Auto Action #1865

FERRARI’S F1 BOSS THE MAN UNDER PRESSURE

AUSTRALIA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MOTORSPORT

ALERT: THE PIASTRI

TRAIN HAS ARRIVED! AS M c LAREN UPGRADE SHOCKS ITS F1 RIVALS EXCLUSIVE

PIASTRI COLUMN

VAN GISBERGEN ROCKS THE NASCAR WORLD

2024: WILL HE STAY OR WILL HE GO? FULL COVERAGE FROM THE STREETS OF CHICAGO

FINALLY... A FORD WIN!

BUT MUSTANG TEAMS SAY PARITY IS STILL MISSING

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OSCAR TAKES CENTRE STAGE PLENTY OF AUSTRALIANS LOST SLEEP ON SUNDAY NIGHT, CHEERING ON MCLAREN ROOKIE OSCAR PIASTRI TO HIS CAREER-BEST FINISH FROM THIRD ON THE GRID AS HE IMPRESSED MIGHTILY AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX. AUTO ACTION’S REESE MAUTONE REPORTS AFTER A LATE NIGHT… IN ONLY his 10th Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri proved exactly why he caused such a stir entering the F1 world last year as he achieved his best-ever finish in Formula 1.

Ending the British GP in a bittersweet P4 after qualifying in third, his efforts battling against the best of the best across the weekend were more than deserving of a podium finish.

From the get-go, Piastri was smart with his track time. The Australian rookie utilised the sunny Friday practices to come to terms with the upgrades on his MCL60, having adopted the full Austria-spec car that saw Lando Norris leave the Red Bull Ring with a P4 finish, albeit without the brand new nose/ front wing Silverstone upgrade, of which there was only one available, and which understandably went to Norris.

Speaking on Friday, Piastri said the team were still looking for the “sweet spot”, with Team Principal, Andrea Stella happy with the work his crew had done on Day 1 to work towards a potential points finish.

The 20-year-old finished FP1 and FP2 in P10 and P9, falling off the top teams’ radar after a wet FP3 saw him end up in P17 after missing a late run.

As rain changed track conditions, you may have assumed the rookie’s confidence in his reconfigured car would drop off – however, where others slowed down, Piastri sped up in a thrilling wet-dry qualifying. This was where Piastri and his teammate lit up the timing sheets, energising McLaren’s home crowd as they spiced up the top end of the grid.

Q1 wasn’t a highlight for the Melbourneborn young man, with the red flag interruption dissipating Piastri’s momentum to see him just squeezing through to Q2 in P14, over a second behind his teammate.

On his quest to Q3, though, he set a time just 0.143s slower than Verstappen, ending in a tasty P2 in Q2.

The Q3 top-10 shootout saw Piastri take flight, with the Australian describing his MCL60 as “a rocket ship” during the final 12-minute contest, his solid lap rightfully rewarded with a P3 start.

“I’m very, very, very happy. I mean, what a qualifying session,” Piastri told f1.com.

“It’s a massive result for the team and the hard work that’s gone into bringing upgrades to the car. To have both of us up here is a mega result.”

The race, and in particular the race start, were huge tests for Piastri who has of course ended up in the midfield to date.

The new thrill of racing against in-form world champions, however, proved no difficulty for the highly touted youngster.

Off the line, Piastri had a stellar start, pressuring Verstappen on Lap 1 and into Copse, giving his teammate, in the lead of his home race, temporary breathing room.

With the race settling, he calmly retained P3 after being instructed to hold position behind Norris, pulling a strong gap from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc before the first pit stops.

“I think the more exciting part was being able to hang onto the back of [Verstappen] for a few laps,” Piastri told Auto Action.

“For the rest of the race, it wasn’t like he was stupidly quicker than us, so that was very exciting – to be genuinely the secondquickest team today exceeded all of our expectations.”

Before the Haas-induced Virtual Safety Car and eventual full Safety Car, Piastri had a podium finish in sight, however, pitting just before the VSC cost him greatly.

Lewis Hamilton capitalised on the reduced

9-second stop under the SC to make ground on Piastri, moving into third.

“We executed everything we could – we were pulling away from the cars behind.

“To be one second behind, pretty much after the SC came out, it hurts a little bit,” Piastri said.

“Mercedes with Hamilton were in a position where they could gamble to wait for a Safety Car and it paid off for them, but I think from an execution point of view we did everything we could today.”

The #81 car worked its ‘Hard’ tyres up to temperature allowing for a strong defence against ‘Soft’ tyre runners behind, George Russell in particular, with Piastri ultimately easily holding onto fourth place.

The Australian collected 12 points behind Norris who finished second, contributing massively to help McLaren move up to fifth in the Constructors’ championship.

Ahead of the Hungarian GP, where Piastri will run the upgraded front wing, he sits 11th in the Drivers’ championship on 17 points, slightly behind Norris in ninth.

“It’s great that we’ve moved higher in the Constructors’, so a fantastic weekend all round.”

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VAN GISBERGEN ROCKS THE NASCAR WORLD SHANE VAN GISBERGEN ARRIVED IN CHICAGO TO HAVE SOME FUN AND LEFT AS THE FIRST ROOKIE WINNER IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES IN 60 YEARS. ANDREW CLARKE WAS ON THE STREETS OF CHICAGO TO WITNESS SVG MAKE HISTORY ...

EARLY IN the Chicago Street Race weekend, the media may have struggled with his name, but by Sunday night, they were forced to learn it by repetition as Shane van Gisbergen stormed home to win the inaugural event. The NBC broadcast team gave up on his name and simply referred to him as SVG for most of the telecast as he created a new storyline for the biggest tin-top racing category in the world.

After one familiarisation session in Charlotte, the three-time Aussie Supercars champion topped the first and only practice session for NASCAR’s first street race in Chicago before qualifying in third for the race after losing his first time due to a red flag. Then on a weatherinterrupted Sunday, he walked away with the shortened race.

Van Gisbergen becomes only the sixth non-American to win in the NASCAR Cup Series and the first driver in 60 years to Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES/DAYLON BARR PHOTOGRAPHY

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win on debut, matching US auto racing legend Johnny Rutherford’s effort at Daytona in 1963.

Even before the race, Matt Herman, the boss of Enhance Health, which backed his run in Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 for the weekend, said to Auto Action that he wanted to bring the Kiwi back to States in 2024, and team boss Justin Marks added later that the car, which was originally conceived as a car for many drivers, was now pretty much the versatile Kiwi’s if he wants it.

“I’m pretty confident that it’s Shane’s seat right now,” he said. “He did such an incredible job. Project 91 is about bringing all different kinds of drivers in, and we certainly still have the desire to rotate drivers through.

“Winning feels pretty good, and Shane just did it, so if he can continue to deliver that, then I think the door is open for him to do more, for sure.”

Van Gisbergen put on a masterclass of street track racing, pacing himself in the first stanza of the race, picking up his first Cup Series point while running third at the end of the first stage. The race started in treacherous conditions with the continued threat of rain. He kept his distance from those around, benefitting from the driver-enforced decision to run single-file restarts for safety.

In the middle laps, he was fuel-saving so he could get to lap 100 with only two stops, yet he was still the fastest driver on the track by some margin. When the race was cut to 75 laps, he pitted for the final time on Lap 46 and returned to the track in 18th spot and with some work in front of him but the all-clear to race hard.

He avoided the carnage of a crash started by William Byron that blocked the track, and sat 10th but was pushed back to 18th again when NASCAR decided to

return the field to the running order prior to the incident.

Then the charge started.

On Lap 55, he was 13th, a lap later it was 10th and then it was eighth on the next lap when a full-course caution was called. He had made up 10 spots in five laps. “Man, that was the most fun I’ve had in a race car in a long time,” he told his crew on the radio.

On the green, there were 15 laps remaining, and he started picking them off again. Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs on lap 62, and Joey Logano on the next lap. He was a second a lap faster than the leaders.

Kyle Busch was next, and then he had just Chase Elliott, who hit the wall the previous day while trying to keep up with van Gisbergen in qualifying, and Justin Haley.

He passed Elliott on Lap 67 and Haley later in that lap, but another caution was called as he was executing the move and he had to hand the position back to Haley. On the green, he took the lead in Turn 2 and sealed

the deal by Turn 4 after Haley fought back momentarily. One more caution extended the race beyond 75, but by this stage of the race, he was in a class of his own.

The win rocked the NASCAR world, with the antipodean interloper teaching the Good Old Boys a lesson as they raced on a street track for the first time.

Kyle Larson was in awe of the Kiwi after being passed on the run to the chequered flag. He said running behind van Gisbergen after being passed was educational.

“It was so fun to watch from my view,” Larson said. “When he got to my back bumper, I felt like I pieced together a really good section, and I thought for sure I’d look in the mirror and I was going to be two car lengths or something in front of him, and he was glued to my back bumper, and I was like, holy shit, this guy is flying.

“He was able to get by me, and then I got to watch the show. The moves that he could make into Turn 2 were really neat to see, and then the pass that he had for the lead … I thought the battle for the lead (between van Gisbergen and Justin Haley) was great.

“He made his move into Turn 2. Justin was able to get a good exit and squeeze inside, and I was like, man, he’s going to be able to fight him off here for a little

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bit longer, and he just made a superaggressive lane change back to his right side. It was just … it was sick. It was awesome.

“He put on a show, and it was cool to see, and I think when a guy like that can come in and kick your arse at your own game, it shows that we all have room to improve. I’m curious about what he thinks about us. He obviously passed a lot of us, so I’m curious if he thinks we all suck or if we could actually compete, if we weren’t really that bad.”

Van Gisbergen later responded with the respect he had shown his rivals all weekend.

“I’m sure if it was an oval, it would be the other way around,” he said. “I guess this is my bread and butter, the street circuits. Almost half of our races are street circuits. I’m comfortable with the walls. It took me a bit to learn the proximity of the car, having the car on the other side of me, so I was missing apexes turning left and struggling turning right to know where that side of the car was.

“But those guys are good. In the wet, the tyre was so different to anything I’m used to, but they were straight into it.

When I got on the slicks I was probably a bit too timid, and the guys were all over me.

“Everyone is good, and the passes they were making were committed. I probably was a bit too nice to some people, but that’s how it was.”

“And then, coming back through the field, I thought once the race got shortened it was going to be difficult from 18th. I don’t know the paint schemes that well, so I was trying to read the numbers on the windscreen to figure out who people were when I came up on them and remember who’s good and who’s not!

“I had some really good battles coming through. Some guys waved to me, and some guys battled hard, which was really cool. And everyone was clean, and I got a couple of taps. I tapped a couple of people, and there was that crazy restart at turn 11 (when Byron crashed).

The spotter was going off. I never raced with a spotter before, and I normally would’ve just barreled on and joined the crash ... so that’s pretty cool to see how that side of it works.”

The win is one of the biggest in a win-studded career and ranks as one of his most significant achievements, even if the magnitude of his achievement had not settled in on Sunday night.

“It’s obviously pretty high,” he said when talking about where it ranked.

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“Supercars is my dream, and winning that championship and races like Bathurst over there are still top of the list, but to come in and do this ... I don’t know where it ranks yet, it’s still sinking in, but it’s obviously one of the most special victories I’ve ever had.

“I miss racing in the States. I’ve done Daytona four or five times now, and it’s so much more enjoyable the way the American people are and how they go racing. Even doing the media stuff, which I hate, everyone here’s really nice – they ask me questions, and they’re respectful, which goes both ways.

“I’m committed next year to Supercars.

I still love supercars and hope it goes well there, but in ‘25, we’re done.”

The opportunity to race full-time in NASCAR is now genuine for van Gisbergen, the only question appears to be when.

Enhance Health has indicated its desire to run him more often next year, and it is believed a limited campaign next year with ovals may be enough for him to skip the Xfinity Series and go straight into a Cup car.

His options for 2025 extend beyond Trackhouse Racing, such was the significance of his performance.

NON-US BORN NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS Marcos Ambrose Juan Pablo Montoya Mario Andretti Earl Ross Daniel Suarez Shane van Gisbergen

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WHINCUP ON SVG: “I WON’T STAND IN HIS WAY” AFTER SHANE van Gisbergen’s historic NASCAR Cup Series win, Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup has spoken up on whether he’d let his star cross to the US. Speaking on Fox Sports News, Whincup gave his thoughts on the remarkable achievement of his number one driver and said that he’d support SVG’s wishes if he wanted to chase a NASCAR career.

Whincup was straight up and honest about what his reply would be: “For sure it’s possible – he’s only contractually bound to us for next year,” Whincup said.

“But me sitting here, of course I’m just trying to run the business as well as I possibly can and I need the best drivers, but if any driver or engineer or employee came to me and said my dream is to go to the other side of the world and do something else, I’m not going to stand in their way.

“I want to open opportunities for all my staff … we’ll see. I’m sure SVG’s is just on a wave right now, but I need him to dial in for this weekend at Townsville, so let’s just focus on that first.

“But there’s no doubt we’re going to have some discussions in the next month or so and work out what he wants to do.

“He’s certainly got my praise whatever he wants to do, and we’re going to support him in every way … I certainly wouldn’t stand in his way. Of course, there’s contractual things we need to work through but if someone really wants to go do something else, then I won’t stand in the way of that.”

On the win itself: “Like the rest of the country, I was blown away …

I’m still in a little shock with what happened.

“It’s huge. For someone from this side of the world to go over at the top level of NASCAR at a brand-new street track …

“Strategy didn’t go his way, but to just plough through the field and win on debut … it’s unbelievable, he’s made us all very, very proud. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in sport!”

By Timothy Neal

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DE PASQUALE WINS FOR FORD

ANTON DE PASQUALE HAS FINALLY TAKEN A GEN3 MUSTANG TO THE CHEQUERED FLAG FIRST. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS FROM TOWNSVILLE ON THE BREAKTHROUGH WIN. ANTON DE PASQUALE has given Ford its first win on the track for the season, heading home a brace of six Chevrolets as the great parity debate of 2024 continues. De Pasquale drove a perfect race to record his ninth win in the Series.

The win also snaps a 23-race losing streak for the Blue Oval, its last success coming at the hands of Will Davison in New Zealand last year.

For De Pasquale, it was the perfect fightback after a disastrous Saturday that saw him out of the race mid-distance with a still undefined electric issue that required a huge amount of work by the Dick Johnson Racing crew to replace anything that might have been the cause.

The blessing in disguise for the #11 Mustang driver was that it left him with the best bank of tyres for the Sunday race, and he fully exploited that advantage with an aggressive strategy. He pitted out of the lead group on lap 13 to get fresh air, undercutting the leaders and was never headed from there, putting enough space between him and the chasing pack headed by Brodie Kostecki to take a relatively easy 5s victory.

“It has been hard work and feels like my first one all over again. Massive credit to the whole team,” De Pasquale said after the race.

“We had dramas all day yesterday and did

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not know what it was, so the guys pretty much replaced everything electrical in the car.

“We threw a dart at the board for set-up, and here we are – it is awesome” “Tyre life was key, and I thought if we could be quicker in quali, we would have better tyre life because we were struggling with the same thing. That was better, and we planned that strategy out from the start; we planned that the whole way through, and the car looked after me.

“It is pretty hard because you have a bit of grip for a while, and you want to rag it, but I learnt that throughout last year about how to conserve the tyre, so I used that the best I could, and it worked.

“It’s been an average year so far; we haven’t had a great start to the season, but we have slowly been turning it around, and today everything worked out for us.

“Big credit to everyone behind me; they have done awesome. It’s good to get this one done for the year, and hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come.

“The car was really pacey today in all the stints, which was awesome.”

But De Pasquale wasn’t convinced yet that the Mustang had turned the corner on parity, and said while they’d enjoy the win, they knew there was still a lot of work ahead.

“There are going to be a lot of people in our team that will have their first good night’s sleep in a long time, including me.

“On our own accord, we missed the ball with the set-up earlier in the year and were throwing things at it. The team is working as good as ever together; results have not shown, but hopefully, this is a sign of what we can do when we nail it.

“The way the race played out, we did not have to do massively long stints, so that second stage tyre life was not a big drama, but it was a hell of a lot better than yesterday.”

Team Principal Ben Croke was full of praise for his team and driver, but warned Ford fans about the ongoing parity issue facing the Mustang and said there is plenty of work in front of them.

“A good day for the team, a good day for the Mustang, and a good day for Ford to be the first to cross the line this year,” he said.

“What a relief. We showed we can still win.

We remembered how to do it today.

“We turned up with new parts on the car, limited practice time, and with so much to learn. We got Anton’s car pretty good for Sunday and made the best of what we had on Saturday.

“But one sunny day doesn’t mean it is summer. There is still a long way to go and

a lot of work to do. We have to re-focus on learning the car the way it is now.”

The team’s CEO, David Noble, was similarly reluctant to claim the parity changes had cured all the ills of the Mustang but was happy for the win and believes it was a good reward for significant effort, “It just nourishes the whole team,” Noble said. “Even our boys back in Queensland that have been working behind the scenes back in the workshop, I think it’s just a real energiser for everyone.

“We’ve got the capability in the competition at the moment that we’re not quite sure who’s going to win, so [in Race 17] it was us.

“We had a great strategy. Our engineers went to work overnight found and some pace in the car, so it’s a real boost for us to get that energised feeling now to go back to work and continue to push to get back up here on a more regular basis.”

Ford’s Ben Nightingale expressed relief after the race that it had finally won a race with the new Gen3 car. But he said the work to get parity was far from over and that we won’t know what else is needed, if anything, after the forthcoming throttle body change, until the Ford teams have re-learned the Mustang.

PARITY BATTLE NOT CLEAR

YET DESPITE FORD WIN SUPERCARS HAS STARTED MAKING CHANGES TO CREEP THE MUSTANG TOWARDS PARITY WITH THE CAMAROS. THE CAUTIOUS APPROACH WILL TAKE TIME SAYS ANDREW CLARKE, DESPITE THE FIRST ON-TRACK WIN TO A FORD THIS SEASON ...

ANTON DE PASQUALE has taken the modified Mustang to its first on-track win of the season, giving the Ford teams some hope, although the gap between the different cars and teams remains vast at times. De Pasquale was the outlier among the Fords, heading home six Chevs in last Sunday’s Townsville race.

De Pasquale was aided by a muchabbreviated run on Saturday when his Mustang shut down with an undiagnosed electrical issue. That early DNF left him a pile of new, ‘green’ tyres more than the rest of the field for Sunday, an advantage he exploited to its fullest.

While technically the second win for the Mustang this year, it is the first time Ford has greeted the chequered flag first in the Gen3 era.

The changes are the first to the cars since the parity review trigger was set-off after Darwin and were aimed at sorting

out aerodynamic issues with the rear end of the Mustang. Further changes are expected for Sydney Motorsport Park, with the move to a smaller throttle body to deal with issues around power delivery.

All the Ford teams in pitlane were optimistic about the modifications, despite Chaz Mostert’s statement to the contrary in the Saturday media conference, but warn it will take some time to get on top of the changes after running the season so far with a deficiency.

Ben Croke from DJR said the weekend in Townsville was challenging for the engineers who were up till 2-3 am trying to understand the impact of the changes, and Tim Edwards said his crew put in similar hours – albeit not at the track – and will continue to do so over the next couple of weeks.

“The trick seems to be DNF on Saturday so you can look like a rock star

on Sunday,” Edwards said on Sunday evening. “Anton was in the box seat, but it doesn’t mean it is fixed.

“If I look at Thomas’ speed at the end, who was on a more traditional tyre strategy, he was happy to stay in the car.

Yesterday, he couldn’t wait for the race to end ...

“When we finished that race (Sunday), he got himself up to eighth and he was saying, “I want more laps. I want more laps.” So, he actually felt that we’ve made some good inroads. And you can’t lose sight of the fact we had only two 30-minute practice sessions on Friday and then straight into qualifying and a race. The cars were so different at the end of the weekend than when we went out at the start of P1.

“The guys were understeering through that kink between Turn 2 and 3 where Chaz hit the wall. That’s how different it

Small (3mm) gurney added to the rear wing, which is moved forward 20mm.

Bootlid spoiler extended and raised.

Image: ANDREW CLARKE

The Auto Action motorsport podcast The team that’s not trying to make friends or look after sponsors!

was. There’s not even a corner there. So it did feel a lot different to them, and it’s just going to take time for us to get our head around it.

“I’m of the view that we’ve got to give it time – and let’s not just panic and say it’s a fail. We only had two 30-minute practice sessions, and we’re competing against cars that have been running with an unchanged aero package for six months. So the fact that we’re even able to qualify as well as we did is a big tick to our engineers; that we were able to digest it, understand it, and make changes to the car in what’s a very short period of time with not many opportunities to try different things.

“I think there are positives, but there’s still work to be done. We’ve still got worse tyre life and we’ve just got to understand why.”

Edwards said the team has a test day scheduled for July 18, and he is hoping it doesn’t rain so they can get into some serious testing of the new aero.

Tickford has already tested the new throttle body for the Mustang and Edwards is looking forward to seeing what different that makes.

Supercars’ tech team used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to try and balance out the rear sensitivity of the Mustang in certain yaw and pitch conditions.

According to our sources, the challenge was to make changes without impacting the drag or downforce figures of the cars.

The rear wing has been moved forward about 20mm and has been lowered by a similar amount, and a small Gurney flap has been added to the trailing edge. The bootmounted spoiler has also been extended and raised, meaning the gap between the wing’s lower surface and the boot lid’s upper surface has been narrowed.

The Ford teams all reported that the car now requires a big rethink on what they have been doing all year, warning that we may not know if the changes have affected the desired outcome for a round or two.

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It’s hard and it’s fast and sometimes it’s a bit rough, but we call it how we see it and pull no punches.

Plenty of analysis and lots of opinion from some of the most experienced motorsport media people in the business - Bruce Williams, Paul Gover and Andrew Clarke. autoactionmag

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THREE WILDCARDS APPROVED VALIANT FANS HELPED GET FOR BATHURST TILLEY’S PACER OVER THE LINE

THREE WILDCARDS have been approved for Bathurst, bringing the field potentially to 28 cars – but whether all three cars will make it is not clear.

Supercars has approved wildcard entries for Triple Eight Race Engineering, Dick Johnson Racing and Blanchard Racing Team. So far, only Triple Eight is a confirmed starter with the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro for Craig Lowndes and Zane Goddard, with Goddard already racing the car in Darwin.

Both DJR and BRT are yet to complete the build of their cars, which both are building regardless of the wildcard program.

David Noble, CEO of Dick Johnson Racing, said in Townsville that DJR would like to run a third car at Bathurst, but it wouldn’t make a half effort, Shane van Gisbergen so it now depends on putting the sponsorship in place to make it work. leads Feeney in Race 16 at Townsville ...

“We’ll know in the next week or two if the commercial team have been Images: MARK able to get the sponsorship in place,” Noble said. “We are not going to HORSBURGH do it if we can’t do it properly, you have to give everyone a chance to put their best put forward, or it is not right.”

The build for the third DJR Gen3 chassis has not yet begun, but it will be completed well in advance of the Sandown 500 to allow for testing should they move forward.

With Tony D’Alberto and Alex Davison already locked in as co-drivers, BARRY RYAN believes Triple Eight’s “communication “We just had a little breakdown in communication,” Dutton DJR would look to other classes for drivers but didn’t rule out looking breakdown” is an area where Erebus Motorsport holds the told Fox Sports. offshore, although he acknowledged that Scott McLaughlin would be upper hand in the fight for the teams championship.

“From the garage we were getting ready to let them race unlikely given his relationship with Chevrolet in the States.

Although Triple Eight Race Engineering managed to cut and Shane was pretty happy to sit behind Broc.

He estimated it could cost $450 to $500,000 to run the car, with extra Erebus Motorsport’s team’s championship lead from 142 to “So we told Broc to go hard and chase down P3 and equipment – in addition to the car – and staff required, as well as an extra 91 points, the Townsville 500 was not without its dramas. because we pressured on brought the proviso he is safe transporter.

JOHN Broc BOWE up that his 300th After Will Brown won on Saturday and Shane van from behind he blew his tyres off. Thenstart he was not safe from On the back of the planning, Noble said it makes sense for DJR to Touring Car Masters at Sandown Gisbergen marked race #500 by qualifying last and Broc behind. investigate a Super2 program for 2024.

Raceway on Sunday dung the Shannons Feeney also missed the shootout on Sunday, Triple Eight’s “After that we told Shane to Australia chase third as well because we Tim Blanchard from BRT confirmed his team’s intention to run the Motorsport Championship. pursuit of Erebus looked set to take a hit. would have loved aThe podium, but legend Heimgartner did a great job. wildcard and that the car is already halfway through its build. BRT’s Bathurst is a four-time However, after 66 laps of racing, the two Red Bulls found “He (Shane) just askedof what was, but there is more issues are different to those of DJR. Given it only runs one car in the main winner the the fango favourite category, themselves thereverted pointy end andafter evenleaving in podium discussion to come and we like we game it has room in its transporter extra car, and has access to circumstances, but the grid at was bringing upwill thedebrief milestone at aalways track do.” theircontention own jobs, I couldn’t even AS THE rain dumped down for onan the aftersession a mighty fightback leading vanthe Gisbergen the he Coca-Cola garagetour wasSandown Erebus extra crew race that supports the the Super2 program. of the to the dry practice times in a with Feeney where also cantured begin to count hours that weWatching all put inon from Sandown track on Saturday in fourth.

Motorsport Barry Ryan TCM and he enjoyed it. in 2008, It would also likely have its wildcard the adjacent garage, allowing it decision. controversial Bowe’s career started over the nine weeks. To experience that CEObts Shannons National round, AUTOinACTION Despite from the positive outlook, confusion reigned as the Kiwi At the of the 2023inSupercars Championship to operate as a traditional two-car car team.Masters tent The delighted reaction the crowd driving Camaro before jumpingone into a level of support was something else – apex I was on-hand in the Touring caught and passed car there #88 to snatch fourth with six rivalry has stood Ford out which is theTrans TripleAm Eight versus Erebus If its the wildcard goes ahead, which is also sponsorship dependent, BRT their appreciation reflected for it being Mustang affectionately couldn’t believe it. laps to behind pit lane. go.also having played a part Motorsport Super2 driver Aaron Love may co-drive Tim Hazelwood in atthe all,#3with its fans known as “Sally.”

Surrounded by mechanics andwith onlookers, “I got a big help from Gear-Exchange frombattle.

The reigning champion then setSmithfield his sightsinonSydney Andre also. It’s people Theylike have the pack in aover two-horse Cooldrive car, withstood Blanchard takinghis the lead in the wildcard in withitsanother return.

In clear 2015,of Bowe shifted to the race for Cameron Tilley behind rebuilt thatjumped Heimgartner in third it became teams championship, Jones Racing the next young driver the team pushes plansas to run a second “Thecar fan support was massive, I setplace, up but when Bendigo with RetroBrad Muscle cars Torana, Valiant in hisasblue racing suitforward with in a its smile that keep us all clear goingthat really. Andthe Anglomoil was not possible andup heawould have to give the place back best a further 664 points adrift.O’Brien, in which he nas in theasmain a Go-fund-me page which rounded built

by Gary wide hisgame.

Pacer’s bonnet. has also helped me for years, and they’ve to his younger van Gisbergen notsupport happy. throughout.

There been plenty on-track flashpoints Blanchard alsoreserved indicated thedriver team ishad looking at whether itreasonable will run contribution, whichteammate, got me about competed in 147of races.

Bowe’s 300th The normally reason given mewas great ” have already in the car inafter placetaking of himselfa should the in wildcard “Why do ”I Tilley have to give it back? I just passedhave him,”done van it without throughout the Coke and Redtale Bull backed a quarter of the way there, told AUTO startbetween almost delivered a fairy toLove be satisfied podium the not proceed.

“I couldn’t them and the year “We race have awhen focus on Blanchard a Gisbergen said on the radio.

Camaros, at the Australian Grand and finish, where the left mirror of Prix Adam Trophy hebuilding blasted off theRacing line Team intoACTION. everyone else. People just kept coming outmost notably successful team, so we what is right for that,” he said on “Whether choosing I raced After engineer Andrew provided Perth.

Bressington’s #95 Camaro loomed large down the outside of will thedopit straight, putting of nowhere justmore saying they could help. No it #97 again or not, it had Edwards Hazelwood’ co-driver, but was hopeful second feedback, van Gisbergen backhow that big Feeney had the contribution, Ryan said watching the Triple Eight confusion with the #18 Torana into the final straight. him in firstsposition by that thehe second turn.of getting theto matter or small It he enjoyed be fixed – I couldn’t handle seeing it snapped car “Wequalified are alreadyinapproval to run a wildcard, and we’ll know in a People“burnt rearsevery off it ...day ” knows those moments play The final margin of 0.024scan was theinto his Heup. also P1 in trying helped me to keep on pushing.” play TN out because he like that. werethe helping couple of weeks if we can get the sponsorship together.”

In the end van Gisbergen was unable to challenge hands, especiallyclosest with the evident harmony between Brown finish in TCM history, with Bowe Heimgartner and relinquished fourth to Feeney seconds and Brodie Kostecki. losing by a foot and a half’s length – or before the chequered flag. Ironically it happened on the “It was very entertaining and funny, ” Ryan said. the Camaro’s bonnet.

Bowe had the same stretch of tarmac he and Anton De Pasquale clashed “I am glad I have not got a team arguing likeinto theythe were in championship lead leading in a similar situation for winbefore 12 months earlier. to competition the last few laps.round, but the rival Torana of Ryan competition inthe 2003 he returned MULTIPLE AUSTRALIAN Off Road Champion Les Siviour Television shots indicated van not Katie, “It also is pretty easyHansford with these two aguys, and Brodie. takes nineWill point lead heading briefly in 2005, and again in Gisbergen 2010 withwas daughter passed away on September 8 after a short battle with impressed got out with of hissupport car as heto son-in-law “They look afterinto each other and what to do on Bathurst on know November 11-13. at Griff ith. He once kept he involved, cancer. He began racing in 1983 at Waikerie in his wife’s spokeRentsch with engineers but he Ian did shake hands If someone else is faster just let each other past Having wonthey the Bathurst 1000 twice, Shannon and his– father in their bids totrack. win the shopping car. He subsequently campaigned Nissan Patrols with Feeney. because it holds there’s up the team. a fair chance Bowe’s victorious Australian Championship. AUTO ACTION extends its deepest for 19 years and won the Production 4WD Championship Triple to Eight manager “I am looking forward to seeing if they are having knowledge of The Mountain may more have condolences his Race wife Engineering Jan, daughters Bobbie and Katie, 16 times, and the Australian Off Road Championship in Markextended Dutton admitted therefriends. was a GO arguments because ifinthey arestead they are going slower, so it is him good ...

TN and to the family and 1985.

The Griff ith-based rice farmer retired from fulltime Triple Eight’s wildcard car has already run, in Darwin, ‘communication breakdown,’ good.” Thomas Miles with Zane Goddard getting the development miles.

TEAM ORDERS ADD EXTRA BOWE DIMENSION TO TITLE TUSSLE BREAKS THE 300 TCM BARRIER

VALE – LES SIVIOUR

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www.autoaction.com.au I 15

KOSTECKI HEADED TO NASCAR AT THE BRICKYARD HOT ON THE HEELS OF SHANE VAN GISBERGEN’S ASSAULT ON NASCAR, BRODIE KOSTECKI IS SET TO ANNOUNCE HE WILL RACE A NASCAR ON THE ROAD COURSE AT INDIANAPOLIS NEXT MONTH. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS. BRACE YOURSELF, America.

Another Australian Supercar driver is on his way to teach your NASCAR drivers how it is done!

Brodie Kostecki looks certain to run a Chevrolet during the combined NASCAR and IndyCar weekend on the Indianapolis Road Course on August 13.

While the details are not clear, and Kostecki wouldn’t confirm one way or the other, it is believed he had everything well under control before Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning run in Chicago last week. Erebus has a relationship with Richard Childress Racing which runs Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon in the Cup Series.

As detailed in our recent feature on Kostecki, he is no stranger to NASCAR, having cut his motor racing teeth in late-model NASCARs and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in California, where he raced against the likes of Ross Chastain.

Kostecki is second in this year’s championship after a rough Saturday in Townsville handed the lead in the series to his teammate Will Brown.

Emboldened by his start to this year’s series and with plentry of Stateside eyes on Australia now, he says he still has ambitions around NASCAR but has a few things to tick off here first.

The unique weekend at the Brickyard is the only time each year that IndyCar and NASCAR combine their series at one racetrack. The two biggest auto racing series in the States bring their undercards with them too.

Kostecki has NASCAR experience, having cut his motorsport teeth in the K&N Pro Series East.

IndyCars practice and qualify on Friday and race Saturday afternoon, while the Indy NXT feeder series completes all its action on Friday.

The Xfinity Cup qualifies on Friday and races on Saturday, while the Cup Series cars get a one-hour practice session

on Saturday before heading straight into qualifying with the same format as used in Chicago.

The 200-mile, 320km, race will be run on Sunday afternoon, Indianapolis time. The race is scheduled to start at 4.30am AEST on August 14.

AUSTRALIANS & NEW ZEALANDERS IN NASCAR CUP SERIES Marcos Ambrose (227 races, 2 wins) James Davison (26 races) Dick Johnson (7 races) Terry Byers (5 races) Allan Grice (2 races) Shane van Gisbergen (1 race, 1 win)

Frank Gardner (1 race) Terry Spanos (1 race) Geoff Brabham (1 race) Owen Kelly (1 race) Jim Richards (1 Exhibition Race) Charlie O’Brien (2 Qualifying Attempts) Graeme Crosby (1 Qualifying Attempt) Robin Best (1 Qualifying Attempt)

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LATEST NEWS

FORD UNLEASHES POWERFUL GT4 FORD PERFORMANCE released its new Mustang GT4 Racer at the 24 Hours of Spa last weekend.. The car is set to compete globally in 2024.

Just weeks after Ford unleashed its mean looking Mustang GT3 at the centennial running the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the GT4 followed suit at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. Built in partnership with Multimatic, it features an in-house built, naturally aspirated 5.0L Coyote-based V8 engine (similar to the S5000 unit in Australia).

The engine currently has an undisclosed amount of power and torque, but for comparison the US spec Mustang Dark Horse R with the same engine produces 373kW. The Mustang GT4 race car also features Multimatic DSSV (spool-valve) dampers, an Australian designed and built Holinger dogring gearbox, paddle shifters with pneumatic actuation, natural fibre body panels, as well as a unique aero package developed to meet GT4 category targets.

In terms of the aero on the new GT4, its package features a front splitter with canards on the corners, and features a large vented section on the front hood, a tall rear wing, and four exhaust pipes with large diameter tips that emerge from beneath the bumper.

The racer was presented with its colourful livery that’s been adapted from Troy Lee Designs’ liveries, who also designed the GT3 livery, as well as the Pikes Peak design for the absurdly powerful SuperVan 4.2.

With this release, Ford continues its commitment to the SRO sanctioned GT4 category, and its commitment to the extensive “Ford vs Everyone” campaign – a slogan labelled by Ford president and CEO Jim Farley.

“The Mustang GT4 is a key member of our motorsports lineup,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports.

“It’s a placement between the Mustang GT3 and the soon-to-be-unveiled Mustang Dark Horse R, keeping the brand in competition at all levels of on-track performance … It’s an important part of our customer racing program.

“With this new version, based on the seventh generation’s new Dark Horse model, we’ve upped the game and are ready to challenge an entire world of competitors.”

With the new Mustang GT4, Ford

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Performance further expands its continued partnership with Multimatic, who will build every Mustang GT4, with the Canadian firm also set to handle the sales and service side of things. The Coyote-based V8 will be assembled by Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.

“We’re proud to work with so many great partners on these race vehicle programs,” said Christian Hertrich, Ford Performances motorsports powertrain manager.

“It’s also special to be able to do all of the engine work for the Mustang GT4 fully in-house. We’ve got a great team, and I’m excited for Mustang

fans to see the Mustang GT4 in action.”

Unlike the GT3, there hasn’t been any racing customers announced, but it will be hitting the track in 2024 as a readily-available customer car in the lower GT4 ranks.

It’s the perfect entry racing car for a team looking to compete or a driver ready for the next step with plenty of power from the Coyote V8, along with its huge rear wing, a stripped down interior that’s very similar to the GT3 cabin, Recaro racing seats, and a

very lightweight body due to it being made from natural fibres.

It qualifies for the SRO-Sanctioned GT4 category, which has a GT4 specific series in Europe and America, as well being eligible for the mixed fields in the British GT championship and, as of 2024, Australia’s new GT4 championship that is splitting away from the mixed production car fields it currently operates in.

TW Neal

NEWS EXTRA

EXCLUSIVE

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES/SHANE VAN GISBERGEN FACEBOOK

MCLAUGHLIN ENCOURAGES VAN GISBERGEN TO RACE NASCAR

TO ESCAPE POLITICS SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN SAYS THE SAME POLITICS THAT ENTICED HIM TO ACCEPT THE OFFER TO RACE OVERSEAS COULD SEND SHANE VAN GISBERGEN STATESIDE. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN has revealed that the politics that drove him from Australian Supercars, and Marcos Ambrose before him, could play a role in guiding Shane van Gisbergen to NASCAR. The three-time Aussie champion sat with Auto Action the day before he dined with van Gisbergen in Charlotte and said he expected the topic of driving in NASCAR would come up and that he would encourage his former rival and now mate, to make the big step.

“I miss Australia a lot, just from a personal point of view,” he said from Team Penske’s headquarters. “I count Australia as my home, except when we’re playing rugby, then I’m an All Blacks fan.

“But coming here initially, I came in peak COVID and elections were happening, it was like, ‘Wow, this is pretty crazy life over here.’ But then, once everything settled down after COVID and back into normal American life, it’s been awesome.”

Now fully settled in Charlotte and IndyCar, McLaughlin says he is happy with his new life and he sees himself and wife Carly living in Charlotte well beyong his racing career. The pair have just bought a house in Charlotte with family in mind.

He says there is little chance of him leaving his little haven now, but it is not for everyone, and he is unsure if it would suit van Gisbergen, but that he doesn’t have to plan to stay forever.

“Some people don’t like living away from home or being too far away. So I don’t know what he’d do. I could see him doing it for a couple of years and going home, or maybe he’d be OK here long term. But I’m different because I’ve got my wife, and she’s from America. So that’s why I see the end game being here.

“But I could also see the other side of him just coming over for a few years and then going back. Because there’s always that option for either of us.

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From rivals (above) to expat mates ... Scotty M reckons SVG should head Stateside.

“It takes a bit to get used to the cadence of the season, the amount of racing that you do, and then realising that you could be second one week and eighth the next. It takes a bit to get used to all that but you just have to get your head around it. It’s competitive. It’s tough.”

Speaking on the politics in the Australian scene, McLaughlin said it was enough to encourage him to take the offer from Roger Penske, who was also driven out of Supercars, to run in IndyCars. With each model, he

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said people played the design game harder, eventually resulting in the Mustang dominating the sport until parity adjustments moved it into the underclass.

“I don’t know the details, but the Volvo was a good aero car and then FGX went even better. And then the ZB went even more. That’s when we’re like, ‘Well, we’ll play by your rules as well.’ And boom, the Mustang came out and they’ve just had a war ever since.

“It’s been escalating and they’ve only got themselves to blame.

“That’s the sucky part. But for me, as a fan watching, the last thing you want to hear is when someone wins a race, like a Jack Le Brocq or someone like that, you don’t want that to be tainted with what I went through.

“But for someone like Jack, who hasn’t won that much, and he’s won his second race – which is an awesome story – and instead of focusing on that and pumping the sport up, they’re focusing on the negativity of it, which is terrible. It’s terrible for the sport and it’s sad. It really is sad.

“I’m not afraid to say it because it genuinely upsets me, because it’s a sport that I grew up loving.

“It’s very political, which is really disappointing. And it pushes the love for the sport out, that’s for sure.”

Van Gisbergen has been largely silent in Australia since being rapped over the knuckles in Newcastle, but his feelings on the politics of the sport in Australia are almost as widely known as his disdain for the new cars.

Van Gisbergen liked the #91 NASCAR, which will play a big part in any decision going forward.

McLaughlin said he would encourage his fellow Kiwi to pursue NASCAR full-time, and was active in his support for van Gisbergen on Twitter after the conclusion of his own IndyCar race earlier in the day. He didn’t, however, say if he had a spare bedroom for SVG if he needs temporary accommodation when he makes the move!

www.autoaction.com.au I 11

LATEST NEWS F1 NEWS

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX DATE CONFIRMED IN

LONGEST F1 SEASON EVER FORMULA 1 has released its 2024 calendar, the longest in its history. It has also confirmed the date of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park as the weekend before Easter, as revealed

by Auto Action six weeks ago.

As well as the reintroduction of China, the calendar features several significant changes to ease the travel burden on the teams and runs from March to December. China’s return expands the calendar to 24 races and joins the seven-week, five-race start to the

season outside of Europe, with Japan also being moved into the APAC/Gulf State leg.

Some of the other changes announced were expected, like the Spanish Grand Prix moving to the end of June to start a triple header with Austria and the UK, and the Baku street race moving from late April to the middle of September for a double-header with Singapore.

What was unexpected and yet to be explained is the decision to leave a four-week gap between Singapore and

the USA Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, as well as another three-week gap between Brazil and Las Vegas, the Saturday night race on the ‘strip’ starting a hard triple-header that closes out the season with Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The move to open the season with Saturday races was also expected, with F1 keen to get the Saudia Arabian race in before the start of Ramadan on 10 March. Bahrain was pulled forward a day to allow for seven days between races.

Andrew Clarke with Luis Vasconcelos

THE CALENDAR ANNOUNCED IS AS FOLLOWS: 02/03 Bahrain * 09/03 Saudi Arabia * 24/03 Australia 0704 Japan 21/04 China 05/05 Miami 19/05 Imola 26/05 Monaco 09/06 Canada 23/06 Spain 30/06 Austria 07/07 Great Britain 21/07 Hungary 28/07 Belgium 25/08 Holland 01/09 Italy 15/09 Azerbaijan 22/09 Singapore 20/10 USA 27/10 Mexico 03/11 Brazil 16/11 Las Vegas * 24/11 Qatar 01/12 Abu Dhabi Saturday races *

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

AFL CFO TIPPED FOR TOP AGP JOB THE AUSTRALIAN Football League’s (AFL) Chief Financial Officer and Manager of Broadcasting, Clubs and Fixtures, Travis Auld, is being touted around Melbourne as the preferred replacement for Andrew Westacott as the CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC).

Auld missed out on the job as the CEO of the AFL, and both The Age and The Herald-Sun in Melbourne are reporting that Auld has come out on top through an extensive recruitment process, and the AGPC is now going through the motions to make it happen.

Under the terms of the Australian Grands Prix Act 1994, the Victorian government must approve the appointment, although this is seen as a

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formality in this case.

Auld has been with the AFL since 2014 after stints running the Gold Coast Suns and the Essendon Football Club and has a background in accounting and business administration. The terms of his contract with the AGPC are still being finalised, and the AFL has not confirmed a departure date for one of its top administrators.

Auld is highly respected in sporting circles, and his potential appointment is being well received.

Westacott’s contract with the AGPC expired on June 30 after more than 12 years at the helm, and the AGPC will be keen to get Auld’s feet under the table quickly.

The popular Andrew Westacott (white shirt, no sunnies) has finished his role with the AGP.

The real Brad Pitt and his co-star Damson Idris on the grid of the ‘real British GP’.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

GRAND PRIX PITT STOP PRODUCTION FOR Apple’s new F1 movie started across the British Grand Prix weekend, with Brad Pitt jumping behind the wheel in a modified Formula 2 car to start filming on the highly anticipated film, AA’s REESE MAUTONE gives some insight into the production and its storyline..

Brad Pitt, 59, will star as veteran F1 driver, Sonny Hayes, returning to the sport after a 30-year hiatus prompted by a careeraltering crash in the 90s.

Called back into F1 by his team-owning friend, played by Javier Bardem, Pitt’s character makes his return to the grid to help back-markers APX GP and his new teammate, Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris, rebuild.

Racing under the fictional team APX GP, the production resurrected a replica garage alongside teams in the pit lane at Silverstone, with live timing and data analysis sharing the space with Pitt’s British GP challenger.

With support from Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, Pitt took to the circuit in a modified F2 chassis, sporting an extended wheelbase and 15 camera mounts manufactured by the German team.

Hamilton is heavily involved in helping the film remain true to the spirit of the sport, co-producing alongside Director, Joseph Kosinski and Producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, the team behind Top Gun: Maverick.

The Mercedes driver consulted on

the script and played a key part in the casting process, also taking time to work directly with Pitt in LA and earlier at Silverstone to prepare him for his time on track.

Having spent the last 20 years toying around on motorbikes, Pitt said it “helped a lot” despite finding the once-in-a-lifetime experience “really humbling”.

“You’ve never seen speed, you’ve never seen the G-forces like this on track,” Pitt said speaking to Martin Brundle in Sunday’s race build-up.

“Just to get to be a part of it in this way and get to tell our story, everyone’s been really cool with us.”

The film won’t be captured on a ‘live’ track at any event weekend in 2023 –

instead, the current grid will be added alongside Pitt and Idris with postproduction CGI, with the only running the Hollywood actor completing being solo laps in-between sessions.

The production had access to the Paddock all weekend, in addition to the grid during the build-up to Sunday’s race.

Pitt and Idris stood alongside the drivers during the national anthem as camera crews captured the scene, both actors sporting their APX GP racing overalls with their cars stationed in P21 and P22 on the grid.

The British Grand Prix was the first race weekend of filming, but not the last, with several F1 races across the season set to feature in the Apple TV movie, release pending until late 2024/early 2025.

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LATEST NEWS

STOP / GO

‘HARD RESET’ TARMAC RALLY

LICENCE CHANGES ANNOUNCED

ADELAIDE MOTORSPORT FESTIVAL RETURN LOCKED IN THE ADELAIDE Motorsport Festival will return in 2024 with a March date locked in for the event.

The 2024 Adelaide Motorsport Festival will be held on March 15-17, retaining its traditional date. It will be staged a week before the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, which is now confirmed for the March 22-24 weekend at Albert Park as the third race of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Anticipation is already high for next year’s Festival becoming a key part of Adelaide’s ‘Mad March’ festival period having signed a four-year deal with State Government last year.

PERCAT TO RUN FACTORY FA KART TEAM NICK PERCAT will field a factory team in the Australian Karting Championship in 2024. The WAU Supercars driver extends with relationship with FA Kart in a deal that includes a factory team and dealer rights in Victoria. They’ll enter the AKC competition next year, with plans to field up to 10 drivers across the junior classes, as well as a group of senior drivers vying for titles that will also work with mentoring the younger generation. “It’s all about me being able to help develop young drivers through what I know, and the people I have around me,”Percat said.

VALE’ KARL ENDERL

AFTER A courageous fight with Cancer South Australian Sprintcar competitor come team owner Karl Enderl has sadly passed away at 64. The passionate Mount Gambier native started his racing career in 1997/98 season and occupied the wheelhouse of the S11 for almost two decades before becoming a team owner. Although Enderl never won any championships, he was a consistent runner in both 360 and Open classes with his final 360 win at Renmark’s Riverland Speedway in 2013. When his son Scott slipped into the S11 seat in 2016 there was no prouder dad in the pit than Karl. Our thoughts and prays go out to the Enderl’s family and friends during this difficult time. Paris Charles.

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THE AUSTRALIAN Rally Commission has approved new licence requirements for Targa style tarmac rally events, with significantly elevated costs associated.

The licence changes, which are subject to vehicle eligibility, are in line with the 94 Targa Review Panel recommendations.

The new licence requirements also include the completion of an Australian Driving Institute (ADI) approved driving course, tailored to tarmac rally competitors, which co-drivers are also required to complete (a co-driver tailored course is also an option).

The three tiered licence structure also features significantly increased licence fees, with the cost of the added ADI course also priced at $800 dollars per day.

Previously a national rally licence for open competition was $650 and for an LS2 speed limited licence it was $280.

The costs for a Targa style rally licence have been significantly raised with the new licence profile Motorsport Australia has also announced new medical check requirements for all new applicants, and competitors aged 45 years and over.

The new licence requirements also include the completion of an Australian Driving Institute (ADI) approved driving course, tailored to tarmac rally competitors.

The new Targa style licence changes and requirements (including speed limits) are as follows : Category C Driver – 130km/h National Rally Licence required ($280) Medical required in line with the National Rally Licence criteria Completion of ADI Driving Course Category B Driver – 165km/h FIA International Rally D Licence required ($800) Completion of ADI Driving Course Pre-licence conditions: Completion of five Motorsport Australia rally events (including 130km/h speed limited events) Category A Driver – 200km/h FIA International Rally C Licence required ($1200) Completion of ADI Driving Course Pre-licence conditions: If holding a National Rally Licence, completion of 10 Motorsport Australia Rally events.

If holding an ITR-D, completion of five Motorsport Australia National or International Rally events As well the Tarmac licence changes,

the new medical requirements include: From 1 August 2023, Motorsport Australia will implement mandatory biennial (every two years) medical examinations for all new National Rally Licence applicants.

From 1 January 2024, all renewing National Rally Licence holders aged 45 and over will also be required to complete medical examinations every two years. This change mirrors the requirement for National Circuit Licence holders.

“We are working hard on implementing all recommendations from the Targa Review Panel and we’ve made great progress in recent weeks and months,” Motorsport Australia’s Michael Smith said.

“Work on all 94 recommendations is well underway, with the majority now in place, and that will allow the return of Targa style tarmac rally events in 2023.

“These changes to the licence structure are a significant part of the ‘hard reset’ of tarmac rallying here in Australia and an important part of ensuring the safety of all competitors, officials and spectators.”

TW Neal

GARLAND SWITCHES TO S5000 KODY GARLAND will switch from the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series to S5000 later this month and has set himself lofty targets in the open-wheel category.

Garland will race in place of James Golding at the next S5000 round at Sydney Motorsport Park with the PremiAir Racing driver busy with Supercars commitments given that the fourth round of the season is a support act to the Sydney SuperNight event.

He will also drive the same chassis previously driven by Golding and will remain in the S5000 seat for the remaining three rounds of the season with his sights set on challenging for the Tasman Series title.

With a season and a half of TCR under his belt S5000 will be a new challenge and Garland believes it could play into his hands as he has lofty ambitions.

“The S5000 cars suit the way I like to drive,” he said.

“They’re difficult cars to drive and you need to have a lot of respect for them otherwise they can bite you hard.

“I am certainly aiming to get some good results, but I know there’s a difference in experience that I need to overcome first against the likes of Joey Mawson and Aaron Cameron.

“By the time we get to Adelaide and the Tasman Series round, I want to be putting myself in a position to perform at the very front.”

Garland will make his S5000 debut at the Sydney SuperNight event on July 28-30.

Thomas Miles

WORLDS GREATEST SPEED FESTIVAL RETURNS TO SMP SINCE IAN Baker organised the first Superlap Australia event at the now defunct Oran Park Raceway in 2008, SMP has since hosted a round of the World Time Attack challenge from 2010.

The WTAC is one of motorsports most attended events worldwide, and that’s no different for the Sydney round, with it having developed as one of the world’s biggest Time Attack festivals on the planet.

This year SMP will play host on September 1-2 and, already, some intensely high powered machines and daring pilots have already committed.

Seeing as Time Attack racing began in Japan, it seems best to kick off with some stellar entries crossing the Philippine Sea to get to SMP. The ARVOU Racing Shop – one of Japan’s legendary Honda Tuning houses – has confirmed its iconic ARVOU S2000 to be driven by Yusaku Shibata, with its HKS Supercharged F20C motor.

Then There’s the WTAC newcomer Mitsuyoshi Nishio in his 1000hp S13 Onevia, who’s tipped to set the Pro Am field on fire, having consistently put down sub 53s at the famous Tsukuba

circuit. There’s also the Hokkaido Dream Racing Mazda RX-7 driven by Tetsuhiro Kurokawa, which features a radical new aero kit, made by the Japanese aero masters: Voltex.

Speaking of Pro Am chargers, there’s a couple of Aussies that are set to make a splash at SMP, like Matt Plowman’s Scura Motorsport Lotus Exige, a car a decade in the making that unleashes over a thousand horses from its Honda power unit. Also, fellow Aussie Stephen Faulks will also challenge in the Pro Am as a one lap wonder in his Bitten Motorsport WRX STI, rebuilt from the bolts up, running on Yokohama A60 slicks and capable of 0-100 in under four seconds!

In terms of head turning entries, there’s the 1000 HP K24-swapped Ferrari “GTK244”, or “the Honda Ferrari”. This 70’s Prancing Horse is an old beast with a modern K24 swap out, and has the power to push the timesheets with its added Garrett G42-1000 turbo booster.

It’s not just on the tarmac where the speed is provided at SMP, as the WTAC is an out-and-out celebration of engineering excellence. Red Bull Air Race Champion, Matt Hall, is set

to bring the air speed, as well getting frighteningly close to the tarmac at full speed down Brabham Straight.

The former Royal Australian Air Force top gun fighter pilot is the most successful air racing pilot of the modern era, flying his rare Aussiebuilt MXS-R single-seat aircraft built

by MX Aircraft Company, pulling 14G at the pilots seat.

Also featured on the time attack stage is international drift icon Mad Mike Whiddett, who’ll be competing in the Garrett International Drifting Cup in his powerhouse RADBUL MX5.

He’ll be joined by Japanese drift surgeon Daigo Saito in his Toyota GR86 that carries no less than 1100 horsepower!

Last but not least, there’s popular US figure Ryan Tuerck, who’s renowned for getting his dream machines built. He’ll bring his phenomenal Toyota GR Supra, which features a Formula One derived four-litre Le Mans-spec Judd V10 power unit capable of revving to 11,000RPM. Yep. Stay tuned in to Auto Action for all the lead up news for this year’s SMP WTAC. TW Neal

MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR WINTON RACING FESTIVAL ANTICIPATION IS building for the 2023 Victorian Historic Racing Register Winton Festival of Speed which will bring the ‘Action Track’ to life in August.

Over 300 cars have already signed up to take part in the special event and entries close on Monday, July 17.

A major part of the August 5-6 event will be the Super Sprint where up to 40 Group C and A Tribute Cars sporting some of the most famous colours of Australian motorsport are expected to hit the track.

The Winton Festival of Speed race committee has encouraged competing owners to build their cars as close to Group C and A period specification as possible, but freedoms on access to rare parts and reliability have been made.

Some of the owners have seen tribute cars as great way to refurbish outdated or uncompetitive IPRA and Saloon cars into a fun track car with limited cost.

“We are not building exact replicas, these are a tribute to car from a great period of Australian Motorsport and we’re open to invited classics which fit the concept such as the Denny Hulme IROC Porsche,” one insider said.

Cars expected to race include Graeme Stevenson’s Allan Moffat XC Falcon hard top coupe, plus Steve Blaxland’s Greens Tuff XE Falcon.

Paddy Kirby is also expected to sport a HRT inspired VN Group A, while Hayden Ivers could field his Moffat inspired Coke Mustang (pictured above).

The VHRR Winton Festival of Speed will be held on August 5-6.

Thomas Miles

WHATS ON AT WINTON THE NATION’S ACTION TRACK! TEST AND TUNE DAYS - Dedicated test and tune days for the preparation and setup of race cars.

Test days may be broken into sessions (if applicable) which allow for sedans and open wheelers to share the track independently, this ensures the Racecar Test Day is perfect for any race car from Production Specification to V8 Supercar to S5000 and everything in between.

14 -16 July Victorian Motor RacingChampionship Round 2 25 July

Trackschool Track Day

30 July

Winton Fun Day

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. FREE PIT GARAGE SLOTS ARE INCLUDED WITH ENTRY. Contact mail to: reception@eintonraceway.com.au or call the events hotline on 03 5760 7100 For more information go to: www.wintonraceway.com.au/drive/racecar-test-days autoactionmag

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www.autoaction.com.au I 15

LATEST NEWS

THE WINDY CITY INSPIRES NASCAR EXPANSION IT’S THURSDAY RUSH HOUR IN CHICAGO AND THE CORNER OF MICHIGAN AND JACKSON IS ONLY PARTIALLY DRESSED FOR ITS NASCAR DEBUT, REMAINING OPEN FOR TRAFFIC, AA’S ANDREW CLARKE WAS THERE TO REPORT

THIS IS street racing NASCAR style. It’s rough, ready and unbelievable.

This is the event that changes everything for NASCAR. As Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said in Nashville a week before Chicago, the race brings his sport to the people.

More importantly, in NASCAR‘s 75th year, it brings it to a bunch of new people, 10 million in fact, in the world’s 39th largest city and the third most significant metropolis in the USA and the powerhouse of middle America, if, in fact, not more.

Estimates had around 70% of the 50,000 people trackside as first-time attendees at a motor race.

That’s expansion, and this is Chicago, the Windy City (I’m not sure why that tag is positive, but there are rumours it is about the hot air being expelled by politicians and not the icy breeze off Lake Michigan in winter), the Wet City race weekend and NASCAR’s new frontier. It also returned motor

EYEBALLS ON CHICAGO • MOST-WATCHED NASCAR Cup Series race on NBC in six years, since Indianapolis in 2017 (5.647 million) and NBC Sports’ eighth-most watched race under its current rights agreement; • MOST-WATCHED NASCAR Cup Series race on any network since Daytona 500 (FOX; February 19; 8.173 million); •P ROJECTED TO be the most-watched sporting event of the weekend; •U P 144% vs. NBC Sports’ second Cup Series race of the 2022 season (USA Network; 1.962 million; Road America) •U P 72% vs. NBC Sports’ 2022 Cup Series average on NBC (2.784 million) •M OST-STREAMED NASCAR Cup Series race in NBC Sports history with 163,500 viewers across Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms

16 I www.autoaction.com.au

racing to the streets of Chicago more than 125 years after it hosted the first motor racing th USA on some of the streets used for this NASCAR race.

This race is a mixed blessing for the people of Chicago who aren’t history buffs or motor racing people. Like most first-time street circuits, it had its detractors, while others were excited that their city was going to the rest of America and into parts of the world that may not have paid attention to their city.

NASCAR did a brilliant job engaging with the people of Chicago and selling the city’s virtues to the rest of the US, which sometimes remains very insular and local.

The Chicago Street Race resulted when former mayor Lori Lightfoot, whose term finished on May 15, embraced a vision presented to her by some locals. Pre-race modelling had more than $170m being pumped into the Chicago economy as a direct result of the race. Around $50m of that

investment was from NASCAR alone, which included the creation of infrastructure and the re-paving of the part of Columbus Drive that housed the pits and the start-finish straight.

There is a three-year deal in place with options, but some cynics had been suggesting prior to the race that is may struggle to make the three years. The success of the first event, despite the issues with the weather, guarantees it a crack at getting through the three years and beyond.

It also means the Cup Series could go internationally and to other major cities in the US easier than before.

After the Grant Park 220, which neatly slotted into a no-rain window on a day that saw parts of Chicago receive more than 20cm of rain in 24 hours, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell and Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Racing Strategy Ben Kennedy met with the media and spoke about the race.

EXCLUSIVE

“I think its been a remarkable and historic weekend for us,” Kennedy said. “First of all, a huge thank you to the City of Chicago. The city showed up so well today, from the backdrop on NBC to the energy among the fans and the city and the crowds. It was certainly remarkable to see.

“We really appreciate the collaboration with the city and the various departments. Julie Giese (the President of the Chicago Street Race) and the entire team here in Chicago have been working on this every single day since we announced it on July 19 of last year. It was good to see a first-time winner with Shane and, as a fan, it was a lot of fun to watch.”

The turbulent weather saw the Xfinity race stopped at half distance, and an electrician died on Friday after being electrocuted while preparing for the race. The weather on Sunday pushed the start of the race back and caused lots of small changes – like the choir performing the national anthem in the media centre rather than on the track.

All the traditional pre-race events were held in the rain and in different locations to ensure that when the weather broke, NASCAR could go racing. That was at 5pm, half an hour after the original planned start time and an hour after the revised time from Saturday afternoon.

“From yesterday, we did everything in our power to be able to get that going,” O’Donnell said. “But

we wanted it to be safe. We turned the page to today. We started at 6 am, with a meeting asking ‘What are we going to do? What’s it look like?’

“We met, I think, every half hour throughout the day, all the way up until that last caution when we declared the race would be (shortened to) 75 laps.

When we started the Cup Race, we were very hopeful.”

Despite the harsh conditions, the people streamed into the track as the rain was easing and it was clear a race would proceed. Ticket prices for the event started at US$200 and the corporate boxes were full. There was a lot at stake, and they didn’t want to use the reserve day and further inconvenience the people of Chicago.

“Obviously, we’re going to have a very deep dive postmortem after this event. A lot of surveys will go out, collecting a lot of feedback. Of course, there are a lot of things that went according to plan, there were some things that didn’t go according to plan. We’re going to have a lot of takeaways from this weekend, which I think will be really good.

“But from what I’ve seen so far, certainly from the fans and from a lot of folks in the industry has been positive.

“Being in a big city, having a big moment, but also having that international presence, with a driver from a series that we have a lot of respect for. I think it all contributed to the enthusiasm you saw from the winners, and that’s contagious with the fans as well.

O’Donnell said that even before this race was run, NASCAR had received many international approaches about running a race, which was as much to do with Garage 56 as it was with the Chicago Street Race.

“Ben and I had a number of meetings, with a number of different countries, in a number of different continents wanting races. Good problem to have for us, but we want to

do what’s right for our fans. Take the product to where we think it’s going to resonate.

“To us, this was perfect. We’re more of a Chicago Bears-type fan base, and I think we delivered that today, and the fans that showed up, hopefully, felt that with us as well. We got to balance where we take and where we go next.

“I’m not going to put a timetable on it,” he added about going international, “but we’re all confident that we could take the Cup Series anywhere we want. I know that the race we put on today would sell and would be embraced globally for sure.”

It is believed that Montreal and Mexico City have both been talking with NASCAR. But despite Shane van Gisbergan’s win and unprecedented attention on NASCAR down under, there was no mention of Australia as a potential destination.

NASCAR brought racing to the streets of Chicago. As street circuits go, it was a little rustic compared to some Supercars events here, but it did the job and overcame challenging weather to be labelled a huge success. Also aparent was the structural strength of the new generation NASCARS, compared with our slightly more fragile, and expensive, Supercars. And of course, there was SVG ...

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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www.autoaction.com.au I 17

DRAG RACING

NDRC SPORTSMAN DATES ARRIVE THE NATIONAL Drag Racing Championship continues to come together with the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship dates now revealed.

Under the new NDRC the 2023/24 Sportsman season will be split into separate East and West conferences, while the National Sportsman champion will be crowned at the Grand Final at The Bend in April 2024.

The Eastern Conference will jump around Group One events in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland before finishing at the historic Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne.

It fires up at Sydney before heading to Willowbank Raceway, The Bend, Springmount and Benaraby, Max Carpenter’s Sportsman is set to feature in the new championship series.

Heathcote Park and finally Calder Park.

“The Aeroflow Sportsman Championship conference title and qualification for the The Western Conference includes includes 19 race meetings at a dozen National Grand Final. rounds at Perth Motorplex, Alice Springs different race tracks across the length and Points accumulated during the regular Inland Dragway, Sunset Strip, South Coast breadth of the country. It’s an exciting time round seasons for both conferences do not Raceway and Hidden Valley. to be a drag racer in Australia,” he said. have a say in the finale where all qualified It will run alongside the NDRC Top Fuel Part of the new Aeroflow Sportsman drivers have an equal chance of winning and Funnycar seasons which will stage 11 Championship in the NDRC era is the grand prize. rounds during the 2023/24 summer. flexibility.

But being a consistent force across the NDRC co-promotor Andy Lopez said the Drivers do not need to nominate a single season is still important, with the top Sportsman conferences will entertain fans conference and can race wherever they two points scores from each conference all over the country. wish with each event counting towards the only guaranteed qualification to the

National Grand Final.

The rest are determined by a Grand Final qualification score, which is decided by the points accumulated by their best four rounds and bonus points.

To strike consistency the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship will use the Sportsman racing format and points system found in Section 2.12 of the ANDRA rule book.

The NDRC’s ultimate goal is for anybody to take their car or bike to any Australian track and race and both ANDRA and IHRA have voiced their support.

“What we’ve got for year one in sportsman is a great result,” said ANDRA chairman Nathan Peirano.

“There has been plenty of good discussions and positive compromise and I’d encourage racers to get behind what’s happening, enjoy the new aspects that the NDRC is bringing, and get out to race and have fun.”

“This is a great step forward to showcase all aspects of drag racing and the excitement that the sport brings,” IHRA CEO Maurice Allen said.

“It’s also an excellent opportunity to widen the front door for people to get involved in this sport we all love.”

Thomas Miles

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE! RACER INDUSTRIES WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE ADAM ROGASH AND THE MPW PERFORMANCE CREW ON RUNNING A 6.91 SEC QUARTER MILE TIME @ 199 MPH THIS WAS AT THE CARS

1ST RACE MEETING AND IS A CREDIT TO THEIR DRIVE & DETERMINATION

Image courtesy Cackling Pipes Photography

Racer Industries are proud to supply components for this Drag n Drive build that shows we can service not just circuit racing but Drag Racing and other forms of Motorsport RACER INDUSTRIES SUPPLIED PARTS USED IN THE CAPRI INCLUDE: • WOODWARD – Steering column, mountings, universals, quick release • MPI – Steering wheel, hook & Gloves

• TILTON – Pedal Assy, M/ Cylinders & reservoirs, bias • JOES – Mirror & mounts, Helmet Hook

• LIFELINE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS – On-board Fire System

• SIMPSON – Hybrid Hans

• RACETECH SEATS – Seats & mountings

• TECKNOFIBRA – Heat shielding

• RADIO SYSTEM

For further information on the full range of motorsport equipment available from Racer Industries visit www.racerindustries.com.au 18 I www.autoaction.com.au

INTERNATIONAL AUSSIES

PIT LANE START? NO WORRIES! KENNY HABUL’S SunEnergy1 team, which included Supercars WAU driver Chaz Mostert, took out a remarkable Pro Am class victory at the 24 Hours of Spa. Things looked extremely dire for the team when Habul endured a heavy crash at Eau Rouge during the Qualifying Warmup.

After the back-to-back Bathurst 12 Hour winner pulled himself from the metallic orange Mercedes AMG, he collapsed onto his knees in clear pain and was taken to hospital where he was ruled out of racing with cracked vertebrae in his back.

The other issue was that the car was also ruled out due to the damage sustained to the front end. However, Habul ordered a brand new Mercedes GT3 from his hospital bed, with the team of Mostert, Nicky Catsburg, Martin Konrad, and super-sub Adam Osieka then having to start from pit lane.

It was very nearly Liam Talbot that took the sub-role, as he was flying over from Queensland, but a late logistical team decision saw him turn back from Doha, with the German driver called in.

The team would go on to win the class from dead last by 14.2s from their nearest rival, with Mostert praising Habul from the podium.

“To even come to this race was a pipe-

Victory – after the original car (opposite) was destroyed ...

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES dream for me, but Kenny Habul made it happen,” said Mostert after downing a shoey.

“I think him taking a punt on me at a place where I haven’t raced, and in a car that I had not driven, says a lot about his commitment to racing and to Australian drivers.

“The fact that he made such a major investment to keep us in the race after Thursday’s crash is just incredible, especially when he knew he had no

chance of driving in the race.

“I’m just so proud that we could get the job done for him after having so much thrown at us.

“Hopefully we get a chance to come back here and win it with him in the car.”

With Habul flat out on his hospital bed, he lauded the resilience of the feat.

“Those boys just drove the wheels off the thing and we got the reward,” Habul said.

“I am proud to have won this event with a Mercedes-AMG and to fly the Australian

flag at such a prestigious event.

“I will not lie, I have been in terrible pain here and pretty restricted and while I was not there to drink the champagne with the guys, I am sure we will make up for it soon.

“I have to thank Chaz, Nicky and Marty for such an incredible job and Adam for subbing at the last minute. I am delighted SunEnergy1 Racing could give him a Spa 24 Hour trophy.”

Mostert put in a seriously sharp triple stint to give the team hope, with Catsburg then turning an absurd premise into a possible chance, putting the #75 into the lead by over a minute.

They then surveyed a late 30s pitlane penalty, seeing their lead reduced to a matter of seconds, with Catsburg then stepping on the gas, finishing a remarkable P22 outright from 49 finishers.

TW Neal

THE GT STAR OF WILLIAMS KEEPS CLIMBING

CALAN WILLIAMS has continued his seriously impressive and fledgling GT career by taking a Gold Cup class podium for the WRT Racing Team at the 24 Hours of Spa (above).

Since making the surprise switch from Formula 2 into the BMW M4 GT3, Williams has secured a podium at the Monza 6 Hour on his GT debut, and a victory and a podium at Brands Hatch in the corresponding GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.

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His first ever 24 hour race saw he and teammates Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer and Niklas Krutten start the race from P45 and fifth in class, ending up in 14th outright and two laps off from the lead Pro winner, also a BMW. “I’m still thinking about my first ever 24 hour race ... it was the greatest event I’ve ever been a part of, combined with the emotion, the challenge, and the experience … I will never forget it,” Williams said in hindsight.

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“We stayed strong, made no mistakes, kept pushing and were consistent.

Eventually, it paid off, and we got good points for the championship.

“While I look forward to another opportunity to do it all again, my sights are firmly set on the next round at Misano [Sprint Cup].”

The podium ensures that Williams has moved into second in the overall combined Gold class standings, third in the Endurance Cup, and heads to Misano

second in the Sprint standings.

After Krutten got the #30 WRT off to a vital start, Simmenauer then progressed things into a class second.

Williams had the difficult task of guiding the BMW into the night hours in damp conditions, and with the car on five tracklimit strikes (30s penalty for six) the Aussie young gun kept it clean and even put the car into the class lead.

He then managed to guide the car into P5 outright, before some misfortune during Krutten’s stint saw them miss a Safety Car intervention pit, erasing a one minute lead.

Their outright P14 was a fine effort from 45th, finishing only eight positions behind the Pro WRT BMW of Valentino Rossi/ Augusto Farfus/Maxime Martin.

Williams and Krutten take on the Misano World Circuit on July 15-16, where they’ll vie for the championship lead.

TW Neal

www.autoaction.com.au I 19

LATEST NEWS

VAN GISBERGEN BATTLES IN

SPECIAL RACE SHANE VAN Gisbergen celebrated his 500th race milestone by charging through the field in the final race of the 2023 Townsville 500, but did so encountering a steering issue with a “mind of its own”.

Despite starting last, van Gisbergen charged his way to as high fourth before eventually crossing the line fifth after a team “communication breakdown” during the closing stages.

Having “struggled” at the Darwin Triple Crown, the Kiwi rolled out on the streets of Townsville continuing to battle the same steering issues.

He was able to get a grip on things by qualifying and record the fourth fastest time, a position he retained by the time the chequered flag was waved at the end of Saturday’s race.

However, van Gisbergen’s journey to get there was not simple after a hairy moment at turn 8 with Jack Le Brocq.

On Sunday van Gisbergen became the 12th driver to notch up 500 Supercars/ ATCC starts, but there were little celebrations in the #97 garage after he qualified last.

Things were looking grim when he was trailing the pack by five seconds in the early stages after spinning a clash with Declan Fraser. but soon he turned things around.

Van Gisbergen stayed out with an ultra long first stint 19 laps longer than the earliest stopper Anton De Pasquale.

Having gained track position by staying out during the mid-race safety car, van Gisbergen was up with the front runners and found himself in a battle with Broc Feeney and ended up fifth.

Despite the impressive rescue mission rising 20 positions, van Gisbergen said it was down to luck as he battled steering issues which had a “mind of its own”.

“The biggest credit for this weekend goes to our mechanics. They busted their asses all weekend to try and make the car go better, but we keep finding so many problems,” he said.

“It’s a shame they are parts that we can’t go back to the workshop and make better – we have to deal with these things, it’s tough.

“I had a lot of car troubles in the race.

The steering had a mind of its own, my throttle was jamming and cutting out, and my brakes weren’t working.

“At every braking zone, I was hoping my throttle was going to return and had my foot hovering over the clutch in case that happened.

“We were really lucky to end up where we did and we obviously got a decent points haul, but overall it was a really tough day.”

Triple Eight Race Engineering team

principal Jamie Whincup said the team will continue to “hunt” solutions for the “gremlins” which first appeared at Hidden Valley Raceway.

“This weekend was a roller coaster,” he said.

“We had some challenges and some fantastic highs, but our debrief list is going to be long because not everything was smooth sailing.

“Shane still has his gremlins with his car that were there in Darwin.

“The team hunted for those all weekend and we’ll continue to hunt when we get back to the workshop so that Shane is much happier in the car.”

The team has just over two weeks to get to the bottom of van Gisbergen’s issues before the Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30.

Thomas Miles

MIXED EMOTIONS FOR DAVISON ALTHOUGH SUNDAY in Townsville will be a special day for Dick Johnson Racing with an Anton De Pasquale victory, it was a tough one for Will Davison.

Whilst De Pasquale was controlling the field with a commanding lead en route to Dick Johnson Racing’s first win in 23 races, Davison was limping a lap down.

The famous #17 had a tough afternoon, starting seventh but dropped out of the 10 during the first stint on used rubber.

After losing ground with a late first stop, Davison stayed out during the mid race Safety Car, but could not maintain the track position as the pack swallowed him up.

By the time Davison returned to the pits he rejoined 22nd towards the very back of the field and could only make up one more position across the last 44 tours and dropped off the lead lap.

It was only the fifth time the consistent Davison has

finished outside the top 20 in his second stint at DJR which is now in its third season having been 24th in race 14 at Darwin due to a bent right front steering arm.

Finishing a lap down was a major step backwards after recording an eighth top 10 finish of 2023 on the Saturday.

Whilst being thrilled for De Pasquale to end DJR’s and Ford’s winless drought, Davison admitted his time in the hot seat on Sunday was like “hell”.

“I am thrilled for the team and well done to Anton, but my day was hell,” he told Supercars Trackside.

“We just struggled. I started on a used tyre because we did a three stopper yesterday and hung on.

“Then the safety car came out at the worst time and I had no mirrors and was just a pinball machine getting hit at every corner. I was just trying to survive.

“I think I got hit by every car and one bent something really badly in the rear and knocked the tyre off.

“I then just drove around because I had no brakes at the end there. It was just really frustrating, but I knew Anton had a fresh sets of tyres and I kept checking in on him.

“I am thrilled they have made some great progress with the car and he has really maximised that strategy, awesome by the team.”

Davison hopes to return to the front of the field at the Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30.

Thomas Miles

TAYLOR SUFFERS MISFORTUNE IN SARDINIA

MOSTERT NOT HAPPY WITH PARITY DESPITE PODIUM CHAZ MOSTERT might have scored his first podium in five rounds, but he is still frustrated about the Camaro v Mustang parity debate.

Mostert put in one of the drives of race 16, charging from 10th to third after showing late-race speed on fresh tyres.

The #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Mustang visited the lane three times and this aggressive strategy helped him peel off six cars in the final 17 laps to rise from ninth to third.

All up he passed 26 cars across the 250km race and completed his charge to the podium with a clean move on former teammate Cameron Waters at Turn 3 on Lap 79.

At that stage Mostert thought he could continue his charge to hunt down Broc Feeney’s Camaro in second, but did not have the tyre and had to settle for third 2s back.

Despite being pleased to score a first podium since Newcastle and Supercars allowing an aero tweak to the Mustangs in the name of parity, “Mozzie” still believes the odds are stacked in favour of the Camaros.

“I was having a good time for a fair bit, strategy worked well for us and the

car felt reasonably good, but then the degradation was just massive,” he said.

“It was the story of the day, the Mustangs just cannot look after their tyres so it is good to get P1 in class.

“Having 10 lap fresher tyres I thought I could at least have a crack for the lead but to be honest it is a different class out there.

“They (Brown and Feeney) just started to drive away from me. We did everything we could as a team.

“It has been a disappointing year. I have been hanging in the championship the best I can but to be in the championship you need one of those (Camaro) things which is pretty disappointing.”

Post the Darwin Triple Crown Supercars conducted a parity review and used computational fluid dynamics.

After the process Supercars permitted the Ford teams to move the rear wing forward by 20mm and lower it by a similar amount, plus add a small gurney flap.

When expanding further on what life is like behind the wheel of the revised Mustang, Mostert said the Fords have a “small window” to unlock.

“It feels like we don’t really have a

rear wing so it has been a bit hectic out there,” he said.

“We are okay in the slow mechanical corners but in the high commitment brake zones and high speed back section (turns 5-10) the car just gives away with no rear at all.

“If the thing is not sticking to the ground, your window is so small. There are some Fords that are absolutely nailing it in qualifying, but as you can see in the race it is hard yakka.”

Walkinshaw Andretti United boss Ryan Walkinshaw echoed the thoughts of his driver.

“Yesterday (Saturday) was a good day but it was still frustrating because if any other year in Supercars if you did what we did with our strategy and tyres Chaz probably would have won by four or five seconds,” he said.

“But where we are with tyre deg on the Mustangs currently there was no way we could catch the guys up front even with a 10-lap tyre advantage.

“That was frustrating but we will still take a podium because there have not been many for us in Ford this year.”

Thomas Miles

MOLLY TAYLOR and the Veloce Racing team suffered heartbreak at the Extreme E Island X Prix in Sardinia after its Grand Final place was snatched away.

Taylor and co-driver Kevin Hansen finished fifth to appear to book a place in the decider, but a series of stewards decisions meant things soon changed.

Whilst the incidents did not involve Veloce Racing, an overturning of the result following a clash between a Carl Cox Motorsport and JBXE car, plus a non penalty for a Chip Ganassi entry for bringing down a marker flag saw Veloce Racing Team miss out on a Grand Final berth.

It was a blow after Taylor and Hansen got off to a rollicking start and taking a commanding Q1 heat win.

The Aussie female star looked set to continue that fine form when she sat second during the opening stages of Q2.

However, steering dramas hit the #5 ODYSSEY 21, which meant the car ran wide and suddenly dropped down to fifth.

Taylor quickly overcame the setback before handing driving duties over Hansen at the halfway mark and the Swede soon passed a Carl Cox Motorsport rival.

But a battle with Timo Scheider caused significant damage where the bonnet and wipers flew off the Veloce Racing Team car which left Hansen with limited vision in the muddy and sandy conditions.

Hansen dug deep and brought the car home in fifth, which was enough to achieve the objective before circumstances changed.

This meant the pair took part in the Redemption Race where Taylor and Hansen finished second and collected seven points to sit third in the overall standings, just 14 points away from leaders Laia Sanz and Mattias Ekstrom.

Despite the setbacks, Taylor said it has only given her team more determination for the next round after showing front-running pace.

“We had the speed, and we know we have the team and car to fight at the front, but it didn’t all come together to win this weekend,” she said.

“Nevertheless, we have scored some solid points, the title fight is close and we will come back stronger at the next one.”

The penultimate round of the 2023 Extreme E season is on September 16-17, where a venue is yet to be decided between Amazon or America.

Thomas Miles

LATEST NEWS

SUPERCARS BRACED FOR PIVOTAL GEN3 TESTS DESPITE A SHORT turnaround between the Townsville and Sydney events, a busy and important period of Supercars testing awaits.

It arrives after a heavily publicised aero parity change was made to the Ford Mustangs prior to the Townsville 500.

The rear wing was moved forward by 20mm and lowered by a similar amount, while a small gurney flap was added to the trailing edge.

Although Anton De Pasqaule drove Ford to its first on track win of the Gen3 era and broke a 15-race drought, many racing with the Blue Oval remain “extremely frustrated”.

The height of Ford teams’ concerns is rear tyre life, with some claiming the Camaros experienced far less degradation across the longer stints.

After five straight sprint rounds, this was

brought into sharp focus at the longer 500km event.

Despite De Pasquale taking the chequered flag, only one other Mustang finished in the top 14.

This was one day after Chaz Mostert was heavily critical, believing the Camaro’s greater care on the rubber meant his pursuit of victory was next to impossible despite being on 10-lap fresher rubber.

Further parity testing will take place this week, which is expected to be run by Supercars with homologation squad Dick Johnson Racing in action at Queensland Raceway.

Down in Victoria, Tickford will also stage its own Gen3 test on Tuesday, July 18, which will be a critical time to gain a deeper insight into the aero changes.

Additional parity changes such as a move to a smaller throttle body to deal

with issues around power delivery are anticipated to arrive prior to the Sydney Motorsport Park round.

In a Ford Australia press release, Grove Racing owner Stephen Grove documented the Blue Oval’s concerns and confirmed parity testing is imminent.

“It is still extremely frustrating,” he said.

“We think we’ve got a fast car over one lap, and the changes have made an impact, but the car still doesn’t look after the rear tyres.

“Overall the deterioration of the tyres was a problem for us. It’s just the race pace that is not there.

“Until we can get the tyres to last, that’s the way it is. We started second on Saturday and fifth on Sunday, but finished a long way back.

“There is some more testing on parity coming this week, so we’ve got to see

what happens with that before we head to Sydney Motorsport Park.”

On the Chevrolet side of things, Triple Eight Race Engineering will also be back on track testing as soon as tomorrow.

The Supercheap Auto wildcard will return for its first test post Zane Goddard’s solo return at the Darwin Triple Crown.

Goddard finished 22nd, 21st and 24th in the three races behind the wheel of car #888, but finished 19th on the road in the latter, only to be penalised for spinning Jack Smith.

The session will ramp up the team’s preparations for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 enduros where Craig Lowndes will return alongside Goddard.

Testing miles will be crucial ahead of the Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30, which will be held on an aero sensitive track.

Thomas Miles

MAX McRAE FLIES AT UNCLE COLIN’S JUMP THINGS MIGHT not have gone to plan for Max McRae in the latest ERC Rally Sweden round, but he got to take on the jump named after his legendary uncle.

Whilst McRae would be disappointed after damaging his steering and popping a driveshaft on the Friday, he then got to compete through a stretch of Swedish forest named after his Uncle Colin McRae, a former WRC champion and a household name for his exploits in the 90’s.

The centrepiece of the route through the Värmland region is the jump named after his Uncle, and Max and his co-driver Mac Kierans didn’t let the opportunity go by, clocking a 38 meter jump that delighted the local crowd.

Although McRae was happy to get near his Uncle’s distance, which was made in the snow, he did manage to top another famous McRae rally name..his father Alister.

“The jump was really cool, we flew around 38 metres,” McRae said.

“I was pretty happy with that. Given the ties to my uncle, I’d expected quite a lot of emotion when we got there – and there was from the crowd.

“The difference was, when Colin was coming through this stage, it was on the Swedish Rally as a winter round of the world championship – so the whole place was totally covered in snow and big snowbanks.”

“We kept it flat on the run into the jump,

It had been a fairly tricky weekend again and I just wanted to send this one. The good news is that I jumped further than Dad!” Although it was a disappointing finishing result for McRae in Sweden - 11th in the Junior ERC standings - he continued to show highly competitive pace in his Opel Corsa Rally4.

“We got a puncture late on Friday, and I didn’t want to stop and change because

we weren’t so far to the finish, so we carried on.

“Because of the puncture we were having to work the steering more to get the car turned into corners and I clipped a rock with the steering open. The arm was broken and, in turn, that popped the driveshaft out as well.

“I was pretty gutted to be honest, but the positive is that we were right up there and running quicker than the Junior ERC regulars. We were behind a couple of local drivers, but I was happy we were ahead of the people around us in the championship.

“It’s more experience, but I want points and I want wins now. I know we’re capable of it, it just needs to come together.”

McRae’s next effort sees him head to the Italian capital for the Ralli di Roma Capitale on July 29-30 for the first tarmac outing of the ERC Junior season.

TW Neal

LITTLE TO STAND DOWN AS AUS GP CHAIR AUSTRALIA GRAND Prix Corporation chair Paul Little is expected to stand down from his role after a four-year stint.

As reported in the Tuesday, July 11 edition of THE AGE newspaper, anonymous sources have confirmed Little will stand down, having not been reappointed as chair of the board.

A replacement is yet to be announced after the former Essendon Football Club president took on the role at the corporation that oversees the Formula 1 and MotoGP Australian Grands Prix.

Little replaced John Harnden as chair of the Australian Grand Prix and is one of just three to be in the position during the Melbourne era of the race with Ron Walker performing the role for over two decades.

If this comes to fruition, it will be the second major change at the head of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation in a matter of months.

The long-standing CEO Andrew Westacott oversaw his last Grand Prix in charge in April and it has been Little who has led the race to find a replacement.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation appointed an interim chief executive in June - the Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s legal and general counsel manager Dale Nardella.

On that front AFL Chief Financial Officer and Manager of Broadcasting, Clubs and Fixtures, Travis Auld, is tipped to be the frontrunner.

Under the terms of the Australian Grands Prix Act 1994, the Victorian government must approve AGPC appointments, and Auld is seen as a formality in this case.

But when asked about the departure of Little, a Victorian Government spokesperson told THE AGE “any appointments to the Australian Grand Prix will be made in the usual way.”

A potential candidate to replace Little could be former Labor minister Martin Pakula, who has attended many Australian Grands Prix and presented trophies on the podium.

However, Pakula shutdown speculation in a short statement.

“I don’t know whether there are any current vacancies on the AGPC board, nor what the minister has in mind for it, but I have not been offered any role and I have not accepted any role,” it read.

Thomas Miles

MCLAREN BOSSES THRILLED WITH ‘INCREDIBLE’ PIASTRI MCLAREN BOSSES have lauded the career-best fourth scored by Oscar Piastri at a special British Grand Prix as “incredible”.

Piastri showed his star quality at Silverstone, fighting at the front and not looking out of place against stars such as Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and teammate Lando Norris despite competing in just his 10th Grand Prix.

The Australian looked on course for a stunning podium, but sadly the timing of the Safety Car for Kevin Magnussen’s stranded Haas promoted Hamilton to third due to a “free” pit stop.

However, it did not diminish Piastri’s drive with the upgraded #81 not being troubled by the Mercedes of George Russell on the softer medium tyres during the back end of the race to score fourth.

It was easily the best result of Piastri’s short Formula 1 career so far with his previous best an eighth on his home turf in Melbourne.

The strong race came off the back of a brilliant qualifying effort where he set the third fastest time.

Piastri more than doubled his points tally from five to 12 points to rise from 14th to 11th in the standings.

Fourth is also a result Daniel Ricciardo only bettered once during his time at McLaren when famously won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, with 2022 yielding a best result of fifth.

Piastri’s performance was lauded by the top brass at McLaren, with team principal Andrea Stella calling it “incredible”.

“This is a great team result at the British Grand Prix,” he said.

“It’s a real shame for Oscar, he should have been on the podium but the timing of the Safety Car meant that we lost a position and he finished fourth.

“But that takes nothing away from the strong weekend he’s had and the incredible race he drove.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was also full of praise for the 22-year-old, believing he will have many podiums ahead.

“It was a good day at the office.

Oscar and Lando drove great, the team was strong, the pit stops were good and the tyre strategy turned out to be the right one,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“Given how we started the year in Bahrain and Saudi we were nowhere, so to be on the podium and lead the race on pure pace with two cars is incredible work from all of the men and women at McLaren.

“It is unfortunate, I feel bad for Oscar because he deserved to be third. The safety car did not work out, but he will have a lot of podiums ahead for him.”

With Norris also finishing on the podium in second, McLaren doubled its points tally to surge ahead of Alpine to fourth in the constructors title race.

Norris scored McLaren’s first Silverstone trophy since Lewis Hamilton finished second in the 2010 British Grand Prix, which was won by Piastri’s manager Mark Webber.

That was a race where Webber had to overcome teammate Sebastian

Vettel taking pole with an upgraded front wing that was removed from the Australian’s car.

When Webber crossed the line to take victory, he declared: “not bad for a number two driver”.

Fast forward 13 years and his understudy experienced a similar situation but kept his composure in impressive fashion, even when the team told him not to attack Norris.

Whilst receiving the significant aero upgrade Norris received at Austria a race later, Piastri still carried an older spec front wing.

Only one upgraded front wing was available for the British Grand Prix, which was placed on Norris’ car.

After receiving such a huge boost at Silverstone, McLaren is now a renewed force as Formula 1 approaches the halfway mark of the 2023 season.

But Brown was quick to suggest McLaren is far from being cemented as the second fastest team, with Aston Martin, Ferrari and Mercedes all showing similar speed at recent races.

“I think it is little early to be that bold (we are second best) but what we are is back in the game,” he replied when McLaren is next best behind Red Bull.

“I am sure other tracks will suit different cars in different ways and everyone is continuing to bring upgrades.

“We have seen the leap you can take after a lot of hard work, so we have got to keep pushing.”

McLaren hopes to continue its form at Hungary on July 21-23.

Thomas Miles

LATEST NEWS Image: Formula1.com

THE ‘HONEY BADGER’ RETURNS

TO FORMULA 1 DANIEL RICCIARDO will make his return to Formula 1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix next week, with AlphaTauri announcing Nyck de Vries will be replaced by the Australian for the remainder of the 2023 F1 season, effective immediately.

After a day spent testing the RB19 around Silverstone Circuit, it won’t be long before the 8-time Grand Prix winner jumps back in the cockpit of an F1 car, having lost his seat with McLaren last year.

“I’m stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family,” Ricciardo said about his return.

Ricciardo’s highly-anticipated return will be made at a circuit in which he is more than familiar with, with the fan-favourite having won the Hungarian Grand Prix back in 2014.

The Australian took seven of his eight F1 victories with Red Bull, having raced with the team from 2014-2018 making it a comfortable environment to be returning to.

Scuderia AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost, said that Ricciardo’s return feels like a natural transition for the struggling team, where Yuki Tsunoda has played a lone point scoring hand in 2023.

“There’s no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straightforward,” Tost said.

“The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner.”

As for de Vries, it was a short-lived stint

with AlphaTauri, completing only 10 races, plus a wildcard debut with Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, where he stunned the field with a P9 at Monza.

The Italian Red Bull owned team has struggled this year, with Tsunoda being the sole points scorer, leaving AlphaTauri with a total of 2 points and sitting down in last place in the constructors’ championship.

With a best finish of twelfth at Monaco, De Vries has failed to match Tsunoda in performance this season after he was brought in following Red Bull’s efforts to get IndyCar star Colton Herta into the F1 fold.

“I would like to thank Nyck for his valuable contribution during his time with Scuderia AlphaTauri,” Tost said.

“I wish him all the best for the future.”

Ricciardo’s return for the rest of 2023 also means Red Bull has gone outside of its junior program for a replacement, of whom Kiwi Liam Lawson was a potential choice - the Red Bull Junior reserve driver, who is currently plying his trade in the Japanese Super Formula Championship.

Lawson is on the same path that eventually led Pierre Gasly to his AlphaTauri seat, but the weight of experience that Ricciardo carries outweighed the potential rookie replacement.

Lawson, who was the AlphaTauri reserve/ test driver in 2022, impressed in his second F1 Free Practice session in Max Verstappen’s 2022 RB18 car in Mexico after replacing Juri Vips in the Red Bull Junior program.

However, the mounting pressure on Red

Bull’s Sergio Perez, despite taking two F1 wins in 2023, won’t go away.

If Ricciardo can perform well in the Red Bull sister team in the remaining 12 race 2023 window, don’t discount some more ‘silly season’ seat shuffling, where it’s not out of this universe to think that the popular F1 Aussie could make another shock move back into the competitions premier team at the expense of Perez, who still has a contract for next season.

That would then leave the door ajar for Lawson at AlphaTauri, although the returning trend of having more experienced drivers fill the void may still count against him…if they stick with Tsunoda!

Ricciardo’s return to the grid is also the first time two Aussies will share the track on the F1 stage since he and Mark Webber crossed paths in Brazil in 2013, two seasons after they first met at Silverstone in 2011.

With Piastri’s remarkable fourth place at Silverstone last week, where he was unlucky not to earn a maiden F1 podium in just his 10th race, all eyes will also be on the ‘Honey Badger’, to see how high he can put the struggling AT04 machine.

The one thing that is for certain, is that Australian F1 fans are lucky to again have two countrymen back on the world’s premier racing grid.

The Hungarian Grand Prix takes place this weekend, July 21-23, with the race starting at 11pm AEST on Sunday.

Reese Mautone and TW Neal

LATEST NEWS

YOUNG ENDURES FOR EUROPEAN RETURN MELBOURNE RACER Dylan Young will return to racing in Europe this weekend, joining up with the Ligier European Series for the rest of 2023.

After taking on the Formula 3 Regional series in the Ultimate Cup last season with Graff Racing - which followed on from his years of racing in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship - Young will make the switch from open wheelers into the Ligier LMP4 prototype machinery.

At 34 years-old, the Victorian has been racing open wheelers overseas since 2010, where he started in the now defunct Formula BMW series against the likes of Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz and IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist.

His best result in the Asian based Formula 2000 category yielded a best season of

second place in 2019-20.

He’s now got his sights on working up the ranks into the prototype endurance ranks, where he hopes to eventually tackle Le Mans.

After successfully testing with the Smart Racing team in Italy last month, that journey starts as soon as this weekend at Paul Ricard in the #5 Smart Driving Ligier JS P4.

“We had a really solid test the other week in Italy and I was on pace really quickly despite it being a new environment for me with a roof over my head for the first time,” Young said.

“The car is heavier and you can feel the differences compared to what I’m used to, but I felt I adapted really quickly which I’m pleased about.”

“I’m stoked to be heading in this direction for my career, and am fully

focused on a future in endurance racing with the goal of winning the Le Mans 24 hours…and that journey starts now.

“I want to thank the Smart Driving Team for giving me this opportunity along with my backers and partners who are always by my side.”

The LMP4 machinery is a stepping stone into the LMP3 and LMP2 categories that race in IMSA, WEC, The European Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series, and more, as Young hopes to join the likes of fellow Aussies like James Allen and Josh Burdon who are regular winners in both Europe and America.

Young’s LMP4 Ligier JS P4 is powered by a 3.7 L Ford V6 which produces around 385bhp. The next step up for example, the LMP3, features a 5.6 L Nissan V8, producing around 455bhp, which the Aussie driver is looking to advance into

the higher levels through 2024.

This weekend’s action at Paul Ricard will feature two x 40-minute practice sessions, two x 15-minute qualifying sessions and two x 1-hour races.

You can watch Dylan’s LMP4 debut live and free online via the Ligier European Series YouTube channel.

TW Neal

62 CREWS FOR ARC QUEENSLAND RETURN THE AUSTRALIAN Rally Championship will make its long awaited QLD return, with 62 crews set to take to the forest roads around Gympie for the July 22-23.

There’s 30 ARC teams headed for the popular Queensland Rally, the third round of 2023, which last year had to be cancelled due to severe flooding in the area, north of the Sunshine Coast.

On top of the 30 top-flight crews taking to QLD, a further 32 crews have registered for the state component of the event.

On top of the ARC return, the Wheels of Mary Festival also makes its return to the town centre on the July 21, adding to the party that will be taking place around the town.

Clerk of Course, Brian Everitt, is thrilled by the return of the event, as well as the boon of quality entries.

“After a disappointing outcome last year, the Brisbane Sporting Car Club are wanting to bounce back and to have this much

interest in the return of the ARC is fantastic,” Everitt said.

“We are chuffed with not only the size, but the quality of the entry list and are thankful for the best crews in Australia showing the trust and faith in the organisers to put on a good and safe event.

“The entry list is up there with the old days of the international Rally of Queensland and the most entries we have had here for quite some time.

“We’re chuffed with the support from both crews and the regional Gympie council who have shown a lot of faith in us too – so we can’t wait to put on a show and have the best crews in Australia experience the forestry and shire roads this beautiful part of Queensland has to offer.”

Headlining the ARC field are the usual culprits, as Lewis Bates and co-driver Anthony McLoughlin attempt to extend their hard-earned championship lead, which currently stands at 18 points over

the resurgent pairing of Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith.

The 2017 ARC champions have been in fine form since winning Coffs Coast Rally at the backend of last season, with the pair also on a high after taking the WA Forest Rally.

An ARC follower can’t not have the looming feeling that 2019 champion Harry Bates also isn’t far off returning to his best however, who along with his new co-driver Coral Taylor, took out the first Heat in WA only for a late penalty demoting them from the lead in Heat 2.

A string of mechanical bad luck and the consistency of his fellow Toyota Yaris brother has derailed the former champion and WRC NZ points scorer since Gippsland last season, with the pair currently sitting 72 point in arrears in fourth place.

Between Harry and Quinn however, is Luke Anear and Malcom Read, with the experienced WRC2 driver and his co-driver having their best start to an ARC season.

In the Production Cup Stakes, Steve Maguire holds a similar 18 point lead over the promising Tasmanian in Bodie Reading, who in his first full-time ARC season has fared well in the outright field.

14 Stages and more than 200 kilometres await the crews round the forests of Gympie. TW Neal

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INTERNATIONAL AUSSIES

DOOHAN IN FIERCE SILVERSTONE BATTLE JACK DOOHAN has had a tough year in Formula 2, battling consistency with his Invicta Virtuosi car, but a steady turn of pace and some tough wet-weather driving rewarded him with a Silverstone podium.

It’s only the second time the Alpine F1 Reserve driver has been on the F2 steps this season – and he got it done with a bitter ontrack stoush with Prema’s Oliver Bearman.

The British driver refused to give an inch in the battle for third in wet conditions, as Doohan pushed the limits to constantly go for the risky outside pass, whilst Bearman defended every bit of tarmac he could, much to the ire of the Aussie driver.

After a tense battle, Bearman eventually locked up under the pressure as Doohan charged past to finish 19.422s behind victor Frederic Vesti, and behind Frenchman Theo Pourchaire.

“I think it was probably my 13th time trying to get past him and he pushed me all the way out onto the double kerb on the exit of Turn 15 under braking, which isn’t allowed,” Doohan explained.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES “He swerved at me under braking into Turn 15 and to his disappointment locked up. Clearly, turning under braking, especially under these conditions, isn’t going to be too great especially when there’s a driver on the inside … so he eventually locked up and went off.

“I just did a little wave because I felt karma had come back and unfortunately he lost out.

“We had a gap behind us so potentially he could have slotted into P4 but he lost positions. So I said ‘au revoir my friend’ and see you later!” Doohan quipped.

“Luckily in the end, he was trying to close

the door on me but ended up making a mistake, so I was able to get past with no damage, which was nice.

“I could see my pace immediately jump by 2.5s a lap, which is what I had the whole time – just unfortunately it wasn’t as easy to get past as I’d have liked.”

The Aussie F1 hopeful couldn’t resist leaving a verbal jab on his British counterpart.

“How he drives his car is up to him, obviously. But I will let the stewards pick that up, really.

“Not really the racing standard that I was hoping for … and not really the standard I choose to drive by, but he’s a racing driver and he’s fighting for a podium position, so I’m not saying I wouldn’t expect anything less ... but maybe a little bit cleaner next time.”

After also taking fourth in the feature race, Doohan jumps up the table into seventh, and can further drive up the table at Budapest on July 21-23.

TW Neal

MANSELL ON THE MARCH CHRISTIAN MANSELL has broken the F3 Aussie podium duck for 2023, taking third in the Sprint Race at Silverstone (below) to reward his steady improvement.

The Campos driver has been the most consistent performer of the three Australians and, after his best ever qualifying effort of fourth, he came from ninth to take third in difficult conditions after opting to remain on slicks when a Safety Car was called.

Finding himself in P4 on the restart, he fought his way into third before holding off the attempts of Caio Collet in the final stanza, finishing 5.840s from frontrunner Colapinto, and two seconds back on Bortoleto.

In his 15th F3 outing, the Newcastle

20 I www.autoaction.com.au

born 18-year-old improved on his best finish of seventh, in the previous feature race in Austria.

“Pretty over the moon, to be honest,” he said of his first climb up the F3 steps.

“It’s obviously a very good feeling to be up here for the first time. I live in the UK, so it’s a second ‘home race’ for me. I’m pretty lost for words.

“I’m pretty happy with that - the team, the car, this strategy, everyone nailed everything today … can’t really ask for much more.”

“We’ve worked very hard to put ourselves in this position, Pepe (Marti, teammate) is very good at the moment, but I’m catching him slowly.

“I’ve made some steps definitely, but I

think overall, Campos and myself, we’ve definitely kept building.

“The car felt really good in qualifying, the car felt good today … Formula 3 is honestly more in your head than driving the car.”

“If you’re in a good headspace and approach the weekend in a certain way you end up driving better and feeling better, because you put all the unnecessary outside pressure on yourself to one side, and just drive the car. And that’s what I love doing.”

Mansell finds himself even on points with Sebastien Montoya in 14th in the championship, with the field next heading to Budapest on July 21-23.

TW Neal

ARMSTRONG WRESTLES

OHIO VICTORY

QUINN ARMSTRONG (above) has taken his second victory of the year in the Indy Feeder USF Juniors series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, moving into second in the championship after also taking second in the Race 1 opener.

After qualifying in P4, the DEForce youngster made his way up to second in Race 1, 1.980s behind series leader Nicolas Giaffone.

Armstrong started on the front row for the second outing which started early to avoid looming Ohio thunderstorms.

In an interrupted race, pole-sitter Hudson Schwartz had control of the race after two restarts, but couldn’t survive the third as Armstrong pounced after a lap nine restart, making the move on lap 11 before another caution on lap 12.

A five-lap shootout saw the Newcastle junior burst away with Schwartz coming back late, with Armstrong getting it done by 0.579s to ensure he sits just 66 points behind the series leader with six races and two rounds remaining.

“Definitely a crazy race with plenty of restarts to shake up the order,” Armstrong commented, “It was not an easy race to get to first but we ended exactly where we wanted to be and I can’t thank DEForce enough.”

The USF Juniors series heads to Road America in Wisconsin next on August 11-13 for a three race hit-out.

TW Neal

HISTORY MATTERS I’LL BE at Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming Sunday as McLaren marks the 60th anniversary since McLaren Racing was founded by fellow Antipodean, Bruce McLaren.

We’ve got an impressive line-up of cars with Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton’s F1 championship-winning cars, the prestigious papaya Can-Am classic from 1970 and Prost and Lauda’s MP4/2B. I’ve been before but I’m really looking forward to this one and can’t wait to have a blast up the Hillclimb

Oscar Piastri’s

FORMULA 1 WORLD track. It’s an amazing celebration of all things motorsport and it’s nice to be able to meet fans in person and have a chat.

It will certainly be a poignant moment

celebrating the incredible legacy that Bruce left behind at the track where he unfortunately passed away in 1970.

Every time I walk down the boulevard at McLaren’s factory and see the diversity of historic elite racing machinery across

Can-Am, Le Mans, IndyCar and F1, it is amazing to see everything that he achieved.

Our special Triple Crown celebration with the reworked livery and overalls at Monaco and Barcelona were another reminder of that success.

I’m honoured to be continuing that Antipodean spirit into the modern day and could not be prouder to race in the unique papaya colours.

Talking of pride in my roots, it was great to meet up with the Australian men’s cricket team at Lord’s before their second

A very young Oscar Piastri with his childhood hero, Australian Cricket Captain Ricky Ponting.

Image: OSCAR PIASTRI COLLECTION

Ashes test recently.

I caught up with the squad, watched them in the nets and also had a go with the bat and pads on. Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc took their bowling very easy against me and I think Marnus Labuschagne was trying to make me feel better about my bowling.

I loved seeing their dedication and their approach of taking ownership of their own training.

As a fellow sportsman, it’s fascinating to see other elite athletes and take little bits from how they prepare for their discipline.

I was actually a big cricketer when I was young. I would probably be described as a sneaky medium pace bowler and I liked to think of myself as handy with the bat. Viewers of the videos on my social media (or the British GP ‘Ashes’ on the TV broadcast) may disagree!

A few weeks back, I also got the chance to meet Andy Murray.

I’m a big tennis fan and have watched many of his Grand Slam epics from afar. It was fantastic to watch him train and chat with him courtside before his match at Queen’s Club, London.

When someone like that, who has done what he has done in the game, gives you little gems of advice, you listen. I was fascinated in his mindset and how he has overcome adversity.

It’s been a busy little spell with back-to-back races in Austria and Silverstone. The British Grand Prix last weekend was obviously the team’s home race so we were lucky enough to have a lot of papaya support there – and as you will read elsewhere, it was a huge weekend all-round!

We’ve got another double header with Budapest and SpaFrancorchamps coming up before we break for the summer pause.

We’ll have another sprint race in Belgium too.

I must end by offering my very best wishes and thoughts to the family of Dilano van ‘t Hoff who sadly passed away when racing at Spa over the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix.

It is incredibly sad to lose him at just 18 years of age and as a racing community, I can honestly say that we all felt that news.

Take care and I will be back with my next column during the summer break.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

F1 DRIVERS CALL FOR CHANGE AFTER VAN ’T HOFF TRAGEDY THE TRAGIC death of Dutch Driver Dilano van ’t Hoff at Spa Francorchamps in a Formula Regional European Championship (F3) race has led to cries of change from the F1 fraternity.

The talented 18-year-old collided with the barrier in poor visibility on cold tyres prior to Kemmel Straight at Spa-Francorchamps, with his Tatuus bouncing back on track then getting hit side-on at speed.

Van ’t Hoff was pronounced dead on the way to hospital, becoming the second casualty in four years after F2 driver Anthoine Hubert died at almost the same spot in 2019 “It reminds us of some obviously very sad times with what happened with Anthoine a couple of years ago,” Alpine driver Pierre Gasly said.

“It just seems wrong. We should never be in such a position of losing young talents, so it clearly needs a review of what’s happened exactly and making sure these scenarios never happen in the future.

“I really hope all the people involved in safety and looking after the safety of all the drivers are going to take some action because it’s not the first time, and it should have never taken place.

“We should have never been in such a situation a few years back. It definitely needs a review because it doesn’t feel right to lose some guys like that.”

Lance Stroll also added to the chorus regarding the Kemmel Straight and Raidillon.

“It’s not fair what happened.

“That corner needs to be looked at because we’ve lost two young talents in five years,” Stroll said.

“Every time we go through there, we put our lives on the line. Today we saw something bad happen, and it’s not right.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES “Even if it’s dry, and someone loses their car, it’s a blind corner, you hit the wall and come back into the middle of the track. A car comes at you at 300plus kilometres an hour; you’re toast.”

Fellow countryman Max Verstappen said although it’s easy to blame the track, but rather the conditions were the issue.

“We have to look into these kinds of situations. It’s easy to blame the track, but also looking at how wet it was and these kinds of things.

“Definitely there are things that we have to look at, what we can do better to protect drivers, because today it was unnecessary, clearly.”

TW Neal

WRC COMEBACK FOR LATVALA

THE MOST experienced Rally driver in WRC history, Toyota team principal JariMatti Latvala, will make a shock comeback at Rally Finland.

With 209 World Rally Championship starts to his name, Latvala’s dream of getting on board a Rally1 car will be realised at Rally Finland on August 3-6.

After the Finn hung up the Rally gloves in 2020, he’ll drive for the domineering team that he steers from the Service Park, competing against stablemates Kalle Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans, and Takamoto Katsuta.

“Well, the story started I think after the end of the 2022 season, when I was in Japan and talking with “Morizo” (Akio Toyoda), our Chairman,” the 18 time WRC rally winner said.

“I said that I had the dream to experience a Rally1 car, because over the last 20 years I have experienced all the World Rally Cars and all the evolutions of these cars, but I have no experience of Rally1.

“Morizo said, ‘Yes, we need to do it, let’s do it!’ But we didn’t agree on when we would do it.”

Whilst Latvala will be behind the wheel, Toyoda (whose name is almost perfectly apt) will take over the role of team principal.

The Finn has won Rally Finland three times throughout a career that netted two championship runners up, with his last victory coming in Australia in 2018 where he steered a Toyota Yaris WRC car.

For Finnish fans, the rally will be a local driver fan-fest, with WRC2 driver Teemu Suninen promoted into the part-time Hyundai i20N Rally1 role, Rovanpera on top of the table, Esapekka Lappi in flying form, and Latvala making a shock return for the August 3-9 event.

TW Neal

FERRARI 499P GETS BOP HIT THE BALANCE of Performance (BoP) changes for the remainder of the WEC season have been released, with Le Mans winners Ferrari receiving more weight and less power.

The revised BoP, set out by the WEC, FIA, and ACO, has been set for the remaining three rounds at Monza. Fuji, and Bahrain.

The BoP will be a changing allowance to suit the characteristics of each track, with the Ferrari AF Corse team entering Monza with an added 5kg of weight, with its power reduced by 16bhp.

Toyota, which leads the championship in both the Drivers and Manufacturers tables, will enter unchanged after its big 12kg increase prior to Le Mans, but will also have a 6.7bhp decrease to its hybrid unit, with the weight fixed for 2023.

Further changes can also be made

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during this current season, however – other than the one’s planned – between the BoP of the seperate LMH and LMDh ruleset makes.

With the symmetry between the LMD and LMDh cars remaining a changeable

option, it allows for the WEC to keep tinkering ahead of next year, when Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini, and Isotta Fraschini join either the WEC or Le Mans field (or both) as LMDh machines, with the IMSA based Acura/Honda team still

uncommitted, but likely to race at Le Mans.

The Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars head to Monza and beyond with a weight decrease of 14kg from Le Mans, with its hybrid powertrain also reduced in power, with both the weight and bhp to fluctuate between the remaining three rounds.

The LMDh Porsche 963s will revive a minor weight increase on the run home, with its bhp also decreased, whilst the Peugeot 9X8s that were surprisingly competitive at Le Mans will have more power and a varying weight, but won’t dip below its current weight (heavier for Fuji and lighter for Bahrain).

The Glickenhaus LMH machine will keep it’s unaltered pre-Le Mans BOP, whilst the troubled non-hybrid Vanwall Vandervell team will receive a power boost.

TW Neal

FALL-OUT BOY AA’S COLUMNIST CAN’T WAIT FOR THE WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF SVG’S STUNNING CHICAGO WIN TO PLAY OUT

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES SHANE VAN GISBERGEN’S win on his NASCAR debut in Chicago was the best thing to happen in motorsport in ages. Even better was the motorsporting world’s reaction – the Yanks were gobsmacked and a tad embarrassed to have had their pants pulled down. Excitingly, the best bit of SVG’s incredible win is yet to come – the fallout and flow-on effects. Strap yourselves in, kids, things are gonna get interesting over the next couple of years.

I think Roland Dane summed up SVG’s achievement best, describing it as “the most stunning debut by a driver in a topline professional category in the modern era.” Dane also suggested it would become one of the “legendary stories of our sport.”

Yep, agreed RD, but I’d go a step further. I think, in the fullness of time, history will record SVG’s feat as a genuine game-changer.

A pivotal moment for current and future Supercars drivers, for the Supercars category generally for better or worse, and for NASCAR. The laws of unintended consequences are about to kick in.

Let’s consider some possibilities.

SVG’s inevitable move to NASCAR in some shape or form will spur the silliest of Supercars

with Luke West

REVVED UP silly seasons. Note the plural.

With at least one driver heading stateside and the likes of Davison, Winterbottom and Courtney closer to the end of their careers than the start, the field will look very different in the coming years.

If undertaking the full 36-race NASCAR Cup Series schedule doesn’t turn SVG on, perhaps he could concentrate on the road and street races with a Chevy team, as part of a diverse program as a GM factory driver. The bow-tie brand runs factory Cadillacs in IMSA and WEC, will add parallel Corvette GT3s from next year and, perhaps, even an outing in the Bathurst 12 Hour the year after. Oh, and under this scenario he could co-drive for Red Bull Ampol Racing in the 1000, too.

Maybe a mixed program as a works GM driver will suit him better than racing every weekend for nine months in NASCAR. Sure, he was all smiles in Chicago,

but how would Shane handle 36 weeks of constant media duties.

Ugh. No doubt he would figure out the ovals quickly enough, although any hard learnings will see him in the spotlight, now he’s raised everyone’s expectations. Marcos Ambrose could at least learn the oval craft with a degree of anonymity, an advantage SVG won’t have.

Regardless, SVG to NASCAR will be the ongoing narrative.

As Craig Lowndes highlighted for the Supercars website, three questions will stay on everyone’s lips: “If Shane will go, the timing of when he’s going to leave and who is going to stand up and take his spot.”

What are the wider implications for Supercars over-all, apart from the aforementioned driver cameos stateside, a full-time exit or two and new chum entrances?

Surely more Americans will

be subscribing to Supercars’ Superview streams now. Even more would tune in if there was a local version of Trackhouse Racing, where, say, a recent retiree like Jimmie Johnson could have a run downunder. That’s another RD pearl of wisdom.

Could NASCAR’s NextGen become Supercars Gen4 machine in the coming years? It’s not impossible, especially as a chassis is half the price of a Gen3 machine and races so well on road and street courses, for which it was so obviously designed. The latter gives an indication of NASCAR’s global ambitions. Bob Jane truly was ahead of his time.

NASCAR has garnered more international publicity in the last month than in the last five years, first through its Garage 56 entry at Le Mans and now SVG. In the very least it could steal Australian and New Zealand eyeballs away from Supercars telecasts. Worse for Supercars would be if NASCAR lobbed downunder for a race, as part of its global ambitions.

Following the Chicago street race, which drew NASCAR’s largest television audience to a NBC broadcast in six years, chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell explained he had “meetings with a

number of different countries and a number of different continents wanting races.”

“I think we’re all confident at NASCAR that we could take the Cup Series anywhere we want,” O’Donnell added.

If Queensland Premier Annastacia Palache was cluey enough she would ask her tourism minister to reach out to NASCAR’s chiefs to enquire as to the cost of bringing the series to Surfers Paradise. Importing a field of cars to promote the Gold Coast as a holiday destination to Americans surely makes more economic and political sense than forking out for the cost of lighting the venue as Supercars wanted. It’s all about return on investment and I’m not sure that Supercars’ diminishing domestic profile stacks up longterm.

Supercars has some work to do to get its Gen3 show as entertaining as NASCAR’s NextGen product on street circuits.

In the shorter term, hopefully Supercars has the smarts to capitalise on its ‘new sensation’ as a drawcard to events like the Sydney SuperNight later this month: “See SVG before he leaves for the States! ...”

AUSTRALIA’S NO.1 FOR ALL THINGS NASCAR

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A must have to add to your Shane van Gisbergen model collections.

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AUSSIE, AUSSIE,

OSCAR

PIASTRI IS CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF

THANK GOODNESS for Bigpond.

Bad but good.

This column was intended to be about the GOAT of Formula One, Adrian Newey, and his 200-andcounting wins in Formula One. The words were done, the picture was clear, and then Bigpond got in the way.

My email was down. Crashed.

Kaput.

Then came the British Grand Prix.

So, instead of Newey, these words are all about Oscar Piastri.

As it should be.

Auto Action will be flooded with stories and tributes for Piastri after his extraordinary effort at the British Grand Prix.

He was mega. Just mega.

It was only bad luck which stopped the Aussie rookie from scoring his first podium at Silverstone, a rare success by a rookie in modern Formula One. Now we know all the junior successes, and the fight over his signature on a Grand Prix contract, and the early troubles at McLaren, were just the start of something very, very special.

Bruce Williams, the publisher of Auto Action who has shown real talent this year as a journalist, was one of the first to peg Piastri as a rising star.

He was sitting in seat 1A when the youngster’s career took off and he has been close to the action from the very first day.

Me? I was another fan and can clearly remember the day when the head of Alpine, Laurent Rossi, told me Piastri would be a grand prix world champion.

It was the lead-up to the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, Piastri was wearing the patriotic blue of the French team, but there was zero chance of him getting track laps at Albert Park.

“We love the idea. I love the idea.

It would be a great story,” Rossi told me. “(But) to be honest, the cars are extremely new. Very fragile. The drivers are still learning. We are still learning. Every Free Practice is important.”

It was the start of the latest rules regime in F1 and no-one at Alpine was keen to see the kid, even after

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

with Paul Gover

THE PG PERSPECTIVE storming runs to the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles, on the track in Friday practice.

Instead, Piastri had to sit and wait. There would be testing, and simulator work, but then the Alpine plan unravelled when his manager Mark Webber led him away, to McLaren.

What does Rossi think now? You can guess.

But this is what he told me when I got him quietly and alone to discuss Oscar Piastri.

“Oscar is something else. He is one of the future champions of formula One,” Rossi said, as we reported in Auto Action.

“He is extremely smart and mature for his age. Like extremely smart. I would love to have Oscar as my driver for the future Alpine.”

Now, Rossi is not just some F1 flunky. He is the head of the Alpine car company, one of the independent divisions of the giant Renault empire, and his business is all about making big decisions at the right time in the right way.

A pity about Oscar.

But what about Silverstone?

The lead-up to the race was predictable, with a British TV crew for the home race, predictably focussed on a boring pep program for Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris.

Piastri? Barely a mention, even during his mega run through qualifying and as he prepared – as a rookie – to start from third on the grid.

The chattering and blabbering

about Norris – even his fluoro bucket hat got more coverage than Piastri – was painful.

Then the race started. And Piastri looked like a veteran as he went wheel-to-wheel with mighty Max Verstappen and Norris on the opening lap.

Then McLaren had to reassure Norris that Piastri, who was behind but clearly quicker, would not threaten him.

Fourth place at the finish was less than Piastri deserved, and had earned, but his time is here.

While the other two rookies this year – Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant – have both struggled and could easily lose their drives, Piastri has been solid and mature.

He has yet to get a car equal to Norris, yet he has built speed through every GP weekend and kept out of trouble.

Silverstone was the final proof that he is a future superstar, as even the SkyF1 commentators and analysts finally recognised what Oscar has achieved in less than a year of Formula One. Just watch him go.

LAWYERS THAT KNOW MOTORSPORTS Know your position.

• Teams • Series owners • Manufacturers

SVEN BURCHARTZ

Partner sburchartz@kkilawyers.com.au

T +613 8825 4800 kkilawyers.com.au

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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 SENIOR ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION Caroline Garde SENIOR DESIGNER Neville Wilkinson NATIONAL EDITOR Thomas Miles HISTORICS EDITOR Mark Bisset SPEEDWAY REPORTER Paris Charles ONLINE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AUSTRALIA Josh Nevett, Dan McCarthy, Bruce Newton, Mark Bisset, Geoffrey Harris, Bruce Moxon, Gary Hill, Craig O’Brien, Ray Oliver, Martin Agatyn, Reese Mautone.

FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconelos US CORRESPONDENT Mike Brudenell PHOTOGRAPHERS AUSTRALIA Mark Horsburgh-Edge Photography, Peter Norton-Epic Sports Photography, Ross Gibb Photography, Daniel Kalisz, Mick Oliver-MTR Images, Rebecca Hind-REVVED, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Richard Hathaway, Bruce Moxon, Ray Ritter, Ray Oliver, autopics.com. au Geoff Coulson Photography, Roy Meuronen Photography, Angryman Photography, Riccardo Benvenuti, Matthew Bissett-MJB Photography, Phil Wisewould Photography.

INTERNATIONAL

Motorsport Images

email: letters@autoaction.com.au Postal: Suite 4/156 Drummond Street.

Oakleigh Victoria 3166

CHERISH THE ‘OLD WOBBLER’ AS LONG AS WE CAN WE’VE BECOME accustomed to Shane Van Gisbergen winning in almost anything he sets his bum into – rallies, open-wheelers, sprintcars, et al – but his recent achievement in the USA is absolutely mind-boggling.

Let’s just think this through.

Never raced a NASCAR before, sitting on the other side of the car, using the opposite hand for gearchanges, top-quality field.

Wow! To put this in perspective, it would be akin to Joey Mawson entering the upcoming Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix (in mid-November) in an Alpine, qualifying third and then winning the race!

Certainly the ‘Old Wobbler’ is one of the greatest drivers to have graced our tracks and we need to appreciate his talents, up close and personal, while he’s still in the country.

Peter L. Dutkowski Sunshine Coast, Queensland

ADVERTISING MANAGER Bruce Williams All Advertising inquiries bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555

YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF NEW ZEALAND, BUT …

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.

ONLY ONE thing is more predictable than that Shane Van Gisbergen will win in whatever form of motor racing he chooses to compete – that you Australians will claim him as yours.

SVG is a New Zealander, born in Auckland on May 9, 1989.

Once a Kiwi, always a Kiwi.

Don’t you forget it, you thieving Aussies.

Steve Donoghue, Auckland, New Zealand

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.

Printed by ive Group Distributed by ARE Direct Retail Distribution Australia

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

Editor’s note: Hi Steve, I’m not sure how to respond to this rather savage letter! … Other than to say that I see that some of you Kiwis are still to recover from the under-arm bowling incident. But from a motorsport perspective, I would say this, and that is that plenty of Kiwis have come to Australia to make a name for themselves ...

SUPERCARS CAN’T BEAT NASCAR, SO JOIN ’EM! I AM in my mid 60s and have been an avid fan of all motorsports all my life with involvement as an official, competitor, commentator and spectator, so I feel I am qualified to provide an insight.

Having followed Supercars since their inception, I feel they

26 I www.autoaction.com.au

SOCIAL DISCOURSE MOTOR RACING FANS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE TASMAN HAD MANY REASONS TO CHEER OVER THE LAST FORTNIGHT A AND SOME TOOK TO AUTO ACTION’S SOCIALS TO EXPRESS THEIR DELIGHT…

SVG NASCAR SENSATION Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES have really missed the boat with the Gen 3 cars.

Blind Freddy can see that the Camaro and the Mustang are anything but equal and you have to wonder how long it will be before Ford refuses to have its IP used in the series leading to a ‘Camaro Cup’.

All this after years of planning and testing.

How did they get it so wrong?

The cars are so fragile and repairs seem so time-consuming and I presume expensive.

This, supposedly, was what the new cars were going to improve.

While the cars are better to look at, the racing is not.

Having watched the NASCAR race from Chicago, I have to ask the simple question: Who was the rocket scientist from Supercars who thought they knew more than these guys?

The NASCARs look great, sound better, there are three manufacturers with more interest and, above all else they seem bullet-proof.

I watched one that was pulled out of a tyre bundle after it went in hard up to the windscreen and it continued on.

A Gen 3 Supercar would nearly be a write-off.

Would we not have been better off to form a South Pacific partnership with NASCAR to run its cars and open the opportunity for teams from both sides of the Pacific to race in each other’s series?

Maybe even an ‘Inter-Pacific Challenge’?

The opportunities are endless and, from what I understand, the NASCARs are more costeffective to manufacture, run and maintain than Supercars.

Supercars have missed the boat with fragile cars that produce one-sided racing that is nowhere near as interesting as the American equivalent.

What do Auto Action and its readers think?

Oh, and huge congratulations to

SVG for his success in Chicago.

He showed his enormous talent.

Peter Webb Townsville, Queensland

HIGH TIME TO GET BACK TO RACING IN CANBERRA

THE SUPERCARS used to race in Canberra more than 20 years ago and the time is well overdue for them to go back to Australia’s national capital.

A return of Supercars to the Australian Capital Territory would be helped if Canberra had a Townsville-style hybrid circuit – part permanent and part temporary.

Like the Townsville circuit, a Canberra hybrid circuit could have permanent pit garage facilities and half the track could have permanent concrete barriers, which would greatly reduce the cost to stage a Canberra 400 or 500 round of the Supercars Championship.

An annual Canberra round would attract thousands of local motorsport fans as well as many visitors from outside the ACT and be a great economic boost for the territory’s economy.

The Townsville hybrid circuit was built and co-funded between the federal and Queensland governments.

A Canberra hybrid circuit could be built and co-funded between the federal and ACT governments and could give the people of Canberra the permanent round of the Supercars they have long deserved.

To make a Canberra 400 or 500 a bigger success than the previous events there it would need to be held either earlier or later in the year as the weather would be a lot warmer and more suitable for the teams and fans and make it additionally attractive to entice people from outside the ACT. Malcolm Webster Boronia, Victoria

Ethan Johnson THE MAN is a champion. He is hungry and driven to succeed.

Even if he doesn’t win first time out on an oval it won’t take long for him to adapt and dominate. He is that talented.

Richard Arnott THE MAN is a freak on a greasy track. Got to love it when the Yanks get shown up at their own game by an outsider on debut.

Kevin Yard IT DOESN’T matter what he drives – V8 Supercars, NASCAR, WRC, Drifting or Sprintcars – he’ll always be at the pointy end. He is the all around professional driver.

Stacy Vickers IT WAS a bloody awesome display. I laughed out loud halfway through when the US commentators talked about internationals always struggling with the aggression. “Wait and see” I thought. Over the last 20 laps from the attitude of the car and it’s body language, it looked just like it had a Red Bull on the side. A class act.

DE PASQUALE ENDS FORD’S DROUGHT Matt Kara HAPPY TO finally see a win, but it was helped by tyre quality.

Let’s not be blindsided by that because the new front wing was still missing it was still a wipeout through the remainder of the field.

Michael Arnold HE WAS still doing fastest laps when his tyres were 20 laps old.

Its marvellous what can happen when the engineers get it right.

Anthony Schofield AS A Ford man it’s a relief, but the truth is he had a spare new set of tyres. Take Anton out of the equation and you have one

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Lando Norris contributed to the over 1200 (really) track limits infractions in Austria ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

THE TECHNOLOGY EXISTS – SO USE IT! EVEN THE most devoted Formula 1 fan couldn’t believe the number of track limits violations the 20 drivers incurred during the entire Austrian Grand Prix weekend. After a large number of infractions were detected during the race, with many drivers being penalised for going beyond the white lines on at least four occasions, 83 further infractions were identified after the cars were already parked!

It led to a record number of post-race penalties that changed almost the entire classification of the Grand Prix, fortunately without hitting the top three finishers, but costing valuable points for Sainz, Hamilton and Gasly, with seven other drivers also getting time penalties.

Given the track limits in the Red Bull Ring were exactly the same as in the last two years, the configuration of the corners and the kerbs also remained unchanged and the 20 Formula 1 drivers haven’t suddenly all become really bad at their job, the variable had to come from the way track limits are policed by the FIA. That’s exactly the reason why, suddenly, we were faced with a raft of infractions at

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with Luis Vasconcelos

F1 INSIDER least 20 times bigger than used to be the case, in Austria.

When Mohammed Ben Sulayem was elected president of the FIA at the end of 2021, he was faced with the backlash brought on by former Formula 1 Race Director Michael Masi in the dying moments of that season, as his failure to apply the rules effectively changed the course of the championship.

Realising that leaving all the power and responsibility resting on one person’s shoulders, the Emirati promptly announced that ‘remote’ Formula 1 Race Direction would be operating from the FIA’s offices in Geneva – but the reality is that until a few months ago, this remote tool was massively understaffed and under equipped to be of any real assistance.

By now, though, there’s enough people working remotely from

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Geneva to be of real assistance to new Race Director Neils Wittich, and their tools are now good enough that all track and pit action can be monitored at all times. Already in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, 47 lap times had been deleted due to track limits infractions and everyone was surprised at how fast those decisions were coming.

The reason for this was that, rather than wait for the Race Director to ask them to investigate each incident, view it, report its findings back to Wittich, before he’d report them to the Stewards, for a decision, the remote Race Direction doesn’t need to be prompted to investigate track limits infractions, capturing the image of the infraction and promptly sending it to the Stewards on site, so the process is clearly speeded up and streamlined,

becoming more effective.

Then, of course, on Sunday it became chaotic, because with over 1200 possible infractions to analyse, you’d need an army to check them all in real time – and that’s why warnings and penalties got more and more delayed during the race.

By the end of the race some drivers were being penalised for infractions 15 laps earlier, as the people working in Geneva were overloaded with work and that’s why it took more than five hours after the end of the Grand Prix for all possible infractions to be checked and the respective penalties applied.

Therefore, it’s reasonable to believe that had the FIA put together all these tools in previous years, the chaotic show we saw in Austria would have hit Formula 1 back then, as it was not the drivers that changed their approach, but the race authorities that now received the tools needed to properly monitor all track action.

However, it has to be said that while it’s the Red Bull Ring circuit’s track edge set-up that will make changes before next year’s Austrian Grand Prix,

to avoid a repeat of what we saw, Formula One should also consider take the matters into its own hands, because there’s technology available that could certainly help drivers and teams be instantly aware of track limit issues, thus making sure they would avoid going as wide the next lap as they’d done before.

Given there are sensors over the white lines in every corner of every permanent circuit Formula 1 uses, it is possible to set-up an alert that can be sent directly to each driver’s car display and/or the team’s pit wall group, so they’d know, almost instantly if track limits had been be exceeded.

Then, it would be up to the team to warn the offending driver and for him to avoid similar mistakes from then on.

Of course there will be quite a bit of software to be designed and developed, but, hey, this is Formula One – there are thousands of highly talented engineers around, so maybe it’s time to take the leadership in this field too and stop being dependent on track design and on-site observers to avoid the repetition of the chaos we had in Austria.

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FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS

WOLFF MOCKS “FIGHTENED HORNER”

IN 2026 RULES DISCUSSION TOTO WOLFF had the rare opportunity to mock Christian Horner during the Austrian Grand Prix, after the Red Bull Team Principal tried to sound the alarm bells to get the 2026 Technical Regulations for Power Units to be changed, claiming the cars will be extremely difficult and dangerous to drive, with some requirements to get the battery charge at all times potentially causing massive accidents.

Horner insisted the ICE should be the main source of power, not the batteries, in what many saw as a sign Red Bull has now realised they’ll struggle to build a competitive Power Unit for the new regulations as they have no manufacturer partner that can help them with the hybrid part of the car, given Ford has no recent Formula 1 experience.

On being told of Horner’s comments, Wolff said that, “I think what frightens him more maybe is that his engine programme is not coming along, and then maybe he wants to kill the rules that way.

You always have to question what’s the real motivation to say something like that.”

He then made it clear there will not be any going back on the rules: “That’s not going to happen. Zero chance: capital letters. We have developed these regulations over many years, with all the auto manufacturers being involved. It was a compromise that attracted Audi to finally joining the sport, and for Honda to stay in there. This is the best possible case that one could imagine for Formula 1. Is it challenging? Are our chassis designers saying: well, how are we going

to do this? Yes, but that’s super.”

In conclusion, the Austrian explained that, “these regulations are not going to change anymore. They’re not going to be postponed anymore, because the world needs to show innovation around sustainability. We need to reduce emissions. And we’re super excited.”

After the end of the race, the Red Bull Team Principal reacted to his rival’s words, claiming they were, “typically Toto, where he’s just focused on self-performance.

Taking the moral high ground, Horner insisted that, “my interest is actually about the sport rather than self-gain.”

The Red Bull manager also defended his company’s Powertrains division, saying that, “it’s still too early to say who’s going to have a competitive or uncompetitive engine in 2026. For me, the most important thing, from a sport’s point of view, is that we all have a collective responsibility to work together with the FIA and the commercial rights’ holder, to ensure the product is as good as it can be.

Otherwise, we’ve all failed.”

Based on the reactions from Mercedes, but also Ferrari, Alpine and Audi representatives, that were in Austria, Horner and Red Bull seem like they’re preaching in the desert.

The other manufacturers that have committed to Formula One under the new rules, Honda included, seem very happy with the direction the sport is going, leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit isolated in its quest to make big changes to the 2026 Technical Regulations.

RICCIARDO LEFT WITH FEW OPTIONS FOR 2024 RETURN DANIEL RICCIARDO’S love for Formula One seems to have been rekindled as soon as he went back to Red Bull Racing, the team that propelled him to success and for whom he won seven Grands Prix, the Australian now openly admitting he would “like to be back racing next year”.

The Australian admitted at the end of last year that he was completely worn out, after a very difficult second season with McLaren, and while insisting he “still loves racing”, didn’t hide the fact he needed “a bit of a break, because I’m not enjoying the Formula One life like I used to; everything that is not driving is actually become hard work, so I need to step away to discover what I really want to do in the future.”

After a nice break back home, in Perth, Ricciardo was eased into his role as test and reserve driver for Red Bull, missing the first two Grands Prix of the season to finally attend a race in Melbourne.

Only after his home race did he return to Europe and just one day of running in the team’s simulator was enough to convince Ricciardo he wanted to be back as a full time Grand Prix driver.

While the Australian has been mentioned as a possible replacement for the disappointing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri, that possibility has been dismissed by Helmut Marko, who made it very clear that, “Liam Lawson is our reserve driver and if we need to replace any of our current drivers, he’ll

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Daniel is enjoying life back at Red Bull ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES be the one that will step in.”

There are, however, people inside AlphaTauri and Red Bull that would like to see Ricciardo take over from the Dutch driver, believing that would kill two birds with one stone: first of all, it would allow the Austrian company to discover if the Australian driver has recovered his mojo and should be considered a viable alternative to Sérgio Pérez; at the same time, it would give a better benchmark to Yuki Tsunoda’s progress, the young Japanese driver’s complete domination over de Vries being difficult to gauge because of the lack of references from the Dutchman, who is a rookie.

While Ricciardo would certainly like to be back racing this summer, he’s looking more to a return to Grand Prix racing next year, but has admitted that, “there are very few seats available and even fewer that would be attractive for me.” The former McLaren driver went on to admit that, “I know this may sound arrogant, but I don’t want to go back to racing just to say I’m a Formula One driver. I want to be in a position to compete, I want to race at the front or, at least, have the chance to score points every time out, so I won’t be back just for the sake of it.”

This attitude seems to rule out a move to race for Williams, AlphaTauri or Haas,

three teams that have struggled to get into the points this year, but with Valtteri Bottas’ contract extension still to be signed, the Australian could target his seat at Alfa Romeo. Andreas Seidl, however, is unlikely to call back a driver he got rid of at McLaren, agreeing to pay him a full year of salary just to sit it out ... So unless Lance Stroll sensationally decides to call it a day and leave a seat available at Aston Martin, it’s difficult to see where Ricciardo could fit in 2024, given his current ambitions.

Unless, of course, the will to race again is bigger than his pride and then a seat in the smaller teams may become an option for the Australian.

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Qualifying tyre choice is set to be restricted.

EXPERIMENTAL QUALIFYING FORMAT FOR HUNGARY AND ITALY

HAMILTON AND VERSTAPPEN CLASH ON RULE CHANGE DISCUSSION LEWIS HAMILTON and Max Verstappen are in clear disagreement about the way the sport could prevent teams from dominating Formula 1 for a long period of time.

Clearly targeting the Austrian team, the seven-times World Champion offered a proposal that would certainly curb Red Bull’s possibility of extending its current domination but the Dutch driver was clearly not having any of it!

When asked if he believed Mercedes could be in a position to challenge Red Bull in 2024, now that the German team finally seems to be on top of the issues that plagued its cars since the new regulations came into play, Hamilton explained why he didn’t think that was the case: “From my personal experience when you are so far ahead, when you are 100 points ahead, you don’t really need more development of your car, so you can start

earlier on your next car. With a budget cap that means spending that year’s money on the next year’s car.”

He then came with an innovative proposal that caught everyone by surprise: “If everyone had set time to start the project of the following year’s car, that would change things. October, that’s probably too late!

But August 1, or something like that, would be doable. No-one would have a head start and it’s a real race in that short space of time for the future car. Maybe it would help everyone be more on a closer level. I might be wrong, but something’s got to change. When we were winning World Championships, we could start earlier than everyone else.”

He also added examples of teams which would simply put all the focus on future cars and get a massive advantage from that approach: “There were teams

that weren’t competitive, so then they just didn’t bother working on their current car. You look at Brawn, they just focused fully on the following year’s car from the beginning of 2008. And they turned up the following year and blitzed everybody. That shouldn’t be possible. It’s for you to judge, but it will be cool to see in the next 20 years, if we don’t have huge bands of time where one team leads too far ahead. We want to see better racing.”

Being clearly the target of such a proposal, Max Verstappen didn’t want to engage in a big discussion about it but made his point very quickly. When asked if he agreed with Hamilton that a rule change in the direction offered by the Mercedes driver would make Formula 1 a fairer sport, the Red Bull driver simply said, “Life is unfair as well. It’s not only in Formula 1. Like I said, a lot of things are unfair, so we just have to deal with it!”

AMERICAN MARKET PITCH

EXPLAINS F1 TEAM SHARE SALE ALPINE’S ANNOUNCEMENT it had sold 24 per cent of the shares of its Formula One team to three separate US-based funds, one of them fronted by well-known actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, didn’t come as a surprise, as since this year’s Miami Grand Prix it was known the French manufacturer was looking into the American market to find partners that would help promote and sell its road cars in what is the biggest car market in the world.

Although initially it was thought that the AutoNation car sales network would be Alpine’s new partner, the Florida-based dealership was just the tip of the iceberg, but an important partner in the company’s strategy to sell its sports cars in the United States.

Now, with big names like Reynolds and McElhenney to promote a new range of road cars that will feature seven different models to be launched until the end of 2023, Alpine will use AutoNation dealerships as their importer and distributor country-wide, in what is a very aggressive move by the company led by Laurent Rossi, the Frenchman effectively staking his own job on this new strategy.

For the Enstone-based team, the 200 million Euros raised by the sale of almost one quarter of its shares to Otro Capital, RedBird

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Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments will be very useful on the upgrade of the facilities, machinery and tools, as the inauguration of the new Aston Martin factory.

The construction of a new factory by Audi, close to the SwissGerman border, demonstrates that the goal posts have moved in terms of Formula 1 facilities and even if Enstone was subjected to a major redevelopment five years ago, the chassis factory is already no match for what the top teams have done in the last few years, with McLaren also working on building a complete new facility close to its current base in Woking.

Part of Rossi’s strategy is to have Alpine becoming the technical partner of the Andretti Global team, as it’s very likely the American team will be the only one to get the approval by the FIA and Formula 1 to join the field from the start of 2026.

With one American team, fielding at least one American driver and a couple of Hollywood A-listers backing the main team, Alpine’s visibility in the US market will grow tremendously, helping sell more cars in a short period of time and finally bringing the sports car brand into profitability.

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ONE OF the experimental formats Formula 1 and the FIA wanted to try this year had its first trial delayed with the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna race after terrible floods in the region made it impossible for Imola to host the event in the third weekend of May. Still determined to have two samples of this new format during the current season, the federation and the commercial rights’ owner, together with Pirelli and the teams, have now agreed to have the trials in the Hungarian and the Italian Grand Prix.

Planned at the start of the season, the experiment will force all 20 drivers to run exclusively with the Hard compound tyres in Q1; the 15 drivers that will make it into Q2 will then have to use only the Medium compound tyres during this mini-session; and, finally, the top 10 drivers, that will make it to the final part of qualifying, Q3, will then have to run exclusively with Soft compound tyres for the 12 minutes of that mini-session.

As Pirelli has just announced the compounds it is taking to the Hungaroring, opting, as usual, to use the three softest compounds of its range, this means we’ll only see C3 compound tyres in the 18 minutes of Q1, C4 tyres in the 15 minutes that Q2 lasts and, finally, the C5 compound, the softest of the Italian manufacturer’s range, will be used in Q3.

The main reason Pirelli and the two entities that run Formula 1 wanted to try this format was to reduce the number of tyre sets that are used during a Grand Prix weekend.

Reducing the cost of operation and also the carbon emissions is now very high in the FIA and Formula 1’s agenda and, with this format, each driver will only be allowed to run 11 sets of tyres during the weekend, against the 13 sets that are available in a normal Grand Prix.

That will mean there will be less 40 sets of tyres being used – two per driver – and that will reduce the carbon footprint of the sport.

Drivers will be handed three sets of Hard compound tyres, and four sets each of Medium and Soft compound tyres, but will only be allowed to run through four sets, in total, during the three Free Practice Sessions, as they’ll have to leave the remaining seven available for qualifying and the race. As per the regulations, everyone will have to have at least one set of Medium and one set of Hard available for the Sunday race, so the teams and drivers strategic options will be quite limited in the two raceswhere this new format will be trialled.

Depending on the feedback of teams, drivers and fans, it will then be decided if this format will become the regular one for all non-sprint events from 2024.

Other formats are likely to be trialled during next season as Formula 1 is determined to revolutionise the sport with completely new technical and sporting regulations from the start of 2026.

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Above: chatting with the man he would replace – Mattia Binotto ...

Opposite top to bottom: Talking to Lewis in the ART Grand Prix days; Even the Ferrari Manager has fans!; Ferrari has improved its pit stop speed significantly ...

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

“YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE

BEFORE FIXING IT!”

THE RECENTLY INSTALLED HEAD OF FERRARI FRÉDÉRIC VASSEUR SAT DOWN WITH AUTO ACTION’S FORMULA 1 MAN ON THE SPOT LUIS VASCONCELOS FOR AN EXCLUSIVE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW. VASSEUR IS A MAN UNDER PRESSURE AS ALL FERRARI BOSSES ARE … BUT HE REINFORCED HIS VIEW THAT HE NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT’S WRONG WITH FERRARI BEFORE HE CAN REBUILD THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A STRONG FUTURE …

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WHAT DO all the drivers that won the Formula One World Championship between 2010 and 2020 have in common? Apart from winning the ultimate prize for a racing driver, they all drove, earlier in their careers for Frédéric Vasseur’s teams either in the Formula 3 Euro Series or in GP2. Yes, Sebastian Vettel (four times champion between 2010 and 2013), Nico Rosberg (2016) and Lewis Hamilton (the remain five years of the 2010’s) served an important part of their apprenticeship working with the Frenchman that now leads Ferrari – and he’s proud of that.

“Yes, it started with Lewis in 2008”, Vasseur smiles, “then Button won in 2009, but after that all World Champions until 2020 were with ASM or ART on their way to Formula One and I’m proud of that.”

A brief pause and he adds, “and this path isn’t about to end because we also had Bottas, Leclerc, Ocon and Russell in our teams, so I expect former drivers of ours to win more Formula One titles.”

While he refuses to take much credit for their success, “because they were already very good drivers when they joined us and we just gave them the tools to prove it,” Vasseur admits that “when I look at a podium with Lewis, George or Charles on it, I do feel a lot of satisfaction because I worked closely with all of them.”

For a man so used to winning – ART has helped 19 drivers win titles in GP2, GP3, F2 and F3, in the last two decades – joining Ferrari as Team Principal at the start of January must have been a dream come true, even if Vasseur is quick to explain that, “getting to Formula One, was never a goal per se, for me, just a consequence of the work I had been doing for 25 years in the junior formulae,” he clarifies.

After all, the plan to was to be a racing driver but those plans changed because of a bad accident in karting”, Vasseur explains: “I was racing against guys like Franck Lagorce and ‘Manu’ Collard, but I had a huge accident and my mother was adamant that was the end of my racing career. I had already reached the conclusion I wasn’t good enough to make it to the top as a driver, while still in hospital for a few weeks, so the accident and the family opposition sort of made the decision for me.

I then focused on finishing my studies in aeronautical and mechanical engineering but the goal, of course, was always to get back into motor racing”, he adds.

The rest, as they say, is history, with ASM becoming ART Grand Prix when Nicolas Todt bought half the team and continuing to grow until the son of the then FIA president had his shares bought by the Bahrain sovereign fund, the Mumtalakat Group, leaving Vasseur as the undisputed leader of the team.

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A first, short stint in Formula One, with Renault, ended quickly, “because I wasn’t given the autonomy I needed to change the team”, but then Sauber, having been saved from bankruptcy by Swedish millionaire Finn Rausing, came calling and, with a free hand, Vasseur oversaw the Hinwill-based team making a huge leap that saw it finish sixth in last year’s championship with its highest points’ haul since 2013.

UNDER PRESSURE FROM DAY ONE

AT FERRARI, though, progress is never enough and Vasseur quickly felt the pressure of leading the Scuderia. Testing in Bahrain had barely finished when those who resented the firing of Mattia Binotto and the fact he’d been replaced by a foreigner, started to call for the Frenchman’s firing, even if the SF-23 had been completed when he arrived in Maranello, as he pointed out: “The car was already there, at the factory, when I joined. So was the development plan for the whole season, the technical structure – everything. Of course, my first task was to know everybody, understand how everything worked and with a company that has more than 1000 people, it’s not possible to do that properly in a week or two.

“Then, of course, I had to see the track operation in action, to understand what was working well, what needed some smaller changes and what needed more important ones, so that took the test and the first two races for me to get a clear picture.”

Changes were quickly made, first in the Strategic Group, with some internal changes, but hiring bigger names for the technical department is not something you can do from one day to the next, as Vasseur told us in Montreal: “Gardening leaves in Formula One go for as long as 24 months. I’ve recently hired a high-profile engineer who can only join us in the middle of 2025, so he’ll only have

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Then, of course I had to see the track operation in action, to understand what was working well ...

an impact on the 2026 car … but if I don’t start hiring now, we’ll never get people of the highest calibre to join us. But it’s a long

process because the other teams hang to the terms of the contracts and don’t let their best elements move to other teams quickly – and

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Vasseur had hoped deputy team manager Laurent Mekies would stay with the team – but he departs shortly to take over as Team Principal at AlphaTauri.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

we do the same too” he smiles, as Laurent Mekies goes past behind us, the younger Frenchman having signed to be AlphaTauri’s next Team Principal but yet to know when he’ll be released by Ferrari.

Right from the start of testing it was clear the previous management’s decision to develop the concept of last year’s car wasn’t the way to go. Sticking by his team, Vasseur repeatedly said, “we won’t change the concept mid-season, because what we still need to understand is why the car is so inconsistent. Jeddah apart, we’ve been generally very competitive in qualifying and at some stage of each race, but we lack consistency. Once we’ve understood why, then we’ll act quickly.”

By the start of May big changes had already been made on the SF-23, but the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and a decision against putting the new package on track in Monaco, meant that the new parts

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were tried ifor the first time in the Spanish Grand Prix in what was a difficult weekend for the team. Leclerc was unable to get temperature into his car’s tyres and was out in Q1, while Sainz qualified on the front row but dropped to a distant fifth place in the race.

A GLIMMER OF HOPE

CANADA GAVE a better picture of the SF23’s new competitiveness but both drivers messed up in qualifying and started 10th and 11th only. Their speed and consistency in the race, though, was a sign of the progress made in a short period of time as, from the moment they leapfrogged the midfield, they lapped in times identical to Alonso and Hamilton and just fractionally slower than Verstappen without suffering the tyre degradation that had doomed them so many times from the start of the year.

For Vasseur, making progress “is not just about potential, package and upgrades,

We are developing the car in this direction, to have something a bit easier to drive without losing performance ...

but we also have to operate the package in a better window. The first target for us is not just to put downforce on the car, it’s to have the car a bit more consistent. On top of the update we now have a big room for improvement with the current car in terms of performance.

The second question is “do we have to restart from scratch on the group that designs and develops the car” and to that I would say that as long as I’m convinced we can improve on the current car it would be a mistake, during the season, to change completely the target – first for timeframe reasons, because if you decide during the season during 2023 to do a complete different car, it would bring us to October or something like this. I’m not sure it’s the best solution to improve, as we already have next year’s car in the wind tunnel and they are working on the next project. So, to try and introduce a complete different car during the season ... it’s quite critical at this stage of the season.”

The noise around Vasseur and the rest of the Ferrari management has reached levels never seen before in the first year of any Team Principal for the Scuderia and comments made by the drivers on the radio or as soon as they get out of the cars, in the heat of the moment, have been used to inflame the situation in Italian media. From the Frenchman’s perspctive, “you have always to stay calm. If the car is so difficult to drive as we’ve sometimes heard, I cannot

imagine we’d be able to get pole positions or front row starts, we we’ve achieved this year. So, you have to stay calm in the face of those comments, because they’re made immediately after qualifying, before they speak to the team and see the telemetry, so I can understand perfectly their frustrations, but the comments they are making half an hour later are different and a better reflection of what they’re feeling.”

In Canada both drivers had only praise for the handling and consistency of the car during the race, both painfully aware they could have been on the front row of the grid had they put everything together on Saturday. For Vasseur, this was validation of the way the team has been working: “We are developing the car in this direction – to have something a bit easier to drive without losing performance and, step by step, we are going in the right direction. But you can’t draw any conclusion after one event, in one way or the other one, so it’s better to wait and see if this kind of progress is reflected at subsequent races as well. We’ll bring some parts next week and we’ll try to continue to develop the car step by step. I’m not a big fan to have a big package – it’s better for us to develop the same package.”

“I WAS EXPECTING HARD WORK”

Given how hard his first six months in Maranello have been, it was legitimate to, first, ask Vasseur if he

VASSEUR TIMELINE

There have been ‘podiums’ (above) in qualifying, but the team is still not close to matching Red Bull in race trim (Left top). Chatting with an old ally – Vasseur and Hamilton (left).

regretted accepting the offer to lead the Scuderia and, second, if he was expecting it to be so much hard work.

With a very French shrug and a smile he quickly says, “non, no regrets whatsoever”, before admitting that, “I was expecting hard work, because in Formula One it doesn’t matter if you’re P1 or P10, it’s hard work because of the intensity of the job. It doesn’t matter if you are Red Bull, Sauber or another one, it’s the same intensity, first of all.”

He then expands on what he is expecting to

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achieve in the short, medium and long term: “As for the target, I would say that the target is not in terms of position, the target, the important mindset that I have to push for, is to do a better job tomorrow than we did today. As we said before, as soon as we analyse and conclude that we have a weakness, on the car, on the approach of the team or in the garage and so on, we’ll put all the efforts to fix it. And when I say ‘we’, it’s easy for me because I was not here last year, “I think the team did a very good step forward on the pit stops, because they accepted that it was not enough last year.

They did thousands of pit stops over the winter and now we are in a good shape.

It means that when we work with this approach, we have to identify the issue and then to put all the effort to fix it on every single area.”

Insisting that everything has to be put into perspective, the Frenchman continues: “We’ve spoke a lot from the beginning of the season about aero packages and so on, but it would be a mistake to believe the lack of performance is just coming from the Head of Aerodynamics. Performance is coming from everywhere – the ability to produce parts quickly, the strategy, the pit wall, the pit stops, the mechanics, the reliability.

Every single employee of the company is a performance contributor and if we have this kind of mindset ,we are able to put all our

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efforts to do a better job tomorrow than what we did today and to try to improve in every single area, I’m sure that we’ll do a good step forward for the end of the season.”

With teams like Sauber Audi and Red Bull already pushing with the design and development of their 2026 Power Units and chassis, Vasseur admits work is already been done in Maranello towards the same goal but cautions that, “we’re still at a very early stage, because we don’t have the regulations. That makes it quite difficult to work on something.

We are working on the engine, for sure, but we are at the early stage of the project; we are speaking about N+3 today. And it’s a bit more difficult on the chassis side, because we need to have a better understanding of what could be the regulation before starting to work on it, but on the engine, yes, fuel and batteries, the process is ongoing.”

In closing, we asked him if he was finding it difficult to be in the public eye every single day, after cultivating a distance between himself, the media and the fans for many, many years, as consequence of not being one of the most outgoing Team Principals around. With a smile, he fires back that “I don’t think I’m shy, but it’s true I don’t speak much and people can take that as a sign of shyness. It’s just I don’t like to speak when I have nothing to say!”

Ah, what an unusual and refreshing way of living your life these days…

SCUDERIA FERRARI’S new boss Frederic Vasseur has had a long career in motorsport which has evolved from his beginnings in engineering. Starting with preparing F3 engines in his 20s whilst studying at the prestigious Grande Ecole (higher learning institution) in France, Vasseur would then see in the very first generation of Formula E racing cars two decades later.

Upon founding his first racing team in the junior formulae in the 90s – which guided the beginnings of Lewis Hamilton’s and other great F1 drivers – Vasseur would turn his hand to being a team principal, which led him to be the head of the legendary Italian F1 team after turning around the fortunes of Alfa Romeo.

1992-1995

RPM – A company that prepared F3 engines for Renault, which he ran whilst he studying aeronautics and engineering.

1996-2015

ASM team founder (Rebranded as ART Grand Prix in 2004).

15 Championships – French F3, France Formula Renault 2.0, Formula 3 Euro Series, GP2, GP3.

Notable champions – Lewis Hamilton/Paul di Resta/ Romain Grosjean/Nico Hulkenberg/Nico Rosberg/ Valtteri Bottas/Jules Bianchi.

Succeeded by Sebastien Philippe as Team Principal in 2012, but remained involved.

2012

Spark Racing Technology (company founder) – designing and manufacturing hybrid and electrical systems, also securing the FIA contact to build the first three generations of Formula E chassis.

2016-2017

Team Principal of Renault F1 team.

Resigned after disagreements with then managing director Cyril Abiteboul.

2017-2022

Managing Director & CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG. Saw in Sauber’s partnership with Alfa Romeo.

2017-2018

Team Principal of Sauber F1 team.

Brought in Charles Leclerc.

2019-2022

Team Principal of Alfa Romeo F1 team (re-branded from Sauber).

Rebuilt a struggling team.

2023

Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari F1 team.

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VAN GISBERGEN SHAKES THE NASCAR TREE SHANE VAN GISBERGEN IS NOW A NASCAR CUP SERIES RACE WINNER – BUT THE WIN IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY. ANDREW CLARKE WAS ON THE GROUND IN GRANT PARK AND REPORTS ON WHAT IT ALL MEANS ...

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“ ”

He came, he tested, he conquered.

Denny Hamlin leads Reddick and the Aussie Supercars interloper early in the race (above).

Opposite: Champions chat – Van Gisbergen and NASCAR ‘Hard-man’ Kyle Busch compare notes.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES/DAYLON BARR PHOTOGRAPHY

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THE GRANT Park 220 was Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Cup Series debut, but it will not be his last run in the biggest tin-top category in the world. Running in the streets of Chicago, van Gisbergen took to the Cup Series and the new seventh-generation NASCAR like a duck to water.

From the minute he arrived in the States, he started winning fans and admirers – but he is more than just a novelty act. He left for the long road to Townsville, a very much in-demand race winner with a NASCAR future.

Everyone, including the man himself, knows it was a perfect storm. The current NASCAR is closer to the Supercars and GT cars in which he has excelled than ever before. To just call it a stock is perhaps a little demeaning, but that is history.

Van Gisbergen himself said the car is somewhere between last year’s Supercar and the new Gen3 cars he doesn’t like.

“It’s kind-of in the middle of last year’s Supercar and this year’s one. It’s better, it’s quite cool. It’s very stiff and low and

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It’s kind of in the middle of last year’s Supercar and this year’s one. It’s better, it’s quite cool.

It’s very stiff and low and touches a lot ...

touches a lot. They’re very different step-up philosophy-wise, I guess, but similar in a lot of ways too.”

One of the major differences is, of course, is where he is sitting in the race car, and the track itself presents its own unique challenges. He’s driven and raced left-hand drive before, just not on a track with the walls so close.

“Well, I sit on the other side of the car, so that’s the hardest thing. And just the wall where the fence is ... I ended up hitting the wall at the end with the right front, so just misjudged the wall because the whole car is on the other side. That’s probably the most difficult thing.”

Van Gisbergen excels on street tracks and races on them five or six times a year, although our tracks are a little more sophisticated in terms of surface and kerbs. For instance, we don’t have surface changes from asphalt to concrete and back, like this brutal bullpen in Chicago.

So what does SVG’s two-week trip to the States mean? How does he turn the buzz into something real?

This year, he has been quite open about his dislike of where the sport is going, not just in terms of the Gen3 cars but also the politics, which has been sucking the enjoyment out of doing what he loves. Like Marcos Ambrose and Scott McLaughlin before him, it appears the off-track stuff makes a move to the US more attractive than not.

Shane van Gisbergen will race in NASCAR full-time. The only question is when. It can come as early as next year if he wants, but all his talk in Chicago was of 2025 with some more cameos in 2024. Enhance Health will back him in a limited campaign in 2024 as exclusively revealed to Auto Action, but Enhance and Trackhouse is not his

only option going forwards.

He could travel a path initially started by drivers like Dick Johnson and Alan Grice, who went to the States for some races after trying NASCAR on the Calder Park Thunderdome. Then it was paved with gold by Ambrose who fought his way through Trucks and Xfinity before becoming a Cup Series winner. And even Scott McLaughlin’s transition to IndyCars is significant.

The teams like him. The drivers like him and already have respect, although their noses are a little out of joint, and they’d like to show him a thing or two on ovals. Joey Logano joked in a lift after SVG missed the ride to the media bullpen after qualifying, that they’d teach him a lesson or two at Darlington Park!

THE MEDIA’S VIEW

DUSTIN ALBINO is the digital content manager with Jayski.com, a leading digital platform dedicated to NASCAR coverage. Like many of the media in Nashville and Chicago, he was fascinated by the sideshow that was Shane van Gisbergen.

In Nashville, the media initially thought the potential of the SVG-Trackhouse combination was a beat-up. The ones who spoke with me probably thought I was just a biased Aussie.

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The regulars understood the qualifying speed, but few imagined SVG would head the post-race celebrations!

Below: His Supercars street race experience enabled SVG to push right to the (concrete wall) limit ... it takes a while to adapt to ovals.”

The van Gisbergen we know in the Australian media and the van Gisbergen in the States are two different people.

“He’s super open. I didn’t know what to expect, but he’s been good to talk to and informative, so that’s been good for us.

THE RIVAL’S VIEW

They were paying attention by Saturday afternoon in Chicago, but that was just qualifying, wasn’t it? As the race looked like getting washed away on Sunday morning, Albino was getting his head around what he had seen the day before.

If Chase Elliott hadn’t hit the wall trying to keep up with van Gisbergen, the New Zealander would most likely have been starting off the pole and not the second row.

“He is someone who I think had high expectations; people had high expectations for him going into the event; but I think he exceeded them yesterday with how quickly he took to this track,” Albino said before the race.

“He’s a great street racer; we know that, so I don’t think it’s too much of a surprise from talking to other drivers about how much he stood out yesterday.”

Albino said qualifying and racing were different and that he expected van Gisbergen to fall back when the race went green. He was wrong.

“Qualifying and races usually pan out differently. We saw Jordan Taylor, for instance, who has a lot of background

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and road racing history. He qualified fourth in COTA earlier this year and then finished well down in the race. The racing is usually super aggressive, especially if it rains, so who knows what to expect?

There’s only been a couple of races in the rain, but I expected him to do well. I don’t know about top 10, but he’s lived up to it so far.”

He didn’t think the NASCAR drivers felt any embarrassment from the qualifying outcome. Most drivers knew he’d be fast given the similarities between the current NASCAR and other things van Gisbergen has driven, although clearly, after the race, driver after driver appeared in the media centre with their tails between their legs.

“I was talking to Daniel Suárez about it – he’s his teammate – and they expected him to do well. They expected Jensen [Button] to do well too, because they have backgrounds in this form of racing.

So, because of that, I don’t think there’s any sort of embarrassment or anything.”

He said it was track specific, and it made the transition into the category much easier than if it had been an oval

or a normal road course, which the NASCAR drivers are now really good at.

Marcos Ambrose and other interlopers in the past have been able to win on road courses but not ovals.

“Ten to 15 years ago in NASCAR, there were only two road courses. And you’d have these road courses where they struggled. Now, there are six or seven – it’s such a big part of the schedule, so you’ve got to be good at it.”

With a full-time NASCAR career beckoning, Albino says the hard part for the Kiwi will be adjusting to the ovals.

“It seems like he does have an interest in potentially coming over one day, but he’d have to adapt to the ovals. I heard him on a couple of podcasts this week, and he was in Nashville last weekend. He seems like a really good driver.

“Daniel Suárez called him a ‘badass’, so we’ll see! I think it could be good if he comes over, but it’ll take a while. We’ve seen it like with Juan Pablo Montoya, with Sam Hornish Jr, with the guys with open-wheel backgrounds ... this is different.

“If you have a road racing background,

DENNY HAMLIN (after qualifying): “The biggest thing I noticed is the guy (Van Gisbergen) is lightning fast in all of the corners. I feel super uncomfortable using that extra three inches against the wall. So, where the track is the narrowest, and where you saw Chase (Elliott) and those guys get into the wall, is where he is extremely fast.

“He’s just got a feel for those barriers and the car control that he has.

That’s his advantage right now – we’re not used to having to cut the corners that tight, and he is. It’s been impressive what he’s done today, for sure.”

KYLE LARSON (fourth): “He’s probably, I don’t know, four or five or eight years ahead of us in this sort

of car, and the things he’s done with the V8 Supercars.

“I’ve worked with him as a teammate with the Lexus program at the Daytona 24 Hours.

He was in the other car, but all eight of us drivers were in the same meetings talking together.

“I saw he was talented in that car. We were all really fast. He always kept probably the quickest time for the team the whole time we were there. He’s no slouch. I knew he’d be good when he came over.

“He put on a show, and it was cool to see.

I think a guy like that can come in, and he’ll kick your ass at your own game. It shows that we all have room to improve, and I’m curious what he thinks about us.

“He obviously passed a lot of us, so I’m curious if he thinks we all suck or if we could actually compete if we weren’t really that bad!”

CHASE ELLIOTT (third): “He wasn’t overdriving. He was very calculated, and for someone to come in and race like that was

just incredible. Very clean as well. I mean, our race for the lead was clean, and he gave a lot of room and was very respectful.

“He was in a league of his own, and in my opinion, put on a really big clinic.

“I don’t want to speak for everybody else, but he made me look bad, and I kind of think for the rest of us too. Looking forward to going to work and trying to be better.”

JUSTIN HALEY (second): “We started last today, and I feel like we had good pace. Shane was just better. He had 16 or something lap better tyres. Just a world-class racer.

“He was very calculated, very precise and very smooth. He wasn’t overdriving it. For someone to come in and race like that was incredible. Very clean as well. Our race for the lead was clean, and he gave a lot of room and was very respectful.”

THE VIEW FROM INSIDE TRACKHOUSE Darian Grubb is the Director of Performance at Trackhouse Racing and a

championship-winning engineer with Tony Stewart, and was the crew chief for van Gisbergen’s Chicago debut. Grubb fronted the media post-race with team owner Justin Marks and revealed his first thoughts on The Giz. Grubb revealed that he thought van Gisbergen could win when they did the shakedown on the Charlotte Roval (road course and oval) the Monday before the race.

“Honestly, for me, I would say it was Monday when we did the test at Charlotte,” he said.

“I had to give kudos to NASCAR for letting us swap that program up and work more for the safety.

We weren’t allowed to do any setup changes or anything with it, and it was just going to make laps.

“But being able to work on seat belts, steering column, brake pedals, and

“ ”

“In those things, you see his talent level, and you see his questioning of his own ability, and he wanted to go in there and try five different ways, and you just sit there and watch. We don’t have data on the car, but you could see him learning with every lap, and he could do consistent laps all day long.

“And then when we got to the simulator later than the week, watching how he had studied what the other guys had done and being able to go out there in lap three and beat their lap times in most cases was pretty impressive.

His feedback in the car matched exactly what we were expecting with simulation programs and everything we do with Chevrolet.

“He’s just a leader. He came in very studious. He wanted to know. He was excited about Nashville and the commitment level he had. They left early from the Nashville race; he didn’t do the party because he knew we

We don’t have data on the car, but you could see him learning with every lap and he could do consistent laps all day long ...

obviously, with the awesome footwell camera that was on there this week, everybody got to see his footwork, which was important.

“But watching his disciplined approach of managing tyre wear, letting him do a long run with 26 laps at the end of the test, just letting him feel how the tyres would fall off ...

We were running part of the Legends course on the backstretch, so it’s nothing that even correlates to anything we do on a racetrack, but those are corners that he felt like he could go and attack and understand what it would be for a 90-degree corner somewhere.

had to do the oval test the next morning.

“He wanted to be back and be fresh and stuff like that. Got him in bed about 2 o’clock in the morning for it.

It was still a long night, but with that type of professionalism and the commitment to what he wanted to do to come and prove himself and be prepared, he asked all the right questions.

“If he didn’t know what question to ask, he would say basically, what am I not asking?

And we sat and talked a lot.

We ran through all the scenarios, and I have to say ... he was very well prepared.”

NASCAR came to the streets of Chicago for its first ever street race; Van Gisbergen came from Australia and showed ‘em how it’s done ...

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SPEEDWAY WRAP W0 Jamie Oldfield winner of the Brett Johnson Memorial for Street Stocks.

Image: JOSH COCHRANE

OLDFIELD OUTSHINES OUT WEST! KARRATHA’S NICKOL Bay Speedway played host to its biggest event to date with the 10th running of the Karratha Machinery Hire/ Trufleet Brett Johnson Memorial for Street Stocks. A field of 57 drivers participated in the two-day event. Newly crowned State Champion Jake Hoath headlined the stout list of drivers, including last year’s winner Hayden Norman, former BJM Champs Jace Kempton and Paul Joss; however a new name would be added to the winners list as Jamie Oldfield stamped his authority over the field, claiming three of his four qualifying heats, the Col Johnson Memorial Shield preliminary feature race and then leading every lap of the 30-lap main event to win his maiden Brett Johnson Memorial trophy.

After 24 hard-fought heats and two B Mains, Oldfield and Hayden Norman shared the front row. At the green, Oldfield hit the front, Norman slotting into second with

Damon Lyall and Donny Davis in behind, the top four slightly pulling away from the rest of the field. Matt Lowe became the first retiree with a flat tyre and Joshua Ellis would join him shortly after.

Oldfield, Norman, Lyall and Davis had equal gaps, as was the gap back to fifth-placed Paul Briggs, who led Ben Norman, Jake Hoath, Stevie O’Dowd, Jack Barnewall and Josh Martinelli, until the yellows came on for a tangle involving Cody Avins and Jack McAuley.

As the race approached the halfway point Norman headed infield, elevating Davis to the runner-up position. However his run would also come to an end as Shay Roberts got by Briggs – the order now Oldfield by just under five seconds from Lyall, Roberts, Briggs and Ben Norman. Unfortunately, Roberts sustained a flat right rear tyre and he too pulled infield, while running third.

SPEEDWAY NEWS with Paris Charles With five remaining, Oldfield began to make his way through the lapped traffic as he raced his Adrenaline Performance and Fabrication Holden Commodore to the chequered flag to win by just under eight seconds, defeating Lyall and Ben Norman, while Jake Hoath and Jack Barnewall would round out the top five finishers. Ethan Genev was next followed by Paul Briggs, Josh Martinelli, Paul Joss, Zane Humphrys, Damon Thomson and Lenny

Bates, the final car on the lead lap. Rounding out the finishers one lap in the rears were Jamie Goodwin, Stevie O’Dowd, and Cody Avins. Joining Roberts, Davis and Norman on the retiree list was Matt Hammond, Matthew Iwanow, Jack McAuley, Peter Dowie, Joshua Ellis and Matt Lowe.

JETT SETTER!

A SMALL field of eight Junior Sedans provided strong support over the two nights of racing. Jett Downs started from Pole Position after claiming two of the four qualifying heats with Luke Bailey alongside.

Downs got the jump and would lead over the course of the 10-lap final. Jackson Goodwin was a very close second as he challenged valiantly for the lead with Bailey home third.

Sophie Goodwin, Katie Beadle and Emily Bates rounded the top six while James Monks and Bailee Pettitt failed to start the final.

PRESIDENT ATKINSON TAKES LOCAL OFFICE DARWIN’S NORTHLINE Speedway fired up for the running of the President’s Cup across all six divisions on the night, featuring Sprintcars coinciding with round four of their track championship series. Interstate guests Jordyn Charge (Vic), Matt Dumesny (NSW) and West Australian Mitch Wormall ventured up early to get some vital experience against the locals and track conditions prior to the running of the acclaimed Chariots of Thunder Series.

After winning two of the four heats, Benny Atkinson Junior claimed the prime position for the 20-lap final alongside Dumesny.

Atkinson stormed away from the field to set a clear buffer from the pursuing pack until a stoppage bunched the field up for the restart.

Jordan Charge (#60) and W97 Mitch Wormall challenging for the minor placings.

Atkinson. However, the real estate ran out as Atkinson went on to claim his second feature race of the series. Charge recorded back-to-back runner up placing with last round winner Dumesny rounding out the podium. Fourth to the line was opening round victor Wormall, leading home Kale Quinlan and David Ling for the top six.

Blake Walsh – Wingless Sprints winner.

Benny Atkinson Junior (#2) – Sprintcars winner.

Images: SCOTT KERNAHAN Charge pushed hard towards the front which allowed him to snap on the heels of

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travelled the furthest to be there found the shortest way to the finish line in the Top Six Dash to earn pole position for the 20-lap final.

After an early race battle with Keelan Edwards the duo swapped the lead position three times over the first three laps before Walsh took the bull by the horns and wasn’t headed for the rest of the journey. Next was reigning Territory Champion Zack Grimshaw and Jamie McInnes. Rounding out the top six was Angus Campbell, Nathan Dicker and Cameron Jaenke.

BRUMFIELD BEATS FIELD

JUSTIN BRUMFIELD proved his worth as the reigning Territory Champion with a flag-to-flag victory in the 15-lap Street Stock final. Jake Koivumaki chased him hard over the journey and Kane Lloyd moved to third. Samantha Radford and James Ballantyne were next while Megan Henderson and Michelle Gill completed the finishers.

amongst a combined field of a dozen Top Star and a trio of New Star Junior Sedan competitors. The sequence would follow suit in the 15-lap final. The next four to finish were Kallen Hall, Harrison Turnbull, Caiden Weaver and Zackery Czoloszynski while Ashlin Bucklar was the best of the New Stars with Kade and Brock Beurskens next.

Utilizing the infield track were both the Dirt Karts and Solo Bikes. The podium in the 15-lap Kart final was Tony Brown, Isiah Strong and Yazmin Brown. Chris Meynell was fourth with Michael Brown and Andrew Williams the top six.

From the six Solo competitors to square off for the heat races the top four points scorers qualified for the final. Reigning Darwin Champion Connar Bridgeford proved too strong over Kurt Baxter, Bradley Niven and Wayne Baxter.

LOCK IT IN! WALSH WINS WINGLESS

AMONGST A strong field of 22 Wingless Sprints Victorian Blake Walsh who

LOCAL ACE, River Spitzbarth had his colours temporarily lowered by Victorian visitor Jayden Lock to claim all three heat wins, followed closely by Spitzbath

Jayden Lock (#4) and NT43 River Spitzbarth battle in Junior Sedan action.

NATIONALS WRAP

Images: RICCARDO BENVENUTI-PRICELESS IMAGES

NIGHT MOVES AT SMP NSW ROUND

THE NSW MOTOR RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS WAS BACK AT SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK FOR ROUND 4 ON JULY 8, A DAY/NIGHT MEETING. AUTO ACTION’S BRUCE MOXON WAS THERE TO CAPTURE THE BUSY DAY’S EVENTS SPORTS SEDANS / PRODUCTION SPORTS CARS

BRAD SHIELS (Fiat 124) had pole, but lasted just one lap in the opener, breaking a driveshaft. Peter Ingram (RX-7) and Stephen Lacey (Camaro) disputed the lead early on before Greg Boyle (Skyline GT-R) had his front diff blow and spun on his own oil.

The same oil gave Stephen Lacey a halfspin, dropping him back, and put Dylan D’Szabo’s Lamborghini Hurucan into the gravel, out of the Prodsports lead and the race. The subsequent Safety Car allowed Lacey to close back up but with just one lap after the restart, there wasn’t time to do much.

Third went to Matthew Ingram (RX-8) with Richard Gartner (Lamborghini) first of the four Production Sports cars that started.

Shiels started at the rear of grid in the second race, and was up to second before the end of the first lap. Neither Ingram car started, Peter’s car (RX-7) with a fluid leak discovered just before the race and Matthew’s with a window net drama at the same time.

Shiels ran down Lacey, taking the lead on lap eight, before suddenly slowing on lap 10, with just one to go, with fuel pressure issues.

Lacey took the win, Shiels limped home second and Willem Fercher was next in a Toyota 86. Dylan D’Szabo (Lamborghini) was best of the Production Sports cars.

Shiels ran away and hid in the final race, while Peter Ingram drove from the rear to be second with Lacey third from Matthew Ingram and Nick Mantikos winning the Production Sports battle in his MARC.

SUPER SPORTS

A TYRE supply problem for Alex Kenny’s Nova Proto meant he had the wrong size rubber on the front, inducing understeer – which didn’t stop him getting pole, nor setting a new lap record in the two laps he finished in the first race, before retiring with a blown-to-bits exhaust manifold! This left Justin Tigani’s Radical unchallenged for the win, from Jonathon Canavan and Sergio

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Lancer EVO, then Stig Richards’ RX-7.

Macready won the under 2-litre final with Robert Jowett next in a Civic, then Matthew Birks’ Corolla.

HQ HOLDENS

CHRIS MOLLE and David Proglio took first and second in all three races, with thirds going to Matt Barker twice and Luke Harrison.

Justin Tigani took the points in Super Sports, while Peter Ingram’s RX-7 (above) was a top contender in a Sports Sedan contest affected by mechanical gremlins. Lee Vella (below) set the pace having graduated to a 250 International Superkart. Soole/Burgess took out the Production Touring Car contest.

Piries, also in Radicals.

Kenny would take over his father’s Juno for the second race, winning after starting at the back, with Piries and Mark Brame (Radical) next. Kenny would park for the third race, series rules meaning he couldn’t score points after changing cars. The third race went to Tigani, who also started from the back after a DNF in Race 2. Canavan and Brame filled the rest of the podium.

FORMULA VEE

THREE VERY close races with results never clear until the finish. Nobody led two laps in a row all meeting! Darren Williams steered his Sabre to two wins with the other race going to Craig Sparke’s Jacer. The races featured close battles between Williams, Sparke and Aaron Pace (Sabre) for the most part. Michael Kinsella was battling for the lead in the first two races before a DNF. Starting from the back, he got back up to the lead pack and was second in the final race.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

SUPERKARTS

LEE VELLA has moved up to a 250cc Anderson and endured some teething issues. Races 1 and 2 saw struggles, but the third and fourth had him lapping well in front of the field, winning both comfortably. In the 125cc karts, the racing was much more intense, with Mark Robin, Aaron Cogger and Paul Campbell having four engaging races, fighting hard in their Avoig Elises. Robin took three of the four races (in class) and Campbell the other.

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KURT MACREADY (Nissan Sylvia) showed why he’s the National Under 2-litre champion, taking the opening heat from Ben Algie’s 200SX Turbo, but not by a lot. Algie took the second heat and the over 2-litre final, with Steven Engel second in a

PRODUCTION TOURING CARS.

A BMW benefit was expected and delivered.

Chris Sutton (Lancer EVO) was quick off the line and led the first lap, before retiring on lap 3 with an oil line failed. Simon Hodges (M4) took the lead and was never headed, apart from during the pit-stops. Anthony Soole M4) settled into second with Matt Holt next in his HSV Clubsport. This car would retire late in the race, leaving V8 honours to Tony Virag / Liam Evans (SSV Redline Commodore).

After the pit stops, Hodges was ahead of Adam Burgess, sharing with Soole. Hodges had a rear wheel part company with the car with just a few minutes to run and parked up at the back of the track. With the car in a dangerous position, Race Control red-flagged the event. Final result was Soole/Burgess, from Michael Auld (BMW), Virag/Evans and Bryden/Bryden in their VW Scirocco.

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NATIONALS WRAP COOL TEMPS, HOT CONTEST AT WDSCC C SERIES SPRINT THE WARWICK District Sporting Car Club ran their second round of the C series for its ever-popular Super Sprints at Morgan Park Raceway on the 1st and 2nd of July.

The event was ran on the 2.1km E circuit. A busy layout that consists of using the first half of the main track, then takes a quick right into a flip flop before turning right onto the Straight again. This layout favours the nimble cars giving a more even playing field.

Saturday morning started with a brutal chill with ice covering over anything left out in the open. (No need to buy ice this weekend).

The cold temperature meant cold tyres and a cold track surface, catching many out on their warmup lap.

The C series (much like the A and B Series) consisted of a large variety of cars and classes ranging from purpose-built Sports sedans to the daily driver.

10 of the 11 groups ran on the weekend consisted of 4 laps with standing starts.

The other group were a rolling start.

The rolling starts have been growing in popularity from competitors and spectators alike.

There was never a dull moment with 14 cars in the group including Historic touring cars, sports sedans, and a hand

Tyson Cowie three-wheels the Escort. Below left: Oliver Siebel pushes the Suzuki. Right: Jackson Halloran’s Mazda ...

full of Improved production cars. 1st place in the rollers was Paul Spiteri in his Rx7 followed by Matt Clift in a VH Holden and Brendon Flaxman in 3rd also in a Rx7.

There was a good turn out of juniors with a total of 11 competitors. 1st place was Oliver Seibel in a Suzuki, followed by Adam Brennan in a Toyota MR2, and in third place Jack Trapnell in a Hyundai Excel.

Whilst the weekend remained mostly dry, as the sun dropped down over the horizon, so too did the temperature leaving many to huddle around a campfire or two telling stories of the

battles that raged on during the day between classes and categories.

The A series will be next in the Super Sprint Series and will be held on August

12th to 13th.

Spectator entry, as with all the WDSCC Super Sprint Series, is free.

Words and pictures: Peter Trapnell

GONZALEZ ROLLS ON IN WA WA RALLY Championship leader Daniel Gonzalez (below) has continued on from his Forest Rally state victory, with a strong win at the Grimwade Stages Rally.

Gonzalez and his regular co-driver Daymon Nicoli not only dominated from start to finish at Donnybrook, south of Bunbury, but they managed to take all but one of the eight Grimwade stages on their way to back-to-back state wins to extend their championship lead.

45 crews entered for the Round 3 hit-out Hosted by the Light Car Club of WA, which featured an all-new track layout across VC Mitchell Park Donnybrook and Grimwade Plantation, with one notable absentee being the second placed Peter Rullo.

The #3 Skoda 5 pairing picked up where they left off from the Forest Rally, coming home by 14 seconds over the

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pairing of Dylan King and Lee Tierney – but it wasn’t all one way traffic from the outset.

After taking the opening run, Stage 2 saw them tying with Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith in their Subaru Impreza, before the third run of the day saw them blitz the same pairing by 11 seconds to set up a less stressful day ahead.

And after doing much of the same to King and Tierney in SS5, that then became a 20 second gap.

King took the only other Stage honours over the sixth run, but the money was in the bank over the final two stages.

Rando and Beckwith took home the final podium spot for their troubles, enjoying a healthy 52 second cushion over Timothy Hiles and Morgan Ward.

Rounding out the top five in a Peugeot 208 was Gary Mills and Mitchell Gray, overcoming John O’Dowd/Toni Feaver,

and Dale Faulkner/Rachael Ferrante in a Skoda Fabia and Subaru Impreza WRX respectively.

The 2WD class was also a convincing romp for Nissan Silvia S13 pair Alex and Lisa White, who set top their early, having led David Smith and Roger Pederson by 32 seconds after Stage 4, to ease into an eventual 30s victory, with Scott Bennett and Gavin Turner taking third in their Lancer.

With three rounds to play out in the WA championship, Rullo’s Donnybrook absence allowed Rando back into the equation, but the gap to first is growing steadily.

Round four sees the championship continue southward to Manjimup on August 12, with the WA Car Club hosting the Karri Rally.

TW Neal

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AMOS GOES BIG IN GRAFTON

Image: CH IMAGES

DEAN TIGHE’S perfect start to the 2023 New South Wales Hillclimb Championship has come to an end with Dean Amos (pictured) winning round 5 in Grafton.

Tighe had won each of the first four rounds of the season, but fell just over a second short of a fifth win which was denied by fellow Formula Libre runner Amos, who set record-breaking pace.

Whilst Amos might have been victorious in Grafton, Tighe still made a statement by extending his points lead.

Round 5 of the 2023 season was held at the Grafton Sporting Car Club’s 968m Mount View hillclimb layout.

This was perfectly executed by Amos,

who recorded a record 40.95s time to easily be the fastest up the hill in his 2006 Gould GR55B. But runner-up Tighe made the biggest impact in the championship despite being 1.16s off the pace.

With nearest rivals Matthew and Peter Brown not competing in Grafton, Tighe extended his advantage to 34 points over the former.

The battle for second in the standings is heating up with Amos joining a sevendriver group split by just 19 points.

A tight fight for overall honours at Grafton was always on the cards as just 0.66s split Amos and Tighe in the practice splits.

When the heat was on Amos once again

rose to the occasion, going five seconds faster than Tighe on Saturday.

Whilst the championship leader rediscovered the speed of his 2020 Empire Wraith on the final day, it was not enough to usurp Amos. His 40.95 proved to be untouchable for Tighe, while Dave Morrow joined them on the podium in his #51 1986 Krygger Suzuki.

Steven King won a fierce battle for fourth with the rest of the top 10 covered by two seconds.

The penultimate round of the New South Wales Hillclimb Championship is Tamworth at Oakburn Park Raceway on Saturday, July 15.

Thomas Miles

FORSYTH SPRINTS TO PORT GERMEIN VICTORY

BRENTON FORSYTH (Southern Cross/Chev – pictured) cruised to victory in round three of the SAORRA Multi Club series the SGORA Sprint Challenge at Port Germein on June 24/25. After qualifying P7, Forsyth quickly cut through the field to finish Section 2 only seconds behind section winners Simon, Kyle and Lucy Tucker (Southern Cross/Nissan).

The Tuckers’ luck ran out on Sunday when they struck problems on lap 7 leaving Forsyth to dominate the remainder of the race.

Adam Bierl and Nyree Burmingham (Jimco/ Chev) cut some quick laps on their way to second three minutes down on the winner. Si Heaslip was a further two minutes back but is starting to come to grips with his Jimco/ Chev and will be one to watch.

Brenton and Matthew Gallasch (Southern Cross/Chev) navigated through the tricky wet dry conditions for P4 only seconds ahead of Shane Waters and Scott Watson (Southern Cross/Mitsubishi). Rich, Lauren and Jamie Andrews (S&SWoftam//Nissan) made a slow start but came on towards the end of the race to claim P6 comfortably in front of Darren and Lewis Oliver (Tiny Built GSXR3/Suzuki). Nick and Alex Burt were

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next home in the Chev powered Rush Truck comfortably ahead of Ben McNamara and Wayne Pascoe (Can-Am Maverick). Paul Tinga and Daniel Kelsey (Tyrant 3/Toyota) were hot on McNamara’s heel’s and rounded out the top 10.

The Tuckers managed to stay mobile and completed full race distant but were last car home in P12. Forsyth was the Pro Buggy winner with the Andrews family taking the

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Pro Lite trophy. The Olivers were easily on top in Super 1650 with the Burts the only survivors in Extreme 2WD. McNamara and Pascoe outlasted the rest of Super SXS field while Waters and Watson were the only starters in Sportslite. Jamie and Naomi Parker qualified P3 in the Chev powered Nissan Patrol but once again had driveline breakages and were out on Saturday.

Report and Image: David Batchelor

ROBINSON ON COURSE FOR MAIDEN AORC TITLE TRAVIS ROBINSON (above) finds himself on top of the table after three rounds in the Australian Off Road Championship after three straight podiums.

The WA Off-Roader is a welcome returnee to the AORC, and now himself and Andrew Pinto are staring down the barrel of a fairytale maiden AORC championship.

The pair now shares a 129-point lead at the top of the standings following podiums at the Gold City 450, the Pooncarie Desert Dash, and at Finke earlier in the month.

“We had some serious adversity to overcome at Finke – the car threw everything it could at us … all the curve balls,” Robinson said at the Finke finish line.

“The team worked day and night to try and keep the car on the track and we got it there. We lost a lot of time in prologue and a lot of time on the first day, and the motor finally let go on the way home to the finish.

“Its our first year back in six years, so were just trying to figure this sport out again, We can still drive the thing fast but we’re just trying to keep it calm and get to the finish and see how we go.

“It’s a good start to the year and it’s a good car and we had a good race [Finke], and we just have to keep moving forward.”

The Pro Buggy class driver sits on 250 points after Finke, leading the SXS Pro pairing of James Cook/ Mitchel Aucote who are on 121 points.

Prolite pair Mel Brundle and Nick Price are next on 110, leading a close pack with only two big rounds remaining.

Up next for Australia’s premier Off Road competition in the famous Loveday 400 in South Australia on July 28-30, before the championship closes out with the Kalgoorlie Desert Race in October after a long space between events.

Although it’s certainly not impossible for Cook to catch Robinson, the WA star is in the box seat to take a maiden title.

TW Neal

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NATIONALS WRAP

Mitchell Evans Morris Cooper S (16) leads Simon Northey’s Lotus Cortina.

Images: RAY OLIVER

SCHUTTE CLAIMS KOSTERA CUP THE KOSTERA CUP was on the line in the fourth round of the West Australian Sporting Car Club Championships and Auto Action’s Ray Oliver was documenting all the action at Wanneroo Raceway.

The meeting, held on the first day of July was a cold affair, but run under clear sky, which was a refreshing change for competitors, who braved wet weather at the last meeting.

A healthy total of 86 cars across five categories took on the 2.4km circuit.

FSR

THE WA FSR Championship raced for the Kostera Cup and no one could come close to stopping Elliott Schutte from cruising to the Kostera Cup. It was an impressive effort from Schutte to clean sweep the weekend in a class where your day can be won or lost in the 10 minute qualifying.

The battle for pole was actually taken out by Caleb Sumich, who went 0.07s faster poll than Schutte.

But when racing began Schutte took control, taking the lead on the penultimate lap and never looking back.

Race 1 was the only time a place changed hands in the front with Schutte claiming all three races ahead of Sumich and Brendon Duncombe.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

WHILST JUST 12 cars lined up on the Historic Touring Cars grid, there was no shortage of action once the green flag dropped.

The opening race saw a tight fight for the lead between John Bondi and Greg Barr. It went right down to the wire and ended with both coming together and spending the rest of the race in the Turn 1 sand trap.

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driver Zane Rinaldi were streets ahead of the rest of the field and lowered the lap record by four-tenths by the end of the day.

The two were nose to tail throughout the weekend with Sherriff claiming the first two races over Rinaldi.

In the final Rinaldi got one over Sherriff in what has to be a good teaser for the nationals in a few months.

However, Sherriff claimed round honours as the fight for third in each race was shared between Jack Clohessy, Jack Charnley and Carlos Ambrosio.

Elliott Schutte leads Caleb Sumich

FORMULA FORD

Logan Eveleigh (Fastlane Racing RF93 Stealth), leads Jason Youd (Van Diemen RF92) and Marc Redman’s Stealth S3.

The chaos presented the win to Stuart Young with Peter Pisconeri in second and the returning Cono Onofaro in his giant killing Mini.

Race 2 would have Barr and Bondi charge from the back of the field and resume their fight at the front.

Barr surged all the way to second to Pisconeri with Young in the XU-1 Torana holding out third. Barr was back in front for the final race and took the win over Pisconeri and Bondi.

FORMULA CLASSIC

THE ROLLING museum that is Formula Classic put on another great show with a collection of open wheelers and sports cars from the 80s and earlier on display.

The battle up front would be a two-

Zane Rinaldi battles with Brett Sherriff. way fight all day long with Simon Alderson in the Formula Ford 2000 and Allan Jones in his Ralt RT5.

Alderson claimed two wins and Jones the other, but it was the former who took round honours by just three points.

William Norman was a non-starter in the first event but made up for that in the last two races in his Ralt Rt4.

Nipping at the tail of these three was Andrew Gifford making progress in his return driving the stunning March 722.

EXCEL CUP

WITH GOOD track conditions and a new tyre on offer, the lap record was in danger in the Excel Cup and it did not take long for it to fall in race one.

Brett Sherriff and visiting interstate

AS HAS been the case all year Formula Ford turned up the heat at Wanneroo Raceway with a thrilling five-car battle for the lead in each race.

Despite the competitive battles, Logan Eveleigh emerged victorious in all three races after getting a break from the others and leaving them to jostle for position.

In Race 1 Brock Brewer was trying everything to keep Eveleigh behind him after a fast start. But a rear lock-up almost sent him off in turn one and proved costly as Eveleigh won over Brewer and Marc Redman.

Race 2 followed a similar vein with Eveleigh, Brewer and Sheldon up front.

Race three was intense being a threeway affair until Brewer locked up on entry to turn seven. The mistake sent him into a spin through the infield and dropped him to sixth.

But by the end he fought back to second with Eveleigh taking the win, who had left everyone else in his wake.

Round 5 of the WA Sporting Car Club season is to be run on Saturday, July 29.

Want to see your category event or news story included in the Auto Action Nationals Wrap.

Send your information, images and contact details to team@autoaction.com.au or give us a call on 03 9563 2107

SMALL FIELDS…

BUT GREAT RACING AT SYMMONS SOME OF the competitor numbers were disappointingly small for the third round of the Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championships at Symmons Plains, forcing the Light Car Club of Tasmania organisers to combine several classes.

However, despite the small car count, the racing was entertaining, especially in the one-make categories. Auto Action’s Martin Agatyn reports on the event.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

THE HYUNDAI Excels were once again the stars of the show, with a strong field of 15 starters providing some intense racing throughout the grid.

Former Tasmanian champion Charlie Parker missed the second round of the championship, but it was as if he’d never been away, being fast from the outset.

He qualified second fastest behind reigning champion Jeremy Bennett and the pair, plus Jackson Shaw formed their own battle pack at the front for the first three races.

In Race 3 Shaw hit the lead on lap four, but spun out which restricted him to 14th.

While this incident didn’t halt the race, there were several red flags during the weekend for the Hyundais, which resulted in numerous restarts.

Shaw charged through from near the rear of the grid in race four to finish third, and resumed his battle with Parker and Bennett in the double-points final.

Bennett was largely able to avoid any of the dramas to finish with three wins, including the final, to extend his championship lead over Shaw at the halfway mark of the season.

Toth won two races and Ashlin won three, including the double points final, to win the round.

However, Toth has snatched a narrow two-point championship lead over Bird.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

Phil Ashlin took out the HQs ... just.

SPORTS GT AND SPORTS SEDANS

THE NUMBERS were down in Sports GTA and GTB categories, but the racing was fierce.

Championship leader Beau Johnson (Porsche GT-3), qualified fastest and won the first race, but a DNF in the second race threw his plans out the window.

His brother Troy Johnson (Porsche GT-3) won the second and third races, with Stephen Noble (Nissan 350Z) taking the fourth, after valiantly fighting off the Johnson brothers.

Beau Johnson made his way back to third from the rear of the grid to finish third in Race 3 and then second to Noble in the fourth.

Johnson won the start of the double points final and took the win, but his costly earlier DNF saw Noble winning the round by just six points.

Back in the pack, GTB honours were shared between Jason Lemon (Ford Falcon) with two wins, Troy Wood (Ford Falcon) also with two wins, and Mike

Hamilton (Subaru Liberty) winning the double points final.

Hamilton won the round with more consistent placings to maintain his series lead.

Sports Sedans were also combined with the Sports GT classes, with Tim Mann (Ford Falcon) cruising to five impressive wins, all by huge margins.

HQ HOLDENS

THE OTHER standout category for the weekend was the HQ Holdens with exciting racing at the pointy end.

Reigning Australian champion Phil Ashlin bought out his title winning HQ in what was a clear sign he intends to defend his national title later in the year at Morgan Park.

The constant battles between Ashlin, current Tasmanian champion Andrew Toth, and Andrew Bird provided a spectacle throughout the weekend.

Bird was strong early in most races, but lost ground to Toth and Ashlin in the later stages to finish the weekend with five third placings.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION championship leader Shane Bond (Datsun 1200 Coupe) started the weekend in a blaze until a turbo issue in race four ended his meeting prematurely.

Andrew Colquhoun (Ford Falcon) inexplicably followed Bond into the pits when his turbo blew, possibly thinking the race was over, and was consequently classified a non-finisher.

Points-wise, it cost him the round win, with Michael Symons (BMW 125) taking the honour.

A very small field of Historic Touring Cars were combined with the IP sedans, and Phil Ashlin (Holden Torana) dominated the meeting with five wins from five races.

FORMULA VEE

A SMALL field of Formula Vees got even smaller as the weekend progressed.

Richard Gray (Bee Cee Jabiru) crashed in race one but repaired the car overnight to rejoin in race three, only to be forced out again with oil pressure issues.

Jeremy Dyer (Elfin Crusader) led Gray by two points in the championship at the start of the weekend.

Apart from Race 1, which was won by Michael Vaughan (Spectre), Dyer was able to lead the small field home in every other race, to extend his championship lead over Gray, who’s still in second.

The Johnson bros took the wins in Sports GT, while the Excels provided their usual competition ...

Images: ANGRYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

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AMRS

MORGAN PARK’S SUPER SHOW

Josh Haynes is now a TA2 winner!

Images: PETE TRAPNELL – TRAPNELL CREATIONS

THE FABULOUS MORGAN PARK AND THE AMRS/AASA PLAYED HOST TO ROUND 4 OF THE HI-TECH OILS SUPERSERIES. THERE WAS PLENTY OF ACTION, AS THOMAS MILES REPORTS ...

HAYNES JOINS 2023 TA2 WINNERS LIST

JOSH HAYNES has become the fifth different TA2 Muscle Car Series framed

by Hytek round winner of 2023, taking overall honours in Round 4 of the series at the Morgan Park Hi-Tec Oils Super Series round and joining Lee Stibbs, Dylan Thomas, Tim Brook and Nash Morris as drivers who have stood on the top step of the podium this season.

Haynes qualified on pole position but played second fiddle to Jackson Rice in the first three races. However, when Rice was tapped into a spin by Brad Gartner at the start of Race 4 (for which Gartner was penalised), Haynes was ideally placed to benefit and duly drove to victory.

Rice finished ninth in Race 4 but still scored enough points to secure the runner-up spot for the round ahead of Dylan Thomas, who continued his perfect run of podiums in 2023.

Thomas’ third place result also enabled the Sydneysider to protect his championship lead, although his margin has been reduced to 13 points ahead of Rice and Haynes, who are now tied for second in the standings.

WOODY WINS IN REPLICA TOURERS

THE REPLICA Tourers races produced entertaining battles between two cars with completely different characteristics – the nimble-handling BMW E36 of Jason Clements and the raw V8-powered Camaro of Ian Woodward. Both drivers won two races, with Clements snatching the round win by a single point thanks to his pole position effort in qualifying.

While his VK Commodore was not as well-suited to Morgan Park as it was to the previous round at Queensland Raceway, Steve Hay still managed to bank a healthy points haul with third for the meeting.

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Queensland Touring Car Championship round win last time out at Queensland Raceway, Rob Bellinger backed up with another overall victory at Morgan Park, winning all four races. Gary Lange and Nathan Marks made it a BMW lockout of the podium.

It was a tough weekend for championship leader Peter Bray, who finished third and second in the first two races but retired from Race 3 with a mechanical failure and was subsequently sidelined for Race 4.

QLD PRODUCTION CARS Steve Hay’s VK Commodore took third in Replica Tourers.

THE STORY of the Queensland Production Car Championship races was Mark Bailey’s very rapid Toyota GR Yaris, which proved to be the weapon of choice for the technical Morgan Park layout and scored outright wins in Races 1 and 2.

However, Bailey’s retirement from Race 3 allowed Roman Miller to take the win in his BMW M2, before Anthony Levitt emerged victorious in the weekend’s fourth and final race.

AUSTRALIAN TRANS-AM Justin Lewis (#50) dominated in Mazda RX8 Cup, while Robert Hogan (#46) did the same in Legends. Bottom: Mark Bailey’s Yaris was the Production Car pace-setter.

MAZDA RX8 CUP

THE YELLOW Express Mazda RX8 Cup Series produced a first-time round winner, with Justin Lewis scoring his maiden pole position before driving to victory in all four of the weekend’s races.

However, while the scoreboard shows Lewis dominated, he faced stiff opposition in each race, especially from Tom Shaw who mounted a robust challenge in the first three races, and a fast-finishing Luke Webber in the final.

Lewis’ decisive victory also enabled him to wrestle the series lead away from Justin Barnes, who finished fourth overall.

HOGAN IS A LEGEND

IN THEIR return to the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series program, the Legend Cars produced a typically entertaining show with Robert Hogan, Billy Finnegan, Scott Melville, Ryan Pring, Brendon Hourigan and Scott Morgan all battling closely at the front of the field throughout the five races.

In the end, Hogan took round honours with wins in four of the five races, with Pring second for the meeting ahead of Melville. Finnegan was the other driver to win a race, but a non-finish in Race 4 saw him finishing a lowly 13th for the round.

QLD TOURING CARS

AFTER BREAKING through for his maiden

THE FINAL category on the program was the Australian Trans-Am Series, which saw John English winning all four races in his Pontiac Firebird. John’s son Sean English was second in the first three races, before John Prefontaine moved up to take the runner-up spot in the final.

The next round of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series takes place at Sydney Motorsport Park, 13-14 October.

TOWNSVILLE SUPPORTS

CHAPMAN AND BREWCZYNSKI SHARE THE SPOILS THE AUSSIE Racing Cars took on the Townsville streets at the weekend, and Reece Chapman and Cody Brewczynski (two-wheeling, above) rose to the occasion.

The pair evenly shared the spoils across four busy races which were all important phases in the championship race, being the penultimate round of the year.

Chapman importantly won round honours to gain ground on series leader Joel Heinrich for the second round in a row.

Fresh from a maiden round win in Darwin, Brewczynski continued his momentum by winning the opening race in dominant style.

After a tense start, the #18 Mustang led every lap of the race ahead of CoolDrive cars of Chapman and Josh Anderson.

But there was drama further behind as Heinrich got tangled up in Turn 2 chaos.

He was spun and dropped down to as low as 24th, but salvaged seventh with a comeback drive.

The second race was a thrilling affair as the CoolDrive cars went head to head.

Brewczynski led early, but mechanical dramas saw him slip to 16th allowing the blue battle to take place.

Chapman made the decisive move at Turn 3 and was able to hold off Anderson during a tight final lap.

The reverse top 10 affair produced plenty of action as usual with multiple lead changes.

Scott Dornan got the jump off the line and led the first two laps before Anthony

DiMauro fought his way to the front.

DiMauro controlled the mid section of the race, but could not stop Dornan from fighting back.

Dornan did his best but only led for the solitary lap with Chapman on the charge.

Having started 10th, Chapman hit the lead on the penultimate lap and was able to open a 4s advantage over Dornan before the chequered flag.

Another big mover was Anderson, who rose from ninth to third.

The race was not without its drama however, with two short Safety Car periods which resulted in Brett Osborn, Anthony Quinn, Nathan Locke, Cody Mckay and Matt Gooding all failing to finish.

CASHA ON THE MONEY THE TOYOTA 86 Series finally rolled into action for 2023, on the streets of Townsville, and it was worth the wait as Ryan Casha and Campbell Logan fought hard for round honours.

Just eight points separated the pair after three races and Casha prevailed to take the championship lead.

In a field of youngsters, Jayden Ojeda showed his experience in the opening race. After original poleman Jayden Wanzek was disqualified, Ojeda and Casha went head to head for the lead for the first three corners.

Casha was rewarded for his bravery by hanging tough on the outside, but Ojeda only needed three laps to make the decisive blow.

Despite the commanding win, Ojeda had to start from the pit lane for Race 2, which allowed Casha to take control as Alice Buckley and Matthew Hillier found trouble, while Clay Richards had a crack at fighting for first.

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Brewczynski could only finish ninth, but this did not stop him from pulling off a comeback win in the Townsville finale.

It was another chapter of Anderson’s sonear-yet-so-far title defence as he fell short of a maiden victory in the 2023 season by just 0.5s after leading the first eight laps.

Chapman led initially but was spun by Adam Uebergang, whose race ended in the wall after contact with DiMauro.

This brought out a late race Safety Car, which did not trouble Brewczynski, who used the restart to complete his charge and deny Anderson.

The Aussie Racing Cars go on a four month break before the finale at Hampton Downs on November 3-5. Thomas Miles

While they wrestled for the win, there was plenty of action behind.

Brock Stinson and Rylan Gray spun together at Turn 9, whilst Jordan Freestone found the Turn 3 fence.

Behind Logan, Casha and third place finisher Reuben Goodall, the fight for fourth was exhilarating.

After fending off multiple cars in a crazy battle, Jack Westbury emerged unscathed, taking fourth.

The loser however was Richards, who dropped to 19th.

At the end of it all Casha and Logan emerged with a healthy advantage over the field.

The next best, Goodall, is in third a further 46 points back and leads a gaggle of cars.

New rivalries will resume in the next Toyota 86 series round at Sydney Motorsport Park on July 28-30.

Thomas Miles Early action as Campbell Logan heads Richards around the streets of Townsville.

Suddenly Richards, Casha and Logan were embroiled in a grandstand finish.

In the end Casha performed to take a 4s win over Logan as Richards dropped to fifth with a semidetatched exhaust pipe.

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The third and final race was another nail-biter as Logan and Casha had an arm wrestle for victory.

The pair put on a race-long battle which went down to the final lap as Casha made a challenge at the final turn, but Logan covered him off to claim a 0.2s win.

TOYOTA 86 SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER ROUND 1 1 Ryan Casha 280 points 2 Campbell Logan 272 3 Reuben Goodall 224 4 Lachlan Blossom 222 5 Jack Westbury 216

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CARRERA CUP

DAVISON’S EXPERIENCE

TRUMPS VIDAU ALEX DAVISON’S experience trumped Max Vidau in a tight Porsche Carrera Cup Australia round at Townsville.

After a Dale Wood clean sweep in Darwin, the third round of the championship was much more competitive with three cars crossing the line first in as many races.

But after it all the experience of Davison was enough to secure his first round win in seven years.

Whilst Jackson Walls was not one of those to who took the chequered flag first, he consolidated his championship lead with a consistent weekend.

The tight nature of the round was evident from the moment the Porsches hit the track with both Friday practice sessions going down to the wire.

Although Wood continued his stranglehold on first, he only just clung onto the position as not even a tenth covered the top three in opening practice.

Wood was just 0.0041s faster than David Russell, while Callum Hedge set the fastest time in the second practice session by a similar margin over David Wall.

This was a sign of things to come as Hedge edged out Vidau in a tense qualifying session.

The Kiwi’s 1:13.122s was just 0.046s faster than Vidau, to snatch pole, while Walls struggled and could only manage 10th.

Above: Turning back the clock – a win for Alex Davison.

Right: Two wins and a fifth earned Vidau the runner-up points result.

Images: MARK HORSBURGH-PORSCHE

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The first of three races was a Safety Car-shortened affair and was not without controversy.

Hedge got the jump off the line to lead the field into turn two and leave Vidau and the fast-starting Wall to box it out for second.

The pair ran side-by-side through turns two and three and Wall prevailed to complete his charge from fifth to second.

Vidau soon fought back and regained second at the same corner and by lap nine he was challenging Hedge for the lead.

Despite two looks at the final corner, Hedge held on in the tense battle as the jostling for position behind stepped up.

Wall made a challenge for second, but lost third to Davison in the process. Russell tried to do the same going around the outside of Wall at Turn 6 but it ended in tears.

Russell was spun into the wall by Wall, while Dale Wood, Fallon, Jackson Walls and Bailey Hall all went off having their own incidents whilst taking avoiding action.

Wall was able to survive and stay in fourth with the big winner Walls climbing to sixth.

The chaos meant the race ended under Safety Car with Hedge in first, but he lost the win due to a post-race penalty for a breach of driver briefing instructions, which promoted Vidau to victory lane.

Boosted by the unexpected success

Vidau doubled up in Race 2 with a composed drive.

The #72 perfectly managed the 27-lap encounter to cross the line 2s ahead of Davison, while Hedge claimed a trophy he could keep in third.

The Safety Car returned early after Christian Pancione was sandwiched into retirement at the tight Turn 3 after Angelo Mouzouris made an agressive move down the inside.

Mouzouris made a lunge and sent Pancione into the tyres and forced Chris Pither down the run off.

That was the only interruption of the race, but there were still flashpoints, with Dale Wood and Thomas Maxwell clashing on two separate occasions.

Each driver received a 15s penalty for the incidents which sent Maxwell into retirement and restricted Wood to 18th.

Vidau’s hopes of a clean sweep were dashed from the moment lights went out in the 17-lap finale as Davison got a flying start.

Amid the fierce fight for second, Vidau dropped down to fifth as Walls surged from fifth to second across the opening sequence of corners.

There was more drama at the hairpin where Dylan O’Keeffe, Courtney Prince and Rodney Jane all found themselves rotated 180 degrees.

The driver who spun O’Keeffe, Simon Fallon, struggled with resulting damage and visited the Turn 2 escape road on multiple occasions.

Tim Miles was an opening lap victim, while Pancione suffered his second straight DNF having got tangled up with Wood at the final corner.

With Davison checking out, attention turned to the fight for third with Fabian Coulthard applying the blowtorch to Hedge.

But the Team Porsche New Zealand driver was able to fend off the Kiwi, who is 21 years his senior, to secure another podium as Davison led home Walls by 2s.

With Vidau down in fifth, Davison’s final-race win was enough to steal round honours, while in Pro Am Sam Shahin extended his points lead.

The next Carrera Cup round is at The Bend on August 18-20.

Thomas Miles PORSCHE CARRERA CUP CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 1 Jackson Walls 396 points 2 Callum Hedge 376 3 Max Vidau 309 4 Dale Wood 295 5 Alex Davison 264

DUNLOP SERIES

ALLEN TAKES ANOTHER LEAP

Kai Allen works to try and keep series leader Zak Best at bay. Image: ROSS GIBB PHOTOGRAPHY KAI ALLEN is now a Super2 round winner – which was just one of many breakthroughs he made in the third round of the Dunlop Series in Townsville.

After taking Super3 by storm last year, Allen has now made his mark on Super2 after collecting his maiden pole position, race and round wins in the second tier series, at Reid Park.

The successful weekend has vaulted Allen from seventh to second in the championship, 66 points behind leader Zak Best, who won a tense fight with the Mount Gambier teen in the final race.

Aaron Seton created the early headlines, soaring to his first career pole position on Saturday morning. His 1:14.1609s was enough to beat Allen by 0.16s.

The session ended early after an unaware Brad Vaughan squeezed Jack Perkins into the concrete in the run up to Turn 7.

The strange incident, where Perkins on a hot lap was sandwiched between the fence and the tyre-warming Mustang, caused so much damage it ruled the #70 Commodore

out of the remainder of weekend.

It was also costly for the likes of Best and Ryan Wood, who missed out and had to start from back in the pack.

Seton was unable to convert his “amazing” pole position and bogged it down off the line as Allen led Cameron Crick in an Eggleston one-two.

Whilst Allen took control, Crick flew from the third row to second as Chris Smerdon and Mason Kelly tangled twice at the hairpin.

In a separate incident, Kelly found himself in the concrete at Turn 1, which brought out an early Safety Car. The early interruption did not faze Allen, who drove away from Crick and Seton, while Best and Wood were able to complete their charge into the top 10.

Lochie Dalton slid down to the opposite end of the timesheets after such a large lock up at Turn 2 a full tyre change was required.

But there were no dramas for Allen, who cruised to score a maiden Super2 win in

style by 4s over Crick and Seton.

The Blue Lake boy carried his momentum into Sunday when he collected another milestone in qualifying with a first pole.

An early flyer of 1:13.8250 was so good that Allen spent the end of the session in the garage leaving Best, Zane Morse and Vaughan to fight for best of the rest.

For the second race in a row, Allen got a smart start and led the field away, while his Eggleston teammate Cooper Murray got tangled up in drama, spinning Love into the concrete and retirement on the exit of the high-speed turn 10.

Despite the chaos, Murray survived and finished sixth.

Whilst staying in charge, Allen could not shake off Best. The 18-year-old led the first 20 laps, but the gap never exceeded a second.

After seeing Allen make a mistake out of the final corner, Best pounced with 15 minutes left.

The Ford driver used the better exit to

MCLEOD TAKES OFF THE THIRD round of the Super3 season on the streets of Townsville was all about one man – Cameron McLeod.

Although Jobe Stewart had a clean and consistent weekend to retain his championship lead, it has been scythed down to just three points as McLeod (pictured, right) has all the momentum.

The #92 Gotzinger Nissan Altima was so fast it not only topped every single Super3 session, it was faster than the majority of the Super2 field.

McLeod’s domination started in practice where he was four-tenths faster than Stewart.

The third generation driver then took things a step further in qualifying.

Not only had McLeod taken pole over Stewart by sixtenths, but he was a sensational fourth overall.

The mighty effort almost did not happen when the #92 came close to the Turn 8 tyres, but narrowly escaped.

Starting six spots ahead of his nearest rival, McLeod just had to stay out of trouble to collect the Super3 win which was exactly what he did.

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dive down the inside of Allen by the time they got to Turn 2.

It arrived at a key time as yet another Safety Car arrived soon after as Smerdon retired in a cloud of smoke at the same part of the track.

This meant Best led home Allen and Morse to the chequered flag under the control of the Safety Car, which helped the latter score an emotional podium.

Although Best won the battle on track, Allen’s near-perfect weekend was enough to take out the round.

However, Best was able to extend his championship lead from 48 to 66 points ahead of round 4 at Sandown on September 15-17. Thomas Miles SUPER2 CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ROUND 3 1 Zak Best 744 points 2 Kai Allen 678 3 Cooper Murray 660 4 Ryan Wood 597 5 Matthew Chahda 582

and drove even further into the distance.

This time McLeod took pole by nine-tenths with a 1:14.2483 over Stewart and Johnson.

During the early stages of the final race the #92 Altima sat as high as third overall after a flying start, but eventually had to settle for seventh.

But his Super3 lead was never under threat with Stewart 13th, three spots ahead of next in class Johnson.

Gilroy and Smerdon were non-finishers due to mechanical issues with the latter bringing out the raceending Safety Car. After such a crushing weekend by McLeod, Stewart will have his work cut out defending his slender lead in Sandown on September 15-17. Thomas Miles

Image: MARK HORSBURGH McLeod and Stewart led the field for the entire race, while Ryan Gilroy was third until the final lap when Johnson snuck by.

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Mason Kelly and Chris Smerdon both retired after tangling twice at the hairpin.

Come Sunday, McLeod re-illustrated his dominance

SUPER3 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 1 Jobe Stewart 852 points 2 Cameron McLeod 849 3 Jett Johnson 756 4 Ryan Gilroy 471 5 Matthew McCutcheon 471

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Supercars RACE REPORT Round 6 – TOWNSVILLE

With an extra set of ‘greens’ up his sleeve, Anton De Pasquale ran the perfect strategy and took Ford’s first on-track win of the year in Sunday’s race. Images: MARK HORSBURGH

THE MUSTANG FINALLY BOLTS

AFTER A YEAR OF CONSTANT TRIALS, DJR DELIVERED FORD ITS FIRST GEN3 WIN ON THE STREETS OF TOWNSVILLE AS THE #11 CANTERED IT IN ON SUNDAY; AND AT THE POINTY END OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP, THE EREBUS JUGGERNAUT TRADED ITS OWN BLOWS. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

THE TOWNSVILLE 500 saw a welcome return to longer format 250km racing on the 13-turn 2.8km, semi-permanent street circuit.

There was plenty of intrigue around how the Gen3 teams would approach the switch from sprint racing with five months having passed since the Newcastle 500.

The field saw a return to the Dunlop Soft tyre after a string of Super Soft events, with the Townsville street track and kerbing set to really test out the handling and steering with the lowered downforce and degradation levels, which were rated high … and high they were, as drivers would battle a significant drop-off in pace on the rough surface.

Teams went in with four sets of pre-marked Softs, and 32 sets event-marked, with Friday’s two short practice sessions to see a scramble of data collecting.

After three-straight events of engine mapping alterations for the Mustangs having passed, the parity trigger was pulled after Darwin’s Triple Crown.

The Ford field headed into Queensland with a vastly changed aero balance which included a new rear wing positioning via new end plates - 5mm forward with an increased angle of 25mm - a new gurney lip on the rear wing, and a pronounced addition placed on top of the rear deck spoiler.

127,000 people would roll through the gates over the three days, with the day-three fans witnessing a Gen3 Mustang team finally snapping its hoodoo, whilst the championship lead would be tossed around between the leading Camaro’.

FRIDAY – P1/P2

The weekend got under way with two half-hour practice sessions, as the teams juggled to collect data on the Dunlop

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The second session revealed big evidence of quick tyre wear, with lap times dropping fast – as soon as three laps under greens.

MSR’s Darwin victor Jack Le Brocq topped the session, swooping late with a 1:13.432.

BJR’s Bryce Fullwood went P2, and despite SVG again relating problems under braking, the NASCAR Chicago winner put his #97 Camaro in fourth, just behind Cam Waters.

Matt Payne was looking the goods, with the rookie showing pace over both sessions, a good omen for his Saturday morning.

SATURDAY

Will Brown dominated on Saturday and leads the championship.

Softs that would cop a hammering.

It was a mixed bag for Erebus as Brown topped the session with a third lap effort of 1:13.970. Kostecki spent much of the time in the sheds with steering issues and, just like Darwin, Shane van Gisbergen also complained of steering problems.

Grip was at a minimum under braking, with the lack of downforce proving a stark difference from last year’s cars.

BRT’s Todd Hazelwood would pop up late to top the Mustangs over SVG, as Reynolds would be the only other Mustang in the top-10.

Qualifying for Race 16 saw a 15 minute hit-out to sort the grid for a Top Ten Shootout.

The session was expectantly tight down to P23, whilst Tim Slade would be consigned to last after steering issues.

Waters topped the provisional session with a 1:13.320 as the Mustang drivers stood up to create a 5/5 split for the shootout, whilst Payne stole the show with a P2, just 0.144s off the Tickford star.

Brown and Le Brocq would also go through, with Davison, Jimmy Golding, Feeney, Reynolds, Mostert and SVG all making it through.mVan Gisbergen would also go through – by just 0.045s over Fullwood.

Kostecki was the biggest omission, who was again caught napping in the knockout to start the race in 15th.

Pole for Race 16 would fall the way of Brown, putting down a 1:13.945s for his fourth career pole, and third of the season.

He’d share the front row with Reynolds whose early time stood the test, with both drivers the only shooters to crack the 14s mark.

Shane van Gisbergen and Jack le Brocq in close company. Chaz Mostert (right) backed up the Ford effort with a strong third on Saturday.

Waters and SVG would share the second row, over Le Brocq and Feeney, Payne, Golding, Davison, and Mostert – who was 0.892s off the mark.

RACE 16: SHADES OF TERRACOTTA

Brown became the new Supercars championship leader after the Townsville opener, surviving a late yellow after looking after his tyres and pulling away from Feeney to earn an orange #9.

Brown showed he was up for the fight in the longer format stuff, battling back with patience and tyre care after losing his pole advantage early.

It’s the first time in his career that he leads the title race, as his teammates’ transaxle issues ensured a big loss of points, which also saw Feeney move up into second place.

Plenty can be said about Chaz Mostert’s efforts, as his threestop strategy showed the way for the Mustangs, taking his third podium of the year after returning from his class win at the 24 Hours of Spa. It was a battle of tyre deg in the end, with the late yellow ensuring Mostert’s tyre advantage could shut the gap on Waters, who had nothing left to give in his rears, with SVG also running him down to finish fourth.

At the drop of the green, Brown got a great jump but SVG bullied his way up the inside with a huge dive to push Brown out at Turn 2 down the dirty side, but Waters and Feeney jumped through as SVG dropped into P14 when he then went wide an nudged the Turn 8 fence.

Brown held third over Mostert who was up six places in a crazy start, with Reynolds and Payne in behind them.

Waters had a split of almost two seconds by lap five as SVG made his way back up to 11th behind Le Brocq whom he’d

tangled with on lap 1.

Brown had shut the gap to Feeney as Mostert dropped off to a 2.138s gap, with Brown the quickest on track as he took the #87 on the inside of Turn 11.

Brown then pushed under the wing of Waters as his tyres dropped off the cliff, taking back his P1 prior to Turn 11 with Feeney four seconds back.

Kostecki complained of a transaxle issue, missing second gear, which forced him to drive in a higher gear all race.

Feeney pitted on Lap 27, running a short fuel stop with Brown going in from the lead, also taking a short fuel load (33 L), whilst Waters followed him, taking 48 L. SVG was out front and running slow and in the 19s, pitting on lap 34, re-entering in 11th after taking a big fuel load.

Reynolds was in a flow, taking Feeney to come up behind

Brown, but fuel issues for Penrite meant Reynolds would have a long second pit, with possible issues with the delivery system – something DJR would also suffer from badly.

Brown took control at the halfway mark, as De Pasquale had to keep restarting on track as he limped into the garage with electrical issues, whilst SVG had recovered into P4 with Heimgartner up 12 spots and into fifth.

The #9 Erebus led by five seconds with 32 to run, as Reynolds went the undercut from P2, taking on 70L. With Feeney and Waters both going in, Brown followed suit with dying tyres and 67L needed, re-entering with a four second advantage to Feeney, with Waters in effective third.

A yellow flag was then called when Hazelwood pulled up at the nearest fire Marshall point with smoke coming out the rear, leading to a Safety Car and a 17 lap sprint to the finish.

Having run fifth on Saturday, Cam Waters took pole and led on Sunday, but ran out of rubber ...

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Supercars RACE REPORT Round 6 – TOWNSVILLE

Feeney stuck with Brown on the restart, as Reynolds took on damage, dropping back through the field.

Mostert went on the charge to Heimgartner with 10 laps to go, with the WAU driver taking the BJR #8 at Turn 4, then Waters for third – but he didn’t have the tyres to catch Feeney.

A late battle for fourth between SVG and Waters, saw the #97 win out, as Brown’s margin was out to four seconds, ensuring an orange #9 would be waiting for him on Sunday morning.

SUNDAY

Perfect conditions greeted the drivers for provisional qualifying, leading to the fastest times of the weekend as a mad dash made for an entertaining opening.

After losing his orange numbers, Kostecki put in the fastest time of the weekend to top provisional qualifying with a 1:12.823s.

SVG would finish dead last after his issues continued with a late off, with the frustrated driver reluctantly getting back into his car with four minutes to run.

Yesterday’s winner made it by the skin of his teeth, a hundredth of a second ahead of Payne.

After their troubled Race 16, both DJR cars went through, whilst Thomas Randle punched his way into the top 10 surrounded by Jack Le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner, as Mostert took third behind Waters.

The track evolution changed completely for the shoot-out, with little grip available for the early runners with times way off from the provisional thanks to some ‘drifter’ rubber on the circuit, much to the dismay of the early-running drivers.

And it was Cam Waters who wrestled his Tickford Mustang around the 2.8km track the best, laying down a 1:14.418s to take his second pole of the season, with Le Brocq joining him on the front row.

Randle put in the best of the early efforts to ensure third next to Kostecki who, despite running wide early, made the use of improved conditions as the last runner for fourth.

Reynolds led the improved DJR pair, with Heimgartner next to Davison, whilst Mostert would start last on the fifth row next to Brown after the WAU driver thumped the wall and damaged his steering arm.

RACE 17: DJR ENDS MUSTANG NIGHTMARE

DJR and Anton de Pasquale put a nightmare year behind them with a dominant win for the victory-starved Blue Oval at the Townsville 500 finale.

He became the first Gen3 Mustang driver to legitimately take a chequered flag in 2023, with a mid-race yellow playing beautifully into his hands after taking the early pit option.

It was his ninth Supercars victory – his first since Hidden Valley last season – and the eighth different winner for the year, including the 13th different podium getter.

The battle for the podium was the bit of the field to watch

Nick Percat (#2) and Matt Payne (19) battling in a queue at the sunny, scenic Townsville circuit ...

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Brodie Kostecki had a Saturday nightmare, but recovered for a strong P2 on Sunday. Image: ROSS GIBB PHOTOGRAPHY over the final stretch, with the championship lead also changing throughout, as Kostecki wrestled his orange numbers back with a resounding second place over BJR’s Andre Heimgartner, who took his fifth podium of the year.

SVG drove like a considered and fortunate maniac to finish in the top five, as he took Feeney late but got in an argument about the spot over the radio with Feeney looking at the round win should he get the spot back ... and eventually he did, with Feeney thus taking fourth and his second straight round win.

The 88 lap Finale got under way with Waters and Le Brocq eyeing the drag into Turn 2, whilst Randle found himself next to Kostecki.

Le Brocq jumped well but Waters took Turn 2 in a neck-andneck battle, with the top six remaining in grid order, as SVG was an astounding six seconds back at the rear of the field after he spun into first left hander.

Mostert carried steering rack issues from his wall contact in qualifying, and he went into the sheds with his race over.

Heimgartner moved on Randle for fourth on Lap 11, as he worked on pulling in De Pasquale who’d jumped into third, with Kostecki also moving on Randle, followed by Brown doing the same.

De Pasquale made his early undercut to launch a threestopper, putting an under-the-pump Heimgartner into third with the Erebus Camaro’s in tow.

Waters developed a gap on the MSR #34 by lap 20 as Heimgartner kept the Erebus at bay, whilst Slade went into the garage to continue a tough weekend with a cooler failure in the steering system.

Waters pitted on lap 23 to implement a three-stopper with fresh rears, coming out behind De Pasquale who’d been running fast, whilst Heimgartner took the lead with Kostecki in second.

Kostecki pitted on lap 28, with Heimgartner and Brown following suit, with the BJR Camaro running a good tyre game.

SVG stopped on lap 34 as the last pitter, with De Pasquale leading Waters by 11s, and Feeney in third after his earlier lap 19 pit on a three-stopper in order to get him into the front of the field.

A Safety Car was called on 36 due to debris from Hill’s Camaro, with a flurry of crews throwing pit strategies into the air.

It played into De Pasquale’s hands the best, whilst somehow, the yellow saw SVG fall into ninth when the race went green on lap 39 due to him pitting just prior to the yellow.

De Pasquale then took the lead from Brown and looked to create a gap, as Waters started to drop off with SVG going into sixth over Feeney, with the #88 having the T8 pit priority, and the #97 admitting as such.

Fullwood found himself running second in the shuffle, but he had a long fuel stop hanging over his head, but looked in the frame for a top-10.

On fuel load prospects, Le Brocq and Feeney were the next best placed in fourth and sixth respectively, but it wouldn’t be made clear until the final pit stops.

A dejected Waters took the first option in the closing stages after losing plenty of pace on track, with the pole sitter’s challenge shot.

A pair of top 10s (seventh and third) continued Heimgartner’s consistent form .

QUALIFYING RACE 16 Pos Driver 1 Will Brown 2 David Reynolds 3 Cam Waters 4 Shane van Gisbergen 5 Jack Le Brocq 6 Broc Feeney 7 Matthew Payne 8 James Golding 9 Will Davison 10 Chaz Mostert 11 Bryce Fullwood 12 Anton De Pasquale 13 Scott Pye 14 Thomas Randle 15 Brodie Kostecki 16 James Courtney 17 Andre Heimgartner 18 Todd Hazelwood 19 Macauley Jones 20 Nick Percat 21 Mark Winterbottom 22 Declan Fraser 23 Cameron Hill 24 Jack Smith 25 Tim Slade

RESULTS RACE 16 88 LAPS Time 1:13.9454 +0.0501 +0.0626 +0.1371 +0.1969 +0.2919 +0.3008 +0.5571 +0.8246 +0.8920 +0.4870 +0.4898 +0.5332 +0.5812 +0.5999 +0.6179 +0.6663 +0.6910 +0.7013 +0.8533 +0.9006 +0.9241 +0.9885 +1.4353 +13.9911

Pos Drivers 1 Will Brown 2 Broc Feeney 3 Chaz Mostert 4 Shane van Gisbergen 5 Cam Waters 6 Scott Pye 7 Andre Heimgartner 8 Bryce Fullwood 9 James Courtney 10 Will Davison 11 Mark Winterbottom 12 Jack Le Brocq 13 Thomas Randle 14 Declan Fraser 15 Matthew Payne 16 Macauley Jones 17 Cameron Hill 18 Tim Slade 19 Brodie Kostecki 20 James Golding 21 David Reynolds 22 Jack Smith 23 Todd Hazelwood 24 Nick Percat NC Anton De Pasquale

QUALIFYING RACE 17 Laps 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 87 84 76 49

Race time 1:57.50.1621 +3.300 +5.438 +11.631 +13.010 +15.518 +18.447 +21.769 +23.024 +25.192 +26.350 +27.651 +30.239 +30.855 +31.305 +31.454 +34.685 +36.365 +37.626 +48.798 +53.515 +1 Lap +4 Laps +12 Laps -

De Pasquale was still running hot out front, with Feeney pitting on lap 60 and in the frame for a podium.

Le Brocq was effective second and yet to pit with Kostecki behind him in a similar position, as De Pasquale was 20 seconds to the good.

Kostecki pitted on lap 64, coming out behind Feeney and Heimgartner, with the leader also pitting with 24 laps to run for fresh greens and 17L of fuel, coming out comfortably in front with Feeney 16s behind with Heimgartner on his tail.

They exchanged second between Turns 15 and 16 with Feeney surviving the charge as Kostecki looked to pounce on any error in fourth over SVG.

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Though SVG caught and passed his young teammate on Sunday, he gave the spot back on the run to the flag – which gave Feeney the weekend points win.

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s4 s7 t2 s7 s10 s3 s7 t1 s10 t7 s1 s8 t8 s3 s6 s7 t4 t12 t19 s3 t5 t4 t13

Pos Driver 1 Cam Waters 2 Jack Le Brocq 3 Thomas Randle 4 Brodie Kostecki 5 David Reynolds 6 Anton De Pasquale 7 Will Davison 8 Andre Heimgartner 9 Will Brown 10 Chaz Mostert 11 Matthew Payne 12 Scott Pye 13 Broc Feeney 14 James Golding 15 Bryce Fullwood 16 Cameron Hill 17 James Courtney 18 Macauley Jones 19 Todd Hazelwood 20 Mark Winterbottom 21 Tim Slade 22 Nick Percat 23 Declan Fraser 24 Jack Smith 25 Shane van Gisbergen

RESULTS RACE 17 88 LAPS Time 1:14.4184 +0.1643 +0.2179 +0.2297 +0.2947 +0.4160 +0.5625 +0.6105 +0.8542 +0.4024 +0.4175 +04419 +0.5109 +0.5149 +0.5801 +0.5825 +0.6026 +0.6158 +0.7313 +0.7890 +0.7941 +0.8202 +1.2133 +5.7005

Pos Drivers 1 Anton De Pasquale 2 Brodie Kostecki 3 Andre Heimgartner 4 Broc Feeney 5 Shane van Gisbergen 6 Will Brown 7 Mark Winterbottom 8 Thomas Randle 9 Bryce Fullwood 10 Jack Le Brocq 11 Scott Pye 12 James Golding 13 Nick Percat 14 Jack Smith 15 Cam Waters 16 James Courtney 17 David Reynolds 18 Matthew Payne 19 Declan Fraser 20 Macauley Jones 21 Will Davison 22 Cameron Hill 23 Tim Slade NC Todd Hazelwood NC Chaz Mostert

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER ROUND 6 Laps 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 87 83 83 36 2

The two made plenty of contact as Heimgartner got him, with the podium far from clear with 20 to run.

Kostecki then dived on Feeney, two seconds back on Heimgartner whilst, remarkably, the championship lead changed three times on one lap between the two.

Kostecki came up on Heimgartner now, with the orange number effectively back on his windscreen with 14 laps left, taking P2 with 11 laps left as he started on a tear toward the leading Mustang, but De Pasquale kept his tyres under radio instruction to shut out that prospect.

As Heimgartner sought to hold off the two Red Bulls for third, SVG took Feeney for a crack at Heimgartner, but got the

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Race time 1:56.17.0563 +5.069 +11.501 +18.649 +19.116 +26.429 +27.642 +28.156 +30.973 +35.987 +40.970 +45.315 +45.682 +48.538 +53.338 +1:00.076 +1:01.076 +1:02.190 +1:03.259 +1:08.507 +1 Lap +5 Laps +5 Laps -

s5 s2 s5 s9 s20 s3 s13 t5 s6 t8 s1 s2 s9 s10 t15 s1 t12 t7 s4 t2 t14 t6 t2 t5 t15

Pos Driver 1 Will Brown 2 Brodie Kostecki 3 Broc Feeney 4 Shane van Gisbergen 5 Chaz Mostert 6 Andre Heimgartner 7 Cam Waters 8 Jack Le Brocq 9 Will Davison 10 Mark Winterbottom 11 Bryce Fullwood 12 David Reynolds 13 Scott Pye 14 James Golding 15 Tim Slade 16 Anton De Pasquale 17 Thomas Randle 18 Matthew Payne 19 James Courtney 20 Todd Hazelwood 21 Macauley Jones 22 Cameron Hill 23 Nick Percat 24 Jack Smith 25 Declan Fraser

Points 1357 points 1350 1331 1285 1114 1107 1048 961 922 888 875 839 822 794 772 769 740 700 684 658 634 622 566 520 480

s1 t1 s1 s1 t2 t2 t2 s1 s2 s1 t4 -

orders to give the spot back if he couldn’t catch him so Feeney could take the round win over Brown who was in P6 – which he did with some annoyance, as Feeney moved past Brown for second in the championship after the #9 briefly held it.

Next up is a return to the shorter format but with a twist. It’ll be another Gen3 first with 51 laps in the night time hours at SMP for the Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30, with a 36-lap afternoon race to follow on Sunday.

Following that, it’s the final Sprint format of the year at The Bend before the long awaited Sandown 500 makes it return preceding the 60th anniversary of the Great Race.

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NASCAR

BYRON BEATS ATLANTA STORM WILLIAM BYRON became the first four-time winner of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series after winning the race to the Atlanta storm front which cut the 260 lap race 75 laps short at the Motor Speedway.

The Hendricks Motorsport driver, who sits on top of the future playoff standings, was in front of Trackhouse’s Daniel Suarez and Kaulig Racing AJ Allmendinger, after surging into the lead on Lap 167.

Byron remained out front until Bubba Wallace again involved a late caution at Turn 3 on Lap 178, and just like in Chicago, it was between the Ricky Stenhouse Jr, with Ryan Preece also joining the party.

The cars then circled the track until the rain became the main player, with Byron declared the victor by 1.015s after leading the final 20 laps.

The North Carolina native also survived an early spin in the opening stanza, as well as the damage that he took on in his come from behind victory.

“It’s cool, man, we went through so much

throughout the night – spinning through the infield, which destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap,” Byron related.

“At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was really edgy back in traffic, but we made a good call to pit there and then stay out.

“Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could make the right decisions, and I got the lead from AJ and was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.”

The decisive move was made on lap 125 when Bryon was called to pit under a caution after a six car pileup, and after restarting in fourth, the #24 Chevy driver had the tyres to blow past his rivals before the rains came.

The next Cup Series round heads to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16 for 301 laps, followed by the Pocono 400 Pennsylvania on the 23rd.

TW Neal

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

THE CHICAGO MIRACLE IT SEEMS a bizarre thing to be writing in Auto Action’s regular coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series, but Shane Van Gisbergen was the victor at the inaugural Chicago street race in the Trackhouse Racing PROJECT 91 Camaro.

The three-time Supercars champion sent America into meltdown with his dominant display of clean passing in his Cup Series debut, becoming the first debutant to enter Victory Lane in 60 years since Johnny Rutherford achieved the feat.

SVG got it done after record rain falls threatened the race, with Justin Hayley in second by 1.259s, and Chase Elliot making it a three-way Chevrolet ZL1 podium after 78 laps of slippery street mayhem.

Asked whether he thought he could take victory, an elated Van Gisbergen was in a dream world after passing Hayley on lap 71.

“No, of course not, but you always dream of it,” SVG said, “This was so cool … it’s what you dream of.

Hopefully, I can come and do more!

“When we had that back strategy and we were back to 18th, I started to worry a bit, but the racing was really good … everyone was respectful. It was tough, but a lot of fun.”

After SVG qualified in third, it was Christopher Bell that had the better of it early, finishing the day with 37 laps ahead after winning the 20 lap Stage 1, with SVG in third.

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the wets, Bell survived another two cautions to also take Stage 2, which ended under a caution.

A lap 42 crash from Alex Bowman saw the contenders pitting for gas and tyres - including the #91 – and as was their suspicion, officials announced prior to the resumption of Stage 3 that the race would be shortened from 100 to 75 laps, with SVG starting the stage in fourth.

After the restart, a huge snarl up at turn 11 featuring 14 cars sent the race back under caution, with the running order changed back to how the cars came out of the pits prior, with SVG demoted to P18 and Hayley up-front.

At the lap 53 restart, Dillon and Logano were in pursuit, with Dillion hitting the wall with 13 to go, with Elliot then pushing up with Busch into third.

Meanwhile SVG was simply carving his way through the field with some of his typical cornering smarts, and before the Yanks knew it, he had his nose in front of Hayley before series leader Martin Truex Jr went into the Turn 1 barrier, putting him back into second.

He promptly jumped Hayley with a 16 lap tyre advantage, and survived another late restart when Wallace and Stenhouse Jr made contact at Turn 1.

Hayley didn’t have the tyres to go with him at the restart, as the Kiwi superstar assuredly took it home for a truly historic victory in downtown Chicago.

TW Neal

WEC IMSA

TOYOTA STRIKES BACK AT MONZA THE DOMINANT Toyota WEC TGR team has struck back at Ferrari after ceding power at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning the 6 Hours of Monza.

Ferrari and AF Corse’s first outing at the Temple of Speed with its 499P saw its Le Mans #50 pole getter fall +16.520s short of the #7 GR010 Hypercar, piloted by Kamui Kobayashi/Mike Conway/Jose Maria Lopez.

It was a topsy turvy race for the #8 Toyota, which collided with the #51 Le Mans winner at the first corner, before fighting back into fourth only to receive a post-race penalty for exceeding its new BoP power limits.

One of the big Monza stories was a first ever podium for the Peugeot Total Energies Crew, with the Di Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES Resta/Jensen/Vergne #93 showing that the promising Le Mans pace wasn’t team-mates,” Conway said. just a flash in the pan, finishing 1min “The pit stops were really solid, 18.179s off the victors. particularly the last one which was mega Conway, who was a crucial factor in a and helped us stay in front, and all the tight opening, was delighted to overcome calls from the pit wall worked out well too. the Ferrari team in front of its ardent “It feels good to win again and get a Tifosi. decent haul of points for the team. We “It’s nice to beat Ferrari on their home had to really fight for it. We knew this ground so big thanks to the crew and my race would be all about tyre management

and there were some different strategies going on out there.”

The #7 was in control until the first safety car, which allowed the podium getters back into the game, with both the Ferrari and Peugeot sharing the lead.

After the first few cycles of pits, Toyota’s long range pace allowed Lopez to resume the lead for the winning GR010 and,

outside of further pit cycles, was never headed.

Its dominant lead of 46 seconds was wiped out however when the new Porsche 963 customer team Proton Competition stopped on track, but with the levelled BoP between the Ferrari and Toyota machines, the Fuoco led 499P didn’t have the stark pace it showed at Le Mans.

In the LMP2 fight, Jota took some joy after the team’s difficult ninth placed hypercar day with one lap victory of the Alpine Elf team and WRT. In the LMGTE Am field, like Team Jota, Proton competition, got its victory over its Porsche crew, with an 11 second win over the Iron Lynx Porsche.

Despite the penalties, the #8 Toyota still leads the hypercar championship, whilst the three race winning #7 trails by just 23 points after its Le Mans retirement, while the #50 Ferrari sits in third, seven points off the Monza winning GR1010.

The next WEC round heads to Fuji International Speedway in Japan on September 8-10.

TW Neal

ACURA RIDES ITS LUCK IN CANADA THE ACURA ARX-06 has returned to the winners podium in the IMSA SportsCar Championship at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Meyer Shank Racing topped its sister Acura Konica Minolta team, its first victory since taking the Daytona 24, with Thomas Blomqvist and Colin Braun (pictured) guiding the #60 GTP Hypercar home under a caution with its fuel strategy paying off.

They finished 9.157s ahead of the Ricky Taylor/Felipe Albuquerque pairing, with the two Acura’ almost coming to grief on the front row at the drop of the green flag.

Continuing on from its maiden manufacturers victory at Watkins Glen last round, the BMW M Team RLL rounded out the podium with Conor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly finishing 18.565s in arrears of the leading Acura, bringing that pair to within 10 points of the championship lead.

After the near contact at the beginning of the race, the Meyer Shank team rolled the dice on a one-stopper in terms of fuel, dangerously banking on a future yellow, which came at the hands of massive crash.

The cursed #01 Cadillac - which has had it fair share of chaos and glory in 2023 - endured a big high speed crash with Renger van der Zande again behind the wheel, after it collided with the #24 BMW driven by Augusto Farfus at Turn 8, which ended the race under a caution with five minutes to run.

After the victory, Blomqvist paid homage to the racing deities: “The racing gods were looking down on us a little bit today. We rolled the dice with the pit stop strategy to try and go long, and the only way we were going to win that race was if the yellows kind of played into our corner. Thankfully, they did,” said the British born Swede.

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The best of the rest saw three Porsche 963s down to sixth, where Aussie Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr finished.

But it was the new JDC Miller team and not the Penske team that finished atop the Porsche’s, as German sports car veteran Michael Rockenfeller helped guide the new customer team into +19.531s fourth place.

The leading Acura had a 20s lead by the 45 lap mark in the 120 lap race, and after the cycle of pits had run its course by the halfway mark, they were never headed.

After the first yellow into the last hour, the leafing Acura took advantage of a very short fuel stop, which would just

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get it home, surviving three more cautions to get it done.

In the LMP3 stakes, it was the dominant #74 Riley-run Ligier with a start-to-finish victory - it’s third straight – in the car that Aussie Josh Burdon usually shares, with Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga getting it done.

And in the GTD class, it was the Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor driven Corvette C8.R that got it done to move into the championship lead.

The next IMSA GTP round heads to Road America on August 3-6, after the GTD-only round at Lime Rock park on July 21-22. TW Neal

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Captions

INDYCAR

WOW: PALOU AND THE BIG THREE ALEX PALOU has become the first IndyCar racer since Scott Dixon in 2020 to take three straight race wins, extending his championship lead to an imposing 110 points at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The Chip Ganassi Racing Spaniard has taken a stranglehold on this year’s championship by winning four of the last five outings.

Palou took the chequered flag by 5.024s over Dixon – who now sits second in the standings – with defending champion Will Power in third, 18.358S back on the runaway leader. The 26-year-old also made it 10 straight top-eight finishes – nine of those in the top five!

“It’s the best moment of my career so far,” the 2021 IndyCar champion said.

“I know we can have some good couple of races coming up now, and we’ll still try and maximise points, do the best we can and win when we can. We’ve got a really fast car, but we knew we needed to try something different to the guys starting up front – that’s why we started on primary tyres. Everything went well. The strategy, the pit stops and our pace was pretty good.”

With Palou’s teammate Marcus Ericsson having a disaster on the opening lap after running into the back of Felix Rosenqvist, Dixon’s second place moved him ahead of Newgarden in the standings, as he chases a seventh title.

“Anything’s possible, like we’ve always seen, you’re never out of it until you’re out of it. So, we’ll keep trying as hard as possible,” the Kiwi said about his chances.

It was another hard-luck week for Colton Herta, who let a second-straight pole position go to waste. But he was also on for a conciliatory podium until he was caught speeding in pit lane, sending him down to a P11 finish.

Herta had his nose in front from the start, with the crash between the two Swedes bringing out the early yellow.

Graham Rahal threw everything at Herta at the restart after his first front-row start in four years, as Palou sat in fourth before stalking Kirkwood for third on the softer tyre, as he passed with a tap, spinning the Andretti driver through the field.

Herta pitted on lap 28 and Rahal the following lap, with Palou briefly taking the lead whilst Herta was the effective pitted leader in P6 over Rahal.

When Palou pitted on 30, he came out with a comfortable lead as Christian Lundgaard and Pato O’Ward battled for effective third.

Dixon and Power took their first stops and came out behind Herta, as Palou was looking dominant out front with a 6.153s lead over the American Andretti driver.

Palou had trouble passing Pedersen in a lapped 25th position, who was surprisingly aggressive against the race leader, which chewed some of Palou’s lead.

Palou is racing away to the Indycar title – this early in the season...

Above left: Ericsson and Rosenqvist had some sort of Swedish disagreement on the opening lap ... Above right: Will Power is out of the championship top five but grabbed a podium here ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

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Palou took his last stop on lap 53 coming out in eighth with Herta then going in on 55, incurring the drive-through penalty after coming out ahead of Dixon.

With Power also pitting for fresh primaries, he used his push-to-pass to accentuate his tyre advantage to be back into third over Lundgaard with 14 to go.

Scott McLaughlin had pushed up into fifth, with the top-10 settled with 10 laps to run.

The battle in the mid-field had plenty of contact on the run home, with Honda teammates Romain Grosjean and Devlin DeFrancesco testing their team’s patience.

Lundgaard couldn’t make ground on Power, with McLaughlin running out of push-to-pass to move into fourth.

Malukas took sixth over Rahal – with Rahal suffering from a slow last pit stop after a good day – with O’Ward, Marcus Armstrong, and Alexander Rossi rounding out the ten.

For the CGR rookie Kiwi in Armstrong, that made it his third top-10 in seven races on his road-course only contract.

With Mid-Ohio also marking the midpoint of the fight for the 2023 Astor Cup, Palou’s lead is indeed commanding compared to the close scrap that IndyCar fans are used to seeing.

With eight races remaining, it’s hard to see Palou and the #10 CGR team lose their consistent pace.

Power’s 36 points helps him close the gap in seventh behind McLaughlin and O’Ward, but the two-time championship winning Aussie is an unlikely 151 points back on Palou.

The series now heads to the Toronto street circuit on July 15-16 - a tight 11-turn, 2.8 km in downtown Toronto, where few cars come out unscathed.

TW Neal INDYCAR STANDINGS AFTER NINE ROUNDS Palou 377 Dixon 267 Newgarden 261 Ericsson 255 O’Ward 250

F2 AND F3

MARTINS GETS SILVERSTONE

BREAKTHROUGH ALPINE JUNIOR Victor Martins won his maiden FIA Formula 2 feature race from pole after teasing to break through all season.

The ART Grand Prix Frenchman had scored three podiums on the run as well as pole at the previous Spielberg round.

He made it back-to-back poles at Silverstone before getting the breakthrough race win he’d craved at the famous British track.

Danish Prema driver Frederic Vesti maintained his championship lead over the Austrian and British rounds, as well as taking the Sprint points alongside his feature podium at the Red Bull Ring.

In a race that was disrupted three times by yellow periods, Martins also survived a five second penalty to win the Silverstone feature of Zane Maloney and Theo Pourchaire, with Vesti losing points on a retirement.

“Finally, a Feature Race win! Everything went right. We did a mega job, honestly, I had a penalty, but I felt I wasn’t deserving of it,” Martins said, pleading not guilty.

“So, I just fully sent it, and we got our first win. A mega job from the team, the car was just amazing, and the first win is always special so I will enjoy the moment.”

Silverstone provided two entertaining hitouts with the first interrupted by inclement weather.

The Sprint race began with a rolling start and Vesti took the opportunity to blaze into the distance.

He eventually made a significant statement, beating Pourchaire by 13s, while

Jack Doohan fends off Hadjar on a wet and slippery Silverstone.

Image: PETER NORTON - EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY the fight for third was a thriller.

Jack Doohan and Oliver Bearman had a back and forth battle where the Aussie prevailed after the Prema drive went off at Vale.

After making his complaints clear, Doohan took great delight in waving the Brit goodbye as he toured the gravel.

Changeable conditions also played a big role in Austria where Jack Crawford broke through in the Sprint race.

Despite Arthur Leclerc taking control early, the call to stay out as others boxed early on paid off.

Once in front on lap 6, Crawford calmly

controlled the race to claim his maiden win ahead of the impressive Victor Martins, who flew to his maiden podium from grid position number 20.

Twelve months on from disqualification robbing him of a Spielberg feature win, nothing could prevent Richard Verschoor from getting redemption.

Verschoor made good use of an alternative strategy to win from 11th and give Van Amersfoort Racing a maiden 2023 F2 success.

He pitted during a mid race safety car and emerged fifth before picking off the leaders on fresh rubber to storm to victory.

The championship fight remains tight with Vesti still on top on 135 points, but his lead has been slashed to six points.

FIA Formula 2 continues in Hungary on July 21-23. Thomas Miles FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 8 1 Frederik Vesti 135 points 2 Theo Pourchaire 129 3 Ayumu Iwasa 111 4 Oliver Bearman 88 5 Victor Martins 88

BORTOLETO RETAINS ADVANTAGE GABRIEL BORTOLETO has extended his lead in the FIA Formula 3 standings despite not winning a race in the dramatic double-header in Austria and Britain.

The Formula 3 field were in action in back-to-back weekends at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone where the Aussies also showed promise.

It all started under grey skies in Spielberg as the Austrian sprint was staged in wet conditions.

Despite the on-track challenges and Safety Car start, Paul Aron was able to charge from eighth to claim a maiden win.

Gabriele Mini took important points by taking second as Bortoleto finished 10th.

The feature race was a nail biter as Zak O’Sullivan emerged victorious as no less than four drivers shared the lead across the 26-lap race. Gregoire Saucy led from pole, but was brought undone by a puncture, while Sebastian Montoya and Franco Colapinto collided on the final lap which sent Collet to the podium.

Australian Campos teammates Christian Mansell and Hugh Barter both got points, the first for the latter.

The rain followed the Formula 3 field to Silverstone where Colapinto hit back to taste success for the first time.

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Fornaroli heads Trident teammate Bortoleto and the F3 pack down Hangar Straight.

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES He won the sprint race after expertly managing the moving target of changing conditions, which caught out the likes of pole sitter Montoya.

Bortoleto put in a mature drive to second ahead of the impressive Mansell, who soared from ninth to third to claim the first Australian F3 podium of the year.

The Campos Racing driver had to fight for the trophy, with Collet putting in a spirit attack from behind, but the Novocastrian held firm.

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The British feature race was all about Trident as Oliver Goethe led home teammate Leonardo Fornaroli to glory.

Fornaroli led early from pole as Marti split the Trident cars to sit second, albeit briefly as Goethe hit back at Stowe later in the first lap.

Further back Luke Browning made contact with Barter, while Mansell only lost a spot to the fast-starting Botoleto.

The race was punctured by multiple Safety Car interruptions but, between

times, Goethe was able to retake the lead from teammate Fornaroli.

Rain created further headaches late in the race, but Tommy Smith was the only driver to pit for wets and it was a masterstroke.

The Van Amersfoort Racing Aussie gained 16 positions from 28th to 12th within a lap and a half and fell agonisingly short of a maiden points finish.

Goethe was able to hold on to a 1.7s win over Fornaroli in a Trident one-two with Pepe Marti joining them on the podium.

Mansell continued his good form to finish fifth, while sixth ensured Bortoleto maintained his solid advantage over Marti, who soared to second in the standings and gapped the intense battle for third.

FIA Formula 3 returns at Hungary on July 21-23.

Thomas Miles FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6 1 Gabriel Bortoleto 128 2 Pepe Marti 92 3 Gabriele Mini 77 4 Paul Aron 77 5 Dino Beganovic 75

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Formula 1 Round 10 AUSTRIAN Grand Prix - Race report

Orange everywhere – fortunately not due to a current protest group making a nuisance of itself at European sporting events ...

VERSTAPPEN SHINES AS FERRARI MOVES CLOSER Report: LUIS VASCONCELOS Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES MAX VERSTAPPEN won both the Sprint and the Main races in Austria and that’s no surprise to anybody, given the Dutchman had the upper hand the entire weekend and only a mega-lap by Charles Leclerc in qualifying threatened his supremacy.

But while on Saturday, in wet-to-dry conditions, the Sprint was a walk in the park for the Dutch – after his scrap with Pérez over the first three corners – on Sunday the Red Bull driver had to work a bit harder for it. The reason for that was Ferrari making a break from the midfield and being closer to the RB19 than in most other weekends so far this season.

With Pérez starting from P15, Verstappen had the two Ferraris right behind him on the grid and needed to pull away from them early on, to avoid being in a position to have to react to possible different strategies from the two SF-23s. Inside the Scuderia the plan was set, as Jock Clear explained a couple of hours before the start of the race: “If we keep our grid positions and manage to stay within striking distance of Max, then it’s certainly an advantage to have two cars against one”, but he was also very open about the fact that, “if he pulls away, though, there’s no strategy to beat him, so we’ll focus in our own race.”

An early Safety Car to clear debris left from a first corner touch between Tsunoda and Piastri, that also broke a few parts from Bottas’ Alfa Romeo, plus removing gravel from the tarmac as the Japanese went off in Turn 4, delayed the clarification of the waters at the front, but when Hulkenberg’s Haas parked with a broken PU at the start of lap 14, Ferrari had already given up on fighting Verstappen.

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The Dutchman was already 5,2s ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, both running together and had better tyre life than the red cars.

For Red Bull, pitting so early, even under the VSC, was never an option, as Verstappen explained: “After a few laps I started to pull away from them, so it was clear we had more pace and probably better tyre life, so we just stuck to our plan, regardless of what they were doing.”

FERRARI GIVES UP WITHOUT A FIGHT

WHAT FERRARI had been busy doing until then was avoiding any internal battle, as Sainz looked faster than Leclerc but never got the OK from the team to attack, and

then, to gain as much time in the pits as possible, pitted both drivers at the end of lap 15, when the Virtual Safety Car period was about to end.

Theoretically that gained Leclerc and Sainz seven seconds compared to a pit stop done in normal race conditions, but Verstappen wasn’t worried: “I knew they would both have to do two very long stints until the end of the race, so as long as I stuck to our plan, I knew I would be OK.” For his side, Sainz was in disbelief at being called into the pits at the end of lap 15, when the VSC period was about to end – the top three drivers had just passed the pit entry and the race was neutralised at the end of the previous lap – as he had to drop 5s

Norris had McLaren’s new aero bits on his car – and the improvement was obvious.

behind Leclerc to avoid being parked in the pits as the Scuderia double stacked them.

That dropped him behind Hamilton and Norris, who managed to stop on lap 14, as well as Pérez, who stuck to Red Bull’s plan and stayed on track, like his team leader.

“Why did we stop?”, he questioned, “I lost so many positions!”

Pushing really hard, the Ferrari driver overtook Norris on lap 17, Hamilton on lap 19 and Pérez the following lap, but by then Leclerc was already 5s to the good and Sainz’ had used up the best of his tyres. So, with a long stint ahead he had to preserve his Pirellis and focus on defending from Pérez, who would have two shorter stints to deal with.

QUALIFYING SRINT RACE

RESULTS SPRINT RACE 24 LAPS RED BULL RING

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Laps

Margin

1

Max Verstappen

1:04.440

1

Max Verstappen Red Bull

24

30:26.730 -

2

Sergio Perez

+0.493

2

Sergio Perez Red Bull

24

+21.048 -

3

Lando Norris

+0.570

3

Carlos Sainz Ferrari

24

+23.088 s2

4

Nico Hulkenberg

+0.644

4

Lance Stroll Aston Martin

24

+29.703 s3

5

Carlos Sainz

+0.696

5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin

24

+30.109 s1

6

Charles Leclerc

+0.805

6 Nico Hulkenberg Haas

24

+31.297 t2

7

Fernando Alonso

+0.818

7

Esteban Ocon Alpine

24

+36.602 s1

8

Lance Stroll

+0.907

8 George Russell Mercedes

24

+36.611 s7

9

Esteban Ocon

+0.926

9

Lando Norris McLaren

24

+38.608 t6

10 Kevin Magnussen

+1.472

10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

24

+46.375 s8

11

Alex Albon

+0.781

11 Oscar Piastri McLaren

24

+49.807 s6

12 Pierre Gasly

+0.989

12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari

24

+50.789 t3

13 Yuki Tsunoda

+0.998

13 Alex Albon Williams

24

+52.848 t2

14 Nyck de Vries

+1.222

14 Kevin Magnussen Haas

24

+56.593 t4

15 George Russell

-

15 Pierre Gasly Alpine

24

+57.652 t3

16 Zhou Guanyu

+0.875

16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri

24

+1:04.822 t3

17 Oscar Piastri

+0.919

17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri

24

+1:05.617 t3

18 Lewis Hamilton

+1.095

18 Logan Sargeant Williams

24

+1:06.059 s2

19 Valtteri Bottas

+1.104

19 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo

24

+1:10.825 t3

20 Logan Sargeant

+1.239

20 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo

24

+1:16.435 t1

Make

,

goal – we want to be fighting with him for the wins, so we still have a lot of work to do before we manage that.”

For now that Number One Red Bull seems unreachable, but with Ferrari making significant progress in the last couple of races, there’s hope there will be a proper battle for the win before the end of the summer.

Behind them, Sainz put on a great defence against the fast-approaching Pérez, used the DRS detection points to his advantage on a number of occasions until the penny dropped for the Mexican and he waited until the exit of Turn 4 to successfully attack his rival and secure a precious P3.

The Ferraris (above) were closer to Red Bull than before. Top right: Piastri, Perez and Tsunoda in close company. Piastri ran in the top 10 throughout qualifying until a single ‘track limits’ error produced a grid 13. Hulkenberg (right) was a late retirement.

PÉREZ SAVES HIS WEEKEND

FOR VERSTAPPEN, it was all plain sailing.

Even when he returned from the pits, in third place, at the end of lap 24, the Red Bull driver didn’t panic. Sanz resisted just half a lap but by then Leclerc was 5.8s down the road and in a mood to fight. However, with a pace and tyre life advantage Verstappen needed just eight laps to get right behind his rival and after a couple of interesting laps, he made the decisive move in Turn 3, pulling away from the Monegasque quite easily after that.

The rest of the race was a breeze for the Dutchman, who was obviously delighted with the way things had gone for him: “It’s been a really incredible weekend, something I didn’t expect. With the sprint format, it’s normally a bit more chaotic to get on top of everything. But I think we QUALIFYING RACE 10

did everything well as a team today with the strategy, the pit stops, everything was smooth. Out there on the track, we just had a very quick car, and I felt comfortable in the car. And we could do everything we wanted like we planned it.”

That extended to taking the unusual step of pitting for soft tyres with two laps to go, allowing Leclerc to come within two seconds of the lead, just to get the extra point for the fastest lap. While the team was initially against it, Verstappen had his way, saying that, “from the outside, maybe it looks like a big risk. But in the car for me, it didn’t feel like a risk at all.”

At Ferrari, more relieved than satisfied with the result, Charles Leclerc admitted that, “it feels good to be back on the podium, and to briefly be able to battle with Max”, before adding that, “but that’s not our ultimate

RESULTS RACE 10 71 LAPS RED BULL RING

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Laps

Margin

Pos Driver

1

Max Verstappen

1:04.391

1

Max Verstappen Red Bull

71

1:25.33.607 -

1

Max Verstappen

229

-

2

Charles Leclerc

+0.048

2

Charles Leclerc Ferrari

71

+5.155 -

2

Sergio Perez

148

-

3

Carlos Sainz

+0.190

3

Sergio Perez Red Bull

71

+17.188 s12

3

Fernando Alonso

131

-

4

Lando Norris

+0.267

4

Lando Norris McLaren

71

+26.327 -

4

Lewis Hamilton

106

-

5

Lewis Hamilton

+0.428

5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin

71

+30.317 s2

5

Carlos Sainz

82

-

6

Lance Stroll

+0.502

6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari

71

+31.377 t3

6

Charles Leclerc

72 s1

7

Fernando Alonso

+0.520

7

George Russell Mercedes

71

+48.403 s4

7

George Russell

72 t1

8

Nico Hulkenberg

+0.699

8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

71

+49.196 t3

8

Lance Stroll

44

-

9

Pierre Gasly

+0.779

9

Lance Stroll Aston Martin

71

+59.043 t3

9

Esteban Ocon

31

-

10 Alex Albon

+1.432

10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri

71

+1:07.667 t1

10 Lando Norris

24 s1

11

Make

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 10 Points

George Russell

+0.477

11 Alex Albon Williams

71

+1:19.767 t1

11

Pierre Gasly

16 t1

12 Esteban Ocon

+0.502

12 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo

70

+1 Lap s5

12 Nico Hulkenberg

9 s1

13 Oscar Piastri

+0.654

13 Logan Sargeant Williams

70

+1 Lap s5

13 Alex Albon

7 t1

14 Valtteri Bottas

+0.729

14 Esteban Ocon Alpine

70

+1 Lap t2

14 Oscar Piastri

5

-

15 Sergio Perez

+1:01.737

15 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo

70

+1 Lap t1

15 Valtteri Bottas

5

-

16 Yuki Tsunoda

+0.688

16 Oscar Piastri McLaren

70

+1 Lap t3

16 Zhou Guanyu

4

-

17 Zhou Guanyu

+0.702

17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri

70

+1 Lap s3

17 Yuki Tsunoda

2

-

18 Logan Sargeant

+0.832

18 Kevin Magnussen Haas

70

+1 Lap s1

18 Kevin Magnussen

2

-

19 Kevin Magnussen

+0.855

19 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri

70

+1 Lap t3

19 Logan Sargeant

0

-

20 Nyck de Vries

+0.858

NC Nico Hulkenberg Haas

12

+59 Laps t12

20 Nyck de Vries

0

-

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NORRIS SHOWS THE WAY TO ASTON MARTIN AND MERCEDES

FERRARI’S CLEAR step forward put the red cars out of reach of Aston Martin and Mercedes in Austria, but these two teams had another rival to contend with: Lando Norris with the upgraded MCL60, who was clearly the fastest all weekend behind the two top teams. The young British driver harried Hamilton for the entire first stint but only managed to get past him on lap 28. It was only on the final stint, pitting earlier than the Mercedes driver (who served a penalty in the pits) and Alonso that he gained enough of a buffer to be safe from the Aston Martin’s last ditch effort to catch him.

Sainz’s post-race penalty, one of many you can read about in my column, promoted Norris to fourth place, ahead of Alonso and the unhappy Ferrari driver. Russell got P7 from Hamilton also due to a post-race penalty imposed on the seven times World Champion, while Stroll also benefited from a post-race penalty for Gasly, the two swapping positions at the bottom of the top 10.

For Alonso, “things are starting to change” as there’s now a pattern of Ferrari having the second quickest car as seen in Canada and Austria, but the Spaniard insisted “I’m not worried, because we are also developing our car and we have a good margin in the championship over them.”

It was at Mercedes you’d find the longest faces, Hamilton admitting, “I just don’t understand why we didn’t have the pace all weekend, but I just couldn’t feel the car, the front end was not gripping and the rear was all over the place. Roll on Silverstone and the new parts we’ll then have in the car.”

Team mate Russell, who never matched Hamilton’s pace all weekend, was even more disappointed, “because we’re coming from three straight races where our progress has been clear and now we’ve had this lack of balance and pace, so we really don’t know where it has all gone in the space of a week…”

Teammates? Yeah, right ...

SPRINT SHOWS WHO’S THE BOSS! AFTER A dark series of four consecutive qualifying sessions in which he didn’t make it into Q3, Sérgio Pérez qualified second for the Sprint Race in Austria and saw that as his big opportunity to finally recover some ground against Max Verstappen.

A great start put him in the lead as the two Red Bull drivers reached Turn 1 but, braking on the wetter inside line, the Mexican went a bit wide and was slow coming out of the corner, with a very long straight ahead of him. As Verstappen moved right to get the inside line into Turn 3, the Mexican cut across and forced his teammate to put two wheels on a very wet grass, while lifting to avoid a massive crash.

Incensed, the World Champion then forced his way into Turn 3, both cars running so wide and coming almost to a halt, with Lando Norris forced to hit the brakes so hard in avoidance, so the anti-stall system on his McLaren came on and the Brit dropped a lot of places as a consequence.

The Red Bull’s internal war allowed Hulkenberg to get into P2 ahead of Pérez and with the racing line having a lot more grip than the rest of the tarmac, as the track was drying up, the Mexican needed 12 laps to regain P2. By then Verstappen was already 9.7s up the road and we’d reached the halfway point of this Sprint Race.

Determined to show who is the boss, Verstappen continued to extend his lead and increased his pace as soon as his team mate passed the Haas driver, to win by more than 21 seconds from Pérez - in a 24 lap race …

When I asked if it had been important to win by such a big margin after the first lap incidents, the Dutchman nodded, but said, “no, but that’s what happened”, with a huge grin on his face…

Earlier, he’d taken another dig at his teammate, explaining that, “of course when it’s wet there’s a lot more grip on the wider line and I was on the inside for Turn 3”, as if to say that’s why he’d gone wide into the turn, while also making it clear that even on a wetter line he outbraked the Mexican …

Having learned the lessons from their Brazil ‘22 incident, the two drivers conferred in private before speaking to anyone outside the Red Bull camp, so by the time they reached the microphones it was all peace and love between them, even if the ontrack events proved the harmony they displayed for the first two years as team mates is long gone.

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Formula 1 Round 11 BRITISH Grand Prix - Race report

VERSTAPPEN WINS AS MCLAREN SHINES

Report: LUIS VASCONCELOS Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES MAX VERSTAPPEN’S sixth consecutive Grand Prix victory didn’t surprise anybody, because only dreamers could expect the Red Bull driver to be toppled, such is his big domination of the season. But his most direct challengers keep changing. In Spain, Mercedes had the second quickest car, in Canada it was Aston Martin’s turn, then Ferrari was the closer rival in Austria – but this weekend it was a sensational McLaren that was right behind the double World Champion.

Regardless of who has the second quickest car, one thing doesn’t change. Actually, make that two things never change: Max Verstappen’s Red Bull is unreachable, and Sérgio Pérez’s Red Bull doesn’t make it into Q2 …

Since Spain, the Dutchman has collected 161 points, while his teammate couldn’t score more than 50 and that, essentially, says it all.

In the battle behind Verstappen, since the McLaren introduced a massive upgrade on the MCL60 in the previous weekend, in Austria, the pace of the papaya orange cars has improved massively. If first time around it was only Lando Norris who had the new parts, bravely fighting at the front in the Red Bull Ring, in Silverstone the two cars had the new package, although the new front nose/wing was still missing on Oscar Piastri’s chassis.

If no-one was surprised by seeing the experienced Norris make the most out of what was now a very competitive car, the young Australian driver finally had the chance to show what he can do with a quick Formula

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One car, shadowing his team mate both in qualifying and the race. On Saturday the gap between the two McLaren drivers was just 0.131s, but it was on Sunday that really announced to the Formula 1 world that Oscar Piastri is coming.

With Norris making a great start to lead from Verstappen into Turn 1, the young driver from Melbourne nearly followed suit, pushing the Dutchman really hard in the first lap and then staying within DRS range until the Red Bull driver took the lead on lap five. From then on, he drove like a veteran, followed the team’s instructions to avoid fighting Norris and it was just bad timing of the Safety Car period – necessary to remove Magnussen’s stationary Haas from the track – that cost him the podium. Still, as he said, “in a way it’s nice to be disappointed with fourth place”, his best result, by far, in his short but very promising Formula 1 career.

NORRIS PUSHES MAX TO THE MAX

As in Austria, Verstappen didn’t lead from start to finish in Silverstone and that’s something

of a novelty in 2023. But while at the Red Bull Ring it was due to a different tyre strategy that Charles Leclerc led the race for a few laps, this time Lando Norris and McLaren led the Grand Prix genuinely, after the British driver got a way better start that his e-sports’ teammate and for four laps kept the dark blue car at bay.

While the crowd – and Norris, of course – were loving the situation, the McLaren driver knew it wasn’t going to last long: “It felt great, really. I enjoyed every second of it and this is one day I’ll remember for the rest of my life – but once he could use DRS and started to push, Max’s pace was too much for us. I mean, I wanted to defend hard against him, because I wanted to keep the lead, but I knew it would have damaged my race to do that, so I didn’t even fight when he came flying past …”

By lap five this seasons natural order was restored, with Verstappen ahead of Norris and the sensational Piastri, but for many laps the Dutchman didn’t disappear into the distance, contrary to what was expected: “The wind was making the car very difficult to drive”, he said, explaining that, “the race wasn’t particularly straightforward. I had a bad

start, with lots of wheelspin and so I had to work my way up again and get past Lando – it took a few laps. Then, it also took a few laps to cool the tyres down again in the lead, so Lando came back at me with the DRS. “Once everything settled in, then we could open up the gap lap after lap to nine seconds until the Safety Car came out. That was very positive and the team was working quite well. But it was still surprising to see that the McLaren, or Lando, was actually that quick over the whole stint.”

The Safety Car cancelled Verstappen’s advantage and while the option to go on Softs seemed logical, the Dutchman was surprised and concerned when he saw Norris, on the hard tyre, right behind him at the re-start: “At the time I thought it was right decision, but when we restarted, it only took a few laps and then I realised it was quite tricky to keep them under control with the temperatures.

It wasn’t particularly nice to drive, so we will look into that. Maybe we should have gone on the Hard tyre, so we could have pushed a bit harder over the whole stint because the first two or three laps were a bit difficult.”

Alex Albon also had a sensational weekend, taking Williams to territory not seen for years ...

PIASTRI STARS

, Hamilton recovered from an opening lap faux pas to grab a strong podium after Piastri was on the wrong end of the Safety Car. Above: Two Poms joined Max on the podium – the Sky Sports crew was delirious!

LONG FACES AT MERCEDES, FERRARI AND ASTON MARTIN

Norris got the better at the start to lead. Piastri made the best start of all but, with nowhere to go, had to latch onto Verstappen’s gearbox – having the audacity to challenge the champ over the early laps!.

Left: Once things settled, Verstappen was able to cruise to a fairly straighforward win.

Difficult or not, Verstappen secured another 26 points and now leads the championship, from the low key Sérgio Pérez, by a staggering 99 points, making it clear that the chances of the Dutchman securing his third straight title are growing by the minute.

TYRE STRATEGY WORRIED NORRIS

Second place for McLaren was still a great result and Norris was on cloud nine at the end of the race: “This is insane”, he said, “especially if you remember where we were in Bahrain and in the first part of the season. The team has done an amazing job; we had the second quickest car all weekend and I really feel for Oscar, who deserved to be up here with me on the podium, had it not been for the unfortunate timing of the Safety Car.” For the Brit, the last stint, on Hard tyres against Hamilton on used Softs, was the toughest part of the race and even though he was delighted with P2, Norris wasn’t sure his team had made the right call: “I don’t see why we shouldn’t have done what the others did. I feel like we put ourselves under a lot more pressure to try and get a Hard tyre to work with a Safety Car restart with only 10 laps to go. It’s one we’ll talk about. I was telling them to think of the Softs quite a bit, insinuating it as much as I could but then they just told me “you’re on the Hards”. Not really what I wanted, but it’s still worked out.”

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With McLaren making a big leap in performance, Lewis Hamilton was the only driver from the teams that are fighting for second in the championship with some reasons to smile. Two big moments on lap one put him down in ninth but, after passing Gasly and Alonso, the Mercedes driver seemed stuck in P7. Lucky with the timing of the Safety Car he got ahead of Russell, the two Ferrari drivers and Piastri and briefly believed he could snatch second place from Norris: “I really thought I had a chance on the restart; we fought really hard but fair for the first two laps but then his car was insanely quick on the high-speed corners and that was that.”

Russell was a disappointed fifth, “as the Safety Car cost me one position, but Lewis made up a few more, so the final result was good for the team”, while for home team Aston Martin the weekend was a very disappointing one and Alonso – who finished seventh – made no bones about it: “For sure this was not what we were hoping for but it’s also true that Silverstone, like Austria, was not a circuit that suited our car. But it’s clear McLaren has made a big step forward, so we need to push with the QUALIFYING RACE 11

development of our car to be back to where we were at the start of the season.”

Ferrari had an even worse Sunday, with Leclerc and Sainz finishing at the bottom of the top 10, behind the sensational Alex Albon.

The pace of the SF-23 wasn’t actually that bad, as the Monegasque held P4 during the first stint with Sainz two places behind but lack of confidence on the tyre life cost both drivers dearly.

Leclerc pitted early, “to avoid the undercut from Russell, but it turns out we pitted way too early as they had no degradation. I drove to the target lap time I was given, but the Safety Car ruined my chances. I still stopped for softs, made up a few places but the damage was done.”

For Sainz, who also pitted before the Safety Car period, “the pace was not great but we were also unfortunate. When the SC came out I left the decision in the team’s hands but I was P6 and on Hard tyres while the choice was to be on used Softs but outside the top 10. We gambled on track position, I held Pérez for a few laps, which was good, but when he got past me I was pushed onto the marbles, lost grip and ended up losing another three positions, so, obviously, I cannot be happy with that.”

RESULTS RACE 11 52 LAPS MONTREAL GP

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 11

Pos Driver

Time

Pos Drivers

Make

Laps

Margin

Pos Driver

1

Max Verstappen

1:26.720

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull

52

1:25.16.938 -

1

Max Verstappen

255

-

2

Lando Norris

+0.241

2

Lando Norris

McLaren

52

+3.798 -

2

Sergio Perez

156

-

3

Oscar Piastri

+0.372

3

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

52

+6.783 s4

3

Fernando Alonso 137

-

4

Charles Leclerc

+0.416

4

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

52

+7.776 t1

4

Lewis Hamilton

121

-

5

Carlos Sainz

+0.428

5 George Russell

Mercedes

52

+11.206 s1

5

Carlos Sainz

83

-

6

George Russell

+0.435

6 Sergio Perez

Red Bull

52

+12.882 s10

6

George Russell

82 s1

7

Lewis Hamilton

+0.491

7

Aston Martin

52

+17.193 s2

7

Charles Leclerc

74 t1

8

Alex Albon

+0.810

8 Alex Albon

Williams

52

+17.878 -

8

Lance Stroll

44

9

Fernando Alonso

+0.939

9

Ferrari

52

+18.689 t5

9

Lando Norris

42 s1

10 Pierre Gasly

+0.969

10 Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

52

+19.448 t5

10 Esteban Ocon

31 t1

11

+1.194

11 Logan Sargeant

Williams

52

+23.632 s3

11

Oscar Piastri

17 s3

12 Lance Stroll

+1.233

12 Valtteri Bottas

Alfa Romeo

52

+25.830 s8

12 Pierre Gasly

16 t1

13 Esteban Ocon

+1.254

13 Nico Hulkenberg

Haas

52

+26.663 t2

13 Alex Albon

11

14 Logan Sargeant

+1.329

14 Lance Stroll

Aston Martin

52

+27.483 t2

14 Nico Hulkenberg

9 t1

15 Valtteri Bottas

-

15 Zhou Guanyu

Alfa Romeo

52

+29.820 s2

15 Valtteri Bottas

5

-

16 Sergio Perez

+1.051

16 Yuki Tsunoda

AlphaTauri

52

+31.225 -

16 Zhou Guanyu

4

-

17 Yuki Tsunoda

+1.108

17 Nyck de Vries

AlphaTauri

52

+33.128 s1

17 Yuki Tsunoda

2

-

18 Zhou Guanyu

+1.206

NC Pierre Gasly

Alpine

46

+6 Laps t8

18 Kevin Magnussen

2

-

19 Nyck de Vries

+1.596

NC Kevin Magnussen Haas

+21 Laps -

19 Logan Sargeant

0

-

20 Kevin Magnussen

+3.461

NC Esteban Ocon

+43 Laps t7

20 Nyck de Vries

0

-

Nico Hulkenberg

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Fernando Alonso Charles Leclerc

Alpine

Points

-

-

IT WAS just a matter of time, really. The moment Oscar Piastri was given a competitive Formula 1 car he showed all his talent and even had the audacity to battle it up with Verstappen in the first few laps, something that really pleased the young McLaren driver: “Yes, that was pretty exciting. When I got off the line I was like “OK I’ve got the best start out of everyone here” and had to find somewhere to go but ran out of space.”

Showing a maturity beyond his years, Piastri went on to admit that, “the more exciting part was being able to hang onto the back of Max’s car for a few laps, and even for the rest of the race it wasn’t like he was stupidly quicker than us ... so that was very exciting. To be genuinely the second-quickest team today exceeded all of our expectations, and it’s nice to be back at the front.”

For most of the race the podium seemed Piastri’s destination at Silverstone, but pitting on lap 29, to protect his position from Russell and Leclerc, who had already stopped for tyres, ended up costing him what would have been the sherry at the top of the cake: “Yes, it hurts to be so close to a podium. We were looking so good, we executed everything we could, we were pulling away from the cars behind, all to be one second too far behind Lewis when the SC came out. It hurts a little bit, but I’m so happy that I’m disappointed with P4, as opposed to what it’s been earlier in the season!”

Even on the harder tyre against the veteran, who had used soft tyres on his Mercedes, Piastri continued to push after the re-start.

While the gap between the two went above two seconds, as the Mercedes’ rubber started to overheat the youngster closed the gap quicky, ending the race just under one second behind his rival ... so a couple more laps and the result could have been an even better one.

For Piastri, though, this is just the beginning of a new phase in his first Formula 1 season: “I hope so – we were slightly concerned that Austria would be a one-off and we’d be a little slower but if anything, we’re even quicker this weekend, so that was very exciting.

“We know here is another strong circuit for our car, with all the high speed corners, but Budapest has quite a few high speed corners, or at least medium speed corners, so we’ll see how we go.

“We’ve proved two weekends in a row now that it wasn’t a fluke. Will we be the second quickest car in Hungary? I don’t know. I think we can definitely try and aim for that.”

Roll on the Hungaroring, on what promised to be another exciting weekend … behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, of course.

www.autoaction.com.au I 61

TEST YOUR GENERAL MOTORSPORT KNOWLEDGE ACROSS

DOWN

4 For how many years was the Indy 500 a round of the Formula 1 World Championship?

1 Who finished second in the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix? (surname)

5 What team did Michael Andretti race for in Formula 1?

7 For how many years were Todd and Rick Kelly teammates at Kelly Racing?

9 Where did Alex Albon finish the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix for Williams?

2 Who won the MotoGP Sprint at Assen this year? (surname) 3 At what track did Shane van Gisbergen make his Supercars Championship debut?

6 What manufacturer did SVG race for on his NASCAR debut?

10 How many times did Todd and Rick Kelly share a car in the Bathurst 1000?

8 Who spectacularly rolled in the Rally Kenya Shakedown before going on to finish the event in fourth? (surname)

13 Who won the 1998 British GP serving his pitlane penalty as he crossed the finish line? (surname)

11 Who lost the 2017 Supercars Championship after being dealt a postrace penalty in Newcastle? (surname)

14 How many CART titles wins did Michael Andretti win?

12 Which MotoGP rider lost a podium position not once but twice during the Assen TT weekend? (surname)

15 Who won the 2023 edition of Rally Kenya? (surname) 16 Who is the Team Principal of Walkinshaw Andretti United? (full name) 20 Frederic Vasseur was the Team Principal of which team prior to Scuderia Ferrari?

22 What number did Shane van Gisbergen race with on his NASCAR Cup Series debut?

25 How many points did Ferrari score in Australia this season?

26 Who was handed a penalty for unsportsmanlike behaviour in the 2023 Canadian GP? (surname) 28 In which city did SVG make his NASCAR Cup Series debut?

29 How many times did Michael Andretti win the Indy 500?

30 Who was disqualified from Rally Kenya this year? (surname)

17 Who crossed the finish line first in 2016 Bathurst 1000 but was dealt a post-race time penalty? (surname) 18 Damon Hill won the final Adelaide Formula 1 race in 1995, but who finished second? (surname) 19 Frederic Vasseur took over as Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal this year, but who did he replace? (surname) 21 Which former Formula 1 World Champion raced for Trackhouse Racing earlier in the year?

23 Toyota dominated Rally Kenya once again, locking out the top how many places?

24 In what country was Frederic Vasseur born?

27 What has been the best race finishing position for Ferrari since Frederic Vasseur took over as Ferrari Team Principal this year?

1 down – Feeney, 2 across – Allen, 3 across – MSR, 4 down – Scherer, 5 down – two, 6 down – Vettel, 7 across – seventh, 8 across – eighth, 9 down – fifth, 10 down – forty-one, 11 across – Pukekohe, 12 down – Davison, 13 down – Ferrari, 14 across – Aitken, 15 across – CGR, 15 down – China, 16 down – Cadillac, 17 across – six, 18 down – Heimgartner, 19 down – Giovinazzi, 20 across – van Gisbergen, 21 across – Ricciardo, 22 across – Palou, 23 down – Webber, 24 down – two, 24 across – twenty third, 25 down – five, 25 across – Fuoco, 26 across – Corvette, 27 across – Kostecki

We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago

1973

1983

ALLAN MOFFAT may had won the Australian Touring Car Championship title, but Peter Brock took out the final round at Warwick Farm. In what would be the fourth and final ATCC race at the New South Wales 3.6km circuit, Brock edged out Bob Morris in a tense 23-lap race. The Holden Dealer Team driver held off the Ron Hodgson Holden rival by 2.7s, while Moffat had constant oil surge problems and his successful championship ended in a cloud of smoke as early as lap four. Although the race was described as “anticlimactic” Brock overcame a tyre-changing issue to get his third round win.

SANDOWN WAS shaping up to be a likely venue to become a ‘World Championship Grand Prix facility’. This was the rumour mill with the Federal Government committing $3 million to the “long-talked-about” project, but Calder Park still remained a contender. Peter Brock was at the centre of a massive six-car smash at Adelaide in the Australian GT Championship. His Monza triggered a huge start-line shunt which also included Jim Richards with one car finishing on its roof. Formula 1 also beckoned with Mike Thackwell, who was hoping to return after qualifying once from three attempts in 1980 and he eventually returned at Canada in 1984.

62 I www.autoaction.com.au

1993 HOLDEN FINALLY claimed a round win in the 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship courtesy of Jim Richards. After Fords won the seven rounds, Richards put the ‘General’ back on top in a wet and wild race at Wanneroo. However, Ford had the last laugh with Glenn Seton securing his maiden ATCC championship crown. John Bowe’s hopes ended at the first corner of Race 2 when he was involved in a three-car shunt with Tomas Mezera and Mark Skaife. At Silverstone there was a heartbreak for British rookie Damon Hill, who led early, but his engine blew. Alain Prost went on to take the win ahead of Benetton pair Michael Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese.

2003

LARRY PERKINS hinted at the first signs of expanding his Supercars team for the future.

Whilst stating his two Castrol cars would remain for 2004, his team did double up to four Commodores in 2005. Meanwhile, James Courtney, who was based in Japan dominating the Japanese Formula 3 Championship at the time, also provided a hint on his future. After Courtney’s Formula 1 hopes suffered a hit through a 325kph crash at Monza, he revealed his mind was heading back to Australia with a V8 Supercars future “really close”. Ralf Schumacher and Williams found some form going back to back at Nurburgring and France.

2013 DICK JOHNSON opened up on his team’s recent battles and even claimed the delayed Supercars TV deal cost him $15 million. The 2013 Supercars TV deal was not announced until January 7 and Johnson claimed it lost him a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Hungry Jacks. He also opened up on why sacking Steven Johnson as the lead #17 driver was the “hardest decision in my life”. The race to replace the retiring Mark Webber was heating up with Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo receiving competition from Lotus star Kimi Raikkonen. Christian Horner ruled out Ricciardo’s teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, stating it was a shootout between the Ricciardo and the Ferrari bound Raikkonen, which was won by the Aussie.

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