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SCOTTY PUMPED FOR INDY 500 Supercars champion tells MARK FOGARTY why he is feeling so good about his prospects for ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ HIGH-FLYING ROOKIE Scott McLaughlin is confident of another standout performance in next week’s 105th Indianapolis 500.

He is so happy with his form so far that he doesn’t rule out contending for victory in the IndyCar classic – arguably the world’s biggest motor race.

McLaughlin declared he was ready and raring for the Indy 500 after finishing a solid eighth in last weekend’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the famous Brickyard’s road course.

“We’re getting there in leaps and bounds, and I think we’ll be good come the 500,” the reigning triple Supercars champion told Auto Action. “I feel like we’re really building and really excited for what’s ahead now.”

In his maiden IndyCar season with Team Penske, McLaughlin has scored three top 10s in four races, highlighted by a close second to childhood hero and compatriot Scott Dixon at Texas Motor Speedway early this month.

He is eighth in NTT IndyCar Series points and the leading rookie.

His front-running form on the high-

banked 1.5-mile (2.4 km) TMS oval gives him confidence he’ll be competitive on the rectangular 2.5-mile (4 km) Indy superspeedway.

“It was nice to have been there or thereabouts in Texas,” he said. “I’m going to be in a fast car, I know that, and I have a great team and I think we’re going to be pretty decent [in the Indy 500].

“It’s just a matter of learning and getting through the week of practice without too many mistakes and getting a solid read of the race car and the qualifying car, and just building up to it bit by bit.

“A solid goal for us would be to qualify up the front – at least in that top 12 bracket or so – and then in the race, it’s all going to be all new to me. There’ll be a feel factor, but I think if we bide our time and dot our i’s and cross our t’s, we’ll be pretty strong.

“I truly believe if we do the right things, I can’t see us not being up there and I’m excited for that.”

McLaughlin goes into the Indy 500 with the best support and equipment possible.

Four-time winner Rick Mears is his oval racing coach and Team Penske is the most successful squad in Indy 500 history, winning a record 18 times – most recently in 2019 with Simon Pagenaud.

Scotty’s superspeedway spec Dallara/ Chevrolet is wearing the team’s famous #3 and will contest the 500 in the iconic Pennzoil ‘Yellow Submarine’ livery.

“To be part of all that is pretty special,” he said. “I think we’re going to be quick.”

The Mooresville, North Carolina-based, Australian-raised Kiwi is cheekily looking ahead to swigging the Indy 500 winner’s traditional celebration drink.

“Hopefully, I’ll have a bottle of milk in my hand at the end of the race,” he quipped. “You have to put in your milk preference for if you win and I’ve gone for whole milk, so hopefully I’ll be drinking the full-fat stuff in Victory Lane.”

McLaughlin likened being in contention at the 500 to vying for victory in the Bathurst 1000, noting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – with four distinct corners – is more like a road course than an oval despite

speeds of up to 240 mph (386 km/h).

“It’s a driver track,” he said. “You really have to wheel the car around it. You can feel everything around you, whereas at Texas you’re sort of holding onto the thing.

“I felt really good at the open test [last month], so if we can make some gains and be there or thereabouts, I think we’ll be good.

“It’s going to be like Bathurst. You buy your ticket to that last stint and I think we can be right there.”

The 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for early Monday morning, May 31, AEST. Practice began early Wednesday this week, with qualifying for the 33 grid positions this weekend.

McLaughlin is staying in a motorhome at the track, which will host a capacity limited crowd of more than 100,000 – the largest sporting event attendance in the COVID-19 era – on race day.

He is relaxing by playing golf at the Brickyard Crossing course, which has holes inside and outside the track. .

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MOFFAT MUSTANG REBORN James Moffat to make his Trans Am debut in familiar colours

By BRUCE NEWTON JAMES MOFFAT will pay tribute to his legendary father Allan when he joins the National Trans Am Series at Morgan Park in Queensland next month, racing a red Ford Mustang with the black number 9 on the door.

Moffat will drive the brand new TA2 Mustang in the increasingly popular rear-wheel drive V8 class as a one-off for Garry Rogers Motorsport, but is hopeful of continuing on from there, starting with the Trans Am Series finale at Sandown in October.

It was at the same Melbourne track back in May 1969 that Allan Moffat debuted the Kar Kraft-built Ford Mustang Boss 302 Trans-Am that would go on to become one of the most famous cars in Australian motorsport history.

While he never won the Australian Touring Car Championship p in the car, Moffat took 101 01 race victories from 156 starts ts before the Mustang was retired.

“Growing up p as a kid that was a car I always looked d att and d thought th ht was a pretty special bit of kit,” James Moffat told Auto Action.

“There’s obviously a lot of history surrounding that car with what Dad did in it, so it will be special to roll out in colours similar to that.

“And if we are going to run the colours then we have to run the right number ...

“That will be cool in its own right …

I’m grateful to be able to do that and grateful for the opportunity.”

Adding Moffat to Trans Am further emphasises how it is becoming b i a home h for famous Aussie racing names.

Second generation racers Aaron (son of Glenn) Seton, Ben (son of Allan) Grice and Nash (son of Paul) Morris are already starring in the category.

They mix it up with the likes of Dream Racing’s Nathan Herne, former Supercars and NASCAR racer Owen Kelly – who has all-time great Marcos Ambrose as his crew chief – and Toyota 86 series graduates Edan Thornburrow and Tim Brook.

Potentially adding further secondgeneration ti ttalent l t tto th the grid id att M Morgan Park is Jack (son of Larry) Perkins, who was scheduled to test a GRM Chevrolet Camaro Trans Am alongside Moffat at Winton on Wednesday (May 19).

Emerging Supercars star Brodie Kostecki is another driver keen on a Trans Am drive.

“It seems to be pretty fun, they definitely race hard and it’s good to watch, so it’s definitely something I want to have a go at,” he told AA. Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bright

James Moffat and Barry Rogers pose with their newly-delivered Mustang – all it now needs is a red wrap ...

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Trans Am: The future

When old is new again. James Moffat’s Trans Am Mustang (Nick Moss Design, above) will pay homage to the iconic car that his father rolled out at Sandown 52 years ago (below).

was seen cruising the pits at Sydney Motorsport M t t Park P k and d has h confirmed fi dh he has a so-far unformed interest in the category.

Supercars refugee Lee Holdsworth has also been mentioned as a future Trans Am driver. His brother Brett already races in the category.

“Hopefully we’ll be good enough to get in the mix [with the front-runners] and give them something to scratch their head about at the end of each day,” Moffat told AA. Moffat, 36, whose V8 experience has been limited to co-driving for Tickford Racing since his full-time Supercars career ended in 2017, says he is looking forward to getting behind the wheel of a Trans Am. “They look exciting to drive and I am lucky to be presented the opportunity to drive one. So I am looking forward to it and I am sure it will be great fun,” Moffat said.

“I am keen to see what it’s all about.

We’ve got this car at work now so I’ve been running my eyes over it, now I want to see what it’s like to drive.

“I am sure it will be fun to drive. If there is an opportunity to continue on [beyond Morgan Park] I’m sure I’d be ticking the yes box, but we’ll make a call on that if and when it happens.”

Adding a challenge, he will switch between his regular GRM front-wheel drive Renault Megane TCR and the

Mustang at Morgan Park.

“I have given it some thought, but it’s one of those things you can’t think too much about until you actually do it,” Moffat said of the challenge.

“I’ll just play that as it comes.”

Like his Renault TCR entry, Moffat’s Mustang will race with backing from Australian automotive marketplace LMCT+.

It will give away a road-going replica of the Trans Am racer as a promotion.

Ambrose to continue in Trans Am MARCOS Ambrose appears certain to continue his commitment to Australian Trans Am racing in 2022.

The two-time Supercars champions and successful NASCAR racer is acting as crew chief this year for fellow Tasmanian Owen Kelly, who is driving a Garry Rogers Motorsport Ford Mustang backed by Fujitsu.

Owen and Ambrose initially committed only to Race Tasmania in January, but then extended to the Phillip Island and Bathurst rounds before deciding they’d complete the season.

Kelly, who is fifth in the series, says there is no question they will return in 2022. It just depends on what form their commitment will take.

“We have been throwing around ideas on how we want to go about

it and how we want to do it and what is the best way to do it and keeping it all within an affordable budget,” said Kelly.

‘We have not decided on anything but we have definitely been talking about how to go forward.”

Separately GRM boss and ARG investor Barry Rogers has confirmed discussions with Ambrose about jointly backing young talent in the category in 2022.

“He has been absolutely tremendous for the category,” said Rogers.

“He has done all sorts of things to help teams out and he is very much appreciated within the Trans Am paddock.

“He likes to nurture young drives, so between us we might bring through a young driver next year. That could happen.”

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T INCREASING number of THE hhigh quality drivers joining Trans Am underlines its appeal as a A cclass where the cars are cheap tto buy and race and are fast and ffun to drive.

While the emphasis was on tthe international TCR Series tturbocharged hot hatches when the Australian Racing w Group (ARG) was formed in G 2018, the US series for two2 ddoor Mustangs, Camaros and Dodge Challengers has proved D iincreasingly successful and ppopular.

Trans Am TA2 cars cost about $150,000-$170,000 new and $ tthe control GM crate engines aabout $18,000 for two seasons rrunning. The cheap cost of the rracing has definitely prompted ccomparison with Supercars within the Australian motor w rracing community, which is watching on as Australia’s w premier tin-top category negotiates with some difficulty the development of its Gen3 car.

It’s been noted that Supercars appears destined to deliver a Mustang and Camaro marginally faster than the Trans Am cars at a substantially higher purchase and running cost.

“You could argue Trans Am appears like Gen3 at less than a third of the cost,” said ARG boss Matt Braid. “I want to make it clear that [comparison is] not our intention, but if it is perceived that way and develops that way, it shows that’s what the stakeholders in Australian motorsport are seeking.”

Adds leading Trans Am racer Owen Kelly: “On paper they are the only category in the country that makes sense. They are cheap to buy, cheap to run, the tyres are cheap and they are on TV. “All of that means you can go out and find sponsorship because you don’t need $1million. So as a business case, it stacks up.”

But category newcomer James Moffat cautioned against making the Supercars comparison.

“I think people just need to settle down.

“It doesn’t need to be compared with Supercars. I’d just encourage people to enjoy the product for what it is.”

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GEN3 NOW AIMED AT 2022½

By MARK FOGARTY

SUPERCARS TEAMS have agreed to a phased introduction of Gen3 next year if necessary.

The new Camaro and Mustang racers could be held back until well into the 2022 season if design and development delays continue.

Another impediment is Ford’s reluctance to back a mid-term change just months before introducing a new-look Mustang road car for 2023.

Desperate to avoid a call-off until 2023, Auto Action has learned that Supercars has offered teams a compromise changeover during next season to allow them more time to prepare.

Meeting in Sydney last week, team owners were briefed by Supercars supremo Sean Seamer on Gen3’s progress following growing complaints of a lack of information.

The summit was attended by almost all team bosses, either in person or via video conference.

Amid strict secrecy, it is understood all but a few team owners were at the gathering.

Remote attendees are believed to have included Walkinshaw Andretti United co-owner

Ryan Walkinshaw, who is in hotel quarantine in Sydney.

Team 18 chief Charlie Schwerklolt couldn’t participate because of a pre-existing commitment at the Melbourne headquarters of his Waverley Forklifts empire.

Team owners were told not to divulge the content of the discussions to the media as Supercars continues to try to control the Gen3 narrative.

Inevitably, there have been leaks because of dissatisfaction with the proposed timeline.

Supercars is still pushing for Gen3 from the start of next season at the revived Newcastle 500 in late February, but has now allowed that sufficient cars may not be ready in time.

Its brief statement following the May 11 summit left room for a re-evaluation: “Supercars met today to discuss the implementation timetable for the Gen3 Supercar, which has been subject to significant speculation recently,” a spokesperson said. “The outcome of the session was to continue working towards a 2022 implementation and we will continue regular reviews in the coming months.”

Teams want to avoid a rushed build over the

summer, which will only increase the already mounting costs.

According to informed sources, Seamer conceded the tight timing and offered the option of a delayed in-season introduction.

How that would be managed was not explained.

“We were told it could happen sometime into next season if it’s not ready at the start,” a team owner said. “There was an acknowledgement that they want to do it properly, but Sean ruled out delaying Gen3 till 2023.

“He is adamant it has to go ahead sometime next year.”

While team owners agreed to work towards 2022, most still believe putting off Gen3 till ’23 was the most sensible and most cost-effective plan.

They doubt the aim of halving the cost of each car to $350,000 will be achieved, despite the introduction of new, supposedly cheaper, ‘cratebased’ V8 engines.

There is also the on-going debate about whether to adopt electronic paddle gear shifting.

As revealed by AA ahead of the ‘crisis meeting’, the teams have received CAD drawings and

specifications for the basic Gen3 chassis.

Also exposed was that if bought in kit form, the tubular steel frame will cost close to $55,000 ($49,250 plus GST) .

That is a saving of up to $15,000 on the current chassis – although as one team owner pointed out, after the initial investment, the annual saving will be negligible if overall costs aren’t contained.

Several team owners fear the new engines, electronic upgrades and new production-shape composite body panels will send initial costs soaring.

There is also intelligence that Ford is not willing to invest in development of a new Supercars Mustang until the Gen3 change is finalised.

A new road-going Mustang – code-named S650 – is due in ’23 and Ford wants an assurance the existing shape will be good for all of next year before committing.

Otherwise, it is threatening to lock in the existing design for 2022 – or sit out the season if forced to run an interim partial season Gen3 version.

Ideally, amid all the delays and confusion, Ford wants Gen3 postponed to ’23 so its new racer looks like the next-gen Mustang road car.

so far away from where I see my future trajectory.”

Murphy said there was no deal as yet done to drive at Bathurst as far as he was aware.

“When I last spoke to him he was going off to try and put a plan around team and car and all this stuff and I was still shaking my head in disbelief.

“I am sort-of open to it but I am still questioning my sanity in relation to it.

“If I do it I am not going to be able to offer a performance that is going to be in competition with full-timers and young guns

that are out there to be superstars.

“If this happens you are doing it for completely different reasons; you are doing it for entertainment, hopefully for a lot of fun, and without that level of stress around trying to achieve a result in the biggest race of the season.”

The proposed Murphy/Stanaway wildcard has already garnered public support with 2200 followers for a facebook page promoting the pairing.

Whether Murphy races in the 1000 or not, he will be at the race as part of the Supercars TV commentary team. BN

MURPHY WAITS ON BATHURST WILDCARD FOUR-TIME Bathurst 10000 winner Greg Murphy is ambivalent about a racing return to Mount Panorama in a potential wildcard entry organised and backed by Telco tycoon Peter Adderton.

The Boost boss floated the idea of a wildcard for Murphy and fellow Kiwi Richie Stanaway in the wake of the announcement of the Russell Ingall/Broc Feeney Bathurst entry for Triple Eight with sponsorship from Supercheap Auto.

It is understood multiple teams have signalled their interest in running the wildcard with Erebus Motorsport thought to be the current favourite to run a third Holden Commodore ZB. Intriguingly, AA has learned Adderton had approached DJR to run a Mustang, but after some consideration the proposal was rejected.

Murphy told Auto Action that both he and Stanaway had discussed the wildcard with Adderton and had left it in his hands to come back with a proposal.

“I have not spoken to Pete this week and I am not chasing him,” Murphy said

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Murphy, 48, retired from racing at the end of the 2014 season after a 14-year full-time Australian Supercars/touring car career.

Stanaway, only 29, called it quits in 2019 after a troubled single season with Garry Rogers Motorsport ended a four-year run in Supercars, highlighted by his Sandown 500 win with Cam Waters for Tickford Racing in 2017.

Before returning to Australia to race Supercars, he had driven sports cars and GP2 openwheelers in Europe and at one point seemed potentially destined for Formula 1.

Murphy said he was shocked when Adderton first floated the wildcard idea.

“Isn’t he entertaining,” Murphy said of Adderton, whom he has known since they first met in 1994. “He has been using his style and he’s been using every tool in his toolbox to convince me to have a crack [at Bathurst] and I am struggling to get my head round it to be honest.

“I am not pining for it, I am not missing it.

It’s not on list of to-dos at all.

“The concept he has thrown out there is

COMMODORE SPEED FLAGGED BY PARITY TEST Holden exceeds limit set by automated Supercars process three times in 2021

By BRUCE NEWTON THE TESTING model applied by Supercars has flagged a speed advantage outside the technical parity limits for the Holden Commodore ZB over the Ford Mustang in three races this year.

Auto Action understands one of those instances has been discarded because it occurred in a wet race at Sandown, but the other two were in dry races at Bathurst and Sandown when Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen was on his dominant run of victories.

The flags had gone up before Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters’ parity plea in Tasmania, which at the time was batted away by rivals and Supercars as an emotional outburst from a driver frustrated at being unable to turn pole qualifying single-lap speed into race wins.

But when he made his statement Waters was clearly aware – without spelling it out – that the

parity model was signalling a potential technical parity imbalance.

One positive spin-off for race fans is Waters’ comments have warmed-up the rivalry between him and van Gisbergen, which adds spice to their on-track encounters.

Auto Action understands Supercars monitors comparative performance between the fastest six Commodores and Mustangs in all races. A parity breach is flagged automatically when a selection of cars from one brand or the other has a pre-defined lap time advantage.

An imbalance needs to occur at least five times in a row or five times over eight races to prompt investigation. That threshold has not been reached.

The Supercars Commission can order a parity review at the recommendation of the head of motorsport Adrian Burgess at any time during

the season. That may then lead to a parity adjustment.

News of the Commodore triggering the parity model has emerged publicly after each of the three Ford teams won a race at the recent Tailem Bend Supercars championship event, dulling parity chat for the moment.

It was the first time a Mustang had won a race since Waters scored for Tickford Racing at the same venue in September 2020.

At both The Bend and Symmons Plains, the Mustang was the faster car according to the technical parity model, although without triggering a performance discrepancy.

Ford Supercars teams are convinced the technical parity aero adjustment during VCAT testing 2019/20, in which the Mustang’s underbody downforce was reduced, has handed the Commodore a performance

advantage in certain circumstances.

They argue the longer flat floor negatively impacts braking and corner turn-in grip, which produces understeer and overheats the front tyres.

The counter argument to that is the accumulated performance of the Mustang has been impacted in 2021 by the wholesale changes at DJR, which had both its drivers depart in the off-season including triple Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin. New drivers Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison have taken a couple of events to get up to speed.

Holden teams supplied Chevrolet engines prepared by supplier KRE, including Triple Eight, have also been operating at a slight 5hp power disadvantage since Bathurst last October. They will be upgrade with a new rocker from the Winton Supercars round.

ANDRE ON T8 HIT LIST?

By MARK FOGARTY WITH TOP picks Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert all but ruling themselves out of contention, established potential stars are moving into contention to replace Jamie Whincup at Triple Eight next year.

While new T8 protégé Broc Feeney and star Erebus rookie Brodie Kostecki are in the mix, Nick Percat and Andre Heimgartner could also be considered.

LE BROCQ UNDER PRESSURE TICKFORD RACING is hoping the super-soft Dunlop tyres being used at the Winton Supercars championship round will help its second-year driver Jack Le Brocq improve his qualifying and results.

The 28-year old Truck Assist Ford Mustang driver’s 2021 has steadily deteriorated since his sixth place in the opening 250km race at Bathurst in February.

Not helped by third degree burns suffered to his right foot at Mount Panorama, he now sits 16th in the Supercars championship with a 14.8 qualifying average and 14.5 finishing average.

The struggles he has endured were thrown into sharp relief at Tailem Bend’s latest championship round. On a weekend where Cam Waters won the team’s first race of 2021, Le Brocq went 22-17-9 in qualifying and 10-12-22 in the races to put him at the tail-end of the Tickford

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Racing runners, including wildcard entrant Thomas Randle.

Randle is banging the door down for a full-time ride in the championship in 2022.

As this is the last year of his current deal and he is struggling for results Le Brocq is the driver at Tickford most vulnerable to losing his seat to him.

Of course, Tickford is also considering an expansion back to four cars in 2022 and, if that happens, the pressure may come off Le Brocq, who brings significant backing to the team.

Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards said both the team and Le Brocq were conscious of the pressure mounting on him as the year progresses.

“We are not there just to make up the numbers – we both need to perform for our own reasons, so we are certainly conscious of it,” Edwards said.

“There is one way to fix it and that’s to perform, so that’s what we are all

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actively trying to do.”

“We are not giving up, we have made an investment in Jack and the signs are still there. He has demonstrated he can race at the front – we just have to get him qualifying better.

“I think you will see a pretty quick turnaround if we can get some qualifying speed out of the car.”

And that’s where the super-soft Dunlops come in. Edwards’ hope is the extra grip will boost Le Brocq’s qualifying result and confidence and lead to a move up the grid that will be sustained when the championship reverts to the usual soft and hard tyres.

“When you think about it, he’s struggling for grip in qualifying, so I don’t think he’s going to be struggling for grip on super-soft tyres,” said Edwards “He just can’t feel the grip, so we’ll put super-soft tyres on for him and that will give him some grip!” BN

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Percat has been a winner with HRT, LDM and BJR, and with a better attitude added to his experience and speed, could be an outsider to partner Shane van Gisbergen.

More likely to be in T8’s sights if experience is a prerequisite is KGR’s quiet star Heimgartner, who scored his first race win at The Bend. The Melbourne-based Kiwi has shown flashes of brilliance amid the team’s inconsistency with Mustangs since last year.

Heimgartner is out of contract at the end of the season and despite wanting to stay with KGR, admits he is in the driver market for next year and beyond.

Managed by driver agent John Ruggiero, who also represents so-far-underperforming KGR star recruit David Reynolds, Heimgartner is open to overtures.

“Well, I’d love to stay with this team, but you’d be silly not to put your ear to the ground and see what’s moving around,” he said in an exclusive extended interview with Auto Action. “But I think with what’s happening in this team, there’s not necessarily a strong case to move somewhere else.

“So my preference, if I had to choose right now, would be to stay here, but I’m not going to be stupid. I don’t want to be left without a seat, so you have to be smart about it as well.”

He would consider an approach by Triple Eight, the uncontested top team in Supercars.

“You’re not going to snub them,” Heimgartner said. “You’re going to hear what they say. You have to find out what’s out there and that’s my manager’s job.

“If he wasn’t doing that, then I’d be paying him for nothing.”

He indicated Ruggiero is in talks with KGR boss Todd Kelly to stay at the revitalised Braeside squad.

For all of Heimgartner’s thoughts on his future, see pages 22-25

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MARK WINTERBOTTOM completed his 500th consecutive Supercars race at The Bend Motorsport Park. The veteran is the first driver to achieve this milestone, after starting his top-flite career at Larkham Motorsport in 2004. Winning the Bathurst 1000 in 2013 and the Supercars Championship in 2015 with Tickford Racing, ‘Frosty’ transitioned to Holden by joining Charlie Schwerkolt’s team in 2019. He finished 18th in his 500th race. HM

OTHER MILESTONES reached at the Supercars round at The Bend Motorsport Park included Jack Smith’s 50th race, Todd Hazelwood 50th round, while Anton De Pasquale achieved Ford’s 400th Australian touring car win. It also marked the first victory for De Pasquale as a Dick Johnson Racing driver, joining the likes of team founder Dick Johnson, 1995 ATCC winner John Bowe, touring car star Paul Radisich and Steve Johnson. HM

A KEY part of the fan experience returned to the Supercars Championship at The Bend Motorsport Park in the form of driver signing sessions. It is the first time since last year’s Adelaide 500 that one was organised with the large crowd at The Bend taking full advantage of the opportunity to meet the stars. DM

SUPER2 WILL follow Supercars lead in placing driver’s names on the windscreen. It was implemented in the top-tier for the first-time this year as an interim measure ahead of next year’s introduction of Gen3, which will feature an LED panel instead. The first-time this will occur is at Super2’s next round at Winton on May 28-29.

COOLDRIVE AUTO Parts has expanded its motorsport interests by announcing a partnership with Racer Industries. From July 1, all Racer Industries’ products will be available to CoolDrive’s trade customers online, with the automotive parts distributor set to eventually take the business into its fold. John Blanchard, CEO of CoolDrive Auto Parts is excited by the announcement and seeing the growth of the brand. DM

8 AutoAction

WALKINSHAW IS BACK WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw is back after a long COVID-19 absence.

Monaco-based Walkinshaw will be out of hotel quarantine in time for next week’s Winton SuperSprint.

WAU is in a Chaz Mostert-led revival, contending for race wins.

Walkinshaw finally received approval to return to Australia early this month, quarantining at a Sydney hotel for the mandated two weeks.

He got back on May 7 and will be cleared on Friday (May

21), when he can return to Melbourne.

It is understood he participated in last week’s Gen3 ‘crisis meeting’ of team owners by video link from his Sydney hotel.

He runs his family-owned automotive group, which converts Chevrolet and RAM pick-ups to right hand drive, and WAU, which is co-owned by McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown and IndyCar legend Michael Andretti.

Walkinshaw has transformed the former Holden-based HSV business and masterminded the slow recovery of the former

Holden Racing Team.

Under local team principal Bruce Stewart, WAU has returned as a front-runner with Mostert and a bolstered engineering team under Carl Faux.

While in hotel isolation, Walkinshaw has been running his businesses by phone and video calls.

He will be at Winton from May 28-30 to see how WAU and Mostert can capitalise on their front-running form.

He will also no doubt have further talks with Mostert about

staying next year and beyond despite strong interest from Triple Eight as a replacement for retiring Jamie Whincup.

The betting is that Mostert will re-sign with WAU for at least two years to complete his mission to lead the Clayton squad back to consistent glory, including a championship.

Walkinshaw will stay here for several months, possibly through the remainder of the Supercars championship, scheduled to finish at the December 3-5 Gold Coast 500.

Mark Fogarty

DUNLOP SET FOR GEN3 TESTS

By MARK FOGARTY SUPERCARS CONTROL tyre supplier Dunlop will have a range of rubber to test for Gen3.

A shipment of test tyres for the initial Gen3 prototype trials is due to arrive late this month.

Auto Action has learned there will be a mix of the existing hard, soft and super-soft compounds, plus variants including a new wet-weather version.

Supercars is looking to stick with the current range of Japanese-made tyres, but they need to be tested to ensure they’re still suitable.

Dunlop technicians expect they will be, despite the Gen3 Camaro and Mustang designs aimed at being slightly lighter with much less aerodynamic downforce.

A new wet-weather compound is the most likely candidate for next year – if Gen3 goes ahead as planned.

There are still strong doubts that the change will happen before 2023.

As part of Gen3, Supercars is switching to a new control wheel,

but the rim size will stay at 18 inches diameter and 11 inches width.

The only change is that the wheels have a different offset to accommodate the new cars’ wider track.

Dunlop will have a separate supply of tyres available for testing of the Gen3 Camaro and Mustang prototypes, due to begin at Queensland Raceway by the end of next month or early July.

The tyre giant wants to do

development of its Supercars rubber in league with the Gen3 testing to provide an improved range of casings and compounds.

As Dunlop gets ready to prepare for Gen3, it is set to introduce the new super-soft tyre at the Winton SuperSprint at the end of the month.

The stickier third option is being introduced to try to improve the racing at low-degradation tracks.

As well as Winton, the super-

softs will be used at Darwin’s Hidden Valley next month.

The new compound will be the only choice at Winton, with teams receiving 36 tyres per car (9 sets!) – up from the normal SuperSprint allocation of 28.

The extra two sets means teams will be able to ‘burn’ four sets of the new tyres in practice as they evaluate the new rubber at the May 28-30 event, leaving them with the regulated five sets for qualifying and racing.

KOSTECKI “AMUSED”

BY T8 DRIVE LINKS ROOKIE SUPERCARS star Brodie Kostecki says he is amused by media reports putting him on the shortlist to replace retiring Jamie Whincup at Triple Eight in 2022.

The Western Australian has a two year deal with Erebus Motorsport and made it clear to Auto Action that his plan is to honour it.

“I find that quite amusing,” Kostecki said of the media speculation. “Unfortunately it’s the way the world works.

“I don’t really worry too much about that stuff; I worry more about the task ahead and that’s driving at Erebus and trying to win races.”

Kostecki’s joins Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters in playing down his interest in one of the best drives in the Supercars championship.

Those still being linked to the seat in the media include T8 Super2, GT and Bathurst wildcard driver Broc Feeney, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert and Kelly Grove Racing’s Andre Heimgartner.

Kostecki has been an instant success in Supercars, finishing second on a wet track at Sandown in only his fifth start as a full-time member of the grid.

The Boost Holden Commodore ZB driver is 10th in the driver’s championship ahead of all other first- and second-year rookies including Erebus team-mate Will Brown, who lies 14th, and his cousin Jake Kostecki, who is 19th.

Among the seven new driver-car combinations running full-time in the

championship in 2021, only DJR’s Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison are ahead of him on the poinstscore.

Yet Kostecki makes it clear this performance – which has garnered widespread praise - is not acceptable to him.

“Definitely not! If I said I was [satisfied] I wouldn’t consider myself a competitive person,” he said.

“It has been an okay year for myself so far – we have had our ups and downs.

“I want to try and win a race this year and I believe we can do it if I get a good weekend together and I can learn a few more things through the rest of the year.”

Kostecki says qualifying consistency is his bugbear. His current average starting position is 14.1 and in 11 races he has four times qualified 10th or better.

“Just trying to understand the green tyre is like a black magic,” he said. “I haven’t really found what I am looking for yet and how to prep the tyre and get ready for that crucial one-lap qualifying we do now.

“That’s still a bit of a learning curve for me, but we seem to be getting more on top of it each round we go to.”

Kostecki and Brown’s performances have helped Erebus quickly move on from a tumultuous 2020, after which drivers David

Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale departed along with their engineers Alistair McVean and Mirko De Rosa.

Kostecki is being engineered by George Commins, who shifted across from Kelly Racing. Brown is being engineered by Tom Moore, an internal Erebus promotion.

Kostecki says the team still has more gelling to achieve, which will help further boost performance.

“It’s about everyone getting used to each other in the team, we are trying to get the cars a little bit faster and I am also improving myself at the same time,” he said. “

Kostecki and Brown were part of a major test at Winton on Tuesday for all Victorian teams ahead of the May 28-30 championship round at the venue.

The Dunlop super-soft tyre will debut at this round and Kostecki says understanding it will be crucial to a strong performance. The teams will get no time on the new rubber ahead of Winton.

“It might come down to who understands the tyre the best. It will be a bit of a wildcard,” he said.

“It levels the playing field hopefully a little bit. It will be interesting to see.”

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TYRE LOTTERY RETURNS Five sets of super-soft could trigger jumbled results

THOMAS RANDLE will keep his eye in by contesting the opening round of the National Sports Sedan title at Wakefield Park this weekend. The reigning Super2 Series winner and S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship runner-up will race his father’s SAAB 9-3 for the first-time since 2018 when he finished second to Steven Tamasi’s Holden Calibra.

EXPRESSIONS OF Interest have been taken for the new Porsche 992 GT3 Cup Car as 30 are scheduled to arrive later this year. Porsche Cars Australia head of motorsport Troy Bundy said, “I think the overwhelming feedback is the competitors are completely blown away by the car. They liked the pictures of the car, but when they saw it in real life, they were just amazed by the quality and the step up from the previous model.” The first new model arrived in the country prior to The Bend.

A DISAPPOINTING nine-entries contested the opening round of the Australian Production Car Series at Sydney Motorsport Park, but Ontic Sports general manager Troy Williams believes the close proximity of the Bathurst 6 Hour hampered the entry, as it builds towards a strong entry for Morgan Park. “We’ve got 15 already registered for Morgan Park,” Williams said. ”There are a few new builds going on that we know about of some new models to production car racing, which is exciting.”

WINNER OF the 1973 Australian Sportscar Championship (ASCC) Phil Moore passed away on May 12. A popular competitor from Adelaide, Moore first came to prominence in an Elfin 300C Ford sporty, in which he was second in the 1970 ASCC. He showed his talent in the more demanding 2.5-litre Repco V8 powered Elfin 360 from 1971-1973. John McCormack recognised his talent, rewarding him with a drive in his older Elfin MR5 RepcoHolden F5000 in most of the 1974 Gold Star rounds.

TCR AUSTRALIA driver John Martin is eager to make a return to the S5000 field after being part of the inaugural grid at Sandown in 2019.

A noted open-wheel and sports car specialist overseas, Martin’s interest in re-joining the class was piqued by the recently announced Triple Crown. “It’s definitely on my radar,” said Martin. “I’m looking at some options.

I’ve raced S5000 before, so I have some connections with the teams so we’ll see if we can make something happen. I just gel with those cars.”

10 AutoAction

By BRUCE NEWTON STAND BY for more tyre lottery racing at the Winton Supercars Championship round in late May as Dunlop super-soft rubber is rolled out for the first time.

Teams will have just five sets of the new tyre to allocate across up to five qualifying sessions and three sprint races, which potentially means sacrificing a grid position or race result throughout the course of the weekend.

Limited to just five sets of race tyres at each of the two Sydney Motorsport Park championship events in 2020, some teams opted to try and gain consistent results across the weekends, while others copped finishing down the order in a race to preserve a set of quality tyres and go for glory.

Nick Percat and Brad Jones Racing won two races across the two SMP meetings doing just that, while the last race of the second SMP outing featured Jack Le Brocq (Tickford), Andre Heimgartner (Kelly Racing) and Todd Hazelwood (BJR) all going for their first Supercars race win.

At the other end of the scale, usual frontrunners the Red Bull Holden Racing Team couldn’t crack it for a podium with either Shane van Gisbergen or Jamie Whincup at SMP 2. In the final race that weekend, neither RBHRT or DJR Team Penske claimed a podium spot for the first time since 2017.

While the SMP results were influenced by the high degradation track surface, Winton

doesn’t impact tyres so dramatically However, the super-soft will go off faster than the usual Dunlop soft.

Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards predicted SMP-like strategy variations because of the limited tyre stocks and increased tyre wear.

“If you don’t normally qualify near the front and you have a good qualifying for one of your races you might go ‘bugger it, I am going to put four tyres on in the pit stop because I am going to have a red hot swing at this particular race’.

“Then you are going to be a bit tyre-lacking for another race.

“We will all have that option to play around with.”

While all the Victorian teams have tested at Winton this week, no stocks of the super-soft tyre were available. With no ‘pre-marked’ used sets of the new rubber available, all cars will

get four sets to practise on at Winton in the two Saturday morning sessions.

At the same time, teams will reportedly be part of a tyre pressure back-to-back test – required to use 19psi at Winton, 17psi at the following (Darwin) race.

Only Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup and DJR’s Will Davison have experience on the tyres, having tested them for Supercars late last year.

“They have a bit of an advantage because they tested for Supercars, so the rest of us will have to wait till we get there and take the blindfolds off,” said Edwards.

“There are two things we know; we know the tyre has got more grip … so we’ll put a highgrip set-up on the car.

“You also know there is going to be high tyre deg, so there is a certain way you set up the car for that as well.

“So everyone is going to have an educated swing at it.”

SEVEN GEARS UP FOR RACE SHOW

By MARK FOGARTY CHANNEL 7 IS planning a weekly free TV motor sport show.

To be called 7th Gear, the program will be a one-hour look at local and international racing.

A pilot episode has been shot, with the show’s go-ahead awaiting commercial support.

A Seven Network insider confirmed 7th Gear would go to air as soon as possible.

The source said the show is in “a holding pattern” and may be delayed until later in the season.

But it is due to happen, with Seven Sport looking to leverage its renewed status as the free TV ‘Home Of Motor Sport’.

A senior Seven executive confided: “We are keen to develop a show. It’s early days, though. [7th Gear] is one of many concepts on the whiteboard.”

Seven is Supercars’ free-to-air TV partner and the main broadcaster of ARG’s TCR and S5000 events. Channel 7 is also covering the Australian Rally Championship.

Produced in Melbourne, 7th Gear will be co-hosted by 7 News sports reporter Chris Stubbs and Supercars co-driver Jack Perkins, who are prominent on Seven’s telecasts.

Other Seven Sport motor racing personalities will also appear as guest hosts and reporters.

It is understood that popular pit lane pundit Mark Larkham will feature, although initially not with dedicated reports.

We’re hearing Seven will re-use Larkham’s Supercars broadcast tech treatises and digital media commentaries.

While there have been no explicit

discussions with Larko, he is likely to be more directly involved once 7th Gear is up and running.

The dedicated racing show is the brainchild of Seven’s executive producer of motor sport, Anna Stone, who is behind the network’s live Supercars and ARG telecasts.

Stone is the daughter of twice V8 championship-winning team owner Ross, who is in the Supercars Hall Of Fame with his brother – and her uncle – Jim. 7th Gear is formatted as a weekly onehour show reviewing local racing and also international series in which Aussies are prominent.

The plan is for it to be first shown on Monday afternoons on the 7plus streaming

service, then rebroadcast on ‘Big 7’ or 7mate.

According to insiders, 7th Gear will be newsoriented rather than a feature program like Channel 10’s long-running in-season ‘RPM’.

The show’s title is a play on Seven’s motor racing coverage and a nod to the popular British motoring show Top Gear.

Selected Supercars events are live on Channel 7 and all ARG rounds are live on 7mate and 7plus.

Seven’s next real-time Supercars telecast is the June 19-20 Darwin Triple Crown.

7th Gear is good news because it confirms Melbourne-based Seven Head Of Sport Lewis Martin’s commitment to the network’s return as the free TV home of domestic car racing, as outlined to AA earlier this year.

-

MCPHERSON TO JOIN WAU SHORTLY BRUCE STEWART, Team Principal of the Walkinshaw Andretti United outfit, has revealed that gun engineer Grant McPherson is set to join the team in a matter of weeks.

Late last year AA revealed that reigning Bathurst 1000-winning engineer McPherson would leave Triple Eight Race Engineering to join WAU. Since then McPherson has been on ‘gardening leave.’ However Stewart announced that, after four rounds, this was soon going to come to an end.

“Grant will be on board in the next couple of weeks and we’re really super excited to see him come on board with our team,” Stewart told Auto Action.

“He’s not only clearly well-credentialed and has a great background, but equally and importantly, he’s a person that we believe can fit into the culture, ethos and the drive that this team’s experiencing. That’s really cool and he is going to fit in really well.”

McPherson is one of the best-credentialled engineers in the Supercars lane, winning the 2015 and 2021 Bathurst 1000s as well as the championship with Shane van Gisbergen in 2016, along with many years of experience winning races for Prodrive (now known as Tickford Racing).

It is hoped that the McPherson will be able to bring some of the knowledge and expertise to the rising WAU outfit later this year.

“He’s had experience in so much motorsport,” Stewart said. “That’s the nature of somebody

WAU TO CONTINUE TO INVEST IN YOUTH

coming in who’s bringing the experience they’ve gained in various situations with every other team they work for.”

With the personell within the outfit getting stronger – with Chaz Mostert working with his long-time engineer Adam de Borre, Bryce Fullwood working with Terry Kerr, and long-time team engineer Rob Starr and now McPherson joining – Stewart was asked if his team now potentially has the strongest engineering line-up.

“No I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “I would say that we’ve got a really cohesive and talented

group of engineers.

“We’re really excited with what they’re doing and we’re just trying to encourage constant improvement in our business and these guys have embraced that.

“That’s all we can do trying to keep lifting the bar and to catch the teams in the front.”

In 2021, Mostert has already scored four podiums (only one shy of the amount he scored in 2020), and has already broken through to win his first race with the team and does illustrate that the team is on the rise. Dan McCarthy

WHILE we have seen a decline in Supercars Championship Wildcard appearances in recent seasons, Walkinshaw Andretti United Team Principal Bruce Stewart feels that it is still an important thing to do to futureproof the sport.

Last year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, no Wildcards featured on the Supercars calendar, but since the concept was first run in 2017 there has been a steady decline.

That year Jack le Brocq, Todd Hazelwood, Macauley Jones, James Golding and Shae Davies all made successful Wildcard appearances.

Just two driver are expected to make solo cameos this season, one of which is Kurt Kostecki with WAU, who competed at The Bend.

“Whether it (a Wildcard) is financially viable or not, I think the important thing is that we create a pipeline for junior talent into our sport,” Stewart said to Auto Action.

“So you start to think of who else can we help get a leg up, and whether they end up in another team or they do another category (it doesn’t matter), but they take the next step in motorsport.

“I think it’s really important and it’s really cool to be part of that.

“If you can help it become viable (for a youngster), I think it’s good and important for the teams to consider it,” he said. “We’re going to continue to develop the next level of drivers and stars in our sport.”

Dan McCarthy

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FORMER WORLD Rally Champion Ott Tanak and star teammate Thierry Neuville have both signed multi-year contract extensions to remain at Hyundai in the WRC. This locks in both drivers at the Korean manufacturer heading into a new era for rallying when it goes hybrid next year. The announcement comes after long-time M-Sport engineer Christian Loriaux will join Hyundai as a engineering consultant part-time.

RECENT INDYCAR convert and ex-Haas Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean has praised fellow rookie Scott McLaughlin ahead of this weekend’s round at Indianapolis. Discussing his journey from Formula 1 to IndyCar with pundit Tom Clarkson on his Beyond The Grid podcast, the veteran of 181 starts stated McLaughlin was his most impressive rival thus far. “I’m going to surprise you, but for now I’m going to say Scott McLaughlin the Australian V8 Supercars champion,” Grosjean revealed. HM

HYUNDAI HAS begun testing its nextgeneration WRC contender, designed for the brand-new hybrid era, which will begin next year. Built to the new Rally1 regulations, the i20 WRC completed a gravel test in the south of France. “It’s a special moment when you take a car to the road for the first time and as always there are some challenges to face,” said Andrea Adamo, Hyundai WRC Team Principal.

In the case of our 2022 Rally1 challenger, we are starting from scratch with brand-new rules, a different concept and a new base model – the i20 N. It was thrilling to kick off the testing and to start this exciting new adventure.”

WYHOON CONCERNED

BY SUPER2 NUMBERS IMAGE RACING team owner Terry Wyhoon has put both his Super2 Holden Commodores and two Super3 Falcons up for sale in a bid to raise enough budget to move to Gen2 ZB Commodores or Ford Mustangs.

As reported by Auto Action last issue, Super2 will run Gen2 Supercars from 2022, as Supercars Championship staff remain adamant the Gen3 regulations are on schedule for its introduction into the top-tier championship from the start of next year.

Wyhoon stressed that he was not selling the cars immediately as he will run three of them for the remainder of the year.

It would be expected that the current Super2 cars would become eligible for Super3 next year.

However, the long-time team owner is concerned by the lack of interest from competitors.

“I would have loved to hear from race teams, people who want to run in Supercars next year,

but it’s all collectors, which is unfortunate,” he told Auto Action.

“I’ve got 12 calls, not one has been a racer, it’s worrying for the category.”

With only Tickford Racing and Brad Jones Racing expected to sell their cars to competitors, Wyhoon is concerned by the limited number of available cars and expected increased budgets.

“It worries me where we’re going to end up numbers-wise next year with the few teams that will purchase a ZB or Mustang and the lack of interest in two frontrunning VFs,” he said.

“I came up with a number of 14 cars on the grid, which included several Super3 drivers.

“With Supercars now really trying to cut the cost, particularly at the start of a new generation car, which will eventually come down to us.

“Hopefully, by the time I get it we have a cheaper car to run that what we currently do, then it may

bring some numbers back in, but it’s the interim period in this next three or four years in Super2 that I’m concerned about.”

Wyhoon admits that he is open to running drivers in other categories if push comes to shove.

“We could do (other categories), I have got to still commit to paying my team every week,” Wyhoon admitted.

“Unfortunately, it is going to get to the stage where it is not what I want to do it is what we have got to do.”

Wyhoon is particularly grabbed by TA2 machines and even has members of his team suggesting that he should enter cars in the series going forwards.

“Trans Ams make the right noise,” he said.

“They go the right speed; they aren’t that much slower than a Super2 car. I reckon it’s a grouse category!” Dan McCarthy

DE PASQUALE NOT LOOKING AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP THE BEND Motorsport Park proved to be a rollercoaster round for Anton de Pasquale – he took his maiden victory with the legendary Dick Johnson Racing outfit, although a retirement means his championship aspirations took another major dent.

Since joining DJR at the start of the year, de Pasquale has scored four podiums including the race victory.

However, three retirements in the first four rounds has cancelled out the strong performances and, as a result, he sits a round and a half behind runaway championship leader Shane van Gisbergen.

While De Pasquale feels he is not entirely out of championship contention yet, he is not looking at the points, admitting the DNFs have not been good.

“To be honest I haven’t looked at them (the standings) for a while and I probably won’t for another little while,” he told Auto Action.

“I know I am somewhere down the order – three DNFs this early in the year is never going to help.

“We’ll just keep chasing being the fastest, be in the fight every time and try to be around that group of fast guys.

“Try and fight for top fives and podiums every time and just see how we go.”

Sunday at The Bend started with his maiden Supercars pole positions and first win with the team before the engine gremlins forced him to retire from the lead in the final encounter.

Despite the challenging start to 2021 for the reigning Teams’ Champions, de Pasquale expressed his honour in taking victory for the well-known and loved Ford outfit.

“The moral is really good, the atmosphere is awesome, and it is a really cool place to be a part of,” he said.

“It is a cool thing, my first one with the team and first win in a normal racing environment without split tyres and all that, it is a cool achievement.”

After Penske and DJR split at the end of 2020, it has been a slow start to the year, but de Pasqaule is pleased with the progression the team has made round upon round, by taking the team’s first win since Scott McLaughlin in September.

“We’ve been building on it round by round, we’ve been getting better and better, we got a double podium in Tassie, a 1-2 here ... these are really good days and really good

achievements from the team, especially with us two new drivers,” de Pasquale feels.

“We’ve been working really hard at it, and we got a really good reward.

The last one takes a bit of shine off what was a really good day and really good achievement for the team.”

“Overall, you have to be happy still with a good weekend – we are pretty disappointed that we didn’t get that last one.

“What could have been a perfect day and at the same time losing a heap of Teams’ Championship points is never good.” Dan

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with Oscar Piastri

HERNE MISSES OUT ON SUPERLICENCE TIN TOP ace Nathan Herne competed in the inaugural S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship this year – however he has confirmed to Auto Action that he just missed out on getting his hands on the Superlicence he was chasing.

Late last year the 18-year-old was refused permission to race in the Bathurst 1000 as part of the Garry Rogers Motorsport Wildcard, as he had not accumulated enough Motorsport Australia Superlicence points.

Despite protesting the decision, Herne was not given an exemption to race, and had to watch from the sidelines as Tyler Everingham and substitute driver Jayden Ojeda were classified in 19th position in the Great Race.

Herne explained to AA that the main point of doing S5000 was so he could get his Super Licence.

“This whole (S5000) deal came as a ‘get your Superlicence and see what happens,” he said. “I didn’t deliver on that, missed out by one position, so that is a bit of a shame.”

Fifth place in the S5000 Championship would have given the youngster enough points for a Superlicence. However, in the final of the season he fell just short, in sixth.

Had he remained ahead of teammate Luis Leeds in the final Feature Race at Sydney Motorsport Park, he would have remained in the top five of the championship and thus earned his Superlicence.

Herne enjoyed his time in the S5000 Championship and hopes to return to the series for Season 2, as he feels that he is coming to grips with the open-wheel beast.

“I’ll talk to (GRM team owners) Garry and Barry and see if we can put a deal together – the goal is to race S5000,” Herne said.

“It’s taken me four rounds. I feel if I could have one more test day I could be consistently at the front and charge for a championship.

“I went into the last round with a hope of a championship, but the Tassie and Phillip Island DNFs definitely didn’t help my case.

“I definitely had a lot more learning to do this season (than most), and that’s what this was, a learning season.

“We’ll see what the go is for next season and if we come back.”

WINTON HIT-OUT

VICTORIAN SUPERCARS teams have tested en masse at Winton this week ahead of the country Victorian circuit’s championship on May 28-30.

Bathurst 1000 co-drivers were on-hand for several teams, although Erebus Motorsport designated it a rookie test day, which meant Jack Perkins and David Russell weren’t permitted to join regular drivers Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown.

Also missing from the test for obvious reasons was Tickford Racing’s US-based co-driver Alex Premat and Kiwi international Earl Bamber, who will share with Andre Heimgartner in the Ned Whiskey KGR Ford Mustang at Bathurst.

KGR did have new team executive Brenton Grove listed as a driver for the test, while Walkinshaw Andretti United included wildcard Kurt Kostecki on its driving roster alongside regular drivers Chaz Mostert and Bryce Fullwood, plus Bathurst 1000 co-drivers Lee Holdsworth and Warren Luff.

The Winton round will mark the first-time circuit

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modifications at Turns 3 and 4 are raced on by Supercars, while it also marks the debut of the Dunlop super-soft tyre in the championship.

Teams won’t get a chance to test on the tyre, which means they will go into the championship event with zero experience.

Only DJR’s Will Davison and Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup have any knowledge of the new tyre as they were involved in Supercars’ testing at Ipswich late in 2020.

In 2020, Winton installed new sawtooth kerbing on the outside of Turn 3 and the inside and outside of Turn 4. It also widened the exit of Turn 3 with a concrete strip.

The purpose of the extended concrete strip is to allow cars to race side-by-side in the short straight between Turns 3 and 4.

Victorian teams have tested the modifications out multiple times, but northern teams won’t experience them until race weekend. BN

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THANKFULLY WE’RE back to racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship this weekend after a long eight-week break, and what better place to race than around the streets of Monte Carlo?

We did have a threeday test to fill in the gap since Bahrain back in March, but that’s not the same as race week, so it’s cool to be back racing and back in Monaco after a couple of years away.

The Barcelona test ended up quite good after a frustrating and challenging couple of days at first, where we lacked a lot of pace.

We managed to turn things around and rectify our issues for the last day, setting the secondquickest time of the test.

It was most pleasing that we could work well together as a team and dig ourselves out of a hole, which was good for building confidence.

It was also good to do that on Anzac Day when I carried the Rising Sun on my race car to honour the brave Anzacs who gave so much to allow us to do what we do today.

The Circuit de Monaco is a very, very different challenge to Sakhir and pretty much all other circuits, so it needs to be approached quite differently as mistakes usually don’t end that well with the Armco walls close by.

There’s certainly far more risk factor, so you need to build confidence through practice and even qualifying.

I’ve raced there twice before in Formula Renault, and it’s a great experience, but to do a qualifying lap around there this year in the HP Tuners PREMA Formula 2 Dallara, given that we’ve got the soft AND super soft tyres with a

decent amount of grip, is going to be pretty damn cool!

Getting used to the softer tyres will be another challenge, but it’s also exciting trying to achieve an excellent qualifying lap time when I can hopefully get a bit of the track to myself.

Races in Monaco are usually dictated by qualifying, although maybe not so much for F2’s first two reverse grid races, but definitely for Sunday’s higher points feature race.

It’ll be essential to get that fast lap in when needed and qualify where you are on pace instead of having to spend a whole race jammed up behind someone, which would be not only frustrating but very, very painful.

There’s a lot of points up for grabs, and it will be an important weekend for the championship, so we’ll just trying and do the best we can and see if we can come away from Monte Carlo with a good result.

Then there’s only two weeks until the next race at Baku in Azerbaijan, and, while both events are street circuits, the Baku City Circuit is slightly more forgiving with more run-off areas in the first and last sectors.

There’s no margin for error in the middle, particularly in the castle section coming up the hill, but Baku also has massively long straights, and I think there’s a different way to approach the event.

I’ll have a little chill time between the two events, but that’ll go quickly with debriefs, race prep, and gym time, but that’s cool. I’m just happy to be back racing again and chasing the F1 dream.

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IN HIS second season of Formula Regional Americas Championship, Aussie Joshua Car has claimed his maiden victory. The former US F4 Champion finished sixth in the championship last year – however the win at the Virginia International Raceway lifts him to second in the championship. Car lined up in fourth after qualifying 0.064s off pole position. In the race he was able to pull out a considerable margin, taking the win by 4.287s. (The final two races were held after AA went to print). DM

CONTESTING THE French Formula 4 Championship, Hugh Barter continued his run of podiums at in Round 2 at Magny-Cours.

He qualified in fourth, 0.2s from pole position, despite a wheel issue. In Race 1 he steadily moved forwards and finished the race in second, then showed strong speed in Race 2 and charged through the pack to finish in third. He backed it up with another second to conclude the weekend. DM

KIWI HUNTER McElrea endured a tough weekend at Round 3 of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. An opening lap incident in Race 1 with Wyatt Brichacek saw McElrea forced to pit for repairs before recovering to finish in 10th. In the second encounter the New Zealander stayed out of trouble and finished the race in eighth, before he rounded out the weekend seventh to sit fifth in the points. HM

MARCOS FLACK has had a tough initiation into the British F4 Championship, at Thruxton.

The Australian showed pace throughout the weekend but he was unable to put it together in the races. The opening encounter saw the Phinsys by Argenti driver forced into retirement on the opening lap. In Race 2 Flack spun after contact with Roman Bilinski at the Complex and finished 12th. The final race saw him collect his first point with a tenth-place finish. DM COMPETING IN the Formula Regional European Championship former S5000 racer Tommy Smith found the going tough at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. A total of 34 cars took to the grid for the second round of the series in Spain. Although Smith lacked qualifying pace, he was pleased to move forward with strong race pace in his JD Motorsport machine. In Race 1 he went from 33rd to 22nd and in Race 2 from 34th to 25th. DM

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NEW SECOND-GEN STAR AIMING FOR INDY QUEENSLAND KARTING star and secondgeneration racer Jac Preston will make his car racing debut in the second round of the national Formula Ford championship at Wakefield Park this weekend.

The 18-year-old Gold Coaster is the son of former Dick Johnson Racing co-driver Mike Preston, who was a front-runner in production car competition in the late 1980s.

Preston Jnr has joined crack FF outfit Sonic, taking over the Mygale SJ10A in which Leanne Tander won the Australian title in 2016.

Owned by Tander Sport, the Sonic-run entry will be backed by SMW Drilling Services and long-time supporters Blastology and Sign Event.

Jac Preston impressed Sonic Motor Racing Services boss Mick Ritter, a noted junior racing talent spotter, at a recent test at Winton.

Preston will contest the remaining six rounds of the seven-event national FF series, starting at Wakefield Park Raceway in Goulburn, NSW, from May 21-23.

His karting career highlights include 2017

Australian Rotax Junior Max champion, third in the 2018 Australian Rotax DD2 Championship and second in last year’s Australian KZ2 Championship.

Under the guidance of his father, Jac Preston is aiming to establish himself as an American open wheel racing prospect, aiming for IndyCar. His father is returning to an involvement in car racing after almost three decades away.

Mike Preston starred in Group E production cars in a Commodore Turbo and Toyota Supra in 1988/89, earning a promotion to a Group A co-drive.

He partnered industrial explosives expert Kevin Waldock in the Playscape Ford Sierra Cosworth, finishing third at Sandown and sixth at Bathurst, where he was named Rookie Of The Year.

Preston won the 1992 Nissan Mobil 500 Series with Paul Radisich in a DJR Sierra, leading to a short-lived opportunity with Holden Racing Team at Sandown in ’93.

He returned to Waldock’s team at Bathurst in a V8 Falcon and again in ’94, after which he quit

racing to concentrate on his family’s machinery parts business.

While fast, politics – and his wilful independence – stymied Preston’s progress.

Jac’s interest drew him back and following his own experience as an unrealised talent, he is advising his son on how to avoid the potential pitfalls.

Preston has made Jac work hard for his progression through karts to FF, including the responsibility of organising his own sponsorship.

Jac has identified that his best path for a career in open wheelers is the USA, aiming to join the Road To Indy ladder.

His goal is to follow fellow Queenslander Will Power as a future Aussie IndyCar star.

That long journey begins at unpretentious Wakefield Park this weekend, running under the auspices of established star-maker Sonic in a car with title-winning pedigree.

Teenager Jac’s skill and dedication have been recognised in karting, where he is regarded as one of the most promising young talents.

positions 13th-30th were determined by the opening race finishing positions meaning that Doohan started from 17th and Williams 18th.

From the opening metres of the race, both drivers began to march forward towards the top 10 points paying positions.

Out front it was a war of attrition as drivers were not willing to give an inch around the fast Turn 1/2 chicane.

Enzo Fittipaldi and David Schumacher collided when fighting for the lead – the two came to blows at Turn 2, sending Schumacher into the barrier and giving Fittipaldi terminal damage.

On the penultimate lap, Matteo Nannini and Hauger collided at Turn 1, knocking them both out of the points and allowing Olli Caldwell to inherit his maiden F3 race win.

Doohan charged through the mayhem to

finish eighth and collect four points, while Williams came home in 11th just 0.29s away from his first point in F3.

Race 3 was calmer – Doohan made a strong start from second, but was demoted to fourth into Turn 1.

As the race wore on the Aussie methodically but authoritatively made his way forward, firstly dispatching Victor Martins and then, soon after, Matteo Nannini.

Pole sitter Hauger was already long gone.

He took the victory from Doohan who thus scored his maiden F3 podium.

Nannini, Caldwell and Martins rounded out the top five, while Williams finished where he started, in 21st position.

DOOHAN’S STRONG START IN F3 Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES THE OPENING round of the 2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship in Spain contained a mixed bag of results for the two returning Australians in the field.

Jack Doohan has moved from HWA Racelab to front-running squad Trident in the off-season, while Calan Williams remains with Jenzer Motorsport.

Round 1 took place at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya with qualifying taking place on Friday afternoon.

Doohan qualified in second position, just 0.006s slower than Prema Racing’s Dennis Hauger. West Australian Williams qualified in 21st.

As part of the new three-race format, Race 1 of the event sees the top 12 qualifying positions inverted, meaning that Jonny Edgar started alongside Aleksandr Smolyar on the front row.

Smolyar snatched the lead from Edgar on lap four and controlled the race until the finish.

Doohan fell back at the start of the race from his grid slot of 11th and was only able to make his way up to 17th, beating fellow Aussie Williams by 0.25s at the line.

Race 2 was an inverted top 12 from Race 1,

Points: Hauger 34, Caldwell 32, Novalak 28, Martins 24, Doohan 21

THE RETURN OF THE MIGHTY THE PRECISION International National Sports Sedan Series returns with an impressive 26-entries at EvWakefield Park this weekend.

Recent Supercars Wildcard and S5000 Gold Star runner-up Thomas Randle returns to the series racing the previous title-winning SAAB 9-3 raced by his father Dean, but the Swedish saloon has received many upgrades since it last raced.

Randle recently tested at Winton, which has of late hosted a number of pre-event shakedowns for teams including the BMW M3 built by Riverside Racing and driven by Shane Woodman.

Due to border travel and not being quite ready, multiple series winner Tony Ricciardello will miss the opening round in his Alfetta-Chev.

So too will his chief rival of previous seasons, the John Gourlay Audi A4 Chev driven by Jordan Caruso, after an engine issue during pre-event prep.

However, the entry list remains strong with the ex-Kerry Baily title-winning Aston Martin DBRS9 of Mark Duggan, Colin Smith

in a Monaro, Shane Bradford’s Camaro, Woodman’s BMW, Derek van Zelm’s Honda Prelude now in the hands of Tim Tritton, and many local entries.

Duggan spearheads the local attack alongside the Chevrolet Camaros of Steve Lacey and Birol Cetin, while former series winner Steven Tamasi has completed upgrades, which he tested at Winton last week.

“Even though we’ve had combined rounds before, it is probably one of the strongest fields with very good mid-pack to front competitors,”

declared Michael Robinson, who will race his Monaro at Wakefield Park.

“Sometimes we’ve had lots of competitors in terms of numbers, but in this field it’s probably one of the best quality of frontrunners.”

Ricciardello and Gourlay are set to lead an influx of entries during the year with many new builds taking shape including the PACE Innovations Mazda RX-7 of the Ingram brothers, the return of Liam Hill’s Hyundai Excel, Riverside Racing’s Ford Mustang, and more.

Also, new support comes from Precision

International which, as Auto Action previously reported, has signed a three-year deal to sponsor the National Sports Sedan Series, starting this season.

“It’s great to have a company such as Precision International on board as part of this, in a multi-year deal,” said Robinson.

This season also marks the first on control Kumho tyres, which now aligns with the New South Wales state competitors, with positive feedback being received by drivers.

Heath McAlpine

FIRST FORMULA FORD WORKSHOP A SUCCESS A MEETING assessing the future of Formula Ford has been deemed successful, with another expected to be scheduled to take place during this week.

Details of the meeting between Formula Ford Association Administrator Phil Marrinon, Motorsport Australia officials, Supercars team principals Ryan Story and Roland Dane, Sonic Motor Racing Services team owner Michael Ritter, long-time constructor Michael Borland and Andrew Jones remain confidential, although it is believed many areas were covered.

Auto Action understands the subjects discussed included updated safety and the need to promote a junior single-seater formula in Australia.

Further discussion included gaining further support for what is already in place, with Dane’s ‘Formula Australia’ concept also believed to have been explored.

The main objective of the meeting was for the Formula Ford Association to garner further information on the direction of the category after autoaction.com.au revealed Dane’s ambitious plans to manufacture and run his own ‘Formula Australia’ open-wheel concept out of a new purpose-built factory near Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Banyo factory in Queensland.

www.autoaction.com.au

Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca confirmed the processes in a statement received by Auto Action, whilst confirming both Dane and Borland will not be part of the group due to their respective manufacturing interests.

“The Motorsport Australia Board accepted a recommendation from the Australian Motor Racing Commission (AMRC) to set up a working group to take a detailed look into the future of Formula Ford,” said Arocca.

“Significant consultation will be carried out as part of the working group’s terms of reference, and it will certainly be an industry driven decision, along with input from relevant stakeholders. Two of those stakeholders, Mike Borland and Roland Dane, both presented to the group at its first meeting.

Many more are expected to also share their thoughts on the future of the category.

“For any chassis manufacturer, including Borland, it would be a conflict of interest to be part of a group that ultimately makes a recommendation on the future of Formula Ford and potentially the introduction of any new car.”

No findings have been released from the meeting, but it is expected further information will be revealed after the workshop reconvenes. HM/BN

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PERONI SCORES THIRD AT INDY AUSTRALIAN INDY Lights contender Alex Peroni broke through for his first major result in the US by placing third in the second race of IndyCar’s second-tier on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course last weekend.

Swede Linus Lundqvist dominated proceedings in qualifying, which translated into the opening race as he took the lead in the title ahead of rival David Malukas and was never challenged during the 30-lap journey.

Brit Toby Sowery took third ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Peroni in fifth after qualifying in the same position.

Peroni started the second race fourth as Malukas responded to Lundqvist’s challenge at the front by taking pole, leaving Sowery in third.

Malukas led Lundqvist early, but was quickly demoted by Sowery and a lock up at Turn 1 allowed Peroni and Kirkwood through.

Although the quartet spread out, towards the end of the race the gaps diminished leaving an exciting four-car battle for the

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lead. However, the order failed to change with 1.123s covering the leaders at the conclusion.

“That was tricky,” said Peroni post-race.

“Kyle (Kirkwood) had new tires so when I saw him in my mirrors, I was worried. I started catching Toby (Sowery) and David (Malukas) and the pace was really good, so it was a really fun race. It was so close at the end. We were hoping to contest for the win, but we’re happy with the podium.

“The entire Carlin team did a mega job this weekend. To get my first series podium here was really special – the facility, the track, it’s awesome. We hoped the first podium would have come earlier but we’ve done it now and hopefully we can keep making progress and get a few more.”

Now fifth in the series, Peroni is 50-points behind Malukas, who holds an 11-point margin from Lundquist ahead of Round 5 at Belle Isle Park in Detroit on June 12-13.

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S W NE RA T X E

NASCAR’S NEW GEN-7 ERA Amidst the challenges of the global pandemic, NASCAR has revealed a new set of regulations returning the premier stock car series in the States to a more market-relevant appearance and moving manufacturing from teams to outside suppliers. HEATH McALPINE delves into NASCAR’s major revolution A CONCEPT begun in 2018 was finaly revealed at The Park Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina as the Next Gen NASCAR. Originally designated Gen-7, Next Gen is designed to not only modernise NASCAR, but bring it back to market relevance through its components and appearance.

Delayed following the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Next Gen replaces the current Gen-6 era in 2022 to much fanfare.

It will be the first regulation change for NASCAR since Gen-6 debuted in 2013, which, over its lifespan, has spawned mixed opinions due to its cost and aerodynamics.

One major change is NASCAR’s move to single-source manufacturers, moving emphasis from development to team performance.

Technique Chassis, LLC supplying the chassis, X-Trac providing the drivetrain including a five-speed sequential gearbox, independent rear suspension, rack-andpinion steering and greater connectivity with in-car cameras.

Notable brands such as McLaren (digital dash, ECU), AP Racing (Brake system), BBS (wheels), Ohlins (dampers), PWR North America (oil cooler, radiator), Roush Advanced Composites (safety components), Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions (suspension parts) and Tilton Engineering (bellhousing) all contribute.

Goodyear has developed a new 18-inch lower profile tyre for the Next Gen NASCAR, which continues to be tested at venues including Darlington, Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR President Steve Phelps speaks at the launch of Next Gen.

and Bristol Motor Speedway. Again, a shift towards market relevance.

NASCAR’s Next Gen’s main target is to entice new manufacturers to join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps recalled the complications due to the impacts of the global pandemic, which came at an awkward time during the development process.

“When COVID hit, everything just shut down, and so as hard as it was, we had to make a decision to delay it a year – because right now this car should be on-track,” Phelps said. “Initially it was going to be on the racetrack at the Daytona 500 in 2021, but it was the right thing to do.

“Obviously, we couldn’t get parts. We didn’t know when we were going to be able

to test, and so the timeline initially was tight.

“Do I think we would have made it without COVID? I think the answer is yes. Has the extra time and development been helpful for us? I think so.

“So, this has been a long time coming, but I think we needed to get this right.”

Discussing the possibility of attracting further manufacturers to the NASCAR field, Phelps made no secret of his aims and explained how it strengthens the competition.

“I think that our existing OEMs would like a fourth or a fifth competitor to be on the racetrack with,” Phelps said. “We’ve got three phenomenal OEMs now. You can’t say enough about what Chevy, Toyota and Ford do for this sport and how important they are for this sport.

“Would it be nice to have another one?

Yeah, it would be nice.

“It would help in a number of different areas, not just competing with the other three OEMs, but also provide additional support to the garage, which is important. The dollars only go so far, and you get kind of the mid to the back pack of the garage don’t get a ton of additional support from our OEMs. One of the more attractive changes provided by Next Gen is a focus on reestablishing the links between road and race models through not only appearance, but also via new componentry.

“When I look at this race car, it looks exactly like the road car that I can potentially buy on Monday,” said Phelps. “Obviously, the win on Sunday portion is important, so getting in Victory Lane for these guys is important for Chevy, Toyota and Ford, but I think absolutely getting back to our roots, getting back to kind of putting the stock back in stock car will help sell vehicles on Monday.

“That’s certainly what our expectation is.

I’m sure it’s the expectation of our OEM partners, as well.”

Phelps believes taking the manufacturing of chassis and components away from teams will not be noticed by race fans, however has the ability to cut budgets increasing the competitiveness within NASCAR as a cost cap is being entertained for 2023.

NASCAR Senior Vice President John Probst is overseeing the technical aspects of Next Gen, including the new composite bodies, engines and sequential gearboxes.

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (above, left), Ford Mustang (above, right) and Toyota Camry TRD (top, right) spearhead the NASCAR’s Next Gen, but more incresing OEMs is the target.

16 AutoAction

After being introduced in the second-tier Xfinity Series ahead of its 2017 season, composite panels supplied by Five Star Fabricating Inc will form a key component of the Next Gen regulations Probst explained.

“We have a symmetric body, a composite body,” he said. “The body will be more resilient.”

“When you look at bodies in our sport, a few years ago we implemented a composite body in the Xfinity Series, and we feel like by and large that’s gone over really well.

“If you take the scenarios of a championship race when it was at Homestead and (a lot of times you guys have probably seen it), drivers that are able to ride the wall generally are faster, especially late in a run and as we go into the night there, and it feels like ... an Xfinity guy with a composite body was able to make contact with the wall and continue on without really any ill effects.

“We’ve tried to inset the tyres a little bit off the body so that they’re not the first point of contact. We feel like we’ll make some progress there.

“Will it be perfect? No – you’re still going to be able to find a way to hit a car and have an issue with your tyre, but in particular the composite body in Cup is something that we took the lessons learned from the Xfinity project that we did several years in the making now.”

By moving towards the appearance of the road-car counterparts, the Next Gen NASCAR sits two-inches higher off the ground, while a new front splitter, flat underbody and a rear diffuser has been designed to reduce the effects of dirty air.

The diffuser will also feature a flap, which will deploy when a car is sent backwards at some of the faster superspeedways.

Further components, which add market relevance is rack-and-pinion steering and independent suspension, plus the new Next Gen models are adaptable to both of NASCAR’s formats providing another attractive proposition for manufacturers.

“Probably the other key component to this whole thing is these cars can be run on every type of track we go to,” Probst continued.

“You don’t need specialised race cars to go to a superspeedway or a road course.”

Testing of the Next Gen package continues to be undertaken, but safety remains paramount with NASCAR maintaining a large database of previous crashes to aid in improving the mechanisms in place.

“We still are in the process of testing the car,” said Probst. “There’s a lot of safety stuff that has already been done. We’ve leaned on a lot of our history with respect to the development of the current Gen-6 car.

We’ve implemented some state-of-the-art simulation tools that have let us do things that we have not been able to do in the past, as well as a lot of sub-component testing to where we’re correlating the model from design to the testing that we had done in the lab, and from that perspective.

“We’ve also simulated some of the bigger incidents that we’ve had with the current Gen-6 car on the Next-Gen car. I’d say that we’re pretty happy with where we’re at.”

On the potential of further technology being added, namely alternative fuel options, is where NASCAR’s future is heading.

“I think when you look at our relationship with our OEMs when it comes to alternative power trains, whether that be hybrid of some form or electric or hydrogen combustion, there is a very aggressive development in the direction of change, away from internal combustion engines, we are very aware of that,” said Probst.

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FEATURE AutoAction

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LENGTH: 4912mm WIDTH: 1996mm HEIGHT: 1280mm WHEELBASE: 2794mm WEIGHT: 1496kg SPOILER: TBD BODY: Composite symmetric body featuring integral flap systems, camera mounts and OEM-specific design elements UNDERWING: Full carbon undertray w/centre stepped splitter and rear diffuser CHASSIS: Steel tubing w/bolt-on front and rear clips and front/rear bumpers TRANSAXLE: 5-speed manual sequential with ramp and plate differential SUSPENSION (FRONT AND REAR): Double wishbone billet aluminum control arms w/adjustable coil-over shock absorbers STEERING: Rack and pinion WHEELS: 18” x 12” forged aluminum TYRES: Goodyear Eagle BRAKES: Six piston monobloc front calipers / four piston monobloc rear calipers – heavy duty and light duty disc packages FRONT BRAKE ROTORS: 15” REAR BRAKE ROTORS: 14” ENGINE DISPLACEMENT: 358 cu in INDUCTION SYSTEM: Naturally aspirated FUEL SYSTEM: Fuel injection OIL SYSTEM: Dry sump HORSEPOWER: TBD ENGINE COOLING: Air exits radiator through hood louvres EXHAUST: Split-side exit exhaust FUEL CELL: 75-litres (Sunoco Green E15) MAJOR COMPONENT SUPPLIERS AERO TEC LABORATORIES, INC. Fuel cell bladder AP RACING LIMITED Brake systems BALD SPOT SPORTS Energy management solutions (bumper and door foam) BBS OF AMERICA, INC. Wheels DALLARA Radiator ducts FIBREWORKS COMPOSITES Deck lid, hood, rockerbox cooling ducts, underwing FIVE STAR RACE CAR BODIES Doors, fenders, front/rear bumper covers, fuel adapter, quarter panels, rear door crush panel, rear wheel tubs, windows GOODYEAR Tyres HYPERCO Springs KIRKEY RACING FABRICATION Bumpers LENTUS COMPOSITES LIMITED Propshaft MCLAREN Digital dash, ECU OHLINS USA, INC. Dampers PRO-FABRICATION, INC. Tailpipes PWR NORTH AMERICA Oil cooler, radiator RCR MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS Wheel nut ROUSH ADVANCED COMPOSITES Greenhouse, brake ducts (upright / rotor), front door crush panels, front wheel exhaust cover, package tray, roof hatch, roof flaps, spoiler base ROUSH YATES MANUFACTURING Anti-roll bars, shifter, transaxle mounts, uprights / wheel hubs SCHULTZ ENGINEERED PRODUCTS Fuel adaptor / coupler SUNOCO Fuel TECHNIQUE CHASSIS Chassis: front / centre / rear, body mounts THERMAL CONTROL PRODUCTS Fixed window net / driver window net / assemblies TILTON ENGINEERING Bellhousing VISSER PRECISION Control arms (front / rear) WOODWARD MACHINE CORPORATION Steering rack, steering shaft XTRAC Clutch shaft, driveshafts, transaxle

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LATEST NEWS

MCLAREN UNVEILS SPECIAL LIVERY AN ICONIC partnership will be put on display at the Monaco Grand Prix after McLaren revealed a revised throwback livery featuring Gulf Oils.

Although a paint scheme, which has featured on many successful sports cars at Le Mans and Spa, but will now feature on the Formula 1 grid when Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris take to the grid at the season’s most prestigious race in Monaco.

Since 1968, the two legendary companies have enjoyed a successful partnership, but most recently revived in July last year leading to the special livery the team will wear at Monaco.

“This will be McLaren’s homage to Gulf’s celebrated race car design,” said Zak Brown, McLaren Racing CEO. “We’re enormous fans of brave and bold design, and the striking Gulf blue is among the most loved liveries in racing, a celebrated piece of culture which transcends the world of motorsport.”

“Design has always been important to McLaren – you see this in everything we do from our return to papaya to our stunning headquarters, the McLaren Technology Centre.”

“We’re excited to exhibit this as a team and celebrate our proud association with Gulf in Monaco.”

Founded in 1963 by Bruce McLaren, the Kiwi won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1968 in what was the first season of Gulf support.

In 1970, McLaren died in a testing accident at Goodwood though the name still lives on with an enviable history in motor sport’s highest level. Drivers including James Hunt, Denny Hulme, Jochen Mass, Patrick Tambay, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen to name a few have driven for the legendary team.

Gulf Oil CEO Mike Jones is excited to reveal a throwback livery, which holds a lot of success

for the brand.

“Gulf and McLaren have a relationship that dates back to 1968 and is one of the most successful partnerships in motorsport,” said Mike Jones, Gulf Oil CEO. “We are incredibly excited to pay tribute to this heritage with our classic livery design at the Monaco Grand Prix, the most spectacular and stylish event on the Formula 1 calendar.

“To see the reaction of both Lando and

Daniel as well as the whole McLaren team to this livery has been really special and we are thrilled to unveil it to motorsport fans around the world.

“The distinguished racing blue and fluro orange Gulf colourways are iconic, so to mark our return to Formula 1 and showcase the livery in Monaco with McLaren is a great celebration of our bold and colourful place within the sport.” Rhys Vandersyde

“That’s probably the biggest challenge, we haven’t got any full-time mechanics.

“We’ve got a few guys who just help us on race weekends but the preparation back in the workshop is the most critical part of this, and we’re still going to be lacking in that area.

“We’ve still got a few staffing issues we need to resolve, vacancies we need to fill and that’ll be kind of critical to us taking the next step forward.”

Blanchard acknowledged consistency was the team’s weakness, but believed there were plenty of promising signs.

“Whenever we haven’t made any mistakes,

we’ve had a fast car,” Blanchard believes.

“The last round or two probably haven’t been as good as we would have liked, but I think today (Sunday) we still showed we have the car pace with qualifying third and eighth.

“There are still just a lot of things we need to improve on, starting from a very low base we’ve got a lot of work to do in a few areas, like the pit stops, they still need a fair bit of improvement.

“But I think we’re consistently banging it out around the top 10 If we get everything right, so if we just get those pit stops right and a few other little bits and pieces then I think we should be there on a consistent basis.”

The new dynamic between Slade and de Rosa is still to gel, but Blanchard expects this to improve from round-to-round.

“Sladey and Mirko are still getting used to this car and working together,” Blanchard said. “Neither of them has worked with this car before or worked together.

“There’s still a big learning process going on from an engineering point of view with those two learning the car.

“I don’t think it’s far away, but it’s just being able to fine tune it to the conditions on the day, so it’s a bit of work as they get to know each other and the car better.”

Dan McCarthy

BLANCHARD TARGETS EXPANSION BLANCHARD RACING Team owner Tim Blanchard wants to bolster his team personnel as he targets a move up the grid for his single-entry operation, which continues to build from its Bathurst debut.

Blanchard elected to go it alone this season after partnering with Brad Jones Racing since acquiring the ex-Super Black Racing REC in 2016.

Lead by ex-Tickford Racing engineer Brendan Hogan and former Erebus Motorsport engineer Mirko de Rosa, Team Blanchard Racing hit the ground running at Bathurst to be among the leading contenders.

Tim Slade driving an ex-23Red Racing Ford Mustang was battling for the podium before crashing out and ending the team’s maiden weekend as damage was too severe to be repaired for Race 2.

A spare chassis has been utilised since with mixed results, however at The Bend Motorsport Park Slade qualified well on Sunday and scored a seventh.

Aiming to move further up the grid, Blanchard declared expansion of his small team is the number one priority.

“We’ve got two guys helping us out for the race meetings, but we haven’t got anyone in the workshop,” he explained to Auto Action.

REVEALED GEN3 MUSTANG CHASSIS

THE SECOND prototype chassis constructed for Supercars Gen3 has been revealed by PACE Innovations.

Previously the designer of Supercars’ current ‘Car of The Future’ concept and MARC Cars Australia amongst other projects, PACE Innovations has revealed images of the front and rear assembly of its Gen3 chassis.

Auto Action revealed last week a Gen3 chassis is expected to cost close to $55,000 in kit form, with the whole package set to be $350,000.

Ford homologation team Dick Johnson Racing will complete further development from its workshop once the chassis has left PACE Innovations stated Supercars CEO Sean Seamer.

“We’re very pleased that the

By MARK FOGARTY second chassis is now completed

and ready to begin the next phase of development with the Ford homologation team,” Seamer said.

“I’d like to thank the crew who have put in thousands of hours to Image: Motorsport Images reach this point, particularly the staff at PACE who have a history of international success.”

Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess reiterated safety, relevance to the road-going AUSSIE JACK Miller responded to his critics by winning the equivalent and improved racing Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, his second of MotoGP career were the major emphasis when win and his first with the factory Ducati outfit. designing Gen3, with the PACE It had been a long winless drought for the Queenslander Innovations chassis another step with his last race victory coming in the wet Dutch TT with towards a new era for the sport. the Marc VDS Honda outfit back in 2016. objective of the program.”

V-Power Racing Team since this important milestone being the “We’re proud of the work that Image: Motorsport Images scoring with the satellite Pramac A near-decade long partnership 2012 and together After we have wonfour podiums completion of the prototype Gen3 has gone into the design and outfit in 2020, Miller was chassis promotedfortothe theFord factory between DJR and PACE three Drivers’ andDucati three Teams’ Supercar styling of the Gen3 cars; they look squad, three races Innovations leaves team chairman championships since thathowever time,” his first Mustang GT.” with the official team fantastic,” Burgess said. did not go as planned. It is expected prototypes of the “We’re also very satisfied and CEO Ryan Story confident the said Story.

Miller partner scored two ninth place finishesand in Qatar and will with the developments we have project will be a success.

“They are an excellent Gen3 Mustang Camaro crashed out of the Portuguese Prix, in the meantime made in regard to safety and “Pace Innovations has been with enormous experience and completeGrand testing early next month hisfitteammate Francesco Bagnaia scoredMcAlpine two podiums and in the drafts. a fair art to it.

“It’s completely said. repairability, whichThere’s was a key the chassis supplier to thedifferent” Shell he expertise; a perfect as we reach or in July. Heath a sixth.

“It wasn’t until the last restart today “You don’t get bashed around nearly SUPERCARS CHAMPION Scott as much at Indy. At Texas, your body Despite being only three races into the new relationship, that I felt comfortable. I was very McLaughlin stunned the IndyCar is just getting smashed. pressure was starting mount Miller’sgoal,” shoulders. proud to get a couple of awesome “Top 10towas the on ultimate Randle “We put ourselves on this pedestal (theafactory fraternity in his oval racing debut at “You’re pulling 4-5 g’s and you’re results. Strategy was key and we said. “Itupmight have not been fully team), we’re there torealistic be critiqued,” said. “As as things the daunting Texas Motor Speedway. quite disorientated at times. It’s fullused it to the best advantage.” target he because it’ssoon so difficult (in aren’t going good it turns like that, but it isawhat it is, it’s McLaughlin finished a close second He was a close second to defending on.”

Supercars), I haven’t raced Supercar since part of the territory, (you’ve got to) take it ina your stride. to fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon in the Despite Team Penske’s winning six-time IndyCar champion Dixon Bathurst, and haven’t raced Mustang for “All I wantedtwo to do was just focus on what I could control, first of two races at the high-banked record in the Indy 500, McLaughlin in the 483 km opener, then finished years. that’s me and my training and theand wayrace I approach races.”

2.4 km track, followed by a strong has no doubt the sudden-death four11.89 seconds behind first-time race “Until you qualify you don’t really The Aussie know and hiswhere team you’re strategists puttoafinish lot of effort into eighth. lap qualifying run will be a huge test. winner Patricio O’Ward in 603 km at, so up where race simulation than His runner-up finish to childhood “It’s probably going to be the four second race. weruns did. in I’mpractice, not surerather where wespending finished time the on one lap pace, andround, this clearly paid dividends. hero Dixon on Sunday morning Along with the rest of Team Penske, most stressful laps of my life,” he actual but I’m very, very content with admitted. “But I’m really excited by After the second Doha, Miller confessed he was (Australian time) was exceptional, McLaughlin had the second of his whererace we in finished.” the challenge. suffering from Randle serious will armmake pumptwo issues andWildcard elected to get followed by a strong top 10 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations after more “There’s a lot more you can do surgery to rectify it betweenthis theyear second andDarwin third rounds. performance on has Monday A TOP 10 finish gone morning a long way to the second race. appearances at the and with the car. You drive it there at Indy, It was ironicPerth that midway throughboth the Spanish Grand our time. Thomas Randle’s credentials asHe will visit New York with his wife enhancing SuperSprints, circuits he hasPrix whereas at Texas you’re just hanging’ between night and day races at nextKarly this week before heading to race leader Fabio Quartararo would heSplit aims for a full-time Supercars seat limited experience at. also suffer from severe the on. arm pump which cost it’s himprobably a potential victory. year.fearsome TMS track where run at Indianapolis for the ‘Month Of May’ “Look, better that I’m going lap speeds of up to 354 “Nothing compares with Indy – it’s leading up to the Indy 500.

At the end oftothe race Miller was overcome with Randle performed well km/h. at The Bend Darwin as a Wildcard to learn theemotion track, “I came in Park with highlighted the goal of by twoscoring top very cool.”

He is a newfound fan of the New which showed whatthan it meant to the Queenslander.

Motorsport rather if I secure a main game seat, I’d 10s, withwas a second McLaughlin, the only rookie at “It’s out of this world, that (first) eighthbut in walked Race 10away in what a frenetic York Mets baseball team, as followed rather havehonestly. already Ever donesince Darwin,” he said. and anwhich eighth,” McLaughlin told Autoof a by his wife’s family.

Texas, is eighth in IndyCar Series chequered flag“As I’vecliche been on bloody as roller coaster and it event, enhances his chances as this it sounds, long as I can Action. had a very good car for points races.

McLaughlin looking strong for the keeps going.

Onethe minute I’m crying sobbing second israce and on Saturday he won, so after four seat next“We year.

Championship as a Wildcard at Thejust Bend extract maximum out ofand myself andlike a both nights.” trails leader 54 in 2019 scoring twobaby Prix was Of Indianapolis on the IMS thatHewe I’mcar justand so try angry, like I on don’t just “I kept my nose clean, and I think we Grand that very, very cool, knowing with Dixon same by team 17thand nextthe to work theknow, waysit’s I can season of mixed He acknowledged that racing onspeed.

May 15 and is looking points in a long too hard to even put into words. showed that this is where we should be,” road course had that place finishes. improve. oval,I road course and street forward “On to the Maya long 30 Indy 500. hard around the dizzying “It always takes a bitpart of load off, you can justsee focus Randle told Auto Action. track was such tricky complex track, On return, the reigning Super2 Series “Being of Tickford, I can all of my events that will showcase triplean eighth andon15th, He has the 4with km Indy challenging. that as sort ofteammate’s thing but I definitely thinkjust thehelps way we “I was putting pressure on Andre wastested quiteathappy our race pace.” winner scoredthe a 17th, data so that fast track Supercars champion’s versatilitysatisfied. and superspeedway, which not asin the Supercars “These boys for playthe hard,” he said. approached this was the correct way to do it, and (Heimgartner) last seven laps of the Randle made hisisdebut he left the weekend my weekend progress.” . DM punishing physically as TMS. “You really have to hold your ground adaptability. we need to try and keep that training.” Dan McCarthy

MILLER ANSWERS HIS CRITICS

SCOTTY STARS IN TEXAS

RANDLE’S SUPERCARS ASPIRATIONS ENHANCED

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BRAKING KEY TO COURTNEY FORM A SEASON best fourth in Race 10 at The Bend Motorsport Park highlighted a return to form for Supercars veteran James Courtney.

Improved qualifying performances set up the result in which he finished just shy of the podium, but Courtney has credited a change in the brake system to aid the balance as the main reason for his strong form.

“I was just struggling with brake balance and getting the car stopped on the new tyres when you’re attacking,” Courtney said.

“The guys changed a few things and we’ve seemed to have picked up in that area, which is good.”

Currently 12th in the championship, Courtney‘s form from last year after joining Tickford Racing from Round 2 at Sydney Motorsport Park has carried into the new season, despite a retirement at Bathurst and a 22nd at Symmons Plains.

He admitted qualifying has been a bugbear this season, but with this latest set-up change, it adds further confidence heading to Winton where Tickford Racing will

join a variety of Victorian-based Supercars teams to test.

“Qualifying hasn’t been great at the start of the year,” he explained.

“It was good to get a couple of qualifying sessions and start from the front.

“The car’s always been pretty pacey in the race so it’s just been a matter of getting a bit more out in qualifying and having that balance to be able to push.”

Reflecting on his weekend at The Bend, Courtney was delighted with how his Mustang performed from the first practice session on Saturday morning when conditions were mixed and challenging.

It provides something to build on for the rest of the season.

“The car’s been pretty good since we rolled out, we’ve been in the top 6 the whole time,” he recalled. “We had a little drama in Race 9 when I was trying to race Shane to keep him behind and I went off, but the car’s been pretty pacey, which is encouraging.

“In Race 10, it was nice to get that result so we’ll keep pushing.”

Dan McCarthy

CROMPTON REVEALS PROSTATE CANCER

THE VOICE of Supercars, Neil Crompton has revealed he’s been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The former racer turned commentator received the difficult news in mid-April before the third round of the Supercars Championship at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.

Crompton has chosen to continue his commentary duties together with Mark Skaife and Jess Yates, who missed Tasmania after giving birth to her second child.

He will undergo surgery prior to the next Supercars round at Winton, but the expected recuperation time is short and Crompton will make a full recovery.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer expressed his sadness about the news and expressed his support.

“Everyone at Supercars was saddened to hear this terrible news and we’re all thinking of Neil and his family at this difficult moment,” said Seamer.

“Neil has become more than just the voice of Supercars, he’s an integral member of the Commission and a friend to many in the paddock.

“He has our total support, and we wish him well over the coming weeks.

You’ve got this Crompo.”

General manager of television and content, Nathan Prendergast commended Crompton on his professionalism during this difficult time.

“The Supercars family is right behind

Neil and we will be there for him in any way we can to help him through this difficult period,” Prendergast said.

“In recent weeks Neil has shown his professionalism and resilience by continuing to deliver in the broadcast since his diagnosis and will remain an essential part of the coverage for Winton and beyond.

“Neil has many close friends in the paddock and the broader Supercars community who wish him a speedy recovery and we look forward to having him back on our screens ASAP.” Crompton’s commentary career began more than 40-years ago as part of BMX and motorcross events on Network 10, before joining the ABC’s motor sport coverage during the early 1980s together with Will Hagon and John Smailes.

When the Australian Touring Car Championship moved to Channel Seven for the 1985 season, so did Crompton.

Teamed alongside Mike Raymond and Garry Wilkinson, Crompton’s role of pit reporter remained before he took up racing himself.

Crompton raced many seasons in the ATCC, which resulted in two Bathurst 1000 podiums, a Bathurst 12 Hour victory for Mazda and nearly winning the North American Touring Car Championship in a Tasman Motorsport Honda Accord.

The Auto Action team wishes Crompton well in his recovery. DM

HAZELWOOD – “IT JUST HASN’T COME TOGETHER FOR US” BRAD JONES Racing’s Todd Hazelwood “I think the pace that we showcased believes the race winning pace displayed last year is still there and I feel like we by the team last year still remains proved that in moments throughout the albeit after a difficult start to the 2021 season.

Supercars Championship.

“It just hasn’t come together for us yet.

Although it was teammate Nick Percat, “We’ve just got to keep our head who was doing the winning last year, down, not get frustrated, not throw our Hazelwood scored his first podium at toys out the cot, focus on the job and Sydney Motorsport Park and scored hopefully our time will come sooner A BRACE of position podiumsatinTownsville’s Tasmania has provided “We’ve been trying things and learning a lot, so a maiden pole rather than later.” added confidence to Dick Johnson Racing duo it’s real excitingtotime.” second round.

Team moralea continues be high Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison.

Davison explained team’s aim is to find A difficult Bathurst campaign ended according to Hazelwood as thethecrew After a tough start to the season, DJR now a strong qualifying set-up to complement the a promising season for BJR where remain determined to regain last year’s sits second in the Teams’ Championship as De consistency its Mustangs have as a race car. it achieved two race wins via Percat, form.

Pasquale clawed more ground back to be eighth “It’s been an awesome weekend from the but the start to its 2021 has been “They’re a great team,” Hazelwood in the title joining teammate Davison in the top 10. moment we rolled out the balance of the car has disappointing in comparison with no remarked.

De Pasquale said the team is starting to gain been super, super comfortable, feeling really apart podiums and was further compounded “No one throws their toys out the cot momentum with its results at Symmons Plains of the car,” Davison enthused. by all four entries filling the final spots on here, they all stick together, back slap “We’resure trying to find a little theproving grid forthis.

Race 9. each other, make everyone’s in more peak speed to get on the front-row and try to win a race, but “The cars are in a bit more form than they have Hazelwood believes BJR is not far good spirits. we’re right there in the top five been the last couple of rounds and we’re now away from achieving the results it did “No matter how tough your day is every session.

Certainly, thegot race car and else the balance is really finding our feet together,” he said. last year. going, you’ve always someone good.

“With one of us and now both of us on the “I felt like we started the season pretty in the team smiling and picking you back “It gives us belief and hope, we’re only three podium everyresponded race, obviously step shaky, butinwe’ve well,”not he the top up. rounds together as a up team where we want to be, but it’s awesome for the summarised.

“I’m very fortunate to beand backed byit’s so good working with these guys.

Super professional, team to have both of us on the podium.

“We had good pace at Sandown and a good bunch of guys and girls. we’re three rounds in and only getting stronger, “We’re three rounds in with the team now, we’re we had really strong race pace in Tassie, “Thankful to be surrounded by such a so we’ve got our eyes firmly fixed on continuing going to some tracks, which are really strong for but obviously our qualifying was a big good group of people.” the Shell for V-Power this progression, so we can start challenging for weakness us. Racing Team, so we’re looking Dan McCarthy forward to it. wins.” HM

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GODDARD TARGETS FURTHER RESULTS A STUNNING performance from Zane Goddard in qualifying for Race 8 at Symmons Plains before translating this into a career-best seventh at the end of the final 44-lap event.

Goddard is spurred on by the result, crediting the changes made during the off-season forced by the departure of experienced engineer to Wes McDougall to Triple Eight Race Engineering and the acquisition of upgrades from the team as key reasons.

“For the team and everyone it was a pretty awesome result,” Goddard said.

“They’ve been putting a lot of work in all year. We’ve been showing glimpses of good speed and I felt like in that race we put it together. Now the target is to try and put more races together like that to consistently closer to the front.

“Over the off-season, we got all the updates to bring the cars up-to-date or as close to the Triple Eight cars, so that’s obviously helped.

It is also a natural progression after completing the SuperLites program together with current teammate Jake Kostecki,

Goddard believes the team is gelling together after its expansion at the beginning of last season.

“Last year, it was the first-year as a two-car team so there were a lot of new faces, a lot of restructuring to do, so that was always going to take time,” he said.

Reflecting on his career-best result, Goddard was in awe as he held his own against championship leader Shane van Gisbergen and seven-time champion Jamie Whincup in a Triple Eight customer Commodore.

“It was pretty damn cool, especially after qualifying,” said Goddard.

“It was pretty special, especially due to the split-up groups and seeing the time stand there during the second part.

“Afterwards I was sitting in the A-trailer I was thinking, ‘far out, did that really happen?’

The same thing that happened when I was lining up on the grid, seeing one row in front of me was pretty odd. The last experience I had of that was in Super2.

“It was a very bizarre feeling, but quite nice.”

Dan McCarthy

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FEENEY’S EXTRA MILES KEY TO PREPARATION A THREE-MONTH gap between Super2 rounds has provided Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Broc Feeney an opportunity to sample other racing variants, whilst keeping his eye-in ahead of Winton’s second round in just under a fortnight.

Feeney won first time out with his new team at Bathurst and left the Mountain second in points. Despite the drawn-out break, Feeney has kept busy behind the wheel as he paired with Wildcard co-driver Russell Ingall at Sydney Motorsport Park to win a Hyundai Excel endurance race. He then partnered Prince Jefri

Ibrahim as replacement for Shane van Gisbergen at the most recent GT World Challenge Australia round at The Bend Motorsport Park.

“It’s awesome to get miles this year, especially between Rounds 1 and 2 of Super2 where there three-months, which is like an off-season so any laps I can do,” Feeney explained.

“I’ve been racing my Excel a little bit, but then I got the call up to run with Prince Jefri for The Bend GT round in SVG’s absence so it’s just awesome for me to drive different things at different tracks.

“Any miles I can do will benefit me. Even the

Excel stuff, just little things if you take one thing from the weekend that’s better than before you’re kicking a goal.

“I’ve been just doing as many miles as I can and working out at Norwell so I’ve been getting as many laps out there as well.

“I’m doing as much as I can between rounds.

I’m pretty fortunate in that case to be able to drive so much.”

Discussing the Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shared with Ibrahim, Feeney was amazed by the aerodynamic effects of the sports car around The Bend after a test at the venue a week before

the event with guidance from van Gisbergen.

“It’s definitely a different beast to drive, especially with the V8, The Bend is probably the perfect track for one of these cars,” he said.

“Long sweeping corners, using the downforce, which is the biggest difference compared to a Supercar.

“I’ve ran on the Pirelli tyres before, but driving something with this much downforce is very foreign to me.

“I’m excited because I’m trying to add to the collection of cars I have driven and I’m pretty happy with this one!” DM

PERKINS IS THE SUPER SUB JACK PERKINS will take over the Eggleston Motorsport Holden VF Commodore vacated by Brad Neill as he undergoes cancer treatment.

Perkins has a long and stories history with the team, last competing within its Super2 program in 2020 finishing 12th in the title as Eggleston Motorsport could not make the final round.

Team co-owner Rachael Eggleston said Perkins was the perfect driver to fill the role amidst the current circumstances.

“We are all really gutted that Brad can’t continue his debut Super 2 season, he fitted into our team like he had been there for years so we will all miss having him trackside,” she said.

“After he said he was very keen to see his car stay on the grid it was a unanimous decision that Jack would be the ideal seat warmer while Brad is on the sidelines.

“Jack worked alongside Brad at our opening test day in February and they worked really well together. Being a Walkinshaw-built car, Jack has a lot of experience in their machinery and brought a lot to the table.

“Jack has been a big part of our team for many years and is also a great friend. He has worked incredibly hard to get a strong group of supporters for this round and we also want to say a huge thank you to them all for supporting Jack and the team.

“We hope we can score some strong results and most of all put a smile on Brad’s face!”

Perkins worked with Neill ahead of his debut at Bathurst in February and will get reacquainted with the Commodore at Winton today, the venue he will return to for Round 2 of Super2 in a fortnight’s time.

“My thoughts are definitely with Brad and his family as he works his way through his treatment,” said Perkins. “Under the circumstances, there is obviously some mixed emotions about the opportunity to race Brad’s car, but I’m very thankful to be asked to drive and race it for him.

“I really enjoyed working with Brad at the

pre-season Winton test day where we got him into the 1min23’s, and I was looking forward to helping him get into the 1min22’s at the event. I look forward to being able to help him get back up to speed when he can get back in the car after his treatment!

“There are a lot of people to thank for helping us keep the car on the grid. This includes Brad of course, Eggleston Motorsport, Tim and Stu from Noble Logistics, Perry from Muscle Car Warehouse, Bunyip Print and James Rosenberg - a massive thank you to those people.

“Hopefully we can get a great result for Brad at Winton.” HM

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INTEREST SWELLS FOR NEW PORSCHE

PRIOR TO Porsche Carrera Cup Australia’s second round at The Bend Motorsport Park, the new 992 Cup Car was able to be viewed for the first time by current prospective competitors.

Porsche Cars Australia’s head of motorsport Troy Bundy revealed the launch was a success ahead of 30 992 Cup Cars entering the country later this year.

“I think the overwhelming feedback was the competitors

were completely blown away by the car,” Bundy told Auto Action.

“I think they looked the pictures of the car, but when they saw it in real life they were just amazed at the quality and the step up from the previous model.

“The guys that have already put their applications in are even more excited to get, then there’s a range of guys approached us on the night and asked ‘how do I get one?’

“The car sells itself.”

Currently, Porsche Cars Australia is undertaking the procedure to determine allotting the 30 992s to customers.

“The stage we’re at with the sales process is we’ve accepted all the expressions of interest forms, we’ve those and just as of last week we sent out letters of acceptance to receive the cars,” explained Bundy.

“We said this from day one,

we would look after the existing customers currently running in Carrera Cup and Sprint Challenge.

Because both series are going very well at the moment, the numbers get filled up very quickly just with those existing customers.

“There are a couple of additions, new people coming in. We know them due to having a relationship with them in the past or alternatively are doing some additional rounds with us at the moment.”

Australia’s allotment is due to arrive in December, but Porsche Cars Australia will hold these until the new year, if in case they arrive on time.

“At this stage we’re hoping the cars will arrive by the end of the year, but with global freight it’s a bit of a challenge,” Bundy said.

“We anticipate they will arrive at the end of the year, then we’ll hold a two-day test early next year.”

HM

FORMULA FORD WINNER TO TEST DJR MUSTANG

CAMERON’S PEUGEOT WILL BE GOOD TO GO THE REPAIR of Aaron Cameron’s Peugeot 308 TCR after the final race incident at Sydney Motorsport Park is well underway and will be completed before the next round.

Contact exiting Turn 1 sent the French hot hatch into the concrete wall and as a result sustained heavy front-end damage.

As soon as the Garry Rogers Motorsport squad returned, it stripped the Peugeot down and will install two front rails donated from a 308 road-car, which has already been scavenged for parts to aid in the repair of Jason Bargwanna’s similar model earlier this year.

GRM team manager Stefan Millard described where the repair is at.

“The actual repair is simple enough, but it’s not something you can do easily at the track, so we were fortunate that that happened in Race 3,” Millard said.

“The guys have gone through all of the auxiliary bolt on bits, figured out what’s damaged and what needs replacing.

“It takes a few days to rip apart the race car and the road car, and it will probably spend a week in the fabrication shop, and probably another week getting put back together.

“We have a few weeks before our next round, so time is on our side.”

Cameron now sits fifth in the points ahead of the next round of TCR Australia at Morgan Park on June 25-27. HM

THE WINNER of this year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship will receive a test drive with title winning Supercars team Dick Johnson Racing in 2022.

It follows a Formula Ford workshop conducted last week to discuss the future of the longrunning, developmental category in Australia.

Planned for early 2022, the test will take place at Queensland Raceway in one DJR’s Ford Mustangs, which are currently raced by Formula Ford graduates Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale.

“It’s important to recognise and foster development pathways in Australian motorsport, and to that end, we are delighted to support the Formula Ford Association,” said Chairman and CEO of DJR Ryan Story.

“Formula Ford has always been a great development ground for drivers, and we look forward to supporting the Championship throughout the 2021 season.”

Formula Ford administrator Phil Marrinon was excited to reveal the opportunity.

“We are excited and thankful for this very generous offer from DJR that will no doubt be an even greater incentive to all our competing drivers in this year’s series,” he said.

Debuting as in Australia in 1969, before becoming a national championship a year later, Formula Ford has long been heralded as a key development pathway on the way to motor sport’s top classes, including Formula 1 and Supercars.

Craig Lowndes, Steven Richards, Larry Perkins, Mark Webber, Jason Bright and many more have graduated from the junior formula on Australian shores, while three quarters of the Supercars grid have completed their apprenticeship in the category.

The undefeated Thomas Sargent leads the title ahead of this weekend’s round at Wakefield Park. HM

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WRC’S NEXT GEN REVEALED A GLIMPSE of the World Rally Championship’s next era was displayed by Hyundai as it commenced testing of its 2022 i20 WRC. Built to the new Rally1 specifications for 2022, the prototype based on the Hyundai i20 N road vehicle completed its first full test on rough gravel roads in the south of France.

“It’s a special moment when you take a car to the road for the first time and as always there are some challenges to face,” said Andrea Adamo, Hyundai WRC Team Principal.

“In the case of our 2022 Rally1 challenger, we are starting from scratch with brand-new rules, a different concept and a new base model – the i20 N. It was thrilling to kick off the testing and to start this exciting new adventure.”

Featuring a heavily camouflaged livery, the test was focused on development as it integrates the key technical features of its high-performance road-going

counterpart as well as the hybrid power systems in accordance with the new FIA regulations.

Hyundai has confirmed further testing will be conducted across Europe in the coming months ahead of the new i20’s competition debut in 2022.

“We have seen interesting things, some that need to be changed and improved but it is all part of the process and of the job,” Adamo continued.

“The team has done an amazing job and has worked so hard to prepare the car for the first test in such a short amount of time. Of course, we are just at the beginning of a long journey, but I do think we have some interesting times ahead of us before Rallye Monte-Carlo 2022.”

The Korean manufacturer most recently signed lead drivers Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville to new contracts, while added long-time M-Sport engineer Christian Loriaux to its engineering brain’s trust.

RV

PRODUCTION CAR BOUNCE BACK NEW SUPERUTES ERA A SUCCESS A NEW V8-era for the SuperUtes began at The Bend Motorsport Park as previous series winner Ryal Harris took two victories out of three and emerged from the maiden weekend delighted with the final outcome.

“This is what they should have done from the start,” he declared.

“They are so much better, louder, more power, fun to drive, I think they’re safer to drive because with the diesel you had to over drive them to keep the momentum up, they were like a big hire car the old ones.”

The new package was developed by the Sieders Racing Team in association with Haltech and other suppliers during the past year. Harris not only lauded the development work completed, but also credited his Peters Motorsport crew, who had built up his Mazda BT-50 three weeks prior.

In preparation for the opening round, troubles were encountered in what was an eight-lap shakedown at Queensland Raceway.

Reflecting on the maiden weekend, Harris moved to scupper the negative talk surrounding the category.

“You can’t win,” Harris said.

“People complained about the diesels being to slow and now there are complaints of them not being relevant to the market, but relevance to me means nothing.

“It’s just about creating good racing, it’s all about entertainment and market relevance or not, I think it’s a bit better package now.”

Sharing his thoughts on what may change in the future, Harris suggested bigger guards and updating the appearance of the current crop of SuperUtes to showroom models. DM

A DISAPPOINTING entry of 10 took part in the opening round of the Australian Production Car Series at Sydney Motorsport Park, but Troy Williams of category manager Ontic Sports has blamed the close proximity to the Bathurst 6 Hour as the primary cause of the poor field.

Scheduled three weeks after the production car’s marquee event at the Mountain, Williams said the timing proved problematic to competitors ahead of a change of format this season.

“The two things were the proximity to the Bathurst 6 Hour and also APC this year has moved away from endurance format to sprint with 30-minutes races,” said Williams.

“I think our customers are still becoming accustomed to that sprint format as opposed to the longer races.

“We didn’t have the world’s best schedule at SMP either so that was hard to get folks to endure a six hour wait between practice and quali.”

Having already received 15 entries ahead of the second round at Morgan Park, Williams is confident fields will return to regular

size with new builds in both outright and class are anticipated later this season.

“We’re looking to grow the field throughout the year back towards our traditional average of 20-25,” said Williams “There’s a few new racers and a few new builds going on that we know about of some new models to production car racing, which we’re excited about.

“I think you’ll see a bit of both (outright and class). There will be a couple at the front of the field for sure.”

Williams confirmed feedback had been positive in remaining on the Shannons Motorsports Australia Championships roster as publicity has grown since the Australian Racing Group aligned with the second-tier series in 2019.

“Up until this year APC has always been endurance racing, but there’s also a good level of interest in national level sprint racing, especially I think the ARG involvement has increased exposure the meetings overall,” said Williams.

“A lot of the people are excited to be on the higher profile weekend.” HM

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with Dan Knutson

FORMULA 1 star of the 1970s and ‘80s Carlos Reutemann is reported to be in a stable condition after he experienced several episodes of internal bleeding following a medical procedure recently. The former Argentinian senator remains in intensive care within Santa Fe Hospital located in Rosario. The 79-year-old was said to be stable earlier last week, but suffered another haemorrhage forcing medical staff to perform an enteroscopy. HM

ALPHATAURI ROOKIE Yuki Tsunoda voiced his frustrations on multiple occasions during the Spanish Grand Prix, which forced him to issue an apology after his Q1 exit. The Japanese driver spun during practice resulting an angry exchange with engineer Mattia Spini, while was even more vocal after qualifying. “I have to survive this moment, to really refocus on my job. I just have to reset before Monaco,” he said after retiring from the race. HM

RED BULL has poached at least 15 engine staff from Mercedes as it prepares to develop its own in-house engine program, scheduled to begin in 2025. A new generation of engines will be introduced, while the existing Honda unit will be used in the interim. To be known as Red Bull Powertrains, the new company has been revealed to have approached 100 Mercedes staff to join the program led by Ben Hodgkinson. HM

THIS YEAR’S Turkish Grand Prix has been cancelled after it initially replaced Canada on the calendar as the seventh round of the series.

Great Britain has placed Turkey on its Covid red list resulting in a negative travel advice and quarantine requirements, with local media reports confirming the cancellation. Formula 1 itself is yet to officially announce the race’s fate. HM FERNANDO ALONSO has labelled Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon ‘very impressive’ as he declared his own 100 percent was not good enough. “I think he’s good, we are seeing that,” Alonso said. “He’s in very good form right now, fully integrated in the team – a podium last year in Bahrain in the last part of the championship and now giving perfect weekends. This is very good and impressive what he’s achieving now. I’m giving my 100% and obviously that’s not enough to be at that level at the moment so I need to keep improving. HM

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LIMITS TO TRACK LIMITS RED BULL boss Christian Horner has revealed that there’s been some healthy discussion on the track limit situation.

“There’s a working group being created,” Horner said. “We just need to come up with something as simple, clear and understandable for drivers, fans, team etc. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Track limit warnings and penalties are only imposed if the driver gained a lasting advantage. There were no real issues with that during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend because the layout of the Circuit BarcelonaCatalunya is such that drivers can’t benefit from leaving the track proper. And track limits certainly would not be a problem at the Monaco Grand Prix where the guardrails and walls impose their own harsh penalties.

Max Verstappen, however, says that some sort of solution needs to be found. He has had three glaring exceeding track limits incidents.

He put all four tyres over the white line and off the track when passed the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton to take the lead in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Race officials ordered Verstappen

to give first place back to Hamilton.

Then, in Portugal, Verstappen set the fastest lap in qualifying. But that pole winning time was deleted because he had exceeded track limits on that particular lap.

In the race he clocked the fastest race lap. But on Saturday morning the FIA race director, Aussie Michael Masi, had stated that Turn 14 would now be included in the track limits limitations. The updated version of the “race notes” was sent to all the teams and to F1 publications like Auto Action. But Red Bull failed to inform Verstappen who

exceeded track limits at Turn 14 when he was setting the fastest race lap to get the extra point.

“We do need to find a solution,” Verstappen said. “Of course I understand some tracks we race together with MotoGP, and of course they want a bit different kerbs to what we like.”

The MotoGP riders do not want steep kerbs or kerbs with sharp indentations. Yet such kerbs would certainly dissuade the F1 drivers from running wide and damaging their cars.

HORNER: MERCEDES QUICKER THAN RED BULL

RED BULL driver Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton have had wheel-to-wheel battles in all four races this season, but Hamilton has won three times and Verstappen has only won once.

The reason, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, is simply that Mercedes has a faster car. Yet Mercedes seemed to be struggling in pre-season testing.

“Testing was a three day test,” Horner pointed out. “Mercedes didn’t show their true potential at that test, and from the Bahrain race they’ve been right there, particularly on race pace. So it is going to be about developing the car and developing efficiently. Developing within the constraints of obviously designing a new car for next year as well, so that poses its own challenge. And of course a 23 race calendar is a marathon season. We need to make sure that we’re there for the second half of the season, as that has been generally where we’ve been stronger.”

During the Spanish Grand Prix the Mercedes seemed stronger than the Red Bull on the medium compound Pirelli tyres.

“The Mercedes, we’ve seen since Bahrain, that their race pace has been better than ours at each grand prix that we’ve seen so far, and I think that their tyre degradation has been better than ours,” Horner said. “So we knew these last two circuits (Portugal and Spain) would play to their strengths. They have done that, but we’re an awful lot closer than we have been. And I think we can find some more race pace. It’s still very, very tight between the two cars.”

Hamilton and Mercedes won in Spain not only by having the fastest car, but also by having two sets of medium compound Pirelli tyres saved for the race pit stops, and being able to do two pit stops while Verstappen, who only had one set of extra mediums for the race, was

basically stuck on a one stop race strategy.

Yes, Verstappen made a late race pit stop for the soft tyres so that he could claim a point for setting the fastest race lap. But that was only after he was now consigned to second place.

Red Bull’s strategy has been further compromised by the fact that Verstappen’s teammate Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez has not been in the mix with the front runners.

“We desperately need him to be in that gap so Mercedes don’t have the strategic options (in Spain) that they had,” Horner said. “And so I’m convinced that that will come for Checo as he finds more confidence and time in the car.”

What does Red Bull have to do so that a situation like Spain won’t come up again, and therefore win in one of these situations?

“Just need a faster car,” Verstappen said. “It’s very simple. Then you don’t need to get into a situation like that. That’s what we have to focus on.”

FIA INFLEXIBLE ON FLEXY WINGS

Gravel traps are a solution for F1, but circuit owners do not like gravel traps because on “track days” – when people pay to lap in their private cars – there are lengthy delays when one of those cars gets stuck in the gravel.

“We need a middle way that works for both, because with our cornering speed basically we can abuse the whole track with the grip we have with the cars which just makes it really difficult sometimes to really judge proper track limits,” Verstappen said.

FLEXING, DEFLECTING or rotating wings, floors and other body parts are nothing new in Formula 1 as the teams search for less drag and more downforce. Now, however, the FIA has informed the teams that it will impose even tougher load/deformation tests to clamp down on the so-called bendy rear wings.

The FIA has been investigating the 2021 cars for a while, and now Lewis Hamilton has drawn attention to the issue.

“The Red Bulls are really fast on the straights,” Mercedes driver Hamilton told Sky Sports after qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. “They have this bendy wing on the back of their car which they put on today and they gained at least three-tenths.”

The rear wing appears to deflect on the straight, which reduces drag and increases speed, and then it snaps back up to create downforce in the corners.

Nonetheless, Hamilton was able to beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in both qualifying and the race in Spain.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was asked about Hamilton’s remarks.

“The cars are scrutineered thoroughly and there’s pull-back tests,” Horner said, “there’s all kinds of different tests it has to pass.

The FIA are completely happy with the car, that it has passed all of those tests that are pretty stringent, so I was surprised to see his comments on that.”

But the FIA is no longer happy. The FIA’s single seater technical head Nikolas Tombazis told the teams that new load deflection tests will begin after 15 June. Plus there will be a tolerance of 20 per cent built into the test for the following 30 days. This will give the teams time to get their aerodynamic houses in order.

Red Bull’s aerodynamics guru Adrian Newey and his team are masters in the flexing body parts field. But now they will have to deal with this stricter enforcement in scrutineering.

Article 3.8 of Formula One’s technical regulations says all components influencing a car’s aerodynamic performance must be

“rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car” and “remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.”

“We have become aware of some cases whereby rear designs which comply with the requirements of articles 3.9.3 and 3.9.4 nonetheless exhibit excessive deflections while the cars are in motion,” Tombazis said in his letter. “We believe that such deformations can have a significant influence on a car’s aerodynamic performance and hence could be deemed to contravene the provisions of article 3.8.”

Of course, Red Bull isn’t the only team pushing the flexing limits. Cameras onboard the Mercedes show the front wing drooping closer to the track in the bends and then moving back up on the straight. And other teams are also searching for the aerodynamic boundaries.

The fight between Mercedes and Red Bull is so close this season that the FIA’s clampdown could play a decisive role in that battle.

ALONSO FEELING POSITIVE

ALTHOUGH HE finished back in 17th place in his home grand prix, Spaniard Fernando Alonso said the weekend in general was positive.

“We had some good performance from the car, and we are definitely heading in the right direction,” he said. “In Portugal we were fast, but we didn’t know if it was specific to that track, so our progression this weekend shows we are in a good place.”

Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon finished ninth in Spain.

“A positive thing is that last year here we didn’t score points and this year we came away with two,” Ocon said.

Is Alpine now the fifth best team behind Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari?

“I think we had some good answers in Spain on some of the performance of the car and performance of the competitors,” Alonso said. “I was more or less comfortable. I think we had more pace in qualifying than the race. I think the racing was even tighter than qualifying as it seems the performance in the cars is very similar. I feel good. We are putting things together, slowly step by step, and the most important now is to get more performance out of the car.

“On my side I think we have identified the areas where we can exploit more performance. So we are working on that.”

How will Alonso and Alpine perform at Monaco?

“I don’t know,” said Alonso who won the race through the streets in 2006 and 2007. “I think the car will be fast in Monaco, I feel good about the performance there. One of the things that I need to get better for sure is to extract the maximum from the car in one lap, and when you push the car by having the confidence in what the car is doing.

“I’m not 100 per cent on that at the moment, and in Monaco it is crucial that I get the maximum out of the car on Saturday, so I remain a little more cautious because of my own homework than my own car. Let’s say I feel confident in the car, now I need to work to be comfortable on that side as well it is up to me. So let’s try.”

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HAMILTON’S CENTURY OF POLES BACK IN 2007 I was in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and what was to be Lewis Hamilton’s maiden victory in his first season in Formula One. As driven and motivated and ambitious as he was in his rookie season – and still is of course – I wonder if he could have conceived then that all these years later, he would be closing in on 100 wins. In this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, where he racked up his 100th pole position, he scored his 98th victory. At the rate that Hamilton is going now – three wins to Max Verstappen’s one in the first four rounds – it won’t be long before he scores his century.

Hamilton, who turned 36 on 7 January, is physically and mentally fitter than he has ever been in his F1 career, and that F1 career will continue for a 16th season in 2022 as he has no plans to retire.

“There’s still some life in this old dog!” he joked after winning the Spanish Grand Prix for the sixth time (and the fifth time in succession).

“I would say I’m more conscious than ever about

my body, about my training regime. I’ve been training myself for a long time now, but constantly growing and learning how to look after the vessel that I’m given, and I’m feeling great.”

Hamilton and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff only agreed to a one-year contract extension in February of this year. Both men have no intention of going through that ordeal again, and they will begin contract talks in the next few weeks.

“We never want to be in the position that we were in back in January!” Hamilton said. “It ruined my whole winter, and I’m sure it wasn’t helpful for Toto’s, in terms of having time off and being relaxed. So it felt like we didn’t really have much of a break. I think we have to be sensible.

“Naturally we don’t have to rush anything, but I think we have to be sensible and start conversations. They’re very complex; it’s never a super-simple procedure.

So hopefully we can start soon, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the actual job.

We still have 19 races to do, but it would be great to get

something in place before the (summer) break so then we could, again, be in that break and have a clear picture of the future.”

With his three wins, a second place and a point for a fastest race lap, Hamilton now has 94 points (14 more than Verstappen) and this is his best-ever start to a F1 season.

“Every year I come back and I’m always trying to improve,” Hamilton said.

“Most often it tends to be, or it seems impossible, but it’s a necessity. The Red Bulls have started off incredibly strong. They do both have a championship-winning car and opportunity. As do we.

It’s going to take everything from us, not only me bringing my A-game but the team bringing their A-game, weekend-in, weekend-out.

Otherwise these guys (Red Bull) will be winning.”

It is inevitable, of course, that one of these years Hamilton will retire. It is also inevitable that despite Hamilton being an extremely popular driver with the fans, F1 will survive and thrive without him.

“For sure Lewis is a great

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asset,” said F1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali. “He is doing an incredible job on the sporting side and, in terms of image, he was able to grow Formula 1 in other areas not related to F1.

“But F1 itself is strong. Driver champions are always in a place where one day they may retire. I don’t know what Lewis will do. We have talked with him but of course now he is focused on his actual season to make sure he will be the only driver to have won eight titles in the history of F1.

But F1 is solid, robust, and for sure whatever will be the season of no Lewis, F1 will react and move forward.”

Wolff wants the new contract with Hamilton to be at least a two-year deal. I wonder how many more wins he could rack up by the end of 2023 ...

It used to seem that Michael Schumacher’s incredible feat of 91 victories would never be topped. Many years from now, will a driver get a century of F1 wins and then start to close in on Hamilton’s record? Who knows? But as Schumacher used to say: Records are made to be broken.

Latest Supercars and Formula 1 news, Supercars Winton round up, Up Front With Foges, Cooper T38 Jaguar, Monaco Grand Prix, Young Gun, Big AA cover stories of the 80’s

with Mark Fogarty

THE FOGES FILE AA’s perspicacious pundit explains why time, sadly, is up for Supercars’ GOAT “IT’S TIME”. Just as the slogan of the Labor Party in 1972 presaged a changing of the political guard, the catchphrase sums up the end of Jamie Whincup’s reign.

It’s time for Whincup because he is no longer the measure. He is still among the very best, but in his final full-time season, he is overshadowed by Triple Eight teammate Shane van Gisbergen.

SVG’s relative youth and sublime skill are exposing J-Dub’s weaknesses. The greatest Supercars driver statistically doesn’t have the winning edge any more.

The analogy with Gough Whitlam’s transformative victory 49 years ago is appropriate. The ‘It’s Time’ anthem drove a youth movement that overturned 23 years of Liberal-led conservative Australian government.

It was time for change because there was a newer, brighter alternative. Whitlam’s Labor upended the federal political landscape, introducing reforms from which we still benefit today.

Whincup’s reign has been long and historic but, at 38, his time at the top is over – for many reasons. At their core, though, he just doesn’t have the headspace to counteract van Gisbergen, who lives for nothing but racing.

Whincup is clearly distracted by his other interests, not least that he will be taking over as team principal of Triple Eight next year.

Along with running his own car wash/café business, he is a significant shareholder in Triple Eight and scheduled to take over the day-to-day running of the operation next year.

He is no doubt racing as hard as he can, but the gung-ho commitment is just not there. He will argue otherwise, but his outside responsibilities have taken the edge off his racing.

Of course, Whincup is still good enough to steal a record-extending eighth Supercars championship. But so far this season, SVG has his measure.

This year’s Jamie Whincup is different.

More team player than racing assassin.

In the back of his mind is reality. He is the glorious past; SVG is the immediate to medium-term future of Red Bull Ampol Racing.

So ‘It’s Time’ for J-Dub to give up title pretentions. His 2022 transition to team principal, replacing squad founder Roland Dane, is daunting.

Never in ATCC/Supercars history have there been bigger shoes to fill. Not only Roland’s, but Whincup’s replacement will be seismic. There will be far more scrutiny – and far higher expectations – than his surprise ascension in 2006.

Back then, he was seen as a safe signing to support superstar Craig Lowndes. Then he won first time out at the Adelaide 500 and Supercars was never the same again.

A record seven titles, a record 123 race wins and four Bathurst 1000s (which could have been seven but for those he wilfully lost). An all-time great and living legend.

But this year his attention is divided. This season is as much about learning how to continue the success of the most dominant team of the past 15 years as winning races – or another title.

Whincup is dedicated, tenacious and astute. But he is not Jamie 2015, when arguably he was at his peak as a fast and thinking driver. His seventh V8 crown in 2017 was a combination of doggedness and luck.

He has made the right decision to retire at the end of this season because his life no longer revolves around being a racing driver.

He will throw himself into running the team, which will switch from ZB Commodores to Chev Camaros next year if Gen3 happens on schedule, but there are those who question if he is the right man for the job.

As methodical about his racing as he is, there have been those questioning his performance as a member of the Supercars Commission, where some critics suggest he is just a stooge for current boss Dane.

He will only be more deeply embroiled in the politics of Supercars when he becomes Triple Eight’s team principal.

The hope is that his innate decency and love of racing will override vested interests.

Honest and engaged, Whincup will be a different, more conciliatory team leader than Dane.

How he performs for the rest of this season will be more of a reflection of his

commitment to the team, backing up SVG, than chasing personal glory.

Van Gisbergen is faster, fitter and hungrier, and J-Dub won’t play games to alter the balance. Whincup is trying to win races and another championship while seeing the bigger picture and supporting the team he will be running from next year.

It’s Time. But not the end.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,” wrote famed poet Dylan Thomas. “Old age should burn and rave at close of day; rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Jamie Whincup will give it his all until the last lap of the last race this year. It just won’t be enough.

But he will retire with distinction and a new motivation.

If Whincup leads Triple Eight Race Engineering to another decade or more of success, he will establish an unparalleled legacy.

Legends Peter Brock, Dick Johnson, Allan Moffat and Glenn Seton have won multiple driver and team titles, but J-Dub could eclipse them all.

Or fail spectacularly. Taking over as team principal will be Whincup’s toughest racing test yet – by far.

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DRIVE TO SURVIVE Supercars’ newest race winner Andre Heimgartner talks candidly about his future as the search for Jamie Whincup’s replacement hots up IT’S BEEN a long road full of detours, delays and dead ends.

Six years ago, he was the latest teen prodigy from New Zealand set to storm Supercars, only for things to go awry.

He was pushed to the brink of quitting, rescued his career with a brilliant drive, then endured three seasons in uncompetitive cars. Rated highly, he couldn’t quite confirm he was a winner in waiting.

Until now. Andre Heimgartner’s breakthrough victory at The Bend Motorsport Park in the wet Saturday opening sprint race was vindication for him and the beleaguered Kelly team’s switch to Ford last year.

The success was also a boost for new co-owners Stephen and Brenton Grove, suggesting the Kelly Grove Racing alliance has the resources and management to utilise the talents of Heimgartner and star recruit David Reynolds.

At The Bend, Melbourne-based Heimgartner, who turns 26 on June 6, showed the latent star quality that has him joining the conversation about potential candidates to replace Jamie Whincup at Triple Eight.

He has been threatening to do damage in his NED Racing Mustang since last year, when he won his first pole position for the third race at SMP 2 and was on course for his maiden win until an engine problem relegated him to second.

Lack of consistent car speed remains KGR’s limitation, but in difficult conditions at The Bend,

22 AutoAction

Heimgartner was SVG-like in his pole-to-flag mastery. He faded in the other two races, but the promise of progress was there.

Few young drivers have had the tenacity and temperament to persist and prevail when the – mainly financial – odds are against them. He was just days away from leaving racing to work in the finance industry when a mercurial performance at the 2017 Gold Coast 600 threw him m a Supercars lifeline.

Brought in by BJR as Tim Slade’s stand-in teammate at Bathurst and the Gold Coast (replacing injured Ash Walsh), he starred in the opening leg, taking the lead on the soaked streets of Surfers Paradise before the ad hoc duo slithered home in third.

On the strength of that drive, he was hired by Kelly Racing in ’18 and even managed to occasionally shine in the outmoded Nissans before asserting himself – again, fleetingly – in the pared-backed two car KR Mustang squad during last year’s COVID-19 disrupted season.

Ahead of the Winton SuperSprint, Heimgartner sat down to assess his prospects of more success and address speculation about his future.

Despite his reserved nature, he is assertive, insightful and honest, revealing a measured confidence and determined intensity behind his TV-friendly persona.

How big a breakthrough is The Bend win? Does that mean you’re going to be contending more often from now on?

It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be contending for more wins. I think it just more gives myself and the team the knowledge that if we get all our ducks in a line, we can win. I’ve proven as a driver, most importantly, that I can be strong in practice, I can qualify on pole and I can convert that to a win, which is actually is very difficult to do. From the last 11 times, only five or so were converted to a win. So for me to know that’s possible, it just means we need to work harder to get everything sorted – my driving, the car – to be able to do that more often.

How did everything come together there – and why was the package suddenly so strong?

Well, we’re trying to figure that out!

We don’t know 100 per cent. Our car always goes well when it’s cool and I tend to go very well when it’s wet, so it just all came together. I was comfortable. We made some smart decisions with the tyres, which gave me more confidence. The car was just

handling well and I knew what I had to do, and it became simpler. In the past – and still in the other conditions – we’re chopping and changing the car, so that makes it hard for us because we don’t know what we have session to session. You can’t build on anything; you can’t do the little things you need to do. But for that day, we basically left the car 100 per cent the same, so all I was doing was adjusting my driving and that’s where I think, when you understand where the car needs to be, you can then start working those things out.

That’s where you get the good gains.

So we are trying to figure that out at the moment. Everyone else must have thought “Oh, they dominated the day, they must know what they’re doing” – but we kind-of half didn’t. I knew we had that good set-up, but it was just those little things we were able to then concentrate on and do properly.

And what you would have realised is how relatively easy it is once you’re out in front, isn’t it?

Oh, it’s just like doing a test day. I realised that the first time I was racing

After coming close at SMP last year, Heimgartner scored his breakthrough in the wet first race of The Bend SuperSprint.

He wasn’t so competitive in the dry, but still recorded two top 10s on the Sunday.

in the top five. I qualified fifth and I thought “Oh, jeez, I’m going to have to drive like Ayrton Senna to stay up the front”. But once you’re up there it’s, like, cruisy. You’re more relaxed, you just drive the car easy. It’s very different to what you imagine when you’re midpack. You think “Jeez, the guys at the front are driving those cars unbelievably well”, but when you’re up there, it’s very different. You have fewer cars around you and you know what you have to do, so it works better.

You were obviously in control because you were able to overcome the penalty. Was that a concern at all?

I knew there was obviously going to be a penalty, but I was pretty confident I was going to be able to at least maintain the minimum gap, if not pull away. I felt it was going to take more than that to take it away from us.

I was also mindful of the fact that we had the win taken away from us at Sydney Motorsport Park when I qualified on pole there. We were having some engine issues, so I had to slow down when I was pulling away from Dave (Reynolds) and we lost the race. I vowed that was never going to happen again. So the penalty was a worry, but I was pretty confident we had the speed to stay far enough ahead.

Your most impressive performances have invariably been in slippery

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conditions. Shane van Gisbergen also excels in the wet, but claims he doesn’t like racing in the rain. Do you like it when conditions are a bit dodgy?

Yes and no. If it’s a dry weekend and then it rains, I’m like, shit, I don’t want it to be wet. Everyone likes driving in the dry because you get to push it.

But once I did that first wet session, I was like, shit, this car’s not bad, so I didn’t mind if it rained for the rest of the weekend. But I don’t really love it. I don’t think anyone really loves driving in the wet.

Winton’s coming up. Is your expectation now higher?

Well, we don’t really know. One of the biggest problems for our team has been the inconsistency. For example, Tasmania was a disaster for me, then

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next time out I’m on pole and win the race. So I have given up on trying to have expectations from round to round. We’re really just trying to understand the car at this point. I think our cars will be OK – they were good there at the (southern teams’ preseason) test day – but we’re still trying to figure stuff out rather than expecting to be on pole or anything like that.

I guess the lesson from The Bend was that when you get it right as a group, you can contend for podiums and wins.

Yeah, I think the crew can do the job in the pit stops, the engineers can do the job of setting the cars up and, obviously, I proved that I can do the driving part.

But that’s the difference between a good and a bad team – being able to do that week in, week out, and being more consistent and not stumble across that

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success. It’s where we need to improve, really. Basically, we just need to figure out how to do it more often.

Has the arrival of the Groves brought noticeable change to how the team operates?

We’ve always been hungry to win. It’s not like they’ve come along and all of a sudden, we want to win races.

But it definitely has boosted the morale. In any operation, any business, anything, generally speaking when something fresh comes in, everyone perks up.

Everyone has really enjoyed the Groves’ involvement.

Their very successful in their own right and they bring different skills, and a fresh voice and fresh ideas.

Their influence right throughout the team has been refreshing and motivating. I think it’s helped Todd (Kelly) by spreading the management load. There’s only so much one man can do.

You can’t be building engines and running the team and looking after the sponsors, which was what he was having to do.

He was working extremely hard, including driving the coach everywhere when we were on the road last year. So I think it’s been liberating for him. Todd is very similar to me.

We’re not the most outspoken

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people, so I think the Groves are a good contrast. They bring a bit of energy, a bit of hype to the operation, which enthuses people.

With David Reynolds joining the team, you now have a direct yardstick – a top teammate to measure yourself against. And so far, you’re measuring up pretty well, aren’t you?

It’s been pretty good so far. I personally didn’t think him coming to the team would be an issue.

I felt I could at least match him in all areas. But I had a very strong teammate in Rick Kelly. I finished ahead of him in the championship for the past two years and everyone rates Rick to be one of the best drivers. So when Dave came along, I just saw it as another challenge and I really love that.

I love the challenge of having a top teammate. Ideally, I’d have Scott McLaughlin as my teammate because then you can really learn from the best.

That’s how I’ve learned as a driver.

There’s no point beating your teammate week in, week out because it doesn’t push the team, it doesn’t push yourself.

So I was really looking forward to Dave joining and looking forward to that challenge of trying to overcome him.

He’s obviously one of the best drivers, so he’s a good measure. Also, you learn a lot about different strengths and weaknesses. It’s very interesting, I find.

How is working with him – he’s a pretty crazy character?

Yes, very different to Rick. Rick and I are very similar in a lot of ways. We’re very punctual, very serious and pretty quiet people. We don’t tend to have a lot of people hang around us, whereas Dave is the complete opposite. He’s not very punctual, which for someone who is on time can be quite annoying. It’s a bit like trying to herd cats – you’re never going to get them all.

So it’s very different, but nothing bad.

He’s a great bloke and everything he does is good, but we have two very different ways of operating. We do our own things and I’m getting used to him now. It’s very interesting and quite funny sometimes. And, of course, his manager (John Ruggiero) is my manager as well.

You’re now established as a rising star in Supercars, but you once came within four days of being forced out.

What was the story there?

It wasn’t by choice. Back in 2015, when I raced for Super Black, it was all good.

I was earning good money and working with the late Tony Lentino was really cool. I’d achieved my dream of being in Supercars, I was very young, earning some good money, everything was great, and then that got chopped from under me at the end of the year due to Chris Pither coming with more money for the next year. We just couldn’t match the money that was needed to secure the seat again, so that was lost.

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Heimgartner set up his maiden race win with his second career pole. He thinks the arrival of new co-owners Stephen and Brenton Grove ( far left and near left, above) has freed Todd Kelly to concentrate on extracting more consistent speed from the NED Racing Mustang. course, that event changed everything.

[He partnered Tim Slade to third in the first race in the wet after leading, catching the eye of Todd Kelly, who subsequently signed him for 2018 in the fourth Nissan.]

So that performance put you back on the map in Supercars.

Lucas Dumbrell did an amazing deal for us in 2016 and we brought Plus Fitness on board and that’s where that relationship started. We did that year, but it was extremely hard, obviously, and didn’t get any of the results we needed to progress from there, so we were out of Supercars. Throughout that year, I realised it wasn’t going to head the way I wanted.

You have to be realistic and I sat down with various people in my circle, and that’s when we decided it was probably a good idea to get some other skills.

Also during that year, I wasn’t earning any money from racing at all, so I needed another job to survive.

While my family has a little bit of money, my dad’s a German, so he’s very tough and he said “Well, you have to make it work yourself – I’m not just going to give you money so you can sit on your arse”. I got a job at Stratton Finance in Port Melbourne, just doing data entry stuff . Throughout that year – it still gives me a headache and makes me tired just thinking about it – I used to get up at about 4 to 4.30 am every day, go train for an hour or so and then be at work at 7am.

I’d work through till 5.30 pm, then go to train again and afterwards go home to eat and then go to sleep. In 2016 and for most of 2017, that’s how I had to live my life because, after being let go at the end of 2015, I decided that I’d never be the second choice for anyone ever again.

It was very tough for me throughout that phase. I didn’t have a lot of money and things were difficult personally, so I

struggled with a lot of things. I got pretty rock bottom towards the end of that 2016 season. Nothing was going my way and it was a very tough time.

My Supercars career was effectively over and my manager John rang me a week before the 2017 Adelaide 500, telling me he’d managed to get enough sponsors for me to start doing the Porsche Carrera Cup. I threw myself into that, went 100 per cent, because I didn’t want to later regret that I didn’t give it everything. It was a big opportunity and very good for me in a lot of ways.

It made me realise how important the human side was in terms of driving. In Supercars, you can always blame the car, you can always say the set-up’s not good or others have better cars. But in Carrera Cup, the cars are identical and it made me examine why I was good one weekend and then shit the next. It made me think about lots of different areas that I could work on and by the end of that season, my driving had become a lot more consistent and that really helped. During that time, I became a qualified finance broker because there wasn’t anything in racing beyond that – the Carrera Cup was a just one-year thing. We decided that I wasn’t going to try to milk a cow that had nothing left and that we’d just hopefully win that championship and move on to finance.

I had a foot in the door and it was a career I was interested in, so that was what I was gearing up to do.

I got my qualification as a finance broker a week before the Gold Coast 600. Of

Up to that point, whenever I’d needed to perform to do something, it went the opposite way! Throughout my career, until then, it never happened when I needed it. Looking back now, you couldn’t dream it up because it also required Tim Slade qualifying well, the car being set up well and also me racing in the race before in the Porsche in the wet, so I knew what I was doing. So many things came together, along with the timing of Todd wanting to retire and looking for someone to replace him.

Once again, your stocks have risen and there’s a lot of talk about who might replace Jamie Whincup. Are you out in the market?

Well, I’d love to stay with this team, but you’d be silly not to put your ear to the ground and see what’s moving around.

But I think with what’s happening in this team, there’s not necessarily a strong case to move somewhere else. We have the new cars coming in and I believe in this team – and have for a while believed – that it can be winning races or championships. So my preference, if I had to choose right now, would be to stay here, but I’m not going to be stupid.

If it drags on forever, I don’t want to be left without a seat, so you have to be smart about it as well.

And, surely, if Triple Eight came calling, you’d be talking to them, wouldn’t you?

Well, yeah, you’re going to pick up the call, aren’t you? You’re not going to snub them. You’re going to hear what they say. You have to find out what’s out there – and that’s my manager’s

After a promising start with Super Black Racing in 2015 (top), Andre has survived a string of uncompetitive drives to emerge as a rising star. Nissan seat revived his Supercars career in 2018 (above left), with his starring stand-in performance in the wet with Tim Slade at Surfers Paradise in ’17 (middle) catching the eye of retiring racer Todd Kelly.

Heimgartner won back-to-back NZ FF titles (above right), but didn’t have the money to pursue an open-wheel career in Europe. job. If he wasn’t doing that, then I’d be paying him for nothing.

Do you see yourself as someone Triple Eight should be considering?

I guess every driver thinks they should be in that seat or think they should be considered.

I’m young and I think the results I’ve been able to get, not in the best cars the whole time, have been pretty good.

I’m pretty straight-line.

I don’t come with a lot of baggage, Me and others seem to think it’s a good fit, but that’s sort of irrelevant in a lot of ways – they’ll do what they want to do. But I think I could perform well in that situation, no doubt.

I also would have thought that Todd has made it clear that he wants to keep you.

Yes, we’re in the process of trying to work that all out. So many things have been going on with the new team structure and it’s still early in the year, but, hopefully, John (Ruggiero) and I will have some direction on where we’re going to be ending up next year in the coming months.

Looking ahead to the Bathurst 1000, how excited are you to be teaming up with double Le Mans winner Earl Bamber?

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And another Kiwi! It’s great. We should be a very strong combination.

It’s all lining up. I’m getting a new car soon, which will be a step in the right direction, and the whole team is moving in the right direction and I’ll have Earl there to boost me there as well.

Bathurst is pretty much a sprint race and you need a co-driver who’s almost as fast as you. I think he’s as good as any co-driver you can get. He knows the Groves well (from Porsche GT racing), so he’ll fit in well. He also brings a wealth of knowledge, so I think apart from his speed, he’ll bring a lot of knowledge in a lot of other areas that will be able to help us just as much.

Did you always want to be a Supercars driver or did you initially try to take the open-wheeler route to Europe?

Well, it was never really intentional for this to be my life. My dad used to race cars and I used to follow him around, and I started pestering him about kart racing. Finally, he bought me this shitty little go-kart, although my sister was the first to drive it because I was so young.

It was just something for me and my dad to do. My parents had split up when I was young, so I didn’t really get to see my dad apart from when we went racing. So it was really a

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bonding time for us. Up until when I was 12 – and I started when I was six – I only really used to do three or four meetings a year, so it was a fun thing.

I used to go and watch Greg Murphy at Pukekohe, but it never computed in my brain that Aussie V8s was ever an achievable thing. We just did it as a fun thing. Anyway, we had enough of karting and we decided I may as well race at the same car meetings as my dad (Mark), who used to race like sports sedan stuff. So we went and did Formula First and ran our own car.

We did two years of that and then moved on to Formula Ford – still doing it for fun rather than looking at the bigger picture. I won the FF winter series and starting thinking serious about a race career; training really hard while I was still at school. I won the FF title a couple of times (2010/11 and 2011/12), but we couldn’t afford to pursue anything in Europe. I would loved to have done the Toyota Racing Series – that was my dream.

I saw Richie Stanaway, Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy and all those guys launching their careers in TRS and I really wanted to do it, but we didn’t have the means to go overseas. Mitch was doing GP2 and it was costing $4-5 million, which was just totally unrealistic for us.

So we decided touring cars was the way to go, but we were still only thinking NZ. Super Tourers was the new V8 category in NZ and it was

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affordable in the scheme of things.

I was never really meant to race in Australia extensively, but David John (later of Team Kiwi infamy) brought me over for the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2012 (at the age of 16). I moved up to the Dunlop Series (now Super2) the next year and it went on from there.

We never really intended to race any touring cars in Australia. The thought was to just become a good touring car driver in NZ. I would’ve loved to pursue an open-wheeler career overseas, but it we just didn’t have the money.

When I first met you, you were doing driver training at Paul Morris’s Norwell Motorplex. How influential and how helpful was Paul to your Supercars career?

Paul was very good to me, no doubt.

I think he helped Slade out before me and then assisted me, and I’ll always be very thankful for what he did. I lived on the Gold Coast for a couple of years and was working at Norwell fulltime, and we did a lot of driver training on the track. So he helped me a lot and also helped me get the Super Black drive in 2015.

So he was an early mentor?

Oh, yeah. We’ve drifted apart over the years, but for sure he was very instrumental throughout part of my career.

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ROADSTER WRECKERS: Cooper and Brabham

Mid-engined cars had raced at Indy before, but Jack Brabham’s tiddly 2.7-litre Cooper-Climax started a revolution which edged the hefty roadsters aside. Mark Bisset tells the tale 60 years on ...

WITH HIS second on-the-trot F1 World Championship in his pocket, Jack Brabham settled into his Cooper T53 Coventry Climax for his first run at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway, on October 5, 1960.

Brabham was familiar with left-turns – he’d cut his racing teeth aboard Speedcars on Sydney’s dirt bullrings in the late-40s. Indy was, however, a tad different in size and speed and was surfaced with millions of bricks.

He felt no particular emotion as he set out for yet another test on the gently-banked 2.5-mile Brickyard.

Jack quickly settled the Cooper into a comfortable 128mph groove while he sussed the nuances of the place before all hell broke loose with waved flags and gesticulations from officials all over the joint.

Chief Steward and pre-war racer Harlan Fengler went off at Brabham like a frog-in-a-sock for going way too fast! There was a rookie driver, progressive increase in lap-speed process, which started at 110mph.

Dual world champ or not, Brabham had to comply ...

It was the quiet Aussie’s introduction to the conservative, insular Indianapolis world.

The test arose thanks to 1959 Indy winner Rodger Ward. He was invited to contest the 1960 US GP at Sebring, despite using a totally unsuitable Kurtis Kraft-Offy speedcar.

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Jack Brabham on circuit, (top) note the seat-belts and higher-than-GP-spec roll bar mandated by the USAC. John Cooper aboard the T54 in the paddock (above). A well-credentialled driver, he did a few systems test laps during the October 1960 exploratory session in Jack’s GP T53 Climax. Note the easily-removed Dunlop alloy knock-off wheels. (Indy Motor Speedway) It was a great idea – the recent Indy winner would increase the gate takings.

After Ward was blown-off by the Brabham and McLaren T53s on the first practice lap, he pursued Brabham and Cooper relentlessly over the weekend to test their ‘little buggies’ at Indy.

With such great prize money, what

did they have to lose?

Arrangements were made to run after the GP season via John Cooper’s US friend, Frank Falkner.

Brabham fitted in a celebratory race at Bathurst on October 2, beating a strong field in a Cooper T51, then it was across the Pacific to Indy.

Ward coached Brabham on lines in a road car, then Jack took to the track. Having passed his Rookie Test, his pace increased as he, Cooper and mechanic, Noddy Grohmann, played with suspension settings, then lowered the diff ratio overnight.

Brabham’s best was a 144.834mph

Brabham before the 1961 race (above). Note the chassis and engine-offset, especially in the shot below. Cooper Knight C5S gearbox has only three big beefy gears, rather than the five used in GP racing. (Indy Motor Speedway/David Friedman) lap (233.088kmh) good enough to have popped him eighth on the 1960 grid – despite the 235bhp 2.5-litre Climax giving away 190bhp to the four-cylinder 4.2-litre DOHC Offys.

Pit-watchers, and there were plenty of them, were initially cynical.

After all, the first mid-engined attempt at Indy had been Lee Oldfield’s Marmon V16 Spl way back in 1937 – there had been others, notably the well-funded Gulf-Millers, but none threatened the dominant orthodoxy.

Cooper was a bit different – the company was the current dual world F1 champs and were immediately quick. The pundits saw just how hands-on the Surbiton mob were too.

The Cooper lost ground on the ‘straightaways’ but equalled the bestever time for the quarter-mile long first turn.

Ward had a run after Jack. Amazed by its smooth ride and stability, he quipped, it’s a “Damm shame it hasn’t got more steam.”

By trip’s end, Falkner introduced the team to race-fan and Kleenex millionaire Jim Kimberly, who contracted within days to support Cooper’s 1961 Memorial Day entry.

The design challenges Cooper, Brabham and designer/draftsman Owen Maddock faced were

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considerable – suitable tyres, more power and optimising their spaceframe chassis and suspension to suit Indy’s fast left-handers.

Cooper was contracted to Dunlop, and the GP tyres used at the Indy test fried quickly – the compound was too soft. This, together with too flexible casings over-heated the tyres, which wore prematurely.

‘Dunlop Vic’ Barlow led a team to create a more durable tyre, Indy was a 500-mile sprint/enduro not a 200mile GP. Of course, the perfect car to blow the race apart would have been a

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Firestone shod Cooper-Offy! Lack of a suitable, beefy transaxle meant that was no more than a pipe-dream.

John Cooper badgered Coventry Climax boss Leonard Lee to build the biggest variant of his 2.5-litre FPF – the resultant 2.7 ‘Indy’ gave 250260bhp on a 50/50 avgas/methanol cocktail. It wasn’t really enough, but if the tyres and chassis came to the party, it just might be.

These Indy 2.7s became the sportscar and Formula Libre engine of choice globally for the next few years.

Maddock’s T54, chassis #61-IS-01,

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w was Cooper’s familiar multi-tubular spaceframe, upper and lower wishbone, coil-spring shock, discbrake combo, with a few Indy twists.

The engine and driver were offset 2.5-inches to the left, as were the wishbones – shorter on the left than the right to put most of the weight on the inside. Similarly, the left-side fuel tank was bigger than the right.

Indy qualifying and Monaco GP dates often conflicted, making things tricky for drivers contesting both events, 1961 was no exception.

Rain ruined a couple of days, then Brabham did two-hours practice at better than 146.4mph (he needed more than 144mph to qualify).

Then it was off to Monaco for Friday practice, and back to Indy to have a red-hot qualifying-crack on Saturday.

Brabham needed to nail it earlymorning, then jump aboard Kimberley’s jet to make commercial flight connections back to Nice.

Indy’s peril was made clear on Friday afternoon when Tony Bettenhausen Sr had suspension failure, hit the outside wall then rolled along the top of it before landing upside down. He was dead.

Jack was first up in the morning – it’s gotta weigh on your mind?

Jack gathered four good laps together, qualifing at 145.144mph, maybe a bit disappointing given his times six months before. “You never

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Phillippe de Lespinay in his T54 at Goodwood in 2016. The American restored it in 1990-1991 and its first appearance was at Monterey in ‘91.

The car entered but DNQ at Indy, Aston Martinengined, in ‘63, then was in the wilderness for 20 years – ultimately a mid-engined Chev sprintcar before the bits were rescued by Lespinay in 1990. Brabham checks progress (below) in 1991.

(Goodwood Festival of Speed/P de Lespinay/RM Sotheby’s) really knew what Jack was feeling, but I think he was nervous” recalled John Cooper. Eddie Sachs’ Ewing-Offy took pole with 147.48mph (237.35kmh) – other top-guns that year included AJ Foyt, Ward, Parnelli Jones, Jim Rathman and Don Branson.

Back in Europe, 1961 was turning out to be a Ferrari 156 F1 rout.

Climax, the British team’s engine supplier, didn’t have their 1.5-litre V8 ready until 1962 (Jack first tested it at the Nurburging later in 1961). The teams therefore persevered with the old 1.5-litre FPF four which was no match for Ferrari’s potent V6s.

Brabham retired at Monaco, perhaps a blessing in disguise given his tiredness after the flight back from the US. At Zandvoort his Cooper T55 was sixth in the Dutch GP, then it was back to the US for the 500 on May 30.

Noddy Grohmann fitted a fresh 258bhp Climax for the race (the best Offys had 430bhp). The T54 weighed 1270lb/575kg, the roadsters about 1765lb/800kg – an interesting David and Goliath battle of the nimble and light against the big and powerful.

Tyres played a big part, as they still do. Dunlop developed asymmetricaltread tyres for the left-handers but retained F1 construction and compounds. Three stops were necessary in Barlow’s mind, while Brabham hoped sufficient rubber would be laid on-circuit to allow two.

Firestones were available, but the contractual consequences doubtless weighed heavily on John Cooper!

300,000 cheering Americans at Indy makes a 100,000 crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground look like a quiet club match.Brabham admitted

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to nerves before the start, but he settled down in 13th grid-slot behind the pace car at 50mph – 11 rows of three cars with Jack at hub-level surrounded by prehistoric, giant roadsters!

After the start, he settled into the middle of three groups – he was all over roadsters in the corners, but they went ‘zap’ in a straight line. Jack was impressed by the ability of the racers to go wheel to hub safely at high speeds.

His tyre woes started early. His first stint was 5 laps less than hoped, then a crewman cross-threaded the off-side rear hub-knock off, and then jammed it when he hit it. The nut was hammered off and the thread filed true. After that, the spinner had to be hammered off, and on, causing 64-second stops, double his rivals.

Shortly after this first stop, Don Davis’ Trevis-Offy engine blew, spinning it down the straight from wall to wall, leaving plenty of expensive shrapnel en route – Brabham’s Cooper was nimble enough to go through a gap between car and wall, but four roadsters without that attribute became part of the carnage.

Brabham eased his pace to preserve the tyres and finished ninth.

He felt sixth or seventh was possible if they had run hard and problem-free with three stops. The engine ran like a clock – with Firestones and twostops perhaps a win was possible.

AJ Foyt was victorious aboard George Bignotti’s Trevis-Offy, having led 71 laps, from the Offy-powered Eddie Sachs’ Ewing and Rodger Ward’s Watson.

Majestic Indy 500 shots from 1961.

A beaming Jack Brabham and his diminutive Cooper T54/Climax pose for the official Indy 500 Speedway portrait.

On the ‘Bricks’ (above right) the Cooper being inspected by some of the Indy tech team prior to the off.

A cutaway from the period, highlighting the offset of the major components.

A David and Goliath shot (below) emphasising the sheer economy of the Cooper’s packaging, Brabham passes inside Bob Christie’s Kurtis Offy roadster but was a DNF with piston failure after 132 laps. (Indy Motor Speedway/Autocar)

Don’t for a moment think the midengined movent was a tidal wave though. Ward’s Watson-Offy won in ‘62 – the only ‘middie’ on the grid was Mickey Thompsons’ stock-block Thompson-Buick V8. Dan Gurney drove it in his rookie year, and after qualifying eighth, he ran with the leaders until transmission failure.

An aside is that Indy was the Buick 215 aluminium V8’s first competition appearance. Although the engine had a short production life, its Oldsmobile F85 brother found racing success – the block was used in Repco Brabham Engines’ 1966 RBE620 F1 championship winning motor.

Porsche-F1 racer Gurney was convinced of the mid-engined route.

He had a man in mind to build his car. Indy’s conservative contrarians, however, still thought the middies weren’t strong enough for ovals.

In 1962, when Gurney bought Colin Chapman a round-trip Indy ticket he ignited Force Chapman.

Shortly afterwards, the innovative Lotus boss did a deal with Ford to develop a stock-block pushrod V8 for 1963.

Parnelli Jones’ Watson-Offy won with Jim Clark’s Lotus 29 Ford 260cid V8 a close second in ’63 – it was a controversial win too,

the home-town boy wasn’t blackflagged in the closing stages despite his car leaking oil.

In 1964 it was all roadsters with AJ Foyt’s Watson-Offy up front.

Chapman chose to run Dunlops, rather than Ford’s preferred Firestones, on his new Lotus 34 Ford DOHC ‘Indy’ V8s. Clark led the race but, at quarter distance, his left-rear threw a tread, breaking the rear suspension. Chapman pulled Gurney into the pits for fear of another failure. Ford were not happy campers.

Team Lotus finally prevailed in 1965. Jim Clark’s Lotus 38 Ford led three mid-engined cars home, the first roadster was Gordon Johncock’s Watson-Offy back in fifth.

The revolution started by Cooper and Brabham was complete.

A roadster never won Indy again – by 1969 the grid was comprised entirely of mid-engined cars.

Postcript – Jack Brabham’s Indy record: He ran a Brabham BT12 Offy in 1964 (Q25 and finished 20th), a Brabham BT25 Repco 760 4.2 V8 in 1969 (Q29 and 24th – Peter Revson was fifth in the sister car), and in 1970, his final season, his BT32 Offy qualified 26th and finished 13th.

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INDY 500

PREVIEW

THE BIG ONE

America and arguably the world’s biggest motorsport event, the Indy 500 undertakes its 105th edition at the end of this month. The inclusion of three-time Supercars champion and IndyCar rookie Scott McLaughlin adds interest, though he will need to beat 32 rivals. HEATH McALPINE previews one of the motor sport world’s biggest spectacles Images: Motorsport Images DELAYED AND spectator-less last year, the regular spectacle that is the Indy 500 was lost, but reflecting on the situation 2020 provided, it was lucky the race even went ahead.

Takuma Sato is the defending winner of the Borg-Warner Trophy as the 2020 race finished under caution after Spencer Pigot crashed during the closing stages. This makes the Japanese driver a two-time winner of the event, winning his maiden Indy 500 title in 2017.

The ace now returns to its traditional Memorial Day weekend date, following it being held in August last year as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The build-up to the Indy 500 begins with an IndyCar round on the road course (the report can be read on the International reports on P38-39) before practice sessions start as this magazine goes to press on May 18.

Time Trials follow on May 22-23, but changes in 2019 now place the emphasis on Sunday, with alterations also made to the bumping process. The Fast Nine Shootout to determine pole position and a Last Row Shootout both occur on Sunday, while entries placed from 10th-30th after qualifying are no longer required to requalify ahead of the race.

It is expected 35-entries will be received for this year’s event meaning two will miss out on starting the 200-lap event as it sticks to its traditional 33-car limit.

Final preparation before the race is known as Carb Day, which hosts final practice on the Friday before the race.

Gaining its name due to the time when it marked the last time teams could tune the carburettors before the big event (the last entry to feature in the race with carburation was back in 1963) the term remains in use to this day.

The pit stop challenge traditionally held on Carb Day has been cancelled due to the current pandemic.

Scott McLaughlin’s journey to start the Indy 500 began in October last year when he completed the mandatory Rookie Orientation program. This required the Kiwi to complete 10-laps of Indianapolis Motor

Takuma Sato poses with his winning Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda and the Borg-Warner Trophy at an eerily empty 2020 Indianapolis (above). Scott McLaughlin is all set for his Indy debut, with Team Penske’s iconic Pennzoil-liveried car. (right).

30 AutoAction

Speedway at between 205205 210mph, 15-laps at 210-215mph, followed by another 15 at more than 215mph, which he successfully completed.

An April full-field test was conducted where McLaughlin placed 20th – reigning IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was third and Australian Will Power finished ninth.

A regular fixture of the past few Indy 500s, James Davison has committed instead to race NASCAR and misses the 500 for the first time since 2016.

The Aussie connection doesn’t end there

as former Supercars driver Simona de Silvestro will contest her sixth Indy 500 as driver for Peretta Autosport, led by Beth Peretta.

Other returnees to the series include a third Arrow SP McLaren entry for Juan Pablo Montoya, who is joined by Marco Andretti in a six-car Andretti Autosport attack, which also includes Brit Stefan Wilson.

Tony Kanaan takes over Jimmie J Johnson’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; l likewise Pietro Fittipaldi replaces Romain G Grosjean at Dale Coyne Racing.

Former full-time IndyCar drivers Sage K Karam, Ed Carpenter and Santino Ferrucci a make a one-time appearance. also And what about the regular season c contenders?

This season is arguably the most competitive in IndyCar history – the addition c of o Grosjean and McLaughlin cannot be discounted, but the growth in the series is d from the young generation of drivers.

Mexican Pato O’Ward is the leading young gun in the category after winning last time out in Texas and taking pole position at Barber Motorsport Park for the opening round of the series.

Alex Palou is another to watch, at Chip Ganassi Racing, as he currently sits third in points after winning at Barber and scoring a pole in Texas, while Colton Herta is another young gun to visit victory lane, at St Petersburg.

Will Power celebrates with the traditional winner’s milk back in 2018 (left). Pato O’Ward leads a pack of hungry youngsters keen to spoil the party for the experienced hands (top left). It’s been more than a decade since six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon greeted the chequered flag at Indy (bottom left). Two decades ago, Helio Castroneves took his maiden win at Indy as a rookie, adding two more victories in a stellar Indycar career.

Add into the equation Rinus VeeKay and Jack Harvey, IndyCar’s young guns represent an eager pack aiming to put their name among the greats on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

On the other side of the ledger, nine former winners are expected to start the race – the most since 1992.

Headlining the list is Helio Castroneves, who will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his first Indy 500 victory, later adding two more to his impressive resume.

Montoya has his name etched on the Borg-Warner Trophy twice, as does reigning winner Sato.

Dixon, Power, Simon Pagenaud, Tony

Kanaan, Alexander Rossi and Ryan HunterReay have tasted the traditional milk in victory lane just the once.

Since winning the 2008 Indy 500 – which was also the season he won his first title – Dixon is close to entering the record books courtesy of his six IndyCar championships, but this success has failed to translate at The Brickyard.

Dixon finished second in 2012 and last year, and was third in 2018, but has to date failed to join the likes of Montoya with multiple Indy wins.

A decade later, Power became the first Australian to win the Indy 500 in an overflow of emotion.

Meanwhile, drivers including previous champions Josef Newgarden and Sebastien Bourdais, Felix Rosenqvist, James Hinchcliffe and Graham Rahal are yet to add their name to the list.

After his first test at the venue, McLaughlin was in awe of the “Cathedral of Speed” which is Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It’s bigger without people in it – I can’t imagine what 400,000 would look like inside,” McLaughlin exclaimed.

“I’ve only been on the other side; I’ve never been in this cathedral right here in pit lane so I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like with driver intros and all that sort of stuff.

“I’m super excited.”

This feeling continued to the driving component: “I felt really comfortable,” said McLaughlin.

“I think it took me 40-odd laps to get flat, but I eventually did.

“You see a 90-degree corner and you’re like ‘no way I can get through there, no way’, and then you hope that it sticks, and it does.”

COVID restrictions have reduced the crowd from the regular 300-400,000 to only 135,000 spectators, but this won’t significantly alter the atmosphere at the race marketed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing ...

PORSCHE FORCE

From a young age Christian Pancione was set on making a career out of driving racing cars, determined to follow the successful pathway trodden by Matt Campbell and Jaxon Evans to racing overseas, DAN McCARTHY spoke to Christian to learn more.

JUST OVER a fortnight ago, Christian Pancione broke through to take his maiden round victory in Porsche Sprint Challenge, following years of hard work in karting.

Sprint Challenge is the secondtier national Porsche series and is an established stepping stone up to Carrera Cup Australia, before a potential move overseas to race GT3 cars.

This year, Pancione is dipping his toes in the water and contesting selected rounds of Carrera Cup, alongside his focus category, Sprint Challenge.

The opening round of this year’s Sprint Challenge took place at Phillip Island and proved not to be the start he was after. However, Round 2 at Sydney Motorsport Park, saw Pancione not only take his maiden race victory, but also his first round win.

“At Phillip Island not everything aligned, it was just one of those weekends,” Pancione told Auto Action. “The team was quite fast, my teammate was fast as well ... I just didn’t have the best of luck and didn’t really piece it together.

“That wasn’t where we should have been, I knew that we had definitely the capabilities of winning.

“I knew straightaway for Sydney Motorsport Park I was in the right mind space to go for the win and I wasn’t going to accept anything less than that.”

32 AutoAction

n love with Pancione fell in motorsport and karting instantly o watch his best when he went to stri (the now mate Oscar Piastri FIA Formula 3 Champion, F2 competitor and AA columnist) race at his locall go kart club.

Within a week,, Pancione had his own kart and the dream of becoming a racing driver began.

“I fell in love with it,” Pancione recalled. “As soon as I watched hed Oscar, I wanted to be a part of that. t.

“The next week, ek, I got my first kart rt and from there on it really took off.

“I really took it seriously and was able to move up the b ranks from club level to state level and then l. to national level.

“We won n some Australian Championship

races before moving up to interna some international races in America.

“Probably o one of the highlights has been racing Ricc for Daniel Ricciardo’s team launch and launching Daniel Ricciar Ricciardo’s kart in Vega So, yeah, Vegas. there a few there’s high highlights.”

Pa Pancione finis finished fourth t 2017 KA2 in the Au Australian Karting Ch Championship and was unlucky no to finish not hig higher in st standings after co concluding a almost every ro round on the po podium.’

T The Victorian wo would have liked to follow Piastri o over to Europe, b the hefty but require budget was required not there.

Instead Pan Pancione took the step into car racing, racing (f older spec in Class B (for Pors cars) in Porsche Sprint (th category Challenge (the then known as GT3 Cup Challenge).

“Having ins insight with Oscar

over there it’s tough – you’re got to move over there at a young age and, there’s no secret behind it, you have got to get a fair bit of backing.

“Sponsors aren’t very easy to get, especially trying to get an Australian sponsor to sponsor a kid in Europe.

“I still aspire to be over there, whether it’s in open wheelers or GT categories, such as Porsche Supercup. They are my end goal – I have my sights set on that.”

This is why Pancione elected to jump straight from karting into Porsche Sprint Challenge from 2018.

The first year Pancione raced in Class B, for older specification machines, and despite the limited amount of competition, he believes it was a good learning step before moving into the outright Pro class a year later.

“It (the Class B car) taught me the basics of what you need to do in a race car. It wasn’t too dissimilar to the 991 car I’m driving now, so it definitely helped,” Pancione feels.

“Racing close with cars is much different to karts – obviously you learn all your craft in karting, which obviously moves across to the cars, but it’s at really different levels altogether with the cars being so fast and so close.

“It was a big jump, but I have no regrets. I definitely think it was the right decision for us to go this way – it seems to be paying off!”

The year in Class B was incredibly

Like many yougsters, Pancione credits several years in karting – both here and including some North American events – as the foundation for a move into National level car racing. Below, at Todd Road, side-by-side with a certain O. Piastri ...

successful for Pancione.

He won the class by a comfortable margin and even regularly beat some of the outright Pro and Pro-Am drivers.

He finished ninth in the standings overall, an impressive achievement in the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car. Pancione remained with Ash Seward Motorsport for 2019 when he made the leap up to the Pro class.

Porsche Sprint Challenge’s 2019 entry list was one of, if not the strongest in history, with the likes of Harri Jones, Aaron Love, Max Vidau and Ryan Suhle to name a few.

That season Pancione finished

fifth in the standings, collecting five podiums and a pole position along the way – however the Victorian admitted he wanted more.

“I had a couple of okay rounds. It was very up and down that season,” he felt.

“I wasn’t the happiest with the end result. It was a big jump though – it was kind of like a first year again for me.

“I definitely learned a lot, but I’m a race car driver, I just want to win and obviously when you’re not winning, you’re not happy.”

The 2020 season did not occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic

and during that period Pancione moved from Ash Seward to McElrea Racing for the 2021 season. He also announced that he would be contesting both Sprint Challenge and Carrera Cup in the same year, something very rarely done.

“In 2020, we were planning on doing (just) Sprint Challenge,” he recalled. “But obviously, the season never happened.

“I hadn’t done anything, so we wanted to fast track a year ... to do what we didn’t do in 2020.

“We weren’t initially planning to do both categories, but the opportunity popped up, and we definitely took that straight away. Still, my main focus is Sprint Challenge.

“Obviously, Carrera Cup is a lot tougher, even just with the racing side of things. It helps heaps for Sprint Challenge.”

The 20-year-old believes that having a teammate this year has been immensely beneficial also.

“I was really lacking a teammate in 2019 – obviously now I’ve got three really strong guys to base myself off,” Pancione said.

“There’s no hiding where I’m losing or gaining.

“Having a really good teammate helps a lot with the data, to base yourself off some really strong guys helps a lot.”

After finishing fourth in both the Sprint Challenge races at Phillip Island, Pancione rebounded strongly at SMP. Starting from second position he got the jump off the line and dominated the first race, before fighting off an intense race-long attack from his teammate Suhle in Race 2 “Out of all my karting and previous races, that (Race 2) was definitely, at the top of the hardest fought victory list,” he said.

Second in the final encounter was enough to award him his maiden Sprint Challenge round victory.

Pancione targets winning the Sprint Challenge title this year before moving to Carrera Cup full-time in 2022.

“Carrera Cup next year is what we want to do,” he said.

“This year in Carrera Cup there are no expectations – we’ll get as much experience as I can for next year, because we want to fight for wins in 2022.”

“We’ll try to get the break here by winning that and whatever happens in the Porsche Shootout happens.

“If I do end up winning (the Shootout), great.

“But regardless, I would still like to do Supercup or something overseas.”

This year, Pancione is doing double duty (below) – in both Porsche Sprint Challenge and some Carrera Cup races ... Pancione was the Class B winner in the 2018 GT3 Cup Challenge, its was his first taste of car racing (bottom right).

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Formula 1

Round 4 Spanish Grand Prix

A SITTING DUCK

Superior speed and strategy by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes madee Max Verstappen a sitting duck Repo Report: Repo p rt rt:: Dan Daan Kn Knut Knutson utso sonn Images: Motorsport Images LEWIS HAMILTON started from the pole for the 100th time in his F1 career, but Max Verstappen, who qualified second in his Red Bull, managed to grab the lead in the first turn on lap 1.

Mercedes had purposely saved two sets of Pirelli’s medium compound tyres for the race, which meant that Hamilton could make a second pit stop for the mediums.

Verstappen only had soft compound tyres available.

Mercedes had Hamilton run a long first stint (four laps longer than Verstappen) and then had him pit for a second time with 24 laps remaining. After his second stop Hamilton trailed Verstappen by 23s, but 18 laps later he swept around Verstappen to take the lead on the start of lap 60 of 66.

“In a way I could see it coming,” Verstappen said after finishing second.

“Already at the end (of the first stint) with the soft (tyres) he was faster. When we put on the mediums he had a lot more pace, he could just stay within one second, so there

was no was nott mu much c we ch we could coul co uldd have have ddone. onee. on “They went for another stop s and then I already knew it was over. I was alr ready struggling with the tyres and he was just getting closer and closer, so I was a bit of o a sitting duck.”

Hamilton went on to sco score ore F1 win number 98.

“Even though a one-stop potentially looks better, I know from experience here that a one-stop is very, very hard to pull off,” he said. “As soon as we had the pace that we had, I knew I could get past him. I was about to have a shot at him before I pitted, and I was really conflicted. Do I come in or do I ignore the call and stay out? Obviously, I did what the team asked and that’s because there is a great trust between us.”

The Mercedes was clearly quicker than the Red Bull. And Red Bull did not respond to Hamilton’s second stop and call Verstappen in.

“It would have been a bold decision to pit from the lead on lap 42 when all the predictions are that the (medium) tyres should have got to the end of the race,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner said. “Track position is crucial here. They had a set of

mediums available. We had a set of softs that wouldn’t have had the range that those mediums would have had.

“The reality is whatever we would have done they just had a faster car with slightly less (tyre) deg than us today. So we’ve got to take the positives out the weekend that we’ve managed to push Mercedes this close at this circuit.”

Once the lead was lost, Verstappen pitted for the soft Pirellis so that he could get a point for clocking the fastest race lap.

This was the fourth consecutive race where Hamilton and Verstappen battled for the lead.

“I’m continuing to love this battle we are having,” said Hamilton who has won three of those rounds. “I didn’t know whether we

Lewis Hamilton celebrated not only his 100th pole position, but clocked up win 98 to cap off his best ever start to a Formula 1 season (above). Max Verstappen was a sitting duck after Red Bull elected to follow a one-stop strategy as Hamilton took advantage on newer softs (top). Charles Leclerc led the Ferrari charge in fourth (below, left), while Daniel Ricciardo demonstrated he was coming to grips with his McLaren to take sixth, just failing to hold off Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for a position in the top five. (below, right).

36 AutoAction

would be able to follow them as closely as we did in the end. I learned a lot about Max today – perhaps more than all the other races put together.”

Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third for the third time this season. He had qualified third but lost the position to Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc on the first lap.

“That compromised the first stint of my race,” said Bottas who regained third by undercutting Leclerc in the first round of pitstops. “That made it difficult. My overall pace wasn’t too bad.”

This was Verstappen’s 100th race in the Red Bull. He won his debut race with the team here – in 2016 . That was the only time in the past eight years that Mercedes has not won in Spain ...

Hamilton’s victory was his fifth consecutive at the Spanish Grand Prix; Ayrton Senna is the only other driver to record five consecutive victories at a grand prix – in his case, Monaco.

Daniel Ricciardo, whose last win came in the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, started seventh and finished sixth in what was his strongest race yet in the McLaren which featured a new floor and front wing in Spain.

“From qualifying through the race it was a more consistent weekend,” the Aussie said.

“The race was good. We got a good start, and jumped Carlos (Sainz) which was really important because Ferrari was quicker this weekend. So to stay ahead and hold them off was really important for our race.”

While Ricciardo was able to fend off Sainz, he eventually had to yield to Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez.

“My whole race was defending,” Ricciardo said. “Every lap I was just managing to stay ahead of Sergio. He made a good move into Turn 1. I defended pretty well for a lot of it, but at the end he went in and made a good pass.”

What really pleased Ricciardo was that he made another step in getting dialed in with the car.

“This weekend as a whole was another

Esteban Ocon was a standout performer for Alpine. Qualifying strongly and holding his own for much of the race against Carlos Sainz.

step,” he said. “There are still mistakes in the race and some things that are still catching me out. Fortunately I minimised them a bit more than in the last few weeks. But there are still a few messy laps in there that I have to clean up.

So just a bit more time.”

“Hopefully I will make another step in Monaco where it is even more important.”

There was no Monaco Grand Prix last year due to the pandemic.

“There is no place like it,” Ricciardo said of the race through the streets in the Principality.

“We only get to do it a few more times in our career, so I’m so happy to go back.”

2021 SPANISH GRAND PRIX 66 LAPS

Pos Driver Team Laps Margin 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 66 15.841 3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 66 26.610 4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 66 54.616 5 Sergio Perez Red Bull 66 63.671 6 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 66 73.768 7 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 66 74.670 8 Lando Norris McLaren 65 1 lap 9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 65 1 lap 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 65 1 lap 11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 65 1 lap 12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 65 1 lap 13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 65 1 lap 14 George Russell Williams 65 1 lap 15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 65 1 lap 16 Nicholas Latifi Williams 65 1 lap 17 17 Fernando Alonso Alpine 65 1 lap 18 Mick Schumacher Haas 64 2 laps 19 Nikita Mazepin Haas 64 2 laps DNF Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 6 engine Points: Hamilton 94, Verstappen 80, Bottas 47, Norris 41, Leclerc 40, Perez 32, Ricciardo 24, Sainz 20, Ocon 10, Gasly 8, Stroll 5, Alonso 5, Tsunoda 2.

Constructors’: Mercedes 101, Red Bull-Honda 83, McLaren-Mercedes 53. Ferrari 42, Alpine-Renault 13, AlphaTauri-Honda 9, Aston MartinMercedes 5.

Verstappen challenged successfully for the lead at Turn 1, lap 1 (above). Pierre Gasly struggled all weekend in AlphaTauri, managing to take a point in 10th (below, left). Verstappen contemplates what may have been in post-race converstaion with Hamilton (below, right). The Dutchman did take the bonus point for fastest lap to trail by 16-points.

AutoAction

37

INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

FAIRYTALE WIN FOR VEEKAY ON THE five-year anniversary of Max Verstappen’s maiden victory in Formula 1, fellow Dutchman Rinus VeeKay did likewise in IndyCar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A daring pass on fellow young gun, Spaniard Alex Palou set up VeeKay’s maiden win at the Brickyard, although overcoming a late challenge from polesitter Romain Grosjean ensured a 4.951s victory.

After qualifying fifth, Kiwi Scott McLaughlin finished eighth, one position ahead of title leader coming into the event Scott Dixon, while Australian Team Penske driver Will Power was 12th.

Racing on the Indy road course, Grosjean’s pole translated into an early lead as Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey made the best start of all to be second ahead of Josef Newgarden, Palou, McLaughlin and VeeKay. Behind, there was contact between Conor Daly and Simon Pagenaud, forcing Pato O’Ward, Alex Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist to take evasive action. Dixon was also caught up in the melee and elected to change from the primary tyres to reds during the following caution, as did Graham Rahal and O’Ward.

Grosjean made a perfect restart on lap 4 and began to build a margin to Harvey, who had his hands full holding off Newgarden, with Palou not far behind on red tyres.

The first of the pit stops occurred on lap 11 with Takuma Sato entering first, before a lap later VeeKay and Rossi a lap later, then McLaughlin did so the next circuit.

Grosjean and Palou ran long with 6.5s between the two as Dixon was the first of

the drivers to complete a pit stop in fifth.

This stint was where Power struggled as he was demoted to 15th by Marcus Ericsson and Rossi on successive laps.

On lap 25, Grosjean pitted leaving Harvey just 2s behind as Dixon was 11s off the duo, but pitted again on lap 27 and dropped to 18th on his off-sequence strategy.

The margin at the front fluctuated at the front as Palou and VeeKay battled prior to the second stops for third place. It was the Dutchman leading the charge into the pits,

but this was where Harvey’s impressive performance ended as the right rear was not fitted when his car dropped. The Brit was forced to complete a lap with a flat tyre, putting him out of the running.

Lapped entries were starting to become a nuisance – first Grosjean banged wheels with Sato, then Jimmie Johnson held up teammate Palou, allowing VeeKay to split the pair along the back straight in a race defining pass.

A slow stop meant Grosjean, who was

HENDRICK 1-2-3-4 AT DOVER ALEX BOWMAN delivered Hendrick Motorsports another NASCAR Cup victory, taking the win at Dover, 2.017s ahead of teammates Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron.

A Chase Briscoe crash decided the opening stage in Larson’s favour as polesitter Martin Truex Jr led the first 15 laps before Byron took the lead, before a competition caution was declared to check tyre wear, leaving Larson in front.

This is when Larson dominated, extending his lead over Kevin Harvick to 5.2s before the caution was required to recover Briscoe’s Ford.

Kyle Busch was a victim of the first stage as his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry had an engine malady, dropping him out of contention.

Elliott charged his way during Stage 1 from the back to be within the top five as he set about challenging teammate Larson in the second part.

Truex Jr’s crew used the break between the two stages to inspect the engine – he was able to continue.

Larson and Elliott battled for the majority Images: Motorsport Images of Stage 2 until Josh Berry crashed,

38 AutoAction

bringing out the caution, the leaders diving into pit lane. Just as in Stage 1, Larson got the jump in the pits and held a narrow lead from Elliott as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was unable to prevent a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3-4 of the stage with bowman third ahead of Byron.

A big hit for Aric Almirola after a tyre deflated forced another caution. The Ford driver was transported to the infield medical centre for checks before being discharged.

The resulting pit stops allowed Bowman to take the lead as Larson, Elliot and Harvick followed, but it wasn’t long before a sixth caution was called when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. contacted Anthony Alfredo.

Many of the leaders chose to pit, but Bowman stayed out to lead a Hendrick Motorsport domination.

Hamlin continues to lead the points, 101 points ahead of Daniel Byron, while only a further point behind is Truex Jr. Brad Keselowski won the previous race, at Darlington, as he completed back-to-back wins. HM Points: Hamlin 574, Byron 473, Truex Jr 472, Logano 442, Larson 440

now on primaries, was vulnerable to a rapidly closing VeeKay. On lap 44, VeeKay made his move for the lead at Turn 12 to demote Grosjean, then set a scorching pace to be 2.5s clear four laps later as a mistake from the ex-Formula 1 driver lost him further time after touring the grass.

Grosjean finally got into a rhythm and with Palou 1.5s behind, the pair began to close in on VeeKay approaching the final sequence of stops.

A 5s margin split VeeKay and Grosjean after they stopped, while Palou dropped out after the right-rear proved problematic to fit during his stop. Another twist came with the arrival of rain, but this didn’t stop VeeKay as he took a comfortable victory from Grosjean, while Palou held off Newgarden for third.

After the fourth round of IndyCar, Dixon leads the title by 13-points from Palou with Newgarden a further 15-points further back.

McLaughlin is now ahead of Power in the points in eighth, while the Aussie is ninth.

The next round of the series is the prestigious Indy 500 on May 30.

Points: Dixon 176, Palou 163, Newgarden 148, O’Ward 146, Rahal 137, VeeKay 135, Pagenaud 130, McLaughlin 123, Power 118, Herta 117.

ON TOP OF THE HILL Report: DAN McCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES JOSH COOK took two wins in the opening British Touring Car Championship event, however it was the consistent Jake Hill who came away from Thruxton with the series lead.

The Ford Focus driver finished third

in all three races while Cook, after winning the first two races of the season, finished outside of the points in the final encounter.

Reigning British Touring car champion Ash Sutton started the opening race from pole position but just a few corners in was tipped into a spin by four-time champ Colin Turkington.

Cook made his way through the carnage to lead the race and would go on to take the win by 2.298s from Tom Ingram driving the Hyundai i30 for the first time.

Hill came home third ahead of Turkington who post-race was handed

ACURA WIN BY ECONOMY A THRILLING dual for outright victory was won by the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi shared by Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor at Round 3 of the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship at Mid-Ohio.

Taylor’s final stint was stunning as he held off the Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, spearheaded by Felipe Nasr, by 0.368s after a caution with 45-minutes to go left a shootout until the flag between the top four DPi entries in not only a race on pace, but one of economy.

The two hour and 40-minute event was led by Mazda during the first half of the race as the pole sitting RT24-P DPi was dominant in the first half until Patrick Long in his GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R spun into the gravel.

It was awkward timing for the DPi entries with many electing to gamble on fuel, including Taylor’s Acura team as he took the lead shortly after the race was restarted.

Nasr kept the pressure on, but Taylor sustained it as he took his team’s second

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victory out of three this season. Paired with Pipo Derani, Nasr finished runner up ahead of the Mazda shared by Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis.

LMP3 and GTD were the other two classes to compete at Mid-Ohio as part of the category’s usual rotation system.

In LMP3, Riley Motorsports pair Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson controlled a majority of the race despite a challenge from the Performance Tech Motorsports entry driven by Dan Goldberg and Rasmus Lindh, which finished second.

Turner Motorsports won the silverware through veteran Bill Auberlein, who clocked up his 63rd IMSA class win sharing the BMW M6 GT3 with Robby Foley.

Just 2.712s off the pace was the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC-F GT3 shared

by Zach Veach and Frankie Montecalvo, while three different marques were represented in the top positions as Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow followed in their Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. HM

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a 17s penalty for the lap 1 incident and demoted to 10th, one place behind Sutton.

In the second race, drama ensued once again, this time further down the pack as Andy Neate made awkward contact with Glynn Geddie’s Cupra and Jade Edwards’ Honda. All three ran into the tyre wall with Geddie barrel-rolling off the wall.

Cook would go on to take the victory from teammate Dan Cammish, while Hill again finished third ahead of Dan Rowbottom and returning BTCC legend Jason Plato.

The final race took place in tricky

conditions as rain fell on the circuit – in the end it was experience that rose to the fore.

Hill was one of only three drivers to start the final race on slick tyres and after 11 laps it looked to be the right call as he sat in the lead.

However, rain fell late in the race and he was overhauled by Sutton and pipped to the line by Plato, the margin just 0.07s.

Returning champion Gordon Shedden was fourth.

Points - Hill 46, Cook, 45, Plato 38, Sutton 36, Cammish 30

DA COSTA WINS MONACO THRILLER Report: DAN McCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES ANTONIO FELIX da Costa has taken his first Formula E win of the season in an action-packed Monaco E-Prix.

It was the fourth time that the allelectric series had raced at Monaco – however 2021 was the maiden Formula E race on the full 3.3km track used by Formula 1 cars.

Despite starting from pole position da Costa had to fight for the victory, snatching back the lead from New Zealander Mitch Evans with a daring move around the outside at the Nouvelle Chicane on the final lap.

Da Costa, Evans and Robin Frijns all has stints in the lead, although Evans led when the race was restarted after a crash, with six minutes remaining.

Despite overtaking da Costa and Frijns to find himself at the head of the field, it came at a cost for Evans and his battery usage.

As he began the last lap Evans had

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just two percent of battery remaining, da Casta in second had three and Frijns four.

Da Costa made his move around the Nouvelle Chicane stick despite locking up both front tyres and romped to victory as Evans and Frijns fought for second.

Frijns had a look at Tabac and at the Swimming Pool which resulted in light contact. The Dutchman eventually pipped Evans at the line by 0.024s.

Jean-Eric Vergne was fourth ahead of Maximilian Gunther, Oliver Rowland, Sam Bird, Nick Cassidy, Alex Lynn and Audi driver Lucas di Grassi who rounded out the point scorers.

As a result, Frijns vaults to the top of the drivers’ standings despite not taking a race win so far this season.

Coming into the round, the Mercedes drivers Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne were first and second in the championship, but both failed to finish the race.

Points: Frijns 62, de Vries 57, Evans 54, da Costa 52, Bird 49

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MOTOGP

MATURE MILLER WINS AGAIN Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES JACK MILLER overcame two ‘long-lap’ penalties and an excursion through the gravel to take victory in a rain-affected French Grand Prix, notching his second win in succession.

The weather at Le Mans was unpredictable all weekend, with the climate changing minute by minute.

Several championship contenders were caught out by this in practice and missed out on an automatic Q2 spot.

Both Suzuki riders, Alex Rins and reigning champion Joan Mir, missed the cut, as did championship leader Francesco Bagnaia and the in-form Aleix Espargaro.

All would attempt to navigate through Q1 into the second segment –, however all failed.

Surprisingly in the treacherous conditions, rookies Luca Marini and Lorenzo Savadori made it into the second session.

Espargaro would start from 13th ahead of Mir, Rins and Bagnaia.

Conditions dried for Q2 and saw riders complete laps on slick tyres

– Marc Marquez was on top with just three minutes remaining as rain began to fall.

It looked as through the six-time champion had taken his first pole since October 2019, however the sun came out and rapidly dried the track once more, allowing competitors one final lap to improve their times on a dry line.

Home hero Fabio Quartararo snatched his third consecutive pole position ahead of his factory Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales.

Miller snatched third ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco. Marquez was shuffled down to sixth ahead of his Honda brand mate Takaaki Nakagami.

The race itself started in dry conditions with Vinales taking the lead into Turn 1.

It took just a couple of laps for the front row trio of Vinales, Miller and Quartararo to pull a considerable gap on the field – however on lap 3 the rain began to fall and turned the race on its head.

Marquez and Rins caught the trio as conditions worsened. And while Rins shone, his Suzuki teammate Mir crashed out.

Miller was lucky to stay on the bike after he ran wide and took a tour of the gravel trap at Turn 9, but was able to re-join.

At the end of lap five, all riders pitted to switch onto their wet bikes with Quartararo losing time when he parked at the wrong garage!

Out of the pits Marquez led Rins, Quartararo, Miller, Bagnaia and Zarco.

At Turn 4, just metres out of the pit lane Rins stacked it, throwing away a potential win.

Out front, Marquez was stretching a lead – however he was clearly pushing too hard and on lap eight the Spaniard flew off his bike at the final turn.

Quartararo now led Miller – the Aussie was clearly the quicker of the two, however he was dealt two long lap penalties for speeding in the pit lane during his bike swap.

Miller got them out of the way as soon as possible and quickly set about catching Quartararo.

On lap 12 into Turn 6, Miller took the race lead, moments before Quartararo himself was forced to take a long lap penalty (for parking in front of the wrong pit garage...).

As the track dried out, Miller had

GARDNER’S RECOVERY Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES AUSSIE Remy Gardner recovered strongly in Moto2 after being nearly knocked off his bike on the opening lap to finish in second position.

His KTM Ajo teammate Raul Fernandez took the race victory and closes to within one point of Gardner at the head of the championship.

Starting from seventh, Gardner made a strong start, but found himself on the receiving end of a knock from Xavi Vierge at Turn 4 on the opening lap which shuffled him down to 10th place.

Gardner knew he had strong race pace and was not rattled by the collision, and methodically made his way through the top 10, especially as he saw many of his title rivals fall down the road.

Former championship leader Sam Lowes crashed at Turn 8 taking out Vierge in the

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process, while Joe Roberts and Aron Canet crashed out early also.

All this allowed Gardner to edge his way up to fourth position by the end of lap five and on the tail of Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder.

For lap after lap, Gardner sat behind the Dutchman, unable to find a way past. However his persistence paid off, taking the place on lap 16, following which he, quickly caught up to the rear of Marco Bezzecchi.

On lap 19 of 25 the Italian ran wide at Turn 8 allowing Gardner into second place.

Remi started to cut into his teammate’s lead out front, however the Spaniard had it covered and recorded his second victory. Gardner came home just 1.49s away, with Bezzecchi third.

Standings: Gardner 89, Fernandez 88, Bezzecchi 72, Lowes 66, Di Giannantonio 60

to nurse his soft rear wet tyre to the finish and did so maturely.

He took the win by 3.9s from former championship leader Zarco who shone late on, shod with a pair of medium wet tyres.

Quartararo finished third and thus reclaimed the championship lead from Bagnaia who finished in fourth.

After starting 16th and overcoming two long lap penalties for speeding in the lane, fourth was an impressive result by the Italian.

Last year’s French Grand Prix

winner Danilo Petrucci finished a fine fifth ahead of Alex Marquez, Nakagami, Pol Espargaro, Iker Lecuona and Vinales.

Standings after Round 5 1 Fabio Quartararo 80 2 Francesco Bagnaia79 3 Johann Zarco 68 4 Jack Miller 64 5 Maverick Vinales 56 6 Joan Mir 49 7 Aleix Espargaro 35 8 Franco Morbidelli 33 9 Takaaki Nakagami 28 10 Pol Espargaro 25

MILLER WILL GET STRONGER AFTER WINNING the French Motorcycle Grand Prix in tricky conditions, Jack Miller believes he will now get stronger as the season goes on.

Miller had to wait five years for his second MotoGP victory, but just two weeks for his third as he impressively took back-to-back wins.

The victory has launched the Aussie into championship contention as he now sits fourth in the standings, only 16 points off series leader Fabio Quartararo.

It was a tough start to the season for Miller – the Australian finished ninth twice, crashed out of the Portuguese round and also underwent arm pump surgery.

However, with two race wins in succession Miller is now in the title hunt and knows he will only get stronger with more confidence.

“The ball is rolling, it’s going” he said.

“Generally something I’ve done throughout

my careers is I get stronger as the season goes on – I hate the first ones (races).”

Miller knew that keeping his composure was going to be essential for success in those conditions, particularly when he was handed two ‘long-lap’ penalties for speeding in the pit lane.

“It didn’t faze us (me) too much, I tried to really just keep calm, not stress too much about it” he said. “I had a long time, and I knew what the conditions were like.

“I knew if I stayed calm, I’d be able to work on him (leader Quartararo) – the biggest thing was just keeping my composure with everything that went on.

“There was still a long way to go, and I knew how much I could catch Fabio through the first sector especially.

“But I saw Fabio didn’t gain too much and I was able to get him within two laps.”

Dan McCarthy

SUPERCARS ROUND 5 AT WINTON 28 – 30 MAY

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SUPERCARS RACE REPORT Round 4 - The Bend

MUSTANG COUNTRY

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: LAT/Mark Horsburgh/Ross Gibb IT WAS three cheers from the Ford Mustang teams as each took a victory at The Bend Motorsport Park, which hosted Round 4 of the Supercars Championship.

Andre Heimgartner broke through to take his maiden Supercars victory, which also ticked the first for Kelly Grove Racing as an entity and the organisation’s first as a Ford team.

For the other two race winners it was a bittersweet weekend as both registered a DNF, but for Anton De Pasquale and Cam Waters, The Bend demonstrated consistent race wins are not far away.

But, through all this, title leader Shane van Gisbergen extended his margin to 190 points after charging through the field successfully on more than one occasion.

PRACTICE – ANDRE SETS THE PACE

HEIMGARTNER ADAPTED to the changeable conditions, which welcomed teams to the venue as he led both practice sessions opening up proceedings.

The Kiwi saved the best until last, recording a 1m 49.241s to eclipse seventime Supercars champion Jamie Whincup by just 0.08s. Rounding out the top three was Will Davison, who further established that Dick Johnson Racing’s slow start to

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Courtney triggered the only red flag of either session after spinning at Turn 6 and becoming beached in the gravel with six-minutes remaining in the first session, finishing the session fourth.

QUALIFYING RACE 9 – HEIMGARTNER MASTERS THE RAIN

IT WAS a wet weather masterclass from Heimgartner in qualifying as he took his second Supercars pole position to edge Mostert by 0.212s.

A call from engineer Dilan Talabani to keep the same wets fitted to the KGR Mustang during the whole duration of qualifying proved a masterstroke.

In a career best result, Will Brown qualified third as he lined up alongside his former co-driver De Pasquale with Cam Waters fended off Shane van Gisbergen in the third race to complete a Mustang clean-sweep (top).

Kelly Grove Racing co-owner Stephen Grove congratulates maiden race winner Andre Heimgartner (above). Courtney and Davison filling out the third row.

Row 4 was made up of title contender the season was coming to an end.

Waters, Jack Le Brocq and Scott Pye all Waters and the driver he was chasing, Van Backing up teammate Heimgartner left the road ...

Gisbergen, leaving Whincup and Brodie was David Reynolds in fourth ahead of Waters was also in trouble where Kostecki to round out the top 10. winner last time out at Symmons Plains, Courtney went off at Turn 8, but did The qualifying session was a disaster for Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz recover.

Brad Jones Racing as its four entries made Conditions during the opening practice Mostert. up the final positions of the field after the A wild spin for James Courtney failed session meant times were 1s slower team made a wrong decision in terms of to stop the veteran Tickford Racing driver than the following session, as Mark tyre pressures. from setting sixth fastest time.

Winterbottom finished with a 1m 50.4s, This result was not indicative of BJR’s In what was a narrative for the weekend, 0.039s ahead of Van Gisbergen and pace.

Turn 17 proved difficult to master as Mostert.

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert had no answer for Andre Heimgartner in Saturday’s mixed conditions (above). Waters’ breakthrough came after a retirement in Race 2 rewarding his Tickford Racing crew for the rapid repair job it executed on his Mustang (below, left). Mostert sits third in the points, despite a clash with Waters and Tim Slade in Race 2 which led to an early demise. (below, right).

Mostert led the opening phase of qualifying to be 0.503s clear of De Pasquale, but Le Brocq and Matt Stone Racing’s Zane Goddard joined the BJR quartet on the sidelines for the second session.

Heimgartner set the pace in the second phase, a 2m 06.444s proving hard to beat with a margin of 0.529s back to Waters, leaving Van Gisbergen third.

Mark Winterbottom had a power steering problem and failed to get out for the second session.

Eliminated were Reynolds, Scott Pye, first of the Wildcards Thomas Randle, Tim Slade, Jake Kostecki, Fullwood, Kurt Kostecki, Garry Jacobson, Fabian Coulthard and Winterbottom.

RACE 9 – HEIMGARTNER BREAKS THROUGH

ALTHOUGH HANDED a 5s penalty for an unsafe release in pit lane, Heimgartner overcame this to achieve his first victory in Supercars in what was a dominating performance.

Contact after leaving his pit bay with Whincup resulted in a penalty for the KGR entry, but a controlled drive out front by Heimgartner ensured he had enough of a margin, then some, to break Mustang’s duck for the season.

Before the race had even started,

Team18 was still beavering away on Winterbottom’s ZB Commodore to fix the power steering problem, but it still wasn’t cured, forcing the squad to install a bigger diameter steering wheel as a temporary fix.

Brad Jones Racing was the only team to gamble on slicks. with Percat and Hazelwood.

Mostert launched away the best to lead into Turn 1, leaving Heimgartner to fight the two DJR Mustangs into Turn 3. Running wide at Turn 5, Mostert relinquished the lead to De Pasquale, but he in turn did likewise at Turn 6 allowing Heimgartner to take the lead after sliding down the inside of the WAU ZB Commodore.

De Pasquale lost several positions as

Van Gisbergen continued his customary early race run to be third from eighth at the end of the opening lap.

Brown was holding his own in fourth after battling with Davison, who lost ground to 10th and began to be a nuisance to Van Gisbergen in his duel for second.

In all the kerfuffle, Heimgartner had skipped to a 4s advantage by lap 2, which was further extended to 5s back to Mostert, who had also left Van Gisbergen 1.5s behind.

But the race was becoming a nightmare for the title leader as first, a radio within the crew was stuck open and secondly, when he pitted the air spike failed to reach the coupling on his Triple Eight ZB

Commodore resulting in a 22s stop.

Lap 7 was when Heimgartner pitted and after a perfect stop, he was released into the path of Whincup where contact was made incurring a 5s penalty.

There was further drama for Whincup as when he re-joined Waters locked up behind and nearly took the Triple Eight driver out.

However, contact was made back in the field when Reynolds hit Tim Slade at Turn 6 resulting in steering damage for the KGR Mustang and a spin for the latter.

Through running slicks, Percat and Hazelwood were entering podium calculations due to running long with each displaying strong tyre life.

Anton De Pasquale confirmed Dick Johnson Racing’s return to form by winning Race 2.

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SUPERCARS RACE REPORT

Round 4 - The Bend

Heimgartner continued to extend his lead without knowing the amount of his penalty, but he was 9s clear when he set his fastest lap a 1m 52.092s with seven remaining.

Percat ran until lap 20 and emerged in third, but was unable to hold off De Pasquale before an alarm lost him fourth to Waters on the final lap.

In a final blow to Van Gisbergen, he left the circuit to drop to seventh by the flag.

Adjusted to 3.979s victory after the penalty, Heimgartner took his first win ahead of Mostert, De Pasquale, Waters and Percat. Rounding out the top 10 were Whincup, van Gisbergen, Davison, Brodie Kostecki and Le Brocq in a strong comeback drive from 21st.

QUALIFYING RACES 11 AND 12 – ADP ALL THE WAY

IF DJR’S return to form wasn’t already confirmed, De Pasquale did just that by taking both poles for Races 11 and 12, including his maiden novelty cheque.

De Pasquale led a Dick Johnson Racing 1-2 in Race 10 qualifying with a 1m 48.676s to edge Davison by 0.191s.

In the first sign of a return to form since a remarkable Bathurst debut, Slade in the Team Blanchard Racing Ford Mustang pipped Heimgartner for third.

Waters continued the Mustang domination in fifth where he will line-up alongside former teammate Mostert in the first of the ZB Commodores.

Both Triple Eight ZB Commodores were within the mid-field, van Gisbergen 13th and Whincup 16th.

Macauley Jones, Coulthard and Brown were investigated post-qualifying for impeding. Only Brown was found guilty of impeding Waters, resulting in being demoted three spots on the grid.

For Race 11, De Pasquale went faster again to record a 1m 48.185s as Triple Eight turned its form around after making camber changes to Whincup’s ZB Commodore during the slight intermission.

The seven-time Supercars champion finished 0.300s behind as Waters led van Gisbergen and Davison to complete the top five.

Davison struggled with a gearshift problem, which required a transaxle change prior to Race 10.

RACE 10 – DJR ON THE BOARD

REPLICATING HEIMGARTNER’S dominant performance in, De Pasquale did likewise Although he failed to win any races, Shane van Gisbergen extended his lead in the Supercars title race to 190-points from teammate Jamie Whincup.

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James Courtney returned to form at The Bend, finishing fourth in an action-packed Race 2. It followed an improved qualifying performance from the Tickford Racing driver (above). Will Davison is currently fifth in the championship after picking up two podiums at The Bend (below).

in Race 10 to take his first win as a DJR driver and Ford’s 400th in Australian touring car racing.

Although it was a trouble-free run for De Pasquale and teammate Davison in a DJR 1-2, behind title rivals collided in a chaotic opening lap.

Van Gisbergen took full advantage of the fracas in front to finish the race third, with thanks to Brodie Kostecki bullocking his way through at Turn 6.

Davison got the jump, but De Pasquale

held the lead into Turn 1. Slade made a great start and was challenging Davison at Turn 3, but the Team Blanchard Racing driver’s focus now had to turn to Heimgartner behind.

The previous day’s race winner made a successful run through Turn 5, but pushed Slade wide when completing the pass, which created havoc behind. Mostert was alongside Slade, who was on the dirt and swerved in avoidance, but in doing so hit the rear of Waters.

Both Mostert and Waters were forced to limp to pit lane with significant damage.

There was further contact at Turn 6 between Reynolds, Percat and Brodie Kostecki after the latter dived down the inside, tapping the KGR Mustang. Percat was rotated causing a major hullaballoo, which caught out Jones.

At the front, De Pasquale held a comfortable lead until he locked up at Turn 1 on lap 2 as Davison held a narrow advantage from Heimgartner.

Another driver to make inroads was James Courtney sitting in fourth and out of all the fracas, while Thomas Randle was eighth in the sister Tickford Racing Wildcard entry.

Courtney entered pit lane to be serviced as the first of the leaders to stop, which forced the work on the Waters Mustang to be abandoned temporarily.

De Pasquale pitted on lap 6 to fit two green tyres on the left-hand-side, but it was slow at 4.9s.

Heimgartner pitted the next lap, however he dropped down the order as a stall cost him dearly exiting his pit bay.

Mostert re-entered the circuit after repairs

RESULTS RACE 9 THE BEND 24 LAPS

Brodie Kostecki was the mover and shaker in Race 2.

Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NC

Driver Andre Heimgartner Chaz Mostert Anton De Pasquale Cameron Waters Nick Percat Jamie Whincup Shane van Gisbergen Will Davison Brodie Kostecki Jack Le Brocq Will Brown James Courtney Scott Pye Tim Slade Todd Hazelwood Bryce Fullwood Thomas Randle Zane Goddard Kurt Kostecki Fabian Coulthard Jake Kostecki Macauley Jones Jack Smith Garry Jacobson Mark Winterbottom David Reynolds

Laps/Margin 24 laps 0 +3.979s 0 +8.913s ▲1 +10.459s ▲ 3 +10.778s ▲ 21 +11.916s ▲ 3 +25.374s ▲ 1 +27.450s ▼ 2 +31.996s ▲ 1 +33.386s ▲ 12 +36.619s ▼ 8 +37.802s ▼ 7 +39.446s ▼ 1 +39.766s 0 +43.555s ▲ 8 +43.721s 0 +44.567s ▼ 4 +45.857s ▲ 3 +55.247s ▼ 2 +55.638s ▼ 1 +60.297s ▼ 6 +60.351s ▲ 3 +77.281s ▲ 1 +92.548s ▼ 6 22 laps ▼5 10 laps ▼ 15

RESULTS RACE 10 THE BEND 24 LAPS

were made, but was seven-laps down, while Reynolds returned to the pits after struggling with damage to the rear-end.

Davison pitted from the lead, but experienced troubles on the front-left and dropped in behind Courtney to be effective third leaving teammate De Pasquale in front.

This left Van Gisbergen in the lead, running long in a repeat of the strategy from Tasmania. His teammate, Whincup emerged behind Pye, who was seventh in the order of teams that had pitted.

Mostert returned to the pits after a small shakedown, labelling the WAU ZB Commodore ‘terrible’.

De Pasquale was being caught by the two veterans, Courtney and Davison, but the latter completed a clean pass at Turn 6 to demote the Tickford Racing driver a position.

Van Gisbergen was the second last to pit, on lap 16, with Triple Eight executing a perfect stop to emerge in effective third behind the two Dick Johnson Racing Mustangs.

Although De Pasquale was maintaining a 0.7s lead ahead of his teammate, Van Gisbergen was increasing the pressure on Davison with the trio dropping Courtney in fourth.

Despite Van Gisbergen’s challenges, it was a DJR 1-2 as De Pasquale took a 0.947s victory from Davison.Behind the lead trio, Courtney was fourth from Brodie Kostecki, Fullwood, Heimgartner, Randle, Winterbottom and Pye. Whincup was unable to make as much ground as his Triple Eight Race Engineering counterpart to be 11th.

Slade recovered to 15th and Percat 17th after the opening lap trouble.

time after the disappointments of this season so far, starting with the Bathurst power steering problem and the retirement in Race 10.

It also highlighted a remarkable comeback by Tickford after the replacing the whole right-rear corner of the Waters Mustang.

In what was a pressure motor race towards its conclusion, with Waters having to endure pressure form van Gisbergen for the final 10-laps.

But victory came as a result of heartbreak for De Pasquale as a mechanical malady scuppered his run when in the lead early in the race.

Waters charged early overtaking Whincup into Turn 3 before De Pasquale encountered an engine misfire two-laps later.

A 2s advantage split Waters from the chasing Triple Eight duo led by van Gisbergen after a swap of positions.

Qualifying in 14th left Heimgartner eager to make ground, but it came at a cost to Winterbottom as contact spun the Team18 ZB Commodore, but this was just one of many robust moves taking place within the mid-pack.

Will Davison was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 4 as Whincup followed three laps later, but was unable to beat the undercut, filing

in behind the Dick Johnson Racing Mustang and under immediate pressure from Slade.

Waters was the first of the leaders to pit, joined by Mostert as both emerged clear of Davison, Whincup and Slade.

Following the same strategy as the previous race van Gisbergen ran long, pitting on lap 16. Holding a 40s advantage ahead of Waters, the re-join was expected to be close and it was.

Van Gisbergen emerged side-byside with Waters, but the Tickford Racing driver held on, despite next time around the Kiwi diving down the inside unsuccessfully.

It was an outright battle for the lead by lap 20 as all pit stops were completed, Van Gisbergen was close but remained unable to set-up a pass.

Waters held on by 0.696s to win the finale as Davison joined the two title rivals on the podium.

Fourth place was Whincup ahead of Mostert, Percat, Slade, James Courtney, Scott Pye and Heimgartner completed the top 10.

Van Gisbergen left The Bend with an extended title margin of 190-points back to teammate Jamie Whincup as the Supercars Championship heads to Winton on May 29-30..

Thomas Randle’s performances as a Wildcard were impressive – finishing eighth in Race 2 was the highlight.

A SECOND solo victory for Waters couldn’t have come at a better

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Driver Anton De Pasquale Will Davison Shane van Gisbergen James Courtney Brodie Kostecki Bryce Fullwood Andre Heimgartner Thomas Randle Mark Winterbottom Scott Pye Jamie Whincup Jack Le Brocq Will Brown Garry Jacobson Tim Slade Kurt Kostecki Nick Percat Jake Kostecki Todd Hazelwood Zane Goddard Jack Smith David Reynolds Fabian Coulthard Chaz Mostert Cameron Waters Macauley Jones

Laps/Margin 24 laps 0 +0.947s 0 +1.433s ▲ 10 +6.449s ▲5 +7.643s ▲7 +8.175s ▲5 +13.994s ▼ 3 +14.419s ▲ 6 +15.213s ▲ 1 +17.181s ▲ 9 +17.517s ▲ 4 +22.711s ▲ 5 +24.024s ▲ 5 +24.924s ▲ 8 +25.161s ▼ 12 +25.474s ▲ 8 +27.478s ▼ 10 +28.315s ▼ 6 +38.325s ▲ 8 +40.317s ▲ 3 +52.388s ▲ 1 21 laps ▼ 15 +68.371s ▼ 1 4 laps 0 1 lap ▲3 1 lap ▲3

RESULTS RACE 11 THE BEND 24 LAPS Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NC

Cameron Waters Will Davison Shane van Gisbergen Jamie Whincup Chaz Mostert Nick Percat Tim Slade James Courtney Scott Pye Andre Heimgartner Brodie Kostecki David Reynolds Todd Hazelwood Bryce Fullwood Thomas Randle Jake Kostecki Fabian Coulthard Mark Winterbottom Jack Smith Macauley Jones Zane Goddard Jack Le Brocq Kurt Kostecki Will Brown Garry Jacobson Anton De Pasquale

Driver 24 laps +0.696s +6.658s +7.858s +11.703s +12.806s +13.177s +14.839s +15.100s +17.986s +19.196s +20.529s +23.243s +26.173s +28.446s +30.226s +30.849s +31.136s +32.525s +35.928s +40.415s +60.597s +77.472s 23 laps 11 laps 3 laps

Laps/Margin ▲2 ▲2 ▲2 ▼2 ▲1 ▲4 ▲1 ▲3 ▲6 ▲4 ▲7 ▲8 ▲6 ▼7 ▲1 ▲5 ▲7 ▼6 ▲7 ▼3 ▲1 ▼ 13 ▲2 ▼ 11 ▼2 ▼ 24

Points: Van Gisbergen 1112, Whincup 922, Mostert 866, Davison 861, Waters 848, Winterbottom 697, De Pasquale 648, Heimgartner 646, Percat 617, B. Kostecki 615, Pye 580, Courtney 566, Reynolds 546, Brown 544, Fullwood 527, Le Brocq 516, Hazelwood 511, Goddard 442, J. Kostecki 432, Slade 410, Coulthard 334, Smith 330, Jacobson 285, Jones 282, Randle 136, K. Kostecki 94.

RACE 11 – A VICTORY FOR WATERS

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Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NC NC NC NC

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GTWC SUPPORTS

AUDI AND NISSAN SHARE THE SPOILS

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: ARG/Daniel Kalisz Photography

A REMARKABLE performance from Brett Hobson delivered the first win for GT Trophy Class entry at Round 3 of the GT World Challenge Australia round at The Bend Motorsport Park.

Hobson, driving his GWR Australia Nissan GT-R GT3, dominated the opening race of the weekend in wet conditions, while series leaders Yasser Shahin and Garth Tander continued their charge towards the title by winning the second event of the weekend.

In a change for two of the leading teams, Triple Eight enlisted Super2 driver Broc Feeney to partner Prince Jefri Ibrahim due to regular co-driver Shane van Gisbergen’s Supercars commitments. Likewise, TCR Australia’s Dylan O’Keeffe was drafted into join Tony Bates in replacement of Chaz Mostert driving the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo. It was Feeney firing the first shot to take pole for the Pros, while Shahin in another MPC-prepared Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo set the fastest time in the Am class.

Shahin led at the start of Race 1, but GT Trophy entry Brad Schumacher in his older spec-Audi was swamped by Stephen Grove in his Porsche 991 GT3 R and Hobson, who gambled on slicks due to a drying track.

This proved to be a race winning decision – Hobson passed Schumacher, then Grove at Turn 17, albeit with slight contact.

Hobson continued his charge to overtake Shahin along the front straight 10-minutes into the hour-long race and was soon 23s in front.

Another on slicks was Ibrahim, who worked his way up to third.

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Yasser Shahin and Garth Tander may have won the second race (top), but Brett Hobson was all smiles after dominating the first (above). The Groves continued their consistent run (below).

Competitors were struggling on their hot tyres as demonstrated when Shahin lost position to Ibrahim, before a safety car was required when Eric Constantinidis beached

his new Audi at Turn 17.

Ibrahim pitted out of second, but the stop was a disaster due to tyres not being ready, – which infuriated team principal

Roland Dane. Furthermore, when Ibrahim re-joined the circuit, he crossed the blend line ...

Bates was the first of the leaders to pit, changing to O’Keeffe, however not the worn wet tyres on the Audi.

Ibrahim was next to swap for Feeney at the 35-minute mark. Grove jumped out for son Brenton a lap later, joined in pit lane by Shahin to install Tander behind the wheel.

Hobson stayed out the longest as rain began to fall, changing to wets with 25-minutes to go, but he was never headed, to win by 51s.

Tander got the better of O’Keeffe to take second, but there was contact between the two when the latter tried to regain the position.

Despite losing out off the start in Race 2, Shahin put on a masterclass to come from behind to take a come-from-behind victory.

Tander passed Brenton Grove on lap 12, but the compulsory pit stop time dropped him back behind the Groves, while a collision in pit lane between Shahin and Bates incurred penalties for both – Shahin for an unsafe release and Bates for a short pit stop. However Stephen Grove emerged from the lead after the stops.

Shahin was able to hunt and pass Grove before extending his margin past the required 5s to seal another victory for the pair.

The Grove father-son team finished second ahead of the Triple Eight MercedesAMG GT3 of Feeney and Ibrahim.

The final sprint round for GT World Challenge Australia will be held at Sandown on September 17-19.

Points: Shahin/Tander 143, Ibrahim 106, Bates 87, B. Grove/S.Grove 84, Mostert 57

CARRERA CUP SUPPORTS

Cameron Hill dominated in South Australia to complete a clean sweep of proceedings. Matt Payne and Cooper Murray collided in Race 2 putting paid to a strong result for both (below).

CHAOTIC CARRERA CUP Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Porsche Cars Australia/Insyde Media

ALL THREE Carrera Cup Australia races at The Bend Motorsport Park were won by Cameron Hill as carnage ensued behind him.

Hill kept his nose clean over the three action-packed races while many of his rivals found themselves cleaned up in collisions.

All the chaos allowed Hill to pull out a substantial lead in the Carrera Cup Series after two rounds.

Qualifying took place on a wet Saturday morning. New Zealander Matthew Payne dealt with the conditions best taking pole position.

He took pole by over half a second from Cooper Murray, with Hill qualifying third, ahead of David Russell, Michael Almond and David Wall.

Like qualifying, Race 1 took place in wet conditions and was heavily interrupted with Safety Cars as a lot of damage was sustained up and down the field.

Murray from second on the grid made the better start and leapt ahead of Payne.

Starting from fourth, Russell made a poor start; Almond and the slow starting Russell

both moved towards each other in the middle of the track where Wall’s Porsche was positioned.

The three made considerable contact and all spun in front of the field. Dale Wood, Ben Stack, Tim Miles, Adrian Flack and Indiran Padayachee were also involved and sustained significant damage.

After an extensive clean up the race resumed under green flag conditions, but only briefly.

Murray made a great restart on lap 5 and left Payne in his wake, Aaron Love in third and went side by side with Payne on the approach to Turn 1.

The pair collided causing Payne to spin and fire into the side of the innocent leader Murray at Turn 1. Payne was out while Love lost many positions avoiding the collision.

As a result of the latest accident, the race finished under Safety Car conditions, with Hill crossing the line first ahead of Harri Jones, Wall, Youlden and Max Vidau.

Incredibly, despite popping his shoulder out in the crash, Murray limped his crippled car across the line in 18th position.

There was a substantial repair for many teams overnight but, remarkably, only one of

the 26 cars did not make it out for Race 2 and that was the #26 car of Russell.

The longer 20 lap second race saw an intense ense duel at the head of the field, with the top half cars line h lf dozen d li astern for much of the race.

In the end Hill prevailed, taking the victory from Jones by 0.24s. The race came down to a one lap sprint to the finish and it was the Canberra driver that held off the chasing pack.

After missing the first round Carrera Cup, returnee Vidau bagged his best race result, third – he’d sat in fifth when Youlden and Nick McBride collided when fighting for third on the final lap. Youlden would finish sixth, while McBride finished a disappointing 23rd.

Wall came home in fourth ahead of Payne.

The New Zealander charged from 18th on the grid to finish the race in a remarkable fifth place.

Supercar’s legend Craig Lowndes briefly fell down to seventh after contact at Turn 6 early in the race, but recovered to finish seventh ahead of Murray.

With a handful of laps remaining Love fought for a podium position with McBride –

however Love looped his Sonic Motor M t Racing R i Porsche P h att Turn T 1 andd was buried in the gravel.

Race 3 was more tame – however once again Hill was pressured the whole way, but held off the pack to claim his second round win.

Jones finished second ahead of Payne and Murray with Wall rounding out the top five.

With three second places Jones earned second for the round, while the consistent Wall rounded out the podium.

Three different drivers took the race win honours in Pro Am, but Race 2 winner Geoff Emery took the round honours.

The Bend owner Sam Shahin was second after winning the final race and the other class race victor Dean Cook rounded out the Pro Am podium.

Points: Hill 354, Wall 238, Jones 225, Murray 194, Love 177, Pro Am Shahin 278

Geoff Emery was on top in Pro Am for most of the weekend.

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SUPPORTS: HISTORICS, SUPERUTES

Camaro power wins Group N Report: Garry O’Brien Images: Insyde Media WEST AUSTRALIAN Aldo de Paoli was the overall winner of the Victorian/South Australian Historic Touring Car organised support events at The Bend, ahead of Jason Humble.

Lined up for Race 1, the track was wet from light rain, and de Paoli (Chev Camaro) led for several laps before Humble (Mazda RX2) passed him for the win. Elliott Barbour (Holden Torana XU-1) was third until a bore split. He, along with Chris Stern and Darryl Hansen (Ford Mustangs), pitted and joined Les Walmsley (Valiant Charger) with a steering box issue in the pits.

Harry Draper (Datsun 1600) picked up third ahead of Graham Jarrett (Camaro), Matt Hansen and Ian Mewett (Mustangs), and Kym Burton (Ford Falcon XY GT).

Race 2 was fully wet and the flamboyant de Paoli was in control from the outset. Even a

Safety Car, for Darcy Russell (Mustang), Graeme Woolhouse (Mustang), Robert van Stokrom (BMW) and Burton off the road, did little to affect a comfortable win over Humble.

Hansen was third ahead of Walmsley in a great charge after he started rear of grid. Draper was fifth in front of Gordon, Stuart Young (Torana), Alan Mckelvie (Mustang), Tony Gilfuis (Ford Capri) and Mewett.

The third and final race provided another dominant performance for de Paoli, who won by over 20s. Second became a tight tussle between Humble, Matt Hansen and Walmsley. Humble had an off-road venture which dropped him to fifth after which he snared one spot back when he pipped Mewett at the finish line.

Russell came from outside the top 20 to pass Draper and secure seventh. Despite a 5s penalty Darryl Hansen held onto eight ahead of Jarrett A battle between David and Goliath as Jason Humble in his Mazda RX-2 failed to prevent a (until he stopped), and Young was meat-balled for hard driving Aldo de Paoli and his powerful Chevrolet Camaro from taking the event a loose exhaust.

HARRIS TAKES SUPERUTES DEBUT

Ryal Harris (left) and Aaron Borg (below) shared the spoils in the inaugural round of the SuperUtes.

Report: Heath McAlpine IT WAS fitting long-time SuperUtes competitor Ryal Harris was victorious in the opening round of the rejuvenated class at The Bend Motorsport Park.

Now featuring control LS3 V8 power, 13 entries kicked off a new era for the series as previous combatants Harris in his Peters Motorsport Mazda BT-50 and Cameron Crick driving the Sieders Motorsport Mitsubishi Triton, continued their battle.

It wasn’t an exclusive battle between the two experienced drivers at the front as reigning Toyota 86 Race Series winner Aaron Borg in a Sieders Motorsport Toyota Hilux and the similar model driven by Ben Walsh were constant contenders across the weekend.

Another to emerge as an early frontrunner was Craig Dontas until he crashed in the opening race at Turn 18 – caused by a mechanical failure.

Crick won pole position, but struggled early on cold tyres as Harris was able to take advantage on lap 3 to master the wet conditions and take a 4s victory.

Making an impact early was Borg as he picked up second as Crick spun to allow his former Toyota 86 Race Series rival into second place as he maintained third until the flag.

Walsh was also a spinner in the inclement

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conditions, but took fourth after overhauling fellow Toyota Hilux driver Craig Woods in the closing stages.

Dontas failed to return after his incident, with the Triton unable to repaired to complete the final two races of the weekend.

Due to the inverted grid format for Race 2, opening race winner Harris started sixth.

However, rocket starts from the two dualling drivers from opening race meant Crick led Harris into Turn 1, before the Mazda was able to pass his Triton rival.

Harris maintained a comfortable lead of 2s as Crick this time was able to defend from Borg

to take second, while the Holden Colorado of George Gutierrez ran fourth for much of the encounter until a late spin elevated Woods as the local driver finished in fifth.

In the final, again it was Crick with the best start, but by the conclusion of the opening lap it was Harris in front as Borg followed.

A battle between Harris and Borg ensued before the latter made a successful pass at Turn 6 to take a maiden win. Crick finished the race third ahead of Wood and Walsh as Gutierrez was hampered by mechanical gremlins.

Round winner Harris praised his crew in what was a quick build up to prepare for the category’s new era.

“I can’t thank the Peters Motorsport team enough,” a delighted Harris said after race three.

“Three weeks ago, the ute was just sitting in the car park, they’ve put in a massive effort to get us onto the track.

“I’m really happy with the direction the category is heading in, the management team have done a great job to get it to where it is and it’s going to be a great year of racing.

“In the second race, I was surprised with how good my start was – it’s been ages since I’ve done a standing start, because the other categories I’ve raced in have rolling starts.”

Points: Harris 171, Borg 167, Crick 162, Woods 143, Walsh 141.

Cameron Crick won the start in each of the three encounters, but was unable to convert.

p ra w S L A N NATIO

WILD RACING ON THE ISLAND Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: Rebecca Hind/Revved Photography CHANGING WEATHER conditions played havoc throughout the third round of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships at Phillip Island, but this did not stop competitors from flocking to the Grand Prix Circuit.

FORMULA FORD

THIRD GENERATION racer Clayton Richards took the round honours in Formula Ford after winning the final race of the weekend in very wet conditions. Thomas Sargent had won all six races thus far and looked to keep that record going. He continued the streak at The Island by winning the first two races of the weekend, however he would not complete the set. On the opening lap sitting behind Richards, Sargent spun at Stoner Corner as a Safety Car was deployed. On the restart, leader Richards also looped his car, allowing Conor Somers to take the lead. Despite the spin, Richards remained in second as another S/C was deployed and resulted in a one lap sprint to the finish.

Richards and Somers jostled for position before Richards snatched the lead back at MG. Richards held on to take the race and round win from Somers. Sargent finished the race in ninth and fourth for the round.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION CARS

IMPROVED PRODUCTION contained the largest grid of the weekend as 38 cars set out to qualify on Saturday morning – however several incidents would see the field size decrease as the event went on.

Race 1 was declared a non-event and called to a halt after David Cocks hit the wall at Turn 1 resulting in barrier repairs.

In Race 2 Adam Poole, took victory by 2s from Damien Milano and Jarrod Tonks.

Race 3 saw a thrilling battle between Poole and Milano – in the end Poole came out on top. Poole, Milano and Tonks made it a Holden podium lockout for the round.

SALOON CARS

IN THE Saloon Cars, pole sitter Travis Lindorff looked set for Race 1 victory before he spun off on oil, handing victory to Simon Tabinor. Tabinor won the first two races of the weekend and looked to wrap up the round in second place until heavy rain lashed the circuit and allowed Anthony Beare to charge through the pack and take the win.

SPORTS SEDANS

CORVETTE DRIVER Dean Camm claimed victory in all three Sports Sedan races, keeping the MARC cars at bay in the dry

races and dominating the final encounter in wet conditions.

Mazda MARC Cars driver Tony Groves spun in the final race, but still finished second for the round ahead of John Ippolito. o.

FORMULA VEES

REEF MCCARTHY was challenged in all three Formula Vee encounters, but the youngster prevailed in all to claim maximum points. Heath Collinson led out the final corner in the final race but was pipped to the line by 0.02s.

Collinson finished as the round runner up, with the consistent Ash Quiddington in third.

SPORTS CARS

BENJAMIN SCHOOTS dominated the weekend in Sports Cars – driving the Bulgarian built Sin R1, Schoots was in a league of his own. He won the four-lap sprint race by 4.5s and the 40-minute main race by 49s. Jamie Lovett prevailed in an intense battle for second with Andrew Hall and thus finished ahead of him in the round.

IT CAME down to the final race of the weekend – whoever finished higher between championship rivals James Westaway or Cameron Beller would win the round. From pole, Beller nearly stalled on the line, but recovered to second. Out front, Westaway won the race, the round and reclaimed the championship lead.

Mark Taubitz finished third overall.

MG AND INVITED BRITISH SPORTS CARS

DESPITE NOT winning the opening race of the weekend Vincenzo Gucciardo bounced back to win the final two races and the round. Phillip Chester won Race 1, however a spin in the final encounter cost him a shot at the round victory. The consistent Keith Ondarchie finished third overall.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS AND HOLDEN HQS

RACE 1 was called before points could be awarded due to heavy rain, which meant that two races remained on Sunday. On Sunday, Historic Touring Cars wins were shared between Andrew Clempson and Michael Miceli, but as Clempson won the final race he took the round honours. In the HQs it was Ryan Woods who took the round honours from Rodney Earsman.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

AS ALWAYS, the Hyundai Excels put on a show at The Island with a grid of 27 front-wheel drive machines taking to the track. Several incidents in the opening race meant that it was abandoned, and no points awarded. Jarrad Farrell took the two remaining race wins, holding off Adam Bywater by just 0.1s in the first encounter but controlling the latter race and winning by 5.6s. Bywater was not as strong in the final wet encounter, finishing in fifth. This allowed Kobi Williams and Toby Waghorn to finish second and third in the final race and round overall.

PORSCHE 944S

BMW E30s

It was decided at the last corner, but victory in Formula Ford went to Clay Richards (top). The BMW E30s provided a close contest (above), while Adam Poole took out the overall win in Improved Production (below).

ALEX JORY controlled proceedings to win all three races in the BMW E30 Series. Two thirds and a second was enough to see Brian Bourke finish in second with Geoffery Bowles in third. Michael Bailey spun off at Turn 2 in the final race and cost himself a shot at a round podium..

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

WINDUS/ BRKIC HEAD OF THE ADA RIVER IT WAS a Subaru trifecta in the outright placings at the Ada River Rally which was the second round of the Victorian Rally Championship on April 17.

Darren Windus and Joe Brkic won the event overall and the 10-stage VRC part by just under 3mins despite having to complete one stage on a flat tyre. Second went to Peter Schey and Michelle Canning while the third Impreza WRX STi home was crewed

by Ivan Regester and Paul Humm.

Windus and Brkic won nine stages and only missed a perfect run when they hit a rock on stage seven – which caught out several – and drove the rest of the stage on a flat.

Brendan Reeves and Aidan O’Halloran (Datsun P510) were second at the end of the first stage and hovered in the top ten until engine gremlins became evident in stage six and put them out on the next.

A string of stage second places had Franco Liucci and Barry Sheridan (Mitsubishi EVO 6) second behind the front

runners at half distance. A spin on stage six spelt their end. In a twist of fate, they were stuck – which was the same reason they retired from the previous event.

Their misfortune elevated Tim and Leonie Clark (WRX) to second until they had a puncture on stage seven. It cost them over 7mins to change and dropped them 14th

CO-DRIVER TAKES THE HELM FOR WIN Image: Bruce Moxon

BETTER KNOWN as a co-driver, Irishman Eoin Moynihan took the steering wheel, and with John Brophy in a Ford Escort MkII, won the Rockstar Automotive Minidulla Rally on May 1.

The first round of the NSW Clubman Rally Series was one of only a very few events Moynihan has started as a driver and he was over the moon. “This is only my second MA rally as a driver, so I’m very pleased.”

The event was based north of Batemans Bay and used a loop of three stages, run twice, over fast, cresty roads. Peter Dimmock and Russell Hannah in an ex-Bates Toyota Yaris opened with fastest time on stage one, 22s ahead of Claude Murray and Anna Ritson (Datsun 1600).

This was Murray’s first event after a few years away, and his instant pace showed he has lost none of his touch. Murray went on to take fastest times on stages two and three and was second at the break behind Dimmock.

Murray would suffer a clutch

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failure on stage four, which put him out. Dimmock’s early pace vanished after the break – he was a total of a minute slower than his first run over the three-stage loop and that dropped him to third place by the end.

Moynihan and Brophy were third at the break from their fellow Irish crew Sean McAloon and Muireanne Hayes (Escort).

With the Dimmock dramas and Murray out, it came down to the two Escorts crews. McAloon was fastest on two of the three last stages, but only by 1s each from Moynihan.

Moynihan was to run out the winner by 11s with Dimmock a further 8s back. In fourth place were Jamie and Maisie Price in another Escort, then Stephen Duthie and Damien Hanns (Datsun 180B). Russel Winks and Leigh Peirce (Holden Commodore) were sixth, first of the big cars. Best in the Hyundai series were Andrew and John Crowley from Veronica Stack and Jason Browne.

Bruce Moxon

before they recovered to 10th. On the same stage Warren Lee and David Lethlean (EVO 9) hit a rock, broke the front suspension, and could not take the next corner.

Fourth and first in 2WD went to Adrian Stratford and Kain Manning (Ford Fiesta G2), ahead of Stephen Raymond/Brett Williams (WRX), Bodie Reading/Mark Young

(WRX), Luke Sytema/Tracey Dewhurst (Ford Escort RS1800), Wayne Stewart/Lucas Zinsstag (WRX), and Braedon Kendrick/ Emma Kendrick (Holden Commodore VK).

In the Victorian Club Rally Series portion, over eight laps, Keith and Judd Lewis (Datsun 1600) had 19s on Brett MacKieson and Stephen Doughty (WRX) with another

HEARTLAND’S CLOSE TUSSLES TWO CREWS were celebrating after thrilling wins in the AGL Rally of the Heartland on May 8-9. Rob Hunt and Jeremy Browne won the opening round of the Motorsport Australia MRF SA Rally Championship while Andrew and David Harris were victorious in the East Coast Classic Rally Series.

In their Mitsubishi EVO 6, Hunt and Browne won the 15-stage event in and around Burra by 45.1s over Stuart Bowes and Mark Nelson (Mercedes 450SLC) with a further 5mins 10.6s to Jamie Pohlner and Adam Branford (EVO). Current champion Zayne Admiraal and Matt Heywood were retirees on the first stage when their Subaru Impreza WRX blew the turbo.

Bowes won the opening six stages and built up a handy 71s lead. But subsequently had a slower run on stage seven which negated that gap to just 3s over Hunt, the stage winner. Still Bowes held onto the front running at the end of the first leg, over Hunt, and Matt Selley and Hamish McKendrick (Ford Escort MkII) who won stage eight after three stage seconds.

Sunday’s Leg Two opening stage victory ensured Bowes held the lead but fifth in the next enabled stage winner Hunt to get ahead for the remainder.

A last stage mechanical failure put Selley out and

promoted Pohlner to third ahead of Daren Herring and Matt Woods (EVO 6), Ryan Poel and Rebekah Cutting (Subaru Impreza RS), and Simon and Renee Hoff (Escort).

The ECCRS second round encompassed two additional stages, on Saturday night. Travis’ victory was narrow, just 14.4s over Tom Dermody and Eoin Moynihan (Ford Escort 1800) with Bowes and Nelson third.

On Leg One Bowes won the first two stages, plus stage four. Travis topped four stages, Dermody three and Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith (Mazda RX2) one. With six stage done, Bowes had a 4s advantage on Dermody with Quinn third and Travis fourth.

Quinn’s rally was over on stage seven and by the end of the first leg it was Dermody in front of Travis by 23s with Bowes over 3mins away in third after he lost time on the night stages. Travis won Sunday’s first stage before Bowes took the second.

The later had to settle for equal fastest on that stage with Jack Monkhouse and Dale Moscatt who then won the rest in their Datsun 180B SSS – a noteworthy comeback after missing three stages earlier.. Garry O’Brien

Image: John Doutch

Image: KMORC

LONG WAIT FOR RETURN TO DONDINGALONG

Image: John Doutch

23s to Justin Lange and Ross Batson (Ford Escort RS 2000).

The Victorian Sprint Rally Series was over five laps and that went to the Lewis duo with Neil Schey and Scott Middleton (Mitsubishi Mirage) second and Matt and Roy Raymond (Subaru Impreza RS) third.

Garry O’Brien

THE FIRST event in NSW since the last event 18 months ago, the Dondingalong Off Road Challenge at Wittitrin on May 8-9, attracted 41 entries and was round one of the Hunter Rivmasta NSW Off Road Championship, won

by Glenn Spizzo.

Together with Doug Cupitt in his supercharged Toyota V6-powered Micklefab, Spizzo won the Kempsey Macleay Off Road Club run event by 15.9s over multi event winner Justin Guy and Lachlan Davis (Jimco/ Chev V8). The Pro Buggy class filled the top three spots with Tom Dixon and Jesse McGrath (Jimco/Toyota turbo) in third place 1.3s away.

Each of the five four-lap races of the 2.2km circuit were hotly contested. Phil Lovett and Luke Stanley (Can-Am Maverick SXS Sports)

won the prologue but could not replicate in race one due to drive belt failure.

The race was taken out by Spizzo over Guy by 1.6s. Third were Derek Rose and Toby Cooper before the Southern Cross/Mitsubishi turbo had a mysterious shutdown in race two and refused to restart. Guy finished ahead of Spizzo which put him into the overall lead overnight. Third was Dixon, just in front of Lovett.

After fine weather all day, overnight rain continued into Sunday and made the next three races a very different proposition. Dylan and Marty Walsh (Polaris RZR SXS Turbo) won race three ahead of Lovett while third spot for Spizzo propelled him back to the overall lead.

Race four went to Lovett (before a hole radiator) ahead of Guy and Spizzo and the

lead margin was down to 10s. The last race was taken out by Justin and Louella Chisholm (Yamaha XYZ Turbo) which gave them fourth overall ahead of Glen Ackroyd and Andrew Cassidy (Polaris turbo).

Sixth outright were Tim Baker and Ben Miles (Baker2/Chev) ahead of the SXS Turbos of Gary Taylor/Tyrone Craker, Bruce and Dan Morgan, and Zach Snape. Tenth placed (Alumi Craft/Chev EcoTech) won Sportlite, and Kevin Cant and Crystal Brouwer (Yamaha YXZ) in 11th and won SXS Sports.

Two spots back were the Super 1650 victors Warren and Brad Barron (Cobra 100/Toyota 4AGE). Darren Blackburn won Production 2WD, Sportsman went to Aaron and Emily McClintock, Extreme 4WD to David and Robbie O’Grady. Garry O’Brien

Image: AMSAG-Gravel Pics

SIBLINGS TAKE BIGGEST SLICE OF ORANGE

LUFF BROTHERS Jamie and Brad took out the John Giddings Memorial Rally of Orange, round one of the AMSAG Pipe King Southern Cross Rally Series on May 8.

In their Subaru Impreza WRX they won the nine-stage AASA sanctioned event that covered 185kms of competition 2mins 42s ahead of Jamie Neale and Tommi Flegl (WRX).

Jody Mill and James Ford (Mitsubishi EVO

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8) were 3mins 18s adrift in third place.

Luff took the first stage ahead of Dean Ridge and Damian Grahame (EVO 7) who went on to win the next three and led the rally ahead of Ron and Jo Moore (EVO 6), Luff, Mill, Michael Valantine and Jason Fraser (Datsun 1600), and Jake Bramble and Michael Bannon (Nissan Pulsar GtiR).

On Stage Five however, Ridge was out with a broken gearbox as Neale won the

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stage and moved from eighth to third while Moore had the lead ahead of Luff.

The next two stages were taken out by Neale as well.

The final two stages went to Luff over Neale as they consolidated the top two spots. Moore’s comfortable second turned into a DNF on stage eight when he hit a huge rock and damaged the front left front corner as well as breaking the wheel.

Behind third place Mill, it was Jack Wightman/Steve Beaufoy (Datsun 280Z), from Michael Caine and Tomas Vadoklis (Mitsubishi Lancer), Ian Hill and Phillip Bonser (Ford Escort), Mark and Harrison Hudson (WRX), and Wade and Michael Ryan (Datsun 180B SSS). Michael Tori and William Douglas (Toyota Altezza) pipped Dan and Ken Maurer (WRX) by 3s to be ninth of the 48 competitors. GOB

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

HABY’S ELEMENT TO ENDURO SUCCESS AARON AND Chelsea Haby, along with Kevy Nott, stood on the top step of the off road podium after two dusty days in the Symons-Clark Richard Bennett Memorial Enduro at Parilla on May 1-2.

The winning trio guided their Chevpowered Element Prodigy Pro Buggy to a comfortable win over Andrew Fitzgerald/ Maddy Barrett (Element Prodigy/Chev) who had blasted through the pack after qualifying seventh.

Andrew Mowles and Jacob Booth (Razorback/BMW ProLite) had trekked down from Alice Springs for the opening round of the SAORRA Multi Club series and had run as high as second but come Sunday found themselves third crew home.

Ivan Schmocker (Southern Cross Element/Chev) was as spectacular as ever and managed to claim fourth despite a stop to assist at a rollover on day two.

Amazingly, considering the conditions there was only 40s covered second to fourth.

The ever consistent Daryl Nissen/Andrew Harness (Sore/Nissan) were next with

Image: David Batchelor less than 2s back to Brett Rodgers/Brett Richardson (RIDS Joker/Chev). Seventh were Brenton and Matthew Gallasch (Southern Cross/Chev) with a gap to Glenn Collis and Jason Hampel (Rimco/ Nissan).

The field started to string out after that with Adam Bierl/Nyree Birmingham (Chenoweth/Nissan) ahead of Ben Erceg/ David Mussell (Racer/Nissan Sportslite) in tenth.

Carl Haby and Rowan Eggers had top qualified their one race-old Nissan

V8-powered Element Prodigy and had strongly challenged brother Aaron at the start, but a shredded fan belt caused an early exit.

The new ECE Honey Badger/Nissan of Luke Erceg and Shannyn Fitzgerald showed promise but was a lap down at the finish. Two-time Parilla winner Trevor Copeland was out early with engine woes with his Chev-powered Jimco. Tony Whately and his entourage of navigators put on a show for the spectators in the Chev-powered Rush Truck, but persistent

Image: Brett Sandells

FIRST WIN COSTLY

JUST AFTER Karl Richardson became King of the Hill on May 2, he suffered a medical episode and needed to be transported to hospital where he is on the road to recovery.

Together with Simon Sharpe, it was Richardson first outright off road win in their Extreme 2WD Nissan-powered VW. They were victorious in the two-day 150km Genie Exhaust-backed event out the wheatbelt town of Brookton by well over four minutes in front

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of their nearest rival.

The 20th Anniversary running was the first of four rounds of the WA Off Road Racing Association’s Championship Series and covered the two-heats and 10 laps of the 15km short course.

Second place went Craig and Monica Wells in their Chev powered Razorback Pro Buggy while third were Jim Cairns and David Sutherland who also took out the SXS Turbo

overheating ended their race early.

The other class winners were to Sam Vanstone/Larissa Jeffery/John Kennedy (RIDS Joker/Toyota Super 1650) and Grant Winter and Geoff Brennan (CanAm X3 SXS Turbo). Extreme 2WD went to Patrick Byrne and Amanda Amber (Byrne Truck/Chev) as Trent Gravestock and Tyson Proud (Ford F100) took Performance 2WD. AAaron Harre and Nathan Dunn (Ford Maverick) were the last crew to complete the full distance and won Extreme 4WD. David Batchelor

class in their Polaris.

Richardson was second in the first heat Behind Stephen Ketteridge-Hall whose ProLite Bullet Racing Frame/Nissan only made it through two laps of the second heat.

The Wells’ were third through Heat 1 ahead of Cairns, Michael Davis and Alex Cowan (ProLite Zarco/Nissan), Gavin and Latia Rodgers (Can-Am X3), and Bernard Holt (Sportslite Sollittco/Kawasaki).

Heat two went to Richardson from Kifer, Cairns, Davis, and Wells. Davis ultimately took fourth outright ahead of Rodgers, Kifer and Holt Entry numbers were down this year as the event fell between two state rounds in the Gascoygne Dash and the Bencubbin 330.

Winner of the 2019 event Harleigh Uren was missing, as too Gascoygne pacesetter Keith Rance.GOB

SUNDAY MAKES FOR BURDEKIN WIN A STRONG SECOND day made Brett Comiskey the winner of the Ryellen Heliwork Burdekin 300, the second round of the Mickey Thompson AORRA Queensland Off Road Racing Championship on May 1-2.

In his Unlimited class Jimco Aussie Special/Nissan V6 turbo, he was seventh in the prologue, and third after Saturday’s three sections before he posted the fastest times over the final two sections for a clear 1min 20.5s victory.

The event was run by the Burdekin Off Road Club and held at Burdekin Bridge 15kms from Ayr. It was also the second round of the AORRA North Queensland Off Road Racing Championship.

Second place went to Kyle Floyd (Class 6 Can-Am Maverick) who was the prologue winner and pacesetter at the end of day one.

Third overall went to Craig Krog (Unlimited Razorback/Chev LS2 V8) in only his second race on four wheels after a long career on motorcycles.

Section 1 was over one lap of the 35km long course track where Bailey Coxon (CanAm) was the winner by 1.25s over Floyd,

Jake and Tom Swinglehurst in a pair of CanAm Mavericks.

Floyd was the best on the three long course laps of the second section ahead of Comiskey, Swinglehurst, and Russell Hartnett (Class 2 Razorback/Honda).

Section three took in five laps of the 15km course with Floyd first in front of Tom Swinglehurst and Comiskey.

Sunday began with three laps of the long

course where, behind Comiskey, Floyd was second and Kent Battle (Unlimited Element Prodigy/Chev V8) third and ended with five laps of the 3km course. Comiskey won that from Battle, Floyd, Richard Tassin (Can-Am), and Krog.

Fourth place overall went to Battle in front of Chris Colborne (Jimco/Nissan) who won Class 1 while Michael Ranson (Mitsubishi Triton/ Holden V8) won Class 5 and was sixth overall.

Class 6 Can-Am drivers Tassin, Ryan Jones and Brice Derrick filled out the remainder of the top ten, apart from Christian Trusz (Nissan Patrol/Holden V8) in eighth and the best of the Class 8 entries.

First in Class 2 was 12th placed Colin Gaven (Tony Parker Engineering Custom Built/ Toyota 4AGE) while Greg Oats (Yamaha YXZ1000R) finished 15th and took out Class 66. GOB

Image: JS Motorsport Photography

FAST PACED BREAKFAST

DAVIS WINS MOYSTON ON HIS OWN TWENTY EIGHT teams took on the very dusty GORBA Samba Metal Works short course off road event at Moyston on May 1 with David Davis the winner.

The event was round four of the Victorian Off Road Club Shield where the Class 10 Saber/Suzuki solo entrant took the overall honours by 4.3s after three heats and 21 laps of the 5km course. Second place went to Glenn and Natalie Pike, 55.4s ahead of the fellow Class 6 Can-Am Maverick X3/ Rotax turbo team of Simon Gubbins and Evan Kershaw.

Just behind them came Dean Williams and Jon Huber in their

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Southern Cross Mk4/Daihatsu K3VE2 Class 3 entry. They were less than a second ahead of the three Class 6 Can-Am buggies crewed by Brett and Christy Jorgensen, Darren Franklin and Rob Hackney, and Robert Gusserhoven and Wayne Donnelly.

Heat 1 was just a single lap and won by James Tyrrell in his Class 10 Jimco/Nissan ahead of Davis, Pike, Jorgensen, and Brant Knight (Class 10 Sabre/Suzuki), all of whom were the only competitors through in under 5mins.

Heat 2 was over 10 laps where Pike showed the way ahead of Davis,

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Tyrrell, Jorgensen, and Williams. The third heat, also over 10 laps, was led in by Gubbins from Williams, Guessenhoven, Davis and Pike. Tyrrell only completed four laps and retired with gearbox woes.

Eighth placed Dean Bennett and Darcy Fletcher (Nissan Patrol V8) were the Class 8 winners. Dan and Jodie Jorgensen (2: Southern Cross/Volkswagen), Mark and Taryn Foster (4: Toyota V8), Baillie and Chloe Bennett (5: Patrol) and James Markham and Jacqueline Prior (7: Patrol) were the other class winners.

GOB

AN OPPORTUNITY tto hhave a hit hit-outt on th the Fi Finke k D Desertt Race prologue track was not to be missed at the Janda Buildng Prologue Brekkie Bash on May 9.

The event had on prizemoney or a declared winner, but 22 entries with many interstaters used the three session of the 7.5km course for practice and information gathering.

Extreme 2WD vehicles were the quickest on the day and it was Brad Gallard who produced the fastest times in his Geiser Trophy Truck/Chev in each. His best was a 4mins 59.527s run which was less than 4s off his official time in the 2019 Finke prologue.

Paul Weel (Geiser TT/Chev) was next best placed ahead of David Fellows (Geiser Bros TT/Nissan V6 turbo) and the Pro Buggy of Josh Wilson (Jimco Aussie Special/Nissan turbo).

Fifth fastest was Beau Robinson (Geiser TT/Chev) ahead of Jacob Booth (Porter/Chev Pro Buggy), Mick Magher (TSCO TT/Dougans V8) and the best of the ProLites, Andrew Mowles in his Razorback/BMW. The day meant many could get multiple laps, find speed, and break a few things then rather than at the Finke Desert Race on the Queen’s Birthday June long weekend. GOB

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

HISTORIC PREVAILS AFTER FOGGY START ORGANISERS HAD their work cut out to get through the Autumn Historic Warwick meeting at Morgan Park on May 8-9 but not because of Covid. This time the two days of 35-event program started with the Warwick facility blanketed in fog.

They were successful too although the final races finished just on sunset. Touring cars had a strong numerical advantage, no doubt due the prestigious trophies in honour of Glenn Seton, John French and Lloyd Bax being up for grabs.

Brian Henderson took two wins in Group S & Invited Sports Cars in his ex-factory Datsun 240z (above). Matt Clift was in full attack mode in his Group N Mazda R100. easily accounted for the field in races one and two before a DNF in the third.

That race was taken out by Kevan Peters (Va Renmax) before Bruce Ayers in the well-known Yellow Submarine Mildren won the last.

The racing behind the tearaway leaders was close. In race one Doug Angus (Vb Nimbus) just got the nod over Don Greiveson (Vb Elfin) by 0.001s before Peters took second in race two from Greiveson and Bill Hemming (Elfin Formula Junior).

Greiveson finished off with thirds, clearly in race three and then behind Paynter and just ahead of Peters in the last.

HERITAGE TOURING CARS

IN THE ex-Mark Gibbs Group A Nissan Skyline GTR R32, Tony Alford dominated across the weekend. He scored pole for the four Group C&A races and won all bar one. The victories did include the Glenn Seton Trophy race and like the other two wins, he was chased throughout by Greg Keam in his ex-Laurie Nelson Ford Mustang.

Adrian Allisey (Walkinshaw VL) chased them to the line in race one, ahead of David Towe (ex-JPS BMW) and Mark Taylor (Holden Commodore VL). Allisey was third in the Trophy, ahead of Towe when he had an off on the downhill run after the T Junction and recovered for sixth behind Terry Lawlor.

Lawlor and his ex-Bob Morris Ford Falcon XD was the best of the Group C assembled and accounted for Ed Singleton (ex-STP Commodore VH) on three occasions. Lawlor also scored the outright win in the handicap race which carried the top Group C honour of the John French Trophy.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

THE WEEKEND’S biggest field was in Group N with the sought-after annual Jack Lacey Trophy to be won. In his Chev Camaro Grant Wilson was victorious while Graeme Wakefield who started fourth, drove his Ford Mustang into second 1.7s behind. Third place went to Rod Cannon (Ford Falcon XY GT) ahead of the Holden Torana XU-1s driven by Peter Baguley and Ash Heffernan who had Grahame Wrobel (Mustang) close behind.

Cannon took the overall honours. After he won the first race ahead of Wilson and race two winner Wakefield, he took out the Bill Campbell Memorial ahead of the same duo. Baguley, Wrobel and Heffernan filled the next three spots.

There were two races exclusively for Group Nb & U2L Group Nc which were both won by Matt Clift in his Mazda R100.

James Anderson (Alfa Romeo GTV 2000) was second in the first, ahead of the Nbonly race winner Craig Thompson (Lotus Cortina) who reversed that result in the

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GROUPS Q & R/INVITED SPORTS & RACING

second. Norm Singleton (GTV) and Ken Nelson (Morris Cooper S) chased them home in both.

GROUPS S & INVITED SPORTS CARS

FOUR DATSUN 240Zs joined the upto-1974 Production Sports Cars. Jon Giddins (Datsun) was the best performer of the Invited with two outright wins and two second places. Stan Adler (Porsche 911) outperformed the Group S contingent snaring two thirds and two seconds.

Chris Whitaker (240Z) undercut the Group S record by 2.5s but was an early weekend retiree with a broken valve spring. The other 240Zs in the hands of twice race winner Brian Henderson and Adam Workman were ex-US factory cars, running on slick tyres.

Behind them Trevor Bassett (Ferrari Daytona) and Michael McKelliget (Datsun 260Z) featured in close contests in all four races with the latter winning their battles each time.

three thirds and a fourth when pipped by Sean Sorensen in his Fb Elfin 620B. A DNF in race one ensured that the win in the earlier class went to Robert Buckley (Van Diemen VD82) while the Fa class was won by Chris Fry (Birrana F72).

GROUPS L, P & FORMULA VEE IN HIS Group Va Stag Anthony Paynter

AT THE helm of his March Super Vee, Robert Foster claimed three of the four races, and only had his colours lowered when Barry Wise (March 81A) grabbed the early lead of race two and held on for a narrow win. Ron Hay (Lola T590) scored a couple of thirds, did not finish one race, and finished off with a second in the last which Wise failed to complete.

Garry O’Brien

FORMULA FORD

THREE WINS across the four events gave Dylan Fahey (Van Diemen RF89) the outright and Group Fc over Brady McHugh (RF88). Richard Lihou (RF89) scored

Robert Foster was near-perfect driving his Group R March Super Vee. Images: Trapnell Creations.

Paul Kluck took one win to Reuben Romkes two in the combined Improved Production/Street Car races.

HOLDEN TRIBUTE AT WINTON

APRIL SPRINGS TO MAY THE APRIL Race Meeting at Wanneroo was deferred a week due to a sudden Covid-19 lockdown and the one-day event went ahead on May 1.

FORMULA VEES

THE 1600cc class was a two-horse show between David Caisley (Jacer) and Rod Lisson (Borland Sabre) which went the way of the former, two wins to one.

They exchanged the lead several times in Race 1 with Lisson the winner. Allan Reid (Jacer) emerged third after a tussle with Jeff Cadman (Jacer) Simon Bate (Stinger), Danny Cerro (Sabre) and Ken Wyatt (Jacer).

Lisson followed with two hard-fought wins over Caisley, the pair well ahead. Race 2 had a Safety Car when Vini Paduano (Aurora) and Jarrod Vening (Spectre) went off at Turn 1. Cadman (Jacer) took third from Reid, Cerro, and Wyatt. Cadman picked up another third in race three, ahead of Cerro, Wyatt, and April Welsh in Anthony Lees’ Ajay. Reid bunkered at Turn 7 on lap seven.

In the 1200s, wins went to Robert McAfee (Polar), Brett Scarey (CD-Vee) and Andrew Lockett (Ajay) who topped the round points.

Initially the first race lead was between Franz Esterbauer (Ribuck) and Lockett until third placed McAfee (Polar) stole the victory at the line.

Esterbauer led most of race two before the Safety Car. On the last lap Scarey snared the win from Esterbauer. Lockett copped a 10s penalty for passing too early at the restart and was relegated to fourth behind Callum Lamont (Sabre). Race 3 was determined in the charge to the line where Lockett came from behind to edge out Esterbauer and McAfee.

FORMULA FORDS

VAN DIEMEN pilot Mark Pickett won the round with two race wins while second went to Craig Jorgensen, also at the helm of a Van Diemen. In Race 1 Pickett gapped them and led to the flag. Ben Leslie (Stealth) was second until Josh Matthews

(Stealth) passed him. Later Tom Chapman (Van Diemen) slipped past Leslie before Jorgensen (Van Diemen) claimed both for third.

The second race was a much closer.

Jorgensen moved on second placed Matthews and then passed Pickett for the lead on lap eight and won ahead of Pickett and Matthews. Jorgensen led the last race from Matthews, Pickett, and Chapman until an error dropped him to fourth. Jorgensen recovered and finished second to Pickett.

Third went to Matthews, just ahead of Chapman.

EXCEL CUP

AFTER QUALIFYING fastest Tayla Dicker placed second in Race and won the other two for a fourth round victory over Brett Sherriff who set a new lap record, and Jackson Callo.

Sherriff led Race 1, closely followed by Dicker and Jack Clohessy. On lap four Dicker and Clohessy passed Sherriff.

Clohessy pulled off in the esses as the lead battle continued. Sherriff made a move on the last lap to beat Dicker while Brock McGregor was barely ahead of Callo, and Jake Passaris filled fifth.

At the end of the opening lap, the second race red flagged. Clohessy spun and was stranded in the middle of the track. Carlos Ambrosio who missed race one with an oil leak retired, as did McGregor with overheating.

At the restart the Dicker and Sherriff dice carried on with Dicker the winner. Callo held off Passaris with Harrison Douglas fifth. Dicker was never headed in race three with a narrow win over Sherriff. Callo and Passaris resumed their tussle for third before McGregor came through to down both.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION/STREET CARS OUTRIGHT WINS went two-one to Reuben Romkes (Improved Production Holden Monaro) over Paul Kluck (Street Cars

Rod Lisson and David Caisley battled all weekend in Formula Vee. Images: Mick Oliver

Nissan Skyline R32). The former won the first over Kluck with John Callegari (Holden Commodore) third ahead of Nick Tagaris (Mitsubishi EVO 8) and Ben Riley (Honda Integra Type R).

The race was restarted after an early red flagged when Jason Hallam (Skyline) hit the pitlane entry tyre wall. Matt Cherry (Monaro) started from the rear and was challenging Romkes when he spun off at Turn 7.

In Race 2, Kluck led all the way. Romkes had second until passed by Callegari and Cherry. Ben Peachey (Datsun SSS) was a distant fourth ahead of Tagaris. Romkes took the last ahead of Kluck and Callegari.

Tagaris was next but a 5s penalty pushed him to fifth behind Peachey.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

HOLDEN TORANA XU-1 drivers dominated the outright results with Stuart Young first across the line in two races and was second in the other.

Young led and won the first race from the outset. Thierry Michot (Chev Corvette) held second over Peter Pisconeri (Ford Mustang) until the latter speared off at Turn 7. Cono Onofaro (Mini Cooper S) picked up third ahead of Simon Northey (Mustang) and Scott Mackie (Torana).

Greg Barr (Torana) pulled out of Race 1 before it started. From the back of the Race 2 grid, he chased Young to the flag and picked up the win via a 5s penalty to Young. Mackie was third in front of Onofaro, Northey and Michot. Without Barr in the last, Young was an easy winner from Mackie, Northey and Onofaro who miscued and dropped from third to seventh for a period.

SPORTS SEDANS/SPORTS CARS

THE SMALL combined field had two winners – Arthur Abrahams (Lamborghini Huracan) in Sports Cars, and Grant Hill (Ford Falcon BF) the best of the Sports Sedans. Race 1 went to Abrahams as a comfortable winner. The minors were a much closer with Richard Bloomfield (Porsche GT3 R) just in front of Hill.

Ryan Humfrey (XE Falcon/Chev) DNF’d out of the race and had no better luck in the second with a puncture. In the meantime Abrahams scored another clear-cut victory.

Hill led Bloomfield for second until lap four and regained it three laps later.

WINTON MOTOR Raceway paid tribute to the end of an Aussie icon with its Holden Last Lap ANZAC Race Meeting on April 24-25 with numerous road cars parading on the circuit between the racing.

It seemed appropriate that a Holden would win in Vic V8s where Mark Houeix not only scored his first race win but took the second round overall. In his VY Clubsport he took the overall honours ahead of Mark Eddy (VH Commodore) with pacesetter Brian Finn third in his Commodore.

The first of four races had to be restarted after one car stalled on the grid and a couple of others came into contact. Len Cattlin (Ford Mustang) led Finn from the start but an off in the sweeper allowed the latter to take the lead and drive away to a strong win.

Cattlin was second with Houeix just ahead of Michael Budge (VZ) and Eddy.

Finn led the second before a braking issue at Turn 11 allowed Cattlin into the lead, one he extended when Finn went off at Turn 3. Cattlin took the win from Finn and Budge. Race 3 went to Finn over Cattlin while behind Ratcliffe, Budge edged out Houeix. In the last Cattlin was a non-starter, and Finn only lasted three laps before Houeix won from Budge and Eddy.

Qualifying for the Vic Excel Series round had Harry Tomkins quickest over Jarred Farrell and Hugo Simpson, and that is the way they finished, covered by 1.5s. Farrell won the second encounter where Tomkins was second while Simpson was again third across the line.

Tomkins was out after the first lap of Race 3 where Farrell beat Simpson to the line by 0.24s. Third was Toby Waghorn clear of tight finish between Brad Vaughan and Kai Allen. Simpson came through to take the last from Farrell as Waghorn picked up third.

Vaughan was next across the line but a 5s penalty applied put him behind Mason Kelly and Neville Blight.

Ran Maclurkin (Nissan 180SX/Chev) took out the opening two races in the Victorian Sedan Series, beating John Hickey (Commodore) in both while Steven Baird (Ford Falcon) was third ahead of Michael Pettit in his Falcon.

Ranald Maclurkin (Ran’s father) had his race impeded as his Nissan 350Z had gearbox issues and missed Race 2, where Cooper Cappellari (VY Commodore) was third in front of Pettit.

Any chance of Ran Maclurkin winning Race 3 was negated with front end damage and contact with Hickey who won ahead of Ranald Maclurkin. Behind them Baird finished third just in front of Cappellari.

Hickey did not get a lap completed in Race 4 which Ranald Maclurkin won ahead of Baird and Pettit.

Garry O’Brien Images: Phil Wisewould

SPRINTS

THE FASTEST in each session of four laps were Neville Zoccoli (Chev Camaro) in session one and Garry Utterson (Holden Torana LH) the best in sessions two and three. Mick Oliver

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s w e n Y A SPEEDW

TRIPLE TREAT FOR LACHLAN MCHUGH Report: Paris Charles Images: Declan Brownsey WITH 31 competitors vying for the coveted Q1 mantle, the Queensland Sprintcar Championship proved to be an epic two-night affair at the Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway.

After 12 heats, a preliminary A Main, B Main and a Pole Shootout, Lachlan McHugh became just the third driver in the championship’s 47-year history to secure a three-peat.

Going into the incident plagued 35-lap feature event Arron Kelly and Luke Oldfield lined up on the front-row ahead of McHugh on the second row alongside Cody Maroske.

Oldfield got the initial jump at the start as 19 others jockeyed for track position, which

proved a challenging affair bringing many of the chargers undone. The first pair were veterans Darren Jensen and Richard Morgan, which forced a complete restart.

Next time, Kelly got the jump, but Oldfield found clear track out front and the lead duo continued to trade blows until McHugh made it a three-way fight. This allowed Kelly some reprieve as Oldfield and McHugh fought for second until a slight touch allowed the latter to consolidate. Oldfield regathered his momentum allowing Matthew Dumesny to enter the podium equation.

With half a dozen laps run, Robbie Farr had charged his way through the field before banging wheels with Jessie Attard, flipping both New South Welshmen out of the running.

A red flag brought the race to a short halt, however just two laps after the race was restart things turned sour for Oldfield. As he charged around the topside, Dumesny slid up track and the two touched, sending the Oldfield into the wall. Dumesny retired after the following restart from accident-related damage.

Kelly continued to trail blaze while McHugh kept touch, moving as Maroske moved into third leaving Nicholas Whell, David Murcott, Randy Morgan and Brent Kratzmann battled for track position as the leaders negotiated their way through slower traffic.

With 11 laps left the remaining 13 entries were again brought for an Indian file restart after a backmarker spun and Kelly resumed control. A resilient McHugh continued to

fight and with five laps remaining, the duo again encountered lapped traffic as both swapped positions in the run to the finish line.

On the final lap, the pair travelled side-byside down the back shoot and through Turn 3.

In the race to the Kelly’s clung to the bottom and McHugh sailed around the top with the latter taking the honours.

Maroske rounded out the podium ahead of local gun Nicholas Whell and Randy Morgan.

Preliminary night heat race wins went to; Jayden Peacock, Kelly, Murcott, Morgan, Kratzmann and Farr, who also captured a pair on the second night, while singles were shared between Brodie Tulloch, Richard Morgan, Jessie Attard and Michael Gee, who also won the 15-lap B Main.

BASTIAN BREAKS THROUGH FOR VICTORIAN SPRINTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP Report: Paris Charles Image: Shane Sharrock / Rock Solid Productions.

A LARGE crowd rolled into Ballarat’s Redline Raceway to watch 21 entered LS powered Sprintcars compete for the 2021 Victorian Speedway Council Sprintcar Championship.

The top 18 entries made the final and from the get-go the racing was ran at a frantic pace. Sam Wren made the most of his front-row starting position to pounce away from the field to an early lead before Anthony Snow spun at Turn 4 forcing the field back together for an Indian file restart.

From this point forward the race ran express to the finish.

Wren again checked out opening a handy margin over the rest of the pack to lead for much of the early stages of the 35-lap journey. Alistair Bastian found good speed working the high side of the track to gain ground and slingshot around the top

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coming out of Turn 2 to take the lead Once Bastian stuck the nose into the lead, he battled traffic at a solid pace to take victory by 2.5s from Wren, Shane Steenholdt, Shaun Lyness and David McKay.

Defending champion Dennis Jones relinquished his title reign in seventh and was the final competitor to finish on the lead lap.

Steenholdt won the opening heat as he set

a new one-lap (11.931s) and 10-lap (2m 02.972s) track record. McKay won Heat 2, also going under the previously set record.

Wren and Bastian claimed Heats 3 and 4.

Dean Heseltine took a start-to-finish victory in the AMCA Nationals feature, sharing the podium with Tim Reidy and Neale Peachey.

Frank Thierry, Hugene Charvat, Peachey, Darren Bloom and Reidy each took a heat race victory.

More than 35 competitors contested the Street Stock King of the Mount as the 12 preliminary heats and B-Main proved a fast and furious affair to make the top 22.

At the completion of the marathon 50lap final, David Barrie took victory from Queensland Champion Matt Nelson and local entry Dean Jenkins.

Jeff Oldfield set a new 15-lap track record in Standard Saloons with a time of 4:29.018 to beat Rick Stowe, Alan Sinclair, Patrick Walsh, Mark Seller, Priscilla Grech, Ian Walsh and Jacob Head.

DEWETT CONTINUES MODIFIED SEDAN DOMINATION

BLIGHT TAKES FLIGHT Report: Paris Charles Image: Richard Hathaway

Report: Paris Charles Image: Ray Ritter THE WHYALLA Speedway fired up for the final time this season with the re-run of the South Australian Modified Sedan and V6 Sprint Championships.

Also on the supporting card was The Brian Skelton Memorial for Super Sedans, Round 5 of the MJS Street Stock Series and Junior Sedans.

In just seven days, newly crowned Victorian Champion Jake Drewett doubled up on his Modified Sedan state championships, adding the South Aussie title to his rapidly expanding and impressive CV. A dozen competitors assembled for the running of The South Australian Modified Sedan Championship and going into the final it was the defending Champion Peter McCarthy from pole position. Alongside him was Terry Brown, while sharing the second row was Drewett and Darren Allen.

At the drop of the green McCarthy, Brown and Drewett jumped away from the field,

making it an exciting and close three-way dance for the lead. This lasted for a quarter of the race before a slowly deflating tyre on the BA Falcon of Brown forced him to slow, leaving the lead duo racing door-to-door.

McCarthy appeared in control aboard his Falcon as Drewett searched for a way around the topside. Eventually, Drewett sent his Falcon around the outside to take the lead as further back Andrew Dike progressed to third as Brown continued to lose speed.

The trio of Drewett, McCarthy and Dike completed an all-Victorian podium as all completed the full 25-lap distance. Ben Whitehead was the best of the South Aussie’s in fourth followed by the lone Holden Commodore of Trevor Raams.

Earlier the heat race wins were shared by Drewett, Brown and McCarthy.

The V6 Sprint South Australian Championship was Nick Hall’s, despite a strong challenge from Damien Eve. Flanking the duo on the podium in a close battle for third was Darryl Barkla.

Hall and Barkla claimed the heat races with Eve winning the top six Pole Shuffle.

The Brian Skelton Memorial for Super Sedans, which also incorporated the final round of the United Speedway Association Country Series, was won by Paul Blenkiron ahead of Neville Nitschke and Kym Jury, who fought from the rear of the field after spinning out during the early stages of the 20-lap race.

Nathan Thorne piloted his Magna to victory in Round 5 of the MJS Street Stock Series over Jayden Edwards and Nigel Reichstein.

In the Junior Sedans Chelsea Gwynne was undefeated in both heats and the feature race.

RANDALL RUNS TO MR MODIFIED SERIES CROWN

Report: Paris Charles Image: Tony Powell MITCH RANDALL wrote his name into the record books after a dominant victory in the deciding round of the 2020/21 Mr Modified Series at the Castrol Edge Lismore Speedway.

Randall made a clean sweep of the annual V8 Dirt Modified tournament by winning the maiden round on Boxing Day. History repeated in the decider as Randall stood tall against the other 13 competitors as he worked through the pack to head Matt Pascoe and Mark Robinson at end of the marathon 40-lap grand finale.

Former Australian Super Sedan Champion Matt Pascoe jumped out to an early lead after sharing the front row with Geoff Phillips. Pascoe cleared out and in doing so set the quickest lap of the race, a 13.448s.

A caution caused by a Phil McNamara spin at Turn 4 on lap 8 brought the field

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back together. By this point Randall had clawed his way into third and was mounting a challenge for the lead.

At the restart, Randall quickly jumped Phillips for second position and Mark Robinson elevated the into third.

Phillips had his hands full fending off the Josh Rose for fifth.

The battle for the lead produced an exciting affair as the leaders diced their way through traffic on the short bullring.

Pascoe was hindered as he attempted to go around the outside of Luke Dunn, allowing Randall the opportunity to duck down the inside coming out of Turn 4.

Randall controled the lead as both entered Turn 1 in close formation and it remained that way through traffic until Pascoe rode the rear wheel of the leader.

This sent his sprint car skyward and bouncing off the wall. Pascoe continued, but the incident allowed Randall to open a handy buffer and run unchallenged for the final 10 remaining circulations. Pascoe and Robinson took the minors as Geoff

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Phillips and Trent Scofield rounded out the top five.

Heat race victories were shared between Randall, Robinson, Phillips and Pascoe who also claimed a strong win in the 6-lap dash.

Randall’s 382-points left him 18 points clear of series runner-up Robinson, who was third at Round 1, while Trent Scofield (278 points) placed third.

The running of the AMCA Nationals Northern Rivers Classic was won by well-travelled Tasmanian Champion Daniel Brooks.

Brooks led from start-to-finish, despite three late race cautions to run away with the 20-lap feature. Shane Newstead and Matt Hardy rounded out the podium after an exciting battle.

Other support class feature race winners included Wingless Sprints: Seiton Young, Junior Sedans: Zac Brims, Production Sedans: Jordan Biviano, Four Cylinder Sedans: Matt Weir and Kevin Healey in the Stock Rods.

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AUSTRALIAN LATE Model Champion Kye Blight again proved why he proudly wears the A1 mantle on the doors after winning the the 30-lap Wild West Red Dirt Rumble, in doing so racking up his eighth feature race win this year at the Boyes Equipment SVS Kalgoorlie International Speedway in Western Australia.

From the the outset, Blight proved his dominance against the 16 other competitors as he set a new track record with a 14.561 second circulation in qualifying and again during his heat races.

Blight lowered the one lap record twice on his way to victory in the opening heat race. Michael Homes took the third heat as Matt Nylander took heats two and four to give him pole position, sharing the front-row with Blight for the feature.

At the drop of the green, Blight took the outside and with clear track ahead he controlled the race. Nylander and Jamie Moon followed closely as further back, Holmes, Jason Oldfield and Daniel Ameduri were having a gripping battle for track position of their own.

The leaders continued their dogfight as they manoeuvred their way through lapped traffic. Behind the lead trio Holmes, Oldfield and Ameduri continued their battle for fourth in close quarters until Oldfield spun He crunched the Turn 2 wall while avoiding a lapped car to bring out the yellows.

Despite significant damage to the rear end, Oldfield retook his position within the field.

Blight, Nylander and Moon again separated from the field at the restart, but encountered lapped traffic. Blight struggled to find a path through, allowing Nylander the opportunity to challenge for the lead as the duo travelled door-to-door before the leader managed to make his way through while Oldfield passed Moon for third.

A second race caution brought the field back together after Adam Flanagan came to a standstill at Turn 3 but was able to restart and take his place at the back of the single-file line. From the restart, Blight led until the finish, with Nylander second ahead of Oldfield, Moon and Jac Dolmans Jnr.

AutoAction 57

We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago 1971: HOLDEN WAS understood to be making a multiple onslaught on the Bathurst 500 through the introduction of new Torana XU-2s. Featuring bigger carburettors than the previous 186 XU-1 Toranas, Holden’s new outright contenders also used an XH camshaft rising the cubic inches to 202.

1981: IT WAS winner takes all in the Australian Touring Car Championship as it approached a gripping finale at Lakeside International Raceway.

Dick Johnson led the title by seven-points ahead of the Holden Dealer Team’s Peter Brock, who was aiming to take his back-to-back crowns and fourth in total.

1991: THE AUSTRALIAN Touring Car Entrants Association established Touring Cars International Pty Ltd as a commercial venture representing the interests of all major touring car teams in the country. Its aim was to market and develop the elite branch of the sport. Allan Moffat was chair of the eight-man board.

2001: GREG MURPHY called for all V8 Supercars to feature pit lane speed limiters. It was raised after a number of close calls within the pit lane after Murphy explained drivers were more focused on their speedometers rather than what was occurring in front. MoTeC’s Ken Douglas said a system could put in place, without traction control.

2011: V8 SUPERCARS had a new buyer. Archer Capital were expected to be confirmed as the new buyer in a $192 million deal to purchase a 60 percent controlling stake in Australia’s leading category. One of the first reforms was to be engage autonomous commission of independent members as the primary decision making-body.

Across

3. With what team did Sebastian Vettel make his Formula 1 debut?

8. Which Australian driver won the British Formula Ford championship in 1993? (surname) 9. Joey Mawson won the Gold Star Australian Drivers’ Championship in 2021, what famous racing number car did he run?

10. How many ATCC races has Alfa Romeo won?

13. Team Penske won one race in Formula 1, the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix, who took the victory for the team? (surname) 14. How many pole positions did Scott McLaughlin take at The Bend Motorsport Park in 2020?

17. Who won the first ATCC race at Winton in 1985?

18. In what country was two-time Australian Rally Champion and Australian Touring Car

two drivers to win the Indy 500 in three decades, who is the other? (surname) 27. How many Formula 1 race wins did the late Elio de Angelis score in his Formula 1 career?

28. With what manufacturer did Kevin Schwantz win the premier Motorcycle championship in 1993?

Down

Championship runner-up George Fury born?

23. Which Supercars driver won the ‘best and fairest’ Barry Sheene Medal in 2020? (surname) 24. With what squad did Mawson win the 2021 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship?

25. Who along with John Bowe holds the record of five Winton race wins? (surname) 26. The recently passed Bobby Unser is one of

1. Who won the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship? (surname) 2. How many Supercars Championship races did Paul Radisich win over his career?

3. On what track was the last nonchampionship Formula 1 race held in 1983?

4. Who am I? A Finnish driver, I won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2014 and replaced an injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1999.

5. Who took the first pole of the 2021 MotoGP season at Qatar? (surname)

6. Who won the 1976 500cc Motorcycle World Championship? (surname) 7. How many corners does Winton Motor Raceway contain?

11. Michael Caruso scored two race wins in his full-time Supercars Championship career, at what venue did these both occur?

12. Who has the most Supercars pole positions?

15. Bob Morris won the 1976 Bathurst 1000 alongside which British driver? (surname) 16. Gianni Morbidelli scored his sole Formula 1 podium in what country?

19. Keke Rosberg was Finnish, but what country did his son Nico represent in Formula 1?

20. Who finished second to Joey Mawson in the 2021 S5000 Championship? (surname) 21. Who was the first, and so far only international race winner in the S5000 Championship? (surname) 22. Who was the last driver to win the Indy500 from pole position? (surname) 26. In the 1976 Bathurst 1000 two famous drivers steered the #17 Torana, who drove with Sir Jack Brabham? (surname)

1810 Crossword answers 1 across – Gulf, 1 down – Graham Hill, 2 down – Lauda, 3 down – New Zealand, 4 down – McLaren, 5 down – Gibson Motorsport, 6 across – one, 7 down – Leclerc, 8 down – Holden, 9 down – Piastri, 10 across – second, 11 down – Stanaway, 12 across – six, 13 across – Mansell, 14 across – Benetton, 15 across – Allan Moffat, 16 down – Agostini, 17 across – Brock, 18 down – Foyt, 19 down – Mortara, 20 across – Mouzouris, 21 across – Murphy, 21 down – Mostert, 22 across – zero, 23 across – two, 24 across – Sampson, 25 down – Owen, 26 across – Portuguese, 27 across – Martini

58 AutoAction

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