Auto Action #1891

IN-FORM MOSTERT

CLOSING IN ON BROWN

THE SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES IS WELL AND TRULY ALIVE, WITH CHAZ MOSTERT CLOSING IN ON WILL BROWN. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS.

THE 2024 Supercars championship is hotting up with Chaz Mostert and Walkinshaw Andretti United in the middle of a rare patch of form that has cut the championship lead from 279 points four races ago to a much more manageable 105 points with two-thirds of the season’s races complete.

If it wasn’t for Mostert’s troubles on the Super Soft tyre in Darwin, the gap would be even more slender. In the past eight races, Mostert has led the field across the finishing line first in half of the races –losing one with a five second penalty – and has been on the podium in two others. Brown has 13 podiums from the 16 races so far to Mostert’s nine and must be a little concerned at Red Bull Ampol Racing’s form slump since Darwin that has affected teammate Broc Feeney more, costing him second in the series to the popular Ford driver.

Mostert is fending off all questions on the

championship, remaining aware that the next two rounds of the series are on the Super Soft tyre that have caused the WAU team so many dramas.

“We’re just doing what we’re doing as a team and that’s just purely being aggressive and keep trying to work on our weaknesses and trying to keep our strengths,” Mostert said after his Sunday win.

“This weekend was a lot of fun. This year the car’s actually been quite fun to drive compared to what we had last year. Working with my engineer trying to make the car faster – and the car’s been responsive to that this year – is quite cool in this Championship compared to a lot of other championships around the world.

“This weekend, from Saturday to Sunday, we just went from strength-to-strength and it is really rewarding, and that’s probably more rewarding than thinking about the championship at the moment.

We are just keeping that mentality and moving forward, there’s still a lot to play out this year.

“But our next big test is Tassie, which is back on the Super Soft tyre. The last time we were on that we were really poor,

and we go to Tassie, which is generally a straight-line track and we all know the Bulls have the biggest Chevy motors, so we’ll just have to see what we’ve got there.”

To which Will Brown quipped, “I hope you suck at Tassie!”

After failing to win a race last year, Mostert now sits sixth on the winners’ list for the Gen3 era, and with 24 career wins in total is the second most successful driver in the current field, trailing only Mark Winterbottom on 39 career wins.

OSCAR WINS HIS FIRST GRAND PRIX

AUSSIE OSCAR PIASTRI HAS TAKEN HIS FIRST GRAND PRIX WIN. ANOTHER AWKWARD McLAREN STRATEGY CALL ALMOST COST HIM, BUT THIS WAS A WELL-DESERVED VICTORY AFTER A FORCEFUL FIRST CORNER MOVE CONVEYED THE MESSAGE …

IT WASN’T without its complications, due to McLaren’s nervousness about Lewis Hamilton potentially undercutting Lando Norris, and the awkward pre-agreed handing back of the spot in those circumstances, but from the first corner, it looked like Oscar Piastri was on his way to the first win, hopefully of many, we’ve known was coming.

The jet start and the confidence to stay with it, down the inside into Turn 1, set the agenda for the day. From there, Oscar eked out a four second gap to his team-mate over the first stint and, frankly, it looked like McLaren was in control, looking after tyres, and headed for a simple 1-2.

The team-managed undercut, for Norris’ benefit, and the traditional, long-standing agreement that the spot would be re-instated was all that stood between Piastri and the win – and who can forget the similar (“Multi-21, Seb!”) situation that his manager Mark Webber was involved in, when Sebastian Vettel refused to comply with a similar agreement at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. Ultimately, after some rather tense

‘discussion’ across the radio waves, Norris complied, slowing in a somewhat pointed way on the main straight. Based on similar situations up and down in pit lane in the past, it was the only right thing to do.

That aside, this is the win that has been coming for a while – it could have happened a fortnight ago but for a bad pit call by the team – but Piastri has remained a team player, never critical in public, and improved his one, by his own admission, weakness – tyre management

– to the point where he had eased away from Norris over the first half of the race. It was almost, almost, routine …

Oscar becomes the fifth Australian to win in F1 – joining Sir Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo. Where to from here?

McLaren now knows, for sure, that it has two contenders driving its cars, which are, at this stage, race winners.

As with Senna/Prost, Mansell/Piquet, Vettel/ Webber, Hamilton/Rosberg, that can get a bit tricky … While Verstappen has a significant lead in the Drivers’ Championship, there is a realistic chance for McLaren to catch the Red Bull team in the Constructors’ Championship – especially while the latter persists with their luckless

With the front row lockout, two-hundredths between the pair, there’s no doubt that there

would have been some form of protocol in place at the weekend – quite likely something such as whoever leads at the first stops wins; with the team relying on the duo to race ‘sensibly’ until that point. That’s standard team thinking for any team in such a dominant position.

F1, and Australia, can probably look forward to more arm-wrestling between the McLaren duo and, more importantly, more wins for the latest member of the Australian F1 Grand Prix Winners Club …

IN THE MANIC HOUR AFTER THE DRAMATIC WIN, OSCAR FACED THE WORLD’S F1 MOTORSPORT MEDIA –THIS IS WHAT HE HAD TO SAY …

Oscar, you’ve dreamed of this moment since you were a boy. You’re a Grand Prix winner in just your 35th start. How sweet was the view from the top step of the podium?

YEAH, VERY, very special. A lot of Australian flags actually, which was very cool to see.

On July 21, 2024, Oscar Piastri’s life-long dream came true ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Yeah, it was an incredible moment. It’s always special when you get to stand on an F1 podium, but it’s a little bit nicer when you’re at the top of it.

So very happy. Like I said, an incredible moment that I’ve been dreaming of for a very long time. My first dream in my career was reaching F1. The second one is winning a race. So I’m very, very happy and proud and not just of myself, but everybody that’s helped me get to this position – going back to my family firstly, of course. They took a lot of big decisions when I was at a young age to chase the F1 dream.

It’s very difficult to become an F1 driver by staying in Australia, so it meant some big decisions early in life … just very, very proud that those decisions have paid off and we’ve managed to make it worth it.

Of course, for myself, I’m just incredibly happy to have achieved this moment.

How different does this feel to the sprint win in Qatar last year?

VERY, I would say. I think the Sprint win … it was always a bit awkward in my opinion. It’s a win, but not really a win. This is much more of a proud moment for me than winning the Sprint. Of course, it was a special moment at the time, but now to have no questions, no question marks over whether I’m a race winner or not is a very nice feeling to have. The emotion is definitely different.

Can we talk about tactics? Given the advantage you and Lando had in that race, why didn’t you stop first? It would have been a lot simpler.

I’M SURE it’s something we’ll discuss as a team. The information I had at the time was that Lando was boxing early to cover Lewis Hamilton and I was going long, to cover Max, essentially, because I knew that he’d stopped later and I think we were just being very safe. Of course, that naturally gave Lando an undercut and maybe made things a little bit more complicated than it needed to be, but I’m sure that’s something we’ll go through.

In those stages when you were behind Lando, what was going through your mind? Were you worried that you weren’t going to be giving the lead back? How much was the concern growing in those final few laps?

I DON’T think I was really concerned. The only thing I was concerned about a bit was if there was a Safety Car, then it would have taken the situation out of our hands, would have taken the control out of our hands. So, that was really the only thing I was a bit concerned about, but we’d spoken about it at the timing of the stop that we would sort it back out. I had full trust in everyone in the team, including Lando, that we would make that happen.

Just on the final stint when you came out behind Lando, I wonder if you could just talk us through what happened there, why you were a little bit unable to close up the gap despite having a little bit younger tyres.

I THINK the whole race we were very evenly matched. The dirty air made a big difference. You know, I think where I was in the last stint, I don’t think it made that much of a difference. I think ultimately, I just wasn’t quite as quick as I needed to be in the last stint.

Is the win everything you’d hoped it would be? And there wasn’t a Shoey on the podium – will there be one tonight? YES, I would say so. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet … and, I mean, I’m not really the kind of person to get overly emotional. So, I don’t think you’re ever really going to see that from

me, but no, it’s an incredible feeling. Like I said, it’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. You know, we’ve had a couple of opportunities through the last few races that we’ve come very close to and now, to make it happen is an incredible feeling. But I’m sure with more time … Qatar last year didn’t fully sink in until probably the season ended. I think with this, it will probably be a similar kind of feeling. It’s just quite a cool feeling, but quite hard to describe and know how to feel sometimes.

What has Mark Webber’s role been in your career? Are you sad that Mark’s not here? He’s flown back to London to be supporting Mitch Evans (Formula E), hasn’t he? YEAH, HAS the Formula E race happened yet? No? Okay. Yeah. His influence has been massive on so many levels. I think behind the scenes, you know, they’ve done an incredible amount of work for me in my career, whether it was my junior career, getting me into Formula One, working with McLaren … it has been a massive influence for me. And there’s always little tips and things like that.

Mark obviously had a long and successful career in Formula One. And, you know, I’ve said a few times his hindsight of his career is my foresight. He can keep me out of a few traps and a few holes that maybe he experienced in his career.

And so his influence there is incredibly important. I think also for myself, he’s been in a championship winning team for a lot of his career. And, not just for myself, but for the whole team, I think that’s a key thing to have. And the last question … I can’t remember. Oh, no … Shoey. The Shoey is Danny Ric’s thing. I mean, I’m going to get roped into it because I’m an Aussie … but I don’t know. I’ll try and think of something new.

But no, I think that’s gone and done. I know we did one at Silverstone last week, but I think we were a bit upset after the race there, so we needed some cheering up. Maybe we’ll do one in the plane on the way back – can probably pay the cleaning fee now!

But no, I’ll leave that to Danny Ric and that could be his legacy. I’ll create my own! … For AA’s Hungarian GP coverage see page 56.

THE TECH DEBRIEF

ANDREW CLARKE DEBRIEFED WITH SUPERCARS TIM EDWARDS AT SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK ...

THE REST of the media caught up with Auto Action at Sydney Motorsport Park and started asking questions about steering racks, but the racks were just one technical hot spot from the weekend. You can read about the tyres elsewhere, but here’s the rest ...

THE STEERING RACK ... DEVELOPMENT HAS TURNED A CORNER

STEERING RACKS have been a constant talking point since the start of the Gen3 era. The off-the-shelf product specked by the Supercars GEN3 homologation teams, and then imported by Racer Industries, which is a part of the Blanchard family-owned Cool Drive business, proved fragile in early running and lacked consistency of feedback to the drivers.

Considerable work has been done to try and get the rack up to the standard, but it now seems that is not possible and the teams are turning to a rack designed by Tickford which has been undergoing tests. There was plenty of talk in Sydney around when to introduce the rack, not if.

“There’s no plans to accelerate anything,” Edwards said. “This program started in the middle of 2023 when I was in my former life, but if you’re going to make a change at some point of that magnitude, you want to make sure it is fit for purpose for the next decade.

“This is not a short-term change, so most drivers, most teams have now run that rack, and obviously, as it’s been run, there’s been more feedback, and you’ve got to sanitise that a little bit because everybody’s got their own little personal preferences.

You can’t make a special rack for a driver because of their preference, but all of that information is like they’ve been constantly evolving the rack to a point now that they’re very close to what would be, let’s call it a production version.

“Once that’s tested, then everybody can have a big boys’ conversation about, “Okay, well, when do we want to implement that?” There’s half the pit lane that would change tomorrow if it was an option, but we’ve got an existing relationship and we’ve got existing stock, and there’s a whole host of

things that need to be considered in this.

“We’re also not going to make the change until we’re comfortable that it is fit for the next decade, and so it’s our duty to make sure that we go through due process. But they’ve [Tickford] made some really good progress with it, particularly over the last six months.

“The initial phase was getting it up and running and making sure it was going to work OK, and now we’re into what I’d call the fine-tuning – how easy is it installing in the car, what’s the feel for the driver … why wouldn’t you address those through a development phase like this?

“For sure, it’s more robust, and that for me was the number one thing they were looking for, and unfortunately, but fortunately, two of the cars that were running them went into the wall at Turn 8 at Adelaide last year, and in both cases, the steering rack was perfect. We hit probably the hardest wall anyone hits in Australia with two cars, and it survived both of those.

“That’s the purpose of running them and getting as many kilometres on them as we can, so that after 5,000, 10,000 kays, we don’t find that we’ve got a pinion that’s not working. We’re just working through it, but we are getting closer to what would be a production-spec.”

At the moment he said any team wanting to run one needed approval – it is not a free-for-all onto a new rack. Some teams, he said, have embraced it while others are more cautious and have only tried to run it at test days.

“We’ve got to make sure it gets moved around. We’ve got to make sure that everybody who wants the opportunity to run it at a race or test gets the opportunity, and so it’s just getting shared around like parcel-to-parcel at the moment.”

The plan has been to make the change for next year, but it could come sooner if the planets align.

TRANSIENT DYNO TESTING IS UNDERWAY

SUPERCARS HAS engines in the States as preparation for the transient dyno tests at the AVL test facility in Detroit commence. The complex testing regime will take a few weeks in total, and extra engine people are heading over during the four-week break between races.

“Craig (Hasted from Cragsted Engines) and Hugh (Millear, Supercars’ Engineering Manager) are there at the moment. They’re there for two and a half weeks in this first phase.

Obviously, people will be coming from here, then they will come back here for nine days then they go back for another twoweek block.

“It’s a complicated beast. There’s an electric motor that’s bigger than the actual Supercar engine that’s sitting in front of it. Writing the software for that motor to effectively replicates what the rear wheels are feeling is not easy.

“That electric motor pretends that it’s Bathurst, for want of a better way of describing it. You go up through all the gears and down through all the gears for Turn 1 and up through all the gears up to Turn 2. So it’s quite complicated to write the code for this electric motor – to pretend that it’s Bathurst.

“But then you’ll also be doing moment of inertia tests and ramp runs and some of the more typical ones that we do on a water brake dyno. But it’s just a more accurate tool than just the water brake dyno.

“There’s a long list of things that they’re going to navigate through on both engines.

“And then once we’ve done that, we’ll have some good information, and some of it’s working through what are our current parity parameters. Others are other areas that aren’t currently parity parameters, but we might decide, well, actually, there’s a little difference there, and we’ll sort it out.

“We’ll just work through it. And then we’ll give the teams a bit of an opportunity if they’ve got a few things they want to try. But the first thing we’ll do is, once we’ve actually got the full run of each engine, overlay everything and go ‘Okay, where have we got any differences?’

“We’re not going to go off playing around with other things until we know if if we’ve got any differences. Things like the moment of inertia, because that’s one of the things that’s only been mathematically calculated at the moment, needs to be confirmed by the physical test.

“Maybe one needs 100 grams more on the flywheel or less on the flywheel or whatever it is. You do that as the first change and then just work through the process.”

Tim Edwards. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

NEW TYRE COMING FOR SUPERCARS

A LATE FRIDAY TYRE TEST HAS RE-AFFIRMED THE POSSIBILITY OF A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE TYRE COMPOUND FOR SUPERCARS IN 2025. THERE WILL BE JUST ONE FOR A START. ANDREW CLARKE DEBRIEFS THE TYRE TEST WITH TIM EDWARDS ...

SUPERCARS IS preparing for life with a single compound of Dunlop tyre if the next round of tests match those already completed, including the half hour session late on Friday night last week at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Supercars’ tech boss, Tim Edwards, said all the early signs were promising and that the late-night test on Friday confirmed the results of the earlier test at Queensland Raceway. At Sydney Motorsport Park, two Fords and two Chevs ran the session after the opening 90-minute practice session.

“We’ve done two tests and six drivers have run with it now,” he said. “We’ve got a couple more tests planned, so hopefully by the time we get through our evaluation of it, maybe 10 drivers will have run on it, and obviously several teams, so that will give us a good data point from different drivers, different teams, different tracks.

“It’s around October where we’ve got to make our commitment for whatever tyres we want building for the first round of next year, so we’ve got a bit of a window, but it looks very promising so far.”

Tyres have long been a discussion in Supercars, with many wanting tyres that ‘go off’ to improve the racing, while others believe something more durable is more desirable. What Supercars is looking for

is a combination of the two paths, and finding a tyre than can be driven hard without affecting the life of the tyre.

Shane van Gisbergen brought tyres into the spotlight after his NASCAR debut last season when he talked about being able to drive hard as soon as a tyre was put on the car, while in Supercars he had to tip-toe around the first few laps to get the best out of the tyre.

Dunlop was challenged with developing a new tyre compound – the case is still the same – under the guidance of Edwards who only stepped into the Supercars’ role at the start of the season.

The tyre being tested is not what Dunlop would do if it was given complete freedom, but it appears to be hitting the mark.

“Some of the strange things that we’ve heard about the new tyre were kind-of unintended consequences – like the drivers all hop out and they feel like they’ve been working. That ranges from some of them monitoring their heart rate, and other of them just hopping out going, ‘bloody hell, those 10 laps were hard work.

“Well, that’s a good thing, because one of the traits we’ve got now is that they tend to be conservative in the way they drive to manage the tyre. Whatever tyre you’ve got,

manage it to a point, but they’re probably managing it to a lower number than I think we’d like as a category.

“If we’ve got a tyre that they can drive on harder every lap, and ‘rag it’ more I suppose is the best way to put it, and drive closer to the edge, ultimately that will mean drivers make more mistakes and that’s good for the show and the racing.

“There’s still degradation with it – we ran different pressures, and obviously, the teams haven’t had the opportunity to set up the car for the tyre as well.

“But in five laps on Friday night, Cam Waters lost two seconds in lap time, he went out and did a blistering first lap time, but they degraded and then it did plateau, so there will still be a difference between a quali-lap time and racing.

“One of the tests that we plan to do with the tyre soon is actually have a couple of cars, let’s put it as, ‘racing’. Literally ‘rag it’ behind another car and see what happens, so that’ll be another interesting test for us.

“We’re still navigating through it, but certainly, the signs at the moment are very promising. Dunlop listened to what we’ve been after, and this is the tyre they’ve presented and they’ve done a really good job.”

Edwards said from his former life at Team Principal at Tickford Racing, he was blatantly aware of the drivers’ concerns with the inability to race hard on a fresh tyre, and this possible change – while not being made to keep them happy – is certainly being made with them in mind.

“We’ve all heard criticisms from the drivers for years, and I’ve heard it myself in my former life. The drivers feel like sometimes they’re not racing, because they’re having to just conserve the tyre too much, and I for one don’t think that’s good for the competition.”

Edwards is looking at a range of changes for 2025 which will be his second year at the helm, and new tyres will simply unlock some extra options.

“The tyre is just one piece of the puzzle, and what we ultimately get out of this tyre, and how we think that will work with formats for next year, all needs to go into the same melting pot, and to help us drive the best possible outcome for next year.”

He added that race weekend formats and the like can be changed within the constraints of the current Teams Racing Charter system, and that regardless of how many rounds and the like, the series would be different.

Cam Waters was one of the drivers undertaking test laps on Dunlop’s new tyre compound late on Friday evening at SMP.

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

WILDCARD ROOKIE WANTS MORE

A TASTE OF WHAT LIFE AS A FULL TIME SUPERCAR DRIVER COULD BE LIKE HAS LEFT YOUNG SUPER2 DRIVER LOCHIE DALTON WANTING MORE. ANDREW CLARKE SPOKE TO HIM AFTER HIS MAIN GAME DEBUT ...

TICKFORD’S WILDCARD rookie, Lochie Dalton, may not have set the world on fire during his main game debut, but he showed enough to put his hand up for some more running in the main game as he continues his learning season in Super2.

Early in the Friday session he was running mid-field, but when the heat was turned up near the end, he couldn’t quite raise his speed like the regulars did. Then a small error in qualifying on Saturday cost him plenty of grid spots.

Both races were tough for the young gun, but he got more racing laps than he might get in two or three rounds of Super2.

He finished 22nd and 24th in the two races, but his fastest race lap on Sunday was mid-pack and faster than team-mate Cam Waters and less than half a tenth off Thomas Randle in the other Tickford car.

On the track, he peaked at fifth in the Saturday race during the pitstop window, and had a few good battles over the two races.

“It was hectic at times – I felt like I was back in Super2,” he said. “Everyone was just dooring each other, and it was quite difficult because I was just trying to keep the tyres underneath the thing.

“Mixed feelings with the weekend – we did have good potential to be in that midpack, and I understand that I made a few

mistakes which cost us. Looking back, there is a lot to learn, a lot to go over so we come back and be better.

“It was a little frustrating, just because I know I can do better. That’s the first one, so we’ll take it. I definitely want more, but I think that’s just natural.”

Earlier on Sunday, Dalton spoke to Auto Action about the length of the races, with no Safety Cars and races more than twice as long as anything in Super2, which rarely run without significant periods under Safety Car conditions.

“I felt really good,” he said of the 1h20m race. “That’s probably the best I’ve felt in a race car physically and mentally. It’s pretty cool.

“Super2 is a completely different mindset. Here you’ve got a lot of time to move up the grid – you don’t want to just blow the tyres out. I love the soft tyre, it’s so good to have a lot of grip and so many greens.

“I think in Super2 we should probably try and get more green tyres because it’s a little bit limited.”

While he felt there was less desperation in Supercars, it was no less brutal.

“There’s a lot of desperado but it’s what it’s for. It’s for people like myself to learn their craft and if you’re not racing at the front, you’re not going to get into a Supercars gig.

You’ve got to be smart about it.

“In the main game, it’s a bit more relaxed. Everyone’s got a lot of experience but there are still some desperados.”

Tickford Racing debriefed all three cars together. He said a lot of the engineers involved are part of the Super2 program, so he was familiar with them, and he said Waters, Randle and the engineers were good at getting him involved in the discussion.

But the biggest challenge for the weekend was the amount of activity outside of the car with signing sessions – although he felt like a third wheel sitting at the Tickford table – sponsors appearances and the like. Plus, people were coming up for autographs and photos, which is not as common with Super2.

“I used to think Cam and Thomas had it easy. They just laid back in the truck and ate some snacks, but the off-track stuff is so busy. All the appearances and signing sessions is pretty crazy.

“It was a bit of a shock because you don’t get much time to see your engineer or get your pre-race mojo on. I was a little bit out of form leading up to the race because I was just so busy off the track. It’s something you adjust to when you plan your day around better.

“I had a horrible qualifying and I was pretty gutted with myself, but you’ve got fans and kids coming up to you wanting autographs and you’ve just got to turn it on for them. They’re the reason why everyone’s here.”

The Fiducian Racing Mustang was returned to Tickford after Monday’s drive day with only a few tyres marks on it. Dalton doesn’t have an endurance drive this season and is only allowed one wildcard drive this year, so will concentrate on his Super2 drive with Tickford.

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Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

GROVE GROWING UP

A BRAVE STRATEGY CALL AT GROVE RACING ON SATURDAY NIGHT IN SYDNEY SHOWS THE TEAM IS MATURING. ANDREW CLARKE SPOKE WITH BRENTON GROVE AFTER MATT PAYNE’S ‘STRATEGIC’ PODIUM ...

MATT PAYNE made the start to his weekend’s racing tough with an error in Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout at Sydney Motorsport Park that left him 10th rather than on the front row or two, but an early race switch to a one-stop strategy helped him to his fifth podium in the series.

Payne was running in the bottom half of the top 10 when the crack Ford squad decided to the roll the dice on the unfancied one-stop approach – when the Fox commentary team was musing over the possibility of three – and jumped him from sixth on the track to second at the end of the race after leading until four laps from home.

“We did our homework before; it wasn’t just something we did,” Grove said. “We knew that was an option and then some things played out and we thought, ‘OK let’s have a go’. Matt probably gave it away a bit, but we definitely discussed it before the race, and it worked out.

“We’ve got a lot of conviction now in our decisions. Last race, in Townsville we thought three-stops was smarter, but we weren’t 100% sure and then it paid off and it was alright. And then today, I think we had the confidence from what we did in Townsville to go ‘let’s try it – it’s what we think is better’ and it worked out to be better.

“Obviously we didn’t win the race – we lost too much time at the start to make that up, but I think we were sixth before the pit stop cycles and we came out second at the end of the race so we went forward.”

He was a little disappointed not to win the race, which he thinks fell off the table when Payne spun on the last corner of a shootout lap that would have landed the young Kiwi somewhere on the front two rows.

“I think potentially if the shootout played out a bit different, we could have been a bit further up. To Matt’s credit, in the race, he was unreal. So sure, the Shootout didn’t go our way, but he certainly paid back for it in the race.

“I think we would have pipped Anton and at that point Randle had just jumped Anton, so I think we would have been somewhere on the front two rows –whether it was pole or not, it’s too hard to know.

“Qualifying is our weakness. Last weekend we were 10th and came back through and today we were 10th again and came back through so I think we need to make our life a little bit easier so that we don’t have to try and be clever in the strategy.”

In only his 44th Supercar race, in the second year of his career, Payne had to make the call work with a delicate right foot.

“It is actually quite funny because we set out to do a two stop and once we saw our pace drop we knew we sort-of needed to keep going and give it a try,” Payne said. “Once they came over the radio saying we are thinking of a one stop I thought ‘man you have got some balls’.

“I was along for the ride and trusted them the whole way and they did a brilliant job.

“If we were on two stops, we would not have finished this high up, so just really proud of the team to back themselves and do a great job.

“I had to be super disciplined. It is not easy doing 28 laps around here. It was hard work. I could see the gap on my dash, and it was coming down. I knew it would be touch-and-go from the start of the stint and then he was going to get me with about four or so laps to go.

“Then I tried to make it easy and not lose too much time because I knew our battle was with Thomas at the end.”

Post-race, Grove was full of praise for Payne who is fast emerging as one of the drivers in the series.

“I think that’s probably the biggest step Matt’s made recently – he now understands how to manage the tyre and how to control a stint. That was probably something we were lacking; we saw it at Taupo when he was leading the race and we ended up fourth.

“Then, he probably didn’t understand exactly how to use the tyre but now he’s put his head down, he’s worked hard with the team and he’s got a feeling now he knows what he needs and he’s able to manage the pace.”

Payne is now fifth in the championship, but the team has dropped a spot in pitlane as the team’s other driver, Richie Stanaway continues to battle on his return to the series.

Payne’s one-stop drive on Saturday night was incredibly disciplined. Top: Payne and the Groves discuss strategy. Images: MARK HORSBURGH

STOP / GO

SVG RACING HARD ON THE BRICKS

SHANE VAN Gisbergen has charged to the summer break on a high after a second best oval finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis.

Van Gisbergen started 23rd and made big ground when a 12-car wreck occurred in front of him on the opening lap, but he was very lucky to emerge unscathed as Sammy Smith, who was right alongside the #97 was hit and spun by Mayer.

The Penzoil 250 was ultimately decided by an 11-lap sprint to the flag where SVG rose from 13th to fourth to secure his second best oval finish after his dramatic fuel saving third at Atlanta.

It was a good boost for van Gisbergen after an incident marred race at Pocono.

SVG’s next race is the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan on Sunday, August 17.

BRT BATTLES

WHILST THERE were smiles at Townsville, there were none at Blanchard Racing Team at Sydney where something was “fundamentally wrong.”

In both qualifying and racing both BRT Mustangs of James Courtney and Aaron Love finished outside the top 20 and were a over a minute behind the winner. With speed nowhere, BRT owner Tim Blanchard had a frank summary of the team’s performance.“Not a lot of good news from the weekend. There is nothing positive for us,” he said.

“We’ve got to work out what’s wrong. There is something fundamentally wrong somewhere.

“At least we’ve got a bit of an extended break before Tassie to try and find a solution.”

FIRST 2025 ROUND LOCKED IN

THE FIRST piece of the 2025 Supercars calendar has been confirmed with the dates set for a return to Taupo.

The 2025 Taupo Super400 will be held on April 11-13, a week earlier than the highly successful maiden trip to the 3.32km circuit.

Supercars returned to New Zealand in April 2024 in front of a sold-out crowd of 67,411.

A return trip using the same 2x 200km format will be staged in early April.

It will likely be round 3 of an expanded 2025 season which is expected to grow to 14 rounds.

TRIPLE EIGHT FEELING THE PRESSURE

IT WOULD have been hard to believe earlier in 2024, but with Chaz Mostert breathing down their necks, Triple Eight is suddenly feeling the pressure to retain its Supercars drivers championship lead.

For the first time in 2024, Will Brown and Broc Feeney are not #1 and #2 in the standings, with their grip at the top disrupted by the rampaging Chaz Mostert.

With Mostert finishing the last five races on the podium and Feeney missing the top five in each of them, the WAU driver has snatched second from the #88.

Whilst Brown is still on top, Mostert

is now only 105 points behind and flying.

This is mainly due to Brown being the leading Camaro in both races and collecting an important third on Sunday which “felt like a win.”

Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton knows his team must be back to its best at Tasmania and eyes an upcoming test to rediscover one lap pace in particular.

“The pressure is always on,” he said.

“The quality of the drivers and teams mean anyone cane win each weekend so we need to work harder.

“We were fortunate to start really strong but Townsville caught us a bit

off guard.

“SMP we can be a bit hot and cold. We have still had a good start to the year and overall we have to be careful not to be too conservative and protect the lead as much as keep developing the car and set-up so plenty of work to be done.

“Maybe we left the test day too late which is coming up now so we will review that.

“The test day will be critical for us. We still have good race pace but we are making it hard for ourselves when we are not qualifying we well as we should be.”

Thomas Miles

SUPERCARS GOING NUTS OVER WHEEL (NUTS)

WHILE STEERING racks have been the subject of much discussion over recent months, Chaz Mostert’s derisive comments after Townsville have revealed that wheel nuts are yet another technical issue still plaguing Gen3 Supercars.

Auto Action understands that batches of re-designed (now onto version three) wheel nuts are in process, with some teams replacing them regularly as a matter of course (at approx. $700/set).

The original design of the Gen3 nuts was reportedly based on an adaptation of a Mercedes GT3 design, to suit the all-new Gen3 spindles, which are quite small in diameter when compared to the previous Gen2 cars. It is that small diameter which presents challenges, with the nuts more easily crossthreaded, reportedly linked to the ‘ramp-angle’ of the threads.

Teams have to be extremely vigilant in terms of the preparation of the nuts – lubrication etc – to avoid crossthreading but, as Mostert found to his frustration in Townsville, it’s an issue that is still causing heartache.

Walkinshaw Andretti United is one of the few teams that manufactures its own spindles and nuts.

Supercars’ technical boss, Tim

Edwards, says wheel nuts have not been placed on the agenda of the Technical Working Group but that he expects after Mostert’s comments that it may.

“It probably will be on the next agenda, but up until now it has not. The last wheel nut upgrade we had was for Bathurst last year and everyone’s been silent on it since then.

“Clearly, WAU has had an issue of late, so maybe we need to put it back on the agenda.

“But if only one team has an issue, then that sounds like it’s not an issue across the board. It sounds like it might be an installation or a concept or something like that.

“Maybe there’s a tolerant offset or something like that. From a former life, I remember I think it was 2012, we had a horrid time, and it was about tolerance.

“Every machine part has tolerances. In that instance, we were one end of the tolerance thing, whereas most other teams were either middle or the other end. Being at the wrong end of the tolerance meant we had a problem.

“Maybe that’s the situation with WAU, who knows, but nobody’s had a conversation with us about it.”

Once it has been elevated, Supercars and the TWG can look into solutions if it deems there is a problem.

AA Staff

Will Brown is now T8’s clear championship challenger. Image: PETER NORTON

WAU is among the teams that have experienced wheel-nut issues. Image: PETER NORTON

WILL DAVISON ended a two-year drought between poles, but is desperate to find that little bit more required to chase podiums and wins.

Dick Johnson Racing enjoyed its most consistent weekend of the year at SMP with both cars finishing all races in the top 10 for the first time since Sandown 2023 and the first in a multi-race weekend since Townsville 2022.

Leading the way was veteran Davison, who took the famous #17 to his first pole in two years.

But unfortunately a second podium of 2024 did not eventuate as the choice to stop twice did not pay off and he finished sixth.

Being off contract at the end of the season and at 41, Davison described the pole breakthrough as “very, very timely” but with 23 wins next to his name, he is hungry for more.

Davison knows DJR is creeping ever closer to the podium, but just can’t quite find the right balance with the car.

“Our focus is on the races and getting more trophies,” he said.

“We keep putting ourselves in good positions but not being there when it counts.

“We are sort of pigeonholed down a bit of a philosophy at the moment that we know is decent but any time we work on our

weaknesses like lateral transition drive and the way we are getting rotation from the car, it is very sensitive to fuel loads, so we are having a lot of inconsistencies in our stints.

“Anytime we go down a different path we go down to 20th so we are stuck with a

good car but want something better.

“Saturday’s first stint was one of the best I had all year but then it dropped away and were not in Chaz’s league and Sunday’s car was not as good.”

On Sunday Davison was able to convert pole into an early lead, but was kicking himself after a mistake at Turn 5 opened the door for winner Mostert to dive down the inside.

However, Davison knew Mostert was in a league of his own.

“You could just see the grip Chaz had early on. I ran a bit wide at Turn 4 and then had a huge moment off five, losing the rear quite wildly and I was straight up kicking myself. That was pretty poor,” Davison recalled.

“But I then saw the grip he had and he was just going to drive around me anyway. He was in another league.”

After breaking his pole drought, Davison will be hoping to end a similar wait between wins at Symmons Plains where he has enjoyed success in 2012 and 2016.

Thomas Miles

DAVISON WANTS TROPHIES, NOT POLES RANDLE ON THE RISE

THOMAS RANDLE has been a quiet achiever throughout 2024 and his progression was there for all to see when he stood on the podium for the first time this year, at SMP on Saturday night. Randle has progressed forward in all three of his Supercars seasons and the Sydney success has pushed him up to seventh in the standings.

Having struggled in his rookie season of 2022 finishing 23rd, he rose to 13th last year with four podiums in South Australia.

Whilst silverware had been lacking in 2024 until Sydney, the pace was there with the #55 finishing in the top five five times before Saturday’s breakthrough.

Despite being beaten on strategy by Chaz Mostert and Matt Payne forcing him to

settle for third, Randle impressed in the first stint, leading the first 16 laps before pitting.

The Tickford driver believed second could have been possible if there was a faster fuel flow rate in the lane.

But with a previous SMP best of 14th, he was delighted to get a trophy, while he fought from 18th to 10th on Sunday after “grabbing both pedals” at Turn 4 in qualifying.

“To get our first podium of the year is really nice,” Randle said.

“We just missed the podium a few times in Townsville

“It has been a big step from where I was (at Sydney) 12 months ago, battling towards the back.

“The car was mega in qualifying and at this track if you have good car speed it helps so much around these long corners.

“Just missed out on the pole but cool for the team to have a front row lock out and the car was really good in that first stint.

“We had a little bit of fuel in hand but then in the second stop where there was a little

bit of confusion in the lane and probably should have gone in front of Ryan (Wood) but its alright

“I didn’t want to get a penalty.

“(Sunday) Qualifying was my fault but it is days like this you need to bank good points which is great.

“I am now seventh in the championship and if I wind back the clock 12 months I was 18th so it has been a big turnaround.”

When asked what has changed, Randle said it was not just one thing.

“It is a combination of things,” Randle replied.

“I have certainly learnt a lot more about the tyre and there are so many elements.

“One-lap speed is so important and that really helps setup the race and then bringing that tyre in is so crucial for tyre life.

“The team going to two cars has really helped focus in on us two drivers and Cam and I work really well together.

“We both want the best for each other and I think we are seeing this now.”

Thomas Miles

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Randle out-dragged team-mate pole-sitter Cam Waters to lead Saturday night’s feature in the early laps. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

STOP / GO

TAYLOR ON TOP

Australia’s Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen have shot to the top of the Extreme E standings after overcoming a “real scrap” to go back to back.

After a five-month break since the Saudi Arabian season opener, E.ON Next Veloce Racing pair Taylor and Hansen won both races at the Hydro X-Prix on home soil in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Thanks to the success, the pair have snuck ahead of Fraser McConnell and Laia Sanz by seven points.

“That was a real scrap,” Taylor said.

“It’ll be great to be heading to Sardinia at the top of the championship but we can’t rest on our laurels now.”

HOLDSWORTH BACK WITH GRM

THE HOLDSWORTH name has reunited with Garry Rogers Motorsport, but it is Brett rather than Lee joining the team.

Brett Holdsworth will return to Trans Am, stepping in for Supercars star Tim Slade for the remainder of the year, from the Queensland round onwards.

Brett has a fine record in Trans Am with two top-three championship finishes.

It is somewhat of a reunion of the Rogers and Holdsworth families with brother Lee famously racing for GRM in Supercars from 2005 to 2011, winning at Oran Park in 2007 and Sydney 2010.

The five-car fleet at GRM now consists of James Moffat, James Golding, Edan Thornburrow, Tom Davies and Holdsworth.

BOWE TO STAR AT CANBERRA FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Australian motorsport icon John Bowe has been announced as the ambassador for the 2025 Canberra Festival of Speed.

Bowe will be one of the biggest stars on show at the second running of the event held in the capital at Thoroughbred Park.

“I’m honoured to be involved with the Canberra Festival of Speed,” Bowe said.

“I’ve been involved in the racing and car world my entire life – for me it’s well beyond an obsession. Cars are my life.”

The 2025 Canberra Festival of Speed will be held from January 25-26.

YOUNG GUN TO LEAD TEAM’S TCR RETURN

THE NEW 99motorsport team will return to the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia with a different driver behind the wheel.

Kiwi 19-year-old Ben Stewart will get a chance to impress at TCR level by driving the 99motorsport Audi at the next round at Queensland Raceway on August 2-4.

Team owner Marcus LaDelle took on driving duties at the team’s TCR debut at Sandown, but the RS3 has not been seen in the following three rounds due to crash damage and event clashes with the team’s TGRA86 Scholarship Series commitments.

But he is more than happy to hand over the keys to Stewart, who has started to forge a reputation.

After winning the inaugural TGRA86 Scholarship Shootout in 2023, Stewart took on the Trans-Tasman Challenge in TA2 machinery over the summer where he was one of the few to get close to two-time Trans Am Champion Nathan Herne.

The teenager has returned to Australia in 2024 and sits inside the top five in the 2024 TGRA86 Scholarship Series.

He cannot wait for his latest opportunity to impress in a series full of Supercars stars and rising talents.

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge of a front wheel drive Turbo, amongst some proper race car drivers,” Stewart said.

“There really isn’t anyone there that hasn’t got a resume, so I can’t wait to be amongst it.

“I’ll be happy to finish all three races amongst the pack, but in the meantime I’m doing thousands of sim laps!”

LaDelle is confident Stewart can chase an impressive top 10 on debut, which will be a boost after a tough start to 2024.

“Ben is a standout talent that has adapted to everything he has put his butt in,” LaDelle said.

“I can’t wait to see the car on track again. I have no doubt that he will challenge the top 10 at QR

even with the added challenge of racing the 86 at the same event.

“It’s been a tough year having the car parked, but I’m very proud that one of my young guys can get and have a crack.

“Will Brown proved in 2022 that this car can compete at QR, so we’ll focus on the setup Will worked with and give Ben the best chance of fighting.”

The team are finalising preparation on the car ahead of a pre-event test, with a new livery to be unveiled before Stewart takes to the track from August 2-4.

Thomas Miles

SKODA HITS A CENTURY

By Paul Gover

THE SKODA Fabias that dominate the starting order for the Australian Rally Championship have helped the Czech speed machine hit a major milestone.

Production of the latest Rally2 forest racer has just topped 100 cars, bringing the all-time total to more than 600 cars.

Five Fabia Rally2 cars contenders sit in second-through-sixth on the ARC standings after Rally Queensland – Scott Pedder followed by Eddie Maguire, Alex Rullo, Steve Maguire and Peter Rullo – as the favoured choice for privateer drivers in Australia.

It’s been a similar success story around the Rally2 world and Skoda Motorsport has now sold 100 copies of the latest second-evolution car.

The biggest changes to the car are a new chassis, based on the Series 4 Fabia, as well as major engine upgrades.

Total production of the Fabia Rally2 since its homologation in 2015 is now more than 600, sold to 42 countries including Australia.

The first-generation Rally2 Fabia was produced from April 2015, with a string of top-level drivers – including

Kalle Rovanpera, Andreas Mikkelsen, Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemanscoring big successes.

Race Torque Engineering, a Perthbased team, also scored a long string of Asia-Pacific Championship wins with Skoda before its program was culled by the Covid Pandemic.

Skoda has a very long rally history, from class competition with its Favourit through to the top level of the World Rally Championship with the unlikely Octavia and then the Fabia WRC which competed to the end of 2005 with a string of big-name drivers including Colin McRae.

When Skoda revived its rally program in 2009 it used the Fabia, developing it rapidly as a good bet for national and regional championships.

The Fabia Rally2 took Skoda back to the WRC as Mikkelsen won the WRC2 driver’s title and among the front-line drivers driving a Skoda in 2024 is second-generation racer Oliver Solberg.

At last count, the Rally2 Fabia has competed in around 22,000 events since 2015 and scored 28 regional and 125 national championships, with 2563 individual wins and 6400 podium places.

The 99Motorsport car returns with a new face at the wheel ...

LARSON FOR AUSTRALIA’S RICHEST RACE

AMERICAN RACING star Kyle Larson will be back down under this year, headlining a three-day High Limit event in Perth that will be the richest ever in Australia.

High Limit co-owners Larson and Brad Sweet, plus Australian superstar James McFadden, American drivers Rico Abreu, Cory Eliason and Parker Price Miller have all been confirmed to take part in the A$100,000 event.

The High Limit International: Perth will be held across three straight nights on December 28-30 2024.

It arrives after Perth Motorplex hosted a successful USA v WA Sprintcar series last summer which involved Sweet and now he is bringing his own High Limit show and some stars.

Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and Sprintcar star has raced in Australia before on the East coast, but this will be his first time out West.

He said racing in WA has been an ambition for years.

“I am excited for the whole thing. It is great for the High Limit brand but also the Australian fans – they are some of the most passionate Sprintcar fans I know of,” Larson said.

“I have not been to Perth but I have paid attention for the last handful of years and really wanted to get down there – but my life has just been a bit hectic ...

“I am excited to go there and race in front of a different fan base.

“Now with the announcement hopefully a few more drivers will come too.

“I have not met them (Larson’s WA team) yet but from everything I hear they have great people and equipment.”

Sweet and Abreu were two of the

American stars that put on a grand spectacle of racing during the 2023/24 USA v WA Series last summer in WA.

Sweet knows first hand what is on offer and is looking forward to bringing things to a new level with the addition of High Limit.

“It is exciting,” Sweet said.

“I think the biggest thing was going to Perth and seeing what they have already established in Australia.

“It is a marquee venue with awesome staff and great competition.

“We want to bring something that will bring an even bigger atmosphere for the fans so it is really rewarding for High Limit

to bring the richest Australian Sprintcar race in history.

“Hopefully the fans will support it.”

Sweet revealed the High Limit International: Perth is just the first step in what could be an unprecedented global series where Australia plays a big part alongside America.

“We always want to be adding to an ecosystem and our goal is to create an international series and add events to not just Australia, New Zealand, Canada and UK,” he said.

“This is the first event we wanted to launch and are looking at a five-year plan

to see how many events will be sustainable and create this cool, unique thing attached to the High Limit brand.

“We will see how this first one goes and go from there.”

DIFFEY OUT OF INDYCAR

commentator Leigh Diffey (right) is almost certain to be joining Shane van Gisbergen on the NASCAR trail from 2025.

The transplanted Aussie spruiker has called his last IndyCar race in the broadcasting seat at the NBC network in the USA but, as yet, there has been no confirmation of his future.

He is expected to continue with NBC Sports, where he has held a key role in its motorsports coverage for more than a decade and where he also reports other elite sports.

There are strong rumours that NBC will take a pivotal role in NASCAR coverage from next year, a move that would affect Diffey, but nothing is official for now.

Diffey cannot talk about his future plans, beyond the basics.

“Everything is good for me over here,” he told Auto Action while travelling to Iowa for his final IndyCar call.

Ironically, there were breakthrough victories at the event for the ANZAC duo of Scott McLaughlin and Will Power.

McLaughlin scored his first win on an oval since heading to the USA and it was the first time Power, now the winner of 43 IndyCar races, had finished

first at the track. For Diffey, there was a special celebration as he took his two teenaged sons to the event to celebrate the end of another chapter in his motorsport career.

The 53-year-old began as a local motocross track commentator in Queensland before moving up to Supercars broadcasts, then time in Britain

on World Superbikes and the World Rally Championship, as well as Formula One, before making the now-permanent move to the USA.

Despite the public uncertainty about the future of the motorsports anchor, Diffey shows no concern:

“I’m really excited about the future, with lots of great things coming up,” he said.

The first of those is a return to the Olympic Games, in Paris, the sixth time he has been an NCB commentator following stints at Summer and Winter games in Russia, Brazil, Korea, Japan and China.

Diffey is the lead caller for the track-andfield events in Paris, but his expertise has previously seen him calling the bobsled, luge and skeleton downhill events at Winter games.

His role at NBC Sport has also included major international rugby contests.

The end of Diffey’s time on IndyCar, including the Indianapolis 500, comes as FOX takes over as the series’ new broadcast partner.

The new FOX deal was confirmed on June 16 and means the network will have rights to both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 next February.

If there is a move to NASCAR, it will be another back-to-the-future move for Diffey, as he was a play-by-play caller on the Xfinity series in 2015 and stepped up to the Cup coverage on an occasional basis through to 2019.

There is no detail yet on how the broadcast changes in the USA will affect viewers in Australia.

Paul Gover

Thomas Miles

ACE TELEVISION

Brad Sweet and Rico Abreu are just two of the stars heading to Perth – as is Speedway star-become NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson (below).

BOWE BUZZING FROM TCM COMEBACK

IT ONLY took three rounds for John Bowe to make a comeback from retirement and race in Duggan Family Hotels Touring Car Masters again and he is still smiling. Due to a chest infection, Steven Johnson had to pull out of the SMP Supercars Supernight round on the eve of Friday qualifying.

But Hancock Racing had a handy substitute for the four-time champion in Bowe, who had his first crack at TCM since his retirement at the end of last year from racing in his A9X Torana.

However, Bowe’s preparation was far from ideal, having been watching the action from the couch at 14.00, just two hours later he was at the airport and arrived in Sydney at 21.30.

Despite starting the Trophy Race from the back of the grid, Bowe pushed to 10th in the Mustang that was “not to my liking.”

The #33 BRUT Mustang had plenty of battles up and down the pack and progressed in all three of the championship races, finishing 12th, ninth and finally a solid sixth.

Bowe could not wipe the smile off his face both on and off the track.

“I had a great time. It was like a fairytale and I felt like Prince Charles,” he told Auto Action.

“It was certainly not planned. I was sitting on the sofa watching the racing at 2pm Friday afternoon and I had three missed calls.

“They said ‘Steve is sick and we would like you to come and drive the car’.

“It was not the way I like to go racing because you need to be prepared and in the right headspace but they are my friends so thought I would have another go.

“Everyone was so welcoming and it was just terrific.

“The racing was brilliant, so I had a ball and was satisfied with my own performance.”

Whilst both Bowe’s and Hancock Racing’s hope is for Johnson to be back at full fitness and racing in Sandown, the sub said he is open to returning, meaning Sydney may not be the last time the TCM legend races in the fan-favourite category.

“Whether I do many more races will

depend on some things, but the racing has been great this weekend and the category looks strong again.

“I am committed to the GT4 season with Randall Racing (but) I am a motor racing addict, so who knows what I might do,” Bowe said.

“Our intent at the moment is to help them get the car to where I think its at a happy place and hopefully Steven finishes the season.

“Whether I jump in someone else’s car, who knows.”

Touring Car Masters heads to Sandown for the Supercars Sandown 500 meeting over September 13 – 15, for the next round of the series.

Thomas Miles

ARG MAKES TRANS AM QR CALL

TEAMS THAT hope to be racing Trans Am on the streets of Adelaide this year must compete in the next two rounds at Queensland and Bathurst or they will fail to qualify.

This is the new directive from Australian Racing Group (ARG), which “requires prospective competitors to compete in at least two Trans Am rounds in 2024 before being considered for entry in the series’ grand finale at the VAILO Adelaide 500.”

It also that states an owner of a Trans Am car that has not yet raced in the ARG-run SpeedSeries, will need to enter next month’s fifth round at Queensland Raceway, plus the Bathurst International, to ensure a place in the Adelaide field.

The Queensland round has already been a big focus point following a schedule change.

The original SpeedSeries calendar had a first trip to the “Paperclip” on July 12-14 before a return trip with different categories three weeks later.

But with a lack of racing categories to cater for two events and financial concerns, everything was squeezed onto the one August weekend.

Dream Racing Australia Team Principal Craig Scutella has thrown his support behind the sudden directive, despite teams having only a fortnight to make a call with Adelaide in mind.

“The new ruling from ARG is a great initiative from the category manager to entice competitors to enter the remaining rounds of Trans Am in addition to supporting the loyal, existing entrants.

“It is a credit to both PBR and ARG to have aligned their businesses to ensure the continued success of both TA2 and Trans Am through this tough economic period.”

Despite the situation, he also noted the quality of racing

so far this season.

“Trans Am Series in 2024 has gone to a higher level,”

Scutella said, in reference to the standard of racing.

“It has been spectacular – fast, tight and combative. The Seven Network’s TV ratings reflect this as the standards of the drivers and teams is ‘pound for pound’ the best on the Australian motorsport landscape.

“DRA is expected to have an expanded team at Bathurst

and Adelaide in what will be the biggest fortnight of our year.”

There has however been one extra entry for Queensland announced with TCR star Jordan Cox to announcing he will be racing for Holinger Engineering - his first time racing TA2 machinery.

The Queensland round will be held on August 2-4, while the Bathurst and Adelaide meetings are both in November.

Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography

GRIDS ARE SET FOR FESTIVAL OF SPEED

THE VHRR’S Winton Festival of Speed is just around the corner, on August 2-4, with Winton set to host one of the biggest fields of classics in its history.

The confirmed grids for the 12 classic categories has exceeded 300 machines , with another 200+ display cars to make for some stellar track-side viewing.

With well over 500 vehicles on and around one of Victoria’s most superb tracks, this year’s Festival of Speed makes for a crispy winters, car lovers paradise.

Ian Tate, Club President of the Victorian Historic Racing Registry, told Auto Action that it’s up around the highest field the event has ever seen.

“If we get some good weather, there’s going to be a very good crowd,” Tate commented.

“And we’re very proud to have Shannons, Penrite, and CoolDrive supporting us for all of our events, and again here at Winton to help make this thing what it is.

“All the grids have healthy numbers, and of course the viewing at Winton is exceptional – it’s the best in the country – and of course we’ve got camping available which is something we don’t get at Sandown for example.”

The Heritage Touring cars have a capacity field, and the Group N is also at the max, whilst the Historic Sports

Sedans will be one of the highlights with a field of 23 roaring modified classics, which includes the likes of Peter Fowler’s VW Fastback, and the Brian Thompson Mercedes 450 Chev, and more.

The capacity Heritage Touring Car race will feature both 5L and 2L (12 x Group A, 5L, 2L, plus 23 Group C entries) – as approved by Motorsport Australia – with 35-40 cars expected, including 11 Ford and 15 Holdens on track, whilst both John Bowe and Tim Slade are anticipated (yet to be confirmed) to compete.

The Historic Touring Cars 50K Plate Enduro is also another popular addition with 1953-73 era machines to provide some great wheel to wheel action over

50 kms, whilst there will also be a Group C only race on Saturday in celebration of Ford Vs Holden, featuring cars such as the John Goss XA Falcon, and a host of introduction Torana SLR/5000 & L34 beasts.

Oh, and it’s also the 60 year celebration for the Ford Mustang.

There will also be something for open wheel enthusiasts with over 20 classic Formula Ford and Vees, whilst the Regularity and Tribute Car grids will both exceed 30, with the Alfa Romeo and MG & Invited fields both exceeding 20. For ticketing information, visit the VHRR.com.au website.

TW Neal

WTAC MACHINERY/NAMES KEEP ON COMING

IN THE usual build up space for the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC) at Sydney’s SMP, the big names and big-power machines keep on rolling in.

In hot pursuit of that one perfect lap, SMP will once again be the Mecca of high performance on August 30-31. Already announced is the appearance of Sebastien Bourdais 950hp Gold Coast Indy 500 winner from 2005, as well as news that drift icon Mad Mike will be competing in the Pikes Peak conquering, 1400hp four-rotor Mazda 3.

Some of the more recent announcements also include another Pikes Pikes class champion, American driver Cole Powelson.

Powelson was the open wheel division champion at Pikes Peak (and fourth in the outright) and fans will remember his appearance at last year’s WTAC in the COORE Racing Subaru GC8 STI, as well as his previous performance in a R35 GTR to be the fastest ever American at SMP. Racing in the open class, the WRX is coming back in 2024, but with a more enhanced set-up!

Its modifications include a powerful 450kW EJ25 engine which can suck in more air via its Garrett G35 turbocharger, along with an added Modena sequential gearbox for rapid shifting, whilst for weight

saving, it features a carbon composite bodykit by ABW.

In the drifting stakes, it would be remiss not to take a look at the machine that Japanese drift legend Masashi ‘The Zombie’ Yokoi is bringing out (above).

Yokoi is a three time champion of Japan’s prestigious D1 Grand Prix series, and only the second in its history to take back-

to-back titles. It doesn’t get any more competitive than in the land of the rising sun, and his trip to SMP is a real boon for the WTAC.

He’ll pilot the meticulously crafted MCR Factory S14, which carries a freshly built 2JZ-GTE engine which unleashes a rattling 1072hp. With a 3.4L displacement and a GCG G40-1150 turbocharger.

Add in the D-MAX suspension set-up, a signature Aero kit, and Power Arms to go with the custom tuned suspension components, it’s a pure symphony of precision engineering.

Also featured on this year’s two-day bill will be the return of a WTAC legend in the shape of the Mighty Mouse CRX.

It’s the machine that set the FWD standard at WTAC events with a lap time of 1:26.276, and the lightweight, unassuming Honda, is back to rekindle the fire.

Driven by Rob Nguyen, its supercharged K24 engine kicks out 600hp, and performs as a real “corner-carver”.

Run by 101 Motorsport for its return, it will have a 40% increase in aero capability, but it’ll have to shake off other Plazmaman Pro-Am entries such as the Audi R8 1:1 ‘Fat Cat’, and the title defending Corvette twin-turbo monster driven by Feras Qartoumy.

TW Neal

Tony Sawford heads a pack of Group C cars. Image: BRUCE MOXON

SAINZ DEFECTS FOR DAKAR

CARLOS SAINZ TO LEAD FORD RAPTOR INTO THE DESERT ...

By Paul Gover

REIGNING DAKAR Rally champion Carlos

Sainz has defected from Audi to Ford for his next duel in the desert.

The speedy Spaniard, now 62 and with four winner’s trophies in the cabinet, is the highprofile team leader for Ford’s first outright attack on the Dakar Rally in January, 2025.

Ford has created a purpose-built Raptor prototype to challenge rival makers, led by Audi and Toyota, in the 2025 running of the Dakar in the Saudi Arabian desert.

It will field four cars and has named another Dakar veteran and 2014 event winner, Nani Roma, as its second driver. Two more will be announced – and are likely to be drawn from Ford’s long running off-road programs in the USA – in the lead-up to the event.

Sainz has vast experience in the Dakar, with 19 starts as the event has been run everywhere from the original course from Portugal to Senegal, then in Hungary, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina before finding its latest home in the sand dunes of the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia.

It took him two earlier attempts with Audi before he scored the German maker’s landmark win last January.

“The Dakar is always an adventure that takes us into the unknown,” said Sainz, the father of Ferrari F1 racer Carlos Jnr.

“Reliability and performance are the two key words in motorsport, especially in offroad competition. I want the fastest car – but without compromising reliability.”

The unknown is even more daunting for Ford Motorsport, although it did field a toein-the-water effort in this year’s Dakar with a less-extreme off-road racer and has vast experience over many decades of off-road

racing in the USA and Mexico.

Last time out in Dakar, Nani Roma was one of the Ford drivers and finished 44th overall in a car developed by Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport, the operation that also fields factory Ford Fiesta hybrids in the World Rally Championship.

M-Sport is also responsible for the new truck, which was designed and developed at its base at Cockermouth in the north of England.

The project is directed by Matt

Wilson, a former driver in the World Rally Championship and the son of Malcolm, the founder and owner of M-Sport.

“This is the kind of opportunity that comes once in a lifetime. It is going to be an incredible adventure,” he said.

The new Ford contender is officially called the Ford Raptor T1+ and will be competing in the T1 ‘Extreme’ outright class at the Dakar.

The Raptor name works for Ford because it is the ‘halo’ badge applied to the mostextreme of the road-going Ranger line-up sold in Australia and globally, as well as highperformance versions of its US F-150 truck and Broncho SUV.

It is vastly different from the productionclass Ranger Raptor which has been a winner at Baja in the USA and the Finke Desert Race in Australia for the past two years.

The Raptor T1+ is a typical desert racer but, unlike the Audi RS Q e-tron, which used a hybrid electric drive, it is powered by a uprated version of the 5-litre Coyote V8 which also powers Supercars in Australia. Ford has yet to give the power and torque scores for the engine, or the important economy for an event which is a marathon as well as a series of sprints, but

NEWS EXTRA

said the mid-mounted engine is dry-sumped with a re-worked exhaust.

The carbon-fibre body of the extreme Raptor is dropped over a new T45 steel space-frame chassis, incorporating lessons learned with the first Raptor for the Dakar.

The suspension uses a double-wishbone design at each end with coil-over shock absorbers from Fox, the US company which supplies the dampers for the production Ranger Raptor. The coil overs are threeway adjustable and have four-way adjustable external bypass dampers with remote reservoirs

The utility vehicle sits on 8.5-inch by 17inch aluminium wheels with 37-inch tires and braking is handled paired with front and rear 355-millimetre Alcon ventilated discs and six-piston mono-block calipers.

Ford said it has 35 centimetres of suspension travel and 40 centimetres of ground clearance with an off-road approach angle of more than 70 degrees.

It has a minimum weight of 2010 kilograms and is 2300 millimetres wide.

“The Ford Raptor T1+ is a stake in the ground for our global off-road vision,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports.

“We want to take on the best and prove ourselves in the toughest places on earth.

“Taking on such a demanding race like Dakar is a daunting task for all of us at Ford Performance, but we have never shirked a challenge.”

The radical Raptor has already been punished through 10,000 kilometres of testing and will make its competition debut in the Hungarian Baja, in a military training area in Hungary, in the second week of August. It will also compete in Morocco from October 6-11 in the final event before the Dakar Rally from January 3 next year.

Sainz said the Moroccan event will be his first chance to get “a clear picture of our car’s competitiveness.”

It will also be the first time he and his co-driver Lucas Cruz will be competing in the full four-car Raptor team. But it’s not Sainz’s first time with M-Sport – or Ford. He began his career in the World Rally Championship driving a Ford Sierra Cosworth in 1987, then drove an Escort RS Cosworth with M-Sport in 1996 and 1997 for three wins, before returning for two more wins with the Focus WRC from 2000-2002.

“I trust 100 percent in M-Sport, Ford Performance – I trust them and they trust me. I now have grey hair compared to my first time racing with Ford in a Sierra Cosworth in 1987, but my passion to win is just as strong,” Sainz said.

Sainz said he plans to “use all my experience to guide the team” as he helps to develop and race the Raptor.

He has made 19 Dakar starts and scored a total of 47 stages

wins, as well as winning with four different manufacturers  – in 2010 with a Volkswagen Touareg, 2018 with a Peugeot 3008, 2020 with a Mini John Cooper Works and 2024 with the Audi RS e-tron.

“The Dakar is a great challenge that brings drivers, teams, mechanics and everybody to the limit.

“I’m passionate about this new project and enjoy the Dakar Rally so much. I’m hugely motivated to win”

Before the Dakar, he is focussed on Morocco.

“Everybody has done a really good job and now it’s time to take the Raptor racing to see where we are. We all know that the Dakar requires a fast car, but also a reliable car so we are working on all areas.”

Despite his age, and plenty of mishaps in WRC competition and also racing the Dakar, Sainz said he is fit and focussed.

“You need to be well prepared physically as well as mechanically. If you’re not well prepared you’re going to pay a big price. You need to respect every kilometre of the Dakar,” he said.

The all-new Ford Raptor (main image) is a significant step from Ford’s previous Dakar vehicle (above) and the busy interior, (right). The new Raptor was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival, by Malcolm Wilson (below) and Sainz (opposite bottom) after preliminary testing (opposite).

Images: RED BULL CONTENT, ROOTS, MOTORSPORT IMAGES

HUGHES TAKES TORONTO UNDER MAXIMUM PRESSURE

GOLD COAST youngster Lochie

Hughes ( pictured ) entered the penultimate USF Pro2000 round with a huge degree of pressure as its championship leader.

With a US$681,000 scholarship on the line for a passage into IndyNXT – the final rung on the Road to Indy ladder –the Turn 3 Motorsport driver delivered in spades, prevailing in Race 2 with a dominant performance.

Whilst the last Round at Mid-Ohio didn’t go his way (just his second round without a podium) he still banked enough points to hold his lead, and after the win in Toronto, enters the final round in Portland with a 35 point advantage over American driver Jace Denmark.

After posting a front row start for Race 1 in Exhibition Place, Hughes held onto fifth for the opener, but in Qualifying for Race 2 he sent it for pole by 0.310 seconds over his chief title rival.

The 25 lap affair saw him lead from start-to-finish in the #44 Tatuus IP-22 machinery, holding off Kiwi driver Liam Sceats by 1.876, whilst Denmark took third.

In holding off the field in two-restarts, Hughes made it five wins for the year to go with his five podiums.

“This win was really important with only two races to go,” he began.

“The season has gone by so quickly. I feel like we were just in St. Petersburg. I was happy to just not do any overtaking in that race.

“The last two races, we ended up being in the pits and had to do a bunch of overtaking for the rest of the race.

“It was nice to just stay out in front and I can’t thank the Turn 3 crew enough for giving me an amazing car.”

Also flying the Aussie flag in Toronto was debutant Eddie Beswick in the USF2000 alongside Quinn Armstrong.

The former – the current national Formula Ford leader – impressed by qualifying in the top-10 for Race 1 (P10), but couldn’t convert in the two races, finishing 14th and 17th.

For Hughes, his IndyNXT destiny awaits on August 22-25 at the Portland International Raceway.

TW Neal

STORMING WIN FOR WILLIAMS IN GERMANY

SINCE OPTING to leave the FIA Formula 2 circuit in 2022, Calan Williams (above) has taken naturally to the world of GT3 racing, backing up his maiden 2023 World Challenge Europe Gold Cup title by heading up the 2024 Silver Cup championship.

Racing for BMW outfit Team WRT in the #30 M4 BMW GT3, Williams enjoyed another successful weekend in the Hockenheim Sprint round alongside British teammate Sam De Haan.

As he did last season, Williams and his teammates are routinely mixing it in the overall top-10 with the Pro Cup drivers, this time finishing Race 1 at the Hockenheimring in fifth overall for a P2 class finish, before going one better to take the Silver Cup honours in Race 2 after starting in P23 to again go fifth overall.

The win puts them second in the overall Silver Cup standings which encompasses both the Sprint and Endurance Cup results, whilst he is again on track to take out the Sprint title with 29.5 point lead over his nearest rivals with two Sprint rounds remaining.

Such a feat would make two years win a row for an Aussie, after Mercedes Junior Factory driver Jordan Love managed it in 2023.

“Really good weekend overall. Our race pace was stronger than our qualifying pace. Happy with the second race especially, it was great fun!” Williams remarked.

“We definitely didn’t expect to win in Silver and finish fifth overall from where we started on the grid. Awesome job by Sam (De Haan) and looking forward to the next one! Nice to be leading the Silver standings at this stage in the season!”

The next outing for Williams will be at the famous Nurburgring for an Endurance round on July 26-28, whilst he’ll return to the Sprint Cup saddle on August 23-25 at Magny Cours in the Nievre commune in Central France. TW Neal

YOUNG AUSSIES BANK MUGELLO AND ZANDVOORT WINS

IT WAS another successful weekend in July in the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA), and in the British F4 across Italy and the Netherlands for our young Junior Formulae chargers.

It was one to remember for Prema’s James Wharton (pictured), taking his first win in F3-level machinery in the FRECA by Alpine series, just a week after making his FIA Formula 3 debut at Silverstone.

And up north at Zandvoort, the rampant Alex Ninovic keeps on racking up wins in the British F4, taking out his third win of the year in the series sole intercontinental round.

For Wharton – a former Ferrari Driver Academy member – his breakthrough at Mugello in Italy’s Tuscan region came after he’d managed two poles and two podiums across 10 races.

After starting on the second row in the round’s finale, he made an important early jump to take control.

“I managed a good start and overtook Brando (Badoer) at the first corner,” Wharton said.

“From that point, I aimed to control the race and manage the tyres.

“I’ve made some mistakes in the early part of the season, and now we restart from this success to look ahead to the rest of the year.”

Some 1,387km north, Ninovic – a former KA3 National karting champion – kept up his podium streak in the F4 opener, stretching his run to nine races in Race 1 for Rodin Motorsport with a P2, before going one better in the second with a powerful drive up front.

“I was really happy to come away with the win, my third of the season,” Ninovic said in the blustery Zandvoort pits.

“It was a bit of a boring race because I got to the lead from the start, kept the gap, and kept it consistent … it was good fun for me though, to be out in front and doing my own thing.”

Ninovic enters the fourth-to-last round at

Scotland’s Knockhill on August 10-12, just 66 points off the championship lead in second place.

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

DID SOMEONE SAY MULTI-21?

OSCAR’S FIRST GRAND PRIX WIN WAS TAINTED BY A ‘TEAM STRATEGY’ CHOICE THAT ENDED UP WITH A BRUTAL SET OF LIVE RADIO CONVERSATIONS THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED …

IT WAS coming. It was Oscar Piastri’s first win. There should have been euphoria all round, but McLaren’s strategy – to overlook the common ‘leader-gets-the-choice’ pit stop protocol in order to ‘protect’ Lando Norris – second to Oscar at the time – from a potential Lewis Hamilton ‘undercut’ threat, which allowed Norris to undercut his own team-mate, led to an initially muted post-race celebration of the first GP win for Australia’s hero.

Any time a strategy call like that is made, it creates potential for this sort of thing. It’s a deal – Oscar’s side of the garage foregoing that first choice of pit strategy for the benefit of the team, for Norris, but with the rider that the spot, in this case the lead, is given back if necessary.

But it’s a bad look for F1. It’s happened before. “Multi 21, Seb, Multi 21!” Remember that? Coincidentally, Oscar’s manager is, of course, Mark Webber …

And although this time Norris ultimately did the correct thing, it took some of the steam, and euphoria, out of Oscar Piastri’s big day – his first (of many to come) Grand Prix win.

From the moment the two were only two-hundredths of a second

apart in qualifying, the potential for drama was there – and McLaren’s morning team briefing would, as usual, have covered all the options.

Frankly, I don’t think anyone quite imagined Oscar getting such a blinder of a start and toughing it out down the inside into and out of Turn 1. It was huge. There was no contact. It was superb and, if nothing else, Norris now understands that he has a genuinely equal team-mate, who is there to race ...

That briefing would have discussed all the options –including what happened – the leader foregoing pit stop priority to assist his team-mate in defending second, in which case the leader would get the spot back if it led to them being undercut by their team-mate and losing that effective lead.

It’s happened before in F1, occasionally, and it would have been the case regardless of which of the pair was leading. Oscar has played the ‘team game’ correctly all the way to date. This time it was Norris’ turn to do the right thing.

But with so much of the team radio being broadcast these days, his clear reluctance to do so (Seb didn’t; Max wouldn’t!), the soulful requests – ultimately orders – to do so, and the eventual dramatic main straight slow-down, all looked a bit clumsy and ugly. And in the end, there was zero threat from Hamilton … so maybe McLaren was being a little bit too up-tight about the threat to its British driver …

Can this situation be avoided? Probably not. It would be impossible to regulate, so, once in a blue moon, similar situations are likely to crop up, as they have in the past..

Either way, it was just a bit of a shame – Sky TV’s ‘Crofty’ and ‘Ted’ weren’t as out-of-control euphoric as they have been recently, for Lewis, George and Lando’s wins (funny, that) … but what a great day for Oscar Piastri.

Totally deserved, and we’re utterly thrilled for him.

ONE OF the key elements in a successful F1 team is its driverengineer relationships and, in that respect, Oscar has formed a terrific partnership.

His engineer, Tom Stallard, is a former English international rower – an Olympic silver medallist, twice on the winning crew of the famous Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. He understands competition, and the highs and lows that come with it.

Even as he was preparing for that 2008 Olympic medal, Stallard had found what he wanted to do next. He completed a Masters degree –in Motorsport Engineering – and started at McLaren as soon as Beijing was over.

He’s been there 16 years now and engineered an interesting mix of drivers – including Jenson Button, Carlos Sainz (“quite emotional –needs information that lets him stay calm”) and Daniel Ricciardo

(“needs some reassurance”), he told The Athletic. Oscar he describes unsurprisingly as “super calm; quite analytical,” so the pair gelled immediately and we’re starting to see the results.

Something that rather humorously illustrates that – the calmness and confidence between the two – happened on Saturday, when the crucial Qualifying 3 was red-flagged with just over two minutes to go (Yuki Tsunoda had binned his RB big-time). Oscar was P2 at this stage, but the frantic final two minutes of the restarted session could have been vital, with all sorts of warm-up lap games possible. Anything could have happened.

In his car, already in the pit lane queue, Oscar’s radio lit up. It was engineer Tom – always keen to keep his man informed to the max: Stallard: “Ricciardo is, I believe, the car behind you … I can’t tell if it’s Ricciardo or Tsunoda but they’re ninth and 10th.”

Piastri (dryly): “I think Tsunoda’s missing a couple of wheels, so I don’t think he’ll be doing many laps! …”

Stallard: “Ah yes, that’s fair! …” Nothing like a bit of levity to take the stress out of a situation!

He even remembered my birthday! A super working relationship between Piastri and engineer Tom Stallard has contributed to Oscar’s rapid rise – and first win. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

ASTON MARTIN HYPERCAR BEGINS TESTING

ASTON MARTIN has begun ontrack testing with its Valkyrie AMRLMH Hypercar that will compete in the 2025 World Endurance and IMSA championships, heralding the manufactures return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The AM Heart of Racing team are aiming to become the first LMH rule-set manufacturer to compete across both championships, and has completed the machines first shakedown in the UK this week, with its entire WEC programme to be run out of its Silverstone headquarters as a British based team.

Developed by the Aston Martin Performance Technologies and works team, the Valkyrie was initially slated as an formation WEC entrant along with Toyota in 2020, but the manufacturer was thought to be irked by the later introduction of the more cost-effective LMDh ruleset, as well as having to focus its funding on its fledgling Formula 1 program.

The LMDh ruleset - where teams can choose from four chassis models and use controlled components - was introduced after the factory based LMH ruleset as a more cost effective option to attract more manufacturers back to the top flight of Sportscar racing.

Four years on, and the Valkyrie is still set to be the first Hypercar entrant that can trace its roots back to a roadgoing machine, and with years of pre-design and planning under its belt,

could potentially hit the track as a fairly competitive entity.

Note: Although the Tipo-6 LMH-C from WEC competitor Isotta Fraschini has road-going options, its track only machine wasn’t based on its road-going vehicle.

The AMR-LMH is sure to be a wonderful sounding machine, with a Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine at its heart, which in standard form, revs to 11,000rpm and develops over 1000bhp, which will be tuned down to 680HP for WEC competition.

At its track day, it was piloted by AM’s High Performance development driver Darren Turner (GBR), The Heart of Racing’s Mario Farnbacher (DEU) and Harry Tincknell (GBR) - the winner of the LMGTE class at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin.

This week’s test was the first test with its body work after a systems test to check that the drivetrain, the braking system where working had already been completed at Silverstone and Portimao, with its FIA homologation program to kick off later in the year.

With Aston Martins two-pronged attack at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the manufacturer will embark on its quest to win its first Le Mans since 1959, when it overcame a contingent a Ferrari 250’s to achieve a one-two with its DBR1/300, which had American Carroll Shelby and Brit Roy Salvadori at the wheel.

Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter, said that

although it’s early in its testing cycle, the signs are promising.

“The Valkyrie AMR-LMH sets its own standard as a thoroughbred endurance competition car,” Carter said.

“It is a pure, leading edge racing machine, and while it is very early in the testing cycle, from what we have witnessed so far, we are satisfied that it is achieving the targets and criteria we have set out for it to accomplish.”

The Heart of Racing Team Principal, Ian James , also reiterated the promising performance standards.

“The first runs for the Valkyrie AMRLMH have been an immensely proud moment in the programme.

“The birth of this project has been a couple of years in the making, so to get it to the track and to see it going around in the flesh, feels momentous for The Heart of Racing.

“We’re looking forward to the journey ahead – it’s a steep hill to climb for everyone involved in this project. We are at the pinnacle of sportscar racing, the competitors are formidable, and they have been doing it a long time.

“Some of them have endless resources. We know we are going up against the best, so we intend to represent Aston Martin at the same level. I believe, from what we have seen so far, and with the DNA of where this car came from, I think we have the right tools to be able to do this successfully.”

TW Neal

ANOTHER SLOW START COSTS NORRIS

AFTER HIS initial refusal to team orders, Lando Norris eventually conceded another slow start meant he lost out on the Hungarian Grand Prix glory that went to Oscar Piastri.

The eventful race at the Hungaroring was decided when the lights went out as the McLaren teammates battled for supremacy having locked out the front row.

Despite being second on the grid, it was Piastri who got the better jump and having survived a squeeze from his teammate, took the lead on the inside at Turn 1 amid a three-wide battle also containing Max Verstappen. The perfect start ensured the Australian could control the race across the first two stints, only to lose the lead due to a puzzling strategic call from McLaren, which saw the undercutting Norris emerge in front.

Having spent 18 laps trying to convince McLaren to change its opinion, Norris eventually accepted moving over was the “right thing to do” with two laps left.

The Brit admitted a “poor start” ended up costing him victory.

“I didn’t give up the race win. I lost the race win off the line,” he said.

“I had a terrible, not even a terrible start, just a bad start. Something happened on my second shift and I lost all my momentum. Oscar got to the inside and that was it. That was that.

“I didn’t deserve to win because of my start and Oscar’s good start and that’s that.”

This is starting to become a worrying trend for Norris that he will need to turn around if he is to challenge Verstappen for the championship. Including Sprints, it is the fifth time Norris has started on pole position and has not lost the lead by the end of the opening lap.

Whilst lots of attention is on the team orders drama, as Norris admits himself, he needs to get better at converting when the lights go out.

VOLANTE ROSSO BRINGS ASTON MARTIN ASSAULT TO AUSTRALIA

VOLANTE ROSSO Motorsport is the official Aston Martin Racing partner in Australasia and will bring the famous British brand to the GT World Challenge Australia.

A near-new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will be raced by a to-be-announced driver lineup at the third round of the GT World Challenge Australia season at Queensland Raceway at the start of August.

It will make its on-track debut on

Australian soil at a shakedown at Sydney Motorsport Park this Friday.

The Vantage GT3 has competed “only a handful” of IMSA races in 2023 and is currently on its way to Volante Rosso headquarters in Marrickville, NSW.

Currently the car is in previous generation, but it will be upgraded to the latest spec aerodynamics and body later this year.

Volante Rosso Motorsport Director Chris Papadopoulos is honoured by

the partnership.

“To join Aston Martin Racing as a Partner Team is the most exciting thing we’ve done in our time in GT racing,” said Papadopoulos.

“The Vantage GT3 is everything you want in a racing car. Not only has AMR done a fantastic job with everything they’ve added to make it a great race car, but they’ve started from a pretty sensational road car!

“Aston Martin is as serious about

racing performance as we are so it’s been a great fit for us and they’ve really welcomed us into the fold from a car ownership and technical perspective.

“I think it’s fair to say every race fan has missed seeing an Aston Martin in the outright fight in Australia, so we couldn’t be more proud to be the team taking Aston Martin back to the top flight here.”

The Aston Martin Vantage’s Aussie debut will be at Queensland Raceway on August 2-4.

HISTORIC SANDOWN NAMING RIGHTS SPONSORSHIP

THE 2024 Historic Sandown event is fast approach and it has been boosted by the addition of new naming rights sponsor Equity-One.

Event organisers, the Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR) was proud to announce the deal for the major November 8-10 2024 meeting. Based in Melbourne, Equity-One are a public non-listed Financial Institution

with over two decades of experience.

The relationship between VHRR and Equity-One started at the 2024 Phillip Island event.

Equity-One Managing Director Dean Koutsoumidis, himself a historic Formula Ford competitor, described backing Historic Sandown a natural fit with the Equity-One business.

“The event provides easy access for

many of our clients and will give them the chance to engage with historic motor sport in the relaxed environment the VHRR event offers,” he said.

Historic Sandown event director Noel Robson welcomed the Equity-One’s decision.

“The high standard of entries and social atmosphere the VHRR event provides is an ideal opportunity for

spectators to get up close and personal with many of Australia’s historic racing cars and their dedicated owner,” he said.

Consistent with naming right sponsorship, the Equity-One brand will have a high profile with a marquee located behind the pit garages.

The 2024 Historic Sandown will be held on November 8-10.

RED BULL ROAD ROCKET

NEWEY DOES THE BUSINESS - AGAIN

By Paul Gover

NEWEY

has delivered his farewell present to Red Bull Racing. It’s the RB17 and promises to re-set the standard for selfish, high-priced track day cars.

It could even - with some tweaking - be raced at Le Mans.

The basics of the RB17, which took a vacant name in the series of Red Bull grand prix racers instead of something special - like ‘Max’ or ’Seb’ - are simple.

The price is $9.6 million, only 50 will be built, the top speed is 350km/h, and it will be built by the same people and processes use to create Max Verstappen’s world title winning F1 cars.

As yet there is no claimed time for the benchmark 0-100km/h sprint, perhaps because the top times are currently dominated by electric cars - the fastest is the Aspark Owl at a claimed 1.78 seconds - and not cars with combustion engines.

But the RB17 makes up ground with one of the most charismatic new engines of the 21st century, a screaming 4.5-litre Cosworth V8 that can spin to 15,000 revs.

It has a claimed 1000 horsepower, which can be boosted to around 1200 with an electric battery booster, but the emphasis is on the sounds and sensations of grand prix cars from decades ago.

Red Bull said the objective with the RB17 was to create a car that matches Formula One lap times - with the right amount of talent.

“It’s a two-seater, so that you can enjoy it with your partner, a friend or indeed, a coach, and is capable of Formula One car lap times,” said Adrian Newey.

He earned his fame and fortune as a world championship winning designer for Williams, McLaren and Red But, but is also a keen amateur racer with the cash and commitment to have a Ford GT40, a Jaguar E-Type and a Lotus 49 grand prix car in his collection.

The RB17 was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, although it’s not yet ready for production.

The customer cars will be slightly smaller and narrower, and Red Bull has yet to reveal the cramped two-seater cabin or reveal the exact mechanical or electronic package.

If the RB17 looks similar to the Aston Martin Valkyrie it should come as no surprise, since Newey also led the development team on that car during the time when Aston Martin was a marketing partner for the F1 team.

Cosworth also has a connection to the Valkyrie, as it developed the car’s 6.5-litre V12 engine.

While the RB17 is a track-only car from Red Bull Advanced Technologies, another British engineering company –Lanzante - said it is prepared to modify the car for everyday road use.

“Early customers for the track-only model have engaged with Lanzante regarding the road conversion program, and work will start immediately to develop the necessary upgrades to allow it to be driven on public roads,” the company said.

“Lanzante will work closely with owners to develop a road legal version of the V10powered RB17, ensuring the project stays true to the original design brief, allowing for optimised performance on track, but also useable on road.”

GROVE RACING SET FOR GT RETURN

HAVING ENJOYED Supercars success and launched a global assault, Grove Racing will return to the GT World Challenge Australia field next month.

After missing round 2 at The Bend, the Supercars powerhouse will bring its new Mercedes-AMG GT3 back down under at the upcoming Queensland Raceway round.

The previous GT World Challenge Australia round Stephen and Brenton Grove competed in was the season opener at Phillip Island.

However their first drive in the Mercedes was effected by illness for Stephen, who missed major chunks of the weekend.

Since then the duo were joined by Supercars stars Matt Payne and Garth

Tander for the 24 hours of Portimao.

They started third, but were forced into retirement due to fuel pressure problems as a suspected fuel leak created a small fire.

Now Grove cannot wait to be back racing on home soil.

“It’s going to be great to be back in the Mercedes and also to be back racing in Australia,” said Brenton.

“I haven’t raced at QR for a while, so it will be good fun.

“We didn’t get to complete the full weekend at PI due to Steve’s illness, so fingers crossed we are able to make the full weekend this time!” To prepare for their Australian return they have completed a test at Queensland Raceway, which has generated some

AUSTRALIA DROPPED FROM WORLD RALLYCROSS CALENDAR

A MAIDEN Australian FIA World Rallycross Championship event will not take place after being dropped from a revised 2024 calendar.

From November 30-December 1 a World RX round was to be held at a to be determined venue in Australia subject to homologation.

It was set to be the finale to the six-round season, which started in Sweden on July 6-7.

But following the season opener at Holjesbanan, the 2024 calendar has been heavily revised.

In the updated calendar the planned Australian round was not included, with the closer instead taking place at a TBA venue in China.

The FIA World Rallycross Championship press release did not provide a reason why it will not head down under, but stated there is still a strong desire to make it happen next year.

“The 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship will conclude with a double-header race weekend in China following the European leg of the series’ campaign,” read the statement.

“It was revealed earlier this year that discussions were underway to add an event in Asia to the calendar in the autumn.

“Rallycross Promoter GmbH is happy to confirm that those discussions have now reached a positive conclusion, and that China will stage the season finale on 19-20 October.

“The originally planned season finale in Australia will not take place in 2024.

confidence.

Grove believes a podium will be possible.

“Having recently tested at QR I think it will suit the Mercedes really well,” Brenton said.

“The aero works to the strengths of the Mercedes, as do the long straights.

“It was great at the test day, so hopefully we can back it up on the weekend.

“A podium is certainly the goal.

“It’s going to be hard as the competition is extremely strong and we haven’t driven for a while.

“However, that won’t stop us from having a big crack!”

The Queensland Raceway round will be held on August 2-4.

“Rallycross Promoter is continuing to work closely and proactively with the local organiser there with a view to adding an event to the schedule in 2025.”

The opening round of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship was dominated by Johan Kristoffersson, who won both races in Sweden.

Motorsport Australia was approached for comment, but offered no further explanation.

Thomas Miles

2024 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR

ROUND 1: Holjes, Sweden July 6-7

ROUND 2: Nyirad, Hungary July 27-28

ROUND 3: Mettet, Belgium August 17-18

ROUND 4: Montalegre, Portugal September 7-8

ROUND 5: TBA, China October 19-20

ADRIAN

BINOTTO IS BACK, NEW F1 POINTS MODEL REJECTED

FORMER FERRARI Team Principal Mattia Binotto will return to F1 with Audi amid a major shake-up, whilst there will be no changes to the points system.

Binotto will join the team currently Sauber as the Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer on August 1 ahead of Audi arriving in 2026.

He will be the new face of the German manufacturer’s F1 tilt after CEO Andreas Seidl and chairman Oliver Hoffmann left the project.

Seidl had left McLaren after an impressive term to steer Audi’s F1 project at the start of 2023, while Hoffman had already been part of Audi.

Like Sauber, Binotto hails from Switzerland and was part of Ferrari’s F1 team from 1995-2022 when he resigned from the high-profile Team Principal role and has not been back in the paddock in an official role since.

Audi CEO Gernot Doellner is looking

forward to using Binotto’s experience.

“I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Mattia Binotto for our ambitious Formula 1 project,” he said.

“With his extensive experience of more than 25 years in Formula 1, he will undoubtedly be able to make a decisive contribution for Audi.

“Our aim is to bring the entire Formula 1 project up to F1 speed by means of clear management structures, defined responsibilities, reduced interfaces, and efficient decision-making processes.

“For this purpose, the team must be able to act independently and quickly.”

Speaking of Seidl and Hoffman, Dueller thanked their contributions.

“I would like to thank Oliver and Andreas for their important work in establishing our entry into Formula 1 and their commitment in preparing it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the points system will

remain unchanged after a proposal increase it to beyond the top 10 finishers has been abandoned.

Around April a number of midfield teams tried to push for points to be expanded to the top 12, 14 or even more.

The proposal was brought up at Tuesday’s FIA F1 Commission meeting, but it was unanimously voted against.

This means the points system that has been in place since 2010 remains.

“It was unanimously agreed that there would be no changes to the distribution of championship points following a recent proposal to consider expanding the point allocation beyond 10th place in a Grand Prix,” an FIA statement read.

In other items the commission agreed to increase the minimum driver weight allocation from 80kg to 82kg, while any costs relating to maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, and team entertainment will remain excluded from F1’s cost cap.

COURTNEY SETS POTENTIAL RETIREMENT DATE

James Courtney has revealed the 2024 Supercars season will be his penultimate as a full time driver after effectively announcing his retirement.

In an interview with 9 News about his growing interest in real estate, Courtney said he intends to retire from full-time racing at the end of the 2025 season. That will neatly mark two decades in the category for the 2010 champion, who first appeared in Supercars in the 2005 enduros driving with Jim Richards in the #22 Holden Racing Team Commodore.

“I will finish this year and do next year and then that will be it for me full time,” Courtney said.

“I have had a hugely successful career, had a great time doing it all and want to end on my terms.”

Courtney then provided an update at the Sydney SuperNight, stating he would be open to a new deal if presented one by BRT team principal Tim Blanchard. However, he admitted he is creeping closer and closer to the finish line.

“I was just talking about the real estate thing and somehow I announced my retirement at the same time,” Courtney said.

“But if Tim wants to give me another deal at the end of this year I will think about it.

“I am coming towards the end and will be 45 next year and starting to plan for the afterlife.”

Thomas Miles

PADDON BACK TO THE TOP

GOODWOOD CAMEO FOR RALLY STAR

RALLY ace Hayden Paddon has made a spectacular return to the the factory Hyundai team. He was called back for high-speed demonstration runs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK.

It was his first drive with the factory squad since he left the team at the end of the 2018 World Rally Championship season.

Since then he has split his commitments with an assault on the European Rally Championship and his home title fight in New Zealand.

“Today has been a very good day - couldn’t wipe the smile off my face,” Paddon said after his first runs at Goodwood.

“So incredibly lucky and special to be driving the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC for Hyundai Motorsport today at Goodwood Festival.”

Goodwood is a major showcase for race and rally teams, with Hyundai splitting its efforts this year.

Dani Sordo, its veteran Spanish driver and tarmac specialist, made runs up the Goodwood hillclimb in the latest Rally1 Hybrid version of the i20.

Paddon’s runs, over the gravel rally course at the top of the Goodwood estate, were done in the earlier non-hybrid version of the Hyundai.

“Such great memories and so good to be driving this car gain. Hugely thankful to those that helped make this happen,” Paddon said.

He is currently leading the European Rally Championship driving a Rally2 version of the i20, after becoming the first non-European to claim the title last season, as well as leading the chase for another New Zealand title.

By Paul Gover

KIWI

PUBLISHER Bruce Williams

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FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconcelos

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Email: editor@autoaction.com.au

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

WEBSTER’S WARBLE

More free to air TV and TCM would get him to follow Supercars-says

Bruce Smith . . .

PAY TV IS THE BIG BARRIER FOR SUPERCAR FANS

PAUL GOVER states in his article

‘The big shake-up is coming’ in Auto Action #1890 that Tim Edwards (the former team principal at Tickford Racing who is now the general manager of motorsport at Supercars) is considering anything that will spice up the Supercars show.

The federal government is considering making it mandatory that all top Australian sports must be shown on free-to-air TV.

I hope this includes Supercars. Paul quotes Edwards saying, “Yes, we’re a sport.”

Many, many Australians, including me, refuse to watch Supercars on Fox or to view any other pay TV.

The number of people who in the past spectated at motor racing circuits or watched the racing on free-to-air TV was enormous and I think the numbers would increase again if Supercars was shown freeto-air.

Remember back to the overflow crowds at Amaroo or Oran Park?

I think that the support categories need a rethink too.

How many motor race watchers really want to see Porches or Aussie Race Cars?

The numbers would increase if the Touring Car Masters were on every program. Or, better still, Group NC (without Porches, which in reality are not NC}.

Tim Edwards may get a very pleasant surprise if he at least tried this without being forced to by government intervention.

Bruce Smith Via email

Publisher’s note: Appreciate your sentiment, Bruce, but the government will only ever likely require that recognised major events, like the Bathurst 1000, remain on free-to-air TV rather than the whole Supercars Championship. In any case, can’t see that any free-to-air network would pay as much for the rights to telecast the whole championship as what Fox does.

REYNOLDS ASTRAY WITH HIS LATEST SHOT AT HUMOUR

LIKE OR dislike him, the attempt on Donald Trump’s life was no laughing matter.

Millimetres away from absolute disaster.

David Reynolds trying to be funny with a bandage over his right ear at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday was no laughing matter either.

It brought back memories of when he drove for Ford and his jokes cost him his job there. David seems a nice bloke, smiling and happy and an awesome athlete. But bad-taste jocularity just isn’t his thing.

Mason McCormick Rockingham Beach WA

ANSWER TO RED BULL’S DILEMMA IS STARING

IT IN THE FACE

IT’S QUITE easy to see how Red Bull can solve its problem of having five drivers for four F1 seats.

The nub of its predicament is that it has to provide a seat for New Zealander Liam Lawson next year or he will be free to go elsewhere.

It doesn’t make sense to install Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate.

The kid would get eaten alive.

Sergio Perez has been an abject failure at Red Bull Racing and, despite him claiming now that’s he’s safe until the end of next year, he has to go.

Daniel Ricciardo’s season at RB hasn’t been what he and everybody would have hoped, but he’s got to be better than Perez and has the maturity to handle being teammate to Verstappen. So, Ricciardo back to Red Bull and Lawson in at RB as teammate to Yuki Tsunoda.

Perez out. And Jack Doohan in at Alpine next year too.

What a start to the season that will make in Melbourne - three Aussies and a Kiwi on the grid. Bring it on.

Alan Teal

Aberfeldie, Victoria

Our inveterate correspondent wants to turn back the clock to a golden era … and then expand it.

BRING INDYCAR BACK TO OZ AT THE DOUBLE

WHEN INDYCAR used to have its Australian round at Surfers’ Paradise it was one of Australia’s greatest international motor sport events.

The IndyCar governing body is now very keen on having more international rounds so let’s try, with cooperation from the Queensland and South Australian governments and Supercars Australia, to get two annual IndyCar rounds in Australia.

In late October there is the Gold Coast 500 and in mid-November there is the Adelaide 500.

Why not have a new Gold Coast IndyCar round a week after the Gold Coast 500 while all the temporary infrastructure is in place? The Supercars could take part in it as the main support event and another round of the Supercars Championship – a Surfers Paradise 400?

And why not have a second IndyCar round at the Adelaide street circuit in early November when all the temporary infrastructure is in place? Again, the Supercars could be the main support event and another round of the Supercars Championship – a South Australia 400?

The Adelaide 500 would take place the next week.

Although the Gold Coast street circuit is shorter now than when IndyCar previously raced there that may not be an issue with the American open-wheeler teams as the first round of the IndyCar season at St Petersburg in Florida is on a 2km street circuit.

The Adelaide street circuit was once home to the Australian Formula One Grand Prix and, although it too has been shortened for the Adelaide 500, it should still be fine for IndyCar racing.

Even though Australia is a nation of only 27 million people, having two IndyCar rounds could be viable –and having the Supercars as part of them could make them even more successful.

A lot of local fans would attend both events and they would attract their fair share of interstate and international visitors.

Having the Supercars as major support events would also be very beneficial for Supercars Australia and for the Supercars teams.

A lot of the Queensland motor sport fans would love to see IndyCar return to Surfers’ Paradise and for the South Australians, even though it’s not F1, IndyCar would be a major international open-wheeler category back on the streets of Adelaide!

When Adelaide hosted the Australian GP it was the final round of the F1 World Championship. Maybe Adelaide could host the grand finale of the IndyCar season?

To make both a Surfers’ Paradise and an Adelaide IndyCar round a reality will need agreement from the Queensland and SA governments, Supercars Australia, the local councils and the Indycar organisation. Why not start working on it now and try to make it all a reality for 2025 or 2026?

Then late October-early November could be celebrated as an Australian IndyCar festival time.

Malcolm Webster

Boronia, Victoria

Publisher’s note: You’re always thinking, Malcolm, but I can see one major hurdle here, and perhaps two. IndyCar may want to put a very high price on returning to Australia, and Supercars may not be happy to play second fiddle to that show anywhere. Just look at the other good categories they’ve dismissed ...

SOCIAL DISCOURSE

AFTER A FAMOUS WEEKEND FOR AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT, THERE WAS A LOT GOING ON AUTO ACTION’S SOCIAL CHANNELS…

PIASTRI WINS

Stefano Lacuna

A future world champion right there.

Farmstay

I don’t get why they asked his teammate to step aside and let him pass. I’m not sure I’d ever feel that was a legit win, he’s got loads of capability so just let him work for an honest win.

David Tobin

How can you take a sport serious when wins are given out on team orders and not talent of the driver to pass the car in front on his own merit?

Graeme Johnson

It is about time McLaren got it right. What would be his point score be if they let him finish in front of Lando, each time he was leading him.

TCM SYDNEY

Steve Golden

Some of the best racing we have seen for years.

Michelle Clewett

I was one of the marshals at that flag post Heinrich went towards in the beginning and one of many that did the clean up was so impressed that he managed to keep it off the wall.

Derek van Zelm

It’s great that Supercars and the Porsches come along as support classes for TCM!

DIFFEY TO LEAVE INDYCAR

Aidan Dare

Well that’s great news for NASCAR, but now I can no longer enjoy Indycar as he was the highlight in the booth. It’s so sad to compare his excitement and enthusiasm for what’s happening on screen with Skaifey and the other old fart, who don’t seem to be watching the same telecast as us, or are just completely underwhelmed by any action happening on screen…

Ashley Hayward

Great news for NASCAR, but a huge loss for Indycar. Absolutely one of, if not, the best in the world.

SNOOZE FEST AT BATHURST?

STARTING THE STARS COULD BACKFIRE FOR FANS ...

BATHURST 2024 could be one of the most boring races on record.

Not as boring, granted, as when Peter Brock won by six laps in 1979.

Even so, the tactics for this year’s race have already been decided. Thanks to a revised ruling, the regular stars will be forced to start in October and then finish with a double-stint run to the chequered flag.

So, ba-bow, out goes any hope of a strategic contest or a mismatch battle to get an advantage before the final two-stint sprint to the flag.

Every car will be locked into the same basic battle plan and, apart from a bit of potential hit-andmiss in the middle of the race, it will be stars racing stars and the rest of the runners doing their best to hold position, go easy on tyres and fuel, and not make a mistake.

Racing? Passing? Not so much.

Having the A drivers up against the A drivers is a recipe for

with Paul Gover THE PG PERSPECTIVE

boredom over the majority of the race.

Having the B drivers against the other B players will mean much the same.

No-one is going to take a Big Risk without the right sort of reward, either in the pits or behind the wheel, and so the battle for ’24 is shaping as a lowrisk race.

Having the three crucial stints pre-set removes a vast amount of the jeopardy at Bathurst, and the excitement.

It’s great to see eager Bs trying to make an impact against the flying As, or a delayed A carving a path through the Bs.

The early laps can be best of

all, with old-timers protecting their patch, eager youngsters thrusting for the front, and also the uncertainty that inevitably occurs when drivers are not totally match fit or racing someone they have not encountered in the past.

This talk of Bathurst, raised by a couple of senior figures over the past fortnight, got me thinking about the law of unintended consequences. That’s where one solution to a particular problem creates an unexpected outcome and a bunch of other problems.. So forcing teams to start their A driver at Bathurst will have the unintended consequence of destroying any strategy, and

potentially turn Bathurst 2024 into a snooze-fest.

At the time, it looked like a good move. And a big positive for casual television viewers.

Putting all the A-graders onto the starting grid will definitely provide instant impact, with maximum tension in the buildup to the race and through the frantic opening laps.

With respect, does a oncea-year viewer want to watch Warren Luff racing against Jack Perkins for the first hour of the race?

But what about Cam Waters trying to pass Luff and Perkins?

Exactly.

“Of course there is still strategy. You could pit your A driver after one lap,” one Supercars insider told me.

But why would you?

“Nah, probably not,” he replied.

“But it would be good to see a few of the A-graders get tangled up in the first few laps.”

All of this is a long way around

to a potential solution, and one which has already fired my AA colleagues Bruce and Andrew into action.

They want to see a NASCARstyle series of ’Stages’ at Bathurst, with each stage paying bonus points for the leaders.

There would be 40-lap stages instead of a single 161-lap grind, creating an artificial ‘race’ for points through the quarterdistance marks.

So there would be four races at Bathurst, not just one.

It’s definitely something to consider for the future at Supercars, which is looking for new ways to spice the current recipe and find new ways to bait casual viewers and draw more spectators to the track.

It won’t happen for 2024, but if the pitlane predictors are right and this year becomes a pre-set snooze-fest then stages could be an ideal alternative –provided there are no unintended consequences.

The first corner at Bathurst 2024 will see all of the regulars at the wheel. Traditionally, a number of co-drivers have taken on the first stint ... Image: MARK HORSBURGH

OVAL BREAKTHROUGH FOR SCOTTY MAC

62 RACES into his IndyCar career for Team Penske, Scott McLaughlin took his first oval win at Iowa Speedway, and the former Supercars champion said he can now finally call himself “an IndyCar driver”.

The big challenge to be competitive in the States is adapting to driving on ovals, something we’re currently seeing his good mate and former rival Shane van Gisbergen in the midst of.

It’s not like McLaughlin has been

uncompetitive over his time on this circuit type, finishing second at the Texas Motor Speedway in just his fourth ever Indy race in 2021, before repeating his oval podium visits three more times before getting this breakthrough.

His sixth career win has also elevated him to fourth in the title race (after Iowa), 65 points off the leading Alex Palou, but having broken his oval Mickey, if it’s not this year, then the coming seasons will see him as a

constant Astor Cup challenger.

There’s also the fact that at both Iowa and the Indy500, he smashed qualifying records in taking pole, so it was all about putting it together in-race. The Kiwi star can also now claim wins on all three track styles: road, street, and oval.

“I just feel like I’m an IndyCar driver now, or I’m proud to say that I am,” McLaughlin said. “Ultimately everyone wants to win on an oval. It’s exhilarating.

You get a lot of enjoyment from it … I

think it’s the backbone of the sport.

“I’m very proud to say I’ve won on an oval now, along with a road and street course. Proud moment for me.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work behind the scenes to be better. Whether it’s here or with the old surface, Texas, any of the other ovals, I feel like I’ve been really strong, just haven’t quite finished it off. There’s room for improvement all the time – I’m nowhere near a complete driver.”

In terms of a helping hand, despite his team-mates Josef Newgarden (backto-back 500 winner and professed ‘oval king’) and Will power (10 oval wins and 500 winner) being old-hands at it, he attributes French veteran Simon Pagenaud as his biggest oval mentor.

The former Penske driver (2015-2021) and current Myer Shank Racing driver, is both a former champion (2016) and 500 winner (2019). And although the Montmorillon born racer is still sidelined from concussion issues from 2023, he’s an avid pillar of support for McLaughlin.

“He’s been unreal for me … such a good teacher,” McLaughlin added.

“It’s special to work with someone like that. For him to basically give me everything, it’s crazy.

“You should see the notes I get. He sends me notes every morning before I go on track.

“I don’t even have time to read it sometimes – it’s crazy. It’s like essays! “Ultimately I treasure them, I save them. I’ll never give them to anyone else, ‘cause they’re just that good.”

With Iowa kicking off ‘Oval Season,’ representing six of the final eight races, the #3 Chevrolet Kiwi jumps back onto an oval in Madison, Illinois following the race on the streets of Toronto (see page 54 for Iowa race details, and to read about McLaughlin’s uneasy Toronto encounter with teammate Will Power).

TW Neal

TOUGH INDYCAR DEBUT FOR POSITIVE McELREA

KIWI RACER and honorary Aussie Hunter McElrea made his last-minute IndyCar debut on the streets of Toronto, getting through a challenging weekend, but displaying positive signs.

Racing in the revolving #18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing, McElrea was forced into retirement on debut, but was listed in P24, netting his first ever series points.

The US born (Los Angeles) Kiwi who did much of his youth racing in Australia – winning the national Formula Ford title in 2018 – climbed as high as P9 by lap 34 after a long first stint.

After cycling back into P20, he kept making up spots before being forced to pit on lap 59 owing to suspension issues.

“Overall, I’m proud of this weekend. Threw myself in the total deep-end and reached a life long goal of making it to IndyCar,” McElrea said.

“We had an awesome race going, but unfortunately we had to retire after the rear suspension gave out from a little wall kiss. Was driving forward with good pace and sent some sick moves!

“The pace we had all weekend was awesome and I’m really proud and thankful to Dale Coyne Racing for the opportunity. Thanks to the fans this weekend – can’t believe the support and how many of you knew me!” the four-time IndyNXT race winner quipped.

“I have no idea what’s in store for me, but I would do anything for another shot

in IndyCar.”

In the lead-in, he began strongly after only one session in the car, and took P10 in the Group 1-only practice out of 15 runners, before qualifying saw him suffer the fate of many at the Turn 8 right hander, over shooting into the tyres to start the big one on the second last row.

With McElrea currently acting as third

driver in IMSA’s LMP2 for the French TDS Racing team, he mightn’t be back on track until the 6 Hour at Indianapolis in September.

But with one road course to go in the IndyCar season – the Grand Prix of Portland on August 25 – he may get another shot at IndyCar before the year is out.

An oval win makes McLaughlin a complete Indycar driver ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BIG TEST OF SPA

I’M REALLY looking forward to the 14th round of the 2024 F1 calendar at Spa-Francorchamps and the final race before the F1 shutdown period over the European summer.

Spa has always been one of my favourite tracks. It’s old-school and it is a proper test of man and machine where you can push the car to its limit.

Qualifying on low fuel at a track like this is one of the best feelings you can have as a Formula 1 driver. All the drivers have raced here coming up the junior formulae but in F1 machinery, it is a beast.

Like Silverstone and Suzuka, it’s a favourite of a lot of the other drivers that I speak to and one of the best tracks for fans to see the cars in full flow.

There will be no Sprint there this year. The Saturday Sprint was obviously a very special day for

FORMULA 1 WORLD

me last year coming home second in my third F1 Sprint race. I’ve had other good memories from there going all the way back to Formula Renault so it’s a paddock that I always enjoy returning to.

It is crazy to think that we have already done 14 races and there will only be 10 after the midseason break. Bahrain testing does not feel that long ago but we are over half way.

Moments like the podiums at Monaco and Austria stick out as really pleasing but I feel that I’ve been very close to some other really strong results at tracks like

Miami, Imola and Silverstone.

The recent triple header across Spain, Austria and Great Britain yielded some good points, especially in Austria and there were a few missed opportunities at Silverstone which could have made it even better.

The car feels in a really good place so we can certainly head into the final 10 races with lots of optimism and with lots to play for. It has performed well at different types of circuits too which is crucial with a few different track profiles still to come this year.

I hadn’t visited most of the

tracks in the second part of the calendar before last year but my first experience of the atmosphere at venues like Brazil, Mexico and the United States was awesome and they are super cool places to race at.

The second half of the season involves a couple of triple headers and some double headers so it is vitally important to get some rest and recharge the batteries before those flyaways. There are also big timezone shifts involved so it’s vital to be fresh going into those spells.

I’ll be taking a breather during the shutdown and getting away on holiday. I don’t have much planned at the moment, but I think you’ll find me on a beach somewhere in Europe before training picks back up ahead of Zandvoort.

I went away to Portugal this time last year which was a nice

way to unwind, and I’ll aim to do something similar this time round. I mentioned the Olympics in my last column, and they get under way in the coming days.

I’ll be supporting all the Aussie athletes competing in Paris and watching their progress.

Thanks as ever for all the support and I’ll be back with my next column after the break. Take care.

(Note: Oscar’s column was penned just prior to the spectacular weekend’s events at the Hungaroring!) was penned just prior to the spctacular events o OSCAR IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Oscar Piastri’s

Spa-Francorchamps is one of the world’s great circuits and Oscar is looking forward to the challenge ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

MAGNUSSEN RULES OUT FUTURE RESERVE ROLE

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN is still hoping to find a seat in Formula 1 for 2025, after announcing he’s leaving Haas at the end of the year, insisting that there may be a place for him in one of the teams that have yet to finalize their future line-ups.

But even with Ayao Komatsu keeping a door open for the Dane inside Haas, Magnussen has ruled out remaining with the American team as a reserve driver in the future.

The Dane made it very clear that “I don’t think I would be interested in a reserve driver role. If I’m able to take some kind of role with Haas, it means that I didn’t land a seat in Formula 1, of course. And in that case, I think I’d call it a day in Formula 1. I wouldn’t want to just go to every race. I’d want to focus on other things that would be exciting and fulfilling for me.

I think being a reserve driver is like waiting around for someone to break his leg. I don’t think that’s very exciting.”

Still only 31-years old, the Haas driver is far from seeing the end of his career – and if you look at his father’s career, he may be around for another 20 years!

While Formula 1 is still his focus, he’s open to a move to other categories:

“I don’t see myself putting an end to racing anytime soon. Of course, Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, but I’ve always been of the opinion that racing outside of Formula 1 is also awesome.

“So, I think while you have a chance to be here, you need to do that. It is the top of motorsport, I’ve had a few chances, actually, but you don’t get a chance every day to race in Formula 1. So, it’s natural that everyone tries to stay here.”

Like other drivers, Magnussen is waiting for Carlos Sainz to sign a new deal, admitting that “he’s the big name available right now. All the teams that have available seats are trying to secure him.”

But like Valtteri Bottas, the Dane believes that “eventually some of the teams will become impatient. But he can’t keep holding it up, I’m sure he won’t. He’s going to make the decision that is best for him. He’s, rightly so, considering very carefully where he’s going. Not that I’ve talked to him about it, but I can imagine that he is.

That’s the situation. When that lands, then all the rest will pretty quickly sort itself out.”

Looking at what may be ahead for him, Magnussen recalled that “in 2021, I was out of F1, but I was racing in IMSA. It’s actually quite a busy schedule.

You’re going to America 11 or 12 times during the year.

It wasn’t a quiet year, but it was at least a very different year.

“You have to remember my whole life since I was a little kid was about getting to Formula 1.

Then, I’ve had 10 years in the sport. It was interesting and exciting to see a different side of life in 2021. It wasn’t frightening.

It was actually very positive and fun.”

That’s why the Danish driver admits that “I think that changed my mindset. I had a lot of fear before that of losing out in Formula 1, because I didn’t know what was on the outside.

That showed me that hold on to Formula 1 as long as you can, but don’t fear the outside.

The afterlife is going to be good!”

AUDI-BP DEAL HINTS AT RENAULT’S 2026 DEPARTURE

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the deal done between Audi and the BP/Castrol group that the two companies will be partners in the development of the German Power Unit with the British company’s fuel and lubrificants from the start of 2026 is very bad news for Renaults’ motorsport engine department based in Viry-Châtillon.

For the last few years, BP/Castrol have been Alpine’s fuel and oil partners and the two companies have started to work together on the new generation of fuel and lubrificants that will be required from 2026, when clean fuels will be mandatory and, according to most engine experts, the biggest performance differenciator between Power Units.

The fact BP/Castrol has now announced it will be working with Audi indicates the British company won’t be reneweing its partnership with Alpine, so the development of its products to specifically suit the 2026-spec Power Unit that has finally started to run on Viry-Châtillon’s dynos will stop. And unless Alpine has already forged a new partnership with a different fuel and oil supplier, like Total Energies – the company that took over from Elf – that means Flavio Briatore’s plan to cut the French link to the team is well under way.

According to French sources, the decision has already been made but will only be officially communicating once an engine deal is signed with Mercedes, for the 2026-

2030 period, with Viry-Châtillon focused on the development of Alpine’s WEC program and on Nissan’s Formula E program as well.

Audi and BP/Castrol have worked together in the past, with the groundbreaking Audi Quattro, that opened a new door in rallying at the start of the 1980s being their first project together, leading to a couple of World titles in 1983 and 1984. After that, the two companies continued to work together in many different categories – Endurance, Rallycross, Formula E and the DTM – so it comes as no surprise to anyone that the

partnership is renewed for Formula 1.

Nevertheless, this is another strong indication that Renault’s own 2026 Power Unit project is about to be shelved and there are rumors in France that further dyno tests of the first complete engine have been postponed for now, following an order from above to freeze the dynamic development of the new Power Unit, while the design process is still going ahead, as the French engineers wait for a final decision about this project.

Another consequence of Alpine dropping its own Power Units and buying them

from Mercedes is likely to be the need to acquire gearbox technology from the German manufacturer, as the timelines for the design and manufacturing of that mechanical element are extremely long. If a final decision is only taken in a couple of months, at the end of the European summer, the most likely scenario is that Alpine will be buying Power Units and transmissions from Mercedes, at least for 2026, cutting even further the French team’s manufacturing capabilities and leading to quite a few redundancies being made in the Enstone factory.

Magnussen spent a year out of F1 in 2021, driving for the Ganassi Cadillac IMSA team – and while he acknowledges F1 as the peak of motorsport, he won’t be too disturbed if his future is now outside of F1. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Audi had a successful relationship with BP/Castrol back in the 1980s, with the fearsomly powerful Audi Quattro Group B WRC rally car – often cited as the greatest rally car of all time ...

last direct F1 involvement was in

HAAS TO USE TOYOTA TECHNOLOGY …

… BUT NOT ITS BRAND

IN A bid to improve its efficiency, Haas F1 Team is in negotiations with Toyota to gain use of the Japanese manufacturer’s very advanced wind tunnel, in Cologne, a service that, in the past, was used by some of the best Formula 1 teams in times of need.

The structure Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe GmbH has in Germany is as good, if not better, than what most Formula 1 teams have back home and that’s why, until recently, Racing Point, first, and McLaren later, had done a deal with the Japanese manufacturer to be allowed access to the wind tunnel and do all their aerodynamic testing in there.

Back in North Carolina, the company owned by Gene Haas has a very advanced wind tunnel, Windsheer, and that has been the base of the Formula 1 cars designed and built by the American team since 2016. However, with technology moving forward very quickly and the need to have the whole team operating roughly in the same time zone, it was decided by Ayao Komatsu’s team that using Toyota’s facility in Cologne would be more productive and that’s why negotiations between the two parties are currently under way.

Haas, however, seems to be interested in using additional technology available at Toyota’s factory in Germany, understanding that its current structure lags behind all its rivals, as consequence of the business model Gene Haas and Gunther Steiner put in place nine years ago, when they decided to go ahead with their Formula 1 project.

Toyota has a state of the art simulator that could be of great use for Haas. The American team has been using Ferrari’s own simulator, in Maranello, to prepare its drivers for some Grands Prix, but given how intensive a program the Italian manufacturer has in place and that Haas is not at the top of the priority list, a move to an equally advanced facility that has a lot more availability for Haas’ needs could be an interesting solution.

However, rumors that Toyota would be sponsoring Haas in the near future and, even more, badging the Ferrari engines with its name are believed to be wide of the mark, as the Stelantis Group would never allow that and Toyota too wouldn’t be keen on putting its badge on a Ferrari Power Unit.

TEAMS CONTAIN SPRINT RACE EXPANSION

FORMULA 1 teams and personnel breathed a sigh of relief when the Commercial Rights Holder announced next year’s championship will feature six Sprint events, the same number as this year.

In fact, five of those Sprint events will take place at the same circuits where they’ve been held this year – Shanghai, Miami, Austin, Interlagos and Lusail –with Austria dropping out of the double race program to make room for Spa Francorchamps.

The Belgian race will feature a Sprint event with just 14 laps, due to the extension of Spa-Francorchamps, making it the shortest Formula 1 Sprint race ever.

There was quite a bit of nervousness around between the smaller teams and virtually all personnel that have to work on the cars at Grands Prix, because Stefano Domenicali had been campaigning to double the number of Sprint races to 12 as soon as 2025.

The Italian’s motivation was, as it always is, to increase the income

of Formula 1, as every Sprint event promoter pays an extra fee of US$5-10m to have a second race but, fortunately for those working on the ground, he couldn’t find any more takers to his proposal.

The fact Austria has dropped its own Sprint race is quite significant, because the Red Bull Ring owners had always been happy to pay the extra fee to have a Saturday race, but the fact that both in 2023 and 2024 they didn’t see any increase on their income by adding a short race to their schedule meant there was no incentive for the Austrian drinks’ company to keep paying that extra to Formula 1.

Interestingly too, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia also turned down proposals to host a Sprint race, even though they’re not the inaugural Grands Prix of the 2025 season, both events being moved to April, to avoid a clash with their religious holiday, Ramadan.

And if even the countries that have all the money in the world to throw into promoting themselves turned down

the opportunity to have a second race to their Grand Prix program, it’s clear there’s no commercial or visibility benefit from doing so.

For the teams, the Sprint events seriously increase the amount of hours the mechanics and engineers have to work in the cars, especially now that the Parc Fermé rules have been modified, to allow work being done on the cars between the end of the Sprint race and qualifying for the main event.

Yes, there’s the slight benefit of the cars being in Parc Fermé after qualifying for the Shootout, on Friday evening, until the end of the Sprint race, but the amount of work that has to be done before qualifying has increased tremendously too.

By containing the number of sprint events to six, teams have been able to aviod expanding the rotation system they already have in place for their Grand Prix crews and, therefore, maintain the costs at their current level, which is a must, particularly for the four smallest teams in the field.

Toyota’s

2009 – Aussie Ryan Briscoe was the team’s test driver from 2002 to 2004.

No additional Sprint events comes as good news to hard-working at-track F1 crews ...

PIRELLI TO TEST C6 PROTOTYPE AT MONZA

PIRELLI IS now certain it will add a sixth slick compound to its 2025 range, with a softer tyre being tested through the summer, the goal being to have it ready for all the teams to try at at the end of the season Abu Dhabi test, in preparation for some of next year’s street races.

The Italian tyre manufacturer had already planned to expand its range of compounds to include a softer compound than the current C5 before the processional 2024 Monaco Grand Prix made the final decision for Mario Isola and his team. As you will recall, after a first lap red flag forced the race to be re-started, all the drivers remaining in the race used a different compound for the second start and tried to run it to the flag, in what was effectively a no-stops Grand Prix for the majority of the field. And with no stops came almost no overtaking –Pirelli, as usual, being blamed for the lack of excitement when it was the way the rules are writen that forced everyone’s strategy in that race.

Having recently focused on the development of new C4 and C5 compounds that were tested on tracks that are notoriously hard on

tyres, Pirelli has now announced the development of next year’s rubber will focus on a new Supersoft tyre. Director of Racing Mario Isola explained:

“We only did one test with the C6 at Paul Ricard, because we need to test on less severe circuits.” Since then, the Italian manufacturer tested at Mugello and Silverstone, where the plan was to run the harder compounds instead, given the severity of the tracks with many fast corners that transmit energy to the tyres.

Now the focus will move to the newest compound and Isola has revealed there’s a good chance the C6 prototypes will run at Monza, after the Italian Grand Prix, a track with effectively just six corners and very long straights, with the Parabólica and the two Lesmo corners being a hard test for the soft compounds, particularly for the left front tyre.

Isola explained that “we are thinking of testing it again at Monza or later in the year. We certainly have the idea of introducing a softer compound and also moving the range of other compounds slightly and the development is going well.”

The Italian revealed that “the 2025

construction has been defined at 90%, so we know that we can now focus more on the development of the compounds with the aim of reducing overheating and moving the compounds a little to have them better spaced.”

At the same time, the first track test of the proposed 2026-spec tyres is scheduled for the week between the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix. With Aston Martin being drawn as the first team to produce a mule car adapted to the future Technical Regulations and run the protorype 2026 tyres, Felipe Drugovich will be in action for a couple of days, on a track yet to be selected.

Team Principal Mike Krack is very happy his team will have the first outing of this program:

“We are pleased that this is happening because I think it opens up further strategic options. Now, whether it will be the C6, the C5, the C4 or the C6, the C4, the C2 or something like that, it is obviously Pirelli who chooses. But I believe that the cars will remain very similar next year too – the addition of some variations is welcome.”

HAMILTON:

“A LOT MORE TO BE DONE ON INCLUSIVITY”

RALF SCHUMACHER’S public coming out as gay was not a surprise for anyone who has been in motor racing for some time, but the effect it had on fans and the generalistic media said a lot about the way people with different sexuality are still seen in sport.

A strong supporter of minorities, who sided with Sebastian Vettel on LGBT rights support from the first hour and a big voice on the Black Lives Matter movement, Lewis Hamilton was happy that the former driver had come out but insisted there’s a lot yet to be done for Formula 1 to become more inclusive.

Asked why he though Ralf Schumacher had waited so long to go public with information that everyone in the paddock was familiar with, the Mercedes driver said:

“I think clearly he’s not felt comfortable enough to say it in the past,” quickly adding that “I think it just shows that we are in the time and finally can take that step and don’t have to fear. Hopefully people will say that. I think so far I’ve heard only positive feedback from people. And I think that’s because of the time we’re living in and the changes we are in.”

Going back to his own campaign in favor of LGBT rights, Hamilton said that “it all started from Seb and I standing on the grid here, fighting against what the government is doing here.

“When I was wearing a helmet in Saudi at Qatar … and I know Ralf said at the time that it wasn’t a good idea to do those things. But after that, he made a shift in his mind.

And even him taking that step sends such a positive message. And liberates others to be able to do the same.”

Speaking about other areas of inclusivity he feels strongly about, Hamilton admitted that “I think within sports, I think it still has a huge, a long way to go. There’s one thing saying that it’s inclusive, and there’s another thing actually making sure that people feel comfortable in the environment.”

The seven-times World Champion then concluded that, “this is a maledominated space, and as far as I know, he’s one of the first to at least publicly be speaking in that respect.

We’re very inclusive within our team, but I think the sport does need to continue to do more to make people feel more comfortable, to make women feel more welcome in this space.

Because I know that not all of them are treated well in this space, and so we have to do more of that.”

Ralf Schumacher

Pielli’s F1 existing tyre range, below, is to grow by one with the addition of a Supersoft ‘C6’ compound.

VASSEUR’S MOMENT OF THE TRUTH

BEING FERRARI’S Team Principal is the dream job for everybody who is somebody in Formula 1, the role no-one in their right mind has turned down. But it’s also, probably, the toughest job in Formula 1, because in no other team the pressure to perform is so intense. Ferrari is Italy, the whole country’s mood depends on how the Scuderia is doing; the tifosi remain as fervent in their support as they’ve always been. Patience, however, is not an Italian virtue and, therefore, even a short period where expectations are not met, leads to rumors that heads are about to roll, changes will have to be made and so on.

Many a former Ferrari Team Principal has succumbed to this kind of pressure and made rushed changes in the team’s human structure – firing those who work below you seems to be the safest short-term remedy to avoid getting the sack yourself. But there are no signs Frédéric Vasseur is going down that route, the Frenchman being made of a different metal than his most recent predecessors.

with Luis Vasconcelos

Forget the friendly demeanour, the easy jokes in reply to even the toughest questions and the rest of the character Vasseur has created for himself. The Frenchman has earned the respect and friendship of quite a few captains of the industry that have no time for failure and have steered their own companies into the route of success.

Stelantis’ Carlos Tavares was one of Vasseur’s biggest supporters when Ferrari decided it was time to let Mattia Binotto go.

The Portuguese manager has known Vasseur for a long time –his precious racing car collection being looked after by one of the Frenchman’s companies and the Sauber-Alfa Romeo deal that lasted

until last year, reinforced their links – so Tavares was ideally placed to know what Vasseur is capable of and that’s why he strongly reccomended him to group Chairman John Elkann.

The heir of the Agnelli family already knew Vasseur too and needed just one meeting with him to make his decision, quickly understanding what kind of person he had in front of him.

One of Vasseur’s main strenghts is the ability to make hard decisions without any hesitation. Where others may hesitate, worried about the consequences of hard decisions, the Frenchman is not afraid to make those tough calls and immediately takes full responsibility for his actions.

Not a man to shift blame, Vasseur promptly accepts his own mistakes but is also quick to hold responsible whoever didn’t do his job properly.

But he doesn’t do that in public; he doesn’t do it in front of other people inside the team; he doesn’t throw a tantrum. He quietly sits down with the person or persons that made the mistake, analyses the decision-making process that led to the error, identifies the key moment where things went wrong and helps them come up with a fix that will prevent a repetition of their failure.

Charles Leclerc, for example, had a taste of this medicine at Silverstone, immediately after the race, and accepted the boss’ criticism with no qualms, for he knows how Vasseur operates and appreciates his direct approach. That, however, doesn’t mean he’s soft and doesn’t make his point very clearly. No, not at all – Vasseur is hard on his team as he is on himself, but works in a constructive way, understanding that keeping people’s self-conficence high and

his staff motivated, is the best way to achieve results.

Ferrari’s recent dry spell is a big test for the Frenchman.

After Charles Leclerc dominant performance in Monaco, things quickly turned sour for the Scuderia and, of course, the tifosi and the Italian media have started to question Vasseur’s leadership, the capabilities of the technical leadership and even Leclerc’s own statute as a top driver.

Internally, as usual, the old hands have been tempted to start playing their political games, campaigning their own protégés and trying to undermine Vasseur’s position.

But having made reduntant some of those old hands in the last year and a half, Vasseur won’t succumb to this kind of pressure.

It’s in moments like this that true leaders emerge and that’s why the Frenchman is aware this is his moment of the truth and will make sure he’ll stay on the right course and, eventually, steer the Scuderia back to its winning ways.

With or without Adrian Newey on board ...

Any criticism of his staff and drivers by Vasseur (centre) is done in private and is aimed at avoiding repeat mistakes. He was carefully chosen by Group Chairman John Elkann (right) who backs his man. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

AUSSIE GT RACING ON THE RISE

GT RACING IN AUSTRALIA

IS TAKING ITS DESTINY VERY MUCH INTO ITS OWN HANDS, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF ITS GLOBAL PARTNER-SRO GROUP, AS ANDREW CLARKE DISCOVERS …

GT RACING in Australia is curious beast. The cars are drop dead gorgeous, the sort of cars that kids put on walls and salivate about driving. The fields are strong but not bursting at the seams, but then what class other than Aussie Racing cars is?

The racing is good too, and now that GT4 is coming on strong to support GT3, the overall package is improving. We expect more GT4 cars to keep hitting the track, eventually outnumbering the significantly more expensive GT3 cars, and that can only be good for the ‘show’.

Part of the surge of interest stems from the restructure of the local operations with a greater role from the SRO Group, the international custodians of GT racing, and further alignment with the international

“A BRONZE driver is typically known as a semiprofessional or amateur driver,” SRO's Ben McMellan says, “someone that’s new to the sport. The FIA categorise them and I think, off the top of my head, 32 years of age and above. And then it goes on X amount of experience, what they’ve done, and all those sorts of things.

“So typically, that is a businessman or businesswoman that hasn’t done very much racing at all and never done anything professional.

“A silver driver is generally catered to anyone under 30 looking to forge a career in motorsport.

“There’s gold and platinum as well. Gold is the step above silver and then platinum is the top tier in the FIA categorisation … the likes of Matt Campbell, Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert – those level of drivers are platinum.

series, which already has its 2025 calendar confirmed and announced.

Ben McMellan is the CEO of SRO Motorsport Australia, and he’s been in that role for nine months after five years with the Australian Racing Group, and he in charge of the show.

“It’s obviously still very early stages, I guess,” he says of SRO taking charge of GT racing in Australia. “I know GT3 racing in Australia has been around for a long while, but for what we’re doing and what we’re trying to achieve, it’s not even halfway through the first year for us.

“I think we’re still very much in the growth phase and I think we will be for the next year or two as well. But there’s a lot of positivity around. I think grids will continue

to grow. It won’t happen overnight, but we’ll continue to grow throughout the year and into next year, for sure.

“GT4 is in the first year of the Monochrome GT4 championship, and this year I think has probably exceeded everybody’s expectations. We started with 18 cars and that will continue to grow for sure. We’ve got some more cars arriving in the country throughout this year and some existing cars that will come online too.

“So, I’d like to hope we’ll be in the 20s in the next round or two and hold that throughout the rest of the year and hopefully continue to grow into the mid-20s for the start of next year. That is our goal.”

Cars like the GT4 Mustang have created interest, and there has been plenty of talk

BRONZE AND SILVER

Ford, Ferrari, Merc, Audi ...there's a range of readily available and current brands in GT racing these days. Right: New CEO for SRO Motorsport Australia is Ben McMellan. Left: Chaz and Liam Talbot –Ferrari pairing – platinum and bronze ... Images: DK RACE PROJECT, SUPPLIED

SHORT HISTORY OF GT3 RACING

GT3 RACING has become a prominent category in grand tourer racing since its inception in 2005. The regulations, maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), allow for a diverse range of cars to compete under a balanced performance formula. This ensures no single manufacturer dominates, making the races competitive and exciting.

The concept was introduced by the SRO Motorsports Group to create a more accessible tier of racing. GT3 cars are based on mass production road car models, with modifications to enhance performance while maintaining a balance through horsepower and weight restrictions. They feature advanced technology like traction control and ABS, making them not only fast but also safe for drivers. GT3 gained popularity and became the foundation for many national and international racing series. By 2013, nearly 20 manufacturers had developed GT3 cars, showcasing the category’s appeal and growth. Iconic endurance races like the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Nürburgring 24 Hours have seen fierce competition among GT3 vehicles, highlighting their endurance capabilities.

The inclusiveness of GT3 racing has attracted a wide range of participants, from factory-supported teams to amateur drivers. This has made GT3 a global phenomenon, with championships on five continents and a significant impact on the sportscar racing landscape.

The new LMGT3 class, which competes in the World Endurance Championship and at the Le Mans 24 Hour race has just added to the prestige.

around the new GT3 version of it for next year as well. Throw in the latest Ferrari, a Corvette or two and a stunning Toyota GR GT3 in 2026 and there is plenty of interesting coming to challenge the Porsche, Audi and Mercedes dominated fields.

“I think with everybody, there’s always people talking about the struggles of the economy and whatnot, and we all know motorsport is far from a cheap sport.

"I guess GT4 is more on the cost-effective side of motorsport, especially when you have the option of splitting the cost between two drivers. If you have two paying drivers paying half the cost each, it turns out to be very cost-effective in GT4 compared to other high-level categories in Australia.”

The key remains the balance of performance, BoP, which is managed globally by SRO.

The BoP system uses a combination of adjustments to weight, ride height, air inlet restrictions, refuelling rig restrictions, and, for turbocharged cars, maximum limits of turbo boost pressure across the revrange. These adjustments are made based on extensive testing and data analysis to balance the performance of different car models, allowing them to compete closely with each other.

It means cars of all different shapes and sizes compete on a pretty level playing field.

“We do all the BoP in-house, it’s managed by Claude, the technical director for SRO. He develops the BoP with all the manufacturers every year and uses data from every series around the world,” says McMellan.

“The Mustang obviously is a great brand for Australian motorsport, but I think Toyota

I think we’re still very much in the growth phase and I think we will be for the next year or two as well ... “ ”

Driver change for the Ferrari pair. Left below: The Bend is a strong suppporter of GT in Australia –Yasser Shahin won GT3 at Le Mans! Phillip Island is a great GT circuit. BELOW: Stephane Ratel, founder of SRO Motorsports (global), at the Island. Bottom: BMW's GT4 is a strong contender.

would be another great too. Aston Martin is another one that would be great to come into GT4 and GT3.

“And then of course with GT3, the Corvette would fit with what GM do with Supercars. To be honest, any homologated manufacturer GT3 or GT4 would be great to have in either series. The more manufacturers we have in the series, the better for everyone.”

He said it was important for SRO to provide the platform for those that want to into GT3 and GT4. It is a premium class that deserves a premium service, from the garages for the teams to the TV packages that takes the racing to the broader fan

There are definitely opportunities in GT racing to make a career out of it and earn a living outside of Supercars and Formula One ... “ ”

coffee, garages, all the little things. You do all the little things right and they add up.”

Having the 2025 calendar out is a bit of a stake in the ground – ‘here’s out turf. We’ve booked the tracks, we know where we are racing, we’re part of something global and now the rest can shuffle around us’ – well that’s how it seems.

“In Australian terms it’s very unusual,” he says of the early release of the calendar,

Aside from the Bathurst 12-Hour, GT3 and GT4 will run separately. Although a combined field is not guaranteed for the 12-hour, the prospect of a packed grid of GT3 and GT4 cars on the same track at the same time is a salivating reminder of days gone by when there were fields of 50 cars or more in two or three classes at the Great Race.

The final decision on that rests with Supercars, the promotor of the event.

model as theirs in Australia, it will be largely the same car.

He thinks GT racing is Australia is now both a pathway and a destination class, meaning some are using the class to jump into things like Supercars, while other drivers believe they can make career and earn a living driving GT cars here and in place like Europe and Asia.

“For the younger generations of the past, it’s always been if you want to be a professional race car driver the dream is Formula One or Supercars. But I think educating people that there’s plenty of opportunities in GT racing, whether it’s to become a driver coach for a bronze driver

The GT4 field heads into Turn 1 at The Bend ... Below: Mercedes has a strong history of success in GT3 racing, now with a GT4 option.

“Some seasoned drivers that maybe don’t want to spend the money racing GT3 cars may look more towards GT4. I think progressively you’ll see some people step up from GT4 into GT3, and then vice versa.”

In terms of the pathway drivers, young guns like Jarrod Hughes and Rylan Gray are using the class as a stepping stone and hoping to build enough of a profile from multiple racing activities to score a full-time drive somewhere they don’t have to pay.

Success measures for the class start with grid sizes, with a target of more than 20 cars at each race meeting, which McMellan says is the measure in Australia at this time.

“I think if you’ve got anything over 20 cars is good, but I guess the main point of success for us is, given where customer racing is, is customer satisfaction.

"Of course, you’re never going to keep everybody happy, but if the majority are happy and enjoying what they’re doing, then obviously they’ll continue to come back and continue racing with us and spending money.

“If you don’t have satisfied customers, you don’t have customers at all, and then you don’t have a business. We obviously sell what we’re doing and we have information packs to explain about the series and sell the series, but it’s also word of mouth. If the customers are happy, they’re talking about it, and they’ll naturally bring more customers through word of mouth to us as well.” THE

CARS

THE COMPETITOR’S VIEW

TROY RUSSELL of Melbourne Performance Centre (above), the Audi Sport customer racing representatives in Australia for a long time, spoke positively about the future of GT Racing in Australia.

“I think overall SRO coming in has been a good thing,” he says. “Obviously we’ve used the BoPs that have been one part of GT in Australia for a long time.

“I think that the extension of that into the local management side and even now running to the full international rules is great. Now the rule book is pretty similar around the world and the way everything’s being run locally is now very similar, even down to things like using the SRO app for communication. Things like that are a big step forward.

“It’s lifted GT to its next level. And next year, going to run standalone events with SRO, it’ll probably become the number two series in Australia. Supercars will obviously always be the number one series, but I think the Shannon’s Series will probably fall back to the third tier, and the SRO run series could be a good close second to the Supercars main game weekends if you like.”

He said having the calendar so early has been a real bonus, and that he has been getting calls already from overseas drivers interested in running our here. But underneath all of that, the increased professionalism of the SRO team led by McMellan is improving the show and increasing confidence.

“We’ve got Queensland Raceway in a couple of weeks then we’ve got Phillip Island, Eastern Creek and then we finish off with a sprint round at The Bathurst International, so we’ve still got a pretty large part of the season to go.

“The only endurance race we have this year is a three-hour race here at SMP. We’re only actually not far into our season as we are only halfway through the calendar year. For us, as far as MPC goes, we’ve got a very busy back half of the year.

“Audi will still be around to 2032, so we still have a fair bit of life left. The factory has guaranteed that there’ll be a part supply, technical assistance until then. I guess it’s a long way away. You never know what could happen between now and then, whether they might come back to GT3 again at some stage.

“Not that there’s any indication that’s going to happen, but that’s just my hope, I guess.

“So we’re just going to concentrate on what we’re doing for the next three or four years, and then maybe we will then look to what we do.

“We have had a bit of a look around to see what other options might be available with some other manufacturers, and there are some great options –but the problem is they can’t supply cars because of demand globally.

“There’s no point getting in the bed with another manufacturer if they can’t supply cars and all the stuff that you need to do properly. Right at the moment, we’re just happy doing what we’re doing, and, let’s face it, the cars are still competitive.

“They’re still getting results all around the world, so I don’t think there’s urgency to jump ship

MPC and Audi have a long history in Australian GT racing.

Image: JACK MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY

The Ford Mustang is the latest GT4 debutant, and launched in Australia with a win in the '60 Years' race at Phillip Island. Image: REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

THE 2024 EDITION OF THE ICONIC GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED WAS ANOTHER SPECIAL ONE WITH CARS AND STARS FROM ALL ERAS ON SHOW ...

ROMAIN DUMAS was the fastest Shootout competitor in the Ford 4.2 Electric SuperVan that was seen at the Bathurst 12 Hour to Shootout glory. The Frenchman lit up the iconic 1.9km course with a 43.98s time that was well clear of the rest.

A further 2s off was former Formula 1 driver Scott Speed with a 46.075s lap in a modified Subaru WRX labelled Project Midnight. It was the first time Ford has topped the Hillclimb Shootout and Dumas’ third after Volkswagen triumphs in 2018-2019.

He revealed he almost threw it away towards the end.

“I don’t know if it was unbelievable but two corners from the end, I was quite close to the wall, so I was pushing quite hard I have to say,” said Dumas.

“It was a lot of fun like always and Goodwood is just amazing.

“It is quite impressive to go at this speed through a small field but again it was a lot of fun. I’m quite happy that we won it.”

The Goodwood Shootout was marred by three red flags.

Annette Mason clipped the hay bales leaving Flint Wall in a Ferrari 512BB LM, while Piero Longhi did the same at the opening corner causing significant damage to the Glickenhaus SCG004C. Travis Pastrana had turned heads in the Subaru GL Wagon ‘Huckster’ but ploughed into the hay at Molecomb Corner. They were just some of the highlights of the 27th running of the Goodwood Festival of Speed where a big theme was 100 years of MG.

much-anticipated Adrian Newey RB17.

Leading the way was Red Bull, which showed off seven cars and nine personalities marking the 20th anniversary of the team in F1.

Current F1 drivers Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez were joined by current team principal Christian Horner and designer Newey.

There was an endless number of new car reveals highlighted by the

TOP: Jack and Mick Doohan together at Goodwood. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

MIDDLE: The New Ford Raptor T1+ that Carlos Sainz Senior will steer at next year’s Dakar. Image: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

ABOVE: Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo, Hamda Al Qubaisi, Max Verstappen, Adrian Newey, Sergio Perez, Christian Horner, Christian Klein and David Coulthard with the crowd. Image: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

ABOVE LEFT: Richard Petty and his iconic #43 Plymouth Firebird were saluted. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

After two decades Juan Pablo Montoya was reunited with his Williams FW26. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

A Fiat S76 from 1910 cruises in front of the 2024 sculpture celebrating a century of MG. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Romain Dumas was the fastest Shootout competitor in the Ford 4.2 Electric SuperVan. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Former F1 drivers Mark Webber, David Coulthard and Christian Klein were back in the familiar Red Bull colours, while F1 Academy driver Hamda Al Qubaisi was also behind the wheel.

The Red Bull F1 cars that returned to the tarmac included the 2022, 2020, 2012 and 2011 machines. Interestingly, Newey also drove a Ferrari, steering the 312 T2 raced by Niki Lauda in 1974.

Other F1 highlights included Emerson Fittipaldi in his 1974 McLaren M23-5 and being joined by Bruno Senna, steering his uncle Ayrton’s MP4/4.

Current Williams drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant stepped back 42 years, having a crack in Keke Rosberg’s championship-winning FW08, while other time matches from the 1980s were the Ligier JS11 and Renault RS10.

In a more special Williams moment, Juan Pablo Montoya was reunited with his 2004 FW26.

Australia’s Jack Doohan made an appearance behind the wheel of Kimi Raikkonen’s 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winning Lotus and did some doughnuts for the crowd.

“I have been watching this and wanting to come here for so long, so to finally do it is amazing," he said.

“It was a pleasure being inside this car.

Absolute screamer of an engine and makes me wish they were still like this now to be honest.”

Michael Schumacher’s and Kimi Raikkonen’s title-winning Ferrari F2001 and F2007s were on show and the 2021 Mercedes W12 also entertained fans, while Ollie Bearman drove Ferrari’s 2017 SF0H.

In a further treat for the Tifosi, an unrestricted version of the Ferrari 499P

Modificata went up the hill and also the infamous Sharknosed 156.

McLaren legend Mika Hakkinen drove the stunning McLaren Solus GT in the silver chrome look as a number of sports cars from all sorts of eras also went for a drive.

For rally fans current spec WRC and Dakar competing Toyotas did some demonstrations, plus the i20 Coupe hit the dirt.

Ford showed off the future with Carlos Sainz Senior unveiling the new Ford Raptor T1+ he will chase back-to-back Dakars with.

Richard Petty was also celebrated with his unmistakable Plymouth Firebird going sideby-side with a Fiat S76 'Beast of Turin' where the King” was sat.

There were some significant blasts from the past as well with the Bugatti Type 35 that is now a century old still going strong, the Fiat S76 from 1910 turning heads, while a Salvesen Steam Wagonette from 1890s completed a lap with four passengers hanging on.

With all eras of motoring covered, Goodwood was just as memorable as ever.

Thomas Miles

Adrian Newey with his latest creation, the RB17. Image: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

The 90-year-old MG C Type led the way in the celebration of the British brand’s centenary. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

ACTION MART

SPEEDWAY

NEXT GEN NATIONALS AT NORTHLINE

DARWIN’S NORTHLINE Speedway was once again a busy place with the NextGen Nationals on show along with Sprintcars and Wingless Sprints.

Heading into the NextGen Nationals, the main interest was whether or not River Spitzbarth could go back-to-back.

In Heat 1A, Hannah Tomkins blew the field away to romp ahead and win ahead of Zackery Czoloszynski and Jackson Gordon, Spitzbarth fired an early shot in Heat 1B to leave the field in his wake and record the win ahead of Caiden Weaver and Brodie Costello.

Tomkins was in rare form in Heat 2A to streak away again with another win whilst Czoloszynski won a tight battle for second.

Spitzbarth again dominated Heat 2B and backed up in the NextGen Nationals Dash to win with a flag to flag performance from Tomkins and Czoloszynski.

The 25 lap Feature for the NextGen Nationals title saw Spitzbarth and Tomkins drag racing to Turn 1 and the former held sway and assume the lead of the race.

Lap two saw a coming together for Brock Beurskens and Jonas Thompson but both were able to continue.

Out front Spitzbarth was able to pull away to record the well-deserved win ahead of Tomkins and Benji Gordon in third.

WINGLESS SPRINTCARS

Another healthy showing from the Wingless Sprintcar Division for two rounds of split heats and a Feature race.

Heat 1A saw a remarkable win by Daniel Goldoni, following a wretched run of luck and electrical issues plaguing the team all year, to win the heat ahead of Tim VanGinneken and Cameron Jaenke, who may have needed oxygen at the end of the race suffering fatigue.

Heat 1B was an all the way win to Jamie McInnes with Matt Sealy hot on his heels but Heat 2A was quite dramatic.

William David rotated in Turn 4 but then came the big dump with Van Ginneken coming into contact with Jarrod Goldoni and flipping the #44 McInnes Racing machine exiting Turn 2.

Avoiding it all was McInnes as he continued his great form to win Heat 2B.

The 30-lap Feature Race was a cracker and it began with Kale Quinlan and Ty Ede pulling out before the race started.

More gremlins struck again for Team Goldoni with Daniel retiring infield on lap one whilst brother Jarrod completed 12 laps before also going off.

Team Tiedeman also suffered similarly, with Sean retiring after four laps and Jeffery out after seven laps. Meanwhile, out front, it was McInnes leading the way until six laps to go when Cameron Jaenke blasted past

to assume the lead and hold on to record a magnificent win ahead of McInnes and Matt Sealy home in third place.

SPRINTCARS

Six Sprintcars were scheduled to duel over two heats and a Feature race.

Last round winner Hayden Brown was looking to back up his good form whilst WA star Trent Pigdon was keen to avenge his second placing last time out.

Fellow Sandgroper Aaron Chircop returned again and NT’s Lachlan Cole arrived for his first hit out for the year.

Zack Grimshaw was out for redemption following his last meeting tumble and Chris Harrison, suffering bad luck last meeting, was out to prove a point.

Trent Pigdon set the pace in Heat 1 with a resounding victory ahead of Hayden Brown and Zack Grimshaw in third.

Pigdon was leading early in Heat 2 but then pulled up on the front straight after alleged contact with the wall in Turn 4.

This led to the end of the night for him as

he received a sore back in this encounter. Chris Harrison went on to inherit the lead and never looked back to record the win ahead of Grimshaw and Chircop. Brown experienced technical issues throughout the heat, running half throttle. With Pidgon out it was wide open for the rest of the field, but it was Harrison who belted away early in the 25 lap stampede. Late in the race it was Brown who resurrected the #77 Triple X and found form to close the gap, at one point poking his nose.

But slower traffic was to play a part as Harrison negotiated this very well and held on for victory ahead of Brown and Grimshaw. Scott Kernahan

CHEQUERED FLAG FALLS ON SA SEASON

THE SOUTH Australian speedway season is finally at a close after an entertaining event at Waikerie’s Sunline Speedway.

The day started with a moving special ceremony in tribute of the late Ian Neal, a long serving member of the Speedway community as a competitor and volunteer and also Robbie ‘Wacka’ Stevens who was inducted into the Aussie Speedway Memories Hall of Fame for his work as an engine builder, competitor and long serving United Speedway Association club and venue promoter spanning many decades.

The headlining event was the annual running of the Steve Butcher Memorial for Street Stocks. Amongst a field of 14 Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons stood a lone front wheeled drive Mitsubishi Magna driven by second generation racer Drew Flatman.

Flatman used the advantage of the front wheel drive to add his name to the long list of winners of the event over the VF Commodores of Phil Watson and Nigel Reichstein.

Queensland racer Callum Beerling who had travelled the furthest to be there found

the shortest way home to claim the annual Club Outkast Cup for Modlites aboard the second of the Dylan Richter entered cars in the field.

Veteran racer Brian Chadwick was the runner up followed to the line by young rookie Zac Demaine in just his second meeting behind the wheel. Scott Webb took a ride on the wild side as he rolled in spectacular fashion – thankfully he was okay but the car was unable to continue.

racer Mitch Blenkiron proved to be a surprise packet for second

and rounding out the top four were Kym Leyson and female racer Sarah Pope.

The Modified Sedans provided some very close racing over the day. Mildura’s Trevor Logan claimed the victory over Tony Hardy who made the long awaited return after a long hiatus and Darren Brumfield took the final step on the podium.

The Speedway Sedans Australia Junior Sedans Track Championship final provided many thrills and spills.

The kids were divided into two categories, the Top Stars and New Stars based on experience and ability.

The race for Top Stars went to Lachlan Brown after a hard fought dogfight with Diesel Fallon and Ryan Burns.

Brodie Reichstein was victorious in the New Stars over Bree McAllister and Violet Thorne.

Also on hand were two division of Classics and a field of 10 Hot Rods brought back the sights and sounds of yesteryear as they drove with great spirit in remembrance of fellow competitor Ian Neal, who just recently passed away.

The second of the classes were a combined field of Super Modifieds and Sprintcars.

Image: CBM MEDIA/CRAIG MITCHELL

The Ian Leyson Hard Charger award for Super Sedans went to Renmark’s Neville Nitschk. Debutante

Paris Charles

Drew Flatman was the winner of Steve Butcher Memorial for Street Stocks in the front-wheeldrive Mitsubishi Magna. Images: PARIS CHARLES

Neville Nitschke, Super Sedan winner.

Sprintcar winner Chris Harrison. Below: Spitzbarth – retained NextGen crown. Images: JAKE DUNN/ NORTHLINE MEDIA

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RACING IN THE TOP END

EVEN SECTIONS battled it out for their Darwin Titles at Northline Speedway in what was a somewhat history making night spread across the sections. It was an action packed night which saw some first time Heat and Feature Race winners and a couple of huge crashes in the Wingless Sprintcar section (fortunately with no serious injuries) which kept the infield officials busy.

SCOTT KERNAHAN reports…

SPRINTCARS

A total of six cars nominated for racing which saw the return of WA star Trent Pigdon, along with fellow sandgroper Aaron Chircop.

Hayden Brown began his debut for the 2024 season as did David Ling and Chris Harrison, while Zack Grimshaw was back in the Ekins Motorsport #11 rocket for his second meeting in the Division.

Pigdon cracked a 12.725s time in the Hot Laps session and transferred this pace into Heat 1 with a resounding victory over Hayden Brown and Chris Harrison.

Heat 2 saw Pigdon do the hard yards from back in the pack, however it did not deter him and assumed the lead after a few laps and go on to score two from two over Chircop and Brown.

Heat 3 was another first for the night, this time with Zack Grimshaw taking out his first maiden win since joining Sprintcars.

The 20 lap Feature race was a cracker with Hayden Brown jumping to an early lead and pulling away from the pack.

However, Pigdon was hot on Brown’s heels but unfortunately could not reel him in. Grimshaw was holding down third spot but by mid-race it all came spectacularly undone for the 410 rookie when he came into Turn 1 a bit too hot and couldn’t save it, resulting in his first crash of the season and ending his night prematurely. Brown jumped away again from the restart and was momentarily challenged by Pigdon, but it was Brown who maintained his composure to gallop away to record his first Feature Race win in the 410 Sprintcar ranks – which just happened to be the Darwin Title as well. Pigdon was disqualified from his second spot on the grounds that he contacted the marker cone on the restart following the stoppage. This elevated Aaron Chircop into second and Harrison into third.

WINGLESS SPRINTCARS

In a field of 18 Wingless Sprintcars, Cameron Jaenke romped out in Heat 1A

ahead of Mathew McLennan and Jamie McInnes.

In Heat 1B young rising star William Prest recorded the win in what was his first Heat Race win in the Wingless Sprintcar Division over Jarrod Goldoni and Keelan Edwards.

Matt Sealy was on the go in Heat 2A with a fine drive to win ahead of James Dennis and Jaenke.

Goldoni and Edwards had a nervous moment in Head 2B when the former pulled up suddenly after a driveline failure heading for the infield on the main straight and Edwards had to evade very quickly.

Goldoni was still experiencing the wretched electrical issues that have been plaguing him all year and pulled infield also.

He’s changed everything on the car bar the kitchen sink and the problem still eludes him. Tim VanGinneken took the win ahead of Edwards and Shane Norman in third.

The Wingless Sprintcars then ran a Mid Pack Dash of eight laps and it was Sean Tiedeman who greeted the chequered flag first ahead of Kyle Wiseman and Shane Norman.

This was followed by a Top 8 Dash of 8

laps distance as well with VanGinneken claiming honours in this race ahead of William Prest and Matt Sealy.

But the Feature Race is where all hell broke loose for the night ,during the 30 lap enduro. VanGinneken and Sealy engaged in a war out front, with Sealy coming from fourth spot on the grid.

That’s when James Dennis found himself involved in a huge rollover after taking a wheel coming out of Turn 2.

His gigantic flip caught up a few others including his brother Daniel. Fortunately James was okay but a bit rattled and still a bit sore a couple of days later.

Others not to finish included Keelan Edwards, William Prest and Kyle Wiseman. Upon the restart and with 14 laps to go Mick Kelly had a big moment on the main straight in what was his first rollover in Wingless Sprintcars.

From here it was the VanGinneken and Sealy at war out front with wheel-to-wheel action – eventually Sealy got through on the last lap to record his first Wingless Sprintcar Feature Race win after years of coming up ever so short.

Jamie McInnes came home in third place to record a great finish for the two Team McInnes entries.

McFADDEN FIGHTING HARD

AUSTRALIA’S JAMES McFadden is still in the mix in his maiden High Limit Racing campaign in America.

With 29 of the 56 races completed, McFadden sits ninth in the standings, 430 points behind leader Brad Sweet since the Roth Motorsports Aussie took a maiden win at Quincy’s Butler Motor Speedway.

His next race produced a gritty seventh after starting 16th at I-70 Speedway.

After another top 10, McFadden fell just short of victory at Eagle Raceway by finishing only behind stars Kyle Larson and Sweet.

A similar comeback drive to I-70

occurred at Lake Ozark before an even bigger effort arrived at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Starting 13th the Australian had his work cut out to keep up his streak of top 10s, but flew through the field and rose 10 spots to third behind winner Tyler Courtney and Sweet.

But McFadden’s consistent runs of top 10s ended at Portsmouth Raceway Park where the Roth Motorsports driver battled and could only manage 19th as Abreu was victorious.

Next up is Lernerville Speedway before a well deserved break arrives.

Thomas Miles

Hayden Brown took his first 410 Feature race win. Image: JAKE DUNNE NORTHLINE MEDIA

NATIONALS WRAP

NAILBITER IN THE DARK

A2 COMPETITORS Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem have taken a surprise victory in a tense race for the Fight in the Night title at Queensland Raceway.

Despite only 10 cars lining up on the grid, the Australian Production Cars still put on a show with the fight for victory going down to the wire after 130 laps and three hours of racing under lights.

A bold strategy call to conserve fuel and save a pit stop proved critical for Morrall/ Mecklem as they emerged in the lead with around 40 minutes left.

X Class winners Grant and Iain Sherrin led for much for the race from pole and opened the best part of a minute on the field, only for a badly timed Safety Car to strike, but they elected to take their final fuel stop on Lap 98 and sacrifice track position.

This left Grant with 39 minutes to haul down a 60s gap to the conservative Mecklem and it went down to the wire.

Sherrin produced a valiant effort and came extremely close, but the BMW M4 was ultimately 2.4s short of the Mustang.

Despite the big strategy call proving a masterstroke, Morrall/Mecklam also had plenty of challenges to overcome.

In addition to taking victory on the smell of an oily rag with just two litres of fuel left in the tank, the #9 also had to contend with a pit lane penalty for a refuelling infringement in the first hour and a blown tyre that brought out a Safety Car just before the conclusion of the second hour.

The chances of Morrell and Mecklam even racing were not certain until the eve pf the event with the BMW only being repaired from a Bathurst 6 Hour incident on Thursday.

Morrall could not believe the turnaround.

“I am a bit speechless actually. We are super thrilled,” said Morrall.

“After Bathurst we were quite down, and Tyler in particular, but for him to come back and drive as he did, setting fastest laps and bouncing back like a champ, was just great.

“We are super excited, we only just finished the car off on Thursday (after the Bathurst Six Hour crash) and it is a great reward for everybody’s time and effort.

“We are really happy for the team, they have worked long and hard, and in particular Ryan McLeod of Ryan McLeod Race Cars and his bunch of fabulous people – I want to say a big thank you to them.”

“This is fantastic after the disappointment of Bathurst, and it is awesome to bounce back. The car was great, Ryan McLoed built the car and did the repair on it and got it all set up for us and it was great, it didn’t miss a beat,” Mecklem said.

“We got a bit lucky with some Safety Cars during the race, but Hado (Morrall) did an awesome job to keep everything in touch in his stint before handing over to me for the last two hours, and we were able to save a fuel stop at the end.

“When we came in after the tyre blew we did the maths and thought, if we do some fuel saving, maybe we can get to the flag.

“We had to do a heap of fuel saving for the last hour – we were conserving pretty hard, but we made it with about two litres and it all worked out fantastic. We couldn’t be happier!”

Iain Sherrin admitted he was outfoxed by the winners on strategy and didn’t realise until it was too late.

“It was really close and exciting racing,” he said.

“Grant got in and was doing quite well, he had got to about a 20 second lead on the Mustang and we came in for our last refuel – we didn’t see them (the #9) do another refuel so while we went back out a minute behind we thought we were still pretty safe as we thought they had to do another fuel stop.

“Then with about 20 minutes to go when they were going past us on the main straight we could hear that they were conserving and realised they were going for it!

“That caught us out a bit as we hadn’t seen the other stop, so Grant just pushed on as hard as he could and unfortunately we missed it by just two seconds, so maybe with another lap we would have had them!

“Talking to them after the race, they only had two litres of fuel left so with another lap they probably wouldn’t have made it!”

Grant and Iain Sherrin dominated the early stages but could not get the job done.

More than a minute behind the top two were Chris Lillis and Nathan Callaghan, who completed the podium.

Next best were A1 winners Tony and Kent Quinn.

There was no B1 class winner, with Karlie Buccini and Courtney Prince unable to proceed past the 45 minute mark thanks to electrical problems.

Hyundai Excels of Aleeanz Voltz and Shannon Williams were also early race retirements.

The next round of the Australian Production Cars season is at Phillip Island on August 23-25.

Thomas Miles

Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem charging through the darkness to victory. Images: SPEEDSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHY

The podium of Grant/Iain Sherrin, Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem and third place finishers Chris Lillis and Nathan Callaghan.

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YOUNG STAR CHASING ITALIAN DREAM KARTING WATCH

KARTING WATCH is back and on the big stage is rapid youngster Jai George, who is quickly making an impression.

At the tender age of 12, George currently leads both the Golden Power Series and Victorian Country Series in KA3 Junior Light having been in and around the podium in almost every race.

The 2024 season has been a big one for him having graduated from Cadet 12 into juniors, whilst he broke into the top 10 in his first Australian Karting Championship race at Seymour.

He is fresh from success after achieving two consecutive round wins at Ballarat and Portland.

The Eastern Lions Karting Club product has a busy year ahead with a number of meetings throughout Victoria ahead and looming on the horizon are the important Red and Black state events in August and December respectively.

Having shown an interest in indoor karting and with older brother Riley also having a crack, Jai first drove a go-kart aged eight.

Despite finding practice initially “boring” it has become an obsession with the whole family involved including mum Sharee and father Jason, while brother Riley has even sacrificed his own race weekends to support his younger brother as “mechanical coach” with the Eastern Lions Kart Club a second home.

George has been described as a “very humble” driver – he is keen to win both the Gold and Power Series and Victorian Country Series in KA3 Junior Light and is on a high after his recent promising first crack at the national level.

“I have been pretty impressed,” George said on his season so far.

“We have had a bit of an up-and-down run, but it has still been very consistent which is the key for the championship.

“That (Nationals top 10) was one of my biggest highlights and if we are not racing we are always at a track practicing for the next big race.”

In addition to the action-packed racing on the track, George also enjoys the challenge of making his kart as fast as possible off it.

“There are so many different set-ups ... like you could have a better sprocket out of the corner but you would not have as much straight line speed,” he said.

“There are a lot of things you can do with the kart and it is a lot of fun learning about it. This year in particular I have learnt a lot.”

Despite being a keen Supercars watcher, he most avidly consumes the Italian karting scene and dreams of racing

on Ferrari’s home turf.

“Ever since I first got into this sport I have been watching a lot of kart races in Italy and I have always dreamed of racing in the championship over there,” George said.

“There are a few people doing well over there that I have beaten.

“They have a good variety of tracks and the classes are a lot tighter with intense racing to the last lap.”

The next time he will be in action is on home turf at Eastern Lions Kart Club on July 27-28. Thomas Miles

GETTING THE JOB DONE

THERE WAS a double dose of Hyundai Excel racing at Queensland Raceway during the recent Fight in the Night race meeting.

Both the Dunlop Destiny Program and Dunlop Challenge Series put on a display of tight racing in the little cars. The fight for the Challenge honours proved to be extremely close with only six points separating the leaders after four races.

Josh Dremel came charging out of the blocks and looked on course for glory after winning the first two sprints. However, on both occasions he had Sam Taylor close for company, with only half a second the difference at the chequered. That 16-lap affair was a dramatic one with three non-finishers.

But Dremel’s dream was derailed in Race 3 when after leading the first six laps he suddenly dropped down the order and ended up finishing a lap down. This proved to be a turning moment in the weekend as he lost ground in the points chase.

Meanwhile, the ever consistent Taylor, who got a third straight runner-up finish after finishing half a second short of Brett Sherriff.

Things got even worse for Dremel in the final race as he crawled at the back of the pack and finished the finale last and a lap down.

With the round win suddenly wide open, it was intense at the front of the field with the lead changing hands four times in the first five laps.

In the end James Foster emerged in front of Sherriff, Taylor and Gavin Faulkner, but the latter (above) did enough to take the

round win despite not winning a single race.

A big field of 33 cars had a crack in the Dunlop Destiny Program for drivers under the age of 26.

The likes of Bradley James, Matt Boylett and Tim Colombrita were split by nothing out of the gate.

Just half a second covered the trio at the chequered with Colombrita having his nose in front.

But Boylett responded emphatically in Race 2 and despite dropping to seventh in the early stages, ended up hitting the lead by Lap 7 and winning by 2s over Colombrita.

Race 3 was a much closer contest as just a second covered the entire top four.

But once again Boylett managed to sneak ahead when it mattered with James second best.

Boylett completed a commanding performance by securing a hat-trick of wins in the finale in front of Connor Roberts to secure a big round win. Thomas Miles

NATIONALS WRAP

RAPID RULLO

ALEX RULLO has continued his dominance of the WA Rally Championship by recording a clean sweep in Round 3.

Rullo and James Marquet in their Hyundai i20 Rally2 took all six stages, to make a hat trick of victories in the first three rounds of the championship.

The latest round was held in the Grimwade Forest, about 30 minutes south of Donnybrook and the roads were in magnificent condition for the 30 State competitors and the six Clubman cup entrants. Rullo set up his rally with a 17-second victory over his father Peter and Ben Searcy in the sister Hyundai, on the opening 19.6km stage.

Dylan King and Abbey Hayes in a Toyota Yaris AP4 were just 1.2 seconds behind Rullo Senior.

In the Production Cup, Tim Hiles and Morgan Ward in the Subaru WRX took out the first stage ahead of Thomas Loughton

and Michael Lloyd in their Evo X.

Stage 2, a technical and tricky 19.1km, would see the two Rullo’s first and second again with Hiles in third ahead of King and Loughton.

Stage 3 would be a replica of the Stage 2 results with the Rullo’s separated by just 2.3 seconds over the 17.7km, Hiles a little further back with King in fourth and Gary Mills and Mitch Gray next in their Peugeot 208 AP4.

Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith debuted their newly built Toyota Yaris AP4 and bowed out whilst in sixth place with a mechanical issue on the way to Stage 4.

The fourth stage would see King come to life, shooting to second place, just 5.3 seconds behind Alex Rullo as Peter took third ahead of Hiles and Mills.

Nick Box and Caleb Ash in their Nissan Silvia with a sixth outright on stage four and leading the two-wheel drives in

Box’s comeback drive after a while on the sidelines.

Glenn Alcorn and Jonathan Charlesson sitting in second, Alcorn coming to terms with his new Toyota AE86.

The penultimate stage was held in the darkness for all crews, but Alex Rullo continued his dominance, with King only two seconds behind and Peter Rullo struggling with night vision dropping to fourth on this stage.

Stage six, the final 17.7km saw King fall just 0.6 seconds off Rullo for the stage win.

Peter Rullo was third, Hiles in fourth and a cracking stage time in fifth for the young crew of Cam Puzey and Adrian Burney in their aging Subaru Legacy RS after a drama filled event.

Alex Rullo’s win sees him extend his championship lead, with the outright podium positions rounded out by King and Rullo Senior.

The Production Cup was won by Hiles ahead of Loughton and international driver Benjamin Perard and Anthony Staltari in their Subaru WRX taking third.

In the two-wheel drives, Box took the win in front of Alcorn and former WA Rally Champion Gerry McGroarty and Kirsty Moore in their Datsun 1600.

The six Clubman competitors competed over the first three daylight stages of the event.

Luke Dunkley and Tiana Chapman took out a clean sweep of stage wins in their Hyundai Excel.

Gavin Turner and Samantha Polak in their Mitsubishi Lancer took second and Hayden and Adam Wright were third in another Hyundai Excel.

The championship moves to the Manjimup region next month for the Karri Rally.

TW Neal

CHAPMAN SENDS STATEMENT

CLAYTON CHAPMAN and Adam McGuire

(pictured) have made a big statement by winning Round 2 of the 2024 ARB Australian Off Road Championship.

The Gap 440 was held in Hillston, New South Wales and Chapman was in a league of his own, winning Section 1 before sealing a commanding four-minute win.

He was well clear of Finke Desert Race and ARB Australian Off Road Championship Round 1 winners Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt.

They only secured second after a lastlap pass on Jason Richards and daughter Charlotte.

Enjoying the perfect conditions on offer, Chapman shot out of the blocks in the Toyota powered Razorback.

He asserted his authority in the Prologue by leading it from start to finish and crossing the line 3.8s ahead of Richards, while Robinson had to settle for a distant third.

North Queenslander Michael Marson was an early victim with an engine issue, while defending champion Brent Martin , and

Class 6 Prologue winner Jackson Evans suffered the same fate.

Others to find trouble were Adrian Coatsworth, Beau Ely, Ross Newman and Eden Evans, who did not complete the opening lap.

In the end only 24 of the 44-car field made it to the finish.

After the single head opening day, things stepped up on Sunday where four 83km laps decided the Gap 440.

Robinson started Section 2 third, but was

the quickest on that lap and clawed 28s from Chapman.

However, any hope of further catching the Toyota were denied as the #15 was fastest across the next three laps.

This put Chapman on course for victory and forced the rest to fight for second best.

In the end an engine miss proved costly for Richards as it allowed Robinson to go past at the death.

Despite missing out on second best, third place was still a special moment for

Richards, who took a first podium since 2022.

Matt Burrows and Jay Mitchell recorded a career best fourth outright finish in their Class 1 Jimco, after an impressive late flurry to overhaul Simon and Kyle Tucker by 7s. Locals Steven and Ella Graham overcame a disappointing opening day to secure Class 10 honours.

Justin Rider survived a hard charging Lachlan Campbell for Class 6 supremacy after the latter suffered an electrical gremlin. Darren Mott was dominant in Class 4 as Brendan Forssman and Leigh Whitehand made it a hat-trick of Class 2 victories. Chris Land claimed Ultimate honours and Heath Weedon wrapped up Class 7.

The success vaults Chapman into the championship lead on a count back being equal on points with Robinson.

Their battle will continue at the next ARB Australian Off Road Championship round, the Gundy 500 from August 9-11 in Goondiwindi, Queensland.

Thomas Miles

Image: AARON JAMES MEDIA

Image: SHOW N GO PHOTOGRAPHY

NEW IPSWICH SEASON FIRES UP

THE FIRST dirt sprint of Ipswich West Moreton Auto Club’s 2024 season saw Anthony Bonnici (above) emerge on top. It proved to be a thriller as Bonnici only secured his victory on the final run of the day in his red Mitsubishi Evo 8.

A 36-driver field was eager to get stuck in after the previous Autocrss events were cancelled due to poor weather.

After the long lay off drivers improved with each run to strip a grandstand finish and a rivalry quickly developed between Evo drivers Bonnici and Tracey Bavinton. But Bonnici landed the knockout blow at the death, going more than 3s faster than Bavinton.

Joining them on the podium was Allen Coles, who registered a 46.26s time. Ric Ganderton emerged on top in a tight battle for fourth against Danny Akin with only four-tenths the difference, while only another second back was Tin Anson.

The Ladies class went to Patricia McLeod in her Suzuki Swift and was four positions ahead of next best Sasha Hinchcliffe.

Winning proved to be in the family with James Bonnici also winning the Juniors category.

James Bonnici also drove a Mitsubishi, this time a Mirage and register a time of 49.57.

Thomas Miles

BARKER BEST AT BRYANT

A BIG field greeted the return of the 2024 Trydel EZIUP Victorian Hill Climb Championship on June 30 and Mike

Barker (pictured) was a cut above the rest.

A total of 78 entries lined up to take on the clockwise short course at Bryant Park with Barker emerging on top with a 35.26 in his Hayward 06.

He emerged well clear of Hayward 07 rivals Peter and Bruce Minahan, who were more than 3s adrift.

But it was a very close battle for second with positions 2-5 covered by just half a second.

Saturday afternoons practice session gave a few competitors a chance to try some wet weather running as the heavens opened and the track became extremely slippery, which became good practice for Sunday.

Weather conditions started off cold and wet on Sunday, with competitors completing the reconnaissance lap on a wet surface before the track slowly dried and by the third run, there was enough of a dry line that many competitors set their fastest time of the day on this particular run.

Then the rain returned, causing Run 4 to be held on a wet track, with quite a few competitors opting out of setting a time.

The next four runs saw competitors slowly gain more confidence as a dry line started to reappear, with most competitors threatening to, if not, actually setting their best times of the day by Run 8.

Barker came out firing from the start of the day, setting his best time of 35.26 on Run 3 in his Hayward 06.

The fight for next best was a battle of the Minahan brothers, Peter and Bruce, in their shared Hayward 07.

Peter edged out Bruce on a 38.70 on his fourth run compared to 38.82, set on Bruce’s third attempt.

Fourth and fastest tin top was Jordan James, who took advantage of his Evolution Lancers’ AWD grip to set a 38.97 as Zachary Hanlin rounded out the top five in his BMW M140i.

Christine Crombie was the fastest female around the course with a time of 46.49 in a Volkswagen Scirocco, which placed her 60th outright.

The sixth and final round of the Trydel EZIUP Victorian Hill Climb Championship will be held in Ararat at One Tree Hill on August 10-11.

Thomas Miles

RISING IN THE RIVERLAND

THE WEATHERMAN got it right for the Waikerie Hotel Motel Riverland Enduro with sunny days and not too much dust with Aaron and Liz Haby (Element Prodigy/Toyota – pictured) taking a comfortable win on July 13/14.

The event doubled as the opening round of the AORRA South Australian Championship and round four of the SAORRA Multi Club Series with the Habys on top in both.

Todd Lehmann and Aaron Bermingham grabbed P2 in the AORRA section first time out in their new Jimco while Travis and Alistair Conrad with Mark Foster (Racer/Nissan) cruised into third.

Ben McNamara and Callum Crossing (ECE/Chev) were a lap down but made it home fourth a lap up on Robert Plant and Tanner James (Jimco).

In the SAORRA battle it was Toby

Reimann and Craig Reading (Scorpion/ Volvo) that trailed the Habys home with quite a gap back to Matt Ridley (RIDS Joker/Honda).

Corey and Jai Haworth (Southern Cross) were hot on Ridley’s heels in fourth with

Simon Baker and Michael Leske (S&S Frames/Chev) not far behind.

Millie van der Woude was the designated driver of the Colorado for this event with an assortment of family members in the silly seat over the two days.

Unfortunately van der Woude tipped it over with a bit over a lap to go, but all occupants were unscathed and they had done enough laps to be classified a finisher.

Evan Lampard and Josh Gaskin (Southern Cross/Nissan) were leading the SAORRA points going into this round but broke a suspension arm on Saturday thus moving Reimann to the top of the points. Class winners were AORRA Ultimate buggy The Habys, Class 1 Plant/James, Class 5 The van der Woudes, Class 10 Conrad/Conrad/Foster, Class 11 McNamara/Crossing and SAORRA Pro Buggy The Habys, Pro Lite buggy Colin and Carter Johnson (Custom/Mitsubishi), Super 1650 The Haworths, Extreme 2WD The van der Woudes, Sportslite buggy Ridley, and Class 11 McNamara/Crossing. David Batchelor

Image: SEVEN70 PHOTOGRAPHY

Image: DAVID BATCHELOR

Image: CH IMAGES

WRAP

LIFE AT THE BONEYARD

FOR THE second straight year the Boneyard GP Motor Events Racing meeting was a success at the new DriveIt NQ facility.

A 24-car field took on the arduous twoday, 16-hour endurance event held at the picturesque circuit just outside of Townsville. Whilst there was a competitive race to take the chequered flag first, the real winner was the team that donated the most money to Rare Cancers Australia.

That team was the flamboyant Sexellance crew of Luke Jones, Nyal Hebbard, Beau Goodwin, Darcey Viero, Madalyn Mears, who

raised $1500 driving their Hyundai Excel.

Team TFS’ donations also exceeded a grand.

Overall Motor Events Racing teams donated $205,000 that went directly to Rare Cancers Australia.

The Boneyard GP name has come from the race track being in the suburb of Calcium which provides a theme all the teams get into.

When the green flag dropped the intensity was high as racing took place in front of a stunning back drop with mountains in the distance.

Team Getz had an eventful day, blowing up a clutch, but managed to replace it and get it running again.

They also generously donated some tyres to Karts to Cars so they could finish the race and win the ME3 Bracket ahead of TFS Racing and BW Racing.

The likes of Hula Hoops and Car Net Badminton were hit by penalties.

At the end of two eventful days, Buccaneers emerged with the most laps in the outright Me-1 Bracket in their Subaru Hatch.

This forced BMW pair Farm Find Racing and NQDrift to round out the podium. ME-O honours went to Cheapa Auto Spares.

The special Team spirt award went to Farm find racing, while the Perseverance award went to Buff racing and Learn to Drive ended up going to Cheaper Auto Spares.

The next Motor Events Racing meeting is the Sandown Showdown on August 17.

Thomas Miles

RHONDA TAMES SANDOWN

TEAM RHONDA

in a mighty Honda Accord Euro (right) conquered the Budget Enduro at the famous Sandown Raceway.

The #10 Accord led by John Harper claimed a dominant win by more than a lap after almost eight hours of racing on July 7.

It became a war of attrition with six of the 13 cars not making it to the finish – this theme was evident from the very first lap.

The race began with immediate drama as Team Borkowski lost a wheel on the first lap, creating a virtual Safety Car that lasted for 25 minutes.

Up front the #05 of The Marl Bros led the first lap, but dropped to third on the second tour as Rag Tag Bunch Of Blo, Sh!t Heap Racing and The Ravagers took turns in the lead.

But once things settled down it became a two-horse race between Team Rhonda and Aregamisou Motorsports. However, this contest was abruptly

finished when the Aregamisou Motorsports ended up in the gravel at Turn 10 halfway through the fifth hour.

After that Team Rhonda controlled the long race, leading laps 66-174.

At this point

Razztech Motorsports offered some resistance, leading to within 15 laps of the chequered flag.

But they were forced to retire after an incident inside the final half an hour, while the same fate happened to The Marl Bros.

As a result, Team Rhonda were all alone with a big lead of more than a lap and took a well deserved win after 205 tours of Sandown.

The Rag Tag Bunch of Blokes took second best in a Mazda 323, while Team Ron completed an all Japanese make podium with their Nissan.

The next Budget Enduro is at Broadford Motorsport Complex on September 28.

Thomas Miles

OFF ROAD ACTION IN HEART OF CITY

THE SOUTH Eastern Automobile Club’s sister club, Limestone Coast Off Road Club Inc brought a Khanacross event on the edge of the Mount Gambier city.

Round 3 of the 2024 SEAC Series was held at the Mount Gambier Showgrounds car park and attracted 22 entrants.

It was a special occasion before wheels even started turning with Paul Height, along with Alison and Jim Coombe being rewarded with life membership.

When the action started Sam Thomas made his intentions clear by taking the warmup by 2s over Phil Wilson.

Thomas then went a little quicker on the second run and hit the 40s benchmark for the first time. He repeated this effort in the next two runs as Jason and Henry Sims took turns in second.

After some changes were made, Run 5 saw Thomas’ run come to an end as Jason Sims set recorded an impressive 38.70, which just eclipsed Paul Razum and Wilson. It proved to be a tricky run as four were struck by a cone penalty and three drive a different track and

copped a WD penalty.

On the second pass in the same direction Thomas was back to his best and was 2s clear of Jason Sims.

This gave him plenty of confidence as he retained the 2s margin over the rest in the next two runs.

Jason Sims then made good use of a direction change and set the quickest time on the next unique layout. His 40.52 was just a tenth quicker than Wilson, while just over a tenth covered third to seventh.

To put a bow on proceedings, Thomas convincingly won the final run with a 38.14s time.

He was well clear of Henry Sims (40.08) who just beat father Jason (40.08) with Paul Razum and Wilson completing the top five. Again less than a second spread over five drivers, 41.32 to 41.93 seconds.

The next SEAC event is a Touring Road Event on August 3. It kicks off a busy period with a Motorkhana on August 11 and an Autocross on August 25.

The SE Voice

SUPERCARS SUPPORTS

HAPPY AS HARRI

HARRI JONES has increased the gap between himself and his Porsche Carrera Cup Australia rivals after a perfect weekend in Sydney.

No one could stay in the same postcode as Jones, who took everything on offer, as did Adrian Flack in Pro Am.

The pace was hot in qualifying where both poleman Jones and Dylan O’Keeffe set record-breaking pace, but the Porsche Centre Melbourne driver was still twotenths clear with a 1:28.6710.

The stage was set for just the second Carrera Cup championship race under lights and Jones ensured it was a onesided spectacle.

Despite a strange qualifying incident forcing him to start towards the back, guest Garth Tander rose all the way to the top 10. There was early drama as championship contender Dale Wood was forced to retire

after early contact, while Fabian Coulthard went off.

O’Keeffe was able to settle in front of the fast starting David Russell to be next best behind Jones as the race ended under Safety Car.

A big name, Jackson Walls brought the race to a neutralised finish, by spearing into the fence at the end of the high-speed Turn 1 due to a slowly degrading flat right-rear tyre.

Walls was back in form for the endurance race where he pushed Jones but could not get close enough to challenge for victory.

Jones enjoyed an untroubled run through the 26-lapper and managed the gap to cross the line 1.8s clear of Walls. Coulthard was able to snatch third from O’keeffe with a late move.

Aside from the odd push and shove it was a relatively clean race with the biggest

drama track limits with a number of drivers including Tander hit with 5s time penalties for track limits.

Matt Slavin had a big lockup as Dean Cook spun at the same moment and same corner, while Marco Padayachee also rotated.

Jones yet again nailed the start in the final sprint to cement a sixth straight victory.

The PCM driver and runner-up O’Keeffe blazed away from the pack which battled hard behind.

Coulthard, Marco Giltrap and Russell battled hard for third, but the Kiwi ended up prevailing, while Tander took an impressive fifth.

Carrera Cup returns at the Sandown 500 where it will be tough to stop Jones on September 13-15.

Thomas Miles

HILLYER’S HAT-TRICK

NOT ONLY did Chaz Mostert sweep both Supercars races, but Walkinshaw Andretti

United also took everything on offer in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Cup thanks to Matt Hillyer.

But Hillyer had to fight hard with James Lodge taking pole and fellow front row starter Max Geoghegan starting strong. Lodge got a slow getaway and dropped

CRICK RISES TO THE TOP

CAMERON CRICK was able to emerge on top in a highlycontested round of V8 SuperUte Series action in Sydney.

Crick took two victories to sneak ahead of the battling Team Motion teammates of Adam Marjoram and Aaron Borg.

It was a notable result of the 2024 season being the first time a Team Motion D-MAX had been beaten.

Crick’s pace was clear in qualifying where he took pole by the huge seven-tenths margin.

He went on to win the opening race as well to complete a perfect Friday, but it was not as simple as it sounds.

Crick was down in third after the first lap but hit the lead by Lap 4 from David Seiders before the race ended under Safety Car due to the spinning Luke Webber.

But Crick’s hopes took a hit in Race 2 where he was penalised for contract with Craig Woods that sent the latter into retirement.

As Harris fought his way to an impressive win in the reverse top seven dash, Crick was third but dropped to sixth due to the 5s penalty.

to fourth as Geoghegan controlled the race. But Hillyer stayed on his tail and launched a last-lap assault.

It proved successful with Hillyer making the race-winning move at Turn 1 as championship leader Bradi Owen finished third.

Boosted by his breakthrough success, Hillyer did the double on Sunday morning.

The race-winning moment was at the start rather than the finish this time where he won a side-by-side battle with Geoghegan.

There were plenty of battles deeper in the pack with the likes of Barnes and Buckley at one point going four wide, where Brock Stinson made three spots in one move.

James Lodge was on fire and moved up 19 spots to 10th as Hillyer won comfortably.

Hillyer completed the clean sweep with his most commanding drive, winning by 3s.

This time Owen was able to jump Geoghegan to take second midway through the race.

As usual in the big field, there were a few ‘spot fires’ but the race ran green to the finish.

After two rounds with quick turnarounds to kick off the new era, the next is at Sandown on September 13-15.

Thomas Miles

Harris was chasing back-toback successes in Race 3, sitting second until he was suddenly forced to pit due to a loose steering column which led to ‘The Kid’ saying some grown-up things on TV.

Meanwhile, Crick checked out and cruised to a 6s win.

This left Marjoram, Wanzek and Borg in a fierce fight for second and the #1 actually lost out and had to settle for fourth with Marjoram taking some valuable points to be second.

Although Marjoram took a strong lights to flag in the finale, second place was enough for Crick to claim the round win.

Rookie Jayden Wanzek had a solid and eventful drive to third after a wild moment early in the race.

A second trip to Mount Panorama awaits on October 10-13.

Thomas Miles

Harri Jones headed the field throughout as he put together the perfect weekend. Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Marjoram and Crick head the queue. Image: PETER NORTON

Matt Hillyer clean-swept the Toyota contest. Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

SUPERCARS SUPPORTS

CATCHING THE CALIBRA

THE DES Wall Trophy is in the hands of Peter Ingram after an eventual trip to Sydney for the Precision National Sport Sedan Series where the Holden Calibra of Steven Tamasi was tough to catch.

Tamasi took two wins to secure the round, while championship leader Peter Ingram was forced to fight desperately all weekend and was rewarded by taking the coveted trophy.

For the first time this year the Sports Sedans were on the Supercars stage and Tamasi fired a warning by topping a tricky qualifying.

The session was punctured by a heavy crash for Ryan Humfrey, who lost control coming out of Corporate Hill and crunched the concrete head on in an impact that ruled the XE Falcon out of the weekend.

As a result drivers had only six minutes to nail their lap and Tamasi did so in devastating fashion, taking pole by 1.5s over Brad Shiels.

One driver not in action for the entire session was Peter Ingram, who was busy trying to fix his Mazda RX7 that had a mechanical drama in Practice 2.

However, the last-row start did not stop him from flying all the way to the podium in the opening race in a vital drive for his championship campaign.

There was drama on the warm-up lap as Daniel Crompton stopped on the grid which created an extra formation lap and a scrappy rolling start.

Tamasi and Shiels went side-by-side through the fast Turn 1 and the Fiat had to concede on the outside, but was back for more at the following left hander where he performed the switchback.

Ingram only needed one lap to make the nine spots required to get into the top 10.

Shiels time in front only lasted two laps before Tamasi flew past going down the Brabham Straight and drove into the distance winning by 9s.

All eyes were then on Peter Ingram as he picked off rivals lap after lap and completed his charge to the podium with three laps left, ultimately finishing 2s behind Shiels.

Any hope of Shiels getting a hometown win was shattered on the warmup lap of Race 2 where he was forced to pull off due to the 1974 Fiat having a mechanical gremlin.

Despite the drama Tamasi still had to keep both Ingram and Taunton at bay in the early stages.

But the fight for the lead ended on lap two where Ingram suddenly lost 3s due to a major wobble coming out of Turn 8.

With the championship leader desperately trying to catch his Mazda RX7 that was going from side to side, Tamasi cruised to back-to-back wins by 3s.

Taunton ended up on the podium ahead of Matt Ingram, while Mark Duggan lost ground after his VB Aston Martin was spun by Grant Donaldson.

Further back Ben Purtell and Chris Jackson both spun at Turn 5, while they almost had a similar scare at the following corner later in the race.

The stakes were raised in Race 3 with the prestigious Des Wall Trophy up for grabs.

Tamasi and Ingram went head to head into turn 1 and the Holden Calibra emerged in front with Taunton also safely settling into third, while Shiels shot up seven spots to 10th in the first three corners.

There was drama at Turn 5 as Steve Lacey spun on cold tyres over the hill, while Purtell lost the rear and had a high-speed spin at Turn 1.

The Safety Car was required after the early dramas and during the caution Shiels’ daring charge into the top 10 was over when he pulled onto the circuit extension with mechanical dramas.

Racing resumed with 10 minutes left on the clock and Tamasi and Ingram pulled away from Taunton straight away.

Just a lap later the leading pair that were split by just two tenths were already 7s ahead of Taunton.

Suddenly Tamasi was on the defence with Ingram all over the back of the leader and running tighter racing lines.

By the end of Lap 6 Tamasi could do little as Ingram blazed past down the Brabham Straight to snatch the lead.

The fight for third also erupted on lap nine where Taunton had his work cut out keeping Matt Ingram behind.

Like the fight for the lead, Matt Ingram flew past down the main straight to snatch third.

Despite a close call with the lapped Graham Smith coming into the final corner, Peter Ingram took a 2s win.

It completed an impressive comeback from his qualifying battles to lifting the Des Wall Trophy and further strengthening his title assault.

The thundering Sports Sedans will bring some fire to the iconic Sandown 500 on August 13-15. Thomas Miles

PRECISION NATIONAL SPORTS SEDANS POINTS AFTER ROUND 3

1: Peter Ingram 357 points

2: Geoff Taunton 313

3: Steven Tamasi 271

4: Matt Ingram 253

5: Steven Lacey 242

Steven Tamasi leads the Sports Sedans into Turn 1. Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Peter Ingram charged from the back to eventually first across the three races. Image: MPIX PHOTOGRAPHY

Geoff Taunton battles for position with Matt Ingram and Ashley Jarvis. Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Peter Ingram all smiles with the Des Wall Trophy. Image: MPIX PHOTOGRAPHY

TILLEY’S TCM TRIUMPH

FOR THE first time Jamie Tilley is a race and round winner and he did it in one epic Duggan Family Hotels Touring Car Masters round in Sydney.

The Supercars might have been the main attraction, but the classic TCM machines produced the best racing over the weekend.

After some thrilling finishes the fight for round honours ended up tied between Tilley and Ryan Hansford, but the Mustang racer was awarded a maiden overall success thanks to a special Race 3 drive.

The drama started as early as practice where Steven Johnson was forced to vacate his BRUT Mustang due to a chest infection, which saw the legendary John Bowe make a last-minute return to TCM for the first time since his full time retirement last year.

With Bowe on a plane, qualifying took place without him and championship leader Adam Garwood fired an ominous warning by taking a record-breaking pole.

On his very first flying lap, Garwood produced a 1:37.7027, which was almost a second faster than the previous TCM track record.

He was two-tenths clear of impressive rookie Rylan Gray, who in the Ford Capri held off Ryan Hansford, Andrew Fisher and Joel Heinrich.

A stunning Trophy Race where just 0.03s was the difference at the chequered flag set the tone for the weekend.

Danny Buzadzic and Jim Pollicina resumed their rivalry at the front of the grid and they tussled across the opening laps and were soon joined by Marcus Zukanovic.

On Lap 8 Buzadzic used the legs of his Torana to snatch back the lead in a drag race with the XD Falcon.

The roles were then reversed at the start of the final lap where Zukanovic powered past the Torana and stole P1.

But with Buzadzic all over the rear bumper, the race was not decided until the very final metres.

Zukanovic led the way coming out of the final corner and tried to stop any

assault from behind.

However, Buzadzic got his rival just where he wanted and ended up making a move to the outside in the final hundreds of metres.

The Torana and XD Falcon went side by side in a drag race to the chequered flag and Buzadzic snatched it in a photo finish to win a Trophy Race for the ages.

Just 0.0386s was the difference with Pollicina third and Hansford fourth, while Garwood and Bowe rose from the last row to be inside the top 10.

When championship points were on offer, the racing was just as intense.

Garwood, Hansford and Gray went three-wide into Turn 1, while wheel to wheel contact sent both Heinrich and Fisher spinning out of control.

Somehow both cars emerged unscathed, missing the concrete, but the track didn’t with all eight polystyrene signs getting smashed and getting scattered all over the track. Heinrich would produce an impressive comeback drive to fifth.

Meanwhile Garwood started to skip away

before a rain shower made life difficult and Hansford launched an attack inside the final minute.

After the first attempt failed, Hansford’s second crack at Turn 1 got the job done and sailed around the outside of the Commodore with a race winning move on the final lap.

Gray also got involved and tried to steal second from Garwood at Turn 6, but this allowed Tilley to dive beneath both of them.

Hansford retained control at the start of Race 2 where Gray had an off at Turn 3, while Tilley saw off Garwood for second.

Little separated the top five at the front of the field and the battle ignited on the penultimate lap.

Tilley had his first look at Hansford through Turn 1 where both drivers had a slide, while Garwood tried to join them having survived a wild fight for third.

The leading trio bunched up at Turn 6 and despite some close calls, the status quo remained with Hansford taking victory as just six-tenths covered the podium finishers and 1.2s the entire top five.

Dreaming of a clean sweep Hansford retained the lead at the start of Race 3, while Buzadzic shot out of the gates and muscled his way to third.

But he was soon at the back of the field after being spun by Garwood at Turn 2, which allowed Fisher to sneak to third. It also released the leading pair, who

were 3s up the road but Tilley was applying the blowtorch on Hansford.

On lap five they were fighting side-byside with Tilley making a move at Turn 6, only for Hansford to perform the crisscross.

The Mustang was again side-by-side with the Torana at the hairpin two corners on and this remained the case going down the Brabham Straight.

Across one thrilling drag race, the lead changed hands three times before Tilley had the final say at Turn 1.

All this squabbling brought Fisher into play and Hansford could not stop the Jesus Racing machine from snatching second. Gray was in the thick of the fight for fourth, but his impressive debut had an early finish due to an issue with his Ford Capri.

This left Garwood and Heinrich on their own and the championship contenders clashed, sending the VB Commodore into a smokey spin.

Garwood would have to settle for ninth and see his points lead slightly impacted as Bowe returned to the top five.

Meanwhile, Tilley charged home to take a long-awaited success, which doubled into a maiden round win.

After some great racing in Sydney, TCM returns at the Sandown 500 on September 13-15. Thomas Miles

Touring Car Masters was supported by

TOURING CAR MASTERS STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4

1: Adam Garwood 701 points

2: Jamie Tilley 658

3: Ryan Hansford 652

4: Joel Heinrich 602

5: Danny Buzadzic 554

Jamie Tilley storms to race and round honours in the Mustang on Sunday.

Images: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Adam Garwood, Ryan Hansford and Rylan Gray lead the TCM pack as it charges into Turn 1.

Ryan Hansford won two races but could not keep Jamie Tilley at bay when it mattered.

MOZZIE MANIA SUPERCARS

FOR A TIME IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TRIPLE EIGHT COULD BE CAUGHT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2024, BUT NOW IT IS A VERY REAL CHANCE AFTER SOME CHAZ MOSTERT BRILLIANCE UNDER LIGHTS …THOMAS MILES EXAMINES THE ANNUAL SUPERCARS NIGHT RACE ...

FOR THE first time since 2009 Walkinshaw Andretti United is in the thick of the fight for the Supercars title following Chaz Mostert’s maiden clean sweep.

Boosted by back-to-back wins in Sydney, Mostert flew past Broc Feeney into second in the standings to blow the championship wide open.

Not only was the ‘Mozzie’ faultless behind the wheel, but Walkinshaw Andretti United nailed the strategy in both the night and day races.

Suddenly all the momentum is behind Mostert and WAU and Triple Eight finds

back foot for the first time in 2024, albeit maintaining the high ground.

Whilst the action on the track was not quite at its height, Mostert still had to work for each win as differing strategies meant there was no clear winner until the final 15 laps.

ROOKIE

ON TOP

THERE WAS an early sign that WAU was on for a special weekend as rookie Ryan Wood emerged from then mammoth 90-minute Friday practice at the top of the leaderboard.

With so much time on teams’ hands in

slightly misleading, but it was still a big moment.

Across his first six rounds Wood had battled out of the gates and struggled for practice pace.

But at Sydney it was a different story with a late lap pushing him to a meagre 0.0429s clear of Nick Percat and Mostert.

“I’m feeling happy. I have never been in the top 10 in a Supercars practice before,” he said.

“Our cars rolled out great, and it is a weird feeling to be so strong from lap two – fingers crossed we can stay there,” Wood reacted after getting out of the car.

who thought a first Shootout pole was in his fingertips.

Randle laid down the impressive marker of 1:29.8796, which proved unbeatable for the likes of Percat, Mostert and Feeney.

But then Waters put the foot down and showed why he has been the qualifying king of 2024, sneaking ahead of his teammate by 0.0134s.

It was a clean session as teams cycled through their plans, but things were about to get much more serious on the following

TEAM-MATE TORTURE

ALTHOUGH MOSTERT took both winner’s trophies, it was Cameron Waters who was unstoppable over one lap earlier in the day.

Having conquered qualifying convincingly, Waters proceeded to perfect the Shootout as well.

None were more frustrated than his own Tickford teammate Thomas Randle,

“Whyyyy” cried Randle as he greeted Waters in the lane.

However, Randle would soon get a small bit of redemption.

RANDLE ON A ROLL

IN THE all-Tickford front row, many may have tipped Waters would carry on his form and blaze away, but his younger team-mate had other ideas.

Randle got a strong getaway and despite appearing to be slightly accomodating to Waters on his inside through Turn 1, the #55 was extremely committed through corner exit and used his momentum to swing around the outside and hit the lead.

Randle was showing no nerves leading the field and swiftly built more than half a second buffer on Waters, who had Mostert on his tail.

By Lap 11 the #25 made its first move and had looks at Turns 2 and 4 but was not quite close enough.

But it proved to be third time lucky as Mostert squeezed past on the inside around Corporate Hill to end the Tickford 1-2.

Whilst there was pain on one side of the garage, there were quiet cheers on the other as Randle’s lead suddenly

Tickford teammates Thomas Randle and Cam Waters fight for the lead into the first corner. Image: PETER NORTON

Matt Payne almost produced another race win on Saturday night with the one stop. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

ballooned by the best part of 2s.

Despite being eventually beaten by Mostert and Payne on strategy, Randle still ended up as the lead Tickford Mustang and scored a long-awaited first podium of 2024.

Whilst the youngster was happy to have a trophy in his hands again, he felt more was possible, especially after he was baulked by Mostert’s teammate Wood during his final stop, which proved critical.

“I thought we were tracking well. We filled long for the first one and then the second one there was a little bit of confusion in the drop with Ryan,” Randle said.

“I probably should have committed but there was a little bit of confusion.

“That’s okay. We played it safe I guess and I think second was the ultimate goal we could have got.”

As for Waters, he drifted down to seventh and lamented a slow fuel rate in the pits.

“The race was interesting. I got an okay start; Randle got a ripper. I struggled with a bit of car balance and was slow in pit lane for some reason,” he said.

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

ONCE THE fireworks and driver introductions were over and Supercars went racing under lights, there were also some early fireworks on the track.

As the field charged down to Turn 2, Mark Winterbottom suddenly veered right when he should have been starting to go left.

In his path was an unlucky Macauley Jones, who was punted off the track and into the grass.

Both cars carried on but were on the back foot for the rest of the day. Jones fought hard well on the one stop to be 20th, while

Winterbottom battled to 24th with a broken steering arm.

“Unfortunate for Macauley [Jones]; didn’t want to see him off the track, but then we got damage, and it was a nothing race, really,” Winterbottom said.

The sister BJR Camaro of Bryce Fullwood was also spun at Turn 2 early on, but used a one-stop strategy to rise to 19th.

TORTOISE AND THE HARE

THE NIGHT race was decided by a fascinating strategy battle and Penrite Racing almost pulled off a blinder for the second race in a row.

Starting 10th, Payne rose to sixth almost instantly, but the team changed its mind from a two-stop to a one-stop and it paid dividends.

The patient Kiwi waited until Lap 23 to pit with a 25s advantage over Mostert – the long fuel stop meant the #19 rejoined 22nd.

But the race came to him and as the others boxed again. Payne was completely on his own and emerged 15s clear of Mostert with 18 laps left.

However, Mostert had the pace on fresh rubber and was reeling the leader in at a second a lap.

The tortoise and the hare battle ended up being decided inside the final five laps with Mostert catching Payne with four to go.

But with so much more pace and grip, Mostert was able to cruise past at Turn 6.

Although Mostert was victorious, he labelled Payne as the “man of the match.”

“It is a long old slog around here but the car was really good,” Mostert said in victory lane.

“I was thinking when they told me Matty

was right up the road, I knew the pace our car could do and hoped we’d catch him with his deg. He was probably man of the match for looking after those tyres, but our team were men of the match. We had a super fast car.”

“It is actually quite funny because we set out to do a two-stop and once we saw our pace we knew we needed to keep going and give it a try,” Payne said.

“Once they came over the radio saying we

No-one could match the race pace of Chaz Mostert. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Mark Winterbottom took out Macauley Jones at Turn 2 when the #15 suddenly veered right. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Fireworks light up the night sky during the podium. Image: PETER NORTON

SUPERCARS

are thinking of a one stop I thought ‘man you have got some balls’. I was along for the ride and trusted them the whole way and they did a brilliant job.

“If we were on two stops we would not have finished this high up.”

The DJR Mustangs, led by Davison, rounded out the top five with Brown the top Camaro in sixth.

Hill was another to try the one stop and

went from 19th to deep into the top 10 but then drifted to 11th.

SUNDAY: VETERAN BACK ON TOP

FOR THE first time in 679 days, Will Davison started a Supercars race from pole position.

Davison achieved the breakthrough after perfecting his Sunday Top 10 Shootout lap, having not had pole since Pukekohe 2022.

Davison’s 1:29.9187 was just enough to

sneak past Chaz Mostert by 0.0007s in a nail-biting one-lap dash.

Percat, Slade and Waters all had a crack, but fell short of the #17’s benchmark.

Being off contract at the end of the year,

Davison admitted it was a timely success.

“I am really proud of that one,” he said.

“I just have not been nailing my Shootout laps so I obviously wanted to be quick. I just wanted to get the most out of myself ,like I did in qualifying, so proud of that effort.

“The car came in beautifully so I have got Richard (Harris) to tank and all the team because it has been a big turnaround from Friday.

“I have not had a pole since 2022 – my first in Gen3 and I won’t lie, this feels pretty good.

“The timing is really, really good for me.”

When the lights went out, Davison appeared to make the most of pole and muscled out Mostert to take the lead through Turn 1 to fuel dreams of replicating his very first win at SMP, in 2008.

However, the #17 was only in P1 for five further corners before the #25 launched a clean dive down the inside at the top of the circuit after the DJR driver had a slide. Davison held second for the remainder of the first stint and all the way up to his final stop on Lap 32.

But when he rejoined he had been jumped by one-stoppers Waters, Brown, De Pasquale and Kostecki.

In the end Davison only had enough pace to jump Kostecki and, with Payne charging through, the #17 had to settle for sixth.

“We knew we were not in Chaz’s league. It was cool but you could see the grip Chaz had early on. We changed three or four things from Saturday and straight away it was not as good in the race,” Davison said.

“The two stopper didn’t work and kicking ourselves we didn’t go for the one because we were staying ahead of Cam pretty well, but went for two and that is what happened.”

ELBOWS OUT

THE OPENING laps of the Sunday afternoon race were quite intense at times with one particular battle standing out.

Percat and Wood spent the best part of a lap side-by-side for seventh, making contact numerous times but predictably it didn’t work out.

After they were both passed by Payne, who slingshot from the slipstream and made it three wide down the Brabham Straight in what was described as the “move of the year” by Mark Skaife, the WAU and MSR drivers carried on up to Turn 3.

But there Wood forced Percat wide, which brought a host of others into play including David Reynolds and it reached a tipping point by the time they got to Corporate Hill.

Contact saw both Wood and Reynolds spear off into the infield and drop well out of the top 10.

“Getting boxed in that battle early on set us back, but it was a lot of fun rubbing doors with those guys,” Wood said.

The stewards did not penalise anyone in the only flashpoint of the day.

RINSE AND REPEAT

ONCE AGAIN it was a question of gaining track position, but sacrificing speed with the one stop, or going all out with two visits to the lane.

Mostert and WAU stuck to what worked on Saturday night and did the same thing, but more opted to follow Payne’s lead from Saturday night and take the one-stop option.

After passing Davison on the first lap, Mostert grew a 4s lead before his first visit to the lane on Lap 13.

Following the stop, the #25’s advantage over the #17 continued to grow well into double figures as the likes of Waters, Brown and De Pasquale pressed on, looking to make the one-stop work and gain track position.

This proved to be the case as with 15 laps to go and all the stops completed, Mostert emerged effective fourth behind Waters, Brown and De Pasquale.

However, the ‘Mozzie’ was hungry for blood and picked off both De Pasquale and Brown with utter ease.

Having faced the prospect of slashing

Chaz Mostert takes the chequered flag once again. Image: PETER NORTON

Cam Waters under the setting sun. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Will Brown waved the Camaro flag once again. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

10s in the 17 remaining laps, Mostert did it in just four.

Waters was defenceless as his former team-mate cruised past into the lead at Turn 1.

For Waters and Brown, attention turned to defending their podium places from their nearest two-stopping rival Payne, but the Kiwi did not get close as the race had a quiet end in the twilight.

De Pasquale ended up keeping his team-mate behind to retain fifth, while using the same strategy to gain six spots

and snatch seventh, keeping a host of two stoppers at bay.

“It is pretty awesome to get the right strategy and our car was better than Saturday,” Mostert said.

“If we wanted to at the start we could have adopted the one stop and made it work but I love driving the car hard and the two stop suited the way I drive.

“I was a bit more surprised more people took the (one stop) option today, but our car was great. The race car was something pretty special.”

HISTORY FOR NEW CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER

DOING THE double was a historic feat in more ways than one for Mostert. He took consecutive race wins for just the second time in his career, with the last occasion being in 2015 at Queensland Raceway and now SMP.

He is also the first driver to clean sweep the multi-race Sydney round since Marcos Ambrose way back in 2004.

Mostert had never clean swept a weekend and he admitted to having some

nerves in the final laps.

“I do not know what happened in the last 10 laps but when you are leading with a bit of a gap you are just thinking that something is going to go wrong’,” he said.

“It took me back to my go-kart days –when you are winning a state title and hearing the engine, so the last 10 laps were hell for me but just glad to bring it home for the whole team.”

But there were no concerns from the outside as Mostert rocketed himself into championship contention.

With Feeney missing the Shootout, starting and finishing 11th, for the first time this year the Triple Eight drivers are not one and two in the championship.

Mostert is now second, jumping the #88 to be 105 points behind Brown.

With WAU in a league of its own at SMP, the championship leader said third “felt like a win” while Feeney has “never been more excited for a test day” as he looks for a reset. The championship is suddenly alive and the upcoming Tasmania SuperSprint on August 16-18 will be crucial ahead of the enduros.

The DJR Mustangs of Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison lead the train. Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Strategy was a major factor in Sydney. With some intelligent driving, Matt Payne almost pulled off a one-stopper ... Image: PETER NORTON

Nick Percat showed good speed for MSR in his 150th round. Image: PETER NORTON

WRC ADDS TRIO OF NATIONS FOR 2025

IN WHAT is expected to be an expanded 14-round calendar, the FIA World Rally Championship calendar is starting to take shape for 2025.

In a bid to expand its global footprint the WRC has included Saudi Arabia, Paraguay, and the Canary Islands to next year’s championship, with the logical move to the Middle East also garnering a 10-year deal.

With only six of the current WRC rounds holding contracts into 2025, the news on which country’s will be biting the bullet are yet to be announced, but the inclusion of the three newly-named hosts means that hopefuls Ireland, Argentina, and the USA won’t be considered until 2026, whilst Australia and New Zealand have again been left in the proverbial dust.

The Saudi Arabia round with an attached 10-year deal was a shrewd move from organisers.

The country is already rich with motorsport events and other major global sports, and with questions on how to better promote the championship currently a hot-topic on the tongue of organisers, the Arabian edition makes complete sense, with the varied terrain from volcanic rock to sandy desert and fesh fesh covered roads to also provide an interesting test for teams.

The inclusion of Paraguay as the second South American round after Chile is also a popular one in that it brings the sport to where one of its most popular hubs is growing.

Rallying has expanded in popularity in the

country that lies at the continent’s heart, with the last 11 FIA South American Rally Champions coming from the country, while it is starting to have more regular runners in the WRC2, WRC3, and Junior WRC.

Lastly, the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago territory off the coast of northwestern Africa, has entered a twoyear agreement that technically brings Spain back to the calendar after losing its spot in 2022.

The Rally Islas Canarias with its abrasive asphalt roads has been going since 1977, whilst it has also been a European Rally Championship round since 2016, and in the

second year of its WRC deal, will raise its 50th anniversary.

In terms of other events locked in, Rally Estonia is also set to return after missing out to Latvia in 2024, the event it will replace next season.

The famous curtain raiser – Rallye Monte Carlo – is also without a contract, but one is expected to be signed shortly with stakeholders keen for it to remain, whilst Rally Sweden has signed until 2027, and Safari Kenya is in a five year deal that runs until 2026.

Italy’s rally will remain on the Isle Sardinia for 2025, whilst long term hosts Finland are

signed up through 2026.

And, after rejoining in 2021, the Greek Acropolis Rally is also safe through to next year, whilst the Central European Rally will see out the last of its three year deal in the same year.

Chile is also expected to return though it has no deal as of yet, whilst Croatia’s deal is dependent on its political situation and a change of location.

Meanwhile Portugal is set to exercise an option for an extra year to cover next season, whilst Japan is a lock to continue with a new deal.

TW Neal

HYUNDAI EMERGES AS A WEC POSSIBILITY INTERNATIONAL

THE THIRD-largest manufacturer of road cars in the world is potentially eyeing off a spot in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), with the possibility of it also competing in the North American IMSA Sportscar Championship.

The Korean giants possibly joining the WEC is precisely why the FIA and ACO moved the series’ into the new LMH and LMDh ruleset category – in order to attract the biggest car makers back to the sport, with Le Mans as its revitalised flagship at its heart.

Speculation of Hyundai joining comes just a month after the sport’s governing bodies announced the ruleset extension into the 2029 season, with the added assurance making it an even more attractive prospect for manufacturers to join.

Several industry sources have claimed that Hyundai is close to making a decision, with it likely to be as an LMDh entry, meaning it will have a choice of four chassis, with it likely being Dallara or ORECA.

In competing as an LMDh machine, it would join Acura, Cadillac, Alpine, BMW,

Lamborghini and Porsche, which will compete alongside LMH machines Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Isotta Fraschini, whilst Aston Martin will also join in 2025.

In joining the WEC, there will also be questions about whether or not Hyundai will

continue its involvement in the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Korean team is leading this year’s manufacturers and drivers title against the dominant Toyota outfit, but with the current regulations ending in 2026, there is still

a huge air of uncertainty about what the championship will look like, or even if it will remain hybrid.

The Hybrid aspect of the i20N was done in-house at its Hyundai Motorsport German factory, which is why it can be safely assumed that Hyundai will build its own Hypercar hybrid component to be paired with its own combustion engine.

And whilst teams are still concerned about what 2026 will bring, the WRC is yet to even outline what a cross-bridge 2025 will even look like, with Hyundai’s WRC Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul telling rally magazine, DirtFish Media that, “We need certainty and the timing is a very big concern for us. And as soon as possible is not in June. I’m talking about a couple of weeks, not a couple of months.

“You need to expect a Hyundai that can be competitive and has the certainty to be competitive. We need to have insurance in the stability of the regulations and for that, we need those regulations as soon as possible.”

TW Neal

Rally Islas Canarias remains on rthe schedule for its second running.

LATVIAN WIN FOR KING FINN

TWO-TIME CHAMPION ‘KING’ KALLE ROVANPERA HAS RISEN TO A THIRD WRC VICTORY IN 2024 AS A PARTTIMER, MAKING IT BACK-TO-BACK WINS AFTER DOMINATING IN LATVIA. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

LATVIA BECAME the 37th country to host an FIA World Rally Championship round, with the rally mad Baltic nation playing host to Round 8 of 13, as a tight title fight continues to develop.

After winning Rally Poland as a shortnotice entry, Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Haltunnen backed it up with a start to finish romp around the fast gravel roads of Riga. It was a GR Yaris one-two after 20 stages and 300.13 km of timed specials, with Toyota’s other part-timer, nine time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier, finishing 39.2 seconds behind his 23-year old team-mate.

And two weeks after his huge crash in Estonia in his Latvia warmup, Hyundai’s Ott Tanak took third, 1:04.5 in arrears, after local racer Martin Sesks’ M-Sport Ford Puma heartbreakingly suffered a transmission fault in the final stage to drop from what would have been a deserved podium in just his second WRC appearance.

Rovanpera entered Latvia just a few weeks after winning his first ever circuit race in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series at Imola, and the youngest ever WRC champion reached another milestone in SS10, winning his 200th stage in just his 50th rally.

“It has been a great weekend, It is cool to have the first win here – Latvia is an important place for me,” said Rovanpera, who started his youth career in Latvia at the age of 12.

“Big thanks to Jonne and the whole team. We have been stronger than we expected. We are going to enjoy this one and then work hard for the next round in Finland.”

And whilst Rovanpera has won 14 WRC events, he is yet to win in his homeland.

After the shakedown went the way of

Tanak, the opening stage on Thursday saw the flying Finn immediately on the front foot by 2.4s over championship leader

Thierry Neuville. It was a unique opening stage as the rally cars competed on Latvia’s only dedicated motor circuit – the asphalt Biķernieki Track – over 11.3 km, in front of capacity grandstands.

Friday’s seven stages saw five of them fall to an ominously quick Rovanpera, but it was Sesks that impressed in his first rally with a Rally1 assist after competing in Poland without it – as per the new WRC rules in looking ahead to potentially expanding the Rally1 entries for 2025.

The 24-year-old Latvian driver took two stages (including his first ever WRC stage win) to finish the day 15.7 behind the Toyota, passing Ogier in the process, who also won two stages.

Saturday featured eight stages covering 104 km, and Rovanpera again left the field in the dust with six stage wins, whilst Ogier moved over Sesks, with Tanak having another mixed day highlighted by a bizarre incident.

Whilst Ogier moved into second by SS11, but would finish the say 42.5s back, and 4.7sec over Sesks, Tanak banked the Saturday classification points (championship points that can only be collected with a rally finish). But the Estonian had a strange incident when he had to stop to remove an inflatable promotion ‘arch’ that got tangled in his i20N, after Elfyn Evans clipped it ahead of him.

Despite the issue, as well as having braking problems on Friday. He remained in fourth but 20+ secs behind Sesks.

Sunday’s final four stages covered 64.08km

as drivers returned toward Riga on repeated stages, and whilst Rovanpera winning was a near formality, the other story of the day would be Tanak’s three stage winsincluding the final double point power stage – to collect vital championship points.

His podium would come via heartbreak for Sesks, who’s Rally1 Puma suffered its transmission failure in the first corner of the final stage whilst holding a four-second buffer to Tanak.

That also elevated his team-mate Adrien Fourmaux into fourth, 11.2sec over Evans and Toyota’s fourth car driven by Takamoto Katsuta, with Sesks slipping back to seventh over Neuville, and Esapekka Lappi and Gregoire Munster rounding out the Rally1 field.

Taking P11 was the WRC2 winner, Swede Oliver Solberg in the Skoda, finishing 37.4s ahead of Toyota’s Mikko Heikkila, with Sami Pajari rounding out the second-tier podium with another GR Yaris.

In the title fight, Neuville still holds the championship lead despite struggling with grip over the last two gravel rallies, but his lead has been cut down to just eight points by his Hyundai teammate, Tanak, who leapfrogged Evans into second by five points.

The next round of action is another super fast gravel event in the shape of Rally Finland on August 1-4 for Round 9, with only Greece, Chile, Central Europe, and Japan remaining.

WRC STANDINGS AFTER 8 ROUNDS

1: Neuville 145 2: Tanak 137

3: Evans 132

4: Ogier 117

5: Fourmaux 101

Rovanpera flew to anothger win, in front of a big spectator audience. Top: Ott Tanak finished third and is a close second in the championship. Above: Local Sesks was terribly unlucky not to grab a podium finish.

TOYOTA CLAIMS WEC BRAZIL RETURN

IN THE first FIA World Endurance Championship round since another epic Le Mans 24 Hours, Toyota returned serve at Ferrari after the French classic with a dominant win at the Six Hours of Sao Paulo.

But with Ferrari taking on the biggest BoP (Balance of Performance) weight gain for Brazil, it was the other Hypercar championship contenders, Porsche, that made it count over the Maranello squad with a twothree finish behind the winning #8 GR010, running with 9kgs less than both Toyota and Ferrari, and on equal power and energy.

The title leading #6 963 Porsche machine took second (1:08.811 in arrears) whilst Aussie Matt Campbell in the #5 sister car took his third P3 of the season.

The WEC hadn’t raced at the Interlagos’ Autodromo since 2014, with it being the shortest track on the calendar at 4.3 km at about 50% full throttle, with the returning edition featuring 19 Hypercars, and 18 LMGT3 machines.

After years of unmatched dominance owing to its Hypercar head start, Toyota now has the fight on the hands that the WEC wanted, but it didn’t stop the welloiled squad dominating in Brazil, and they would have had a onetwo hadn’t the #7 Le Mans P2 getting machined suffered a rare fuel pressure sensor problem.

Despite claiming its first pole of the year and a front row lockout with the #7 car on top, Kiwi #8 driver Brendon Hartley knows that despite the win, title hopes remain slim against Porsche and Ferrari with only three rounds remaining.

“We know that the championship is a long shot

and we were thinking that way before we came here to Brazil,” said Hartley, who shares the #8 alongside Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.

“We thought we were going to be playing a back-up role here, but we ended up winning the race, though I’m not sure it changed much.

“The #7 car is in the better position in the championship and I’m pretty sure we are going to be supporting them over the coming races.”

Whilst the unusual mechanical issue was rectified mid-race for the early #7 leader, they still stormed back to finish fourth, 7.578s behind the #5 Porsche, which would likely have finished second if it weren’t for a change of rear, whilst the #6 also had an early puncture.

The three manufacturers have created a gulf from the respective chasing LMDh and LMH manufacturer machines, with Ferrari also taking fifth and sixth as they struggled for balance and pace.

Peugeot was the next best in P7, whilst the #16 BMW topped the best of the rest (manufacturer standing wise)

A424

The #2 Cadillac couldn’t reproduce its Le Mans podium heroics in P13, whilst Lamborghini struggled with brake issues in 17th, and Isotta Fraschini retired with engine problems.

In the LMGT3 stakes – owing largely to weight penalties – Aussie Yasser Shahin couldn’t keep the dream two-win streak going to hold the title lead in the #91 Porsche with a 12th in class finish, but its sister Manthey GT3 did get the job done to take the championship lead, finishing one lap ahead of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, with the #97 United AutoSports McLaren taking third.

In the Hypercar standings, following its P2 finish, the Keven Estre-led Porsche now holds a 117 to 98 point advantage over the Le Mans winning Ferrari 499P, whilst the #7 Toyota holds third with 95 points over the Campbell led Porsche (71).

Next up is a trip to the States for the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The Round 6 encounter will be another 6 hour affair on August 30 - September 1. TW Neal

Alpine

#36 featuring Mick Schumacher at the wheel.

All go, as the Sao Paulo field goes green. Below: Matt Campbell took another third place with Porsche. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

BLANEY BOLTS AT POCONO

PENSKE’S REIGNING champion

Ryan Blaney has served up another reminder of Playoff credentials, taking out the sold-out Pocono 400 in Pennsylvania last week, his second win in five outings.

The Dark Horse #12 racer returned to the scene of his first ever Cup Series win in 2017 to capture win #12 of his career, holding off the tracks most winningest driver in Joe Gibbs’ Denny Hamlin by 1.312 seconds with Hendricks’ Alex Bowman in third.

It wasn’t until the final 44 laps that Blaney found himself in the lead after occupying the top-10 all race and, although the podium fillers stuck with him for the most part, he pulled away in the closing laps to become the fifth dual-race winner of the season.

“I feel like the last two months we’ve been spectacular,” Blaney said in victory lane.

“Feel like we’ve gotten to a great pace and speed the last couple months. It’s just so cool to win here again. Won here seven years ago for my first Cup win, so awesome to be back.”

With only five regular season races remaining, the fight for the final Playoff spots is starting to get seriously hot for those who haven’t taken a win but are in the frame on amassed points.

It was an important top-10 finish (P10) for Bubba Watson as he fights to be post-season eligible for the second year running, moving to within 27 points of the last driver on the good side of the cut – Ross Chastain in 16th.

Chastain represents one of four drivers that occupy the 16 without a win.

The opening stage at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ went to Martin Truex Jr. as several drivers chose to elect for the pits at the death, giving the JBR racer his third stage win of the year.

With Stage 2 also seeing drivers pit in the closing laps, it was Hamlin who stayed out for the cruisey 5+ second stage win, whilst Chastain who’s hanging onto the playoffs had big contact with the wall on lap 53 to retire.

As a handful of cars pitted during Stage 3, Blaney stayed out and was looking strong, surviving a caution restart with 23 to go to power it home ahead of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.

TW Neal

LARSON FINALLY PLANTS ONE ON THE BRICKS

KYLE LARSON has finally broken through for one of the few things in Motorsport he hasn’t done at the top level – that is, plant a big kiss on the famed bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Hendricks Chevrolet driver took out one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel events on Sunday, the Brickyard 400, surviving a dramatic overtime finish to add the IMS victory to his career collection which includes Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600 and Darlington’s Southern 500, now just needing to capture the Daytona 500 to complete the cabinet.

Just eight weeks ago, Larson was racing in the Indy 500 at IMS for a P18 finish, but after leading only eight of the 167 laps, he held off poleman Tyler Reddick, and Penske’s Ryan Blaney on the bell, with the race also ending on a caution courtesy of Ryan Preece’s spin.

“This is just such a prestigious place, such hallowed ground,” said the 2021 NASCAR champion.

“Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our team. I mean, we never gave up at all.

“I think everything has come full circle with what was meant to be, and today was meant to be for us.”

Larson’s win was also the fourth of the season for the 31-year old to put him on top of the regular season table, and it also came 30 years after Hendrick Motorsports team executive Jeff Gordon took out the inaugural stock car race at IMS.

In the first stage of proceedings, it was Denny Hamlin who took the points after cycling into the lead through the green flag stops, holding off Larson in a narrow dash.

Stage 2 then saw Bubba Wallace cash some important points as he fights to qualify for the postseason, staying out under a host of differing strategies to, parrying off Chase Elliott.

After Hamlin remained on track for the break, he inherited the Stage 3 lead,

whilst Truex Jr. suffered a cut tyre early to bring out an early caution.

Then after Johnson and Logano wrecked, Nemechek inherited the lead after a flurry of pits with 46 laps remaining.

And after Truex blew another tyre, Keselowski then hit the front, but with 20 laps remaining, his fuel strategy looked dicey.

When he dove into the pits at the start of the first overtime after Busch wrecked at Turn 3, it put Larson in front, with a multi car wreck then needing a 17 minute red-flag before Larson took his chance for win #4.

After wins at Vegas, Kansas, Sonoma and IMS, Larson leads the way with four races remaining until the playoffs, but first is a two week break over the Summer Olympics, with Virginia’s Richmond Raceway outing on August 11 starting the run home to postseason, with Michigan, Daytona, and Darlington to follow.

TW Neal

INTERNATIONAL

HERTA SNAPS DROUGHT ON HECTIC TORONTO STREETS

ANDRETTI’S COLTON Herta broke a 40-race winless streak on the streets of Toronto on Sunday, leading home a onetwo for the American heavyweight team.

In a season so far dominated by the Penske, Chip Ganassi, and McLaren teams, the #26 Honda led home Kyle Kirkwood by 0.346 seconds with Scott Dixon in tow in a drama laden street stoush on the Exhibition Place strip.

Taking the win from pole, it was effectively a lights-to-finish win for the Californian, leading 81 of the 85 laps, as a relieved Michael Andretti celebrated at the finish line following the five lap dash to the finish.

“We needed this so badly – we’ve been competitive all year but we just haven’t been able to get the final result … It was a big day,” the IndyCar legend said.

The final dash to the line came as a result of Iowa Penske winners Scott McLaughlin and Will Power having a heated moment, as the Aussie forced the Kiwi (who was in P4) into the Turn 5 fence, with the latter then popping up trackside to facetiously clap his teammate as he passed by under caution.

Prior to that however, there was a huge pile-up on lap 73 at Turn 13 which saw Santino Ferrucci spectacularly fly into the catch fencing before ending up on his roof after launching off the static and wrecked Chevrolet of Pato O’Ward.

Pietro Fittipaldi also got some airtime in the incident, with three other machines caught up in what led to a 20 minute red-flag cleanup.

But for Herta, the poleman had too much pace throughout, surviving every restart to get a win that had been a

longtime threat.

“We’ve been knocking on the door to win for so long,” Herta said, referring to his 799-day victory lane famine.

“Forty-one starts without a win is a long time, and it’s been disappointing for us. I think we’re a team that demands perfection … I’m so happy.”

The win also elevated Herta into fourth on the table, knocking the stricken

McLaughlin from that position after his DNF, whilst Power was dropped into P12, but still retains second on the table, with championship leader Alex Palou managing fourth after starting in P18 to extend his lead to 49 points over the Aussie.

There’s now a tense three weeks to go under the bridge before the next outing at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois on August 17, for 260 laps of the 2.01km oval, representing race 13 of the 17-race season.

TW Neal

PENSKE SPEEDS TO IOWA DOUBLE

THE INDYCAR double header to kick start ‘Oval Season’ was taken out by Penske’s antipodean pairing of Scott McLaughlin and Will Power.

On the very quick, loose, and newly paved Iowa Speedway, IndyCar’s new hybrid boost system also featured in an oval round for the first time a week ago..

It was also another first for ‘Scotty Mac.’ as the former NZ Supercars star took out his first ever oval win in the twilight feature, the sixth race win of his career and second for the year. And for Aussie Power, he stormed through the field in Race 2 to claim his second of the year, as well as cementing second in the title race to put a few difficult rounds behind him. With the extra horsepower at hand (equating to three seconds use per lap at 60hp) McLaughlin also took out the qualifying lap record to snag the Race 2 pole, before winning the opener from the front row after overcoming Colton

Herta Early, before holding off Mexican McLaren driver Pato O’Ward and teammate Josef Newgarden.

For his veteran Trans-Tasman teammate, his storming oval win also carried some significance. It was his first win in Iowa in 19 attempts, and his first oval

victory in five years – an important factor if he’s to reel in championship leader Alex Palou who had an uncharacteristic crash in the opener.

In coming from 23rd on the starting grid, Power also moved past Michael Andretti to be the standalone driver on

fourth for all-time wins: 43, with 10 of those coming on ovals.

“I’ve been trying to win this race for years and years, so I’m over the moon,”Power said.

The Aussie got it done over Palou by only 0.391 seconds in the end, as he saved fuel early before taking advantage of a well timed yellow for the #12 to be able to run down Palou after McLaughlin had led early, with the Kiwi taking third.

The race will also be remembered for a huge crash as the chequered flag fell, with Sting Ray Robb clipping Alexander Rossi’s rear left, sending his Chevrolet airborne, followed by an airlift to the hospital where he was said to be “awake, alert and in good condition”.

With the win, Power recessed the gap to Palou to 35 points ahead of the Toronto Street race.

TW Neal

All go on the streets of Toronto – with the race red flagged after a spectacular muilti-car pilup (above). Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Will Power took one of two wins for Penske. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

ANTONELLI SHARPENS SILVER ARROW

THE CHAT around Kimi Antonelli’s future will continue to bounce around the F1 world, as the Mercedes Junior and FIA Formula 2 rookie took his second win of the year at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 17-year old Prema Italian driver put in a late charge in the ninth Feature race of the season, taking advantage of a caution to cut a swathe through the field on fresh Pirelli softs.

The Emilia-Romagna native eventually cruised to a 12.528 second victory over Alpine Academy member Victor Martins, whilst Richard Verschoor took his first visit to an F2 podium this year in third place.

“It was a great race, really tough but at the end we were a bit lucky with the Safety Car, but we managed everything very well,” Antonelli said.

“The pace was really strong, so I think we really deserved it today … really happy to get the second win, and hopefully we can carry on this momentum.”

Estonian VAR driver and chief title challenger Paul Aron kicked off the weekend as the poleman with a 1:30.028 to top Enzo Fittipaldi, with the reverse grid Sprint Race then throwing up a curve-ball with much cooler conditions on hand.

Although it would be Dutchman Richard Verschoor who crossed the line first, it was second place getter Kush Maini who was awarded the win post-race after Verschoor was disqualified in scrutineering, with the plank deemed below the minimum thickness.

That gave Martins P2 over series leader Isack Hadjar, banking him valuable points for the title fight.

Aron suffered from a slow jump in Sunday’s Feature, with Martins taking into the lead early from the third row.

Fittipaldi and Gabriel Bortoleto applied the heat to the Frenchman whilst Antonelli had begun making places from his P7 starting spot.

An early Safety Car had Aron going into the back of Zane Maloney, allowing most of the soft rubber starters to strap the Hards on, with Martins the highest pitter and Antonelli out front and yet to pit – still in the white trim.

Martins was looking the goods and only six seconds off the leading Italian, but a

TENSE TIMES

THE FIGHT for the 2024 FIA Formula 3 title is on a knife’s edge after a mixed weekend racing around the Hungaroring.

Whilst Nikola Tsolov (pictured) took victory for ART, there was plenty of drama behind with none of the top three in the championship scoring points.

Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning and Arvid Lindbald all finished outside the top 10 in the dramatic Feature, while a podium for Leonardo Fornaroli boosted his title chances.

Suddenly only seven points covers the quartet with just two rounds to go.

Australia’s Christian Mansell also can’t be discounted as a consistent weekend featuring a double top five has seen him surge up the table to be only 22 points away from Mini.

Following a dramatic trip to Hungary, the 2024 FIA F3 season now has 11 different winners.

The latest addition was Nikita Bedrin in the Sprint Race which had the first big impact on the championship.

Starting second Bedrin made his move on lap one going around the outside of Dino Beganovic at Turn 2 before

completing the job with the inside line at Turn 2.

The pair kept on tussling until lap 10 when they both ran wide at Turn 2 which allowed Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to snatch second from Beganovic and seal the AIX 1-2.

The race was disrupted halfway through the opening lap when contact between Mary Boya and Matias Zagazeta in the Turn 6-7 chicane sent the Jenzer driver into retirement.

When racing resumed Tsolov made contact with Santiago Ramos, which forced the pair to pit.

The remainder of the race was a DRS train which saw Mini and Lindbald be restricted to 14th and 15th respectively. Mansell had a solid outing and was just 3.4s from the lead in fifth.

The Aussie carried on his momentum into the Feature where he was the biggest mover in the field, rising from eighth to fourth.

This was notable as the likes of Mini and Browning could only finish 12th and 13th having struggled to make any ground from their grid slots.

Safety Car after Cordeel hit the barriers allowed the Prema youngster to pit for softs and re-emerge in fifth position.

On the faster rubber, Antonelli had an imposing 10 lap window to make his charge from a bunched up field, immediately making ground through the corners.

Under the luxury of DRS, he then passed the leading Frenchman with nine minutes remaining, disappearing down the track under watchful eyes of the Silver Arrows squad.

Next up is Spa Francorchamps on July 26-28, with Hadjar holding an 18 point advantage over Aron with five rounds remaining.

TW Neal

F2 STANDINGS AFTER 9 ROUNDS

1: Hadjar 140

2: Aron 122

3: Bortoleto 110 4: Maloney 101 5: Colapinto 96

Lindbald’s race was over and his title hopes took a hit after he clashed with Zagazeta on Lap 21 with the Prema driver beached on the kerb.

Up front it was a wall of ART as Tsolov took control off the line after a tense wheel-to-wheel battle going down to Turn 1 with team-mate Laurens van Hoepen.

The pair ran nose-to-tail from start to finish until the Safety Car-interrupted finish.

However, ART’s celebrations of a 1-2 were short-lived after van Hoepen was

disqualified due to not meeting the minimum weight requirement.

The F3 title fight is on a knife’s edge ahead of Spa this weekend.

Thomas Miles

FIA F3 STANDINGS

1: Gabriele Mini 119 points

2: Luke Browning 115

3: Arvid Lindbald 113

4: Leonardo Fornaroli 112

5: Christian Mansell 97

Matching the hype – Antonelli is getting it together in a car that Nico Rosberg says hasn’t been up to scratch so far. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

PIASTRI’S DAY OF DAYS

STORY: LUIS VASCONCELAS IMAGES: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

OSCAR PIASTRI won the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race he comfortably led from the start, and joined the elite of the Formula 1 drivers, as it was widely antecipated he would, sooner rather than later.

A perfect start opened the doors to a display of controlled pace by the young driver, before a puzzling strategic call from McLaren put Norris in the lead at the start of the final stint and created a situation that was massively uncomfortable for both drivers.

While clearly being told, as soon as lap 49, to “re-establish the order at your convenience”, Norris argued his case for the next 18 laps, trying to keep P1 and throwing his championship position into the discussion. But, in the end, he followed what the team had decided to do and allowed his team mate through at the start of lap 68.

For Piastri it wasn’t the prettiest way to win his first Grand Prix, but he had done a nearly perfect job and it was the team, putting the onus of the right result on Norris’ shoulders, that has to take the blame for nearly spoiling what was, in terms of championship battle, a perfect day for them.

Subdued even in success, Oscar Piastri was a clearly delighted young man when he finally opened the champagne bottle to celebrate his first Grand Prix win:

“This is really the day I dreamed of as a kid … standing on the top step of an F1 podium.”

He then conceded that, “obviously it got a bit complicated at the end, but I put myself in the right position at the start.”

Doing all he could to avoid any polemics, Piastri admitted that things became a bit

nerve wrecking as the laps kept coming down, explaining that “the longer you leave it, the more you get a bit nervous. But it was well executed by the team.”

The young driver insisted that “it was the right thing to do. I put myself in the right position at the start. And with the different strategy we had, yes, my pace probably wasn’t as quick as I would have liked in the last stint, but I was still in the right position to make it happen. So, well executed from the team.”

A LONG TIME COMING

“HE’S BEEN doing a fantastic job ever since he got here, to be honest, but he’s been so consistent, and it was only a matter of time before he got a win, so this is a great day for him. He had amazing pace from the get-go, so really, really happy for him and his family”, said seven times World Champion Lewis Hamilton at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, commenting on Oscar Piastri’s first win.

The Mercedes driver was spot on with his

words, for everyone in the paddock knew the only doubt about the Australian’s first Grand Prix succes was when it was going to become a reality. From last year’s British Grand Prix, when he finally got his hands on the massively upgraded McLaren MCL37, Piastri had been a very consistent front runner, being in contention for the win on a few occasions, but also helping team mate Lando Norris secure the best possible results for the team.

Piastri’s crucial move was made at the start, when, in spite of being on the dirty side of the track, he had a better getaway than Norris and took the inside line going into Turn 1. His case was helped by Max Verstappen making it three wide and insisting on making the corner, going through the tarmac of the run-off area without lifting. It meant that the Dutchman got in between the two McLaren and waited until lap four to allow Norris through, when it was finally clear a penalty was coming his way.

By then the youngster was 3s ahead of

Oscar hung it out a couple of times as he raced to a foursecond lead in the first stint ...

Norris, the gap remaining stable for the first stint, even growing to 4.4s by lap 32, when backmarkers started to become a factor.

A brief off in Turn 11 cost Piastri 2s and, with dirty tyres, he saw Norris get within 1.3s on lap 39, but the Melburnian had more pace on the Hard tyres too and got the gap stabilised around the 2s mark. It was then that an unduly nervous McLaren pitted Norris way ahead of schedule, to cover from an imaginary threat from Hamilton, that had started the last stint with 30 laps to go.

The Mercedes driver was 8.8s behind Norris when he pitted on lap 40 and had gained 3.8s in the first part of his stint, so the real gap was still at a comfortable five seconds when the Brit was called into the pits. Seizing the opportunity, Norris went flat out in the first lap and made sure he’d done enough to be ahead of Piastri if his team-mate would pit immediately.

To avoid having both drivers in close proximity, McLaren delayed the Australian’s final stop for another lap, so Norris was 3.3s

The moment when pole man Norris came to understand that his young team-mate was serious! It was the move which set up the race win.

in front when Piastri returned to the track. One lap later the race leader was told to give the position back but certainly took his time to do it.

That, however, cannot take anything away from Piastri’s merit, the youngster doing a great job in the first two stints to justify his first Formula 1 success, on a day where McLaren overtook Ferrari in the championship, gained 27 points on Red Bull and cut the gap to the Austrian team to 51 points.

With still 11 races to go, it’s game on for a championship that seemed settled after the Miami Grand Prix!

A RELUCTANT BUT GRACIOUS NORRIS

HAVING SPENT 18 long laps trying to convince McLaren to reverse what had been decided even before the start of the race, Lando Norris was quick to accept that “it was the right thing to do”, and taking the blame for “putting myself in that position after another poor start.”

The Brit congratulated his team mate even before Piastri got out of his car and was extremely composed – if, understandably, disappointed – when it came the time to give his views on what happened:

“You’ve got to be selfish in this sport at times; you’ve got to think of yourself – priority number one, is think of yourself. I’m also a team player, so my mind was going pretty crazy at the time. I know what we’ve done in the past between Oscar and myself. He’s helped me plenty of times … I think this is a different situation. This is not someone helping one another. I was put into a position, and we were undoing that position change.”

Norris reinforced that “I was put in this situation and it’s not my fault that I was leading the race in a way. Simply, the team should have just boxed Oscar first and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. I think as a team, maybe we could have done things slightly differently and I’m sure we’ll talk about it.”

Then, without stopping, Norris conceded that “this guy here deserved to win today –he did an amazing job. He got me off the line – and that’s a very special feeling winning your first race. I’ll let him enjoy it. And for us, as a team, to have the win is an incredible weekend for all of us.”

Team Principal Andrea Stella defended the way his team handled the situation, explaining the factors that led to the second car, untypically, getting first call for the final pit stop:

“Because it was so hot, there were two variables that we really wanted to get right. The first one, we didn’t want to pit too early because the tyres were degrading a lot and

we didn’t want to run out of tyres should Verstappen become a problem at the end of the race. And therefore we just wanted to delay the pitstop as much as possible.

“And the second element is that, you can have a problem at the pitstop. So, you need to go safe from a pistop point of view. If you pit only when you have three seconds’s gap, all the pressure goes on the pitcrew. And I don’t want, in a race like today, that the responsibility goes to the pitcrew. I’d rather take the responsibility at the pitwall, secure the P1/P2 and then we manage the situation between the pitwall and the drivers”, said the Italian, before making it clear that, “we talked about the situation and we know how we go about the situation.”

MERCEDES BEATS FERRARI – AGAIN

AFTER BEING trully beaten by McLaren and Max Verstappen in qualifying, Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton, and Ferrari showed much better pace in the race, fighting for best of the rest honors.

That ended up being third place, as Hamilton beat Charles Leclerc by nearly 5s, both benefiting from a day where Red Bull got the strategic calls wrong and Max Verstappen blew a fuse or two.

For the British driver this was the continuation of the good trend that started in Spain, while for Leclerc P4 was the result he hopes will put an end to a terrible period where nothing seemed to be going his way and the frustration was starting to show on his driving and some of his strategic decisions.

With Sainz in sixth place and Russell in P8 the gap between the two teams in the championship remains stable but McLaren is now clear of them both and, on current form, is in another league.

Yuki Tsunoda got the better of Lance Stroll for the last points scoring positions, the Japanese making an unlikely one-stop strategy work to score for the second weekend running, while the Aston Martin driver salvaged one point from a race that promised a lot more for his team after qualifying.

TEENAGER MAX IS BACK!

MAX VERSTAPPEN and Red Bull threw away a comfortable third place with decisions and moves that put them on the back foot, the drivers’ frustration with no longer having the best car, the strategy and on-track incidents showing he hasn’t matured at all in spite of the huge success he’s enjoyed in the last three years.

Punching the steering wheel as soon as he ended his qualifying lap after being beaten by the two McLaren was the first sign Verstappen was quite nervous this weekend, the Dutchman repeating incessantly “the upgrade works but it’s not enough; McLaren has the quicker car and we have to do better.”

A good start allowed him to go three-wide with the two McLarens but being on the outside his position was hopeless. Not for Verstappen, of course, who braked super late, knowing he could use the tarmac on the runoff area to keep the momentum, and that allowed him to leapfrog Norris.

He was, then, upset that the team told him to give back the position to avoid a penalty, complaining that, “so, you can drive people off the track now…” and his mood only continued to get darker as the race went by.

With no pace to match the McLaren, Verstappen was already 8s behind Piastri by lap 18 and was then undercut by Hamilton, who pitted five laps before him, so the radio communication with race engineer Giampiero Lambiase got immediately heated.

To make matters worse, Leclerc undercut the World Champion in the second stop, so Verstappen’s response was to go flat out on his out lap, leading to an ironic comment from his engineer, to which he reacted badly. His very edited reply was that the team had made terrible calls that put him in a bad position, so he was taking matters into his own hands to repair the damage Red Bull had done …

Then came yet another clash with Hamilton, a massive lunge from too far back ending in contact entering Turn 1, the RB20 flying high. It’s a testament to the car’s strenght that Verstappen could finish the race in fifth place, but still furious with everyone and everything:

“We didn’t have the pace to fight McLaren today but then I think we could still have had a P3. But the wrong strategy calls put me on the back foot, where I constantly had to fight people, try to overtake, but it didn’t work.”

On his heated exchanges with Lambiase, Verstappen explained that “I was just annoyed with today. And maybe the team at the time didn’t realise what they did wrong or they maybe didn’t see it was so severe. But, of course, in the car you have also different feelings. I already said yesterday that maybe some people are not on the same wavelength – it’s a severe as this. I knew of course it was already going to be a difficult race and beating McLaren would be tough. But then you at least need to get a P3 over the line and even that was difficult.”

He was also upset with his umpteenth incident with Hamilton, saying that “I got a lot of shit thrown at me in Austria, where people say I’m moving on the braking, blah blah blah. I’m positioning my car in the initial movement and then I keep it straight.

“But today, under braking, he just kept turning to the right. And that’s why I also locked up, because I was of course going for the move, but I see the car on the outside just keeps coming at me. And otherwise, we would have crashed already before, but I had to stop the car and that’s why I had to lock up.”

And he concluded on an even angrier note, saying that “I see a lot of comments as well from people who say you are too frustrated, you went too far in your comments, that you disrespect the team. They can all fuck off!”

Time for a cold shower, I guess…

It’s not so easy when you don’t have the clearly fastest car is it Max! An angry defending champ lands after climbing over Hamilton following his banzai, lock-up dive (far right).

Leclerc put in a strong drive for fourth.

Hamilton locks a front – he put up a huge fight during his battle with Verstappen.

1994 - BROCK BRINGS F1 TECH TO BATHURST, DICK CLAIMS EVENTUAL WIN ‘IMPOSSIBLE’

THE HOLDEN RACING Team brought Formula One technology to Australian Touring Car racing, building a Commodore Peter Brock said was his “best chance since 1987” of winning Bathurst.

From its Kevlar fuel-cell to a computerdesigned roll cage, the new factorybacked race car oozed technology.

According to HRT engineer Jeff Grech, job number one was to throw away the old roll cage and apply Computer Aided Design techniques. The result, said Grech, was a cage made from all-new materials, bringing a new relationship between cage mounting and the car’s existing suspension pick-up points.

It took 68 hours of computer time for HRT to developed the nine-point cage.

Such attention to detail apparently paid dividends, with the car tipping the scales below the 1300 kg weight limit.

The project was conceived as a complete package, rather than the sum of its parts. It was helped by input from former Arrows Formula One team member Tony Fredriksen. He had been instrumental in drawing all the pieces of the puzzle together for a cohesive end result.

1974

THERE WAS a big shock in Ford-land as Howard Marsden resigned from Ford Motor Company of Australia in what was described as a “sensational move.”

Marsden’s resignation coincided with the news that the company had dropped any idea of releasing special versions of the Ford Capri RS 3.1. Meanwhile in Holden-land, Brian Sampson was revealed as Peter Brock’s new co-driver for the 1974 Australian Manufacturers Championship.

It was the biggest opportunity of Sampson’s career at that point, having previously focused on chasing class honours in smaller capacity cars.

On the track, Bob Muir ended Leo Geoghegan’s domination of Formula 2 with a “sensational display of driving” at Amaroo.

Grech played down the Formula One input, saying the whole team – rather than one individual – had given its best. But outsiders are quick to name Fredriksen as the difference this time around.

FORD TEAMS were claimed to be as much as one second per lap off the pace at Bathurst that year, due to a lack of rear end downforce.

Shell FAI Falcon drivers Dick Johnson and John Bowe claimed the Commodores had a decided advantage on super-fast corners, such as the entry to Caltex Chase.

“The problem is that the faster the Falcon goes, the less air it gets to its rear wing,” said Johnson.

“The Commodore gets cleaner air. If you look at the bootline of the Falcon, it’s lower than the Commodore – the Commodore wing sticks up 60-70 mm higher.

“They will put on a second per lap through there (The Chase).”

Despite these early fears, Johnson and Bowe ended up winning the 1994 Bathurst 1000 and proved their own predictions wrong

1984

2004

DESPITE EVENTUALLY going on to score a famous Bathurst 1-2, the Holden Dealer Team did not have a complete co-driver roster on the eve of the endurance series.

Whilst the iconic combination of Peter Brock and Larry Perkins was locked in to chase a hat-trick of Great Race glories, who would be John Harvey’s partner was the big mystery. The rumours suggested David Parsons was the man, fuelled by Peter Janson suggesting his former co-driver had been “poached” – Parsons ended up driving the #25.

It was all happening at Lakeside, which hosted a double-header featuring the Australian Sports Car Championship and F1 Gold Star series.

But both events were marred by infringements on the starting line with many drivers hit with 1minute penalties for creeping.

ONE OF the biggest underdog victories in V8 Supercars occurred two decades ago when Cameron McConville snatched victory from Rick Kelly with a last-lap pass.

The 2004 standalone race at Winton went down to the wire as McConville pounced on a mistake from Kelly in the final two corners of the 300km race.

But the famous win was not without controversy as the fired up Kmart driver alleged his GRM rival passed under yellow flags. But McConville was certain that, despite yellows for Brad Jones at Turn 10, greens were waved at Turn 11. It was always going to be a dramatic race after rain interrupted the Shootout, which saw Team Kiwi’s Craig Baird take pole position.

Off the track there were stronger signs than ever that Craig Lowndes was looking for a way out of FPR, while DJR was busy denying rumours of a shock switch to Holden.

2014

DANIEL RICCIARDO was back in victory lane, celebrating his second and arguably his most thrilling of wins, at the Hungaroring.

On a wild day where Mercedes stars Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, plus Sebastian Vettel made uncharacteristic mistakes in wet weather, Ricciardo rose to the occasion.

The Aussie passed Hamilton around the outside and Alonso in the thrilling final laps to take a sensational win that “felt real” for the Honey Badger.

Speculation started to swell that Marcos Ambrose was considering ending his NASCAR career, leaving the US and returning home.

But Ambrose was firm in saying “I am not even thinking about it to be honest. I am really focused on making the Chase.”

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