Auto Action #1842

MARK HORSBURGH RECORDING HISTORY

OUR NEXT F1 DRIVER

AUSTRALIA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MOTORSPORT

THE FIGHT FOR OSCAR

ALPINE AND MCLAREN DUKE IT OUT ...

WHILE DAN AWAITS HIS FATE ISSN 2204-9924

Issue #1842 August 11 to August 24, 2022 $9.95 INC GST

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ADELAIDE 500 IS GO! ALL THE NEWS AND UPDATES

MORE ON THE RACE

FOR CONTROL OF SUPERCARS

PLUS: ALL THE ACTION FROM THE BEND AND QLD RACEWAY

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OSCAR BENEFITS FROM SILLY SEASON SPECTACULAR

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AUSTRALIANS OSCAR PIASTRI AND DANIEL RICCIARDO ARE NOW AT THE CENTRE OF A SILLY SEASON TO END ALL F1 SILLY SEASONS, WHICH ERUPTED ON JULY 29 WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM SEBASTIAN VETTEL THAT HE WILL CALL IT A DAY AT THE END OF THE YEAR. THE OUTCOME will see Australia’s young star Piastri take up a multi-year deal with McLaren, while Ricciardo will either sit on the sidelines with his 2023 US$15m (A$21.5m) McLaren salary as compensation, or potentially take a seat at Alpine, or Williams, or even Haas, with McLaren contributing part or all of his salary.

It follows the shock August 1 announcement that former world champion Fernando Alonso will walk away from a

potential one-year extension at Alpine for a 2+1 year deal, replacing Vettel at Aston Martin. (Alpine maintains it first heard of Alonso’s Aston Martin deal via the press release, on August 1 …).

Under pressure to make a decision as F1’s much-used option expiry date of July 31 approached, Vettel’s announcement (see F1 news pages) three days earlier lit a driver transfer explosion.

Having indicated that he would accept the single year offer that Alpine was offering him to continue, a flurry of communication with Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll resulted in a much-improved twoyear, plus one year option (on the driver’s side) deal for Fernando Alonso, which he was at liberty to accept, having not formally signed with Alpine.

In the meantime, Piastri’s management – Mark Webber – had been looking at options for the youngster should, as was expected, Alonso accept the only (Alpine) offer that was on the table – until the very last minute and Vettel’s retirement! Alpine was contractually required to finalise an offer for Piastri prior to August 1.

AA understands that the much-touted Williams ‘loan’ option for Piastri was in fact unlikely and that Daniel Ricciardo’s increasingly awkward situation at McLaren had initiated ‘what-if’ talks between the team and Webber.

Much is being made of the cost to McLaren of having to pay Ricciardo out if he is sidelined with a year to go on his contract, but in the end, the nett cost of that, and a back-ended arrangement with Piastri, is – in F1 terms – paltry! The options were/are two: 1. McLaren retains Ricciardo. Total cost: $US15m 2. McLaren releases/places Ricciardo elsewhere, potentially on full pay (US$15m), plus pays year one of Piastri’s ‘first-year driver’ salary – likely US$2-3m. Total cost: US$17-18m.

If McLaren has genuinely decided that Ricciardo’s speed issues in their car are insurmountable, a US$2-3m additional cost to substitute F1’s most highly-rated up-andcomer is, in F1 terms, not a lot. (Victorian readers will compare with the State’s $1.2b payout by its incoming government some

years back to NOT build a freeway! …).

At the same time, Alpine’s initial optimism that it retained contractual control over Piastri does seem to have been misinformed. Reports have it that F1’s Contract Recognition Board have clarified the situation, in Piastri’s favour.

So, Vettel retires – tick; Alonso to Aston Martin – tick; Piastri to McLaren – tick.

Ricciardo looks to be part of a second potential two-to-three-way driver movement if he indeed decides he wants to stay in F1: Either: Ricciardo returns to Alpine, or joins Williams (bye-bye Latifi); or – considered likely by AA sources – Frenchman Gasly from AlphaTauri to Alpine, Schumacher to AlphaTauri (Ferrari-engined …), Ricciardo to Haas (or Williams) …

The last element of the Piastri to McLaren saga will be the length of his contract. AA expects that the big boys – Red Bull and Mercedes (both at which Webber has form/contacts) and Ferrari, are likely to have suggested that he ideally not commit for too long – if he does turn out to be the ‘Next Big Thing’ they’ll want a piece of the action in due course …

UP COMING RACE EVENT CALENDAR Brought to you by www.speedflow.com.au • NASCAR CUP SERIES RICHMOND RACEWAY AUGUST 14 • WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RD 9 BELGIUM AUGUST 19-21 • INDYCAR SERIES RD 15 ILLINOIS AUGUST 19-21 • SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP RD 9 SANDOWN AUGUST 20-21 • MOTOGP RD 13 AUSTRIA AUGUST 20-21 • AUSTRALIAN MOTOR RACING SERIES RD 4 QUEENSLAND RACEWAY AUGUST 19-21 • NASCAR WATKINS GLEN AUGUST 21

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REBUILDING THE ADELAIDE 500 SA’S BIG BUILD FOR THE ADELAIDE 500 IS UNDER WAY AFTER A ONE-YEAR LAY-OFF THE VALO Adelaide 500 was officially launched at Adelaide’s Victoria Square last week, with race fans only being asked to pay 2012 prices at the ticket box. Locked in as the season closer to the Supercars’ season for the next five years, the race will resume after a one-year lay-off.

The launch also included details of the undercard and live music acts for the fourday meeting, which will be held from 1-4 December. Jimmy Barnes and The Killers will headline the music acts on Saturday and Sunday.

In launching the race, the architect of its revival, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, said: “This really is a starstudded list of local, national and global musical acts to mark the return of the VALO Adelaide 500.

“Our government is determined to reclaim South Australia’s title as the home of motorsport – and that starts with bringing back the Adelaide 500 to our streets. It’s going to be more than just a race – it will be a festival of motorsport; we will have concerts and events that will attract crowds with a cross-section of interests.

“And the best bit is South Australians [and presumably those travelling to Adelaide for the race] can experience all of this for the same price as it was a decade ago. I can’t wait for the VALO Adelaide 500 to return to our city streets, bringing with it hundreds

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It’s on! L to R: Valo CEO Aaron Hickmann, Mark Skaife, SA Premier Malinauskas, Jess Yates, Mark Warren. of jobs, thousands of visitors and millions of dollars worth of economic activity.”

The Chief Executive of the SA Motor Sport Board, Mark Warren, said there is excitement around the event, particularly since the launch, and he is confident of the impact of the revival of the race on the local community.

“It’s been an interesting approach on two levels,” Warren, said. “The first one is for the event itself. Bringing the event back means the whole events industry in South Australia has an opportunity that didn’t exist before.

“We actually found that a lot of the events sector has sold its infrastructure. So in going

through the procurement process, we have provided an opportunity for those businesses to reinvest in infrastructure and people. That’s a fantastic thing in terms of jobs within South Australia.

“The other thing about our procurement is we always weight our procurements to be 15% towards assessing activity in South Australia. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the company has to be headquartered here, but just in terms of making sure it’s employing local people and investing locally.

“So from that point of view, it is a big part of what we do, but the other piece is the

event itself. What that brings in terms of the visitation both from interstate and intrastate is important. It is no secret that Adelaide, like most other capital cities, has had a tough time during COVID, particularly in the hospitality sector. So it’s going to be a real injection into the hospitality sector where traditionally, the Adelaide 500 has given a lot of people their first start in hospitality.

“When you’re thinking about building a village for 90,000 people, we need a workforce to service all that. There could be a thousand people who are touched by this and get their first start in hospitality which builds a workforce to support the rest of the hospitality sector through the state and the city.” $21 million has been released for the revival of the race, with $3 million to buy back some of the assets sold when the previous government cancelled the race in October 2020. Tenders were filled before the launch to supply temporary grandstands, hospitality platforms, portable toilet hire, pedestrian overpasses, onground marquees, fitout and furniture, site fencing, ticketing services, security services, greenery, timber decking, hospitality air-conditioning, hospitality fridge hire, temporary shade sails, track resurfacing and civil works, cleaning and waste management services, pit pavilion air-conditioning, grounds maintenance, and catering rights and supply.

Nearly 34,000 square metres of the track will be resurfaced before the event, covering the section from the braking area of the Turn 9 hairpin to Turn 7 (see map below right).

Only the Brabham Straight sections on either side of Turn 8, which are day-to-day streets, will be untouched.

Other civics works are also in the pipeline for various paths around the track, the pitlane and paddock areas.

“We need 600-odd concrete barriers and associated debris fencing. We need over 6000 tyres for new tyre bundles, and we’re building new pedestrian overpasses. We’re doing all sorts of upgrades to the pit building too. It has been in storage for a couple of years and needs to be sorted too.

“There are all sorts of things, and even the parklands themselves, we’re looking at how we resurface some of the pathways and try to lift the patron experience and leave a lasting positive impact on the area.”

The track will be built for a crowd of 90,000 people, but Warren thinks the real limitation will be getting enough facilities – such as toilets – and staff to get to that capacity this year.

“We’ve started pre-sale for grandstands, and we are on sale for general admission, and I’ve got to say that the numbers I’m seeing indicate people are well aware that there might be a limitation. There have probably been more sales in these few days than we’ve ever had in such a short time. I won’t say it’s panicked, but people are aware they need to get in early.”

SA lighting and LED manufacturer Valo hopes to build its brand profile by sponsoring the event, replicating the success of fellowlocals Clipsal, which backed the event from 2000 to 2017 and is still iconically linked to the event. Andrew Clarke

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THE RACE FOR CONTROL

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By Bruce Williams DESPITE RESISTING a takeover by a foreign company, the ownership structure of Supercars is believed to have changed - at least partially.

And the company that controls Supercars, Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises (RACE), is now stating that they are looking at acquiring the Australian Racing Group (ARG).

It was part of the deal positioned to investors that late last year that RACE would immediately take an initial investment in ARG as part of the RACE strategy and could potentially fully acquire ARG in the future. Recent communication from RACE has indicated that they are looking to progress that full acquisition earlier than expected. It is likely that the failure to meet the initial undertaking could make impact the ability to progress any full purchase despite the wheels now seemingly in motion earlier than originally communicated to shareholders.

It is not clear whether RACE’s interest is in acquiring all the assets of ARG or just the intellectual property, TV and streaming rights.

ARG heavy hitter Brian Boyd’s 15% shareholding in RACE was believed to have been bought back last week by RACE advisory company Henslow. The price is understood to be in the vicinity of $4.5M. Another 15% of RACE owned by Garry and Barry Rogers may also be on the market – however there remains mixed messages regarding that.

Negotiations with RACE and Henslow

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over the Rogers stake have not been concluded at time of publication.

Meanwhile John McMellan as the operational lead for the ‘ARG’ investment in RACE for both Brian Boyd and the Rogers family currently remains on the RACE board.

It is not clear whether McMellan will remain there if the Rogers shareholding is bought back by RACE. Meanwhile talk persists within Supercars circles about the financial health and leveraging of the Barclay Nettlefold led RACE consortium that purchased Supercars.

It is understood several million dollars have been raised recently to bolster RACE’s position.

The Australian newspaper reported that Canberra based family Domazet injected $10M although, some insiders have disputed that accuracy of that report.

However, talk persists that RACE will need another $10-12M by the end of this year.

RACE Chairman Barclay Nettlefold has refused numerous invitations by Auto Action to discuss the recent buyout approach by European sports media company FanTech, the shareholding structure of RACE, the growth plan for the business along with the financial position of RACE. He said in a statement issued to Auto Action more than two weeks ago that he had no obligation to comment on its financing as it is a private company.

RACE’s response to FanTech’s approach created division among RACE

board members and shareholders.

The FanTech offer would have delivered RACE shareholders a possible 20% windfall on the price it paid to acquire Supercars from private equity company Archer Capital and the Supercar teams a little over eight months ago, believed to be about $70M. Nettlefold has avoided comment on the FanTech purchase offer, other than to text Auto Action that a report by The Australian’s John Stensholt on July 20 was “so far off the mark it’s a disgrace”.

While strenuously avoiding contact with Auto Action since, Nettlefold issued a statement to selected other media outlets (excluding Auto Action) late last week regarding the transaction that saw the Boyd shareholding reabsorbed into RACE. “In the normal course of business shareholders buy and sell shares,” Nettlefold said in that statement.

“I wish to note ARG as an entity does not have a corporate holding in RACE, however individual shareholders that may be regarded as related parties of ARG do hold shares.

“A recent sale has been completed and the purchase of those shares has allowed for further consolidation in the shareholding of RACE. “Regarding the potential sale of ARG to RACE as part of the initial RACE whole of sport strategy which is well documented, management and directors of Supercars and RACE continue to work through due diligence items in relation to a potential transaction and expect to finalise any recommendation this month.”

Supercar teams are believed to have been given a very strong indication that the Rogers stake in RACE is for sale.

However, current public utterances by Barry Rogers are at odds with this.

A major point of contention between the Rogers camp and those holding the reins at RACE is over a whole-ofmotorsport philosophy.

The Rogers believe that their ARG categories – TCR, S5000, Trans Am, Touring Car Masters and Australian GT Championship – with Supercars as the “halo” product can deliver better events and entertainment for fans, media and sponsors by ensuring each event has the best racing to make Australian motor racing a better show.

They feel that RACE’s Nettlefold and Mark Skaife, the racing legend turned commentator and now a key director alongside Nettlefold, have reneged on an agreement over the whole-of-motor sport philosophy.

Meanwhile, the fate of FanTech’s bid is clouded. The Amsterdam based company had claimed it had a firm agreement from RACE to pursue a deal.

Discussion with senior identities within Supercars at The Bend round of the championship and since revealed that not all had been made aware of key elements of the discussions with FanTech.

There has been disquiet about the lack of transparency between RACE and the Supercars constituency.

Clearly, there is still much to play out…

ZAK BEST POLE STUNS PITLANE SUPER2 DRIVER TAKES POLE AT THE BEND AND OPENS A CAN OF WORMS SUPERCARS AT The Bend in 2022 wasn’t on the cards at the start of the season, and then it was put into the middle of a cold snap that had pretty much everyone wishing they were somewhere else. Everyone, that is, except for Zak Best.

Tickford’s fifth driver for the weekend lined up for his second wildcard outing and landed the black and largely sponsorless Mustang – tagged the Stealth Mustang – on pole. No wildcard had ever done that before, and we’re pretty sure no wildcard has ever qualified inside the top 10. Best’s pole came in only his second ever main game qualifying, beating the record runs of Marcos Ambrose (three rounds, although he did get pole at the non-championship Australian Grand Prix support on debit) and Craig Lowndes (four rounds).

There was talk of a tyre advantage – see separate story – and of how he would be monstered at the front of the field, but he held his own and placed fifth at the end of the opening race – also a wildcard record.

Perhaps more importantly for his career, he walked away with respect from the front of the field, including championship leader Shane van Gisbergen.

For Best, the weekend was a whirlwind, hitting the track with speed in opening practice and carrying that through to qualifying.

“I didn’t expect to get pole, so it was a bit of a shock,” he said after the weekend. “I still don’t know what to say. To be on pole was amazing. Now we need to build on that, and hopefully, we can get a few more poles in Super2 during the rest of the year.”

After qualifying last in Darwin for his other wildcard run, his rapid climb to the top shocked pitlane and set tongues wagging.

Talk from the last garage in pitlane was that his speed came down to the tyres. Talk that didn’t phase the young driver as he pointed out the claimed sixth-tenths difference would still have had him around fifth.

But he proved the doubters wrong with seventh for the second race on Sunday after messing up his run in the first session. That seventh was also troubled with a wide run onto the straight costing him enough time to have him on the second row.

For now, he wants to get on with the momentum and focus on the rest of the Super2 season and his run at Bathurst with

Images: Motorsport Images Thomas Randle in what will now be the same chassis he raced at The Bend.

“Hopefully, it helps me get a chance at the main game next year. That’s the goal for me.

We proved that we deserve to be there, so hopefully, all the right people were watching.

We have a year-by-year arrangement with Tickford. My plan is to still race with them.

It’s a great environment, and I love everyone there, so I don’t want to leave.”

For his wildcard runs, Tickford kept Best’s key Super2 people in the same roles, bringing engineer Dilan Talabani and team manager Kate Harrington into the main game with him. The connection between the three was, according to Best, one of the reasons he was able to settle into the wildcard so easily.

“Dilan has put a lot of effort in, and Kate is a really good team manager and coach, so I want to stay with them.”

Best’s performance has created a few issues for Tickford, which now has to try and fit five drivers into four seats next year.

“We’re not going wildcards for any other reason than to try and develop future prospects,” Tickford team leader Tim Edwards said after The Bend. “Zak certainly got our attention at Bathurst last year. He was fast and didn’t put a foot wrong.

“There’s a big difference between Super2 and Supercars, and that’s why the wildcards are so beneficial for these young kids. The way he drove in that Saturday race after starting on pole should have earned respect from his peers because he raced well and didn’t do anything stupid.”

As for next year?

“We’ll work through our plans for next year in the fullness of time. It’s not an unusual position for us to be in. We’ve been here before. Back in 2016, Gary [Jacobson] and Jack [Le Brocq] finished second at first and second in the championship, and they were both sitting there with the helmets under their arms at the end of the season.

“The goal of our Super2 programme is to develop talent for the future. There’s never a set date at the beginning of the year where you know what is happening. It’s a process you work through and a whole host of factors that feed into that.

“It’s great to have more talent than seats.

Anyone would like to be in that position because most people find themselves in the opposite position. They’ve got seats and no talent to put in it.”

So for next year, watch this space and crank up the rumour machine. Andrew Clarke

PRAISE FROM THE CHAMP ...

AFTER THE Bend’s Saturday race, Shane van Gisbergen spoke about racing a new face at the front of the field and was positive about the efforts of Best.

“He drove really well,” van Gisbergen said after the Saturday race.” You could tell he was looking around a lot of the mirrors.

It was a big moment for him, but he nailed the start and got away, and he was driving really well. He had a lot of grip, and it was good to race with him.”

Van Gisbergen said racing someone new had its own set of challenges.

“You have to think about it more, I don’t know the guy, and he doesn’t care about my championship. He’s the star of the day.

It’s a pretty awesome and big moment for him. I took a bit of extra caution, but I got stuck, and then I had to pull a pretty risky move to get past. When he did see I was going for that pass, he was aware and gave me space and stopped us crashing out. So yeah, he’s pretty good.”

WILDCARD LOOPHOLE EXPLAINED PITLANE CONFLICT OVER THE NEW TEAMS RACING CHARTER EXPOSED IN A BROUHAHA AT THE BEND ZAK BEST’S pole position on Saturday at The Bend opened many cans of worms, but the most intriguing was the discussion around whether or not he should have been there at all.

According to the Teams Racing Charter (TRC), which replaced the Racing Entitlements Contacts under Supercars’ new ownership at the end of last season, the rules around wildcard entries were tightened to allow only one non-endurance race weekend per team or entity.

But a second clause inside the

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secret agreement allows Super2 entrants to run a wildcard at any of the rounds open to wildcard entries – i.e. those with adequate pitlane facilities. It is believed this was how Super2 team Image Racing and Tickford Racing accessed a second wildcard weekend for Jordan Boys and Zak Best.

The difference of opinion was exposed on Saturday afternoon at The Bend when the discussion around tyres exploded after Best beat Shane van Gisbergen to the pole. The extra wildcards are

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believed to have caught Dunlop off guard and were not included in the manufacturing numbers for the batch of tyres currently being run.

Last year Tickford ran Thomas Randle at three rounds in preparation for his full-season debut in 2022.

Regardless of any clauses in the TRC, Supercars needs to approve any and all wildcard entries and did so for both Boys and Best. Andrew Clarke * – Auto Action has not seen a copy of the TRC.

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RANDLE AND HEIMGATNER WALK AWAY FROM 51G CRASH TWO CARS WERE DESTROYED, AND THE PAIR WILL MOVE INTO SPARE CARS FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2022

By Andrew Clarke Images: Motorsport Images THOMAS RANDLE and Andre Heimgartner walked away from their massive crash on the grid at The Bend, but the same can’t be said for the cars.

Brad Jones Racing has declared the R&J Batteries Commodore a write-off, while Tickford Racing says the Castrol Mustang will be repaired but won’t race again this year.

The NTI Commodore of Nick Percat, who was also involved, was repaired and rejoined the field for Race 23 less than two hours after the crash.

Randle and Heimgartner were sore and hospitalised but were released later that night with nothing more than bruising and concussion. The two cars suffered varying levels of damage but protected the drivers better than in similar crashes. Karl Reindler’s Commodore exploded in flames in 2011 and Paul Morris likewise in 2000 in incidents where stalled cars were slammed into on the grid by fast approaching cars.

Tickford Racing’s Tim Edwards reported that the peak load during the crash for Randle was 51G and that the repair bill kept rising each time he looked at the car back in the workshop.

“It’ll get repaired,” he said. “It’s going to be a monstrous effort.

“I’m pretty good at guessing how much these accidents cost, and at the time, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s gonna be a $100 grand’.

But it’s nudging $200,000 at the moment.

“Thomas is lucky. It’s better to be hit from behind at 51G than to be Andre, who got thrust forward into his belts. Thomas’s body

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was effectively supported in the seat, which was better, but it would have been horrific for Thomas as well; 51 G is a fair bit to subject your body to.”

He said Randle was OK and that the car did the job of protecting him.

A few days after the crash, Heimgartner reported he couldn’t even reply to the team on the radio, saying, “all I could do was sit there and squeal”.

“It’s the biggest crash I’ve had,” he said.

“My body is getting better. A few days in and still pretty sore, but I can breathe properly now, and my neck and the other little achy things have gone down a bit. It’ll take another week or so before I get back to something not normal.”

Heimgartner said his data revealed a peak of 38G, and the impact was at nearly 150km/h, but he was lucky the car and his HANS device worked.

“It’s a pretty scary thing, we get a bit

desensitised to the speed when we race, but I thought what would happen if you drive on the motorway and hit a stationary car at 130km/h. We could all imagine what the outcome would be, and it would definitely end up being in the emergency room and maybe not even alive. So for us to walk out of it with no serious injuries or broken bones is amazing.

“I’m OK, but that chassis will never race again.”

He said the incident wasn’t quite a blur, but it did happen quickly.

“Holdsworth swerved out the way, and then the car was right in front of me. I was thinking, ‘shit, this is gonna be big’. I didn’t have time to brace; for a split second, I knew what was going to happen. The next thing I knew, I was facing the other way when I opened my eyes and couldn’t breathe. I was winded and had a lot of pain in my chest and all over my body.

“I just sat there for a while with my knees up in a foetal position, trying to get some oxygen in. Then the car was very smokey inside, and I couldn’t see a thing, so I wasn’t sure if it was on fire or if I needed to rush to get out. If I had to hurry, I don’t think I could have.

“I wasn’t ready to get out, but the medics were grabbing at me, and I still couldn’t breathe, but I climbed my way slowly out, and then it just went from there. It was not a very pleasant experience in any way.

“I’ve looked back on it and tried to work out if I could have done anything better… did I do something wrong? Was I not looking and concentrating? Was I just an idiot? I’ve gone through all the footage, and I think there’s not much I could have done at the end of the day.”

Heimgartner and Randle will run in their teams’ spare cars for the rest of the year.

SUPERCARS HAS ENLISTED LUKE YOULDEN TO DRIVE BOTH GEN3 CARS AS IT WORKS FOR A 2023 DEBUT FOR THE first time since Supercars announced its Gen3 plans at Bathurst in 2020 and started track testing the cars a year later, the Gen3 team has been able to run back-to-back testing with the same driver in both cars. The week before The Bend, 2017 Bathurst winner Luke Youlden drove both cars at Queensland Raceway.

Speaking openly at The Bend, the head of the Gen3 program, Adrian Burgess, spoke about the challenges facing his team as the Gen3 program nears completion and says being able to use Youlden is a bonus.

With the first round of Vehicle Control Aerodynamic Testing (VCAT) testing done – which has confirmed the CFD data – the real-world feel around how the cars behave is the next critical block of information, the team needs to ensure parity.

“When Luke got out of the car, I asked him if he was a new team and a new driver, which one would he pick,” Burgess said. “He said it didn’t matter because you can’t tell the difference.

“He’ll be the only driver to test both cars. We’ve got to respect both the manufacturers and their drivers. I can’t put GM drivers in the Ford and vice versa. So he is a good neutral driver for me, and his feedback is also very good.”

Youlden will continue to work with the project as the final pieces are put into place before next season’s debut, which Burgess

says is on track with the required chassis already being manufactured.

Gen3 has proven a controversial program for Supercars since the first round of delays due to the COVID pandemic. The naysayers have quickly gotten stuck into them over cost overruns and other speculation.

While explaining where the Gen3 team was at, Burgess conceded they had gone over budget, but he said that is more about the program being pushed out during the COVID pandemic than anything else.

“We are trying to develop and build a good touring car that will stand us in good stead for some time. It will be a cheaper car than what we’re currently running, no matter what you hear elsewhere. There are overruns, yes. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve just had the COVID pandemic, and the cost of everything has gone through the roof.

“There is a cost overrun because we’re all still working on it when we should be racing it. The cost of everything has gone up. Name another series that hasn’t been affected by that. We are not alone.

“People want to cry over it, but they need to open the windows and look at the real world. We’re all dealing with this in every facet of every business. We’d like to have done it cheaper, but we are currently working in a difficult environment.”

He said a new front suspension and geometry is coming soon, and hopefully, it will be ready for testing by Sandown next week. He dismissed concerns over the running costs of the two engines, which he said are irrelevant despite the Ford’s more complex quad-cam layout.

“The engine programme is on track. We know we’ve got the engines sort of on top of each other, so that’s good. Both the

engines will be running in the US doing some endurance testing; they’ll do seven or eight thousand kilometres which is good. “[The Ford’s] got more moving components, but it’s probably the easier engine. It’s got more tools to play with, like variable cam timing and things like that.

We can move the power curve on the Ford to line up as closely as possible with the Chev. Craig Haystead has been doing a fantastic job in that area with the engine builders. We’re very comfortable that we’ve got two different architectures, two different capacities and that you can’t tell the difference.

“The running costs will be similar and much better than where we are now.

Currently, an engine is 130 grand, and you’re giving it a rebuild every 4,000 K at 45 grand.

We’ll be less than that for a rebuild, and they’ll run longer too.

“Everything will be cheaper. Everyone will have exactly the same cars.

“Don’t believe any of the stuff about $750,000. If someone wants to pay me 750, I’ll give them a car, and I’ll be quite happy with the money I put in my pocket. It will be a cheaper car than we are currently racing by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it will be cheaper to run too.”

He added that he expected all the teams would have their chassis well before the Christmas break. Andrew Clarke

THE NEW SUPERCARS TYRE WAR

POOR COMMUNICATION AROUND WILDCARD ENTRIES LEFT CARS ON DIFFERENT BATCHES OF TYRES FOLLOWING ZAK Best’s stunning maiden Supercars pole on Saturday at The Bend, discontent from the pointy end of pitlane suggested the youngster had a tyre advantage given his tyres were made at a different time to the majority of the field. Some claimed a full second advantage, while the general opinion was that it may have been up to 0.6s ... or less.

Wildcard entrants Zak Best and Jordan Boys were both allocated tyres believed to have been manufactured in December last year, while the rest of the field was on tyres manufactured in April.

The solution was to send Dunlop’s Kevin Fitzsimons back to Melbourne overnight to collect 30 of the ‘December’ tyres and re-allocate the tyres on Sunday morning to ensure each car had one of those among a pool of ‘April’ tyres.

After Sunday’s qualifying session, Adrian Burgess from Supercars described the situation as a bit of a storm in a teacup.

“Unfortunately, there was a bit of miscommunication between Dunlop and Supercars,” he said, explaining how the situation arose. “We weren’t aware until after practice that we had a different batch of tyres for the two wildcards.

When we’ve been in this position before

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we’ve spread out the lower number of tyres, everybody’s is then on the same tyre quality.

“That didn’t happen here for one reason or another. It was less than ideal, and we’re not going to sugarcoat that. We developed the best plan we could moving forward to get everybody on the same tyres in all the qualifying sessions.

“There are lots of reasons why it happened, we’re not going to get into it, and I’m not going to make excuses. It shouldn’t have happened.”

He added there is a boat sitting in Port Phillip Bay with 1300 tyres on it that is being prevented from docking while COVID affects through its crew.

He defended the quality and consistency of the Dunlop tyres though, saying that Best was 17 spots further up the grid than

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the other wildcard for the weekend on the same tyres and then backed up his speed with an impressive showing on Sunday morning as well. He doesn’t believe there was a speed advantage in the December tyres.

“I think it was good for Zak to put in a good qualifying this morning [Race 23].

Everyone looked at him yesterday, and some said he shouldn’t have been there, but he did a cracking job. It was nice to see him back up there this morning. The kid’s done a good job this weekend.

“It’s always a tricky one. We always try and do everything we can to ensure we don’t have different batches in play, and we dealt with it in the best way we could.”

Best’s boss, Tickford’s Tim Edwards, was disappointed certain people involved in the sport were trying to hose down Best’s

effort with what he believed was a furphy.

“It was Irrelevant, but that’s the nature of the beast. One bloke was wandering up and down pitlane on Saturday, whipping everybody up into a frenzy,” he said. “It wasn’t like anyone went there knowing there was a different batch, but in the end, there was.

“On Sunday, Zak qualified seventh, and he would’ve been similar, if not better, in his first run, but he ran wide at the sweeper. Suspiciously, they were all very quiet on Sunday when he qualified so well. It took the wind out of their sails for all their tearing up the night before ...”

Another impacted by the late tyre change was Jordan Boys in the car being run by veteran Terry Wyhoon, who was quite outspoken on Sunday.

“I’m a little bit disappointed because we spent all day yesterday running on what we thought was the same tyre as everyone else,” Wyhoon said. “We were trying to tune the car for the young lad, and then today we’re on a different tyre.

“Two minutes before qualifying, we were pumping air into another set of tyres.

That’s the part I’m disappointed about for Jordan. In our little operation, I don’t check batch numbers. Obviously, the main game teams have guys just doing the tyres and writing down batch numbers, which is fair enough.

“I never question it, though. I go over there and take what I assume are the same tyres as everyone else. I’d like to know why we were given different tyres.” Andrew Clarke

www.autoaction.com.au I 9

LATEST NEWS

SUCCESSFUL QR RETURN A BOOST TO NATIONALS

PREMIAIR RACING ANNOUNCES BATHURST CO-DRIVERS CAMERON HILL and Dylan O’Keeffe will link up with PremiAir Racing for the team’s first attack on the Bathurst 1000, racing as co-drivers alongside Chris Pither and James Golding, respectively.

Hill will make his Bathurst 1000 debut alongside Pither in the Coca Cola car at The Mountain this October after turning heads in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia and the Super2 Series. The 25-year-old was crowned Porsche champion last year and now sits second in Super2 behind Declan Fraser heading into Sandown.

“This will be my first main game race, and what better way to make my debut,” an excited Hill said.

“While it may be my first time at Bathurst in a Supercar, I’ve got plenty of laps under my belt, having recently won the Bathurst 6 Hour after starting 60th due to a technical infringement.

“For me, this is going to be an incredible experience, and I’m looking forward to being on the mountain. Hopefully, between Chris and I we can achieve a great result.”

O’Keeffe will contest his third Bathurst 1000 in 2022, joining James Golding in the #31 PremiAir Racing Supercar for the 2022 Great Race.

The 24-year-old brings welcome experience to the table, having spent plenty of time in Supercar machinery over the years.

O’Keeffe finished fifth in the second tier Super2 Series in 2019 and since making his Bathurst 1000 debut in 2020 has achieved

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finishes of 11th and 14th, competing with Kelly Racing and Team Sydney on those occasions.

He currently races in two high level national categories, sitting seventh in the ultra-competitive TCR Australia Series and third in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship, and lapped Mount Panorama for a class win in the Bathurst 6 Hour in a Mercedes AMG A45 production car.

Heading into his third Bathurst 1000 start, O’Keeffe expressed his excitement to be partnering with Golding in a PremiAir Racing machine, whom he knows well from the time they shared together at Garry Rogers Motorsport.

“I raced this same chassis last year, so it is going to be good to be back with that car with the new team,” O’Keeffe said.

“The Subway PremiAir Racing Supercar looks really good and to be partnering with Jimmy is super exciting as we are good mates, so we get along well.

“I am looking forward to working with him and picking his brain. By the time we get to Bathurst, he will have learnt so much more about the car, and I am looking forward to joining the team and building into Bathurst.”

As Auto Action went to print, both pairings were set to begin their preparations with a test day at Queensland Raceway on August 9.

“It will be important to get comfortable and back into V8 mode – they are a unique kind of car, and while I am doing a lot of racing in

other classes, nothing is quite the same as a Supercar. It is definitely good to get back,” O’Keeffe added.

PremiAir Racing Team Principal Matt Cook is confident that both drivers will perform well on the biggest stage.

“Cam currently drives for Triple Eight Race Engineering in Super2 and our cars are Triple Eight cars, so the transition should be pretty seamless for him and we are hoping he can do some big things here with us,” Cook said. “(Dylan) has a lot of experience driving Supercars and he has been driving a few other things as well, including TCR and Carrera Cup, so he has obviously been honing his racecraft and doing a good job, so hopefully he can come on board the Subway PremiAir Racing Supercar with Jimmy and do a good job here as well.”

The 2022 Bathurst 1000 will take place on October 9.

Pither currently sits 21st on the Supercars table, while Golding is finding his feet after replacing Garry Jacobson mid-season.

Josh Nevett and TW Neal

TONY QUINN’S new and improved Queensland Raceway has been given the tick of approval after the successful return of national racing to the venue.

After three years in limbo, QR hosted the fourth round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships from August 5-7, attracting a bumper crowd in excess of 13,000 over three days.

Spectators were treated to improved facilities along with competitors, who entered in large numbers to make use of a completely new pitlane and upgraded surface.

Motorsport Australia Director of Motorsport and Commercial Operations, Michael Smith was full of praise for Quinn and his team for their in bringing the venue up to standard.

“We were massively impressed with the new setup,” Smith told Auto Action.

“I think Tony and the team there I’ve done a fantastic job and it’s now a really, really great facility.

“We’ve always enjoyed going to Queensland Raceway, but it was particularly enjoyable for us this time around.”

A total of eight categories took to the tarmac in Ipswich – the TCR Australia Series, GT World Challenge Australia, Trans Am Series, Radical Cup Australia, Australian Production Cars, GC Marine Prototype Series, and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia series.

Each provided competitive racing, with Tony D’Alberto demonstrating his class in TCR and Nathan Herne sweeping the Trans Am races despite the entry of Supercar star Brodie Kostecki.

Smith said that a combination of factors made the event a successful one.

“It was a near record crowd for us for a Shannons event and I think we were blessed with the weather but the combination of the categories, the upgraded facilities, and the great racing that we were able to put on made it a really good show for all the fans.”

Given how receptive the fans in Queensland were to QR’s return event, Smith made it no secret that plans are already being made for a 2023 Motorsport Australia Championships visit.

“We’re already talking to Queensland Raceway about next year and potential options for what we want to deliver as part of our Shannons package for next year,” he confirmed.

“There’s no question in our mind, we want to go back.” Josh Nevett

JACK PERKINS CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF DAD LARRY PERKINS JOINING PETER BROCK AT THE FACTORY HOLDEN DEALER TEAM TO CELEBRATE the 40th anniversary of his father Larry’s first teaming up with Peter Brock, Jack Perkins will pay tribute to the two touring car legends at next week’s Supercars event at Sandown.

Larry Perkins and Brock raced together for the factory Holden Dealer Team in three successful campaigns at Mount Panorama (1982-84), clean sweeping three straight Bathurst 1000s. They also paired to win the Sandown 500 in 1984.

In preparing for his co-driver role alongside Boost Mobile Racing’s Will Brown in October’s Repco Bathurst 1000, Perkins will contest next week’s fourth round of the 2022 Dunlop Super2 Series at Sandown.

Perkins’ Shaw and Partners Financial Services

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Eggleston Motorsport VF Commodore has been wrapped in the same livery his father and Brock drove to victory in the 1982 Great Race.

His suit and helmet are also matched to the official HDT driver uniforms from the same year, while 36-year-old Perkins has grown a moustache just like his dad wore back in the day.

“This is such a cool thing to be doing. [CoCEO] Earl Evans and his team at Shaw and Partners were super keen to help me prepare for Bathurst with Will Brown and Erebus Motorsport,” Perkins said. “We pencilled in Sandown early in the year and thought about what we could do to celebrate the sport, my father, Peter Brock, and others like Johnson and Moffat, as they left us with such a fantastic sport, and they deserve to be celebrated.

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“I reached out to design guru Peter Hughes, and we chose 1982 as it is the 40th anniversary for my dad’s first Bathurst win, and the livery is something that hasn’t been seen on a VF Commodore before.

“I’m over the moon with how everything, the car, suit, and helmet, has come up – except the moustache. It’s the itchiest, ugliest thing I’ve ever done, but I wanted to go all-in for the throwback.”

Evans said Shaw and Partners Financial Services was thrilled to be involved with a fitting tribute to two Australian icons.

“It is incredible what these two men, Larry Perkins and Peter Brock, achieved and to be able to support Jack to race in the livery of these two phenomenal race drivers

and celebrate their successes on the 40th anniversary of their team up is something extraordinary.

“Jack’s retro livery is something I am sure many fans will be excited about, as they will with Jack growing his father’s famous moustache – although I’m not sure he now thinks that was such a great idea!”

Perkins also thanked loyal supporters, Eggleston Motorsport, Noble Logistics, Muscle Car Warehouse, Southern Cross Truck Rentals, and ARB Penrith for assisting in making the tribute possible.

The Penrite Sandown Supersprint, which includes Round 4 of the 2022 Dunlop Super2 Series, takes place at Sandown International Raceway on 19-21 August.

www.autoaction.com.au I 11

LATEST NEWS

F1 ANTICIPATES 100% FUEL SUSTAINABILITY BY 2026 BECOMING KNOWN for its pioneering technology, Formula 1 has been optimistically vocal and active about its aim to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030.

As part of those plans, it has earmarked the 2026 season to have its true green ethanol formula ready for use, pushing the sport towards an era of full sustainability.

The team that is heading the pioneering project expects the fuel to not only be available for F1 cars upon its introduction, but for the some two billion cars that are expected to be on the road by the year 2030.

The need to slash carbon emissions has seen the modern F1 cars already using a blend of %10 renewable ethanol which has proven to be entirely sustainable going forward.

“It’s been a fascinating challenge,” says Pat Symonds, F1’s chief technical adviser.

“At the time I was first talking to people about this, no one knew what I was talking about, and to be honest I’m not sure I really did, so I’ve done an awful lot of research into it.

“There are lots of different types of ethanol, which vary in quality, but this is a true green ethanol – so fully sustainable.”

The “E-fuel” that they aim to run in the 2026 cars will be uniquely lab created and will be designed as such that there will be a zero emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, creating a clean cycle of carbon from the production and emission side of the equation.

Ross Brawn, the F1’s managing director, highlights the impact that the new technology could potentially have on finding a green solution for the road car industry.

“The great appeal is when we find this solution, you can use it in your road car, without making any changes to the engine,” says Brawn of the huge potential benefits.

“We will have close to two billion internal combustion engines on the planet and whatever electric solution we find, whatever hydrogen solution we find, there’s still going to be two billion cars.

There are parts of the world where those cars won’t change to electric.”

“If we drop a fuel which has much less impact on the environment into those cars, it’s a positive change and we will be sending a strong message that that is a feasible way to go.”

Formula 1 is no stranger to innovation with its power units and hybrid systems among the most efficient ever created, and now that it’s showing an intense focus in its drive towards sustainability, the benefits reaped may spread into the wider echelons of society as a whole.

TW Neal

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Image: Motorsport Images

TYRE CONCERNS MAR WTCR TEAM PULLS OUT OF COMPETITION LYNK & CO Cyan Racing’s involvement in this year’s World Touring Car Championship season has ground to a halt, suspending their campaign over tyre concerns that have affected team’s across the entire grid this year.

Back in May, the entire round of WTCR was called off at the Nurburgring due to safety concerns over the Goodyear tyres blowing out on a regular basis during practice and qualifying.

And most recently, after continuous issues in Italy at Vallelunga, Cyan Racing appealed to WTCR stakeholders before qualifying after Yvan Muller crashed at over 220km/h, causing the team to pull out of both races.

Only 11 cars would finish in the field, with Audi, Cupra and Honda, all experiencing ongoing issues.

The team has been the most affected due to their car weighing in at over 80kg heavier than the WTCR championship leading Hyundai Elantra.

After failing to find a solution with the WTCR stakeholders, they made the decision to pull out from the August 6-7 round in France, and moreover, completely suspend their involvement in the competition.

Team manager, Fredrik Wahlen, said it’s just not possible to continue.

“We have a tyre this year that cannot handle the balance of performance and compensation weight window for all cars on all tracks. And our car runs the heaviest of all.

“As a result, our drivers are subjected to tire failures at high speeds and crashes. It

is simply not possible for Cyan Racing to continue the season in a safe manner,” said Fredrik Wahlen, team manager of Cyan Racing.

“It is the toughest decision we have ever taken as every single member of Cyan Racing is here to win and has sacrificed a lot of things to get where we are today.

But we can’t race in a safe way under the current circumstances and safety is our number one priority. We wish to thank the FIA for their support during these tough circumstances.”

With the rest of the WTCR season unconfirmed as of yet, any further races this year will be without the five-car, fivetime world series championship team; an embarrassing situation following the Nurburgring cancellation. TN

PRO STOCK JOINS THE AUSTRALIAN DRAG RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

AUSTRALIA’S PRO Stock racers will be joining the Australian Drag Racing Championship (ADRC) alongside the Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycles at selected Championship events in the country.

The rounds for the Pro Stock currently announced are the Heathcote Park Raceway (VIC), the new drag strip at The Bend (SA), Sydney Dragway (NSW), and hopefully in Top Fuel’s New Year Nitro event at Willowbank (QLD).

Amongst Aussie drag racing fanatics, the naturally aspirated sedans have gained a cult following due to the extremely close-run nature of the racing, offering a refined and precise spectacle of high speed orchestration, providing a surefire spectacle along with the heavy metal octane of the Top Fuel dragsters.

The news of the Pro Stocks joining up with the Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycles, provides an even greater spectacle and package for Australia’s ever-growing Horsepower festival circuit, whether it be for the live fans, TV audiences, or the racers themselves.

Peter Ridgeway has been involved in Pro Stock racing for 30 years as an engine builder, team owner, and champion driver; he was also

the first Pro Stock driver to pass under seven seconds in national competition, recording a 6.99s pass in his Holden Monaro, recording a speed of 313.45kph.

“The Top Fuel promoters told us to just get out and race where it works for the racers.

We don’t have to choose between one series or another,” said Ridgeway, the Pro Stock Association president.

“With three rounds, the ADRC Pro Stock Championship is certainly fast and furious, and we’re excited that Pro Stock is racing in the 400 Thunder series too. Some teams will do both!

Like the Top Fuel guys have been saying … more racing, more fans, more tracks. It’s fantastic to see Pro Stock race where we want to, without limitation.”

Top Fuel Championship contender Andy Lopez has joined the excited chorus in welcoming the top class Pro Stock machines to the ADRC. “The ADRC Pro Stock Championship is going to feature some of the best and hardest working Pro Stock team from around Australia,” Says Lopez.

“All the teams need to do is turn up and put on a great show. We’ll treat them with respect, put on an awesome event, and showcase them in

the best drag racing broadcast in Australia.

“The more the merrier.”

Pro Stock drivers across the board are amped about the prospect of the extra racing packed into their season, with Chris Soldatos, a decade long veteran of the category, keen for the prospect of racing at new venues.

“As a team owner, I’m looking for good tracks to run on, that’s all I want, just somewhere to race,” Soldatos said.

“At the moment we are tinkering with the car but honestly we don’t have a real lot to do other than going and running it!

“Everyone loves to watch Top Fuel and I’ve seen the people they are bringing to the sport, the idea of following them and having some fun sounds good to me,” Soldatos says of the prospect.

Rob Dekert, another of the Pro Stock heavy hitters, having just made headlines with eye openly slick 6.88s pass, is understandably over the moon about firing up his Pontiac GXP. “There’s 20-odd Pro Stock teams around the country right now who want opportunities to go racing, and more championship events for Pro Stock is going to be great for the class.

We’re one of the newest teams, but we are also ready to commit to events around the country,” said Dekert.

“We’ve still got some refining to do and it can go a touch quicker. We’ve done okay so far, and it sure would be nice to get the first championship in this new era.”

The highly anticipated joint venture will have its first showing at the Heathcote raceway on October 1-2 of this year.

The ADRC Pro Stock Championship can be seen live and free on 7+ around Australia, and will be featured in highlight specials on 7mate. TN

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PHILLIP ISLAND

14–16 OCT

YOU COULD CALL IT

A GAME OF

‘SHOOT THE MESSENGER’

WHEN I STUMBLED OVER A STORY IN THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER ON JULY 11 THAT DISCUSSED THE STATE OF THE BUSINESS OF SUPERCARS, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WOULD UNFOLD DOWN THE TRACK ...

TUCKED AWAY in the small item in the finance section I saw what appeared to be a throwaway line with reference to an ‘unsolicited purchase offer’ to purchase Supercars.

It grabbed my attention as, given all the fuss that had been made over the previous 12 months over RACE’s purchase of Supercars from Archer Capital and the teams, the last thing I would have expected to read about was another purchase offer for Supercars.

Innocently, that morning I sent a text to RACE chairman Barclay Nettlefold asking if he could tell me what this was about.

Nettlefold and I had met a couple of times and we seemed to get along well. He had complimented me on Auto Action as a great medium for the industry and the sport.

He was gracious with his time, and we followed up our conversation with a four page feature on him, written by Paul Gover, in which Nettlefold referenced his vision for Supercars and the sport in general.

He seemed to be very genuine in his dealings with me.

My, how quickly things can change …

Without any feedback from Nettlefold to my query about the purchase offer, I began to ask around about what was happening and, all of a sudden, it was like lancing a puss-ridden boil.

People started talking and all sorts of information started to rush at me.

I was being very careful about what I was being told. Remember, none of this was about me – it was about what serious people in the sport were telling me, and the information came from people I have known a lot longer than Barclay Nettlefold.

These were people I trusted, who felt the need to tell their story – again, not mine – but, boy, it was turning into an important story and the people who read the pages of Auto Action and follow us online deserved to know what was going on. After all, this was a big story about the most

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with Bruce Williams

STRAIGHT SHOOTING important part of the sport we love.

Innocently, and to make sure I presented a balanced story, I again reached out to Nettlefold.

Our text exchanges were pleasant enough and he indicated to me that he was able to have a chat.

Unfortunately, despite my requests, and his assurances-he didn’t get back to me, apart from a statement issued via the Supercars media and communications manager.

We went ahead and published a story that I know was pretty well balanced and accurate. Garry and Barry Rogers raised some issues and they were quoted, seemed happy to have been, and have not refuted what AA reported.

Digging around some more, I made contact with the man in Europe behind the “unsolicited approach to purchase”, Wim Ponnet of FanTech.

He too seemed genuine, told me what he was prepared to say on the record, and I quoted him.

So what is the problem with asking questions and recording what these important ‘players’ have had to say about the matter?

Well, apparently I wasn’t supposed to do all that and now I am on the nose with plenty of heavyhitters in Supercar land. Although, by the way, not with all!

Subsequently, Nettlefold is refusing to talk to AA. He won’t pick up the phone to discuss the buyout offer for RACE from FanTech, the changing shareholder structure of RACE, or the proposed buyout of ARG. While he won’t talk to AA, Nettlefold has started to talk to some others in the media. These are the same ‘journalists’ who weren’t prepared to ask the hard questions about what was going on in the first place.

I’m disappointed because, for some reason, the suggestion is that I have attacked Supercars. Not true!

For the record, as I have said to the Supercars chief executive, Shane Howard, the team of people who run Supercars, the race teams and the competition have been fantastic and the whole storm has nothing to do with them. Keep up the good work!

Since breaking the story, Supercars ‘Town Hall’ has had no reluctance in bad-mouthing AA within the sport, claiming our coverage has been all rubbish. Funny then that they have not come to me with the specifics of what we supposedly have got wrong, even though the outline of our story has proven to be true and is still evolving.

What is most disappointing is that, while certain members of the big end of Supercars ‘town’ are happy to ridicule Auto Action’s reporting of important events within the sport, they won’t debate or even discuss with AA what it is they reckon we have got wrong.

So, while Barcley Nettlefold or any of his allies on the RACE board refuse to talk to AA about what is happening in Supercars, we are bringing back our Letters page to give Auto Action readers voice to have their say about how they see things in their beloved sport.

We may not necessarily agree with the views of our readers, but - as long as they are stated coherently and don’t breach the laws of the land - we will publish them! Email us at letters@autoaction.com.au You, dear readers, have a voice here at Auto Action, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

LATEST NEWS

FERRARI AND PORSCHE STABLES

RELEASE FIERCE NEW GT3 RACERS

A significant amount of the development work has also been invested into the 296 GT3’s aerodynamics. In line with FIA regulations, the body kit gives the racer 20% more downforce compared to Ferrari’s previous generation of GT3.

Its lightness of frame also helps the car exploit its grip potential without sacrificing its tyre life, meaning that this new chassis, which draws influence from the 488 GT3, goes beyond in its new design, and gives 296 GT3 a repeatability that will suit certain tracks well.

SET FOR competition in 2023 and most likely to debut in Daytona, the new, sleek, and fierce looking GT3 racers of both Ferrari and Porsche will hit the track for rigorous testing campaigns, before doing battle around the world in the GT racing formats.

Ferrari’s new 296 GT3 Racer is the successor to the wildly victorious 488 GT3, and is based on last year’s road model, the mid-rearengined 296 GTB sports vehicle.

The new 296 GT3 marks the return to the track of the six cylinder engined Ferrari, and in compliance with technical regulations, it is without the electric unit that is featured in its road GTB model.

The engine features a 120 degree vee configuration with equally spaced firings introduced for the 296’s GT3 V6 combustion engine. This is based on its road going twin, as is the positioning of the turbos within the vee.

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The architecture of the engine is a pure-bred winner, in terms of firing order, integration of the intake manifolds, and engine mounts are on the intake sides of the cylinder heads. The engine is lighter and more compact having eliminated the external plenums and supports.

Its internal fluid dynamics benefit from the reduction in volume, boosting intake efficiency.

All up, this new V6 engine design gives a maximum of 600 horsepower with a maximum torque of 712Nm’s.

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THE NEW Porsche 911 GT3 R also heralds the next generation of GT3 racer, and is based on the current 992 generation model.

With influences from the 911 GT3 Cup and 911 RSR, Porsche customer teams can campaign the new 992-generation 911 racing vehicle in worldwide motorsport events that adhere to the GT3 regulations from 2023.

The new 911 GT3 R features a larger engine producing up to 416 kW (565 PS), a more constant aerodynamic performance and an optimised vehicle balance.

As in the previous model, it is a water-cooled flat-six engine with four-valve technology and direct fuel injection.

The main new development is the displacement: like the 911 RSR, the capacity of the new 911 GT3 R has increased by a good five per cent from 3,997 to 4,194 cc.

This has boosted the engine’s peak output to

around 416 kW (565 PS). First and foremost, however, Porsche has optimised the torque and power curve across the entire rev range.

Consequently, the new 4.2-litre six-cylinder is better suited to gentleman drivers.

The high-revving six-cylinder manages without turbocharging and sits in the classic rear position, thus enhancing traction and braking.

The sequential six-speed contest-mesh gearbox is derived from the current 911 GT3 Cup. Shift paddles control an electronic shift drum actuator that enables particularly rapid and precise gear changes.

The key body features include an elevated underbody at the fore of the front axle, for the first time in conjunction with a smooth undertray, and a rear diffuser.

This combination improves downforce without a significant increase in drag. The rear wing now features a swan-neck mount, ensuring a clean airflow under the wing, thus improving the aerodynamic efficiency of the component.

“The new 911 GT3 R has big shoes to fill,” says Michael Dreiser, Sales Director at Porsche Motorsport.

“Its forerunner has won almost everything there is to win in the GT3 scene in four seasons since 2019.

“The new model faces a massive workload in the hands of the Porsche customer racing teams.” Tim Neal

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LATEST NEWS

THE BATHURST INTERNATIONAL WAIT IS OVER

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AFTER THREE years of setbacks, the inaugural Bathurst International will go ahead on November 11-13, with tickets for the event now on sale.

The Mountain will play host to a celebration of international heritage and flavour, with seven categories to heat up the hallowed tarmac, including S5000 openwheeler racers, TCR touring cars, Trans Ams and GT sports cars.

Mount Panorama will see a global audience tuning in, showcasing the great region of Bathurst and the extremely high calibre of drivers that this country churns out, often behind the wheel of some well recognised, globally imported machinery.

Headlining the event will be the final round of the TCR Australia Series, bringing its global brand of touring car racing to Bathurst. Featuring high-quality Australian drivers representing brands from Germany, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea, the category adopted in more than 30 regions

will race in a blue-riband Bathurst event.

The GT3 endurance class will be represented by the GT World Challenge Australia series, featuring a three hour, two driver set-up, in a decider for this years championship.

The Trans Ams will be showcasing the American eight cylinder muscle style cars, with this race also closing the category’s much hyped season.

The legendary beasts that compete in the Touring Car Masters will also be competing, pitting Australian 60’s, 70’s and 80’s muscle cars up against some American classics; these cars have a natural affinity with the circuit as they are intertwined into its history, defining much of the early racing that took place at The Mountain.

The open wheel category will be represented by the S5000’s, competing at Mt Panorama for the second time in the form of the reborn Trans Tasman Series; look out for young teenage gun Cooper Webster.

Adding to the international flavour will be the Porsche Sprint Challenge with its Stuttgart built 911 GT3 Cup Cars, and the Australian Production Car Series, capping off a diverse array of categories.

Matt Braid, CEO of the Australian Racing Group, shared his excitement for the events prospects after having to weather the storm of organising the Bathurst International through a pandemic.

“It has been over three years since we first won the tender to host the Bathurst International. The world has thrown up some challenges, but this year, it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be an event worth the wait,” said Braid.

“The Supercheap Auto Bathurst International will be the best of the SpeedSeries categories, with an influx of overseas flavour. We are expecting a number of quality off shore talent to join us at Australia’s greatest race track for a truly global motorsport festival.

“One of the highlights will be the conclusion of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series. It has proved to be a high competitive, unpredictable season, and what better place to conclude the title than at Mount Panorama.

“Add to that the GT World Challenge, Touring Car Masters, Trans Am, S5000, Porsche Sprint Challenge and the production cars and it is a smorgasbord of local and international cars and stars that will make a new, fresh event to the famous Bathurst circuit.”

S5000 TO TAKE UP TRANS TASMAN BATTLE AT THE ADELAIDE 500

THE HUGE roar of the ‘big-banger’ open wheeler’s will return to the streets of Adelaide to do battle within its old-school concrete barriers, hearking back to the days when the F1 cars would tear down the East End streets in a formidable display of speed and power.

It has also been confirmed that the Touring Car Masters will bring their big grunt racing to accompany the S5000s, along with the GT World Challenge for the Supercars re-born Adelaide 500.

16 I www.autoaction.com.au

Excitingly, all three categories will be using the event for their final championship rounds, putting much prized trophies on the line, with the GT World Challenge Australia adding it as a final ‘Sprint’ round.

“I grew up watching the Adelaide 500 on TV and watching replays of the Formula 1 era. To know there’s a chance I could be racing there is very exciting and would be a highlight of my career for sure,” says S5000 driver Joey Mawson.

“The Adelaide circuit is iconic and to even have the opportunity to race on it, let alone drive an S5000 on it, would be very special, “It’s a great track that is suited to openwheel cars and always produces great racing. Our cars are very spectacular, very fast and exciting to watch so I’m sure we’ll put on a great show for the fans.”

The Trans Tasman series, which is another suitably re-born event, will compete at Adelaide, closing out its three round series.

The series’ was re-born last year by

ARG, with S5000, Australia’s newest open-wheel category, featuring a field of 560hp V8-powered ‘wings and slicks’ racers that are a modern interpretation of the classic Formula 5000 cars of the 1970s Tasman Series era.

The series closer will see a high calibre of drivers from Australia, New Zealand and further abroad, including young Cooper Webster, who set the series alight in its most recent season.

2014 was the last time some seriously fast open wheeled cars took on the Adelaide streets, when the Formula 3 featured on the Adelaide 500 program.

Motor fans could be treated to the fastest ever lap record, which could come under serious threat as the S5000’s are by far the quickest category in Australian Motorsport.

The 2022 S5000 Tasman Series will commence at the Gold Coast 500 in October, before taking on The Mountain Bathurst at the highly anticipated Bathurst International in November.

The Adelaide 500 will then have the thrill of the S5000’s closer on December 1-4.

TARMAC RALLY ASSOCIATION LODGES SUBMISSION TO MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA A CAREFULLY considered and detailed submission of 35 safety recommendations has been lodged to Motorsport Australia’s Tarmac Rally working group.

Lodged by the Tarmac Rally Competitors Association of Australia (TRCAA), the report is a complete rundown of safety recommendations that are hoped to improve the safety and eligibility of the sport, in order for it to resume its competition.

As previously reported by Auto Action, the group formed just weeks after Motorsport Australia stopped issuing permits for Targa style tarmac rally events in May of this year following the deaths of four competitors over two years, including that of 59yo driver Tony Seymour at the Targa Tasmania in April.

The submission is broken into three categories, including design and conduct of the event, eligibility of drivers and co-drivers, and the eligibility of vehicles.

Vice President and chairman of the committee, Philippe Etienne, gave an insight into how the prospective regulations came about.

“We asked the member base of TRCAA

to send us recommendations that would materially reduce on-course incidents during Targa style events and materially reducing the adverse consequences of them. There was a high degree of consistency in the suggestions received,” Etienne said in a TRCAA media release.

SOME OF THE 35 SAFETY PROPOSALS PRESENTED TO MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA INCLUDE: • A black spot approach to hazard identification • Use of a 165km speed limited category to all tarmac events as a stepping stone to full outright competition.

• Development of a structured and comprehensive training course for Tarmac Rally competitors.

• Development of a process to ensure vehicle capability and crew are not grossly mis-matched.

“As the representative body for Tarmac Rally competitors in Australia, TRCAA is committed to safety in our sport. TRCAA thanks the Motorsport Australia Board for the opportunity to provide input to

the Targa Review Panel,” Etienne further commented in the release.

“While the pain and sadness we feel for having lost our rally family members in recent events will last for many years to come, we relish the opportunity to be part of the process of building their legacy: a refined and improved version of the sport that is safer than ever and able to both entice, and protect, the motorsport community for many years to come.”

After the incident in April, Motorsport Australia CEO, Eugene Arocca, spoke on the ABC news of his concern following

the Targa Tasmania incident, and why the permits had been revoked.

“While many competitors acknowledge that motorsport is dangerous, we cannot accept that death is an outcome of competition as has been suggested to us,” Arocca told the ABC. “There are also insurance and legal ramifications that impact the wider sport when incidents such as this occur.

“There are flow-on effects that follow incidents such as these, widely impacting all aspects of motorsport, including license costs and permit fees for all disciplines.”

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30 YEARS ON, BOWE REUNITED WITH A DJR SIERRA FOR PUKEKOHE SUPERCARS IN WHAT will be an historic twist of fate, John Bowe is to be reunited with an old friend in the form of a Dick Johnson Racing, Ford Sierra RS500, more than 30 years after he last raced it.

With Supercars announcing the Historic Touring Cars will run at Pukekohe as a support category, Bathurst legends Bowe, Greg Murphy, Steven Richards and Paul Radisich, will all partake in the 33 car HTC field.

Between the four of them, they share an impressive 11 Bathurst titles, including 26 podiums.

The ex-Dick Johnson Racing Sierra was the last of its kind built, with Bowe and Johnson racing it at Bathurst in ’91, and by Johnson in ’92.

Bowe also contested the ’88, ’89 & ’90 Touring Car Championships in a DJR Sierra, when the varied nature of the racing made it one of the great times in Australian motorsport; when TCR competitors ran

against each other on a mix of Dunlop, Bridgestone and Yokohama tyres, and drove them to within an inch of their life.

The car is currently owned by New Zealander Lance Coupland, and will be prepared for racing by Formula Ford stalwart, Nigel Barclay, who worked with Bowe preparing a Ferrari 458 in the Australian GT Championships in 2013-14.

“It’s really something you know, It’s been thirty years,” Bowe told Auto Action.

“The Sierra’s finished racing in Group A in 1992, so to be reunited with a car that I have such fond memories of is something that I really can’t wait to do. Dick and I were, and still are, great friends - and it was just such a good era of competitive racing, so it’s gonna be great fun… and let’s face it, any day at the track is a good day.”

For what will be the last ever Supercars race at Pukekohe due to its 2023 closure, Bowe also has fond memories of racing there for what will most likely be his last

time around the NZ circuit.

“I haven’t raced Pukekohe since they put the new bit in down the back straight, but it’s likely to be my last time around it. I’ve had some great times there… and some not so great times I might add, but that’s racing when you’ve spent as much time driving about as I have.”

Auto Action also spoke with the historic cars owner, Nigel Coupland, who’s elated to own such a great piece of racing history. “it’s coming-up on three years of owning it now, and these kind of cars just don’t come about so regularly,” said Coupland.

“It’s pretty great thing to own, and now to be doing this with it! I absolutely love Sierra’s, and actually, although I’ve driven it myself, I also had Greg Murphy have a go in it a year ago to show what it could do, which was really something special.”

“I’ve never met John directly, but Nigel Barclay recommended that I put him in the car at Pukekohe, so I rang him and he said

- ‘I’m as keen as a green bean,’ to quote him directly.

“I just hope he brings it back in one piece is all…you know, gets it out front and stays there,” Coupland quipped.

Murphy will also be in somewhat of a familiar machine - his own Peanut Slab Sierra Group A car - which he raced at Pukekohe in 1992, and is now owned by Peter Sturgeon.

Murphy’s HTC running also comes ahead of him racing as wildcard for Erebus Motorsport in the upcoming Bathurst 1000 with Richie Stanaway.

Radisich, who won eight races between 2000-01 for DJR, will be driving in a Wolf Ford Mondeo, and five-time Bathurst winner, Richards, will be in a Murray Sinclair-owned Nissan Primera Super Tourer, a car he last raced in the 1997 Australian Super Touring championship.

The Supercars Pukekohe farewell will be held on 9-11 of September.

HOLDSWORTH TO NOTCH UP 500 SUPERCARS APPEARANCES AT VICTORIA’S Sandown Raceway, on the Saturday evening of August 20, Penrite Racing’s Lee Holdsworth will have chalked up a mammoth 500th appearance in Supercars.

He currently sits in 11th place for all time ATCC/Supercars race starts, with only 10 drivers to have previously achieved the feat; three of which are still competing: Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Will Davison.

His recent history shows a tumultuous time of team swapping, with a dominant 2021 Bathurst 1000 victory sandwiched in between, putting a glittering highlight on a Supercars career that includes four race victories, 19 podiums, and a career best seventh in the championship.

Holdsworth won the 2021 Bathurst 1000 alongside Chas Mostert and Walkinshaw Andretti United after being shown the door at Tickford Racing.

He now finds himself in the Grove racing outfit for the Penrite team in a career that has seen him race for Robert Smith Racing, Garry Rogers Motorsport, Stone Brothers Racing which became Erebus Motorsport, Charlie Schwerkolt’s Team 18 which raced under the Walkinshaw stable before it became a standalone team, Tickford Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, and finally the Grove Racing team.

Holdsworth talked a little about the upcoming milestone, and his experience of racing at Sandown.

“I love Sandown, it’s an historic event, and it’s a cool track.

I had some success last time I raced there, getting on the podium for the Sandown 500, and I’m going to have a lot of family support there with it being a local track,” said Holdsworth.

“I never imagined I’d get to this amount of races, five hundred’s a hell of a lot and I certainly can’t remember all of them, but I’ve had some success.

“I’ve had a lot of lows as well, but I’m certainly very proud to still be in the sport after so long.

“I have a lot of great memories and I just hope there’s more to add.”

Holdsworth’s first victory came in 2007 at the now defunct Oran Race Park, which closed in 2010 for housing development.

Making his debut in 2004, 18 years is a long time to race as a competitive entity in Supercars, so here’s hoping the local lad from Melbourne can notch his fifth victory or grab another Sandown podium.

Supercars head to Sandown for another SuperSprint format on August 19-21 for its ninth round of racing.

MCLAREN FACE RICCIARDO COMPENSATION BATTLE

By Timothy Neal DANIEL RICCIARDO’S camp are reportedly asking for compensation somewhere in the ballpark of $21 million dollars in the wake of the on-going Oscar Piastri/McLaren saga.

It is understood that McLaren may counter the asking price and seek to drive it down via the courting of a ‘soft landing’ at another team for Ricciardo, who is still contracted with the Woking team through to the 2023 season.

It is unlikely that McLaren will accept the initial offer, with Ricciardo’s stated intentions being that he wants to stay in Formula 1 come the start of the 2023 season.

In presenting such a mammoth offer that McLaren will no doubt bargain down, there’s hope it may work out for Ricciardo to get a seat elsewhere despite the limited options that are seemingly available.

With the chess pieces looking like they may be on the move to guarantee Piastri gets in the McLaren, the weeks leading into Spa are sure to be as telling as any.

This comes just days after Alpine team principal and motorsport veteran, Otmar Szafnauer, openly questioned the loyalty of Piastri, putting pressure on the young Melbournian in a return of serve in defence of the beleaguered Alpine team.

“I expected more loyalty from Oscar than

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he is showing,” Szafnauer told the Spanish media.

“I started in 1989 in Formula 1 and I’ve never seen anything like this. And it’s not about Formula 1, it’s about integrity as a human being.

“For me, the way I grew up, I don’t need to sign a piece of paper and then have someone say, ‘You’re lying, because you signed this.’ For me, if you say, ‘Hey, help me, I’ll help you tomorrow,’ there’s no way I would go back on my word. No way.

“He should drive with the team that has taken care of him, that has taken him to the world championship and, above all, that during the last year has put him in a Formula 1 car so that he would be ready, so that he would know the circuits.

“There should be some loyalty to the fact that we have invested literally millions and millions of euros to prepare him. So I don’t understand it either, you should ask him.”

Should Piastri land at McLaren as is expected, the young ace who has so far won three straight titles in Europe, will face a fierce introduction to his F1 racing life.

There will be pressure for him to keep pace with Lando Norris, who has shown good pace in a car that his teammate has openly reported is “complicated to drive,” saying that lap consistency is hard to find.

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Ultimately, without direct access to the contract stipulations for all involved, it’s hard to see who holds the upper-hand in moving forward.

Alpine could yet take legal action as it has stated it is within its right to do so, and that it has a contract with Piastri: something that the Piastri has disputed.

Ricciardo is also said to hold the upperhand in his contract, with the clause to opt out being on his side of the bargain.

MATT STONE RACING CONFIRMS JAYDEN OJEDA AS HAZELWOODS CO-DRIVER FOR BATHURST 1000 JAYDEN OJEDA will return to Matt Stone Racing for this year’s Bathurst 1000 event after re-signing with the team as a co-driver for a second year running.

Ojeda, who will partner with Todd Hazelwood in the #35 Truck Assist Racing Commodore, an enters this year’s Bathurst 1000 with more main game experience than his previous great race starts.

Ojeda has been busy competing as a wildcard at the Darwin Triple Crown, and Winton SuperSprint events the Supercars season driving a Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore.

“I am really looking forward to teaming up with Todd Hazelwood at MSR for what will be my second Bathurst 1000 start with the team,” says Jayden.

This will be Ojeda’s third Bathurst 1000 start, his second with the team, and first alongside Todd Hazelwood.

Having raced as a co-driver with MSR previously in 2021, and the fact he has since completed a couple of solo main game rounds, the team are confident Jayden has the capabilities to complete the job at hand by executing consistent stints when in the car.

“So far, the team has had an awesome year and hopefully we can add to that in October with a great result.” Ojeda continued, “The team has made a massive step forward this year which is really good to see. The expansion of personal and resources available is quite clear, and they are getting the results to show for it which has been really good.”

“For me, it is really exciting to obviously be teaming up with them again and I look forward to jumping in the car.”

Jayden will undertake his first codriver laps of the season with the team at today’s test day at Queensland Raceway.

He will then take part in the codrivers practice session at the upcoming Sandown SuperSprint.

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ACTION A PLENTY WITH SIDE BY SIDE RALLY STAGE CONFIRMED FOR COFFS COAST ARC FINAL

THE FIRST details of Coffs Coast Rally have been confirmed with Raleigh Raceway to host exciting Super Special Stages during the event.

Serving as both the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) finale, the event will take place at the end of November.

The two stages confirmed for Raleigh Raceway will feature exciting side by side racing between the best rally crews in Australia and the Asian Pacific region.

Taking place over a two-kilometre stage, crews will be paired up with another a similar seeded crew where they will race against both the clock and each other on the specifically designed course.

To remove any advantages, the crews will then swap starting places for the second pass of the stage.

Open to spectators, the Super Special Stages will run on the Saturday afternoon of the event, beginning in the afternoon and concluding under lights.

The exciting style is quite uncommon in Australian rally, with the 2019 Adelaide Hill Rally the last event to hold this sort of spectacle.

During that event, crews battled it out against each other under lights on the newly built circuit, The Bend Motorsport Park.

Raleigh Raceway regularly holds club level rallycrosses and was a major part of Rally Australia, however this will be the first time two cars go side-by-side in a competition.

More details on the final round of the ARC will be released in the coming weeks.

The 2022 Coffs Coast Rally will take place in and around the Coffs Coast on 25-27 November.

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EX-INDYCAR DRIVER MARCO ANDRETTI TO RACE NASCAR FORMER INDYCAR driver Marco Andretti will debut in NASCAR this October at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Andretti is the third generation of the famous Andretti racing family, and last raced in the IndyCar series back in 2020 after making his debut in 2006, but has competed in one-off appearances at the Indianapolis 500.

He left IndyCar after winning two races, leaving behind a family legacy that includes 96 all-time IndyCar wins.

He recently defeated a few NASCAR

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LATEST NEWS

STEVEN JOHNSON PONIES UP FOR TCM RETURN VETERAN RACER Steven Johnson will be reunited with a Ford Mustang in a return to Touring Car Masters.

Johnson, a three-time Touring Car Masters champion, will take the place of Cameron Mason in the #33 Mustang Trans Am for the remainder of the 2022 season.

The car, owned and commissioned

by Russell Hancock, won on debut in the Trophy Race at Ipswich in 2019 with Mason behind the wheel.

When contacted by Auto Action, Hancock was excited at the opportunity of putting Johnson back in a TCM car.

“Cam has decided to take a break due to work and travel commitments, so we contacted Stevie about filling the empty seat,” said Hancock.

“It turned out he was available to steer the car, and we’re excited that he’s going to race with us.

“We’ve made a few little mods that we’ve talked about with Steve, and it’s getting a test drive at Winton with John Bowe behind the wheel.

“We’re all looking forward to seeing Stevie get around the track at Sandown.”

Johnson was equally as animated to be getting into the Mustang for the Sandown meeting on the 16-18th September.

“After what happened at the start of the year with me, sponsorship wise, it’s just great that this opportunity has come

about,” Johnson told Auto Action, having been away from the TCM since Round 1.

“In terms of how it all happened, JB (John Bowe) helped to set it all up really, then he spoke with Russell and it’s all gone from there.

“JB called initially and said ‘mate we need you back in the category,’ and obviously I couldn’t run my own program at the time, so then I spoke with Russell about sorting some things out with the car which JB is going to be testing out at Winton. I don’t just want to come back and drive around, I’m pretty keen to have a crack with it.

“It’s a pretty cool car, and since it’s been built, it’s been one the cars that everyone loves … we all love nicely built cars, and that’s definitely one of them.”

When pressed if he was missing being out there, Johnson was typically philosophical in response.

“You know, I’ve had my time as a professional as such, but I still love driving. I still love being out there. I was a bit down at being at the SMP earlier in the year, with all the TCM cars out there and not being a part of it, so I’m obviously very happy to get back out on the track with all the other boys.”

The Mustangs journey into the Touring Car Masters came about when Russell decided to build a TCM car, with Cameron Mason given the opportunity to drive the new Mustang.

Mason and his father Steve, a former TCM Series winner himself, scoured

the industry to prepare the steed for its seven month build.

When the 1969 #33 racer broke cover in 2019, it was big news for Touring Car Masters, with a great deal of expense and experience being shelled out to get the thing built, including sporting a paint job influenced by Alan Moffat’s Brut 33 colours from the early 70’s.

Budget concerns have limited Johnson’s Touring Car Masters Appearances in 2022, with the True-Blue Falcon XD unsighted since racing the SMP in round one, where he topped practice and scored a podium; so the prospect of Johnson back behind the wheel of a competitive Mustang will provide a great deal of excitement for fans of the category. Tim Neal

Image: Jack Martin Photography/ ARG

TOURING CAR MASTERS TECHNICAL REVIEW AIMS TO FINE TUNE 2023 RACE SERIES THE CATEGORY managers of the Touring Car Masters have started to step up the review into the performance adjustment for the popular series heading into the 2023 season.

TCM category management are working with Motorsport Australia’s technical advisor Scott McGrath and the competitors, to fine-tune the balance of the on-track product.

Rather than finding technical parity – which is not what the TCM is uniquely about – it’s more about the balance of performance while preserving an individual’s brand and own technical specifications, similar to what is seen in the TCR and GT series.

The performance specification register applies engine RPM and weight adjustments to suit the various individual car makes.

As an example, the five litre Holden Torana sits at around 1370kg, compared to the six litre 1500kg Ford Mustang, Falcon, and Chevrolet Camaro models; the weight differential is in turn balanced up by the horsepower, with the five litre engines running at 600hp, and the six litres at well over 700+hp.

The adjustments made throughout the season are based upon the place position of the car: so cars achieving outright first, such as Ryan Hansford’s #6 Torana at Townsville, receive a heavier weight adjustment, which would then be removed if the vehicle finishes fourth or worse.

Due to the differing individual specifications of the cars, this allows drivers to adjust for the relative strength and weaknesses of their vehicles and, as was seen in Townsville, the lighter Holdens have an advantage on the more corner driven street circuits, whilst lacking the horsepower on the more open circuits such as Mount Panorama.

A survey of the TCM since the 2018 season shows that of the 63 championship races, 39 have been won by the six-litre cars, and 24 by the smaller-engined vehicles.

Liam Curkpatrick, Category Manager for TCM, spoke about the aims for the review, and of protecting the characteristics that define TCM.

18 I www.autoaction.com.au

Image: Jack Martin Photography/ARG ”The idea is to not reinvent the wheel but to go through everything with a fine-tooth comb, which is what we have been doing since ARG acquired the category prior to the curtailed 2020 season,” said Curkpatrick.

“The on-track product has always been a hallmark of TCM and we don’t want to change it. But there could be opportunities to improve it further and this process is centered around that.

“We want the category to continue to remain appealing to competitors with all sorts of different cars. This process will engage

with all the competitors to get their thoughts while taking a very methodical, numbers-based approach to the ‘Balance of Performance’ in the category.

“This is not about turning TCM into a complete ‘Parity’ class: that’s not what the category is about. The current regulations are several years old and we want to make sure what has been down on paper for some time suits where the category is at today.

“It’s been part of our ongoing process to grow the category and this was the next topic we have been keen to tackle and review.” TN

MULTIPLE FORMULA FORD MANUFACTURERS NOW LIKELY FORMULA FORD is now likely to remain as a multiple manufacturer category after Motorsport Australia took note of competitor feedback.

Motorsport Australia Director of Motorsport and Commercial Operations Michael Smith opened up to Auto Action about the current state of play in the incredibly popular Australian Formula Ford category.

Smith explained that the original idea Formula Ford now appears to be substantially less likely after listening to competitors views.

“We’re really wanting the DNA to stay the same,” he said to AA. “I know one of our preliminary recommendations was to look at a single manufacturer path,” he said.

“Whilst LONGthe (Formula Ford) working AA’S group hasn’t formed a view, one way TIME COLUMNIST or another on that, I think we’re coming PONDERS around to the view that, potentially a F1’S SIGNINGformat would be multi-manufacturer a better path to go, because that’s SHENANIGANS consistent with what Formula Ford has LIKE SAND through the always been in this country. hourglass, these are the days of “We had the stakeholder forum, we our lives. then had the survey, and then we If you love a good soap opera, invited people to make submissions.

evolution of Formula Ford Racing, as distinct from trying to introduce something that’s entirely new that we know with our Formula 4 experience hasn’t worked.”

Smith also admitted that the plan for a 2023 introduction along with the reintroduction of championship status is looking ambitious.

“If I’m being really honest, I think 2023 introduction might be a bit ambitious at this point,” Smith felt.

“But we haven’t formed a fixed view on that, the Formula Ford Association “But ultimately, if we’re, wanting to of course, will be key to all of this as achieve or carry on the philosophy of well.

Formula Ford Racing we need to be “What I will say is our current thinking able to do it in a multi-manufacturer is to run Formula Ford, the current Image: Renault Sport/Veracity Media environment.” cars as aImage: national series next year, and Smith believes the reason that then at a point in time, whether that’s to the US openthe best interest of the McLaren Formula 4 did notshenanigans work in Australia 2023 or in 2024, we will introduce a new wheeler racing scene, where brand when it comes to driver was because it did not appeal to the car as a championship. managers/agents resort to signings and retention.

Australian motor athlete sport scene, this is “We’d run existing cars in parallel ridiculous and questionable tactics We can only ponder what why it is essential that Formula Ford with the new ones as sort of a mixed to gain the biggest contracts with McLaren’s majority shareholder, remains as close as possible to its grid and that would happen for a the best teams. These methods Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding roots. period, broadly speaking, I’d be usually work for superstar athletes, Company (a sovereign wealth “Formula 4 didn’t work here,” he anticipating that it’d be three to five but are often less successful for fund) thinks about Brown’s admitted. “It’s clear, people are very years, something like that. rank-and-file clients who find forceful approach to signing passionate about Formula Ford Racing “I guess ultimately, it depends on the When does McLaren’s “Our thinking isthemselves have it as in ana public relations take up drivers? of any new car. DM

ORANGE CRUSH “We’ve taken the time to speak to every single one of those people or email every single one of those people.

“I guess as a consequence of that we’ve come around to the view that perhaps a multi-manufacturer concept is the way to go.”

Smith feels that if they can get the rules right, then a multi-manufacturer series will continue to work successfully.

“In order to do that (a multi-brand category) you have to get the rules right, we know that, it’s a lot simpler to craft a set of rules when you’re only have one homologated manufacturer.

with Luke West

REVVED UP

international motorsport is I’m looking at you, Alpine.

Mexican Patricio O’Ward. Unless nightmare that trashes their own reputation become a factor? delivering in spades right now.

Mark Webber, ever the there’s something going down previous good standing.

Paying out Ricciardo won’t What’s more, the main dramaopportunist, is going for broke. behind the scenes we haven’t Of course, a Machiavellian move come cheap. Plus, the Western filled storyline captivating race Good on him. The stakes are high considered – like McLaren or three has long been a part of Australian will be very motivated fans globally features a cast of but so is the prize. In play is Oscar forming a junior F1 team as Red the F1 paddock – it’s not called the to beat McLaren if he moves to of the illustrious names that won in the ONE OF the country’s longest serving Australian characters.

Piastri’s future and, if commentary Bull has in Alpha Tauri – Palou Piranha Club for no good reason Alpine. Go in hard, Daniel! category. category administrators Margaret Hardy With Neighbours having been from Pommie scribes like longhas seemingly given himself a – but extreme scheming is rare in Yes, Ricciardo has been hosed Hardy assisted all of these drivers on passed away from cancer on Thursday wound up, the setting for the top time journalist Adam Cooper is character assassination. All for an other forms of motorsport. by teammate Lando Norris in their their route to Australia’s top-level.

August 19.

Aussie soapie playing out right any gauge, Piastri’s reputation.

McLaren F1 test Makes for great entertainment time together at McLaren, but She was liked by all whoend-of-season knew her Hardy was involved in motor racing now has seemingly shifted from Yet this is where Webber’s alongside a cast of thousands for us fans, though. As long as Ricciardo is still the only driver to in the industry which is why the motor for decades and was known for her Ramsay Street to the intersection standing as a man of integrity will and a likely moderate payrise if it doesn’t involve our favourite give the famed team a GP win in sport community is sad to hear of her dedication to Formula Ford. of Piastri Place, Ricciardo Road serve his protege well. the US legal system rules that drivers and teams, that is. the last decade. passing.

Hardy joined the Light Car Club as and Webber Way. It’s here where Piastri only has to look at he can move to his new IndyCar In McLaren’s case, it’s the team It’s so bizarre that our country’s During her time in the category, the office manager and began working they aspire to drive McLarens in another aspiring McLaren driver, team, an inferior drive to his doing the moving and the shaking. only three F1 drivers of the last two she was named a Life Member of the with the Australian Formula Ford 2023. reigning IndyCar champion Zak Brown’s management style decades are now intertwined in a Formula Ford Association.current ride. championship 1978, doing paperwork In 73 seasons of the Formula Alex Palou, for how not to go Palou has also managed to is, erm, very different to that of game of musical chairs.

Formula Ford Association for the category throughout the ‘80s.

1 World Championship just 14 about contract negotiations. destabilise both his current and universally-loved founder Bruce Whatever happens from here Early in the following year she became representative Phil Marinon said Australian drivers have started a The Spaniard appears to future IndyCar teams. Well played, McLaren or less-loved but highly– and it may even be resolved she remained very connected to the the administrator of the category and grand prix. Suddenly, the 13th is have gambled his career and Alex, you’ve certainly made your effective long-time team principal by the time this issue of AA hits category. was tasked with organising national helping the likely 15th manoeuvre reputation on signing with Arrow mark in motor racing history! and owner Ron Dennis, who used newsstands – Piastri’s rookie and was always focused on the result and present took to social media to “Margaret was a tireless Administrator series events, a role she held until 2013. into the seat currently occupied by McLaren SP for next season on Palou’s actions have been ‘Ronspeak’ to cautiously navigate season is going to be watched rather than looking for accolades. send their condolences. for Formula Ford Association and also She has dealt with many of Australia’s the 14th. Incredible! You couldn’t the slim chance of achieving his good for Team Penske, which those piranha-infested waters. newcomer before him. the AFFM including category manager “Margaret was very dedicated to Outsidelike of no Formula Ford, Margaret motor sport stars over the years and script this.

F1 dream when, according to his has been a picture of stability.

I dig McLaren Racing’s All this drama is a boon for the also took on roles such as the race for the national competition,” he told all things Formula Ford and has was well-known as a hardworking and I’m not suggesting anything current team, Ganassi Racing, he Two of Penske’s drivers – Aussie expansion into IndyCar 2023 Australian Grand Prix, which secretary for Sandown Raceway.

Auto Action. recently assisted aggressive the association in passionate worker. under-handed on behalf of the already had a contract with them Will Power, and American Josef and its overall nostalgic approach follows a 2022 event that sold-out Hardy was diagnosed with “Her attention to detail and ability to the production of a book on 50 years In her time as category manager 13th/15th alliance. After all, none of for 2023.

Newgarden – are well in the title to modern motor racing.

Saturday and Sunday pre-event.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer in 2019 support the competitors has been very of Formula Ford in Australia and seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig us outsiders know the full behindthis, Palou is fourth and Kiwi Scott McLaughlin’s Brown, McLaren Racing in early to book your tickets to and wentGet into Stage 4 in May. acknowledged onfight social media disappointingly willUnder not get to see the Lowndes, reigning 1000 victor, Will As I writestrongly the-scenes story. Hell, some of the in line to the papaya McLaren, upward trajectory continues. has some serious cash to splash the next Albert Park spectacular.

Auto Action sends its condolences to final result.”

Davison, David Reynolds, Chaz Mostert and is undisputed. insiders are seemingly oblivious to behind Piastri and fellow IndyCar McLaren’s arrival in IndyCar has now. I just question whether her friendsLike andmeatloaf family. through DM a straw, “Margaret was a very private person Many Australianright racing legends past and Anton de Pasquale are just some the machinations. stars American Colton Herta and brought football-style contract it’s being spent in a manner that’s these are the days of our lives…

VALE: MARGARET HARDY – FORMULA FORD’S GUIDING HAND

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

CAMPBELL CLOSER TO IMSA CROWN AUSSIE MATT Campbell took another step towards claiming the IMSA Sportscar Championship GTD Pro title with a second placed finish at Road America, while his fellow countrymen failed to make an impact.

Campbell, steering the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R with teammate Mathieu Jaminet, finished 0.760s behind Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat who led 51 of the 62 laps in their #14 Lexus RC F GT3.

The pair of British drivers were thrilled to claim their first victory of the season, as Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor took third place in the #3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R. Speaking post-race, Jaminet expressed his disappointment at not finding a way past Barnicoat after a late race caution period.

“It seemed like they found the right switch at the end to get some extra top speed they didn’t have at the beginning,” Jaminet said.

“We’ve been sometimes lucky this year and today was maybe a bit against us.

“All in all, it was a good race, and P2 is quite good for our championship with only two rounds to go.”

Campbell and Jaminet have a 227-point lead heading into the final two rounds of the campaign, Barnicoat the nearest challenger.

In LMP3, Aussies Cameron Shields and Scott Andrews finished sixth and seventh

Images: Motorsport Images in class, respectively.

“Another one of those “character building” weekends,” Andrews said.

West Australian Aidan Read co-piloted a

Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 to ninth in the GTD class.

Both GT categories will descend on Virginia International Raceway for the

penultimate round of the season at the end of August, before all categories take part in the Petit Le Mans season finale on October 1. Josh Nevett

HARVICK BACK ON NASCAR WINNERS LIST

ANTIPODEANS BATTLE OUT THE SPA 24 HOUR IT WAS top honours for the Mercedes AMG GT3s (above) at Spa Francorchamps over the weekend in the legendary Spa 24 hour, and within the field of 66 cars, seven Antipodeans threw their hats into the ring for the famous endurance event.

Australians and New Zealanders featured in three of the classes in an all Porsche affair (except Jordan Love/Mercedes), with Matt Campbell from the IMSA Championships racing with his usual IMSA EMA Motorsport team.

Campbell’s team finished 22nd overall, 16th in the Pro Class category in their 911 GT3, completing 529 laps and 1:40.765 off the pace.

Kiwi racer Earl Bamber, owner of Earl Bamber Motorsport grabbed a well deserved podium in the Pro Am Class with the Singha Racing Team, completing 526 laps, and finishing only 26.249 off second place.

Overall, they finished in 30th position.

Jordan Love finished 12th in the Silver Cup, driving with Haupt Racing Team in a Mercedes AMG GT3, but registered a no completion, with 333 laps completed.

Jaxon Evans also registered an NC, racing for

20 I www.autoaction.com.au

Herberth Motorsport in a 911 GT3-R, completing 100 laps in the Pro Am Class cup.

Stephen and Brenton Grove, along with Kiwi Matthew Payne, also in the 911 GT3 Pro Am Class, completed 206 laps for Earl Bamber motorsport.

The Grove family will represent Australia in the FIA motorsport games later in the year.

Overall, the Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Antonio Fuoco, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigonby, took out third, 46.926 behind the dominant Mercedes, who also took out fourth.

The highest finish for the Porsche 911 GT3’s, was driven

by Dennis Olsen, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor for KCMG, finishing in seventh overall in Pro Am. The Silver Cup was won by an Audi, driven by Dennis Olsen, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor.

The Gold Cup went to a Ferrari 488, driven by Doriane Pin, Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting, Whilst the Pro Am Class rounded out another dominant performance for Mercedes, with Dominik Baumann, Martin Konrad, Kenny Habul and Philip Ellis behind the wheel.

IT WAS a long time between drinks for NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick, but he finally returned to the top of the podium to sure up a playoff position at Michigan International Speedway (pictured).

A grand total of 65 races after Harvick last tasted victory on September 19 in 2020 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 46-year-old took advantage of a late-race caution period to hit the front and cross the line a winner.

As such, he will be among the post-season action in 2022.

The defining moment came on lap 160 when Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell tangled on the front straight, prompting a yellow flag caution period.

Harvick opted to stay out on track while his rivals hit the pits, leaving the former in the lead.

Hamlin was the quickest out of the pits, however he copped a penalty for a crew member infringement which left polesitter Bubba Wallace to inherit a front row restart position alongside Harvick.

Sensing an opportunity to break his winless streak, Harvick won the restart and charged to his 59th career win from there, finishing clear of Wallace and Hamlin who completed the podium.

Ford drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney were fourth and fifth, ahead of Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Larson was the best of the Chevrolet steerers in seventh, as Erik Jones, Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top 10.

It was a significant result for Gibbs, his first top 10 finish in his third series start.

Plenty of competitors were caught up in incidents throughout the race, the biggest of which occurred on lap 25 – Austin Cindric hit the wall hard at Turn 2 as eight cars came to a halt.

The #15 Ford of JJ Yeley was sent into a spin at Turn 1, causing collateral damage to Cindric, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Harrison Burton.

Next weekend the NASCAR show heads to Richmond Raceway in Virginia for the Federated Auto Parts 400. Josh Nevett

Images: Motorsport Images

A BIG BLUE DAY FOR VETTEL EXTRAORDINARY RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT SETS THE STANDARD FOR DIGNITY IN FORMULA ONE WHO KNEW that Sebastian Vettel’s favourite colour is blue?

But that’s the sort of stuff that comes from the four-times world champion as he announces his retirement from Formula One. “My favourite colour is blue. I like chocolate and the smell of fresh bread,” says Vettel.

His words are amazing stuff. Like this: “I am stubborn and impatient - I can be really annoying.”

And then: “I like to make people laugh.”

Usually, retiring drivers love to trumpet their successes on the track - even if they were decades in the past.

Most also go way beyond their use-by date.

You could argue that Vettel has been an under-achiever since his hero days at Red Bull Racing, where he was the most hated man in F1 for Australian fans.

He smashed Mark Webber with help from one-sided management – led by the unlovely Helmut Marko, who also torpedoed any chance of Craig Lowndes getting to F1 – and then sidelined Daniel

with Paul Gover

THE PG PERSPECTIVE Riccardo even though the thenyoungster was clearly quicker and hungrier.

When he moved to Ferrari, Vettel kept winning.

But not as much, not as often, and not consistently enough to challenge for a fifth world championship with The Reds.

His time at Aston Martin has been … quiet.

“Our results have not been as good as we had hoped,” he admits.

But as he has wound down on the track he has been winding up in other areas.

Anyone who has watched Vettel’s helmets – which he once changed as frequently as MotoGP hero Valentino Rossi, until Bernie Ecclestone decided it was all too much – would have seen an emerging pattern.

He has flown the flag for gay pride and the Ukraine flag to protest the invasion by Russia.

He has even highlighted the plight of bees, which are one of the cornerstone’s of life on earth.

“I very much believe in identity by who we are and how we treat others rather than what we do,” Vettel says.

Which brings us to the announcement of his retirement, which is worth covering in a fair bit of detail.

“Probably I should start with a long list of people to thank now, but I feel it is more important to explain the reasons behind my decision,” he begins.

“I love this sport — it has been central to my life since I can remember. But, as much as there is life on track, there is my life off-track too. Being a racing driver has never

been my sole identity.

“Who am I? I am Sebastian —father of three children and husband to a wonderful woman. I am curious and easily fascinated by passionate or skilled people.

“I am obsessed with perfection. I am tolerant and feel we all have the same rights to live, no matter what we look like, where we come from and who we love. I love being outside and love nature and its wonders.

“I have grown other interests outside Formula One. My passion for racing and Formula One comes with lots of time spent away from them and takes a lot of energy.

“Committing to my passion the way I did, and the way I think is right, does no longer go side-byside with my wish to be a great father and husband. The energy it takes to become one with the car and the team to chase perfection takes focus and commitment.”

But it’s more than a clash between family and Formula One. “My passion comes with certain aspects that I have learned to dislike. They might be solved in the future but the will to apply that change has to grow much, much

strong and has to be leading to action today.

“Talk is not enough and we cannot afford to wait. There is no alternative – the race is under way.”

Vettel’s words strike a chord with lots of people, because he is intelligent, articulate and real.

“Children are our future. Further, I feel there is so much to explore and learn – about life and about myself.

“Speaking of the future, I feel we live in very decisive times. And how we all shape these next years will determine our lives.”

This is not a born-again vegan talking, but an honest bloke who rides a bicycle to the Grand Prix paddock and helped clean the grandstands after one of the races last year He also has a clear perspective on his motorsport career.

“The marks I left on track will stay until time and rain will wash them away. New ones will be put down. Tomorrow belongs to those shaping today,” he says.

So, what’s next for Vettel?

Politics looks likely, but his life role as a social activist has already begun.

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INTERNATIONAL AUSSIES

CLOSE FIGHT IN INDY LIGHTS THE BATTLE for second place in the Indy Lights standings is heating up after Kiwi Hunter McElrea scored his sixth podium finish for the season at Nashville Street Circuit.

Runaway series leader Linus Lundqvist led from start to finish to record his fifth win of the campaign, but plenty of interest was directed towards McElrea and his American rival Sting Ray Robb as the pair continued to tussle for the title of second best.

The Andretti Autosport teammates

duked it out for several laps on the tight road course, McElrea defending fiercely as the race reached its climax.

Robb finally made his move on lap 32, getting his elbows out to pass McElrea heading into Turn 9. Contact between the pair resulted in damage to the latter, preventing McElrea from fighting back.

As such, it was Robb who left Nashville the happier of the pair, beating McElrea to the line by 3.172s as both stood on the podium.

At the front, Lundqvist cruised home

from pole in the #26 HMD Motorsports entry after withstanding early pressure from McElrea, which peaked on lap five when the New Zealander narrowly missed the rear of Lundqvist’s car exiting the bridge.

Lundqvist pulled away soon after and crossed the line 7.222s clear of Robb.

The Swede now heads the standings by 95 points with four races remaining.

Aussie Matthew Brabham was fourth in the #83 Andretti Autosport car, continuing a consistent run which has

DOOHAN STORMS HOME IN HUNGARORING SPRINT AUSSIE JACK Doohan has claimed his second win of the 2022 Formula 2 season, winning Saturday’s Sprint race by a comfortable margin at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Doohan started on the front row along with Enzo Fittipaldi in a top 10 flipped grid from qualifying.

Qualifying was topped by Le Castellet victor Ayumu Iwasa, with Doohan scraping into 10th by 0.059s, but finishing just 0.761s behind Iwasa.

Starting in warm conditions, Fittipaldi got the green light jump on Doohan’s #3Virtuosi car, but at the second corner, Fittipaldi locked up his brakes, sliding off the track for Doohan to regain the lead.

Logan Sargeant was out of the race early, with championship leader Felipe Drugovich surviving a close call with

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Hunter McElrea (27) and Sting Ray Robb (2) are competing for second in the championship, Just ahead of Matt Brabham. Images: Motorsport Images

Sargeant in a bit of first corner carnage.

Drugovich would miss the podiums, coming in behind third place-getter Fittipaldi, who was held off by the Estonian Juri Vips in second.

It was a comfortable 5.275s win by Doohan, who by virtue of the flipped grid, didn’t let go of his advantage, showing utter pace and dominance from the second corner on.

Starting P10 in the main show, Doohan unfortunately went on to experience mechanical issues, ruling him out after the second lap, with Frenchman Theo Pourchaire winning by 3.600s over Enzo Fittipaldi and Ayumu Iwasa.

That result leaves Doohan back in ninth spot in the overall standings, equal with Liam Lawson on 88 points with Drugovich in the lead on 180 points.

him right in the hunt for a top three season result.

Christian Rasmussen is also thereabouts after finishing fifth, completing an Andretti Autosport 2-34-5 in the #28 machine.

With three rounds remaining just 39 points separate McElrea and Rasmussen from second to fifth.

McElrea leads third-placed Robb by eight points, while Brabham is 20 points behind McElrea in fourth.

Josh Nevett

BECOMING BIGGER THAN THE SPORT

PUBLISHER

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

Timothy W. Neal

ART DIRECTOR

Paul Gover Neville Wilkinson

SENIOR DESIGNER

Caroline Garde

NATIONAL EDITOR

Garry O’Brien

HISTORICS EDITOR

Mark Bisset

SPEEDWAY REPORTER ONLINE EDITOR

Paris Charles

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AUSTRALIA Andrew Clarke, Josh Nevett, Dan McCarthy, 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 ONLY THE timing of the announcement of Sebastian Vettel’s retirement may have caught part of the Formula One world by surprise, as the signs the German was not going to stick around with Aston Martin for next year were there for everyone to see.

The lack of competitiveness of the AMR02, the lack of serious progress since the start of the season, the repeated strategic calls that tended to favor the son’s owner over the four-time World Champion and the general atmosphere in the team weren’t really encouraging for a man who knew so much success in the past to sign for another year.

Days after the announcement, his father Norbert said he believed Sebastian’s decision was hastened by running at the back of the field in Austria, with no hope of making progress.

That may have been the case, he’ll know better than me, but I have to say my first thought on reading the announcement was that the events of the previous Sunday, in France, had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Having qualified ahead of Stroll, Vettel got stuck behind the Canadian, who had a better first lap, until the Safety Car was sent out after Leclerc’s crash. Instead

with Luis Vasconcelos

F1 INSIDER of double stacking their cars, as most teams did – a move that would have cost Vettel a place to Albon – Aston Martin kept the German out for one more lap and that ended up putting Vettel behind the Thai and Pierre Gasly as well. Still, running much faster than his team mate, he caught him with two laps to go, only to be rudely brake tested coming out of the final corner of the race. His demeanor when we spoke to him immediately after the end of the race of that of a man who’d had enough, even shrugging when asked why the team hadn’t called him in during the SC period, with a revealing smile on his face.

Whatever the real reasons for the timing of the announcement were, Vettel will be an exFormula One driver by the end of November and he’ll be missed in the paddock. A fiercely private man, the German was friendly, polite and funny with all, but grew enormously in the 16 years he’s been in Formula One.

The young kid who would salute me with the only Portuguese word he knew – a swear word, of course – grew into a man who knows there are far more important things in life than Formula One and from being shut to whatever subjects that weren’t racing related – making exceptions for his likings in music or British sitcoms! He became outspoken about Human Rights, the environment and several other civic causes.

Not a hugely popular man in Germany, because he doesn’t come from the working class his fellow countryman prefer to see succeeding, Vettel’s popularity outside his country never matched that of his rivals because, well, he’s German and that’s still not a popular nationality to have! That’s why for many years only race fanatics knew who Vettel was and he seemed fine with that. The fact he never engaged in social media proved this was a man not

WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE?

looking for notoriety and fame, this was a man devoted to his sport and to his growing family.

As Charles Leclerc jokingly noted, “the biggest news of the day was not Seb’s retirement, it was that he joined Instagram!”

And yes, now that he’s decided to embrace other causes and play an active part in trying to save the world from itself, Vettel will be using the social media platforms to convey his messages. Even if success has eluded him for quite a while (his last Grand Prix win coming in the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix, his last championship dating from 2013), the personable German has recently become bigger than his sport and now that he’ll have time in his hands, I expect him to becoming an even bigger activist in the causes that are dear to his heart.

His heritage in motor racing will start to be defined at the end of this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when it will be time to look back at his impressive career.

His heritage as a person, though, will be defined by what he does next and given we’re talking of a man of deep-rooted convictions, I expect him to become even more influential outside motor racing than he ever was in the sport he loves.

All the Supercars action from Sandown, an investigation into the cost of racing BMW E30 machines, coverage of the season defining IndyCar round in Illinois and a wrap of the World Rally Championship’s visit to Belgium, as well as much, much more.

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FORMULA 1 NEWS LUIS VASCONCELOS

LONG CAREER WISH LED TO ALONSO’S ASTON SWITCH FERNANDO ALONSO’S decision to move from Alpine to Aston Martin at the end of the year caught many by surprise but has a logical explanation, when you analyse the Spaniard’s main motivation.

On paper, moving from a team that has made huge progress in the last 12 months, is ahead of McLaren in the battle for the fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship and is a consistent points’ scorer, for a team that is struggling – only ahead of Williams in the points’ table – has been getting at least one of its drivers knocked out in Q1 for the last eight Grand Prix and is still undergoing a profound restructuring process doesn’t make sense, at least from a short-term sporting point of view.

However, that was not Alonso’s only concern when he started to look for the options that were available to him for

2023. The two-times World Champion had made it very clear, early in the year, that “I feel very competitive, I’m very, very quick, I’m very fit and I’m very motivated too, so I want to keep racing in Formula One for at least another two years. Then, by the middle of 2024, I’ll see how I’m doing, how I’m feeling and I’ll decide if I want to race for another few years in Formula One.” It was with this mindset that Alonso opened negotiations with Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi at the start of July, the day after the British Grand Prix, but the Frenchman’s offer was not the one the Spanish driver was expecting. Keen to have Oscar Piastri in one of his cars as quickly as possible, but happy to let him complete his rookie season in a smaller team like Williams, Rossi offered Alonso a one-year deal with the French team keeping an option over his services for 2024.

Rossi’s lack of enthusiasm for what Alonso wanted and believed it was the best for him – a fixed two-year deal with an option in his favor for the third season – upset the Spanish driver and he immediately opened negotiations with Lawrence Stroll, sounding out the Canadian’s plans for 2023 and beyond.

The Aston Martin owner had the feeling that current driver Sebastian Vettel wasn’t keen to keep on racing beyond the end of this year and pushed the German for an answer that came last Wednesday morning, the day before Vettel travelled to Hungary. Free from any commitments with the four-times World Champion, Stroll offered Alonso exactly what he wanted – a fixed deal for 2023 and 2024 with the option to extend the contract until the end of 2025 being in the driver’s hands – and they reached a deal quite quickly.

In fact, it’s believed Alonso had signed with Aston Martin before the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, where he said, “when you start negotiations with a team you know in the first 10 minutes if you’re going to do a deal or not. If the two sides want the same thing, it’s easy and done very quickly; if they don’t, you know it in the first 10 minutes of the meeting and then it’s going to be a lot more difficult to reach a deal…”

Alpine, however, was caught completely off guard by Alonso’s decision, Otmar Szafnauer admitting “we only found out when the press release came out, which was a surprise.” The American went on to explain that “after hearing the rumours, I did ask the question to Fernando and I was told: ‘No, no, I haven’t signed anything.’

“So I was a bit surprised ...”

NO GREEN LIGHT FOR 2023 TECHNICAL REGULATIONS FRUSTRATING EVERY Technical Director’s expectations, there was no green light for the 2023 regulations during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, the likelihood of the final text being published only after the summer break is over making everyone nervous.

While some leading engineers, like Alfa Romeo’s Jan Monchaux, admitted “we won’t have to redesign the cars if the rules change, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be redone quickly, because at this time of the year we already have the basic concept of next year’s car defined, based on the existing regulations.”

At Red Bull the message was clear, Christian Horner insisting “if they change the rules using the cheap safety card, we’ll have to throw away everything we’ve done so far and start from scratch. And it will be the smaller teams that will lose the most, because they don’t have the manpower to recover the time lost.”

As reported earlier this week, six teams, led by Ferrari and Red Bull, who have support from AlphaTauri, Haas, Alfa Romeo

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and Williams, are determined to stop the FIA on its intention of changing the 2023 Technical Regulations, after a statement was issued aiming at reducing the effect of porpoising and eliminating any moveable parts from the floors of the cars. There are even threats of legal action being taken against the Federation should the proposal issued after the Austrian Grand Prix become a reality for next year.

Strengthened by the support he’s getting from Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has gathered statements from the drivers who complained the most about porpoising in the Drivers’ Briefings, notably from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, having watched the footage from that meeting and listened to the audio to gather evidence that most drivers support a change in the

technical regulations for safety reasons.

The Emirati continued to meet drivers, individually, before the traditional Saturday morning meeting that Stefano Domenicali hosts every Grand Prix, to gather further support for his proposal. But the teams that are against the rule changes are not sitting idle and, with Christian Horner and Mattia Binotto heading the discussions, they had several meetings between the five men leading the talks – AlphaTauri’s Franz Tost delegates all political talks on behalf of the Red Bull Group to Horner. The FIA Technical Director was a busy man too, meeting with all Technical Directors who make the trip to the Hungaroring to listen to their feedback.

While legal action against the FIA is unlikely, the six ‘rebel’ teams are pushing for a compromise, accepting part of the proposals the Federation announced after the Austrian Grand Prix, in the hope they can continue to run their cars as low as they want in 2023, to guarantee the maximum amount of downforce possible.

PIASTRI AND ALPINE HEADED FOR LEGAL BATTLE Images: Motorsport Images IN AN unprecedented move in Formula One, Australian driver Oscar Piastri issued a statement on social media denying he’ll be driving for Alpine next year – hours after the Enstone-based team announced its current reserve driver was going to be Esteban Ocon’s team mate in 2023.

The fact that the team’s press release came without any quote from Piastri showed something was not right and the driver’s statement confirmed that.

With Alpine subsequently stating that the team has a binding contract with Piastri for next year (with options including a deal for him to remain with the team for 2024), and the Australian writing “I will not be driving for Alpine next year,” hinting he’s got a deal to move to McLaren where he would replace fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo, a legal battle is likely to ensue, with the man from Perth watching on from the sidelines, as his bargaining position in his battle with Zak Brown suddenly become stronger after the latest events.

Two days after the Hungarian Grand Prix, just 30 hours after being caught off guard by Alonso’s announcement that he’s moving to Aston Martin, Alpine confirmed: 21-year-old reserve driver Oscar Piastri as Esteban Ocon’s teammate starting from 2023. In line with the commitments made by the Team to the young Australian, Oscar will be promoted to race driver and step in Fernando Alonso’s seat from next year onwards.

The statement went on to make it very clear that: under the Team’s guidance and its full financial support, an intensive and comprehensive training programme of private tests in the race-winning A521, the 2021 Alpine F1 car, race support and simulator sessions to prepare him for the next big step into F1.

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And Team Principal Otmar Szafnaeur added that, “We are proud to have nurtured and supported him through the difficult pathways of the junior formulae.

Through our collaboration over the past four years, we have seen him develop and mature into a driver who is more than capable of taking the step up to Formula 1.”

All those statements set the scene for the legal battle coming Alpine’s way, as hours later Piastri stated that, “I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”

What has become clear in the last couple of days is that Alpine believed Alonso was about to sign a new oneyear deal. As Szafnauer subsequently outlined: “When we last talked on Sunday, we agreed only small details were left to iron out easily and when I asked him about it – I’d heard the Aston Martin rumors – Fernando assured me he hadn’t signed with anyone else.”

That was crucial, for it is believed Alpine had until midnight on July 31 to take the option over Piastri’s services for next year an believing Alonso would stay on, they didn’t take it. Having signed a precontract with McLaren earlier in June, the young Australian was then, from his management’s point of view, free to sign for the team led by Zak Brown and that’s why he issued that statement.

Of course, for Piastri to join McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo has to agree to the termination of his contract, as he’s under a fixed deal until the end of 2023. A return to Alpine would keep him in Formula One, but now he’s in the unique position

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Will Oscar get to complete his up-coming race weekend P1 session given the circumstances? of being able to block a move that has been exposed by Piastri’s statement.

Therefore, Ricciardo may easily refuse any settlement, leaving McLaren in the need to pay him a full year’s salary or try to sack him based on his poor performances. Only after his situation is defined can McLaren announce the deal with Piastri, to avoid getting involved in the legal case Alpine is about to start against its reserve driver.

The French team believes it has a binding contract with Piastri. As Team principal Otmar Szafnaeur said: “What I do know is that he does have contractual obligations to us and we do to him. And we’ve been honouring those obligations all year. And those obligations last through 2023, and possibly in 2024, if some options are taken up.”

He also detailed that, “our obligation to him this year was to be a reserve driver, to also put him in last year’s car for a significant amount of time. We’re well over half that programme of 5000 kilometres, which isn’t insignificant, in last year’s car, in preparation for a race next year. Also, FP1s, simulation work, and we’ve been performing those

obligations on both sides. So he’s been performing, and we’ve been performing.”

With all this in mind, the American concluded that, “therefore we do have a legal contract with him into the future for 2023. And, if an option is taken up, for 2024. So I don’t know what he’s done with McLaren. Like I said, I’m not privy to that.”

With Piastri scheduled to drive Alonso’s A522 during the First Free Practice Session for the Belgian Grand Prix, on August 26th – the Australian was in the factory the day after the team returned from Budapest to advance his preparations for that run, hours before things started to go wrong – the two parties are likely to try and find a settlement during the factory lockdown that started on August 6 and will end with a return to the action on the 22nd.

Given Alpine’s stance, it’s likely the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board will get involved in the dispute, so a final conclusion may still be a few weeks away, leaving both Australian drivers in the limbo, as all other good seats for 2023 are already taken.

Luis Vasconcelos

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THE HISTORIAN

MARK HORSBURGH HAS BEEN CAPTURING EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD OF SUPERCARS SINCE 1996

By Paul Gover Images: Horsburgh – of course!

ONLY ONE person has been to every single Supercars era race since 1996.

He is not a driver, not an official, not even a team boss or a member of the Supercars management crew.

He is Mark Horsburgh.

Best known for the #1 photographer’s tabard he wears as a badge of honour and respect, Horsburgh is the official historian of Supercars.

That’s not an official title, but it’s the only one that fits for a happy snapper — no-one can ever remember him losing his temper – who is tasked with recording every race, every round and every driver.

When a driver bags a pole position, Horsburgh is there.

When they finish on the podium, Horsburgh is there.

When they get a new deal or a new car, Horsburgh is there.

And, sadly, when they go into the wall it’s highly likely that Horsburgh is there.

Yet he has never raced and only drives a mundane Toyota FJ Cruiser on the road.

If he has any sort of a hobby, it’s house renovation with his wife Sonya in Brisbane.

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“The never-ending Renos,” Horsburgh laughs. “We’ve done three — so far.

“Because I work from home, I can pick up a drill and a hammer and do renovations around the house. I get the builder in for the big stuff and I do the little bits.”

But there is very little time, apart from endless driving lessons with his 16-year-old daughter Lilly.

“We’ve been to Japan for skiing and sometimes we head up to Bali as a family.

When Lilly was younger we’d go out to Fraser Island.

“We’ve always managed to squeeze in family time whenever possible.

“When I am at home I try to give all my time to Sonya and Lilly.

“So no hobbies. When I was younger I did a lot of sporting things. I played golf as a genuine competitor. I water-skied bare-foot.

I did 15 years of martial arts. training But life changes.

“Because I’m away all the time, when I’m home I don’t want to rush off for a game of golf. My family deserve my time.

“I guess my hobby is photography and I’m lucky that I can make a living out of it. Even after all these years, I still love it,” Horsburgh tells Auto Action.

We’re talking as he drives to Queensland

Raceway to shoot for Triple Eight Race Engineering. It’s not a Supercars meeting, just the GT championship with the crew’s Mercedes-AMG GT3, but Horsburgh is on duty and on point.

He describes himself as “old” but he has the attitude of someone who is young and fresh, happily posing for pictures at his desk in the press room and out in the paddock with a pair of his Canon cameras.

He is, after all, a Canon ambassador.

The Horsburgh story currently centres on the

Brisbane suburb of Hamilton, in a comfortable suburb close to the river but really chosen “because it’s close to the airport”.

“I was born in Sutton Coldfield in England.

We moved to Australia when I was five and we lived in Toowoomba for five years before moving to Dalby.”

His first contact with photography came early.

“It was in primary school. Mum and dad owned a corner story and my teacher loved photography and said we could bring a

“ ”

“By the time that Supercars turned into Avesco and V8 Supercars, I was travelling and working full-time.”

Top level motorsport photography is about the ‘arty’ shot (above), the ‘moment’ shot (left – another Triple 8 Bathurst win ...), and occasionally, the big shunt image – including F1 (right).

camera to school. I would have been 13 years old.

“When I was 15, we went back to England for Christmas. When we stopped in Singapore we were told we could buy something from the Duty Free store. That’s where I got my first 35 millimetre camera.

“From that point on I decided I wanted to take photographs.”

But there was plenty of hard work on the way.

“I started working for a local studio and lab.

I didn’t really get into motorsport right away; I was shooting weddings and portraits, and working on the retail side.

“I was lucky that I had access to equipment which was really good as a kid with no money.”

So, how did he get into motorsport?

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“I started working with a mate, Mick, who was the petrol-head. We both worked in the camera shop and would jump into the car if there was racing at Surfers Paradise or Lakeside. One of us would hide in the boot to get in because we had no money.”

But the youngsters had one advantage.

“Because we had good camera equipment, we’d jump the fence and bluff our way through.”

Then came the turning point.

“I guess the trigger for me was that one year Dick Johnson rolled at Surfers. He put the blue Falcon upside down.

“That’s how my first image – in Auto Action – was published. I had a picture published of DJ’s car upside-down and him walking away.

“We were barefooted and we legged it home. I processed the film in the dark room.

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I guess that’s where I got the taste for having work published. That was the start of it all.”

So he was on his way.

“That was the thing that made me decide I wanted to pursue it as a career. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-20s that I started to get a few breaks and things began to transition.

“Before I knew it, I was giving up the job at Kodak and took the big step to go full-time.

And I haven’t looked back.”

He was lucky that his decision came at the same time Supercars was starting to go big with Tony Cochrane.

“In all honesty, it was probably around the time that touring cars were turning into Supercars. It was the early-to-mid 1990s.

“By the time that Supercars turned into Avesco and V8 Supercars, I was travelling and working full-time.”

To take a break from the history lesson, we divert a little to learn more about #1.

His favourite colour?

“I’ve never really had a favourite colour, but let’s go with a cliché and say red,” Horsburgh says.

His favourite car?

“A BMW M3, the E92. I love BMWs. I sold mine to buy an M4 but the funny thing is that I never ended up buying the M4, and bought a Toyota FJ Cruiser – that I still drive – as a stop-gap. The FJ is great because I can go up the beach camping with Lilly, or load up for a job, and I’m not precious about it.”

What would he like to drive?

“A Ford GT. The latest one. I just love the look and shape of it. Just the rear guards, the aero on it, and it’s different. There are heaps of gorgeous European cars, but this one is

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Modern high-speed digital cameras assist in nailing THE crash shot ...

Below: Happines is ... winning ...

just plain different. Maybe it’s not the car that most people would think. But, don’t get me wrong, if somebody offered me a McLaren or Ferrari Pista, I’d happily take it.”

Usually he’s in a rental car, lugging 30 kilos of photographic gear and computers to a racetrack somewhere in Australia. Or China, or the USA, or Malaysia or the Middle East, all previous destinations on the Supercars trail.

Through COVID-19, Horsburgh was the only photographer inside the Supercars bubble and he stayed on the road with the racers.

So, what’s it like? How much work is involved?

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“It’s probably, on average, five days for a race, up to seven for a major event. I don’t know. It scares me to think of how many days I am away,” Horsburgh begins.

“I arrived at an event on Thursday, for the media opportunities. I arrive at the track before sun comes up and leave after it’s set.

So it’s 14 or 16 hours a day.

“For every four hours of pointing a camera, there are probably four hours of editing. It tends to stretch out a little bit when you have to stop to eat. It’s only the scraps I find around the track.

“I have good people around me who make

sure I eat. They make sure I don’t go down the rabbit hole of turning into a hermit.”

But the numbers are mind boggling.

Horsburgh has to shoot all the on and offtrack happenings for Supercars, as well as many of the teams.

“It sounds like a lot, but on average it’s around 10,000 images over a weekend. But I’ll drill that down to around 1000 images.

“It’s not just shooting one car; it’s about getting a range of shots that tell the story.

It’s a really, really big mix of images of the weekend — drivers, cars on track, hospitality, presentations, sponsor functions.

“If you were only shooting one driver or one team you might walk away with 100 images, but I’m doing more than that.”

The focus on Supercars and the Supercars world is obvious, but Horsburgh has done plenty of other stuff.

“I have shot everything from Formula One to lawn bowls,” he says.

So, does he have a favourite?

Brock or Johnson, something arty, or a memorable finish at Bathurst?

“One picture that tends out in my mind is a Supercar picture. But not what you might think,” he says.

There is an art to the PR ‘studio’ image ...

It scares me to think of how “ many days I am away,” ” Timing is everything to get both subjects into one shot ...

“Many years ago I was photographing Shane van Gisbergen’s car, with the SP Tools livery, in the studio, Lilly grabbed a rag and started to polish the front of the car. I got the picture. I guess it’s a proud dad moment.

“It was just nice.”

So, what does he like to shoot?

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“I think a lot of the one-off liveries. Probably the retro liveries. Not one car in particular, because they all look good. It’s just nice and fresh.

“The retro ones are really quite good. And it’s good to see the old liveries coming back.”

What about favourite drivers?

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“They are all good. As a photographer, the idea is you want to capture candid shot,” Horsburgh says.

“It’s capturing the concentration on their face, or the excitement, or disappointment. No one driver stands out a s good or bad.

“On any given day they can be good and bad. You read the situation. You know when you can and cannot invade their space.”

Talking of space, how does Horsburgh capture things?

“The advances in technology have change lots of things. I still have nine film camera, in total, but they are more of a history. And some of those cameras are ones I didn’t get the chance to own when I was younger And they are all in mint conditions, all collectible pieces.

“Now it’s all Canon digital, lots of lenses and my Apple laptops. I think we’ve been spoiled by digital.”

What about the technique of shooting?

“Most of the stuff I shoot is landscape format, but with the surge of social media on phones I’m now shooting a lot of verticals.

“Horizon has always been good for newspapers and online, but social media is really coming up. It’s probably 80:20 now for my stuff.

“Once upon a time you had to concentrate on doing a hero shot, which was always vertical for the front cover of Auto Action, but the rest would be horizonal.

“But cropping an image has become pretty easy today.”

After all the years and all the races, Horsburgh says the ongoing challenge is pretty simple.

“It’s coming up with something different.

After shooting it for over 30 years I’ve been to every track 30 or 40 times. It’s a good challenge.

“So you’re always looking for something different.

“You don’t want to get stale. Everyone loves a sunny day, but there are ways to create atmosphere.

“It’s not all about the car. It’s a big part of things, and so are the drivers, but the real thing is about telling the story.”

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HQ – there’s Former mental hospital becomes racing superb. is p set-u probably a line there! M-Sport’s

MALCOLM

ON TOP THERE IS MUCH MORE TO MALCOLM WILSON THAN THE M-SPORT FORD FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ...

By Paul Gover Images: Motorsport Images/M-Sport MALCOLM WILSON was just a motorsport baby when he first came to Australia in 1983 as a wild young rally star.

Nicknamed ‘Mad’ Malcolm, he was sideways and spectacular in a Ford Escort. Fast too, although he failed to finish in the forests north of Sydney.

How things had changed by the time of his last visit down under, when he was the elegant 60-something top man at the Bentley factory team that bagged the Bathurst 12-Hour in 2020.

Today, sitting behind the giant antique desk at his oversized corner office in Dovenby Hall in July of 2022, not all that far from where he grew up, Wilson looks more like a billionaire businessman than a one-time skid kid.

“Welcome, Paul, it’s good to see you,” Wilson begins.

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“There’s a lot here for you to see.”

Wilson has cleared some precious minutes from his crowded calendar to welcome an Australian rally tragic who was at the Dunlop-2GO Rally in 1983 and again in 1984 when he drove a Triumph TR7 V8, saw him wheeling factory cars for Audi and Opel and MG and Ford through his heydays, and just happens to be passing — 30 minutes is not much of a detour when you’re on the other side of the world — through the border country between England and Scotland.

Cockermouth is on the western coast, in beautiful rural country, and it’s where Wilson grew up, married Elaine in 1982 and raised their son Mathew.

Like a proud parent, he talks rapidfire about his M-Sport empire while wheeling his Porsche Panamera — actually his wife’s car, as he normally runs a Range Rover — around the sprawling site.

“This is the headquarters building, then

we have the museum, and the factory,” he says.

Then we turn a corner and he smiles as he points to the newest addition at Dovenby Hall, a full-scale test track that’s finished to a standard that would make anyone smile.

It’s a long, long way from the days when a wild driving Wilson first made an impact as a two-time British national rally champion in a privately-run Escort RS1800 from his father’s local garage.

Wilson has successfully turned his

career as a professional rally driver into a second life as a team owner, entrepreneur and developer.

Ford and Bentley have both been happy to have Malcolm Wilson represent their brand.

So Wilson is happy, wealthy and wise.

He is also extremely proud as he takes Auto Action on this personal tour of the one-time mental hospital that he has morphed and moulded into his personal fiefdom and the headquarters of his booming M-Sport business.

Image: Paul Gover

Ford Focus – from

“ ” “We’ve got a bit going on,” he says.

He’s not wrong, as four Ford Puma hybrids have just returned from a round of the World Rally Championship and are being stripped in the giant, barn-like main rally workshop.

There are two brand-new Ford Fiesta Rally2 cars in final assembly, an older Focus WRC car that’s being restored for its new owner, and a brutal Bentley Continental GT3 racer in raw carbonfibre bodywork also being prepared for delivery.

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We don’t have time for the engine dyno cells, or the carbon fibre workshop or the fabrication area, but there is still plenty to see.

The glass-fronted museum houses several of M-Sport’s most successful Focus rally cars, three Ford GT road cars — “that one belongs to Seb Ogier” — the very first Bentley GT3 racer, an ultra-rare Ford Escort RS1700T road car, as well as the very first car registered in Cockermouth.

“My mother saw it and said I should

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a time when M cRae spent hi s time behind the wheel ...

Wilson has successfully turned his career as a professional rally driver into a second life as a team owner, entrepreneur and developer.

buy it. So we got it and restored it,” Wilson says.

We’re hurrying, but the pace slows when we reach the test track.

It’s extremely impressive, as good as any full-time circuit, with a broad mix of corners and a nice straight which would be good for 250km/h in a quick road car.

“It’s turned out pretty well,” Wilson says, in a masterful understatement.

There is an F1 standard ‘race control’ office, a series of beautifully-finished conference and briefing rooms, and a

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pitlane that would meet the needs of any professional race team.

“We’ve had a few events here already,” Wilson says.

“Yes, I am pretty proud of it.”

As we continue talking, it’s obvious that Mr Wilson has a lot to be proud about.

The workforce at Dovenby Hall is more than 150 people and each year they build more than 50 shiny new Ford Fiesta rally cars. The running total for R5 cars, not to mention the later R3 models, is more than 150 cars.

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M-Sport success includes the 2020 Bathurst 12 Hour, when Wilson masterninded victory for the majestic Bentley ...

Above and opposite: M-Sport is now a huge motorsport empire, building brand new rally cars for customers as well as running championship-winning WRC teams.

That also means a tidy and busy business in parts, rebuilds and refurbishing.

Wilson is not prepared to talk about turnover, but it’s clearly in the $100 million bracket, but he has one thing to say on the financial side.

“It’s still a family-owned company. One hundred per cent. It’s all ours,” he says.

It’s a long, long way from the days when Wilson was happy to take a free airline ticket and a small bundle of Aussie dollars to fly to Gosford to drive a Ford Escort RS1800 in the Dunlop-2GO Rally.

He was only 27 at the time, a rising star in British Rallying, and he was fantastic.

He didn’t win with the Escort RS1800 loaned to him, or a year later in a V8 Triumph TR7 built by Colin Bond, but it barely mattered.

Wilson was already on the fast track to factory drives with Ford, challenging Hannu Mikkola and Ari Vatanen.

At that point he limped a bit — as he still does today — after a crash in Scotland that had broken both ankles, but failed to slow him down.

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He went on to win the British Open rally series, wheeled the howling MG Metro 6R4 and the benchmark Audi Quattro through the glory days of Group B rallying, but he was always thinking ahead.

In 1989, with just 100 pounds in his bank account, he founded Malcolm Wilson Motorsport. It started small but grew rapidly from a site alongside Wilson’s home in Cockermouth, also changing name to the more catchy and corporate M-Sport in 1996.

By 1997 he had done enough, and well enough, to convince Ford that it should use M-Sport — and not its historic factory team from Boreham — to front for the

World Rally Championship.

It’s been a roller-coast ride since then, with plenty of downs to offset the ups, but M-Sport has been a constant in the WRC as other brands — Citroen and Volkswagen come to mind — have come and gone.

M-Sport took victory for Ford in the WRC manufacturers’ championship in 2006 and 2007 and has designed and developed a long string of rally contenders based on the Focus and then the Fiesta.

The Bentley contract for its GT3 racer was a very big deal, and a serious success, and M-Sport does plenty of other contract work behind closed doors.

In 2020 it was awarded a five-year contract to supply a ‘spec’ engine for use in the British Touring Car Championship.

The biggest drama for Wilson and M-Sport over recent seasons is the lack of full-scale funding from Ford.

“Why don’t we have a superstar driver in the driver in the team?

Because we cannot afford one,” says Wilson, who is relying on Irishman Craig Breen to do the heavy lifting in this year’s WRC. But he knows what can be done.

When Sebastian Ogier arrived at M-Sport with a big bag of gold from Red Bull after Volkswagen closed its factory

“ ”

WRC team, he took back-to-back driver’s titles with M-Sport in 2017 and 2018.

At the start of this year, when WRC legend Sebastian Loeb decided he would like to dabble with the new hybrid WRC cars, he signed a deal with Mr Wilson.

The pair, and the M-Sport crew, were then able to celebrate on the steps of the casino in Monaco after winning the Monte Carlo Rally.

Wilson has no plans for the moment to return to Australia, although that could happen in 2023 if there is a need for an entry in the Bathurst 12-Hour or in 2024 if plans to bring the WRC to Sydney and Bathurst become a reality.

But there are plenty of other plans for

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It’s a long, long way from the days when Wilson was happy to take a free airline ticket and a small bundle of Aussie dollars to fly to Gosford to drive a Ford Escort RS1800

Dovenby Hall: “We’re thinking about building some luxury accommodation.

People who want to use the track will need somewhere nice to stay,” says Wilson.

So that’s a definite, then.

At the end of the tour, there is only one thing that remains — a visit to the holy of holies, and the single room that says everything about M-Sport and Malcolm Wilson’s work.

It’s the place where Wilson keeps the Focus that Colin McRae drove to victory on the Safari Rally in 1999 in only the car’s third start.

It’s a special car, a tribute to a special man, and a reminder about the emotions in motorsport.

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SPEEDWAY SPRINTCARS ROUND 6 IS THE VEAL DEAL! Image: Scott Kernahan

NT AMCA TITLE GOES PRIME KIME! WITH A strong field of New South Welshman in attendance to battle for the Northern Territory AMCA Nationals Championship, the locals would have a hard time defending home track honour.

Going into the 25-lap final the visitors, Raymond Kime (above) and Shane Newstead, headed the front row and from the drop of the green it would remain status quo at the pointy end. Mark Allcorn was the first of the Territorians home in third. Spano Gutierrez was next, followed by the second of the Kime’s in Darrell, then Peter Harding, Lindsay Cornwall and Jacobus Beets.

On the Preliminary night feature, the Kime’s, Raymond and Darrell would go 1-2 with Newstead and Gutierrez rounding off the podium, while the heat race wins were shared with R. Kime racking up three, while singles were shared between D. Kime, Newstead.

The Wingless Sprints were well supported with a strong gathering of 17 competitors and providing dominance on both nights would be Jarrod Goldoni, the second generation racer claiming both feature events with successive flag to flag victories.

On night one, joining him in Victory Lane would be Angus Campbell, Josh Norman and the reigning Territorian Champion Zack Grimshaw. The second night would see a complete reshuffle of the deckchairs for the minor placings as Matt Sealy, Campbell and Cameron Jaenke would round the four. Sealy and Goldoni claimed two qualifying heats apiece while singles went to Grimshaw, Norman, Jaenke and Bailey Jones.

Scott Leonhardt proved why he currently wears the NT 1 on the tail tank of his Formula 500, taking all four heat race wins and both night feature race wins. For the podium Albert Boysie Bartholdt would get the better of Luke Higgins and the minors were reversed for the second night of competition.

Junior Sedan racing has remained strong in Darwin all season and with 14 competitors taking to the track this event proved no different. The opening nights final went to River Spitzbarth with a flag-to-flag win over Deegan Sherwood and Victoria’s Pary Das. Night two saw Sherwood run away with a flag to flag victory over Das and Spitzbarth. Heat wins were monopolised by Sherwood with three and a single to Das. Isiah Strong and Tony Brown would each claim a night’s final in the Dirt Karts.

T. Brown and Brad Fichtner would celebrate with podium placings on the opening night while Ruel Mitchell and Michael Brown would round off the top three on the final night. T. Brown would take three heats and Strong the remainder.

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Image: Nakita Pollock DARWIN’S NORTHLINE Speedway exploded into action, encompassing eight categories of competition for an epic two nights of Speedway racing. For the sedan fans it was the Street Stocks Darwin Title while the AMCA NT Title would also feature on both nights along with the return of the Sprintcars on the final night for the running of round 6 of their Northline Track Championship as they continue to count down towards the much anticipated Chariots of Thunder Sprintcar Series.

With 15 Sprintcars assembled in the pit area and a different winner from each of the previous five rounds, the racing looked to be a wide open affair until, Victorian speedster Jamie Veal (above), making his first appearance at the venue for the season stamped his mark over the field.

From the get-go Jamie would set the cat amongst the pigeons by setting secondquickest time in Time Trials, sitting just .061 behind Chase Karpenko, posting a 12.235 and things between the two were shaping

up for an enthralling final. Sadly things would not pan that way for Karpenko whose motor expired in his second heat.

Going into the 25-lap final, Veal would line up alongside West Australian Kris Coyle who was also making his first visit to the venue for the season. At the drop of the green, Veal would pounce to the lead as he quickly moved to the top side of the track, running inches off the wall while the rest of the field jockeyed for track position, until the first caution period of the race when Kale Quinlan spun in Turn 2.

Again, Veal would set the pace. Ben Atkinson Jr and last round winner Todd Moule engaged a good battle for second as they continued to run the top. Leigh Mugavin was the next to spin, bringing the field back together for another Indian File restart. Again, Veal led them way, Moule stretching his legs in second over Atkinson as the majority of the field raced inches from the wall. Sadly, Atkinson would exit stage right as a tyre let go while holding

down a strong third with just four laps remaining.

Veal would again lead the charge and with clear track ahead would go on to claim a flag to flag victory. Despite the caution periods the Victorian was never in danger over the duration of the distance to become the sixth winner from as many rounds. Coyle would finish where he started despite falling back as deep as fifth while Quinlan had worked his way from 14th to second, working the bottom side of the track before finishing third, to salvage a podium position. Moule was fourth followed by David Donegan and Mitchell Wormall; one lap down was Luke Robinson and Daniel Scott. Failing to travel the journey would be Daniel Davis, Atkinson Jnr, Matt Bell, Leigh Mugavin and Hayden Brown who had struggled with a mechanical gremlin all evening.

The four 8-lap qualifiers were shared evenly with Veal, Coyle, Moule and Atkinson Jr claiming one apiece.

JACK JUMPS FOR STREET STOCK JOY! CO-HEADING THE marque, in addition to the NT AMCA Nationals Title was the two nights running of the Darwin Street stock Championship.

With a dozen of the fastest local tin top competitors squaring up for the crown, the reigning Territorian champion Justin Brumfield would enter as the favourite, backing this up with a creditable three out of the four heat race wins on the opening night. Joining him with a single win was Jake Koivumaki. On the second night Brumfield would again win one while Jack Yates (above) signalled his intentions to claim the final heat before going into the 20-lap final.

Koivumaki and the lone West Australian Russel Gunn would occupy the front row. Gunn led briefly while Koivumaki dropped to third and Gunn back to fourth. Brumfield would storm his way to the lead from the rear of the field in just two laps before Jack Yates took command on lap three and held strong in Image: Scott Kernahan the run to the finish, fending off Brumfield, Gunn and Lucas Fry on the final step of the podium. Kane Loyd, Jack Thomsen and Scott Bradbury would remain on the lead lap followed by female racers Samantha Radford and Michelle Gill. Koivumaki’s run would end one lap shy of the required distance while holding third and Rob Lock would retire around the half race distance.

MOES MAKES NORTH QUEENSLAND THUNDER Images: Gordon Greaves

Round 4 winner Q16 Bryan Mann leads overall series winner Dan Moes.

Above right: Andrew Sues kicks up the dirt aboard the NQ49 John Deere entry. Images: Gordon Greaves

SPEEDWAY NEWS with Paris Charles WHILE THE southern states have drawn the curtains on their Speedway seasons, Speedway in the Northern Queensland area has fired into action and just recently four big Sprintcar nights were run and

won in the inaugural Thunder In The Canefields Series.

The racing consisted of four nights of competition, the opening round and two night affair was staged at the newly improved Mareeba Speedway, a huge track that possesses a 530m journey around the pole line. The second host club was the Cairns Speedway for the final two nights of competition.

The opening weekend at the Mareeba Speedway saw 14 Sprintcars in action. Three of them were Open cars, Luke Dougherty, Brody Boss and Brian Walsh suiting up against the Pro Sprintcars (LS powered entries). With the long straights the open cars had the speed advantage however the

Pro cars were right there in the mix.

On the opening night of competition, Dan Moes proved the best of the runners having qualified top of the time sheets and later in the night would run flagto-flag to win the 16-lap Preliminary feature over Brodie Boss, Wes Jenkins, Luke Dougherty, Jared Desmares, Mark Jorgenson, Brett Sciban, Libby Ellis and Brian Walsh switching to his dad’s (Mike) car to round out the finishers.

Night two would paint a different picture as Boss claimed the 25-lap feature race.

Sharing the podium was Dougherty, Moes and B. Walsh. Sciban, Ellis, Nicholas O’Keefe, Gwesyn Dalliston and Jenkins completing the field.

The series then moved to the Cairns Speedway for a further two nights of competition and joining the field was an additional five entries bring it up to 19 cars in total. Boss would line up on the front row opposite Jenkins as the field were ready and waiting for feature race action action, sadly mother nature intervened and the event was rained out.

The final night of competition saw a third winner adder to the record books as Bryan Mann cemented Pole Position after winning the Pole Shuffle and go on to win the feature event. Second to the line was Moes tailed by B. Walsh, N. O’Keefe, Dalliston, M. Walsh, Robb, Jorgenson and Ellis the final finisher in a bruising affair that saw Desmares, Jenkins, Finglas, Papworth, D. O’Keeffe, Sciban, Sues and Cameron King each failing to travel the 30 lap journey.

After four fast and furious nights Moes would claim the inaugural Thunder In The Canefields Series followed by B. Walsh, N. O’Keith, Dalliston, lone female competitor Ellis and Sciban, Jorgenson, Mann, Boss, Dougherty, M. Walsh, Rob, Jenkins, Desmares, D. O’Keeffe, Finglas, Papworth, Sues and King rounding out the overall point scorers.

HAPPY 50TH NICKOL BAY SPEEDWAY OVER THE final weekend of July, the West Australian Speedway community hosted the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of Karratha’s Nickol Bay Speedway, (located in the in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, approximately 1,535km north of Perth) in style with a two night show headlined by the running of the Fenacle Sprintcar Stampede in addition to six other supporting classes.

The pomp and ceremony kicked off with the Honourable David Templeman, Local Member for Mandurah and Minister for Culture & the Arts, Sport & Rec, International Education, Heritage; and Kevin Michel, local Labor Party member of Parliament doing a parade lap aboard the Nickol Bay track Ute. Nathan Davis and Daniel Hartigan would saddle up on the front row for what promised to be an exciting 20lap Limited Sprintcar feature race after claiming victories in their respective front row Shootouts – despite the field being depleted to just eight cars after John Magerl and Matt Davis failed to take their qualifying positions.

As the green flag dropped, Hartigan jumped to a solid lead while N. Davis followed closely in his tyre tracks while the remainder of the field battled for

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position which raged until the fourth lap when David Guy, Matty Magerl and Jerome Tunstead crashed and would all find themselves out of contention with a DNF. A lap further and Grant Atkinson would join the list.

Hartigan continued to lead. N. Davis would then retire on the 13th lap, promoting Jamie Landrigan and Colin Stannard into the top three and the winners podium.

The eight heat race wins were dominated by M. Davis with a creditable three; Landrigan claiming a double while singles were shared amongst N. Davis, Hartigan and Atkinson.

The supporting classes provided some outstanding racing over the duration of the two nights. Keeping with the open wheeled classes, Ben Maes made the most of his pole position to go flag to flag in the 12-lap Wingless Sprints final over Nathan Condo, Rod Snellin and Brett White.

Mark Shepherd was never headed in the Super Mods Final – he was chased hard to the line by Daniel Guy, Wayne Bingham and Keith Woods rounding the top four.

For the Sedan fans, the tin tops provided plenty of door to door action.

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Lined up and ready to go ... Below: Race winner Hartigan. Images: Mike Charlesworth Jack McAuley proved too strong in the 12-lap Production Sedans final taking it flag-to-flag over Ian Lester, Daniel Flavel and Daniel Oreo.

The top four would finish where they started in the 15-lap Street Stock feature.

Joining Matt Herbert for the victory celebrations would be Jack McAuley, James Hunt and Harry Wingfield.

The Junior Sedans would be divided into two sections, the Top Stars and the New Stars, based on driver experience.

After a recent venture to Darwin Donny Davis returned home to claim the win in the Top Stars followed to the line by Deagan McNally, Tyde Lovell and Hunter

Downs while for the New Stars Jett Downs, Croyd Hughes, Archie Root and Charlie Grebert would run the journey without change of position.

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NATIONALS WRAP WA TRANS AM NAILED

BY NIALL COLLIE MOTORPLEX a week later was the venue for the second round of the Trans Am West two-round series on July 30. Ron Moller was the round winner while second placed Brett Niall (leading, above) was the series victor.

The scheduled two-day meeting was reduced to one day due to a lack of support category entries which was reduced of a number of Regulatory runs.

A shower beforehand meant the first race was run on a wet track and it caught many out. First to go was Robert Leonard (Camaro) who ran wide at the exit of Tune 1, ran across Turn 2 into the gravel and re-joined the track near the next flag point.

Niall was in the lead from fellow Camaro drivers Jason Pryde and Moller. Moller had a massive spin between Turns 1 and 2, as did Peter Robinson (Challenger). Both recovered but lost several places. The Boley team Camaros had gearbox issues at Wanneroo with both cars. Brad didn’t run while Brock moved up from the rear of the grid after an early slip-up and by lap four was sixth.

Towards the end of lap five Mark Cates (Mustang) spun onto pit straight and while he attempted to restart, the officials apparently thought the car was on fire and put out the red flag.

At the restart Niall led the field away on a still very wet track, and a number of cars spun over the final laps. Niall held the lead and finished first from Boley and Robinson. Boley and Marc Watkins (Challenger) received 60s penalties for passing cars whilst under red flag conditions. That promoted Robinson to second and Moller to third.

Niall got the best of the start in Race 2 on a track that had dried out. He was closely followed by Moller and Crutcher.

Leonard’s day did not get any better when he spun going into the flip flop on the back straight the first time.

Niall could not shake Moller as Boley closed the gap on Crutcher and passed the Mustang on lap five. Moller managed to overtake Niall on lap 10 of the 12, and went on to take the win with Boley third.

Moller got the best start in the last, longer, race. Boley slotted into second with Niall third. Boley passed Moller on the second lap and Niall fell victim to Crutcher on lap four. Niall obviously had problems and Robertson also passed him a lap later. Boley continued to open up the gap over the rest and won by 23.4s. Moller was second with 2.7s to third placed Crutcher.

Story and Image: Mick Oliver

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Jason Pryde heads the Trans Ams. Below: Harrison Douglas shows the Excel field the way. Bottom: Myles Lockett heads the 1200 Vees. Images: Mick Oliver

TRAN AM AND EXCEL FEATURE AT WANNEROO STANDALONE RACES for Trans Am and an Excel Cup enduro were the featured races at the West Australian Sporting Car Club’s Wanneroo meeting on July 23-24. The big program had to overcome adverse weather and flooding on Saturday before more stable conditions on Sunday.

TRANS AM

SOME INTERSTATERS made the crossnation trek for the first category-only races on Sunday and bolstered the locals who were without a work-committed Garry Hills (Challenger) and the migraine afflicted Ron Moller (Camaro).

In Race 1 the Clinton Rayner and Brock Boley Camaros went off on the first lap. After the Safety Car, Brett Niall led until passed by fellow Camaro steerer Jason Pryde. The latter led to the final corner on the last lap where he ran wide and leaked places to Niall and Brad Boley (Camaro) who was the winner as Niall was penalised and dropped to third.

Pryde led the second race from Brad Boley and Mark Crutcher (Mustang) who was passed shortly after by Niall. Brock Boley charged through to take Crutcher before the NSW visitor had an off in Turn 6 which brought out the Safety Car and then a red flag. After the restart Brock Boley passed Niall and then Pryde for the win.

In the last race Brock Boley led for 13 laps.

Then he retired with a gearbox problem and left Pryde to take the win from Niall and Queenslander Peter Robinson (Challenger).

SPORTS CARS/SPORTS SEDANS

SEVERAL SAFETY Cars were prevalent, and one resulted in a red flag when Glen Brocklehurst (Ford Falcon) ended up backward into the Esses wall. Walter Epple (Porsche 997.2) took the lead at the restart and won from Brock Boley (Camaro) and Garry Hills (Challenger).

Epple struck out to a handy lead in the second race. Grant Hill (Falcon BF) closed and had the lead by mid-distance while third went to Tim Wolfe (Audi R8 LMS)

SALOON CARS

AFTER HE led all the way to a narrow Pro win over Mason Harvey (Ford Falcon AU), Matt Martin (Holden Commodore VT) had a tougher run in Race 2. Harvey wrestled away the lead until the Falcon slowed. Martin was back in front and won from AU drivers Robert Marcon (third in the opener) and Rick Gill as VT drivers Vince Ciallella and Chase Hoy diced over fourth.

In the last race, Ciallella led from Hoy and

Martin. From an unusual slow start to the round, Grant Johnson (VT) worked through to win from Martin who was penalised 30s post-race which elevated Hoy and Marcon.

The Pro-Am class was the domain of Michael Koberstein (Commodore VN) with three wins over Reg Ralph and Craig Splatt in later model VPs.

EXCEL CUP

THE 100 ENDURO with two drivers and mandatory pitstops was won by Harrison Douglas and Andrew Malkin. They mostly led, and finished around 10s ahead of Liam Gretgrix and Wayne Milburn with third going to Jackson Callo and Mason Harvey.

Fourth spot went with Stephen McGregor/ Anthony Jewell when they overtook the clutchless Jake Passaris/Tom Hamlett entry after the stops. Brent Peters and Matt Hull were next ahead of Anderson Martins Xavier/ Vagner Araujo de Souza. The latter had a 10s penalty which dropped them behind Craig and David Charnley.

There were two lead-up sprint heats where Douglas won the first from Passaris and Callo. The second had a Safety Car when David Charnley had contact with a wall.

Hamlett was victorious from Malkin and Harvey.

FORMULA FORD

THE THREE races all went to Elliott Cleary.

In the first two he downed fellow Van Diemen pilots Tomas Chapman where Simon Ridgewell and Marc Redman each scored a third. In the third it was Brock Brewer (Van Diemen) in second as he beat Redman and Chapman.

FSR

TRACK CONDITIONS caused numerous spins but without contact. The races were between Radical drivers Elliott Schutte and Caleb Sumich. Schutte took the first two wins begore Sumich turned the tables in the last where Ethan Brown followed up two thirds, and then snatched second in the last off Schutte in the run to the flag.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

IN THE wet, Michael Sciorio (Subaru Impreza WRX) had a runaway first-up win over Grant Gellan (Ford Escort) and Brent Peters Image: MTR Images (Renault Megane RS250). Sciorio appeared on track to repeat in the second, but slowed on the last circuit and placed third behind Gellan and Jim Gellan (Ford Focus). Sciorio was back to his best in the third to down the two Gellans.

FORMULA VEE

THROUGHOUT THE three races, David Caisley and Franz Esterbauer, both in Jacers, dominated the 1600cc class. The latter won the first before Caisley took out the next two after his first-up second.

Esterbauer was second in Race 2 before he was pipped in Race 3 by Mackenzie Matthews (Jacer) who backed up after third in Race 2. Jason Fowler was third in Race 1 but ended up fifth overall behind David Campbell in his return to the class.

In the 1200s, Myles Lockett (Ajay) and Brett Scarey (CD-Vee) had a number of lead changes in Race 1 with Scarey first past the post, but penalised 5.0s. Callum Lamont (Polar) was a distant third.

Lockett won the second from Lamont and Bruce Allen (Argus). Scarey slowed and dropped to the rear, and was not a Race 3 starter.

There Lockett was again successful as the scrap for second went to Connor Welsh (Repco V) just in front of Allan Yeo (Ajay) while Allen dropped from second to fourth.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

MINI COOPERS were dominant towards the front of the races but were no match for Simon Northey and his Ford Mustang. He won the first outing ahead of Cono Onofaro and Blake Watson in their Minis. Northey and Onofaro repeated in the second where Mitch Evans (Mini) was third. Northey also led the third race until an off road excursion gifted victory to Onofaro from Watson and Evans.

TIME CHALLENGE

OVERALL IT was Ryan Appleby (Toyota Celica) after he topped two sessions, from Paul Van Den Rydt (Ford Cortina) and Arron Birmingham (Ford Escort) who was fastest in Image: MTR Images the last. Mick Oliver

MEMORABLE MRA 300 NATIONALS WRAP with Garry O’Brien A DAMP track, mist, seven Safety Cars and a very close finish added to the night spectacle of the Sydney 300, the feature event of Motor Racing Australia fifth round at Sydney Motorsport Park on July 23.

It was won by Dylan Thomas and Cody Brudzinski (above) in their Class B Mitsubishi EVO 9 narrowly over Chris Sutton in a lone hand drive in his Class C Subaru Impreza WRX. The gap in the end was 0.31s while Todd Herring (Class A Mazda MX5) finished 11.5s adrift after he started at the back of the field.

Fourth place went to Anthony Soole and Adam Burgess in their Class A BMW M4. They led 29 of the 75 laps and were in front when, with six laps to go, they were penalised with a drive-through for a breach of the rules behind a Safety Car. Classes were based on minimum lap times which meant little due to the wet qualifying session and only four teams opted to compete in Class A. They were required to perform two 5min pitstops, Class B had one 5min and one 2.5min stop while the rest had just the one 5min visit.

Aside from the pitstops the EVO and Subaru were mainly in the top five throughout. Sutton took the lead after the BMW penalty, but only for two laps before Thomas passed him. Sutton tried to get it back on the penultimate lap but ran slightly wide in his attempt at Turn 2.

The Andrew Wilson/Lachlan Mineeff BMW M4 were the early leaders ahead of fellow Class A rivals Josh Buchan/Lloyd Godfrey (Honda Integra) and also led later for a total of 36 laps. They finished seventh

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behind Benny and Jimmy Tran (Class A Integra) and David Krusza (Class C BMW E36). But Buchan and Godfrey were out seven laps from the end with an alternator failure.

Ed Kreamer and Steve Thompson (EVO 9) were eighth ahead of Marcus Ladell/Shannon McLaine (Toyota 86), Glen Wilson (Holden Commodore) and Daniel Kapetanovic (BMW 328). Twelfth and first in Class E were O Butt and Trent Derwent (VW Polo) while Class D honours went to 14th placed Michael Ricketts and Josh Haynes (Nissan Pulsar).

Four teams copped five-lap penalties for pitstop infringements, including Bill Harris and his sons Will and Brad (Mazda RX8) who crossed the line ninth and were relegated to 25th. Chris Stannard and Zach Bates (Porsche 944) went from 12th and to 28th, and Justin McClintock (Civic) and Ian Kegg (Hyundai Tiburon) were also relegated.

Forty-three started the event with 10 retirees while the Safety Cars were for cars either stopped on the circuit or spun off and bogged.

APRA RACING

EACH SESSION of the Nissan Pulsars delivered different results. It started with Brock Stinson who qualified fastest, and then the race winners, Will Foot and Harry Inwood respectively.

While not raining, the track was saturated for Race 1 and, from sixth on the grid, Josh Craig went straight to the lead and clearly led Stinson, Chris Manning, Inwood, Will Foot, Dan Smith and Jamie Craig.

Stinson and Manning were second and third until they had a moment at Turn 7 on the third lap.

They dropped behind Foot and Inwood who swapped places before they closed on the leader. Foot grabbed the lead briefly on lap seven before Josh Craig slipped up at Turn 7 on the last lap.

Foot took the win ahead of Inwood, Craig, Jamie Craig, Stinson, Smith, Manning and Matt Boylan.

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Josh Craig heads a packed Pulsar field. Below Longmore leads Geoghegan in the Excel category.

Bottom: Piazza shows Seritti the way in the Alfa contest. Images: Riccardo Benvenuti Inwood had a better start in Race 2 and led almost all the way to the flag. He only lost the lead for a brief period to Foot midway through.

Foot finished third, passed on the last lap

by Josh Craig who was sixth in the early stages. Stinson was fourth in front of Jamie Craig, Smith, Manning and Boylan.

SERIES X3 NSW

SAFETY CARS badly affected each of the three races at round five of the state Excels.

It didn’t stop Wil Longmore, who picked up from three wins at round four, to qualify fastest and be in front all day.

While Longmore won the first race start, Tim Colombrita spun in tricky conditions at Turn 1 before Todd Ford and Shane Nicholson came to grief at Turn 7.

The race finished behind the Safety Car with Max Geoghegan able to snare second ahead of Dylan Debono, Tony Gardiner, Ben Bargwanna and Lewis Buhagiar who started 14th.

The latter progressed to second in Race 2 before it was called after four laps after Shannon Williams and Brian Sciberras were off at Turn 1. Geoghegan was third ahead of Debono, Gardiner, Bargwanna and Cody Burcher.

Race 3 went the same way after Gardiner was off at the first corner on lap two.

Buhagiar was again second from Debono, Geoghegan, Bargwanna, George Mawad and Colombrita.

VELOCE ALFA ROMEOS

THERE WERE three different winners across the three races. Ufs Muller (156 Twin Spart) was best away in Race 1 when the track was still wet. But he soon succumbed to race winner Doug Selwood (Alfetta), David Capraro (Mito) and Enzo Piazza (GTV6).

Capraro was closing on Selwood when he had a gasket pop. He settled for a close second but would miss Race 2 where Selwood was first across the line before a 5.0s penalty put him third behind Piazza and Muller.

Fourth placed Matt Magraith (105) led the last for three laps before Robert Seritti (Alfetta) passed him and won. Selwood overtook Piazza to finish third while Capraro came home ahead of Muller.

Garry O’Brien

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NATIONALS WRAP

GRIM WEATHER AT GRIMWADE HEAVY RAIN made conditions arduous throughout the Grimwade Stages on July 23 where Ben Searcy and Daymon Nicoli (above) scored victory by over five and a half minutes despite a couple of off-road excursions.

Behind their Mitsubishi EVO 9, second place went to Gary Whittle and Ryan Doe (Subaru Impreza) with Peter Rullo and James Marquet (Peugeot 208) third a further 2mins away.

The event was run out of Egan Park, Donnybrook, and through the Grimwade Plantation by the South West Touring Car Club, and was the third of the West

Australian Rally Championship. It had 38 entries set to run over the 130kms, half of whom fell by the wayside with incidents or mechanical failures.

From the outset, Searcy was strong and won the first stage. Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith (WRX) were second and clocked quicker than Max McRae and Mac Kierans (WRX), Dylan King/Shaun McMacken (WRX), and Alex Rullo/Steve Glenney (EVO 9).

Rando took the overall lead with a faster second stage, quicker than Searcy, Rullo, Whittle, and John Macara and Tim Jackson (EVO). McRae was out due

to a crash. Searcy reclaimed the lead on stage three as Rando’s great pace was thwarted when the clutch blew. Ali Aslam and Camden Puzey (WRX) were second on the stage ahead of King, Michael Steele and Katie Oxley (WRX), and Whittle.

Searcy won the fourth stage where King was second. The latter triumphed on the next over Searcy while Rullo was third on stage four and Peter Rullo third on the fifth. Searcy continued to extend his lead over King on the next two stages.

He also won the last, the power stage

Image: CMR Photographic

where Tim Hiles/Morgan Ward (Subaru Legacy RS) was second fastest, clear of Whittle, Peter Rullo and Steele. The latter finished fourth overall ahead of Tim Bayer/Jonathan White (WRX), Abraham Tuckett/Murish O’Connell (EVO 5) and Hiles. King, Alex Rullo and Macara were casualties of the conditions.

Eighth placed Julian Wright and Jeff Huggins (Datsun 1200) were first in 2WD where second went to David Smith/ Roger Pedersen (Ford Fiesta) and third to Jarrod Sewell/Adrian Burney (Daihatsu Charade).

Garry O’Brien

KETTERIDGE-HALLS TAKE DEFERRED DASH AGAINST MORE powerful opposition Stephen and Brin Ketteridge-Hall (pictured) were dominant winners of this year’s Coral Coast Helicopter Services Kickstarter’s Gascoyne Dash on July 30-21.

In their Nissan 3.5 litre V6-powered Bullet Racing Frame ProLite class buggy, they finished 15mins 29s ahead of Adam and Craig Trewhella (Rimco/Chev L98 Pro Buggy).

Third place went to Jared Percival and Darren Beckett (SS Racetech/Toyota V6 ProLite) 3mins 44s behind.

The point-to-point race that was postponed from April, started at Carnarvon. Competitors raced 205kms east to Gascoyne Junction, then returned the next day. Gascoyne is a small town on the junction of the mostly dry Gascoyne and Lyons Rivers.

While Ketteridge-Hall led the cars, he missed out on the King of the River title, the fastest time overall in either a car or a bike, to Jackson McGrath (Gas Gas MC450F) after the cars won the last two.

Ketteridge-Hall was fastest on the first leg by 6mins 50s over Troy and Deb Schoen (SS Racetech/Chev Pro Buggy) who were aiming to take back-to-back victories. Schoen battled punctures to be second before a broken hub put them out on the return leg.

Third on Section 1 was Percival and fourth was the first of the SXS Pros in Will Quinn-Schofield (Can-Am). Then came Trewhella, Paul de Lacy/Jay Costantini (Can-Am), Paul Hutchinson/Jarrod Sewell (SXS Pro Polaris), and Wayne Batson/Amanda Bennett/Matt Hill (Streamline Buggy/Chev Pro Buggy).

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Only two of the 30 failed to get through the first day, and on day two the attrition numbers grew to nine in the Gascoyne Off Road Racing Club run event.

Ketteridge-Hall was faster on his return leg while Trewhella was second which elevated him to overall runner-up. In fourth was de Lacy who took SXS Pro as Quinn-Schofield DNF’d on the run back to the coast. Paul Nappy and Gavin

Cullen (Penhall/Chev) which placed them sixth overall behind Batson. The latter was sixth on the return leg behind Percival.

Thirteenth-placed Chris Dawes (Nissan Patrol/Chev) won Extreme 4WD over Daniel Fahey/Mathew Beck/Jacob Bell (Patrol/Holden V8) and Daniel Jones/Peter Damopolous (Patrol/Chev) in 16th and 17th.

Garry O’Brien

Image: GORRC-Dakar Press Team

GARRY’S NATIONAL

EVENT

CALENDAR Image: Bob Taylor

A FORMULA LIBRE ONE-TWO

OPEN WHEELERS were back at Collingrove for the Ray Pank Winter Cup Hillclimb with David Mahon (above) and Derek Foster first and second at the third round on July 24.

Not at the previous round, Mahon’s fastest run in his up-to-1.3 litre Formula Libre Hayabusa-powered F394 was a 28.54s attempt on his fifth run. It was two tenths off the winning effort at round one, but well in advance of Derek Foster (up to 2.0lt F/L Suzuki-powered White) on 32.47s at his last try.

Third place and the best of the tin tops was Paul Healey (Mitsubishi EVO 8 Rally Car) who outpointed David Coombe (Road Registered 4WD under 3.5lt EVO 7) by 0.32s after Coombe had pipped him at the last round. For the second round in a row, Nathan Green (over 3.5lt RR 4WD Nissan Skyline GTR) trailed the EVO pair for fifth spot.

Next was Alex Wilson (Audi A4) in front of Sarah Pfeiffer (Mallock U2 Sports Car), Simon Richards (Daihatsu TRXX Closed Sports Car), Geoff Vardon (Datsun 1200 Coupe Sports Sedan), and Roger Paterson (Porsche Cayman S).

The 59 competitors contested in 30 classes, the most popular being Improved Production 3.0-6.0lt with eight, and Wilson was the winner over Simon Baker and Wayne Brauer, both in Subaru Impreza WRXs. The Road Registered 2WD classes also attracted numbers. John Taylor (Alfa Romeo 147) clearly took out 1.6-2.0lt and Jesse Howie (Volkswagen Scirocco) was the best of 2.03.4lt. Garry O’Brien

Image: Ian Colley

MT COTTON FAST GUNS RETURN IT WAS a cool, crisp and wet start to the fifth round of the Queensland Hillclimb Series at Mt Cotton on July 30-31 where Dean Tighe posted the fastest time.

Utilising only four of the available 14 runs to dodge the rain showers, his 37.51s in the supercharged Hayabusa powered Empire Wrath was half a second quicker than Warwick Hutchinson (OMS 28 RP03//Rotary turbo). Warwick (pictured above) broke a driveshaft on his final attempt but was a similar distance in front of third placed Brett Bull (supercharged Kawasaki-powered Van Diemen).

The three over-1.3 litre Formula Libre cars were missing from the last round where David Queen (under 1.3lt F/L Homebuilt DPQ03/Honda) won. This time he had to settle for

fourth ahead of Michael Larymore (Production Sports Toyota MR2).

Gavin Taylor (under 2.0lt Sports Sedan Volkswagen Golf ) proved to be the fastest sedan and sixth overall. He placed ahead of Ian Lozell (under 1.3lt F/L GAE01), ahead of the Anables, Glenn and Doug, in their respective BMW 2002 Turbo and E30 325i, and they were split by 0.13s.

Ken and Pauline Graham shared their Datsun 1600 SS Sports Sedan and there was 0.12s between them for 10th and 11th, with Scott Anable (BMW 325i) 12th.

The end of day Top Six, which doesn’t count to the series result, had Tighe fastest with an even better time that earlier. Bull was second ahead of Quelch, Glenn and Doug Anable.

Garry O’Brien

MORCOM TOPS TIME ATTACK DESPITE THE rulings regarding operations at Wakefield Park and the event reduced to a single day with no practice prior, there were nearly 80 competitors at the Aus Time Attack on July 23 where Nathan Morcom (pictured) was the overall fastest.

In an Open Sprint class Mitsubishi EVO Morcom’s last lap effort of 57.518s sealed the top honour. The time was better than the 59.236s from second placed Richard Perini (Pro Sprint Ginetta G55). Chris Lazarevic, at the wheel of an Ultima Evolution from the Supercars class, was third overall with a 60.724s run.

The first of the sessions was a little damp, before the remainder of the day was untaken in perfect weather and incident free with some doing over 40 laps. There were five classes which started with least modified Prodsprint, to Clubsprint and then the Pro and Open classes. Supercars was the exotic

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category for road registered vehicles.

Fourth at the end of the day was Bill Gulasi (Pro Sprint EVO) ahead of the first and second places in Clubsprint, Jamal Assaad (60.963s) and Alex Michalsky.

They were bot in EVO 6s and split by 0.18s. Then came Andrie Tan (Supercars McLaren 720), Trent Grubel (WRX) and Jason Rex (Nissan Skyline GTR) third Club Sprint and Supercars respectively.

Tenth outright was Paul McKinnon

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(Subaru Impreza WRX) who was fourth in Club Sprint.

Third in Pro Sprint went to Nunzio Gulino (EVO X) who was 17th overall while Shane Brandon (EVO) in 11th and John Healey (Datsun 1600) 20th, claimed the Open runner up places. Prodsprint honours went to Jai Ren (Toyota Supra GT) with his 63.910s best over John Boston (Hyundai i20N) and Matt Brown (Audi RS4). Garry O’Brien

VIC STATE CIRCUIT RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS RD04, SANDOWN VIC – AUG 12-14 ARB AUSTRALIAN OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP RD03, GOONDIWINDI QLD – AUG 12-14 ARB QLD STATE OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP RD06, GOONDIWINDI QLD – AUG 12-14 NSW RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RD04, RALLY OF THE BAY, BATEMANS BAY NSW – AUG 13 EAST COAST CLASSIC RALLY SERIES RD06, RALLY OF THE BAY, BATEMANS BAY NSW – AUG 13 MORGAN OWNERS CLUB SUPERSPRINT RD05, SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK NSW – AUG 13 DAY-NIGHT OFF ROAD ENDURO, MILLICENT SA – AUGUST 13 RALLYTAS RALLYSPRINT RD03, TAS – AUG 13 SA RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RD02, WALLY 100 RALLY, EUDUNDA SA – AUG 13 QR DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP RD04, QLD RACEWAY QLD – AUG 13 TAS STATE CIRCUIT RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS RD04, SYMMONS PLAINS TAS – AUG 13-14 TAS SUPERSPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP RD02, SYMMONS PLAINS TAS – AUG 13-14 NAMSC CHAMPIONSHIPS RD03, HIDDEN VALLEY NT – AUG 14 KEMPSEY SPORTING CAR CLUB TRI SERIES RD03, RALEIGH RACEWAY NSW – AUG 14 HOLDEN SPORTING CAR CLUB KHANACROSS & MOTORKHANA, WILLOWBANK DRAGSTRIP QLD – AUG 14 MILLMERRAN AUTO CLUB DIRT SPRINTS RD05, RESERVE RACEWAY QLD – AUG 14 MARQUE SPORTS CAR ASSOCIATION SA SUPERSPRINT RD03, MALLALA SA – AUG 14 SOUTH EASTERN AUTOMOBILE CLUB MOTORKHANA RD03, MT GAMBIER SALEYARDS SA – AUG 14 BEVERLEY OFF ROAD MOTORSPORT ASSOCIATION AUTOCROSS, NICHOLAS STREET WA – AUG 14 MG CAR CLUB NEWCASTLE DIRT MOTORKHANA MK04, RINGWOOD MOTORSPORT PARK NSW – AUG 14 AMRS RD04, SUPER GT AUSTRALIA RD04, QUEENSLAND RACEWAY QLD – AUG 19-21 AMRS RD04, KUMHO V8 CLASSIC SERIES RD03, QUEENSLAND RACEWAY QLD – AUG 19-21 AMRS RD04, TA2 MUSCLE CARS RD04 NORTH, QUEENSLAND RACEWAY QLD – AUG 19-21 AMRS RD04, AUSTRALIAN FORMULA 3 RD04, QUEENSLAND RACEWAY QLD – AUG 19-21 PENRITE SUPERSPRINT SUPERCARS, SANDOWN VIC – AUG 19-21 PENRITE SUPERSPRINT SUPER 2/3 RD04, SANDOWN VIC – AUG 19-21 PENRITE SUPERSPRINT PORSCHE CARRERA CUP RD05, SANDOWN VIC – AUG 19-21 PENRITE SUPERSPRINT AUSSIE RACING CARS RD0, SANDOWN VIC – AUG 19-21 WA STATE RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RD04, MANJIMUP WA – AUG 20 WESTLAKES AUTO CLUB NSW KHANACROSS RD06, AWABA NSW – AUG 20 BENALLA AUTO CLUB SPRINTS, WINTON VIC – AUG 20 MARQUE SPORTS CARS SPRINTS RD06, MANTON QUARRY ROAD, CALCIUM QLD – AUG 20 HISTORIC LEYBURN SPRINTS, LEYBURN QLD – AUG 20-21 TOWNSVILLE CITY AUTOSPORTS CLUB INGHAM FOREST RALLY, QLD – AUG 20 CLUB MOTORI ITALIA LUFRA REGULARITY HILLCLIMB, EAGLEHAWK NICK TAS – AUG 20 MG CAR CLUB NEWCASTLE DIRT KHANACROSS KC04, AWABA PARK, AWABA NSW – AUG 20 TRACK ATTACK, COLLIE MOTORPLEX WA – AUG 20-21 IPSWICH WEST MORETON AUTO CLUB OPEN SPRINT RD04, WILLOWBANK QLD – AUG 21 SOUTH EASTERN AUTOMOBILE CLUB SUPER SERIES RD03, SEAC MOTORSPORT PARK SA – AUG 21 SPORTING CAR CLUB WINTER CUP HILLCLIMB RD04, COLLINGROVE SA – AUG 21 HOBART SPORTING CAR CLUB BASKERVILLE 1000, BASKERVILLE RACEWAY TAS – AUG 21 VICTORIAN MOTORKHANA CHAMPIONSHIP, COLAC SALEYARDS VIC – AUG 21 GEELONG MOTOR SPORTS CLUB AUTOCROSS/ KHANACROSS RD06, AVALON VIC – AUG 21 MARQUE SPORTS CAR ASSOCIATION SUPERSPRINT, WINTON VIC – AUG 21

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HABYS DOMINATE ON HOME TURF Image: Bob Taylor THE CAN-AM Loveday 400 has seen South Australian crews dominate the 2022 BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) in their own backyard, led home by eventual winners Aaron and Chelsea Haby (above).

Having led from start to finish, the Habys claimed a solid 12-minute victory on their home course over trophy truck pilots Brad and Paris Gallard, while Garry Turnbull picked up his first AORC podium in 30 years alongside daughter Tamara.

In what was a unique podium, all three podium getters were South Australian and all three were father-daughter combinations.

Haby though was in a league of his own during the fourth round of the AORC season as he won all six sections to secure his first ever national round win.

“It feels pretty awesome,” Haby said.

“It’s a very proud moment for the team. The car was built in Australia and it’s brilliant.

“I am actually feeling pretty good physically, I could go out and do a few more laps to be honest.

“Being my home track would have been an advantage in the early stages, however once you do that first lap, you pretty much know where to go. Overall though, it’s fantastic.

“I am absolutely stoked and doing it with my daughter was fantastic.”

Although it was an impressive podium, neither the Gallards or the Turnbulls would

have considered themselves a real shot for a podium, with nine-time AORC champion Shannon Rentsch and 2022 event winner Ryan Taylor both occupying the second and third respectively for much of the race.

However, each faced issues during the final two-lap section, undoing their good work from the previous five sections.

Taylor and navigator Kye Floyd were the first to run into trouble after his buggy had wiring issues seven kilometres into the final section.

Although he was able to get it going again, he lost 20 minutes and fell down the order.

With Rentsch and his father Ian now in the box seat for second place, the Victorian suffered heartbreak on the final lap after his buggy came to a stop due to overheating – the issue was terminal meaning Rentsch’s weekend was done Finishing the event in fourth place after Turnbull’s incredible final section were Prolite winners Mel and Liam Brandle, while West Australians Brent Smoothy and Reese Burgess ended up taking out fifth outright, Just missing out on a top 10 finish was Josh Wiedman and Steven Walton, however the youngster didn’t walk away empty handed, finishing with KINCROME SXS Motorsport Australia Championship honours.

With four rounds now complete, Jake Swinglehurst remains as the championship leader despite not having the best weekend – the Queenslander extended his lead over

Taylor ever so slightly in the championship.

In the Production 2WD it was a win for the Walkinshaw Performance Colorado driven

by WAU Supercar Co-driver Warren Luff and Anthony Ramunno (pictured right).

AORC TOP 5 Aaron Haby, Chelsea Haby and Toby Cooper Brad Gallard and Paris Gallard, Garry Turnbull and Tamara Turnbull, Mel Brandle and Liam Brandle Brent Smoothy and Reese Burgess CLASS WINS PRO BUGGY: Aaron and Chelsea Haby; Toby Cooper PROLITE: Mel and Liam Brandle EXTREME 2WD: Brad and Paris Gallard SXS PRO: Josh Wiedman and Steven Walton SXS SPORT: Eden Evans and Shannon Jennings PRODUCTION 2WD: Warren Luff and Anthony Ramunno PERFORMANCE 2WD: Chris Pickert and Byron Brown SPORTSLITE: Rod and Kodi Visser SUPER 1650: Connor Corrigan and Ryder Taylor

Image: Bob Taylor

Image: David Batchelor

The next round on the AORC calendar is the Hindmash Shire Rainbow Desert Enduro on 2-4 September.

AND A STATE WIN TOO BESIDES VICTORY in the national round, Aaron and Chelsea Haby (Element Prodigy/ Toyota Pro Buggy) led from start to finish to blitz the field in round one of the South Australian Off Road Championship at Loveday on July 29-31.

Mel and Liam Brandle (Alumi Craft/ Nissan ProLite) just managed to grab second about 20s ahead Brett Rogers and Brett Richardson (RIDS Joker/Chev).

Closing in on the last lap were Garry and Tamara (Jimco/Chev) but had to settle for fourth, comfortably clear of Roydn Bailey and Tyson Warner (Element Prodigy/ Toyota).

Impressive again were Chris Pickert and Bryan Brown (pictured – Mitsubishi Triton/

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Chev) crossed the line sixth. Next home was Dean Carter and Brad Jacobs (Razorback/ Chev) with a bit of a gap back to Lachlan and Hannah Bailey (SXS Pro Can-Am). Ben Fatchen and Nick Price (Can-Am) led the Baileys early but ended up ninth as Tom Hicks and Lachlan Rochfort (Can-Am) rounded out the top 10.

Set to challenge the eventual leaders, Carl Haby and Wayne Tabe (Element Prodigy/ Toyota) rolled out of the race on lap two.

Any chance of a good result for Luke Erceg (ECE Honey Badger/Nissan) ended on the first lap with engine woes.

Simon and Kyle Tucker (Southern Cross NextGen/Nissan) looked good until they dropped a lap on Saturday which left them

Image: David Batchelor way down in 16th at the chequered flag.

Andy Maxwell and Michael Puddy had a shocker in the Falcon with a wheel that kept coming lose and falling off.

Matt Ridley (RIDS Joker/Honda) came home eleventh outright and top Sportslite

finisher. In 15th, Connor Corrigan and Ryder Taylor (Raptor/Toyota) outlasted the small Super 1650 field and was last car to do full race distance while Pickert and Brown did the same in Performance 2WD. David Batchelor

SPARE A ROUND WINNER

WHEN A faulty transmission line in practice caused their Class X BMW M3 F80 to catch fire, Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey (above) had to utilise a spare – but still won the second round of the Australian Production Series.

The feature event was bookended by two 30min sprint races where Leahey, along with Karl Begg (BMW M4 F82), started rear of grid, the latter relegated for a qualifying pit infringement.

While they couldn’t catch all-the-way leader Aaron Russell (M3), Leahey finished second and ahead of Grant Sherrin (M4). Begg placed fourth ahead of Grant Denyer (A2 Ford Mustang), Ben Gersekowski (A2 M3), Jimmy Vernon (A1 Mitsubishi EVO X) and Chris Lillis (A2 HSV Clubsport).

For the fifth time, Lynton and Leahey won the feature, the Fight in the Night

enduro. They took the chequered flag 37.5s ahead of Grant and Iain Sherrin while Gersekowski drove solo to third.

The race was scheduled for 96 laps but was time certain and finish 20 laps short. Begg and Stephen Jukes were in front until the first Safety Car, after which Lynton/Leahey went ahead. Other than their two pitstops, the latter led to the end.

Denyer was third until six laps from the end. He was passed by Gersekowski after the clutch failed. On the final lap Denyer lost fourth to the Lillis/Matt Holt HSV. A lap down were Anthony Soole/ Adam Burgess (M4) while Vernon held off Hadrian Morral/Tyler Mecklem, for Class A1 EVO honours.

Ninth placed Jake Camilleri (Mazda 3 MPS) took Class C honours, a lap ahead of Zoe Woods/Luke Youlden (Hyundai

i30N) while Chris Holdt (HSV Astra) was 11th and third in class, despite a barrier hit early which caused the first Safety Car ... to fix the barrier.

The Begg/Jukes BMW stopped on track on lap 64 which brought out the second Safety Car. The Jason Simes/ Tony Levitt Mercedes C63 AMG had a fuel leak, while Mark Griffith in the Mercedes A45 he was sharing with Will Brown had tyre barrier contact. Wayne Russell retired his BMW with suspension damage, and the Dean Campbell/ Grant Johnson EVO retired with turbo problems.

Drew Russell started last the second sprint and stormed through to win ahead of Lynton with Burgess third. Iain Sherrin was fourth clear of Gersekowski, Holt, Vernon, Levitt, Morral and Johnson.

Garry O’Brien

RADICAL WINNER EXTENDS LEAD AT THE Radical Cup Australia fourth round, Chris Perini (above) extended his points lead with victory over Peter Paddon and Peter Carr who co-drove into second overall while Adam Lisle was third.

The first race produced a close and thrilling finish where Carr (after Paddon started) held off Perini by 0.63s after 50mins and 40 laps, plus a mandatory pitstop for all starters. Meanwhile Mitch Neilson who took over from his father Brad, was closing on both, and was only 0.13s behind. Polesitter Adam Lisle and Jordan Oon finished fourth while Sebastien Fiorenza was fifth.

Peter Clare led the opening two laps before Elliott Schutte took over. Then, after a couple more laps, Paddon became the front runner. When Paddon stopped, Clare led again until he pitted and Zig Fuhrmeister showed the way for three laps and pitted for Carr to take the lead. Perini also had a brief spell at the front and then chased Carr to the flag.

At the outset of the second race, Schutte and Lisle had the front row ahead of Carr.

Into Turn 1 after the rolling start, Schutte led but spun sideways, missed Lisle but left Carr nowhere to go but into the side of Schuttle. Somehow both were able to continue, albeit down the field.

Lisle led Perini for 11 laps, when the latter pitted, while Lisle continued on until lap 23.

The Neilsons led the next seven laps and made their stop from where it was Perini in front until the end. He had over 5s on Lisle with Paddon third, just in front of the Neilsons.

Last at the end of lap one, Fuhrmeister finished fifth in front of Clare, Fiorenza and Stephen Champion. The race ran 35 laps due to three Safety Cars, the last of which was for Schutte who stopped between Turns 1 and 2. Garry O’Brien

PISZCYK’S SYDNEY FF POINTS HAUL ROUND FOUR of the Australian Formula Ford Championship, at Sydney Motorsport Park, may well have secured CHE Racing’s James Piszcyk the series after his three wins on August 7-8.

From fourth on the gird, Piszcyk (Mygale) led Race 1 after the first corner. Polesitter Jude Bargwanna (Spectrum) held onto second until he was passed by Sonic Motor Racing’s Valentino Astuti (Mygale) on lap two. Then came Cameron McLeod (Spectrum), Conor Somers (Mygale), and a slow starting Sonic’s Winston Pisczyk (93) heads a packed field into Turn 2. Image: Riccardo Benvenuti Smith (Mygale) who started on the front row.

Piszcyk appeared to have the race under control until they came up on some lapped cars. Astuti (Spectrum) was inside the top 10 when he went out, while Kyle slipstreamed his way past down the straight, but only led the Evans and Clay Richards were retirees, both Spectrums with lap before Piszcyk was able to do the same, one circuit later. throttle cable failure.

They finished well ahead of third, BF Racing’s Ryder Quinn The second race was in a Safety Car situation by half way (Mygale), who started seventh and charged up the order, through the first lap due to Adrian Sarkis’s Mygale being displaced Bargwanna and McLeod on lap three and finished stranded on the grid. There was a concertina of cars out of third. Bargwanna lost out to McLeod in that exchange before Turn 8 which result in damage to Edison Beswick’s Spectrum he regathered fourth later. and Daniel Frougas’ Mygale.

McLeod held off Smith while Sinni was next ahead of Piszcyk had the lead from the start but when the race went Somers and CHE Racing’s Zak Lobko in their Mygales, and green Astuti slipped past him into Turn 1 for the lead. It was Xavier Kokai (Spectrum). Borland Racing’s Kye Cavedon short lived, for Astuti spun. Piszcyk regained the lead and

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won ahead of Bargwanna with Quinn a close third.

Then followed Smith, McLeod, Lobko, BF’s Thomas Davies (Mygale) and Cavedon and Richards in good recoveries. Kokai was next in front of Evans and Lachlan Mineff (Mygale).

Piszcyk rounded out the meeting with his all-theway victory in the last encounter. Bargwanna was second ahead of Quinn, McLeod, Smith and Lobko for the first four laps. The latter fell victim to Sinni and Astuti the next time around.

Bargwanna held off Quinn for the following three circuits when Quinn grabbed second and their intense dice lasted to the end which allowed Piszcyk some breathing space.

McLeod was half a car length ahead of Smith at the flag but had a 2.0s penalty applied post-race which dropped him to seventh behind Smith, Astuti and Sinni. Lobko was eighth but only after Cavedon had a 5s penalty applied, while Mineeff was 10th ahead of Kokai.

It was a close contest in the Kent class with Will Lowing (Listec) just in front of Mitch Gatenby (Spirit) in races one and three and just behind in the second. Dan Holihan (Spectrum) was third in all three. Garry O’Brien

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Images: Daniel Kalsz-ARG Media Hub

At last! Not one, but two wins to the D’Alberto Honda. Images: Kalisz/ARG

D’ALBERTO DELIVERS AT QR Report: Josh Nevett IT WAS a round to remember for Tony D’Alberto in the TCR Australia Series, with the veteran racer claiming his maiden category win and a further victory at Queensland Raceway to extend his championship lead.

The 36-year-old was on the pace all weekend in Queensland, setting the tone in qualifying before excelling in all three encounters behind the wheel of his Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R. At the other end of the experience scale, youngster Jay Hanson stayed within reach of the series frontrunners by scoring a win in Race 2.

The Melbourne Performance Centre Audi driver, who started off the season in ‘win it or bin it’ fashion, was on the podium in every race at QR, displaying his growing maturity.

Hanson could not keep up with the Honda’s in Race 1 though, as D’Alberto led privateer Zac Soutar to the line after starting from pole position.

The pair were quick off the line after Kody Garland and James Moffat experienced issues prior to the start, avoiding chaos which shaped the order early.

Rising star Bailey Sweeny copped contact from Aaron Cameron at Turn 1 which sent his HMO Customer Racing Hyundai sliding into the grass, the latter receiving a 15s penalty for the incident.

Shortly after, Supercar driver Will Brown left the track at Turn 3, gifting Hanson third position.

The carnage was far from over. A battle between Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Ben Bargwanna and HMO’s Josh Buchan ended when the former’s brakes failed at Turn 6, resulting in heavy contact between the pair. Neither would return and a Safety Car period resulted.

Racing resumed on lap 12 of 20, with D’Alberto and Soutar quickly building a gap over Hanson.

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Nothing would change in the remaining laps, as the three finished in that order.

Cameron crossed the line fourth but was demoted to 13th, allowing Sweeny to claim the position after an impressive fightback.

Luke King was fifth in his Moutai/Zip Pay Hyundai i30 N TCR, just under 8s in arrears of the race winner.

A reversal of the top 10 for the second encounter produced a very different race, one in which Hanson was able to salute after late drama.

Caruso led early, taking advantage of clear air afforded by Lachlan Mineeff’s absence from the front row.

Mineeff was set to start alongside Caruso in his new Audi, however a transponder problem consigned him to a pit lane start, leaving Caruso to set the pace.

Michael Clemente surged off the line to mount an early challenge but consecutive errors by the Honda driver dropped him back to sixth, while Brown moved up into second.

Caruso and Brown fought it out at the front while a battle between Jordan Cox and King emerged behind and all the while Hanson set himself up for a podium tilt.

Jostling for places raged on to the joy of spectators, however mechanical failures for multiple contenders turned cheers into groans.

Dylan O’Keeffe’s title tilt took a hit when the radiator failed on his GRM Peugeot 308 TCR, while his teammate Cameron was also forced to retire.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

With a victory in sight after leading for 19 laps, smoke began to appear out of the rear of Caruso’s Alfa Romeo machine, the issue eventually bringing the leader to a halt with three laps remaining.

Having ducked past King and Cox, Hanson was able to beat Brown to the line, bringing up his fourth win of the season in style.

Brown and King rounded out the podium ahead of Cox and D’Alberto.

Hanson (9) ran third in Race 1 before taking out the top-10 reverse-grid Race 2.

Soutar was sixth, while Moffat came home seventh after charging through the field.

It was D’Alberto who had the last laugh in Race 3, as the finishing order of the podiumgetters in Race 1 repeated itself to close out the round.

D’Alberto again got a flying start, with Hanson slotting in behind him to kick off the final encounter.

Soutar and King took up the fight for third, a tussle which resulted in King getting sideways, allowing both Cox and Brown to move ahead of him.

Brown’s joy was short lived, however, as the former champion was handed a 5s post-race time penalty for barging into King after a brake lock-up at Turn 3.

The commotion gave the leading three breathing room, and while D’Alberto showed no signs of giving away his advantage Soutar saw an opportunity to make it another Honda 1-2 at Turn 1 mid-race, completing a move on Hanson.

Soutar finished just 0.4s behind D’Alberto in the end – Hanson was a further couple of seconds back.

Brown finished fourth despite his penalty and Sweeny was able to secure a top five finish after a mixed bag weekend in his HMO Hyundai.

D’Alberto’s dominant weekend gives him

A winner, as well as consistent – D’Alberto now has a strong championship lead.

Sweeny and King up close ... a 58-point series lead heading into the next round at Sandown Raceway from September 16-18.

STANDINGS AFTER 5 ROUNDS 1 D’Alberto 544 2 Cox 486 3 Hanson 484 4 Soutar 469 5 Buchan 459

HERNE BAGS TRANS AM HAT-TRICK

Herne, headed for a triple win, heads Kostecki and Johnson in Race 1 while (below) Kelly smokes rubber after a tap from Brook (38) ...

Report: Josh Nevett NATHAN HERNE made a statement in the race for the 2022 Trans Am Series crown with a hat-trick of wins at Queensland Raceway.

Entering the round close behind title rival Owen Kelly, Herne quickly found pace around the Queensland circuit and used it to build a handy advantage as the season reaches its climax.

Kelly will still fancy his chances though. The 45-year-old seasoned professional notched up two podium finishes at QR to stay in the hunt for ultimate glory.

After sweeping practice and qualifying, Herne put together a dominant performance to kick off the weekend in his Garry Rogers Motorsport Ford Mustang.

Kelly started alongside him on the front row but was turned around at Turn 1 by Tim Brook, with both cars sliding off into the sand trap along with the machine of Nash Morris which was caught up in the chaos.

As a result, all three fell back in the pack, leaving Herne to lead from series debutant Brodie Kostecki and rookie Jett Johnson.

Shortly after, a Safety Car period was required when Tom Hayman, also on debut, stranded himself in the sand at Turn 2.

The stoppage was a blessing for Kelly, who was able to regather himself after early misfortune and begin a charge through the field. Johnson was another to benefit, moving past Supercar star Kostecki into second position.

GRM youngster Lochie Dalton also made moves after the restart, moving up seven positions to fifth.

As the order shuffled behind him Herne maintained a comfortable lead, eventually crossing the line just under 2s clear of Johnson.

Kostecki completed the podium in his Chevrolet Camaro, while Brett Holdsworth and Dalton also earned spots in the top five.

Kelly managed a remarkable eighth after leaving the tarmac on the opening lap.

Nic Carroll and Craig Scutella were both forced to retire due to mechanical issues.

Herne made it consecutive victories on

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Sunday, leading from lights-to-flag after starting at the front of the field.

Behind him, Johnson and Kostecki renewed their rivalry, with the latter snatching second early. Not to be deterred, Johnson remained glued to the back of Kostecki’s Camaro, as the pair played out an enthralling duel.

The battle between Hayman and Nic Carroll was rather more short lived. Carroll tapped the back of Hayman sending him into a spin before losing control himself, dropping both from their positions in the midfield.

Hayman was involved in another incident shortly after, making contact with Chris Pappas who had a race to forget, spinning twice in his new-look Ford Mustang.

Johnson had no such troubles, taking second from Kostecki after patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity. Kostecki was unable to hold third, losing further positions to Dalton and Kelly.

While Herne and Kelly were doing their title chances no harm, fellow contender Brett Holdsworth was brought undone in his pursuit to narrow the points gap, spinning at Turn 5 before finishing 15th in his Ashley Seward Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro.

At the front, Herne took out another comfortable victory with Johnson and Kelly rounding out the podium, the latter completing another solid charge.

Dalton and Kyle Gurton were fourth and fifth, ahead of Kostecki and Ben Grice in his Ford Mustang.

Chevrolet Camaro steerer Elliot Barbour, Jon McCorkindale and regular frontrunner Brook rounded out the top 10.

Race 3 saw Herne complete his sweep, the Trans Am standard leading from start-tofinish to win by over 2s.

Herne was quick off the line into Turn 1, where both Kostecki and Kelly moved ahead of Johnson into the podium places.

Also looking to make an impression was Supercheap Auto Ford Mustang driver Morris, who jumped an incredible 10 spots in the first lap.

The charge was temporarily halted shortly after though, as an incident involving Brook,

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Jett Johnson had a strong weekend, second only to Herne.

John Harris and Jackson Rice forced a Safety Car period.

Harris nudged Rice into the path of Brook at Turn 1, directing the latter pair into the sand trap. Herne reasserted his ascendency after the restart, Kostecki and Kelly going toe to toe for second and Johnson looking in his rear-view mirror from fourth.

Kostecki emerged on top in the skirmish for second, leaving Kelly to settle for third while

Johnson held on to fourth.

Dalton headed Barbour, who put in a season best performance, while Morris was seventh after making up plenty of ground.

The experienced trio of Grice, McCorkindale and Holdsworth rounded out the top 10, Holdsworth regaining third in the standings in the process.

Herne’s heroics left him sitting atop the leader board after five rounds, leading Kelly who is still right in the picture.

Sandown Raceway in Melbourne will host the sixth and final round from September 16-18.

STANDINGS AFTER 5 ROUNDS 1 Herne 832 2 Kelly 819 3 Brook 779 4 Holdsworth 762 5 Gurton 732

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Ibrahim/Van Gisbergen took Saturday’s race, and Shahin/ Tander Sunday’s contest (below).

AUDI AND MERCEDES SPLIT THE WINS IN QUEENSLAND AFTER NEARLY six months between sprint rounds, the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS roared back into life at Queensland Raceway as part of the SpeedSeries.

Two 60-minute contests awaited a small, but competitive field featuring three Bathurst 1000 winners in an outright fight between the top two German GT marques, Mercedes and Audi.

Entering the round, Audi pilots Yasser Shahin and Liam Talbot were level on points as the pair both had new co-drivers compared to Round 1 back in March.

In both cases it was a familiar face as Shahin replaced factory ace Christopher Mies with regular co-driver for the bulk of last year’s title campaign Garth Tander.

Talbot’s co-driver Fraser Ross also returned

and this partnership also had good form having tasted success at the Mountain to end the season last year.

Also entering the round in winning form was Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Prince Jefri Ibrahim as he had won in Japan the previous weekend and was bullish about victory at the team’s home circuit.

Qualifying provided its challenges as overnight rain ensured conditions were treacherous, but it was Shahin and Tander finishing on top in both of their sessions to score pole for each race.

For Saturday’s race, Shahin started alongside Am Class leader Matt Stoupas in a stunning performance only matched by GT Trophy counterpart Brad Schumacher in third driving an older Ultra-spec Audi.

Ibrahim made a strong start, but a mistake

ensured he dropped back to ninth as Shahin led from a storming Talbot before a safety car period occurred due to the Koundouris brothers’ Audi stopping on track with a mechanical problem.

This aided Ibrahim as his pit stop was much quicker than the pair in front, which did occur when all the leading contenders pitted more than halfway through the race.

Swapping with Ibrahim, Shane van Gisbergen maintained a 10s margin back to Tander as he took victory, while Ross was third.

Mark Rosser in his Audi scored his best result of fourth outright and the win in Am Class, leaving Schumacher to win GT Trophy.

The professional drivers started Race 2 on Sunday and early there was an entertaining battle between Tander, David Reynolds in

Tony Bates’ Audi and van Gisbergen, but no positions were changed for the duration.

Unlike Saturday, the Triple Eight Mercedes had the longest stop as Bates emerged in front until caught by Shahin. This led to an intense battle between Bates and Talbot for second, which cost the latter a chance of victory.

Contact was made at Turn 6 between the two as Talbot won the battle and a wounded Bates was overtaken by Ibrahim, but it was great recovery following a flat tyre the previous day.

Shahin took the win and an eight-point advantage from Talbot, while the Triple Eight team are a further 13 adrift.

Sandown is next on the calendar where the series will contest a sprint round on September 16-18.

SARGENT SEALS THE CLEAN-SWEEP CHE RACING Team driver Tom Sargent (right) has dominated Round 2 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge at Queensland Raceway.

Although he led throughout the weekend, Sargent was challenged by opening round winner Kiwi Ryan Wood (below right) for much of the weekend as the 35-lap endurance finale provided his best chance of taking victory.

Having taken two wins on his Australian debut at Sydney Motorsport Park two months ago, Wood continued this momentum in the Earl Bamber Motorsport entry to edge Sargent by 0.061s in qualifying to seal pole position.

However, the story of the weekend was Sargent’s starts as this was the difference in the end, ging the reigning Australian Formula Ford Series winner the edge in each contest.

Behind the lead two on the grid were Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 convert Lachlan Bloxsom, Wood’s teammate Madeline Stewart and Stokes Skies Australia’s Jason Miller completed the top five in Pro Class.

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Sam Shahin transferred from Porsche Carrera Cup Australia to second-tier duties and was fastest Am in fourth outright, but started further back due to the class split initiated this season, while Brett Boulton was another to impress to be not only second, but sixth in the field.

Class B for older models was led by debutants as local Brad Carr edged fellow newbie Tom McLennan.

Nothing was stopping a fast-starting Sargent in Race 1 as Wood dropped behind Bloxsom briefly before mounting an attack on the lead CHE Racing Team entry. This challenge failed as Sargent set a new lap record at a 1m 10.604s to ensure Wood failed in his attempt for victory.

Nearly 10s further back was McElrea Racing’s Aaron Shields, while Sam Shahin finished fourth and leader in Am Class just ahead of Stewart, who scored her best result in the category.

Carr headed McLennan in Class B, but it was a tight finish between the two at just 0.323s.

Warmer conditions ensured a distinct

advantage was to be gained by running at the front in Race 2 and this aided in Sargent again taking victory from Wood, while Shields remained third ahead of Sonic’s Courtney Prince.

Shahin held off Boulton in Am Class as McLennan flipped the script to take Class B from Carr.

The 35-lap endurance race rounded out the weekend and was led from start-tofinish by Sargent, despite Wood tapping the lead Porsche numerous times.

Bloxsom rounded out the podium from Miller and Prince, while Boulton beat

Shahin to Am honours, with McLennan taking Class B. Sargent leads the standings by 10-points from Wood heading to Sandown on September 16-18.

SUPERCARS THE BEND SUPPORTS

INTERSTATERS TAKE HISTORICS SA CHALLENGE OVERALL HONOURS in the THR Developments Historic Touring Car Challenge at The Bend of July 30-31 went to Queensland Craig Allan over West Aussie Aldo De Paoli.

While Allan in a Ford Mustang, or anyone for that matter, did not have the pace of De Paoli’s Chev Camaro, he finished with a better result over the three races. Third in the final points tally was NSW’s Adam Walton (Mustang) in front of Victorian Nathan Gordon (Holden Monaro HQ).

De Paoli dominated the first race. Fellow Camaro steerer Keith Kassulke fell to fifth early before he fought back to third ahead of Walton and Andrew Williams (Holden Torana XU-1). Kassulke looked to challenge Allan for second when the race finished behind the safety car, which was deployed when David Forbes’ Ford Falcon XK stopped on track.

As De Paoli shot away in race two, there was a great dice between Allan and Kassulke for second. That became the race for the lead when De Paoli slowed with a

The packed field heads into Turn 1. Right: Rice and Axford in close company. Images: John Lemm fuel pressure problem and Allan was 0.46s ahead of Kassulke at the finish.

Walton was next from Jason Humble (Mazda RX2) who was a DNF in race one with a broken gearbox. De Paoli limped across the line fifth ahead of Graeme Woolhouse (Mustang) and Gordon.

They were trailed by Graeme Wakefield (Mustang) and a race-long dice between

Spencer Rice (Alfa Romeo GTV) and Josh Axford (Ford Escort RS1600).

Kassulke was out of the finale when he stopped his Camaro on the out-lap with a broken gearbox. Aldo De Paoli (Chev Camaro) started out of fifth position and took just over a lap to get to the front from where he drove away to a comfortable 9.2s victory.

Allan finished second and after a long dual, Humble got the better of Walton for third place. Behind them Gordon was next from Wakefield. Wilson started rear of field after he ran out fuel in the previous race.

He passed Darryl Hansen (Mustang) for seventh on the final lap . . . only to be piped on the line by Hansen.

Garry O’Brien

TIE AFTER LONG BREAK IT WAS over two months since their last meeting before the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series hit The Bend for round six on July 30-31. Victory in the double-points race four gave Kody Garland the overall win on countback when tied with points leader Josh Anderson, as third went to Lachlan Ward.

In his Mustang-bodied pocket rocket, Anderson was the standout in qualifying and took that form to Race 1. It was close early before he took the lead and drove away to a 3.1s win. At the start Joel Heinrich (Cruze) led, however he soon went out with a broken control arm pick up point.

Garland finished second ahead of Ryan Reynolds (Mustang). Reece Chapman (Mustang) headed the battle for fourth where Anthony Di Mauro (Camaro) emerged ahead

of Cody Brewczynski (Mustang), Rylan Gray (Camaro) before a 10s penalty, Lachlan Ward (Camaro) and Courtney Prince (Mustang).

With Gray sidelined with a broken driveshaft before the second race was underway, Garland blistered off the line to lead from start to finish. Chapman jumped to second ahead of Anderson before a safety car was deployed after Brewczynski, Reynolds and Di Mauro tangled at Turn 6.

Garland gapped Chapman on the last lap and the latter lost out to Anderson. Prince was third until passed by Heinrich, Ward and Gray, with Jack Boyd (Altima) next ahead of Reynolds after the first lap scuffle.

Race 3 was the traditional reverse top 10 from the previous finish. Brett Osborn (Camaro) and Reynolds were on the front row and Reynolds soon grabbed the lead

Kody Garland dives inside Ryder Quinn. and won comfortably. Ward took second with Chapman third in front of Anderson and Heinrich who was penalised post-race to ninth for contact with Garland. Prince was fourth from Garland, Di Mauro and Brewczynski.

The final race was not even a lap old when the Safety Car was called. Matt Gooding (Camaro) and Mark Griffith came together at Turn 16. The latter’s Euro GT went into a

sequence of frightening and violent barrel rolls from which Griffith was able to walk away.

Garland crossed the finish line just in front of Anderson and Ward, the three covered by 0.12 seconds. Reynolds was fourth ahead of Prince and Ryder Quinn (Euro GT). They were followed Heinrich, Boyd, Gray and tenth placed Brewczynski.

Garry O’Brien

MARJORAM’S SPLENDID COMEBACK

Sieders heads to Race 1 victory. Images: Tamara Jade Media THE RETURN to racing for Adam Marjoram was a rewarding one with victory in the fourth round of the Haltech V8 SuperUtes Series at The Bend on July 30-31.

He took over the Mitsubishi Triton previously driven by Craig Dontas and took full advantage to win the round ahead of David Sieders (Triton) and George Gutierrez (Holden Colorado).

A brilliant start in Race 1 put Sieders straight into the lead and the win.

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Marjoram was second initially before he slipped off the track and dropped to fourth. That left Gutierrez ahead of Ben Walsh (Toyota Hilux) until within sight of the chequered flag.

The Colorado suffered a fuel hiccup and Walsh slipped past. Craig Woods (Hilux) came from the rear to finish fifth. Points leader Aaron Borg (Holden Colorado) failed to start due to a fuel pressure problem In the half-points second race

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Marjoram replaced initial leader Ryan Gilroy (Ford Ranger) after two laps while Borg was on the charge from the back.

He ultimately was a close second to Marjoram as Gilroy held out Woods for third. Sieders was next from Walsh and Gutierrez who recovered from a first lap spin.

Race 3 was red flagged after two laps due to kerb breakup at Turn 12. Marjoram was leading at the time, in front of Gutierrez who was ahead for part of the lap, Sieders, Gilroy and Borg. The track damage was believed to occurred when Chris Formosa’s Ranger spun across the kerb and lifted part of it.

Walsh was second the first time into Turn 2 but a slight touch with Gutierrez speared him off. Walsh’s teammate Woods was also deposited down the order after contact with Rohan Barry (Hilux).

After the no-points Race 3, Borg came through from the back of the field to win

the fourth encounter ahead of Marjoram and Gutierrez.

Seiders led for the first two laps before Marjoram took over the front running.

Meanwhile Borg worked his way through those chasing. He was second on lap five and took the lead two laps from home.

Woods came through for fourth ahead of Gilroy, Barry, Sieders and Formosa.

A subsequent 15s penalty for a driving infringement on Sieders, dropped Woods to ninth and cost him third overall. Walsh had a drama with the kill switch that cost him a lap.

Garry O’Brien

Aaron Borg – race winner/championship leader

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SUPERCAR THE BEND SUPPORTS

Caruso and Tamasi (9) head a big field into Turn 1. Images: John Morris

CARUSO PUTS ON A SPORT SEDAN POWER SHOW AT THE BEND Lachlan Gardiner (MARC Mazda)

A pair of Monaros – Robinson heads Jarvis.

BMW (Woodman) heads Camaro (Bradford) and Marc II (Taunton) ...

JORDAN CARUSO emulated SVG’s clean sweep of The Bend with one of his own, powering ahead in the Precision International National Sports Sedan Series at the OTR SuperSprint over the weekend.

Heading into their round three clash as a support category for the Supercars, it had been been a year dominated by three drivers, with Caruso’s Audi taking the biscuits at every round thus far.

Heading up second and third going into the SuperSprint weekend was Steve Tamasi’s Holden Calibra and Shane Woodman in the BMW Chev.

Friday’s qualifying session saw the front two as is in the standings, with Caruso nabbing pole by 1.2s over Tamasi with a 1:48.3097s lap time.

Shane Bradford’s Camaro managed to come in third over Woodman, with the close run pair locking out the second row.

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Taunton driving the MARC GT proved a surprise fifth in his first start of the season, in front of Ash Jarvis and Tony Groves. Mason Kelly – Todd Kelly’s son – qualified in P13 driving a MARC car, in just his second series start in the category.

Race 1 started the weekend’s massive undercard for the OTR Supersprint, and Caruso entered Turn 1 off the rolling start with the inside line in a lead that the current championship leader would not relinquish.

Into the second lap it was a tight field down to Darren Currie in 10th, but Caruso’s Audi had opened up a 3s gap, with his speed’s on the long straight hitting up to 280kph.

The halfway mark of the 10-lap race saw Caruso out by 7.552s over Tamasi, with Woodman and Taunton some 15s behind him.

The lapped traffic saw Tamasi close the gap to under 4s going into the last, but Caruso would come home 10.719s up,

with the order setting the grid for Race 2, with Taunton, Woodman and Tony Groves making the top five.

The second race saw #12 David Compton pull off track with mechanical issues during the rolling start formation lap, with the front three getting away and Woodman splitting the middle.

Tamasi shut the door on Caruso into the first corner, and by lap three, the Holden and Audi had opened up a 6.720s gap from Woodman, with Caruso looming large in Tamasi’s Mirrors.

Caruso finally caught Tamasi on lap four with a door to door battle being settled into the fifth lap with Caruso showing too much pace for the Holden down the pit straight.

Caruso then proceeded to put on +3s a lap over Tamasi, turning a tight battle into +13.232 blow out over the course of four blistering laps. Taunton, Woodman and Bradford, rounded out the top five, with Taunton some 25s behind Tamasi with his second podium of the day.

Sunday’s Race 3 saw the Sports Sedans follow the Carrera Cup under a light sprinkle of rain, with Caruso grabbing the Turn 1 lead again from Tamasi.

An early collision at the second turn saw Jarvis’ #44 Camaro spin out causing some midfield havoc, with a Safety Car coming out in an already shortened race.

That brought the front two runners back together as a slightly greasy track would cause several spin offs throughout the

chasing pack in a close field, but the six lap race would see Caruso get his three-race sweep by 5.806 seconds over the weekend’s perennial bridesmaid in Tamasi.

Taunton, Woodman and Robinson made up the top five, with Taunton making it three third place podiums for the weekend.

Despite Caruso’s dominance, Tamasi sits only 19 points off the championship lead with two rounds to come.

It was a good round for Taunton, who puts himself into 12th on the table from his first series start for the year, taking 109 points from the weekend, whilst Woodman and Robinson sit third and fourth respectively, holding their positions from the previous round.

Round four heads to the SMP on September 2-4, with the championship still up for grabs. Timothy Neal STANDINGS AFTER RD 3 1 Caruso 401 2 Tamasi 382 3 Woodman 304 4 Robinson 256 5 Bradford 194 6 Crompton 188 7 Humfrey 150 8 Cox 142 9 Brown 124 10 Cameron 119

CARRERA CUP THE BEND

The combined Podium, with winners Love and Shain centre stage.

Love it ... Aaron came back from OS and cleaned up ...

AARON LOVE CLAIMS THE BEND WIN AS SAM SHAHIN TAKES DRAMATIC MORRIS PRO-AM WIN Pro-Am, ahead of Adrian Flack and Geoff Emery in 19th and 20th outright, Sam was 23rd outright and sixth in Pro-Am.

Dylan O’Keefe consolidated third in the Pro Championship.

RACE 2 Love was at his dominant best in his Bob Jane T-Marts entry, converting pole to wins in both of Sunday’s races to claim his first Porsche Carrera Cup Australia round win.

He led from lights to flag in the 14 lap Enduro Cup race on Sunday, winning the safety car interrupted race comfortably from Dylan O’Keeffe and Russell.

Michelin Junior Christian Pancione raced hard from his fourth place starting spot and despite losing some positions early, fought back to claim a solid fourth place ahead of fellow Junior Max Vidau. In Pro-Am it was a solid comeback for Sam Shahin in 14th outright, ahead of Adrian Flack and Talbot.

Christian Pancione took three top five finishes.

RETURNING FROM Europe only days before the event, Sonic Motorsports’ Aaron Love became the seventh different round winner from the last seven Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia rounds, sweeping all three races to dominate Round 5 of the series at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.

The Bend owner and local hero Sam Shahin took out the Morris Finance Pro-Am as the Carrera Cup ‘race within a race’ concluded in a dramatic fashion with a massive roll over for Liam Talbot in the final race of the weekend.

The incident occurred after Shahin and Talbot clipped wheels while running side-by-side at Turn 3, the contact tipping Talbot’s car into a roll, with Porsche ending up back on its wheels. Talbot escaped unscathed while the race was brought under the control of the Safety Car. QUALIFYING Following on from his strong practice sessions on Friday, Love confirmed his pace in qualifying with a new qualifying fastest

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lap with 1:50.1212. Set to make the front row and continuing his strong show of speed was Dylan O’Keeffe who was only 0.1257 behind Love, with David Wall, Callum Hedge and Christian Pancioni rounding out the top five and only 0.2840 behind pole.

Liam Talbot took pole in Morris Pro-Am with a 1:51.7667, followed by Geoff Emery who was less than a tenth of a second behind Talbot, with Adrian Flack just a tenth further back in third place.

RACE 1 Love leapt away from pole position for 11 lap race 1 of the weekend, led from Dylan O’Keeffe and won comfortably with a nearly six second lead as the flag fell. In doing so he also claimed a new lap record, setting a lap of 1:50.8828.

The battle for the minor placings was a little more intense with little less than three seconds separating second to fifth, O’Keeffe finishing ahead of Hedge in third with Russell forth ahead of a solid Pancione in fifth confirming his solid qualifying pace.

Finishing 17th outright Liam Talbot took Morris

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RACE 3 Love claimed claimed the abbreviated final race which ended behind the Safety Car after Talbot’s rollover, to score the maximum 181 points available from the weekend – backing up pole position and the first race win on Saturday.

David Russell beat Dylan O’Keeffe for second ahead of Michelin Junior Simon Fallon who had blazed through the field to claim his best result in fourth, ahead of Christian Pancione who completed the weekend with another strong top five result.

Through the last race drama, Geoff Emery came from the back of the grid to claim the Pro-Am race win over Shahin and Dean Cook, though the results for the weekend remain provisional pending post-event investigations.

It was Love’s first round victory and the first clean sweep of a Carrera Cup round this year – the win also delivered Sonic Motor Racing their first round win since 2019.

“I’m over the moon to be honest – we had some awesome pace in practice, then getting pole by a really good margin was nice. Then to go away and win three from three and do it not comfortably, but really smoothly, I couldn’t be happier. It’s all credit to the Sonic team

Liam Talbot heads the Pro-Am battle pack ahead of overall Pro-Am winner Sam Shahin.

– it’s been a long time coming and I’m just happy that we made it work and that we got it done this weekend,” said Love.

A consistent weekend saw Dylan O’Keeffe finish second overall to claim his third podium finish of the year so far, and firmly inject himself into the championship fight aboard his Dexion entry. David Russell was third overall, claiming the 12th podium finish of his Carrera Cup career and second of the 2022 season.

Key title contenders endured challenging weekends with both leader Harri Jones and second-placed David Wall both striking dramas.

The Bend’s Morris Pro-Am fight went the way of local hero Sam Shahin, who won the round ahead of Adrian Flack and Dean Cook.

“It was exciting, but not what you want to see in any form of racing, I hope Liam (Talbot) is ok – it was just really unfortunate the angle at which his front wheel hit mine. Again, I just hope he’s ok – I was glad when I saw him get out of the car. Personally, I’m just so thrilled after having a tough qualifying and to finally get a good result at The Bend,” Shahin confirmed.

However, almost every key contender in the class had dramas throughout the weekend in one of the most unpredictable rounds in the Pro-Am class history. Bruce Williams POINTS AFTER 5 ROUNDS 1​ Harri Jones ​605 2 ​David Wall ​574 3 ​Dylan O’Keeffe​ 559 4 ​David Russell​ 488 5 ​Aaron Love​ 422 PRO-AM​ 1​ Sam Shahin​ 603 2​ Dean Cook​ 595 3 ​Geoff Emery ​589

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Supercars RACE REPORT Round 8 – THE BEND

Who’s ‘dat in disguise on pole? Apart from Van Gisbergen’s regular win, the big talking point at The Bend was the performance of wildcard rookie Zak Best (78). By Sunday there were a few more stickers on the car .... Images: Motorsport Images

SVG’S RAMPANT SUPERSPRINT SWEEP

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN LEFT TOWNSVILLE WITH TWO WINS FROM TWO STARTS, AND HIS RETURN TO THE BEND FOR THE SUPERCARS OTR SUPERSPRINT WOULD NET HIM A FURTHER HAT-TRICK OF VICTORIES. WITH THREE MORE WINS, HE EXTENDED HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD, AND SEALED HOLDENS LAST MANUFACTURER’S TITLE BEFORE THE ADVENT OF GEN3.

By Timothy Neal THE BEND’S high-load corners on a predominantly right-handed circuit would dictate terms for the teams to set-up on the super soft tyres, used over the three 24 lap races ran over the weekend, in the onestop Sprint format.

The weather was predicted to act up and it did so in Race 3, with Supercars seeing its first wet-weather laps of the 2022 season.

The pre-race talk was the potential for the continued dominance of the Mustangs at The Bend, having won 10 of the last 11 races at the circuit. But what culminated was a dominant display of racing from championship bolter Shane van Gisbergen, proving he can do it come rain or shine.

His ability to apply constant pressure in the hunt for clean air has set him apart from the pack.

Oh… and a young wildcard rookie sensation from Benalla managed to get on pole for race one.

THE FIRST practice laps saw Broc Feeney outpace his Tripe Eight teammate, van Gisbergen, by just 0.14s whilst the two

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wildcards Zak Best and Jordan Boys both came within 0.2s of Feeney’s time. It was the first time in Feeney’s fledgling career that he has topped any Supercars session.

The second practice had the two combatants from the final stages of Townsville, Anton de Pasquale and van Gisbergen, on top, with the latter nabbing him by just 0.1037s.

Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert rounded out a top four, separated by just 0.15s – with that quartet having won 19 of the 20 races so far this year.

Enter rookie Zak Best.

Best chipped away throughout the first qualifying session to post a 01:47.8168, coming in 0.02s faster than a late charging van Gisbergen, who lit up each proceeding sector with Best watching on from the shed, but fell just short of robbing the 20yo of a remarkable maiden pole.

Few expected that the Mustang of Best would be the one bolting to the front row.

Jordan Boys, the other wildcard, finished qualifying in P17.

It was a stunning result for the young wildcard driver in the almost all-black stealth of the Tickford Mustang, with the pit lane erupting in high fives and celebratory

scenes over the unexpected coup.

However, the result was put under scrutiny by several team owners and managers who expressed some concern

over the legitimacy of the result for Best and, for that matter Jordan Boys, who had also qualified extremely well in front of many regular Supercar drivers.Speculation

Familiar post-race image – SVG’s lead in the championship is now out to demoralising proportions.

Third on Saturday was the best it would be for Mostert – an unintentional tap earning him a 15-sedond penalty in Sunday’s wet race.

Below left: JC, back on the podium ...

Below right: Zak who? Zak Best, mate – Saturday’s pole winner!

Bottom: Best made the best of pole and showed the champ the way for a while ... soon turned to confirmation that indeed the two wild card entries had been given different batched ‘Supersoft’ Dunlop tyres for the weekend (see news pages).

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said a shocked Best.

“I don’t really know what to say. We did the best we could.

“Had a big go into Turn 1 ... we were losing a bit to Cam. Had a look, pieced it all together finally, and it was good enough for the pole.”

RACE 1

Race 1 witnessed the first of van Gisbergen’s three victories, displaying the calculating racecraft that sets the championship leader apart – but Best’s performance meant he could leave The Bend with his head held high.

Best then came under more scrutiny, this time from Race Control, as they looked over a possible rolling start in a touch-andgo decision in the eventual favour of Best.

Waters jumped into second, whilst Best was harangued for the lead when he was given the all clear from Race Control.

There was close racing between the top three as Waters pushed up hard on the Benalla youngster, whilst van Gisbergen waited patiently for his opportunity to make a lunging pass on Waters into second.

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While van Gisbergen was held up in third, Davison tried for an undercut by pitting first, coming out 21 seconds in arrears of the race leader, which by that time was van Gisbergen.

Davison’s move could’ve worked in his favour if it weren’t for van Gisbergen taking advantage of the clean air and posting lap after lap of best times.

Best showed good poise aside from a Turn 6 lockup that almost lost him the lead, but the constant threat and hunting from the #97 behind him proved too much to hold off, losing his hard fought lead on lap 11.

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Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 20, coming out with fresh rears 3.1s ahead of Davidson’s attempted undercut, romping home comfortably with Mostert in third, in front of Waters and Best; the wildcard pole getter just 10.863s off the lead.

SUNDAY’S PACKED schedule began with talk of rain, as the forecast predicted a storm to roll in at some point.

The storm came early in the form of a Waters double pole, meaning the Mustangs would take all three race poles for the weekend after Best’s shock Q1 steal.

RACE 2

The second race would see a Tickford front row lockout, with Waters (01:48.3481) and Thomas Randle (+0.0771) topping van Gisbergen (+0.2328) in third with James Courtney sharing the second row.

The two back-to-back 10 minute qualifiers were dominated by Waters, who beat his own Q2 lap time for Race 3, coming in ahead of Anton de Pasquale (+0.0388) and van Gisbergen again, who would this time share the second row with teammate Broc Feeney.

The start of Race 2 was marred by a massive crash on the starting grid when

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Supercars RACE REPORT Round 8 – THE BEND

A superb qualifying effort from Thomas Randle – P2 – wasn’t rewarded after the Castrol Mustang stalled on the line ...

Below right: The impact from behind, by Heimgartner’s car, hurled the Mustang into the concrete.

Bottom: Sunday’s rain brought with it the certain inevitability of an SVG win – but he had to work really hard to get past and away from Cam Waters’ Monster car ...

Randle stalled up-front, causing a blindsighted Andre Heimgartner to smash into the back of Randle’s Mustang at near 150kph, with Nick Percat also involved (see news story).

Both drivers were sent to hospital and later deemed to be okay, but their day was in the can, the race resuming at a shortened 18 laps with Waters alone up front.

At the restart, Mostert’s sensational cross grid swoop saw him move from fifth into first, putting Waters back into fifth.

Eight teams pitted early in the shortened race in a bid for early undercuts as the leading pack broke clear.

Some pit lane drama caused Scott Pye to get banged up by Lee Holdsworth, who incurred a 15 second penalty for an early release, clipping the left side of Pye’s #20 Commodore in his 300th race.

By the time Mostert pitted and came out, van Gisbergen had slingshotted himself 23s into the lead, 1.615s ahead of Waters and Reynolds.

The runaway leader finally pitted with one lap remaining, re-entering the field

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0.993s up on Mostert and pulling away for a 2.573s victory and a 105 point championship lead.

Tickford would be disappointed with a podium third after their front row lockout, but it was a good drive from James Courtney (+3.493) with Waters and de Pasquale taking fourth and fifth.

RACE 3

The rains came for Race 3 – and van Gisbergen again proved he can drive in anything.

With the heavens finally opening and a huge oil slick in front of Waters from the crash in the preceding race, the Safety Car

Heimgartner (left) was fortunate to emerge from the startline shunt without more serious injury. Above: SVG and Waters put on a stunning Race 3 contest.

Below: Has it really been that long? Yes – 300 starts for Scott Pye. Bottom: The DJR Mustangs were missing just a couple of tenths this time.

QUALIFYING RACE 21 Pos Driver 1 Zak Best 2 Shane van Gisbergen 3 Cam Waters 4 Chaz Mostert 5 Anton De Pasquale 6 Will Davison 7 Broc Feeney 8 David Reynolds 9 Nick Percat 10 Will Brown 11 Thomas Randle 12 Mark Winterbottom 13 Brodie Kostecki 14 Andre Heimgartner 15 Scott Pye 16 James Courtney 17 Jordan Boys 18 Lee Holdsworth 19 Bryce Fullwood 20 Jake Kostecki 21 Todd Hazelwood 22 Chris Pither 23 James Golding 24 Jack Le Brocq 25 Tim Slade 26 Macauley Jones 27 Jack Smith

RESULTS RACE 21 24LAPS ( 108.8KMS) Time 1:47.8168 +0.0223 +0.1219 +0.1900 +0.3240 +0.4923 +0.5706 +0.6265 +0.6268 +0.9781 +0.8227 +0.8601 +0.8643 +0.8873 +0.9031 +1.0273 +1.1076 +1.2553 +1.3171 +1.3230 +1.5515 +1.6315 +1.6705 +1.7100 +2.0225 +2.4161 +2.5691

QUALIFYING RACE 22 Pos Driver 1 Cam Waters 2 Thomas Randle 3 Shane van Gisbergen 4 James Courtney 5 Anton De Pasquale 6 Chaz Mostert 7 Broc Feeney 8 Mark Winterbottom 9 Bryce Fullwood 10 Lee Holdsworth 11 Will Brown 12 Andre Heimgartner 13 David Reynolds 14 Nick Percat 15 Brodie Kostecki 16 Zak Best 17 Chris Pither 18 Jordan Boys 19 James Golding 20 Jack Le Brocq 21 Scott Pye 22 Todd Hazelwood 23 Will Davison 24 Jake Kostecki 25 Macauley Jones 26 Jack Smith 27 Tim Slade

Pos Drivers 1 Shane van Gisbergen 2 Will Davison 3 Chaz Mostert 4 Cam Waters 5 Zak Best 6 Brodie Kostecki 7 Broc Feeney 8 David Reynolds 9 Anton De Pasquale 10 Andre Heimgartner 11 Thomas Randle 12 Scott Pye 13 Nick Percat 14 James Courtney 15 Lee Holdsworth 16 Mark Winterbottom 17 Bryce Fullwood 18 Todd Hazelwood 19 James Golding 20 Will Brown 21 Jack Le Brocq 22 Macauley Jones 23 Tim Slade 24 Chris Pither 25 Jordan Boys 26 Jack Smith 27 Jake Kostecki

Laps 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24

Race time 45:08.7761 45:10.9989 45:12.8649 45:19.2314 45:19.6394 45:20.2044 45:20.5405 45:22.0698 45:22.4994 45:23.2573 45:25.8930 45:26.9340 45:28.9131 45:29.5169 45:29.7944 45:33.4895 45:33.8254 45:33.8775 45:34.6622 45:40.0799 45:40.9983 45:41.0567 45:41.8092 45:43.9194 45:44.2058 45:47.5070 46:14.0967

s1 s4 s1 t-1 t-4 s7 – – t-4 s4 s3 t-4 s2 s3 t-4 s2 s3 s4 t-10 s3 s4 s2 t-2 t-8 s1 t-8

RESULTS RACE 22 18LAPS (89KMS) RACE LAPS REDUCED Time 1:48.3481 +0.0771 +0.2328 +0.3279 +0.4875 +0.6069 +0.6138 +0.6960 +0.7383 +0.7857 +0.7963 +0.8154 +0.8391 +0.8634 +0.8809 +0.9548 +1.0609 +1.0768 +1.1067 +1.1152 +1.1794 +1.2651 +1.4004 +1.4301 +1.5270 +1.7096 +1.8044

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Pos Drivers Laps Race time 1 Shane van Gisbergen 18 34:00.4156 2 Chaz Mostert 18 34:02.9892 3 James Courtney 18 34:03.9092 4 Cam Waters 18 34:04.7192 5 Anton De Pasquale 18 34:08.2651 6 Broc Feeney 18 34:08.7932 7 Will Brown 18 34:12.7056 8 David Reynolds 18 34:12.8350 9 Mark Winterbottom 18 34:20.4533 10 Bryce Fullwood 18 34:21.1617 11 Jordan Boys 18 34:21.7559 12 Chris Pither 18 34:22.7487 13 Will Davison 18 34:22.8879 14 Macauley Jones 18 34:25.7370 15 Jack Le Brocq 18 34:26.2458 16 Tim Slade 18 34:27.0837 17 Todd Hazelwood 18 34:28.1902 18 Jake Kostecki 18 34:30.1676 19 Zak Best 18 34:30.6078 20 Scott Pye 18 34:33.3002 21 Jack Smith 18 34:37.9299 22 Lee Holdsworth 18 34:43.7417 23 James Golding 18 35:28.1377 24 Brodie Kostecki 18 34:36.8512 DNS Thomas Randle DNS Andre Heimgartner DNS Nick Percat

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ran until lap three, in what was unexplored territory for teams and drivers in this 2022 season.

The slippery conditions provided some thrilling doorto-door stuff, with cagey drivers testing their grip in little skirmishes all throughout the field causing plenty of cars to slide off track throughout.

Feeney took it up to his teammate as just 0.551 seconds split the top five, with van Gisbergen in that group, hanging back and looking for gaps.

When Feeney and Davison touched, sending both off track, Waters was left to deal with van Gisbergen and the two traded places several times.

Davison recovered well after a relatively tough day and fought his way back into a good position.

The relentless pressure up ahead caused Waters to brake wide on lap 10, opening the gap, which saw a 3s lead open up for the champion by lap 13.

Young Zak Best had his day prematurely ended by a “broken windshield wiper”, but after a pole, a fifth, and a 19th, the Bustler from Benalla looks to have bright days ahead.

With the wild conditions, and Best driving in the only QUALIFYING RACE 23

s2 s4 s1 t-3 – s1 s4 s5 t-1 t-1 s7 s5 s10 s11 s5 s11 s5 s6 t-3 s1 s5 t-12 t-4 t-9 t-23 t-14 t-13

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 Cam Waters Anton De Pasquale Shane van Gisbergen Broc Feeney James Courtney Will Brown Zak Best Thomas Randle Chaz Mostert Will Davison Bryce Fullwood Mark Winterbottom Andre Heimgartner Lee Holdsworth Brodie Kostecki James Golding Nick Percat Jack Le Brocq Jake Kostecki Todd Hazelwood Jordan Boys Scott Pye Jack Smith Macauley Jones Chris Pither Tim Slade David Reynolds

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car available for Randle at Sandown, it may have been an astute move from the Tickford hierarchy.

By lap 23, 11 cars had yet to pit, and when the front three of van Gisbergen, Waters, and Brodie Kostecki went in, they came back out ahead and in that order to finish the race off.

Davison deserved his fourth spot, and Feeney (+31.832) rounded out the top five.

The drivers who finished top 10 certainly earned it, but the 8.710 difference between first and second was indicative of the weekend’s events.

That hat-trick of wins took the defending champion into a commanding 354 point lead, and gave Holden it’s final manufactures title, historically freezing its dominance over Ford with a 15-8 tally since it was first awarded in 1999.

The Supercars head to Sandown on August 19-21 for another SuperSprint, where van Gisbergen could match Craig Lowndes’ record of eight-straight wins.

With 14 victories this season and 11 races to come, Scott McLaughlin’s season record of 18 victories will also be in the Kiwi champions gunsight.

RESULTS RACE 23 24LAPS (108.8KMS) Time 1:48.3372 +0.0388 +0.0915 +0.1710 +0.2545 +0.2745 +0.2889 +0.3017 +0.3336 +0.4457 +0.5468 +0.5847 +0.5883 +0.6370 +0.6638 +0.7378 +0.7447 +0.8138 +0.8592 +0.8690 +0.8776 +0.9008 +1.1300 +1.1525 +1.1711 +1.2376 +1.4912

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Pos Drivers Laps Race time 1 Shane van Gisbergen 24 56:35.1525 2 Cam Waters 24 56:43.8634 3 Brodie Kostecki 24 56:52.3832 4 Will Davison 24 57:00.6577 5 Broc Feeney 24 57:06.9848 6 Will Brown 24 57:07.7831 7 Anton De Pasquale 24 57:08.0149 8 Chaz Mostert 24 57:08.4935 9 Nick Percat 24 57:09.9821 10 Lee Holdsworth 24 57:13.5659 11 Tim Slade 24 57:21.6622 12 James Courtney 24 57:22.5608 13 Scott Pye 24 57:23.0414 14 James Golding 24 57:24.5326 15 Mark Winterbottom 24 57:25.0180 16 Jordan Boys 24 57:35.0830 17 Bryce Fullwood 24 57:56.5761 18 Chris Pither 24 58:21.1448 19 Jack Smith 23 56:45.8542 20 Macauley Jones 23 57:12.8094 21 Todd Hazelwood 23 57:21.2183 22 David Reynolds 20 56:37.3926 NC Jake Kostecki 17 58:01.9079 NC Jack Le Brocq 5 14:53.5738 NC Zak Best 5 15:05.4253 DNS Thomas Randle DNS Andre Heimgartner

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER ROUND 8 s3 t-1 s3 s6 t-1 – t-5 s1 s8 s4 s15 t-7 s9 s2 t-3 s5 t-6 s7 s4 s4 t-1 s5 t-4 t-6 t-18 t-18 t-14

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 28 29

Driver Shane van Gisbergen Cameron Waters Anton De Pasquale Will Davison Chaz Mostert Broc Feeney David Reynolds Brodie Kostecki Andre Heimgartner Tim Slade James Courtney Mark Winterbottom Lee Holdsworth William Brown Nick Percat Todd Hazelwood Jack Le Brocq Bryce Fullwood Scott Pye Macauley Jones Chris Pither Jake Kostecki Thomas Randle Jack Smith Garry Jacobson James Golding Jordan Boys Zak Best Jayden Ojeda

Points 2196 1803 1801 1737 1540 1463 1380 1279 1210 1193 1191 1129 1084 1066 1024 996 833 830 820 803 727 721 721 658 513 176 168 162 150

s1 t-1 s1 t-1 s1 t-1 s1 t-1 s2 t-2 s2 s1 t-3

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WORLD RALLY CHAMIOPSHIP

TANAK BREAKS HYUNDAI DROUGHT REPORT: Josh Nevett Images: Motorsport Images FORMER WORLD Rally Champion Ott Tanak returned to winning ways with a convincing victory in Finland, denying runaway championship leader Kalle Rovanpera a second win this season.

Tanak led from Stage 2 onwards, holding hometown hero Rovanpera at bay to win by 6.8s.

In taking victory, Tanak broke a Finland hoodoo for his team Hyundai Motorsport, giving the squad its first win in the nation.

“This is a special victory,” Tanak said.

“There have been quite a few wins in my career, but this is definitely up there with the best. We started the rally at the front and that’s when we were able to take the advantage.

“There was always quite a lot of pressure from behind. We had some very strong competitors coming from behind. Finns and Toyota is not an easy package to beat.

“We didn’t think we would have any chance to be competitive here, so it has taken us by surprise.”

While Tanak was commanding through the majority of the rally, the opening speed test went to his teammate Thierry Neuville who claimed a 1.2s advantage on the first night.

However, that ascendency quickly whittled away, the 34-year-old Tanak showing superior speed throughout the second day.

Friday began with a bang, as youngster Oliver Solberg rolled his Hyundai on the very first corner of the day. The machine sustained roll cage damage, ruling him out of the rest of the event.

Meanwhile, Tanak bested Esapekka Lappi by 2.7s on the opening stage of the day before protecting his advantage over the 21.69km Lankamaa section, going on to build a 6.2s lead by the midpoint of the day.

Surprisingly, Tanak complained of setup issues and poor handling throughout, however he utilised his experience and executed calculated risks to cancel out any

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deficit in car performance.

Lappi, who has tasted the ultimate success in Finland previously, made his charge on the second afternoon, winning three stages to pull within 4s of his rival.

Behind the two leaders, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Elfyn Evans made solid progress to reach service in third, 12.2s in arrears. Close behind him was teammate Rovanpera, who struggled for traction on the loose gravel of his home nation.

Irishman Craig Breen was over 1m further back in fifth, leading the way for M-Sport.

After showing early promise, Neuville dropped back to seventh in his Hyundai, hampered by setup drama.

Wet conditions on Saturday changed the complexion of the rally, bringing likely Champion Rovanpera into contention.

While Tanak extended his lead to 9.5s over Lappi, 21-year-old Finn Rovanpera surged to within 3.4s of the latter, gaining 12.9s on Tanak with two stage wins.

Evans rounded out a tightly bunched top four, dropping behind Rovanpera.

The afternoon brought more of the same for Rovanpera, who added three further stage wins in his GR Yaris to surge into second position just 8.6s behind Tanak.

Lappi ended the day 26.8s further back in third after he was forced to manage a cracked windscreen which greatly reduced visibility.

The Toyota of Evans also ended the day in sub-par condition, suspension damage on the penultimate stage slowing the machine.

Breen was forced to retire from fifth position after a rock hit detached the rear wheel from his Puma.

No such issues would confront Tanak on Sunday, as he held his nerve to finish 6.8s clear of Rovanpera.

The latter steerer, despite failing to complete his second hat-trick of the season, extended his championship lead to 94 points after eight rounds. Rovanpera’s Toyota Gazoo Racing squad also moved further ahead in

Rovanpera pushed hard, but had to give best to Tanak.

Top: Tanak flew, and led from Stage 2 onwards, impressing the locals (below).

the manufacturers’ standings, leaving Finland with an 88-point advantage over Hyundai Motorsport.

Lappi completed the podium 1m 13.9s off the pace, overcoming a roll during Stage 21 which cracked the radiator of his Toyota and left him with no front windscreen.

Evans was 16.9s off a podium spot, also forced to engage in repair work throughout the event.

Neuville scored fifth after a tough weekend in which he never threatened to challenge, dropping to third in the championship standings as a result.

STANDINGS AFTER 8 ROUNDS 1 Rovanpera 198 2 Tanak 104 3 Neuville 103 4 Evans 94 5 Katsuta 81

INDYCARS

DIXON WINS THRILLING NASHVILLE SHOWDOWN OVER COMPATRIOT KIWI SCOTT DIXON stormed home on Sunday, taking out a typically eventful IndyCar Nashville street race, dragging home pole getter Scott McLaughlin on the final corner to take his 53rd career victory.

Dixon’s second victory for the year puts him five points over Marcus Ericsson in second, and just seven points off Aussie speedster Will Power for the overall championship lead.

McLaughlin went into the race with the poisoned chalice that is pole position this season, with just one driver winning from pole all year – which ironically was McLaughlin himself in the first race of the season.

“If we had one more lap, I was alongside of him so I think I would have passed him and I would’ve won the race,” McLaughlin said dejectedly.

“We were 16th on the last pit exchange and we had a good competitive car today, but congrats to Scotty. I always dreamed of racing him to the finish and that was a proper duel.

“It’s why I love IndyCar – it’s the best racing in the world.”

The race involved eight cautions all up, meaning it was hard for drivers to get into a constant rhythm, with plenty of cars and egos getting bent out of shape.

All up, there were 36 laps completed under the caution flags and one red flag occurring with just four laps remaining when Josef Newgarden squeezed Romain Grosjean into the wall, taking out the Frenchman’s front right corner.

Dixon kept his head down through all the carnage to come from P14, showing that this year’s title race is one of the most unpredictable in recent history.

Kiwis rampant ... Dixon (above) just held out compatriot McLaughlin (below) after a late red-flag restart. Images: Motosport Images

Newgarden was briefly holding the lead in both the race and championship until a pit stop with 14 laps to go ended his hopes of victory, finishing an eventful P6 after leading for 12 laps.

With just 17 laps to go, the race was flagged when the well performed rookies in David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood speared each other, bringing the field back together in what was a day of big hits in Nashville.

Earlier, Alex Palou had the biggest lead of the day having held the position for 31 laps altogether, but when Takuma Sato and

Devlin Franceso ran each other off the road, leading to an exchange of words on track, it brought the pack back to Palou.

Palou kept the lead on the lap 40 restart until a busy pit stop for the entire top group on lap 54 put Newgarden into the lead.

NASHVILLE RESULTS 1.

Scott Dixon 02:06:24.2439 2. Scott McLaughlin 02:06:24.3506 3. Alex Palou 02:06:24.8539 4. Alexander Rossi 02:06:25.1851 5. Colton Herta 02:06:25.6381

Grosjean could only manage a P16 after a promising qualifying, starting the race on the front row.

He held second until the 22nd lap, and wouldn’t get back up the field in a drama filled day of stops and starts, which included his own incident with Newgarden in the back end of the race.

Dixon’s eventual victory means that he sits second of all-time in IndyCar victories, breaking the equal tie with Mario Andretti.

A.J Foyt still holds the record with 67 career victories, and Dixon will be hoping to emulate his record of seven championships by winning this year’s title.

With just three races to go in the season, the top of the table is just a victory apart from Alex Palou in fifth, with Pato O’Ward and McLaughlin just 10 and 11 points back in sixth and seventh.

Will Power could only manage P12 overall, missing out the chance to add some valuable points to his slender grip on the title. T Neal CHAMPIONSHIP 1. Will Power 2. Scott Dixon 3. Marcus Ericsson 4. Josef Newgarden 5. Alex Palou

450 443 438 427 414

ROSSI BREAKS INDYCAR DROUGHT WITH POWER TAKING CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD ALEXANDER ROSSI (pictured) captured his first IndyCar victory in 1,133 days after taking out last week’s IndyCar GP at the Indianapolis Speedway.

A 49-race winless drought ended with his eight career win, finishing 3.5441s ahead of Danish rookie Christian Lundgaard for a Honda one-two.

Aussie Will Power could claim something of a victory, starting in P4 and finishing in third – but that doesn’t tell the story of dropping back into P16 after a terrible start which saw him shunted about, to go to the back of the starting pack.

The podium importantly got him the overall championship lead, with four races remaining.

“You can never expect a normal day in IndyCar. Everyone is very aggressive, and it’s so hard to win in this series. It’s the toughest series in the world. It’s amazing we can go back there and recover all the way to third,” Power said after the race.

It was an unlucky day for young gun Colton

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Herta, who took the lead on lap eight from pole-getter Felix Rosenqvist, before suffering a mechanical failure and losing drive on L42, which saw his team-mate Rossi take the lead all the way to the chequered flag.

After starting in P9, Herta was looking the goods, but after coasting into the pit lane on lap 42, his promising day was over.

“I do feel for Colton, I think he was definitely strong. We had pretty much the same race car…but it was the 27’s turn today,” said Rossi of his teammate’s misfortune.

Scott Dixon, the other Antipodean in the race, managed to come in P8, ahead of Rosenqvist, Alex Palou, and former championship leader, Marcus Ericsson.

In an extremely close season, this race saw the top five only separated by less than one race worth of points from Power to Palou. T Neal

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Formula 1 Round 13 Circuit Hungaroring, Hungary GP

IT WOULD BE RUDE TO TURN DOWN A GIFT…

By LUIS VASCONCELOS Images Motorsport Images

MAX VERSTAPPEN has gone into the summer break 80 points in the lead of the World Championship and such is his advantage that all he needs to secure the title is to finish the last nine races of the season in second place, even if closest ‘challenger’ Charles Leclerc wins them all.

This mean’s the Monegasque and Ferrari’s fate is no longer in their hands, and the reality is that they can only blame themselves for being in such a difficult position when they’ve had the faster car for a while …

Like in France, Red Bull did all the right things but Verstappen would have never won the Hungarian Grand Prix hadn’t Ferrari gifted him a golden opportunity to score his eight win of the season.

After the unexpected defeat in the French Grand Prix, where an untypical Leclerc mistake took a likely win away, Team Principal Mattia Binotto boldly stated that, “we’re not going to Hungary with the target of winning the race, we’re going there to secure a one-two finish!” And based on what was seen in practice, that target was completely within the Scuderia’s reach, regardless of whether there would be rain on Sunday or if we’d get a fully dry race.

And while there were persistent light showers dropping in different parts of the Hungaroring at different moments of the race, the Hungarian Grand Prix was a ‘slicks only’ 70-lap race, so there were stable weather conditions throughout – stable weather conditions that included much lower track temperatures than the ones experienced on Friday, the only day the cars had run with slicks before the race – 23º Celsius, against 46º Celsius during FP2 when the long runs were done.

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Surprised by George Russell’s last run in Q3, that earned the Brit his first ever pole position in Formula One, Ferrari had Carlos Sainz second on the grid, ahead of Leclerc while, to make the situation even rosier for the Scuderia, the situation after qualifying looked hopeless for Red Bull. Pérez was off the pace, in P11, but Verstappen was just one place ahead, a PU-related problem on his final Q3 run, after running wide in Turn 2 on the first one, putting an end to his hopes. Russell’s pole aside, things could have hardly looked better for the Scuderia.

And yet, it was Verstappen who won again. Neither of the Ferrari drivers finished on the podium and Leclerc was a frustrated sixth after a disastrous strategy call by his team.

At the start, Sainz nearly got by Russell but had to settle for second and soon it was clear his team-mate had more pace.

While both were on Medium tyres against the Mercedes’ softs, the Spaniard was unable to get within DRS range, so when Russell pitted on lap 16, Ferrari called Sainz in a lap later, but a slow stop kept him behind the English driver. With a free

track, Leclerc pushed hard for four laps before putting another set of Mediums on his F1-75, returning to the track still behind Russell but, crucially, ahead of his team mate.

Leclerc pulled off an amazing move on Russell, on lap 31, around the outside into Turn 1 that put him in control of the race – the win looked to be his.

That was without counting on Ferrari sticking to a plan that could never work in the cold conditions on Sunday. With Verstappen scything through the field, and once the Ducthman did his last stop, for Medium tyres, on lap 38, the Scuderia reacted the following lap by putting Leclerc on Hards, after two stints on Mediums. Clearly, he wasn’t a happy man: “My pace on the mediums was very good; the tyres were holding on pretty welI, so I made it clear that I wanted to keep them on as long as possible, but we pitted very early for the Hard, which we need to understand why.”

What Leclerc wanted what was Sainz got – to extend his stint enough to put Soft tyres on for the last 20 laps. Given he was already 6.8s ahead of his team-mate

Happy days for Verstappen, (left) after being gifted another 25 points.

All smiles for George (right) after a superb first-ever F1 pole shocked Ferrari.

and had better pace, that looked like it would have been the winning strategy…

But Team Principal Mattia Binotto disagreed, refusing to acknowledge mistakes had been made and insisting that, “what we need to understand is why the car didn’t have the pace in any compound, after being so competitive on Friday. We didn’t have the pace to win today, regardless of the strategy, and that’s what we have to understand.”

Losing positions to Verstappen and Russell, Leclerc pitted in desperation for Softs with 16 laps to go but didn’t make progress and finished sixth. On the other side of the barricade, Verstappen, who spun immediately after passing his rival on lap 41, only to re-pass him three laps later, couldn’t believe what he had just achieved: “I think nobody really expected this. We said to each other that we have to remain calm before the race and I think we did that. We made all the right calls in the race. It was a bit hectic for me in the first lap, getting a bit boxed in and staying out of trouble. But after that, we had a few overtakes and then we pitted it at the right time, we put the right tyres on the

,

Opposite top: Good pit work ... but the wrong tyre choice ruined Leclerc’s day. Top left: How does this guy keep smiling when his McLaren teammate keeps beating him (and the following day’s news suggested his drive is at risk!)? Top right: The Haas team has its supporters ... Above: Russell defended strongly into Turn 1 and led early, but Lewis’ tyre strategy (below) worked out better. car. I think that was the most important thing today, to have the grip. I think that final stop was very good, at the time we planned it. And then I basically saw that Charles was struggling a lot on the Hard tyre, so that was my moment to try and attack him. I got him and then I spun, did a 360, lost the position again. But then we just kept our heads down and got him back again, pulled a gap and basically managed that to the end, because it started to drizzle as well. And no more risks to take and just bring it home.”

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Especially when you don’t over complicate your life as Ferrari keeps on doing since the fourth race of the season…

QUALIFYING RACE 13

MERCEDES SHINES AND HELPS … RED BULL Given the animosity that persists at top management level between Mercedes and Red Bull, the last thing Toto Wolff would want would be to help Verstappen to a second title, but in Budapest his drivers finished ahead of both Ferraris, helping the Dutchman to extend his lead in the championship.

After a dreadful Friday and a difficult run in wet conditions in FP3, Mercedes finally turned the corner for qualifying, with Russell’s sensational last lap earning him a stunning first pole. What’s more, had Hamilton’s car not suffered a DRS activation failure, the seven-times World Champion would have likely got pole, as

RESULTS RACE 13 70LAPS CIRCUIT HUNGARORING

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 13 Pos Driver

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Make

1

George Russell

1:17.377

1

Max Verstappen

RED BULL RACING RBPT

70 1:39:35.912 s9

1

Max Verstappen

258

-

2

Carlos Sainz

1:17.421

2

Lewis Hamilton

MERCEDES

70

+7.834s s5

2

Charles Leclerc

178

-

3

Charles Leclerc

1:17.567

3

George Russell

MERCEDES

70 +12.337s t-1

3

Sergio Perez

173

-

4

Lando Norris

1:17.769

4

Carlos Sainz

FERRARI

70 +14.579s t-2

4

George Russell

158 s1

5

Esteban Ocon

1:18.018

5 Sergio Perez

RED BULL RACING RBPT

70 +15.688s s6

5

Carlos Sainz

156 t-1

6

Fernando Alonso

1:18.078

6 Charles Leclerc

FERRARI

70 +16.047s t-3

6

Lewis Hamilton

146

-

7

Lewis Hamilton

1:18.142

7

MCLAREN MERCEDES

70 +78.300s t-3

7

Lando Norris

76

-

8

Valtteri Bottas

1:18.157

8 Fernando Alonso

ALPINE RENAULT

69

+1 lap t-2

8

Esteban Ocon

58

-

9

Daniel Ricciardo

1:18.379

9

ALPINE RENAULT

69

+1 lap t-4

9

Valtteri Bottas

46

-

10 Max Verstappen

1:18.823

10 Sebastian Vettel

ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 69

+1 lap s8

10 Fernando Alonso

41

-

11

1:18.516

11 Lance Stroll

ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 69

+1 lap s3

11

Kevin Magnussen 22

-

12 Zhou Guanyu

1:18.573

12 Pierre Gasly

ALPHATAURI RBPT

69

+1 lap s7

12 Daniel Ricciardo

19

-

13 Kevin Magnussen

1:18.825

13 Zhou Guanyu

ALFA ROMEO FERRARI

69

+1 lap t-1

13 Pierre Gasly

16

-

14 Lance Stroll

1:19.137

14 Mick Schumacher HAAS FERRARI

69

+1 lap s1

14 Sebastian Vettel

16

-

15 Mick Schumacher

1:19.202

15 Daniel Ricciardo

69

+1 lap t-6

15 Mick Schumacher

12

-

16 Yuki Tsunoda

1:19.240

16 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI

69

+1 lap t-3

16 Yuki Tsunoda

11

-

17 Alexander Albon

1:19.256

17 Alexander Albon

WILLIAMS MERCEDES

69

+1 lap

17 Zhou Guanyu

5

-

18 Sebastian Vettel

1:19.273

18 Nicholas Latifi

WILLIAMS MERCEDES

69

+1 lap s2

18 Lance Stroll

4

-

19 Pierre Gasly

1:19.527

19 Yuki Tsunoda

ALPHATAURI RBPT

68

+2 laps t-3

19 Alexander Albon

3

-

20 Nicholas Latifi

1:19.570

20 Valtteri Bottas

ALFA ROMEO FERRARI

65

DNF t-12

20 Nicholas Latifi

0

-

Sergio Perez

Lando Norris Esteban Ocon

Laps

MCLAREN MERCEDES

Margin

-

Points

Note - Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Ricciardo received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.

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he’d been a whiff faster than his teammate since the start of qualifying. As it was, he lined up seventh on the grid – but the best was yet to come.

Russell: “I knew my Soft tyres wouldn’t last as much as the Ferrari’s Mediums but there were spots of rain early on and that played into my hands. However, the showers stopped, and they were faster than me. We covered Carlos in the first pit stop but Charles was way too quick on the second set and I couldn’t hold him. My car was never as quick on Mediums as it been on Softs, which is why Lewis, on a different strategy, easily got past me in the end and while this double podium is great for the team, when you start from pole position there’s only satisfying race result – winning it ...”

Hamilton, for his part, was delighted with P2, his ability to keep his tyres alive while lapping as quick or quicker than his rivals being the key to his performance. As he admitted: “I would say going longer in that second stint, giving me the option to then go to the softer tyre at the end, was the key. That offset that I enabled myself to get. I think probably the race was lost probably with the first stint, with that Medium tyre, but then towards the second and the third part, the race was pretty epic.”

And he couldn’t help looking at his qualifying mishap, without which he believed a win could have been on the cards: “We would definitely have been closer to Max, I would have thought.

Maybe I wouldn’t have been able to go the same distance on those tyres. And who knows? But if we had started where I think we probably should have started, without the problem yesterday, I think then we would have been in a much better place to race Max today. ”

NORRIS AHEAD OF THE INTERNAL BATTLES The fact the Hungaroring is not a circuit where drivers can make huge differences – no really fast corners for that – meant team mates were closely matched for most of the weekend and, in Alpine and Aston Martin’s case, too close for comfort at different stages of the race.

Having only opened a gap to Ricciardo in Q3, when things started to go wrong for the Australian, Norris was immune to such problems, in spite of being “quite disappointed my Soft tyres started to go after just six laps”, as he told us at the end of the race. The early stop put him in traffic, but on new tyres Norris passed everyone still on the same set they’d started the race with, and from then on only had to nurture the remaining two sets of tyres to end up a lonely seventh, one minute behind the top six and last of those who weren’t lapped.

For Alpine ,the nervousness started as the lights went out, Ocon determined to stay ahead of Alonso after finally outqualifying the Spaniard, and being quite aggressive in his defense. The veteran was on the radio by Turn 2 saying, “never in my life I’ve seen a defence like Esteban’s, never!” More trouble was to come, when the Frenchman, who pitted one lap after his mate, returned to the track right in front of him and on cold tyres. Once again it was Alonso who did all the avoiding, to prevent a crash, with a beaming Daniel Ricciardo getting them both “in what was the only high point of my race, because tyre degradation was horrible today and we don’t understand why.”

That and a penalty for hitting Stroll “not intentional, I just understeered into him”, left him down in 15th place after finishing 13th on the road.

Eventually, having used his Hard compound tyres too hard, Ocon agreed to wave Alonso through, the deal being that if the Spaniard failed to catch and pass Norris, he’d give the position back on the last lap … which he didn’t, securing P8 ahead of his team mate.

Behind them, Aston Martin avoided the Hard tyres like the plague – a smart move, as it turned out – and both Stroll and Vettel moved through the field, the German determined to repay his mechanics for the great job they did getting out for qualifying after his late crash in FP3. Like in France, the four-times World Champion caught his team-mate, only to have the door shut on his face on lap 65, the two having minor contact, before making the decisive move for P10 one lap later, getting the point he felt he was robbed of by Stroll’s brake test on the last corner of the French Grand Prix.

www.autoaction.com.au I 57

Name:

F1 Summer Break Quiz TEST YOUR MOTORSPORT While there is no F1 action on track, complete the F1 crossword on the 20022 season KNOWLEDGE 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

Across 5. W hat is Mick Schumacher’s best result of the season?

7. W ho is the highest placed French driver in the championship? (surname) 8. W ho did not start the race in Saudi Arabia following a crash in qualifying? (surname) 13. F rom how many races has Charles Leclerc retired from the lead?

14. W ho announced in the mid-season break that he will join Aston Martin on a multi-year deal commencing in 2023? (surname) 15. Which champion announced he will retire at season’s end? (surname) 16. W hich driver won the F1 season opener in Bahrain? (surname) 18. L ewis Hamilton has scored how many podiums this season?

22. O f the first 13 races this season, how many has Max Verstappen won?

23. W ho subbed in for Sebastian Vettel when the German had COVID-19? (surname) 24. W ho spectacularly rolled into the catch fencing on the opening lap of the British GP? (surname) 26. A new track joined the calendar earlier this season – where was the race held? (city) 27. What is Lando Norris’ best result this season?

Down 1. A ussie Daniel Ricciardo finished his home grand prix in what position?

2. In what country did Sergio Perez take victory in the first half of the season?

3. Who is the highest placed British driver in the championship? (surname) 4. How many races did Sebastian Vettel miss when he caught COVID? 6. How many times has Daniel Ricciardo finished in the points this season?

8. At what race track did Carlos Sainz score his maiden F1 victory?

9. O ther than Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes, only one other team has scored a podium this season – what team is it?

10. Two tracks have held Sprints; Silverstone was one, what was the other?

11. Charles Leclerc and George Russell were on the Australian Grand Prix podium – who was the other driver? (surname) 12. Since Round 3 in Australia, how many victories has Charles Leclerc taken?

13. How many times have both Mercedes drivers finished on the podium together in 2022?

17. Who is the only driver yet to score a point? (surname) 19. In what country will the next Formula 1 race be held?

20. Who sits seventh in the standings behind the two Red Bulls, Ferraris and Mercedes? (surname) 21. How many races has Charles Leclerc won in 2022?

23. In what country did George Russell score pole position?

25. What is George Russell’s highest placed race finish this year?

Created using the Crossword Maker on TheTeachersCorner.net

#1841 Crossword Answers 1 across – Golding, 2 down – De Pasquale, 3 down – one, 4 across – Wanneroo, 5 down – one, 6 down – Brodie Kostecki, 7 down – fifth, 8 across – Darwin, 9 across – Feeney, 10 down – eighty-eight, Down 11 across – Hidden Valley,of 12the across – two, 13 down – one, 14 down1.– Aussie BRT, 15 across Park, 16 across –his ten,home 17 across – Mostert, down – Davison, 19 across – Mostert, 20 down – two, 21 across – Van Gisbergen, is Mick Schumacher’s best result season?

Daniel– Albert Ricciardo finished grand prix in18what 22 down – eleven, 23 down – Darwin, 24 down – seventh, 25 across – Boys, 26 down – Father, 27 across – Tim Slade, 28 down – six, 29 across – Winton, 30 across – three is the highest placed French driver in the championship? position?

me) did not start the race in Saudi Arabia following a crash in ng? (surname) m how many races has Charles Leclerc retired from the lead? o announced in the off-season that he will join Aston Martin on year deal commencing in 2023? (surname) hampion announced he will retire at season’s end, who ced this? (surname) ch driver won the season opener in Bahrain? (surname) is Hamilton has scored how many podiums this season? he first 13 races this season, how many has Max Verstappen

2. In what country did Sergio Perez take victory in the first half of the season?

3. Who is the highest placed British driver in the championship? (surname) We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago 4. How many races did Sebastian Vettel miss when he caught COVID? 6. How many times has Daniel Ricciardo finished in the points this season?

8. At what race track did Carlos Sainz score his maiden F1 victory?

9. Other than Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes, only one other team has scored a podium this season, what team is it?

10. Two tracks have held Sprints, Silverstone was one, what was the o subbed in for Sebastian Vettel when the German had other?

19? (surname) 11. Charles Leclerc and George Russell were on the Australian Grand o spectacularly rolled into the catch fencing on the opening lap Prix podium, who was the other driver? (surname) 12. Since Round 3 in Australia, how many victories has Charles ritish GP? (surname) ew track joined the calendar earlier this season, where was the Leclerc taken? d? (city) 13. How many times have both Mercedes drivers finished on the at is Lando Norris’ best result this season? podium together in 2022?

17. Who is the only driver yet to score a point? (surname) 19. In what country will the next Formula 1 race be held?

20. Who sits seventh in the standings behind the two Red Bulls, Ferraris and Mercedes? (surname) 21. How many races has Charles Leclerc won in 2022?

23. In what country did George Russell score pole position? is George Russell’s race this year?

1972: ALLAN MOFFAT’S championship hopes 1982: FORMER 1980 F1 25.

WorldWhat Champion 1992: THE NEWhighest Australianplaced Touring Car rulesfinish 2002: THE FUTURE of V8 Supercars was 2012: TESTING FOR Supercars 2013 Car Of The in the Australian Touring Car championship Alan Jones decided to take both his Falcon XE, for the coming 1993 season ended the old set for major shake-up, as team owners and Future (COFT) was declared to be “significantly were dashed after Bob Jane appealed to the and the George Shepheard-owned Mazda RX7 Group A regulations that favoured turboadministrators were split over the sport’s faster” than the category’s current cars, said tribunal over Moffat’s Warwick Farm victory; to the 23rd running of the Bathurst 1000, to charged cars including the Nissan GTR and future. The pressing arguments for the Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup to Auto Moffat’s Mustang had clipped Jane’s Camaro. race whichever proved fastest in the practice the Ford Sierra, opening the way for Aussie Ford vs Holden battleground surrounded Action regarding the first Triple Eight team-built sessions. He and Barry Jones decided on the made V8 powered cars to become the car to come out of the garage. The advent of the Initially Moffat was reprimanded by the technical regulations and team ownership RX7, but failed to finish, with Peter Brock and dominant vehicles. The new regulations would arrangements. Opinions were at loggerheads new 2013 COTF bore a striking resemblance Stewards, but the tribunal found him guilty of Larry Perkins taking it out in their Holden lay the foundations for what would become to the current crop of Gen3 cars that will again “Incautious driving,” all but sealing the title for on how to make the sport a fair and equal Commodore SS. Supercars. change the face of Supercars heading into 2023.

Jane going into the final round at Oran Park. competition going forward.

58 I www.autoaction.com.au

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