Auto Action #1889

KLIMENKO SPEAKS UP

BETTY KLIMENKO HAS SAT DOWN FOR AN EXCLUSIVE CHAT WITH AUTO ACTION’S BRUCE WILLIAMS AFTER ANOTHER WEEK OF INTENSE SPECULATION ON THE FUTURE OF EREBUS MOTORSPORT ...

BETTY KLIMENKO, the charismatic owner of the Erebus Supercars team, has finally broken the silence on her 2024 of personal hell after Erebus swept all before it last year to win both the Driver and Team Supercar titles, speaking exclusively with Auto Action.

When her team’s title defence started without either driver from 2023 and an inability to talk about certain things, media and social media filled a vacuum with what she says are lies and innuendo. That commentary has affected her, and she admits to nearly selling the team recently – although she adds that a media report scuppered negotiations with someone that wasn’t who media were speculating about as the potential purchaser. The Darwin weekend, where there was further speculation around the absence of Erebus Motorsport’s CEO, Barry Ryan, who was holidaying in Europe, has fired her up. Stories implied the team didn’t know where Ryan was and some media even claimed he’d been sacked, despite the fact that he was in constant contact with Team Principal Brad Tremain – which Tremain confirmed at a media conference on Sunday in Darwin.

Klimenko speaks in general terms about the start of the year when 2023 series champion Brodie Kostecki stepped away from the driver’s seat for the opening two rounds.

She says she had an agreement with Kostecki that she was not going to break, and still won’t, as well as legal obligations that restricted commentary.

“What happened at the beginning of this year astounded me. It was something that went from being a very, very small thing.

“We were asked to keep something private and confidential. We agreed.

“We didn’t say anything, and that was the end of the story,” Klimenko says, before turning her attention to the ‘noisy minority’.

“I know that it’s only one percent, weekend computer warriors, who’ve probably never even been to a race in their lives that are making all the waves, as well as fringe personalities.”

Klimenko’s chat with AA was extensive – so much so that some elements of the conversation ended up on the ‘cutting room floor’ due to space requirements ... including Betty’s concern that Ryan has copped most of the attention:

“It’s funny, people have this weird trait,” she said. “They will talk to Barry, and they’ll yell at Barry, but they won’t yell at me. They won’t ring me. No one’s rung me since the whole thing started. I think I’ve had a couple of calls with Supercars, but we were discussing something else.

“No team owner, no series owner, nobody rang me. They would ring Barry instead.

“I don’t know if they’re scared of me or intimidated by me, but I felt like, ‘You don’t respect me enough to ring me and ask me the questions?’ So, it was just a case of no, we’re not going to say anything; we’re just going to be quiet.”

“But the recent coverage out of Darwin, where Ryan’s absence was highlighted while the absence of other team leaders was ignored, frustrates Klimenko.

“Rod Nash wasn’t there either and nor was Ryan Storey ...

“They have it in for him (Barry). If they’ve got no villain to talk about for that week, we’ll go and find something on Barry. That’ll make an interesting story. They get more clicks and comments ... They get people who have

no understanding of what happened, no understanding of the whole story …

“People go on about stuff that might or might not have happened in our team and the way Barry is, how ‘bad’ he is …

“The truth is, we only lost two people in the last 24 months.

“Two people have left, and then we had an old Erebus guy come back.

“No-one ever mentions the amount of people that pass through other teams. But we have one person leave, and it’s like a fall from grace. We’re probably the team that’s got the least changes – our team is the same team that nearly took us to Bathurst.”

Klimenko gives her full support to Ryan who she feels has been an easy scapegoat, confirming his continued role within the team as its CEO, while at the same time expressing huge appreciation for the new sponsors who have come on board in 2024 – to replace the ones who left so abruptly, most it seems without even calling her to verify or discuss what was (reportedly) going on ...

For the full story in Betty Klimenko’s own words, go to page 26. Andrew Clarke

The Erebus crew (l to r): Barry Ryan, Daniel Klimenko, Betty Klimenko. Image: PETER NORTON

PARITY AND RELIABILITY CONCERNS IN SUPERCARS ENGINES DISMISSED BY ENGINE BUILDERS

DARWIN SAW A DRAMATIC SHIFT IN SUPERCARS POWER BALANCE, WITH THE NUMBER MOVING FROM A FORD DOMINATED PERTH TO CHEV DOMINANCE IN DARWIN. ANDREW CLARKE SPOKE WITH THE KEY PLAYERS ...

HOT ON the heals of Supercars confirming the time and venue for the transient dyno testing in the States, comes a fresh round of parity concerns with a dose of poor reliability thrown into the mix.

The announcement in Darwin about the final step in parity confirmation proved timely with the Fords appearing to lack top end speed on the long Darwin straight, and the subsequent domination by Chevrolet teams.

Representatives from the engine builders for Chevrolet and Ford both said they felt there was no parity issue between the two engines, with the torque sensors in Cooper Murray’s #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro out of Triple Eight and Anton De Pasquale’s #11 Shell V-Power Racing Mustang out of Dick Johnson not revealing any significant differences between the two powerplants.

In Sunday’s Race 12 of the series, the first Ford home was Will Davison in seventh, and he reported issues getting past a couple of Chevs that he felt were slower in laps times.

“I think we’re a year and a half in, and it makes me feel sick talking about being happy being the first Ford,” Davison said after the race. “It’s hard to comment, but I know what I see and feel.

“At certain tracks this year, it’s been

really good. There are some different characteristics still, and that’s why they’re still measuring things, and changes are being implemented.

“I’m happy because I feel like we executed well today, but that’s all we could do. Ultimately, we strive to achieve more than that. Yesterday was a bit of a salvage job for me, after a difficult Friday, but we raced well, the pit stops were good and we came through today and raced pretty well and could have very easily ended up in the top five.

“I thought it was comfortably on because we ran long and was coming back through to that group of cars that

were in lots of trouble. But when I got through to Le Brocq and Percat, just three or four laps trying to get through and I got stuck.”

His team boss, David Noble, said he felt the weekend’s results were skewed a little by the overall dominance of Triple Eight (they had seven cars in Darwin, and six made the Sunday Shootout and four of the top six cars home in the race, with the other two Chev’s coming from Erebus, the reigning teams champions) and that maybe it was just a ‘quirk of the set-ups’ for the weekend.

He said Townsville may tell a different story.

Ken McNamara, from KRE Racing Engines which builds and maintains all the Chev engines in Supercars, had a separate set of issues to deal with as three new engines needed to be changed on Saturday night in Darwin.

Brodie Kostecki’s troublesome engine that suffered issues on Friday that delayed his start to practice and then kept him out of the first race for the weekend was the most visible car in trouble. Nick Percat at Matt Stone Racing and Macauley Jones at Brad Jones Racing were the other two drivers to get new engines for Sunday.

McNamara says there was an issue with a new design of thrust bearing in the engines, but that is now fixed.

“It’s not faulty, it’s just not strong enough,” he said of the new thrust bearings on the crankshaft. “We tried something different and tested it and it worked, so I thought it should be cool.

“We’ve been rebuilding engines for four or five months, and we put them in. Nothing showed up on the dyno because there’s no clutch, no thrusting motion.” He said that the starts and other times where drivers ride the clutch, like getting out of a sand trap, was causing the issues.

KRE has now reverted to the old thrust bearing, is working through the engines it has in the shop and doesn’t expect any further issues.

Supercars fitted torque sensors to Anton De Pasquale’s Shell-DJR Mustang and Cooper Murray’s Supercheap Auto Camaro out of Triple Eight, the test not revealing any real differences between the two powerplants. Image: MARK HORSBURGH-MOTORSPORT IMAGES.

Ken McNamara of KRE Racing Engines, looks into the issues of Brodie Kostecki’s troublesome engine. Image: ANDREW CLARKE

PERTH STREET RACE SET FOR 2026

AFTER MONTHS AND MAYBE EVEN YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS, THE WA GOVERNMENT HAS FINALLY ENDORSED A PLAN TO HOST A STREET RACE IN PERTH IN 2026. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS ...

THEY’VE TRIED for nearly two decades, but it now appears that the often talkedabout Perth Street Race will happen in 2026 following an announcement by the West Australian government that it is working with Supercars to make it happen.

Auto Action first got wind of the advanced negotiations in March, and despite a leak aimed at hurting negotiations a month or so ago, we’ve been following it since then as the negotiations proceeded.

A few locations were investigated by Supercars, but it appears to have settled on the Burswood Park region and will use part of the car park at the Casino while creating a track that uses the Perth skyline and Optus Stadium as spectacular backdrops.

The plan is to develop a precinct similar to Albert Park in terms of permanent pit buildings and the like, as well as an area for motorsport activities, like Reid Park in Townsville. The Supercars race will be the lead item in a 10-day festival of motorsport in the region, likely doubling up with the WA Rally which this year ran the same weekend as the Supercars.

“Imagine the noise, atmosphere and crowds as V8s fly around a new and specially designed race track in Burswood Park, just a stone’s throw from the city. It’ll be incredible,” WA Deputy Premier and Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said.

“The Supercars SuperSprint at Wanneroo has been a much-loved event on the annual tourism calendar for many years now, and this will no doubt take it to the next level on a much bigger stage for more fans and visitors to enjoy.

“We know how passionate and enthusiastic motorsport fans are, and I know locally they’ve been wanting this to happen for some time, particularly when they’ve seen similar circuits built in other cities across the country.

“It’s really exciting to see this vision start to become a reality, and of course will have broader community benefits yearround with permanent grandstands and upgrades to the park.”

For Supercars, the announcement is the culmination of many months of behindthe-scenes work and endorses its place in the Australian sporting world.

The proposed race has had plenty of critics from inside the broader Supercars family and, while this announcement hasn’t yet generated any backtracking, it is sure to raise some eyebrows.

Burswood Park has a range of possibilities for a track, and we’ve taken an uneducated guess here using the casino car park as part of the track. The statement allows for permanent facilities to be built, which is unlikely in the car park, and considerable road-works will also be required to create a suitable venue.

The announcement means that next year will be the final round for the much-loved Wanneroo Raceway which, as Barbagallo Raceway and Carco.com.au Raceway, has been a staple of the Australian Touring Car Championship since the 1970s.

This year, the Perth weekend attracted 30,000 fans over three days – the goal for the street race is 50,000 a day, meaning a big uplift in local interest and tourism as the WA Government pushes to have Perth recognised as a sports and entertainment city.

It also believed the government will use the track to target the global Formula E series.

Perth-born Aaron Love is looking forward to racing on the streets of his hometown legally.

“It would be so cool; I’ve always had that little kid dream of being able to drive your race car around home and things like that. So, to be able to have a street circuit here would be so much fun,” he said.

“It’d bring so many new fans down for

the sport, from internationals to people that haven’t really experienced it before because it’s a bit difficult for them to get out to Wanneroo.

“So, to be able to do it here in Perth would be so much fun.

“How good can it be? I don’t think we can go too far wrong. I feel like the weather would be amazing. The action would be so cool and just so much fun to race there.”

We expect the race to retain its May date.

ENDURO SEASON TAKING SHAPE

THE CLASS of the 2024 Supercars enduros is taking shape with only two co-driver vacancies yet to be filled.

After a series of announcements in recent weeks, only respective Blanchard Racing Team and Brad Jones Racing rookies Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans are without a confirmed partner for the iconic Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 races on the full time grid.

Last year Love raced a wildcard with Jake Kostecki for BRT in the enduros, while Evans partnered Jack Smith for a second year in a row, but now they will spearhead their own assault.

Outside of the main game, there will also be a wildcard through Matt Chahda Motorsport, much like in 2022, when the Super2 veteran shared his ZB Commodore with Jaylyn Robotham, who is now at BJR.

Chadha will drive the wildcard and is likely to share it with another young Super2 driver.

In addition to rookie Cameron McLeod getting a go with Tim Slade at PremiAir (see Page 9) there will be a number of others in the same boat.

Like PremiAir, Matt Stone Racing has an all-new line up with the more experienced Cameron Crick finally getting his chance in Supercars and will do so appropriately alongside close mate Cameron Hill (pictured, right).

The pair have known each other for almost a decade and will take that to the next level by steering a new-look #4 MSR Camaro.

“For me, this is a dream-come-true moment and it has taken a lot of hard work over the last few years to get here,” Crick said.

“Obviously to do it with a very close mate in Cam Hill is something special.”

After three years, Dylan O’Keeffe has made the jump from PremiAir to MSR to partner Nick Percat in car #10.

Considering MSR’s race-winning best, the experienced pair could be a dark horse later in the year and O’Keeffe is full of confidence.

“When the opportunity came to join the Matt Stone Racing squad for the enduros, I jumped at the chance – they’re definitely a team on the rise,” he said.

“They’re a well-drilled team, very organised and methodical and it’s an enjoyable environment to be part of.”

Despite not being officially announced, it is widely known who will share the cars for heavyweights Erebus

Motorsport and Tickford.

Having subbed for Brodie Kostecki earlier in the year, Todd Hazelwood will get to race alongside the reigning champion come the enduros.

Former MSR co-driver and GT winner Jayden Ojeda has already cut laps in an Erebus Camaro in 2024 and is believed to be partnering Jack Le Brocq in the #9 with Jack Perkins off to BRT.

At Tickford, they don’t see any reason to change to experienced union of Cameron Waters and James Moffat.

Tyler Everingham raced with Declan Fraser in 2023 and has been retained after team downsized and will start a new bond with Thomas Randle in the #55. Both Tickford co-drivers tested the Mustang at Sydney in the preseason.

All up, only eight cars and three teams have kept their co-driver combinations intact. Thomas Miles

that’s

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

Sandown is the first Supercars enduro for the year ... Image: PETER NORTON

SUPER2 SETTLED FOR TWO MORE YEARS

SUPER2 COMPETITORS will continue to race using the current ‘Gen-2’ Supercars until at least 2026, with a switch – to the new breed of Gen-3 cars – set for 2027, at the earliest.

That’s the recommendation after the subject was debated recently by Supercar teams via their Commission forum, and which is likely to be accepted by both the Supercars and RACE boards. Super2 was created as an outlet for Supercars teams’ used cars and has evolved, thanks to some aggressive

regulation, as the only realistic pathway to a Supercars Superlicence – a localised version of the driver experience process which leads internationally to Formula 1.

The timing of when the current very different generation of Supercars would take over as Super2 machines was always going to be of significant interest, especially to the non-Supercar specialist teams which run Super2 cars.

Auto Action understands that those teams, the specialists, were pushing for a later, 2028 changeover – it’ll be a

major investment requirement – while Supercars teams themselves wanted the changeover two years earlier, in 2026.

The ‘2027 at the earliest’ decision is the compromise outcome.

The current fleet of second-hand Commodores and Mustangs (and a handful of Nissans) that make up Super2 are a combination of cars purchased by the teams (or retained by the Supercars teams which participate in Super2) and a surprising number owned by ‘collectors’ who lease them to competing teams.

Whether the new generation of Camaros and Mustangs that make up Gen-3 will generate that level of collectability, or simply need to be sold to competing teams will remain speculative – until 2027.

In the meantime, Super2 teams will get two more seasons, at least, out of their current stock. What then happens to Super3 – currently attracting just two entries running within the Super2 field –is yet to be considered.

Bruce Williams

MAYER EMBRACES EXTRA PRESSURE TO CREATE NEW HIGHLIGHT

TRAILBLAZING PREMIAIR Nulon Racing race engineer Romy Mayer has achieved a lot in motorsport, but helping James Golding take a special maiden pole in Darwin is her highlight.

Golding dropped jaws by topping both provisional qualifying and the shootout to push PremiAir to new heights, but the mastermind behind the supreme pace was Supercars’ first ever full-time female race engineer.

Over the last 14 years, Mayer has forged an extensive career ranging from DTM in Germany to GT World Challenge Asia and now Supercars.

After a decent stint at Triple Eight, she moved to PremiAir last year and in 2024 has taken the responsibility of engineering the team’s lead #31 Camaro of Golding. Having shown plenty of promise, everything came together at Darwin and with PremiAir being a small team building from the ground up, Mayer described the sensation of seeing her car take pole as her number #1 moment

“The Darwin weekend’s results are definitely the highlight of my Supercars career so far, there is no question,” Mayer said.

“We have all been working so hard and to have this breakthrough of our first pole position and Jimmy’s first pole position, both on Friday with the provisional pole and then backed up with being number one in the Top 10 Shootout, was extremely exciting for the entire team. It is definitely an achievement of which I am very proud for myself, for Jimmy, and PremiAir Nulon Racing.

“Before Darwin, I would have recounted two other moments as being my most memorable. The first was when I was with Triple Eight and we won the 2017 championship with Jamie Whincup – I was the performance engineer on that car.

“The second was when in 2022 I was race engineering for the first time with the Supercheap Auto Wildcard entry with Craig

Lowndes and Declan Fraser at the Bathurst 1000, and it was the best wildcard result at Bathurst ever achieved.”

Mayer’s journey started in Germany with her dad who worked for car supplier CNC.

Her passion for motorsport was further fuelled by the presence of Formula 1 and her participation in a Formula SAE team, which pushed her onto the engineering path.

Being the only female race engineer on the Supercars grid, Mayer admitted there are some extra challenges and pressures she has to overcome.

“I would say as a female engineer working in a male-dominated industry, you are always standing out – if you do something very well, you will be in the spotlight, but if something goes wrong, you will also be in the spotlight,” she said.

“So, the challenge as a female engineer is that you have to be better than average.

“You must always make sure you are on top of everything and not be an ‘everyday engineer’ just trucking along.

“You have to be able to play with the top players and show that you know what you are doing and that you are confident in your work.”

Thomas Miles

Image: PETER NORTON

Another career highlight for top engineer Romy Mayer – pole in Darwin ...

ITS IN THE DATA

TICKFORD WILDCARD ROOKIE LOCHIE DALTON IS READY TO STEP UP TO THE MAIN GAME AT SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK ...

THE ANNOUNCEMENT in Darwin that Tasmanian Lochie Dalton will run a Tickford Wildcard at Sydney Motorsport Park came out of the blue and, to be honest, was a bit of a surprise to most of the paddock.

Hailing originally from Launceston, Dalton is a protégé of two-time series champion Marcos Ambrose, but he now calls Sydney home, and works most days in driver training at SMP, making it the perfect track for his debut.

But he only sits eighth in the Dunlop Super2 Series as part of a three-car Tickford team. According to Tickford Commercial boss Simon Brookhouse, those points don’t tell the full story – he has done enough to secure the opportunity.

“I think for us, it’s all about the development of all our drivers and giving them the opportunity,” Brookhouse said.

“Lockie has obviously got great maturity and good relationships with some of the sponsors and partners that are on his car currently.

“He came to us and said he’d really liked the opportunity and we gave him the parameters about how we were going to go about it, the associated costs, and he was forthcoming and got the right backers and he’s going to get his chance, and we think that’s great.”

Given he hasn’t made the podium in his two race meetings so far this year, Tickford saw enough in the data to have the confidence he can do the job.

“We’ve definitely got confidence in him. He’s got a lot of experience through Trans Am,

through 86s, through karting going way back and he’s very consistent in the DS2 cars.

“What we really like about Lockie is he listens, he learns. He’s here this weekend deliberately to shadow Cam and Thomas, to get a feel for the championship series and how we go about it.

He is sitting in on all the pre-brief and debriefs, and that was at his own volition.

He wanted to be here, he wanted to learn and I think that’s testament to his potential.”

While Dalton doesn’t have an endurance co-drive this year, he is in the frame next year as Tickford keeps digging for its next batch of talent.

For Dalton, SMP came about in a bit of a rush after Perth. When he knew there was a chance, he moved heaven and earth to make it happen.

“There was a slight discussion just after Perth, so it has all came about pretty last

minute,” Dalton said. “It’s pretty rare to get an opportunity like this.

“I probably wouldn’t have been that comfortable doing it if it wasn’t in Sydney. I know Sydney track quite well. I work there most days with Driving Solutions, so I’ve turned a lot of laps there.

A lot of my family, friends, and partners are all from Sydney too, so it’s going to be a great event to have everyone there.

“And, of course, it’s pretty special that it’s at night.”

He said the tough part was pulling the funding together – nothing in motorsport come for free at his level.

His main batch of supporters, many from Tasmania, including Andrew Walter from Andrew Walter Constructions who started the AWC Motorsport Academy to helped Tasmanians in motorsport, were all happy to step up with him.

“A lot of Tassie businesses have jumped on board to help me, which is great. There was a little bit of talk about doing Symmons Plains, but this makes more sense.”

His career follows a standard trajectory. Karts to 86s and then to Super2. His point of difference is a bit of Trans Am in there which gives him exposure to big V8s.

His karting was state and national level here, and a little bit in Italy after winning a national title before returning here to focus on becoming a Supercars driver.

COVID made the T86 years a bit of a hit and miss, but Trans Am with Garry Rogers Motorsport put him on the radar with a second place in the series.

“I did two years there,” he said of Trans Am, “and ended up getting a few wins and podiums and I really learned my craft and understanding for the race car and also the off-track stuff too.

“That’s something the Rogers are really good at, helping with your attitude and everything like that – becoming a package, not just the race car driver – how you talk to people, how you do your everyday stuff.

“I really learned a lot with Garry.”

This year he had a solid start to the year with fifth in the opening round, but he feels like he didn’t maximise Perth – which in nondriver terms means he thinks he could have done better.

“It’s been up and down so far, but hopefully, in Townsville, we can get a good result and then head to Sydney for the wildcard.”

Andrew Clarke

Despite limited Super2 mileage, but with two successful Trans Am seasons behind him, Lochie Dalton has Tickford’s full support for his wildcard debut.

McLEOD GETS COVETED CO-DRIVE

THIRD GEN talent Cameron McLeod will make his Supercars debut in the 2024 enduros with PremiAir Nulon Racing.

McLeod is currently competing in the Dunlop Series for Ryan McLeod Racing Cars, but with support from PremiAir, and has been rewarded with a coveted co-drive alongside Tim Slade.

He will carry on the family’s proud motorsport legacy being the son of longtime racer and industry veteran Ryan and the grandson of 1987 Bathurst 1000 winner, Peter.

McLeod and Slade are no strangers either having shared a MARC II at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

“I am very keen for this opportunity. This is the year that we were hoping we would be able to secure a co-drive and we have put a lot of effort into getting to this point and to where we are now,” McLeod said.

“I am very grateful to Peter Xiberras and all of the PremiAir Nulon Racing boys and girls that have put their support and faith behind me with this co-drive position.

“It is good to be partnering with Tim as well – back in 2021 he came out to a Formula Ford round and helped me out and we have also done a 12 Hour together, so I think it is a good match and I can’t wait to get started.”

It is fitting Slade will share Cameron’s first Supercar, considering Ryan played a big role in his own Bathurst debut in 2009.

“I have a bit of a connection with the McLeods going back to my first year in the main Supercars championship, as Camy’s dad Ryan was on the radio in my first Bathurst 1000 with Paul Morris and Supercheap Auto Racing,” Slade said.

“Then in 2021 in the COVID break we had that year, I wasn’t really doing too

much, and Ryan asked if I could come and work with Camy in Formula Ford at Morgan Park, so I first got to know him and his driving then.

“Since then, I have spoken to Ryan a bit about Camy and his career, and I have had a bit to do with them in Super2 this year as well.

“I am excited to have him as my co-

driver. He cut some laps at the latest test day, too, and he was comfortable, so I think it should be a pretty good partnership”

A huge hint of McLeod’s co-drive arrived at the recent Darwin Triple Crown when he was seen standing next to Xiberras in the PremiAir garage all weekend, dressed in team gear

immersing himself in the team.

The youngster insisted he was simply trying to support the team that has supported him this year.

“This weekend I am just hanging around the team,” McLeod told Auto Action in Darwin.

“Obviously they are helping and supporting me out a lot with Super2 so the least I could do was come to an event and support them as much as they support me.

“I am just supporting the team and it goes where it goes. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan.”

His pathway to Supercars skyrocketed last year when he took on Super3 with great speed.

McLeod’s Nissan Altima took eight wins, eight poles and 10 fastest laps from 12 races, but ended up second best in the championship due to a luckless round in Sandown.

This year he has stepped up to Super2 and the first two rounds have been marred by incidents, including the infamous roll-over at Wanneroo.

However, he has still been able to string a consistent run of results of P8, P8 and P3 to sit fifth in the standings.

McLeod still feels he can hunt down runaway leader Kai Allen and it all depends on maximising the next round at Townsville where he dominated last year.

“I am still in it, I believe,” he said.

“I am fifth and plenty of people have won it from further back than that.

“It is not the end of the world where I am at.

“We just have to go well at Townsville –we need to.”

PremiAir manager Stephen Robertson said the way McLeod has carried himself throughout 2024 has seen him promoted.

“PremiAir already has a strong relationship with the McLeod family and we are very pleased to expand that,” he said.

“Obviously he is an up-and-coming star and we have been impressed with his Super2 performances and how he performed during our recent Queensland Raceway test day.

“We are very confident this will be a strong partnership.”

Thomas Miles

Cam McLeod – ‘Testing’ the team racewear at Darwin. Above left: testing the real thing ...

STOP / GO

TOWNSVILLE TRACK TO TOWN

TOWNSVILLE WILL welcome the Supercars paddock through the new Track to Town initiative on the eve of the 15th anniversary event.

After a positive Australian debut at the Darwin Triple Crown, the Townsville 500 Track to Town will begin at 16.45 AEST on Thursday, July 4.

The cars will be lined up in formation on display at Jezzine Barracks where a 45 minute autograph session will be held.

The field will then depart at 17.45 before returning to the Reid Park street circuit at 18.00.

SCHUMACHER TO LIVE OUT SPA DREAM

BATHURST LOCAL and GT World Challenge Australia

Pro-Am racer Brad Schumacher says that it’s a “childhood dream come true” as he prepares to take on the 24 Hours of Spa on June 26-30.

Schumacher will jet off to Belgium with the Haas RT team to compete in the #38 Bronze class Audi for the centennial anniversary of one of the world’s most famous GT races.

“It’s a pinch yourself moment for me and it’s a childhood dream come true,” Schumacher said of the chance. I can remember sitting around as a kid playing Gran Turismo on the Playstation at the Spa circuit. It was a cool track, so it’s always been a favourite of mine. It has been a bucket list item to go there ever since.”

KOSTECKI, BROWN LAUGH OFF SHOOTOUT ANTICS

BOTH BRODIE Kostecki and Will Brown laughed off their fun and games in the Top 10 Shootout despite Triple Eight requesting an investigation.

As Brown prepared for his shootout lap, former teammate Kostecki flashed his lights multiple times to “see if we can distract him (Brown) a little bit.” Despite Triple Eight lodging a formal request for investigation, Brown actually shut it down at the commencement of the hearing.

“I’d like to think I did, but I’m sure I didn’t,” Kostecki replied when asked if it rattled Brown. “I had big Bush (Kostecki) in the headlights, bloody flashing me. I was like, ‘Good on him, he’s playing the game, I like it,” Brown said.

BUSCH SET FOR ADELAIDE 500

A SUPERCARS debut for NASCAR star Kyle Busch is expected to be confirmed soon with a double outing at Adelaide that will see him run in both the main game and Super2 at the VAILO Adelaide 500.

He will most likely drive the Triple Eight wildcard car in the main game and an Image Racing Commodore in Super2.

Busch’s appearance in Adelaide would provide massive interest in the States where he is one of the biggest names in the sport with two championships to his name.

To create further excitement, he may not be the only NASCAR star coming to Australian shores with another big name also being hinted at.

The idea for Busch to compete in the Adelaide race was spawned last year when his NASCAR boss, Richard Childress, visited the Adelaide 500 as part of his team’s partnership with Erebus Motorsport. At that time, Childress was already hatching a plot for Busch, and with the Adelaide race coming the weekend after the NASCAR series wraps up for 2024, the timing is okay for the debut.

The only challenge revolves around the RCR’s relationship with Erebus, forged off the back of Terry Wyhoon’s Image Racing connection through his former engineer Andrew Dickeson, who works with Busch at RCR. Erebus is believed to be unable to run a wildcard this year, and Will Brown who ran for RCR last weekend in Sonoma is

believed to have helped in brokering a deal with Triple Eight for Busch to run the #888 car.

Dickeson and Childress see a benefit in their regular NASCAR drivers learning better road course racing from Supercars drivers. They ran Brodie Kostecki at the Indianapolis road course race last year before putting Brown in the #33 car this year. Brown filled in for Kostecki in a World Racing League event at The Circuit Of The Americas, co-driving in that with Busch when Kostecki couldn’t make the race the week after winning the title.

Brown’s efforts over the weekend have strengthened his connections with RCR and he could spend more time in the States, while continuing to race for Triple Eight in Australia. In terms of the practicalities, Image Racing has an old Commodore in Charlotte, and Wyhoon could work on getting Busch up to speed with the cars, especially the need to heel-andtoe on the down-changes.

The brutal nature of the Adelaide track doesn’t allow for too many mistakes, so a debut in Adelaide would be a big call for the ninthmost-winning driver in NASCAR history.

None of the parties involved in the deal would confirm its progress, but it is believed to have the full support of Supercars and the Adelaide 500.

Andrew Clarke

SUPERCARS TO TEST NEW SOFT TYRE

SUPERCARS WILL evaluate a potential new Dunlop soft compound tyre at Queensland Raceway on June 26, with the developmental prototype aiming to be more durable. Logically, the potential for a tyre that can be raced hard instantly and across an entire stint, as the current NASCAR rubber can provide, is the desirable aim.

Following his two NASCAR stints in 2023, Shane van Gisbergen – for example – pointed out that his ability to get straight into a Cup Car and race was an area that Supercars needed to assess in order to improve Gen3 racing.

Currently the Gen3 Supercars run a Dunlop Hard, Soft, and Supersoft, with the Dunlop contract also up for renewal for 2025.

Running all three current compounds as well as the developmental one at QR will be Dick Johnson Racing, and Matt Stone Racing.

Currently, the stint life of the softer compounds is and has been a sticking point for teams and drivers as they find themselves fighting to overtake and make gains, with a limited window available in regards

to having optimum heat and pressure.

Supercars General Manager of Motorsport and former Tickford boss, Tim Edwards, says it’s a look forward to improving the racing for next season.

“We’ve got obviously the three current tyres, Supersoft, Soft and Hard, and we have just received the development tyre from Dunlop,” Edwards said.

“We will compare all four. We have put together an extensive test plan for the day, and we’ll evaluate this new tyre as a potential new compound for next year.

“Dunlop has sent some

development tyres, based on some criteria that we’ve been discussing.

We now need to evaluate it ontrack and see that it does what we hope it’ll do. We will evaluate what their one-lap speed is, and then the critical thing for us will be how it behaves on a longer run, what the degradation is, and how robust it is.

“With this potential new tyre, it’s an opportunity to do an assessment, and a proper comparison between our three current compounds.

“After development, we’ll make assessments on if we have multiple compounds after that or just one compound.”

TW Neal

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

SHAHIN WINS AT LE MANS

EPIC VICTORY FOR AUSSIE ROOKIE ...

By Paul Gover

YASSER SHAHIN has scored a landmark Australian victory in the Le Mans 24-Hours. Racing the French sports car classic for the first time, driving a Porsche 911 R with Manthey Racing, he finished first in the LM GT3 category and 27th overall.

The Le Mans success, with co-drivers Morris Schuring and veteran Richard Lietz, followed a similar victory last month in the Spa 6-Hours.

It means he joins an Aussie honour roll including Vern Schuppan and Geoff and David Brabham, who all won overall at Le Mans, and class champion Matt Campbell. There was no success for Campbell this year, as he battled to sixth overall, while engineering ace Jeromy Moore only got his Porsche team to 16th.

“The feeling, it’s beyond satisfaction.  The sense of accomplishment is just unbelievable,” Shahin told Auto Action from Europe.

“When the car finally crossed the finish line in first place, it was almost disbelief that we’d just won the biggest sports car race in the world.”

He was the Bronze driver on the Porsche crew, but started the race and did lots of the heavy lifting in a contest that was marred by some of the worst weather in recent years.

“A few days later it’s still a bit surreal.  I didn’t quite realise how big a deal it was at the time, but the recognition and acknowledgement that’s come from far and wide, including previous Le Mans winners and the Porsche community, has been overwhelming.”

Shahin was confident going into Le Mans after the Spa success but, as a rookie, he also

knew the size of the challenge.

“The emotion at the start was extreme determination. I took the race start and each driver just really brought their A-game,” he said.

“We had long hard stints in very difficult conditions. I think the overwhelming emotion was really determination and a sense of the possibility of actually winning once we saw our pace.”

So, when did he think they were serious contenders?

“I think about an hour into the race, when I saw we were keeping up with all the other cars that had qualified faster, that was when I thought we were serious contenders.

“I thought we had a good race car and they had a better qualifying cars. By the time our fourth hour came we were running clearly in the top 10. That’s when everybody thought, if we run a faultfree race, we might actually have a chance.”

As the race was struck by foul weather, forcing a four-hour Safety Car period through heavy overnight rain, the #91 Shahin car continued to run at the front.

“About halfway through the race we thought we were on for a podium and by morning, probably by daylight, I thought we were on for a top-two finish. I got back in the car about 4am and by 6 or 7am, albeit under a Safety Car, we were leading the race.”

But running in the GT class, much slower than the outright Hypercar contenders, was never easy.

“The only frights really were in avoiding collisions from approaching Hypercars,” he said.

“When a ‘train’ of Hypercars would come, and there would be six or seven of them and they might catch you in somewhere like the Porsche Curves, you just had to make sure that there was no contact which could easily end our race.

“The driving challenge ... I’d characterise it as a place where you just have to always be very attentive because the speeds are so high and because you’ve got the Hypercars approaching with a big speed differential.”

In the final hours, the Manthey Porsche continued to lead but there was growing tension in the pits with Augusto Farfus leading a BMW challenge that eventually fell a lap short of the GT3 win.

“The whole team was very anxious as the last minutes approached. A BMW, run by the very competent WRT team, was less than a minute behind us,” Shahin said.

But the final minutes ticked down without a problem and he was quickly into the celebrations, firstly on the roof of the Manthey Porsche and then on the podium.

“To see a team come together and be rewarded for what was really just a triumph of discipline and preparation is just awesome. Of course I’m happy, but it’s just a sense of accomplishment because, whilst the drivers do the heavy lifting in the car, it is absolutely a team sport. It’s about lightning-quick pit stop changes and driver changes.

“All three drivers have to perform, the performance engineer has to do a great job, the data engineer has to do a great job. We had somebody full-time just on the weather and deciding which tyre set to change to given the conditions were changing so much.”

As he prepares for upcoming WEC races in Brazil, the USA, Japan and Bahrain, Shahin also has his eyes on a return to Le Mans in 2025.

“I would love to be back if Porsche will have me back in the car,” said Shahin.

Across the line to GT3 victory.

Above: Shahin (right) enjoys the podium with Schuring and Lietz.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

STOP / GO

FORD SUPERTRUCK WINS PIKES PEAK

FORD AND Romain Dumas have conquered Pikes Peak by setting a scorching time in the 102nd running of the iconic International Hillclimb.

Dumas flew in the new Ford F-150 Lightning Supertruck to post a rapid time of 8m53.553s and win his fifth title by a massive margin.

The next best was Christian Merli, who was a distant 11s off the Ford, while WRC star Dani Sordo took on Pikes Peak for the first time and snared third. All up 60 cars entered and 12 failed to finish having taken on the arduous 20km layout which includes over 156 turns and 1.4km of elevation.

ASTON MARTIN TO LE MANS

ASTON MARTIN will have the licence to thrill in 2025 when it will enter two Valkyrie AMR-LMH Hypercars and return to Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Aston Martin won the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours with the DBR1/300 and the famous British brand will launch another attack on outright honours next year depending on its entry being accepted.

Joining Aston Martin in the project will be Heart of Racing.

“Indeed we first raced at Le Mans more than 95 years ago and in 2025 we intend to put two Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercars on the grid, to compete alongside a fantastic array of the world’s best sportscar manufacturers,” Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter said.

HERNE FAST IN AMERICA

AUSSIE TALENT Nathan Herne has made his comeback to American Trans Am and sent a statement by showcasing front-running pace at Mid Ohio.

Herne racing in the series for the first time since the relationship with his first team broke down at the end of last year, went straight to the front of the field. He qualified on the front row in second and was on track to record the sweetest of wins being in the lead on lap 27 of 45.

However, this is when the dream disappeared after Herne was spun out by Brent Crews when they were fighting for the win.

Crews went on to record a dominant 12s win over his teammate as Herne had to settle for 22nd.

SANDOWN COMPLETES SPORTS SEDANS CALENDAR

THE 2024 Precision National Sports Sedan Series season is now complete with the iconic Sandown Raceway locked in as the final piece of the puzzle.

The penultimate round of the season, between trips to SMP and Bathurst had been a TBA, but it will now be held at the historic Victorian venue on August 23-25.

The Sports Sedans will steal the spotlight at the Victorian State Series meeting run by the Victorian Sports Sedans Association.

Precision National Sports Sedan Series president Michael Robinson said the ‘Home of Horsepower’ was always a preferred venue with initial hopes to race alongside the Supercars at the iconic Sandown 500.

“It (TBA) was not what we wanted or planned, but we had been looking at options since late last year and coordinating things is very hard,” Robinson told Auto Action

“We were originally booked on the Supercars Sandown 500 but that changed due to some circumstances on Supercars end.

“We had been considering some options like Phillip Island but a state meeting date got changed to October and that didn’t quite work for us. Then Sandown came up again.

“It gives us five weeks after Sydney and a bigger gap to get prepared for Bathurst so it has worked out quite well.

“It fits in with the competitors who have other things booked and it is good to have five rounds.”

Despite missing out last year, Sandown has been a staple of Sports Sedans, hosting the finale in 2019 and 2022 and with two long straights, it suits the powerful and modified beasts.

“It is a popular track, being a horsepower track,” Robinson said.

“We have been there a number of times over the years.

“There is also the fact that it might turn into housing in the next few years so whether it is the last time or not we don’t know, but it is a chance to race on it.”

Being a Victorian State Series meeting, the Sports Sedans will be live streamed on Blend Line TV with three races in addition to practice and qualifying are expected to be held at Sandown.

Before then the Precision National Sports Sedan Series will go racing on the Supercars stage at Sydney Motorsport Park.

After an entertaining SpeedSeries round at The Bend where Thomas Randle overcame some significant hurdles to take a clean sweep, Robinson is hopeful of a strong near 30-car field at SMP.

The prestigious Des Wall Trophy will be on the line in Round 3 where 2022 champion Jordan Caruso is expected to return after a fire cut short his South Australian stay.

“It was a very successful meeting with great racing and very good quality cars at the front of the field,” Robinson said of The Bend.

“Thomas shone with his expertise and experience to win and you can’t ask for much more than the competition at the front where it goes down to the final laps.

“It was not ideal starting early in the morning, but it is a big event with seven good categories and we had two of our races live streamed on 7Plus, which was great.

“I think we have 29 cars listed to enter (at Sydney) but we may lose a few. It should be a very good field.”

After two rounds Peter Ingram leads Geoff Taunton by 27 points in the 2024 Precision National Sports Sedan Series title race.

Thomas Miles

2024 PRECISION NATIONAL SPORTS SEDAN SERIES CALENDAR

Round 1: Symmons Plains SpeedSeries March 15-17 - Completed

Round 2: Tailem Bend SpeedSeries May 31-June 2 - Completed

Round 3: Sydney Motorsport Park Supercars July 19-21

Round 4: Sandown Victorian State Race Series August 23-25

Round 5: Mount Panorama Bathurst International November 8-10

CAN-AM TOUR IN THE STATES

By Paul Gover

FOR FUN WITH A CLASSIC McLAREN

GEORGE VIDOVIC is living his dream with a Can-Am McLaren in the USA.

The one-time Melbourne boss of Python Cars, makers of a fast and classy Cobra replica and a regular winner on the Victorian State Race Series scene is now enjoying life with his McLaren M6B.

He keeps busy with a range of projects as he and his wife Maggie enjoy their later years.

“A multitude of things are happening at the moment. I am doing international car rallies with the American Austin Healey club with my 289 FIA Street Cobra, pistol instruction, racing cars, consulting on vehicle purchases,  exporting of motor vehicles,” Vidovic told Auto Action

“We are based in Santa Monica and Overgaard in Arizona and Python Racing is operating out of a premises in Van Nuys in California. We come back to Australia once a year to organise various things.”

Those things include the race calendar for the Can-Am McLaren, which had an original history in Europe.

“It was used to build the prototype

M6 GT by Bruce McLaren and displayed at the Geneva motor show converted back to a Can-Am car.

The story of the restoration and purchase in itself is an exciting one,” he said.

“We choose events according to location and dates that allow us to transverse the United States from one event to another. For example we raced in Road Atlanta in April, then return to do mid-Ohio, then Road America in Wisconsin, then continue on to do Watkins Glenn.”

He has both the McLaren and a modified Python, which topped 280km/h at Daytona this year.

“We have been going to the United States since 2017 and our plan is probably another 10 years, or until I have raced all the race tracks that I want to in the US. We are also looking at doing a European series coming up very soon possibly 2025 or 2026,” Vidovic said.

“I’m 65 this year and my philosophy of life is to go as hard and fast while I can because I’ve seen too many friends and acquaintances regret their decisions in life.”

Sports Sedans blast off at Sandown in 2022. Image suplied

QUEENSLAND COMEBACK

LEWIS BATES NEEDS TO WIN AT RALLY QUEENSLAND

By Paul Gover FORMER AUSTRALIAN rally champion

Lewis Bates has been in a slump.

He was slow at his home event in Canberra at the start of season 2024, never fired at the World Rally Championship in Portugal, and was outpaced in Perth through the second event of the Australian championship.

While he has been struggling, his older brother Harry has been winning with a new Rally2 version of the Toyota Yaris and comeback contender Scott Pedder has also been quicker in a Skoda Fabia.

But the slide is about to end, Bates told Auto Action, in Rally Queensland.

“It’s not like I’ve forgotten how to drive,” he said.

“We’re still second in the championship. It’s not ideal, but these things happen.”

There will be no excuses in the Sunshine State, as the youngest member of the Bates rally dynasty will have his all-new Toyota Yaris Rally2 and he is fully recovered from the gastric bug that hit his whole crew in Portugal.

“Our plan is to go to Queensland and win – score maximum points on both days and close up the championship.

“Last year in Queensland, on the Sunday, was the first proper time we really took it to Harry and challenged him for the heat win. We had a pretty close battle and in the end it was only 10 seconds between us.

“They are some of my favourite roads. I love them because they are rough and challenging.”

As he looks forward, the youngest Bates is also prepared to look back.

“I’m not really sure what happened at the season opener in Canberra. I felt like I was driving well but the times weren’t there.

“That was a bit frustrating for me. It wasn’t a bad result – we were still second.

“In Perth, I feel like I struggled on day one when I was opening the road after Harry had problems. On Sunday I think I drove really well.

“For all of Saturday, it felt like the car was sitting on top of the road and I couldn’t get it to dig in. After changes on Saturday night I definitely got the feeling back.”

Portugal was a complete disaster, despite getting his first start in a Rally2 Yaris, as the crew had a diabolical gut bug and were sidelined by a mechanical fault on the first day.

“The result wasn’t what we wanted, at all.

Nothing went our way that week.

“I’ve never been that sick in my life. I would take Covid over that. I lost 3.5 kilos in 24 hours,” Bates said.

“I wanted to prove myself against the best in the world and didn’t do that at all.

The pace side of things was extremely frustrating for me.”

But he said it was still worth doing.

“The roads are amazing. I would say 80 per cent of it I loved.

“It definitely wasn’t a mistake to do it. I’d love to go again.”

And now Queensland.

“We’re confident,” Bates said. “I’ve had plenty of kilometres in the Rally2 car now and we know it’s

We’re still well in the fight.”

MA MAKES OFFICIATING CHANGES

FOLLOWING A negative review of the handling of a Trans Am incident in 2023, Motorsport Australia has implemented some changes, with immediate effect.

The independent review into the Symmons Plains roll over involving Ben Grice and James Simpson was highly critical of the officiating in the aftermath of the crash and recommended no less than 37 separate recommendations for officials as whole.

A year on, Motorsport Australia has published a Officials Working Group report, with the board accepting all 37 recommendations.

The Officials Working Group was chaired by Ed Ordynski and surveyed a “large number” of the 10,000 strong licensed officials.

“The Officials Working Group has done a stellar job in identifying what is required to improve all levels of officiating,”

Motorsport Australia President Andrew Fraser said.

“Meeting so many of our volunteer officials at events around the country has

also reaffirmed my belief that we have the best officials in the world, so now the work must continue to allow us to maintain that strong reputation.

“The Board unanimously supported the implementation of all 37 recommendations presented to us and look forward to seeing

these important initiatives delivered by our hard-working staff together with the officials themselves.”

“Since receiving this report from the Officials’ Working Group, we have begun work on a detailed project plan that outlines the timing and resources required

to deliver these recommendations,” MA CEO Sunil Vohra said.

“Our officials are our greatest asset and we know we need to provide all the support possible to make sure we retain and grow our highly regarded officials base across the country.”

As part of the recommendations, Motorsport Australia will dedicate inhouse resources to further enhance and improve all aspects of officiating, including: Providing better user experience for all officials through improved technology and digitising many of our existing processes, improved training to retain and develop officials at all levels of the sport, fostering a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for existing and new officials, development of structured pathways and opportunities to grow and retain officials, further support from Motorsport Australia to clubs and officiating groups, reducing the administration burden on volunteers and improved communications with officials.

Thomas Miles

faster.

Image: REBECCA HIND/ REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

Bates struggled in Rally Canberra but is looking for a Queensland win ... Images: PETER NORTON

VALE: BRUCE ROBERTSON –BENALLA AUTO CLUB - LIFE MEMBER

THE SAD news is that long time member, committee member, and former long serving President of the Benalla Auto Club (BAC), Bruce Robertson passed away suddenly, on Sunday, June 23.

A pillar of the Benalla Auto Club and Winton Motor Raceway, Robertson was awarded BAC Life Membership for outstanding service to the club over many years. He was one of the team of volunteers that promoted events and was a major force in the constant development of Winton.

Robertson was part of the team that negotiated BAC’s purchase of Wakefield Park outside Goulburn.

He was the driving force, along with Mick Ronke and Bob Jane, in creating the Australian Auto Sport Alliance (AASA) as an alternative motorsport sanctioning body as well as being a long serving member of the CAMS Victorian State Council.

Robertson had been a senior CAMS official for many years including acting as a Winton Clarke of Course and race CAMS Steward. He was an active senior official at AASA sanctioned circuit, off road and rally events.

He was a mentor for many in the motorsport community and guided the careers of young officials and

contributors to the motorsport community.

As a Chemist, Robertson was a successful businessperson in the region as owner-operator of the Robertson Group of Pharmacies.

In 2019 he received an Honorary Life Membership Award of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia in recognition of his service to Rural Pharmacy and Rural Health Services.

Benalla Auto Club President Barry Stilo paid tribute to Robertson.

“I was very saddened by the news of his passing,” he said.

“What he did for the Benalla Auto Club and the Winton Raceway over several decades was enormous.

“He was a man of his word and principal.

“I can remember back to when he was the ‘Clerk of Course’ running race events at Winton, and I was part of the recovery team, and at the end of the event along with all the flag marshals and other officials, Robbo would all gather us all at the start line and he would give a debrief of the whole event and offer us all feedback.

“I think everybody appreciated that. Not many others had the time for us volunteers and he will be missed”.

Robertson was a supporter of Auto Action and longtime friend of publisher Bruce Williams.

“It’s a sad day to lose someone with so much passion and drive for the sport and the Benalla Auto Club and many people in the region of Benalla and Wangaratta will be at a loss with the news of his passing,” Williams said.

“He was always a bright and cheerful part of racing at Winton, and it was his energy which drove others to be the best they could be.”

“Robbo was a great man to have a chat with and always had an idea he wanted to drive forward. His love of Winton and the sport in general was obvious.

“He could be like a dog with a bone when it came to issues that he felt needed to be dealt with and that was part of his motivation to deliver great things for the BAC and Winton.

“Robbo was a good guy, he was a father, a partner, and a friend to many and I’m sure that he is a loss to those close to him. We here at Auto Action extend our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”

Mark Bissett

HISTORIC SPORTS SEDANS TO LIGHT UP WINTON

THE ANTICIPATION for the on- and off-track machinery at the upcoming Winton Festival of Speed continues to build, with the confirmation of a healthy field of Historic Sports Sedans.

To be held on August 2-4 at Winton, the VHRR (Victorian Historic Racing Register) is putting together a mammoth schedule that could be the events most memorable.

And of the plethora of historic beauties, none might sound or look better than the Historic Sports Sedans category.

The field is at 23 and counting, with some of the country’s most famous modified classics set for up to four races across the Saturday and Sunday.

Such anticipated machines include Simon Pfitzner’s ex-Bryan Thompson Mercedes 450 SLC/ Chev, which has been piloted in the past by the likes of John Bowe and Brad Jones, with its 6L V8 sure to sound pretty hair raising in the crisp Victorian air.

Another product of the Peter Fowler fame will be the Bryan

Thompson VW Fastback replica with its Formula 5000 componentry – an iconic tin-top of yesteryear.

Also present will be an icon of the South Australian racing scene in Clem Smith’s heroic Chrysler Charger – a purely psychotic machine back in its heyday.

The Tony Ross FX Chev is another machine that always does a job in turning heads and ears, as well as the ex-Charlie Milner HB Torana, and the Damian Johnson Toyota Celica, powered by its six-cylinder Holden red motor.

Other event highlights will be the Historic Touring Cars 50K Plate Enduro with its truly unique blend of worldly makes and its eights

and sixes, fours and rotaries, and pushrod to overhead cam engines making a beautiful mess of the placid Vic countryside.

There’s also a Group C-only race to exploit the famed old Ford vs Holden motif which will take place on the Saturday as one of the day’s big highlights.

And per-usual, expect big fields of Group C and A, Group N, Group S, and HQ Racing, as well as the VHRR’s open wheel categories, MG and Alpha racing, and plenty more.

Coupled with a display of over 500 off track display cars with over 300 machines on track, it’ll be an unforgettable weekend.

TW Neal

Image: ANGRYMAN

BAJA AND BEYOND

PAUL AND TOBY’S EXCELLENT OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE

By Paul Gover

PAUL WEEL feels 17 all over again when he fires his 1100-horsepower Trophy Truck into the desert.

Fresh from success in the legendary Baja 500 off-road race, which has been running in the car-killing deserts of southern California and Mexico since 1969, the 45-year-old Queenslander cannot disguise his happiness and satisfaction.

He and Toby Price won the 500 after more than two years of disappointment and challenges, including burning a $1.2 million Trophy Truck to the ground.

“We are the first people outside America and Mexico to win the race. The first internationals in about 60 years,” Weel told Auto Action.

“It’s enjoyment. This form of motorsport, even though we’re doing it at the highest level, is a lot more fun than circuit racing.

“A lot less political. It’s enjoyable to do.”

Weel began his motorsport career in off-road racing at 17, racing high-jumping stadium trucks, although he he eventually switched to Supercars for a best finish of third at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide during 12 years of competition.

More recently he has been focussed on business, firstly with the PWR family radiator business and more recently as a property developer on the Gold Coast.

Weel admits he is lucky to have the cash to splash on his off-road racing, as he is also boosting his 13-year-old daughter Abby’s efforts in international dressage competition with horses.

“We’re spending over $US1 million a year to go racing. That’s around $1.5 million here. But there are other teams spending anywhere up to $5 million in off-road.

“We’re not spending anything like that, but it gives me an interest and it’s better than sitting at home wishing or wondering. There is a competitive side still burning.

“We could probably go GT racing but it doesn’t excite me. We could do Dakar, but unless you’re in a factory car you’re not going to be competitive. Here, we can come from the other side of the world and be competitive in their sport. And they’re spending a shed load more than us to do it.”

Weel believes he now has everything right for a solid run of success in the ’States, including having Dakar and Finke legend Toby Price as his co-driver. This year the pair also took on a local navigator, Brent Bauman, who sat in the right-hand seat for the full nine hours and 19 minutes of the Baja 500 contest.

Price was recruited for his experience in offroad conditions, which began on two wheels before a switch to four on the way to nine Finke victories including three car crowns, but he is also fast.

“He is a bit of a master at qualifying. That’s one of the reasons I’ve got him. And he’s quick.

“Out of the last two years, Toby has had four qualifying runs and he’s been first three times and third once.”

He was quickest in the build-up to the Baja 500 and quickly got Weel’s truck into the lead so the pair could dominate with a dust-free run.

But it’s not the big-budget effort you might expect.

“He doesn’t get paid. He drives for nothing for us, because he wouldn’t get a proper opportunity unless he was with us,” Weel said.

The Chevrolet-bodied truck itself is as good as it can be, after a run of outs, thanks to Mason Motorsport, Menzies Motorsport on pitstops and crew chief Joe Weining.

It also has an 1100-horsepower Toyota V8 supplied by the Joe Gibbs Racing crew from NASCAR, feeding through four-wheel drive and super-plush long-travel suspension.

“It’s f***ing fast,” Weel laughs.

“Driving it is quite remarkable. What they can do compared to anything else in racing. And the terrain they go over – there is nothing like it.

“There is nothing like these things. They shouldn’t be able to do what they do.

“There is nothing at home that’s comparable. Finke is probably the most comparable, but the distance isn’t long enough and it’s not rough enough.”

Weel has run Finke and the Australian off-road series in the past, but rules out an assault with his Trophy Truck.

“We’re just not competitive, because the tracks don’t suit the trucks,” he said.

But, with the 500 out of the way, and upcoming Baja races over 400 and 1000 miles, (650 and 1600km), Weel is finally feeling like the puzzle pieces are all in place in the USA.

“It’s been pretty tough over there for the last 12-18 months, being fast and not getting results. Getting a result has given us a lot more energy,” he said.

“We’ve go more pep in our step. We’ve worked out how to do it. It won’t mean can do it every time, but if we can be competitive and get results it makes a big difference.”

But wining the Baja 500 is not enough.

“It’s the second-biggest race. The Baja 1000 has always been the pinnacle. That’s in November. We’ll be there.”

He’s also planning for an ongoing effort in 2025.

“We’re fortunate enough that we can afford to do it. And we have Quad Lock and BFGoodrich who support us. We’re still enjoying it.

“We’ll still be with Toby next year. I don’t think we’d be doing it if we didn’t have two Australians in the truck.”

At last! Victory for the allAussie crew in one of the tough Baja races.

the Torana

CUSTOMS CLEARANCE BATTLE TO GET FROM HAMILTON TO DARWIN

SOME TRIPS from New Zealand to Australia are easy. Others, especially when it involves cars coming over the ditch on a boat, are not that straight-forward. Lance Hughes’ trip with his Kiwi spec Holden Torana SLR5000 in Touring Car Masters, fell into the latter category.

Hughes, from outside Hamilton on the North Island, packed his car in his transporter for the trip over by boat, and it was the transporter that caused the issues with Border Control.

“We put her on the ship, roll-on roll-off, we brought transport over as well, and they knocked us back on a bit of dirt on the driver’s side of the truck and the cab and a couple other bits and pieces,” he said of the start of his dramas.

“We had to put it on low-loader, completely wrapped it and took it around the corner to a customs cleaning agent. They cleaned it, and then they had a look inside it and found some cobwebs. Basically, in a nutshell, we got out on the Saturday and drove it straight here.”

Hughes has run the car in Australia before and, despite his issues just to get to the track, he plans to do some more racing with it here. One option he is exploring is whether to leave the car

here and convert it to full Australian TCM spec, and then he can collect points each weekend as well.

“We’ll make a call on whether we’re going to convert it to Aussie specifications and run it here or send it back home, and run it in New Zealand.”

The NZ-spec car runs 17-inch wheels,

bigger brakes and unrestricted engine, but carries more weight than the Australian cars, about 1500kg to 1375kg.

Hughes is also a personal sponsor of Andre Heimgartner under his Hamilton Asphalt business, and with a bit of an arm twist, Heimgartner has been behind the wheel before. Andrew Clarke

AN E X-STEVEN Johnson Ford GTHO Falcon last raced by John Adams will make a return to Touring Car Masters with a new owner.

The Falcon has been purchased by Touring Car Masters sponsor Mark Cates from Axis Hire, who hopes to race the GTHO after Sydney depending on how an upcoming test at Wanneroo pans out.

Cates has purchased the car from Adams, who last raced it at the Bathurst 500.

“I was having a good chat with Steven Johnson at Wanneroo and there was an opportunity to buy his old Falcon, John Adam’s car,” Cates told Auto Action

“I also had a good chat to Josh and I know he looks after his cars so we made a deal.”

Cates is no stranger to racing having raced in Historic Touring Cars, Super Sedans and Bathurst Challenge events in the past.

“We will see how I go in the car to make sure I will be competitive in time in comparison to what they did at Wanneroo.

“If I am within a couple of seconds we will have a crack.”

Cates’ investment in TCM reflects his love for the category.

“It is almost the most important category, Touring Car Masters,” he said.

“Supercars are a bit clinical while Touring Car Masters cars are tough and everyone loves them. It is what it was when we were kids.

“The Touring Car Masters is the real stuff and classic racing. There are no electronics, so it is all driver.

“Good cars and good personalities.”

Thomas Miles

CANNON JNR DEBUTS IN GTHO

ROD CANNON (pictured) has made his Touring Car Masters series debut for 2024 in his Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III, taking the family car out of mothballs for Darwin, stepping up from Group N.

The Queenslander did it tough over the three days but said battling brake issues in the big car wasn’t that much fun to start with.

“This was my first run in this car, and we struggled in practice and qualifying on the first day. I broke the gear shifter and then was battling with brake issues all day,” he said.

“But we sort-of got it fixed – we still had brake issues, but it was manageable. We were working on the car the whole weekend, trying to get it handling better.”

The orange GTHO is part of the family’s stable of old Falcons. Cannon has been running an XY in Group N, and this car has previously been run by his father

Cannon leads Hansford into the Valley

‘Blu’ in TCM. With TCM back on the radar and lining up with the Supercars at several meetings this year, he felt it was time to bring the HO out of mothballs.

“It hasn’t run for five years, so we found a few of the issues because it’s been sitting so long. I love it though, it’s great.

“We did one test day at Morgan Park in February, and that’s the other only time

I’ve driven the car, so it also was a big learning curve this weekend. It’s very different to the Group N car where we’re pretty limited on what we can do with brakes, tyres and suspension – it’s a fair jump from that to this.”

He said the TCM car in Darwin was probably five to eight second faster than a Group N car, but the goal was to try and keep all the TCM cars close to each other.

“We want to get to Sydney, but we’ll have to get a few things sorted first. If we can get it all done in time, we’ll definitely be there.”

For Cannon, it is just fun. He’s not aiming to run with the outright contenders, but he wants to run for class honours.

“We love motorsports and love being involved. So, yes, TCM is good fun.”

Andrew Clarke

Image: THOMAS MILES TCM SPONSOR

Mr Persistent, Lance Hughes, with his Supercars mate Andre Heimgartner ... Image: ANDREW CLARKE

Kerbing

at Darwin ... Image: JAMES SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

Image: JAMES SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

ANOTHER AUSSIE IS MAKING WAVES, BUT ...

... THE ROAD TO F1 IS TOUGHER THAN EVER

IT WAS terrific to see young Aussie Christian Mansell (no relation to Nigel …) take pole position, his first, for Sunday’s F3 race at the Spanish Grand Prix and follow it up with a strong second place in the race – his third Feature race runner-up result of the season in five races.

Getting there has been a relatively ‘slow burn’ for the 19 year-old NSW driver. Christian, like Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan did, is living in the UK and pushing to make an impact in the increasingly steepening stairway to motorsport heaven – F1. Unlike the other pair, who never raced a car in Australia, Mansell did contest a handful of F4 races in Australia (aged 15), back in 2019 (the last year of the CAMS-funded series) before heading north to the UK F4 series and other assorted open-wheeler categories, leading to a full-time F3 year with the Campos team last year.

This year, he’s with ART Grand Prix and is making an impact. It’s becoming harder and harder for young racers from the Antipodes to make an impression on the ‘pathway’ to F1. You might think that the $1.8m (F3) and $4m+ (F2) budgets might thin out the contenders, but on a global scale it’s proving less of a barrier than ever.

with Chris Lambden

CL ON CALL

And apparently, we have Liberty Media and Drive to Survive to thank for it.

Formula 1 is exuding a glamour that sees kids dumping football stardom as an aspiration. “They used to want to be David Beckham – now it’s Max …” a good friend of mine, involved in the F3/F4 world over there, recently summed up.

As a result, in Europe and the Middle East there’s a literal tsunami of young aspiring stars, queueing up to get onto the first FIA-approved step in cars – Formula 4 – despite the eye-watering cost. The sport apparently can’t keep up, with various F4 championships around the northern hemisphere oversubscribed. They’re literally pouring out of world championship karting, with significant family wealth behind them, ready to go.

When you consider the populations being drawn from – Europe (745m), Middle East (490m), and even China

and India (both 1400m) – it’s maybe not so hard to imagine that there are plenty of families with the wealth, or access to it, to put their offspring through the school of motorsport that is F4/3/2.

Equally, it perhaps explains the difficulties our modest 27m population pool has in doing so.

All of which leads, further up the chain, to the current traffic jam of talented F2 champions and contenders dutifully sitting in F1 garages as ‘reserve’ drivers, some of whom are never going to line up on an F1 grid, despite having got so close.

It’s desperately tough. Some have given up. Some have moved across to sports cars as a ‘back-up’ option for a professional career.

Among those is Australia’s latest hopeful, Jack Doohan, an Alpine Academy member and F1 team reserve. It’s so close … and the team has acknowledged that he’s ‘in the

frame’ for a 2025 seat … yet it could go either way.

If, like tennis, golf, and other individual sports, it was simply a performance/results-driven process, that would be fine. But it’s not; everyone knows it’s not, and it’s the same across the F1 pit lane, which is a nightmare for the talented youngsters literally sitting there watching doors slowly close.

Kiwi Liam Lawson has done everything demanded of him at Red Bull. He stood in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo, beat-up teammate Yuki Tsunoda, and earned points. Yet he sits there, with promises made by Helmut Marko that he’d have a seat in ’25, with no confirmation, and his seeming only hope – given that Tsunoda has been re-signed already – being the team running out of patience with Ricciardo, as he struggles to regain the form that allowed him to go toeto-toe with Max at Red Bull ... but that was a while ago.

Is there a solution that might ease the hell that many recent deserving F2 winners and contenders are dealing with? (Answers to FIA, Paris …).

While hiving them off to the rather different, but challenging world of sports car racing, or Formula E (no

thanks), or the odd one heading to the States and Indycar, as 2023 F2 champion Theo Pourchaire is doing, are existing options, why not look at turning F2 itself into something bigger and better than a simple production line for F1 teams to peruse.

By regulation, F2 champions aren’t allowed to stay in the category. How about we dump that, find a serious prizemoney sponsor, and allow anyone – including even ex-F1 drivers – to race in F2. In some ways, almost a promotion/relegation philosophy, like football … drivers earning a modest income while providing what could be a pretty high-class second-tier contest.

Let’s face it, the bottom third of an F2 grid is made up of drivers who, shall we say, have the budget and maybe not the ultimate in talent … an injection of recent champions and more experienced drivers would certainly raise the standard and spectacle further and provide a competition of worth for those currently watching the F1 doors close.

Just a thought.

In the meantime, kudos to Christian Mansell. F3 is a tough gig, so any sustained success is a super achievement in itself.

Christian Mansell (above) leads the 30-car Formula 3 Feature race field in Barcelona ... one step on an increasingly tough road. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

GILL MAKES TIMELY FINNISH RUN

AUSTRALIA’S JUNIOR World Rally

Championship hope Taylor Gill has finetuned his gravel skills on the fast-paced Finnish roads ahead of the WRC Rally Finland in August.

Gill and his regular co-driver Dan Brkic took the opportunity in their adopted hometown to contest the SM Pohjanmaa Ralli in the west part of the country following their disappointing sixth place finish at the Junior WRC Rally Sardinia after power steering issues dropped them from challenge after they were running in second.

But in their first time rallying on Finnish soil in their warm-up rally over the weekend, the pair ended up taking second place in the Rally 3 field in their Ford Fiesta, 33.7 seconds behind the winners, and ninth in the outright ahead of a host of Rally2 machines.

“A couple of big weeks with lots of

AUSSIES GOING STRONG IN UK AND US

ALEX NINOVIC (above) has continued

to feature at the front of the field in the British F4 seriies after taking a sweep of podiums in his first visit to the Silverstone GP circuit in Round 5 of the championship last weekend.

The 17-year-old has been on a tear since the third round, with two wins and six podiums, including three third place finishes at Silverstone to make it seven straight visits to the steps.

The #12 Rodin Motorsport youngster has further closed the gap to top spot ahead of the series’ international round at Zandvoort, 29 points off the leader Deagen Fairclough, and 69 points to the good of the third placed Jack Higgins.

“I am feeling really confident going into the second half of the season. I think we can bring home some strong results to keep building on what we have done so far,” Ninovic said.

He now heads to the Netherlands on July 13-14, with five rounds and 15 races left to try and claim the title. Meanwhile, in the US, our young chargers continued to impress in the F4 United States Championship, with Nicolas Stati and Daniel Quimby both taking wins in a one-two switcheroo over two races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Stati, the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport driver has been on the podium for all five races for two wins in ’24 to lead the series, whilst Quimby (Atlantic Racing Team) has also taken two wins.

They’ll resume their seasons at the New Jersey Motorsports Park on July 25-28.

TW Neal

driving, it’s really cool to be doing it consistently,” Gill said.

“Sardinia (WRC Junior) was tough from the word go … it was the roughest rally we’ve ever done in terms of the road conditions, and when you’re back in the starting field the roads are totally

destroyed by the time you get on them.”

In terms of Finland, Gill described the tremendous boost that he and Brkic got from both testing and the race.

“It was really cool to get some experience on these Finnish roads. We actually did a test at Jyvaskyla near where the WRC rally is

based at the start of August, and that gave us a sneak peak on what we were in for this rally.

“To be honest, these really fast and ballsy stages haven’t been my strongest point, so part of doing this rally was to close that gap in my knowledge.

“We finished second to the main Rally3 man in the series, so it was nice to have that benchmark, and we also won Stage 6 and there were a few stages when we were only a second off him.

“The next event is a huge bucket-list event for any rally driver to do, so I have to pinch myself to be able to do that and to drive some of these really legendary stages.”

After Sardinia, Gill is only one point behind the second placed Diego Dominguez in the standings, with the WRC Rally Finland getting underway on August 1-4.

TW Neal

MANSELL CLOSING IN ON F3 BREAKTHROUGH

AUSSIE FIA Formula 3 driver Christian Mansell continues to push his credentials forward after taking his third Feature Race podium of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain.

The Newcastle born racer also took out his first career pole after some near misses, including his first front row start at Monaco in the round prior.

After taking two podiums in 2023, the #23 ART Grand Prix driver made Spain his third second place finish of 2024 as he pursues his first career win in the third tier formulae series.

After posting a 1:28.463 to narrowly take pole from British Prema driver Arvid Lindblad, he narrowly missed

points in the reverse-grid Sprint to finish where he started, in P11.

After leading the first three laps of the Feature, Mansell was eventually rundown by Lindblad who was using slight understeer to his advantage to finish 4.447 ahead, with the Aussie struggling to protect his Medium Pirelli tyres.

But Mansell took 20 points from the weekend as a whole to jump to seventh in the standings with room to move further up at Spielberg this weekend.

“I just struggled on the tyre degradation side, but tried to push the whole way,” Mansell said.

“It’s a bit saddening when you are pushing flat out and the guy ahead is still pulling away. But it is what it is – I

am still happy with the 18 points, plus my two points for pole, so 20 points is pretty good for a weekend.”

On his progression after five rounds, Mansell says the medium rubber has been an issue thus far, but he’s looking forward to the back-to-back Austrian and British rounds, the latter of which was the scene of his first F3 podium, in ’23.

“The season is going the way I want it to go on the Hard and the Soft tyres, just not necessarily on the Medium tyre,” he continued.

“Austria and Silverstone are tracks that I like, so we’ll see what that brings. It is easier to move onto back-to-back races ... I don’t like the gaps.” TW Neal

Gill sharpened up for his next WRC round by contesting a warm-up event in Finland, finishing second.

Christian Mansell continues to establish himself as a contender in F3 this year ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

IT’S ABOUT TIME

THE NEW WORKING CLASS HEROES ...

SOMETHING CRAZY happened during the Darwin telecast.

I found myself enjoying a ute race.

It’s a first for me because I’ve always found the pick-up races about as exciting as the Saturday morning bank-up at Bunnings.

Not just that, but the whole concept of dual-cab racing was flawed from the get-go.

It was always going to be a tough sell after the reign of the beaut utes in the dying days of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.

They were full-body-contact stars on the Supercars undercard and a V8-powered hit with drivers, teams and fans.

And then . . .

Switching the supports to dieselengined dual-cab pick-ups was a disaster.

Supercars stupidly believed that taking the best-selling pick-ups and driving them onto racetracks would be a win-win-win and a runaway success.

But . . .

Without going into too much of a history lesson, Aussies might like their new dual-cab utes but

with Paul Gover THE PG PERSPECTIVE

very few love them. Only the Ford Raptor has much aspirational appeal.

It’s fun to go camping or onto the beach with a fully-loaded diesel pick-up, or to show off at the supermarket with giant wheels and sand trays on the roof rack, but racing?

The decision makers at Supercars were warned, and I know because I made a very blunt telephone call to headquarters, but no-one was listening.

“They are Australia’s best-selling vehicles. Everyone loves them. It’s going to be great,” I was told.

“You are wrong,” I replied.

The so-called SuperUtes went into massive decline as fans realised their races were a great time for a toilet break.

The diesel workhorses looked –

and were – slow, silly and prone to mechanical failures. Numbers nosedived and there was precious little competition.

It was a snooze-fest fuelled by silliness.

Not even some later engineering work by Paul Ceprnich on the suspension, including a clever rearend package with horizontal shock absorbers, could do much to help.

I drove one, just the once, at the Paul Morris academy at Norwell on the Gold Coast.

Ross Stone was handling things, long after his heyday in Supercars, in an effort to get things going.

But …

The lumbering pick-up was much better than a road car, but the engine and gearbox were dreadful. When it spun because it was out of fuel, I was happy to

walk away for a toilet break.

Fast forward to 2024 and the latest SuperUtes have again become stars.

They romp and rock and roll, bang doors and slide sideways, and have the bellowing V8 engines which fans love.

Yes, V8 engines. All the same, all from Chevrolet, and with the punch that road-car ute drivers can only dream about.

But it’s not just the engines, so I hit the keyboard to get some answers.

My questions were pretty basic stuff, like chasing the ingredients for a cake recipe that was rising instead of the previous flop.

The revival is down to long-time ute racer Luke Sieders, who got control of the category back in 2019.

The pick-ups were parked for a year while a prototype SuperUte with a Chev V8 – and everything from lower suspension to Haltech electronics – ran the equivalent of three seasons of racing in an intensive development program.

Smartly, Sieders had also negotiated a commitment to a

guaranteed slot on the Supercars program.

Ten trucks fronted for a reboot at The Bend in May of 2021 and, since then, the category has been on an accelerated trajectory back to popularity. The category is planning for a franchise system with 24 trucks from 2025 and could easily be over-subscribed.

Cost is critical in any form of motorsport and operations boss Fillipa Guarna reports that building a pick-up from scratch costs $160,000 and secondhand utes are priced around $110,000 to $120,000.

To put that into perspective, it can easily cost more than $100,000 to drive a Ford Ranger Raptor out of a showroom and onto the road. Racing costs run to about $100,000 for a SuperUte and there are ‘Arrive and Drive’ packages for an all-in cost of $150,000 including crash damage. If that sounds like an advertisement, it’s not. But it does put things into perspective. It’s all adding up and making sense, although toilet breaks are still a work in progress.

The reborn ‘Ute’ category has a spot on the Supercars show –and crossed the Nullabor to race in Perth.

Image: TAMARA JADE MEDIA

PUBLISHER Bruce Williams

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Andrew Clarke

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Caroline Garde

NATIONAL EDITOR Thomas Miles

HISTORICS EDITOR Mark Bisset

FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconcelos

US CORRESPONDENT Mike Brudenell

SPEEDWAY REPORTER Paris Charles

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Reese Mautone, Craig O’Brien, Dan McCarthy, David Batchelor, Edwina Williams, Gary Hill, Geoffrey Harris, John Lemm, Martin Agatyn, Paul Gover, Chris Lambden, Pete Trapnell, Ray Oliver, Steven Devries, Timothy W Neal, Toby Cooper

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Photography

INTERNATIONAL Motorsport Images

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Email: editor@autoaction.com.au

Postal: Suite 4/156 Drummond Street. Oakleigh Victoria 3166

ME THINKETH THAT TRIPLE EIGHT DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH THE FUN police were out in force in Darwin at the last Supercars round.

Triple Eight are so thin-skinned that they had to put in a formal protest about Brodie Kostecki flashing his headlights at Will Brown as his former team-mate was about to start his Shootout lap and suggesting that it cost their man pole position.

Commentators Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife had egged on Kostecki as they talked to him while he was doing it and they made a big deal out of it.

We keep hearing people say the sport needs personalities and here is a bloke getting smashed showing a bit of humour and fun and Triple Eight want to shut him down. Shame on them.

Brown admitted to the stewards that it had no impact on him missing pole. The fact that it was even investigated was crazy. It would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.

Tom Wilson Grey Nomad (temporarily in Katherine, NT)

Publisher’s note: Unlike some media, Auto Action understood why Barry Ryan wasn’t in Darwin (nor were a couple of heavyweights from other teams). Good on Barry and Loretta for taking that long overdue holiday. Have fun!

RICCIARDO CAN STILL DO IT, WHEN GIVEN THE RIGHT CAR THE CRITICS can knock Daniel Ricciardo. It’s easy to kick someone when they are down.

I stand by Daniel.

He had a few years in poor Formula 1 cars which must have affected his morale.

Who can win in F1 in a poor car? Ask Lewis Hamilton!

Lando Norris never won until after Ricciardo told McLaren to improve its cars.

Yet Ricciardo won for McLaren (at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix) – the team’s first F1 win in 10 years.

Norris never won in F1 in those days.

McLaren ended up sacking designers and some other team members.

Now, with new designers and a new race car, the team is up at the front of the grid and Norris has scored his first F1 win (this year’s Miami GP) and he’s strutting like a little bantam cockerel.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown sacked Ricciardo, blaming him for the team’s poor results.

Finally the team realised that Ricciardo was right about its poor cars.

Team bosses can be stubborn. Ask Lewis Hamilton!

SOCIAL DISCOURSE

IT WAS A BUSY WEEK OF SUPERCARS NEWS AND THERE WAS PLENTY OF DISCUSSION ON AUTO ACTION’S SOCIAL PAGES ON IT ALL …

MOSTERT, WAU BATTLES

Narelle Webber

Definitely 150% effort from Chaz but WAU just not getting the cars right. Would be incredibly frustrating where there’s no reward for effort other than cheeseburgers. WAU garage needs to lift.

Ken Oath

The team have a championship driver – they just don’t have enough expertise to supply a consistent car like 888 can.

PARITY TOPIC RETURNS

Lawrence Williams

Mercedes has had poor car performance for some time now, so it’s goodbye Mercedes team from Hamilton.

Look at Ricciardo when given a quick drive (of the Red Bull RB19) in a Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone last July.

First time out he set almost the same lap time as the Red Bull world champion Max Verstappen.

Yes, it was a very good F1 car. What changed for Ricciardo at the recent Canadian GP? Not the driver!

Look at qualifying, in which he qualified his RB car fifth. Then in the race he scored points by finishing eighth after the fuss about a supposed jump start.

Ricciardo left Red Bull because of the favoured ‘golden child’ Verstappen getting preferential treatment.

Ricciardo has been paid more than most F1 drivers to sort out poor-performing F1 cars.

Try winning F1 races in a lemon!

What would happen if he had just a few qualifying laps in the world champion’s Red Bull car?

Eric Schloss

‘Beautiful’ Bribie Island QLD

Publisher’s note: Good on you for sticking by Daniel, Eric. And, of course, fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri is showing that he’s a match for Norris in the McLaren.

Like all other blue oval supporters, I too am getting more despondent as each race event passes. Whilst there are those that question how and why T8 are consistently up the front, we need to ask why is our or your team, regardless which team, is not up there as well.

Sadly, I don’t have any answers but until other teams start taking the same approach as T8 in regards to their focus on winning, I feel the race will remain the same old predictable events that they are becoming.

John Christianson

Good enough last round, simply not good enough this round! Stop blaming parity. End of story.

BROWN, KOSTECKI SHOOTOUT ANTICS

John Bowe

Go Brodie, the category needs your character mate! All the best, JB.

Debbie Pearson

I’m a 888 fan but even I saw the fun in that as both Will and Brodie are great mates!

PERTH STREET RACE

Jeremy Ferris

Great idea and should have been done years again. Bring the racing to the people.

Jason Cook

By making government cough up taxpayers money for racing on public streets, it’s the permanent circuits and grassroots motorsports that suffer!

RYAN CHIMES IN FROM UNDER BIG BEN ON DARWIN ABSENCE

HOOPS MEETS HP

FORMULA 1 AND NBA BASKETBALL – THERE’S A LINK, AS OSCAR EXPLAINS ...

IT’S A busy spell of races coming up with Austria and Great Britain straight off the back of Barcelona last weekend. Silverstone, in particular, is one that all of the drivers look forward to because it is such an enjoyable track to drive. I love the fast sections where you can really push the car to the limit and test yourself.

That will obviously be a home race for McLaren with it being a British-based team. That’s always special because there will be superb papaya support in the crowd and a lot of flags and caps all around the circuit.

A memory that really sticks with me from last year is visiting the fan stage after the race and the reception I received from all the fans there.

They’d made up a ‘chant’ for me and the atmosphere they created, even several hours after the race, was awesome.

Head

Oscar

FORMULA 1 WORLD

It’s really positive to be in a position at the moment, thanks to the hard work of everyone at the team, that we have a competitive car and we can be fighting at the front end for the big prizes. That always makes driving so much more fun.

On a personal level, I’ve managed to enjoy some really good moments in recent times like the podium at Monaco –and that only spurs you on to want more. That performance had been building after a few weekends which I was really happy with in Miami, despite not getting the reward, and at Imola.

Given how tight everything is currently, it’s so important to keep focused on scoring good points and maximising returns from every weekend as it is so close for every position in the Constructors’ Championship this year.

Away from the track, I’ve been keeping a close eye on Australia’s matches at the ICC T20 World Cup and was watching a fair bit of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks over in the States.

NBA is something that I’ve been following more and more and I’ve been luckily enough to watch two matches live in the flesh this year.

The physicality and competition is pretty phenomenal and I want to try and get to some more games in the future.

I really enjoyed The Last Dance series that I watched a while back and was fascinated by the psychology and mindset of Michael Jordan. I’ve since met up with a few of the Aussies playing in the US – like Patty Mills when I visited Miami for the Grand Prix back in May – and it’s been cool to pick their brains on their approach to the sport.

Basketball may seem a world away from driving a car but it’s always useful to chat with other sportsmen and sportswomen to learn about their routines, training and nutrition as there tends to be a lot of common ground between different disciplines in terms of preparation.

I’m also really looking forward to watching the Olympics in Paris.

I think they get under way around the time F1 heads to Belgium so I’ll be taking some of that in before things get going again with the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.

You won’t be surprised to hear that I’ll keep track of the basketball and track and field but usually find myself completely addicted to sports that I’ve never watched before.

Unfortunately, cricket doesn’t become an Olympic sport until 2028!

Thanks as ever for all the support from back home and enjoy the next few races.

Take care. Oscar.

OSCAR IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Piastri’s

FIORE STEPS IN FOR JOHNSON

VETERAN DEAN Fiore will return to Super2 filling in for Jett Johnson, who will step back from driving duties at Townsville due to an ongoing mental health issue.

This year Johnson made the step up from Super3 to Super2 and in his first two rounds recorded a best result of 11th.

The third generation driver currently sits 14th in the championship in the #117 AIM Motorsport Mustangs which switched to #138 in honour of his uncle at Wanneroo.

The son of Steven Johnson and grandson of Dick Johnson ventured into the Supercars system in 2023 where he claimed a solid second in the Super3 standings.

The 19-year-old admitted he has been dealing with mental health for a number of years and seeks advice from health professionals, as well as his GP, family and friends.

Whilst Johnson is still determined to forge a rain he career, he feels the “tough decision” needed to be made.

“I’ve made the tough decision to step away from the Dunlop Super2 Series for Townsville and the near future,” said Johnson.

“I’ve been dealing with mental health symptoms for quite a few years, and

I have mainly tried to put on a brave face, but I’m at the point where I can’t keep trying to hide behind a smile anymore.

“The stress that I put on myself – on and off the track – has got the better of me at the moment. Some days I’m not too bad, others I may as well be carrying a backpack full of bricks around.

“Because of this, we have decided that the best course of action is to step back from the pressures of Super2 to hopefully aid in a faster recovery.

“I can’t thank the team, my family and close supporters and sponsors enough while I’ve made this call. They have all been amazingly supportive.

“It’s super tough, especially when the sport you love most, almost feels like a chore due to the stress and anxiety that comes from me wanting to represent and be the best for everybody. But I can’t be the best on track if I’m battling and can’t focus off track.

“I’ve been working with professionals, including David Noble (CEO, Shell V-Power Racing Team), Dr Ryan Story, my personal GP and my family to try and get myself the best help I can.

“The biggest thing for me now is to just relax, get the help I need and make sure that I’m looking after myself.

“I don’t want this to be a total step back from racing, or a permanent step back from Supercars. Yes, I’m temporarily stepping back from Super2, but I still want to race. For now, though, I’m putting my mental health first.”

With Johnson stepping back from Townsville, AIM Motorsport has turned to veteran Fiore to take on the street race.

Fiore has not missed a Supercars endurance season since 2009 when he made his debut with Troy Bayliss, while he has finished in the top 10 on his last four trips to Bathurst.

The 40-year-old is no stranger to the Dunlop Series, having competed in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Fiore is looking forward to the unexpected chance to get some racing in a Supercar.

“I’m excited to be back on the Super2 grid in Townsville and it is great to join AIM Motorsport,” Fiore said.

“They are a highly credential team and I love racing in Townsville.

“It’s a great opportunity for some extra mileage, plus Townsville is an awesome place to visit and soak up some warm weather this time of year.”

DREAM RACING AUSTRALIA GROWS

TRANS AM competitors

Dream Racing Australia will grow by entering the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Cup.

Since forming in 2018, Dream Racing Australia has raced in TA2 and Trans Am and has now purchased two of the new Neal Bates Motorsport-built GR 86 race cars.

For 2024 the team is seeking to lease the vehicles to prospective drivers and teams, but hopes to enter full time in 2025.

A 32-car field is expected at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Cup opener at Townsville, which will see the rain debut of the new generation Neal Bates Motorsport-built GR 86 race cars with the older spec still being used in the in the Scholarship Series.

Dream Racing Australia team principal Craig Scutella is looking forward to the team’s new era.

“Dream Racing Australia is really excited to expand its inventory to include two GR Cup cars,” said Scutella.

“We missed out on getting hold of the cars in the initial distribution, but we learnt Brett Thomas, known as ‘Mr Motor Racing’, had his two cars on the market and we quickly snapped them up

“While Townsville is just around the corner and we have missed the jump on that event, the acquisition was strategic as there is a restriction on licences and cars available.

“The TGRA GR Cup will run as a support category at five rounds of Supercars, and the Supercars Media deal is huge and a great drawcard for sponsors and business partners.

“DRA is talking to a number of potential drivers to ‘dry lease’ the cars for the last four events in 2024, or even for our team to run them, before starting our own full attack on the series in 2025.”

The Townsville 500 is on July 5-7.

AUSSIES BRYSON AND PINK VICTORIOUS IN EPIC JOURNEY

AUSTRALIAN ENTRY Matt Bryson and Mike Pink have made history by conquering the arduous Peking to Paris Motor Challenge.

The pair in their Australian built 1974 Leyland P76 topped the Classic Category having been pushed hard by Lars and Annette Rolner in their stylish 911 Safari across the massive 37-day journey from China to France.

For Bryson, it was a particularly notable moment being his fourth Peking to Paris Rally victory, which is a new record for an individual driver.

Before teaming up with Pink, Bryson raced with Garry Crown with great success, winning three times.

Their first was in 2010 in an EH Holden

before they took two more wins in the Leyland P76 in 2013 and 2019, with the latter arriving when Crown was a remarkable 87 years old.

Now Bryson can add an unprecedented fourth victory after he and Pink excelled in 2024.

Sinful finishing is an achievement with the epic event replicating the first Peking to Paris in 1907 with competitors travelling the best part of 15,000km from Asia and across Europe in Vintage and Classic cars.

The Classic category was controlled by Bryson and Pink ahead of the Rolner duo, who steered a 1974 Porsche 911 S.

Completing the podium were Kevin Bradburn and Cole Bradburn in a 1969 Porsche 912.

The overall Peking to Paris Rally is participated by cars that are even older and have been around for almost a century.

It was nearly an Aussie sweep with Australian Bas Gross and his Norwegian teammate Alex Vassbotten ended up second best in their 1933 Alvis Fire Fly 12/70.

Taking out the Peking to Paris overall honours for 2024 where British duo Andy Buchan and Mike Sinclair in a Bentley 4 1/2 Le Mans that is 96 years old.

Joining them on the podium were Carlos Rieder and Urs Schnüriger aboard a 1931 Ford Model A Coupe.

The dates are already locked in for the 2025 Peking to Paris from May 17-June 22.

SCHUMACHER AND DOOHAN SET FOR KEY ALPINE TEST

BOTH MICK Schumacher and Jack Doohan will test a 2022-spec Alpine in what could be a key part of the search to replace Esteban Ocon.

The German and Australian will cut laps of the former home of the French Grand Prix, Circuit Paul Ricard next week.

They will drive the 2022-spec Alpine A522, which Schumacher raced against for Haas and Doohan made his F1 Practice debut with at Mexico.

Both drivers are believed to be in the running to drive for the famous French team in 2025 with at least one seat available due to the departure of Ocon at the end of the current season.

NORRIS: MCLAREN HAD THE QUICKEST CAR

DESPITE FINISHING second best at Catalunya, Lando Norris believes McLaren now has the “quickest car” in Formula 1. Norris and the MCL38 again impressed at the Spanish Grand Prix, pushing Max Verstappen all the way, falling 2s following a late charge.

Despite Verstappen taking another win, it was a weekend where it was Norris’ McLaren that took both pole position and the fastest lap.

In qualifying the Brit snatched pole by 0.020s with a clutch lap at the end of Q3, while in the race his 1:11.383 was six tenths clear of the next best.

But with a poor start, Norris was always fighting off the back foot in the 66 lap affair. Norris believed victory was possible because he believed McLaren had greater pace than the Red Bull, which has been utterly peerless since the change in regulations in 2022.

“Not could (have we won) should have done. I got a bad start, simple as that,” Norris said.

“The car was incredible today. I think we were, for sure, the quickest.

“I just lost it in the beginning and that kind of ruined everything.

“But apart from that, a good amount of points and a big thanks to the team because the car was amazing.

“We had the best car. I had the best car

out there and I didn’t maximise it.”

Going forward Norris can draw more confidence with Austria and Great Britain the next races where a batch of upgrades saw McLaren rise to being one of Red Bull’s biggest threats last year.

“I’m confident. every weekend we go into now,” he said.

“It’s a very different layout again. High speed, I think we have a bit to work on, comparing to Red Bull. They seem definitely a bit higher, better in high speed corners than we are. Potentially we’re lacking a touch in that area but the rest of

it is strong.

“It’s been one of my best tracks in terms of my own competitiveness and my most successful tracks so excited to see all the papaya and the grandstands and have a good weekend

“I think we’re still proving to be one of the most consistent teams at every track that we’ve been to.

“I think we just need to stay doing what we’re doing, because it’s good enough for the time being, but it’s just trying to eliminate a couple of those small, little mistakes.”

“As part of our TPC (testing of previous cars) programme, we will test Reserve Driver Jack Doohan, in line with his 2024 schedule, as well as Mick Schumacher as part of his Alpine Endurance project next week at Circuit Paul Ricard,” read a team statement.

“We look forward to continuing to use our Race Support Team and the A522 Formula 1 car during our TPC programme.”

Schumacher is currently the Mercedes reserve driver, but is connected to Alpine through his role racing the French brand’s Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The son of Michael shares the car with Frenchmen Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere and they have a best finish of 11th at Qatar and retired at Le Mans.

Doohan has been Alpine’s reserve driver for the last two years and done a number of testing miles, with his work playing a big role behind the scenes as the team has improved from starting 2024 as the slowest to scoring points in the last three races.

The Australian’s most recent of five Formula 1 practice sessions came at Canada, albeit with minimal mileage due to heavy rain.

Last year Doohan also impressed to snare third in the FIA Formula 2 championship with three wins.

BOOSTED BY back to back wins

in Darwin, Broc Feeney is full of confidence coming to Triple Eight stronghold Townsville.

Triple Eight is almost always leading the way at the Townsville 500, having won 22 of the 38 races held since 2009, with Dick Johnson Racing a distant second best with six victories.

Very few would bet against Triple Eight from having more success in 2024 having dominate the first half of the season with Feeney and teammate Will Brown runaway leaders in the championship.

The #88 struck a key blow last time out at the Darwin Triple Crown, taking two critical wins to cut the deficit to Brown to 108 points. It was a massive moment for Feeney, who had not finished ahead of his teammate in the previous five races.

It gives Feeney a boost ahead of the trip to Townsville where he took a podium last year and has never finished outside the top 10.

“I had a great time in Darwin, but now obviously the focus is on Townsville,” he said.

“I always love coming here and have had a bit of success in the past in Super2. Hopefully will try to keep the ball rolling.

“The wins give me confidence but it is a different track, obviously Triple Eight has been really strong here in the past with good race cars.

“Our cars suit this style of track with the big braking and god drive out of the corners.

“We just drive the cars as fast as we can and the smart guys give us a good car.

“We will try to hit the ground running.

“I want to win. If I finish second or

third I will be disappointed.”

Although they are getting closer, Feeney maintains his relationship with Brown remains friendlier than ever and is looking forward to finding new limits in the future.

“We get along great Will and I,” he said.

“I think everyone is thinking we will have that rivalry where we don’t get on but we have been teammates and mates for quite a while.

“At the end of the day we are both trying to win the same the thing and we

are both pushing each other so much which is what I really like. It is good to have someone so fast.

“I have a guy who is taking away what I want to do which is to win and I am doing the same to him.

“I think we are going to drive each other to new levels over the next few years and I am certainly looking forward to it.”

Feeney said a big part of this is the open nature of Triple Eight’s garage.

“The great thing about Triple Eight is how it is so open,” he said.

“They know everything we do and we know everything they do.

“When will has a good day so whichever way it goes we can look at why.

“Over the last few rounds Will had been really strong and I haven’t been so we could look at all his data and what I needed to do better. It goes both ways.

“It has been awesome to have tow fast guys, I certainly have not had it easy teammates in my career but I like having a fast teammate in equal machinery.”

FEENEY ON A HIGH HEADING TO TOWNSVILLE MORRIS RETURNS TO AUSSIE RACING CARS

PAUL MORRIS will return to the Aussie Racing Cars Series, which fires back up in Townsville next weekend.

Morris is no stranger to the little category, having previously competed in selected events for over a decade.

His last appearance was in 2020 where he took a solid haul of three podiums from four races, while he took two wins in 2018.

Morris is excited to return, highlighting how he enjoys having battles all over the pack.

“There’s always a race happening in Aussie Racing Cars, no matter where you are on track,” said Morris.

“You can be at the front, in the mid pack or at the back, there’s always something going on and someone to race against.

“There’s no optimal racing line,

which means you can drive it a little differently. You can miss the apex,

or run wide, but still be in the fight because the tracks are so wide and the

cars so small. The cars just give you the chance to do things a bit different.

“And they’re just cool to drive. They look cool and they are fun.

“People say they are like a go kart, but they are more like an older supercar. They have a spool diff, you can trail brake. It’s good, honest motorsport.”

Morris is not the only addition to the Townsville round with Tony Quinn to make a comeback, two years on from a huge Carrera Cup incident and a year since his Aussie Racing Cars return at the same circuit.

Former Carrera Cup driver Courtney Prince will have a crack, as will Scott Taylor.

The Aussie Racing Cars Super Series hit the Townsville track for the first time on Friday for practice and qualifying ahead of four races.

MCLEOD FOCUSED ON ‘WINNING’ AFTER REBUILD

CAMERON MCLEOD is focused on “winning” after his Coke Commodore has received “a birthday” from its wild Wanneroo rollover.

Since McLeod had the big shunt in May, the Ryan McLeod Racing Cars team with support from both PremiAir and Triple Eight have been hard at work repairing the #92.

After a busy period, now the finishing touches are being applied to get the Commodore ready for a key test session at Queensland Raceway this Thursday to prepare for the upcoming Dunlop Series round at Townsville on July 5-7.

“There are a lot of new parts after the car has what I like to call a birthday than rebuild,” McLeod told AUTO ACTION.

“All the main stuff has been done, just got a bit of the bodywork, windscreen and the interior like the seat and things like that to do, nothing major and they have done a great job.

“There was a bit of bodywork damage up the front, but the biggest issue was the left rear which was all bent in and caved up near the fuel tank which is never good.

“Most of them are new parts because others broke and some of it are new parts just for safety.

“I can’t list off everything that is new but things like uprights, brake rotors and things like that were a bit damaged so got rid of that. A bunch of bars in the roll cage are new as well.

“We will have a test and it will be full steam for Townsville.

“It is what we needed and should be pretty good having the biggest birthday it has probably ever got. Hopefully it will then be faster than ever!”

Whilst it will be his first visit at Super2 level, McLeod has form at the Townsville street circuit having dominated in Super3 last year, including qualifying ahead of all but three Super2 cars on the Saturday in his Nissan Altima.

The flowing hybrid street circuit is one

that McLeod enjoys and he believes a maiden Super2 victory is possible and it will be sweet reward for the team.

“We were fast in Brad Neil’s mighty Nissan last year!” He said.

“I really enjoy that track. I was fast there for a number of reasons and I have

done a lot of sim work there as well.

“After what we have been through as a team it would be something different if we win there.

“As everyone on the grid we only have winning on our mind and as a team we are putting everything into it.”

KELLY MUSTANG RISES FROM THE FLAMES

THE BURNT Super2 Mustang of Mason Kelly hit the track for the first time since its fiery episode at Wanneroo.

Kelly is completing a shakedown at Winton Motor Raceway, just over a week before the next Dunlop Series round at Townsville.

The Kelly Racing team had to rebuild the former Rick Kelly Mustang after a fire caused significant damage damage on the Sunday of the Perth Super2 round.

The burnt chassis arrived at the Kelly Racing workshop four days later when the three-person team started a complete strip down of the car.

Todd Kelly produced parts including a new exhaust system and now the car is back on track.

Mason Kelly was part of the process himself and admitted it was a nice feeling to complete the process by getting behind the wheel.

“It’ll be good to get back in the car again to shake it down,” he said.

“There will be a lot of mechanical and data

checks throughout the day, but to be behind the wheel again will be good.

“A lot of the fire damage on the paintwork and chassis had to be repaired by sanding it back before repainting the shell.

“PPG has been helping me this season,

so it was a good opportunity to practice my painting with base coat and clear for the cage and direct gloss for the panels.

“There was so much burnt stuff that could not be repaired and had to go in the bin and we ordered a big list of items to replace it.

“Ed my mechanic is away, so I’ve been working with Mikey, who’s on the other car to help with bits and pieces. As much work as it’s been, I’ve enjoyed it and it’s given me a chance to learn all the aspects of the car.

“I really enjoy working on the car. It’s good to have a solid knowledge of what’s underneath me. I think one of the most important things about being a race driver is having a good understanding of the car.”

Despite the weekend having a heated end, Kelly was enjoying one of his best campaigns, running a career-best fifth before the #22 Mustang erupted in flames coming out of Kolb Corner.

With teammate Aaron Cameron showing strong speed and sitting second in the championship, Kelly believes the team is in a good spot coming to Townsville.

“Coming from Perth, it was the strongest pace we’d had up until this point and we were quite competitive,” he said.

“But if we can carry a little bit of that momentum into Townsville then we should go OK.”

WHAT NEWEY’S ASTON MARTIN VISIT LEAK MEANS

ADRIAN NEWEY was given a private tour of the Aston Martin Formula 1 factory days after the Canadian Grand Prix but the story was quickly leaked to British newspaper The Times – and there’s good reason to believe the genial English engineer’s management is behind that leak, as a way to push Ferrari into accepting all the conditions he’s demanding to join the

Scuderia from April of 2025.

It’s not a secret that Lawrence Stroll has approached Newey, offering him a very high salary, shares in the Aston Martin Lagonda and the possibility to work from home for most of the time as the Canadian desperately tries to bring the highest possible talent into his team, to fulfill his ambition of winning the World

Championship during the tenure of 2026 Technical Regulations.

Newey himself has admitted that working with Fernando Alonso would be attractive to him, putting the Spanish driver in the same category as Lewis Hamilton, as the two most talented drivers he has never worked with. Late last year the Red Bull designer admitted that

“working with Fernando and Lewis would have been fabulous but it never happened. It’s just circumstance sometimes, that’s the way it is.”

The Spaniard, who early this year was clearly aware his team was trying to attract Newey, also said that Newey “is a legend of the sport. We’ve been very close a few times to working together and we spoke about this.” He then added that, “I wish one day that I was working with him,” before joking that “I’ll drive the Aston Martin Valkyrie at home and maybe I’ll feel something already when I jump in and that will make me happy.”

Given that Ferrari is in serious discussions with Newey and his management to hire him as the team’s new Chief Technical Officer but allowing the English engineer to work from home, to avoid a move to Italy, the fact the Aston Martin factory tour – done with no personnel inside, according to sources from the team, to prevent leaks – was made public, can only come from Newey’s management side.

And when it’s now known that Eddie Jordan is Adrian Newey’s manager, it’s easy to conclude it was the Irishman who gave the story to The Times, as a wake up call to Ferrari.

The ball is now in Frédéric Vasseur’s court. But the Frenchman is as shrewd as Jordan without being so obvious, so this chess match between the two will be fascinating to watch in the next couple of months.

FAMIN CONFIRMS DOOHAN ON SHORTLIST

It’s

and fierce

battle with Esteban Ocon, to the point where the latter has already announced he’s leaving the team at the end of the year and is in negotiations with both Sauber/Audi and Haas to try and secure a seat for next year.

Like the team had done two years ago with Oscar Piastri, before a massive blunder from Laurent Rossi and his management team allowed the Australian to break free of his contract and move to McLaren, Alpine has been investing in a serious testing program with Jack Doohan and Famin has openly confirmed the Australian is in the running for the second A525 next year:

“Jack is an option for us, of course, and we are preparing him as well as we can.”

The Frenchman added that, “he has a pretty busy testing schedule and we’re happy with I,” before calming expectations by saying that “we’ll see how it evolves,” but admitting that “he’s one possibility among others, but it’s a possibility, for sure.”

In recent weeks it has emerged that negotiations with Valtteri Bottas gathered pace from the moment Williams openly

started to court Carlos Sainz for the seat Logan Sargeant currently occupies, while the chances of Zhou Guanyu re-uniting with the team he was part of during his three years in Formula 2 seem negligable after the talks between Renault and Geely for the sale of the Enstone-based team broke down.

Doohan himself remains hopeful of making the grade next year, but admitted that “it’s difficult to say anything with certainty in Formula 1.”

The Australian was candid about the fact that “my dream is to be on the grid; my dream is to be in Formula 1. I’m here with the team as a reserve driver and I’m preparing to be in the car.”

Confirming what Famin said about his testing schedule, the young Australian explained that “I have driven a lot with the 2021 car and two days in the 2022 car,” adding that “when you are in Formula 2, before arriving in a Formula 1 Free Practice, you are nervous, there is a lot of emotion, whereas on Friday in Canada, I felt very good, there was no fear, there was nothing to take me out of my comfort zone.”

BEING ONE of two teams yet to confirm a single driver for the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship – with Haas being the other one – Alpine has been targeted by all drivers yet to find a seat for next year and that leaves Team Principal Bruno

Famin in a very comfortable situation, at least in this area.

widely believed that the confirmation of Pierre Gasly’s extended contract is on the way, the Frenchman gradually taking the upper hand in the internal

Lawrence Stroll – a serious option, or being used to prod Ferrari into action? Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Jack Doohan – lots of Alpine test mileage ... could he get the vacant 2025 seat?

RED BULL QUESTIONS RIVALS’ FRONT WINGS

THE QUICK progress made by McLaren, Ferrari and now Mercedes in the development of their 2024 cars has set off the alarm bells at Red Bull, the Austrian team seeing its technical advantage shrink to the bare minimum in recent races.

Knowing perfectly well there are no miracles in motor racing, Red Bull has been analysing every single detail of their rivals’ cars and has come to the initial conclusion that the new front wings seen on the cars from its main rivals seem to be far more flexible than their own.

The fact that Mercedes made such a big step forward when both cars had the new front wings, with Lewis Hamilton’s best time in FP3 shocking everyone, led to the Red Bull on-track team, led by the experienced Paul Monaghan, going through every footage and picture of the W15 in action, the initial findings being that there’s a severe

deflection of the front wing upper elements over 200km/h.

That has allegedly led to Red Bull making an informal request to the FIA Technical Delegate to monitor the flexing of the W15’s front wing and nose with footage included in the communication, as it’s clear that those elements have already successfully passed the FIA’s static checks and are, therefore, legal regarding the letter of the law.

Flexi-wings have been a recurrent theme in Formula 1 for the past few years, as teams continue to find ways to make their cars pass the FIA static tests – both in terms of load and pull – but gaining as much elasticity as possible while at speed, to reduce the drag effect and, therefore, gain straight-line speed without losing the necessary downforce in the corners.

Over the years the FIA has been forced to issue several Technical Directives

on the matter, the latest one being last year’s TD18, that came into being after it was discovered Aston Martin had found a clever way to bypass the regulations’ requirements.

At the time FIA Technical Director Nikolas Tombazis admitted that “observing the teams, we saw how they manage to create relative movements in the area of the nose attachment and in the external part near the lateral fins,” adding that “the teams invest a lot of resources to create surfaces that resist our load.”

But mastering the art of carbon fibre elasticity is not easy, as Sauber’s recent issues with cracking rear wings, showing that not everyone has yet found the right formula to make carbon fibre flex as much as possible and return to its original form, once the speed is reduced, without getting some structural damage.

FLAVIO’S BACK!

AS IT was widely antecipated, Alpine confirmed at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend that Flavio Briatore has returned to the Renault Group as Executive Advisor to the company’s CEO, Luca di Meo. In a short statement the team announced that “Alpine F1 Team can confirm that Flavio Briatore has been appointed by Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo as his Executive Advisor for the Formula One Division. Briatore will predominantly focus on top level areas of the team including: scouting top talents and providing insights on the driver market, challenging the existing project by assessing the current structure and advising on some strategic matters within the sport.” According to sources from within the team, the Italian has been the main advocate of ditching the company’s engines in favor of a more competitive Power Unit, so whatever decision the team will take on this matter will give us a good indication of the real power Briatore now has inside Alpine’s Formula 1 project.

ALPINE 2026 ENGINE PROJECT IN DOUBT

DAYS AFTER Renault’s CEO Luca di Meo stated his company is not leaving Formula 1 any time soon and, therefore, is not considering selling the Alpine team, it has now emerged that Team Principal Bruno Famin has been consulting with the FIA and several of the 2026 Power Unit manufacturers about the possibility of using their ‘motorisations’ in the future.

It is not a secret that the main handicap Alpine has been forced to race with since the start of 2022 is the lack of performance from the French Power Units, estimated by the team at an average of 0.3s per lap. Given how tight the current field is, such a gap means that, with a top Power Unit, at least one car would have made it to Q3 in most of the races since the Miami Grand Prix, seriously increasing the chances of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon scoring points.

And while Famin has been openly confident about the 2026 Power Unit that is being developed at ViryChâtillon, stating that, “we are in much better shape for the next regulations than we were for the two previous generations of hybrid Power Units.”

If the Alpine Team Principal has seriously approached the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Red Bull regarding the supply of Power Units for the

Grand Prix racing – then things

cannot be going that well in the French factory.

Mercedes is also in a position to decline the request for Power Unit supplies as it will be supplying three teams in 2026 and Red Bull may argue it’s also a new entrant, effectively leaving Ferrari and Honda as the alternatives for the French team.

And while Famin may have just been shopping around to see what would be possible and also, by leaking the story, putting pressure on Alpine’s engine department to up its game, one has to question what would be the sense behind running with a different manufacturer’s Power Unit in Formula 1 when you are trying to promote your own brand of road cars.

Alpine’s Formula 1 team running with anything but a Renault designed and developed Power Unit would be a public admission of lack of quality from the engine department and would defeat the entire purpose of rebranding the Enstone-based team to promore Renault’s sporting brand.

That’s why it’s highly unlikely that there’s more than just testing the waters behind Famin’s recent move and it will be interesting to see how the traditionally volatile and sensitive Viry-Châtillon engine department will react to such rumors.

Alpine chassis – Audi, being a new manufacturer, is not forced to supply any other team but its own in its first three seasons in

Bruno Famin

“Yeah, Toto, it’s me!”

Is Mercedes among the teams to finally ‘crack’ the flexi-wing technology?

WHAT A SAINZ SNUB COULD DO TO AUDI’S PROJECT

CARLOS SAINZ is on the verge of deciding what his next team will be. With an announcement expected shortly, the Madrid-born driver essentially narrowed them down to two: Audi and Williams.

One of the reasons it’s taking such a long time for Sainz to make his decision is that both the Spanish driver and his closest entourage – father Carlos Sainz Sr and cousin-manager Carlos Onorio – were unable to accept that there was no winning car available to him. From Sainz’s point of view, he’s driving better than ever, is a consistent front-runner and deserved a winning car to pursue his dream of being World Champion.

Given Sainz’s current form, his desire is perfectly legitimate, but from very early on this year it was clear that the only two top seats available for 2025 – Hamilton’s place at Mercedes and the second Red Bull car –were not open to him.

Christian Horner was planning on a return of Daniel Ricciardo to his team but, with the Australian failing to show his old form, then decided to keep Sérgio Pérez for another two years. As for Toto Wolff, it was clear from the moment Hamilton communicated his imminent departure to Ferrari that Andrea Kimi Antonelli was his first choice, so Sainz’s decision to wait a few months in the hope there would be an opening in one of those two teams was more wishful thinking than a realistic target.

Now that he’s come to terms he won’t

have a winning car for the next couple of seasons, Sainz has accelerated negotiations with Williams and Audi, James Vowles putting an aggressive sales pitch to try and convince him to join his historic team, while Audi seems quite passive in its approach.

For Williams, securing Sainz’s services would be a major coup, one that would attract talented engineers to the team. But, if he doesn’t accept Vowles offer, it’s not a drama for the squad. After all, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon will be still available for next year and, with Alex Albon, any of them would make a very strong line-up.

For Audi, though, failing to attract the best driver available in the market would be a severe blow. In recent races the Sauber hospitality unit has seen a massive influx of Audi personnel, most of them with zero Formula 1 experience – if they are as influential as they believe they are, the team could suffer from the same inertia that doomed Jaguar and Toyota’s efforts earlier this century.

There is a clear lack of motorsport bornand-bred managers at Audi, Andreas Seidl and Allan McNish being the main exceptions, and if these two don’t have enough power to drive Audi’s effort, then the German company may struggle to make an impression in Formula 1.

The Scot has been trying to convince Sainz to join the team, spending quite a bit of time with the Spaniard’s father in Monaco to explain the advantages

Former triple Le Mans winner Allan McNish, who has run Audi’s Formula E team, is trying to convince

of joining Audi, but the fact the driver is still seriously considering moving to Williams is a serious sign the German manufacturer’s plan doesn’t seem to be too convincing.

Failing to hire Sainz would certainly be a blow for Audi but is unlikely to be perceived internally as an alarm sign,

given the way things are currently being managed. However, it would seriously affect the credibiity of the project and deter the most talented engineers from moving to Hinwill, as the prospect of going racing with Hulkenberg and Ocon is unlikely to be attractive to the best brains in the business.

RED BULL’S BIG RISK

THE CLEAR split inside Red Bull Racing, with Christian Horner now having almost complete control of the team thanks to the support of majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, with the Austrian side of the company still backing Helmut Marko, has affected all areas of the team, but in particularly shaped the driver choices the company has made for 2025.

With Sérgio Pérez now going through one of his traditional form slumps, having scored just four points in the last three Grands Prix pre-Spain and been out in Q1 both in Monaco and Montreal – while Verstappen has won two out of the last three Grands Prix and has scored 58 points – it was Horner who imposed the fact that Mexican would get a new, one-plus-one contract, when Marko was much more open to either welcome Carlos Sainz back to the family or finally promote Yuki Tsunoda, who has been one of the most consistent performers since the start of the year.

What Horner really wanted was to get Daniel Ricciardo back to Red Bull Racing, but the Australian has performed so poorly against Tsunoda that, by his own admission, he doesn’t deserve to be considered for the promotion. Therefore, rather than accept that Sainz, but also Tsunoda, could be better fits for Red Bull, the Team Principal extended Pérez’s contract. According to sources from the team, the Mexican’s case was helped by him siding completely with Horner in the scandal the English manager is embroiled in, while Verstappen and his management have made it very clear they don’t support the boss’ actions. By pushing his own agenda, Horner is incurring a serious risk of going into 2026 without a top driver in his team. It’s pretty clear Verstappen is open to a move to Mercedes, the Dutchman being part of a long list of people who believe the Germans will have the best 2026-spec Power Unit and,

Keeping up appearances? Horner and Marko are on opposing sides of the internal Red Bull fracas – which is affecting their driver selection discussions ...

with Marko willing to resign and quit Formula 1 to allow his protégé to trigger one of his exit clauses, the team may lose its second great asset in 18 months – the other one being Adrian Newey, who has already ceased to work on the company’s Formula 1 program.

With Ricciardo far from his heyday, Pérez being far too inconsistent to mount a title challenge and Tsunoda not considered a viable alternative by Horner, who will lead the team in 2026 if Verstappen decides to move on? Liam Lawson, who is reportedly also not a Horner favorite, may have one full season under his belt; Hadjar and Marti will be too raw to enter Formula 1 directly with a top team; so

Red Bull will be forced to go shopping in other teams to find a new team leader.

It’s believed Lando Norris is the driver Horner has targeted as Verstappen’s possible replacement, but the young driver is contracted to McLaren until the end of 2027, so buying him out won’t be cheap at all. The other, cheaper, alternative would be to get George Russell’s services, if he’s dropped by Mercedes to make way for Verstappen – but the reality is that Horner is putting himself in a difficult position for the future, with his obsession of blocking everything Marko suggests possibly coming to cost him quite a bit 18 months from now.

Carlos Sainz to go Audi ...

WHEN COMMON SENSE DOESN’T PREVAIL

IMAGINE YOU’VE invested all your savings in a private investment company and, for many years, money keeps flowing your way. Life is beautiful, you enjoy the fruits of your investment and there’s not a single cloud in the sky. Suddenly, your world comes crumbling down, your money is gone and you find out you’ve been the victim of a Ponzi scheme. From great heights, you fall into the deepest pit of despair; you have to sell all your assets, your house, your cars, everything, just to be able to get by.

For the next 15 years, you work your way back to profitability, you manage to get back on your feet and you even have collected enough money to have something on the side, something to invest. But instead of putting your hard earned cash into a bullet proof investment group, you go back to the same people who caused your downfall and give them all the money you have …

Fifteen years ago, having been one of the main forces behind Benetton and Renault’s success

with Luis Vasconcelos

between 1991 and 2008 – four drivers’ World Championships and three Constructor’s World Championships – Flavio Briatore was found guilty, together with Pat Symonds – of masterminding the shameful scam that changed the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. As a consequence of the terrible blow that episode gave to Renault’s image, the French company was forced out of Formula 1, at a great cost.

For almost a decade the team carried on, with Renault never really getting the money due for the sale of its asset, eventually buying it back, again at a loss, to re-start it’s Formula 1 adventure. Initially things went well, there was visible progress and the team’s sights were on challenging the top three teams by 2022. But that never

happened – too many changes at management level led to a lot of instability and, inevitably, poor results, so the renamed Alpine team has fallen down the order.

By calling back Flavio Briatore as Executive Adviser to the Renault Group CEO, but effectively handing him all the power to make the key decisions that will change the team’s fortunes, Luca di Meo has reached out to the man who was the ultimate responsible for his company’s biggest motorsport embarressment.

There’s no doubt Briatore has delivered results both as a Team Principal, a drivers’ manager and, now, as Stefano Domenicali’s closest ally, since the former Ferrari man took over as Formula 1 CEO. No one questions

his ability to find sponsors, investors, partners and so on and empowering his own staff to get the most out of the resources he provides them.

It’s not far fetched to believe that under the Italian’s leadership, even from afar –as he’s unlikely to go back to spending his days in Enstone, like he did in the nineties and early 2000s – Alpine will be able to attract better talent, become more competitive and even finally return to having a half decent Power Unit.

But, as it has been widely demonstrated by the outrage caused by Briatore’s appointment, this decision has caused a lot of damage to the Alpine brand, because if there’s a manufacturer that should never be associated with him again, that manufacturer is Renault, as the events of 16 years ago are still fresh in everyone’s memory –not least because Felipe Massa’s court case against Formula 1 and the FIA, to get compensation for what that fixed result cost him (a World Championship), is still ongoing.

Maybe di Meo doesn’t care about how things look as long as results come; maybe he underestimated the impact Britatore’s appointment would have. Regardless of the reason, the Renault CEO’s decision didn’t go well at all in Formula 1 circles and has clearly split the fans.

And, on a side note, I’d also like to add that I feel really sorry for Bruno Famin.

This very hard-working man, who has spent the last 12 months doing all he can to get Alpine F1 Team back in track, who put together a good technical structure and is starting to see the results of his diligent work, was forced to defend in public an appointment that effectively fragilizes his own position; had to resort to read out loud, time and time again, the short statement made by the Renault Group when answering questions, with a body language that showed how unconfortable he was with the whole situation. Famin’s track record and hard work deserves much more respect from Renault that what he is getting now.

Singapore, 2008 ... Nelson Piquet Jnr’s deliberately arranged crash, F1’s biggest scandal, ultimately took Renault out of F1. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Betty Klimenko – the early 2024 experience could see the Erebus team for sale ... Right: The team is back in contention – a strong podium in Darwin (Image: MARK HORSBURGHMOTORPSORT IMAGES)

Opposite top: All concentration in the Adelaide pit garage ...

Opposite lower: 2023 – a golden year. Betty with husband Daniel, Brodie, 'Champion' t-shirts, and silverware ...

Right: Betty and Brodie – mission accomplished.

Images: PETER NORTON

BETTY KLIMENKO: ON THE RECORD

AFTER SIX MONTHS OF SILENCE, EREBUS TEAM OWNER BETTY KLIMENKO AGREED TO AN EXCLUSIVE AND OPEN-HEARTED CHAT WITH AUTO ACTION. SHE SPOKE WITH BRUCE WILLIAMS …

AA: Betty, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. Your team had a year of massive success last year – as a ‘privateer’ team, you managed to take on the biggest teams in the series and win. But since then, there’s been a couple of issues that resulted in a lot of media scrutiny. How have you handled all of that? What sort of an effect has it had on you personally and people in the team?

BK: What happened at the beginning of this year astounded me. It was something that went from being a very, very small thing. We were asked to keep something private and confidential. We agreed. We didn’t say anything, and that was the end of the story. That was the whole story, and I was amazed at the way some media and fans and some ‘not-so-fans’ jumped on it like it was “Who killed JFK?”

The team is great. The team handled it; they kept their heads up high. They knew Barry and I were dealing with it. Most of them didn’t know about it because we hadn’t told them what it was about because we had given our word.

So, they just knew that there was something up and that Todd Hazelwood was coming in for maybe one round, probably two.

That was all they knew, really. They’re a team; they’re very professional. No-one came and said ‘What happened?’ We don’t have gossipers. We just went about our job and they were really good at it.

But as far as I am concerned, I became very despondent about some of the people who were around me in motorsport. I realised that when you’re at the top, everyone wants to pat you on the back, but the minute someone brings out the slasher and they start hacking at you, everyone walks away. They turn their back and walk away.

I think that what disappointed me the most was that from something so small and innocent grew this monster, this bag of lies and innuendo and finger pointing. It just got worse as it went along.

But Barry and I had made a promise not to breathe a word. That’s what we did. We didn’t say anything. We couldn’t say anything. It was not worth it because it was no-one’s business – basically just mine and Brodie’s.

So ultimately your team, you personally and Barry, and obviously Brodie to a certain extent, have come under immense pressure and attack for basically doing the right

Every sport needs a villain, and they picked him. They are always going to pick on someone and it was easier to pick on Barry than it was me ... “ ”

thing, respecting and following the agreed correct procedure, and not talking about what had happened?

BK: Exactly. By law we weren’t allowed to say anything. By Australian law, not Supercars law, but by Australian law, we were not allowed to say anything. Sometimes you just need to follow the law and because we did, there was drama. It all became this mountain of hate – and that is what hurt me more than anything else.

AA: Part of the problem is it gives the opportunity for those people with, I guess,

some imagination to fill the void – because you couldn’t legally respond. Do you think that’s made it even harder?

BK: There were times that I just walked out onto the balcony at home (and I know that no one can hear me for a million miles) and just screamed, to get it out. Because the frustration of having day-after-day new things added on … it was like they were trying to put me down. I don’t understand how they could see that what they were doing was right or good for the sport. It was not good for the sport. None of it was good for the sport.

If they had just left it alone, realised that we couldn’t say anything and just gone forward. I mean, every time a footballer has a hamstring injury and has to take two rounds off because of their injury, no one says a word. They’re off for two rounds. But because it was Brodie and because he wasn’t there for the first two rounds, all of a sudden, it’s a sin against God.

It really did my head in. I was more angry than upset, but I was upset because Barry was upset.

AA: There’s obviously been an enormous focus on Barry and there’s been an attempt by some people, including the media, to load the responsibility for it all onto Barry. Do you think that that ‘fly-on-the-wall’ TV show from a couple of years ago made Barry an easy target because the editing portrayed him in a certain way?

BK: Every sport needs a villain, and they picked him. They are always going to pick on someone and it was easier to pick on Barry than it was me, which in some ways is very disrespectful because I am the owner and the buck lands with me.

I was so upset for Barry, not so much for me. I’ve got very strong shoulders. What these people are saying is nothing compared to what I grew up with. I knew how to handle it, how to let it go.

But unfortunately, Barry took everything to heart because he has a great heart. He would do anything for anyone. People forget that during Covid he made the masks [ED: The team produced specialised full-face masks and protective perspex boxes for health workers during Covid] and drove them around Victoria and dropped them off himself. They forget everything that Barry has done for people that the fans don’t see; that no-one sees.

But what got me was that they were portraying Barry as the only person that might yell at someone and say “you’re an idiot, what happened?” When you’ve got a race and you’ve got to make decisions in a fraction of a second, if someone gets something wrong and it causes a problem, of course you’re going to be frustrated. Of course, you’re probably going to call him an idiot or something. But, at the end of the race, Barry will go up to that person and will discuss it and apologise for calling him an idiot – but also say “can you understand why I called you an idiot?”

I’ve seen it myself. I’ve seen him go up there

and apologise. But there’s just this obvious bias towards Barry.

If Barry does something, he gets called-out in front of the powers that be; someone else does it and they put it up as a joke on television.

AA: It’s been reported recently that you’ve sacked Barry. He wasn’t in Darwin – and that whipped up another media story!

BK: Exactly. Rod Nash wasn’t there either, and nor was Ryan Story. Do you know how long it’s taken me to get Barry to take a holiday?

AA: So, you haven’t sacked him …

BK: No. When I read that, I thought who on earth would even think that?

I’ve stuck with Barry through all the shit and then decided to get rid of him?

Why would I get rid of a man who got me a GT Championship, a GT 12-hour win, a Bathurst 1000 win, a Supercars Drivers’ Championship win and a Team Championship win? I mean, would that be good business? No, it wouldn’t …

AA: So, Barry’s obviously still an important part of your world?

BK: He’s the top of the tree now because I’ve taken a few steps back. I follow what Barry

Four weeks ago I was ready to turn around and walk away and that was it – that’s the end of it. I’m leaving personally at the end of the year. I’m not going to go any further. I’m meant to live a stress-free life and it’s not stress-free. But then I remember I was walking in a grocery shop up here in Moss Vale, walking down the aisle, and this guy just walked past me and patted me on the back and said, “Don’t worry, Betty, it’ll all be all right.”

For a fan just to say that out of the blue was actually a game-changer because it showed me that there are people out there that care about us and that there are people out there that just happen to not be the people who make the decisions or the people who I race against or the team owners or the drivers. These are just everyday people, and it just actually made me think, “do I want to go on or don’t I want to go on?”

You know what – I still haven’t made up my mind.

AA: Do you think that some of your supporters and fans have probably put their head down and ducked for cover a bit because there’s been so much flack flying around that they maybe didn’t want to put their head up for fear that they were going to get kicked as well?

BK: I’m sure there are a few. There always is going to be detractors, but there are also a few who stand with their head held high and say, “Yes, we back you, we support you.” They wore their black Erebus t-shirts to Bathurst or wherever.

tells me now, because it’s mainly Barry that has the last say.

AA: We actually got a postcard last week from Barry and Loretta (see Letters page) –they’re having a beautiful holiday in England and Scotland!

BK: I actually sent him a message yesterday saying, “Extend your holiday.” He says, “Why?” I said, “You need to do something else. Go on a river cruise on the Danube or go and do something.” He said, “Why?” I said, “Because I’m having fun looking at all these idiots on social media thinking I’ve fired you.” He just laughed. We laugh about things like that now.

AA: So, again, does it come down to this fascination with Barry?

BK: It is. They have it in for him. If they’ve got no villain to talk about for that week, let’s go and find something on Barry. That’ll make an interesting story. They get more clicks and comments … They get people who have no understanding of what happened, no understanding of the whole story. They like to speculate and come up with fairy tales. I mean, do you think Brodie didn’t come back? He was always here. He didn’t go anywhere. He just needed to have two rounds off for him to fix a problem. He fixed the problem. Everything’s fine now, and we keep on going.

AA: You’ve been a big part of the sport for quite a long time now. You’ve obviously spent an enormous amount of your own personal time and emotional energy and effort and probably a lot of your own personal money in building a race team, a race-winning team. It’s obviously been something very important to you. Is it still as important as what it was?

BK: That’s a very good question. Some days it is and some days it isn’t.

Even if it’s only five people, that means there’s still five people who believe in you. The limelight and all that didn’t matter to me so much. It was the fans and the people that I engaged with that mattered.

I know that it’s only one percent, weekend computer warriors, who’ve probably never even been to a race in their lives, that are making all the waves, as well as fringe personalities.

AA: Talking about Darwin, do you think it’s a mark of the strength and the integrity of the team that Barry and Loretta and yourself weren’t at Darwin, and yet the team still has the integrity and the strength to put on a strong performance? Brodie was back and looking strong – he got a podium. Does that give you a lot of solace and strength knowing that your team has that resilience?

BK: Definitely. People go on about stuff that might or might not have happened in our team and the way Barry is, how bad he is …

The truth is we only lost two people in the last 24 months. Two people have left, and then we had an old Erebus team member come back.

Adelaide pit lane joy – mission accomplished – Betty and Barry ... Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Below: Betty speaks with Supercars CEO Shane Howard – she was less than impressed when the team's hard-won premier pit lane spot was sacrificed in the name of a 'live pit lane'. Image: PETER NORTON

No-one ever mentions the amount of people that pass through other teams. But we have one person leaving, and it’s like a fall from grace. We’re probably the team that’s got the least changes – our team is the same team that nearly took us to Bathurst.

I’ve got a lot of faith in them, and especially Brad Tremain. I call him B1 because we’ve got two Brads, but Brad … as the team principal and chief bottle washer, he does a great job. He’s been taught by Barry.

Barry and I decided a long time ago that we would have X amount of years where we would be 100% into the team and everything else, build up a team that was capable of standing on its own two feet, both financially and with their responsibility in the game, and then we would go out and do something else.

That’s been our thing the whole way through.

Now that the time has come, and despite the early season drama we’re going to stick to our plan and so Barry and I will be in and out all year, but it won’t be 100%, in the V8 series. We have other plans afoot and we have never hidden the fact that we were interested in junior drivers, as you can see with Will Brown and Brodie – both of them would not be where they are if it wasn’t for Barry.

Especially Will Brown. This is where you feel a little bit hurt, that this young guy that you brought into the team, and you taught him everything he knows, and with his talent he did well, turns his back on you, and has the audacity to say the things that he does. That hurts – that especially hurts Barry, because his main thing in motorsport was that the young ones don’t get done over and don’t have to sell their soul for a contract. Sometimes I think he cares too much.

AA: Barry was obviously really affected by Will’s announcement that he was going to Triple 8. You’re obviously a big-hearted person – you allowed him to go to pursue that opportunity.

It wasn’t about having a good heart. It was a business decision. Once you lose interest in something, and once you have your heart and your eyes and your soul set on something else, I could have kept him for this year and had a little boy walking around pouting and sticking his lip out, and I didn’t need that. I didn’t need that worry, because in my mind, Brodie was there. You put in another driver. Brodie is a good teacher. They sit down. They talk about what happened in that race or in that practice

That’s the way that we run. I wasn’t going to put the happiness of my team or the equilibrium of my team into jeopardy. I knew Will’s biggest dream in his life was to be a Red Bull racer, because they’ve got other things they can give him. They can give him the races in Dubai and wherever. So, in Will’s eyes, he wanted to be a Red Bull driver. I’m good on him. I hope he does well. But I didn’t need to have him stuck there for another year,

unhappy, because he couldn’t take the offer. Sometimes you’ve got to weigh the pros and the cons. In this scenario, the cons won. I just said, “Fine, you want to go? Go.”

AA: You tasted the ultimate success, and that’s obviously been a massive motivation for you. Do you think the team’s getting itself back on the rails now? Do you see that with the team and the people you’ve got now, that you’re heading back in the right direction as far as the on-track performance is concerned?

BK: Definitely. The Darwin result was good for their confidence and everything else, but it always is. It wasn’t our world that was shaky and unsure of themselves. It was the world around us. It was Supercars. It was other teams.

What the boys have done, has been the most amazing thing ever. They’ve put their head down. They got a podium. They now are hungry again. We have always been the little team that could, the underdog.

We seem to fight better as an underdog.

We need something to fight for and at the moment, there’s nothing actually in Supercars to fight for. There’s no garage at the end of the year that you know that you’re going to get. There’s nothing except for your thousand bucks from whoever’s doing the pole position thing. You’ve got to give them something to fight for and they like to fight.

My team like to fight for something.

AA: So what are your plans? You mentioned that you’re you’ve got other things you want to do. The Supercar team’s obviously pressing on. Have you got plans to do more NASCAR stuff? What are the plans that you’re thinking about? What do you want to expand on?

BK: I’m going to not mention those because there’s quite a few and I’d be here for an hour trying to explain it to you. But it’s ...

AA: It’s positive?

BK: It’s very positive and helping people. Sometimes there are kids out there that have the talent but no money, or they have too much money and no talent. It’s the ones that are showing the talent and need help getting into the higher ranks that interest us. You never know … I’ve been known to do things instantly. You might see us pop up every now and then in other series.Supercars isn’t comfortable for me anymore. That’s shown by the fact that the sponsors listen to the media.

AA: I wanted to touch on that. During all the hysteria and excitement, you lost some incredibly valuable sponsors. Was that an over-reaction on their part?

BK: It was. Because none of them rang me. None of them wanted to know. Not that I could actually tell them the truth. But I could explain it to them as close as I could get. None of them, not one single sponsor rang me. They

just walked. They listened to the lies of a few people on the outer edges of Erebus that thought this is how we can ‘tall-poppy’ them. They listened to them.

I did actually speak to one of the sponsors, but all they did while I was on the phone was abuse me. Told me I had bad business ethics.

Told me how I should be running my business. Then hung up on me and didn’t even give me a chance to explain anything. Then there was another one who just didn’t want to be caught up in the drama and left. But you’ve got to understand, we already had all our uniforms done for the year. We had millions of dollars of investment already in this year … It cost some people a hell of a lot of money.

with a price that was good then I probably will think about it. I thought we had somebody – it was hush hush, but it was very ‘maybe, maybe not.’ Then an article came out from another media source and they said “No, this just says that it was only Kostecki that was keeping you up there, that made you great, so I don’t think we’ll be buying.”

I think I lost it then. That was when I really lost it. I was ready to fight a good fight and I wrote a thousand emails … they’re still sitting in my drafts …

Like I said, it’s not the sport that I bought into, that I came into 10 years ago.

AA: Do you still enjoy watching the racing or do you still sit at home when you’re not at the track and watch it?

BK: Yes, I do. We actually make a thing of it. Daniel will cook spring rolls or chicken wings or popcorn or something and sit down and we’ve got all the dogs around us. I have been known to throw popcorn at the television because popcorn is the only thing that doesn’t ruin the television, and say “you fucking idiots, what are you doing?”

We actually enjoy it probably more at home than we do in the garage because at the track you sit in a cold garage watching a television. At home I can be in my pyjamas, sitting on the couch under a blanket and then when something happens I don’t like I can pull the blanket up over my head and have that one eye peeking out like in a horror movie, but at track you’ve got to sit there and try not to be too boisterous and you’re thinking all the time “is what I’m saying going to hurt someone’s feelings?”

AA: Is it getting too politically correct?

I wouldn't just sell it to anyone ... I would only sell it to someone who had the same love and enthusiasm for the sport ...

AA: I imagine that these sponsors were the same people that were happy to have their photos taken with you guys after the win. All of a sudden because there’s a perception of some aggravation going on and they do a runner. It must have been quite disappointing …

BK: Yes – considering one of them ran away and took one of my top management with them. On the other hand, it's been remarkable – and it's been reassuring – how new sponsors have stepped up to back the team. I can't thank them enough – it was wonderful ...

AA: There’s been speculation around for a while that you want to sell the team. There was one report that you were close to selling the team and close to doing a deal but apparently that’s fallen over. If somebody comes along and wants to buy the team will you sell it?

BK: Being honest, yes I probably would. I’ve had 10 years there. I’ve ticked every box. This is from my own perspective, not from anywhere else. But I wouldn’t just sell it to anyone. I would not just sell it to someone who wanted a Supercar team to put in their back pocket. I would only sell it to someone who had the same love and enthusiasm for the sport, and I would only be selling the TRC licences – ie I’d only sell the assets as in the cars, all the spare parts.

AA: The franchises as such. Not the team itself. BK: Yes, but I’m not saying that I won’t stay there either. But if someone did come along

BK: It’s so politically correct. I used to walk past … I think it was Gary Rogers or someone whose car had taken us out and I’d walk past and I’d say “anything else you want to fucking throw at us?” He would say something back to me just as obnoxious and then we’d both laugh! You can’t do that nowadays … that feeling of family is gone.

AA: You’ve been very generous in talking to us – it’s been a while. Do you think that the season now is going to be a little easier and maybe a little more enjoyable, and that’s really what you want?

BK: Yes, there’s a lot of things that I need to get off my chest, but now may not be the right time to get them all out, and some of it will just pass into my history and will be forgotten about.

But my love for the sport has never changed – the degree has maybe gone up and down but it’s my faith in some of the people around the sport that has been shattered at the moment. But I have to say that the fans that did stick by us and the people that did stick by us ... they have been amazing. I get random messages from people on my Facebook saying “Are you alright? Is everything okay? Don’t worry about it, it’ll all turn out for the best,” that makes the difference. This is from random fans, people I don’t even know.

So, I’m kind-of at what I wouldn’t even call a rock and a hard place. I’m at a point where I’ve done my 10 years; I’ve ticked every box – if there were more boxes to tick I think I’d be more enthusiastic about staying, but no, if someone came along with the right attitude, the right reasons to buy, I might look at selling, and move on from Supercars.

Happy days – Betty and Daniel at Betty's OAM investiture. Left: Adelaide – pit lane celebration. Below: Betty and some of the champion crew ...

SUPER SNAPPER

AUTO ACTION’S OWN RICHARD HATHAWAY WAS CROWNED AS THE SPEEDWAY AUSTRALIA PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR FOR 2024 ...

IT WAS a sweet reward for Hathway, who in the preceding 12 months not only snapped speedways all over Australia, but also criss-crossed America shooting some of the biggest drivers and races in the world.

Alongside him in the top three were respected photographers, Gavin Skene and last year’s winner Nikita Pollock.

“To be recognised, and especially with the way it is judged now with other industry photographers looking at it across the board, I am definitely pretty humbled,” Hathaway reflected.

“What we are trying to do is instead of just trying to get the action shots, we are looking outside the lens and there is more to speedway than just shooting at Turns 2 and 4.

“Thanks to Speedway Australia for what they do. It helps lift the bar for everyone to better themselves and promote the sport and get other guys who are learning and coming on to think outside the box when

“I had a

they are shooting as well.

the

“I am trying to lift the profile of the sport and bring a V8 Supercar-style approach to promote speedway instead of it being the dirty poor brother.”

Hathaway has loved speedway his entire life, and with his father a racer himself.

In addition toe enjoying the racing,

Hathaway also developed an interest in photography and shooting the action when he was a teenager.

But it was not until he was much older when his work took off and it spread much further than just the speedway.

“Speedway has been around me pretty much my whole life, but around 14-15

I also had a keen eye for photography and ran with an old Instamatic Panamax camera which never cut it.

“The bug has always been there and initially wanted to go down the video editing path but I was always more suited to photography and to my first camera in my early 20s.

“I took 10 years off when we started a family, but it was actually my young bloke going to the footy that got me back into shooting.

“The South Western Times picked me up for weekend sports photography and from there it has grown. I used to do surfing, rodeos, basketball, football, powerboats ... anything sport.

“In 2015/16 I pretty much begged Gavin Migro to let me have a go at the Motorplex and after a couple of weeks bringing quite a bit of exposure through the series he said 'just have fun shooting.'

Hathaway has been a regular at Perth Motorplex ever since and also covers the

From the US Eldora 'Millions' (below) to Perth Motoplex, to Premier Speedway, Richard Hathaway is bringing a fresh and different approach to Speedway photography – and having a great time. He describes some of his favorite images in his own words.

Main image: “The rawness of Logan Schuchart on the wing after winning the momentous race. It is not every day you win a million dollars and his celebration up there was what the crowd wanted to see. It is a story being told.”

All images: RICHARD HATHAWAY!

few options at Warrnambool, but this is the best capturing the crowd and

racing.”

Grand Annual Classic on an annual basis.

In 2018, 2019 and 2023 he has jetted off to America to shoot the world’s best and last year’s trip was a particularly whirlwind experience.

“When I first started doing this I never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be shooting the tour with the Outlaws,” he said.

“It doesn’t get any better than covering the big races over there – you are in awe of how good the drivers are, no matter the conditions.

“Last year was pretty full on. I did 50-60 races between Australia and America. It was great to capture that as best I could to do it justice.”

Hathaway uses a Canon R7 body and his favourite lens is a 2.8 120-300mm Sigma.

Thomas Miles

Jade Avedisian came over from America for the Aussie Speedcar titles. I had not had a portrait shot until then and the composition is just nice.

“This was unfortunate. Ryan Lancaster was very sick before this. I never like to see guys crash out but that shot is pretty out there.”

“This is a very unique shot of Rico Abreu looking down on the car. I like how clean it is with him at work.”

“This shot of Trent Pidgin is how I like to take my photos. Especially the cleanness of it with the black and blue of the car standing out.”

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SPEEDWAY

Image: CBM MEDIA/CRAIG MITCHELL

YEOMANS, WILLIAMS

WIN

BIG EVENTS TO CLOSE DROUIN’S SEASON

A TERRIFIC night ended Drouin Speedway’s season with the Standard Saloon Eliminator Cup and the Norstar Steel Recyclers Demolition Derby.

The racing in the Standard Saloons was close from the outset across six qualifying heats.

Andrew Miles took the opener by just 0.441s from Kane Gibson, while Andy Evans was more convincing in heat 2.

Owen Cecil won the next race over Yeomans, who won the finale with Leek also victorious.

Over 28 laps the Elimination Cup removes drivers at stages until a final eight remain to do battle for the last portion of the race.

Yeomans qualified from the front with Cecil and Miles and Leek behind.

Yeomans was on the move with Cecil behind as Mark Sweet did not last more than four laps and was first to go followed by Haiden Boyes and Kane Gibson.

At the nine lap mark, Cecil passed Yeomans for the lead but the latter hit back four laps later.

By lap 16 four more cars were eliminated as Jack Braz passed Legend Gooding on lap 25.

Up front Yeomans (pictured above) was untouchable and sealed the win from Cecil and Miles.

The Junior Standard Saloon competition attracted six youngsters and Ella Sheedy began well when she made a pass late to take Heat 1. Sheedy went on to secure a clean sweep from the heats.

But in the final Cooper Joynson made a great start to hit the lead, while Braz also passed Sheedy. Braz and Sheedy battled each other whilst Joynson had the front to himself.

Sheedy passed Braz again for second on lap five when the top three put a lap on the field.

However, Sheedy did not have enough to hunt down Joynson, who went on to win.

In Ladies racing Bree Walker dominated the heats and then led every lap in the 10-lap final with Warragul woman Caroline Allen in second and Maddison Miles in third.

A huge Demolition Derby also took place with Pakenham man Matt Williams taking the win in an event he was not even going to start in before the day started.

Dean Thompson

WAHGUNYAH STAGES FINALE

WAHGUNYAH SPEEDWAY saluted its season with a big race meeting on the Sunday night of the Kings Birthday weekend.

Leading the way was the AMCA Nationals which staged the annual ‘Winter Shootout’ meeting.

Stephen Hopkins won the first of three heat races, followed by Justin Richardson and Mick Kiraly with the latter setting a new eight lap record time of 3:03.165.

In the feature event, Richardson led early from Kiraly, and Neale Peachey.

But on lap seven, Kiraly moved to the race lead and try as he might Richardson could not get close enough to pick him off.

This saw Kiraly take the win from Richardson, Peachey, Frank Thierry, and Adrian Jones.

Winning the first heat race in the Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association

‘Corowa Smash Repairs’ Dash for Cash event was local steerer Justin Brockley, who also took the second sprint.

Nathan Shortis chimed in twice before Ross Maclean and Billy O’Donoghue were also victorious.

In the 15-lap feature event Shortis was the first to lead the race on lap one from Brockley and O’Donoghue.

It took until lap five for Brockley to reach the front of the field by overcoming Shortis, only for the latter to hit back a lap later as the two at the

front threw everything at each other.

It took until lap 13 for Brockley to reclaim the lead and as the chequered dropped he held on by just 0.287s with O’Donoghue holding third.

The Production Sedan 1000 had attracted cars from all over and Andrew Cunningham claimed the first by the barest of margins in front of Wes Barnes.

Chris Fitzgerald was next to bag a win before Scott Hawkins who had won frequently at Wahgunyah this season was next to taste success.

Corowa’s own Trevor Mills won heat race number four, while Wayne Bourke was next with a victory and Craig McAlister secured the final heat race.

With 20 laps to sort out the $1000 winner, Bourke would get the best of the start claiming therace lead whilst Hawkins had a shocker and found himself in ninth after the first circulation.

With a quarter of the race done, Bourke led Cunningham, McAlister, Creek, and Marty Bassett. Local favourites including Creek, Jack Bear and Michael Sayers all seen their races finish on lap seven for one reason or another and Hawkins was not far behind them.

With 10 laps to go McAlister led Bourke, Bassett, Zac Hignett and Tom Barnard and, except for Barnard moving forward a spot, that is how the race would end.

Standard Saloon action saw local

Lavender, and Scott McAuliffe.

Fleming-Robertson won the first two qualifying races before Delarue won the third.

In a 12-lap final Fleming-Robertson led from start to finish to defeat Delarue, Lavender, McAuliffe, and Adam Brezovnik.

Peter Schmetzer started with the first win of the night in the Unlimited Sedan class and went on to a qualifying race clean sweep.

But things didn’t go to plan in the final with all but two of the starters finding a way to not finish the dramatic race.

Darren Clarke was first past the flag to win in front of Peter Camillieri.

In Sports Sedans Mick Mannix clean swept all three heat races along the way breaking five-year-old record previously set for a six-race distance.

He also set a new 10-lap record in winning the final, ahead of Martin Heiner and Gary Gapes.

Also sweeping the heat races was Tay Barnard in the Ladies Sports Sedans. She won all three before winning the ten-lap final in front of Kayla Mannix, Lisa Chalcraft and Nicole Gapes.

With the season over, fans will have to wait until around November later this year for racing to recommence at Wahgunyah. Dean Thompson

category leader Micheal FlemingRobertson up against the likes of Josh Delarue, Rhys

Craig McAlister won the Production Sedans contest. Image: VERN PARKER PHOTOGRAPHY

Want to see your

Send your information, images and contact details to

TOOWOOMBA ANNOUNCES MORE RACES

THE RACING may be over but more races are being announced to light up Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway in the future.

The venue will host the 2026 Australian 360-LS Sprintcar Championship (formerly called Pro Sprintcars) on 13 and 14 March 2026, making it at a Friday and Saturday night meeting.

The team at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway can’t wait to host this exciting event in 2026.

Racing will return to the venue in September for the fourth running of the Thunder on the Downs event.

This will also be staged on a Friday and Saturday being held on September 27-28.

The winner on both the Friday and Saturday night features will pay $10,000 to win.

The race will be held two weeks after Chariots in Darwin and a week after Gladstone’s Sprintcar event.

Then the Red Hot Summer Shootout returns for the third time on January 10-12. Friday night will once again be a standalone event, with a two night show held over the weekend with another big prize purse promised.

V8 DIRT MODIFIEDS BACK IN SYDNEY

THE 2023/24 V8 Dirt Modified season ended on a high by returning to the Sydney International Speedway.

Competing in the first Sunday afternoon race meeting ever held in the track’s history, the V8 Dirt Modifieds put on a show with Zac MacDonald (pictured) leading the way.

The Queensland-based racer has been one of the most consistent drivers this season, finishing inside the top five on multiple occasions.

He made his Sydney International Speedway debut in impressive fashion by winning both of his heat races and the 20-lap feature race.

Following MacDonald home in second in the feature race was Blake Eveleigh. Eveleigh took up the challenge to MacDonald throughout the meeting, but in the end had to settle for second.

Earlier in the meeting, the NSWbased competitor had finished his two heat races in second and third place respectively.

Mick Turner made a successful return to V8 Dirt Modified racing by finishing in third place aboard the NSW #25 car normally driven by Andrew Pezzutti.

The Central Coast, NSW-based racer, who has finished in the runner-up spot of three Australian Championships in a row (1993, 1994 and 1995) before embarking on a Sprintcar career, enjoyed getting back into a V8 Dirt Modified and he certainly showed his ability to steer the modern version of the cars.

Craig O’Toole finished just off the podium in fourth in the feature race and he was also the highest placed Sportsman category competitor.

Behind O’Toole in fifth was veteran

After having no luck in the heat races, due to driveline issues when leading, Herne had to start from the back of the field for the feature race.

The hard-luck story of the meeting was youngster Ryley Smith. In what was a busy weekend for Smith, who competed in the previous night’s Sprintcar racing action at the track, was running second in the feature race up until he suffered a flat tyre with five laps remaining and was forced to retreat to the infield.

The return of V8 Dirt Modifieds to the Sydney International Speedway track was a pleasing one, and the NSW club is looking forward to more opportunities to compete there in the 2024-25 season.

Daniel Powell

WALKER WINS WINDY HILL

PETER WALKER (pictured) has claimed a second Late Models victory at Windy Hill in a later start to the Winter Series than expected.

The Late Model Racing Western Australia event held at Kellerberrin was dominated by Walker, who enjoyed a near perfect night.

After the first Renegade Race Fuels and Lubricants Winter Series round was washed out, what was meant to be the second round ended up being the opener. In Heat 1 Beau Oldfield raced out of the blocks be overcoming Mat Robbins and Bradley Oldfield.

Walker had to settle for fourth, but he came out swinging in the second heat.

However, as the race went on, both Oldfields started to put the pressure on. They closed the gap to Walker, but could not quite close enough to mount a significant challenge for the lead.

Walker ended up leading every lap of the race to take a commanding win as Beau Oldfield in his father’s #11 overcame Bradley, who was also steering his father’s #51. Seaton ended up best of the rest ahead of Chris Barrow and Brad Ludlow, who subbed in for Lionel Kirkby in the #58 from Heat 2 onwards.

The only driver not to make the finish was Mat Robbins, who was also unable to make the start.

Thomas Miles

Lloyd Hobson, newcomer Joshua Herne, young teenage rookie Taylor Blanch, Wayne Simpson and Mark Griffith.

He controlled the second sprint and overcame both of the Oldfield’s with Peter Seaton completing the top four.

A fast start saw Walker hit the lead off the line and he controlled the race from there.

Image: JSP/DTN MEDIA

Image: ZP IMAGES

NATIONALS WRAP

KARTING WATCH

IN THIS first edition of Auto Action’s ‘Karting Watch’, the spotlight turns to 14-year-old Victorian, Matthew Basso.

Three rounds into his first season in the National Karting Championship (KA3 Juniors), Basso secured his first pole position at the Queensland Emerald round.

Hailing from the Mornington Peninsula, supported by his parents Paul and Katrina, Basso entered his first national season having won a state championship, and as a three time winner of the Australasian Kart titles.

After qualifying fourth in Puckapunyal out of 77 karters, he backed it up by going four better in Round 3 as well as taking his first heat win, finishing seventh in the feature to sit 11th in the pointscore.

An avid promoter of himself on socials, Basso has garnered a healthy array of sponsors, including Castrol, through which he’s gained Sim experience under the tutelage of Supercars driver Thomas Randle.

Aiming for a future in tin-tops, Basso will take Toyota 86 test sessions later in the year at Winton or Norwell.

His father Paul expressed to AA the emotions of Matthew’s first pole.

“We were both standing there crying, and when we went and greeted him

we still had tears in our eyes. It was an incredible feeling, he just keeps on ticking off the milestones,” Paul said.

“For him it was a dream come true, and for us, we just realised that this kid really can drive!

“He’s becoming really proficient with the data side of it, and Thomas (Randle) was really impressed with how he’s adapted to the Sim in terms of improving on things like trail braking, and working on the subtleties of braking

to improve each time.”

In his quest to finish in the top-ten this season, Basso next heads to the Coffs Harbour Kart Racing Club for Round 4 on July 18-21.

BASSO CLAIMS FIRST KA3 POLE WALTERS BEST IN BEGA

THE 2024 edition of the historic Bega Valley Rally was convincingly taken out by Riley Walters and Andrew Crowley (below)..

After two days and three heats of gruelling dirt roads and heavy rain, the pair behind the wheel of the #1 Subaru Impreza WRX emerged victorious by a comfortable margin of just under three minutes.

Being the 51st edition of the second oldest rally in Australia and round 2 of the NSW Rally Championship, it was a special success for Walters and Crowley.

Their nearest rivals were Brendan Reeves and Aidan O’Halloran in their Datsun 1600, having edged out Mitsubishi Mirage competitors Justin Griffin and Peter Hellwig.

The event was run by the Sapphire Coast Sporting Car Club and doubled as the fourth round of the East Coast Classic Rally Series and ACT Regional Rally Series.

With more than half a century of history, the rally attracted 66 competitors, including the experienced combination of ARC stars Neal Bates and Coral Taylor.

They showed ominous form in their Toyota RA40 Celica by winning the first two stages, but they only took part in the first day of the rally.

There was drama before the rally began as outright contenders Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith blew the turbo in their Hyundai i20 G4 before the starting the opening stage.

The challenges did not stop towards the end of the opening day as Stage 8 was cut short due to poor road conditions caused by recent rain. Consistency saw Walters emerged from it all on top with Bates second best and Reeves in third.

Despite the early issue putting them out of outright contention, Redhead and Winwood-Smith did not give up.

They ended up getting their i20 back to Blayney and fixed the problems to go out all guns blazing in Heat 2.

Their hard work was rewarded when they won the heat which obtained stages 9-11.

Redhead carried on his momentum into the third and final heat which proved to be held over just the solitary run after Stage 13 was cancelled.

His Hyundai was the fastest Sunday competitor, but right behind the i20 was Walters.

The Subaru driver did not put a foot wrong to wrap up Bega Valley Rally glory. Walters held firm all weekend to ensure Reeves could never mount a serious challenge for victory.

Dennis and Luke Stanford performed in their WRX to win both the 4WD East Coast Classic and ACT Series honours.

Reeves topped the 2WD class as the NSW Hyundai/Kia Series went to John Brophy and Tiernan Lambert.

The next NSW Rally Championship round will be the Rally of the Bay on July 27 at Batemans Bay.

Thomas Miles

TW Neal

TAS RALLY ROUND DROPPED

By Martin Agatyn

THE SECOND round of the Tasmanian Rally Championship series, the Les Walkden Enterprises Mountain Stages Rally has been cancelled due to a lack of entries.

The event was to have been held near Launceston on June 15, but the organising Light Car Club of Tasmania posted on Facebook saying with only nine state round entries received and three regularity entries, the event was not deemed financially viable.

The cancellation is another road bump in what has been a topsy turvy Tasmanian championship series.

The first round, Rally Launceston, which was also Round 1 of the ARC, was cancelled after the Launceston City Council withdrew its support for the event.

Thankfully, the North West Car Club stepped up and secured backing from the Burnie City Council to save Tasmania’s round of the ARC, with Rally Tasmania, now set down as the final round of the ARC.

The North West Car Club, which is also providing officials for the event, is setting the standard for rallying in Tasmania, also hosting the opening round of the Tasmanian Rally Championship, the Hellyer Rally, after the opening round (Rally Launceston) was cancelled, attracting 30 entries for its rally.

In contrast, the interest in rallying in other parts of the state (North and South) appears to be less than desirable, with clubs needing to attract new competitors to the sport, or maybe coax some more experienced ones out of retirement.

And perhaps there’s a lack of volunteers able to help as well.

Maybe the solution is in providing more grass-roots events for people new to the sport.

A post on Facebook following the cancellation of the Mountain Stages Rally might be part of the solution.

Rather than focus on the negatives it looked ways to get people involved in the sport.

“Let’s organise another rallysprint instead,” it said.

Maybe there’s something in that.

WALLIS TAKES SECOND HAY WIN

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN Tony Wallis has taken his second win in the Australian Hay Mini Nationals on June 9 by 2.25 seconds from NSW’s Dwayne Affleck, in turn .48 ahead of last year’s winner Declan Dwyer (SA), all three driving Mokes.

Wallis had taken five years to have a repeat win.

It was the 56th running of the annual motorkhana near Hay in NSW, originally conceived as a competition between rival South Australian and NSW Mini clubs.

The event attracted 110 entries from five states, with 6 tests on a dirt surface and two runs of each, but only the fastest run counting.

“I pondered whether I had done enough to get into the top five, let alone win the event. But with the changing conditions I managed to take a convincing win in the end,” said Wallis. “I’m happy to take home

the trophy against some quality drivers.”

The motorkhana had started very slippery and tricky after overnight dew, but before long times started to tumble.

Wallis was quickly on the pace, setting fastest times on three of the six tests. Second-placed Affleck was the surprise, having been hampered by mechanical problems in the past. He and Dwyer set one fastest time each.

The top six positions were taken by Mokes, with Kelvin Goldfinch in fourth, ahead of his son Matthew and 17-yearold Josh Dwyer, who took home the J. K. Stoneham Future Champion award for the second year in a row, also equalling his sixth outright from last year.

First non-Moke was Josh Axford in a borrowed 1275 Mini.

Finishing 22nd outright saw Emma Goldfinch pick up the Mary Hill Ladies trophy.

South Australia’s Modified Mini Car Club were elated to win the G. B. Staunton Teams Award for the ninth time, having last won it nine years ago.

The weekend began on Saturday with a street parade of 121 Minis and derivatives through the town of Hay before the running of Hay Heroes, a side-by-side knockout slalom event at night under floodlights.

Hay Heroes was won by Cooper Ellis for the sixth time after a fight with Tony Wallis, who hit a flag in the final.

Junior Hay Heroes (for under 16s) was won by Lily Ormond (the first female winner) ahead of her brother Jacob, with Hay Heroines going to Emma Goldfinch after a battle with of Abi Burner.

A spectacular fireworks display completed the night.

Story and image - John Lemm

TIGHE TRUMPHS

the

In a 28-car

of his nearest rival.

He posted the impressive winning time of 44.32s in his 2020 Empire Wraith.

The only driver to be within 5s of him and also go faster than 50s was Dave Morrow.

In a 1986 Krygger Suzuki, Morrow’s solid 47.91s was easily good enough for second, 3.59s slower than Tighe.

Greg Jones driving a 2016 Locust GSL won a close battle for third where less than 2s covered positions 3-9. Jones eclipsed Mitsubishi entrant Michael Boaden and Subaru driver Peter Akers, who rounded out the top five.

Behind sixth fastest Leslie Maloney, Erron Hennessy, Daryl Small and Brian Cox were covered by less than two tenths.

The top 10 was completed by David Hussey, who steered a 1991 Ford Laser.

The NSW Hillclimb Championship returns on July 21 where competitors will take on Oakburn Park in an event run by the Tamworth Sporting Car Club.

Thomas Miles

DEAN TIGHE ( above ) has done it again, taking out

fifth round of the New South Wales Hillclimb Championship at Grafton on June 9.

field, Tighe was a cut above the rest, being more than 3s clear

Tony Wallis kicks up dust in his Moke on the way to his second win.

Image: CH IMAGES

NATIONALS WRAP

LOIACONO MASTERS MORGAN PARK LEADING FROM THE FRONT

THE MOTOR Racing Australia Championship returned to Sydney Motorsport Park for Round 3 on June 16 where sunny but cool conditions greeted the drivers. RICCARDO BENVENUTI reports.

SUPER TT

A LARGE field of 25 cars hit the track for qualifying with the rapid Nissan Skyline R32 driven by Greg Boyle claiming Pole.

In Race 1, the pole sitter led the initial part of the race, but he was hunted down and passed by the eventual winner Darren Steeden. Barry Kelleher finished second ahead of Myles Jones.

Race 2 provided a repeat result for first and second, while Boyle was able to finish in third despite a five second penalty.

The final race was dominated by Steeden, winning by a comfortable margin from Jones. The final podium position was a battle between Kelleher and David Loftus, with the latter coming up trumps.

PULSAR

JAMIE CRAIG claimed pole and the first race win after fending off multiple overtaking attempts by Josh Craig, while Scott Tidyman was third.

The second race was a repeat of the previous one for the first two positions.

Tidyman spent most of the race with Dan Smith glued to his rear bumper. Eventually Smith went past to claim third.

The final race was a reversal of fortunes with Josh Craig getting the better launch and holding onto the lead despite numerous attempts by Jamie Craig.

Gavan Reynolds was the best of the rest for most of the race, until Tidyman made an impressive overtaking move to claim third place.

EXCELS

JOHN MARWICK dominated a relatively small field of Excels by winning all three races on offer. Shannon Williams was runner up in the first race, followed by Wayne Vinckx.

Mike Smith finished runner up in the two remaining races. Williams and the pole sitter Wayne Jones rounded out the final podium positions.

MX5

TIM HERRING made it a clean sweep in his Green MX5, dominating the category with pole position and three wins.

The last race of the day was especially impressive, starting rear of grid.

In Race 1 Robert Giovenco finished in second place just ahead of Stuart McFadyen.

Jett Herring showed speed and consistency finishing second in the next two races, just ahead of Kiara Zabetakis and McFadyen respectively.

ALFA ROMEO/E36

IN THE Alfa class David Capraro dominated by winning the first couple of races.

Simon Greirson and David Harris took the minor placings in Race 1.

In Race 2, it was Carmelo Mirabella and Harris to do so.

A depleted field ran in the final race, with Urs Muller winning by a narrow margin from David McKee and Rick Magoffin.

The BMW E36 field had only five entrants. Jeff Barnes showed the way by winning all three races.

The result was repeated for the minor placings, Shaun Penwarder claiming three second places and Aaron Lloyd like wise for third place.

THERE WAS no catching Liam Loiacono as he dominated the fourth round of the Australian Formula Ford Series at Morgan Park on June 14-16.

Loiacono took a hat-trick of race wins, leaving the rest of the field to fight for second best.

He entered the round fifth in the championship, but rocketed into contention by backing up his maiden pole with three wins on the bounce.

Loiacono started on top by being fastest in a thrilling qualifying session where less than two-tenths covered the top five.

In the end the #43 edged ahead with a 1:17.2350, which was just 0.0900s faster than Jack Bussey, while Zak Lobko, Edison Beswick and Cody Maynes-Rutty were not far away.

Boosted by the pole, Loiacono had a flying start in the opening race and built more than second on the field.

This gap would build to more than 2s before the sole Safety Car arrived on lap five to recover Joe Fawcett at Turn 12.

Beswick and Bussey settled for second and third respectively with the latter setting a new track record of 1:17.4440.

Lobko did not record a single lap, while Maynes-Rutty was another high profile retirement.

Loiacono produced another commanding drive in Race 2.

The 12-lap affair was interrupted by an early Safety Car for a racing incident between Lachlan Strickland and Logan

Eveleigh that saw the former stuck in the grass and both retire.

Harrison Sellars was also caught in some early drama.

Although the gap was only nine-tenths at the end Loiacono led all 12 laps with Beswick and Bussey again completing the podium.

Loiacono looked to be cruising to a hat-trick in Race 3 before a grass fire for the unfortunate Lobko turned the race on its head.

The brought out the Safety Car and set-up a two-lap dash to the flag but, like he had all weekend, Loiacono remained cool and won by 1.2s. Maynes-Rutty won a tight battle for second against Williams and Daniel Frougas.

It was a sweet result for MaynesRutty, who suffered and up and down weekend.

After a punctured tyre put him on the back foot on Saturday, his push to second in Race 3 saw him secure the Hard Charger award.

Behind runaway winner Loiacono, Beswick emerged second in the round points, while Williams eclipsed Bussey by a single point to be third for the round.

With the first half of the season completed, the Australian Formula Ford Championship returns under the Supercars spotlight at Symmons Plains Raceway on August 16-18.

Thomas Miles

Darren Steeden keeping his rivals behind in Super TT.

Images: RICCARDO BENVENUTI

Josh Craig leads a pack of Pulsars into Turn 2.

Loiacono (#43) dominated the weekend ...

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INTERNATIONALS WIN DOWN UNDER

THE LAMBORGHINI Super Trofeo Asia series returned to The Bend Motorsport Park in June and a Brit and Frenchman pushed Evans GT to glory down under. It was far from a simple journey for victors Daniel Wells and Clay Osborne however, as the fight for round honours was a tight affair with the all Kiwi combination of Marco Giltrap and Daniel Wells.

Giltrap and Wells still managed to extend their championship lead, but this did not seem likely after the opening corner.

As the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia field stormed into Turn 1 at The Bend for the second time, the leaders went three wide and it resulted in Charles Leong being clipped from behind and striking Osborne.

Amazingly the two championship leaders were both caught in the same accident which bright out the Safety Car.

When racing resumed, Wells was on fire

and pulled a 17s advantage before handing over to Carde.

Despite the early drama, Osborne put in a strong recovery to sit fourth ahead of Pro Am leader Chen Fangping, who had local hope Tony D’Alberto applying the pressure.

Unfortunately Osborne’s hard work was undone when co-driver Giltrap also suffered rotten luck when he was struck by a spinning back marker. After stopping, he carried on to be fourth in the Pro class.

The fight for the overall lead was far from over with Carde being chased down by Jonathan Cecotto, but he ultimately fell 4s short.

D’Alberto gave the locals something the cheer about by securing Pro Am. Johnson Huang took the AM victory as Haziq and Hairie Oh continued their unbroken run of Lamborghini Cup victories.

Determined to bounce back from the Race 1 troubles, Giltrap started the finale

from pole and converted it into an early lead despite threats from Brian Lee and Cecotto.

Things settled down after Lee was penalised for a move on Cecotto.

Just when Giltrap was able to escape himself from the battle, a Safety Car arrived for the tangled He Xinyan and Song Jiajun.

After the stops, Osborne inherited the race lead from Giltrap with Wells in hot pursuit, but light showers added an extra challenge in the final minutes.

Less than a second covered the top two but Giltrap kept Wells at bay while the latter did enough to win the round.

Lee won the Am class, Couto and Chen Fangping took the PRO-AM honours, while Hairie and Haziq Oh took another Lamborghini Cup win.

After the Australian adventure, the next round is in South Korea at Inje Speedium on July 19-21. Thomas Miles

RACING THROUGH THE CLOUDS

ROUND FIVE of the South Australian Motor Racing Championship was squeezed onto the support card of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia series at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park on June 8/9.

Only Circuit Excels made an appearance with the Porsche 944 Challenge series making a cameo and once the fog cleared on Saturday it was on for young and old.  Joel Johnson took his usual place at the top of the points in Circuit Excel Trophy but had plenty of challengers and spent a lot of time looking at other Excels brake lights.

Bradley Vaughan and Tyce Hodge completed the podium and both spent plenty of time in the fresh air at the front of the field with Vaughan even managing a

race win in the very short final.

This race ended under Safety Car after Adam Currie and Darcy Heyne clashed on the opening lap with Currie ending his day on the roof.

In Excel Masters it was also a frantic three way battle that anyone could have won.

By Sunday afternoon it was Shaun Pannowitch on top with two wins from Kim Andersen also with two wins.

Brain Smith grabbed third and had been right there if Pannowitch and Andersen had slipped up.

Cameron Beller made his intention clear from the start top qualifying for the Porsche 944 Challenge. He went on to win the first two races and

despite Adam Brewer dominating the final race the outright win belonged to Beller.

Second for the weekend was enough to push Brewer to the top of the series points a mere one point ahead of Beller.

Mark Verdino had a steady weekend keeping out of trouble and stood on the bottom step of the podium for the round.

Chris Lewis-Williams had been the series leader when he arrived at The Bend but a coming together with Joey Kellock in race two put him P5 for the round and third in the series.

Round 6 of the South Australian Motor Racing Championship is on August 2-4 at the historic Mallala Circuit.

David Batchelor

CHASING NATIONAL HONOURS

IN ADDITION to the Lamborghinis, there were also national level wins on the line in the Australian Formula Open and Prototype Series at The Bend.

The fight for the Australian Prototype Series round was a thriller, with the top three drives separated by a solitary point.

A close contest was not on the cards in qualifying when John-Paul Drake took pole by the huge margin of 1.3s.

But the racing was much closer with the first three laps of the opener controlled by Ross Poulakis, only to see the win slip to Drake on the final lap as the #20 slipped to fourth. Jason Makris jumped to second.

There were three different leaders in Race 2 and Miles Lacey ended up taking a solid 4s win.

But it was on behind him with just seven tenths covering positions 2-4.

The round went down to a tight finale where little split the contenders across the nine-lap affair.

Makris ended up controlling the race and won by just over a second as Lacey snuck ahead of Drake in a drag race for second with just 0.03s covering the pair as they took the flag.

The final race win proved to be critical as it was enough for Makris, who had been the runner-up in both races to sneak ahead of Lacey and Drake by one point.

In contrast, the Australian Formula Open Series was more of a onesided affair with Ryan Macmillan doing the business.

Macmillan took pole by six-tenths before winning the opening race ahead of Miles Bromley by 6s.

He ended up finishing second best in Race 2, but by the barest of margins.

Whilst Bromley did not start, Beau Russell and Macmillan raced nose to tail to the chequered flag.

In the end Russell held on by a meagre 0.12s.

With the round on the line, Macmillan rose to the occasion and won by 8s over Russell to wrap up the round.

(Australian Formula 4 and Prototype reports are elsewhere in Nationals pages).

Thomas Miles

Brian Lee took the Am class round points. Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

Jason Makris won a closely fought Australian Prototype Series battle at The Bend. Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

Joel Joshson and Tyce Hodge fight for the Excels lead.

Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

NATIONALS WRAP

Stillwell heads Henderson and Allen in a tight Group C&A contest. Image: BRUCE MOXON. Below: Vivian King took three-from-three in his Ralt RT4-in Groups Q&R. Image: RICCARDO BENVENUTI Lower: Osborn heads the HQ pack. BOTTOM: Travis Clarke’s winning Renmax. Images: BRUCE MOXON

CLASSIC SMP

HSRCA’s SYDNEY Classic attracted good grids on June 8-9. After days of rain leading up to the event, Sydney’s weather smiled on the meeting. A highlight of the meeting was a tribute to Rennmax designer and constructor, Bob Britton. BRUCE MOXON was there for Auto Action.

GROUP C&A

THE MAIN drawcard was again the Heritage Touring Cars. Chris Stillwell took pole in his Sierra and the first race after a tussle with Brian Henderson (Bluebird) and Rick Allen (BMW M3) before the latter retired. Race two was more of the same, this time going to Henderson from Stillwell and David Towe (M3).

The final race saw Henderson lead the first two laps, then Stillwell the next two, then Chad Parrish (EL Falcon) for two, before Stillwell re-took the lead, winning from Parrish, Henderson and Towe.

HQ HOLDEN

WHILE NOT strictly a historic category, certainly the HQs are old enough, so there they were, 22 of them. Brett Osborn won all three races but there was certainly action behind him. Luke Harrison and Chris Molle took the minors in Race 1.

David Proglio started from the rear in the second race and made his way up to an excellent fifth by the end, with Harrison, Jayson Harber and Jason Molle between Osborne and him.

The final race went to Osborne from Jason Molle and Harber.

GROUP N

THE PRODUCTION touring cars had a 20-lapper with compulsory pit stop as

their highlight. Craig Allen, Adam Walton and Jack Harrison, all Mustang-mounted, led away and dominated. Walton led after the pit stops had finished, but was penalised five seconds, dropping him to second, with Allen winning, then Harrison. David Noakes did a mighty job to be next in his 1.6 litre Escort.

Allen won both the preliminaries, with Walton and Ian Mewett (Mustang) next in the opener, and Harrison and Walton in the second.

GROUP S

WAYNE SEABROOK (Porsche 911) opened the batting with Pole and a win in the first race, but that was the last he was seen for the weekend. Second went

to Doug Barber (911) from Brett Smith’s Datsun 280Z. Barber took the second race from Smith and Joe Di Bartolo (Corvette).

But Barber’s clutch failed in race 3, leaving Smith to take the tinware from DiBartolo and David Cunneen (911).

FORMULA VEE

TYPICAL CLOSE racing came from the Vees, with 16 cars entered, ensuring races to themselves. Tony Paynter (Stag) and Luc Botton (Standfast) came together on the first lap of race 1, after being first and 5th on the grid. Kevan

raced up to the lead pack in the second race, crossing the line third behind Pearce and Normoyle. In the final, Paynter was first from Normoyle and Pearce, who was again first across the line, but earned a penalty for a jumped start.

GROUPS M&O AND FORMULA FORD

IF IT lacked slicks and wings it was in this group! Travis Clarke took three from three in his Rennmax F2 BN-3. David Kent was second in the first two races in his Brabham BT-21 but dropped out of the last race. Third in the opener and first Formula Ford was Tom Tweedie (Van Diemen). Gary Watson was third and best of the Fords in his Mawer Formula Ford.

In their last race, Tweedie and Watson filled the minor placings.

GROUPS Q&R

SLICKS AND wings cars were likewise combined, due to smallish entries. Dan Nolan put the Nola Chev on pole, but suffered a breakage in the first race, ending his weekend while leading. Vivian King (RALT RT-4) took all three races.

Want

PISZCYK HITS THEM FOR SIX

JAMES PISZCYK has carried on his perfect start to the 2024 Australian Formula 4 Championship by recording another clean sweep at The Bend to extend his winning streak to a perfect six.

Having collected every pole, fastest lap and race win on offer in the historic season opener in May, Piszcyk was again untouchable in the return trip to the South Australian circuit on June 8-9.

The AGI Sport driver again took both poles and all three races – the only slight blemish in a complete performance was Blake Purdie beating him to the fastest lap honours in Race 1.

The #93 looked ominous as it enjoyed a full second on the rest of the field in practice.

Qualifying was a closer affair however, with Purdie coming within half a second of Piszcyk on both occasions.

When the lights went out Piszcyk carried on his dominance by leading the field into Turn 1 with JAM Motorsport’s Purdie, and AGI Sport teammate Nicolas Stati settling in behind.

The top three would be unbroken for the rest of the race although Purdie broke the lap record in the dying minutes.

Seth Gilmore had a small ‘off’ but recovered to be fifth, while Imogen Radburn moved from eighth to sixth in a solid debut as Tim Boydle failed to finish.

Piszcyk and Purdie enjoyed unchallenged drives in Race 2 but the heat was on behind.

Stati and Amadio were in an intense battle for third, swapping spots on numerous occasions before the AGI Sport driver eventually prevailed.

An early Safety Car was required for the spun Mark Wilson.

There was drama at the start of Race 3 as both John-Paul Drake and Jayden Hamilton were early retirements.

Whilst Piszcyk cruised to a commanding 8s win to hit a six, the fight for the minor places was as fierce as ever.

Stati overcame Purdie to secure second, but only after last-lap move, while Amadio edged out Radburn by just a tenth for fourth.

Round 3 at Sydney Motorsport Park awaits on August 3-4.

Thomas Miles

BIG WIN FOR RACING TOGETHER

THE INDIGENOUS youth racing team Racing Together achieved a major milestone at the Darwin Triple Crown, getting its first win since being founded four years ago.

The Racing Together machine driven by 16-year-old Kade Davey won all three races of the Hyundai Excel class in the Combined Sedans supports category at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Also representing the team was Karlai Warner, 17, who claimed seventh, fifth and sixth places despite battling illness all weekend.

Whilst it was a long wait, being Racing Together’s third annual visit to the Northern Territory, it is fitting the major milestone is achieved at Supercars annual Indigenous Round.

The Racing Together program was founded in late 2020 to assist Indigenous teenage girls and boys into motorsport careers.

In addition to the two drivers racing hard on the track, they were supported by five other Racing Together program members from Queensland and two local Indigenous mechanical students.

Even before the wins, both Davey and Warner received the special experience of being gifted new race suits by Broc Feeney, Jamie Whincup and the Triple Eight team.

Racing Together co-founder Garry Connelly said the Darwin Triple Crown was a special moment for the program and congratulated the entire team:

“This result was the climax of many, many weekends’ dedicated work by the wonderful Indigenous young people who form Racing Together,” he said.

Kade Davey shows the way ...

“My co-founder and wife Monique and I have watched with great pride as these girls and boys have expanded their physical and life skills since joining the program.”

Overall, the Combined Sedans field lived up to its name with different cars and makes of all shapes and sizes, which was dominated by Tim Playford and his Mazda RX3.

He took pole with a 1:18.4554, which was three-tenths clear of VP Commodore runner Steve Johnstone, while the next best was 2s away.

The leading Excel was actually Aleeanz Voltz, who edged clear of Davey, while in the HQs Peter Anderson was four tenths ahead of Lee Smith.

Playford carried on his dominance in Race 1 by just short of 3s ahead of Commodore runners Rod Jessup and Ryan Robson.

Davey claimed a nail-biting win over Zac

Hannon with less than two-tenths splitting them, while Anderson was in a league of his own ahead of Anthony Whitehair.

Playford was at his best in Race 2, cruising to a 14s triumph over the eightlap journey ahead of Johnstone, while the Escort of Graeme Wilkinson was on the podium.

Davey went back to back in the Excels having held off Hannon again with a slightly greater margin, while Anderson was well clear in the HQs.

With two disqualification and three DNFs the finale only lasted seven laps with Playford completing a clean sweep.

His Mazda was 4s clear of a train of Commodores fronted by Johnstone and Jessup.

Only half a second separated the leading Excels and again Davey held off Hannon.

The HQs were one sided as Anderson enjoyed his biggest victory margin of 21s. Thomas Miles

CUTTING THE DEFICIT

COOPER CUTTS (pictured) has made some important inroads into Peter Paddon’s championship lead in the latest Radical Cup Australia round at The Bend.

Cutts just edged clear of Paddon to win the round and trim four points from the latter’s overall lead. It is the first time the #31 has been beaten in 2024.

Their rivalry was evident as soon as the opening race where the pair went toe-totoe around the 4.9km circuit.

Both drivers traded new lap records throughout the race, but the 3s lost during the pit window proved costly for Cutts.

Although he regained the ground to put the pressure on Paddon towards the end, he could not get close enough as the series leader secured a fifth straight win by 0.6s.

Chris Reindler’s race started horribly, facing the wrong way around at the first corner.

However, Reindler did not back down and eventually salvaged third, finishing just 2s clear of Terry Knowles.

The driver that crossed the line in third was the Peter Clare/Josh Hunt entry but they were hit with a drive-through time penalty for going beneath the 91s minimum pit stop time.

Ash Samadi was the only retirement, on lap 4.

Paddon’s winning streak came to an end in a dramatic finale where six different drivers led the field.

Paddon started on the second row, but a sensational leap on the outside saw him tho the lead, whilst pole sitter Hint and Jordan Oon spun.

But he threw away his lead with an off at Turn 1 following the restart as conditions became tricky which saw Moore go in front.

But when Moore changed hands to Reindler, he failed to restart the car, leaving them stranded in the lane.

Once the pit cycle was completed Knowles was in charge, whilst Cutts was third and Paddon fifth.

Cutts then had pace to burn and caught and passed Knowles with just nine minutes left to secure the race and round win.

Four minutes later, Paddon completed his strong recovery drive to second to minimise any loss in the championship. To make matters worse for Knowles, he was knocked off the podium by Lisle within sight of the chequered flag.

The Radical Cup has four months off before the next round at Sydney Motorsport Park on October 18-20.

Thomas Miles

Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

SUPERCARS SUPPORTS

JONES JUMPS AHEAD

HARRI JONES stamped his authority on the Porsche Carrera Cup by dominating in Darwin.

Jones’ clean sweep not only made him the man to catch in the championship, but it ended a category record of eight different winners from as many rounds, stretching back to Townsville last year.

The 2022 Carrera Cup champion scored pole and all three race wins in commanding fashion in the Territory to open a handy lead in the standings.

Jones was on fire from the outset, jetting to pole with a 1:06.6083s, which was twotenths clear Jackson Walls and the driver who had won the last five Carrera Cup races in Hidden Valley, Dale Wood.

The #12 converted pole and covered off Walls, while David Russell jumped Wood for third.

But there was drama in the middle of the pack with Tom McLennan and Ryder Quinn clashing – gearbox issues meant it was game over for the latter.

After a short Safety Car period, Jones reasserted his dominance and cruised to a 4s win ahead of Walls and Wood.

There was more drama at Turn 1 where Marco Giltrap hit Nash Morris under brakes.

In Pro Am, Adrian Flack led from lights to flag but only after surviving a significant challenge from Rodney Jane.

The 45-minute Enduro Cup race took place on Sunday morning and Jones denied off Wood at Turn 1.

From there the Porsche Centre Melbourne driver was never challenged and won by 6s. Wood’s solid start saw him secure second and lead a tight train of cars home that also

contained Dylan O’Keeffe and Walls.

Russell dropped out of the top five with an off at Turn 1 and had to settle for 14th.

The fight for the final spot in the top 10 was a fierce one, with Morris, Quinn, Angelo Mouzouris, Marcos Flack, Glen Wood and Tom McLennan all squabbling.

Quinn managed to secure ninth as Flack got 10th in a crazy few laps.

Adrian Flack won Pro Am by a solid 9s margin over Matt Slavin.

The finale was another straightforward affair with Jones driving into the

I HEAR MOTION

THE V8 SuperUte Series ended a near four month wait between races by roaring back to life at Darwin, but it was a similar story with the Team Motion Racing teammates tussling for victory.

After just falling short to Aaron Borg at the Bathurst opener, Adam Marjoram hit back to claim a tight round win at Hidden Valley.

However, not everything went the way of the two Isuzu D-Max’s with Borg battling in qualifying.

The #1 had a tough time with traffic and had to settle for eighth.

There were no dramas for Marjoram however, as he took an important pole with a 1:18.4532.

This was two-tenths clear of Cody Brewczynski, while Cameron Crick won a tight battle for third against David Sieders. Marjoram made good use of the pole position by converting it into a lights to flag win.

But it was not completely straightforward with Brewczynski applying the pressure across the 12 laps and was only 1.8s back as Jayden Wanzek fought his way to third.

Both Jimmy Vernon and Brad Vereker went nowhere off the line at the start.

Ryal Harris was one of the big chargers in the field rising four positions and had a close moment with David Sieders in the valley.

There was bigger contact between Amar Sharma and the only Northern Territory driver in the field, Rossi Johnson, at Turn 5.

Sharma lined up a move on the inside, but locked up and made wheel to wheel contact with Johnson.

Johnson carried on and had his own battle with Vernon, forcing the latter off on the other side of the valley.

The #50 did his best to save it but could not stop himself from spinning.

The the #333 clashed with Ben Walsh again at Turn 5 and had to retire.

Race 2 was the reverse-grid affair where Ryan Woods got a solid start from pole and saw off a mighty challenge Adrian Cottrell, but Crick flew around the outside to third.

By the time Crick made an aggressive challenge for the lead at final turn there was no stopping him and he won by 3s.

Borg was also a man on a mission and

distance once again.

He completed his perfect weekend with a 2s triumph over Wood, who held a similar margin to Walls.

The main focus was on Russell as he put in a comeback drive and pushed his way to sixth place.

He only just eclipsed Fabian Coulthard by a tenth with Wall also in close proximity.

There was again no catching Adrian Flack in Pro Am as he won by 7s with Jane beating Slavin in a tight battle for third.

Jones is now well clear in the

championship as Walls jumped to second as his nearest rival ahead of Wood.

The Carrera Cup returns at the Sydney SuperNight on July 19-21.

Thomas Miles

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP POINTS AFTER ROUND 3

1: Harri Jones 434 points

2: Jackson Walls 374 3: Dale Wood 356

4: David Russell 329 5: Dylan O’Keeffe 299

worked his way up to second by Lap 12.

Michael Sherwell had a troubled race, starting with a spin at Turn 5, while he also lost control on pit straight and was lucky to avoid a monster shunt with Jensen Engelhardt.

There was more drama at the start of Race 3 where Cottrell spun in front of the pack and forced Ben Walsh to get stuck in the sand.

At the restart, Brewczynski had a crack at Marjoram but forced the leader wide and presented a clear path for Borg to snatch the lead on the inside.

This was the defining moment of the race

as the reining champion won and Marjoram was third behind Crick.

Borg started the final race on pole and won a tight side by side battle with Crick. By Turn 5 Marjoram attacked Crick for second and forced the latter wide.

However, Harris was on the attack and snatched the lead from Borg at the same corner on lap eight.

But Harris received a 5s penalty and dropped to fourth, giving Borg the race win and Marjoram the round.

V8 SuperUte Series returns at Sydney Motorsport Park on July 19-21. Thomas Miles

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Image: TAMARA JADE MEDIA

CARRERA CUP I TCM • DARWIN

GARWOOD DOES IT AGAIN

FOR THE second round in a row, Adam Garwood emerged on top in a topsy-turvy Touring Car Masters trip to Darwin.

Heavyweights Steven Johnson, Ryan Hansford and Joel Heinrich all showed blistering pace at different points of the first TCM trip to the top end in six years, but they could not produce a complete weekend.

The one driver who did was Garwood and he rose to the occasion in the deciding final race.

Although he and Johnson were tied on 188 points, it was the Victorian VB Commodore driver that took the round win, a second in a row following a breakthrough success in Perth to become a championship contender.

Initially the Brut Mustang of Johnson looked in ominous form, leading the expanded 16-car field which welcomed Scott Cameron, Kiwi Lance Hughes, Ron Cannon, Jeremy Hassell and Allan Hughes

The former Supercars driver edged ahead in a thrilling qualifying session where he had to overcome significant challenges from both Heinrich and Hansford.

Heinrich initially held the high ground being just 0.0186s ahead of Johnson and Hansford as they traded blows.

But the Mustang had the last laugh with Johnson finding more speed on his third lap recording a 1:12.5333, which was a meagre 0.0099s clear of Heinrich and ultimately proved to be enough for pole.

The Trophy Race proved to be a thrilling Holden Torana tug of war between Danny Buzadzic and Jim Pollicina.

Buzadzic was a man on a mission and flew from ninth to second in the first three laps before taking aim at leader Pollicina.

The Allan Grice tribute liveried Torana launched its first attack with nine minutes left, but Pollicina counterpunched.

What followed was a thrilling battle as the lead changed hands five times.

In the end Buzadzic was all smiles as he made the defining move charging down pit straight with three minutes left.

Heinrich was also a driver on the charge and his Camaro flew from the back all the way to third.

Garwood struggled to stop his Commodore towards the end of the race and could not avoid Hansford snatching fifth at the death to complete an entertaining opener.

After winning two of the three races in the last TCM trip to Hidden Valley in 2018, Johnson then led all 11 laps of the opening race without danger.

It was an even drag race from the rolling start between the Ford and Heinrich before the Mustang emerged ahead, while further back Tony Karanfilovski spun around at Turn 1.

Hansford managed to sneak past Heinrich on the opening lap, but the Whiteline Racing driver hit back seconds before a Safety Car was called for Peter Burnett, who found trouble at Turn 1. Racing resumed with five minutes left on the clock and Johnson nailed it while

Garwood and Buzadzic went side-by-side, with the VB Commodore gaining track position by climbing the kerb.

Jamie Tiley tried to join them from behind but contact was made and Buzadzic was sent into a spin.

Johnson cruised to a comfortable in ahead of Heinrich, Hansford and Garwood, but the Multispares Racing Torana dropped to eighth due to a 15s post race penalty for passing under yellows.

It once again looked plain sailing for Johnson as he led the field for the first 10 minutes, but this time Heinrich applied the blowtorch.

The Brut Mustang got unsettled coming out of the final corner, allowing Heinrich to fly past by the time they arrived at Turn 1.

Hansford also tried to line up a move on Johnson and they went side-by-side through

the opening hairpin.

But the Multispares Torana went too deep, clipped the kerb and spun in front of Johnson, who did well to avoid contact. However, neither of them could stop Garwood from sneaking past into second, 4.9s behind runaway winner Heinrich.

The drama continued in the deciding final race, and it was a wild start as both Heinrich and Garwood were swamped by Johnson who flew from the second row and hit the lead after they went three wide into Turn 1.

An off track moment saw Hansford drop outside of the top 10 and in an attempt to regain ground he went side by side through the high speed Turn 3-4 flip flop with Karanfilovski and it did not work out, with both the Torana and Mustang in a wild spin.

A three-way battle for the lead was brewing between Johnson, Garwood and Heinrich, but the latter dropped out with a mechanical drama.

This left the Mustang and Commodore to race at close quarters, building up anticipation for a thrilling finish.

In the end Garwood won the battle convincingly, with a fantastic surprise move at Turn 10 where the Holden bounced over the kerb and slipped into the lead.

Johnson was caught off guard and could not fire a response and ended up finishing 2.1s behind round winner Garwood.

Jamie Tilley produced a composed drive to secure third in both the race and the round.

Touring Car Masters returns at the Sydney SuperNight Supercars round on July 19-21. Thomas Miles

TOURING CAR MASTERS STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3

1: Adam Garwood 544 points

2: Steven Johnson 491

3: Jamie Tilley 466

4: Ryan Hansford 461

5: Joel Heinrich 444

Adam Garwood overcame Steven Johnson despite the pair being tied on points.

Left: Danny Buzadzic and Jim Pollicina had a mighty fight in the Trophy Race. Far left: Tony Karanfilovski spins out after his clash with Ryan Hansford. Images: JAMES SMITH PHOTOGRAPHER

Jamie Tilley had a consistent weekend in his Pro Am Mustang.

Steven Johnson climbs the kerb ahead of Ryan Hansford.

FANTASTIC FEENEY SUPERCARS

AS THE 2024 SUPERCARS SEASON CREPT TO MID-WAY, WILL BROWN APPEARED TO BE EDGING CLEAR BUT, AT THE PERFECT MOMENT, BROC FEENEY DELIVERED A SIGNIFICANT COUNTER-PUNCH IN THE TOP END … THOMAS MILES REFLECTS ON A ONE-SIDED DARWIN TRIPLE CROWN ...

BROC FEENEY arrived in Darwin with a point to prove. Will Brown had all the momentum in the Triple Eight team-mate title tussle thanks to his staggering consistency.

Having lost to the #87 in five straight races, Feeney was facing the prospect of slipping more than a full race win adrift in the standings if the pattern continued.

However, the incumbent was determined to stem the tide – and not only did Feeney beat his team-mate, but he smashed the field at the same time..

After muscling his way past James Golding to hit the lead on Saturday, the 21-year-old drove into the distance, and he was never troubled on Sunday.

The only thing stopping Feeney from taking home the rare and coveted Darwin Triple Crown was Golding beating him in Friday qualifying in a format that hopefully doesn’t return come the next Indigenous Round.

Only Scott McLaughlin can lay claim to compiling a more dominant weekend at Hidden Valley.

Although Brown still showed he is rock solid with a pair of podiums, Feeney trimmed the deficit from 136 to 108 points.

Feeney admitted he needed a weekend like

this to get his “mojo back” and it might prove to be a significant turning point of the 2024 season.

GOLDEN GOLDING

WHILST FEENEY would reign supreme, the biggest cheers came from the PremiAir Nulon Racing garage and for good reason.

Golding was on fire behind the wheel of the #31 Camaro, especially over one lap.

He led the majority of both Friday qualifying sessions before a strong late lap saw him edge Nick Percat by 0.07s to claim provisional pole.

For a small team like PremiAir, the fastest lap alone was a “very special moment” for Peter Xiberras, but bigger things were to come.

Pole would be decided in a pressure-packed Top 10 Shootout and Feeney set a high bar by producing a “wild lap.”

However, Golding rose to the occasion and delivered PremiAir Nulon Racing its first pole position in its 72nd race, with his 1:06.2302 just 0.0789s clear of Feeney.

“To get that one lap right and the car is in a pretty good window to be able to execute is a pretty incredible feeling,” Golding told Auto Action after getting out of the car.

“Being a new team working our way up to the top makes it even more special.”

and had no grip, so we clearly missed the mark.”

A repeat performance followed in Sunday’s qualifying with the highest WAU Mustang 20th, but at least Mostert would give the team something to smile about during the weekend on Saturday.

ON THE ATTACK

THERE WAS drama before lights went out for the opening 48-lap sprint as reigning champion Brodie Kostecki was unable to make the start of the race.

Twnety-four of the 25 cars got away cleanly for the warm-up lap, but not Kostecki, who required a push and a bump start.

He eventually crawled the #1 Camaro to the pits and never returned, to suffer a second

engine-related DNF in a row.

“I went to leave the pits and put the clutch in to take off and the lights went off. Tried to make the out lap and it was just stalling the whole time,” Kostecki said.

Minus the champion, racing began and Golding and Feeney put on a show from the front row.

The pair ran side-by-side all the way around the long Turn 1 before the #88 bravely tried to hang in there through the fast Turn 3-4 section.

Feeney even got crossed up and at “full lock” through the flip-flop in a “scary” moment before conceding defeat.

With Golding in the lead, PremiAir started to dream of following in the footsteps of MSR and Team 18 in securing a maiden win in Darwin, but he was unable to break clear.

Feeney was still putting the pressure on and after three laps of foxing, he went for it.

The #88 made a big dive-bomb down the inside of Golding at the Turn 6 hairpin.

It caught the PremiAir driver slightly off guard as Feeney climbed the kerb and barged into the #31 when the Red Bull’s nose was fractionally ahead.

It proved to be the deciding moment of the race with Feeney hitting the lead and not looking back, while Golding slipped from first to third after an opportunistic Winterbottom also snuck past.

During the cycle of compulsory pit stops for tyres, Brown emerged ahead of the #31, which had to wait for a car on exit to deny PremiAir a maiden podium.

Feeney explained it was a ‘now or never’ move.

“I knew I had a limited time range (to pass Golding). The plan was to start dropping back if I didn’t get him then but I knew I had really good speed and where I was faster,” he said.

“It was close at (Turn) one but it would have been a filthy lunge, but I knew I could carry more speed into Turn 5 to set it up for 6.

“He blocked the laps before so when he didn’t block I thought ‘I am going for it.’

“I jumped the kerb and knew once I was through I could get some clean air and it was nice.”

The stewards found that Feeney had “sufficient overlap” on Golding, who was adjudged to have not left “sufficient racing room.”

Golding was not too concerned and focused on the positives:

“It has been an awesome day as a whole,” he said. “Got a pretty good start and managed to hold off Broc to have the lead and he had a go at me down at Turn 6 where I came off second best. Got pushed wide and dropped a couple of spots, but we pressed on and can’t be unhappy.”

Another fourth place on Sunday for Golding completed PremiAir’s impressive weekend and saw the #31 rise seven spots from 12th to fifth in the championship.

HISTORY ALMOST REPEATS

RATHER OMINOUSLY Mark Winterbottom qualified third on the Saturday of the Darwin Triple Crown.

Broc Feeney was in a league of his own.

Below: James Golding celebrates a maiden pole for both driver and team.

Images: MARK HORSBURGH EDGE PHOTOGRAPHICS

PremiAir’s James Golding leads the field out of the valley after a stunning pole .

A staggering Saturday comeback by Chaz Mostert was the drive of the weekend.

Mark Winterbottom and Team 18 produced another Hidden Valley highlight.

SUPERCARS

The last time that happened was 12 months ago when ‘Frosty’ delivered Team 18 a famous maiden win.

Whilst he could not quite replicate the result, Winterbottom still pulled off an impressive second having pounced on Golding when the youngster lost the lead at the hairpin.

It was the veteran’s second runner-up finish of the year in car #18 and a timely one after a tough round in Wanneroo.

“That is an awesome result,” Winterbottom said.

“We had a few little issues, like a sticking throttle under brakes, so I was like ‘please don’t get any worse and hang in there.’

“The big thing is that we have been fast for two days which is really cool.

“As a team is moving forward, and when you have the car, then you have got to do it. We have been doing a lot of learning on bad days but this is reward.”

Teammate David Reynolds was also fast and

consistent starting seventh and finishing sixth.

After a smashing Saturday, things took a turn for the worse on Sunday for Team 18.

Both cars “messed up the timing” of their qualifying runs and fell well short of the shootout with Winterbottom and Reynolds 18th and 21st respectively.

Frosty was on track to charge into the top 10 before a cross-threaded wheel nut in the pits restricted him to 19th, but Reynolds still worked his way up to 12th.

HUNTING REDEMPTION

HURT BY a painful qualifying performance, Mostert was determined to salvage some pride and restrict the bleeding of his championship and did so in stunning fashion.

Starting from 22nd, the #25 Mustang was an undeniable force, climbing five spots on the opening lap and 17 all-up to record a remarkable top five finish.

Armed with four fresh tyres Mostert picked

off a number of rivals in the final stint and had his sights set on fourth, but ended up just half a second short of Golding.

Mostert admitted he’d thought the top 10 was a long shot.

“The car was really good in the race and we got the strategy right. That was a big redemption drive,” he said. “I raced guys really hard out there and a few might be a bit annoyed with me but my mirror folded in the early laps and I couldn’t see behind.

“The goal which I thought was unrealistic was to just try and get into the top 10.”

Unfortunately for WAU, its qualifying woes continued on Sunday and Mostert only rose four positions to 16th, while Wood was 24th.

BACK IN BUSINESS

AN OVERNIGHT engine change helped Erebus Motorsport and Kostecki make a welcome return to the front of the field in Race 12.

The new engine did not show any signs of the dramas that stopped the #1 from racing the day earlier and the reigning champion enjoyed his most convincing day of 2024. Kostecki proved he has lost none of his talent by falling a tenth short of pole in the Shootout and securing a front row start.

Even once his lap was completed, Kostecki kept entertaining the crowd by cheekily flashing his lights at Brown, who was preparing his shootout lap.

Triple Eight played the party pooper by sending the matter up to the stewards, but it roved to just be an unnecessary storm in a tea-cup with even Brown going into bat for his former teammate and the matter was rejected almost instantly.

Although Brown had the last laugh, by getting the better start and swooping past Kostecki on the inside to make it a Triple Eight 1-2 off the line, Kostecki still had plenty to smile about.

Although the car was not to his liking, he pressed on to easily be the best of the rest with third.

It was Kostecki’s first podium since the Gold Coast 2023 and Erebus’ first of 2024.

The much needed third place was a welcome result for all involved.

“It means a lot to me,” Kostecki said.

“Just missing the two days of running with the gremlins we had meant we fell behind these guys but it is pretty cool to have a solid third.

“Stoked to get a podium for the guys because they worked really hard last night with the dramas going on.”

Broc Feeney’s Camaro spits some flames as he leads the field.

Brodie Kostecki ended an up-and-down weekend on top.

MURRAY’S SUPER EFFORT

ANOTHER STAR of Sunday was wildcard rookie Cooper Murray.

Despite it being his first Supercars race weekend and driving with the famous #888, Murray was unfazed.

On Saturday he was spun by Jaxon Evans on his way to 22nd, but became just the fifth driver in Supercars/ATCC history to record the fastest lap in their first ever race and first since 1997.

He found even more pace on Sunday when he stunned the pit lane by putting the Supercheap Auto wildcard into an outstanding fifth place in qualifying.

With no more fresh tyres left, Murray had to settle for 10th on the grid following the Shootout, but still produced a clean lap in a session characterised by a slippery surface.

Sadly the opportunity to capitalise on the strong starting position disappeared just five corners into the race.

Murray was the luckless victim of the familiar concertina effect at Turn 5.

With pushes from multiple cars behind, Andre Heimgartner could do nothing as his #8 BJR Camaro climbed over the right rear of Murray.

It created the surreal sight of Heimgartner sitting on top of the wildcard as they went off track with Murray’s windscreen covered by the floor of the Kiwi’s car.

Despite the extraordinary scenes, both cars actually suffered minimal damage and resumed racing.

“It’s not what you want, especially when you’re at the front, but unfortunately that stuff happens,” Murray recalled.

“I thought qualifying up the front would keep me out of the shit, but I was proved wrong.

Supercars RACE REPORT Round

“It is still a mystery. I think we all concertinaed, and from what I’ve heard, Andre got help from behind, which meant he had nowhere to go, and that just put him into me, so from there, you just have to move on. I learned a lot.”

Heimgartner said he was simply the “last one in the chain.”

“Tough race. Unfortunately being the last one in the chain and you ended up in the sky and took a while to come down,” Heimgartner said.

Following a short two-lap Safety Car period, there was more drama at the restart where a

late getaway saw many in the mid pack forced to take evasive action coming out of the final corner.

It scattered the field all over the track as they took the green flag, but in the end rookies Wood and Aaron Love were the only ones who received pit lane penalties for breaches of the restart procedure.

Following the dramatic start, the race eventually settled down.

BACK TO BACK FOR BROC WHILE FEENE

Y cruised to back-to-back

wins, there was a moment where it appeared teammate Brown would give the fans a grandstand finish.

After Feeney converted pole into an early lead either side of the Safety Car, he quickly opened up the best part of 2s.

But as the stint progressed, Brown was able to claw back some ground and just half a second split the two Red Bulls when the leader pitted on Lap 25.

Brown waited another three laps to box and reappeared 3s behind the #88.

With slightly fresher tyres the #87 held the advantage and within 14 laps the championship leader slashed the deficit down to less than a second.

But, unlike Taupo, there was no grandstand finish as Feeney had the final word and pushed his advantage to beyond a second to greet the chequered flag in style.

Boosted by taking consecutive wins for the first time in his Supercars career, Feeney will be confident of continuing to claw back points from his teammate into the second half of the season.

After another colourful Indigenous Round and back to back sprint rounds, long form racing is back in vogue at the Townsville 500 on July 5-7.

Andre Heimgartner climbs over Cooper Murray. Below: Will Brown, Broc Feeney and Brodie Kostecki proudly lift the didgeridoos.

DJR’s Will Davison was the leading Ford on Sunday.

FERRARI’S ELEVENTH HEAVEN

24 HOURS BEFORE FERRARI’S HISTORIC BACK-TO-BACK WIN, THE VOICE OF LE MANS, JOHN HINDHAUGH, SAID IT BEST BEFORE THE TRI-COLOURED FLAG DROPPED: “IF YOU DON’T HAVE HAIRS ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK RIGHT NOW, MAYBE YOU SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR ...”

by Timothy William Neal

THE 92ND edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in its 101st year delivered a showing for the ages as the new LMH and LMDh Hypercar ruleset machines took to the world’s greatest race for the second time as the combined premier class. And as in 2023, it was Ferrari that pulled another one out the bag in another around-the-clock FIA World Endurance Championship battle with Toyota, with its factory darling #50 499P LMH piloted by Antonio Fuoco/Nicklas Nielsen/Miguel Molina taking an historic victory by 14.221 seconds from the #7 Toyota on the 311th lap, with the sister #51 Ferrari a further 36.730 seconds back in third to make it a banner day for the Italian marque.

After two years of podiums and a 2023 Le Mans pole, it was the first win for the #50. The sheer emotion in the garage saw tears streaming down the faces of Molina and Fuoco as Ferrari golden boy, Nielsen, steered it home, leading to wild celebrations in a swathe of red and yellow to cast a long and enduring memory.

This Le Mans simply had it all – an explosive hour long sprint to open proceedings, trials and tribulations and unpredictability across the field, the mystery of how the Balance of Performance would play out, heavy and chaotic rain soaked hours in the middle of the night, and an ending that saw four manufacturers in the frame, with nine of the Hypercars finishing on the lead lap. It was motorsport at its absolute pinnacle. For Ferrari, It was the 11th time taking out

Le Mans since its first in 1949 following the Second World War, and its first back-to-back since its famous six-peat of 1960-1965. I t was the first time that the same model of Ferrari has achieved two wins at La Sarthe, and it was the first time in 90 years that the same manufacturer has taken out Monaco and Le Mans in the same year since Alfa Romeo in 1934.

A total of 62 machines entered this year’s running, which also included 16 guest LMP2 prototypes, and 23 GT3s in the WEC’s newest LMGT3 category, providing the event with a second manufacturing boom, with five new factory participants (up from four in 2023).

In LMP2, it was the long overdue British American owned team – United Autosports – that took the win, over 297 completed laps, whilst the LMGT3 winner featured Aussie

Yasser Shahin in the Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), taking victory in his first Le Mans appearance, over 281 completed laps. The term ‘golden era’ beckons for the future – it was Michelin Star menu stuff.

FROM LA SARTHE TO THE LIVING ROOM

WATCHING THIS 24 Hours of Le Mans was an all-engrossing experience as an incredible TV viewing spectacle. If you stayed up late enough to catch the start at 12am (AEST), a good night’s sleep (if you needed it) was followed by an early morning catch up. You could go about your day, catch up periodically, return home from whatever you were doing at 6pm, and still have a mammoth six hours of viewing left. It was strangely captivating in its entirety,

A Le Mans Overview,

even during the often long full-courseyellows – when the rain was constant over La Sarthe in the middle of the night ... just knowing that at any given restart, anything that has happened will go right out the window, and that anything that will happen is firmly in the realm of the unknown come the anticipation of the French dawn.

Then throw a Ferrari victory into the experience! When the Maranello squad wins an F1 race, there’s always the common feelings of “are they back?” Or did they simply just not “screw the pooch on race strategy to get it done?” But when a factory Ferrari wins Le Mans, you’re deeply drawn into the history. That you’ve seen something that you mightn’t see again. You think of Enzo and the epic battles with Ford in the 60s, and that over the past Ferrari earned its second win in a row and (top) celebrated appropriately!

two years it’s something that history will recall in a similar vein.

When the FIA and ACO sculpted what would become the WEC Hypercar category – refuelling what would be the rebirth of the planet’s greatest racing spectacle as a result – they could hardly have imagined to what extent it would be embraced again.

Despite the inclement weather, the event saw a record crowd of 329,000 people. And when the TV figures come out, expect it to surpass the 113 million that tuned in globally last year.

HYPERCAR CHALKBOARD

WHO’S HAD the right stuff written on the prerace chalkboard, and who needs to get the duster out? Records were broken, with nine cars finishing on the lead lap covering four makes (Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, and

Lamborghini two laps back in 10th) with every one of those machines experiencing in-race and pre-race troubles.

For Ferrari AF Corse, it was one out of the bag. They publicly said they weren’t given a chance. And in the final two hours, an unscheduled pit stop owing to a loose door looked like a nail in the coffin.

Then when Nielsen took the final stop with 50mins remaining, few thought he’d get it home on the energy reserves. He even continued to ‘send it’ despite the fact he could have eased up.

They also resisted going on the wets when rain came sporadically throughout, staying on slicks and gaining vital, and eventually telling track position. The #83 privateer Ferrari even led for 80 laps despite a 30-second penalty, a brave fight that ended up in smoke in the pit lane in the final hours.

The Toyota team were pipped by the historymakers again. This time it was a reversal of machines (last year it was the #8 GR010 doing battle with the #51 499P, and in ’24 it was the #7 and the #50). Considering that former F1 driver Nick de Vries crashed on the warm-up lap into the back of a Lexus GT3, and they had to sub out regular driver Mike Conway for Jose Maria Lopez in the lead-up, it was a tremendous effort to finish in second, with the sister #8 car in fifth.

Super-sub Lopez even fought back from two punctures in the #7, and was the pursuer at the death, with a spin at the Dunlop chicane all but ending the fairytale … Oh, and it also started last in the 23 car field after a costly spin in qualifying. De Vries’ tears at missing the victory showed a great passion and typified what Le Mans means to the drivers and teams.

Porsche was seen as the team that let this one go. It’s #6 963 LMDh machine started on pole, led by Kevin Estre and, despite leading for healthy portions of the race, the Penske, Jota, and Proton teams just didn’t have the speed on the long de la Sarthe straights, or the traction out of the corners that the winners had. It was the most represented machine, with three factory and three privateer entries, and had won two of the three races on the WEC calendar this year.

Right: The crowds were massive. Far right: The GT3 contest was also close, with the eventual winners (Manthey EMA, including Aussie Yasser Shahin) hidden behind their race-long rivals –#31 Team WRT BMW.

Below right: The #7 Toyota was Ferrari’s eventual closest rival, but just fell short. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

INTERNATIONAL

The Spa 6 hour-winning Jota 963s put in a solid show to finish eighth/ninth, whilst the Penskes took fourth (#6) and sixth (#5). Four cars in the top-10 is impressive and, although Porsche didn’t take a record extending 20th win, it will have its time in the proverbial French sun.

After a podium on debut in ’23, the beautiful sounding Cadillac V-Series.R machine put on another good showing, but excessive tyre wear, namely on the competitive #2, saw only one of the three entries in contention.

The #2 held the lead and was looking a chance at the 21 hour mark, but straight-line speed proved the undoing. The all-wheeldrive of the LMH machines seems to have the distance+speed+deg advantage over the rear-wheelers and, on the Mulsanne Straight for example – like the Porsches, Cadillac’s 2-3 kph deficit was damaging in the long run. There were three makes that will be in particular need of the duster, but one was more situational than the others.

The BMW M Hybrid V8s had a stinker, but they showed competitive pace in the lead-in. Both the #20 and #15 BMW’s pulled DNFs with two race-defining impacts putting their chances to bed. The #15 was put into the wall at Mulsanne corner six hours in by the #83 Ferrari, and the #20 lost the rear at the Ford Chicane to end up with an NC on its scorecard. Alpine’s comeback effort at Le Mans bombed worse than the nation’s French Polynesia nuke testing in the 90s. A double DNF in the first six hours due to engine failures in the A424s ruined what was initially a pair of machines with great one-lap speeds.

Speaking of French disaster, the so-called pre-race BoP winners – Peugeot – were the most blatantly uncompetitive machines of the LMH ilk. Remarkably, there were none of the

usual mechanical errors in the aero-troubled 9X8s, but two laps down, in 11th and 12th, in their third Hypercar Le Mans appearance may see the manufacturer continue to question its future presence in the WEC.

Ahead of the highest Peugeot, was the newcomer Lamborghini SC63 machine. They were never going to trouble the front-runners, but this Le Mans was a future building/data gathering exercise that resulted in a fantastic top-10 finish for its #63 car. And along with its 13th-placed #19 SC63, both proved reliable without showing any spectacular single-lap speed.

Last but not least was the intriguing Isotta Fraschini privateer Tipo-6C machine. Its goal was to simply finish and last the test, which it did, nine laps down. Had it not been punted by the #2 Cadillac, it may have finished higher.

A commendable effort, but in the face of the FIA’s 2-car WEC mandate in 2025, funding may derail any potential Le Mans future.

MARANELLO’S GOLDEN DANE

WHEN DANISH driver Nicklas Nielsen entered through the gates of Maranello in 2017, Ferrari knew they had a keeper on their hands. Starting out as a 20-year-old in the Ferrari Challenge he made an instant impact, winning world titles and laurels in every season since becoming a factory driver for the Prancing Horse, to eventually take a dream victory in the flagship #50 499P machine as both race starter and finisher.

When he eventually advanced to an LMP2 machine in the WEC for AF Corse, whilst Ferrari were brewing up the 499P, his input in its development was said to be an integral part of the team’s success when it historically re-entered top-flight sportscar racing after a 50-year factory absence. In the always

nervous run to the chequered flag as race leader, after the terms mammoth ‘24 effort, he showed no signs of caution, still throwing the car into the corners, telling an anxious voice over the radio to just “let me take it from here”.

Nielsen will presumably be behind these hallowed gates for a long time to come, and there’s no telling what more he’ll achieve at just 27-years of age, or where he’ll place in the echelon of Ferrari names by the end of it all.

“Honestly, it’s been one of the hardest races I’ve done, from the beginning to the end,” Nielsen said.

“The weather is always changing … were we going to stay on slicks or will we go on rain tyres? We just never knew!

“We took a lot of risks in some parts of the race by staying on slicks, but it paid off. For me, in the end, being the one to finish in the car was all or nothing. There were two options – we win, or we try to win and end up not finishing. There was nothing in between.

“I wanted to win this race so badly, especially after the sister car won last year … so we wanted to do it back-to-back.

“We achieved it! I’m so proud of everyone at Ferrari, and I feel so lucky to get an opportunity like this, and to be able to call myself a Le Mans winner.”

BOP SUMMATION

WITH AN hour to go, the ultimate winner was still an unpredictable scenario, and the fact that nine cars finished on the lead lap points to the FIA and ACO’s BoP strategy shedding itself as being a dirty word.

The manufacturers don’t like the fact that their careful preparations are subject to change with the new power cuts/additions coming into play, and that the governing bodies have subjected them to a mediagag-order. But the evenness of this year’s Le Mans – subject to weather, cautions and incidents – cannot be overlooked.

Had Lopez not spun in pursuit of the Ferrari, the second smallest finishing gap in history may well have been otherwise.

And even with the BoP advantages toward Lamborghini, Peugeot and Isotta Fraschini, their lack of speed comes down to aero and tyre deg, not power disadvantage. The big boys were split by

New McLaren Indycar signing Nolan Siegel took out LMP2, with team-mates Jarvis and Garg.

Below: Valntino Rossi’s first 24 Hours was among the BMW disappointments.

Below right: The Grosjean/Caldarelli/Cairoli Lamborghini finished a solid 13th.

Below: Earl Bamber’s Cadillac was down on straight line speed, but finished seventh.

24 Hours to go! The pole #6 Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor Porsche and #2 Cadillac show the way.

tenths on the overall lap speeds.

The fact that this year trumped the thrilling centennial race for sheer excitement, surely means that the race-to-race weight and power shifts (although they are still in the second year of tinkering) could be heading toward an almost mythical working BoP formula.

LMGT3 SUCCESS

ASIDE from Aussie Yasser Shahin taking a sensational debut win (see page 11), the first ever LMGT3 category race at Le Mans provided a sensational WEC addition. The winning Manthey Porsche team included the youngest ever category winner in 19-year-old Morris Schuring, and the  most experienced Le Mans driver of all the 186 competitors on track, Richard Lietz (18 starts-five-time class winner) – a team that will forever retain its slice of history as the first ever Le Mans LMGT3 winners.

After its Spa 6 Hour win, Shahin and the #91 team now sit atop the LMGT3 table. And apart from the normal dirt and grime, their Porsche crossed the line without a scratch on it. Its unique team set up also saw Shahin, a Bronze driver, take the race start, as well as extend his hours via the long cautions in the middle of the night for a total of four stints.And although its sister #92 car absolutely dominated the first half of the race, technical issues saw it finish an eventual 14th, with reliability proving the difference for the winners.

The GT3 podium also afforded BMW its only joy of the weekend with its #31Team WRT BMW of Darren Leung/Augusto Farfus/ Sean Gelael in second place, one lap behind, whilst the return of Ford to Le Mans with its big front engined Mustang proved a podium success in third place with Dennis Olsen/ Giorgio Roda/Mikkel Pedersen at the helm. There were seven of the nine manufacturers in the top-ten, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, and Aston Martin, in a category that provided all shapes and sizes in terms of engine placement and build, offering unique battles and matchups all down the field.

UNITED RETURN TO LE MANS PINNACLE

ALTHOUGH NOT part of the WEC season anymore, the LPM2 one-make Gibson powered ORECA-07 prototypes came back as a guest category for the 92nd running.

In their first Le Mans triumph since 2000, the Anglo-American United Autosports team took it out with their #22 ORECA-07 machine and, like the GT3 winners, had two rookies behind the wheel. The team of Oliver Jarvis/ Bijoy Carg/Nolan Siegel edged out last year’s champions, the Inter Europol Competition LMP2 prototype, by 19 seconds in a late charge over 297 completed laps, with the French #28 IDEC Sport team taking third on the same lap, after being a lap behind before the hectic night stints.

The 40-year-old Brit Oliver Jarvis was integral in his 13th appearance, alongside the American rookies, with the team’s effective tyre and late fuel strategy in unpredictable conditions proving the difference.

“The track was just changing every lap,” Jarvis said.  “It was dry and then it would rain and you were on slicks. It was cold and you couldn’t get tyre temperature.

“I must’ve nearly crashed the car 10 times … I was literally hanging on to it.”

Winning the LMP2 Pro-Am class, was the #183 AF Corse crew of Francois Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Nicolas Varrone.

WHAT’S TO COME IN 2024?

THE #6 Penske Porsche and winners of the opening Qatar 1812 km (the first WEC win from an LMDh car) still lead the standings on 99 points, but only by nine points from the victorious #50 Ferrari, which scooped the double points on offer.

The #7 Toyota is third on 82 points, leading the Spa-winning Jota Porsche privateers by 22 points.

Whilst nothing will top the Le Mans spectacle, there’s still four sensational WEC rounds left, with the next outing heading to the returning Interlagos Circuit in Brazil on July 14 for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo. Following that in September is the Lone Star Le Mans and the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for another six hour affair, before Toyota’s home race in Japan for the Six Hours of Fuji. Closing the year is the Eight Hours of Bahrain in Sakhir on November 2.

Stay tuned in to Auto Action for total coverage of the world’s top-tier of sportscar racing, in what is sure to be another breathless finish to the title race between the powerhouse Porsche, Ferrari, and Toyota teams.

NO CHOCOLATES FOR MATT OR JJ

By Paul Gover

THE ‘OTHER’ Aussies at Le Mans, Matt Campbell and Jeromy Moore, both struggled through the 24.

As Yasser Shahin drove to a memorable LM GT3 win, Campbell could only manage sixth overall in a factory Porsche 936 and Moore’s privateer 936 trailed home in 16th.

“P6 at the flag wasn’t what we wanted. This year’s race felt much longer than just 24 hours,” said Campbell, who was lead driver in the #5 Penske Porsche 963 Hypercar.

Even so, there was enjoyment and satisfaction in competing for overall victory with Porsche for the first time.

“It was pretty cool because I’d only been in GTs before. The track and the speeds of those cars are so vastly different, so that was really really. And not having to look in the mirrors so much.

“I was quite happy with my performance. We should have been in the Hyperpole (Top 10 shootout). I was in the car, but with 60 cars on the track it was hard to find a gap.

“Then, I struggled in the first stint of the race with car balance. But I felt comfortable.

“In the first six hours of the race we took a gamble on slicks and were running in the top three for a long time. But towards the morning we down a lap when we stayed on slicks too long after a Safety Car.

“It got a bit messy. And we had to fight back too much.

“We shone in parts of the race. But the other cars just had more speed consistency throughout the race, through the different conditions. They could always come back a little easier,” Campbell told Auto Action

How, then, does he rate the whole experience?

“It was the dream come true to be competing for an overall win. It’s a special place. I spent an awful lot of time

in the lead group, but I don’t think we got the result we deserved for the effort we put in.”

It was a similar story for Moore, who was performance engineer and strategist for the  #99 Porsche driven by veteran Neel Jani, youngster Julien Andlauer and Briton Harry Ticknell.

He is a past winner from the days of the Porsche 919, when Mark Webber was on his way to a world title with the German sports car company, but had a tough time in 2024.

“Not a great result for the Porsche family with lacking a little straight-line performance to our competitors to be able to fight in race mode. But still a good fight to the end,” Moore told Auto Action.

“By race day we were in a good place in comparison to the other Porsche cars performance-wise. We had several mechanical issues early on which meant we were several laps down after an hour of running which makes it a very long day at the office.

“With the recent change in regulations of the Safety Car ‘merge’ and ‘passarounds’ we had a chance to get back on the lead lap but not enough Safety Cars fell our way.

“In the end we finished after a further issue with a driveshaft many laps down but we got the car across the line, which is a feat many did not achieve.”

But Moore still enjoyed the challenge and a return to one of the world’s great races.

“In terms of the experience as a whole, this event is always a special one which is as much as a battle against the clock to survive and finish as it is to beat fellow competitors to the line.”

Moore, serving as race engineer and strategist for the Proton Porsche team on leave from Triple Eight in Supercars, had a tough time despite previous success with the factory Porsche crew.

“It was a battle all week,” he said.

Moore’s #99 Porsche entry in the thick of things. Above: Pit stop for Matt Cambpbell’s Penske Porsche.

PENSKE CLAIMS A WILD ONE AT THE GLEN

FOCUS ON HYPERCAR TURNED BACK TO AMERICA AFTER AN EPIC LE MANS, WITH PENSKE FINDING SOME IMSA GTP RETRIBUTION AT THE SIX HOURS OF THE GLEN. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

WATKINS GLEN generally throws up a wild endurance race, and the sixth round of the IMSA Sportscar Championship was no exception, as Penske Porsche outlasted rainstorms, red flags, and big shunts to maintain its championship lead.

Fresh from his efforts at Le Mans, Felipe Nasr put his La Sarthe DNF behind him, alongside Dane Cameron, to guide the #7 Porsche 963 LMDh machine to frantic victory, their second of the year after taking out the flagship Daytona 24 Hours.

That gave Penske its third win of the season in North America to go with its sole WEC victory in Losail, with the team solidifying both its Team/Manufacturer, and Drivers’ championship spoils.

The #7 pairing outlasted the #01 Cadillac V-Series.R piloted by Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais in a sprint to the flag by 0.749 seconds in a topsy turvy affair, which saw the pit lane throwing up several different leaders on the fabled 5.4 km track in New York’s lake region.

The 148-lap rain-soaked epic was punctuated by a final green flag sprint which left just 15 minutes on the clock, in which the #7 with Nasr at the wheel came from behind to snatch it from a sluggish Acura machine that initially led on the getaway.

Rounding out the podium was a second Penske entry, with the sister #6 963 guided

by Mathieu Jaminet/Nick Tandy just 2.819 seconds behind.

“It was pretty wild out there, I have to say, with this mixed conditions. Always makes our life a lot harder to read the track grip,” Nasr said in victory lane.

“I knew I was going to have one chance. That one chance came right at the restart. All I did was to work my tyres and brake as hard as I could just to get temperature and everything.

“I could see as soon as we got the get-go in the last corner, that the Acura ahead of me was struggling. I said to myself ‘Man, I’m going for it’ ...”

The 56-car entry, including the LMP2 and GT Daytona field, was led off by the polegetting #40 Acura ARX-06 of  Louis Deletraz/ Jordan Taylor and, just like at the death, they immediately lost the lead on a tyre temp struggle, with the #01 Caddy getting the jump.

After the first FCY, it was the Jota Porsche that then found the lead, before a brutal crash

with an LMP2 slamming a GTD Ferrari into the Turn 8 fence, with all GTP machines pitting under caution to shuffle the order.

The #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 led at the restart, but it was the #31 Whelen Cadillac that had the pace before damaging its nose in a wild spin to yield the lead to the #6 Porsche at the three hour mark.

A third caution then saw the eventual winners take the front as they remained on track to get the real estate, with the sister #6 pulling in behind it with the heavens starting to open. It wasn’t long before a fourth caution came out, with the race then favouring the machines that had opted for wets, which put the Tandy-led Porsche in the lead over a surprise Lamborghini SC63, whose challenge would be short-lived owing to heating issues.

As the rain cleared, the #6 Porsche opted for slicks, giving the #7 back the lead, and by lap 101, yet another FCY came with the GTD Lamborghini finding the wall.

In a damp restart, the lurking #10 Acura took the lead after a hard wheel-to-wheel battle, whilst the Tandy Porsche charged back to also trade paint with the Acura and to once again hit the front.Then came the really heavy downpour, with Hypercars firing off the track all down the field with plenty finding the fence. After a long red flag into the final hour, both Acuras found themselves in a 1-2 with the field back on slicks, with the Porsches and Cadillacs making the big moves.

Nasr went from sixth to second as the Acuras dropped off, with the #01 Cadillac in control before a wheel dramatically fell off the #10 Acura, prompting another restart, which saw the better balanced #7 Porsche make its defining move on the GM machine.

The LMP2 spoils went to the #88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA LMP2-Gibson, which saw Maranello’s Golden Dane and overall Le Mans Ferrari winner, Nicklas Nielsen, at the helm just seven days after his La Sarthe triumph, alongside Luis Perez Companc/ Lilou Wadoux.

In the GTD stakes, it was the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo taking honours with a last lap overtake, with Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas getting it done for the English brand.

Next up in IMSA is the Chevrolet Grand Prix for LMP2 and GTD only on July 14 in Canada, whilst the premier GTP field returns for the all-category Road America round on August 14 in Wisconsin.

Penske Porsche took out its second IMSA win of the year. Below (right) the winning pair. Left: the duo outlasted the #1 Cadillac in a sprint to the finish. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

BELL DOUBLES UP IN THE WET

CHRISTOPHER BELL achieved a NASCAR Cup Series/Nascar Xfinity weekend double in New Hampshire, taking an overtime victory on a rain-soaked oval on the wets.

The Joe Gibbs racer guided his #20 Toyota to his third Cup Series win for the season in a stellar weekend for the Oklahoman, a ninth career win, after leading 148 of the 305 laps. He overcame Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Josh Berry in an agonising and flag-riddled run home by 1.104s over the nearest Mustang, surviving five restarts to get it done. Initially, it appeared that the race was going the way of Tyler Reddick who led the field early in Stage 3, but a proceeding two-hour, 15-minute rain delay in order for the track to dry enough just to use the wets saw things shaken up.

It was a record NASCAR run of 77 total laps for the wet oval tyres, which are only approved for certain tracks – Indianapolis Raceway Park, Martinsville, Milwaukee, New Hampshire, North Wilkesboro, Phoenix and Richmond.

And for Bell, his victorious run in Saturday’s second tier Xfinity race (his fourth Xfinity win at New Hampshire) saw him well versed on the wet rubber, as he also got to run with them in the start of that affair.

“You never know how this thing is going to shake out whenever you change so many things like that and the adverse conditions,” Bell said in Victory Lane.

“I personally love adverse conditions because you’re always trying to think outside the box … whenever we went back out, I was feeling around, and it felt like the normal Loudon groove was really, really slippery.

“So, I tried to just run down or run up, and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) put the tune on this thing, and it was turning really good. And hey, guys, this one didn’t get shortened,”

he said in reference to the shortened CocaCola 600 win.

Stage 1 went the way of the eventual victor, with the #20 Toyota hunting down Chase Elliot with 28 laps left, before holding off Joey Logano by 1.886 seconds.

Stage 2 then saw Denny Hamilton opt for valuable stage points, staying out late after most cars pitted, with Truex Jr in P2 over Logano, with Bell in fourth.

The long and interrupted Stage 3,

punctuated by the thunderstorm, saw Kyle Larson first off pit road, with Reddick then working into a positive lead with 108 laps left on the board before Logano got loose into Chasten to bring out a flag.

On the restart, with the rain looming, a Lap 216 flag courtesy of Kyle Busch saw Reddick still leading, with the rain then coming in that caution on Lap 219 for a huge delay.

On the eventual restart with 74 laps remaining, Reddick still led, but by the

60th circuit, Bell took him at the apron, where he remained through several frustrating restarts, which led to an eventual two-play overtime before he could claim the win.

With only eight races to go before the September playoffs, the field now heads for a 300 lap ring-dinger at the Nashville Superspeedway on June 30, with the return of the Chicago Street Race to follow on July 7. TW Neal

BLANEY TAKES THE CORN

PENSKE’S RYAN Blaney stamped his Playoff ticket at NASCAR’s Iowa Corn 350 – the inaugural Cup Series race at the 1.4km Iowa Speedway oval on June 16.

It was the first win of the season for the reigning NASCAR champion and the 11th of his career, as he stormed home over the final 88 laps; 0.716 seconds to the good over Chevrolet pair William Byron and Chase Elliot.

Of the 350 laps, 49 were taken under eight cautions, with the partially repaved track over just the two bottom lanes

causing teams and drivers to proceed with a watchful approach.

The win comes just a few rounds after Blaney ran short of fuel in St Louis whilst leading on the white flag lap.

In the last pit stop of the race, the #12 Mustang team’s call for only two fresh tyres proved pivotal against the charging Byron who took a full set, with Blaney enjoying a more stable run home on the newly laid surface.

“What a cool way to win here. We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on,

so they willed us to that one. Overall, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tyres was a good call there.

“I didn’t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort.”

As it went, Blaney took out Stage 1 over Kyle Larson after making the crucial pass with nine laps remaining, with the latter then coming from 33rd to first to claim the second stage, his

eighth of the season.

With the majority of the leaders pitting for the last stage, Larson’s luck of being the likely winner then ran foul after he was collected by a loose Suarez on lap 220.

When the leading Buescher then found the wall on lap 263, Blaney was the first off pit road following that caution, with the eventual podium finishers holding their positions over the final 50 laps to finish as such ahead of the 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

TW Neal

A big weekend for Christopher Bell saw wins in NASCAR Cup series as well as Xfinity ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Iowa Speedway welcomed NASCAR for the first time – and reigning champ Ryan Blaney stole the show. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

MASTER OF MONTEREY

CHIP GANASSI’S ALEX PALOU HAS GONE FROM LE MANS TO LAGUNA SECA, WITH HIS RETURN TO CALIFORNIA PUTTING HIM BACK ON POLE FOR A THIRD INDYCAR TITLE RUN. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS…

INDYCAR CONTINUES to prove itself as one of the closest contests on the planet, with the series lead changing hands for a fourth successive round following Alex Palou’s continued mastery of the Laguna Seca Raceway.

Fresh from his World Endurance Championship debut in the Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar at the 92nd Le Mans, the Spaniard had returned to a track he knows a little better, taking his second win in three years in a typically chaos-riddled Monterey outing.

In his fourth ever visit to the track, Palou has never finished worse than third place.

The CGR Honda driver fended off Andretti’s persistent Colton Herta by 1.978s after a late restart, whilst Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi rounded off the podium for a season high finish.

Palou led for 48 of the 95 laps, but just as he was powering to what seemed a controlled victory after a slick restart, he then needed to survive another Safety Car after some big contact sent two drivers into opposite walls at Turn 5 to punctuate another typically edge-of-the-seat North American affair.

Heading into the Californian Round 9, Australia’s Will Power had led the title race after he’d snatched it from Scott Dixon who in turn had pinched it from Palou. So after a year of dominance that’s rarely seen in IndyCar in 2023, the Spaniard has returned to the top by 23 points over Power.

“It was a chaotic race man ... we didn’t do a very good job on the starts and those restarts at the beginning,” Palou said.

“The strategy was a bit risky for the position we were in, but we knew we had the pace, and we just had to execute. With no clear pre-race data on whether the Primary or Alternative tyres were

the way to go in any facet of the race, it wasn’t till around about lap 36 where the strategies started to really diverge from each other, with Palou admitting that after the first of five cautions, the choice to stay out on the tyres was the correct call.

“At that time, I doubted the strategy a little bit. I didn’t know if my radio was working or not. But everything was fine. I’m sorry I didn’t have that trust and that belief in his call during those 10 or 20 seconds, but overall an amazing job for the Ganassi team.”

After claiming his third pole position for the season by 0.073s over Kyle Kirkwood, the #10 CGR squad started Palou on the Primaries, and he took that rubber deep, into lap 56, his second pit-stop – where he finally took the Alternates. That move allowed him to make a switch back onto a set of used Primaries, giving him the speed and grip to hold off Herta at the death.

From the drop of the green flag, it was Kirkwood that managed to take the early lead over Palou but, despite the clean air, he wasn’t able to shake the tailing Spaniard, taking his first pit to switch onto the softer Alternate tyres on lap 26.

Despite pitting the very next lap, Palou stayed on the hard rubber, with Rossi taking the lead after the first cycle of stops, and held an early 5.2s lead over Kirkwood by the 32nd time around.

Despite some earlier offs, the first caution wasn’t until lap 35 when Luca Ghiotto slammed the tyre barrier at Turn 4, which

cycled Palou back into the lead owing to the strategy.

After another restart, from a second caution, on lap 43, it was Palou over Romain Grosjean before the Frenchman went by the wayside, and by the time the leader went onto the Alternates for the first time, it was Herta that found himself in the lead over Rossi.

Palou kept hounding the pair to eventually pass Herta with a slick move at the Corkscrew on lap 64, quickly building a six second gap until CGR strategist Barry Wanser pitted him for the used softs on lap 71.

Another restart with 17 laps remaining gave way to a series of chaotic events, with Scott McLaughlin colliding with team-mate Power, Lundgaard taking some air out of the Corkscrew, and Jack Harvey billowing smoke at the pit exit.

With only 10 laps remaining, Palou led a charging Herta who had earlier passed a resurgent Josef Newgarden until he lost his tyres, before Kyffin Simpson spun at Turn 5 which saw him t-boned by Graham Rahal – which sent both drivers across the gravel into opposite fences in a cloud of dust.

With four remaining, Herta didn’t have the pace needed to fend off the third-placed Rossi.

The next round marks the dawn of a new IndyCar era, with The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on June 7 seeing the first ever use of a hybrid power unit following a year of extensive testing.

INDYCAR STANDINGS AFTER 9 ROUNDS

Palou heads field at the start, on the rise and fall of Laguna Seca.

Below: The post-race confetti ... after getting past closest challenger Bryan Herta (below).

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

UNPREDICTABLE BEAST

THE RUN of different FIA Formula 2 winners continues after Victor Martins and Jak Crawford were victorious in Spain. This means all six rounds of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 season have produced a different winner with Zane Maloney and Isaac Hadjar the only drivers to win more than once.

But one driver who is yet to win a race actually leads the championship – Paul Aron, who took a solid third and fourth place finishes.

Aron did take pole, but only just, in a strange end to qualifying, having beaten Jack Crawford by 0.002s.

Williams junior Franco Colapinto was also in the running and fell just 0.006s short of the benchmark.

Strangely, after completing his final lap, he put two wheels in the grass and just avoided the embarrassment of crashing down pit straight, eventually revealing simple frustration created the mistake.

After an under par start to 2024, Victor Martins announced he is back in form with a masterclass in the Sprint race.

Having had a previous best of seventh this year, Martins made the most of his front row start, hitting the lead by Turn 1 and never being challenged, cruising to a 4s win.

Despite having a poor start from pole and dropping to fifth, Kush Maini put in a strong comeback to salvage a comfortable second.

Third was an emotional Juan Manuel Correa, who enjoyed his first piece of silverware since he sustained multiple

injuries in the traffic crash at Belgium in 2019.

He did it by passing Gabriel Bortoleto on the penultimate lap after the latter’s tyres had faded and he eventually fell to sixth, while Ritomo Miyata was hurt by a penalty. However, Correa was stripped of his special trophy, one of no less than 14 postrace penalties dished out for track limits infringements (really) ...

But 24 hours later Correa was not to be denied and made good use of an alternate strategy to get the podium he had worked so hard for and there was no denying him this time.

NEW KID IN TOWN

AT THE tender age of 16, Arvid Lindbald (pictured) has announced himself by storming to a maiden FIA Formula 3 win at Catalunya, where Aussie Christian Mansell also stole the show.

It was a weekend of firsts with Mansell taking his first F3 pole position, Mari Boya topping the podium for a first time by taking the Sprint, while Lindbald stormed to a special maiden Feature Race win.

The ART Aussie stormed out of the blocks by hitting a new highlight in qualifying.

Mansell’s 1:28.463 proved just enough to sneak ahead of Lindblad, Nikola Tsolov and Luke Browning as just 0.056s covered the top four.

Previously the Newcastle driver’s only F3 front row start was last time out in Monaco, when he qualified second.

The Sprint race was a dramatic affair with Boya emerging on top and the Trident team-mates tangling for the lead.

Due to a track limits penalty for Sebastian Montoya, it was an all Trident front row of Santiago Ramos and Sami Meguetounif.

But they threw away their advantage as early as Lap 3 when they clashed at Turn 1.

Ramos led off the line but Meguetounif had a run coming down the pit straight.

As they approached the braking area Ramos covered on the inside, but Meguetounif lost control and took to the grass, on a collision course with his team-mate.

Amid the mayhem, Nikita Bedrin and Callum Voisin also clashed at the same corner – the biggest winner was Boya, who took control when racing resumed on lap eight.

Montoya was on the charge but he struck championship leader Gabriele Mini at Turn 4.

Boya controlled the remainder of the race ahead of A Dune as Mansell was 11th and Tommy Smith made solid ground to 18th.

THE MILESTONE 100th FIA F3 race on Sunday was the one everyone wanted to win and Mansell seemed up for the challenge after converting his maiden pole into an early lead.

Within a lap, he already had the best part of a second up his sleeve.

But by lap three things had changed as Lindbald set the fastest lap to slash the deficit to just three-tenths and the Aussie was now on the defence.

THE FEATURE was taken out by Crawford after he utilised the undercut to jump Aron. Aron led Crawford and Colaptino early whilst Martins and Dennis Hauger clashed at Turn 2.

Tyre wear quickly became a factor and Crawford made his move on lap 10, pitting a lap before his rivals.

It proved critical as he jumped Colapinto with the undercut and used his warmer tyres to pass Aron moments later to gain the effective lead.

Aron’s hopes of victory were pretty much over after an off at the final corner, which saw him lose to Colapinto.

In contrast to the early pace-setters, Correa wanted until there were just 10 lap to go and he made good use of the fresh rubber to charge from sixth to third.

Invicta teammates Gabriel Bortoleto and Kush Maini collided at Turn 1 but carried on. F2 returns to Austria as the second half of the season gets going.

Thomas Miles FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ROUND 6

1: Paul Aron 100 points

2: Isack Hadjar 91

3: Zane Maloney 75

4: Jak Crawford 62

5: Dennis Hauger 56

Lindbald was unstoppable, initially forcing Mansell to cover the inside in the run down to Turn 1 before swooping around the outside of the ART driver to snatch the lead at the start of lap five and never looked back.

Mansell now had to work hard to keep Luke Browning at bay.

But the Aussie put in a solid drive for the remainder of the race, actually pulling away from Browning to cement second.

It was vital as a late shower added the challenge and the fight for third place erupted in the final laps.

Browning ended up being demoted to fifth as both new championship leader Leo Fornaroli and Oliver Goethe got past. But Lindbald was the clear class of the field, cruising to a commanding 4.4s triumph. Smith was 25th.

F3 continues this weekend, in Austria.

Thomas Miles

FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

AFTER ROUND 5

1: Leonardo Fornaroli 84 points

2: Luke Browning 79

3: Gabriele Mini 72

4: Arvid Lindbald 71

5: Dino Beganovic 65

Image: F1JOAN

Jack Crawford became the latest F2 winner in what is turning out to be a competitive 2024 championship.

Image: DUTCH PHOTO AGENCY

WINNING WITHOUT THE FASTEST CAR

STORY: LUIS VASCONCELAS IMAGES: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

MAX VERSTAPPEN won the Spanish Grand Prix and extended his championship lead to 69 points, but it was McLaren and Lando Norris that had the faster package during the race. For the third time in four races, the Dutchman emerged as the winner of a Grand Prix where he wasn’t the fastest man on track – as in Imola, like in Barcelona, it was Norris who had the best cards in his hand and in Montreal, two weeks ago, George Russell threw away a great chance of finally giving Mercedes a win in 2024.

When you whave the fastest car and you win a race, you’re obviously happy and you celebrate with your team, but when you emerge as winner in a weekend where one of your rivals was quicker, the level of satisfaction is much higher – clear by the effusive way Verstappen celebrated his seventh win of the season, in Spain.

Beaten by Lando Norris in qualifying, Verstappen knew the start was going to be crucial and made a difficult pass on the McLaren has they entered Turn 1. What none of them was reckoning on, was George Russell leaping from fourth to first in the first 600 metres of the race, with a bold move around the outside of his two rivals! Norris’ plan had been to to stick around the outside in Turn 1 and then try to establish himself in the lead as he’d be on the inside for Turn 2. Russell’s late brake move put the McLaren as the meat in a Verstappen-Russell sandwich. Knowing he’d be the biggest loser

of the inevitable contact you get when three cars try to get into that corner side-by-side, Norris lifted, dropped to third and made life a lot more difficult for himself.

But there’s no bad situation that cannot get worse, so when Verstappen breezed past Russell at the start of lap 3, the pole man’s race was effectively lost, as he lacked the top speed to move ahead of the Mercedes and could do nothing to prevent Verstappen from slowly edging away.

McLaren still had a card up its sleeve, as Norris was not only the fastest man on track but the MCL38 also had better tyre management than all its rivals. So, when Verstappen pitted for a set of Medium tyres on lap 17, reacting to Russell’s attempt to undercut with an early stop on lap 15, Norris was told to go for it while the team was extending the first stint. What was a deficit of 4.8s to Verstappen on lap 16, became a gap of 10.7s eight laps later, when Norris

finally stopped. And while his pace on new Mediums was superb, the time lost while trying to get past Sainz and the two Mercedes drivers meant the best he could was was to get back within 4.7s of his rival, essentually back to square one.

With the two stops done just five laps apart and Verstappen saving a new set of Softs for the final stint, there was little chance Norris could catch and pass his friend and there was still 2.2s between them by the flag.

NORRIS ADMITS

“WE SHOULD HAVE WON”

KNOWING HE had won a race in which he didn’t have the ultimate pace, Verstappen celebrated in style, in a much more effusive way than what we have been used to seeing. The Dutchman had no doubts the first three laps were crucial to this result, explaining that “what made the race was the beginning. I took the lead on lap three, and that’s where

I had that buffer in that first stint, where I could eke out the gap a little bit, because I think after that, we had to drive quite a defensive race. Lando and McLaren, they were very, very quick today.”

The World Champion pointed out that, “epecially on degradation, it seems always the last few laps of the stint, they were very fast. But I think we did everything well. We drove quite an aggressive strategy, but luckily it played out until the end. It was quite close until the end, but very happy to win here.”

With Norris next to him, Verstappen made a point of stating that “At the start, I had to do a bit of rallying on the straight, I had to go onto the grass a bit, which lost me a bit of momentum. Then, of course, we braked quite late into Turn 1, but then I was quite determined to try and get the lead.

“Once I was in the lead, I could look after my tyres a bit better, and that definitely made my race today.”

He later joked that, “I know what Lando’s birthday present will be – either a big mirror or new glasses!” but admitted that “in his place I wouldn’t have probably done the same, trying to protect the lead.”

Norris, when asked if he felt he could have won, quickly replied that “not could, should have done”, explaining that the issue was that “I got a bad start, simple as that. The car was incredible today. I think we were for sure the quickest. I just lost it in the beginning. I’m disappointed ... but a lot of positives, one negative, and that kind of ruined everything. I know that. I can just work on it for next time.”

By lap four, Verstappen was past Russell and gone ... In third, after getting done over at Turn 1, Norris’ challenge for the win was effectively over.

Max got a good enough start that the McLaren driver couldn’t squeeze him. Russell got a flyer and is already alongside – three into one wasn’t going to work ...

For team mate Oscar Piastri, the weekend was not as smooth, the young Australian admitting he never felt 100 per cent comfortable with the car. Having lost his Q3 first run – on used tyres – to a track limits infraction, Piastri had an off in Turn 12 on the final run and that put him down in P10 on the grid, moving one place up thanks to the penalty Pérez was carrying from the previous race.

On Sunday, Gasly proved impossible to pass in the first stint but the Frenchman pitted early and, like Norris, Piastri extended

Lando’s demeanour post-race said it all – once upon a time he’d have been thrilled with second.

his first stint, diving into the pits seven laps later. That initially cost him two places but he made quick work of Pérez (on lap 28) and Ocon (one lap later) before making the most out of his fresher tyres to finally pass Gasly on lap 34.

From then, and with the two Ferraris more than 10 seconds in front, the McLaren driver settle into a rhythm, did make some inroads on Sainz, but was still 2.7s behind the Spaniard at the flag.

Seventh place was the best he could achieve, the youngster admitting that “there was some optimism that if we’d get through the Alpines quickly, maybe we could be in the fight with Mercedes and Ferrari, but ultimately I didn’t get through Gasly quick enough. The pace was maybe a bit better towards the end of the race, compared to Carlos, but it was just a bit of a difficult day.”

MERCEDES BECOMES A FACTOR

second race running, one Mercedes driver passed the other in the final laps to claim the final step of the podium, but this time it was Hamilton who got ahead of Russell. The veteran made it to the podium for the first time since last year’s Mexican Grand Prix (!) and couldn’t have been more delighted with his result and, indeed, the pace shown by the W15 all weekend:

“It’s been a good day, been a good weekend, a solid weekend. I have to say a big thank you to the team, because they’ve been training so hard in the pit stops. The strategy in the pit stops was really on point.”

And when asked how confident he was that Mercedes was now in the fight, Hamilton replied that, “We definitely are.

We’re definitely getting more consistent and if I can just get my qualifying to be like this weekend, then it makes the Sunday so much easier. But my Saturdays have been so bad for the last 15 races. So, it’s good to have a clean weekend. And hopefully, this puts us in a good position to challenge in the next few races.”

Team mate George Russell, who led the first two laps but ended just outside the podium, admitted his bold move at the start had been planned for hours:

“I was kind of dreaming about it last night and what my plan of attack was going to be. I saw the weather forecast and the wind had shifted into a head wind into Turn 1, which I knew meant I could brake really late and deep into the corner.”

What undid Russell’s race was the decision to go for the Hard tyre for the last stint, as he soon found out it gave him no grip, so Hamilton didn’t have a lot of trouble passing him around the outside into Turn 1 with 13 laps to go. Still, as the young driver pointed out, “we protected P3 and P4 as a team and that was what we were aiming for.”

ALPINE SHOCKS THE MIDFIELD

ON A track that exposes any weakness a car may have, no one expected Alpine to be a serious factor in the midfield battle, but from the start of the weekend, both Gasly and Ocon, but especially the first, were clearly the faster of the group. Gasly even outqualified Pérez on merit and even though he was “only” seventh on the grid, the gap to P3 was a mere 0.156s! It was a performance that continued in the race, the Frenchman admitting that, “we are as surprised as you are, because we didn’t have new parts; others brought big upgrades, but the car felt good all weekend, the team’s execution of the weekend was perfect, and I didn’t make any mistakes.”

Having held on to P8 until the last lap, Gasly lamented that, “backmarkers and the slow first stop cost me the place to Pérez, as without one of those two factors he woudn’t have got past me on the last lap.”

With Ocon playing the team game early in the second stint, Alpine collected three precious point with its two drivers in the top 10, passing Williams for P8 in the championship and showing the catastrophic start of the season is already behind the team.

QUO VADIS FERRARI?

IF THE disastrous performance Ferrari had in Canada is now a distant memory, the SF-24 didn’t stand a chance of figthing with the faster Red Bulls and McLarens in the Spanish Grand Prix. The gap for pole position was not dramatic, “just” three and a half tenths of a second, but Mercedes did a better job in qualifying and that’s why the two red cars lined up on only the third row of the grid.

Things didn’t get better in the race, with Leclerc edging Sainz in the battle for P5, but Verstappen ended up more than 22s ahead of the Monegaque, so it was clear the team is not yet at the level shown on most races in the first third of the season.

Leclerc, who made it clear he wasn’t happy with Sainz passing him early on, with contact, “because we had instructions to protect the tyres and try to go long in the first stint, but he didn’t”, eventually got the position back by going longer than his team-mate in both stints. Asked where he though the SF-24 was lacking, he said that, “my best guess would be track characteristics didn’t fit our car, and that’s my best guess, but also what I hope for, just to be back on pace from now on.”

The more analytical Sainz, who couldn’t get better than P6 at his last home Grand Prix with Ferrari, drew parallels with previous races to explain why he hopes things will be way better for him and the Scuderia in the coming Grands Prix: “This was the track where we struggled the most last year too. So, that’s kind of our hope, that it’s just a bogus track for us and that there will be other tracks that we will be a bit more competitive. Competitive enough to fight for wins with Red Bull and McLaren? I don’t know. But more competitive for sure.”

He then added that, “we didn’t do too well in Shanghai and Suzuka, two medium to high-speed tracks, and the same happened here. Austria has a completely different layout, different tarmac, different tyre compounds, so we hope to be back in front of Mercedes already next weekend.”

Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur concurred that, “you have four teams within two-or-three tenths. The order is changing because in the last four weekends you have four different teams doing pole position. We didn’t change the car massively, which means the performance is more relative to the track layout, to the compound, to the temperature, if you are in the window with the tyres, for a maximum gap of plus or minus one-or-two tenths.”

But while the Frenchman insisted on downplaying the lack of recent results since Leclerc’s win in Monaco, it’s clear Red Bull and McLaren now have the two quickest cars in the field and the Scuderia is battling with Mercedes to be right behind them, which, for all intents and purposes, is not what Ferrari was hoping for at the start of the season.

Ferrari struggled but Lewis (right) got onto the podium.

Piastri’s qualifying blip saw him stuck behind Gasly early in the race.

2004 - FPR CALLING FOR INTERNATIONAL RESCUE

A YEAR AND A HALF INTO ITS EXISTENCE, FORD PERFORMANCE RACING WAS NOT MEETING EXPECTATIONS, WITH ENGINE DRAMAS ...

PARENT COMPANY Prodrive sent in a crack crew of engine experts to stop the vexed V8 team’s motor meltdown.

A four-man team from Prodrive’s race engine development division in the United Kingdom was headed south.

Their mission was to find a cure for PR’s engine problems before the Queensland 300 on July 4 and then complete the transfer of the team’s V8 development program from Britain to Broadmeadows.

AA had also learned that Prodrive was about to launch a worldwide search for an experienced team manager to take over the day-to-day running of the operation.

The decision to rush engineers to Australia was made in the wake of the three engine-related failures that FPR suffered at the Barbagallo round – just the latest in a series of motor maladies so far that season.

The struggling squad had been plagued by engine reliability issues and also a lack of horsepower, undermining gains in chassis performance that chief engineer John Russell’s team of technicians achieved over the summer off-season.

The engine ‘strike squad’ was to be the

1974

THE FORMULA 2 Championship began with a double-header of two races in as many weeks and Leo Geoghegan led the way.

Geoghegan produced a pair of “very fine drives” to take both wins and cement himself as the driver to beat.

Johnnie Walker emerged next best ahead of Enno Buesselmann.

John McCormack had taken over the development of the Leyland Formula 5000 engines, which was initially started by the Repco Engine Development Company.

In another changeover, a partnership was formed between Bob Jane and the Albury and District Car Club to promote races at the Hume Wier Circuit.

advance party of a task force that Prodrive was sending to Australia to help local staff in a concerted drive to lift FPR’s game in the team’s disappointing second season.

Prodrive supremo David Richards had already decided to provide FPR with extra resources before the engine issue reached crisis point in Perth “I acknowledge that FPR’s performance is not up to expectations and, as a result, something has to change,” Richards declared.

*It’s an issue, I acknowledge that, but it’s an issue we’re addressing.

“It will be sorted out.”

But Richards was adamant that the intervention of a Prodrive ‘SWAT Squad’ would not signal a British takeover of the FPR’s operations.

“We haven’t finalised the details, he said. “We’ll just offer them all the support we can. It has to be an Australian-led activity down there.

“It’s not just a matter of throwing people at it. I think they’re on the right track, but they’ve had too much work to do [moving into a new base before the start of the season and building new cars]. They’ve had too much thrown at them at once.”

Richards confirmed Prodrive’s commitment to transforming FPR into competitive team, citing its success in turning around BAR-Honda and the Subaru World Rally Team, and to a strategy for success that will convince Craig Lowndes to stay.

1984

FOR THE first time, the entire front cover of Auto Action magazine was in colour and the Greens Tuff XE Falcon of Dick Johnson brought it to life. Johnson was in the spotlight having wrapped up a third ATCC crown fittingly on home turf at Lakeside. Johnson finished second to winner George Fury in the Bluebird Nissan but, having never missed the podium all year the #17 built an unassailable lead over Peter McLeod and Peter Brock, who did not compete in the round.

Porsche owned Le Mans by locking out the top seven with Klaus Ludwig and Henri Pescarolo emerging on top in a 956B – two laps clear. Aussies Vern Schuppan and Alan Jones, plus Jean-Pierre Jarier were sixth, while the Peter Brock and Larry Perkins entry crashed into a catch fence.

He is all too aware that rival Ford teams are eyeing the struggling superstar.

“Understandably so,” Richards confessed.

“He’s a very, very good driver. But if I were in his position, knowing what was

1994

WITHIN WEEKS of the Tony Longhurst and Paul Morris punch up, Alan Jones became the latest Touring Car driver on notice due to off-track behaviour.

Jones was fined $8000 after he allegedly hit a gate official at Wanneroo, whilst the stewards recommended he should be suspended for six months.

The official reportedly lost some skin and had broken glasses. The incident overshadowed Jones’ round win as Mark Skaife secured a second and final ATCC crown with Gibson Motorsport.

There was excitement in Adelaide after it was announced Nigel Mansell would be making a shock Formula 1 return to Williams for three more Grands Prix in 1994. Mansell made a one-off comeback in France where it became appeared the red #5 would be back for the final three races.

coming and our plans for the future, I’d be more likely to stay.

“I’m sure Craig has looked at the situation objectively, and seen that we’re putting in the right resources and heading in the right direction.”

2014

DICK JOHNSON opened up on the dark times of 2013 where DJR went from having no drivers, cars or sponsors within weeks of the opener to winning with Chaz Mostert. “Right ahead of Clipsal, we were struggling to get there,” Johnson said. “Obviously we made it but that was due to Wilson Security coming on board.” But with Penske now knocking on the door and after Mostert’s Ipswich win, Johnson was optimistic for the future. “ Former teammates Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom were not seeing eye to eye, with Winterbottom claiming “a lot of the egos out of the team.” Davison, now at Erebus felt surprised and disrespected by “constant jabs below the belt.”

On the track Audi dominated Le Mans with a 1-2 finish led by Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, while engine issues ended Mark Webber’s and Porsche’s dream.

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