as Ferguson won the stage before Dean Ridge and Damian Grahame (EVO 7) won the next three after they had been off the road on Stage 2. Jamieson was second again on Stage 5 and before they were out. Mill was second on the sixth where Redhead succumbed to electrical

dramas, and Ferguson placed second on the seventh stage. On the last it was Moore who took the win ahead of Ridge and Mill.

Moore’s final stage success was enough to be elevated to third ahead of Ian Hill and Phillip Bonser (Ford Escort BDA).

Fifth were Michael and Erin Valantine (Datsun Stanza) ahead of Jack Mobbs/ Mackenzie Ryan (Subaru Liberty), Wade and Michael Ryan (Datsun 180B SSS), and Peter and Sue Moore (WRX), David Hills/Ben Richards (Ford Escort RS1800) and Michael Tori/Jamie McIntyre (Toyota Altezza).

Garry O’Brien

Image: Roy Meuronen Photography

GARRY’S

NATIONAL

EVENT

CALENDAR MIDWEEK SPRINTS Rd03, Queensland Raceway QLD SA RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Rd01, Rally of the Heartland, Burra SA

JUN 03-05

EAST COAST CLASSIC Rally Series Rd04, Burra SA

JUN 03-05

TEST & TUNE, Winton VIC

JUN 03

WEEKEND SPRINTS & SUPER SPRINT #6, Queensland Raceway QLD

JUN 04

TAS MOTORKHANA SERIES, Symmons Plains TAS

JUN 04

NORTH WEST CAR CLUB RALLY, TAS

JUN 04

HISTORIC RALLY ASSOCIATION EXPERTS TRIAL, Heathcote VIC

JUN 04

VSCC HILLCLIMB, Mt Clarence Albany WA

JUN 04

WA SPEED EVENT SERIES, Albany Wind Farm WA

JUN 04

TIME ATTACK #2, Lakeside Park QLD

JUN 04

STATE MOTOR RACING CHAMPIONSHIP Rd02, The Ben SA

JUN 04-05

QLD STATE HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIPS, Mt Cotton QLD

JUN 04-05

WA STATE OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP Rd03, Bencubbin WA

JUN 04-05

NSW STATE OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP Rd02, Colo Park NSW

JUN 04-05

MOTOR RACE AUSTRALIA Rd04, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW

JUN 05

VSCC ALBANY CLASSIC, Albany WA

JUN 05

WINTER CUP HILLCLIMB Rd02, Collingrove SA

JUN 05

NSW STATE MOTORKHANA CHAMPIONSHIP Rd06, Nirimba Quakers Hill NSW

JUN 05

ALFA ROMEO OWNERS CLUB SPRINT SERIES Rd05, Winton VIC

JUN 05

GEELONG MOTOR SPORTS CLUB Motorkhana Rd03, Avalon VIC

JUN 05

SUPERCARS TEST DAY, Winton VIC

JUN 07

RACE CAR TEST DAY, Winton VIC

JUN 08

GRASS ROOTS RACING SERIES Rd01, Lakeside Park QLD

JUN 10-12

AUSTRALIAN MOTOR RACING SERIES Rd03, Winton Motor Raceway VIC

JUN 10-12

SUPER GT AUSTRALIA Rd03, Winton Motor Raceway VIC

JUN 10-12

TA2 MUSCLE CARS Rd03 South, Winton Motor Raceway VIC

JUN 10-12

AUSTRALIAN FORMULA 3 Rd03, Winton Motor Raceway VIC

JUN 10-12

AUSTRALIAN MINI NATIONALS, Hay NSW

JUN 10-12

ROLL RACING BRISBANE #6, Queensland Raceway QLD Image: CH Images

REPEAT FOR TIGHE AS HE did at round one, Dean Tighe (pictured) produced the FTD at the round two of the Shannons Insurance NSW Hillclimb Championships at Mt Cooperabung on May 14-15.

The supercharged Hayabusa Empire Wrath driver only managed two timed results of the available five runs, with the second a 24.451s effort that could not be matched. Timing issues meant he didn’t get recorded on two runs and he missed the last after a bent valve in the penultimate attempt.

The event was run by the Kempsey Sporting Car Club on the 743m course which is situated 10km south of the township.

The rain stayed away over the two days, but heavy downpours before the weekend meant several streams on the course throughout the event.

Exactly 1.0s slower than the over 2.0lt Formula Libre was Darren Read in his Haywood 09/Hayabusa. Third fastest was

Dave Morrow (up to 1.3lt F/L Krygger Suzuki) ahead Wayne Penrose who was the best of tin tops in his 2.0-3.0lt VW Beetle Sports Sedan. Second to Morrow in class and fifth overall was Steve Moxon (Talbot 184) ahead of Peter Akers (Road Registered AWD Subaru Impreza WRX).

David Hussey (Improved Production Ford Laser) was next ahead of Ben Ford in the Penrose Bug, Warren Bell (Time Attack Datsun Stanza) and Greg Jones (Open/Closed Sports Car Locost).

There were 34 competitors and three new class records set.

Penrose undercut his previous best for a new benchmark. The Sports Sedans 1.3-2.0lt previous best was cut by a couple of tenths by Robert Bell (Morris Mini) and Cameron Brown (Nissan Pulsar) dropped the 3E Touring Car record by a substantial 2.7s.

Garry O’Brien

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JUN 11

TOWNSVILLE CITY AUTOSPORTS CLUB KHANACROSS, Charters Towers QLD JUN 11-12 BEVERLEY OFF ROAD MOTORSPORT ASSOCIATION Junior Motorkhana, Beverley WA

JUN 11

SA STATE AUTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP, SEAC Motorsport Park Mt Gambier SA

JUN 11-12

NSW RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Rd03, Bega Valley Rally, Bega NSW

JUN 11-12

EAST COAST CLASSIC RALLY SERIES Rd05, Bega Valley Rally, Bega NSW

JUN 11-12

VIC STATE HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP Rd06, One Tree Hill VIC

JUN 11-12

HSRCA SYDNEY CLASSIC, Historics, Sydney Motorsport Park

JUN 11-12

NSW STATE HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP Rd05, Grafton NSW

JUN 11-12

MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP Rd03, Finke Desert Race NT

JUN 11-13

PORSCHE CLUB QUEENSLAND SPRINT, Morgan Park QLD JUN 12 MARQUE SPORTS CAR ASSOCIATION VICTORIA, Supersprint, The Bend SA

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JUN 01

JUN 12

www.autoaction.com.au I 37

NATIONALS WRAP BIG FIELDS ON THE SA PLAIN THE SA Motor Racing Championship made its first appearance for 2022 at The Bend Motorsport Park on May 21-22 for the second round. More than 110 entries, and 12 categories merged into five grids for five appearances each.

CIRCUIT EXCELS WITH THE largest field of 41, there was an abundance of potential winners with Brad Vaughan eventually the one to climb to the top step. Brad Gartner came home strongly but finished second while Asher Johnston was a close third at the end of the weekend.

Fastest qualifier Johnston was off to a positive start with victory in race one over Vaughan, Brad Gartner, Jayden Wanzek, Nick Scaife, Mitchell McGarry and Riley Matheson.

Vaughan and Gartner both jumped Johnston to finish one-two in the second outing which finished behind the Safety Car after multiple track incidents.

Johnston struggled in the opening race on Sunday due to damage caused by an incident in Race 2 and placed ninth. Victorian Joel Johnson won, just in front of Vaughan, Wanzek, Gartner, McGarry and Ethan Fitzgerald.

Johnson spun in Race 4 and dropped down the order and out of the top 10.

Johnston won from Fitzgerald, McGarry, Vaughan who was first before a 5s penalty, Wanzek and Gartner. In the 10-lap finale it was Garner fractionally ahead of Vaughan and Johnson with Wanzek just behind. The three-way scrap for fifth went to Johnston over Fitzgerald and Scaife.

Images: David Batchelor SPORTS SEDANS/SPORTS CARS/ NISSAN PULSARS FOUR DRIVERS had race victories. The first was won by Joshua Pickert in his Sports Sedan Holden Monaro – however from then on it was all victories to Sports Cars. Mark Pearce (McLaren GT4) picked up wins in the next two races, while Ian Wilson (TVR Tuscan) and Anthony Giustozzi (Porsche 991) won the remaining two.

Despite being a non-starter in the final race when the brakes self-deployed on the out lap, Matt Wildy (Mazda RX7) topped the Sports Sedan points. Pickert had the diff blow in race three. But top two finishes in the rest secured him second for the round. Victorian Craig

Linsell rounded out the top three in his Mini.

Myles Bond (pictured below) guest drove the Tuff Mounts TF Cortina and was impressive at the pointy end of the field on Sunday. He didn’t race on Saturday as the crew made repairs to the head after a cam belt issue in practice.

The overall Sports Car win to Giustozzi who narrowly defeated Pearce even though they each had two victories. Wilson’s two DNFs handed Joe Sommariva (Maserati GT4) third for the weekend.

From NSW Josh Craig was the best in of the Pulsars in four of the five race, only beaten by Michael Ricketts in the first race. After his win, Ricketts was second in the next two outings before Simon Kendrick scored a couple of runner-up places while Tim Maynard and Lee Nuttall each had a third.

FORMULA VEES IN THE 1600s, Daniel Westcott (Jacer F2K5) cruised to the win comfortably ahead of

casualty was OffPisteRacing-2 (Peugeot 206) who didn’t complete a lap. Shortly after 710Motorsport were out of business when the turbo boost failed and pushed 30lb of boost, and blew the Audi A4’s turbo.

The Beautiful Falcon led the first two laps

before FarmFindRacing took over for the next 51. DomDidIt, DoubleDeckerRacing and BarnFindRacing all had turns at the front until the latter established itself as the one to beat after 145 laps from where they were never headed.

There were four classes, based on engine power and the first four outright came from ME1 for 140-199kW outputs.

FarmFindRacing was the best in ME0 for over 200kW while ME2 (90-139) went to sixth outright Steinard in Audi A4, five laps up on class rival PooragainRacing (Ford Laser).

ZillaJetBoats was eighth and won ME3 (under 89) by two laps over ninth placed Team33 with both teams running Hyundai Excels. Tenth place of the 25 entered were NotSoTMNT in a BA Falcon.

Garry O’Brien

A BARN FIND BREAKS THROUGH

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place went to DomDidIt (BMW 325ci) with a further nine lap advantage to Beautiful (Ford Falcon AU). Another eight laps back was DoubleDeckerRacing (BMW 325) with a lap on FarmFindRacing (E46).

Racing on the National Circuit, the first

FORMULA LIBRE GARNET PATTERSON (Radical SR10) blitzed the field and easily won from Ian Eldridge (Stohr WF1) and Matthew Woodland (Tatuus FT50). Andrew (Birrana 274) and Melissa Ford (Mallock U2) battled for Historic glory with the Birrana driver first but Melissa did beat her father to the flag in Race 3.

SALOON CARS/HQ HOLDENS/INVITED A CONSISTENT weekend in a Holden Commodore VT had Sam Milton on top in Saloon Cars. John Goodacre (VT) was a distant second with an unlucky Scott Dornan (VY) not far behind in third. The latter had been the pacesetter on Saturday but a couple of thirds and a DNF in Race 5 on Sunday took the shine off the weekend. Shawn Jamieson (VY Commodore) started the weekend with DNFs but a clean sweep on Sunday showed what could have been.

Darryl Crouch and Darren Jenkins were in a class of their own in a reasonable sized field of HQs. Eventually Crouch prevailed with Jenkins comfortably ahead of third placed Lee Smith. David Batchelor

IMPROVED PRODUCTION IT WAS all one-way traffic for Scott Cook (Nissan S13 – pictured above) as he dominated the class with Grant Maitland (Nissan S13) next followed by Allan Adam (Nissan Bluebird) completing a Nissan trifecta.

Nathan Mills (Datsun 1200 coupe) was the top scorer of the under two litre cars, but only ran on Saturday with two top five finishes.

MOTOR EVENTS Racing was back in the Sunshine State for its latest enduro, a 12-hour event called the Clippy Cup at Queensland Raceway on May 6. Whereas two teams finished on the same lap last time, Barn Find Racing and their BMW E46 (pictured) won by six laps at this outing.

Second at the last outing at Morgan Park, the team covered 396 laps while second

Matthew Bialek (Stinger 3). Adam Newton (Sabre 2) had been a match for the inform Westcott but a DNF in Race 5 left him a distant third overall. Frank Chessell (Elfin Crusader) was the top 1200, but Baxter Midwinter (Panther 1a) did manage a couple of wins.

SMP GT3

Image: MTR Images

TRANS TASMAN BATTLE REPORT: Josh Nevett RYAN WOOD (pictured) came out on top in a highly competitive opening round of the Porsche Sprint Challenge season at Sydney Motorsport Park, winning two races to pip young gun Tom Sargent.

Driving for Team Porsche New Zealand/Earl Bamber Motorsport, Wood won the opening two encounters before Sargent claimed a deserved victory in Race 3, leaving the standings tight at the top.

In Race 1, the aforementioned pair asserted themselves on the 2022 season, driving off into the distance.

Sargent took an early lead and was able to defend it after a Safety Car restart on lap 15, however Wood bravely shot down the inside on cold tyres at Turn 4 to take front spot.

Wood manufactured a margin from there, winning by just over 5s.

Courtney Prince completed the podium after a stellar charge through the field. She gained five spots early and set the tone for a strong first weekend.

Aaron Shiels and Jason Miller were fourth and fifth, while Sam Shahin topped the Am class in sixth outright.

The Safety Car was required when Lachlan

Bloxsom became stranded in the gravel from third position. The Opteon Racing driver was classified 25th.

Race 2 followed a similar narrative.

Sargent got away well to lead in the opening stages as Wood was left spinning his wheels on the grid.

However, the Kiwi staged an epic fightback to be in the rear view of his rival heading into the last lap.

Sargent appeared to be home as he rounded the final corner, but in a dramatic finish lapped traffic blocked his path and forced him onto the grass, leaving Wood to steal the victory.

Prince finished third again, and Brett Boulton was the top Am in eighth.

The start of Race 3 was a replay of the previous encounter as Wood bogged off the line and Sargent headed Prince into Turn 1.

Several drivers struggled for grip at that very corner throughout the race, Terrence Knowles, Richard Cowen and Aron Shields all sliding off the circuit at high speed.

It was smooth sailing up the front for Sargent though, who finished over 3s clear of Wood with Prince completing the podium again.

Shahin topped the Am running, winning the round in the process.

HOME TEAM TAKES CROSS NATION BATTLE

Image: MTR Images

DRAKE HAS WOLF THE WINNER Image: MTR Images IN THE battle of east verse west, Garth Walden Racing’ Chis Perini of NSW and Arise Racing’s Elliott Schutte from WA each had a win at Sydney Motor Park, and it was local that took the third round.

The first of two 50-minute races with a compulsory pitstop went to Perini (pictured) ahead of second-placed teammates Peter Carr and Peter Paddon who split the driving duties, while third place went to Zig Fuhrmeister.

Schutte was the early leader before Carr passed him. At the pitstop, the latter had to wait an extra 5s as he handed over to Paddon, due to starting slightly out of position, and lost the lead to Perini who came in at the same time.

Caleb Sumich was fourth from Schutte, Brad and Mitch Neilson, Sebastian Fiorenza, Adam Lisle and Jordan Oon, Warwick Morris and tenth placed Bill Medland. Brad Russell was next ahead

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of Ash Samadi, Stephen Champion, James Hernandez and Sue Hughes who was hampered by blown resonator.

After that GWR double, Arise struck back in race two, with a solid one-two result for the WA outfit where Schutte won ahead of Lisle who took over from race starter Oon. Carr and Paddon shared for third ahead of Perini. Mitch Neilson started the race and had a handy lead when he elected to stop to hand over to his dad Brad. But a problem with the belts cost them time and dropped them down the order.

Sumich and Fiorenza, also out of the Arise stable, finished fourth and fifth ahead of the Neilsons, GWR’s Samadi, Fuhrmeister and Russell. Champion was next ahead of Medland, Morris, Hernandez and Hughes.

Garry O’Brien

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THE GC MARINE Australian Prototype Series began with three different driver and car combinations first to greet the chequered flag in the three races. Overall, John-Paul Drake and his JAM Motorsport prepared turbocharged Peugeotpowered Wolf F1 Mistral (pictured) were the winners.

At the start of the opening race, Stephen Champion (Radical SR3) didn’t get off the line, and the car was quickly towed away. However, the Safety Car did appear shortly after, with Bill Medland (SR3) stranded.

Ricky Capo in his turbo Renault Praga R1 won when he grabbed the lead three laps from the end. Ryan Godfrey (Wolf Tornado) led for three laps before he was passed by Neal Muston (Radical SR8), Drake and Jason Makris (Tornado).

On the final lap, Drake closed on Muston and was 0.09s adrift at the finish.

After they crossed the line, they came together with just minor damage to both.

Mark Laucke (Tornado) was next from

Paul Trengrove (West WR1000) and Phil Hughes (SR8).

First across the line in Race 2 was Godfrey, although he was relegated to third for rolling at the standing start which gave Drake the victory over Capo.

Fourth was Muston ahead of Trengrove, Hughes and Tim Cook (Wolf Thunder).

There was one Safety Car, for three laps, after Laucke went off at Turn 7 and was beached as he attempted to regain the track.

At the next outing Hughes failed to get off the line, which triggered a brief Safety Car. Muston was the race leader for four laps before he relented to Drake and then Godfrey, both times on the run through Turn 3. Later he would concede third place to Capo. Laucke finished fifth in front of Trengrove and Xinlei Song (Thunder).

Trengove had a clean sweep of Class 1 wins ahead of Cook while Medland topped Class 2 ahead of Champion.

Garry O’Brien

www.autoaction.com.au I 39

SMP - TRANS AM AND PRODUCTION

Owen Kelly (#73) took two wins and the chanpionship lead.

Images: Daniel Kalisz-ARG

OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS REPORT: Josh Nevett TWO VICTORIES at Sydney Motorsport Park propelled Owen Kelly to the top of the Trans Am Series, taking him past Nathan Herne who scored a win of his own.

Kelly finished no lower than second for the whole weekend in the #73 Ford Mustang, mastering the Eastern Creek circuit to win the round from Ben Grice.

Race 1 set the round in motion with a rolling start, Herne and Kelly starting off the front row.

The pair got away without issue; however behind them Lochie Dalton, Tim Brook and Kyle Gurton all plummeted down the order after an incident at Turn 2.

As is the way with Trans Am racing, action was aplenty as Jett Johnson and Tim Shaw went careering off the track at Turn 1 after a failure in Shaw’s Chevrolet Camaro produced a fireball under his bonnet.

A Safety Car period was required as Shaw’s worse-for-wear machine was recovered, Nic Carroll rolling into the pits during the yellow flag, with front right damage which put him out of the race.

Racing resumed on lap 5, Herne holding his lead from there to the finish.

Kelly was just over 1s back while Brett Holdsworth completed the podium.

Jon McCorkindale and debutant Zach Bates were the big movers, finishing fourth and fifth.

Kelly benefited from a mechanical failure to his Garry Rogers Motorsport team-mate and title rival Herne in Race 2, winning comfortably.

Herne was over 2s clear at the back end of the affair when a belt snapped, sending him limping into the pits and out of the race.

McCorkindale, Grice and Holdsworth followed the dominant pair closely in the early stages, while Edan Thornburrow led a battle pack featuring Bates, Nash Morris, Cody Burcher and Elliot Barbour.

Among that group, Morris had a hairy moment at Turn 1 before passing Thornburrow, his move paving the way for Dalton to do the same.

The moment of the race came when Herne pitted with a mechanical problem on lap 9, gifting Kelly the lead which he kept all the way to the chequered flag.

Grice and Bates also stood on the podium after finishing second and third, the latter

Nathan Hern;s Race 3 drive from the back of the grid was spectacular.

for the first time in Trans Am, ahead of series rookies Dalton and Morris.

Working his way up from the rear of the field, Brook made strong progress to be sitting in seventh at one stage.

A mistake would send him back in the order though, the championship contender finishing 15th.

Barbour’s race went from bad to worse – after battling in midfield, the steerer was handed a 5s penalty for a start infringement after retiring with an engine issue.

Kelly extended his points advantage in the final race, triumphing over Herne who

charged through the field to nearly claim a miracle win.

Herne cut through the field from 21st on the grid to finish second just 1.5s off his teammate, while Grice completed the podium in third.

All three managed to avoid the chaos that unravelled behind them at the start line, Morris and Dalton colliding to produce an early Safety Car. Both drivers were forced to retire.

Bates took third for the round with fourth in his Mustang as Holdsworth continued his consistent run in fifth.

ENDUROS A FAMILY AFFAIR

THE RUSSELL clan made it three from three with victory in the 300km feature race in the opening round of the Australian Production Car Series at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Father and son Wayne and Drew Russell (pictured) scored a comprehensive victory in the enduro after Aaron Russell took their Class X BMW M3 F80 to two wins in the half hour lead-up events.

In the longer race, the Russells held second in the early stages, but after the compulsory pitstop and fuel top-up, took the lead from the Chris Lillis/Mathew Class A2 Holt HSV Clubsport as they completed lap 49 of the 76 and went on to win by 49.9s.

Second were the brothers Grant and Iain Sherrin (M3) while third 13s in arrears were the Class A1 winners Dean Campbell and Cameron Crick (Mitsubishi EVO X).

Early race leaders Anthony Soole and Adam Burgess (BMW M4 F82) passed the Rob Rubis and Shane

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Image: MTR Images Smollen M4 five laps from the finish for third in class.

Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey (M3) were sixth, their race compromised by a puncture before the CPS window opened. Next was Jimmy Vernon (EVO X) ahead of the Lillis/Holt HSV which stopped late for more

fuel, and the Hadrian Morral and Tyler Mecklem EVO, another late stopper with a delaminated tyre.

After a solid charge in the opening stint Ben Gersekowski (BMW M3 E92) finished 11th after a long fuel stop, behind the Simon Hodges/Tom Shaw M4 and ahead of the Class D winners James Keene and Matt Thewlis (Minin R56 JCW).

Alan Jarvis (Suzuki Swift Sport) took out Class E and finished ahead of father/son Sam and Ben Silvestro (Mazda RX8) and the Chris Gunther/Chris Holdt BMW 130i. George Miedecke and Leigh Burges persisted with the Class A2 Ford Mustang despite ongoing heat issues.

In Race 1, Aaron Russell had to pass Leahy to take victory and also trailed Lynton at the start of Race 2 until ultimately, he made the pass. Leahey finished second in his race, ahead of Soole and Gersekowski before Smollen was second in the next with Lynton third when he had gearbox issues. Garry O’Brien

BOWE SETS NEW TCM BENCHMARKS

‘JB’, with his A9X on song, took overall TCM victory for the 41st time ... Images: ARG Images IT WAS a record-breaking round two of the Gulf Western Oils Touring Car Masters. After John Bowe scored his 53rd qualifying pole, the Holden Torana A9X driver won two races to take his total to 104 and won overall for the 41st time.

George Miedecke (Chev Camaro) won the Trophy race which was for starting/finishing points only. He started well back in the reverse (of qualifying) grid and won ahead of Cameron Tilley (Valiant Pacer) with category debutant Cameron McConville third in Ian Woodward’s Camaro.

Mark King (Camaro) spun at Turn 5 and was hit by Brad Tilley (Ford Falcon XY GT) who had nowhere to go. On the second lap, McConville was able to put the leaders, Danny Buzadzic (Torana) and Tony Karanfilovski (Ford Mustang) behind him.

Jim Pollicina (Torana) brought into the battle until the overheat warning alarm sounded and he slowed at Turn 11. Miedecke was able to grab the lead later and Cam Tilley passed McConville to claim second.

From the back, Bowe was able to work through to fifth before smoke appeared underneath the Torana and he slowed to ensure finishing points. A tappet cover bolt had worked loose, and leaked oil burned on the engine.

Ryan Hansford (Torana) charged to fourth to displace Karanfilovski and Pollicina who decided to press on and came back from 15th to finish sixth.

Race 1 went right down the wire; Bowe took the win off Miedecke on the last lap after Miedecke had passed Bowe on lap four. Third went to Hansford after a racelong dice with Jamie Tilley (Ford Mustang). Pollicina was fifth until a spin at Turn 6 on the opening lap forced Cam Tilley, Karanfilovski and Brad Tilley to avoid and lose positions.

The Valiant driver finished fifth ahead of Gerard McLeod (Holden Commodore VB) and Cameron Mason (Mustang). Karanfilovski was eighth in front of Ben Dunn (Chev Monza) and Pollicina.

Bowe was beaten by Miedecke to Turn 2 in Race 2, but the Torana driver regathered the lead shortly

Hansford was top-three through the weekend. after and ran away to a comfortable win. Miedecke was pressured by Hansford who was eventually able to get past. Cam Tilley was in the middle of a three-way tussle with his nephew Jamie Tilley and McLeod before he ultimately secured fourth.

Karanfilovski and Pollicina vied for seventh before they were joined by Buzadzic who split the duo. Then he and Karanfilovski came together and spun after which Pollicina was chased down by McConville and Brad Tilley.

Race 3 saw a break-through and popular victory for Cam Tilley, who had previously won a Trophy race but never a ‘normal’ race. He grabbed the lead off Hansford and never looked like being beaten.

Second went to Bowe who started 11th, penalised for incorrectly marked tyres, and charged through to ultimately pass Hansford. Then came the consistent Jamie Tilley, McLeod and Buzadzic. Seventh went to McConville ahead of Dunn in his best finish.

It was a disastrous race for Miedecke. The Camaro refused to start at the grid and was bump-started to resume at the rear. Later it shut down with a suspected failed alternator.

Karanfilovski retired with a broken gearbox, and Brad Tilley was sixth when he retired after an axle oil seal let go. Garry O’Brien

Cam Tilley took a popular first win.

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SMP - TCR

Morcom headed a Hyundai 1-2 to win the final race and take the overall weekeknd win.

Images: Daniel Kalisz-ARG

HYUNDAI HEAVEN

Saturday Night’s Alright (for fighting) ...

Right: Finale podium: Cox, Morcom and Buchan.

Report: Dan McCarthy LOCAL TEAM HMO Customer Racing had a weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park to remember with Josh Buchan winning the first TCR Australia night race and Nathan Morcom winning the final race and round.

The Hyundais were the cars to beat throughout the weekend with Buchan taking pole by 0.5s from Morcom. However, Morcom had to serve a five-place penalty for an engine change and started seventh.

This promoted former series winner and HMO driver Will Brown to second, ahead of a pair of GRM Peugeots, Aaron Cameron, Jordan Cox, Zac Soutar and Dylan O’Keeffe. Morcom started alongside series leader Tony D’Alberto for the first ever TCR night race.

Under lights it was Buchan who led two Peugeots into Turn 1 as Brown made a poor start and fell to fourth.

The Audi of Brown looked settled and began to fight both Cox and Cameron over the next couple of laps and, after a few exchanges of position, Brown got Cox on lap two and then Cameron at Turn 1 on lap five.

Despite taking second, it was clear quickly that making inroads on Buchan’s lead was not going to be as easy.

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A lap later the race turned on its head as Brown’s front-right damper failed, the car forced into retirement.

This let Buchan off the hook. He cruised to his first race win of the season from a trio of GRM Peugeots – Cameron, Cox and O’Keeffe, and Symmons Plains winner Zac Soutar rounded out the top five.

There was a fierce battle for 10th, the position for inverted grid pole. Kody Garland and Fabian Coulthard collided fighting for it and Michael Caruso suffered a puncture, so in the end it went to Jay Hanson.

Brad Shiels started alongside Hanson and, despite making a slightly better start, could not quite get by Hanson into Turn 1.

Into Turn 2 Hanson ran slightly deep and with Shiels on his outside it opened the door for series leader Tony D’Alberto to take second and Luke King followed him through.

On the opening lap King was trying everything to get to the front, although he did briefly run off on the exit of Turn 6.

He reset and soon found his way by D’Alberto. He was not the only Hyundai matching forward – after a quiet start Morcom was now playing himself into contention.

By lap five Morcom had made his way up to third as Hanson, King and Morcom set about setting relentless fast laps out front.

In the new Audi, Hanson did not look fazed – he was able to keep both Hyundais at arm’s length and take his third race victory of the season by nearly 2s. King scored his first TCR Australia podium with Hyundai, and Morcom rounded out the top three.

Next came D’Alberto, Cox, Shiels, O’Keeffe and James Moffat. Soutar was ninth ahead of Brown who recovered to 10th.

Race 1 winner Buchan could not compete competitively on old tyres and finished 12th.

Combined points saw Cox start on pole for the finale from Morcom, King, Hanson and Buchan.

Cox made the best start and led around the opening turns – however it was clear early that the Hyundais had the superior pace on cold tyres.

At Turn 6, Morcom slid up the inside and was followed by King who took second.

The title took a turn as the consistent D’Alberto made contact with Shiels at the same turn, went off the track, and sustained steering damage.

A third Hyundai was making progress now, and on lap three into Turn 2 Buchan took

third from Cox – it was a Hyundai 1-2-3.

King stayed with Morcom until half race distance when he became bait for Buchan.

Buchan dispatched of King on lap 11 and sat about hunting down his team-mate – he did so but it was not enough.

Morcom scored his first TCR Australia Series win since the final race of 2019 and Buchan made it an emotional HMO 1-2.

King was trying to nurse his tyres to the end but was overtaken by Cox on the final lap. King salvaged fourth from O’Keeffe, Brown and Hanson.

Despite the damage D’Alberto recovered to finish in 14th.

Overall Morcom won the round from Cox and Buchan.

DRIVERS’ STANDINGS AFTER 4 ROUNDS 1 D’Alberto 412 2 O’Keeffe 388 3 Buchan 379 4 Cox 378 5 Hanson 356 6 Cameron 355 7 Morcom 349 8 Soutar 349 9 Brown 343 10 Bargwanna 329

MAWSON DOES IT AGAIN

Joey Mawson leads as the first ever Gold Star race ‘under lights’ blasts off. Images: Kalisz/ARG Report: Dan McCarthy DESPITE A modest field of S5000 machines, the action was non-stop at Sydney Motorsport Park – Joey Mawson may have only won one race, but it was enough to take the round win and extend his championship lead.

The Form700/Alabar car was not the fastest all weekend but managed to accumulate the most amount of points overall.

The Sydneysider did not have all things go his way in qualifying, suffering a broken steering arm – however a solid banker lap early was good enough to take pole by 0.11s from Aaron Cameron.

James Golding and Nathan Herne locked out the second row from Tim Macrow, Cooper Webster, Blake Purdie and Shae Davies.

The opening race of the weekend was the first ever Australian Drivers’ Championship race to take place under lights.

Mawson made a good start and led into Turn 1, while Golding made the best start and immediately overtook Cameron for second.

In the mid-pack, Macrow, Webster and Purdie jostled for position. Macrow prevailed, from Purdie and Webster, however Webster was quick to retaliate with a move at Turn 6. It did not pay off – Webster locked up, sliced the left-rear tyre on Purdie’s car, and broke his own front wing.

At the end of lap 1, Mawson led Golding, Cameron, Macrow and Herne.

Lap 2 ,Turn 5, Golding ran wide, very wide, through the grass and broke a steering arm. He was forced to limp back to the pits.

By lap 5, the new second place man, Cameron, had closed onto the tail of the reigning champion, while behind, Herne was looking for a way by Macrow for third.

Cameron was pushing hard, sliding the car around the circuit lap after lap, but was ultimately forced to settle for second.

Mawson held on by less than 0.5s from Cameron; Macrow similarly held Herne off by 0.2s. Davies, Webster and Purdie

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rounded out the finishers.

The top six qualifiers were inverted for Race 2 meaning that Webster started from pole ahead of Macrow, the three GRM drivers and Mawson.

Off the line Webster jumped best and held the lead into Turn 1.

On row 2, Golding and Herne both took off slowly, and in avoidance Mawson jinked hard to the left but in doing so clattered into an innocent Cameron who was wiped out of the race.

It was not long before Mawson was handed a drive-through penalty for the incident which dropped him to the tail of the field.

At the end of lap 1 Webster led Macrow, Golding, Mawson, Purdie, Davies and Herne.

Herne was making his way back forward after his slow start – firstly overtaking Davies at Turn 2 and then Purdie before breaking his front wing and being forced to pit.

While Webster took off into the distance, Macrow came under pressure from Golding and eventually at Turn 6 the two-time Gold Star winner cracked, locking a front and running wide, allowing Golding into second.

That was the way it remained, Webster taking his second S5000 win and his first with Versa Motorsport.

He led home Golding by 1.7s. Macrow rounded out the podium from Purdie, Davies, Mawson and Herne.

The drama began even before the final race commenced – a massive oil spillage, around the whole lap, in the Prototype race caused a delay and a filthy track for the start of the S5000 Feature.

Combined points saw Mawson start from pole alongside Macrow and on the cleaner side it was the latter who took the lead.

Herne looked to overtake Webster for third around the outside of the oil-spill powder at Turn 2 and managed to do so, getting a good exit.

Herne was the fastest man early on – on lap 2 he caught Race 1 winner Mawson and made an aggressive and forceful move up the inside at

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After being taken out at the start of the reverse grid race, Aaron Cameron was the star of the double-points feature race.

Cooper Webster took a well-judged win, a first for the impressive Versa Motorsport team, in the second race.

the last corner to take second. He then caught leader Macrow and ambitiously attempted to replicate the move – it did not work. The pair tangled, and Macrow was spun around and dropped to the back. Herne continued, but was dealt a drive-through for the collision.

On the opening lap, Cameron had dropped to sixth, however he carved through the field like a knife through butter and sat behind Mawson after a couple of laps.

He briefly took Mawson at Turn 2 before running wide and allowing him back by at Turn 4. He did however make it stick into Turn 2 a couple of laps later and went on to take the win by 2s from Mawson. Golding limited

the damage in third, ahead of Purdie and a frustrated Macrow.

Davies was sixth from Herne, while an issue forced Webster to retire.

STANDINGS AFTER 4 ROUNDS 1 Mawson 390 2 Macrow 335 3 Golding 305 4 Webster 283 5 Purdie 182 6 Cameron 173 7 Herne 151 8 Ngatoa 140 9 Davies 119 10 Garwood 91

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SUPERCAR WINTON SUPPORTS

BATTLE IN THE BUSH

Outright winner Caruso (Audi A4) heads the RX7 of Alex Williams, which finished third in all three races.

JORDAN CARUSO extended his points lead in the second round of the National Sports Sedans series with two race victories at Winton Raceway.

As has been the case in recent times, it was Caruso and his Audi A4 battling fiercely against fellow frontrunner Steve Tamasi in his Holden Calibra, the latter taking out the opener at Winton before Caruso struck back with consecutive wins.

“Awesome weekend at Winton bringing home the round win,” Caruso said.

“We lead the championship heading into Round 3 but it’s close, there’s still work to do.

“Massive thanks to John, Ian and Sheng for their consistently huge effort to keep us going.

“Looking forward to Tailem Bend.”

Race 1 saw Tamasi win with a broken sway bar, finishing over 12s clear of Caruso.

Caruso was forced to start from the rear after an electrical problem on Friday, charging through the field to finish a lonely second.

Alex Williams was 21s further back, completing the podium in his Mazda RX7.

Dean Lillie and Shane Bradford weren’t far off podium pace, finishing fourth and fifth in Ford Falcon and Chevrolet Camaro machinery, respectively.

On category debut, young son of a gun Mason Kelly finished eighth in a MARC Mazda 3.

The two titans of Sports Sedans started off the front row again for Race 2, Tamasi taking an early leading through Turn 1.

That left Williams and Caruso to battle for second in the early stages, Williams momentarily winning the tussle in his bright red Mazda.

It did not take long for the championship leader to bounce back though, Caruso slotting into second on lap 2 before setting his sights on Tamasi 2s up the road.

Setting the fastest lap of the race, Caruso made up ground quickly and was met with little resistance in taking the lead at Turn 8 on lap 4.

There was plenty of competition for places further back though, as a tussle emerged for positions four to seven.

Lillie was swamped by Bradford, Daniel Crompton and Ryan Humfrey, dropping from fifth to eighth in a matter of moments.

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Tamasi took a win and a pair of second places in his Holden Calibra.

Kevin Stoopman’s weekend came to a premature end after just four laps, the Victorian pulling his Mitsubishi Evo 8 into pitlane and out of the race.

The final race of the weekend ran to a similar narrative as the first couple, with an entertaining group vying for positions behind the dominant front three.

Caruso won from Tamasi by just 2.771s this time around, with Williams third over 40s back.

Robinson, Humfrey and Woodman jostled to make P4 their own, Humfrey emerging with the position at the finish.

Robinson was fifth, Crompton and Woodman running close behind.

Josh Nevett

Mason Kelly ran mostly in the top ten in his MARC Mazda.

Things got worse for Lillie shortly after, the BA Ford Falcon driver forced to retire with a mechanical issue.

The racing was relatively clean throughout, although Ranald Maclurkin Snr steered his Aston Martin Vantage off the track at Turn 4.

Off track excursions were not limited to those at the rear of the field – Tamasi left the tarmac on the final lap falling way behind Caruso.

The final margin between the two title

contenders was 20s, while Williams finished third again.

Michael Robinson scored a fourth-place finish in his Holden Monaro and Humfrey was fifth.

A slightly reduced field rolled out for Race 3, with Scott Cameron and Maclurkin Snr failing to start the final encounter.

Tamasi got the best start, however it took just a couple of corners for Caruso to take the ascendency again.

STANDINGS 1 2 3 4 5

Caruso Tamasi Woodman Crompton Robinson

266 256 192 186 164

SIEDERS DELIVERS IN UTES

Cop that! Supercars team boss Tim Blanchard returned to Formula Ford 15 years after his title win, and cleaned up Gen Z ...

BLANCHARD BEATS THE YOUNGSTERS MAKING A cameo appearance in the national Formula Ford Series, Supercars team owner Tim Blanchard dominated the weekend.

The 2007 Formula Ford champion qualified second behind Ryder Quinn, but would go on to win all three races, beating the established youngsters in the class.

Quinn took his maiden pole by 0.269s from Blanchard with James Piszcyk, Tom McLennan, Winston Smith and Valentino Astuti taking positions three to six on the grid.

Although Quinn made the better start, Blanchard used his experience on cold tyres to find a way by on the opening lap and from there controlled the race.

South Australian Piszcyk also found a way

by Quinn – the pair came home second and third respectively.

Astuti moved up from sixth to finish fourth

and in doing so broke the lap record. Jordyn Sinni and Smith rounded out the top six.

Off the line in Race 2 Blanchard made the better start from the front row and led into Turn 1, Quinn made a great start, in fact a little too good, he was judged to have jumped the start.

Although Quinn took second from Piszcyk he would be dealt a 5s post-race penalty.

Despite Quinn having a 5s penalty Piszcyk wanted to get by to try to catch up to Blanchard out front – he was looking left right and centre but could not find a way by.

On lap 3 Quinn spun at Turn 7. Piszcyk went to the outside and in doing so fell behind Astuti who was the major benefactor.

Although he stayed in third, Piszcyk, with dirty tyres, was forced to defend from a gaggle of cars led by Sinni.

After a couple of laps, however, Piszcyk was able to break away once more.

It remained the same until the chequered flag with Blanchard taking the win by over 2s from Astuti, Piszcyk and Sinni. With the penalty applied, Quinn finished the race in 18th position.

Race 3 saw Blanchard make another blinding start – he comfortably led into Turn 1 from Astuti and Piszcyk.

Out front the top three were all setting lap record pace, with Piszcyk beginning to harass Astuti.

On lap 8 Piszcyk forced Astuti to defend at Turn 1, got a great run out of Turn 2 and made his way by at Turn 3.

With just a couple of laps to go, Piszcyk was free and quickly began eating into Blanchard’s lead. However, the race was called one lap early denying a thrilling finish.

Blanchard held on to take the race and round win from Piszcyk and Astuti.

Dan McCarthy

AUSSIES TURN ON THE ACTION DESPITE ONLY winning one of the four Aussie Racing car races at Winton Motor Raceway, the consistency of Cody Brewczynski saw him prevail in the round honours.

Brewczynski (pictured) qualified in fourth behind pole sitter Joel Heinrich, Tom Hayman and Courtney Prince.

Heinrich led Race 1 of the weekend from pole, but was quickly overtaken by Hayman at the end of the first lap.

Heinrich did not want to play second fiddle and struck back a few laps later and held onto the lead until the end.

He took the victory by less than 0.2s from Hayman. Brewczynski came home third over 5s behind, just ahead of Lachlan Ward and Prince who fell to fifth.

Race 2 was quite a tame encounter.

Hayman made the better start from the front-row, overtaking Heinrich the long way around at Turn 1 giving him the inside into the second turn.

Throughout the race there were several fierce battles just in and around the top 10, however the out front it remained as it was for much of the race.

The top three spread out – however there

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Image: Ross Gibb Photography was a battle for fourth that went down to the wire; on the final lap around the sweeper Josh Anderson made his way by Ward and then held him off until the line.

Out-front, Hayman led home Heinrich by 1.7s, with Brewczynski nearly 2s further back.

The defining moments of the race came at the end of lap 7 and start of lap 8.

Long-time race leader Reece Chapman ran wide onto the pit straight and allowed several drivers to get a run on him. He fell to p3 – however was determined to make up the lost ground immediately.

Into Turn 1 he braked late, locked up, and took out an innocent Hayman. This shuffled the pack as Heinrich now led Brewczynski and Ward.

Brewczynski waited until the final lap of the race to take the lead – and despite an attempt

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to get back by at Turn 7 Heinrich was unable to do so.

Brewczynski took the win, while behind Heinrich was pipped at the line, Ward beating him home by 0.02s.

Hayman was classified in 12th after Chapman was dealt a 15s penalty for the incident.

From pole position in Race 4 Heinrich was judged to have jumped the start and subsequentially dealt a 5s penalty Brewczynski sat in second as the theoretical race leader until Hayman marched through on lap 2.

The top three remained nose to tail for much of the race.

Heinrich crossed the line first, but the 5s penalty demoted him to seventh position.

Hayman won the race from Brewczynski who won the round. Dan McCarthy

THE SECOND round of the V8 SuperUtes Series was a great one for the Sieders Racing Team with David Sieders (pictured) victorious in three races and Aaron Borg in the other, besides three team one-two results.

Borg (Holden Colorado) led all the way in the opener to beat his SRT teammate Sieders (Mitsubishi Triton) with George Gutierrez (Colorado) just behind. The next two spots went to father and son Gerard (Ford Ranger) and Jaiden Maggs (Triton).

There were two Safety Cars, with the first after Ben Walsh (Toyota Hilux) tagged his wheel-spinning teammate Craig Woods (Triton) at the start and then Craig Dontas (Triton).

The second was a brief one when Craig Jenner (Mazda BT50) spun at Turn 1 after contact from Rohan Barry (Hilux).

Race 2 featured a reverse top six start. Sieders who started sixth, was through to the lead by the end of the first lap and then onto victory.

Gutierrez and Borg diced for second until the latter pitted with a puncture.

Dontas charged to fourth ahead of Gerard Maggs, Walsh after being off road early, and Jaiden Maggs. Woods was also off track on the last lap and finished eighth with panel and wheel damage.

Both Races 3 and 4 were won by Sieders which gave him the overall honours. Borg chased Sieders across the line in both, each time ahead of Gutierrez.

There was a crash after Turn 2 on Race 3’s first lap where Gutierrez and Jaiden Maggs touched which spun the latter. Maggs was hit by the luckless Dontas and also Ellexandra Best (Triton).

After the race resumption, Gerard Maggs was fourth while Barry edged out Woods by 0.07s. Then followed Dean Brooking (Hilux) who survived a passing move at Turn 10 by Walsh when he spun off after they touched.

In the last, Gerard Maggs and Woods were closing on the first three, until the final lap. Maggs was loose off Turn 3 and sideways when the closely pursuing Woods hit and catapulted off him.

The incident elevated Barry ahead of Walsh, Jaiden Maggs and David Casey (Isuzu D-MAX). Richard Mork (Mazda BT-50) made it to the last for 12th after preceding axle and diff dramas. Garry O’Brien

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Supercars RACE REPORT Round 5 Winton Raceway

Images: Motorsport Images

CAM SMOKES THEM...

TICKFORD AND CAMERON WATERS REIGNED SUPREME, DETHRONING SHANE VAN GISBERGEN IN TWO OF THE RACES AS THE SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNED TO WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY IN COUNTRY VICTORIA Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Motorsport Images FOR THE first time since 2019, Supercars returned to the unique tight and twisty Winton Motor Raceway which threw up three intriguing 36 lap encounters.

Cameron Waters was the man to beat, taking two poles, two race wins.

Throughout the weekend Waters and championship leader Shane van Gisbergen were locked in combat, with the Tickford racer coming out best more often than not.

For Winton the field contained an additional two Wildcards entries – Jayden Ojeda racing for Walkinshaw Andretti United and Jordan Boys for Super2 team Image Racing.

PRACTICE: CONTENDERS PUT FOOT FORWARD WITH JUST two 30-minute practice sessions on Saturday morning, teams did not have much time to make drastic set-up changes leading into the opening race that afternoon.

Many drivers elected not to run new tyres in the first session; however everyone did in Practice 2.

Only a handful of drivers did not improve in the final 30 minutes. Van Gisbergen set a new lap record and topped the combined standings by 0.008s from David Reynolds.

Grove Racing’s Reynolds actually broke the record first but was nudged down later on by SVG. Behind Reynolds came Chaz Mostert and the second Grove Racing driver, Lee Holdsworth.

Anton De Pasquale rounded out the top five from Waters and Will Brown who did not improve in session 2.

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QUALIFYING RACE 13 – SVG BY AN INCH VAN GISBERGEN claimed his 41st career pole and third of the season for the first of the three Winton races.

He did so by just 0.042s from Waters, a sign of what was to come for the remainder of the weekend.

Chaz Mostert was next. The Walkinshaw Andretti driver was over a tenth off pole, but crucially 0.001s faster than Brown. Holdsworth rounded out the top five, shaking off his qualifying woes.

De Pasquale was best of the Dick Johnson Racing drivers in sixth, 0.279s off the pace.

Reynolds was disappointed with Q3 – in the first two segments he set a time good enough for the front row, but when it came to the crunch, he was unable to do it again and qualified seventh. Rookie Broc Feeney qualified eighth for his first race at Winton in a Supercar, while Andre Heimgartner and Team 18’s Scott Pye rounded out the top 10.

In Q2 of the three-part elimination session, both Brodie Kostecki and Will Davison felt they were safe to progress after their first runs saw them sit in second and third.

It was not enough – both tumbled down the timesheets and out of the top 10 by the end.

Kostecki missed out by 0.05s, qualifying in 11th alongside Team 18 driver Mark Winterbottom.

Davison qualified a row further back, in a frustrated 13th position.

RACE 13 – WATERS FENDS OFF SVG FROM THE clean side of the road, it was Waters who made the better start and led the race into Turn 1.

Waters was followed by Erebus Motorsport’s Brown who took second up the inside into Turn 2 – however SVG was quick to retaliate and reclaimed the place up the inside into the very next turn.

As we have seen through much of the season, in the first handful of laps SVG is vulnerable to attacks. Waters pulled a buffer on SVG who had

Brown and several others swarming around his bumper.

A majority of the field was holding station throughout the early laps, except championship contender De Pasquale who was plummeting down the field complaining of a massive lack of grip.

By the end of lap 9, SVG had got the lead margin back to 0.7s – the race at the front was on.

Mostert was first of the leaders to pit from fourth and it was an efficient stop. The same could not be said for Brown who pitted a lap later to cover off Mostert.

It was a disaster, firstly a clutch issue meant the wheels were spinning – as a result it was a slow stop and the car was dropped before the left-rear could be fitted. A total of 26s was lost before he received a drive-through for the rotating wheels.

SVG came in on lap 14 and Waters followed suit a lap later. Waters re-joined in the lead but was forced to defend at Turn 3 and Turn 7 before the storm was weathered.

Andre Heimgartner got better and better – snaring a podium in the final race. Waters took both poles on Sunday (left) and turned them into wins.

Right: The Saturday podium – Waters, SVG and David Reynolds.

Middle: After the Perth glitch, Mostert was back in the action at th team’s home track.

Bottom: Brodie Kostecki had a consistent weekend in and around p10, while de Pasquale (right) was DJR’s main challenger, just outisde the top five for most of the weekend.

Grove Mustang driver Reynolds ran long, very long – pitting at the end of lap 24, he re-joined in a good position just behind Mostert.

As the laps wound down, SVG closed up on the tail of Waters, the margin 0.3s at the end of lap 25, while behind, Reynolds sat on the tail of Mostert in the battle for third.

With 12 lap fresher tyres Reynolds was able to get Mostert for third – after trying at Turn 11 he made it stick at Turn 1.

On the final lap of the race SVG was all over Waters and forced the Tickford Racing driver into an error at Turn 7.

The Triple Eight Race Engineering driver had a real go at the penultimate turn nudging Waters through the corner before making an inside move at the final turn which ended with more contact.

The final run-in broke the left-steering arm on van Gisbergen’s Commodore, but he was at least able to limp across the line in second place.

For Waters it was his first win at Winton – and the winning margin of 0.4s was the closest at the venue since 2007.

Behind van Gisbergen, Reynolds scored his fifth podium of the year. Mostert was fourth ahead of Holdsworth and Pye. Kostecki made his way into the top 10 finishing seventh, beating home his good mate De Pasquale, Heimgartner, Feeney (who rounded out the top 10), with Davison just outside.

Impressively in his first solo Supercars appearance, Ojeda finished the race in a strong 17th, having made up several spots.

QUALIFYING RACE 14 & 15 – WATERS DOUBLES UP HOT OFF the back of his first win of the season, Waters secured both of Sunday’s poles.

The Tickford Racing driver edged out reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen in both sessions. The first session in particular was tight, a margin of just 0.0006s (six-ten thousandths), the closest Supercars pole margin since Darwin in 2010.

After finishing third on Saturday, Reynolds qualified third for Race 14. Mostert left it late to set his time, jumping from last to fourth after the flag.

Heimgartner rounded out the top five, from Holdsworth, De Pasquale, Brown, Feeney and Winterbottom.

For Race 15, Waters took pole more comfortably, a margin of 0.149s from SVG. After qualifying fifth for Race 14, Heimgartner moved another row forward, qualifying in third for Race 15 alongside de Pasquale, with Brown rounding out the top five.

Reynolds was faster in the second session; however his 1m 18.6 was only good enough for p6 ahead of Kostecki, Winterbottom, Holdsworth and Mostert.

Notably, Mostert’s teammate Percat qualified in 27th and last for the weekend’s final race.

RACE 14 – SVG STRIKES BACK ONCE AGAIN into Turn 1 it was Waters who made the demon start and led the field away. Reynolds had a look at SVG also but it left him open to a pass from Mostert who snatched third position.

This proved a frustration for Reynolds who

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was clearly faster than Mostert but could not find a way by the WAU Commodore.

The two Wildcards, Ojeda and Boys, were in the thick of the action and unfortunately tangled with each other at Turn 4 – dropping them both to the tail of the field.

By lap 4, Mostert was already starting to cover his line and by lap 13 they had fallen over 2s behind the leading pair.

On lap 14 Mostert pitted, releasing Reynolds and not a moment too soon.

The following lap, SVG pitted – he was fitted with rear tyres in what was a slightly slow stop of 4s.

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As he did on Saturday, Waters came in a lap later to cover the undercut of SVG. He emerged in front but on cold tyres was unable to carry the momentum out of Turn 2.

Waters blocked into Turn 3 but not enough – SVG moved even further right and slid up the inside to take the lead.

Reynolds ran long in the first stint ,once again pitting on lap 22. With much fresher rubber this enabled him to quickly catch and breeze by Mostert and then Brown in quick succession.

By the end of lap 28 Triple Eight driver SVG held a substantial 3.4s lead and was out of touch.

He went on to take victory by 5.3s from Waters who extended his margin over Reynolds late in the race.

Reynolds’ teammate Holdsworth utilised a similar strategy and marched through the field later on to finish in fourth ahead of Mostert.

Brown pitted early to gain track position – it worked but late on he lost out to Holdsworth and Mostert, and was forced to defend from BJR’s Heimgartner at the penultimate turn and held on by just 0.1s at the line.

Tickford’s James Courtney ended up in eighth ahead of Winterbottom and de Pasquale.

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Supercars RACE REPORT Round 5 Winton Raceway

Two thirds and a fourth was a great return for David Reynolds.

QUALIFYING RACE 13

RESULTS RACE 13 36LAPS (110KMS)

Pos Driver Time 1 Shane van Gisbergen 1:18.2644rSS 2 Cameron Waters 0:00.0422 3 Chaz Mostert 0:00.1440 4 William Brown 0:00.1450 5 Lee Holdsworth 0:00.2612 6 Anton De Pasquale 0:00.2790 7 David Reynolds 0:00.3680 8 Broc Feeney 0:00.5075 9 Andre Heimgartner 0:00.5575 10 Scott Pye 0:01.0360 11 Brodie Kostecki 0:00.4737 12 Mark Winterbottom 0:00.5241 13 Will Davison 0:00.5295 14 Thomas Randle 0:00.5845 15 Jake Kostecki 0:00.5898 16 Macauley Jones 0:00.6405 17 Jack Le Brocq 0:00.6669 18 Bryce Fullwood 0:00.6728 19 Jayden Ojeda 0:00.7921 20 James Courtney 0:00.8192 21 Todd Hazelwood 0:00.9150 22 Nick Percat 0:00.9166 23 Jordan Boys 0:00.9386 24 Tim Slade 0:01.0176 25 Chris Pither 0:01.0319 26 Jack Smith 0:01.1277 27 Garry Jacobson 0:01.2617

QUALIFYING RACE 14 Pos Driver 1 Cameron Waters 2 Shane van Gisbergen 3 David Reynolds 4 Chaz Mostert 5 Andre Heimgartner 6 Lee Holdsworth 7 Anton De Pasquale 8 William Brown 9 Broc Feeney 10 Mark Winterbottom 11 Jack Le Brocq 12 Will Davison 13 Brodie Kostecki 14 Thomas Randle 15 James Courtney 16 Nick Percat 17 Todd Hazelwood 18 Macauley Jones 19 Scott Pye 20 Jack Smith 21 Tim Slade 22 Garry Jacobson 23 Jayden Ojeda 24 Bryce Fullwood 25 Chris Pither 26 Jordan Boys 27 Jake Kostecki

Pos Drivers 1 Cameron Waters 2 Shane van Gisbergen 3 David Reynolds 4 Chaz Mostert 5 Lee Holdsworth 6 Scott Pye 7 Brodie Kostecki 8 Anton De Pasquale 9 Andre Heimgartner 10 Broc Feeney 11 Will Davison 12 Thomas Randle 13 James Courtney 14 Nick Percat 15 Macauley Jones 16 Tim Slade 17 Jayden Ojeda 18 Jack Le Brocq 19 Garry Jacobson 20 Bryce Fullwood 21 Mark Winterbottom 22 Jack Smith 23 Todd Hazelwood 24 Jake Kostecki 25 Jordan Boys 26 Chris Pither 27 William Brown

Laps 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36

Race time 49:10.3624 49:10.7624 49:13.3953 49:21.7089 49:26.2919 49:28.4385 49:31.0739 49:33.1534 49:33.3050 49:35.8959 49:36.2614 49:43.5633 49:44.5376 49:55.2923 49:55.4912 49:56.8912 49:58.9420 49:59.6793 50:01.4647 50:01.8618 50:02.7103 50:06.2682 50:06.6145 50:07.0162 50:07.5668 50:27.2986 50:40.2394

s1 t-1 s4 t-1 s4 s4 t-2 t-2 s2 s2 s7 s8 s1 s8 s2 t-1 s8 t-2 t-9 s4 t-2 t-9 t-2 t-1 t-23

RESULTS RACE 14 36LAPS (110KMS) Time 1:18.5503* 0:00.0006 0:00.1739 0:00.2065 0:00.2193 0:00.2558 0:00.3458 0:00.3648 0:00.3680 0:00.4446 0:00.6434 0:00.6587 0:00.7037 0:00.7183 0:00.7717 0:00.7884 0:00.7969 0:00.8592 0:00.8897 0:00.9428 0:00.9710 0:00.9828 0:01.0996 0:01.1011 0:01.1784 0:01.4562 0:01.4966

Pos Drivers 1 Shane van Gisbergen 2 Cameron Waters 3 David Reynolds 4 Lee Holdsworth 5 Chaz Mostert 6 William Brown 7 Andre Heimgartner 8 James Courtney 9 Mark Winterbottom 10 Anton De Pasquale 11 Brodie Kostecki 12 Broc Feeney 13 Jack Le Brocq 14 Will Davison 15 Tim Slade 16 Nick Percat 17 Todd Hazelwood 18 Thomas Randle 19 Macauley Jones 20 Jake Kostecki 21 Bryce Fullwood 22 Jayden Ojeda 23 Jack Smith 24 Chris Pither 25 Jordan Boys NC Garry Jacobson NC Scott Pye

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Laps 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 26 18

RACE 15 – WATERS DOES IT AGAIN FROM POLE for Race 3 Waters made his best start of the weekend and comfortably led into Turn 1.

Heimgartner also made a blinder, and overtook SVG by getting a great run out of Turn 2 and aggressively made his way by at Turn 3.

It was in fact Reynolds who made the best start of the leading bunch – he moved immediately up from sixth to fourth and in the early laps hounded SVG, looking for a way by at Turn 7 on lap 5.

At the end of lap 6 Mostert and Kostecki pitted – the former had a very slow 6.2s stop, while Erebus driver Kostecki was found to have exceeded the pit lane speed limit on entry and warranted a 15s penalty.

The other Kostecki (Brodie’s cousin Jake) was also in trouble; he was turned around by his Tickford teammate Courtney at Turn 10 for which the former champion was handed a 15s penalty.

Now well into the opening stint, van Gisbergen sat on the tail of his fellow Kiwi Heimgartner and on lap 14 slid up the inside into Turn 7.

Although he was now in second, SVG had lost touch to Waters – the gap on lap 17 was nearly 2s.

In the first two races SVG stopped before Tickford pitted Waters; however this time Triple Eight tried something different.

SVG was beginning to nibble into Waters lead and on lap 19 the Monster Mustang was the first to blink.

On lap 22 both SVG and Heimgartner pitted – T8 fitted three tyres to SVG while Brad Jones Racing fitted the traditional two.

QUALIFYING RACE 15

Race time 49:18.2907 49:23.5894 49:26.8332 49:33.3479 49:38.2074 49:40.1215 49:40.2597 49:43.1169 49:43.2380 49:45.0933 49:45.6360 49:47.3362 49:58.3276 49:58.4709 49:58.7053 49:59.0303 50:00.2407 50:01.0250 50:03.2481 50:03.8941 50:05.5695 50:10.8725 50:15.3586 50:21.9489 50:26.9075 42:03.0060 31:41.0092

s1 t-1 s2 t-1 s2 t-2 s7 s1 t-3 s2 t-3 t-2 t-2 s6 t-4 t-1 s7 s3 s1 t-3 s1 s1 t-4 t-8

Pos Driver Time 1 Cameron Waters 1:18.3425*SS 2 Shane van Gisbergen 0:00.1493 3 Andre Heimgartner 0:00.1739 4 Anton De Pasquale 0:00.1837 5 William Brown 0:00.2779 6 David Reynolds 0:00.2896 7 Brodie Kostecki 0:00.2972 8 Mark Winterbottom 0:00.3400 9 Lee Holdsworth 0:00.3602 10 Chaz Mostert 0:00.3653 11 Broc Feeney 0:00.4688 12 Jake Kostecki 0:00.4690 13 Will Davison 0:00.4751 14 Jack Le Brocq 0:00.5117 15 James Courtney 0:00.5786 16 Thomas Randle 0:00.6041 17 Tim Slade 0:00.6046 18 Garry Jacobson 0:00.6144 19 Jack Smith 0:00.6360 20 Todd Hazelwood 0:00.6492 21 Macauley Jones 0:00.7455 22 Scott Pye 0:00.7766 23 Jayden Ojeda 0:00.7851 24 Bryce Fullwood 0:00.8594 25 Chris Pither 0:00.8722 26 Jordan Boys 0:01.0386 27 Nick Percat 0:01.1436

The extra tyre delayed SVG and forced him to file back into the pit lane behind the #8 Commodore.

Heimgartner knew that as SVG had three tyres, within a lap he was by, making the move at Turn 10.

Courtney’s race of woes continued – this time he tangled with Tim Slade who had just exited the lane.

The pair interlocked wheels, which sent them both into the Turn 2 tyre wall at slow speed.

Out front, Waters 5s lead was quickly diminishing – in just three laps it was slashed to 3.4s.

On lap 31 Waters responded with an ultra-fast time; however SVG still gained time and continued to do so.

With three laps to go the gap dipped below 1s for the first time, and by the start of the final lap van Gisbergen was in striking distance.

Waters made a couple of small errors at Turn 2 and Turn 7 but kept his nerve and held on to take the win in an intense and high-quality duel.

Behind SVG, Heimgartner delivered the Albury-based BJR outfit a podium at its home track.

Reynolds could not make it three podiums from three, coming home in fourth ahead of Brown and Holdsworth.

In fact, the Grove Racing duo, Holdsworth and Reynolds, earned more points than any other team over the weekend.

Feeney rounded off the weekend with his best result of seventh from De Pasquale, Winterbottom and a frustrated DJR driver in Davison.

WAU driver Mostert finished a disappointing 11th, while his teammate Percat recovered from 27th to finish 15th.

RESULTS RACE 15 36LAPS (110KMS) Pos Drivers 1 Cameron Waters 2 Shane van Gisbergen 3 Andre Heimgartner 4 David Reynolds 5 William Brown 6 Lee Holdsworth 7 Broc Feeney 8 Anton De Pasquale 9 Mark Winterbottom 10 Will Davison 11 Chaz Mostert 12 Thomas Randle 13 Brodie Kostecki 14 Scott Pye 15 Nick Percat 16 Garry Jacobson 17 Jack Le Brocq 18 Todd Hazelwood 19 Macauley Jones 20 Tim Slade 21 Jayden Ojeda 22 Chris Pither 23 Bryce Fullwood 24 Jordan Boys 25 Jake Kostecki 26 Jack Smith 27 James Courtney

Laps 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 31

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER ROUND 05 Race time 49:11.5491 49:11.9913 49:22.2817 49:26.8052 49:37.1145 49:39.3056 49:40.2550 49:40.5734 49:45.7395 49:46.9861 49:48.1654 49:50.5739 49:50.8252 49:53.4072 49:55.1593 49:56.9563 49:57.1911 50:02.1873 50:05.3823 50:10.3404 50:10.7261 50:11.0551 50:11.0736 50:13.8857 50:14.1854 50:14.5086 49:44.8109

s2 s3 s4 t-4 t-1 s3 t-1 s4 t-6 s8 s12 s2 t-3 s2 s2 t-3 s2 s3 s1 s2 s13 t-7 t-12

Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Driver Shane van Gisbergen Anton De Pasquale Cameron Waters Will Davison David Reynolds Chaz Mostert Broc Feeney Brodie Kostecki Tim Slade James Courtney Lee Holdsworth Andre Heimgartner Todd Hazelwood Mark Winterbottom William Brown Nick Percat Macauley Jones Scott Pye Thomas Randle Jack Le Brocq Bryce Fullwood Chris Pither Garry Jacobson Jake Kostecki Jack Smith Jayden Ojeda Jordan Boys

Points 1376 1095 1043 1018 966 947 887 865 767 764 752 744 712 693 690 643 527 521 490 468 464 446 427 419 412 90 62

s1 t-1 s2 t-1 t-1 s4 s1 t-2 t-2 t-1 s2 s3 t-2 t-2 t-1 -

SUPERCARS WINTON SUPPORTS

CARRERA CUP CHAOS HARRI JONES and David Russell ran riot at Winton Raceway to move to the top of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship standings, splitting the race wins as rivals struggled at the tight, twisty circuit.

Jones (above) won two of the three encounters in country Victoria, Russell taking the other after a blinding start in Race 2.

Neither were on the front row for Race 1, which polesitter Dylan O’Keeffe and Kiwi Callum Hedge led off the line.

The latter was unable to take advantage of his front row start, dropping 18 spots after being crowded into an off-road excursion at Turn 1.

Pancione also got a taste of the Winton’s scenery on lap two, running wide at Turn 10 where Am driver Sam Shahin also got himself into trouble, entering too deep before falling to the back of the field before retiring.

After three laps it was O’Keeffe leading from Jones and Russell, but by the halfway mark the gap had closed right up.

Jones eventually found an opening on lap 13 with a move through Turns 9, 10 and 11, hitting the front to triumph by 1.048s over O’Keeffe and Russell.

Someone is facing the right way .... leading Pro-Am racer Dean Cook’s strong run (#22) came to an end in the second race.

Ryan Suhle and Dale Wood were fourth and fifth, while Round 1 winner Max Vidau was seventh behind TekworkX Motorsport teammate Luke Youlden.

Geoff Emery won the Am class, finishing 3s clear of Dean Cook.

Race 2 followed a very different course, Russell turning the tables to muscle his way into an early lead.

The 40-year-old drove past Jones at Turn 3

and did not look back, holding front spot for the remainder of the race to finish 1.654s clear of his young rival.

O’Keeffe was just over 2s further back, as the front three separated themselves from the rest of the field.

Just keep four wheels on the tarmac was a task for many, as four Am drivers failed to finish.

Liam Talbot and Emery sustained damage

David Russell took out Race 2 by a few feet from Jones!

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to the front of their new 992 Cup Cars in an incident, while Stephen Grove had a spin at the final corner on lap 1.

Several steerers struggled for grip through sections of the track, two cars sliding off the circuit at high speeds at Turn 5.

Nick McBride also lost control of his machine after a battle with Angelo Mouzouris, spinning at the final corner.

Mouzouris was involved in another incident on lap 10, Ryan Suhle spinning after contact with the former, forcing an innocent Bayley Hall to take evasive action.

Scott Taylor got into the spirit on the same lap, spinning at Turn 12 as a battle pack began to form for positions nine to 13. Pancione took control of that fight, moving into ninth place.

Tim Miles was facing the wrong way after contact with Dean Cook, who spun by himself shortly after on lap 21.

The chaos and carnage left few Ams to vie for class honours, Matthew Belford and Rodney Jane the two to duke it out before Belford held on in a close battle.

Back up the front, the clear top three were followed by Dale Wood and Luke Youlden.

The final encounter was less frenetic, Jones romping to a second victory as the field played nice.

Most drivers were able to keep their cars straight, however Michael Almond was caught out by a tyre failure which sent him sliding into the gravel at Turn 6 on lap 10.

There were no issues for Jones though, as he crossed the line just over 1s clear of Russell.

Wood completed the podium on the final evening, while O’Keeffe scored another top five in fourth.

Pancione achieved his best result of the weekend in fifth.

The results saw Jones take round honours in front of Russell, promoting the pair to the top of the standings above Wall and Vidau.

Josh Nevett Standings after round 2 1 Jones 309 2 Russell 239 3 Wall 237 4 Vidau 235 5 O’Keeffe 212

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INTERNATIONAL

HAMLIN THE MARATHON MAN While Denny Hamlin (#11) won, Austin Dillion (#3) created mayhem in Overtime ... Images: Motorsport Images DENNY HAMLIN certainly earned his first Charlotte 600 victory, prevailing after two overtimes in the longest race in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Hamlin did not press his claim for victory until late on in the 619.5-mile race, crossing the line just 0.014s ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch at the conclusion of the encounter after several other drivers pressed their claim.

Daniel Suarez was the pacesetter of the field throughout and his Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, led the most laps (153).

Chase Briscoe and reigning champion Kyle Larson also shot into favouritism late in

the race, the pair battling it out at the end of regulation.

It would have been a miraculous win for Larson, who started from the rear in a repaired car, suffered three pit-road penalties, a spin at Turn 4 and a fire in his pit stall before hitting the lead on the penultimate lap of regulation.

Larson’s recovery began to unravel when Briscoe spun underneath him, sending the race to overtime as yellow flags were waved for the 17th time.

It got worse for the #5 Chevrolet in the first overtime period, as he became tangled in an incident which turned the order upside down.

Austin Dillon attempted a move on Larson at Turn 4 with a tyre advantage that backfired

significantly, damaging seven cars and leaving Hamlin in the lead.

It was left to Hamlin and Busch to vie for victory in overtime #2, the pair side-by-side until Hamlin created a gap on lap 412, holding on to triumph for the second time this season.

“It’s so special,” Hamlin said.

“It’s the last big one that’s not on my resume.

It meant so much.

“Man, we weren’t very good all day. Just got ourselves in the right place at the right time.

What a battle there!”

The win was significant for Hamlin who has now claimed the ‘big three’ – The Daytona 500, Charlotte 600 and Southern 500.

Kevin Harvick completed the podium at

ROVANPERA AGAIN Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Red Bull Content Pool KALLE ROVANPERA has further extended his FIA World Rally Championship lead by taking his third consecutive victory, the latest coming in Portugal.

The flying Finn has won three of the first four rounds this season and holds a substantial lead in the standings.

Rovanpera ran in second for much of the rally behind his more experienced Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans, but late on Saturday he overhauled the Welshman and quickly established a lead.

Despite Evans’ best efforts on Sunday he could not get back ahead, Rovenpera claiming the rally win by 15.2s.

In the last three rounds Rovanpera has

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won on snow, tarmac and now gravel and after just four rounds holds a 46-point championship advantage.

Starting first of the 12 WRC runners on Friday, victory looked unlikely but the 21-year-old avoided punctures, any incidents and with great pace put himself in a very good position for the last two days.

“At the moment it seems we are on a really good drive,” he smiled. “Starting first here and to fight for the win like this, it was really nice.

“We saw a lot of issues and tough conditions this weekend and our car was perfect as always so everybody can be really happy.”

Asserting his dominance Rovanpera also set the fastest time in the Power

Stage and therefore came away with the maximum 30 points.

Evans came home in second and although disappointed not to win, he explained it was a result he needed after the tough start to 2022.

“We definitely needed a result, that’s for sure,” he admitted.

“Of course, we’re disappointed with the outcome of today, but I take my hat off to Kalle.

“From my side it’s nice to be back on the podium and we should be able to build from here.”

Evans failed to finish either of the first two rallies within the top 10 and was oddly off the pace in Croatia, so this was very much a return to form after finishing as championship runner-up in the last two seasons.

Toyota looked to lock out the podium with Takamoto Katsuta looking to score his maiden WRC podium.

Katsuta led returning Hyundai driver Dani Sordo into the final stage of the weekend, however the experienced Spaniard was faster in the final stage and pipped the Japanese driver by 2.1s.

Belgian Thierry Neuville was in the fight for victory on Friday but this charge unravelled as the event went on.

Charlotte Motor Speedway, followed by Briscoe and Christopher Bell.

Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Larson and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.

The race had it all, including 31 lead changes between 13 different drivers.

Plenty of steerers were left with nothing to show for their efforts though, as 17 of the 37 cars retired with varying severity of damage.

Perhaps the most spectacular wreck involved Chris Buescher, whose Ford was sent into a barrel roll through the infield after Suarez collided with Briscoe on lap 346.

Buescher’s car ended up on its roof, but the driver emerged unharmed. Josh Nevett

Despite a front wheel falling off his i20 N in a liaison section on Friday, Neuville sat in second before being forced to run with just two-wheel drive for two stages which saw him fall from second to seventh.

On the final two days he recovered some ground to finish fifth, only 18.4sec behind Katsuta.

Ott Tanak inherited sixth when Craig Breen suffered from brake issues on the final day of the rally.

Tanak was never really in contention after suffering not one, but two punctures on Friday.

Pierre-Louis Loubet was the best placed M-Sport Ford driver, he steered his Puma into seventh, ahead of a disappointed Breen.

Their team-mate Adrien Fourmaux and last-gasp WRC2 winner Yohan Rossel completed the point scorers.

Rossel was handed a shock WRC2 category win when long-time leader Teemu Suninen crashed out on the final stage.

Making cameo appearances, both Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier were forced to retire from the opening day due to crashes.

Nine-time champion Loeb crashed out when leading the rally and was unable to continue, Ogier continued on and was classified in 51st.

DUCATI DREAM SHELDON SPECIAL

A SWEEP of the two races at the Lausitzring saw Sheldon van der Linde storm into the lead of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) standings.

The South African found new pace in his BMW M4 and made it count, chalking up the first wins for the new model in the 50th anniversary year of the German marques M motorsport division.

Lucas Auer started on pole for the first encounter, however it was van der Linde who got the best start and moved into a lead which he did not relinquish.

The Schubert Motorsport driver was joined on the podium by Team HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo man Luca Stolz and Auer, who was left to rue a poor pitstop.

Arjun Maini and Maro Engel completed the top five in Mercedes machinery while Kiwi Nick Cassidy snuck into the top 10 in his first race of the season as the only Ferrari driver to cross the line.

Kelvin van der Linde was one of nine drivers not to make it to the finish of the race, which was a true battle of attrition in that sense.

Race 2 was a closer fought battle at the front, van der Linde prevailing by just 0.347s from pole position.

Engel made the pacesetter work for the win all the way, just falling short in his GruppeM Mercedes-AMG, while also securing the additional point for the Fastest Lap Award.

Three-time champion Rene Rast completed the podium, earning a spot on the steps for the first time since returning to DTM in his ABT Audi R8.

Philipp Eng and Nico Muller were fourth and fifth, as five cars were forced into early retirements.

As a result of his double delight at the Lausitzring, van der Linde now leads the standings by 15 points, followed by Round 1 winner Mirko Bortolotti. Josh Nevett

Report: Dan McCarthy ON HOME soil Francesco Bagnaia (above) has taken an emotional victory in front of his Italian fans – making the win even more special, he did it on an Italian bike.

It was a dream victory for Bagnaia with the win more than making up for his crash from race winning contention in France two weeks ago.

His second win in three races vaults Bagnaia back into championship contention – however the two men at the top of the table Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro also finished on the podium.

It was not an easy victory for Bagnaia who dropped to ninth on the opening lap of the race and had to make his way past championship rivals and over half a dozen fellow Ducatis.

Enea Bastianini has taken three wins already this season; however it was his rookie teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio who took his maiden pole from fellow rookie Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, making it an all-Italian front-row at home.

Incredibly it was a Ducati top five lockout.

Off the line, Di Giannantonio made a good launch and emerged with the lead

from Turn 1 despite an attack from the VR46 duo.

At Turn 4 the VR46 riders swapped, Marini got making the move at Turn 4.

Bezzecchi was on a charge early and quickly got the lead off Di Giannantonio.

Behind these three Quartararo had a strong first lap and was fourth, ahead of Espargaro on lap two.

The reigning champion on his nimble Yamaha was not content with fourth, and on cold tyres snatched third from Di Giannantonio.

Despite falling back to ninth on lap one Bagnaia was unfazed, quickly got his head down, and on lap four made his way by Espargaro and into the top five.

Ahead, Quartararo was moving forward, past Marini on the same lap.

With the lead in sight, Bagnaia stepped his pace up a notch and on lap five overtook Di Giannantonio and then pulled off a big move into San Donato, passing both Quartararo and Marini to move into second spot.

It took just a couple more laps to catch up to his fellow VR46 academy rider Bezzecchi and overtake him on lap 9.

Quartararo did not want to see his championship rival take off into the distance and on lap 11 he also made his way past Bezzecchi.

Although he didn’t have too much pace early, Espargaro was now in the groove, dispatching of Di Giannantonio he was now in the top five and caught the scrapping Bezzecchi and Marini. He soon moved by them both.

Enea Bastianini had worked his way into contention from the back end of the top 10, he sat just behind the Ducati bunch however he tucked the front of his Ducati through Materassi, on Lap 14, he was out.

Out front a relentless battle took place in the closing laps, Bagnaia and Quartararo trading tenths lap after lap – Quartararo giving his all was unable to close in on the factory Ducati man.

In the end Bagnaia’s margin of victory was 0.6s to Quartararo. Espargaro finished just under 2s further back to record his fourth straight podium.

Johann Zarco moved up late on to finish fourth ahead of Marini. KTM’s Brad Binder made up nine places on lap one and was rewarded with a sixth-place finish.

Takaaki Nakagami was the best placed Honda – he beat Miguel Oliveira and, in his last race before yet more surgery on his right arm, Marc Marquez rounded out the top 10.

It took a video review to find Di Giannantonio pipped Maverick Vinales to 11th. Jorge Martin, Alex and Aussie Jack Miller rounded out the point scorers.

The other Aussie, Remy Gardner, was 19th.

Notably both Team Suzuki riders crashed on lap 8.

STANDINGS AFTER 8 ROUNDS 1 Quartararo 122 2 A Espargaro 114 3 Bastianini 94 4 Bagnaia 81 5 Zarco 75 6 Rins 69 7 Binder 65 8 Miller 63 9 M Marquez 60 10 Mir 56

FRIENDLY FIRE REPORT: Josh Nevett AUDI SPORT Team Phoenix (pictured) came out on top in the 2022 edition of the ADAC 24 Hour Nurburgring race, Kelvin van der Linde bringing the #15 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II home almost one minute clear.

Van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Frederic Vervisch and Robin Frijns were pronounced winners despite a 32s post-race penalty for leaving the engine running during the last pit stop while the car was jacked up, which reduced the margin of victory to 23s.

The two Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed cars completed the podium, the #3 of Adam Christodoulou,

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Maximillian Gotz and Fabian Schiller taking bragging rights over Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella who finished a further 2m 15s back in the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Defending winner Manthey Racing had its race cut short, Laurens Vanthoor taking responsibility for an incident with his brother Dries which resulted in the former crashing the #1 Porsche 911 GT3R (991 II) out of the race.

Laurens made contact with the left rear of Dries’ Audi approaching the Tiergarten, sending the #1 into a spin before it collided with the barrier on the right-hand side before the Hohenrain chicane.

Dries managed to recover to help steer

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his team into a commanding position.

All in all, 93 of the 135 cars to start were classified, 42 failing to make the distance in a race that went the full duration with no rain or fog interruptions.

Aussie Matt Campbell was a DNF, his #27 TokSport WRT Porsche crew

completing just 2h 38m of the 24h before retiring.

Kiwi Jaxon Evans had a more successful outing, finishing ninth outright alongside co-drivers Sven Muller, Patrick Pilet, and Marco Seefried in the #33 Falken Tyres Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R.

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INDYCAR 2022 - INDIANAPOLIS 500

MIGHTY MARCUS

By JOSH NEVETT Images Motorsport Images

MARCUS ERICSSON is an Indy 500 champion after storming into the lead late in the 106th edition to take victory in his #8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

As expected, the race came alive in the last 20 laps with multiple crashes and pitlane dramas shaping the outcome at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Ericsson went wholly unnoticed up until those closing stages, emerging as a contender after the final round of pitstops.

Polesitter Scott Dixon led the most laps (95) but was penalised for speeding during his final pitstop with 25 laps to go. Given a drive through penalty, Dixon’s hopes were dashed as he fell towards the rear of the field in the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing machine.

Following Ericsson to the line was Pato O’Ward, the Mexican unable to make the decisive pass in a two-lap sprint to the finish at the end after running at the front with Dixon for the entirety of the encounter.

Tony Kanaan rounded out the podium in the #1 car as Chip Ganassi Racing swept the steps at the Brickyard.

Speaking post-race, Swedish driver Ericsson explained his rollercoaster of emotions during the final laps.

“I can’t believe it,” he said.

“You can never take anything for granted and obviously there was still laps to go (after final red flag). I was praying so hard there was not going to be another yellow but I knew there was probably going to be one. It was hard to refocus, but I knew the car was so amazing.

“The #8 crew, Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda have done such an amazing job so I knew that the car was fast enough, but it was still hard, I had to do everything there to keep them behind.

“I can’t believe it, I’m so happy.”

Ericsson started from fourth on the grid and

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Pato O’Ward was in the final lap contest but had to settle for second.

Milk, bricks ... Indy is all about tradition ...

The crowd is back, big-time at Indy. Fabulous.

was content to let Dixon and his teammate Alex Palou make the early running.

Palou passed the polesitter for the lead at the end of lap 1 in his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing car, before Dixon returned the favour on lap 8 as

Rinus Veekay slotted into third.

The leading pair began to work together to conserve fuel, trading the lead every couple of laps.

Indeed, after 20 laps Palou was ahead, having

banked 14 laps in the lead while Dixon sat behind him, followed by Veekay, Ericsson and Ed Carpenter.

The first retirement of the race came on lap 39 when Veekay slid and hit the outside wall

Far left and left: The popular Swede was there or thereabouts all day, and burst into the lead after the last stops saw Dixon out of contention.

at Turn 2. Despite fighting at the front with one lap in the lead, the 21-year-old would be ranked 33rd in the finishing order.

Racing resumed on lap 47, with Dixon making a pass to renew his ascendency. Meanwhile, further back Kiwi Scott McLaughlin was making plenty of inroads from P26 on the starting grid, sitting in 17th after making nine early passes.

Defending Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves was also mounting a charge from the rear, running in 18th with nine passes to his name after 50 laps.

Rookie Callum Ilott was the next driver to bite the dust. He hit the wall at Turn 2 on lap 69 before bouncing into the inside wall. From a starting position of P19, he would be classified 32nd.

As the race approached 30% completion, a couple of big names were struggling.

Will Power ran in 24th after a slow pitstop and Colton Herta was sitting in 30th as he wrestled with his backup #26 Andretti Autosport car.

The latter would be called into the lane to retire, cutting his losses after a dismal outing.

“We just weren’t fast enough – they parked us because we were slow,” Herta said.

“It was a handful – we were so loose, the loosest I’ve ever been on a on an oval so it wasn’t a lot of fun.

“It sucks that we weren’t able to finish ... now all you can really think about is what if Friday didn’t happen, what would have?

“It’s disappointing.”

Green flags were waved again on lap 77, Dixon leading from Daly as Palou plummeted to 28th after returning to the pits.

Daly seized his opportunity after starting from P18, pulling into front spot on lap 81 and staying there for four laps before Dixon reasserted himself.

Lurking behind at the halfway mark were O’Ward and Ericsson, who ran third and fourth just a couple of seconds off the leaders.

Turn 2 struck again shortly after, ex-Formula 1 driver and Indy 500 rookie Romain Grosjean losing the rear end of his #28 Andretti Autosport machine before sliding into the outside wall, forcing his exit from the race.

O’Ward flew by Dixon after the restart on lap 112 but as was the case throughout the race the polesitter was up to the challenge.

As such, with 80 laps to go it was Dixon heading the field.

Another round of pitstops kicked off on lap 141, O’Ward and Kanaan briefly assuming the lead before Dixon regained it and passed Al Unser (644) as the all-time lap leader in Indy 500 history.

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Unfortunately for passionate Supercars fans, McLaughlin did not see the chequered flag in his second Indy 500 appearance, crashing out from 12th at Turn 3 on lap 152.

The three-time Supercars champion was the highest ranked Team Penske steerer at the time before he hit the outside wall hard after his car got loose at the rear, ending his day prematurely.

“It just got loose on me,” McLaughlin said.

“I just got caught by a gust of wind ... hadn’t been in clean air for a while ... it just caught me.

It snapped around, hit the fence and worse was probably the second hit.

“Bruised ego; really gutted for everyone on the Pennzoil Chevy.

“We had a fast race car today, we came up through the pack and were running really strong.

“First crash here but unfortunately, that’s how it happens.”

Another restart with 43 laps to go saw the status quo renewed, before the script was thrown out the window during the final round of pitstops.

Dixon and Daly pulled into the lane with 25 laps to go and it was the former who saw his chances go up in flames.

The hot favourite was penalised for speeding in pitlane, given a drive through penalty that dropped him way down the order and out of the running.

It was then O’Ward who assumed first in the order as cars continued to filter into the pits for final stops.

With 15 to go Ericsson had worked himself into a strong position, the race becoming his to lose as O’Ward slotted back into second.

Marco Andretti led for one lap during the pit shuffling, but it was the Swede 3.2s clear of O’Ward by lap 190.

There would be no straightforward victory

for Ericsson though, as a red flag with just a handful of laps to go made it anyone’s race. Jimmie Johnson was the cause of the temporary halt, the NASCAR icon crashing out in the dying stages.

Two laps of green flag racing were all that remained after the mess was cleared, Ed Carpenter’s car failing to fire as the field rolled out of pitlane for the final time.

Ericsson got away cleanly as green flags flew, weaving aggressively to prevent a slipstream.

O’Ward made his big move at Turn 1 on the final lap but was unable to get his car around the outside as Ericsson gathered himself to solidify the lead.

On the final lap, Sage Karam became the final driver to crash out, although it did little to impact the result as Ericsson took the win under yellow flag conditions ahead of O’Ward and Kanaan.

Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi were fourth and fifth, ahead of Daly who led for seven laps. Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud crossed the line seventh and eighth, while Alex Palou finished ninth despite leading for 47 laps earlier.

Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top 10.

Aussie Will Power was 15th. Dixon was 21st after his late penalty.

Ericsson shot to the top of the standings with his double points triumph.

Dixon led a lot of the way – a drive-through is a killer speeding penalty and it ended his hopes.

McLaughlin was making strong progress and was best-paced Penske car before tagging the wall.

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Formula 1 Round 06 Barcelona, Spanish GP

DRAMAS GIVE MORE FLAVOR TO MAX’S WIN

By LUIS VASCONCELOS Images Motorsport Images WHAT A turnaround of events! Max Verstappen went from being off the track and battling endless issues with the DRS of his Red Bull RB18 in the first part of the Spanish Grand Prix, to a relatively easy win, facilitated by team orders that forced Sérgio Pérez to let the Dutch driver through, and into the lead of the Drivers’ World Championship – having left Australia, three races ago, a staggering 46 points behind Charles Leclerc!

Motor racing can be a cruel sport and the Monegasque felt that very heavily when he retired from a comfortable lead on lap 27 of the Spanish Grand Prix. Starting from pole position, the Ferrari driver was already 2s ahead of Verstappen when the Dutch had a brief off at Turn 4 on lap 9, and from then on had everything completely under control.

Such was his advantage over the Russell/ Pérez battle that he only changed tyres five laps after the Mexican, on lap 21, resuming still 5.7s in the lead and with much fresher tyres.

With Russell holding Pérez up, the gap went up to 12.6s by lap 26, before a Power Unit issue led to his retirement.

With Sainz out of contention for a podium finish having preceded Verstappen in Turn 4’s gravel trap by two laps, Leclerc’s demise played beautifully into Red Bull’s hands. For a good part of the race, the World Champion was enraged that the DRS flap on his RB18 wasn’t working properly – many times not opening at all, as he hunted down George Russell, other times shutting immediately after being activated, keeping him behind the Silver Arrows while Leclerc, alone in front, kept opening his gap to the competition.

Things hadn’t been going Verstappen’s way.

He’d managed to keep P2 at the start but wasn’t feeling as strong as he had been in Imola or Miami, where he passed his rival early in the race on straight fights: “Charles was starting to pull away and

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seemed to have better tyre life than us today, so I wasn’t expecting to be able to repeat what I had done in the previous two races.”

Then, on lap 9, came that rare mistake from the Dutchman who went into the gravel in Turn 4: “There was a very strong gust of wind that caught me out. I braked and turned exactly in the same place as in the other laps but the car was just thrown sideways by the wind and I went off.” Losing positions to Russell and Pérez, he quickly caught up with the duo but with an inoperative DRS had to count on Pérez’s co-operation to move up to third on lap 11, only to get frustrated behind Russell, as the DRS problems weren’t going away.

The situation got heated after the first round of pit stops. For 15 laps, Verstappen was stuck behind Russell, “because I only had DRS when I was too far to attack him and most of the time it wasn’t working at all.”

The Dutchman got very angry over the radio, shouting, “we can’t even make a DRS that works” and with his race engineer giving him plenty of instructions to try different solutions, admitted he needed, “a bit of time to calm down and focus on what could be done.

Eventually the DRS started to work, but only halfway down the straight, so we changed the strategy and that, with ‘Checo’ helping too, was the key to win the race. I tried to stay focused.

Of course, it’s not nice when stuff like that happens.”

The battle with Russell, however, was one of the highlights of the race: “I was a bit frustrated at the time; couldn’t get him because of the DRS issues. But the fight itself was really cool. Also, I think that lap where I did go on the inside into Turn 1 and then George went around the outside, but then I was on the outside of Turn 3 again ... I think that was a really cool fight. I look back at it and I’ll smile now. At the time, of course, I was a little bit frustrated. But it was a really good and tough battle.”

One man in the Red Bull camp that was not very happy was Sérgio Pérez, who avoided mistakes and had no technical issues, only to be ordered to let Verstappen through, “because you are on different strategies”, his race engineer told him. The Mexican’s reaction was swift, saying, “that’s very unfair but I understand” and at the end of the race he was still frustrated by being denied the chance to fight for victory: “On the first stint, when I let Max by, I was told that I was going to get it back. And we knew we were on different strategies. So when I was back on it, I felt like I could have gone through and probably given a better shot at my strategy, to make it work. But at the end of the

day, the way to go today turned out to be the three-stop. I think what was clear was that the three-stop was a better race strategy, so I think if I went in that direction, I would have won the race.”

At Ferrari it was actually Leclerc who was doing all the could to lift team spirits, even though he had lost an easy win and the championship lead: “I had no indication before it broke and I lost the power. It’s a shame. In those moments I believe that there’s nothing else I can do apart from looking at the positives and there are plenty this weekend.”

The young Ferrari driver was remarkably calm at the end of the race, explaining that, “overall, it’s always a disappointmen to retire and once you’re fighting for a championship, you know that every points are very valuable.

“But, over the course of a season, I think it always more or less happens to have a DNF, which is not an excuse for sure. And I’m pretty sure that everyone is already working flat out to understand all of it and to fix it as quickly as possible. Everyone is as disappointed as me today, with what’s happened and there was just no reason for me to be angry at anybody going out the car, so I just wanted to see the mechanics to cheer them up a little bit because they were pretty down.”

Perez was philosophical – but unhappy – about having to let Max past ...

Esteban Ocon drove a solid race to move from 12th to seventh ...

MERCEDES IS BACK! WELL, NEARLY ...

Russell put up a fabulous defence of his position with Verstappen all over him ...

Another strong drive from Bottas could have netted better then sixth with a better tyre strategy.

Sergio manages a smile on the podium ... George is content.

For Sainz, a bad start and the ‘off’ in Turn 4 that damaged the floor of his car meant he was never a factor at the front of the field. With less downforce due to the damage, the Spaniard’s car was eating up its tyres much faster than Leclerc’s and he only regained fourth place thanks to Hamilton’s engine concerns in the last five laps.

Therefore, Ferrari left Barcelona with a meagre P4 that was no consolation for the team that had the fastest car in the Circuit de Catalunya, but lost the lead of both championships, in a weekend where it looked set to strengthen its position.

With Mercedes finally making progress and

QUALIFYING RACE 06

becoming a factor in the battle for the top three positions (read separate story), the battle for the other teams was for seventh place with Leclerc’s retirement putting two more points on the table for everyone else.

Magnussen’s contact with Hamilton in the first lap took the Dane out of contention, as he dropped to last and had a damaged car to contend with and Haas’ team mate, Mick Schumacher, who ended the first lap in a promising P6, struggled with poor tyre life and sticking with a two-stop strategy quickly dropped out of the points.

That left Valtteri Bottas in a very strong position, as the Finn quickly pulled away

RESULTS RACE 06 66 LAPS SPAIN

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 06

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Make

Laps Margin

Pos Driver

1

Charles Leclerc

1:18.750

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing RBPT

66 1:37:20.475 s1

1

Max Verstappen

110 s1

2

Max Verstappen

1:19.073

2

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing RBPT

66

+13.072s s3

2

Charles Leclerc

104 t-1

3

Carlos Sainz

1:19.166

3

George Russell

Mercedes

66

+32.927s s1

3

Sergio Perez

85

-

4

George Russell

1:19.393

4

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

66

+45.208s t-1

4

George Russell

74

-

5

Sergio Perez

1:19.420

5 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

66

+54.534s s1

5

Carlos Sainz

65

-

6

Lewis Hamilton

1:19.512

6 Valtteri Bottas

Alfa Romeo Ferrari

66

+59.976s s1

6

Lewis Hamilton

46

-

7

Valtteri Bottas

1:19.608

7

Alpine Renault

66

+75.397s s5

7

Lando Norris

39

-

8

Kevin Magnussen

1:19.682

8 Lando Norris

Mclaren Mercedes

66

+83.235s s3

8

Valtteri Bottas

38

-

9

Daniel Ricciardo

1:20.297

9

65

+1 lap s11

9

Esteban Ocon

30

-

10 Mick Schumacher

1:20.368

10 Yuki Tsunoda

Alphatauri RBPT

65

+1 lap s3

10 Kevin Magnussen 15

-

11

Lando Norris

1:20.471

11 Sebastian Vettel

Aston Martin Mercedes 65

+1 lap s5

11

Yuki Tsunoda

11 s1

12 Esteban Ocon

1:20.638

12 Daniel Ricciardo

Mclaren Mercedes

65

+1 lap t-3

12 Daniel Ricciardo

11 t-1

13 Yuki Tsunoda

1:20.639

13 Pierre Gasly

Alphatauri RBPT

65

+1 lap s1

13 Pierre Gasly

6

-

14 Pierre Gasly

1:20.861

14 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari

65

+1 lap t-4

14 Sebastian Vettel

4

-

15 Zhou Guanyu

1:21.094

15 Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Mercedes 65

+1 lap s2

15 Fernando Alonso

4 s1

16 Sebastian Vettel

1:20.954

16 Nicholas Latifi

Williams Mercedes

64

+2 lap s3

16 Alexander Albon

3 t-1

17 Lance Stroll

1:21.418

17 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari

64

+2 lap t-9

17 Lance Stroll

2

-

18 Alexander Albon

1:21.645

18 Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

64

+2 lap

18 Zhou Guanyu

1

-

19 Nicholas Latifi

1:21.915

NC Zhou Guanyu

Alfa Romeo Ferrari

28

DNF t-4

19 Mick Schumacher

0

-

20 Fernando Alonso

1:21.043

NC Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

27

DNFt-20

20 Nico Hulkenberg

0

-

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Esteban Ocon

Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault

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Points

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from the rest of the field and was by himself for most of the afternoon. Hamilton’s first lap incident and Sainz’s mistake put him in P4 from laps 31 to 57, but the team’s insistence in staying on a two-stops strategy cost him positions to Sainz and Hamilton, so Bottas was not too pleased: “I think the tyre life of the Mediums was maybe a bit shorter than we estimated, so the last stint became a bit too long. I really, really struggled with the tyres towards the end of the day, but we still got good points,” Alpine had a much better Sunday than Saturday, when Alonso went out in Q1 due to a misunderstanding with the pit wall and Ocon didn’t get to Q3. The Frenchman had a solid race to seventh place, pulling away from Norris in the first stint and then controlling the McLaren driver’s pace for the rest of the race without much trouble.

With Alonso starting last after a tactical PU change, the Spaniard gave his fans something to cheer, as he went through the field with his traditional verve to score the two points he had been denied by a post-race penalty in Miami.

Norris’ P8 may not look much for a McLaren driver, but the young British driver was in poor health, battling with a tonsilitis that got worse throughout the weekend and forced him to get medical attention at the end of the race. That he massively outpaced Ricciardo and scored four points for his team just shows how well he did in the sweltering conditions on race day, with the air temperature exceeding 35º Celsius.

Yuki Tsunoda scored the final point for AlphaTauri, beating Vettel in the heavily modified Aston Martin AMR02, the young Japanese being quicker than Gasly in qualifying and showing the kind of consistency that he badly lacked last year, the kind of progress that may help him keep his seat with the Italian team for 2023 as well..

THE SIGHT of George Russell fighting the two Red Bulls when Charles Leclerc was running away for what looked like an easy win was a good sign that Mercedes had finally got on top of the bouncing issues that affected the W13’s performance since the Bahrain test – but it was Lewis Hamilton’s storming drive from P19 at the end of lap one, after contact with Magnussen in Turn 4, that showed the Silver Arrows’ true speed in the Circuit de Catalunya.

When the seven-times World Champion emerged from the pits, he was 53s behind eventual race winner Max Verstappen but 60 laps later he was only 39.4s behind the Red Bull, a net gain of 13.6s that says a lot about Mercedes’s progress. A water leak led to excessive fuel consumption and forced Hamilton to lift and coast a lot in the last four laps, costing him P4 to Sainz, but he was still in very high spirits at the end of the race: “I am so happy. I was hoping for a smoother race but after the issue at the beginning I was 30 seconds behind last at one stage. I’m grateful to the team for just keeping their heads down and positive feedback coming through and for all the amazing work to get us to this improvement. The car felt great in the race. Our pace is closer to the top guys, which is amazing. Was just really unfortunate at the start to get the puncture, but I didn’t give up.”

Russell who gave Verstappen a good run for his money until eventually losing the battle with the two Red Bulls, scored his second podium of the season, but was less optimistic than his team mate: “I wish I could say we’ve got a winning car now, but we’re not quite there yet, as I couldn’t hold the two Red Bull and Charles was out of reach. But it feels great to be on the podium and I think it goes to show the hard work and effort that’s gone on back at a factory, both in Brackley and Brixworth. I feel like we’re making progress and I think we, as a team, have turned a page. I feel like this is probably the start of our season now.”

With a three-way battle looming, this championship could become even more exciting that it has already been, a mouth-watering prospect for the growing number of the fans the sport has been gaining in the last couple of years. LV Where’s Ferrari???

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Formula 1 Round 07 Monte Carlo, Monaco GP

SÉRGIO PÉREZ BECOMES A FACTOR!

By LUIS VASCONCELOS Images Motorsport Images

SÉRGIO PÉREZ gave Red Bull the best possible answer to being twice ordered to let Max Verstappen through in the Spanish Grand Prix, by winning the most coveted of all prizes, the Monaco Grand Prix, at the end of a weekend where he was consistently quicker than team leader Max Verstappen!

The Mexican’s third Grand Prix victory even puts him in contention for the title, as he left Monaco just 15 points behind his team-mate and a mere six points behind Leclerc.

Sunday’s race was far from your normal dull Monaco Grand Prix. A downpour before the start delayed procedures, before a power issue with the start lights system delayed things even further.

We then had a race starting behind the Safety Car, with everyone on full Wets, a few people going straight for slicks around the 20 lap mark, all benefiting from that strategy, while the majority did a few laps on Intermediates in between – including a major blooper from Ferrari that cost Charles Leclerc the win – and then everything stopped after Mick Schumacher had a massive shunt in the Swimming Pool complex, his Haas VF-21 breaking in two on impact with the barriers.

Only after the re-start was there a normal Monaco procession, as even different tyre choices made no difference and the top 10 finished the shortened race – it ended after 64 of the 78 scheduled laps as the three hours mark from the original start time was reached – exactly in the same order they started it on lap 32, Ocon losing three places for a time penalty in what was the only exception to the rule.

as he led the Dutchman in all Free Practice Sessions and in the two final Qualifying sessions as well.

Of course, it was Pérez’s crash exiting Portier corner that denied Verstappen the opportunity to snatch P3 on the grid from him, but these things happen in Monaco and the World Champion’s complaint that, “the driver who crashes at the end of Q3 doesn’t get a penalty, those who didn’t finish their laps do”, sounded more like sour grapes than a direct attack on his team-mate.

In the race, Perez managed to stay in touch with Sainz during the first stint and sensing the track was too dry for Full Wets was the first front runner to dive into the pits for Intermediates – a gamble that paid off royally, as Ferrari was too slow to react with Leclerc and stuck with going straight to slicks with Sainz.

Getting ahead of the leading Ferrari, Pérez found himself in P2 and going much faster than Sainz, whose full wet tyres were shot, but it was the Spaniard who pitted first, on lap 21, both Red Bulls stopping one lap later.

The combination of Latifi getting in Sainz’s way for four corners on the Ferrari driver’s out lap and the speed Pérez was still able to carry on very fresh Intermediates sealed the final

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we did it – we just made it even harder for ourselves at the end – but it was just with the graining I had. To not make any mistake, to bring it home, but keeping Carlos behind wasn’t easy.”

A big lock up into Mirabeau on the opening lap after the race was re-started, put Pérez in trouble as the left front tyre never fully recovered and that gave Sainz the chance

Ricciardo leads Stroll and Tsunoda. Daniel was again well beaten by his team-mate.

Sainz earned second place with a better strategy (and communication) than the unlucky Leclerc.

RED BULL HAS A GOOD PROBLEM NOW

For Pérez, the whole weekend was like a dream and easily his best weekend in his very long Formula One career. Only in Q1 was the Mexican marginally slower than Verstappen

result of the race, the Mexican celebrating the birth of his third child, earlier this month, with the third win of his Formula One career.

No wonder he was beaming at the end of the race: “It’s a dream comes true. I mean, as a driver, you dream of winning here. After your home race I think there is no other more special weekend to win. So, to do it and the way

Yet another top-five finish for George Russell ...

By waiting one extra lap to pit the race leader, Ferrari allowed Pérez to get ahead of Leclerc and by putting on the same tyre as the Mexican doomed his chances of home success. Sainz, on the other hand, quickly said, “we’ll go straight to slicks”, so the team decided to keep him out until it was obviously the Hard tyres were faster than the wet weather tyres.

But the track dried up a lot faster than anyone expected. Mick Schumacher, the first to stop for slicks, was immediately the fastest man on track, so everyone else followed suit and that meant both Sainz and Leclerc were called into the pits on the same lap, a late call for the Monegasque to stay out coming, “when I had already turned into the pits, so too late to stay on track”, he told us.

Even if he lost four seconds in the pits, waiting for Sainz, that was still better than losing seven or eight seconds with one extra lap on the Intermediates, as the real damage had been done with the bad decision of making Leclerc stop for Intermediates when it was too late to keep Pérez behind him and too early to put him on slicks …

Sainz was also frustrated with second place, because “I was in the lead when we all changed for slicks, so the win was there for the taking. But the pit stop was slow and then I had the Williams in the way, costing me more than the one second Pérez had over me when he came out of the pits.”

Another massive shunt for Mick Schumacher ... somehow the TechPro barrier ripped the rear end completely off ...

Alonso leads Hamilton. The former champions finished seventh and eighth.

MERCEDES TAKES A STEP BACK Perez took a well-earned prime spot on the podium. to close on his rival. Pérez admitted, “I had a lot of graining on my tyres, was quite slow in Turns 3 and 4, so that was giving Carlos the opportunity to be really close into Turn 10.

That’s why I needed to open a gap before Turn 10 and went a bit too deep.”

For the first time since 2018, Max Verstappen had to play second fiddle to a team-mate and the least one can say it is that, his rant after qualifying apart, the World Champion accepted the events with grace: “This was an amazing result for Checo, so I’m very happy for him.” The Dutchman, however, admitted Ferrari had the upper hand, at least in qualifying, but praised his team’s strategic

QUALIFYING RACE 07

calls that helped him beat championship rival Charles Leclerc and extend his lead to nine points: “Today was really about strategy and making the right calls. And I have to say the team was very relaxed and on it with their calls, very straightforward. There was no doubt: it was like ‘pit now, we go on this tyre’; ‘pit now again we go on this tyre’. They did a really good job with that.”

HOW FERRARI COST LECLERC THE WIN

Not even making it to the podium, Charles Leclerc had every reason in the world to be upset and frustrated at the end of the Monaco

RESULTS RACE 07 78 LAPS MONACO

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 07

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Make

Laps Margin

Pos Driver

1

Charles Leclerc

1:11.376

1

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing RBPT

64 1:56:30.265 s2

1

Max Verstappen

Points

2

Carlos Sainz

1:11.601

2

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

64

+1.154s

-

2

3

Sergio Perez

1:11.629

3

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing RBPT

64

+1.491s s1

3

4

Max Verstappen

1:11.666

4

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

64

+2.922s t-3

5

Lando Norris

1:11.849

5 George Russell

Mercedes

64

6

George Russell

1:12.112

6 Lando Norris

Mclaren Mercedes

7

Fernando Alonso

1:12.247

7

8

Lewis Hamilton

1:12.560

8 Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

9

Sebastian Vettel

1:12.732

9

Alfa Romeo Ferrari

10 Esteban Ocon

1:13.047

11

Yuki Tsunoda

1:12.797

12 Valtteri Bottas 13 Kevin Magnussen

125

-

Charles Leclerc

116

-

Sergio Perez

110

-

4

George Russell

84

-

+11.968s s1

5

Carlos Sainz

83

-

64

+12.231s t-1

6

Lewis Hamilton

50

-

64

+46.358s

-

7

Lando Norris

48

-

64

+50.388s

-

8

Valtteri Bottas

40

-

64

+52.525s s3

9

Esteban Ocon

30

-

10 Sebastian Vettel

Aston Martin Mercedes 64

+53.536s t-1

10 Kevin Magnussen 15

-

11 Pierre Gasly

Alphatauri RBPT

64

+54.289s s6

11

1:12.909

12 Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

64

+55.644s t-2

12 Yuki Tsunoda

11 t-1

1:12.921

13 Daniel Ricciardo

Mclaren Mercedes

64

+57.635s s1

13 Fernando Alonso

10 s2

14 Daniel Ricciardo

1:12.964

14 Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Mercedes 64

+60.802s s4

14 Pierre Gasly

6 t-1

15 Mick Schumacer

1:13.081

15 Nicholas Latifi

Williams Mercedes

63

+1 lap s4

15 Sebastian Vettel

5 t-1

16 Alexander Albon

1:13.6111

16 Zhou Guanyu

Alfa Romeo Ferrari

63

+1 lap s4

16 Alexander Albon

3

-

17 Pierre Gasly

1:13.660

17 Yuki Tsunoda

Alphatauri RBPT

63

+1 lap t-6

17 Lance Stroll

2

-

18 Lance Stroll

1:13.678

NC Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

48

DNF t-2

18 Zhou Guanyu

1

-

19 Nicholas Latifi

1:14.403

NC Mick Schumacher HAAS Ferrari

24

DNF t-4

19 Mick Schumacher

0

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Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault Valtteri Bottas

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Daniel Ricciardo

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Grand Prix. Once again, his home race was quite cruel to the young Ferrari driver, but this time around it was the Scuderia that was entirely to blame for him missing a win that was entirely deserved.

Leclerc had been majestic in practice and qualifying, and his last lap in Q3 was, “the best of my life”, he told us. Had it not been aborted by the red flag caused by Pérez’ crash, Leclerc would have taken 0,4s off his previous best and left everyone more than 0,6s behind!

On Sunday, the Ferrari driver was cautious at the start, took his time to understand the grip levels and then pulled away from Sainz, leading by 5,8s after 16 laps. Pérez was 8s behind but pitted on that lap and his speed on Intermediate tyres led to a panic attack on the Ferrari pit wall, both Leclerc and Sainz being asked if they wanted to pit the next lap.

The Monegasque said, “it’s too early for slicks”, as the team’s plan was to bypass the Intermediate tyres completely, but then, on lap 18, “I got a call to pit, in a point of the track where I couldn’t communicate, so I followed the call and pitted.”

With no pace to fight with the two top teams, Mercedes played a secondary role in Monaco, as the new parts introduced in Spain weren’t relevant for this kind of track.

Sixth in qualifying, Russell managed to beat Lando Norris in the race by following Sainz’s strategy and going straight from Full Wets to slick, seeing off the McLaren driver up the hill from St Devote as the orange car emerged from the pits after his second stop. Hamilton, who underperformed in qualifying by choosing the wrong engine mode in Q3, spent his race stuck behind Alonso and was a frustrated eighth the entire race.

Norris was disappointed to “have lost to George, but the team did the right strategy” and collected the extra point for the fastest lap by pitting late for a second set of Medium tyres.

Alonso, in P7, Bottas and Vettel completed the points’ scorers, the last two benefiting from a 5s penalty imposed on Ocon for a contact with Hamilton earlier in the race, while the Spaniard proved it’s next to impossible to pass in a dry Monaco by lapping up to four seconds off the pace after the race re-start, “because we didn’t think the Mediums would last to the end if we didn’t manage them”, without ever giving Hamilton the slightest opportunity to try and overtake him.

In the battle for British bragging rights, Lando was beaten by the ever reliable George Russell.

www.autoaction.com.au I 57

AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RND2

BATES BROTHERS DOMINATE FOREST RALLY HARRY BATES and co-driver John McCarthy (above and right) took outright victory in the Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) Forest Rally despite a tense final day.

Bates won Heat 1 on Saturday but was comprehensively beaten by his brother, Lewis on Sunday, who won the Heat alongside Anthony McLoughlin, creating a close finish in Western Australia.

Early on neither crew led the running though, as Eli Evans steered his Mini Cooper AP4 to three stage wins on the opening night alongside Adam Wright, opening up a 5s gap.

Harry and McCarthy fought back hard on Saturday though, establishing a two-minute lead over the eight stages as a fuel pump issue cruelly ended Evans’ challenge.

Evans was joined on the sidelines by Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic, who crashed out of the weekend on SS8.

Trailing Harry and McCarthy on the Saturday were Richie Dalton and Dale Moscatt (pictured right), while Lewis and McLoughlin’s third place made it a highly successful day for the Neal Bates Motorsport team with all three Toyotas in the top three.

Harry and McCarthy looked odds on to win heading into Sunday morning, however the pair were forced to climb up the order after a sequence of setbacks in the morning.

Saturday’s winners discovered the GR Yaris had fuel pump issues in the morning service and were late to check in, receiving an 80s penalty and lower start order.

The team then suffered a puncture on the opening stage, finishing 44s adrift of stage winners Evans and Wright.

Nevertheless, three stage wins late on the final day secured a Heat podium and overall triumph, which the 2019 Champion celebrated with relief.

“Not probably our strongest result on paper but I am still really happy with how John and I performed,” Harry said.

“This weekend was another challenge for the GR Yaris and it stood up to the challenge really well. We were on a push to make up time after our penalty and the car was honestly good.

“The penalties were out of our control and

58 I www.autoaction.com.au

outing at national level finishing runner-up in the class. McRae ran in the top five overall in the first heat, before a mistake on Sunday saw him drop to ninth outright.

Competing in his home state, McRae was fourth in the Western Australia Rally Championship results.

Former Supercar driver Alex Rullo scored an ARC Production Cup class podium on debut alongside Steve Glenney.

In the 2WD Cup, Garry Mills and Mitch Gray pipped Aiden Peterson and Mitchell Newton, both crews winning a Heat each.

Glenn Alcorn and Jonathan Charlesson won the ARC Classic Cup class.

Josh Nevett all we could do was drive as hard as we could and try to overtake a few people, and we ended up getting third for the Heat.

“It’s nice to know that we have the pace when we need it and I can turn it on when I have to.

“It was a long, tough and different rally in the west but they were great roads. A massive thanks must be said to the organisers and officials who have been incredible all weekend.”

Lewis and McLoughlin soared to second outright for the event with their Heat win, while Dalton and Moscatt rounded out the podium, securing a spot on the steps for the first time.

In the ARC Production Cup, Ronnie Bustard and Larisa Biggar ended up on top.

Max McRae, the nephew of 1995 World Rally Champion Colin McRae, had a solid first

STANDINGS AFTER 2 ROUNDS Harry Bates/John McCarthy Richie Dalton/Dale Muscatt Tom Clarke/Ryan Preston Lewis Bates/Anthony McLoughlin Shane van Gisbergen/Glen Weston

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Le Mans 24 Hours crosswordImages: Motorsport Images How much do you know about Le Mans?

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LE MANS 24HR CROSSWORD How much do you know about Le Mans?

Across 2. How many New Zealanders are on the grid in the legendary race this year?

4. Contesting LMP2 last year, what position did James Allen finish in class?

5. Kiwi Nick Cassidy is making his Le Mans debut in which class?

10. One of Shane van Gisbergen’s teammates is an ex-factory Ferrari WEC driver – what is his name? (surname) 13. How long is the Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe to the nearest kilometre?

14. Jaguar has won the race on a number of occasions, but how many?

15. What French manufacturer is joining WEC’s Hypercar class from the Monza round onwards?

16. Who is the most recent Aussie to win Le Mans? (full name) 18. Le Mans returns to its traditional June date this year; what month was it held in 2021?

19. Which New Zealander is making his Le Mans 24 Hour debut in the LMGTE Pro class?

21. What brand of car will Shane van Gisbergen be racing at Le Mans in 2022?

22. In the top-tier Hypercar class there are three manufacturers, Toyota, Alpine and what?

13

24. How many Australian’s are on the Le Mans 24 Hours grid this year?

26. How many times has Brendon Hartley won the Le Mans 24 Hours?

27. Which manufacturer won the first WEC Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012?

28. Who is the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans with 19 wins?

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1. Toyota have dominated the race in recent years; how many times have they won it consecutively?

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Hypercar team?

18. Who is the most recent driver to win Le 28 7. Matt Campbell is racing for what team in the Mans on debut? (surname) LMGTE Am class this year?

20. Team Penske will make its last LMP2 8. Which Italian driver holds the record appearance this year before stepping up to for most consecutive podiums with nine?

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1. Toyota have dominated the race in recent years, how many times have they won it consecutively?

3. Who is the most recent Kiwi to win Le Mans? (surname) 6. Aussie Ryan Briscoe will race for which Hypercar team?

7. Matt Campbell is racing for what team in the LMGTE Am class this year?

8. Which Italian driver holds the record for most consecutive podiums with nine? (surname) 14. Jaguar has won the race on a number of occasions, but how many?

9. Which manufacturer won Le Mans on debut in 1995?

15. What French manufacturer is joining WEC’s Hypercar class from the 11. Australian James Allen will race in the LMP2 Pro Am class alongside Monza round– onwards?

Steven Thomas8 and who? (surname) 1836 Indy 500 crossword answers 1 across – Rossi, 2 down – Offenhauser, 3 down Rossi, 4 down – Clark, 5 across – four, 6 across – Franchitti, 7 across – Harroun, down – Franchitti, 9 down – two hundred, Who13isacross the most recent Aussie14 to down win Le– Mans? name) 12. There are three manufacturers in LMGTE Pro–this year, Ferrari, 9 across – two, 10 down – Pagenaud, 11 down – De Silvestro, 12 down –16.

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– Donohue, 28 across – Montoya, 29 across – one in 2021?

Alpine took its first Hypercar race win earlier this year, at what track was 19. Which New Zealander is making his Le Mans 24 Hour debut in the this?

LMGTE Pro class?

18. Who is the most recent driver to win Le Mans on debut? (surname) 21. What brand of car will Shane van Gisbergen be racing at Le Mans in 20. Team Penske will make its last LMP2 appearance this year before 2022? stepping up to Hypercar with what manufacturer next year?

22. In the top-tier Hypercar class there are three manufacturers, Toyota, 21. Matt Campbell will be joined in car #93 by a famous Irish actor, who is Alpine and what? it? (surname) 24. How many Australian’s are on the Le Mans 24 Hours grid this year?

23. Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez and who won the race last year?

26. How many times has Brendon Hartley won the Le Mans 24 Hours? (surname) 27. Which manufacturer won the first WEC Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012?

25. What manufacturer will Brendon Hartley be racing for in 2022?

28. Who is the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans with 19 wins?

We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago

1972: BOB MUIR driving a Lola T300 won the Diamond Trophy Race at Oran Park, holding off Kevin Bartlett by just 0.3s. Allan Moffat was found to have the correct diff ratio in his GTHO Falcon. His teammate Fred Gibson was no so lucky – he was excluded from the Calder round as spacers were found fitted to the rear hubs.

Auto Action contributor Bob Watson won the Rally of South-East Australia.

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1982: JUST MONTHS after retiring from Formula 1 Alan Jones announced that he would make his rally debut. Jones would drive a Saab Turbo in the Dunlop-2GO round of the Australian Rally Championship. It was also confirmed that a young English Formula 2 driver Jonathan Palmer would compete in the Australian Grand Prix at Calder. In the ATCC Allan Moffat took the win at Amaroo in his RX-7.

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1992: AT EASTERN Creek it was announced that a new company would control all aspects of Motorsport in Australia. CAMS joined Touring Cars International under the banner of Motorsport Marketing Australia. At that ATCC round, John Bowe in his Dick Johnson Racing Sierra got the better of the all-conquering Nissan Skylines in both races. In F1 Nigel Mansell was still unbeaten after five races.

Auto Action

2002: AUTO ACTION discovered plans for V8 Supercars to race overseas, more specifically in Dubai. The original plan was to run a race in Brunei in south-east Asia, however Dubai was reported as the new preferred location. The end for Oran Park was approaching as CAMS permit fee costs meant that the New South Wales venue was forced to drastically cull a majority of its race meetings.

2012: AUSTRALIAN MARK Webber became the sixth different F1 driver to win a grand prix in as many races to start the 2012 Championship. His win on the streets of Monaco propelled him to within three points of championship leader Fernando Alonso.

Webber claimed the championship was wide open. IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti was set to race in the GC600.

www.autoaction.com.au I 59

A GR-OWLING NEW COROLLA

AN ALL-OUT COMPACT PERFORMANCE CONTENDER

By PAUL GOVER THE WHOLESOME Toyota Corolla will finally ditch its dull-but-worth-it reputation at the back end of this year.

It can now smoke the tyres, drift and do donuts.

That’s thanks to the all-new GR Corolla, which comes with a turbocharged engine, all-wheel drive and the usual gofast upgrades to the bodywork, brakes and suspension.

There have been quick Corollas in the past, most of them developed by rally teams or Japanese drifters and not at the product planning department, but Brand T is going all-out for its newbie.

It’s the headline act for the Gazoo Racing range in Australian showrooms – joining the Supra and Yaris and upcoming 86 – with a likely starting price around $70,000.

It will follow the limited-edition path of the Yaris, with around 500 cars set for Australia.

The mechanical package is also picked up from the Yaris hot hatch, but with extra tweaking and with a body kit that steps it well away from anything that’s worn a Corolla badge in the past.

The headline number for the GR Corolla, which Toyota describes as a ’sports car,’ is 220 kiloWatts of power.

It also comes standard with the GRFOUR all-wheel drive system, but with Torsen limited-slip differentials for both axles and a six-speed manual gearbox with a short-throw lever. Toyota says it has separated the ‘4WD’ and ‘Drive’ modes so the driver can tune their handling preference, and there is also a mechanical handbrake to assist with drifting.

The engine is an extra development

60 I www.autoaction.com.au

from the three-cylinder power-plant fitted to the Yaris – and also in Toyota’s latest Rally1 contender and the Bates Motorsport runners in the Australian Rally Championship – but it gets a 10 per cent power boost thanks to a triplemuffler exhaust system.

The shape of the Corolla is the same as the basic shopping trolley, but with flared guards at each engine, a huge frontbumper air intake, a bonnet bulge and air outlets on the front guards.

The body has been strengthened, with braces between the rear wheel wheels, in the floor tunnel and ahead of the fuel tank, and there are pillow-ball bushings and enhanced springs, shock absorbers and bespoke wheel alignment for the suspension.

Toyota says it has fitted ‘opposedcalliper disc brakes’ and the cabin picks up a thin-film transistor display to monitor the sports modes. R&T

ROAD & TRACK

AMG GT HITS A NEW HIGH A TRACK WEAPON THAT DOES EVERYTHING BUT RACE

By PAUL GOVER THE HOTROD Mercedes-AMG GT is about to become the ultimate track-day weapon thanks to an all-new model called the Track Series.

Mixing and matches pieces from Benz’s GT3 and GT4 racers with the flagship Black Series road car has resulted in a V8 powered monster with 550 kiloWatts and a top speed of 318km/h.

Only 55 cars are being made, at a price-tag over $500,000 but a couple of Track Series cars are expected to land in Australia for committed fans of the three-pointed star.

Details of the car are confirmed by the head of AMG Customer Racing, Stefan Wendl, during a brief visit to Australia for the Bathurst 12-Hour race.

He confirms the circuit-only focus for the Track Series, which is becoming a higher priority for owners who want cars to hot lap without going racing.

“When we found the Black series was sold out we were thinking of taking the GT4 car and making an edition out of it. Something special. But cheaper,” Wendl tells Auto Action.

“Then we discussed internally what can we do out of it.

And we discussed merging those two ideas.”

Wendl’s team told Mercedes-Benz management they wanted to put the Black Series engine – a twin-turbo 4-litre V8 making 537 kiloWatts – into the new car.

“We were very nervous when we went to the Board. We asked for 200,000 Euros to make something happen.”

It did, with a dyno session that liberated 507 kiloWatts and a follow-up track run in Germany.

“We brought the car to Hockenheim and we had 690 horsepower. This GT4 car was blowing the tyres off in a few laps. And it was only three seconds off the GT3 lap time,” Wendl says.

“We knew we could find customers. Immediately afterwards we got the go to make something out of it.”

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The something runs to everything from the Black Series rear wing to racing wheels and tyres, as well as the AMG GT race cockpit with special wheel, instruments and seat.

“Last weekend we finalised testing for the Track Series.

It’s got Black Series engine, Black Series bodywork – without the active elements – and we took from the GT4 the chassis, everything inside with the safety cell, and the monocoque. And from the GT3 we took the wheel dimensions to get the maximum footprint.”

Wendl cannot confirm a price or delivery dates, but, with Triple Eight now acting as agent for AMG Customer Racing in Australia, he is expecting at least a couple of cars to land down under. R&T

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www.autoaction.com.au I 61

IN THE GARAGE

ZED IS SET TO LAUNCH A SUPRA with a stick provides more evidence that manual sports cars are not dead yet.

The injection of a six-speed manual also moves Toyota’s performance flagship away from the car that cleared the way for its creation, the BMW Z4.

The new-age Supra is a thinly-disguised Z4 coupe with an allBMW chassis and engine, but the shift to a manual gives Toyota an important point of difference.

It’s also likely to trigger a surge in sales in the USA, where the car will hit first, and then in Australia.

Toyota is keeping quiet about the exact details on the sixspeed manual Supra, including both the source of the gearbox – most likely a ZF – and the car’s price.

But Toyota Australia confirms it will be here before the end of the year, most likely soon after the arrival of the GR Corolla.

THE BRITISH obsession with born-again classics has resulted in something very new and very different.

Officially, it’s the RLM Short Wheelbase, but you don’t need much imagination to see that it is inspired by a classic Ferrari – the 250 GT from the 1960s.

The Short Wheelbase is going to be a limited-production road car, but the background of the company is steeped in motorsport thanks to the efforts of its founder, Ray Mallock, over more than 40 years.

The car is powered by a 5.5-litre V12 Ferrari engine, has old-school rear-wheel drive, and a hand-formed aluminium body.

But it’s a look-don’t-touch car as every one is already sold.

BMW IS going big on electrification, even in its two-wheeled range.

It admits it will be staying loyal to combustion power for its performance models, but has even pulled in a batterypowered scooter for Australia.

The CE-04 is not remotely cheap at $22,000 on the road, but it makes plenty of sense for cheap urban commuting.

And it has the bonus of styling that makes it look like it has ridden straight out of a big-screen blockbuster.

62 I www.autoaction.com.au

THE CLASSIC Nissan Zed will drive deeply into the 21st century after its latest wheels-up renewal.

The newcomer, just called the Z, is priced from $73,300 in Australia.

More than 3000 people have their hands up for a new Z-car, with deposits at dealerships for the first 1500.

Those early adopters have been baited by a car which is all-new for the first time in a decade and with a premium performance package that starts with a twin-turbo 3-litre V6 engine that makes 298 kiloWatts and 475 Newton-metres of torque.

Nissan Australia says more than 70 per cent of the early deliveries will have a six-speed manual gearbox

to feed power to the rear wheels, although the nine-speed paddleshift auto is expected to become more popular over time.

Most of the start-up cars will also be the fully-loaded flagship, called the Z Proto Spec and only available in Ikazuchi Yellow hero paint.

The first of the new Z-cars has already landed in Australia for media

and dealership previews.

It reflects an all-new body design that’s both modern and traditional, a vastly-improved cabin that retains the three centre-mounted dials from the very first 240Z, and a full suite of the latest safety equipment.

The car looks good but it’s the performance potential that rings the bell, as it’s the most powerful Z-car to hit Australia with 31 per cent more kiloWatts, a 13 per cent improvement on the power-to-weight ratio of the outgoing car and a claimed 0-100km/h potential – no figure yet – that’s improved by around 15 per cent.

“The fastest, most powerful and most exciting Z car ever is now ready to launch,” says the managing director of Nissan Australia, Adam Paterson.

Nissan is not revealing the full details of the car, but is happy to trumpet a carbon-fibre composite tail-shaft and a high-spec clutch pack from Exedy in Japan. PG R&T

ROAD & TRACK FIVE DECADES OF FAST CARS

MARKING 50 YEARS OF BMW M WITH THE LATEST M4

BY PAUL GOVER IMAGES BMW MEDIA THE VERY first BMW M3 was a rowdy, raucous little beastie and a total contrast to its spiritual successor, the latest M4 coupe.

Back in 1986, the original M3 was a hotrod sports sedan that was about to be sent into battle against the Ford Sierra in touring car tussles across the global.

Today, the M4 is far quicker in every way, but also much more relaxed and loaded with tech.

Its presence in the BMW lineup is confirmation that, after 50 years and hundreds of thousands of go-faster cars, motorsport is part of the German company’s DNA. BMW Motorsport was founded in 1972 and its first road car was based on the 3.0 CSL, which quickly morphed into the ‘batmobile’ that won and won and won – including victory at the Sebring 12-Hour with Allan

Moffat as one of the drivers.

But it’s the M3 which is the key to M performance over the decades, and the reason why I’m driving an M4 - the smoother coupe – to Winton to celebrate 50 years of M cars.

I drove the M3 ‘back in the day’ and loved it. It was taut and rewarding, but took total concentration and was a pain on anything but a Sunday romp.

In sharp and cosseting contrast, the new M4 – with 375 kiloWatts compared to just 143 in ’86 – is able to cruise quietly and comfortably through the speed traps that litter the Hume Highway to Winton like the world’s worst minefields.

The test car is (thankfully) missing the sport seats that only work if you’re the right size and shape, but handily compensates with great sound, brilliant headlights, a plush cabin and all the regulation safety stuff.

It’s not cheap at $155,500, plus a couple of options, but

it’s fun to highlight the carbon fibre roof to friends …

The frontal treatment already known as the ‘coffin nose’ is not to my taste, but you cannot see it from the driver’s seat.

And it’s far easier to focus on the twin M buttons on the steering wheel which can, and do, unleash brilliantly rewarding driving and the snap-crackle-pop soundtrack that most people prefer from their new-age turbo fast cars.

The punch in the M4 is everything you could want, and far more than you need on public roads, with brilliant torque response in every gear.

The brakes are powerful, the suspension can be compliant on a bumpy road or firm for the track, and the latest ‘proper’ automatic is quick to response and has a gear for every occasion.

Best of all, it’s old-school rear-wheel drive with feelsome steering to make every trip a fun run.

The old-fashioned hoonigan M3 might be gone, and now celebrated as much for its myth and motorsport successes as the road going reality, but the DNA is just as strong in the M4 and a celebration of everything that still makes the M badge a mark of success. R&T

FAST FACTS

BMW M4

Price: Engine: Output: Transmission: We like: Not so much: AutoActionMagazine

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From $155,500 3-litre twin-turbo inline six 375kW/650Nm 8-speed auto, rear-wheel drive History, punch, sophistication Price, front end

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SAVE $48

• 5000kg load capacity • 385 - 620mm height • Sold in pairs

680kg hydraulic lift per jack 270mm max. tyre width 620mm max opening Sold in pairs

ARMSTRONG

Order Code: A366

$

ARMM800QL Hydraulic Trolley Jack

360 ° L SWIVE S L WHEE

N SHOW LED B ASSEM

Order Code: P020

ARMAS5000R Vehicle Axle Stands

Order Code: L849

2,299

$

SAVE $220

1,210

SBC-990 Sandblasting Cabinet • Powder coated steel construction • Foot operated • Wide and high door opening with gas struts

DES INCLU L LED NA R E T IN UUM & VAC LIGHT ION SYSTEM T FILTRA

Order Code: S305

2,398

$

SAVE $396

THIS MAY BE Own YOUR it now,LAST up to 12 CHANCE? months interest free

BUY & INSTALL BEFORE JUNE 30TH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE $150,000 & conditions apply please Up to the value of $10,000 *Terms see website for further details INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF, NOW FOR BUSINESS UP TO $500 MILLION TURNOVER! CODE

EOFY2TO2RE!

ONLINE OR IN-S

*Contact your accountant or business adviser to discuss your particular circumstance

www.machineryhouse.com.au

NSW (02) 9890 9111 QLD (07) 3715 2200

VIC (03) 9212 4422

1/2 Windsor Rd, Northmead 625 Boundary Rd, Coopers Plains 4 Abbotts Rd, Dandenong

WA (08) 9373 9999

11 Valentine Street Kewdale

Specifications & Prices are subject to change without notification. All prices include GST and valid until 30-06-22

05_AA_020622

UNIQUE PROMO