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OSCAR PIASTRI IS READY TO FIGHT

McLAREN BOSSES TELL US WHY HE IS THE NEXT BIG THING IN F1

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CHEVROLET JOINS GEN3 PARITY STOUSH

By Andrew Clarke FORD IS still at loggerheads with Supercars over a perceived aero imbalance which it believes could affect the competitiveness of its new Ford Mustang.

But the Chevrolet side of Supercars has described any move for a pre-season change as “nothing short of reckless”.

There are unlikely to be any changes ahead of the season opener on the streets of Newcastle, and probably not even until the Australian Grand Prix and Perth meetings have been raced.

Auto Action believes Supercars is standing by its VCAT aero testing data with its Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro prototypes and is convinced the only way to fully verify claims of an imbalance is to go racing.

Ford is adamant there is an imbalance and is pushing for a third round of VCAT testing – before the season begins.

But if an issue is uncovered, there will not be enough time to manufacture any new components, should they be required,

leaving the Ford teams at what their manufacturer believes is a disadvantage.

The stand-off has been causing behindthe-scenes tensions that are now bubbled into the public arena, starting with claims of a parity imbalance by Ford’s director of global motorsport, Mark Rushbrook (as reported in the last edition of Auto Action).

Now the Chevrolet side is getting involved, with both Roland Dane and Jamie Whincup launching attacks on their rivals as people inside Supercars privately express their disappointment and talking about the Balance of Performance as now being known as the ‘Balance of Politics’.

“It’s a bit late in the piece. Aero testing was last October or November,” Whincup told News Limited at Red Bull Ampol Racing’s season launch.

“So to still be messing around with that this late in the piece, it’s nothing short of reckless because there is a point where we have got to build cars and get them to Newcastle.

“It’s all good to want to change the decorations, but there is a point where you

have got to get the show on the road.

“So anyone suggesting that you change the decorations around at the last minute — all they are doing is putting the whole system under stress that it doesn’t need right now.

“We were ready to sign off on the car on the last day (of VCAT testing), and we are still ready to sign off on the car provided there are no changes. But the other side wants to keep changing things around, even though it’s quarter to midnight.

“It’s disappointing, but it is what it is.

It’s actually putting a lot of stress on both sides.

“I can’t believe it has got to this point, but it has … anything could happen from here until Newcastle.”

Many of the Supercars teams tested their cars with extensive running last week as Triple Eight, Brad Jones Racing and Tickford ran race simulations with multiple cars – three for each of T8 and BJR and two for Tickford – and reported favourably back to Supercars about the race-ability of the cars.

Jamie Whincup is standing firm on his position The lap times at Winton were also quicker than the outgoing cars, with a 19.6 being recorded early in the day, undercutting the Supercars lap record by a tenth.

Ben Nightingale, who heads up Ford’s motorsport arm in Australia, was at Winton and said he is confident a solution will be found soon as the teams start to get their heads around the more than two million set-up options in the cars.

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COMING HOME OSCAR PIASTRI WILL RETURN HOME IN A MONTH WITH TWO FORMULA ONE GRANDS PRIX UNDER HIS BELT. THIS TIME, HE’LL BE RACING ON THE FAMOUS ALBERT PARK TRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. ANDREW CLARKE SPOKE WITH OUR NEWEST F1 STAR

Images: McLaren F1

THE NEXT time Oscar Piastri steps off a plane at Tullamarine Airport will be very different from every other time the young Melbournian has done it.

This time, he’s not coming home for Christmas or to spend some time with family and friends. It will be for the third race in his Formula One career and only a handful of days before his 22nd birthday.

The young prodigy has done it the hard way, like most Australians who make it to the top of the sport. He’s spent the past five years on the road, and while he wasn’t quite grifting and grafting on the streets of London like Alan Jones 60 years ago, he did have to do it all without much local support.

Piastri was unveiled as a McLaren driver at the launch of the new MCL60 last week, and while restrained and thoughtful, you could see in the occasional grin from some of the questions fired at him that he is ready to let his driving do the talking.

Having sat out last year after dominating Formula Three and Formula Two and then getting tangled up in a messy divorce with Alpine, the first step of the next part of his dream begins with pre-season testing this weekend. It will then reach fever pitch in the first week of April when papaya caps and shirts with the #81 will sell like hotcakes.

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“It feels more and more real. I think today’s a big step in terms of it feeling more like reality,” he said at the launch. “I think it’ll fully sink in once I get out there for testing in Bahrain.”

Whether last year’s hiatus made a hungry driver hungrier is open for debate. He plays along with a series of inane questions, but you can sense he is just going through the motions and answering them while he is thinking about what comes next. Which for him isn’t another question.

“As a racing driver, I want to be racing all the time, so taking a year or having the year without racing was obviously not ideal. But I think I tried to make the most of what I had last year, trying to learn as much as I could about the F1 environment outside of the driving and also trying to learn as much as I could where I could.

“I learned some things that I wouldn’t necessarily have learned elsewhere last year.

But I’m definitely looking forward to getting stuck in again and racing.”

Pre-COVID, his debut would have been in Melbourne, but the new world order has it down for his third race. He’ll be well settled by then, and we’ll know whether he is driving another cantankerous McLaren or a car that can take the sport’s second-most famous team back towards to the top.

“Melbourne last year was already a bit of an experience as reserve driver. I’m expecting it to be pretty nuts. It’ll be big chaos, but that’s always a good thing.”

In some ways, for Australia it was good that it was Piastri who unseated Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, given Ricciardo was going regardless. With Ricciardo not on the grid, Piastri is aware of his role as a mentor for some of the younger drivers following him in

Formula 2 and Formula 3.

The tension between Lando Norris and Ricciardo was more than likely overstated

by Drive to Survive, and so far, everything between Piastri and Norris has been good.

But racing car drivers are notoriously fickle and very self-centred. At some stage, the gloves will be off.

Norris is clearly Piastri’s first target.

“I think as a teammate, especially in F1, the first comparison is your teammate, because we’re in the same car. Our relationship’s been good so far. I don’t see why that would change. I think we’ll get along well and try and push the team forward together because that’s what we want to do. We want to be back to winning races.

“Being a McLaren driver for me is a real privilege. It’s an honour to be part of such a historic team. Obviously, this year’s our 60th year and, looking back at all the history, this morning was pretty special. We are in a reasonably competitive position, but we’re trying to get ourselves back to the front, and that’s what our target is.”

Importantly, the feedback so far from the team has him on the right path. He hasn’t been misguided by the gloss of an F1 career.

He is conscious of the legacy of the likes of Sir Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and, to a lesser extent, Webber and Ricciardo as Aussies.

But at McLaren, it is also the likes of Bruce McLaren, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna who all rank among the greats of the sport.

But he is not getting distracted by any of that. He is not thinking about Championships; he’s just thinking about the first steps in what he hopes will be a successful career … with Championships.

WHAT MCLAREN EXPECTS FROM OSCAR PIASTRI

“WE WANT HIM TO CHALLENGE US!” MCLAREN’S NEW Team Principal Andrea Stella admits he’s been “very impressed” with Oscar Piastri since the young Australian driver joined the team close to the end of last season.

Piastri’s speed was not a surprise for the Italian engineer, but the mature way in which he has approached this learning period with a new team and his quiet but firm self-confidence have struck Stella, a man who grew into his current position after being very close to Fernando Alonso, first at Ferrari and then following the Spaniard when he moved to McLaren at the start of 2015.

Asked how it has been to work with Piastri, Stella started off by saying, “there’s a characteristic we like a lot: he’s a man of few words but the right words.

He’s certainly focused and, I would say, demanding – and this will certainly help elevate the standards.”

The Italian went on to explain that by demanding, he meant that, “that comes across in all communications.

For instance, we gave him some audio files to listen to of previous races. The way he gets to the bottom of matters and even questioning like, ‘Why did you guys do this? You could have done that.

You could have done this.’ Somehow he challenges you, in a very polite and constructive way. But he doesn’t take things superficially or just kind of stop challenging just to please you. And we want to be challenged.

“I said that he’s a demanding guy that should help elevate the standards, just by being almost constantly a little unhappy, which is a good position for a driver to be in.”

The mature approach the Australian driver already has, at the age of 21, shows in the way he works when in the team’s simulator: “You can observe the way a driver challenges himself. Going on, step by step: ‘Okay, let’s stop now. Let’s look, look at some telemetry. Let’s go

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for another run.’ And you go into this alternative process. While Oscar was pretty much able to go very close to the limit, just exploring his own resources with a lot of awareness in the process, it was impressive.”

Simulators are a great tool for the teams, but nothing replaces track time and that’s why McLaren has put Piastri through a comprehensive testing program, as Stella explained: “First of all, he’s been through several engineering meetings, because there’s a lot you can do with them to be prepared to run car on-track. Then, the second important thing is driving the simulator, where you familiarise with some characteristics of the car that nowadays in simulators you can reproduce.

“And then the third bit is we are using the test with previous car as allowed by the regulations. So, three steps, off car, simulator and testing a previous car.”

One thing McLaren is not going to do is to start comparing lap times immediately, as Stella doesn’t believe that’s the best way to extract the most out of a rookie: “If on day one you start comparing and saying that we are not achieving this performance, I think this is a way which you can put your drivers off. We are aware that Lando is one of the quickest drivers on the grid, but at the same time I have to say that what we have seen so far with Oscar is quite impressive, but we have to manage that carefully.

“There’s enough corners in a track to see who is quicker in braking or in high speed cornerrs. You just have to combine that, but do it very constructively. Let the result take care of itself.”

McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown has had less contact with his young charge for now but was clearly impressed by the way Piastri handled the Alpine split saga: “My experience with Oscar started in the middle of last year where I’m glad

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where things ended out; that showed he was completely within his right to come join McLaren. I was very impressed with how he handled himself as a 21-year-old under that amount of public pressure, and unfair and inaccurate accusations.

That whole process showed me how mature, focused and calm he is.”

Piastri’s team mate Lando Norris may be only 23 years old, but going into his fifth Formula One season, admits that, “I definitely have more responsibility to uphold this season because I am the one with a bit more experience with Formula One but also with McLaren as a team.

“Of course, Oscar has got to be able to bring a different perspective. He’s worked with a different team – that’s not something I’ve done before. He can bring a different side but I am the one that is able to bring things that worked, things that didn’t in previous years and be the driver that upholds that to the team and also pushes the team.”

In terms of the personal relationship with his young team mate, Norris admits they’re still getting to know each other but hasn’t yet spotted any red flags: “With Carlos we still get along very well. I think everyone had a perception me and Daniel didn’t, although that was completely incorrect. We were always happy to help each other but always wanted to beat each other.

“With Oscar, It’s still very early days, we’ve only actually worked together a handful of times and so far, so good, but it’s still a very different environment working at a test compared to a race weekend when you’re competing for the first time. But he’s a lovely guy, a very hard worker. We both have the same goal – we both want to win races, we both want to be champions, and we understand we can’t do that at this current time, we don’t have what we need, so, until then we’ll work well together and push ourselves and each other to get closer to the target.”

Luis Vasconcelos

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GEN3 HITS TOP GEAR FOR A time the Gen3 era of Supercars appeared to be a distant dream, but it is feeling real now after a huge month of shakedowns and livery reveals.

All 25 Gen3 cars have turned laps at Queensland Raceway and Winton Motor Raceway, while only two colour schemes are yet to be revealed.

Preparations for Newcastle hit top gear on Wednesday when the full field descended on Sydney Motorsport Park for the annual test day.

Although it was the first official session of the Gen3 era, the teams have spent the first two and a half weeks making full use of Supercars’ revised testing rules.

Originally test days were planned to occur on Monday, January 30 (Ipswich) and Wednesday, February 1 (Winton) but with teams struggling to be ready by then, common sense prevailed and a flexible testing program was introduced instead.

Each team could hold a shakedown and test day with each car and unlimited mileage, as previously they were limited to 60km and they have utilised these changes in a variety of ways.

Blanchard Racing Team opened the floodgates, doing the milestone maiden ontrack session for a Gen3 Supercar.

Both owner Tim Blanchard and driver Todd Hazelwood drove the #3 Ford Mustang at the historic session at Winton on February 1.

Hazelwood enjoyed another stint behind the wheel a week later, leaving the single-car operation with plenty of time to assess the data.

It was also the first Gen3 livery to be revealed, with BRT retaining its signature blue CoolDrive style on the new car.

The first squad to put a Chevrolet Camaro Supercar on track was another smaller squad in Matt Stone Racing.

The #34 Camaro to be driven by Cameron Hill this year took on ‘The Paperclip’ a week after Hazelwood’s maiden session in a test livery in what was described as a “big win” by team owner Matt Stone.

By the time Jack Le Brocq’s car was ready, MSR had revealed a striking orange livery, which is a reverse from last year’s look.

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MSR shared Queensland Raceway on February 7 with Dick Johnson Racing. Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison will once again sport the familiar red and white Shell colours, with the 2023 livery a slight revision on the scheme that has been seen since 2017.

But the famous Ford squad’s first date with a Gen3 Mustang did not go to plan with some issues limiting mileage.

However, a smoother second session occurred, while another two-car test will take place next week.

Grove Racing was another to reveal its colours swiftly with a new, cleaner black look adorning its pair of Mustangs to be driven by David Reynolds and Matthew Payne.

Whilst both main-game drivers got their first valuable laps in on February 8, all eyes were on star co-driver Garth Tander, who drove a Ford for the first time in the 21st century.

Despite the milestone laps, Reynolds experienced a scare losing his front left tyre, but the team pressed on.

On the same day, Tickford made its first appearance with Cameron Waters driving an all-black Mustang.

His 2023 livery has since been revealed to be the same as the last six years, while Tickford has spread its sessions out across a number of days for its four cars.

First was Waters, then Thomas Randle in his new green Castrol livery, who described the Gen3 car as a “different beast” compared to what he has previously experienced.

James Courtney soon followed unveiling a bold teal #5 Mustang, while new recruit Declan Fraser has also been seen in a sponsor less car.

Despite taking part in Tickford’s first shakedown, Fraser will not be seen in Sydney due to illness.

Chevrolet homologation team Triple Eight Race Engineering, marked its on-track debut with a special blue testing livery.

WAU’s Fords debuted at Winton (above). Red Bull (below) were among the last to reveal their new liuvery.

Jack LeBrocq wheels his MSR Truck Assist Chevrolet around QR. On a day which signified the end of Triple Eight’s “biggest achievement” according to managing director Jamie Whincup, drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney put 650km on the board on February 9.

The team gathered so much information it elected to postpone its second test prior to Sydney and it will return to Ipswich on February 27-28 in its new red and purple racing colours.

Another Queensland based squad to hit the track on February 9 was PremiAir Racing.

The two-car team embarking on its second year in the sport had to burn the midnight oil waiting for parts to make its maiden shakedown possible where both James Golding and recruit Tim Slade drove a black #31 Camaro.

Golding’s new colours have been released, but PremiAir was one of four Queensland teams to be forced to postpone its February 14 session due to wet weather.

Slade’s #23 car received its debut two days later and shared the track with DJR and MSR and is yet to show off its livery.

Erebus Motorsport has given Supercars fans a dose of nostalgia with a pair of red Coca-Cola Camaros.

Brodie Kostecki gave fans the first glimpse of the new look on February 13 in a “flawless” session, while teammate Will Brown had his turn 24 hours later. The pair then enjoyed some extra seat time during test sessions later that week.

Brad Jones Racing elected to stay away from the track until all four of its Camaros

VALIANT FANS HELPED GET TILLEY’S PACER OVER THE LINE

BOWE BREAKS THE 300 TCM BARRIER JOHN BOWE brought up his 300th Touring Car Masters start at Sandown Raceway on Sunday dung the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship.

The Bathurst legend is a four-time Winton has been a busy place in the last week – BJR shook down its four cars, including Andrew Heimgartner’s #8 Camaro (above left). Team 18 debuted last Friday. with the winner of the fan favourite category, Winterbottom (above right) and Pye (#20) Camaros both turning 90 laps without any issues. circumstances, but the grid was reverted bringing up the milestone at a track after leaving their own jobs, I couldn’t even AS THE rain dumped down on the to the dry practice session times in a where he also cantured tour Sandown begin to count the hours that we all put in Sandown race track on the Saturday of the WAU teamTCM principal Bruce Stewart was “Thethe carnine is a weeks. lot harder see out of that and the bts Valentines Day present. controversial decision.

Bowe’s career started in 2008, over Toto experience Shannons National round, AUTO ACTION buzzing after witnessing thejumping cars on track. seating verysomething different, so we–are The BJRreaction quartet from of Andre The delighted the crowd driving in Camaro before into a level of position supportiswas else I was on-hand in the Touring car Masters tent “It was super exciting because it has been a trying to get usedit.to it.

Heimgartner, Bryce reflected their appreciation for itFullwood, being there Ford Mustang Trans Am affectionately couldn’t believe behind the pit lane. time “The in the wayGear-Exchange it delivers power, Macauley Jones and Jack at all, with its fans also having played a part known ascoming, “Sally.”” he said.

Surrounded by mechanics and onlookers, “I gotengine, a big help from from long “It great to have ourover new to cars released is very different, so I have to learnlike a few Smith graced their home in its return.

Inwas 2015, Bowe shifted the Cameron Tilley stood behind his rebuilt Smithfield in Sydney also.had It’s people that and awesome forMuscle the guyscars (Percat and things andus adapt, but itreally. has been good. track activity “The fan supporttrack was as massive, I set upat Bendigo Retro Torana, Valiant in his blue racing suit with a smile as that keep all going And Anglomoil Mostert) feelO’Brien, how theyingowhich on track “The boys haveme done lot ofand checks on the ramped up a Go-fund-me pageWinton which rounded up last a built by to Gary he and nas how wide as his Pacer’s bonnet. has also helped for ayears, they’ve we can lookin to 147 improve theBowe’s car. This has been and it has very faultlessly. ” ” week.which got me about car reasonable contribution, competed races.

300th The normally reserved driver had reason given me greatrun support throughout. astart hugealmost hump and I am soaproud of the team.”

Fullwood is have retaining usual pink andand At times almost a quarter of the way there, ” Tilley told a AUTO delivered fairy tale to be satisfied after taking a podium in the “I couldn’t donehis it without them Recently announced co-drivers Lee black colours, teammates Heimgartner, dozen cars were at ACTION. finish, where the left mirror of Adam Trophy race when he blasted off the line everyone else.while People just kept coming out Holdsworth and#95 Fabian Coulthard alsolarge got Jones and Smith are all they dressed in help. whiteNo country Bressington’s Camaro loomed down the outside of the pit straight, putting of nowhere just saying could “Whether I racedthe it again or Victorian not, it had some seat#18 time. with thehow latter bringing stripes backItto as seeing Fullwood with the Torana into the final straight. him in first position by the second turn. matter big or smallracing the contribution, to be fixed – I couldn’tcircuit handle it in The to hit trackwas wasthe Team Supercars. particular described Thefinal finalteam margin of the 0.024s He also qualified in P1 in trying helped me to keep on pushing.” TN like that. People were helping every day 18.

Mark finish Winterbottom racing inwith DEWALT Winton was the location and February 15 why Gen3 feels closest in TCM history, Bowe colours forathe first time and Scott Pye– or was the date when Walkinshaw Andretti “foreign”. losing by foot and a half’s length carrying a newbonnet.

Hino look, got their chance to United made history.

“There are a lot the Camaro’s Bowe had the steer their Camaros February The team once known as the Holden of differences – the championship leadon leading into17.the Both cars laps around Racinghe Team as recently as seven years ago biggest thing atinthe round, but notched the rival 90 Torana of RyanWinton competition 2003 before returned to competition MULTIPLE AUSTRALIAN Off Road Champion Les Siviour and will betakes back for morepoint on Wednesday, recorded its first laps with a Ford badge moment is the steering Hansford a nine lead heading briefly in 2005, and again in 2010 withever daughter Katie, also passed away on September 8 after a short battle with March 1. in a 33-year feels quite at different compared into Bathurst on November 11-13.

Griffith.

He kept involved, with first. support to son-in-law cancer. He began racing in 1983 at Waikerie in his wife’s With all 25 cars successfully made Drivers Chaz Nick Percat to our old cars,” he said after hisRentsch first laps. and his Having won thehaving Bathurst 1000 twice, Shannon father IanMostert in theirand bids to win the shopping car. He subsequently campaigned Nissan Patrols their on-track debuts, excitement for Gen3 achieved theACTION feat in their respective “You can’t really feel a Australian lot of what isChampionship. going were completed. there’s a fair chance Bowe’s victorious AUTO extends its deepest for 19 years and won the Production 4WD Championship Supercars is ofatThe an all-time high.

Mustangs, which will stand out old school on which is in a little bit odd, but that will to his wife That moment arrive until February knowledge Mountain may have condolences Jan, daughters Bobbie andinKatie, 16 times, and did thenot Australian Off Road Championship Thomas Milesstead ... TN white and liveries. the new norm very 141985. whenThe BradGriffith-based Jones got the perfect him in good and soon. to the extended family friends. GO rice farmer retiredbecome from fulltime

VALE – LES SIVIOUR

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WATERS IS SICK OF SECOND THE MONSTER MUSTANG MAN IS GOING ALL-IN TO GET HIS FIRST CROWN

By Paul Gover, News Editor CAM WATERS is prepared to kick Shane van Gisbergen in the man-parts if that’s what it takes to get him a Supercars championship title.

After finishing as runner-up twice in the Supercars series, first to Scott McLaughlin in 2020 and then to van Gisbergen in 2022, Waters is running out of patience.

He is planning a full-on attack from the first round of this year’s championship on the streets of Newcastle and is only half-joking when he reveals his battle plan.

“Yep. I’m ready to give him a kick,” the driver of the Monster Mustang tells Auto Action.

He stops just short of pin-pointing the target, but laughs as he discusses the tactics to unseat the two-time champion.

“I’ve just got to put pressure on him. I know I can beat him,” Waters says.

“Everyone is beatable. We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got everything right.”

Waters admits his Tickford team made mistakes in 2022, both himself and the

technical crew, although he was still the best-placed Ford Mustang driver in the final championship results and second overall in the series.

But he only managed three wins, compared with 10 pole positions, a potentially worrying statistic.

Waters’ conversion rate across the 34-race campaign last year exposed obvious weaknesses, something he cannot afford if Triple Eight and van Gisbergen can continue their form into the new year and the start of the Gen3 era in Supercars.

“I don’t think we had all the ingredients last year. We made it better, and closed the gap, and we were better at our bad tracks.

“But it wasn’t enough,” he admits.

So, what needs to change?

“We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got everything right.”

And will the switch to the Gen3 cars, including his new Ford Mustang, make a difference?

“I see that as a pretty cool opportunity.

And an opportunity to come out on top.”

Comparing himself to van Gisbergen, Waters is confident but reluctant to get into detail.

“His weaknesses? Everyone has weaknesses, but I’m not prepared to talk about them,” he says.

“I definitely have strengths, and I’m working not to have any weaknesses.”

Switching to the Gen3 Mustang holds no great fears for Waters, but he also recognises the need to fire up from the

start of play on the Newcastle street circuit.

“That’s important. A fast start. I think the last few years have been a bit different, because they (Triple Eight) have had a really fast car and we’ve been playing catch-up,” Waters says.

“So, it’s important to have everything right. And if you don’t, you don’t want to be burning up too many points.”

Looking to the return of Supercars, Waters cannot disguise his enthusiasm.

“I’m excited,” he says.

“It’s going to be a baptism of fire, for sure. Newcastle is a hard place. It’s very physical. It’s as full-on as the Gold Coast.

“It’s going to be wild, but I love a challenge. And I’m up for it.”

CAMARO COPS THE FIRST WHACK AT WINTON TECHNICAL UPDATE FROM THE FIRST BIG TEST OF THE GEN3 ROLL-OUT

By Paul Gover, News Editor A BANNED aero device from the earlier days of Supercars racing has made a very brief reappearance on the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro.

It’s a pair of dampers inside the car’s front bar and they were quickly removed when identified during the Winton run-out for the new Camaro.

Dumping the dampers came as several problems, and minor changes, emerged from the early laps of the new-age Camaro and Ford Mustang.

The most worrying is a problem with attaching the new-style 18-inch wheels.

Teams have also had to switch to a twobottle fire suppression system to comply with the latest FIA technical regulations, after a move from E85 to E70 fuel – which has a different ‘burn rate’ – for the coming season.

“It’s quite funny. We’ve had three red flags from three Gen3 cars and they’ve all been running out of fuel. That seems to be

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the only thing stopping them. So I’ll take that one,” the Gen3 technical chief, Adrian Burgess from Supercars, tells Auto Action.

Although teams deliberately ran their cars down on fuel to check on consumption, the stoppages could also have been down to the late arrival of a part for the cars’ fuel system.

The front dampers, which had not been detected during Gen3 laps at Queensland Raceway, are similar to the ones originally developed for Super Touring racing in the UK during the 1990s.

They are intended to stabilise the ride height at the front of the car, as well as allowing drivers to jump over kerbs without worrying about damage as the front bar can ride up and then spring back into place with help from the dampers.

Brad Jones knows the system well from his days as the official Audi team in the Australian Super Touring Championship, but there was no sign of the dampers on the new BJR Camaros.

“We didn’t put them on our cars because we didn’t think they would get through,” Jones tells Auto Action.

News of the damper decision comes after

several teams highlighted the amount of work going into the new front bar on the Camaro.

According to one source, it can take five to six hours to assemble the complicated new nose cone – a big change from the outgoing ZB Commodore.

David Reynolds was the only significant victim of the wheel problem, as his Ford Mustang was stopped by the problem.

“It was no biggie. I felt it come loose so I just eased onto the grass and stopped,” he tells Auto Action.

“It got caught up under the guard so it A ‘damper’ fitted to some of didn’t actually come off.” the Camaros front bumper There are differing views in pitlane mounts has been banned .... on the cause of the problem, which could be down to materials or design or expect these things,” Burgess says. machining.

Although the change to the fire bombs in “The problem comes when you put a cold the cars was unexpected by some people, it wheel onto a hot spindle. The retaining clips was quickly resolved. don’t engage properly,” Brad Jones says.

“We have fitted a second bottle in the Work is already underway on a solution. cars. It’s just a case of plumbing the extra “We had a couple of niggling problems with one into the system. Nothing big,” the head of Tickford Racing, Tim Edwards, the wheel retention device and the tightness tells Auto Action. of a cold wheel on a hot spindle. You have to

GEN3 TECH CHIEF IS SMILING

ADRIAN BURGESS IS HAPPY WITH EARLY LAPS FOR THE NEW-AGE CAMARO AND MUSTANG

By Bruce Williams THE TECHNICAL chief of the Gen3 Supercars program, Adrian Burgess, is happy with the first laps by the teams’ new Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang racers.

As the cars lapped close to the old mark at both Queensland Raceway and Winton, running without major failures or incidents, he was enjoying the sight of a big pack of Gen3 cars.

“Having 25 cars all built and running is a small achievement on the road to where we’re going. The cars, so far and touch wood, have been very reliable,” Burgess tells Auto Action during the first mass run-out at Winton.

“It’s quite funny. We’ve had three red flags from three Gen3 cars and they’ve all been running out of fuel. That seems to be the only thing stopping them.

“I’m glad they’re not stopping on the track for other reasons. So I’ll take that one.”

He reports early familiarisation work by the teams and drivers, often on little things.

“They’re just getting on top of the dash configuration and driver ergonomics, and just understanding what the changes do. It’s a very different kind of animal.

And then the reaction from the drivers.

“All the drivers I spoke to are enjoying it.

They know it’s different. They know they’re going to be working hard.

“It’s a challenge for everyone and it’s a bit of

we get to Newcastle, but I’d like to think it’s looking half decent.

“The feedback has been great. The teams are very happy with them.”

a re-set. Everyone goes back to basics.”

Those basics, though, to not include a carryover program from the superseded Supercars.

“You’re not gonna gain anything by trying to turn this car into how the old car felt, because they are very different.”

Even so, the Gen3 cars are only marginally slower than their ZB Commodore and Mustang predecessors.

“We’re already in the low 1:20s at Winton and we were down to the low nines at QR. But the whole process hasn’t been about a lap time,” he says.

“We didn’t want to be too far away but we’re not hell-bent on this or that. They certainly don’t look slow and they look fantastic.

“I’ve got to say I don’t know what it is, but the liveries all look sensational on these cars. I might be a little bit biased, but it’s good.”

With hot weather at Winton, and the new cars losing a lot of the shrouding from the previous era, temperatures were being monitored closely.

“There is good airflow getting into the car.

The engine is 50-60 horsepower less so you’re not generating as much heat. You haven’t got as much sealing in the engine bay.

“So it’s all coming together in the right way.

We’ve made sure we’ve got plenty of cooling capacity, ready to go to the hot tracks like Darwin.”

And the final take-out?

“We’ve still got a bit of work to do before

BURGESS ON PARITY The simmering dispute over Gen3 parity is not worrying Adrian Burgess.

“There’s a bit of chatter about one car’s got an advantage here and one’s got an advantage there.

“But it doesn’t seem to be that way on the track, over all the drivers.

“They’re all got their own nuances about the way they handle and you have to expect that.

“To be honest, that’s what you want. You don’t want the cars to get their lap time in exactly the same way.

“You want them being a little bit better in one area or worse in another, otherwise you’re going to have boring racing.

“There are also comments that they can follow closer without the aero wash, and that was clearly a big agenda item.

“We’ve still got work to do, but I think it’s heading in the right direction. As ever, I think we’re going to have a great touring car series.

“This is the best touring car series in the world and I’m sure these cars are just going to reinforce that. And hopefully the fans love what they see.”

FORD SAYS GEN3 IS BACK ON TRACK POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM THE BLUE OVAL BRAND AFTER FORD MUSTANG ROLL-OUT AT WINTON

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE GEN3 racers are finally ticking the box for Ford.

The parity talk is not done yet, after the incendiary recent comments on the topic from global motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook, but the success of the first track time for the G650 Ford Mustang has the blue oval brand reporting plenty of positives.

“The Gen3 racers are ticking the box. It feels different to drive, and that was the point,” Ford Australia’s motorsport manager Ben Nightingale, tells Auto Action.

“It looks very much like we’re going to see more tyre degradation. And, with the lower aero, better racing too.

“Time will tell, obviously, but there’s a consensus the cars look fantastic. Everybody is in complete categorical agreement that the cars look sensational on both sides.

“They look like the cars you can buy on the road and that’s exactly what we wanted. The feedback from the fans says it all – they love it.”

After the first major hit-out at Winton, which ran almost trouble-free for the Ford Mustangs, Nightingale reports the next step in the Gen3 program.

“It’s all about the teams learning these new cars,” he says.

“It’s a brand-new platform and a brand-new engine. So the teams have got to spend their time (learning) now they’ve done their shakedowns for the most part.

“They’re now just learning, understanding and developing. So we can go racing.”

But the parity question has still not been answered.

The Ford Mustangs ran with engine mapping by Ford during their testing, not the mapping from Supercars, and there are still questions over the aero package on the Mustang.

Things could easily come to a head at the first full-scale test day at Sydney Motorsport Park, although there are still doubts about the relativity between the two new cars.

“Remember the pre-season test at Phillip Island for the

Car of the Future? The Fords all sandbagged and when we got to Albert Park there were nine Mustangs in the top 10,” one team owner told Auto Action.

But Ford is hopefully, and following Rushbrook’s public questioning of the parity process at Supercars, there is more positive talk from the blue oval brand.

“We’re in constant dialogue with Supercars and they’re listening,” Nightingale reports.

“And they’re working with us, which is great.”

He is also happier with a direct line to the decisionmakers, despite constant rumours that there will be no action on parity until after the first three rounds of the Supercars series.

“So Mark Skaife is obviously leading the Gen3 technical charge on that side. We’re in very regular contact with Skaifey and his team and they are listening to us and the work continues.

“There’s still lots of work to do, but it’s a new platform. So I

think that’s pretty standard and to be expected,” Nightingale says.

Below: Cam Waters chats with Ford’s Ben Nightingale. The big question is ... why is Cam wearing Thomas Randle’s race gear?

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NEW CHEVY V8 ACES FIRST BATHURST TEST THE GEN3 POWER-PLANT FOR THE NEW CHEVROLET CAMARO HAS ALREADY HIT MOUNT PANORAMA

By Bruce Williams THE NEW heart of the Chevrolet Camaro for Gen3 racing in Supercars, a 5.7-litre pushrod V8 developed in Brisbane, has already aced its first attempt at Bathurst.

A development engine from KRE Race Engines has run thousands of kilometres of dynamometer time, including simulated laps at Mount Panorama, during work in the USA. “We did 6000 kays over there, which is 900 laps of Bathurst,” the head of the Chevrolet program, Kenny McNamara (right) tells Auto Action during Camaro testing at Winton.

“We brought the engine back here, ran it on Supercars test dyno, stripped it and took a look. It didn’t lose any power.

“We put it back in the Camaro (test car) and it’s done another, I think, 1000 kays.

So it would be close to 7000 now. That’s two-thirds of a season.”

McNamara reports the improved cooling for Gen3 Camaro, including a bigger radiator, is a key to the lifespan of the new engines.

“It’s obviously got a big radiator in the front of it. It helps keep them alive a lot longer with keeping the temperatures and all that under control.”

“We are seeing about a 30-degree difference to the old cars. Being an aluminium motor, we’ve got different settings to what we had on the current car.

“So far everything looks pretty good, from all the data I’ve seen.”

McNamara says all 28 engines for the start of the season, one for each car and a spare, will be ready by the time cars have completed the official preseason test at Sydney Motorsport Park.

And he says he is happy with the cost.

“The initial cost was never going to make $50,000, but we were talking around the $70,000 and I think they ended up to $74-75,000 with all the costs going up dramatically last year,” McNamara says.

“The price just went up with the materials and all the labour shortages in the US.” He believes the Ford Coyote V8 could be a little cheaper because it uses more standard parts, but he is not concerned.

“It’s still pretty good and reasonably priced.”

According to McNamara, running costs will be considerably cheaper than the previous motors because parts are

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cheaper – including cylinder heads that are $1500 instead of $20,000 and $500 instead of $2000 for valve springs.

“Our pistons are half the price. So that’s where I think the real savings will come.

“Once we get past any durability stuff, I think that’s what the teams will notice in the short term.”

He is planning to keep a close eye on the engines, perhaps getting them from Matt Stone Racing because it is close to his base, for dyno runs and internal checks.

But he has already identified another key improvement in Gen3 – the end of complicated air boxes under the bonnet.

There has been a lot of development going into keeping the engine running for longer and part of that process has seen local filter manufacturer Ryco develop specific air, oil and fuel filters for the new Gen3 program.

“Having a single hi volume air filter will keep the dirt out without that big air box.

In the past after a race on a Sunday the old filters would have

been full of dirt. So that will be one of the single savings on the engines, and will help to stop the engines falling off in performance.

“I think lose little things that probably no-one talks about, for me as engine ninjas, that’s going to save the teams a lot of money.”

McNamara was keeping a close eye on temperatures at Winton, as the Chevy engine is still running a thermostat to keep temperatures at 71 degrees.

He also reports a significant change by Supercars on the front end of the cars.

“They don’t want the teams to run any blanking at this stage, just to not have them overheating too much in qualifying.

Just to keep everyone on the same playing field.”

With the Gen3 project hitting its first major milestone with the testing, McNamara says he has enjoyed the work.

“It was a bit stressful last year when I was trying to get the parts around Christmas time. Time was just the thing.

And we did have the goalposts shift a little bit.

“So yes, I’ve enjoyed it.”

With longer hours and reduced maintenance on the Gen3 engines, he can also see another surprising upside to the program.

“That could potentially be good for business. With our Sprintcar engines and other stuff.

EREBUS GOES IT ALONE AND IS READY TO RACE EREBUS IS THE ONLY TEAM TO GO IT ALONE IN BUILDING AS MUCH OF ITS GEN3 RACER AS POSSIBLE IN THE HOPE OF FINDING AN EDGE. BRUCE WILLIAMS SPOKE WITH DRIVER BRODIE KOSTEKI AND TEAM BOSS BARRY RYAN AT WINTON FROM DAY one, Erebus decided to control as much of its destiny as possible with the new Gen3 Camaro. It is the only team fabricating its chassis from the specs supplied, and it also makes more of the car than many other teams.

It made for a busy off-season, but team boss Barry Ryan thinks any edge they can gain will be critical as the season kicks off in a fortnight. In the middle of the second of three days at Winton, he said the shakedown and test was going well.

Erebus started with Brodie Kosteki shaking down the #99 Coke car before Will Brown had a day on the track.

“Yesterday was good to get Brodie’s car out there and make sure we ironed any bugs out of it,” Ryan said. “There were no real bugs from the assembly side, a couple of little things in controlled parts that we’re still working on with Supercars and other teams, but it rolled out really well and did a heap of laps.

“Will’s car went out this morning, did one lap to make sure it had no leaks, and then went straight for a 10-lap run. So Will’s already done about 60 laps today, and it’s only 12 o’clock.

“It’s a big day for Will, and we’re already massively into performance stuff, trying to make the cars fast. The engineers did a great job out of the gate – they had a good balance. So that’s a good step to know that all the work we’ve been doing in the background has worked.”

Winton times were into the mid-30s for all three days of the test, and one of the most pleasant things about the new car was the lower heat, both inside the cockpit and under the bonnet.

“Yesterday was ambient about 30, and it was only 39 degrees inside the car over a 20-lap run. Usually, it’d be way over 50. So it seemed really good, and Brodie said he was really comfortable in the car. That’s a big relief for the drivers that they’re not going to be cooking as much.”

The reduced heat will also play a part in improved reliability. Ryan said there were things like coil packs that were failing from heat in the past, while others say the heat under the bonnet played a big part in the steering failures in the old cars.

But Ryan, who was one of the team bosses to express his frustration with a lack of parts to complete his cars in January, says the end product looks pretty good.

“There are things on the old car that was a bit nicer, but we’ll get used to these, and they’ll be no different.

“I hope the expense isn’t going to blow out. There are areas of the car we’ve probably got to go back to the drawing board on long term to ensure that we can bring the price down on parts you crash all the time.

“It’s pretty much like a GT car, so there are expensive bits in there. Hopefully, we don’t crash them, but it’s inevitable. That’s Supercars. You crash and bash and need to be able to crash and bash to keep our sport as it is. I don’t want it to turn into GT racing ... no one does ...

“Only time will tell if they are cheaper and easier to repair.”

He added that some of the early fears of the cars being like Porsche Carrera Cup cars were unfounded and that with all

the adjustability that is inbuilt, sometimes you’ll get it right, and sometimes you’ll get it wrong.

Kostecki ran the first day of the testing for Erebus, and he said most of the day was about familiarisation for both himself and the team. His first impressions were positive.

“I had a pretty good day yesterday and enjoyed myself a lot,” he said. “It was a lot different to the prototype with the team putting its base set up in. I got to do a couple of long and short runs yesterday.

“We worked mostly on my seat pour and made sure I was ergonomically comfortable. There are still a few small things to tune up inside the car to make me 100 percent happy, but I’m pretty happy with how yesterday ended up.”

One of the bigger drivers in the field, albeit a slimmed down and fitter one for 2023, Kostecki says the smaller size and door opening and lower roofline are issues for him, but once he’s in, it’s just a matter of making sure everything is in the right place.

“For tall guys like myself, it’s pretty hard to make sure your seat’s right just with your bum sitting so low compared to the pedal box. The old car was conventional for tall guys. It didn’t affect us at all.

It is just small things like that, but I’m comfortable now.”

On the car, he said all the signs were good.

“It feels like it has a lot more torque, a lot more bottom end and it feels a lot faster when you drive it. The motors aren’t quite as responsive as the old ones, but they spin the tyres quite easily. You have to be really patient with the throttle. I can’t wait till it’s wet – I reckon it’s going to be a blast.

“I’m all for the less aero side of things.

The braking zones are longer, which promotes passing. It’ll be interesting to see how the racing is in the first round.

I think everyone’s still trying to get their heads around the car and probably the biggest thing is that everyone’s comparing this car to the old one, and you can’t really do that. You’ve got to forget about it.

“Once everyone gets used to driving the car, I think the racing will be quite good.”

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PETRONAS SHOWS SUPER2 SOME LOVE AARON LOVE’s maiden Super2 season with the Blanchard Racing Team will be backed by lubricant giants Petronas, along with Cool Drive. The former Porsche gun will look to pave his way into Supercars via BRT in the #78 Mustang. Tim Blanchard himself is no stranger to Petronas, having raced in a silver themed Petronas wildcard livery in the 2019 Supercars season. “Having Petronas Lubricants’ support for the year is definitely a pleasure, and really cool thing for the team and myself, especially when we know the history and the success it has had internationally in motorsport,” Love said.

PERKINS AND EREBUS TEAM UP FOR SUPER2 JACK PERKINS will return to a full-time Super2 seat with Erebus Motorsport after four years of part-time participation, racing in the #70 ZB Commodore that was piloted by Greg Murphy and Richie Stanaway at last year’s Bathurst 1000. Ahead of his Erebus enduro campaign with Will Brown, Perkins says won’t let his Bathurst dream rest: “Winning Bathurst is an absolute dream of mine and we won’t be leaving any stone unturned in the process to get there and that starts with the Super2 program.”

Perkins will also work alongside Erebus for their development driver program.

SETON JOINS GOMERSALL MOTORSPORT THIRD GENERATION racer Aaron Seton has teamed up with Gomersall Motorsport for a third Super2 season, with MSR not running a team in 2023. The chassis 888A-050 ZB Commodore was previously driven by Todd Hazelwood last season, and by Garry Jacobson and Jamie Whincup prior to that. “I first met Aaron when I raced his father and later himself in TCM, and stayed in touch, following his career as he went through various categories,” Jason Gomersall said, “I love the way he goes about his business, and was keen to see him continuing in Super2 this year.”

12 I www.autoaction.com.au

CHAHDA’S NEW RIDE MATT CHAHDA has got his Super2 ride sorted with a Brad Jones Racing ZB Commodore – and the team at Matt Chahda Racing are gunning for the title in 2023.

The family run team operating out Albury will run Jack Smith’s 2022 car, after their initial bid for a DJR Mustang fell through.

The Chahda family made headlines last year when they ran a privateer wildcard at the Bathurst 1000 in a Caltexliveried WAU supplied Commodore, with rookies Matt and Jaylyn Robotham competing well before a stubborn front-left caliper derailed any possible shot at a top 10 finish.

Auto Action spoke with MCR Team Principal, Amin Chahda (right), at Winton Motor Raceway during the Gen3 Shakedown, who was brimming was confidence about the year ahead.

“Not getting the Mustang left us in a bit of a lurch, but after some tough negotiating with Brad (Jones) we purchased the Smith car, and we’re putting our changes into it,” he explained.

“We’re getting on top of it, and we’ll do another test day next week and get ready for Newcastle, because we’re here to win this year … no mucking around!”

In terms of making car changes and getting support from their Albury based BJR compatriots, Chahda says they took plenty of lessons from their Super2 Falcon, and quipped that they’ll be raiding Brad’s garage as the year progresses.

“We’ve got the ZB complete from BJR, but we’ll be making our own geometry changes, as we learnt a lot from the suspension of the Falcon – it was very fast at the end of ’22.

“Matt’s happy with the KRE engine though, and says it feels really strong, but we’ve got a bit of mapping to do, and just tidying up some ergonomics for him.

“But after testing it today he’s really comfortable in it, and now we’ll look to apply those geometry changes.

“We pretty much ran that Falcon out of Brad’s shop last year, and I haven’t pushed them too far because of their Gen3 programs … but as the year goes on, we’ll definitely be harassing them.”

With their memories of the main game experience Bathurst is still looming strong, is there any chance of a 2023 wildcard?

“When I think about what we achieved as a family, it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“At this stage, we are looking at doing another wildcard, because we proved we could do it. And I’ll be open about it, I’ve spoken to Brad and I’ve spoke to Matt Stone, but it’ll depend who’s got a a car ready.

“We’d love to do a wildcard earlier and, although Caltex won’t get on board with Super2, they haven’t ruled out jumping back on board a wildcard for Bathurst.

“But we’ll get through Newcastle, Perth, and Townsville, then we’ll seriously look at the wildcard program after that.”

Bruce Williams with TW Neal

WYHOON PREDICTS ‘TOUGH’ SUPER2 BATTLE “HAVE SOME fun, win some races and drink some beers.”

They are the simple three objectives Image Racing owner Terry Wyhoon has set for the 2023 Dunlop Series season.

Wyhoon returns to the Supercars scene with three cars running in the development series and he is eyeing championship success in what he predicts to be a “tough” Super2 season.

His main charger in Super2 will be Jay Hanson, who has given up TCR to full focus on driving an ex Brodie KosteckiErebus Racing ZB Commodore as fast as possible.

Joining the 19-year-old will be the experienced Jack Perkins. The veteran of 151 Supercars starts is using the development series as co-driver preparation and is keen for success having finished third in the Super2 standings all the way back in 2006.

With his drivers covering both ends of the experience spectrum and many others such as Super3 stars Brad

Vaughan and Kai Allen, Wyhoon predicts the Super2 battle to be one not to miss.

“Super2 is going to be worth watching,” Wyhoon told Auto Action.

“With some of the kids like Kai Allen, who did great in Super3 and move up into a ZB,Jay and a few others it will be tough at the front.

“But we are here to win races and try to win a championship.”

Image Racing has spent the last fortnight testing with Hanson feeling “happy” in his ex Erebus ZB. In addition to the Super2 program, Wyhoon’s team is also fielding Mount Gambier teenager Jobe Stewart in Super3, who is stepping up from the Toyota 86 Series.

The Image Racing team principal said the teenager is coming to grips with his new ride, a Holden VF Commodore, but believes the Super3 cars will also give the faster guys in Gen2 a run for their money.

“Jobe is getting his ass into the seat so to speak and was a little bit off Jay, but it was his first go in the car and he went fast on the second day,” Wyhoon said.

“The good VF’s, which we consider one of ours is, will be knocking off some Super2 cars.

“I think there are 17 Super2s with maybe eight Super3s at this stage and some of them will be up towards the top 10.”

Bruce Williams with Thomas Miles

DOOHAN LOCKS AWAY ALPINE F1 RESERVE SEAT

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

THE STAR of Australia’s Jack Doohan continues to rise after being announced as Alpine’s Reserve Driver for 2023. Auto Action’s Timothy W Neal spoke to Doohan The 20-year-old will start his march toward striving for a Formula 1 seat as he nears his second F2 season with Virtuosi racing with a big weight off his shoulders.

We spoke with Doohan in Sakhir, Bahrain, a week out from joining the Alpine garage at its pre-season testing on February 23-25.

“To have that confirmation to be fully involved with the team is amazing. To be an Academy driver is one thing, but to be officially listed in an F1 team is quite another,” Doohan related.

“It’s a huge stepping stone having that pathway to put myself in contention of eventually becoming a full time F1 driver.

“it’s one less thing on my mind now, knowing I’ve got the full capacity of the team behind me to push toward winning F2, which they are fully in support of, and that they’re backing me to be a part of Alpine for a long time to come.

“As much as it’s a nice achievement, and a big public statement, I want to make sure that I become a full time F1 driver, and that starts with winning F2.”

In terms of what Doohan can learn from Estaban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, he’s excited to be around the garage and continue on from his extensive learning efforts toward the end of last year, when he essentially played the reserve role in an unofficial capacity.

“Having Pierre and Estaban there is really cool. I get on well with them. I’ll shadow them and learn as best I can without taking anything away from any of my own racing commitments or getting in their way.

“Obviously I want to be ready to step in and, importantly, I’ll focus on getting

knowledge from their engineering teams also and build on what I learnt last year to benefit my future for when that time comes for a full time seat.”

Although there’s no confirmation on when he’ll get behind the wheel of Alpine’s new A523 car, with its more streamlined body, improved downforce, and pushrod suspension, he’s excited to drive what promises to be a much improved contender to break from the mid-pack.

“To see it happening, and to be a part of a team that’s working so hard to contend and close that gap with the top-three, is a very exciting thing for me.

“To be able to eventually drive a more advanced, faster, and well put-together race car, is a super exciting thing. I have a good idea of how the changes will be, but until I actually get behind the wheel and feel it for myself I won’t truly know.

“I’ll get a good feel in the simulator,

and do a lot of work with the team before that eventuates.”

When Doohan arrives in Melbourne for Round 3 of the F2 season, it will be his first race in Australia, having spent five years racing in Europe and Asia.

“I’ve never raced a car in Australia, and to be a part of an F1 weekend at Albert park racing F2 and as part of an F1 team is a really special thing.

“I’m trying to not put too much emphasis on it and treat it like any other race weekend, but it’ll be hard to ignore the atmosphere and home fans; racing in Australia is something I’ve never experienced, so that will be quite strange.

“To then be able to get on a plane and fly to my proper home just two hours away, will also be really cool.”

Heading into the F2 season, Doohan said he’s put the end of last year behind him after a string of four DNFs unravelled what had been a really strong year, to finish in sixth.

“I’ve been over it in my head, and even here in Bahrain I was looking through all the stats and what could have been done during the run home last year, and realistically, we could have been north of 200 points.

“If you look at that, and then take away Felipe (Drugovich), it may well have been a lot closer for the championship. The possibilities of being in contention last year were in a big range, and as disappointing as it was, I take it as a real positive and I’ve moved on mentally.

“Regardless, I’ve ended up in an F1 team, and I’ve got another chance to work on my race craft whilst having that reserve role, so there’s heaps of positives.

“We (Virtuosi) were the fastest car over those final four rounds and we’ve got the same package, so I’m feeling very confident.”

Doohan’s first race is on March 3-5, where he’ll also be in the garage for his first official F1 round as an Alpine Reserve Driver.

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MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA AWARDS MAKE A RETURN

DICKIE’S US ATTACK AUSSIE SPORTS Sedan and Time Attack driver Brett Dickie will compete in the United States speed events this year, the highlight being the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado, on June 25.

He’ll also tackle COTA for the Super Lap Battle in March, and over October and November, the Global Time Attack Finals in Buttonwillow, California. He’ll race with FastR Motorsport in a Honda S2000 built by the Californian based Project Import, with 2.0 turbocharged engine, delivering 800hp, with six speed paddle operated gearbox. Dickie will be the only Aussie at the Pike Peaks famous 12.42 mile (20km), 156-turn climb.

ZUKANOVIC PLOTTING TASSIE TCM COMEBACK FORMER SUPERCARS driver Marcus Zukanovic is aiming for a Touring Cars Masters return in his #71 Ford Falcon XD at the opening round in Tasmania this weekend. Zukanovic is a three-time TCM race winner, and has been recovering from a broken leg, which the doctor has given the 42-year-old the all clear on.

“Going to Tassie and then having Newcastle (500) two weeks later means it’s a busy start and they’re both tough tracks,” Zukanovic said. “Symmons is hard on braking and Newcastle is just a tough street circuit, so we’ll be pretty conservative to get through both.”

KUMHO TYRES RETURNS WITH V8 TOURING CARS KUMHO TYRES returns as support for the V8 Touring Cars Series in 2023, as both main sponsor and tyre supplier. The series returns via the SpeedSeries with its original branding, for which Kumho was its main sponsor from 2009-2019 until the category was rebranded as Super3. Its independent return will race five rounds, starting at Phillip Island on May 12-14, finishing with the Bathurst International on November 10-12.

“2023 marks a re-set for the category but it’s looking like a strong year, and is enhanced with Kumho on board,” says ARG COO Liam Curkpatrick.

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Bob Hockley (right) was awarded Official of the Year.

THE MOTORSPORT Sport Australia National Awards has made its first return since 2020, honouring a list of people for their achievements in and around the sport with lifetime memberships covering 2021-2022.

Eight Life memberships were handed out, as well as 2021 Memberships of Honour for current BJR team owner Brad Jones and his brother Kim, who retired in 2020, with both having gone through AUSCAR, Super Touring, then serving long stints at Supercars.

Bob Hockley was given the Australian Motorsport Official of

the Year, for his services dating back to 1974, playing a senior role at events across the country for nearly 50 years, many of which were as Chief Scrutineer, and Technical Commissioner for a number of national categories.

Several drivers were awarded, such as current Supercars driver and category journeyman Thomas Randle with the Peter Brock Medal, and young Rally driver Taylor Gill with the Young Driver of the Year award, as he prepares to go off to Europe in a bid to qualify for the Junior WRC through the

FIA Rally Star Program.

First-time champions such as Lewis Bates (Australia Rally Championship) and Ryan Taylor (Off Road Championship) were awarded, as well as two- and three-time champions like Shane van Gisbergen, and back-toback Motorkhana champion Aaron Wuillemin.

Life Memberships for 2022 went to Ewan Cole and Roger Brown, with Cole recognised for being one of the country’s most senior officials and trainers, and Brown for his natural leadership and problem-solving skills in demanding situations.

Life Membership recipients for 2021 included former Supercars team owners Dr Ryan Story (DJR Team Penske/Dick Johnson Racing), now its Non-Executive Chairman, and Australian Triple Eight co-founder Roland Dane.

The other 2021 Life Memberships were given too long serving officials, administrators and scrutineers Graeme Palmer, John Rosengrave, Derek Pingel, and Laurence Svenson.

The eight competitors from Australia’s FIA Motorsport Games campaign were also recognised, such as gold medalists and IMSA GTP Porsche superstar, Matt Campbell.

TW Neal

RALLY AUSTRALIA TAKES A BLOW FROM ESTONIA

THE SHAPE OF THE 2024 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON DOES NOT LOOK GOOD DOWN UNDER.

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE CHANCE of Australia returning to the World Rally Championship is looking less likely after a surprise new addition to next year’s calendar.

Estonia has been added to the WRC season, highlighting the growing importance of events in the rally heartland that stretches across northern and central Europe.

The event for Estonia, in 2024, reflects a new policy by the WRC Promoter to rotate events between the World and European championships.

It also shows the falling importance of the long-haul events in Australia and NZ. Even Rally GB, which was once a highlight of the season and drew millions of fans, has slipped off the calendar and the latest comeback plan would see it moving to Ireland.

Rally Australia fell off the calendar at the end of 2018 and New Zealand, despite running successfully in 2022, was scrubbed from this year’s championship.

Tet Rally Latvia joins the WRC – at Australia/NZ’s expense ...

There is an impressive plan to revitalise Rally Australia with an event starting in Sydney and special stages out to Bathurst – including Mount Panorama – but it has yet to progress beyond the early stages.

In contrast, Estonia has received a big tick for 2024.

The long-running European championship event has run with big fields and big crowds, who also boost the television coverage of the WRC, and those were the keys.

“Tet Rally Latvia becoming the

first to be granted this slot is a clear recognition of its sporting and promotional excellence, and the commitment of the Latvian Government to rallying,” says Peter Thul, senior director of sport for WRC Promoter.

“This is a tremendous milestone that carried huge responsibility with it. But we have such reliable partners in the Latvian Government, our rally city Liepaja, our capital city Riga, and our general sponsor Tet – plus many more,” says the rally’s director, Raimonds Strokss.

STEWART’S PATIENCE REWARDED

WITH SUPER3 SEAT

JOBE STEWART has been forced to wait, but his patience has paid off and he will make his Super3 debut with Image Racing in 2023.

Stewart, 18, will drive a former Walkinshaw Holden VF Commodore in the third tier Supercars series for the team led by Terry Wyhoon with connections to Erebus Motorsport.

The Mount Gambier based teenager has been an Erebus Academy member since 2017, but had to play the waiting game to reach the Supercars world.

Stewart made his car-racing debut at the 2020 Bathurst 1000 in the Toyota 86 supports.

However, he struggled to generate any momentum being restricted to just a handful of events as COVID-19 restrictions put his career on hold.

Stewart finally got a full season under his belt last year and made it count. After a breakthrough podium at a wet Sydney, he strung a consistent campaign together to score P3 in the championship with five podiums and qualifying pace a big improvement.

Being awarded a Super3 drive is something that means a lot to the patient youngster, who admitted it was a relief to finally make the step up.

“It is the general pathway most people

from Toyota’s with the next step Super3 and it is what I had my sights set on,” he told AUTO ACTION. “We looked at a few other things like V8 Touring Cars, but we thought Super3 was the best option with the best competition racing with Supercars.

“It has taken a fair bit to get to this point.

Erebus have been great and invested in me,

pushing me to the next step.

“I did not get much racing in the Toyota’s, but all that built up to last year where I learnt heaps racing against cars and I can take all that into racing this year.

Although Stewart has only raced alongside his dad in a small single-car team in the Toyota 86 Series, he has represented Erebus in the E-series and worked closely with

Brodie Kostecki, while he even performed the driver assistant role in the pit crew of the Greg Murphy and Richie Stanaway Bathurst wildcard.

Stewart admitted 2023 will feel strange in a larger operation, but he hopes to utilise the added resources to make his mark.

“It will be weird not be prepping the car before a race, but it will be great to learn how a team operates properly at a race weekend because I have never been in a big team environment like that before,” he said.

“I want to do well and get some wins and podiums, but it is my first time in an environment like this, so I will be learning as much as I can.”

Erebus has also confirmed its Super2 Series pair with drivers at both ends of the experience spectrum.

Veteran Jack Perkins will drive car #70 which was Stanaway’s and Murphy’s Great Race ZB Commodore.

Perkins returns to the series he finished second in 2011 and will use the campaign as preparation for the enduros.

He will drive alongside 19-year-old Jay Hanson, who has given up TCR and will instead fly focus on Super2.

Hanson will steer the Brodie Kostecki’s Holden ZB Commodore from last year and wants to chase podiums and wins.

Thomas Miles

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LATEST NEWS

S5000 GOLD STAR CHAMPION EYEING OFF TRIPLE CROWN JOEY MAWSON enters this year’s S5000 as a back-to-back Australian Drivers Champion, with his attempt at a third straight championship perhaps his last full-time year in the category.

The Sydneysider will however drive the familiar-to-fans Albert Callegher-owned Team 88 car, although with the car being run by Team BRM – which has engineered Mawson to both Gold Star titles.

Mawson harbours deep ambitions of being a Supercars driver, and would like to get a long-distance co-drive or Super2 appearance this season.

But before that comes to fruition, the 26-year-old single-seater star is keen to put his name into the history books as a three time S5000/ADC Gold Star winner.

Only five drivers have achieved that feat: John McCormack, Paul Stokell, Mark Skaife, Alfredo Costanzo, and Bib Stillwell.

“It’s been my favourite category to drive in out of all my experiences, and to do it one more time, is a wonderful opportunity,” Mawson told Auto Action.

“Adding another Gold Star, and helping to rewrite the history books of the S5000 championship is a big goal for me, and it would mean a lot to get a third championship and join some elite company.

“We’re getting the new tyres from round 3 onwards also. They’ll be softer and quicker, so it’s a competitive and exciting year ahead, with plenty of good drivers.

The category was a big part of helping Mawson reestablish himself after returning from Europe, but he’s honest about the direction he wants for his future.

“This category has been really fitting for me and helped establish my career back home.

“I’ll always be happy to be a part of it … to drive the quickest cars in the country is a real privilege.

Mawson took both of his Gold Star titles with Team BRM. Image: DANIEL KALISZ “But to be upfront, my ultimate goal is getting to Supercars. I’m going to focus on doing a Super2 round towards the end of the year, and working towards putting a budget together for that.

“I’ve fallen short so far in my career with that kind of experience, and they are obviously the kind of drives you need to have for the teams to be looking at you.”

Mawson returned from Europe after the advent of the Pandemic, having gone to Europe in 2014 with backing from CAMS. His first European foray saw him achieve instant success, winning on debut in the French F4 to finish fourth in the championship with four wins, as well as collecting third in the German ADAC

F4 championship with five wins.

He won his maiden Formulae title the following year, beating Mick Schumacher to the ADAC Championship, as well as performing strongly in the Middle East’s Formula 2000 Championship.

He followed that up with a switch to one-make Porsche racing, and was competitive in the prestigious Mobil 1 Supercup finishing 10th, before tackling the German Carrera Cup in 2019 and 2020.

“Ultimately at that stage I had to give it a lot of thought, and also with COVID involved, I was feeling quite homesick,” he continued.

“I knew it was the right time to make

the move as we were obviously so restricted in our movements, and I was a long way from family and friends…I just wasn’t enjoying racing there anymore and it just finally hit me.

“But when I came back I did a one-off S5000 race in Tasmania (P1,Race 1), which turned into another weekend, then the whole season.

“The second year was obviously guaranteed to be a full season, but I fought week-to-week for the budget.

“And here we are for a third year, which was never the plan, but I’m really, really happy to be a part of it, and to just live in the moment and go for it. It’s great to be in the fastest category in the country.”

TW Neal

MERHI BOOST FOR TASSIE S5000 GRID SPANISH SPORTSCAR and former F1 driver Roberto Merhi will make another racing trip to Australia, to take on the S5000 field in Tasmania.

Merhi will drive a Garry Rogers Motorsport-prepared entry at Symmons Plains for the SpeedSeries opener, his second dig at the Big Bangers after racing here in 2021.

The experienced 31 year-old Spaniard took out a win and a podium at SMP last time out, before backing it up with a podium in the Bathurst 1000 Tasman Series support.

No stranger to our shores, Merhi raced at the Bend in 2019 in the Asian Le Mans Series, and also came out for the 2015 Melbourne Grand Prix racing an F1 Manor Marussia MR03B, but a technical issue prevented him from taking the grid.

“I am very happy to come back to

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Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

As a stand-in, Merhi took a sensational podium for Campos in F2 last year.

S5000 together with GRM. I have very nice memories from my time there, in Australia,” Merhi said.

“Last time I was in Australia I was pretty close to winning the Tasman Series, and

I’m looking forward to jumping in the car again – it will also be a new track for me, which is always challenging.

“I will do my best and adapt quickly to the car and the circuit again.”

Merhi contested 14 races in the 2015 F1 season for Manor Marussia, and was also a former F3 EuroSeries champion and FIA F3 International trophy winner.

He’s contested everything from the DTM, WEC, to the Le Mans 24 Hours, and a host of international GT championships.

Most recently, he competed six rounds in the FIA Formula 2 championship for team Campos, taking one superb podium.

In what’s shaping as a strong grid, Merhi takes on two-time Gold Star Champion Joey Mawson, and 2021 Tasman Series Winner Aaron Cameron.

Also on the grid will be drivers like young gun Cooper Webster, before he heads to England to race in the GB4 Championship, James Golding, Zane Goddard, Nic Carroll, Jordan Boys, Mark Rosser, Blake Purdie and Matt McLean.

TW Neal

BOYS SHIFTS FOCUS TO S5000

BUT STILL HOLDS SUPERCARS DREAM JORDAN BOYS has a busy year ahead, having shifted focus to S5000, but he still holds ambitions on “putting everyone on notice” in the 2023 Supercars Championship.

Having already made five cameo appearances over the last three seasons, Boys will complete a full S5000 season for the first time, with Garry Rogers Motorsport.

The 25-year-old who has had his racing miles limited recently is excited by the challenge, which begins this weekend at Race Tasmania.

But Boys also revealed a Supercars Gen3 wildcard with Terry Wyhoon’s Image Racing is also in the works.

“I am going to do the whole season in S5000 and then I would like to do a (Supercars) wildcard with Terry and image Racing,” he told Auto Action.

“But we just have to wait and see to get some cars built first.

“But I am locked in for the whole thing in S5000 with GRM. I have only been able to do one-off stuff in those cars to date, so I am really keen to build across a full seven-round season.

“It will be the most racing I get to do for a long time with the budget constraints, so it will be a fair bit of racing.”

Although Boys will be chasing championship success with GRM in the

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S5000’s he is using the open-wheel campaign to keep himself “sharp” for Supercars.

“That is the idea. I want to stay sharp for when I come back and do some co-drives at Sandown and Bathurst,” he said.

“I need to put myself in a good spot to do a really good job at Bathurst and kind of put everyone on notice of what I am here to do.

“It was all about trying to stay fresh for that and those things are faster than a Supercar, so it is the best thing to keep me sharp.”

The Albury-based driver already has two Bathurst 1000 starts Image: DANIEL KALISZ under his belt with Brad Jones Racing, and six wildcard appearances with Image Racing. trouble to finish 13th.

Boys’ top wildcard result was a P11 at Boys was unable to reveal the exact The Bend, while he also showed strong details of his 2023 co-driving plans, but pace on the Thursday at last year’s Great suggested he will remain in BJR colours.

Race by putting car #96 into the top four.

The 25-year-old said a “similar” deal is He raced alongside Macauley Jones at already locked away, hoping it can carry the 2022 Bathurst 1000 and stayed out of his momentum from last year’s exploits.

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“I am pretty sorted there and we will announce it sometime soon,” he said.

“It is pretty similar to last year and we are happy to keep it consistent.

“I am looking to forward to building off it (2022) really.”

Bruce Williams and Thomas Miles

www.autoaction.com.au I 17

LATEST NEWS

STOP / GO

BROWN TAKES UP TEST-SPEC AUDI WILL BROWN enters the 2023 TCR season with a completely rebuilt, latest-spec, Audi RS 3 LMS, in a bid to take his second TCR title. The Erebus Supercars driver will pilot the chassis driven by Jay Hanson in 2022, which won four races and took three poles. Backed by the Melbourne Performance Centre and Liqui Moly, Brown is keen to go.

“To have the new-specification Audi this year is just awesome,” Brown said, “I’m just ready to get into it. Obviously last year was pretty disappointing to come second and nearly win the title in that awesome last race at Bathurst.”

D’ALBERTO SWITCHES TO ‘TRAD’ HONDA TONY D’ALBERTO will sport a traditional themed Honda livery for his TCR title defence, as well as carrying the new #1. The distinctive Honda white and red is a change from his bright yellow scheme of his championship year, as well as switching from his traditional #50. “Honda has an incredible history in motorsport, and when you see these colours on a race car, you know it’s a Honda race car,” D’Alberto said. “Maybe I’m a little one-eyed, but this one is my favourite, and I can’t wait to get it onto the Symmons Plains track this week.”

EVERINGHAM MAKES V8 SWITCHEROO TYLER EVERINGHAM has made the switch from Super2 to Trans Am, leading a four-car strong Dream Racing outfit for 2023. A regular front runner in the Super2 series with two wins last year, Everingham sees Trans Am as another option to make a path towards the Gen3 Supercars era.

“My drive is still to make Supercars, and with Gen3 coming on, I thought it was important to get a feel for a different car so I can be ready for that chance,” Everingham said. Everingham has run a Winton test day before this week’s series opener at Symmons Plains.

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BARGWANNA STEPS UP WITH TCR WORLD TOUR DATES

BEN BARGWANNA will take part in two international legs of the brand new TCR World Tour, alongside his third full Australian TCR season in 2023.

The Peugeot 308 driver will again race with assistance from Garry Rogers Motorsport, for Team Burson Auto Parts, in his new look 308.

The son of former Bathurst 1000 winner, Jason Bargwanna, will commit to two international rounds with French team,Team Clairet Sport, which also runs a 308.

The 21-year-old will get to experience racing at the Algarve Circuit in Portimao, Portugal, on April 28-30, before tackling Belgium’s famous Spa Francorchamps on May 26-28.

For the World Tour – that will ultimately crown a global champion – drivers will collect points in a bid to qualify for the finals, with two rounds set to be held in Australia – one being confirmed at the Bathurst International. That means he’ll get to race for world points in four rounds for 2023.

“When the World Tour format became public, and there was a hint of an opportunity to compete, it was something I wanted to be a part of,” Bargwanna said.

“The thought that I’d represent Australia at a World Championship level, and to be able to have a crack at Algarve and Spa is mind blowing … I can’t wait to attack Eau Rouge – let me at it!”

The #71 Peugeot racer took out his maiden TCR win at the rain-soaked Sandown round last season, finishing 11th in the standings in a tightly contested field.

Burson Auto Parts Team Principal, and Ben’s father Jason, says that his son is ready to compete for the national championship, as well as experience some international flavour.

“Ben has come of age in the last couple of seasons, and as we start the season, our eyes firmly set on the championship victory,” Jason said.

“His track record is compiled with pole positions, podiums and race wins, so now it’s about putting that all together to compete for the championship.

“The new World Tour format has made it possible, and within reach for Ben, to sample the world’s best TCR drivers and teams prior to the two Australian rounds of the World Tour, where we want to be right at the front of the field in our backyard.

“It’s going to be a bit of a ‘Wow’ moment for Ben competing at Portimao and Spa, and both Deb (Ben’s mother) and I are extremely proud, and yet I am seriously jealous at the same time!

“Team Clairet Sport was a clear and easy choice for our international campaign, and allows us to stay with the Peugeot brand in a competitive outfit.”

TW Neal

GODDARD SUITS UP FOR BIG BANGERS

Image: DANIEL KALISZ SUPERCARS ENDURO racer Zane Goddard will suit up for S5000 team BRM for at least two rounds this season.

After being announced as Craig Lowndes’ Triple Eight Wildcard co-driver for Sandown and Bathurst, Goddard will now add some further Big Banger rides to his resume for 2023.

The 23-year-old will take on Symmons Plains in Tasmania, as well as Phillip Island for the third round, with the opener being his first drive since the Bathurst 1000.

“I’m looking forward to getting back into a car, I haven’t driven since Bathurst since last year, so it’s been a while,” Goddard explained.

“I’m super pumped for Tassie, and having a little time away has made me really excited and I’m looking forward to racing again.

It will be his second S5000 outing with BRM, after racing at the Melbourne Grand Prix where he took a podium in Race 1.

“I’m keen to team up with Team BRM who I’ve worked with for a long time. It’s going to be good fun.

“Tassie is a track I really like and when I was last there in the Supercars I qualified on the second row, so it’s been a good place for me.

“There’s been a few little changes in the car since I last raced them, and we’ll test at Tailem Bend to familiarise myself with that.

“But overall, they seem like positive changes that are good for the category.”

Team BRM manager, Mark Rundle, has a bit of open wheel history with Goddard, and was impressed by his outings last season.

“We’re really looking forward to working with Zane again this year, continuing our relationship that started in F4 and then moved into S5000,” he said.

“Last year he was up to speed quickly and showed at Albert Park that he is super competitive, as we all know.

“We’re confident he’ll be right at the front of the field as always.”

TW Neal

NEWS

MULTIPLE FORMULA FORD MANUFACTURERS NOW LIKELY

COURTNEY PRINCE

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 FOR THE first time in almost a decade, up to Auto Action about the current a female will complete a full Carrera Cup state of play in the incredibly popular Australia campaign, with Courtney Prince Australian Formula Ford category. stepping up.

Smith explained that the original Prince will race for Porsche Centre idea Formula Ford now appears to be Melbourne Motorsport in the recognisable substantially less likely after listening to pink BWT colours. competitors views.

She will be the first female to race at “We’re really wanting the DNA to stay Carrera Cup level since Leanne Tander the same,” he said to AA. made a one-off appearance in 2018, and “I know one of our preliminary first to complete a full-time season for recommendations was to look at a nine years, when Renee Gracie drove for single manufacturer path,” he said.

McElrea Racing.

“Whilst the (Formula Ford) working Prince has been a frontrunner in the group hasn’t formed a view, one way Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge recently or another on that, I think we’re coming and takes another step up the ‘Porsche around to the view that, potentially a Pyramid.’ multi-manufacturer format would be She is aware of the challenge ahead, but is a better path to go, because that’s ready to tackle it head on. consistent with what Formula Ford has “I am super-excited to be taking the leap always been in this country. up to Carrera Cup,” she said.

“We had the stakeholder forum, we then had the survey, and then we invited people to make submissions.

STEPS UP TO CARRERA CUP “I have done a season in Sprint Challenge, plus the two rounds in 2021 before COVID shutdown, so it is the next step in my career.

“It will be a big step, but I am ready for the challenge.”

Prince enjoyed a solid 2021 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge campaign, where she finished fourth in the championship “We’ve taken the time to speak to with three successive podiums at Sydney every single one of those people or Motorsport Park the highlight. email every single one of those people.

The 21-year-old’s objective for her “I guess as a consequence of that Carrera Cup debut is to soak up as much we’ve come around to the view that information as possible, while a top 10 finish perhaps a multi-manufacturer concept would be a bonus. is the way to go.”

“My goal is to basically have a really good Smith feels that if they can get the year and learn a lot,” Prince said. rules right, then a multi-manufacturer “All the tracks I basically haven’t been series will continue to work to, so if I can be consistency be in the 10, I successfully. would be absolutely stoked for my first year.”

“In order to do that (a multi-brand Prince has had a life-long passion for category) you have to get the rules motorsport and started her racing journey

right, we know that, it’s a lot simpler to craft a set of rules when you’re only have one homologated manufacturer.

at the age of eight, racing karts.

She went on to drive in the Formula Ford National Series across three seasons before jumping into the Porsche world.

Prince said one key thing has been a source of motivation throughout her career.

“When I was younger I never had a female to look up to in motor racing and since I was “But ultimately, if we’re, wanting to young it has always been my goal to be that achieve or carry on the philosophy of person the younger generation of females Formula Ford Racing we need to be can look up to,” she said. able to do it in a multi-manufacturer Prince will take on her maiden Carrera environment.”

Cup with a driver who has 330 Supercars Smith believes the reason that starts of experience in Cameron McConville.

Formula 4 did not work in Australia Since making the last of his Supercars was because it did not appeal to the Championship starts at Darwin in 2017, Australian motor sport scene, this is McConville is now the motorsport why it is essential that Formula Ford commercial manager of Porsche Centre remains as close as possible to its Melbourne Motorsport. roots.

With Nick McBride, Marc Cini and “Formula 4 didn’t work here,” he Matthew Belford also racing in the four-car

admitted. “It’s clear, people are very passionate about Formula Ford Racing “Our thinking is have it as an

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 team, the three-time Supercars race winner on that, the Formula Ford Association believes Prince has all the right tools to of course, will be key to all of this as tackle her Carrera Cup journey with big well. things expected in 2024.

“What I will say is our current thinking “I have followed her career for many years is to run Formula Ford, the current and I think this is the perfect environment cars as a national series next year, and to nurture her through her initial year to get then at a point in time, whether that’s her super competitive for 2024,” McConville 2023 or 2024, we will introduce a new said. car as a championship.

“This year is about learning the tracks and “We’d run existing cars in parallel gaining experience and improving her feel with the new ones as sort of a mixed of the 992 which is a change for her from grid and that would happen for a the 991, so she is ready to hit the ground period, broadly speaking, I’d be running in 2024.” anticipating that it’d be three to five Thomas Miles years, something like that.

“I guess ultimately, it depends on the take up of any new car. DM

WINTON COMPLETES 2023 TCR CALENDAR VALE: MARGARET HARDY – FORMULA FORD’S GUIDING HAND

ONE OF the country’s longest serving category administrators Margaret Hardy passed away from cancer on Thursday August 19.

Hardy was involved in motor racing for decades and was known for her dedication to Formula Ford.

Hardy joined the Light Car Club as the office manager and began working with the Australian Formula Ford championship 1978, doing paperwork for the category throughout the ‘80s.

Early in the following year she became WINTON IS the final confirmed piece of the administrator of the category and the 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia was tasked with organising national Series puzzle. series events, a role she held until 2013.

The popular 3km circuit located near She has dealt with many of Australia’s Benalla in rural Victoria will be the third motor sport stars over the years and stop on the 2023 TCR national series run in was well-known as a hardworking and conjunction with the SpeedSeries. passionate worker.

The announcement completes the In her time as category manager national TCR schedule, filling the To Be seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Confirmed Victorian round.

Lowndes, reigning 1000 victor, Will The TCR Australia field will converge on Davison, David Reynolds, Chaz Mostert Winton having already raced at Symmons and Anton de Pasquale are just some Plains and Phillip Island.

The event will take on the June 9-11 long of the illustrious names that won in the weekend, which will category. be an action-packed Hardy assisted all of these drivers on “V8-themed” affair. their route to Australia’s top-level.

TCR joins the likes She was liked by all who knew her of S5000, Trans in the industry which is why the motor Am, Touring Car sport community is sad to hear of her Masters, the reborn passing.

V8 Touring Car During her time in the category, class, Sport Sedans she was named a Life Member of the and Formula Ford, Formula Ford Association.

Image: DANIEL KALISZ which are all on Formula Ford Association show at the Winton representative Phil Marinon said SpeedSeries round. she remained very connected to the The 2023 event will be the TCR’s second category. visit to Winton, having previously raced “Margaret was a tireless Administrator there in the category’s inaugural season in for Formula Ford Association and also 2019. the AFFM including category manager On that occasion, Jason Bright added a for the national competition,” he told TCR trophy to his four Supercars wins at the Auto Action. twisty circuit.

“Her attention to detail and ability to Bright secured a tight win in the opening support the competitors has been very race in his Volkswagen Golf GTI before the strongly acknowledged on social media rest of the weekend was dominated by Will and is undisputed.

Brown driving his championship-winning “Margaret was a very private person Hyundai i30 N TCR.

Although Brown cruised to both of his wins with at least eight seconds in hand, the battle for the minor places was anything but.

There were plenty of squabbles up and down the field with the nimble two-litre TCR touring cars well suited to the twisty track.

These memories mean Australian Racing Group chief operating officer Liam Curkpatrick is looking forward to the category’s first visit to the track in four years.

“This is great news that we will have TCR Australia back at Winton in 2023,” said Curkpatrick.

“The circuit is perfectly suited to the TCR cars, and just like we saw in 2019, it offers and was always focused on the result plenty of action and close racing. rather than looking for accolades.

“Our focus is now firmly on the opening “Margaret was very dedicated to round at Symmons Plains.” all things Formula Ford and has With Winton confirmed to complete the recently assisted the association in TCR Australia calendar, the only remaining the production of a book on 50 years question mark is where will the sort-after of Formula Ford in Australia and second local TCR World Tour round take disappointingly will not get to see the place? final result.”

Mount Panorama is already locked in to Many Australian racing legends past host the world’s best TCR drivers at the

Supercheap Auto Bathurst International event.

But which Australian track that will join Bathurst remains unclear, with Sydney Motorsport Park a possible contender having been previously suggested by Argentine racer Nestor Girolami.

Excitement is beginning to build ahead of the 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, which begins this weekend at Symmons Plains. Thomas Miles

2023 SUPERCHEAP AUTO TCR AUSTRALIA SERIES CALENDAR

and present to socialFebruary media to24-26 1.

AWC Racetook Tasmania, send their condolences.

Symmons Plains

Outside of Formula Ford, Margaret May 12-14 also took on roles such as the race 3.

Winton for Sandown Raceway.

June 9-11 secretary 4.Hardy Sydney Motorsport Park June 23-25 was diagnosed with Inflammatory Cancer August in 201911-13 5.

QueenslandBreast Raceway and went into Stage 4 in May. 6. Sandown September 8-10 Auto Action sends its condolences to 7.her Supercheap November 10-12 friends andAuto family. DM 2. Phillip Island

Bathurst International

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www.autoaction.com.au I 19

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STOP / GO

RACE TO THE NSW 6 HOUR REGULARITY RELAY BEGINS

MASSIVE PORSCHE CELEBRATION THE 2023 Rennsport Reunion will be an important part of the 75th birthday celebrations for the German sports car company.

It will be held, as usual, at the Laguna Seca circuit in northern California with the theme ‘Icons of Porsche’.

The event will bring together drivers, engineers, designers and – as always – some of the most legendary Porsche race cars including the various models of the classic 917.

“Icons are the hearth of the Porsche experience,” says Kjell Gruner, CEO of Porsche Cars North America.

The Porsche Rennsport Reunion will be held from September 28 to October 1 – there is a dedicated website at PorscheRennsportReunion.com

VALE RONNIE BUSTARD Regular ARC competitor and 2022 Queensland Rally Champion, Ronnie Bustard, passed away unexpectedly on February 13. The Irish born rally driver was a popular figure in the service park, and a frontrunner across several series’, with his death sending the Australian Rally community into mourning. Ronnie had a stellar 2022 season, where he captured the Queensland championship with co-driver Larisa Biggar, and finished runner up to Taylor Gill in the highly competitive ARC Production Cup, and was a regular ARC top-10 finisher.

He leaves behind his wife Shelley, and three children, Ryan, Jake, and Bella.

WA CAR CLUB CLOCKS 90 YEARS ONE OF Australia’s oldest Car Clubs, the Western Australian Car Club, will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2023. Supporting over 200 members, it started in 1933 for car enthusiasts, and by the 1950s, ran trials – similar to today’s Motorkhana, Khanacross, and Autocross – that were the precursor to hosting rallies.

Now in conjunction with Motorsport Australia, the WACC now hosts the ARC’s WA Rally, as well as four rounds of the state championship. A celebratory dinner will be held on March 11, with legends of rallying, Rob Herridge, Neal Bates, and Coral Taylor in attendance.

20 I www.autoaction.com.au

THE JOURNEY to the 2023 NSW 6 Hour Regularity Relay has begun with entires open to compete in the popular grass-roots racing event.

The six-hour race will be held on the same piece of tarmac Supercars race on at Sydney Motorsport Park’s Grand Prix circuit, on April 29-30.

Entries opened on Monday and a strong field is anticipated after 33 teams participated in the 2022 edition won by the Panorama Mountain Men team.

The race itself is a unique spectacle with teams consisting of multiple drivers and cars. Victory is not secured by being the fastest, but by being the most consistent.

After Saturday practice, each driver sets a nominated lap time between a 1:50.0s and 2:23.0s window and points are rewarded for lapping as

close to the time as possible.

Bonus laps are rewarded for maintain regularity, while penalty laps are imposed when the driver goes faster than their nominated lap time.

The winner will be the team that completes the six-hour journey with the highest lap score.

The race is run by the NSW Road Racing Club, which has been around since 1961 and it has grown to become their marquee annual event in the last decade.

NSW Road Racing Club chairman Ross Elliott said many teams are already keen on returning to the event where almost anything with four wheels goes.

“There has already been a bit of interest, so we just hope it will fill the field,” he told Auto Action.

“We can run up to 40 teams and

each of them can have three to six cars and drivers.

“It is open to all cars. We have Datsun 1600s, Minis, Capris, Falcons and Holdens – all sorts of cars people can relate to.

“A lot of drivers use their daily driver in it because you are allowed to do it on a club licence.”

Elliott said the club is determined to keep the “best grass-roots event” growing in memory of a former club stalwart.

“The event was the baby of Kerry Butchers, who passed away after 2019, so we are trying to keep it moving for him,” he said.

“It is the best grass-roots motorsport event you can compete I think. It is a good event to be involved in.”

Thomas Miles

MYTHICAL RALLY CARS TO RECREATE GOLDEN ERA CLASSIC GROUP A rally cars from the 90s and modern pre-hybrid WRC cars up until 2021 will descend on the Italian commune of Varzi in the beautiful and mountainous Northern Italy.

The Mythical Rally Cars event on May 25-27 is designed to recreate the classic festival/party atmosphere that the World Rally Championship used to induce amongst European fans.

Former Hyundai WRC team principal Andrea Adamo masterminded the idea with the Automobile Club Pavia, and will act as the events advisor, in a bid to stir up the emotion once seen in the sports greatest days.

“The name says it all, when you look back to the history, to the mid-nineties,

these cars are mythical,” Andreas said.

“Everybody has an incredible memory from a Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD or a Subaru Impreza 555. It’s the noise, the power and the incredible action from guys like Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz from that era.

“Our story starts in this time and builds through the change to World Rally Cars – a period when the sport was at its most popular – all the way

to the fastest cars we ever saw.

“Honestly, it’s going to be an amazing event and an amazing journey through time.”

The rally will be contested on Tarmac around Varzi, featuring 7 Stages over 80km, with the town acting as the service park.

“The whole town of Varzi and the region of Lombardy is behind this event. It’s going to be something very special to have these cars coming into the town, but more than that, we’re going to have an incredible atmosphere for the whole of the rally week to celebrate the best of the sport through a true golden age.”

TW Neal

VHRR LAUNCH NEW CLUB ROOMS THE VICTORIAN Historic Racing Register (VHRR) has moved into a brand-new headquarters, which includes a new display room, library, office, improved parking, and function room space, on Alfred Street in Blackburn, Victoria.

The club has moved from its 20-year-old premises on Lexton Rd in Box Hill and celebrated its new abode with a festive grand launch.

Lady Margaret Brabham was an esteemed guest, as she continues to entrust the VHRR with her late-great husband Sir Jack Brabham’s trophy collection .

“I was so thrilled that Ian (Ian Tate, Club president) invited me; I’m always so happy to be here,” Lady Brabham told Auto Action at the event.

The VHRR club represents something of a spiritual home for Sir Jack and his achievements, with Lady Brabham in agreement.

“The new rooms are magnificent – it’s nice to see all the trophies cleaned and presented so beautifully.

“Jack always loved this club, and now that we’re in this lovely new place, I’m sure he’d feel this is his new spiritual home too.”

The Blanchard Family and CoolDrive were also of big assistance in helping the VHRR find and move into its new home, with the Club President praising their help.

“They’ve been a massive support in what they give in kind, and when they went to redevelop Lexton Rd, John (Blanchard) showed us this new space. The generosity of the whole Blanchard family and Cool Drive has been incredible,” Tate said.

The next official VHRR event is at Phillip Island, for the Phillip Island Classic on March 10-12.

TW Neal

Dorothy and Ian Tate with Lady Margaret Brabham.

SPECTACULAR SPORTS CARS COMING TO PHILLIP ISLAND CLASSIC FOUR STUNNING sports cars will be coming to this year’s Phillip Island Classic event on March 10-12.

In addition to six classic Formula 1 cars and former Ferrari star Eddie Irvine, a quartet of sports cars are also coming from Europe to the “Festival of Motorsport” held at the world renowned Grand Prix Circuit.

The new European arrivals include Leon Ebeling’s 1962 Shelby Cobra 289, Steve Brooks’ Lola T70 Mk 3b, Ludovic Caron’s Chevron B31 and Andrew Newall’s 1966 Chevron B6.

Ebeling has been racing his rare bright blue Shelby Cobra 289 all over Europe on tracks such as Estoril in Portugal and the Vallelunga Classic in Europe.

The Cobra 289 is one of the models built

by American racer Carroll Shelby that recorded a string of racing successes in the 1960s.

Brooks’ Lola T70 Mk 3b will be a head turner with its sleek, aerodynamic body.

The T70 raced at Le Mans in the late 1960s and was a also regular feature of Trans Am racing of the era.

The car’s biggest success was a one-two victory at the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona.

The Chevron B31 was the brand’s answer to the final iteration of Group 6 cars introduced in 1975 and an evolution of the B26.

The B31 made its debut at the 1975 1000km of Mugello and was a consistent frontrunner all over Europe with its fibreglass body.

It was seen on the sports cars seen throughout the 1980’s before finally being retired in 1990 following its failure to start a BRDC C2 Championship round at Silverstone.

FOR SALE

Headed Downunder – Lola T70 sports car and (below) Ferrari 196 SP Dino.

But since then, Caron has been driving his B31 at events such as the Le Mans Classic.

Another Chevron in the form of a rare B6 driven by Newall will be in action. The Chevron B6 was a lightweight sports car, which made its debut in 1967.

Only seven B6 cars were built, but across eight years it won a total of 15 races. With Newall at the wheel more recently, he has won the 2015 FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship title, adding to the model’s list of achievements.

Being such a rare machine, seeing Newall blazing past in a 1966 Chevron B6 around the famous bends of Phillip Island will be special.

An even more staggering sight will be the sole surviving 1962 Ferrari 196 SP Dino.

Only five Ferrari 196 SP Dino’s were built and the one coming to Phillip Island is the last one left.

The car was the first mid/rear engined Ferrari and this particular one raced in the 1962 Sebring 12 Hours with the North American Racing Team.

More recently, it raced in major European and American races before arriving in Australia.

Another American visitor is the wellknown and highly competitive 1959 Old Yellar Mk 2 raced by Ernie Nagamatsu, which returns to Phillip Island.

Sports cars will be just one of the many attractions at the Phillip Island Classic where more than 40 Formula Fords will compete, while former Bathurst winners Steven Richards and Greg Murphy will square off in a pair of Group A Nissan HR31s.

All of this and more will be one show at Phillip Island on March 10-12.

Thomas Miles

SUBARU WRX STI 4 DOOR

J SPEC GROUP N MOTORSPORT HOMOLOGATION CAR

Standard equipment includes Brembo full optimisation etc.

The car was purchased brand new and it has approx 20 Km’s in total on 4 piston brakes and 17” ventilated A full STi suspension and differential discs front and rear, quick ratio power upgrade package is also speedometer and has never been steering, option gearbox ratios. available, but is not driven on a race track. included in the Fitted with a full Brown Davis multi As delivered by STi this 11MY point safety roll cage, STi factory price below.

GVBC4VH model is fitted with 2.0 Litre, twin scroll turbo, this is a genuine alloy bonnet, STi factory-big capacity intercooler spay kit with auto timer factory motorsport car and was purchased new for competition only kit, on board fire system, Cobra head from Subaru Australia. This vehicle has restraint seats, Velo 6-point harness, window nets, carbon footrests on been prepared for club day, circuit both sides, anti-glare dash, braded racing and tarmac rallies and would make a great track day car and would fuel lines internally, bonnet pins, be an extremely competitive vehicle. mounting for spare racing wheel.

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FRASER’S FIRST SUPERCAR

SHOWED OFF DECLAN FRASER will make his full-time Supercars debut in a sleek yellow and black Tickford Racing Ford Mustang.

Fraser has replaced Jake Kostecki in car #56 and will race the maiden season of Gen3 racing in a similar, but tweaked TRADIE livery.

More yellow has been placed on the Mustang with the car carrying the same design seen on the doors of Tickford teammates James Courtney and Thomas Randle.

Fraser has surfed a wild ride ahead of his full-time debut at Newcastle on March 10-12. He secured the Super2 title at the Adelaide 500 with Triple Eight Race Engineering, but at the time had no idea what 2023 had in store.

However, Kostecki’s sudden departure from Tickford opened up a door and the

22-year-old’s dream became a reality.

Although Fraser is set to add to his solitary Supercars start in a #888 wildcard with Craig Lowndes, the unexpected turns keep coming.

He will not be present at Wednesday’s pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park being struck down with illness.

Despite getting some mileage during a shakedown at Winton, it is a major setback, robbing him of gaining invaluable seat time in the new Gen3 Mustang.

Although he will not be the first driver to race the new colour scheme, Fraser was thrilled to see the colours that will forever be associated with his rookie season.

“I kind of can’t believe it, it’s all starting to feel real now,” Fraser said. ”It’s been a crazy time these last couple of months, coming off the back of winning

the Super2 championship, to signing with Tickford Racing, and looking ahead to my first full-time season in the main game, it’s a really exciting time.

“It’s going to be a massive learning curve for myself as a driver but the car looks awesome and the team’s done an amazing job building the cars over the last few months.

“I can’t wait to get out on track and represent the Tradie brand and the Tickford team, and hopefully we can put together a really successful year.”

Fraser will be one of three rookies taking to the grid at Newcastle alongside Matt Stone Racing’s Cameron Hill and Grove Racing’s Matthew Payne, all who raced against each other in Super2 last year.

The Tickford rookie is looking forward to resuming those rivalries and forge new

ones in what he expects to be an exciting season for drivers and fans alike in the new Gen3 machinery.

“The new cars are going to create such a great atmosphere for the fans,” Fraser commented.

“Being one of three rookies this season, it will be awesome to race against my former Super 2 competitors at the top level, and racing in the brand-new generation cars is going to be awesome.

“I’ve done just as many races in these cars as every other driver, so this year is the perfect opportunity for me to make my debut and hopefully mix it up at the front.

“I have been prepping so hard to get ready for the season and the wait’s finally over. I can’t wait to get out there and have a great year with the Tradie Racing crew.”

Thomas Miles

STROLL RULED OUT OF F1 TEST THE 2023 Formula 1 season is a big one for Lance Stroll, but he will be starting it on the back foot with no pre-season testing in his stride.

Aston Martin driver Stroll will miss this week’s three-day pre-season test at Bahrain, starting Thursday night due to injuries sustained from a cycling accident.

The Canadian suffered a “minor accident” whilst training in Spain and the team owned by his father Lawrence Stroll issued a statement announcing the news.

Although Stroll has been sidelined for the February 23-25 test, Aston Martin expects the 24-year-old to make a “quick recovery” ahead of the season opener also at Sakhir on March 3-5.

“Whilst pre-season training on a bicycle in Spain, Lance Stroll was involved in a minor accident and sustained injuries which will result in him sitting out the pre-season test in Bahrain,” read the Aston Martin statement.

“Lance is however expecting a quick recovery and return to driving duties.

“His fitness to return to the cockpit will be assessed daily and the team will issue an update ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“The team wishes Lance a speedy recovery and looks forward to his usual energy and commitment within the team.”

Stroll is preparing for his seventh season in Formula 1 and first alongside star Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso.

The Canadian and pole scorer of the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix took to social media to express his motivation to return.

“I’ve had an unfortunate accident whilst training on my bike in preparation for the season,” Stroll said.

“I am determined to get back in the car and I am excited about the season ahead with the team.

“I am motivated to bounce back from this setback as quickly as possible.”

Aston Martin has been forced to call up substitutes more than most teams recently with Nico Hulkenberg being thrown into the team on two separate seasons.

Hulkenberg filled in for Sergio Perez at both races in the 2020 Silverstone doubleheader and qualified third at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

The German returned later that year at the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, where he secured another points finish, this time in place of Lance Stroll.

Two years later Hulkenberg returned to the team in place of Sebastian Vettel at the first two Grands Prix of the 2022 season.

But with Hulkenberg back on the full-time grid with Haas, Aston Martin needs to turn elsewhere for drivers to gain valuable mileage at pre-season testing when Fernando Alonso is not in car #14.

The British team can utilise the services of reigning Formula E champion and former McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne. The Belgium racer’s former team can also count on him if one of Lando Norris or Australian rookie Oscar Piastri are absent.

Amazingly Stroll’s new teammate Alonso also missed pre-season testing last year

when he suffered an upper jaw fracture due to a cycling accident with a car in Switzerland.

Pre-season testing for the 2023 Formula 1 world championship begins on February 23 this Thursday.

Thomas Miles

GOLDING TO SWAP SUPERCAR FOR S5000 JAMES GOLDING will prepare for his upcoming Supercars Championship campaign with a swing in S5000 at Tasmania this weekend.

Golding will return to the S5000 field with Garry Rogers Motorsport to make a one-off appearance at the Race Tasmania event in Symmons Plains, which kicks off the 2023 season.

The drive comes less than 24 hours after Golding’s new ride for PremiAir Racing was revealed for the 2023 Supercars Championship.

Although Golding will compete in his first full-time Supercars season since 2019 when he was also at GRM, he has still found time to drive in the open-wheel category.

The 27-year-old has plenty of experience at S5000 level, being one of the most prolific drivers in the series.

Golding has raced an S5000 car every year since its inaugural season in 2019 and in that time has accumulated 19 podiums and eight wins.

He took three wins at Sandown and Sydney Motorsport Park in 2021 to finish fourth in the 2021 championship, while he secured two Bathurst triumphs in that year’s Tasman Series.

Golding’s most complete campaign was the 2022 Australian Drivers Championship, where he was a consistent force.

Despite only collecting the one win at Phillip Island, he was a regular visitor to the podium and finished second in the championship standings behind Joey Mawson.

Although Supercars is now at the front of Golding’s mind, he is looking forward to returning to familiar surroundings.

“I’m really excited to be back in S5000 for Race Tasmania,” said Golding.

“It’s a very enjoyable car to drive, and it’s what really set the foundation for me to get back into a Supercars seat so I’ll always take any opportunity I can to go racing in S5000.”

Golding is part of a strong quintet of drivers at GRM, led by former Manor

Formula 1 driver Roberto Mehri, plus locals Aaron Cameron, Jordan Boys and Nic Carroll.

Symmons Plains is also a happy hunting ground for Golding, having secured a win and three podiums across six S5000 starts at the high-speed circuit.

Golding said he anticipates a strong battle when he returns to GRM, the team which christened him with the nickname “Bieber”.

“Symmons Plains is a track where I’ve had a fair bit of pace, so there’s plenty of

confidence in what we can deliver on the weekend,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to working with the team to try and bring the whole GRM attack up towards the podium places.

“The field is super stacked and one of the most competitive fields we’ve seen, which is another reason why I’m really looking forward to it.

“With all the talent on track, it’s going to be very interesting to see how it all pans out.”

Thomas Miles

UNPREDICTABLE TRANS AM OPENER IN STORE

THE 2023 National Trans Am Series fires into life at Symmons Plains this weekend and the fight for glory will be more competitive than ever.

Nathan Herne has dominated the Trans Am scene lately, winning back-to-back titles and recording 20 victories as an untouchable figure in the Garry Rogers Motorsport Ford Mustang.

But Herne and car #1 will not be seen in P1 this year with the youngster heading across the Pacific Ocean to have a crack at the American Trans Am Series.

With the 20-year-old in the USA, the chance to win Trans Am has never been bigger and a 19-car field hopes to capitalise on the opportunity.

Often trailing behind Herne last year

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was Owen Kelly. The 45-year-old veteran showed impressive improvement, rising from 12th in 2021 to second last year.

Kelly, who possesses Supercars and NASCAR Cup Series experience returns for a Trans Am title tilt and will be one to watch in car #73.

GRM may not have the expertise of Herne, but it still holds high hopes of victory with four cars on he grid.

In addition to Kelly, James Moffat has been welcomed into the Melbourne based team’s Trans Am program following three seasons racing in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia championship.

Moffat is a Supercars regular with fulltime experience in 2011-2017 and returns

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to the team which he last drove a full season with six years ago. He has since been racing at the enduros with Tickford.

He has finished 14th and eighth in the last two TCR seasons and is determined to make an impact in Trans Am. Young Tasmanian Lochie Dalton hopes to build on his impressive rookie year, which resulted in a P6 finish.

He returns for another big year, while completing the GRM quartet is Eden Thornburrow.

Matching GRM with four cars is Dream Racing Australia where team owner Craig Scutella is joined by former Super2 competitor Tyler Everingham and Tasmanians Adam Garwood and Josh Webster.

A new team will be Tom Williamson Motorsport, which will run under The Racing Academy banner with another former Super2 steerer Jaylyn Robotham and youngster Cody Gillis.

But leading the squad will be current Supercars driver Tim Slade, who will use the Trans Am experience to gain some laps ahead of his PremiAir Racing debut next month.

Brett Holdsworth and Ben Grice also hope to make an impact.

There will be interest following the fortunes of Jett Johnson, who steps up to the National Series after being crowned TA2 Muscle Car Series champion.

The son of Steven Johnson and grandson of Dick Johnson will be racing the #117 Ford Mustang in similar NAPA Auto Parts colours to last year.

Last year’s Race Tasmania wins were shared between Herne and Tim Brook, but neither will be in action this weekend.

On-track action beings with two practice sessions on Friday before backto-back qualifying sessions and a race on the Saturday. A pair of Sunday races round out the weekend.

The hunt for glory at the National Trans Am Series opener is wide open and the action will be broadcast on Stan Sport and the Nine Network.

Thomas Miles

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DRIVERS FULL OF EXCITEMENT

AT GEN3 LAUNCH WITH THE first official Supercars session of the Gen3 era taking place at Sydney this week, there is tremendous excitement across the entire paddock.

The season was launched at the New South Wales capital with Ford fast-men Chaz Mostert and Will Davison alongside Chevrolet competitors Shane van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom.

The event marked the final steps towards finally racing the new Gen3 Mustangs and Camaros, which promise to produce a better show in one of the sport’s biggest changes ever.

The driver of the famous #17 Dick Johnson Racing Ford, Davison, has seen it all in Supercars and he cannot wait for racing to commence.

All 25 cars have completed shakedown sessions at their respective test tracks Winton and Queensland Raceway, but the Sydney test will be a different story.

Davison stressed how vital the day’s running will be as teams try to unlock the secrets of the new machines ahead of the Newcastle season opener.

“With so many new elements to the sport, it is a nerve-racking time, but also an exciting time,” the 2016 Bathurst 1000 winner said.

“We have all shaken our cars down at our test tracks, but the opportunity to go to another circuit at Sydney Motorsport Park and understand what this car is all about is so important.

“We have so much to learn and we just want to get into it.”

Having spent some time wrestling the new Mustang behind the wheel, Davison believes the show will be better than ever.

“The fans are in for a treat this year,” he said.

“Its going to be highly entertaining because we are out of our comfort zone without the (Gen2) cars we knew so well.

“Everything on that Mustang is different from last year and it is the biggest change I have seen in the category for 20 years, it is enormous.

“We have to re-learn the best way to drive it, we need to re-learn how to work on the car and the engineers the strategy for the races will be different.

“To do all that at a track like Newcastle is nerve-racking, but we are excited for the challenge.

“It is a healthy change for the sport.”

For Davison’s former teammate Winterbottom, the dawn of Gen3 presents a new opportunity to return to the front.

“Frosty” is now at Team 18 and the 41-year-old feels refreshed ahead of the Newcastle season opener after getting tired of the old Gen2 cars which had reached “a limit”.

Winterbottom made his main-game debut at the start of the Project Blueprint era in 2003 and he believes his near 600 races of Supercars experience could make a big difference when Gen3 rolls into action.

“I think every time there is a new car there is a new challenge,” the 2013 Bathurst 1000 champion said.

“I am glad the cars have come in because the old car was kind of at its limit and it was too dominant for teams.

“As a driver I always back myself and a new opportunity gives big options for Team 18.

“Every year you think you can win, but after driving the car it is going to be tough.

The cars are hard to drive and setup, so I think experience can play a big role. Drivers and teams will be pushed to the limit.

“I am here to win and not to putter around.

I have won before, so we will see how I go.”

Winterbottom also believes the Sydney test will be the first true indicator of where teams sit in the Gen3 pecking order.

“It is cool to see the cars in the flesh and we are getting closer to D-Day,” he said.

“We had a really good shakedown day.

We had a few niggles to get the car on track, but when we did, we had 96 trouble free laps.

“Aside from it being 40 degrees and hot, the car genuinely ran trouble free.

“Now we come to Sydney with an official timesheet. We have proven the reliability is very good, now it is about lap speed.

“Timesheets don’t lie and we will find out if we have a good car come Wednesday and that will give us confidence or more work to do leading into round 1.”

Thomas Miles

THUNDERING LATE MODELS TO RACE FOR AUSSIE TITLE AT WARRNAMBOOL THE NEW holder of the 2023 Australian Late Model Championship will be decided at Warrnambool’s Sungold Stadium Premier Speedway this weekend.

The race for the Aussie title promises to be exciting to watch with the category showcasing its unique corner sliding technique and their ability to wheel stand on the straights, while the cars possess a power to weight ratio comparable to Formula 1 cars.

The 2023 Australian Late Model Championship has attracted over 40 entries across six states of Australia with only Northern Territory absent where the division is not active.

Current national champion Kye Blight will be travelling across the Nullarbor from Western Australia to defend #1.

Blight is the latest WA product to win the title with the state producing 13 of the 19 Late Model Aussie champions to date.

The chances of a 14th winner are strong with another large WA presence in the 2023 field.

But multiple State Title holder Callum Harper is coming from Tasmania hoping to replicate his previous Australian Championship victory at Premier Speedway achieved in 2016/17.

In fact, five out of the six current State Title winners will be competing at this weekend’s Australian Championship at Premier Speedway.

Victoria is well represented with nine drivers including Warrnambool local Fiona Verhoeven.

The event kicks off with Time Trials on

Friday, followed by two rounds of Heats and twin Preliminary Mains.

Wingless Sprints and AMCA Nationals are the supports for Friday with the latter making its first appearance of the season.

Saturday includes a third round of heats for the Late Models, a pole shuffle for the top eight cars before the main event.

The 2023 Australian Late Model champion will be decided by a 24-car race held over 40 laps on Saturday night.

Pro-Sprints including LS and 360 powered Sprintcars are also on Saturday night’s program which incorporates a round of the C&H Trucking Series.

Public gates will open at 4.00pm with ontrack action commencing from 5.30pm.

Tickets can be purchased at www. premierspeedway.com.au or at the gate from 4.00 pm on race day.

Thomas Miles

JIMMY VERNON SHIFTS TO SUPERUTES VERSATILE NATIONAL racer Jimmy Vernon will take on a new challenge in 2023, having made the switch to the V8 SuperUte Series.

Vernon is a two-time national champion on the track and also a Kids with Cancer Foundation ambassador off the track and joins the category with a vast amount of experience.

He has raced in categories such as Porsche Sprint Challenge, Trans Am, Toyota 86, TCR, Australian Formula Ford and Formula 4 over the years.

Vernon has most recently been driving a Mitsubishi Evo in the Australian Production Cars world where he took out the A1 championship title on his way to finishing third overall last year.

Another major career highlight was winning the 2017 Toyota 86 Series championship with Bruce Williams Motorsport ahead of now Supercars rookie Cameron Hill.

Despite having raced hard in a number of different categories, V8 SuperUtes was always an ambition for Vernon, who can now finally tick that box.

“I’ve been eagerly trying to find a way back into the Supercars paddock since COVID put a bump steer on our career plans,” he said.

“After closely following SuperUtes last year, I knew it would be a fantastic way to jump back into national racing.”

Vernon will race the Mitsubishi Triton campaigned by David Seiders last year and will be seen in Hunter Pacific Ceiling Fans colours with the #50 on the door.

He will also run under the nickname “The Phantom”.

Outside of personal ambitions, one of the major reasons why Vernon is stepping into the V8 SuperUtes category is due to the national platform it offers to raise awareness as a Kids with Cancer Foundation ambassador.

Last year Vernon pledged 20% of his corporate sponsorship to the charity, which supports kids and families fighting cancer.

He has pledged to do the same when racing in V8 SuperUtes this year.

“A lot of my focus in recent years has been using my position in motorsport to build awareness around the Kids with Cancer Foundation,” Vernon said.

“It’s a charity I hold really close to my heart and I love getting the kids involved in our program throughout the year.

“When you look at the level of coverage that we’re lucky to receive in the V8

SuperUte Series, it’s a no-brainer to jump in and use that platform to represent the Foundation and all of my loyal partners who’ve supported me through the last few years.”

The 2023 V8 SuperUtes season begins at Barbagallo on April 28-30 and continues at other Supercars events held at Sydney, The Bend, Sandown, Bathurst and Gold Coast.

Thomas Miles

SHERRIFF RELIVES SPEEDY NISSAN ‘SHOPPING TROLLEY’

ALTHOUGH THE GT stars put on a show racing for Bathurst 12 Hour glory, one largely unknown Nissan driver in the Combined Sedans support category created the biggest shock.

Almost the entire Australian motorsport community was left shell-shocked by the sight of Tasmanian engine tuning specialist Bradley Sherriff clocking 327kph in his Nissan Skyline and leaving his rivals for dust.

With 1170 horsepower delivered at the

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rear wheels, produced by the car’s heavily modified Billet blocked-RB26 engine, no one in the 56-car Combined Sedans field had an answer as “Godzilla” blazed into the distance up Mountain Straight.

Even with the amazing straight-line speed, the win-less weekend ended in heartbreak with Sherriff suffering a heavy crash at Reid Park.

Despite the fairytale finish not arriving, social media was alive discussing the sight of a red Nissan speeding around Bathurst

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more than three decades after Jim Richards and Mark Skaife crushed the field in a similar look at the 1992 Great Race.

Whilst Sherriff’s top speed created the headlines, he said the biggest challenge was keeping all four wheels of his “shopping trolley” Skyline away from the concrete walls.

“It is basically a very rapid shopping trolley and not so much a race car,” Sherriff told Auto Action.

“When the car can go down the main straight at 330kph you can eat a sandwich and sip a latte. Surprisingly the car at that speed was amazingly good in that area.

“But the car just consumed the tyre and unfortunately the other cars looked after them much better.

“Going over the top of the Mountain where Bathurst has all these drop offs was the sketchiest part.

“There were five spots after the Cutting where the track just levels out and the car loses grip in that area.

“Bathurst is a place where you learn something from every lap and during practice all you are worrying about is putting the car where it needs to be.

“But when you have cars racing around you, you are in conservation mode.”

Despite the challenges of negotiating the “drop offs” in his Skyline, Sherriff explained his weekend-ending shut under “the Tree” was simply due to driver error.

“What happened in that scenario was I glanced in the mirror and something caught my eye which was the Mustang behind me and I processed in my head surely he is not that close already?” recalled Sherriff.

“But I missed the turn in by six to eight inches and suddenly I was out in the wall. It took off in an instant like a roller-skate.

“It was 100% my fault due to inexperience and I would never do that again.”

Although his Nissan R32 Skyline GTS T holds lap records at Symmons Plains and Baskerville, Sherriff further explained his limited racing experience, which played a part in his Bathurst accident.

“My mum would not let me push the supermarket trolley around Woolworths until I was about 25, so effectively nothing (of racing experience),” he said.

“We have done some racing in Tasmania, but a little bit of hacking about and that is it.”

Sherriff holds ambitions of bringing the same Nissan and the operation’s sister #44 Skyline GTS T to a number of Precision National Sports Sedans events in 2023.

Thomas Miles

LATEST NEWS

SUPERCARS AERO

ON THE LINE

THE AERODYNAMIC parity between the Gen3 Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro will finally be settled next week.

A new VCAT aero test program is planned by the Supercars test team and will be run at the Temora airfield in rural NSW. The test is being run to finally ensure parity between the new Supercars contenders before the first round of the 2023 championship on the streets of Newcastle.

The last-minute and last-gasp program is intended to identify and rectify any differences between the new-generation Camaro and Mustang.

It comes after disputed, inconclusive and incomplete results from the original Gen3 VCAT testing at the Wellcamp airfield in Queensland last November.

AUTO ACTION has been told there were two properly comparative test runs from the whole of the original

VCAT program.

There has been no official confirmation of next week’s VCAT program from Supercars, which continues to battle a range of niggling Gen3 issues while denied any problems.

Several drivers have also told AUTO ACTION they have been asked not to criticise the cars or Gen3 program.

Ford and Chevrolet were both

approached for comment and, while not denying the new VCAT testing at Temora, refused to comment.

However, Ford has been agitating for many weeks to get a proper VCAT result and Chevrolet wants the issue to be settled before the start of racing in Newcastle.

The last time Temora was used for VCAT testing was in 2018.

Paul Gover - News Editor

JETT’S TRU-BLUE TRANS AM TRIBUTE TO DJ JETT JOHNSON will tackle round 1 of the 2023 Trans Am season with a Tru-Blu tribute to his grandfather Dick Johnson.

The young jet enters his first full season in the National Trans Am at Symmons Plains, Tasmania next weekend, sporting a tribute livery to DJ’s Tru-Blu XD Falcon from the early 80’s.

“I’m really looking forward to kick starting the 2023 Trans Am Series in the all-blue Mustang,” said the youngest Johnson.

“All-blue cars and my family have been linked for many years, not just with Granddad, but my dad Steven ran his Tru-Blu XD in Touring Car Masters in blue as well.

“It’s a part of my family’s history, and I hope the fans down at Symmons Plains like it.”

Johnson Sr became a household name after being taken out by rock in the 1980 Bathurst 1000, winning the Great Race on his return in 1981, before becoming a five-time Australian Touring Car champion.

His grandson Jett is also making his own path toward becoming a household name, after taking out the TA2 Muscle Car Series in 2022, and showing plenty of promise in his national Trans Am debut, taking a pair of P2s in a very strong field at the Queensland Raceway.

Johnson topped Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki, and experienced Trans Am competitor Owen Kelly for his two podiums, finishing behind two-time national champion Nathan Herne on both occasions.

This week he comes up against a

similarly strong field against the likes of James Moffat, Ben Grice, Owen Kelly, Tyler Everingham, Brett Holdsworth, Jay Robotham, and Lachie Dalton.

42 years on from Johnson Sr taking the Tru-Blu to victory at Symmons Plains, young Jett will be gunning for the same

result on the 2.41km seven turn circuit, south of Launceston.

The opening round of the National Trans Am Series will be held as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries on February 24-26. Saturday and Sunday’s races are broadcast live and ad-break free on Stan Sport, while Saturday’s racing will feature free-to-air coverage on 9GEM from 2pm-5pm.

TW Neal

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TARGA TASMANIA

POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER

TARGA HAS been forced to postpone the 2023 TARGA Tasmania event, possibly to October, as Motorsport Australia is yet to release its safety report.

An ongoing investigation by a review panel set up by Motorsport Australia, was implemented following MA suspending rally permits for TARGA tarmac events after the death of Tony Seymour, a 59-year-old driver competining in the 2022 TARGA Tasmania.

Seymour’s death was the fourth such fatality in two years of the event, with three drivers being killed in the 2021 Targa Tasmania.

The panel was organised to oversee and suggest new safety recommendations for the continuation of TARGA style tarmac rallying

in Australia, with the report yet to be released.

With that report not being issued, and factoring in the time it would take to then enforce the new recommended safety regulations, TARGA Australia CEO Mark Perry says they are left with no other option.

“It is disappointing to have to postpone our iconic event, but the reality is that we have no alternative given that Motorsport Australia has not yet released the report,” Perry said.

“TARGA is important to the motorsport community across Australia and has a special place in the state of Tasmania.

“It has a wonderful history and now our challenge comes to ensure its future.”

It was reported in December after a

meeting with stakeholders in Melbourne, that Motorsport Australia was due to release the report in January/February.

The specific areas of investigation were centered around: *Course design *Stage selection and management *Competition vehicle eligibility *Safety equipment and preparation *Crew Licensing *Training and monitoring *The monitoring and conduct of the tour components of the events.

“It will also take time to understand the full ramifications of the Targa Review Panel’s report,” Perry continued.

“Once we have received and reviewed the report thoroughly, we will make further announcements.

“We will also take the time to assess the full impact on the event and our business before making the required short, medium, and long term decisions in the best interests of all our loyal competitors, officials, sponsors and suppliers.

“We are committed to working with all parties on the various challenges that lay ahead with a view to a return of TARGA at TARGA Great Barrier Reef from September 1 to 3 with the flagship TARGA Tasmania to follow from October 23 to 28, seven weeks later.”

TW Neal

ARC WELCOMES NEW SPONSOR FOR 2023 The 2023 Australian Rally Championship (ARC) season gets under way in just over a month, with Bosch returning as its naming rights sponsor.

Rally Launceston opens up the new year for the ARC on March 24-26, with Lewis Bates returning as its defending champion.

Bates and his co-driver Anthony McLoughlin went on a hot streak in the Toyota Yaris after taking their maiden ARC win at Rally Gippsland, overhauling his brother Harry Bates to take out the championship at the Coffs Coast Rally finale.

The 2022 season also saw a thrilling battle in the Production Cup with eventual champion Taylor Gill coming in over the late Ronnie Bustard and Max McRae, with both Gill and McRae Europe bound for 2023.

Also returning to the fold is naming rights sponsor Bosch, having been the main sponsor over the 2011-2012 ARC season’s.

“We have all been watching the ARC very closely and have been excited with its growth, the number of competitors involved and the passion for rallying across the country,” Bosch Motorsport Australia’s Matt Turner said.

“To be able to take on the naming rights to the 2023 Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship is a terrific opportunity for us to showcase our brand and connect with rally competitors, fans and volunteer officials alike.”

A six round season stops at every state

in 2023, and will conclude in Canberra on November 18-19 at the Nation’s Capital Rally.

Round 2 sees action commence in WA with the Forest Rally on May 19-21, before Queensland hosts the July 22-23 rally after it was washed out in 2022.

The Victorian Gippsland Rally follows that on August 25-27, with the Adelaide Hills Rally once again the penultimate round before the season concludes in Canberra.

“On behalf of everyone at Motorsport Australia, we extend our thanks to Matt (Turner) and the Bosch Motorsport team for their support of the ARC this season,” Eugene Arocca said.

“To have a quality brand such as Bosch Motorsport partnering with our thriving, premier rally Championship is a great boost for the discipline.”

TW Neal

2023 BOSCH MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR: Round 1: Buckby ŠKODA Rally Launceston - TAS 24-26 March Round 2: Make Smoking History Forest Rally - WA 19-21 May Round 3: Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland - QLD 22-23 July Round 4: Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally - VIC 25-27 August Round 5: Adelaide Hills Rally - SA 13-15 October Round 6: Netier National Capital Rally - ACT 18-19 November

BP ANNOUNCE NEW E75 RACING FUEL OFFICIAL SUPERCARS fuel supplier, BP, has announced its new E75 low carbon Racing Fuel for the 2023 season.

The new fuel, which was being used at preseason testing today, contains more than 80% of second generation fuel components that are sourced from renewable feedstocks.

It’s also designed to extend the cars running range from the 2022 season, with a lower Well-to-Wheel carbon intensity.

In line with the changes to the new Gen3 vehicles, BP has collaborated with Supercars to develop this new lower carbon race fuel for the racetrack.

On the unveiling of the new E75 fuel, BP also announced its multi-year extension as official supplier for the Supercars Championship.

BP’s Leigh Taylor, General Manager of Brand & Communications, explains the benefits of the new fuel.

“BP E75 Racing Fuel is a new and exclusive, lower carbon race fuel, comprising more than 80% second generation fuel components,” Taylor explained.

“This includes a unique, advanced bio gasoline, sourced from renewable feedstocks, and blended with our existing premium BP Ultimate 98 Unleaded gasoline.”

“The fuel has also been specially formulated to help extend the range of the race cars compared to last season’s fuel, which means burning fewer litres of fuel for the same race.

“Supercars, GM and Ford have undertaken an extensive engine performance, durability and range testing program over the past 18 months in Australia and the United States.

“We wanted to ensure BP E75 Racing Fuel met the rigorous quality and performance standards that BP applies to all its products, and that’s why we have every confidence we have developed a fuel that performs in the most challenging environment available.”

Supercars CEO Shane Howard says that it’s a positive forward step to a more sustainable product in the future.

“Every race car on the Supercars grid from the start of the 2023 season will utilise the new BP E75 Racing Fuel, which is an exciting step forward for the Championship.

“Supercars has always been committed to being at the forefront of innovation and sustainability, and this transition to a lower carbon fuel product is the next step in our journey towards a more sustainable future.

“This change to a lower carbon fuel product represents a major milestone for Supercars and our fans.

“We’re excited to be leading the way in sustainable racing and look forward to the positive impact this will have for our sport.”

TW Neal

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INTERNATIONAL AUSSIES

DOOHAN BUILDS MILES AHEAD OF F2 TITLE CHASE AUSTRALIAN ALPINE F1 reserve driver Jack Doohan is ready to launch an assault on the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship after enjoying a trouble-free pre-season test in Bahrain.

Doohan mainly focused on race runs across the three days, but was still a regular in and around the top 10.

The 20-year-old eased into action on the opening day with a quiet morning before jumping up to seventh in the evening.

Doohan was on the pace on Day 2 for Virtuosi Racing, recording a pair of top 10 finishes, including the afternoon session where he finished sixth, four-tenths away from the top.

The consistent campaign was completed on the final day where a 35-lap stint resulted with a P9.

With qualifying performance a strength at Virtuosi Racing, Doohan said race pace and tyre management was the main focus at Sakhir.

“Days 1 and 2 was more about performance running, and the rest was focused on race running and maximising the performance of the team,” the Australian told Auto Action.

“We know we’ve got really good one lap pace in the Virtuosi, but points are won in the race, and having good performance and sustainability in the tyres is what we need to keep improving.”

Doohan will remain in Bahrain for the

Jack Doohan settling into the #14 Virtuosi Racing F2 machine.

Image: SEBASTIAAN ROZENDAAL / DUTCH PHOTO AGENCY opening round of the championship on March 3-5.

Despite gathering three days of data at the “strange” and sandy Sakhir, Doohan believes things may be completely different when racing begins.

“Bahrain is always interesting and strange for testing,” he said. “The wind is always a big aspect, which blows dust and sand over the circuit, making conditions different each time, so we will take what we can from the test and extract as much

as we can with the conditions.

“But I’m sure we’ll get to the race weekend next week and it’ll be a completely different ball game again, condition wise.”

Thomas Miles

ITALIAN F4 GETS FURTHER AUSSIE INJECTION

Hugh Barter’s Campos F3 car – in the top five.

BARTER SHINES IN F3 TESTING HUGH BARTER impressed as a trio of Aussies completed the first chapter of their maiden full-time FIA Formula 3 Championship campaign.

Barter was the leading Australian after the pre-season test held at Bahrain’ Sakhir circuit.

The 17-year-old Campos Racing driver flew into the top five on the third and final day with a 1:47.704 lap time, which was just threetenths away from leader Gabriel Bortoleto.

The result will give the Aussie a boost of confidence ahead of his F3 racing debut at the same circuit next month.

“I’m really happy with how things went today,” Barter said.

“It was my first time driving the car in anger, and I was pleased with the pace we showed.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m confident we can continue to improve and be competitive throughout the season.”

Campos Racing teammate Mansell

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was consistently the next best Australian throughout and achieved a top result of P14 under lights on Day 2.

Mansell climbed up to P14 being the only Australian within a second of the leader in that particular session.

The Newcastle native was also able to beat Barter on the opening evening with a 16th, while his fastest time for the weekend was a 1:48.4s on the final day.

Smith used the test to get his first taste of F3 machinery and become acclimatised to his new race car.

The nephew of Supercars driver Jack Smith found his best lap of a 1:48.5 on the final day, but that was only good enough for P29 in the 30-car field.

Smith’s high point was the evening of day 2 when he climbed up to P21.

The Aussie trio now turn their attention to the opening round at Bahrain on March 3-5.

Thomas Miles

TWO MORE Australians have been added to the Italian F4 season for 2023, with a distinct Ferrari Drivers Academy (FDA) flavour, adding to the already confirmed inclusion of UAE F4 champion James Wharton.

Jack Beeton and Gianmarco Pradel have now been added to the seven round 21 race season which sees races across Italy, Belgium, and France.

Both Beeton and Pradel were the two Australians who made it through to the FDA’s world finals last year in November, competing against four others.

Wharton was the previous winner and is still involved at the Maranello base, whilst last year’s pair fell just short.

Although Beeton’s team is yet to be announced, the 15 year-old has just been signed up Nicolas Todt’s All Road Management, one of the premier talent agencies in Europe, with youngsters going under the guidance of Mia Sharizman, the former director of the Alpine Drivers Academy. All Road have stated that they will be racing Beeton in the Italian series, fresh from his stint at the UAE

F4 champion where the youngest finished in the midfield on debut.

16 year-old Pradel on the other hand has been named for German team US Racing, which is headed by former F1 driver Ralph Schumacher.

Pradel, an Aussie with Italian origins, made his debut in the Spanish F4 in 2022, and is currently warming up for the Italian F4 with a spot in Europe’s new Formula Winter Series in Spain.

So far he’s taken two P3s and a P4 and P5 in a strong start to his year with two rounds remaining, with fellow Aussie and British F4 driver Patrick Heuzenroeder also on the grid.

It’ll be a tough initiation for the pair in the Italian F4, with a strong grid which includes the top four finishers of the UAE F4 championship.

The series begins on April 21-23 at Imola, in support of the Alpine’s Formula Regional European Championship.

TW Neal Pradel (left) and Beeton are both joining the Italian F4 grid.

James Wharton – hot start to 2023.

FDA GUN KICKS OFF 2023 WITH UAE CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 COULD not have started any better for James Wharton, as the Ferrari Driver Academy racer stormed home from behind to take out the UAE F4 Championship in his second attempt.

A slow start in Dubai in the first of five rounds meant he had to chase series leaders Ugo Ugochukwu and Valerio Rinicella down, which he did with a near faultless display of qualifying (4 poles) and defensive and attacking racing.

One thing that stands out with Wharton is his ability to defend front the front, showing the impressive race craft of a driver that’s spent plenty of time in Europe, including several years of karting pre his open wheel debut last season.

Things really kicked off for him at the Kuwait Motor Town double header where

he took two wins and three podiums over six races, before going on an eight race rampage with three wins and five podiums, cementing his maiden formulae championship in style.

The final race didn’t quite go as planned, as what started as a hectic battle for front spot in a race against his Mumbai Falcons, FDA, and Prema teammate Tuukka ‘Tiger’ Taponen ended in despair as the two collided, even though it meant Wharton was assured of the series win as a result.

The pair finished first and second on the table after some great battles, and they’ll now go head-to-head in the Italian F4, racing for the same team (Prema), and sharing the same quarters at Maranello, Italy, between rounds.

“It wasn’t the ideal way to win, especially as it was my teammate, but overall I’m super excited because I worked so hard for this and I think I really deserved it,” Wharton said after the race.

“I had a hard first round and then I fought back to take the championship lead.

“I’m a bit sorry about that last race, but there was nothing I could’ve done, but I’m happy to be the UAE champion.

“I came close last year but I finally got the job done, now I can’t wait to get to Europe and get the job done there.

“The team was so good all the way, we had the Mumbai Falcon limited stickers on, but it was a European team essentially, but they were a great support through the championship and it was really cool to

have them on board.

“From an organisational side of things the series was great, and it gets better and better every year. It was amazing to race in Kuwait, which was a really good track and it took everyone by surprise.”

Last year was a formative year for the 16-year-old Victorian-born racer, finishing fifth in the now-defunct ADAC German F4 championship, and fifth in the Italian F4, collecting plenty of wins and podiums, as well as four wins in 2022s UAE F4 series.

He’ll compete against fellow Aussies Gianmarco Pradel and Jack Beeton, as well as highly talented internationals such as Taponen, Ugochukwu, Arvid Lindblad, and will go in as series favourite, with some more racing spots to be announced throughout the year. TW Neal

ALLEN TAKES UP ALMS FOR ALGARVE JAMES ALLEN has backed up from his sensational last-gasp LMP2 victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona, to help Algarve Racing to a win at the opening race of the Asian Le Mans series (ALMS).

Ironically, Algarve Pro Racing from Portugal, are the team that Allen beat at Daytona with a photo finish racing for German team, Proton Competition.

Over two weeks, the ALMS series had four 4-hour races at Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with Allen in a team with American John Falb, and American/Bajan racer Kyffin Simpson.

Although the team didn’t get back on the podium they still managed to take out overall third in the #25 Oreca 7, taking out fourth in the second Dubai race, then a P9 and P4 at the Yas Marina Circuit for Round 2.

After his victory in Round 1, Allen explained that he owed the Algarve team, which was also his first win with the LMP2 outfit, after spending most of 2022 in the WEC with them, as well as racing the European Le Mans, and Le Mans 24 Hour.

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“I felt like I owed the AP Racing team an apology after Daytona … so here it is!

Winners at the 4 hours of Dubai,” Allen said.

“Absolutely mega driving from John Falb and Kyffin Simpson. It was a massive team effort today.”

For their ALMS winning effort, Allen again showed the same mettle he displayed at Daytona, coming from behind and pouncing on the team’s good pit strategy to get his second LMP2 race win in the space of a week.

The team qualified in P6, in a session that was delayed by a huge crash after GT racer Phillipp Sager remarkably walked away from his Porsche after it destroyed the barriers, taking three hours to fix.

Things didn’t start smoothly for the #25 Algarve team, with Falb spinning the Oreca 07 after an early yellow restart, where he battled back into P3, before the team took the lead at the halfway point of the four hour race.

With the lead then changing several times, Simpson’s middle stint helped the team gap the field, and along with some

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Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES good pit strategy, set up Allen with a 15s lead for the charge home.

Another full course yellow Brought the field back in and saw Allen lose the lead, but the earlier pit strategies paid off, with Allen retaking the lead from the #3 DKR Engineering entry, the eventual series champions.

After 118 laps, Allen (above) came in with a 9.054s lead over the #3 car, with the 99 Racing #98 LMP2 Oreca in P3.

Fellow Australian’s Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson also picked up a podium, grabbing a P2 whilst racing for the BritishAmerican team United Autosports, in the #23 LMP2 Bend liveried Oreca.

Allen now returns to Proton Racing where he’ll contest the 2023 IMSA Sportscar Championship in the LMP2, where they’ve had the perfect start at Daytona ahead of the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15-18. TW Neal

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LATEST NEWS

REPLICA TOURERS TROPHY SERIES GETS BIG 2023

BASED IN Queensland, the low-cost and popular Replica Tourers Trophy Series (RTTS) continues to expand with a seven race calendar spread between Queensland Raceway, Lakeside Park, and the new edition of Morgan Park Raceway.

Category founder Brian Smallwood

recognised a gap at state level in the touring car space for a variety of vehicles and driving abilities. As such, the category is based on Capacity Class racing up to 2Lt, Over 2Lt up to 3.5Lt, over 3.5Lt up to 5Lt, over 5Lt up to 6.2Lt, and then Open class for large, stroked engine vehicles.

It essentially allows a driver to race their interpretation of a touring car that falls between an IPRA or Production type series, with garage-worked road registered cars, racing with the vehicles essential motor and chassis.

Since 2020 the RTTS has grown into being included in the ASSA backed QLD Racing Drivers Championship, the Hi Tech Oils Super Series for its Morgan Park round, and the Two Days of Thunder event at QLD Raceway, with the latter two being televised events.

“All the categories here in Queensland, and the series’ that come here and race are expensive with fees on top of fees.

“They’re also fairly dictatorial about what tyres you can run and what the car has to look like,” Smallwood said.

“It started out small but now we’re at capacity grids, and what’s made it popular is

that we decided to go with engine capacity racing – we don’t have membership, and we don’t have fees.

“We have everything from a couple of Nissan Bluebirds to some Mazda RX7s, Commodores, BMWs, Corollas like the AE86 and a 101, Honda Integra, Torana A9Xs…It a good mixture.”

“We only charge what the track charges for track fees and it’s a no-contact policy as a very strict rule. Basically you can just rock up and have some fun with the engine that’s meant to be in the vehicle in your driving and that’s that.”

As the lowest cost based state category in the whole of Australia, the RTTS has become the fastest growing grass roots category in Australia. For more information visit the Replica Tourer’s Facebook page.

TW Neal

VALE: ROBERT ‘BOB’ MUIR, BOB JOLLY, DAVE AUGER THREE WELL-KNOWN Australian racing drivers have recently, sadly, passed away.

Robert ‘Bob’ Muir, Robert John Jolly and David Auger each made their mark on the circuits and were well known in their chosen categories.

BOB MUIR stated racing in an Austin Healey Spite at Catalina Park and progressed to Formula Vee, then to the Tasman and Gold Star series respectively.

He also competed in Formula 2 and Formula 5000 overseas and raced against several who became Formula 1 stars.

He aspired to progress to Formula 1 himself, but lack of funds meant a return to Australia. While he remained passionate about open wheelers, he was joined by good friend Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan in the Army Reserve Ford Falcon XD for the 1981 James Hardie 1000 after he raced the car in the Australian Touring Car Championship.

He also raced in the Bathurst enduro for the next five years with the late Brian Callaghan, Joe Moore, Christine Gibson, Ken Mathews and, on the final occasion, with John Goss in his Jaguar XJS. In the early 2000s he had a couple of

races in F5000 before racing a Reynard 94D in the 2005 Australian Formula 4000 championship. Muir finished his racing in that car, albeit with a Lexus V8 engine, in the OzBoss series.

He remained a motorsport enthusiast until his passing, aged 83.

FROM A Holden Torana XU-1 through to his Chev-powered Commodores Bob Jolly was a favourite among his Sports Sedan rivals and fans alike. He came to notice with the ex-Tony Parkinson VC which appeared in many guises and later in his VN/VS. While he was popular at Victorian circuits, he also raced interstate and made several appearances at Amaroo and Oran Park. He tackled the Sports Sedan/GT Championship of 1982, before he finished ninth and sixth in the following years.

After two years in the Australian Sports Car Championship, and two drives in the (1987 and 1988) Sandown 500 with Lawrie Nelson in his Ford Mustang, Jolly contested nine Sports Sedan series with the best result of fifth (1996) and fourth (1997). He was laid to rest last Monday.

Bob Muir at the wheel of an F2 Minos Ford BDA, during the BARC 200, at Thruxton, in the UK – 1976.

DAVID AUGER was best remembered for competing in the Australian Super Touring Championship in an ex-factory Alfa Romeo 155 TS. He started racing in his home country of England in a Lola T280 in the late ‘70s before a testing program in a Can Am McLaren.

He move to Australia in in the early ‘90s and raced the Alfa in Super Tourers over four seasons. He had outright placings of 11th, 10th, 12th and third in the final championship year in which he also won the Independents Cup. Twice he competed

in the Bathurst 1000 with Lawrie Kyte codriving the Alfa for 11th and 13th respectively.

Later, Auger competed at the Macau Grand Prix but crashed the Alfa. He also took in the Asian Touring Car Championship and finish fifth in Division 1 aboard a Peugeot 306 GTi. His last Bathurst drive was in 2003 in the 24 Hour event where he codrove with Aaron McGill, Ross Halliday and Martin Miller in a Nissan 200SX Spec-R but were out after just 42 laps.

Auger passed away at 61 years of age.

Garry O’Brien

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CRUNCH TIME

AA’S COLUMNIST SAYS 2023 IS AN IMPORTANT ONE FOR TCR AND S5000

WITH ALL the hype surrounding the recent star-studded Bathurst 12 Hour and Supercars team scrambling to build and reveal their Gen3 machines, it’s been easy to overlook ARG’s SpeedSeries season-opener. Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains has crept up on us and just happens to be this weekend, February 24-26.

For all the talk about 2023 being a crucial year for Supercars, it’s equally true for ARG’s two foundation categories, TCR and S5000. Let’s start with the latter.

S5000 simply has to fire this year for it to have a long-term future. The pandemic that held our premier open-wheel class back is over, everyone’s had a good look at it now and we have a much better idea of its place in the local racing landscape. It’s taken a few years for its main purpose to become clear, but it appears to be a something of a holding yard category – a very entertaining one.

S5000 in 2023 looks to be a place for young drivers simply seeking to stand out from the crowd of Supercars fringe-dwellers and Super2 runners. It’s a series where drivers can further develop their skills to secure a future as a professional racing career.

So what do I mean by it ‘has

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with Luke West

REVVED UP to fire’? Two things: it needs respectable grid sizes; and Australian Drivers Championship/ Tasman Series race winners need to have enhanced their reputation by year’s end.

In my view a respectable grid of S5000s in 2023 is simply in double-figures for far-flung or lowprofile events, rising to mid-teens at the glamour rounds later in the year like Adelaide, supporting the Supercars. At the time of writing there were 11 entries for Tassie, a predominantly a mix of Supercars main-game/Super2 regulars and aspirants – the likes of James Golding, Aaron Cameron, Jordan Boys, Matt McLean and Zane Goddard – plus promising S5000/ open-wheeler regulars like Cooper Webster and Blake Purdie.

What I like about S5000 in 2023 is the continued presence of the category’s resident benchmark – twice Gold Star winner Joey Mawson. Anyone who regularly

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knocks off the Sydneysider will look like a superstar. Which is the whole point of the exercise, right? This is a roundabout way to suggest S5000’s place in the world is now really as a training ground for the Supercars Championship. And we shouldn’t get upset that no one who races in S5000 is going to end up in Formula 1 or IndyCar. We should be comfortable with its role as a place for tin-top pilots to make a name for themselves and gain some wider experience. After all, it’s worked for James Golding. I love the fact he keeps coming back for more.

I know that some very influential people in the Supercars paddock try to steer youngsters and their families away from S5000, suggesting instead to focus on the Super3/Super2 route. But, for me, all the youngsters on the Supercars ladder system tend to blend together, except when one

Image: DANIEL KALISZ

of them steps out of their comfort zone and wins in S5000. Maybe that’s just me.

Switching focus now to TCR, it’s disappointing that Symmons will probably see the hot hatch category’s smallest grid in Australia since its debut in 2019.

But it’s not cause for hitting the panic button. Not yet at least. It’s not a cheap and quick exercise for semi-professional teams to cross Bass Strait. But entry numbers need to rebound to around 20 by the time round two at Phillip Island rolls around in May. The fourth full season of TCR down under could be make or break, despite the always entertaining racing, For it to stay fresh, TCR needs one or two new models each season or it will quickly wither on the vine. I worry that Toyota’s involvement with a Corolla has gone awfully quiet. The market leading brand’s participation would be a massive fillip.

What’s stopping TCR from having a ‘same-old, same-old’ year in 2023 is the advent of the TCR World Tour. The two Australian rounds of the inaugural World Tour – a TBA venue and a place named Mount Panorama – will provide the category with a

shot in the arm, helping to swell grids late season.

As excited as I am for the ‘tour’, it’s disappointing that the original plan for a 500km annual enduro at Mount Panorama has seemingly fallen by the wayside. I must have missed the memo regarding the long-mooted 500’s demise.

It’s just not talked about now, strangely.

We have something cool instead in the World Tour with overseas cars joining the locals for a trio of sprint races, which is important as all successful series need a central banner event.

Re television, on the plus side are more hours on Nine’s free-to-air stations, although Supercars Television’s high production values will be missed now that ARG has stepped away from the arrangement.

Lower your expectation to avoid disappointment. Nonetheless, the battle between former champ Will Brown and reigning champ Tony D’Alberto will be worth tuning in for.

The main question for me is whether a young bloke will prevail over the established stars, something we haven’t seen since Brown’s win in the inaugural TCR Australia season.

www.autoaction.com.au I 25

LATEST NEWS

YOUNG GUN GOODYER ON TOP OF SPRINTCAR WORLD AT JUST 21 years of age, Jock Goodyer is the king of the speedway world after almost cruising to a dominant Australian Sprintcar Title.

Goodyer led all 35 laps of the 2023 race for the title at Perth Motorplex with a near faultless performance.

It was a sweet moment for the Tasmanian, who said it has instantly become the highlight of his young and promising career, surpassing his 2020 Australian Formula 500 championship crown.

“It is the number one race I have won so far,” Goodyer told Auto Action.

“It was cool and the emotions were pretty high. It felt weird and a surreal feeling to finally get it.”

What made the win even sweeter for Goodyer was getting so close claiming the #1 last year when he finished third at Archerfield in Brisbane.

“When you get so close it is always bittersweet,” he said.

“I did the same thing in Formula 500. I ran second there and then went back the following year and got the title.

“It is such a trying event and always hard to put a full weekend together, so doing that was the key.”

Goodyer travelled across the Nullarbor with supreme confidence having enjoyed another storming season.

After a breakout 2021/22 season he has carried on his merry way this summer with five appearances in victory lane.

However, Goodyer knew the challenge of arriving at the unique Perth Motorplex and said minor adjustments unlocked his outright speed.

“It is a completely different track to anywhere else in Australia,” he said.

“It is the closest track we have got to an American track. It is a lot bigger, so you have to drive them a lot straighter, which is

something we from the Eastern states are not used to.

“I feel like we adjusted pretty well and the whole week we were changing little things to get more comfortable.

“We knew we were in the ballpark and then it was just a matter of little adjustments to take the car to the next level.”

Goodyer rolled out of the truck with strong pace and finished the Night 1 A-Main in third behind winner Jamie Veal.

But when Veal failed to finish his only preliminary, a golden opportunity presented to the Tasmanian and he took it.

Goodyer claimed pole and elected to start the race from the outside row alongside Lachie McHugh, which proved to be a master stroke as he dominated not only the start, but each restart in the incident filled race.

Although the 21-year-old led every lap, he did have a small scare after brushing the Turn 2 wall and losing some ground, but once again he had the pace to drive into the distance.

Despite his speed off the line and relentless race pace, Goodyer believed his decision of starting positions was the biggest key to the success.

“Selecting to start from the outside was probably my best decision – there was a lot of traction up there and we never looked back,” he said.

“I had a really good car and I did not have to deal with much traffic, but we were going to be hard to beat no matter what.”

Although Goodyer is already among the best in Australia at just 21, he has warned his rivals he is far from the finished product.

“I am still pretty young and have plenty of time,” he said.

“Every time you jump into the car you learn and we are getting better and better.”

Thomas Miles

Image: RICHARD HATHAWAY PHOTOGRAPHY

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THE AERO – OR NOT – EFFECT

A modern F1 car has its own complex version of the British language to explain its aerodynamics ...

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

HOW AN F1 CAR COMPARES TO A NEW GEN3 SUPERCARS RACER PLENTY OF people in Supercars like to talk about aero.

Drivers complain about ‘aero wash’ making it hard to follow and even harder to overtake; engineers talk about aero wing settings for maximum straightline speed at Bathurst; and car companies demand parity on aero to ensure even racing for the Supercars pack.

So there is plenty of talk, and even more noise.But what, if anything, does it mean?

If you get to drive a road car quickly, which could mean somewhere like a German autobahn, and you quickly realise the shortcomings of stockstandard production cars when

with Paul Gover

THE PG PERSPECTIVE the speed goes over 200km/h.

They walk and wander, and encountering oncoming traffic – and the giant air blast – gives you some indication of the turbulence on Conrod Straight.

A motorcycle can give you a clearer picture at a lower speed and even a basic bicycle highlights the advantages of slipstreaming at only 30km/h.

Turning back to Supercars, it’s obvious that their wings make a significant difference to their speed and stability.

But it takes a dip into the Formula One world to see what aero is really about in motorsport.

Grand Prix commentators often

talk about an aero disadvantage for a car which is several seconds behind another during qualifying runs, and the latest full-body F1 update ahead of the 2022 season trimmed the wings and things to try and get closer racing and more overtaking.

It also produced ‘porpoising’, where the cars bounce up and down as they lose and recover their ‘ground-effect (under car)’ aero grip on the straights and through high-speed corners, but that’s another story.

Which brings me to a story by the respected Motorsport magazine, the world’s oldest motor racing publication.

It asked a qualified aerodynamicist to take a look at the first full-scale F1 unveiling for 2023 with the Alfa Romeo C43.

Kyle Forster worked in aero at the Mercedes-AMG team from 2018-2020 and now runs a racing engineering consultancy called JKF. His analysis, which starts relatively gently, is definitely worth a visit to Google.

He talks about “carryover elements from last year, as well as some things that are hidden and de-featured”, before taking a deep dive into the car’s bodywork and wings – and what they do.

Soon enough, he lost me.

It took a couple of reads and re-reads, and a close look at the C43 pictures, to get any idea what’s happening.

Forster talks about the “Y250like vorticity” on the car’s nose, which is relatively easy to picture.

He also talks about the “downwash” along the side of the car and “tyre squirt”, which has nothing to do with clearing a wet track.

Deeper into the story, there is talk of “outwash”, “vortex health”, “top surface losses”, “stagnation”, “convex fillet rule” and “upwashing vanes”.

It’s a lot to read and digest, without worrying about understanding it.

And Forster also compares an F1 wing to an owl ...

Which brings us back to the relative simplicity of a Gen3 Supercars racer.

If you’re really interested in aero, and particularly the way it works in Formula One, it’s a great story with lots of technical insights.

But, for me, it just proved that even the latest Gen3 cars are more like a suburban taxi than a jet fighter.

SVEN BURCHARTZ LIVES MOTORSPORTS LAWYER AND PARTNER

Know your position.

sburchartz@kkilawyers.com.au • Teams • Series owners • Manufacturers

T +613 8825 4800 kkilawyers.com.au

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www.autoaction.com.au I 27

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR PUBLISHER

Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Bruce Williams STAFF JOURNALIST Timothy W. Neal STAFF JOURNALIST Thomas Miles NEWS EDITOR Andrew Clarke FEATURES WRITER Paul Gover PRODUCTION/SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Caroline Garde SENIOR DESIGNER Neville Wilkinson NATIONAL EDITOR Garry O’Brien HISTORICS EDITOR Mark Bisset SPEEDWAY REPORTER Paris Charles ONLINE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AUSTRALIA Josh Nevett, Dan McCarthy, Bruce Newton, Mark Bisset, Garry O’Brien, Geoffrey Harris, Bruce Moxon, Gary Hill, Craig O’Brien, Mick Oliver, Martin Agatyn.

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

Motorsport Images

ADVERTISING MANAGER Bruce Williams All Advertising inquiries bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 Editorial contributions may be sent to Auto Action. No responsibility will be accepted for their safety. If you require the return of any sent item or items, please attach a separate, stamped and fully addressed envelope.

Auto Action is published by Action Media Partners ABN number 62976094459 Suite 4/156 Drummond Street Oakleigh Victoria 3166 Phone: 03 9563 2107 The trademark Auto Action is the sole property of Action Media Partners The website www.autoaction.com.au and associated social media platforms are wholly owned by Action Media Partners.

All rights reserved No part of this magazine’s content may be reproduced, retransmitted or rebroadcast without the express written permission of the Publisher and Action Media Partners.

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AUTO ACTION WEBSITE

For more of the latest motorsport news, reviews and features, PLUS additional breaking news.

Go to autoaction.com.au or scan below

email: letters@autoaction.com.au Postal: Suite 4/156 Drummond Street.

Oakleigh Victoria 3166

OSCAR’S ARRIVAL A DREAM COME TRUE FOR OLD MELBOURNE TOWN IT’S A pity the Australian Grand Prix isn’t the first race of the Formula 1 season this year, with Oscar Piastri making his debut.

Anyway, really looking forward to seeing Oscar in his third race, in his hometown.

Have loved Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo, but a Melbourne boy racing in Melbourne will be something else. Bring it on.

How odd that Oscar’s never raced a car – only karts! – in Oz before.

[ED: That’s the modern pathway!]

Go get ‘em young fella.

Melbourne and Australia is right behind you.

Glenda Morris, Coburg, Victoria

GRAND PRIX SHOULD BE SELLING AS MANY TICKETS AS IT CAN I AM pissed off!

Last year I missed the chance to get the AGP, but this year after my retirement, I booked some accommodation in Melbourne for my wife and I to attend this year’s AGP, only to find out I can’t even get a ticket!

Why this cap on the number of Grand tickets being sold?

The Grand Prix Corporation should be trying to sell as many tickets as possible after reporting a loss of almost $80 million on last year’s race.

Surely the more tickets sold the greater the chance of reducing that kind of mammoth loss again this year.

Phillip Butler, Gosford, NSW Editor’s note: I feel your pain Philip, but it is possible to get a

SOCIAL DISCOURSE

Thursday pass and, it seems, a four-day pass, but single race day passes are sold out. It’s a big place and you would think it could accommodate more people...

OOPS, OUR BAD! WE COP OUR CANING AND PLEDGE TO DO BETTER

SPEEDWAY recent months on the back of his great results. We love Sprintcars, Speedway and Tassie! Sorry to have disappointed you online, but see our ‘Titles’ story on pages 48-49. Hope that makes amends.

Jock Goodyer’s consistency would earn him the series title. – Image RAY RITTER

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN – VICTORIAN SPRIN TC A RS SPEEDWEEK

By PARIS CHARLES

the front row with the surprise packet of the night Chad Ely. Brock Hallett V35 Jamie Veal in action. Image: would throw PARIS CHARLES the first caution, riding the Turn 4 wall after challenging Jock Goodyer for third.

Veal led at the restart, but as quickly as the lights blazed green, they would go red for the inverted Daniel Pestka who rolled out of contention, clipping Steven Caruso in the process. Third time lucky, with only one lap in the books, Veal led the charging field until Max Vidau spun to reset the field into Indian file formation. Again, Veal charged from the front – however Tate Frost and Brendan Quinn would tangle and bring on the reds for the second time, while Caruso would also retire his wounded entry.

LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE! With 32 laps still on the Night 1 took place at the board Veal led the Murray Machining field away for the fifth attempt. and Sheds Murray Bridge This time, the Speedway in race would settle into rhythm South Australia and with and the mover 32 competitors, a in the field was Luke Dillon large crowd and hot night working his way the action would from sixth to second, relegating not disappoint as the feature American race would go chequered flags. Despite teenaged sensation Chase crossing the line in down to the wire – where Randall, Goodyer joining Caruso, Frost, Quinn, the winner would the prime position, the final then Pestka and Ely. Goodyer, be decided after the race decision would Randall and Ryan Jones Hallett on the infield. and, in the immortal then come down to the Chief surpassed the struggling Steward after the words of American Sports Ely entry after Ely had advanced from caster Warner dust had settled. Veal was the Bronze and wall contact. awarded maximum Silver Wolf, “Let’s go to the video tape” would he Dashes to claim the Gold points, Goodyer second and Dillion As the race ran express and Pole heard as the image was claiming to the closing Position. The heats were scrutinised by the the final step on the podium. shared amongst stages, Goodyer mounted Chief Steward.

Randall, Jones, a challenge to Caruso, Veal, Goodyer and Lachlan McHugh, Steven Veal, throwing a slider for Randall, while Lines, the Hard After the heats and the dashes the race lead and McHugh would claim the this is how Charger Award winner rounded B Main. Sadly, coming through Turn 4 would it would get to the point out the make contact in an earlier heat race, former of climax as the top top seven to remain on with just three laps remaining, Australian the lead lap. Cody 20 teams would line up Veal looped his Maroske, Champion David Murcott for the 35 incidentKeke Falland, Joel Heinrich, was involved in a entry but kept the power plagued laps ahead. Jamie Ely, down to continue in nasty wreckage after contact Veal lined up on Ricky Maiolo, Brendan Guerin second as Goodyer expressed with Lisa Walker and Vidau went – this to the waving impact took David out of the distance. Ben Morris the rest of the was a late retiree, Speedweek Series with a shoulder injury.

50 I WHILE MANY take the time to sit back and relax over the Christmas/ New Year holiday season, the Speedway community traditionally congregates to the south-easte rn corner of the nation as they ramp it up for four nights of racing over four venues and over two States for the Clay-Per-View Sprintcars Speedweek.

Over that time, fans would encounter extreme heat during the day, beautiful summer nights, the threat of rain and even a partial fog in on the final night as a total of 53 teams chased the adrenalin rush and their share of the $150,000 in series prize pool.

AM A loyal Auto Action reader, but my patience is wearing thin.

I’ve noticed the standard of editing in your magazine has eroded terribly in recent years.

Misspelling the name of the winner of the Classic at Warrrnambool [sic] on the cover of your last edition is the latest example.

He’s Brock Hallett, not Brock Hallet! To make it seem worse his name is in the picture right [sic} next to the headline!

A bit of respect for the guy, please.

I see too many glitches in too many of your stories. You need to dot your ayes and cross your tees.

If I’m going to keep handing over my hard-earned, I expect better.

If I just wanted crap I could get it on social media.

A professional publication has to be more professional.

Todd Smith Cronulla, NSW www.autoaction.com.au

P50-52 Speedway 1852

NW CLBW.indd 50

Editor’s note: Your criticism noted and taken on board. As the publisher I’m disappointed about these things as well, and I admit we do make a few mistakes from AutoActionMag

time to time when we are busting to make our deadline. But we appreciate your feedback Todd – and I note … a couple of errors in your letter!

9/1/2023 12:08 pm

TASMANIA FEELING LEFT OFF THE MAP YET AGAIN

YOU GUYS (Auto Action) are either anti-Sprintcars, antispeedway, or is it anti-Tasmanian?

Maybe all of the above.

Your website didn’t have a word on our young Tassie driver Jock Goodyer winning the Australian Sprintcar Title in Perth.

That’s a disgrace.

Unlike a lot of the young guys in Supercars, this guy didn’t get to where he is through having a rich daddy.

Give our Jock the credit he’s due.

Bill Hobbs Hobart, Tasmania

BEST LETTER PRIZE For our next issue we will choose our best letter and award the author the fantastic book below.

FORMULA ONE DOWN UNDER – AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX HISTORY A complete history of the Australian Grand Prix’s world championship era.

This wonderful hardcover and jacketed book features over 300 pages, covering each year since 1985 the Formula One circus has pitched its tent in Australia for an annual round of the World Championship – every Grand Prix is covered in this quality publication.

Published by Gelding Street Press, Rockpool Publishing, and available from all good bookstores from March 8. $39.99

Editor’s note: Sincere apologies, Bill. Jock certainly deserves great credit for his success, and he has had plenty of coverage in AA over Auto_Action

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With launch season in full swing and the season coming ever closer, there was plenty of chatter on Auto Action’s social pages.

FORD STILL NOT HAPPY WITH GEN3 PARITY Glen Philip Chapman It’s about time Ford spoke up and stopped getting treated second best . After all they have the number one selling car in the country. GM is virtually nonexistent.

Daniel Finch Happened with the EL Falcon, happened with the AU Falcon, happened with the Gen 2 Mustang, why would you expect it not to happen this time around?

28 I www.autoaction.com.au

Barry Dickson Stop bloody arguing, go racing, collect some data, then put a case to Supercars if needed.

Dave Scorpecci If VCAT is so dodgy, why is it the premier data logging system for the premier motorsport class?

SHERRIFF FLIES IN SKYLINE Brendan Earl This car was awesome. Super in a straight line and a bit sideways in the corners. All cars should be like this one

Brian Ferrabee The car is spectacular, but what impressed me most was the engineering that must have gone into the heat management.

Neale Alexander Hats off to Brad and the team.

Wouldn’t have been an easy car to try to tame the mountain with but it certainly was the talk of the town! The car was even hard to drive in a straight line. Huge balls, much respect.

Drew Ajt Weapon of a car! Awesome effort from a non tube frame car!

GEN3 LIVERIES IMPRESS Steve Butler I think all the new cars look fantastic. Gone are the days of the ZB hatchback and the hideous Mustangs.

Christopher Forsberg It was great to see and hear the new Gen3 cars at Winton finally.

The best part was when owners like Brad Jones said there were no major issues with any cars.

Greg L Jones Coke cars always looked good and still do.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Six engine manufacturers confirmed for F1 from 2026 will be the most since 2008 ...

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

F1 testing (here AlphaTauri) is a complex and secretive process. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES FORMULA ONE testing is not the most exciting thing in the world, I must confess, but I’m quite keen for things to get started today (Thursday) in Bahrain, for the only three days of proper testing the teams and drivers will have before things get serious and the 2023 Formula One World Championship begins.

It’s not the most exciting thing to watch or cover because the level of secrecy Formula One teams go to these days is beyond paranoid, making it nearly impossible to get a true picture of who’s where – even if you spend all your time between the pit lane and the paddock, trying to gather as much information as possible. The best option is to go out on track – not something pleasant in the hot and windy Sakhir circuit – to get a visual impression of how the different cars are handling. At the end of the pit straight you can see their efficiency under braking and their turn-in ability to slow corners; into the difficult Turns 9

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with Luis Vasconcelos

F1 INSIDER and 10 you really see if they can brake hard and change direction at the same time; but access to Turns 6/7/8 is hard to get, so it’s difficult to get a feel for how the cars are handling in high-speed changes of direction.

The general feeling in Formula One’s virtual paddock is that Red Bull still has the edge over its rivals and is expected to start the season at the front. However, with a lot less wind tunnel time and CFD capacity than their direct rivals – first because as Constructor Champion its allocation was already the smallest of all; second, because it has been handed a cut of 10 per

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cent in both areas as penalty for breaking the budget cap in 2021 – Verstappen and company need to get a head start on Ferrari and Mercedes to have enough of a gap to stay ahead until the end of the season.

In other words, if the Dutchman and Red Bull blitz the opposition in Bahrain, don’t despair – they’ll be on the back foot at least after the summer break.

At Ferrari expectations are very high, now that the Power Unit reliability issues look like they have been solved and both Leclerc and Sainz will be able to use full power way more often than in most of last season.

Also, I know Mercedes has played down its chances for the early races, but internally there’s a lot of confidence the W14 should be on the pace right from next weekend.

And don’t underestimate the progress Alpine has made, as the A523 is a bold statement of intent – but having lost Fernando Alonso, I’m not sure the French team really has a top driver to rival with Verstappen, Hamilton or Leclerc.

Obviously all Australian eyes will be focused on Oscar Piastri, but let me give you some friendly advice – don’t expect too much too soon, because the team is unlikely to have a great start of the season after finding some issues with the concept of the MCL60 during the development process and changing direction. That will only come into effect when the first major upgrade comes – possibly for the fourth race of the season, in Baku. The young man from

Melbourne and the highly rated Lando Norris should be back to do battle with Alpine.

For Piastri, it’s a great thing the season starts in Bahrain, at a track he knows, where he’ll be testing for one and a half days at the end of this week and with ample run off areas that will allow him to explore the limits with little risk of damaging the car.

Jeddah, two weeks later, will be a tougher proposition, as there’s simply no room for mistake.

But, of course, he won there in Formula 2, so he knows his way around the place, although he’ll find the track narrower and the straights shorter in Formula One. What Piastri really needs is a trouble-free, solid test and first Grand Prix under his belt, to face Jeddah and the rest of the season with a solid foundation from where to build on. At McLaren he’ll find the right environment to grow, as they now understand rookies, as Norris’ progression in the last five years attests to.

www.autoaction.com.au I 29

FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS

The Mercededs W-14 sees the team revert to it’s all-black livery. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

HAMILTON’S NEW CONTRACT NOT IMMINENT, SAYS WOLF LEWIS HAMILTON’S new contract with Mercedes won’t be announced anytime soon, according to Team Principal Toto Wolff, but the Austrian is in no doubt the seven-times World Champion will extend his relationship with the team and believes Hamilton is in the best form of his life.

Wolff played down the fact talks haven’t yet really started between Hamilton and himself, but denied things were getting behind schedule and played down the possibility of a new deal being done right at the end of the season, as it was the case a few years back: “As I said before, we have done a few of these contracts in the past and they change little from iteration to iteration

30 I www.autoaction.com.au

so it’s not usually complex, apart from the obvious terms. But we’ve had a first chat but I don’t want to commit to any timeline as it’s not important for us or him at this stage. His current contract runs for still a full year and we’re going to find the right time to sit down and discuss the new deal.”

The Austrian also explained he doesn’t feel it’s necessary to demonstrate how capable the team is, for his driver to commit for a couple more years with Mercedes: “How he appears to me is in great form, very positive, motivated, energised – maybe the best so far I’ve seen in those 10 years together, after the winter break. He knows what he has won with the team – we won eight constructor

titles in a row – but, and I’m not saying anything you don’t know, we got it wrong last year. The resources, the capability is there, we just need to continue to develop like we’ve done last season, so I don’t think it plays in Lewis’ mind any doubt that the team can perform. We will. Eventually.”

With Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris and Sainz all locked into contracts with their respective teams until the end of next year, Mercedes wouldn’t have a competitive alternative to team up with George Russell for 2024 should Hamilton unexpectedly decide to hang his helmet up at the end of this year, but the British driver also dismissed the possibility of leaving Mercedes after the 2023 season:

“I continue to love racing and I think that is never, never going to change – it’s a part of me. And I just always believe that I can get better, I always love the challenge, the mental one, the physical one of just digging deep and seeing how you can get more performance from yourself, from the people around you and from the car that is constantly evolving. It’s not the same car every year – it’s always changing, there are always new tools that you have to get used to and I love that, so I intend to stay a little longer.”

Therefore, it should be just a matter of time before a new contract between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes is signed, allowing both sides to fully focus on the job of getting back to their winning ways.

VASSEUR: “WHEN YOU ARE FERRARI, WINNING IS THE ONLY GOAL!” THE PRESSURE is on for Ferrari, and new Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur didn’t shy away from it during the launch of this year’s SF-23.

While the Frenchman has been barely six weeks in his new role, Vasseur didn’t hide behind his lack of in-depth knowledge of the team when he was asked what are the goal he has set for the Scuderia in 2023: “I don’t want to be too happy just because I’m at Ferrari. The most important thing for us is to win and that’s the challenge that is in front of us. We are Ferrari; winning has to be our target, especially after the team finished second in both championships last year.”

What Vasseur admitted was that there would be no huge changes in the team structure before the start of the season, as he’s new to the job and needs time to understand what is working and what is not working: “Learning is a never-ending process.

The aim we have in this sport is trying to do a better job, and that’s the way I operate. I hope that I’ll be able to improve and to have a better understanding of the team, day after day.

“I don’t consider that after Bahrain, I will be fully on top of everything.

Clearly we need to work, we

need to understand how to work together and to have a better collaboration as we discover the team. You can do whatever you want at the factory but nothing can replace the reality of the track and the reality of the situation in the first quali. It will take time.

But I knew that before and this is a challenge.

But I like the challenge.”

A lot of speculation has surrounded the future of Iñaki Rueda at the head of the Race Strategy department, but Vasseur insisted there will be no immediate changes of personnel, while indicating procedures may already be changed for the start of the season: “We’ll make some small adjustments, but what you see just the visible part of the iceberg. And when you spoke about strategy, you were speaking about strategist, and strategy. It’s not just one person pushing on a button. It’s the software, it’s the team at the factory and it’s also process on the pit

wall. So, it’s a complete picture rather than about one person.”

The new Ferrari Team Principal also cautioned that having a trouble-free three days of testing in Bahrain will be crucial for the team’s 2023 aspirations: “If you have an issue, I think it’s quite difficult to react. If you remember last year, I think it was McLaren who had an issue in Bahrain, and it’s quite impossible to react between the test and race one. But

the situation is a bit different compared to last year because the carry -ver of the cars or at least the concept of the car is much larger. We know more or less the issues we will have, except the balance, but for that everybody will have to adjust. But the concept of the car is much more wellknown than it was one year ago. However, it’s true that if you have a technical issue, you have to react and that can be quite challenging.”

DOMENICALI DISMISSES F1 SALE RUMOURS LIBERTY MEDIA is not thinking about selling the Commercial Rights of Formula 1 anytime soon, according to the sport’s CEO Stefano Domenicali.

On the back of stories linking the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund with a takeover worth US$20billion and FIA’s president Mohammed Ben Sulayem reaction to the story, Domenicali issued a stern rebuff of the Emirati’s “interference” in the commercial side, but has now taken a more diplomatic approach to the matter.

In a long interview with Sky’s F1 channel, the Italian said that, “I don’t think Formula 1 is on sale but that’s a question you should ask the shareholders. But I don’t think it is, because we are investing a lot in Formula 1. You see what we put in terms of real money – for example, we bought land for US$240million to build new facilities in Las Vegas. We will even invest up to a billion dollars there. And we are very happy with the current situation ... plus I am in constant contact with the shareholders. I would say Formula 1 is like the jewel in their portfolio and that’s why I don’t think selling is in their horizon.”

On the subject of the relationship with

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the FIA, on the back of Ben Sulayem’s announcement he would be stepping away from the day to day running of all Formula 1 matters, Domenicali was a lot more conciliatory than in the recent past: “With the arrival of Mohammed Ben Sulayem as the new president last year, it was clear that, as usual when there is a new president, there is a manifesto that he must respect, because it was his program in front of the members

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who voted for it. Then, there is a need and time to adapt. It is no secret that the key to the success of our sport is for everyone to do their job in the right way, for the benefit of the growth of the sport. We all have a stake in ensuring that discipline develops.

We are all united but if someone does not do the right job, there will be a problem. We talked to him. He is the president of the FIA: it is a big role, he

has many championships under his responsibility. I expect to be in touch with him to discuss the future of our sport.”

One of the areas in which Formula 1 and the FIA are working hand-in-hand is in the way the budget cap is policed, especially after Red Bull was caught red handed (and quite a few rival teams believed the Austrians got away with a light penalty).

Domenicali explained that, “what we discussed together with the FIA is that for the credibility of the sport, this type of action, to check whether everyone respects this rule, must be done sooner rather than later. We are discussing, and it is on the side of the FIA, to make sure that it will be done much sooner. We see other sports taking financial regulations with too long a reaction time, and that’s not good.”

Given the time frames required for companies to submit their accounts tend to be quite long, it’s hard to see how the FIA can speed up the checks and impose penalties but that seems to be Domenicali’s goal for 2023. Time will tell how the Commercial Rights Holder and the FIA will achieve it.

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FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS

PIRELLI OPEN TO BAN

WET TYRE BLANKETS FOR 2023 PIERLLI IS STILL a couple of weeks away from reporting to the FIA, Formula One and the 10 competing teams its conclusions from the test sessions that were held since the start of December, but it has already emerged the Italian tyre manufacturer will suggest an important change to the 2023 Sporting Regulations, at least for the use of wet and intermediate tyres.

During the testing done during the 2022 season, with 2023-spec prototype tyres being used, the Pirelli technicians realised the full wets and the intermediates with the new compounds needed a lot less time to get up to a minimal operating temperature than their 2022 counterparts. That’s because the operating temperatures of the tyres used when the track is wet is substantially lower than the temperatures needed to get the slicks to give their optimum grip – and the use of different materials for the tyres that will be used this season made tyre warm up faster than it has been.

According to sources from Pirelli, the last two tests (done in December) allowed the Italian manufacturer to come to the conclusion that, even with low track temperatures, like the ones experienced at Paul Ricard close to the start of winter, the tyres were offering good enough grip midway through the out lap when they were fitted to the cars without first warming them up using the traditional method of tyre blankets.

That’s why, depending on the data that will have emerged from the last two test sessions – one held in the Paul Ricard, the second and final

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES one in Jerez de la Frontera – Pirelli is prepared to tell the teams and the regulator that it can do without tyre blankets for the full wets and intermediate tyres during the 2023 Formula One World Championship.

It will be up to the members of the Formula One Commission to decide if the Sporting Regulations should be

amended to ban tyre blankets for those tyres or if this change will only be made for 2024, when all kinds of tyre blankets are expected to be banned, as agreed by the Formula One Commission and approved by the DIA’s World Council for Motor Sport a couple of years ago.

Early indications regarding the 2024spec slicks that were tested by six teams

over the winter, without the use of tyre blankets to pre-warm them up, point to serious issues with the warm-up once the cars leave the pits. But, as explained above, only the full analysis of all the data collected over the last two months will allow Pirelli to finalise its conclusions and send them around to the teams and the other Formula One stakeholders.

FORD CAUTIONS “NO UNLIMITED BUDGET”

Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Ford CEO Jim Farley at the latter’s F1 announcement.

FORD’S RETURN to Formula One in a tie up with Red Bull has made lots of headlines but it’s clear the American car manufacturer is approaching this third stint in Grand Prix racing a lot more as a marketing exercise than as a technical

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one – which was the case in the previous two occasions the blue oval brand was a feature in Formula One. During the announcement of this new partnership, that will race under the Red Bull Ford banner from the start of

2026, the company’s Global Director of Motorsports, Mark Rushbrook, make it clear that, “we don’t have an unlimited budget, as much as racing sometimes wants you to go that way. We go into Formula One strategically with the right partners to win races, but also with a responsible budget.”

Given that one of the reasons Ford pulled the Jaguar brand out of Formula One at the end of the 2004 season, selling the entire team, lock, stock and barrel, to ... yes, Red Bull, the American manager made it clear that the budget Ford has set aside for this new venture with the Austrian company is, “definitely not a bottomless pit, I can attest to that. We go racing in a responsible way in all the different series that we enter, and Formula One will be no different.”

With almost all the design and development of the 2026-spec Power Unit being made at Red Bull’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, it’s clear that Ford’s technical involvement in this partnership will be limited to the very few areas in which a car manufacturer’s hardware will

come in handy for a specialised racing engine manufacturer.

That’s goes a long way to explaining why, even during the announcement his company will be back in Formula One after 22 years away, Rushbrook admitted the biggest benefits Ford will get from this new partnership will come from the marketing side of the operation.

The American made no bones about it, stating that, “I think this, as an overlay or additional programme, is very special in terms of what the opportunity is and what the real benefit is to the marketing team from our company – to be able to leverage motorsports in a way that we haven’t for a long time.”

The message is clear for everyone to hear it. Like General Motors with the Cadillac brand, Ford is looking at a return to Formula One as a marketing exercise, branding a Power Unit they won’t design or develop. Their only technical involvement will eventually come from lending a helping hand in areas like electronics if and when their future partners ask for assistance.

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WATERS ALL-IN FOR THE BIG 1 CAM WATERS IS SICK OF SECOND IN SUPERCARS AND BELIEVES HE HAS DONE EVERYTHING TO BECOME CHAMPION IN 2023 HE TALKS TO AUTO ACTION’S PAUL GOVER ABOUT HIS PLANS. AFTER TWO runner-up finishes in the Supercars championship, including second to Shane van Gisbergen last year, Cam Waters is primed for an all-out attack in season 2023.

The Monster man has kept sharp over the off-season by racing brutal Sprintcars on dirt-track bullrings, has focussed on his fitness, and is still fresh from a session in the UK with driver training guru Rob Wilson.

Waters believes he now has the right combination of youth and experience and, at 28, is heading to the peak of his Supercars career.

He’s not being arrogant or over-confident, and he admits he’s had problems in the past – including a long string of run-ins with Chaz Mostert, including through their days as Tickford team-mates – but believes he is suitably seasoned for the series.

“I feel like I’m still getting better,” Waters tells Auto Action.

“I wouldn’t say I feel old, but I definitely don’t feel like the young bloke any more.

A lot more young kids have come into this

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after me, and it’s great because the sport needs it.

“But I think I’m driving well and I’m still pretty young. All the other stuff I have been doing around the Supercars is helping. The Sprintcars, the late-models ...”

Waters has deep roots in speedway racing and, with the strong approval from Tim Edwards at Tickford, has been a regular racer over recent summers.

His passion is the wickedly quick Sprintcars and he is moving up the ranks with a string of solid results.

“They are very, very different to anything else. It does take a while to get comfortable,” he says.

“I’ve been doing it for about twoand-a-half years. My best result this time was second in Alice Springs.”

But Waters is happiest about his effort at the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Warrnambool, regarded as the premier event of the season on a track which

is one of the fastest and toughest in the country.

“I made the A Main at the Classic. That was pretty cool, with more than 100 cars.

So I’m starting to work it out. It’s the biggest race of the year for us. It’s unreal just to be there and doing it. And it’s a bucket list race.

“Hopefully I’ll go back there next year and try to win it.”

But Sprintcars is more than just some off-season fun, as Waters believes it is improving him as a

racer.

“I’m trying to broaden what I’ve driven in the past. So I’ve got a bigger pool of experience.

“Its cool because it makes you adapt. And it adds to the pool of experience. It’s learning what I can do in the car. It all helps.”

Waters and van Gisbergen have a ‘close’ relationship ... on track! Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Waters’ off-season sport of choice is the hustle and bustle of Sprintcars ...Image: EBONY McQUINN

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Why, then, was he missing from the field for this year’s Bathurst 12-Hour race? And what about spending more time in GT3 race cars, since so many of the Supercars front-liners – Mostert, David Reynolds, van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney – all took a run around Mount Panorama last month.

“I did it last year and I had a gig for this year, but that fell over,” Waters confirms.

“It’s something I’d like to do, but I don’t think it would add to my portfolio as much as driving a Sprintcar.”

Adding to that portfolio took him back to Britain in November, for coaching time with Rob Wilson – who has polished the skills of

a number of Supercars drivers including Bathurst winner Jono Webber, as well as racers right up to the top of world motorsport.

Waters first made the trip in 2017.

“I went just before Adelaide last year. I did two days with Rob over there. That was good,” he says. We went to Donington and Goodwood. I did a day at both.

“I was going once a year, and I’ll probably look at going over at some point this year.”

So, what’s the benefit?

“It’s just putting back the basics into what you do. Every car has four wheels and transfers weight, and you influence that. So it’s understanding that, and how you do it.

“If F1 drivers go to see him, and NASCAR and IndyCar, it shows it will help no matter what you drive.”

And there was another – big benefit – when he got to meet Jim Farley. He is the global CEO of the Ford Motor Company, but also a keen amateur racer who owns an original Ford GT40 and has recently starred in videos from the US driving a Supercars Ford Mustang.

“Rob kinda knows literally everyone. I was lucky he (Farley) was there at the same time I was there,” Waters says.

“He’s a racer. He’s a super down-to-earth guy. It was really cool to meet him.

“He knows everything that’s going on in Australia. Right down to the details. He even knew I did Sprintcars.”

Cam has a strong relationship with Tickford team boss Tim Edwards. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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So, how close is Farley.

“He’s not on speed dial or anything, but I’ve sent him an email or two.”

The Supercars off-season gave Waters, whose roots are in Mildura, time for some relaxation but also a focus on fitness.

“It’s really good. I’ve been training lots. I feel as fit as I’ve ever been.

“We had a training camp at the start of the year. All the drivers go away with our fitness trainer and sport psychologist. It’s a bit of a bonding thing as well.

“It was great. We did it in Noosa.”

So, who came out on top?

“Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses in that area. I swim a lot, where Tom (Randle) likes riding. I also do a lot of weights. I probably like my waterskiing and wake boarding.”

That’s partly down to the Mildura connection, although he and girlfriend Brooke are based in the south-east of Melbourne – with their racer red Ford Ranger Raptor pick-up.

His current passion project is a pair of old Fords.

“I’m doing up an XB Falcon coupe, a ’74.

And a ’65 XP four-door,” he says.

“I’m a self-taught mechanic. Growing up I did all my own work on the karts, Formula Ford and Late-model speedway car. I like that side of things.

“To do an old car like that, I really enjoy it.

I’ve done a fair bit myself. Just time is the drama for me. So it’s cool.”

There is more to Waters’ Mildura connection, as it’s also where he first got to know Todd and Rick Kelly.

“Growing up I knew who they were, because they were racing Supercars. My

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brother used to race with Todd and Rick a little bit in karts.

“I wouldn’t say I miss Mildura, because I go back there a lot. And I love going back.

“The river is awesome. Any opportunity I get, I go back.”

But, right now, he is looking forward.

“I’m ready to go. I’m always hungry. And I hate losing.

“Every time I lose I’m a bit more angry and hungry. But it doesn’t change my approach.”

How, then, does he score last year? He was second in the series and the best of the Ford horde, although three wins was not a reflection of the one-lap pace that earned him 10 pole positions.

“It was a seven out of 10,” Waters says.

“I guess that’s all well and good, but you do it to win. If you’re not winning, you’re not achieving.

“Last year was as close as it’s been. But we didn’t win, so it could have been better.”

Waters also forged a new relationship with James Courtney at Tickford, with the old bull and the young bull pushing each other through the season.

“JC has been a really good asset to the team. He adds a lot of experience.

Chaz and Cam – actually more ‘buddies’ than you’d expect. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

“Before I came to the team I wasn’t sure how he would fit in. We were always rivals.

“But he’s fitted in really well and brought a bunch of good stuff. It’s another person to help push the cars forward.”

Does he see much difference between the way he and Courtney drive?

“Everyone is slightly different, but if the car is fast the car is fast. You just drive it.”

And what about the other drivers, starting with his long-time rival Mostert?

“We’re pretty good. We always kinda got a long well, but we always qualified next to each other every race. And when that happens you run into each other occasionally.

“It’s been pretty good lately. I’d say he’s one of my mates. I call him up a bit, outside of racing.”

And the others?

“I don’t get along with everyone, but when I get in the car they are just another car.

“Most of them are pretty good to race.

There are some who sook a bit when you rub them up. Which I kinda laugh at.

“Reynolds is usually pretty fair. Even Shane, he races you hard but pretty fairly.”

Waters is also a big fan of James Moffat, who co-drove him to podium places at the past two Bathurst 1000s.

“You can probably guess who I’ll be teaming up with again this year,” he says, without making any sort of official confirmation.

“Moff is great to team up with. I’ve had a lot of fun with him in the last couple of years.”

Waters also sees the positives in the return of the two-driver Sandown 500 ahead of The Great Race.

“It’s awesome to have the Sandown 500 back. It probably should never have been taken away.

“It’s great for the co-drivers to get comfortable before we head to Bathurst.”

And then the big question mark for 2023 – the new Gen3 racers, including Waters’ Monster Mustang.

“I hope it does what it’s been set out to do. And hopefully the cars will be cheaper to run.

“The cars definitely look good,” he says.

But what about the driving?

“It’s a lot different, but I think after a test day now it’s a little bit better.

“We’ve done a few things. There’s a bit more feel and it’s a little easier to drive.

“It is a little bit different, but not massively. Your feet are a little high, but I don’t really care – you can see that from the Sprintcar.

“The visibility is fine in the Mustang, although I hear the Camaro is not as good.

“So far they have been a little bit cooler, which is good. Hopefully they stay that way.”

So what’s the final take-out after testing?

“They will probably be a little bit harder to drive, mentally, which will make things a bit harder.

“They are going to bite you a bit easier. It’s a bit like driving in the wet. It is harder to drive in the wet than the dry, mentally, so a similar type of thing.”

Waters will get the chance for more polishing through the all-in test at Sydney Motorsport Park, but he is already focussed on the start of the season on the streets of Newcastle.

“I’m excited to get into the season and make the most of it. I’ve done enough of the prep work. I hope the cars are as good as they look.

“We’ll go out with our plan at Newcastle, work through it, make sure we’ve got the fastest Mustang, and go from there.”

Waters has finished second to SVG a bit – and wants to go the extra step ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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TIME TO PUSH TO THE MAX MAX VERSTAPPEN REWROTE THE RECORD BOOKS IN 2022 AND THE CHALLENGE FOR THE REST IS TO SOMEHOW STOP HIM FROM TAKING A HAT-TRICK. THE 74TH FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON AND SECOND IN THE NEW GENERATION OF CARS SHAPES UP TO BE ANOTHER INTRIGUING AFFAIR. THOMAS MILES PREVIEWS THE YEAR AHEAD WITH 2023 SEASON GUIDE. CAN MAX BE STOPPED?

THE 2023 Formula 1 season begins in familiar circumstances with Red Bull and its lead driver the undisputed favourites to take out the Constructors and Drivers championship crowns. A decade ago it was Sebastian Vettel in the middle of a dominant four-peat and now the leading bull is Max Verstappen, who has embarked on a hot streak of his own.

Following his famous title battle with Lewis Hamilton that was not settled until the final lap of 2021, Verstappen cruised to the 2022 title in a record-breaking fashion with more wins in a single season than ever.

The Dutchman won nine of the last 11 races of the season to steam into 2023 with supreme confidence made possible by his ability to grow as a driver.

Verstappen showed greater patience, maturity and calmness than before and this more methodical approach was a big reason behind his unrivalled success.

However, signs of the younger, on-edge character still emerged in Sao Paulo when he clashed wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton and refused to follow team orders.

If his rivals can apply the pressure, it will be intriguing to see how the more measured Verstappen reacts.

Sergio Perez has ambitions of challenging for the title, but would need to take a giant

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leap forward to catch up to his teammate, with the new car expected to be tailor-made to the two-time champion.

Even after collecting its first Constructors title in nine years, Red Bull is tentatively looking over its shoulder due to the reduction of wind-tunnel time applied for breaching the cost cap regulations last year.

But despite the public complaints, success breeds success, and the gap it enjoyed on the rest of the field in 2022 should put Christian Horner’s crew on the front foot as similar cars transition into the new year.

If Ferrari is to bridge the gap, it must address the weaknesses that have held the 'Prancing Horse' back for the best part of a decade.

After a dream start to 2022, Charles Leclerc’s championship hopes swiftly slipped away in all too familiar fashion.

Poor reliability, pit wall mistakes, driver errors and a lack of development allowed Red Bull to drive into the distance, giving the Tifosi flashbacks to Vettel’s failed 2017 and 2018 campaigns against Mercedes.

Much like Vettel, Leclerc struggled to keep up with his rival as the season progressed, not winning any of the last 11 Grands Prix post-Austria.

One of the reasons behind the drop in form was Ferrari lowering its engine

power levels due to reliability concerns.

But now the team believes it has rectified these power unit issues, which is believed to have yielded around 0.2-0.3s per lap.

If the crew at Maranello have delivered a more powerful and reliable car that is also nicer on its tyres, it will be down to Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to deliver the results and match Verstappen to give Ferrari its first sustained championship pursuit in more than a decade.

For the first time in nine years, Mercedes arrives at the season opener without the Constructors championship title.

Even amid their most painful year in a decade, the team still showed why it has been such a force in the turbo-hybrid era, turning a porpoising pest into a race winner by season’s end.

But the sudden fall from the top has left Mercedes hungrier than ever and with arguably the best driver line-up on the grid in Hamilton and George Russell, can certainly be a force to be reckoned with – if the new car and its unique 'no-pod' design sheds last year’s gremlins.

Although a quietly confident Ferrari and a determined Mercedes have the potential to make it a captivating threeway fight, a lot needs to go right to slow down Red Bull.

WHAT IS PIASTRI’S PLACE IN TIGHT MIDFIELD FIGHT?

OSCAR PIASTRI will become the 18th Australian to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix when he suits up for McLaren in Bahrain.

The Melbourne boy arrives with one of the most impressive junior records ever and the famous British team hopes he can live up to his potential as it braces for another gripping midfield battle.

McLaren lost fourth place in the Constructors championship to Alpine last year and will turn to its new Aussie arrival as its secret weapon.

The British and French teams were locked in combat throughout the entire 2022 season, with little separating the cars as they fought to be the best of the rest behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.

But McLaren often had to fight with one hand tied behind its back as Daniel Ricciardo struggled to come to grips with the MCL36.

With car #3 only scoring 37 of McLaren’s 159 points, all the pressure was on the shoulders of Lando Norris and the lack of support from the other side of the garage allowed Alpine to emerge victorious.

If McLaren is to achieve its objective of finishing fourth in the Constructors title,

2023 SEASON PREVIEW

The world hopes the Charles Leclerc v Max Verstappen rivalry can last the entire season.

Mercedes is back in black, but it will take more changes than that to challenge Red Bull Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

it needs Piastri to offer car #4 more support for Norris than his Australian predecessor.

It will be no easy task for the 21-yearold, with only three days of pre-season testing on offer ahead of the opening round.

However, Piastri’s record shows he can perform in anything,and, after McLaren revealed it was “not entirely happy” with the launch spec of its MCL60, the papaya squad may need its drivers to punch above their weight.

Adding an extra element to the battle is Piastri’s history with McLaren’s arch rival, having previously been an Alpine Academy driver.

Losing the Australian meant Alpine had to settle on its third choice, Pierre Gasly, which could be a blessing in disguise.

Gasly joins Ocon to make an all-French pairing at Enstone and the duo possess remarkably similar career records highlighted by solitary unexpected wins.

With a solid and young set of drivers and well-rounded car, Alpine is well placed to defend P4 in the championship, while many others are hoping to join the fray.

The best placed to jump in are Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo.

The British team welcomes Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard’s shock move from Alpine.

The gifted Alonso arrives at a key time for Aston Martin, which needs to start seeing some dividends for all the recent major investments made by owner Lawrence Stroll.

The dynamic between control-freak Alonso and Stroll, whose son is in the sister seat, will be fascinating.

If it works then Aston Martin could be the dark horse in the midfield fight, but if it does not, things could derail quickly with the two-time champion not afraid to voice his displeasure.

Led by the experienced Valtteri Bottas and developing Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo is another contender.

The team has momentum after rising from ninth to sixth in the Constructors standings last year. It has also acquired the services of the respected Andreas Seidl from McLaren and is building nicely ahead of becoming the Audi works team in 2026.

Alfa Romeo is one of four teams entering 2023 with a new leader alongside Williams (James Vowles), Ferrari (Frederic Vasseur) and McLaren (Andrea Stella).

Elsewhere, Haas could be one to watch if Nico Hulkenberg can follow the example set

by Kevin Magnussen in his comeback year.

AlphaTauri is determined to regain ground after slipping back last year and could be back in the fight if Nick de Vries drives like he did on debut.

De Vries’ former team Williams is braced for what looms as another building year with a rookie in Logan Sargeant and new leadership structure, putting the pressure on Alex Albon to perform.

MORE SPRINTS IN CRAZY CALENDAR

Will Max Verstappen drive into the distance again in 2023?

ALTHOUGH IT is just the second season of the current aerodynamic regulations, there have been some changes introduced for 2023.

Last year saw ground-effect return as the major downforce source and one of the biggest consequences was porpoising, where cars would oscillate up and down on the straights.

To limit the amount of bouncing amid safety and health concerns for drivers, the FIA has introduced an aerodynamic Oscillation Metric that teams cannot exceed, while the floors have also been raised by 15mm.

Other safety measures such roll hoop regulations and mirror sizes have been tinkered with, while the cost cap is expected to drop from $142.4m to $135m per year.

The minimum weight drops by 2kg to

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McLaren and Alpine are set to race wheel to wheel once again.

796kg, while teams enjoy slightly extra freedom with fuel temperature.

But the most significant change is the calendar, with a mammoth 23-race season on the cards, the largest amount in F1 history.

The all-new Las Vegas Grand Prix where cars will fly past some of the city’s iconic landmarks on a Saturday night, promises to be far more exciting than F1’s last visit to Nevada when they crawled around a carpark.

The Qatar Grand Prix returns after a year off and the Chinese Grand Prix was also scheduled to come back for the first time since 2019, but was cancelled due to COVID-19 circumstances once again.

More Sprint weekends are on offer then ever before with six on the schedule following three and two in 2022 and 2021 respectively.

Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, USA (Austin) and Sao Paulo will all host 100km

Can the likes of Haas, Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin push themselves into the top of the midfield? sprints on a Saturday where the top eight are rewarded with points.

In another qualifying tweak, a Revised Qualifying Format where tyre compounds will be mandated will be held at two events this year.

This will see Q1 become a Hards only session, while Mediums and Softs will only be used in Q2 and Q3 respectively.

With 23 races crammed into 40 weeks, the 2023 F1 season will be survival of the fittest.

2023 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR RD DATE RACE LOCATION TESTING FEB 23-25 OFFICIAL PRE-SEASON TEST SAKHIR CIRCUIT 18.00 1 Mar 3-5 Bahrain Grand Prix Sakhir Circuit 2 Mar 17-19 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Jeddah Corniche Circuit 3 Mar 31-Apr 2 Australian Grand Prix Albert Park 4 Apr 28-30 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku City Circuit 5 May 5-7 Miami Grand Prix Miami International Autodrome 6 May 19-21 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 7 May 26-28 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco 8 June 2-4 Spanish Grand Prix Circuit ade Barcelona-Catalunya 9 June 16-18 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve 10 June 30-July 2 Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring 11 July 7-9 British Grand Prix Silverstone 12 July 21-23 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring 13 July 28-30 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 14 Aug 25-27 Dutch Grand Prix Zandvoort 15 Sep 1-3 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza 16 Sep 15-17 Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Street Circuit 17 Sep 22-24 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka International Racing Course 18 Oct 6-8 Qatar Grand Prix Lusail International Circuit 19 Oct 20-22 United States Grand Prix Circuit of the Americas 20 Oct 27-29 Mexico City Grand Prix Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 21 Nov 3-5 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace 22 Nov 17-19 Las Vagas Grand Prix Las Vagas Street Circuit 23 Nov 24-26 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina Circuit

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START TIME 2022 WINNER 2.00 4.00 15.00 21.00 5.30 23.00 23.00 23.00 4.00 23.00 0.00 23.00 23.00 23.00 23.00 22.00 15.00 1.00 6.00 7.00 4.00 17.00 0.00

Charles Leclerc Ferrari Max Verstappen Red Bull Charles Leclerc Ferrari Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Sergio Perez Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Charles Leclerc Ferrari Carlos Sainz Ferrari Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Sergio Perez Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Mercedes (2021) Max Verstappen Red Bull Max Verstappen Red Bull George Russell Mercedes N/A Max Verstappen Red Bull

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MAX VERSTAPPEN

1

AGE: 25 DEBUT: Aus 2015 STARTS: 163 BEST QUAL: 1st (x20) PODIUMS: 77 BEST RESULT: 1st (x35) BEST CHAMP POS: 1st (x2)

MAX VERSTAPPEN is the man everyone is trying to catch and a third title would cement himself as an all-time great. After fending off Lewis Hamilton in a classic duel in 2021, Verstappen took his dominance to unprecedented levels in 2022. The combination of the ever-confident Dutchman and the well-rounded RB18

LEWIS HAMILTON

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AGE: 38 DEBUT: Aus 2007 STARTS: 310 BEST QUAL: 1st (x103) PODIUMS: 191 BEST RESULT: 1st (x103) BEST CHAMP POS: 1st (x7)

LEWIS HAMILTON finds himself entering 2023 in unfamiliar territory. Last year was the first time Hamilton did not win a single Grand Prix in his career, while P6 was his lowest championship finish. However, Hamilton still impressed, with his experience playing a key role in turning the W13 from Q1 dropouts to regular

LANDO NORRIS

4

AGE: 23 DEBUT: Aus 2019 STARTS: 82 BEST QUAL: 1st (x1) PODIUMS: 6 BEST RESULT: 2nd (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 6th (x1)

AT JUST 23, Lando Norris has announced himself as one of the stars of the sport and undisputed leader of the famous McLaren team. Against all expectations, Norris smashed his highly regarded teammate 10 years his senior. In 2022 the Brit out-qualified Ricciardo 20-2 and scored more than

FERNANDO ALONSO

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AGE: 41 DEBUT: Aus 2001 STARTS: 355 BEST QUAL: 1 (x22) PODIUMS: 98 BEST RESULT: 1st (x32) BEST CHAMP POS: 1st (x2)

FOR THE ninth time in his storied career, Fernando Alonso will race in new colours after another change of scenery. His latest Silly Season shock is arguably his most surprising, jumping ship to Aston Martin from the faster Alpine.

Although it is now a decade since he last won

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN

RED BULL

was close to perfect, as Verstappen set a new record for the most Grand Prix wins in a single season with 15.

He showcased impressive speed, tyre management and race craft, while his ultra-aggressive style remained. It will take a mighty effort to steal the #1 from Verstappen.

MERCEDES

podiums. Although a win did not eventuate, Hamilton secured three straight second places from Austin to Brazil, which proved he remains a force to be reckoned with. If given a more competitive car, Hamilton still has enough belief and skill to chase a record eighth world title.

three times as many points. Norris also battled hard against others in the bulky MCL36, being the only non Red Bull/Ferrari/Mercedes driver to stand on the podium in 2022, at Imola. Now with a younger Aussie for company, Norris will be called upon to guide McLaren back towards the front.

AS ONE Australian departs, another arrives in Oscar Piastri. Despite not racing in 2022, Piastri arrives on the big stage full of hype. The Melbourne boy is the only driver to win three straight F1 feeder series (Formula Renault, F3 and F2) in as many years and arrived at Woking after

ASTON MARTIN

a Grand Prix, he is still one of the most daring drivers on the grid at 41 years young. He qualified second at Canada and snared fifth in Belgium after a lap one incident last year. But can these results still be achieved as Vettel’s replacement at Aston Martin?

ALREADY A veteran of six F1 seasons at just 24, Lance Stroll has more Grand Prix starts than world champions Alan Jones, Damon Hill, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart, but needs to start improving. Since his career-best season in 2020 in the 'Pink Mercedes' Stroll has slipped, with his 2022 average qualifying

HAAS

AGE: 30 DEBUT: Aus 2014 STARTS: 141 BEST QUAL: 1st (x1) PODIUMS: 1 BEST RESULT: 2nd (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 9th (x1)

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FOR YEARS, George Russell appeared destined for a Mercedes seat and he proved why in his first full season at Brackley. When the W13 was at its slowest, Russell recorded top five finishes in 15 of the first 16 races, with an impressive maiden win in Brazil the cherry on top. The occasional qualifying

MCLAREN

21

COMEBACK KING Kevin Magnussen made the most of his unexpected reincarnation as a Haas F1 driver.

One year after being dropped by Haas, Magnussen was set for sports cars, only to be rushed back to the American team to replace Nikita Mazepin and immediately impressed with a P5 first up. A further

FRESH FROM a personal best season, Sergio Perez hopes to become a genuine championship contender. Whether or not Perez will get that opportunity remains to be seen, but he took a step forward in 2022 scoring double the amount of wins and podiums than his maiden year in Red Bull

five points finishes and a memorable pole at Sao Paulo ensured Magnussen surged past incumbent Schumacher in the inter-team rivalry. The Dane was the key behind Haas’ best campaign in four years and now with a full pre-season behind him, Magnussen is aiming even higher.

FOR THE first time in four years Nico Hulkenberg is back racing in F1 as a fulltime driver. The German made four cameo appearances as a COVID sub for Racing Point/ Aston Martin, most notably qualifying third at the 70th Anniversary GP. Now at Haas, 'The

11

AGE: 33 DEBUT: Aus 2011 STARTS: 235 BEST QUAL: 1st (x1) PODIUMS: 26 BEST RESULT 1st (x4) BEST CHAMP: 3rd (x1)

SERGIO PEREZ

colours. Despite impressive victories at Monaco and Singapore, Perez still remained a long way off his dominant teammate and felt less comfortable with the car as the year progressed. Even with a new two-year deal, being 33 at Red Bull means Perez will always be under the microscope.

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GEORGE RUSSELL

AGE: 25 DEBUT: Aus 2019 STARTS: 82 BEST QUAL: 1st (x2) PODIUMS: 9 BEST RESULT: 1 (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 4th (x1)

'off' and Sunday incident did hurt, but Russell still defied expectations to beat his illustrious teammate on points. The P4 championship result has given him greater belief than ever, and now Russell hopes to take the next step and be Mercedes’ main man for years to come.

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AGE: 21 DEBUT: Bah 2023 STARTS: 0 BEST QUAL: N/A PODIUMS: N/A BEST RESULT: N/A BEST CHAMP POS: N/A

OSCAR PIASTRI

a dramatic contract dispute between his academy team Alpine and new home McLaren. Despite the drama, Piastri’s talent is immense and he has enough potential to be Australia’s first F1 world champion in over four decades. It is up to him to prove it with the world watching.

18

AGE: 24 DEBUT: Aus 2017 STARTS: 122 BEST QUAL: 1st (x1) PODIUMS: 3 BEST RESULT: 3rd (x3) BEST CHAMP POS: 11th (x1)

LANCE STROLL

position worse than all full-timers except the two Williams cars. One positive from 2022 was his starts, gaining almost twice the amount of positions on Lap 1 than anyone else. But if the Canadian wants to prove himself alongside Alonso, he must start showing more speed.

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NICO HULKENBERG

AGE: 35 DEBUT: Bah 2010 STARTS: 181 BEST QUAL: 1st (x1) PODIUMS: 0 BEST RESULT: 4th (x3) BEST CHAMP POS: 7th (x1

Hulk' hopes his fifth team in F1 can be the one where he finally cracks a podium, being the driver with the most F1 starts without a trophy.

His biggest challenge will be getting up to speed with his settled teammate Magnussen ... and the pair do have history.

2023 SEASON PREVIEW CHARLES LECLERC

FERRARI

16

AGE: 25 DEBUT: Aus 2018 STARTS: 102 BEST QUAL: 1st (x18) PODIUMS: 24 BEST RESULT: 1st (x5) BEST CHAMP POS: 2nd (x1)

BOOSTED BY a career-best campaign, Charles Leclerc will continue to carry the weight of the Tifosi in 2023.

Leclerc was Verstappen’s biggest threat last year, with sensational qualifying speed, taking a season-high nine poles. Wins in Bahrain, Australia and Austria proved the Monegasque has what it takes to beat the Dutchman

ESTEBAN OCON

in a dogfight. But his championship charge quickly vanished through strategic and mechanical blunders.

Leclerc is not innocent however, with driver errors when pushing hard in Imola and France proving costly.

If Ferrari and Leclerc refine their weaknesses, car #16 should launch a more substantial championship push.

ALPINE

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AGE: 26 DEBUT: Bel 2016 STARTS: 111 BEST QUAL: 3rd (x2) PODIUMS: 2 BEST RESULT: 1st (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 8th (x2)

FRENCHMAN ESTEBAN Ocon faces a pivotal year in his career. Having been the understudy of more experienced teammates at Enstone since returning to F1, Ocon needs to stamp his authority in his fourth year at the team upon the arrival of Gasly.

He scored his second top 10 championship finish

VALTTERI BOTTAS

in 2022 and first for five years in a solid campaign.

Strong drives in Japan and Austria were highlights, as consistency helped him beat Alonso in the tense intra-Alpine battle. But now being the senior member of the team, Ocon must take his game to a new level.

AGE: 33 DEBUT: Aus 2013 STARTS: 200 BEST QUAL: 1 (x20) PODIUMS: 67 BEST RESULT: 1st (x10) BEST CHAMP POS: 2nd (x2)

YUKI TSUNODA

ALEX ALBON

last year with only one points finish from the last 16 races. Now, with Gasly gone, Franz Tost will turn to Tsunoda as his team leader and the pressure will be on the 22-year-old to perform, or he could be the latest Red Bull junior to come and go.

AT 28 Nyck de Vries is finally primed for his first full-time Formula 1 season. The Dutch has been forced to wait since winning the F2 title in 2019, but he took his chance to shine at Italy last year subbing for Alex Albon. In an under-competitive Williams, de Vries blew seasoned teammate

WILLIAMS

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AGE: 26 DEBUT: Aus 2019 STARTS: 59 BEST QUAL: 4th (x4) PODIUMS: 3 BEST RESULT: 3rd (x2) BEST CHAMP POS: 7th (x1)

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CHINA’S FIRST F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu enters his sophomore season with confidence after proving his critics wrong on debut. Zhou encountered numerous challenges in 2022, stemming from racial abuse to a horrific first-lap crash at Silverstone, but he battled through it all to enhance his reputation. The high

ALPHATAURI

10

ALEXANDER ALBON returned to Formula 1 last year with Williams and was one of the few positives for the famous team. After a roller-coaster journey at Red Bull, the Thai driver flourished in the less hostile environment at Williams. Despite driving the slowest car, Albon regularly maximised his

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10th fastest qualifier in 2022, while his expertise and composure on Sunday helped Alfa Romeo rise from ninth to sixth in the Constructors standings. The Finn appears a new and refreshed figure, and after a big off-season cycling in Australia and NZ, Bottas is ready to lead Alfa Romeo from the front again.

AGE: 22 DEBUT: Bah 2021 STARTS: 42 BEST QUAL: 7th (x2) PODIUMS: 0 BEST RESULT: 4th (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 14th (x1)

ENTERING HIS third season at the pinnacle, the pressure is mounting on Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese kid made a strong early impression bookending his debut season with a P5 and P4.

However, incidents and radio outbursts became too regular, while he took a further step back

PIERRE GASLY has finally broken free from the Red Bull world and is determined to make a statement. Gasly has jumped to Alpine after rebuilding his reputation at AlphaTauri. His momentum slowed last year with his least productive season, but the memories of Monza

ALFA ROMEO SAUBER

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NO LONGER performing the 'wingman' role at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas is relishing his time at Alfa Romeo. Last year Bottas switched from the fastest to the second slowest team, but took the opportunity with open arms. His Saturday speed evident at Mercedes remained, being on average the

AFTER AN impressive maiden Ferrari campaign, beating Leclerc, Carlos Sainz’s roller-coaster second year at Maranello did not reach the same heights. He initially struggled with the F1-75 and its edgy rear end, which did not suit his driving style.

But he bounced back and took victory in Britain to

FW44 with three points finishes compared to his teammate’s one. His drive to 10th in Australia featuring a 57-lap stint on the same set of Hards was rated among the best of the entire year. As a settled team leader, Albon aims for more consistent points appearances.

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LOGAN SARGEANT becomes the first American F1 driver since Alexander Rossi in 2015 and arrives with a wealth of experience. Despite not winning a global single seater championship, Sargeant has been a regular front runner. He finished third in the 2020 F3 Championship and impressed in

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CARLOS SAINZ JR

AGE: 28 DEBUT: Aus 2015 STARTS: 162 BEST QUAL: 1st (x3) PODIUMS: 15 BEST RESULT: 1st (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 5th (x2)

end the second longest wait for a maiden F1 win.

Sainz was on par with his teammate throughout the second half of the season and showed enough authority to overrule the team on strategy calls. The hard-working Spaniard is a quick learner and hopes to fight for regular wins.

10

AGE: 27 DEBUT: Mal 2017 STARTS: 108 BEST QUAL: 2nd (x1) PODIUMS: 3 BEST RESULT: 1st (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 7th (x1)

PIERRE GASLY

2020 are still strong. Gasly was at risk of being defined by his Red Bull days ending abruptly after just nine races, but Alpine has provided him with a chance to shine. Now he just has to make it count, which may not be easy alongside an equally determined teammate in Ocon.

24

AGE: 23 DEBUT: Bah 2022 STARTS: 22 BEST QUAL: 9th (x2) PODIUMS: 0 BEST RESULT: 8th (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 18th

ZHOU GUANYU

point of the season was a maiden Q3 appearance and best race result at Canada. Although the points dried up afterwards and Bottas outscored him 49-6, Zhou did enough to get a contract extension. The next challenge is to close the gap on his teammate and fight for regular points.

21

AGE: 28 DEBUT: Ita 2022 STARTS: 1 BEST QUAL: 8th (x1) PODIUMS: 0 BEST RESULT: 9th (x1) BEST CHAMP POS: 21st

NYCK DE VRIES

Latifi away to score points on debut. Suddenly a bidding war for his services ensued. After driving for five separate teams in 2022, he is now at AlphaTauri where he hopes to (and may well) beat Tsunoda and appear front and centre on the Red Bull radar.

2

LOGAN SARGEANT

AGE: 22 DEBUT: Bah 2023 STARTS: 0 BEST QUAL: N/A PODIUMS: N/A BEST RESULT: N/A BEST CHAMP POS: N/A

his maiden full F2 season last year with two wins en route to fourth in a competitive championship, while he has also made a strong impression in his short time at Williams. With three home races, he will be in the spotlight and it is hoped he will offer more pace and promise than Latifi.

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LET’S GO INDY FEVER THE 2022 INDYCAR SERIES WAS SEEN BY MANY AS THE BEST SERIES ON THE PLANET AS SEVEN DRIVERS TOOK IT TO THE WIRE OVER THE CLOSING ROUNDS, WITH EVERY REASON TO THINK THAT 2023 CAN MATCH OR ECLIPSE THAT EXCITEMENT. TIMOTHY NEAL REPORTS

IT IS hard to look past the 2022 IndyCar season as the most entertaining motorsport series anywhere on the globe.

It was a particularly sweet one for TransTasman fans, as Aussie Will Power took his second title ahead of kiwi challengers Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon.

In all, it had the whole four-wheel package: close racing, star-power, unpredictable results, legendary records broken, and nine different race winners.

2023 looks to be shaping up in its image.

It’s possible to look through the entry list and easily conclude that up to 10 drivers can realistically challenge for the title this season, which is not something you can accuse many other series of providing.

Team Penske and Chip Ganassi will again be the standout teams – with Arrows McLaren in the mix – and, out of those two squads, any one of six drivers can get it done by season’s end.

Add the fact that Ganassi has added the serious rookie talent of kiwi F2 driver Marcus Armstrong, the potential for an even closer run season is well on the cards.

Before kicking off on the Streets of St Petersburg in Florida on March 5, Auto Action takes an in-depth look at the year ahead.

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PRE-SEASON TESTING AT THE THERMAL CLUB

IndyCar’s open session pre-season testing broke some ground to start 2023, with the first trip of any race series to the private Thermal Club near Palm Springs, CA. 27 drivers ran a 4.9km, 17-turn configuration out of its four possible circuits, as teams tinkered with new ideas on a high tyre degradation circuit ahead of the March 5 opener in Florida.

As per-usual with preseason stuff, it’s hard to take the time sheets too seriously – but there were some standouts.

Colton Herta topped the Day 1 sheets with a 01:39.372 over Christian Lundgaard and Alex Palou, with the spread to the bottom driver, rookie Benjamin Pedersen, only a mere 2.159s.

After Herta was reportedly close to getting an F1 licence last season, the 23-year-old will be desperate to make his mark for Andretti Autosport, going into his sixth year as a seven-time race winner.

Day 2 saw 2022 Indy500 winner Marcus Ericsson take top spot, heading under Herta’s time with a 01:38.422, with Lundgaard again in P2, and Kyle Kirkwood behind him.

Former F1 driver Ericsson led the 2022

championship at the halfway mark after taking out the Indy500 but faded after Toronto, with CGR hoping it will be a big moving year for the experienced Swede to nail some consistency.

2022 British rookie Callum Ilott was quick over both days, as Power eased in with a P5 and P6, whilst Armstrong looked a natural with a Day 2 P5, the quickest rookie overall.

Armstrong was also one of only seven drivers to hit the century mark of laps, with CGR teammate Scott Dixon also pulling 101 laps.

“My expectation, or at least my goal, was to be top-five at the test – I think it went better than I expected,” Armstrong said.

“I got used to the car quicker than I thought. I thought there might be a day where I go, ‘Woah, okay, that is what it is like.’ But I felt comfortable right away.

Satisfaction is the killer of motorsport however, so I don’t want to say that I’m satisfied, but it was good.”

NEW ROOKIES AND DRIVER CHANGES

Four rookies will take on the 2023 season, with three taking on full-time seasons.

Armstrong, the talented 22 year-old from

Christchurch, New Zealand, enters IndyCar with a mature head and good experience for a driver so young.

Chip Ganassi scooped him up for a road and street course only season, meaning he’ll miss five rounds (Rounds 2, 6, 11, 12 and 15).

Armstrong is a born winner, having swept up victories in European F4, TRS, and F3, before entering F2 for three straight years, taking four wins. Don’t be surprised if he’s competitive early after two top-10 finishes at the Thermal Club. IndyCar rewards good racecraft, and he’s got it in spades.

Danish American Driver Benjamin Pedersen replaces 2022 rookie, Kyle Kirkwood, at AJ Foyt Enterprises for his debut, with Kirkwood, the 2021 IndyLights champion, going to Andretti Autosport in the #27 car.

The other full-time rookie is American Sting Ray Robb, an Indy Pro 2000 champion and last year’s IndyLights runner-up; he goes to Dale Coyne Racing, driving the #55 Dallara Honda.

Last on the rookie list is the relatively unknown Argentinian driver Agustin Canapino. The 33 years-old, joins Argentine-American team Juncos Hollinger Racing in the #78 Chevy, with British

2023 INDYCAR SCHEDULE Streets of St. Petersburg – Florida March 5 Texas Motor Speedway – Texas April 2 Streets of Long Beach – California April 16 Barber Motorsports Park – Alabama April 30 Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indiana May 13 (Road Course Race 1) Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indiana May 28 (Indy 500 – Oval) Streets of Detroit – Michigan June 4 Road America – Wisconsin June 18 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Ohio July 2 Streets of Toronto – Toronto, Canada July16 Iowa Speedway – Iowa July 22 (Race 1) Iowa Speedway – Iowa July 23 (Race 2) Streets of Nashville – Tennessee Aug 6 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Aug 12 (Road Course Race 2) World Wide Technology Raceway – Illinois Aug 27 Portland International Raceway – Oregon Sept 3 Laguna Seca – California Sept 10 name into IndyCar folklore last season, taking over from Mario Andretti as the most frequent pole-getter of all time.

Power took his 68th pole at the Monterey Grand Prix, ‘68’ makes up for around 25% of his race starts.

He’s chasing his third title in his 16th season with Penske (2009-2023), after making his debut with KV Racing Technology in 2008.

Marcus Armstrong makes up the fourth and, as previously mentioned, the 22 year-old former F2 driver comes onto the year with big wraps. Of the Chip Ganassi crew at the test, Indy500 winner Ericsson, was the only teammate to outpace the youngster (Dixon included).

He impressed to the extent that CGR advisory coach, and four IndyCar champion, Dario Franchitti, had this to say following the Thermal Club hit-out: “He’s made a lot of progress over the last two days in getting to understand an Indy car,” Franchitti said.

“He showed up as not a complete package, but he’s smart, and he understands everything that’s going on as far as the dynamics of the car.

“His feedback is great, and he’s very methodical in the way he works through things … and he’s bloody fast!”

With five wins, Josef Newgarden was the only non-Aussie/Kiwi in the championship top four last year, looking to go one better in 2023.

Top right: McLauchlin has cemented his role as a championship contender. Middle: The muchhyped Colton Herta could only take a single race win in 2022 – looking for more this year.

Bottom: New kiwi Marcus Armstrong made an impressive debut in pre-season testing.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES youngster Ilott as his teammate.

As a general consensus, IndyCar journos had their heads turned by Canapino, a racer who came largely from the Stock Car circuit in the Argentinian Turismo Carretera series, as well as featuring at a sneaky 24 Hours at Daytona in 2019, racing in the top DPi class.

Full-time driver changes for the 2023 include eight-time race winner and Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi switching to Arrows McLaren.

The 31 year-old American, who made it all the way to F1 in 2014-15, spent seven years at the American racing giant, switching to the Chevrolet team after signing all the way back in June of ’22.

American legend Jimmie Johnson won’t be racing in IndyCar this season, heading back to NASCAR after largely struggling in the #48 CGR car, although improving slightly in 2022 to have a career best finish of P5.

24-year-old American Santino Ferrucci comes back into IndyCar full-time with AJ Foyt Enterprises after acting as an injury substitute last season whilst racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series. The former F2 driver first raced full-time with Dale Coyne Racing in 2019.

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THE YEAR AHEAD

THE TRANS-TASMAN QUARTET Last season gave Aussie and New Zealand race fans a year to remember, as Power, Dixon, and McLaughlin were deep in the championship fight before Power eventually prevailed.

With Dixon and McLaughlin finishing third and fourth respectively, it was the three-time Supercar champion who leaped off the scoresheet in his second season. The Kiwi Penske driver impressed with three victories and four podiums over the year, only 50 points off Power at season’s end.

After taking rookie of the year in 2021, McLaughlin fits perfectly into

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championship contention for ’23.

Dixon, a career Chip Ganassi racer, enters his 21st IndyCar season in 2023, and the six-time champion goes into the year with 52 wins under his belt, second of all time behind Foyt (67).

The 42 year-old Brisbane born kiwi has won a race every year for the last 18 seasons – taking out two wins in ’22 – and has finished in the championship top three for 14 of his 20 IndyCar seasons.

The evergreen Will Power will also turn 42 at round 1 at St Petersburg, and the two-time champion does so with 41 career wins to his name.

The Toowoomba-born legend etched his

There’s no substantial changes to the 17 race calendar in 2023, aside from the fact that Detroit’s Motor City will see a welcome return to tradition.

For the first time since 1982 IndyCar have moved the Detroit Grand Prix back to the downtown area; a 10-turn 2.7km street circuit, which includes a straight down Jefferson Avenue by Lake St Clair.

The American Spring and Summer get the bulk of the ’23 schedule, which of course includes the 107th Indianapolis 500 on May 28, which last year welcomed back the return of over 300,000 spectators.

One highlight for the season (if 2022 is anything to go by) is the championships run home, which sees eight races in nine hectic weeks, and which last year witnessed the thrilling seven driver title fight.

That stretch, with two oval races in Illinois and Iowa, starts on the chaotic streets of Toronto on July 16, through to the Astor Cup finale at California’s famous Laguna Seca on September 10.

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A NEW 1/18TH SCALE SPRINTCAR MODEL SERIES FROM ACME This new series will be called Outlaw Legends, and it will be a tribute to the Sprintcar heroes and legends of the past.

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One of the first to be released is a tribute to Danny ‘The Dude’ Lasoski of Dover, MO, who ran his first race with the World of Outlaws in 1983 and his last in 2017 – making more than 1200 starts.

In that timespan he won four Knoxville Nationals, was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2011 and drove for some of the Series’ top team owners like Casey Luna, Dennis Roth and Tony Stewart.

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SPEEDWAY

PESTKAS PERSISTS FOR 5K PAY DAY AFTER THE Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, some of the teams venturing westward for the Australian Sprintcar Championship stopped in at the Murray Bridge Speedway to take on some of the locals for a handy $5,000-to-win prize purse up for grabs. The 22 competitors provided an entertaining affair for the fans.

Lachlan McHugh qualified on pole for the 30-lap final after winning the Gold Shootout with Brendan Quinn sharing the front row. At the drop of the green the tightly congested field jockeyed for space, as the cars bumped coming out of Turn 4.

Australian Champion Marcus Dumesny’s race would end before it began with a delaminated right rear tyre after contact from another car.

Take two: McHugh knuckled down to the job at hand, while Pestka pounced from sixth to third on the opening lap. Five laps down and the leaders started their climb through the lapped traffic where Matt Egel edged by Pestka to third until the yellow lights would pause the race after Joel Heinrich spun to a halt in Turn 4.

McHugh looked to be on rails as he controlled the tempo with ease despite consecutive yellows, this time for Stacey Galliford. Again, McHugh led; however his quest for victory would end prematurely as he rolled tothe infield after a fuel nozzle

SPEEDWAY NEWS with Paris Charles had detached, spraying Lachlan with Methanol and gifting the lead to Quinn.

It was quickly succeeded by another yellow light, this time for Lisa Walker and Heinrich tangling in Turn 2.

With 10 laps to run, Quinn led. However Pestka slipped by for the lead; an overzealous Quinn tried to fight back but spun a complete 360 smacking the infield barrier and dropping out of contention. Ian Madsen advanced to second as the race narrowed towards the pointy end. There would be one final twist in the plot as Keke Falland spun, taking Brent Fox with him.

With five laps to play out, Pestka set his sights on the finish line, earning the defending SRA Sprintcar Champion the victory with Ian Madsen and the quiet achiever Steven Caruso rounding out the podium. McDonough, Quinn, Ryan Jones, Scott Enderl, Ben Morris, Heinrich and

Daniel Pestka takes a home track victory. Image: PARIS CHARLES Walker made up the top 10 with Jason Bolitho one lap down – the final finisher in the incident plagued feature event.

Robert Heard retired on the penultimate lap joining on the infield Fox, Keke Falland, McHugh, Galliford, Egel, Hayden Pitt, Luke Dillon and Dumesny. Both Brendan Guerin and Daniel Puddy failed to front for the final.

Quinn, Caruso and Egel shared the spoils in the heat races and Dumensy collected the win in the newly introduced Mid Pack Scramble.

SUPPORTS REIGNING NORTHERN Territory Street Stock Champion Justin Brumfield led home Carey Weston and Drew Flatman for the podium. Corey Jones proved too strong in the Formula 500 final, while joining the podium were Brendan Zadow, who claimed both heat wins, and Scott Dungey. The Junior Sedan final was won

by Lucas Warnett taking a flag-to-flag win, with Diesel Fallon and Ollie Bartlett rounding the top three.

KERRY MADSEN MAKES OPPORTUNITY COUNT AS THE Australian Sprintcar and Formula 500 Championships loomed closer, the Perth Motorplex fired up for The Daniel Trucking Prelude for Sprintcars and while it may not have been the main event, it provided a great opportunity for the many visiting teams to test and tune.

Against 43 other competitors, Jamie Veal stopped the clocks with a 13.160, earning him the Revolution Racegear Quick Time Award, setting him up at the back end of the evening, with an A Dash victory earning him the Pole Position for the 30 lap final alongside B Dash winner Kerry Madsen.

Veal led the field away. Jason Kendrick worked his way into second as the front runners made their way through the traffic until the reds blazed for Callum Williamson who violently tumbled out of contention.

Veal again set the tempo, and at the half way point Madsen slid by Kendrick for second as they raced through traffic. As the laps counted down Veal looked to be driving a conservative style with traffic ahead, which allowed the fast-finishing Madsen to opportunity to blow by and take the lead with just three laps to run.

Madsen led amongst heavy traffic to the chequered flag to secure the win and $10k prize purse. The congestion was so

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Kerry Masen aboard the Mobil 1 Krikke Motorsports W2 entry.

Image: RICHARD HATHAWAY

heavy that Madsen touched with Luke Oldfield post-race, Madsen spinning to halt. Veal and Kendrick would share the podium.

Trent Pigdon, James Inglis, Bradley Maiolo, Jock Goodyer, Luke Dillon, Darren Mollenoyux and Ryan Newton completed the top 10. Lachlan McHugh, Rusty Hickman, Matt Egel, Marcus Dumesny, David Priolo and Oldfield completed the runners on the lead lap. Brock Hallett, Tate Frost, Jack Williamson, Kye Scroop, Cody Maroske, Robbie Farr and Shaun Bradford tailed off the field.

The qualifying heats were shared amongst Kendrick, Dillon, Oldfield, Pigdon and B. Maiolo. D. Priolo claimed the Mid Pack Dash while the two B Mains went to Scroop and Bradford.

DYLAN BEVERIDGE’S JA CLASSIC THE OPAL Finance presented Johnny Andersson Classic Formula 500s also provided an excellent opportunity for the pocket rockets to get in some valuable laps in lead-up to their national championship. American gun Jake Hagopian and national champion Dylan Beveridge went into the final as

the benchmark as the other teams squared up behind.

The duo shared the front row, and it would be the American who led the first half of the race comfortably until rolling to the infield, ending his run with 13-laps to run, and gifting the lead to Beveridge who did not look back from that point to go and take victory.

The race between Matt Brown and Luke Williams for the minors proved a thrilling affair over the first half of the journey, the pairing would share the podium spoils with Beveridge.

Further back was Brendon Marshman, Mark House, Jett Speed, Thomas Davies, Steven Ellement, Kaydon Iverson and Josh Pokarier making up the top 10. Indy Rae, Alfonso Guadagnino, Chris Dymock, Glen Mears, Hayden Pascoe followed, with Brooke Newson the 16th and final finisher.

The long list of retirees would read Ryan Higgs, Jordan Mansell, Hagopian, Angus Hollis, Shane Andersson, Glenn Carstairs, Angelo Karoussis, the Rankins Terry and Tim, Jordan Rae, Jake Pobjoy, Craig Bottrell, Bryan Sharpe and Brendan Condren.

Heats races went to Hagopian, Brendon Marshman, Brown; Pobjoy the B Main and Davies the Mid pack Scramble.

VALE: STEPHEN ‘DOUGO’ DOUGLAS THE VICTORIAN Speedway community is mourning the loss of Standard Saloon competitor Stephen ‘Dougo’ Douglas as a result of injury after a rolling and being hit by two other competitors during a qualifying heat at the Daylesford Speedway in the running of the 2023 Chivers Memorial feature race.

It was reported on the Channel 7 News that Stephen won his prior race while Jay Miles, a fellow competitor who’d had mechanical difficulties earlier in the event went as passenger in the Douglas car and received non-life threatening but serious injuries from the incident.

Stephen was airlifted to hospital but would, sadly, pass due to injuries received.

To many, ‘Dougo’ was more than just a hard racer who charged through the field aboard his Nyora 44 Small Square Hay Sales Ford AU Falcon. He has been described as a person with a big tough exterior but with a heart of gold who displayed good sportsmanship and was always there to offer a helping hand to other competitors in need. But more importantly the likeable farmer and longstanding member of the CFA was a loving husband and friend to many.

After consultation between the Daylesford Drivers Association and the Standard Saloon competitors, it was agreed that the final prize money has been donated to the Douglas family on behalf of the drivers as well as some of the other prize money from the event. A Go Fund Me page has been set up which, at time of writing, has raised close to $5,000. There are also plans underway to run a memorial race in his honour and, with thanks to close friends in the Speedway community, his car will be repaired and displayed at the event.

Speedway Australia has issued a statement saying that it will work with the Daylesford Speedway committee, the Victorian Speedway Council and their members and assist Victoria Police and Worksafe Victoria during their investigation. Speedway Australia also has support services available. Anyone who may require assistance is directed to contact the head office on (08) 8139 0777.

Image: ALLAN SINCLAIR

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FAST FORMULAS – BEVERIDGE AND ELLEMENT TOP OF THE POPS! THE PERTH Motorplex was running double duties over the weekend as sharing the top billing with the Sprintcars was the running of the 2023 Chamberlains Auto Electrics & Air Conditioning Australian Formula 500 Title, with competitors venturing from all states and territories of the nation to battle it out for the prestigious title – and just like the Sprintcar ranks a Tasmanian would stand the tallest after two hard fought nights of fierce competition.

This time around it would be the reigning champion Dylan Beveridge who would successfully defend his A1 crown. His first title win was done the hard way, coming through the B Main after an engine failure; this time around he would do it from the comfort of pole position.

With 50 competitors in the house the opening night would see two preliminary finals. The first of two finals placed 23 competitors in the 15-lap race. West Australian Steven Ellement earned his pole position after winning both of his qualifying heats; to his outside would be the former national champion Dylan Willsher with Angelo Karoussis from position three.

From the get-go the trio would run non-stop from green to chequered in their starting order, Ellement looking exceptionally fast as he checked out from the field. Terry Rankin moved from eighth to fourth with a last lap pass on Thomas Davies followed to the line

by Glenn Carstairs, Josh Pokarier, David Sinagra, Kaydon Iverson, Alfonso Guadagnino Craig Bottrell and Jordan Mansell completing the top dozen finishers.

The second of the prelims saw the national champion return serve, also with a 15-lap flag to flag victory despite a caution period, quickly followed by a red light for Ryan Higgs, and followed by a succession of late race stoppages. Beveridge held sway in the run to the line. Chris Dymock made the most of his front row, holding down second position for two-thirds of the race distance before falling back to finish fourth after Jordan Rae, then Liam Williams slipped by to round out the podium.

Fifth to the line was Matt Brown over Ryan Higgs, Indy Rae, Tim Rankin, Cameron McKenzie, Hayden Pascoe, Angus Hollis and

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Dylan Beveridge (above) led all the way to defend his Australian Formula 500 title. Images: KNJ PHOTGRAPHY Ben Butcher completing the top 12 and front half of the field.

BEVERIDGE GOES BACK TO BACK After night one it was shaping up as a headto-head battle between Dylan Beveridge and local hope Steven Ellement as they squared off on the front row with a massive 28 hard chargers banked up behind for what would be an incident plagued winner-takes-all 25lap final.

To get the race away would take three tries, the first stoppage seeing Cameron McKenzie and Angus Hollis taken out of commission.

This would elevate the two reserves, Hayden Pascoe and Jett Hart, into the equation while the second attempt would see Matt Brown retire to the infield.

Third time lucky and Beveridge led the field away without incident with Ellement, Chris Dymock, Liam Williams and Co in hot pursuit as the competitors settled into a rhythm for five laps until a caution was thrown for the ailing Glenn Carstairs. At recommencement, Beveridge hit the hammer to open a handy break until another caution period nearing the halfway mark to bring the field back together for another restart.

Beveridge and Ellement again led the field but the race for third was shaping up as an exciting dogfight as they scrapped for position.

With 10 laps to run a scary moment would present for Ben Butcher – an onboard fire

engulfing the car. Thankfully the fire and rescue team were quick on arrival to the incident to extinguish the car and driver, as Ben scrambled out of the cockpit patting his legs down in the process. Hayden Pascoe would also retire at the same moment after the top wing had detached from the car.

Beveridge and Ellement led the field and this time Angelo Karousis pounced to third.

But the biggest mover was Tim Rankin, advancing from 15th to engage a battle with Dymock for fourth as the real estate narrowed with just seven laps to run.

Beveridge led the field home but, with three to go, it almost come unstuck for the champion as the NA K&D Enterprises A1 touched with back marker Hart as he forged his way through traffic. Luckily he was able to continue the momentum to go back-to-back.

Ellement, Karousis and Dymock would share the podium celebrations. Fifth to the line was Tim Rankin over Williams, Kaydon Iverson, Jordan Rae, Thomas Davies and Dylan Willsher rounding out the top 10.

Terry Rankin, Mark House, Ryan Higgs, David Sinagra, Josh Pokarier, Alfonso Guadagnino, Craig Bottrell, Indy Rae, Glen Mears and Jamie Pages all ended on the lead lap; one lap in arrears were Brendan Newmarch, Jake Pobjoy, Jordan Mansell, Jett Hart and David Carstairs the 25th and final finisher. Pascoe, Butcher, Brendon Marshman, Glenn Carstairs, Brown, Hollis and McKenzie failed to go the distance. Paris Charles

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SPEEDWAY

GOODYER POSTS A GREAT YEAR! A HUGE crowd was on hand to witness the running of the 60th Australian Sprintcar Championship at the Perth Motorplex. The racing was intense over the course of the two nights of racing, with plenty of big names crashing out. But it was young Tasmanian Jock Goodyer, continuing his hot season form, who took the flag. PARIS CHARLES looks back at the event.

THE FINAL lap is always the most important of any race – however in-form Tasmanian gun Jock Goodyer stamped a huge exclamation mark on the 60th running of the Australian Sprintcar Championship final to lead all 35-laps of the final, adding the Sprintcar national crown to his impressive CV, alongside his national Formula 500 Championship; also becoming only the second driver to claim both national division titles since Max Dumesny.

This is how two full nights of competition would play out. A solid field 47 competitors, representing all states of the nation, including four former champions in Jamie Veal, Kerry Madsen (4x), Brooke Tatnell (5x) and Robbie Farr, in addition to the defending champion Matthew Dumesny fronted for a tilt at Australia’s most prestigious Sprintcar crown.

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NIGHT 1 - VEAL TAKES THE OPENING DEAL

THE ACTION commenced with the competitors running against the clock for qualifying. Proving the quickest would-be former Champion Jamie Veal, stopping the clock with a 13.237, from Luke Dillon, Jock Goodyer and Lachlan McHugh in the top four.

At the completion of the heat races, the top four qualifiers would occupy the first two rows of the 25-lap Preliminary A Main.

Veal and McHugh would share the front row with Dillon and Goodyer in behind while the Madsen brothers in Kerry and Ian shared the third.

From green to checkered, Veal would comfortably hold sway, leading McHugh and Goodyer to the podium. Prelude winner Kerry Madsen advanced to fourth, while Matt Egel and Jason Kendrick relegated Dillon back to seventh. Callum Williamson bounced back well after riding out a wild wreck just two nights earlier.

Ian Madsen, David Priolo, Kris Coyle, Rusty Hickman, Ryan Newton, Taylor Milling, Trent Pigdon and Jason Pryde all finised.

Bradley Maiolo brought on the only caution period of the of the journey with a delaminated right rear tyre with just 6-laps remaining, while the defending

Australian Champion Matthew Dumesny’s run would end with a wreck on the first corner to bring on a complete restart for the remaining 17 competitors.

The 10-lap qualifying heats were shared, with Milling, K. Madsen, C. Williamson, B. Maiolo, Dillon, Pigdon, D. Priolo and Veal taking the maximum points while Coyle claimed the 15-lap B-Main.

NIGHT 2 - GOODYER GARBS THE HOLY GRAIL

JAMIE VEAL looked the man to beat as the teams readied themselves for night two, the interstate visitors Veal (Vic), Lachlan McHugh (Qld), Jock Goodyer (Tas), Luke Dillon (SA), Kerry Madsen (NSW) in a WA based car, Matt Egel (SA) and Ian Madsen (NSW) showing the seasoned locals the quickest way around their home track – the first of the locals being Jason Kendrick, sitting in eighth position followed by a half dozen of his fellow home staters.

While things looked promising for Veal, such is the unpredictability of speedway that things quickly took a detour south for the points leader, failing to finish his only preliminary heat, and dropping him to eighth overall after hurting his primary powerplant and having to do an engine change for the final.

At the completion of the final round of qualifying heats and alphabet races Goodyer headed the points and with that distinction would elect to start outside front row alongside McHugh while, at the opposite end of the grid, the reigning champion Matthew Dumesny would take full advantage of the defending champion’s automatic qualifying rule.

Despite not qualifying for the main event after a challenging weekend, he would take the 24thh and final position for the 35-lap final after qualifying in an incident plagued B Main.

As the lights went green, Goodyer pounced around the outside to check out from the field as McHugh seemed to have missed the initial jump, but the biggest movers early would be Dillon, then Ian Madsen manoeuvering to second as the field settled into rhythm.

As the leaders made their way through the lapped traffic the lights would glow red half a dozen laps in as Brad Maiolo inverted his ride, taking Rusty Hickman, Robbie Farr, Tate Frost and Kris Coyle with him.

Farr sustaining a corked arm injury and severe chassis damage to the left rear of his car, also compromising the structure of the containment seat. Coyle was the only one of the forementioned runners to rejoin.

Lachlan McHugh almost caught the leader when Goodyer brushed the wall, but had to settle for second.

Left: Jock Goodyer dominated to take his first national crown. Top: Ryan Newton (66) and

Matt Dumesny up close ... Above: the crowd and atmosphere was huge.

Images: NAKITA POLLOCK AND RICHARD HATHAWAY

Callum Williamson was the best of the locals, with a fine third.

Jamie Veal took a win on the opening night and advanced to fourth in the final.

Newton on the lead lap. One lap in arrears was the final finisher, Shaun Bradford.

The retiree list would run long with Corbet, Milling, Egel, Hallett, Pryde, Darren Mollenoyux, Ian Madsen, Trent Pigdon, B. Maiolo, Farr, Hickman, Frost and David Priolo. James Inglis and Steven Lines were the first two reserves for the final.

The final round of heat wins earlier in the night went to Bradford, Farr, Hallett and Brad Maiolo.

“I’m really pumped to get it done, I’m just over the moon and I don’t really know what to say ... it’s just awesome. I think I made the right choice to start on the outside – there was more traction – but I think I had the best race car here around this joint.

“We made a few changes, and I thought, ‘wow I’m really comfortable and its going be hard to get beaten here.’ I just thought to myself ‘hit my marks, be consistent and smart.’ After all it was 35 laps and in the end, we got it done and now we have number 1 on the side” said the New Australian Champion after the podium celebrations.

TRACKSIDE & TV MEDIA

As the cars restarted Veal avoided a near catastrophe as a John Day push mounted the left rear of the car – the team would have to change the left rear tyre and thankfully he would rejoin in seventh position.

Goodyer, Ian Madsen, McHugh, Dillon, Kerry Madsen and Callum Williamson now made up the top half dozen.

With 15 laps in the books Ian Madsen’s run would come to a disappointing end – after looking comfortable in the runner up position the NX4 would roll to the infield. Goodyer again led the field away; however the red lights would again come into play as Brock Hallett rolled and Jason Pryde collided with nowhere to go in Turn 2.

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The next restart would come at half race distance and more than one third of the cars would be retired to the infield.

Goodyer again led the field, McHugh in second but the race for third was a cracker as Dillon, Kerry Madsen, Williamson, Veal and Kendrick traded blows, only to be interrupted by a three-way crash after Taylor Milling in eighth had contact with Dumensy, Matt Egel and Jy Corbett coming to halt and ending Egel’s run.

With 14 laps to run the field was halved to a dozen cars. Goodyer again led comfortably until brushing the wall and allowing McHugh the opportunity to close only for the final yellow of the race to come on, this time for Corbet, ending his

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run with component failure sending him to the fence.

Green for the final time and Goodyer would lead the remaining eight laps express aboard the Platinum Print T22 to become the first Tasmanian and 26th champion to etch his name onto the coveted Australian Sprintcar Championship trophy. Sharing the podium celebrations would be McHugh and Williamson the best of the locals in third, to take the final podium step in front of a crowd of close to 9,500 enthusiastic fans.

Veal advanced to fourth, Kerry Madsen was next, followed by the outgoing champion Dumesny coming from 24th to sixth, Coyle, Kendrick, Dillon and Ryan

In closing, huge praise must go Gavin Migro and his dedicated track staff and officials for a well-run weekend at what is arguably the premier Speedway venue in the nation.

From the fans entering the venue to the Chariots of Thunder theme song to various exhibits, car displays and former greats such as Ron Krikke, Gary Rush and Co being on hand for interviews, it was a memorable experience for all.

Without doubt, this year’s event has again raised the bar for live trackside entertainment and has proven more than capable of catapulting the sport into a feasible television package going forward as the thousands of viewers worldwide who tuned into 7 Plus and the Pay Per View streaming network would attest to.

The coverage was headed by Producer Dean Neal who controlled a professional camera crew and an outstanding Motorplex commentary team consisting of Jason Crowe, Carl Langdon, Con Migro, Daniel Leach, Matt Naulty and statistician Scott Beattie with Chris Mitchell and Ben Bishop as the infield reporters to bring the complete package together.

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NATIONALS WRAP

REDHEAD ON TOP JOSH AND MATT Redhead (above) took their Mitsubishi EVO 5 to a hard-fought win in round 3 of the Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Series, at Sydney Dragway on February 9.

North Shore Sporting Car Club restricted entries to try to head off another very late finish and threatening skies failed to deliver rain, much to the relief of all concerned.

David and John Calabria (EVO 7) took fastest on the first run, despite hitting a

barrier. Phil Heafey and Luke MacFarlane (EVO 6) were next, Heafey having dialed back his boost to concentrate on clean runs. The Redheads were third, 4.0s off the pace.

Calabria’s gearbox failed on the next run, with ended his night, as Heafey took fastest from Redhead, with Michael Caine and Tomas Vadolkis next in their Mazda RX7. Redhead then went on the charge, and defied a long brake pedal, to take fastest on the last three runs.

With the best three runs for each car to count, this was more than enough to see him win. Heafey took second fastest on those three runs, for second 6.6s in arrears at the end of the night. Lance Arundel and Luke Job took third, another 7.9s back. They’d had no answer for the pace of the three highly developed EVOs ahead of them but went back to Canberra happy with a clean night.

Fourth were Damian Lomax and George Barbara (EVO 7) were fourth,

with Caine/Vadolkis next and first 2WD. Second of the 2WDs were Michael Osmond and Reece Harradine (BMW 135i) while best of the Juniors, and a great 14th outright, were Bailey and Brian Rusten (Subaru Impreza WRX) from Andrew and Jamie Ericson (Suzuki Swift).

Redhead and Heafey have two wins each, so the final round on March 16 should be intense.

Story and Image: Bruce Moxon

CONSISTENCY WINS NEW TARGA SPRINT NATIONALS WRAP with Garry O’Brien THE TWO days had different winners but overall the inaugural Targa High Country Sprint Championship on February 10-12 was taken out by Tasmanian duo Peter Nunn and Keith Johnstone in their GT Production Porsche Cayman S. Based on top of the Victorian ski resort at Mt Buller, they finished ahead of GT Production rivals Barrie Smith and Anthony McLoughlin (Audi TTRS) and Ben Newman and Adam Kudra (Subaru Impreza WRX STi).

The Rallysprint style event consisted of two separate events contested seven times over three 8.0km stages each day. Points were awarded for the results of Sprint 1, and added to the points from Sprint 2 results for the overall positions.

Saturday’s Sprint 1 was won by Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli (Early Modern

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4 Mitsubishi EVO X – pictured) ahead of Liam and Larry Howarth (EM4 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec). But both were casualties in Sunday’s Sprint 2 with a dropped valve on the first of eight stages for Morton, and an oil pump failure for Howarth after three stages.

Despite a hasty repair to a radiator leak, Nunn finished third and then won Sprint 2 ahead of Smith and Smith before they were third and second the following day. Sixth on day one were Allan and Kerry Hines (EM4 EVO X) in front of Adam Spencer and Lee ChallonerMiles (EM2 BMW M3), Matt Hanson and Nigel Pendlebury (GTP WRX), Michael Mansey and Julie Winton-Monet (GTP Renault Clio) and Gregg Bass and Peter Cooke (GTP Toyota Yaris GR).

In Sprint2 Hines was fourth which was fourth overall and Mansey’s fifth placed them likewise for the two days. Bass was next but finished eighth in the final result behind Spence and Hanson.

Garry O’Brien

MORE SUMMER SERIES WINNERS

Image: PHIL WISEWOULD

SURE START FOR SHAW IT WAS a good season beginning for Tom Shaw (above) to go back-to-back for a National title when he won the first round of the RX8 Cup Series at Phillip Island on February 11-12.

The series united the Victorian Superkart Championship and Supersprints where Shaw won two of the three races to take overall victory ahead of Luke Webber and Justin Barnes.

After Webber set the pace in practice, Shaw edged him out to take pole in qualifying. But it was third fastest Jack Pennacchia who starred in the wet Race 1 and scored a resounding 8.2s victory. Shaw held second until passed

by Webber midway through before he regained the spot on the final lap.

Barnes finished fourth while Myles Briguglio emerged out of a three-way battle that involved Terry and Justin Lewis to finish fifth. The three were clear of Jackson Noakes and Tom Derwent.

Webber led the second race until passed by Barnes halfway through and before Shaw overtook both. The latter won by two-tenths over Webber as Justin Lewis and Noakes improved to third and fourth respectively. Barnes

fell to fifth in the closing stages and headed Ben Shaw, Briguglio, Terry Lewis and Pennacchia who battled gearbox issues.

In the final, Barnes began well, was second at the end of the opening lap before he took the lead off Tom Shaw on the second tour. Barnes maintained the front running until Shaw passed him on the last lap. Webber was a close third throughout and in front of Justin Barnes and Noakes. They were followed by Terry Lewis, Pennacchia, Ryan Marshall and Briguglio.

SUPERKARTS

THE VICTORIAN season opener had over 40 entries spread across seven classes. The field was headed by the 250 Internationals where 2022 125cc Champion Nick Schembri (pictured) debuted his new VM-powered Anderson.

In a successful outing he had three outright wins and a second place. Ilya Harpas (Anderson) had a difficult event with three DNFs, but he did manage to win Race 2.

Best of the chasers, leading and unbeaten in 125 Gearbox was Gary Pegoraro who carded with a third and three outright seconds. His nearest

rival was Brad Stebbing who chased his fellow Anderson-mounted rival to the flag on three occasions, as close as 0.1s behind in one race. But in the last he was eighth outright and sixth in class.

John Coughlan (Avoig Elise) picked up third outright and third in class. Stock Honda provided good competition with Oliver Bonaccorso (Intrepid Cruiser) a two race winner and backed by two seconds while Jeff Duckworth (Arrow) also had two victories but just one second.

In Non-Gearbox Light Russ Occhipinti (Woodgate EVO) was unbeaten as too Colin McIntyre (Anderson) in NGB Heavy. Cameron Austen (Arrow) overcame a second to Joe Brancati (Arrow) in the first Super Heavy encounter to win the next three.

Garry O’Brien

THERE WERE two new overall winners (above) in the second round of the Raceaway Track Time Summer Series at the Pheasant Wood Circuit on February 5.

Phil Alexander took the honours in faster lap time G1 while Gary Chick took out G2 class.

Open to cars up to 2.0 litres, Round 1 pacesetter and G1 winner David Haines (Toyota Corolla) topped qualifying and won the first race after he led throughout.

Less than 2.0s behind was Rod Tippett ahead of fellow Nissan Pulsar pilot Alexander. Fourth was Chick (Subaru Impreza) who was first in G2.

Second for the first two laps Tony Gardiner (Hyundai Excel) fell to fifth ahead of German Pina (Corolla), Dean Alessi (Excel) and second and third in G3, Ian Green (Pulsar) and Adam Bailey (Impreza).

Haines continued in the same manner during Race 2 with a clear-cut victory. It was very tight among the next five where Alexander took second off Tippett on lap three of 15 and held on to head Bryan Pina (in for German), Tippett, Gardiner and Chick.

For 12 laps Haines led the third encounter but overheating forced him to pit. German Pina took over the lead but DNF’d on the last lap when the engine let go. Tippett was third early but retired with a loss of power from a failed alternator.

Without Haines the reverse grid finale went to Gardiner who took the lead three laps off Tippett three laps from the end to head the full powered Pulsar to the flag.

Third went to Jade Bell (G2 Pulsar), Chick and Sam McCallum (G2 Eunos 30X).

Contact between Andy Clarkson (Mazda 2) and Green at the first corner delayed those that followed and spreadeagled the field. It meant Alessi was sixth with Alexander next.

Garry O’Brien

PROTOTYPES STATE OPENER TO LAUCKE THE SOUTH AUSTRALIA Prototype Series got off to a low key start and attracted seven entries for the first round on the 23-turn East circuit at The Bend Motorsport Park on February 5.

Mark Laucke (Wolf Tornado) took the overall victory after two 30min races with a win and a second. Tim Cook (Wolf Thunder) won the second race to be the round runner up. ahead of Andrew McKee (Wolf Tornado).

Ian Eldridge (Stohr WF1) set the pace in qualifying ahead of Cook and John Paul Drake (Wolf Mistral). The latter made Laucke work for his Race 1 win after the 72-year-old qualified outside Image: MOXON the topBRUCE three.

Eldridge chased Laucke

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and Drake home for third.

Chien-Wen Liew (Wolf) had problems in practice and missed qualifying. He made the start for Race 1 but was a frequent visitor to the pits. Dyson Song (Wolf Thunder) had a day to forget with his car catching fire in practice, too badly damaged to repair on the day. Dyson escaped a little shaken but otherwise fine.

Cook took first place in Race 2 after he placed fourth in the opener. Behind second placed Laucke came Liew ahead of McKee and Eldridge. Drake looked to be on course for victory when a minor engine/electrical issue slowed him.

David Batchelor

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Lauke leads Cook and McKee ... Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

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NATIONALS WRAP

OFF TO THE RACES SANDOWN PLAYED host to the opening round of the Victorian State Race Series, on February 18/19, featuring a new time-based racing format for 2023 and 10 categories of quality racing.

FORMULA FORD

The Duratec class saw Lachlan Strickland nab the first race win following a Safety Car period and subsequent two-lap sprint on Saturday, leading home Jack Bussey and Edison Beswick. Strickland sank back to third in Race 2, with Beswick picking up the win and Jarred Farrell finding his way through to second following another sprint finish. Beswick outlasted the advances of Joe Fawcett in the last race by a tenth of a second, with Matt Holmes two seconds back in third.

In Kent class, Richard Davison continued his winning ways from 2022, with all three race wins. Grant Walker and Andrew Torti found themselves tied for second overall for the round after three solid results.

Shawn Jamieson dominated the Saloon Car contest. Images: REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

SPORTS SEDANS

Supercar pilot Thomas Randle was the headline act for the weekend, and he didn’t disappoint. His Saab 9-3 won all three races and broke the track record set last year by Jordan Caruso by a tenth of a second, on Sunday morning.

Behind Randle, Ray Hislop (Ford FG Falcon) and Dean Camm (Chevrolet Corvette) were a distant second and third in Race 1, but a little closer in Race 2 after a late Safety Car. Camm was a notable non-starter in Race 3, which provided Greg Lynch (HSV GTS) a podium finish behind Randle and Hislop.

Daniel Timewell took a well-deserved win in Improved Production.

Pieter Faulkner took three from three in the Excel contest.

In Formula Vee, Lee Partridge netted his first race win in 20 years

Edison Beswick took two tight wins and the points win in a close Formula Ford fight.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

Saturday saw Luke Grech-Cumbo (HSV Senator) grab his first win in three years, heading Danny Timewell (VF Commodore) and a spirited stoush between Ian McLennan (V2 Monaro) and Kaide Lehmann (VE Commodore).

Unfortunately, engine trouble robbed Grech-Cumbo of pace in the final two races, with both wins and the round overall going to Timewell – his best results in the category to date.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

Pieter Faulkner clean swept the weekend’s running, holding off Kobi Williams and Harry Tomkins in Race 1, with James Lodge replacing Williams in second position at the end of Race 2, ahead of Tomkins.

Race 2 saw a collision and frightening dual rollovers at Turn 1 (Jason Kay and Josh Sacco). That cut the final race short to a three-lap dash – Faulkner diving through at Turn 9 to snatch the lead on the last lap ahead of Williams and Cadel Ambrose.

FORMULA VEE

Lee Partridge netted his first race win in 20 years in the opening encounter of the weekend – followed home by Reef McCarthy and Nick Jones.

McCarthy added two more wins to his ever-growing tally on Sunday. He first took out the feature race ahead of Jones and

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second-year driver Andre Curin after all three enjoyed time at the front of the field.

He then stormed clear of the field to win the final race by nine seconds ahead of Partridge and Curin.

HQ HOLDENS

‘Rocket’ Rod Raatjes took all before him across the weekend. To do so, he first had to survive a one lap dash following a Safety Car period in Race 1 ahead of Steve Banks and Gavin Ross. The second race ran flagto-flag with Banks and Ross on his rear boot lid all the way home.

Andrew Magilton took over third place at the start of Race 3 from Ross, but could not advance past the top two, falling in behind Raatjes and Banks as the race concluded.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

Andrew Lane (Mustang Fastback) started the weekend with a comfortable win ahead of Darren Collins (Mustang) and Brent Trengrove (Camaro). The same trio occupied the same spots in Race 2, with the finishers separated by very similar margins

compared to the first race.

Race 3 saw Lane and Murphy make accidental contact at Turn 1, ruining Lane’s chance at a clean sweep of wins. Murphy soldiered on the take the final race ahead of Collins and Trengrove.

SALOON CARS

Shaun Jamieson (VY Commodore) picked up where he finished off in 2022. He was challenged early in all three races by teammate and Super 2 driver Bradley Vaughan (AU Falcon), but ultimately drove clear for a clean sweep of the weekend and banked maximum points.

Vaughan settled for second in all three races, with fellow AU Falcon driver Daniel Johnson having to earn all three of his thirdplace finishes whilst fending off several drivers in the closing laps of each race.

PORSCHE 944s

Former champion Cameron Beller registered a rare DNF four laps into Race 1. That left Chris Lewis-Williams to take the win after holding off a late charge from

Adam Brewer, with Mark Verdino three seconds behind in third.

In Race 2, Beller stormed through the field to join Lewis-Williams and Brewer out front.

Brewer thew away the win with an offtrack excursion on the last lap, with Beller outlasting Lewis-Williams in the drag race to the line.

The same top three would stand on the podium again in Race 3, with LewisWilliams keeping Beller honest over the eight-lap distance.

MG & INVITED BRITISH SPORTS CARS

Michael Roddy (Jaguar TWR XJS) was dominant through the first two races, comfortably ahead of Trevor Lindsay (Triumph GT6) and Michael Trathan (MG Midget).

Race 3 proved to be a different affair.

Roddy’s Jaguar cried enough after a handful of laps following a pit lane start, and he surrendered the final win of the weekend to Lindsay ahead of Danny Ciarma (MG B GT V8) & Keith Ondarchie (Triumph Stag).

Steven Devries

NEW ZEALAND TRS

Charlie Wurz crosses the line to take out the Taupo finale and the series.

Below: History in the making – Chloe Chambers, Race 2 winner.

Bottom: The finale podium (l to r) – van Hoepen, Wurz, Penrose.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

WURZ MACH ZWEI CHARLIE WURZ has taken out his maiden junior championship after a seesawing battle with New Zealand’s Callum Hedge, capturing the NZ Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

The son of former Austrian F1 driver, Alex Wurz, withstood constant pressure from Hedge over the five round, 15-race format, taking four wins and five podiums to top the young Porsche gun by 14 points.

The two stand-out contenders battled throughout, swapping the lead several times over the course of the championship.

The lead swung three ways in the finale, with Wurz also losing it after the first race at Taupo Motorsport Park.

The second stanza saw him fight back to retake the lead, setting up a winner-takesall for the feature.

The 17-year-old then capped it off in style with a win over NZ Grand Prix winner and future rival Laurens van Hoepen, whilst Hedge could only muster P4.

“I can’t feel any better ... that race was the most difficult to win of this championship for me because it started raining a lot. I was so afraid of going off and I had to keep Laurens behind me,” said a delighted Wurz.

“This gives me a lot of confidence going into Europe. I know the competition is tough over there but it has been strong here. I’ve learned a lot about racing, here in New Zealand.”

Wurz heads back to Europe, where he will contest the season-long Formula Regional European Championship. He’ll rekindle his battle with the late NZ series up-start, van Hoepen, with both racing for ART Grand Prix as they start their ascents through the formulae.

Wurz’ win means he joins current F1 drivers Lando Norris and Lance Stroll as winners of the series, as well as Red Bull and Ferrari reserve drivers Liam Lawson, and Robert Shwartzman.

Race 2 also witnessed a piece of Motorsport history, as 18-year-old American

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Chloe Chambers became the first female to win a race in the championship, as well as the first female to win any Formula Regional championship race.

Of the two Aussies, Formula Ford racer Ryder Quinn managed to grab seventh overall in the championship standings with two podiums, whilst Porsche Sprint Challenge driver Tom McLennan ended in 13th after missing Round 4.

ROUND 5 – TAUPO MOTORSPORT PARK

RACE 1 of the series finale saw Hedge facing a 10-point deficit to the championship lead, but with the advantage of pole position.

Previous series race winners Louis Foster and van Hoepen threw the kitchen sink at Hedge, but he defended the attacks well to come home by 0.389s over Foster, with van Hoepen in P3, and with plenty of space back to Kiwi youngster, Liam Sceats .

American Jacob Abel, who was an outside chance for the title, had his hopes ended at Turn 1 with three other cars collected in the mess.

At the restart, Hedge got the jump on Foster, holding him off until the chequered flag to take a three-point lead in the championship, whilst Wurz saved his tyres for Sunday morning to coast in at P5.

Race 2 was a big moment for Chambers, as she not only grabbed a little slice of history, but won her first race after moving on from karting.

Chambers started from pole in the reverse grid race on scrubbed tyres, and took the 18-lap race from lights-to-finish over S5000 driver Kaleb Ngatoa.

It was also a big P3 for Wurz however, as he took third early after opting to stay on his old set of tyres to go into the Race 3 finale with a fresher set.

Wurz defended doggedly, holding off a charging three-pack which included Hedge at its rear, with the podium spot giving him

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back the overall lead by three points.

After his fighting P3, Wurz then took pole for Race 3, and was simply unstoppable for the series finale.

Some chaos through the first corner saw Hedge survive to sit in P5 early, but Wurz had got the jump on van Hoepen, who had opted for high pressure tyres to attempt an early jump on the Austrian.

This ultimately dropped the Dutchman into the grips of Sceats, with Hedge also moving up into P4, but Wurz was skipping away as rain began to fall.

A Safety Car intervention, brought on as Aussie Ryder Quinn went off track, then brought fresh pressure for Wurz, .

He opted to jump early when the Safety Car went in, catching the field by surprise, as well as Hedge, who lost a spot to compatriot James Penrose, who’d miraculously worked his way from P12 into P3 in a very short amount of time.

Wurz beat van Hoepen by 1.042 in the end, with Penrose beating Hedge in for P3.

Young Aussie Tom McLennan finished P7, for his best finish of the series.

OF THE top three in the championshp, Wurz now heads back to Europe in his bid to start climbing the ladder toward F1 like his father.

19-year-old Hedge returns to Australia to contest a second season of the Porsche Carrera Cup with Team Porsche New Zealand/Earl Bamber motorsport, after winning two races in a breakthrough 2022.

Abel in the meantime will continue to chase his IndyCar dream, with the 21-yearold set to contest his second IndyNXT season (IndyLights).

TW Neal FORMULA REGIONAL OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS Wurz 270 Hedge Abel Sceats Penrose

260 238 187 181

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S5000 ADELAIDE

The UAE F4 series attracted huge, significant entries, and thus winning the title is a major tick in the early career of Aussie James Wharton.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

WHARTON STORMS TO MAIDEN F4 TITLE AUSSIE YOUNG gun James Wharton has sensationally claimed his maiden junior formulae title at Yas Marina in the UAE F4 finale.

Holding off an aggressive late charge from his Italian F4, Ferrari Driver Academy, and UAE F4 teammate (which included an epic stoush that ended both their days in the finale) Wharton took out the first two races to all but ensure the championship heading into the finale.

American Ugo Ugochukwu and Italian Valerio Rinicella were the early pacesetters in the series, leading the way into round three, until Wharton put his foot on the gas and didn’t let off.

Wharton only missed the podium four times throughout, including one DNF, to finish the deserved winner over Tuukka ‘Tiger’ Taponen.

The Finnish youngster swept Round 4 to set up the Abu Dhabi showdown, leaving the two FDA prodigies to fight it out in front of the 40 car field.

Fellow Aussies James Piszcyk, Noah Lisle, and Jack Beeton, ALL had mixed results with Piszcyk the next highest placed in 15th with five top 10s ahead of his British F4 debut.

Lisle managed a podium in Race 2 to finish in overall 19th, whilst a 15-year-old Beeton managed one top 10 to finish a respectable 23rd in his open wheel debut, as he now heads to Italy to compete in some F4 rounds.

Wharton led by just six points heading into Abu Dhabi and, after a month of racing, the eighth instalment of the UAE F4 Championship was set up for a thrilling showdown.

The general consensus over the last round was that this was the best field that the series had ever assembled (13 teams and 40 drivers), revealing a healthy standout of future stars.

ROUND 4 – DUBAI AUTODROME

The Mumbai Falcon Racing duo of Taponen and Wharton dominated round 4 at Dubai, with both qualifying up front for the second UAE F4 hit-out in Dubai.

Taponen took the first of his clean-sweep from pole in Race 1 and, after beating Wharton

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The Yas Marina finale was a ‘take-no-prisoners affair,’ with both contenders out in the same incident – but James Wharton (above and right) prevailed, to take a valuable series win. to pole by just 0.170, he scraped in for victory by only 0.155s over the FDA Aussie Ace. Piszcyk also put in his best showing of the series with a strong P5, after a good battle with Rinicella.

With two Safety Cars required over the course of the race, Taponen led from start to finish, with Brando Badoer, son of former Italian F1 driver, Luca Badoer, taking P3 in a close run affair.

Mexican racer Jesse Carrasquedo led from pole in Race 2 in a flag-interrupted race, where a pit restart saw a line re-entry infringement given to the Mexican.

This denied him a maiden UAE F4 win, as the five second penalty elevated Taponen and Wharton into P1 and P2 respectively, as it finished under a yellow, with Danish driver Noah Stromsted taking P3.

Young Aussie Jack Beeton also had his best finish of the series, with a P7, claiming his first top-10.

Taponen again took pole for Race 3, with local driver Al Azhari next to him and Wharton starting in P4.

Wharton got the jump into P3 by the first turn, and stuck to the back of Al Azhari, with Taponen taking his second lights-to-flag win of the weekend, with a meagre 0.391s spread across the podiums spots.

Wharton’s podium sweep gave him six topthrees on the trot, with he and his teammate neck-and-neck heading into the final round

at Yas Marina, with just six points separating the pair.

ROUND 5 – YAS MARINA

Wharton led the way in qualifying for Race 1, as well as securing pole for Race 3.

The young Aussie would lead from lights to flag in the opener, and with two interruptions, the race was decided on the second yellow with Wharton in complete control, having built a gap of 1.6s to his Mumbai Falcons teammate.

Any hope Ugochukwu had of taking the title were wiped out early after getting penalised for pushing local driver Federico Rifai wide after the first restart, dropping to P11 in the final.

Arvid Lindblad more than ensured his place in the top five of the championship with a P3, but it was Wharton with his seventh straight podium who put one hand on the trophy.

Wharton’s fastest lap in Race 1 ensured a clean sweep of poles for the weekend, with Taponen on the front row with him again.

Similar to the first race, he threw everything at Wharton, but his FDA familiar did as he’d done all series, and put on a defensive masterclass from a position of attack.

Another Safety Car, this time due to Aussie James Piszcyk going off track, brought Taponen back in reach of Wharton, but Ugochukwu’s attack from P3 meant the Aussie could skip away whilst

Taponen had to defend P2.

A second win on the trot meant Wharton had the luxury of only needing to finish P8 or better (should Taponen win) in order to wrap up the series.

Taponen started behind Wharton in the Race 3 finale, and was predictably aggressive from the get-go.

Wharton got the jump, but the two drivers sensationally swerved all over the track throughout the opening turns to grab position. This mayhem continued into Turns 13 and 14, with the Aussie being forced very wide into 14.

He hit the kerb on re-entry, and with nowhere to go, speared into the side of Taponen, ending both their days – which also decided the championship.

The race would end following two more incidents and only two laps of racing in the heated closer, with early series leaders Ugochukwu and Rinicella taking first and second, and local racer Al-Azhari taking his second podium of the series.

TW Neal UAE F4 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS 1.

Wharton 232 2.

Taponen 212 3.

Ugochukwu 185 4.

Rinicella 171 5.

Lindblad 107

WORLD RALLY CHAMIONSHIP - SWEDEN

TANAK RELEASES FORD’S WRC PRESSURE VALVE OTT TANAK gave Ford M-Sport its first WRC rally win since Monte Carlo in Round 1 of 2022, by taking out Rally Sweden in the frozen forests around northern Umea.

Tanak lurked for two days before his Puma pounced on the Hyundai i20N of Irishman Craig Breen, who went down by 18.7s in his first rally since returning to the South Korean team.

The Estonian himself has just returned to Ford in 2023, after leaving in 2017 to chase a championship with Toyota, winning in 2019, before switching to Hyundai for three disgruntled seasons.

The return has paid dividends early after many doubted that the Rally1 Puma had the mechanical endurance to match it with Toyota and Hyundai.

And so it appeared at Monte Carlo where Tanak finished fifth – whilst proving the car had the pace to match - early steering, gearing, and electrical issues undoing any chance of him pursuing a win.

Heading into Sweden, M-Sport and Tanak first ventured into Estonia where they won a competitive national European round.

Putting the extra miles and engineering work into the Puma, as well their prized 2023 driver acquisition, paid off in spades for the Ford team, with the extra practice on the snow and ice not counted toward the new restricted practice allowance.

And although Tanak would only capture one stage over the course of Rally Sweden (Stage 7-Day 2), he and his co-driver Martin Jarveoja were almost faultless in the tough conditions, particularly at night when the ruts in the track were at their deepest.

“It obviously means a lot to me, to come into a new car and deliver to these guys,” Tanak said.

“It’s a big effort for M-Sport to fight against such big manufacturers.

“I am sure they are getting quite a bit of stress from me, but as long as it’s delivering

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then we are all winning. It’s great to be part of this team.”

Team principal Rich Millener also added that: “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, It’s over 12 months since we were last challenging for a win all weekend, and to win it in the way that Ott did really showed the speed of the car.”

Breen’s P2 was also a monumental effort after an error-riddled 2022 with Ford, and whilst Hyundai tried to promote Thierry Neuville up the podium, their efforts came undone over the final Power Stage.

The team tried to give Neuville a drivers/ team championship points boost (as Breen cannot score manufacturer points as a part-timer) having the Irishman take to the starting point late which incurred a 10s penalty.

Neuville was sloppy in his run however and lost the advantage, to finish in P3 anyhow, with Breen showing the clean skills that won him four stages and a sustained lead over Day 2.

Defending WRC and Rally Sweden champion Kalle Rovanpera went into the event as favourite and quickly showed why by topping the opening shakedown and Stage 1, before Breen took out Saturday’s opening stage, to then remain on top all day, with Tanak keeping within 2.6s.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta had started well in his first points scoring event for the team, winning Stage 4 before rolling his Yaris into a bank in the next – fortunate to land back on his wheels.

He plummeted down to P46 before retiring with radiator damage at the day’s end.

Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi climbed into P3 behind Tanak to start the Saturdays 126.22km run, with Rovanpera dropping into P5 after struggling for grip as the first car out.

Breen started as he left off for Day 3 by winning the second stage, but Tanak’s consistency drew him closer before

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overhauling him halfway through the day, before putting on the night moves – despite losing the lacquer on his dimpled tyres.

Neuville also moved into the podium spots, courtesy of both Lappi slipping down an ice bank to fall into P11, and by taking the final three stages as the field headed back towards Umea.

Tanak went into the final three-stage day with an 8.6s lead over Breen and, whilst Rovanpera took the first, Tanak remained ahead of Breen with a stage P2, with Breen only managing to top the Estonian by three seconds in the penultimate run.

With Neuville within 18s of P2, Hyundai then used the 10 second penalty to flip the podium spots, giving him a 0.5s lead.

Neuville could only manage P7 however, finishing 1.7s behind his teammate to finish Rally Sweden in P3 over Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans.

Lappi’s win over the final Power Stage had him finish in P7 behind Ford’s newcomer Pierre-Louis Loubet.

WRC2 winner Oliver Solberg came in at P8 to comfortably take out the class win, ahead of fellow second tier competitors Ole Christian Veiby, and Sami Pajari, rounding out the top-10.

Consistency paid off for Ott Tanak (below and bottom), registering a superb win for Ford M-Sport. Middle: Despite his team trying to engineer a position swap, Craig Breen finished a strong fifth for Hyundai.

Images: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Tanak’s win puts him atop the championship standings after Round 2, as the WRC show now heads into a sustained gravel run, with eight out of the next nine rallies happening on the loose stuff.

The next round takes place on March 16-19, as the WRC heads back to Mexico for the first time since the pandemic hit, for its first gravel hit-out of 2023.

TW Neal WRC STANDINGS 1. Tanak 2. Rovanpera 3. Neuville 4. Evans 5. Ogier

41 38 32 29 26

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

ICEBREAKER FOR FORD RALLY TEAM? NASCAR CHEVY STARTS TESTING FOR LE MANS 24

Images: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Image: RED BULL CONTENT POOL RALLY SWEDEN brought on wild celebrations for the Ford M-Sport team, as its prized Estonian recruit, Ott Tanak, delivered the team and manufacturer its first win since Round 1 of 2022.

Before that, M-Sport needs to reach back to 2018, when WRC legend Sebastien Ogier claimed back-to-back titles in a Ford Fiesta.

Prior to 2017, Tanak himself spent nine years in the Ford/M-Sport system, winning his maiden rally in 2017, before leaving to chase a world title, which he achieved with Toyota in 2019.

Tanak then went to Hyundai, where he was frustrated by the i20N, and was also said to clash with teammate Thierry Neuville.

His return was floated when he

announced he was leaving Hyundai, with M-Sport team owner Malcolm Wilson saying at the time that a gamble was needed to get the team back on track after years in the wilderness, but also that affording Tanak was an issue.

In the end, it was a question of whether they could afford not to re-recruit him.

“It was a good win, and a bit of an emotional one. There was a bit of tension over the weekend,” Tanak said.

“We came to the rally without expecting much, and actually, we weren’t expecting anything. We didn’t know what to expect.”

“It definitely took time in the beginning to get myself adapted to the car, and it was a bit challenging. But I would say by Saturday I understood what I needed to

get some good times.

“We weren’t really winning stages, but always there, and it seemed like our strength this weekend was keeping our average pace high, and we were able to be close to whoever was winning the stages.”

Out of three teams in the WRC, M-Sport has the least assistance (by some margin) from its manufacturer since the WRC switched to Hybrid vehicles.

If Tanak can pull off a second title, it would be a monumental effort for himself and M-Sport, against the manufacturing giants of Japan and South Korea; and he heads into Rally Mexico in the best possible position … on top of the championship.

TW Neal

CGR IMPRESSED WITH NEW INDY-KIWI MARCUS ARMSTRONG’S IndyCar journey with Chip Ganassi Racing officially started at the open-preseason testing at the Thermal Club in California.

The former F2 race winner – and prolific junior formulae winner – impressed by being the highest placed rookie in the #11 CGR Honda, with Day 2 P5 after 101 laps, just 0.418s off Indy500 winner and former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson.

CGR Team advisor and driver coach Dario Franchitti,was highly impressed with the big strides that Armstrong made.

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“Yeah, he’s made a lot of progress over the last two days, understanding an Indy car,” said the four-time IndyCar champion.

“He showed up as not a complete package, but he’s smart. He understands everything that’s going on as far as the dynamics of the car and his feedback is great.

“He’s very methodical in the way he works through things …. and he’s bloody fast!”

It’s a big leap in handling from F2 to IndyCar, with Franchitti set to continue

coaching on the already rapid progress Armstrong has shown.

“It’s really good to have him in the car.

We’re just trying to educate him a bit in the intricacies of an Indy car as opposed to the Formula 2 car that he’s used to,” he continued.

“I mean, we’re talking details. It’s all little details, really; that’s every time he comes in. When you get a guy of his ability – lack of experience but great ability – you’re just working on small details.”

TW Neal

THE HENDRICK Motorsport built NASCAR Chevrolet that’s bound for the 100th anniversary edition of the Le Mans 24 Hour, has tested at Daytona with its full line-up of Jimmie Johnson, Jenson Button, and Mike Rockenfeller.

The Project56 car took to the Daytona road course, laying down 455 laps over 1,620 miles, running over some twilight and late evening hours.

The next big test for the purposebuilt Chevrolet is to run at Sebring in late February, where the team hopes to push it past 18 straight hours.

2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button had his first taste of driving a stock car at the Daytona test, and was left more than surprised at the build, handling, and tech.

“It’s all about mechanical grip and that’s what I love. Aerodynamics comes and goes depending on the yaw and the wind,” Button described, “but you know what you’re getting with the mechanical grip …t o be fair, this is a high-tech car!

“I always thought stock cars were tubular metal welded together, add a big engine, and you go racing … it’s definitely not like that.

“There’s a lot of high tech that’s gone into this car. I’m happy with the tech it has, but the mechanical grip side of it is really exciting.

“I really do think it’s going to blow people away when they see it on track … It’s going to make people laugh as well. They’re going to go, “What? There’s a stock car racing on track here at Le Mans with Hypercars and GTEs?” But I actually think it’s going to be reasonably competitive.”

The Le Mans 24 will take place on June 10-11 at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.

TW Neal

NASCAR: DAYTONA 500

STENHOUSE JR TRIUMPHS THROUGH THE DAYTONA 500 MAYHEM

RICKY STENHOUSE Jr caused a major upset in NASCARs most prestigious race, winning the 65th Daytona 500 in doubleovertime to take his second win in the American classic.

The second half of the race saw four major collisions that each collected more than seven cars – along with many of the favourites – with the final pile up on the last lap seeing Stenhouse Jr sneak in front of Joey Logano at the drop of the chequer.

The #47 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet (the first single car team to win the Daytona 500) was remarkably nudged in front of Logano just before the officials waved the flag to end the race and freeze the field.

Stenhouse then parked his car by the grass and apologised to his team for not doing any burnouts, as he’d run out of fuel, before getting mobbed by his pit crew.

Christopher Bell ended in P3 after avoiding the chaos to finish in the leading three, with Chris Buescher, and pole getter Alex Bowman making up the top five after getting through the wreckage.

Before the final smash, Bell went into the back of Stenhouse Jr, which edged him past Logano, as the front three finished in the clear as the field piled up behind them.

Sparks flew everywhere amidst the plumes of tyre smoke on lap 212 when Aric Almirola sent Travis Pastrana spinning into Turn 2, with Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney, all getting collected in the chaos.

“Man, this is unbelievable – this was the site of my last win back in 2017,” said Stenhouse Jr. “We’ve worked really hard, and we had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but, man, we got it done. Daytona 500!

“This whole offseason Mike (Mike Kelly, Crew Chief) just preached how much we all believed in each other. They left me a note in the car that said they believe in me and to go get the job done tonight.”

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It was this close (above) ...

Ricky Stenhouse Jr and the #47 JTG Daugherty Racing, Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet Camaro, snatched the win in the last few metres. And the crew went mad! (below) Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

At 212 laps and 530 miles, it was the longest Daytona 500 in history, which included two overtimes in a bid to find a winner through the constant pile ups.

The first 295 miles were relatively peaceful

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with only one caution, until Kevin Harvick turned Tyler Reddick hard into the wall on lap 118 in what became a nine-car incident, with Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Martin Truex Jr all getting caught up.

Then on lap 181, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe and Jimmie Johnson all got caught up, with all four bowing out.

Ty Dillon, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain and defending Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric, then became entangled during the first overtime period, which forced organisers to push into a second overtime to find a winner.

Although Logano was curtailed from the Bell nudge on the winner come the flag, he himself had some assistance in the second overtime, getting a push from Kyle Larson to put him into the lead on the final lap.

“Second is the worst, man,” said a dejected Logano, “You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front.

“Kyle gave me a good push and you’re watching in the mirror, and see you’re threewide across there!

“I felt like the three-wide was going to hurt a lane and it looked like Kyle was getting pushed ahead, and then Ricky started getting pushed ahead.”

At this stage, Logano held the higher spot but was hesitant to make a swoop onto the lower ground.

“I knew if I went to the bottom my car wouldn’t handle well enough. I already got pushed off the bottom once and I thought, ‘if I go down there, I’m probably going to get wrecked, and I don’t know if I can get down there in time to throw the block on Stenhouse’, and so I didn’t want to wreck my car either.”

Unless the season sees another 16 individual race winners, that win automatically qualifies Stenhouse and JTG Daugherty Racing for the NASCAR final 16 at season’s end, bringing on a huge financial boost for the single car outfit.

The second round of the 75th NASCAR season is the Pala Casino 400 in Fontana, California on February 26.

TW Neal

www.autoaction.com.au I 57

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GENERAL KNOWLEDGE Across 4 Australia will host an F1 race in 2023 – what number round will it be?

7 The F1 calendar contains how many rounds this season?

8 A couple of weeks ago which car manufacturer bought a stake in the Alfa Romeo F1 team?

9 How many Aussies are in F1 this season?

11 Nyck De Vries will race for which F1 team in 2023? PIC B 15 Which German Formula 1 driver is returning to the grid this year? (surname) 17 What number will Oscar Piastri race with in 2023?

19 Who has joined an expanded McLaren IndyCar team this season? (surname) 21 A new venue joins the F1 calendar in 2023, in what city will it take place?

22 Which Asian country re-joins the F1 calendar in 2023 and will host its second race this year? PIC A 24 Who is the reigning IndyCar Series champion?

27 Who will be Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin teammate in 2023? (surname)

Down 1 How many IndyCar races take place on ovals this year?

2 Logan Sargeant is representing what nation in F1?

3 Where will the first IndyCar round take place in 2023?

5 How many F1 sprint races will take place in 2023?

6 How many F1 teams contains both drivers representing the same country?

7 What number car will Will Power race with in 2023?

8 What country will host the final race of the F1 season?

10 How many full-time rookies are competing in Formula 1 this season?

11 Which former F2 driver will make his IndyCar debut on streets and road courses with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023? (surname) 12 Which former IndyCar Series winner is making his final Indy 500 start for McLaren this year? (surname) 13 Who is the defending the Indy 500 winner? (surname) 14 Which current F1 driver had a column in the pages of Auto Action? (surname) 16 What team will Takuma Sato race ovals for in 2023? (abbreviation) 18 What number will Max Verstappen run in 2023?

20 What country will host the first round of the Formula 1 season this year?

23 In total how many New Zealanders and Australians are competing in IndyCar this season? (Excluding one-off Indy 500 entries) 25 What is the major colour on the Mercedes this season?

26 Which Indy Lights graduate will debut in the #51 Dale Coyne car this season? (surname)

1854 Crossword Answers: 1 down – four, 2 down – Brabham, 2 across – Bowe, 3 across – Mawson, 4 across – BRT, 5 down – The Cutting, 6 across – Renault, 7 across – MSR, 8 down – Seton, 9 down – Villeneuve, 10 down – Gordon, 11 down – Stanaway, 12 across – fifth, 13 down – Chevrolet, 14 across – Ogier, 15 across – Van Gisbergen, 16 down – Solberg, 17 down – Allen, 18 across – Jordan, 19 down – Acura, 20 down – Lawson, 21 across – two, 22 across – BMW, 23 across – Luyendyk, 24 across – three, 25 down – Hill, 26 across – Ekstrom, 27 down – McRae, 28 across – seven, 29 across – one

We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago

1973: THE 1973 Tasman Series went down to the wire at a thrilling season finale at Adelaide International Raceway. Despite retiring due to a clutch failure, Graham McRae was crowned champion, but all eyes were on the battle for the race win. John McCormack held on for victory by less than a second ahead of Alan Rollison in the Chesterfield 100. Peter Brock led home Colin Bond in a Holden Dealer Team 1-2 to wrap up the South Pacific Touring Car Series.

Brock was also getting open-wheel fans excited, announcing his purchase of the Birrarana 272 Formula 2 car once raced by Leo Geoghegan.

1983: ALLAN GRICE took out the second round of the 1983 Australian Touring Car Championship after holding off a charging Allan Moffat. Grice survived a late attack by Moffat, who was able to go wheel to wheel with the STP Commodore before the axle of his Mazda RX7 broke three laps from the chequered flag Off the track, frustration grew around the new CAMS points system with a document signed by most of the drivers reading “we do not wish to participate under the present point score system.” The drivers and teams anger was centred around more points being allocated to Under three-litre competitors with Nissan’s George Fury enjoying a “massive” points lead.

58 I www.autoaction.com.au

1993: THE BIRTH of the new ‘V8’ era of the Australian Touring Car Championship was a hit among drivers and fans alike. The ‘back to basics’ formula made a highly successful debut at Sydney’s Amaroo Park with action-packed racing and heated dices. After the bumper-flying racing, John Bowe emerged victorious in the historic round, driving the DJR EB Falcon. The Formula 1 season was fast approaching with Williams led by Alain Prost and Damon Hill tipped to dominate. Although the South African opener was close, the mystery surrounding Ayrton Senna remained, with the Brazilian yet to commit to McLaren.

2003: EXCITEMENT FOR the new Project Blueprint era of V8 Supercars was at an all-time high with new liveries and driver announcements coming thick and fast ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Despite Todd Kelly being announced as Mark Skaife’s new teammate, a cloud of doubt hung over the future of Holden Racing Team, plus its sister squads Kmart Racing and Team Brock following the collapse of Tom Walkinshaw Racing. Despite the new rules in both categories, the all-conquering red cars of Skaife and Michael Schumacher were tipped to continue their respective dominance of the V8 Supercars and Formula 1 world championships.

2013: THE FIRST race in the Car of the Future phase of V8 Supercars was nigh after all 28 cars completed the official test at Sydney Motorsport Park. Brad Jones Racing provided a glimpse of what was to come with Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard topping the day. F1 pre-season testing was complete with Mercedes and Ferrari showing speed, but Red Bull enjoying a trouble free-run. Jimmie Johnson started his hunt for a sixth NASCAR Cup title perfectly by winning the Daytona 500 where Danica Patrick became the first woman to start a Cup race from pole.

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