Auto Action #1752

SCOTTY MAC ON HIS FUTURE SINCE S INCE 1971 1971

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HOW TRIPLE IGHT EIGHT WILL F D FASTER FOR

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G N TA S U M E K O M S O T Y D A E R N NEW-LOOK FACTORY HOLDE

’STANG ONSLAUGHT

CLOSE THE THING DOWN , DICK!

Ford’s strategy to launch comeback racer

Why ‘saviour’ wanted to shut DJR www.autoaction.com.au

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SHUT IT DOWN, DICK!

Now it can be revealed revealed: DJR Team Penske boss urged Ford legend to close his team EXCLUSIVE BY BRUCE NEWTON

THE SAVIOUR of Dick Johnson Racing originally intended to be its executioner.

Ryan Story, who went on to become one of the key architects of the formation of DJR Team Penske and Scott McLaughlin’s 2018 Supercars Championship, told Dick and Jill Johnson to walk away from their financially moribund team just six years ago.

And despite all the success that’s been achieved since those dark days, Story has no regrets about repeatedly offering that dramatic advice. “To this day, if I’d had my time over again, I still would have made the same advice to shut it down,� DJRTP’s boss exclusively revealed to Auto Action.

The Johnsons refused Story’s recommendations and instead put him in charge of clearing up DJR’s debt, which at that time was understood to have topped eight figures – that’s $10 million-plus, folks!

A life-long Dick Johnson fan and a minor sponsor of DJR, he bought into the team himself while then co-owner Steve Brabeck, who succumbed to a long illness in early 2018, increased his investment.

Story attracted more funding and cleared up the debt by mid-2014. He then played a critical role in attracting investment from American mogul Roger Penske.

Story became managing director and team principal of DJRTP, and the team has gone on to rival Triple Eight Race Engineering as the pre-eminent operation in Supercars, claiming the teams’ title in 2017 and the drivers’ crown in 2018. “I remember walking into this building (DJRTP HQ in Staplyton, Queensland) in 2012,� he said. “It had eight-figure debt and it shouldn’t have raced in 2013, and my advice to all and sundry was to put locks on the gate and send everyone home. “Basically, the way it played out is, I said: ‘The numbers are what they are, you need to protect yourself, you need to close the thing down, you need to declare the business insolvent and you need to consider your position’. “Dick didn’t want to do it, so I went and had a meeting with Dick and Jill at their house and said ‘This is what you need to do’. They said no.�

Faced with that, Story’s counter-proposal was that Dick’s and Jill’s son Steven had to be dropped and a pay driver installed in his place if the team was to race on in 2013. “They said ‘No, no way we’re doing that’ and there was a stand-up row. “The following day we went and met again, and there was another massive stand-up row. Steve was there this time and he agreed to step out of the car.�

Story then set the Johnsons tough terms if he

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was going to try to save the team. “I said: ‘Listen, we need a miracle to turn this thing around. The only way this is going to work is if you do every single thing I tell you to do. Don’t you ever question me, don’t you ever secondguess me, don’t talk behind my back. If I ask you to do something, there will be a reason for it and it needs to happen. “‘I will be totally transparent with you on every decision I make. I will never spend a dollar of your money without you knowing about it and understanding it. I won’t do anything without you understanding it. “‘They are my conditions. If you’re prepared to meet them, I’m prepared to basically put my whole life into this thing’. “We paid off the debt in 18 months and we still went racing. We compromised our racing significantly doing that. “We were a full customer of Tickford (then known as Prodrive Racing Australia) and we got a race win in that time at Queensland Raceway in 2013 (with Chaz Mostert).�

According to Story, the huge effort to wipe the debt helped secure the Penske deal. “The reasons he teamed up with us were threefold,� he explained. “One, we had no debt and were completely unencumbered; two, the Dick Johnson name; and three, that I would run it.

“We formed DJR Team Penske in 2014. It was a fitting end to Dick Johnson Racing and a bright new beginning for the new team. “Our first year was one car, for us to find our feet, for us to get the presentation side of the business right because Roger always says when you get the presentation side right, everything else follows. “Then we systematically built a race team around two cars over the next three years. “In 2018, we came out of the box fast and we adapted in sometimes difficult circumstances, continued to evolve the car, have a new partnership with Ford and developed the Mustang in parallel. “All these things happened, but at no point did we lose focus on the main prize, which was winning the driver’s championship. “Scott McLaughlin took it down to the last round, he made no mistakes, he executed – which is something we are always fond of saying – and he managed to get the prize that everyone in Supercars basically races to attain. “I couldn’t be prouder. I couldn’t be prouder to have achieved this for Roger, and for Dick and for Jilly, and for the late Steve Brabeck and for all the staff. “We have the best people, the best business partners and the best supporters, and all three are the reason we are here today.�

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UNLEASH THE BEAST!

Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane tells MARK FOGARTY why the factory Holden team is ready to fight off Ford’s return with the Mustang with new-look ZBs A FULLY DEVELOPED ZB Commodore and sharper pit lane performances are the keys to Triple Eight fending off archrival DJR Team Penske’s new Mustang challenge.

Red Bull Holden Racing Team regained the Supercars teams’ championship from Shell V-Power Racing in 2018 – but at the cost of ceding the drivers’ title to Scott McLaughlin in his close-run battle with Shane van Gisbergen.

While teams covet their prize, for the public and posterity, the champion driver is paramount.

RBHRT lost the main crown because it struggled in the first half of the season to maximise the ZB’s gains over the VF in its first season and cruelled its late-season advantage with a series of uncharacteristic pit lane errors.

Triple Eight boss Roland Dane is adamant that as well as being on top of the ZB and poised to extract more of its untapped potential, the newly downsized two-car operation has addressed its shortcomings in the pits.

He anticipates the rivalry with DJRTP to be just as intense, although he allows that the switch to the Mustang could initially be in Triple Eight’s favour.

“More of the same,” Dane told Auto Action. “I expect it to be very much battle resumed between us.”

On the Mustang potentially being a faster Ford than the Falcon FG X, he commented: “It depends on where they’ve ended up with the aero balance.

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Obviously, the mechanical parts of the car are basically the same, so it just comes down to whether the aero balance has changed significantly.

“That may or may not have an effect on where they are early in the season, but I don’t expect they’ve moved it very far from where it was with the FG X, frankly, because that worked pretty well.

“I mean, there isn’t an awful lot of scope to change the cars these days.

They will have tried to just build them with the lowest possible centre of gravity, etc, etc, like we all do, but the outlawing of twin spring dampers will have an impact. That could have a bigger effect on everyone.”

According to Dane, who pointed out that his squad used single spring units “more often than not’ last year, the more limited suspension tuning options could be a bigger limiting factor initially.

“That can have as much of an effect on how the early part of the season pans out as a slight aero change,” he said, explaining that tyre wear will be a bigger issue than losing outright speed.

“It’ll be a few races until you get a true picture and it could be good from the point of view of leading to more tyre degradation. But that only comes into play if you have strategic options where, for instance, you could change tyres more often than you otherwise might.

“But, of course, often our rules in terms of the number of tyres we have or the time it takes to traverse pit lane just don’t necessarily play themselves into

helping those scenarios to evolve.”

With the ZB effectively now a fully known quantity for the team, Dane’s plan to regain the driver’s title with either van Gisbergen or Whincup boiled down to better execution in the pits and limiting intra-team points cannibalisation.

“If we hadn’t made several errors last year, then we could have kept the drivers’ title,” he declared. “At the end of the day, we made some mistakes when we could ill afford to. So if we work harder at making sure that we don’t commit errors, then we’ll probably be there or thereabouts.

“Also last year, we effectively ran a three team (with Lowndes also in the mix) and for whatever reason, whether it was deliberate or not, Penske effectively ran a one-car team, so they weren’t taking points off each other.”

In a further dig at Fabian Coulthard’s inability to consistently run at the front, Dane added: “We let all our drivers race at the front of the field rather than having a set-up whereby one of them, for whatever reason, just wasn’t in the hunt for most of the year.”

He also made it clear that last year’s pit lane miscues had been analysed and addressed.

“We’re working hard to try and make sure that the errors that we did make are dealt with,” he said. “We’ve had years and years of being probably the most consistent people in pit lane in terms of pit stops and execution of

them, and last year we just didn’t do as good a job.

“So we’ve had a real good look at how we execute, who’s doing what and whether the systems that we have in place were robust enough to deal with curve balls. That’s what really catches you out, when the unexpected happens.”

Despite Dane’s displeasure, no heads have rolled at Banyo as a result of last year’s blunders.

“No, it’s just a question of whether the right people are in the right places, but also whether we’ve set the systems up in place properly in the first place to be able to deal with the unpredictable,” he said. “Quite often, it just comes down to things as silly as have you got the left-handed person on the right side of the car as opposed to the right-handed person and what happens when the cars are both in pit lane and you have tyres on top of each other?

“It can come down to that. Those are the sorts of details that make a difference now. So it’s trying to refine our own techniques for the unexpected.”

Craig Lowndes performed the demonstration runs of the reliveried RBHRT Commodore – which features more white at the front – at the Dalby airfield in regional Queensland in front of a large crowd last Sunday.

Whincup and van Gisbergen aren’t due back from their break until Monday (January 14).

THE DREAM TEAM

Lowndes back with Whincup in combo that could eventually crown new King Of The Mountain

BY MARK FOGARTY SEMI-RETIRED SUPERCARS legend Craig Lowndes has been reunited with Jamie Whincup to continue his pursuit of Peter Brock’s Bathurst 1000 record.

Triple Eight has confirmed Lowndes’ expected pairing with Whincup in the endurance races, beginning for the first time at Mount Panorama this year.

Supercars’ most popular driver is also still trying to arrange a drive in the Le Mans 24 Hours in June to achieve a career-long ambition.

Following his celebrated sixth Bathurst 1000 win last year – and with several years left as a competitive force on The Mountain – Lowndes is within reach of equalling or surpassing his friend and mentor’s nine V8 wins.

He could also boost his chances of matching or exceeding Brock’s 10 big wins at Bathurst in next month’s 12 Hour, in which his is sharing the hot-favourite Triple Eight-run Vodafone Mercedes AMG GT R GT3 with Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen.

Lowndes’ total Bathurst tally is already eight as he won the 12 Hour in 2014 and ’17.

He last paired with Whincup in the Bathurst 1000 in 2008, completing three wins in a row in Falcons, before the regular series stars were forced to split for the enduros.

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For Lowndes, reforming the ‘Dream Team’ was the obvious move.

“There are obviously no negatives for me driving with Jamie,” he said. “We’re a great combination. We complement each other in the way we approach the weekend and we also like the car very much the same way, so I think it’s going to work extremely well.

“People are already saying there’s going to be pressure on us because of our history as a partnership, but to be honest, I’ll be doing half as much work as I have been for the past 23 years, so for me it’s going to be a dream run.”

Lowndes also believes starting the Enduro Cup at Bathurst rather than the traditional Sandown 500 warm-up puts an extra premium on an experienced co-driver.

Absolutely, there’s no doubt about that,” he declared. “The change of format (with Sandown becoming the third and last long distance race in November) will definitely suit the experienced ones.

“It’ll be just like with Steve Richards and I last year. Experience played a big part in our victory because of the issues and the problems we faced going into the race. So this year, experience will be even more valuable.”

Lowndes likes his chances of a seventh Bathurst 1000 success with Whincup,

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although he would’ve been just as happy to be paired with van Gisbergen.

“For me, to be honest, either side of the Red Bull garage was never going to be a negative,” he said. “Whether it was Shane or Jamie, I was always going to be in a car that was capable of winning.

“Jamie and I have proven in the past that we can do that. I’m really excited to be working with Jamie on the development of the car and the testing side of things. As the year goes on, I’m looking forward to being involved with him on that.”

According to Lowndes, his retirement from full-time Supercars racing is finally starting to register.

“Obviously, when we get to Adelaide, that’ll be the big realisation,” he said.

“There’s the Bathurst 12 Hour coming up soon and that’s been in the back of my brain since Newcastle. But seeing some of the images from last year has been a reminder of how special the last six months as a full-time driver were for me.

“So it has sunk in that this year it’ll be

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all about my codriving role with Jamie.”

He is also still actively chasing a GTE drive at the Le Mans 24 Hours as he eyes international opportunities.

“We’re still on a mission to look at Le Mans,” Lowndes said. “That’s the key one for this year, but at this stage, still no more progress with teams or manufacturers. But that’s the main overseas goal for this year.”

While interested in returning to the 24 Hours of Spa GT marathon, which he contested in 2014, and ultimately also getting a seat for the Daytona 24 Hours, Le Mans is his priority.

“The Spa 24 hours is something I’d love to do again, but Le Mans has been on my hit list for the past 23 years, so that’s the major one,” he emphasised.

“Daytona is another one on the future list, but Le Mans is the one I really want to do.”

Lowndes will also be joining the Supercars TV commentary team – see page 8.

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TEAM 18 RAMPS UP FOR FROSTY Bunnings backing and new team boss helped convince Ford star to defect to Holden

BY MARK FOGARTY

TEAM 18 OWNER Charlie Schwerkolt has assembled a crack crew with major backing to ensure superstar Mark Winterbottom has everything he needs to be a front-runner.

Winterbottom and Schwerkolt have staked their Supercars futures on forging a partnership that can challenge the leading squads with a reorganised one-car effort.

Schwerkolt has attracted big names to engineer and run Frosty’s upgraded Triple Eight-built ZB Commodore, as well as increased sponsorship from major brands.

The Gold Coast-based fork lift tycoon’s commitment to serious funding and staffing was a major factor in securing Winterbottom, who is switching to Holden after only ever having raced Ford Falcons in Supercars.

His move to Team 18 is also his first solo effort since he graduated to the main game with Larkham Motor Sport in 2004/05, followed by 13 years with Ford Performance Racing/Prodrive Racing Australia/ Tickford Racing from 2006-18.

FPR/PRA was the official Ford factory team until the end of 2015, when Winterbottom won the squad’s first – and so far only – drivers’ championship.

As well securing Irwin Tools to replace Preston Hire – as first revealed by Auto Action in mid-November – it is understood hardware giant Bunnings will bring significant backing in a related deal.

Having such a big-name brand as Bunnings as a prominent sponsor is a major coup for Schwerkolt, who has struggled to field a competitive since he

won the drivers’ title as a co-owner of DJR with James Courtney in 2010.

He returned with his own entry – gained in the settlement of his acrimonious split with Dick Johnson – in 2012, running customer cars with Prodrive and Walkinshaw Racing until setting up his own team in 2016.

But in three years as Preston Hire Racing with Lee Holdsworth, Team 18 languished under the budgetrestricted leadership of former Holden Racing Team manager Jeff Grech.

Bringing Bunnings on board as a major sponsor in league with Irwin Tools is sign of serious intent by Schwerkolt and part of the reason Winterbottom took the risk in leaving Tickford Racing.

ActronAir and Orrcon Steel have also followed Frosty from Tickford.

But the big clinchers for the 2013 Bathurst 1000 winner and 2015 Supercars champion were Schwerkolt’s willingness to hire renowned race engineer Phil Keed – also as first revealed by AA last month – and a new team manager and other experienced staff.

Keed will come off ‘gardening leave’ after his split with DJR Team Penske to lead Team 18’s technical direction.

It is understood that a well-known recent team management figure has been appointed to take over from Grech, who has been redeployed by mutual agreement to a senior position within Schwerkolt’s Melbourne-based Waverley Fork Lifts.

Winterbottom will also benefit from a closer technical alliance with Triple Eight, resulting in his ZB being updated to much nearer the latest spec along with sharing data with Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Key staff, including Holdsworth’s race engineer Stuart McDonald, have been retained to maintain continuity under Team 18’s new senior management.

Schwerkolt has also appointed a dedicated team commercial manager, hiring ex-Prodrive Racing Australia marketing executive and Melbourne Rebels BBL cricket team commercial director Tim Cherry.

Although not allowed to talk specifics beyond the officially confirmed Irwin Tools backing, Winterbottom admitted that the total commercial and technical package his new boss has arranged convinced him.

“I think we have a really good structure in place and now we just have to go and do the job,” he told

AA. “When Charlie asked me what I needed, I told him and, to his credit, he’s got everything I asked for – in fact, above and beyond what I asked for. So the pressure’s on me now to deliver because what I asked for, I’ve got.”

Frosty also dismissed social media speculation that money was a major factor in his decision.

“I definitely had more options and more money elsewhere,” he declared. “This is not about the most money for me. There was more money out there if I just wanted the biggest pay packet.

“When we started talking seriously, I gave Charlie a list of what I needed and he’s delivered. I race to win and I put pressure on Charlie to make things happen.

“I’ve never seen someone work as hard as he has to make things happen. Once he ticked off the list I set him, it was a no-brainer. I signed immediately.”

Winterbottom also revealed that he had been in talks with Schwerkolt since just before the Perth round early last May, although the discussions didn’t get serious until September after renewal talks with Tickford stalled.

Team 18 will unveil Frosty’s Irwin Tools Racing Commodore early next month.

to get hit up the arse.

“I knew it was coming and I actually didn’t think that was what the penalty I got was for until after the race. But when he parked me in, that ignited me.”

While his title success confirmed team owner Roger Penske’s belief that his Supercars star has a future in American road racing, McLaughlin is adamant his priority is winning more V8 championships and the Bathurst 1000.

“They know my ambitions, they know what I want to do and where I want to go, but I also have goals to achieve,” he said. “I have goals for what I want to do with this team. We’ve won a championship,

yes, but we need to do this consecutively to be proper and I’d like to add a few more before we go anywhere.

“I need to be fully focused on my job and what I’m doing, and then hopefully at the end of it, good things will happen. I love Supercars and I love racing here. I think it would cool to dabble in some other stuff, but my heart is in racing here.

“If it does take me somewhere else, I’ll just go with the flow. Where I’m employed is where I see my future. At this stage, that’s my future.”

The full post-championship ‘Up Front With Foges’ interview with McLaughlin is on pages 20-23

SUPER MAC RELISHING SVG RIVALRY Scotty has plenty to achieve here before pushing for Team Penske chance in the States

BY MARK FOGARTY

NEWLY CROWNED Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin is looking forward to an on-going rivalry with fellow Kiwi star Shane van Gisbergen in what is shaping up as a new defining era.

In an exclusive interview, McLaughlin talks enthusiastically about battling with van Gisbergen, whom he rates alongside seven-time champion Jamie Whincup as his greatest rival.

He went head-to-head with SVG in the second half of last year’s championship, splitting several wheel-to-wheel battles until he triumphed in the final race of the season.

McLaughlin also opens up about his prospects of racing for Team Penske in the USA. With both at the top of their games, and driving for the leading Ford and Holden teams respectively, Scotty Mac versus SVG is poised to become one of the all-time great confrontations in Australian touring car racing.

McLaughlin declared that their arch-rivalry is the peak of the fierce fight for supremacy between DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight.

“I want to beat him and that team – and Jamie – more than anyone,” he told Auto Action.

He is looking forward to renewing hostilities with SVG as he bids to successfully defend his first Supercars crown in the new Mustang.

“I’m excited by it – and I think he is, too,”

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McLaughlin said. “We race each other hard and between the two teams, it’s a huge rivalry. But Shane and I have always had that respect for each other.

“It’s a heathy rivalry. I want to beat him as much as he wants to beat me, but I wouldn’t say there’s any angst. It’s just a pure diehard rivalry and that’s very cool. I think it’s good for the sport – Ford versus Holden, me versus him. It’s going to be very cool in the future.”

Amid the respect they have for each other, he admitted there is an edge to their rivalry that adds intensity.

“We’ll race hard and we’ll bang doors if we need to, and if he does something to me, I’ll give it back and vice versa. But there’s also plenty of respect … and I think that’s what’s very cool about the whole thing.

“So there’s respect between us, but the want to beat each other is ridiculously high. Well, for me it is.”

That edge was highlighted at Pukekohe after van Gisbergen parked him in following their heated battle in the Saturday race – an act of gamesmanship that still rankles with McLaughlin.

“It pissed me off and it pissed the team off, whether it was a mistake or not,” he growled. “I was fine with him after our battle. I knew we’d raced hard. I’d blocked with 10 to go and I deserved

WALKINSHAW’S MEGA NEW DEAL EXCLUSIVE By MARK FOGARTY

WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United will have a new look – and a major new sponsor – as the Anglo-American squad looks to become a consistent contender for race wins.

Increased commercial backing will help WAU consolidate the progress made last year in a big bid to move forward this season.

Auto Action has learned that Mega Fuels will join Mobil 1 as a major sponsor with prominent signage on new-look ZB Commodores.

In its first season under the co-ownership of the Walkinshaws, IndyCar legend Michael Andretti and McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown’s United Autosports, WAU ended Clayton’s long losing streak with Scott Pye’s dramatic win in the darkness at the Australian Grand Prix.

Pye, who out-performed James Courtney in a notably more consistent season for the former Holden Racing Team, was also a strong runner-up at Bathurst with Warren Luff for the second year in a row.

With new investment, the reorganised British/American-owned squad lifted under the dual leadership of racing manager Matthew Nilsson and commercial chief Bruce Stewart, supported by ex-BTCC technical whiz Carl Faux.

WAU is gearing up for an even more competitive year with boosted commercial backing to fund an aggressive engineering development program.

Mega Fuels’ move from Tickford Racing to WAU will be confirmed at the launch of the Holden team’s 2019 livery, which is

scheduled to be revealed in the first week of February.

It will also result in a name change for the two-car entry, which competed last year as Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing.

Mega is replacing Boost as a title sponsor with what is reportedly a much bigger spend.

Mobil 1 will continue as a primary backer with Mega Fuels, maintaining the leading lubricant brand’s nearly 30-year association with the storied Clayton squad.

Mega is a Queensland-based transport industry fuel wholesaler and distributor that

joined Tickford as the title sponsor of Jason Bright’s entry in 2017.

It stayed as a subsidiary sponsor across all four Tickford Falcons last season, as well as backing Gary Jacobson’s Super2 Nissan.

Mega is understood to also be supporting Jacobson’s bid to secure one of the two remaining main game seats at Kelly Racing.

As well, the principals of Mega are behind the Rabble.club digital health and well-being web site, which was the title sponsor of Richie Stanaway’s FG X last year and may stay on as a minor Tickford sponsor.

WAU co-team principal Bruce Stewart

would not confirm any changes beyond a new livery and revised commercial arrangements.

“There’ll be a couple of sponsor changes,” Stewart told AA. It is understood Mobil 1 is in the midst of a multi-year deal, while Boost Mobile did not take up the option to renew its co-title sponsorship agreement.

Luring Mega away from Tickford Racing on a much bigger deal is a kind of ‘payback’ for WAU, which in its former HRT/Walkinshaw Racing guises lost Supercheap Auto and Monster Energy to the Ford team in 2016.

‘FACTORY’ MUSTANG FOR ADELAIDE Ford Performance livery will celebrate Blue Oval’s return to Supercars

BY BRUCE NEWTON

THERE WILL be a ‘factory’ Ford Mustang Supercar at the Adelaide 500 – but it won’t be there to race.

Instead, DJR Team Penske’s spare car will be wrapped in a new Ford Performance livery and perform promotional duties at the track and in Adelaide.

Its presence will be an important part of Ford’s plan to celebrate its official return to the Supercars championship after a three-year absence with the debut of the Mustang.

That it’s all happening in what’s traditionally been regarded as a Holden town – building Commodores in the northern suburb of Elizabeth until October 2017 – is another reason Ford is determined to make a strong showing.

Six Mustangs are set to bow at the Adelaide Parklands circuit – two driven

by DJRTP’s defending Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin and team-mate Fabian Coulthard and four from the Tickford Racing stable for Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Will Davison.

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The bigger picture in all this is that Ford is using its revived Supercars race program to promote the roadgoing version of the Mustang and the Ford Performance stable of vehicles, which also includes the Ranger Raptor and will soon add the Fiesta ST. Ford Australia’s marketing chief Danni Winter confirmed the plan to take the seventh Mustang Supercar to Adelaide and hinted the Ford Performance livery would be a standout.

“We’ve have had a look at the new livery and signed that off, which is exciting,” Winter told Auto Action.

“We’re debating amongst ourselves a little bit what the livery looks like.”

As well as the graphics, still to be revealed is exactly what the Ford Performance Mustang’s duties will be in Adelaide. The same is true of Ford’s wider Supercars promotional plans.

But Winter promises we won’t miss the Blue Oval’s presence in Adelaide – or as the championship plays out around the nation.

“I would expect that the Adelaide 500, in particular, is going to be a big

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event for us because that is going to be our launch event for the year,” she said. “We will have a range of activities over the course of the year that will be strategically aligned with our plans for Mustang as well.

“We have broad plans for Mustang in terms of where we are going to take that product – limited editions we will bring in over time, where we are going to take that product – and that’s all built around that Supercar plan.

“So, it is a big play for us and it’s certainly not a play for just 12 months. We are in it for the long term with the two teams.”

AA understands Ford’s ongoing Supercars promotional plans will include a strong interaction with Mustang road-car owners, some use of Ford Supercar drivers and promotion of the Raptor, which is already the championship’s official recovery vehicle.

One promotional plan that’s already rolled out is a deal to provide Mustangs to the new Tailem Bend circuit for customer track days.

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Meanwhile, Winter predictably played down controversy over the Mustang’s ‘mutant’ shape generated by the need to fit the two-door body over the standard Supercars chassis.

“I think it’s up to the public to decide whether or not they like how the car is coming together and what we have done in terms of the body build and the aerodynamics on that,” she said. “We would like them to love the design, but it’s not for us to have a point of view on it.

“We think it looks great, it embodies what we want in terms of Mustang,

but it does need to conform and meet the standards.”

Nevertheless, Winter revealed the design process had produced some tensions between Ford’s designers and the marketing department.

“Our designers are fussy individuals,” she noted. “They were well and truly involved, and had very strong views that weren’t necessarily aligned with our views, so even internally there is a debate.

“We are happy with what’s come together and really excited about 2019.”

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LOWNDES SET FOR TV STARDOM

BY MARK FOGARTY

V8 LEGEND Craig Lowndes will be gone but far from forgotten from full-time racing in 2019, with big plans to make him a Supercars TV star.

As part of Lowndes’ retirement plan, he will become a regular on race broadcasts at events that don’t clash with any international driving commitments he may secure and around his Triple Eight co-driving duties in the enduros.

How he will fit into Supercars’ commentary team will be announced later this month, along with other changes and innovations for the coverage on Fox Sports and Network 10.

Supercars chief executive Sean Seamer confirmed that Lowndes’ broadcasting role was being finalised around his racing plans, which could include international GT outings.

“Craig will be joining the Supercars broadcast team from next year,” Seamer told Auto Action. “He’s obviously codriving in the enduros and he has some international ambitions as well, so we’re just finalising exactly at which rounds he’ll be doing what.

“Once we know exactly what he wants to do around Le Mans and some other events, we’ll lock that down and share that with everybody in January.”

Lowndes confirmed that his role in the commentary team hadn’t been decided.

“Not at this stage,” he told AA. “I know that we’re going to be part of the broadcast team, but where I’m going to be and what I’m going to be doing hasn’t been completely finalised yet.

“But I’ll definitely be part of the broadcast team and that’s something I’m really excited about. Obviously, there’ll be a big learning curve for me to get my head around talking about things rather than just answering questions as a driver.

I’ll be behind the microphone, so it’ll be a big learning curve to understand being on the other side.

“I’m looking forward to that new challenge.”

Seamer indicated that when he is available, Lowndes will be part of the core of on-air talent on both the Fox Sports and 10 telecasts, both of which are produced by Supercars Media and simulcast.

“We’re aiming for a seamless experience,” he said. “The viewer should not be able to tell whether he’s working for Supercars or Fox Sports and that’s what we’ve put a lot of effort into this year with the whole team.

“But he’ll be doing a range of different things, working from garages as well as commentating and providing expert opinion.”

AA understands Lowndes will complement the existing line-up of former V8 drivers on the broadcasts.

Mark Skaife, Neil Crompton, Greg Murphy and Mark Larkham feature on the simulcast race coverage, while Russell Ingall appears as a pundit exclusively on Fox Sports.

Like Skaife, Crompton and Murphy, Lowndes is set to also be a regular on Fox Sports’ Jessica Yates-hosted coverage outside the track action at the non-enduro events he attends.

Even at Bathurst, Gold Coast and Sandown, where he will renew his enduro partnership with Jamie Whincup at Red Bull Holden Racing Team, the 44-year-old V8 veteran will almost certainly provide insight when he’s out of the car.

Lowndes expects that he will be in the

commentary booth or hosting studio rather than roaming pit lane because of his strong on-going link with Triple Eight as an enduro driver and team ambassador.

“Well, to be honest, being in the pits is going to be quite difficult because still being an active enduro driver with Triple Eight, I can’t imagine too many teams are going to be welcoming me into their garages, knowing that spring rates and ride heights and set up sheets are going to be floating around,” he said. “So I think it’s going to be more of a broadcast role, but in exactly what capacity, I don’t know as yet.

“Hopefully, by the end of the month, we’ll definitely have some more information.”

Despite the addition of superstar Lowndes’ to the high-priced roster of ex-driver commentators and pundits, Seamer affirmed that Murphy had been re-signed as primary pit lane reporter,

although he was unable to confirm if Ingall was also returning as a Fox Sports pundit.

“The guys at Fox Sports are working through that at the moment,” Seamer said. “Greg’s with us again next year, yes.”

“Russell works with the Fox Sports team, so I’m sure they’re working through what his plans are for next year as well.”

Among the other broadcast enhancements to be announced next month are more events available in 4K ultra-high definition – which debuted at this year’s Bathurst 1000, the first Australian sports event available in UHD – and the expanded use of Hawk-Eye in motor racing’s equivalent of soccer’s Video Assistant Referee system.

4K broadcasts are only available to Foxtel subscribers with the latest IQ4 set-top box.

For more on Supercars’ plans for 2019 and beyond, see pages 30-31

NISSAN’S SIX-CAR PLAN

Former boss pitched radical engine supply deal to grow grid numbers

BY BRUCE NEWTON

A RADICAL change in strategy proposed by former Nissan Australia boss Richard Emery could have seen six Altimas in the 2019 Supercars championship.

Devised in 2016-17, the plan would have diverted funding from the Kelly family-owned Nissan Motorsport team to Nismo in Japan, to develop a new turbocharged V6.

While the Kellys would have lost out in terms of direct Nissan funding, they would have saved money by being supplied cheap engines by Nismo, rather than continuing to invest in the locally-developed version of the VK56DE naturally-aspirated V8 or their own turbo V6.

Emery calculated that an additional two-car team – making six Nissans in total on the grid – was required to make the deal financially attractive to Nismo, which is Nissan’s global motorsport and performance vehicle arm.

“Nismo had lost the LMP2 engine supply deal at the end of 2016, so they had a lot of excess people and resource,” Emery told Auto Action in an exclusive interview. “I thought ‘Maybe we could turn this into an engine program where our support [for Supercars] could be provided through Nismo and providing engines to anyone who wanted to run a Nissan silhouette’.

“I thought to make it work out, we needed at least another two cars to make the finances work in terms of the number of engines and the R&D they (Nismo) would have to put in.

My view was I could still invest similar amounts of money in the program from Nissan Australia’s perspective, but I would have been handing the money to Nismo.

“I felt that would be more palatable to the organisation

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overall that I was using my motor sport budget internally and then they were becoming the supplier of cheap engines and that would tempt teams to potentially run Nissan bodyshells because they were getting access to wellprepared engines that would also deliver success.”

The plan foundered not long before Emery departed the company in August 2017 and not long after Nissan Motorsport’s Todd Kelly and representatives of the Supercars technical department visited Nismo’s Yokohama headquarters.

Kelly and brother Rick had become interested in developing a Nismo GT3 racing engine as an extension of their interest in using the GT-R body for Supercars racing, after the category opened up its technical rules.

As outlined in AA last issue, that interest was quickly quashed when it became apparent the control chassis rollhoop would dramatically alter the shape of the roof line.

Emery’s replacement as CEO of Nissan Australia, Stephen Lester, announced in May 2018 that the company was pulling out of Supercars at the end of the season. Kelly Racing will run four Altimas for one more year in 2019 before an expected swap to another brand.

Emery, who is now managing director of motor industry services group MSR, had succeeded in gaining a two-year extension from Japan for backing of the Supercar operation for the 2017-18 season, announcing the deal at the 2016 Sandown 500.

But he knew another renewal of an orthodox sponsorship deal for the Kellys would have little chance of getting up again.

“I knew I had little chance of getting another extension or renewal if it was a motor sport program,” Emery explained.

“But if it was a Nismo engine program where Nismo could make some money out of it, it had a chance to be signed off.”

Emery also calculated that the engine supply model would help ease the transition to a new body shape to replace the aging L33 Altima from around 2020, potentially a newgeneration Altima or Pulsar.

“Although we had led the Altima and Pulsar sedan out for the market, we knew there were products in the pipeline,” he revealed. “There was a new Altima that may have become available to Australia in the 2019-20 timeframe. The next generation Pulsar was going to be a little larger than the current car, which means it could have fitted over the (control) chassis.

“From my perspective, if we went to the next generation of Nissan’s Supercars program in 2019-2020, there may well have been some alternatives other than GT-R or Altima.”

So why didn’t the plan work?

“I think Rick and Todd (Kelly) had the view it was going to be really hard to package the engine into the chassis because of the amount of heat it was going to generate and cooling it required,” he said. “They also didn’t want to be left in the lurch doing it all themselves … because they weren’t getting huge commitment from Nismo on R&D. “There were issues in the company about motor sport, and I think Rick and Todd were thinking it was all a bit difficult and Nismo weren’t boots-and-all at that time.”

Emery confirmed the GT-R supercar was the subject of a short but intense study about its suitability for Supercars over the summer of 2016-17, but was quickly ruled out.

“I was always guarded about GT-R in Supercars. I think Todd and Rick thought they might be able to convince me because they knew from a commercial perspective it would be fantastic for them.

“I think Supercars was pushing it, too, because they knew it would have considerable public support and throw another story into the category.”

Porsche, Mercedes Benz and BMW will all be back for 2019, together with plenty of others.

HIGH QUALITY ENTRY FOR 12 HOUR SUPERCARS HAS confirmed a strong field for the upcoming Bathurst 12 Hour on February 3 with no less than 10 manufacturers and 28 GT3 cars headlining a 43-car entry for the 17th running of the event.

As the opening round of the SRO’s Intercontinental GT Challenge key manufacturers Audi, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche are strongly represented. Add in entries representing Nissan, Lamborghini, McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin, all of which equal the record for the most makes represented in the top class.

The strong entry in the top class is backed up by four entries in Class B for various models of the Porsche GT3 Cup Cars, seven cars in the GT4 class and four MARC cars entries that make up the Invitational Class.

Mercedes are the most represented brand in the field with six entries including a pair of Scott Taylor Motorsport AMG GT3s led by the Triple Eight-supported Vodafone entry driven

by Shane van Gisbergen, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, which is backed up by the Erebus Motorsport entry shared between David Reynolds, Luke Youlden and Yasser Shahin.

Black Falcon also have a two-car entry with the squad teaming up with highly rated Asian team Craft Bamboo, to field DTM champion Gary Paffett, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz.

Five R8 GT3 LMSs represent Bathurst’s 12 Hour International GT Challenge opener will boast a field high in both quality and numbers.

Audi led by the Audi Sport Team in the aforementioned Foster and Brad Jones and Christian Krognes.

Joining Campbell is his Supercup rival from Valvoline pair with a further three Pro-Am Racing pair Tim Slade and Nick Percat.

Debuting a new car, Bentley again enter 2017 Dennis Olsen and Dirk Werner, with the entries backing them up, including drivers the A second AF Corse-supported Ferrari 488 two Continental GT3s consisting of Vincent trio backed up by Romain Dumas, Mathieu likes of Lee Holdsworth and Todd Hazelwood.

GT3 is entered for Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Abril, Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet in the Jaminet and Sven Muller.

Porsche has announced its goal to increase Lauda and Pedro Lamy. lead car and Jules Gounon, Steven Kane and A pair of Pro-Am Porsches back up the two its GT3 market share and will enter the 12 Lamborghini is represented in the form of Jordan Pepper in the sister Continental.

Pro entries. Competition Motorsports swap Hour with its best line-up to date, headlined by the two Huracan GT3s for factory-supported The first team to announce its intentions Campbell for new Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans Aussie Matt Campbell in one of a pair of Earl Trofeo Motorsport and Wall Racing. to enter the race was Aston Martin’s factory with Kevin Estre and David Calvert-Jones.

Bamber Motorsport Porsche 991 GT3Rs. Rounding out the entry is a single McLaren American team Black Swan Racing also return supported R-Motorsport team, which will give for Objective Racing. the British manufacturer’s distinguished V12 with the same driver line-up consisting of The number of marques in GT4 has reduced Vantage GT3 its swansong.

Tim Pappas, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc with KTM and Ginetta dominating the entry Re-joining the field after a year away Lieb, as this trio tries to go two better than its with three cars each, while a single BMW entry are Ferrari and Nissan. Debuting at Mount podium place last year. for Americans Brett Strom, Darren Jorgenson Panorama is the Hong Kong-based KCMG Schnitzer return to the 12 Hour after and Australian Gerard McLeod breaks up the team with a pair of Nissan GT-R GT3s headed taking Pole with Chaz Mostert and being in monopoly. contention for most of last year’s race. Former by Japanese gun Katsumasa Chiyo and Brit The Invitational Class consists of two Oliver Jarvis, while Aussie sportscar ace Josh DTM star Martin Tomczyk and Brazilian MARC II chassis, one of which will be shared Burdon leads the line up in the second car.

Augusto Farfus join Mostert in 2019, while between Paul Morris, Boris Said and Keith Ferrari is represented by Taiwanese team Walkenhorst Motorsport double BMW’s Kassulke. Rounding out the class are a pair of HubAuto Corse, led by Blancpain GT Series chances after taking line honours in the the older spec-MARC Ford Focus V8s.

Asia runner up Nick Foster. The team is also Spa 24 Hour with a Bathurst driver line up Heath McAlpine making its debut but has experience aboard consisting of Nicky Catsburg, Mikkel Jensen

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9

DUTTON GROUP TAKES OVER TARGA

LATEST NEWS

THE HYUNDAI Motorsport WRC team has replaced Michel Nandan as its team principal, appointing Andrea Adamo for the 2019 season.

Nandan has been in the role since Hyundai entered the sport as a manufacturer in January 2013, winning 10 rallies in this period. Hyundai led both the WRC Drivers Championship with Thierry Neuville and the Manufacturers Championship for most of the 2018 season, letting both slip by seasons’ end. As a result, Hyundai demanded a change in leadership. Adamo has had success with the Hyundai WTCR program as team principal, and in 2018 the team won the Driver’s Championship. Adamo will continue his WTCR role in 2019.

CORVETTE RACING has announced an unchanged driver line up for the 2019 IMSA series, the four full time drivers Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. Additionally, there are two part-time drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Marcel Fassler, who will take part in the first two races. In 2019 Garcia and Magnussen will be trying to defend their GT Le Mans class championship. For the Daytona 24 Hour and the Sebring 12 Hour they will once again be joined

by DTM driver Rockenfeller. Former Le Mans and World Endurance Champion Fassler will join Gavin and Milner in car #4.

IT HAS been announced by Targa Australia and the Dutton Group that the business responsible for the CAMS Australian Targa Championship, will become part of the Dutton Group effective immediately.

The change of ownership aims to broaden the potential customer base and provide expansion opportunities for growth over the next five years.

Targa Australia Director and CEO Mark Perry has welcomed the deal that will now see Targa included among the Dutton Group of companies.

“The growth and stability of Targa

PORSCHE HAS revealed its latest specification GT4 model at Daytona, ahead of the Roar Before the 24 test sessions. The Cayman 718 GT4 Clubsport features updated aerodynamics and produces 425bhp, 40bhp more than its predecessor from the same base 3.8-litre flat-six engine. The front suspension is taken from the 911 GT3 Cup Car with steel brake discs providing the stopping power. All up, the car weighs 1320kg.

RALLYCROSS AUSTRALIA will place the Australian Rallycross Championship in hiatus after a slower than anticipated growth in competitor numbers and commercial support. “It has taken longer than we thought to build up the kind of numbers you need to run a full national championship properly,” said Rallycross Australia’s Justin Dowel. “We’re going to take a step back in 2019 and focus on growing Rallycross at the grass roots level and potentially with one or two big, one-off events that can show the sport off at its best. If we can gradually build numbers then we are well-placed to return to a full national competition in the future.”

has always been the number one priority for Les [Les Smith, Targa Australia Director] and myself,” said Perry.

“We have said many times that we saw ourselves as the custodians of the Targa business and we would rebuild the events after some lean times at the height of the GFC, and we have achieved this through expanding our customer base and event offering.

“We would only sell Targa to the right buyer, a buyer that could continue expanding Targa, a buyer that understood its history and a buyer who

10 AutoAction

enthusiast customer base,” said Hansen.

“Targa, with its strong competitor and touring customer base is a perfect fit for us, and we have sponsored the events for many years now, so this was a natural next step to take. We are looking forward to welcoming the Targa team to our business and working closely with them moving forward.”

The opening event of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship is Targa North West to be held on February 16-17.

AUSTRALIAN GT INTRODUCES SUPERSPRINT FOR CHALLENGE BATHURST COMPETITORS IN the CAMS Australian GT Championship will qualify to gain valuable laps of Bathurst’s iconic Mount Panorama in late 2019. That’s thanks to the recent signing of an arrangement with Challenge Bathurst promoter Yeehah Events, to have four dedicated sessions for GT3, GT4 and Trofeo Challenge cars that competes within the 2019 season.

To be known as the ‘Pirelli AGT SuperSprint’, Australian GT competitors will be able to turn laps in four separate sessions, with the fastest time of the event declared the winner of the new title. However to claim that title, all competitors must compete within the regulated homologation for their category, although there will be an added opportunity for teams to go after a new GT3 lap record.

The final session of the day will allow for an ‘all in’ assault on the Bathurst lap record, with cars permitted to run ‘unrestricted’ and without limitation, sponsor Pirelli also committing to provide softer compound tyres to allow teams to challenge Christopher Mies recent lap record of 1:59.2910 “Bathurst has always been the jewel in the crown for any competitor, and we wanted to make that opportunity even sweeter,” Australian GT’s Jim Manolios explained.

“As a regular competitor at Challenge Bathurst, I understand that track time is at a premium and that the GT cars need to be on track with other categories, so we spoke to the promoter about providing an opportunity for a dedicated slot that was available just to Australian GT teams, and they were open to the concept.”

Any team that competes in the 2019 Australian GT Championship – regardless of category (GT3/GT4/Trophy/Trofeo Challenge) – will be eligible to compete within the

THE GREATEST TEST

AS THIS issue of Auto Action is being completed, 334 vehicles are set to take the start of the World’s greatest adventure, the 41st Dakar Rally.

It is the 11th edition to be held in South America, though this year all 3000km of Special Stages and 5,000km of travel will start and finish Peru for the first time ever.

Among the field of 137 bikes is a strong Aussie contingent headed up by 2016 motorcycle winner Toby Price, along with Yamaha’s Rodney Faggotter.

Price broke his scaphoid bone last month while training for the event, but is confident it won’t hamper him over the 11-day event.

It comes after a successful 2018 season for the Australian, taking the FIM Cross-Country Rally crown and his sixth Tatts Finke Desert race.

The car division is also set to be hotly contested as defending champion Carlos Sainz

ultimately had a vision for Targa to be around for many years to come. The Dutton Group clearly ticked all of these boxes and we are looking forward to working for Dutton and delivering some exciting events in the years ahead.”

Dutton Group CFO Matt Hansen explained that the Targa events, which include the prestigious Targa Tasmania, fit in the mould of the Dutton Groups other businesses.

“We are very excited to be welcoming the Targa events into the Dutton Group and introducing these iconic events to our large car

dedicated ‘Pirelli AGT SuperSprint’ sessions, for which three hours and 40 minutes has been allocated across four sessions [AGT cars can also join in the ‘open’ sessions as has been the case in past years, but in amongst a variety of other categories].

As an incentive for AGT competitors that sign up for the season, they will be offered a 50 per cent discount on their entry to the Bathurst event as part of an ‘early-bird’ offer for the 2019 Australian GT season, an offer that also includes free entry into two dedicated AGT test sessions during the year at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, the host of the third round of the 2019 season.

Entries for the 2019 Australian GT season received before the 15 February, 2019 entry cut-off date will be eligible for the ‘Pirelli AGT SuperSprint’ and receive the discounted entry.

VALE - GEOFF SYKES

will endeavour to go back-to-back in his MINI prototype, but with Toyota and Peugeot providing strong competition, it is sure to be close.

Heading up Toyota’s assault are the experienced Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giniel de Villiers, while Peugeot’s hopes rest with multiple World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb.

Sainz’s efforts are backed up by 13-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, Nani Roma and Cyril Despres.

Australia has a representative in the Car Class with Stephen Riley partnered by Trevor Hanks in a modified Holden Commodore Ute.

TRIBUTES HAVE flowed following the passing of well-known rally organiser Geoff Sykes, on January 4.

Geoff succumbed to complications brought on by pneumonia, coupled with a fight against lung cancer, at the age of 69.

He was regarded as the father of Special Stage rallying in Australia, having introduced the first European-style special stage format at the Don Capasco Rally – and later renamed the Castrol Rally – held in the forests surrounding Canberra.

The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport asked Sykes to become the Event Director of the 1980 Southern Cross Rally at short notice, where he very successfully produced an event worthy of its international status.

He went on to represent CAMS as Clerk of Course of the Finke Desert Race on many occasions, before working at circuit racing venues such as Adelaide and Hidden Valley – making him one of the very few officials to work across three different motorsport disciplines.

Closely associated with the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide (where he was instrumental in the placement of the marshal points on the original F1 track) and Melbourne, Sykes was senior Sector Marshal for 15 years, before turning his talents to ensuring the health and safety of the Grand Prix and Adelaide trackside marshals.

He was a past Chairman of the National Rally Committee, and the Chairman of the South Australia State Council. He represented CAMS at FIA level with his membership of the FIA Volunteers Commission and several FIA Institute Officials Training Schools.

Geoff Sykes was regarded as a forward thinker and quickly identified talent. He mentored many officials who have gone on to work in senior positions at national and international events.

Messages of condolence have come from all states and territories as well as Singapore, where he also worked in an official capacity.

AA’s perplexed pundit questions whether the secrecy surrounding Michael Schumacher’s grievous condition is really what he would have wanted IT IS one of the saddest stories in sport. Michael Schumacher survived a record-setting career in Formula 1 without major injury, only to be incapacitated by a post-retirement skiing accident.

Schumacher turned 50 last week. He should be enjoying late-middle age, guiding his son Mick to give him the best chance of following in his tyre tracks.

Mick will undoubtedly make F1 on his own, but it would mean so much more if his famous father were with him.

Instead, Michael is in what’s reported to be an unresponsive state, receiving around-theclock care at his home in Switzerland. Strict security and secrecy surround his condition as his family actively guards his privacy.

All we really know is that Schumacher is alive and suffering the debilitating effects of the serious brain injury he suffered in a freak skiing accident a little more than five years ago. As we understand it, he can’t move or speak and there are conflicting reports about whether he can acknowledge an awareness of his surroundings.

If his mind is still active, he is trapped in a living hell. His family and friends, of course, are hoping he will eventually – somehow, miraculously – recover. It is his family’s right to protect his privacy and no right-thinking person would wish his predicament to become a spectacle.

However, I wonder if

withholding all information about his condition, treatment and prognosis – and, indeed, the full circumstances of his accident and the extent of his injury – is fair to his millions of fans around the world. Their distress would be alleviated by more – and more regular – information about how he is faring.

His followers are sympathetic to his and his family’s feelings.

Their on-going outpouring of support deserves more than what amounts to a curt “Thank you, but leave us alone”.

Of course, it is understandable that his family and closest friends want to protect him from the intrusion of the sensationalist elements of the media. But being a little more forthcoming would lessen the salacious mystery that continues to attract hysterical attention.

Hearsay is not helpful and unsubstantiated rumour quickly fills the vacuum when there is no credible information. Michael’s wishes, if that is what this is really all about, should be respected, but so also should his standing as a global public figure.

To so many, he is a hero and an inspiration. People’s interest is genuine and heartfelt. It’s a stretch to say we have a right to know how he really is, but a better understanding of his situation would be appropriate.

His achievements in F1 and his popularity dictate that there will always be a fascination, as evidenced by the lavish tributes coinciding with his 50th birthday.

Also, I’m not entirely convinced

Michael would agree that a news black-out is either good or justified. Sure, he was always a reclusive as far as his private life and family were concerned and, because of the intense media scrutiny his F1 career attracted, increasingly guarded in what he said.

However, he was also smart enough to know he couldn’t hide completely and understood the interest in him as the world’s pre-eminent racing driver.

He appreciated his huge fan following – as well as accepting that he had many detractors – and was mindful of his responsibility to acknowledge their support, enthusiasm and devotion.

Michael in his racing days, especially during his dominant Ferrari era, was thoughtful enough and decent enough to recognise that his followers were important. His racing tactics may

often have been questionable, but out of the car, he was warm and friendly, not the cold, hard person his racing image portrayed.

As someone who knew Michael in his heyday, I could see that he would want to help his adoring public understand what he is fighting to overcome. If he is mentally alert, not being able let his thoughts be known would only add to the frustration of his physical prison.

I’m not suggesting Schumacher and I were at all close or that I have any special insight. But for the first decade of his extraordinary F1 career, when I was still regularly covering grands prix, I interviewed at length regularly and we knew each other well professionally.

Although careful with his words, he was relaxed, introspective and engaged. Nowhere near as expansive or emotional as

Ayrton Senna, but there was depth – and glimpses of warmth – in what he said in one-on-one conversations.

Michael Schumacher was a new breed of F1 racer. He took Senna’s ruthlessness and dedication to the next stage, and added a much higher level of physical fitness. He also galvanised teams around him like no other before him.

His all-time F1 record 91 wins and seven world championships were the product of immense ability, incredible commitment and innate intelligence. His legacy is tarnished by his all-tofrequent of disreputable driving.

On balance, though, the stricken superstar remains a legendary figure whose tragic fate will only increase our appreciation of his achievements and influence. If he ever recovers, it will be one of the greatest stories ever told.

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11

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

MAZDA TAKES PRIME POSITIONS AT DAYTONA ...

OLIVER JARVIS has led a Mazda Team Joest 1-2 at IMSA’s three-day Roar Before the 24 test, held as a warm up to the Daytona 24 Hour.

Jarvis edged teammate Harry Tincknell by a mere 0.025s, clocking a 1m 33.398s lap to place the Team Joest squad in the prime pit and garage location for the big race. The lap was significantly quicker than the fastest lap set in the corresponding meet last year by Felipe Nasr, a 1m 35.806s, and was faster than the record

set by PJ Jones in 1993. However, as IMSA doesn’t count the Roar as an official session, Jones’ record still stands.

Team Penske’s Ricky Taylor finished third in the Acura ARX-05 ahead of the first Cadillac DPi-V.R of Action Express Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque.

Four LMP2 spec cars also took part, with Gabriel Aubry fastest for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in an Oreca Gibson 07 ahead of

Australian James Allen racing for Dragonspeed.

In GTLM, Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen held off challenges from the Chip Ganassi Ford GT entries driven by Richard Westbrook and Joey Hand. Porsche completed the top five with Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy heading Davide Rigon’s Risi Ferrari 488 GTE and the BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of John Edwards.

All nine GTLM cars were covered by 0.640s with each under the benchmark set by Hand

last year.

GTD cars did not participate in the session as IMSA restricted the class to a two-day test, but it was the Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 driven by Ana Beatriz that topped the qualifying session. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 of P1 Motorsports initially set fastest time, but was later disqualified as Dominic Baumann exceeded the driver grading requirements of the session.

... AND CONFIRMS IMSA DRIVER LINE UP MAZDA TEAM Joest has confirmed an unchanged full-time driver line up for the 2019 IMSA series, but has announced that Timo Bernhard and Olivier Pla will join the team for the four Michelin Endurance races.

The pair will assist the team at the Daytona 24 Hour, Sebring 12 Hour, Watkins Glen 6 Hour and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Two time Le Mans 24 Hour winner Bernhard will drive alongside full time drivers Oliver Jarvis (pictured left), Tristan Nunez as well as former DTM champion Rene Rast, who is also just competing in the four longer endurance races.

Pla will race alongside Jonathan Bomarito and Ford Chip Ganassi WEC teammate Harry Tincknell.

Pla and Tincknell will take part in both Sebring Endurance races on the 15th and 16th of March, racing the WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring on the Saturday and the Sebring 12 Hour the following day.

12 AutoAction

Both Bernhard and Pla drove for the Nissan ESM team in 2018, choosing to move to Mazda Team Joest for this season.

“I have a great memory with Team Joest as we won the 24 Hours of Le Mans together back in 2010,” Bernhard said. “The Mazda RT24-P showed great progress over 2018 and was a strong contender at the end of the season.”

The Joest team partnered with Mazda for its debut season in 2018, but suffered a difficult debut season in the IMSA series. Though the team finished strongly at the Petit Le Mans with a double podium finish, the highest-placed championship position for the team was Jarvis and Nunez who were eighth in the final standings.

“The cars have performed incredibly well throughout our winter testing program,” said John Doohan, director of Mazda Motorsport, “we are very much looking forward to kicking things off at Daytona.”

HYUNDAI NEW BOYS SAMPLE TCR RACER HYUNDAI’S NEW signings for the 2019 WTCR season, Brazilian Augusto Farfus and Dutchman Nicky Catsburg, tested their new mount for 2019 alongside reigning WTCR champion Gabriele Tarquini and teammate Norbert Michelisz.

The three-day test was held at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal.

Farfus and Catsburg are both experienced touring car drivers, having been successful in the previous World Touring Car Championship. Farfus was a factory driver for Alfa Romeo before moving to BMW in 2007, where he later joined its DTM campaign and continues with the marque through its Intercontinental GT Challenge program.

Catsburg was a gun driver for the factory Lada and Volvo teams, before joining Farfus as a BMW Motorsport driver within the team’s World

Endurance Championship program.

The duo tested the i30N over the second and third days without a hitch, with Catsburg able to rely on his recent experience of front-wheel-drive.

“The handling characteristics were very familiar from the front-wheel-drive cars I have competed in before,” said Catsburg. “I’m looking forward to learning more about the car in testing over the winter.”

Farfus had a lot to adjust to as he had not driven a front-wheel-drive race car since his last season with Alfa Romeo in 2006, but he coped well.

“From my first laps, I felt comfortable, and able to push the car,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I was able to get up to speed.”

The two teams that will field Hyundai’s WTCR entries are yet to be announced.

LOEB SIGNS TWO YEAR HYUNDAI WRC DEAL NINE TIME FIA World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb has announced a two year deal with Hyundai Motorsport, which will see him contest six WRC events in 2019.

Loeb will drive alongside his long time codriver Daniel Elena, but for the first time in 18 years the pair won’t be in a Citroen in the WRC. “Joining Hyundai will give us a fresh challenge and one that I can’t wait to tackle. I have been impressed with the team’s approach and their determination to succeed,” said Loeb.

Hyundai had already confirmed that full time drivers Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen will remain with the team. The Korean squad recently announced that Loeb will share part time driving duties with his former Citroen team mate Dani Sordo, who remains with Hyundai in 2019.

This leaves New Zealander Hayden Paddon without a drive in 2019, but Hyundai has said

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that the door is open for him to return in the future.

The team also confirmed that Loeb will take part in the first two events of the season in Monte Carlo and Sweden, before Sordo begins his campaign in Mexico.

Loeb was left without a drive when Peugeot pulled out as a manufacturer in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, the series in which the Frenchman has competed in the last three seasons.

Loeb was signed by Hyundai to help them win the Manufacturers Championship, as the Korean brand has finished as the bridesmaids on three occasions.

“They were firmly in the title fight in 2018, and I feel that I can bring a lot to them, together with Thierry, Andreas and Dani,” Loeb said.

Loeb will make his debut for Hyundai in Monaco from the 24th-27th of January.

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Kristoffersson & VW Quit World Rallycross Championship CURRENT FIA World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson will leave the series to race for Sebastien Loeb Racing in WTCR. The news came after Volkswagen announced its withdrawal from the World Rallycross Championship, leaving no manufacturers officially in the sport.

“It’s really sad, but the declining numbers of teams in the series makes it impossible for us to remain for 2019,” said PSRX Volkswagen team principal Pernilla Solberg.

In the last 18 months Ford, Audi, Peugeot and Volkswagen have all left the series.

PSRX Volkswagen team has, however, stated its intention to return to the series if the sport goes ahead with its proposed switch to electric engines in 2021.

Kristoffersson dominated the series in 2018, winning all bar one of the 12 events.

The other race was won by Sebastien Loeb, the man he will race for in WTCR this season.

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Kristoffersson will join former WTCC Champion Rob Huff and Mehdi Bennani at Sebastien Loeb Racing, with a fourth driver yet been announced.

The Swede has previous touring car success, winning the now defunct International Superstars Series in 2012 and the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship in 2012 and 2018.

Kristoffersson is considering defending the STCC title in 2019, as there are no event clashes with WTCR. The 30 year old is familiar with the Golf GTI TCR he will race in 2019, as it’s the car he took to the STCC title last year.

“After four years of rallycross, 2019 will be my first full touring car season on the international stage since 2013. Most of the circuits are entirely new territory for me and therefore represent a huge challenge,” Kristoffersson said.

“Sebastien Loeb Racing is an experienced team and I’m delighted to be moving within the Volkswagen family.”

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LATEST NEWS

FORMULA FORD EQUALS TALENT AS IT has for many years now, Formula Ford exposed the Australian community to yet another quality class in 2018, with Hunter McElrea leading the way.

It came down to the last race of the final round where a second-corner clash between McElrea and his Sonic Racing team mate Hamish Ribarits would determine the victor. The latter finished the race second while McElrea was eighth, however Ribarits copped a post-race penalty for the incident.

Not only did McElrea take the title but the prized Mazda Road To Indy Shootout, which he also won. That will enable McElrea to compete in the USF2000 Series with a $200,000 scholarship from Mazda Motorsports.

McElrea won 13 of the 21 Australian Formula Ford Championship races last year and Ribarits five, while the other three went to Zac Soutar, Liam McLellan and Nathan Herne.

On top of unearthing the likes of Russell Ingall, Marcos Ambrose, Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup, Steven Richards, Craig Lowndes, Jason Bright and Rick Kelly, more recent title winners have been Thomas Randle, Cameron Hill, Leanne Tander and Max Vidau.

The category has also seen such talent as Lachlan Gibbons, Ryan Suhle, Jordan Boys, Zane Morse, Jayden Ojeda, Cooper Murray and Nic Carroll. In 2016 Will Brown won the Formula 4 Championship, the Toyota 86 Racing Series and finished

second in Formula Fords, before Harrison Jones went onto take out last year’s Formula 3 title.

While they might not have won Championship races last year, Herne’s BF Racing team mate Cameron Shields, the Cameron Hill-mentored Tom Sargent and Lachlan Mineeff as well as Angelo Mouzouris and Courtney Prince, numbered among current and future prospects.

For a long time the Formula Ford Association conducted its series as a Championship with the blessing of the Australian Confederation of Motor Sport. But that finished in 2013 when now-Supercar driver Anton de Pasquale won the title.

CAMS relegated the championship to less than “series” status, offering a one-off “nationals” meeting. The Association

arched up and decided to run its own series and has done so ever since, and entry numbers have remained high – over double the new CAMS step-up category, F4.

Furthermore it was not too concerned which sanctioning body they ran under, and last year the category embraced all three in CAMS, the Australian Auto Sports Alliance (AASA) and Recreational and Competitive Events Resources and Services (RACERS).

So too did the Formula 3 Premier Series, which went through a similar experience, while the TA2 Muscle Cars Series ran under AASA and RACERS, and had a non-championship round under CAMS at the Muscle Car Masters.

GARRY O’BRIEN

MONASH AND MUNICH MASTERS AT WINTON

DEMONS DEALT WITH

MONASH MOTORSPORT went backto-back in Internal Combustion, while the Munich-based Tufast Racing Team took out Electric Vehicles at the 2018 Formula SAEAustralasia held at Winton Motor Raceway in December last year.

In 2017 Monash had scooped the pool in both classes and while Monash’s M18-C internal combustion IC honours marked its ninth win in last 10 years, its M18-E was second in EV ahead of University of Auckland.

Second IC was the University of NSW’s Redback Racing, while the West Australian Edith Cowan University team were third.

The SAE-A event is a student engineering competition that centres on the design, construction and racing of an internal combustion or electric race car up to 710cc/80kW. University teams from across Australia as well as internationally, compete against each other with their student-designed and built Formula-style race car.

The competition also focused on management, communication, research and business operations in a real world environment, and many former students have become sought-after across the engineering mobility industry over past years.

Across the two days of competition, teams were confronted with hot conditions initially before thunderstorms interrupted proceedings

RETURNING TO the circuit that nearly took his life 12 months earlier, James Winslow together with Aussies Jake Parsons and Neale Muston won the Prototype class at the eighth Gulf 12 Hours, held on December 13-15.

In their Graff Racing Norma M30 they finished the event at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi ninth overall, losing five laps due to late time additions to their pitstops.

The circuit was the scene of Winslow’s lifethreatening accident at the 2017 event where the British-born, naturalised Australian had a 260km/h head-on crash into a tyre barrier after a major brake failure in his Ligier JPS LMP3.

He suffered fractures of the spine, cracked chest/sternum, a fractured wrist, internal bruising, concussion, and multiple cuts and abrasions before a long three-month rehabilitation in Sydney.

By mid-year Winslow had recovered sufficiently to return to racing and driver coaching.

The Gulf 12 Hours was the last event of the year and the trio would start it from pole position with the best aggregate over the three qualifying sessions. Winlsow was fastest in his, Parsons second quickest and Muston third best in his qualifier.

“The factory teams lobbied for a BOP (Balance of Performance) for us,” Winslow said. “But what they didn’t realise was the amount of tyre degradation which was massive. We were only

on day two.

Munich won the EV Acceleration test ahead of the Monash team and RMIT (Victoria), while IC honours went with Monash over Griffith University (Queensland) and University of Waikato (New Zealand).

The Germans also scored best in the EV Skidpan section, in front of the University of Auckland (NZ) and Monash. Sophia University were the best in IC ahead of Monash and Edith Cowan.

Tufast also won the Autocross, beating Monash and Canterbury, but came in fourth in Endurance behind Monash, Canterbury and Auckland. In IC Autocross it was Monash first ahead of Curtin and Edith Cowan, before Wollongong won Endurance over Griffith and Uni of NSW. Munich and Monash each scored perfect points in Efficiency. Cost evaluation went to University of Queensland (EV) and Griffith (IC).

Engineering Design winners were Munich and Monash, as Canterbury and Curtin scored best in Presentation.

GARRY O’BRIEN

four seconds faster than them for just six or so laps.”

“We had an absolutely dominate run and were the fastest car,” he said.

Kessel Racing’s Michael Broniszewsk, Giorgio Rigon and Alessandro Pierguidi (Ferrari 488 GT3) won the event by 27.7s over the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8LMS of Dimitri Parhofer, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock. Third and also on the lead lap was the Attempto Racing Audi piloted by Sean Walkinshaw, Giorgio Roda and Clemens Schmid.

McLaren Motorsport’s Ben Barnicoat, Alvaro Parente and Shane van Gisbergen (McLaren 720S) took the lead late in the first segment and looked likely to win overall, until front suspension damage late in the second segment relegated them to eighth.

Aussie Nick Foster, who was teamed up with Stanislav Minsky and Klaus Bachler in an Attempto Racing Audi, battled for the lead but was ultimately forced into retirement after a puncture caused a brake disc to shatter.

GARRY O’BRIEN

HINCHELWOOD’S HOT NEW WHEELS A NEW challenger Pro Slammer is set to shake up the competition, with Maurice Fabietti upgrading to a new ACDelco Pro Slammer Monaro to be again be driven by Mark Hinchelwood.

The raised competition in the class forced Team Owner Fabietti’s hand as newer, high-tech race cars with overseas technical support has lifted the bar vastly in recent seasons, leaving the current ACDelco Monaro behind.

Despite winning the championship as recently as 2017, the eight-year-old chassis has endured four major accidents, and a number of colour schemes, whilst carrying the deficiencies of being overweight and lacking aerodynamics compared to its newer rivals.

The new ACDelco Monaro chassis addresses these flaws with construction being undertaken by renowned chassis builder Murray Anderson. Changes include the Monaro being lowered and

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narrowed, with 50mm being taken out. This makes the appearance of the Monaro sleeker, slimmer and more aerodynamic.

Anderson has followed US build trends, making the car 100lbs lighter, and further aerodynamic improvements promises to cut E/ Ts by 0.10s and increase the top speed by 5-10mph.

Noonan Race Engines-built cylinder heads, intake manifold and valve covers will help make the required 3500bhp, which will be sent through a 10.5 inch, modular, billet aluminium rear end, designed and custom built by fellow drag racer Wayne Newby.

Speedflow will provide the lightweight range of braided lines and fittings.

A proud Fabietti can’t wait to see the car debut at Nitro thunder in May. “I’ve been building race cars now for over 30 years but this is by far the best example to come out of my workshop,” Fabietti said.

“We can’t wait for this car to debut at the Nitro Thunder in Sydney in May. “I’d like to again thank ACDelco for their support of our team and getting this race car built.”

The older chassis will act as a back up car and will also thrill passengers as the only Pro Slammer in the country to carry thrill seekers alongside driver Hinchelwood.

Winners are grinners: James Golding and Matthew McLean celebrate.

EXTRA HORSES FOR THE WIN!

SUPERCAR STARS TAKE ON KART ENDURO SUPERCARS STARS including Chaz Mostert, Michael Caruso, Cameron Waters, Anton De Pasquale and Bathurst winner Steve Richards ended their seasons by competing in the Shamick Racing 4 Hour Enduro, at Melbourne’s Todd Road complex on December 15.

However, it was fellow Supercars driver James Golding that took the spoils partnering with Matthew McLean to take a memorable victory ahead of 41 other teams.

It wasn’t a straight forward victory for the duo as a incident at Turn 1 and a fouled spark plug dropped the team a lap, their chances appearing dashed. A change of fortune flipped the script as a yellow flag enabled Golding to not only gain a lap back, but come out in the lead a lap clear of the chasing pack.

The action-packed race started with Western Australian pair Adam Levi and Kip Foster on Pole, while alongside were Jason Pringle and Adam Lindstrom. The start was frantic as contact forced the kart of Cody Gillis and Ash Seward into the pits before the five-minute window opened, ending their chances.

Emerging in the lead after the opening hour antics were Harrison Hoey and Kris Walton after starting 15th, while Caruso sharing with Leigh Nicolaou were in the top five after starting well back. Pre-race favourites Daniel Rochford and Brad Jenner failed to have the same run after starting in a lowly position, Rochford stormed through the field only to have contact while Jenner was driving, causing a caution period.

The weather then showed its hand as light rain descended on the circuit, closing up the lead pack as Mostert took a short-lived lead, before 18-time Australian champion Dave Sera, Lindstrom and Nicolaou moved ahead to battle for the lead.

Sera - partnered by Erebus Motorsport driver De

Chas Mostert took a shortlived lead but finished ninth.

All images: Pace Images.

Pasquale – snatched the lead as Lindstrom suffered a flat battery, which forced an unscheduled pit stop. In hot pursuit of the leader were pole-sitting team Foster and Levi, but another caution elevated Golding and McLean into an unlikely lead.

Heading into the conclusion of the 4 Hour, Golding held a lap lead over Sera and a surprised Glen Wood and Trent Harrison, good strategy placing the duo in a comfortable third.

The final hour had many caution periods as stricken karts were retrieved from around the circuit, evidence of the fast-paced character of the race. This enabled Sera to crucially un-lap himself to chase down Golding, but this was muted when he started at the back of the pack at the final restart.

It didn’t stop Sera’s charge, finishing a mere 2.8s behind Golding, with Wood and Harrison rounding out the podium.

As for the other Supercars drivers, Mostert finished ninth, Caruso 11th, Waters 15th after broken steering, Heimgartner 16th and Richards, partnering with son Clay, 22nd.

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Anton De Pasquale partnered Kart legend David Sera.

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s w e n e n O Formula WHEELING AND DEALING

ONE OF the biggest stories on the 2018 F1 scene was Daniel Ricciardo’s shock decision to switch from Red Bull to Renault for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Recently some more light has been shed on the background of why the Aussie made the move.

He had offers from Red Bull, McLaren and Renault. Mercedes, meanwhile, was being coy as it waited to see if Lewis Hamilton would renew his contract, and whether it would retain Valtteri Bottas who had a one-year deal for 2018.

“I knew talks (with Mercedes) would take a bit of time (we were) probably and trying to feel each other out,” Ricciardo told ESPN, “but it got to June/July and maybe we had spoken a few times and we hadn’t really got anywhere, so if you want me tell me otherwise, I will move on – that’s cool. I guess it gets to the point like that with everyone where you want a black or white answer and that’s it. I guess the games can wear a little thin.”

For much of his career Ricciardo was in the Red Bull stable, and Red Bull made his career decisions. For 2019, however, he became a free agent and was thus free to negotiate his own future.

He learned a lot.

“I don’t even know if it’s games, but circling around the edges, it’s like – just go straight in!” he stated. “But these are all things I will learn, and I am sure there will be another time in my career

where I will need to go through this process again. I am sure there’s things I will do differently.

I don’t necessarily have any regrets, it’s all just a learning process.”

Ricciardo won in China and Monaco last year, but after that the momentum switched to his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, who usually posted better qualifying and race results.

This, however, did not play a role in Ricciardo’s decision to leave the team.

“I got to a point, probably around the midseason break, where I just didn’t care about the stats anymore,” Ricciardo told Autosport. “I am happy with how I’ve been (in 2018) and I certainly feel that the points and the qualifying tally don’t show the true picture.

“I don’t want to take the credit away from Max because he is getting better every year and he’s a top-level driver. There is no doubt that he is extremely fast and he’s not easy to beat on any day. But even on those days where he has outqualified me, I’ve still been comfortable with that and most of the time I’ve understood why.”

Ricciardo has a two-year deal with Renault, so he now has time to take on-board the negotiating lessons he’s learned so as to be in a better situation to do some wheeling and dealing for 2021 when a number of F1 seats will become available.

ENRICHING HAAS

ONE OF the main reasons businessman Gene Haas decided to get into Formula 1 was to promote his company Haas Automation, which designs and manufactures precision machine tools, worldwide.

As such, the Haas name and logo were displayed prominently on the F1 cars which featured few other sponsors. That changes in 2019 with new title sponsor Rich Energy. The official team name switches from the Haas F1 Team to the Rich Energy Haas F1 Team.

“After three years the Haas F1 name is pretty well established,” said team principal Guenther Steiner.

“Now everybody knows what Haas F1 is. If a partner comes along which again contributes enough and gives you opportunities as well, why not do it? I think it will help the team.”

Although Haas is a billionaire and his company makes a healthy profit each year, there is a limit to how much he will spend on his F1 team. While the influx of cash from Rich Energy will be welcome, the team plans to spend it judiciously.

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“Even if we employ more people, we still work on our principles to be efficient,” Steiner explained. “It’s not like ‘oh more money, let’s go big now. Let’s employ 200 people, or let’s buy a big building.’ No, nothing like this. We are well grounded, we show that our business model is working quite well. It’s not perfect by no means, we can get better but we want to grow it where we are weak. But we are not going to go the old-style way of having 500 people in two years.”

“There are not big weaknesses it’s just in general,” he added. “When you build something up, like any company they’ve got always a weak spot and you go around and fix it and then something else will be weak. It’s not like we are somewhere completely useless. It doesn’t mean that, but you always need to invest where you think you can get the biggest gain for the least investment, and that’s what I’m trying to do. There are a few areas, they are not big but we just need to grow as a business.”

Haas finished eighth in the constructors’ championship in 2016 and 2017, its first two seasons in F1, with 29 and 47 points respectively.

The team jumped up to fifth place in 2018 with 93 points. But making the next step, even with the added sponsorship, is going to be a challenge. The big three – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – are out of reach. Renault, fourth last year with 122 points, is steadily improving.

Force India’s midseason change of ownership meant that it was only credited with points from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards. But its combined score was 111 points, and it, too, has a new influx of cash. The richer Haas team has its work cut out for 2019.

REMEMBERING SCHUMACHER MICHAEL SCHUMACHER turned 50 on January 3, and he was remembered fondly by fans and the racing world, who paid tribute to the seven-time world champion. He has been in seclusion since he suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident on December 29, 2013.

“You can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him,” said his family in a rare public statement. “Please understand if we are following Michael’s wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy. At the same time we say thank you very much for your friendship and wish you a healthy and happy year 2019.”

Lewis Hamilton posted: “Wishing you a happy birthday, Michael. Fifty years of life and a legacy that will last forever.

What an honour it is to say that I have raced with you. You’ve always been a true inspiration to me and the entire world. Keep fighting, Champ.”

Ferrari’s posted: “Our champ turns 50 today. We’re all with you Michael. #KeepFighting.”

FIA president and Schumacher’s former boss at Ferrari, Jean Todt, said: “For his 50th birthday, affectionate thoughts for Michael the greatest F1 champion in history, with unbroken records. Michael, you’ve always been a fighter and you always will be.”

Nico Hülkenberg wrote: “Happy 50th birthday, Goat! Stay strong and keep fighting!!”

Toto Wolff, boss of the dominant Mercedes F1 team, said that Schumacher played a key role in shaping the success of the squad.

“Michael is one of the founding fathers of the success we have had in the last five years,” he said. “There is no other driver like him and his vast experience contributed tremendously in the development of our team. He played a crucial role when we rejoined F1 and was one of the people who laid the foundation for our future success. We’re extremely grateful for everything he did for us. Today, we all tip our hats to you – happy birthday, Michael!”

“Michael has had a tremendous impact on Formula 1,” Wolff added. “Not only did he set an incredible record – a record that is yet to be beaten – but he also shaped and changed the sport forever. As a driver, Michael took Formula 1 to a whole new level with his attention to detail and his technical knowledge. He did everything with great determination, from his engineering debriefs to his physical training, and was always searching for new ways to improve his on-track performance.”

The family statement concluded: “Michael can be proud of what he has achieved, and so are we! That’s why we remember his successes with the Michael Schumacher Private Collection exhibition in Cologne, by publishing memories in social media and by continuing his charitable work through the Keep Fighting Foundation. We want to remember and celebrate his victories, his records and his jubilation.”

DYNAMIC HEADSTART ONE OF the many changes on the Formula 1 scene this year is Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing. As with the other driver changes on the grid, this is going to create a new set of dynamics in the team. Max Verstappen and Ricciardo got along extremely well and that really helped keep the harmony inside the organisation. How does Gasly get on with Verstappen?

“I get on with Max,” Gasly says, “except when he beats me in FIFA…but all the rest is fine.”

Verstappen and Gasly are both passionate about soccer, so Gasly was not pleased when Holland defeated France in a major match last year.

“We have a really good friendship together with a lot of respect,” Gasly adds, “and we’ve known each other many years, so everything is good.”

How is Gasly going to approach this season?

“I have a good opportunity to show such great things,” Gasly responds. “I know the speed I have and the experience I have; I know I am going to keep getting better and better. There will be quite a few things to learn and get used to. Max is one of the most talented drivers on the grid, so to be next to someone like

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this is always a good opportunity to show I have good potential.”

A new team, yes, but it will not all be new to Gasly as he has been a reserve driver at Red Bull.

“When I was reserve driver,” Gasly recalls, “I was really looking at many things in the drivers’ behavior, the way they worked, and the way they approached the weekend. I saw Seb (Vettel) working with the team, and Max and Daniel. So I could see a bit the different personalities and kind of know what worked for each of them, and what wasn’t so great. or what the team didn’t like so much.

“I’ll try to take a bit of the positives from everyone and work with that. Over the off season I’ll take more time to make sure I come with the right approach for 2019.”

Another major change in the dynamics at Red Bull is the switch from Renault to Honda. Having worked closely with Honda at Toro Rosso last year, how will Gasly’s knowledge benefit Red Bull?

“Honda knows in terms of feedback what to expect from

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me,” he says. “So clearly in terms of communication that is the main point that will be useful for the team. In terms of driving, at this level in F1, Max after three laps will be completely up to speed with the torque delivery and drivability of the engine. So my knowledge is not going to change things massively, but it is good that I know the way to work with the Japanese.”

So, new dynamics at Red Bull, but by already knowing Red Bull, Verstappen and Honda, Gasly has had head start on the 2019 season.

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F1 INSIDER - OPINION

TRUE GRIT

NIKI LAUDA is one tough, gutsy guy.

He is poised to make his third comeback to Formula 1. The first was after the fiery accident that nearly killed him during the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. The second was when he returned to racing in 1982 after abruptly walking away from the sport during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend in late September 1979. And now he will be back in the paddock again, in his advisor’s role for Mercedes after spending months in hospital and rehab following a lung transplant early in August last year.

Lauda, 69, said that the recent surgery and recuperation were tougher than fighting his way back following the Nürburgring crash.

“When I had the accident in Germany it was only a matter of a month or so, I had burns, I was burnt, but I left it quickly,” Lauda said in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport. “Now it was really long, but I’m still here. I knew it would be hard, very hard. In such conditions I could only do one thing: fight. I was never afraid. I was in the hands of specialists. I did it for every moment; I’m still doing it.”

The agony Lauda faced with fortitude in 1976 as he recovered and made his return to the cockpit just six weeks after the accident, was dramatised in the 2013 film “Rush” directed by Ron Howard.

An aside on the film, some of my

colleagues in the media center dislike “Rush”. Some of them were reporters who were actually there at the tracks during the James Hunt/ Lauda battles during the 1976 F1 season. Others, like me, followed the events closely via various media outlets. But I really enjoyed the film and have seen it several times. I tell them they are watching it from the wrong perspective. Howard said from the start that “Rush” was not a documentary on the 1976 F1 season and the careers of Lauda and Hunt, but rather an adaptation loosely based on the facts which created such a fascinating story. Howard made the film for a general audience, not diehard F1 enthusiasts.

IIn 2018 2018, jjust as hhe did back in 1976, Lauda kept close tabs on F1 during his recovery time.

“I didn’t miss (a) single grand prix, even though I was in the company of so many,” he said. “I watched all the races, called the pits on the weekends, and they always told me what was going on. It was like being on the edge of the track with the others. I have to say that I, once again, discovered the warmth of the people I’ve been working with for years.”

He was especially touched to receive a hand-written letter from Sebastian Vettel.

Lauda, incidentally, is not the only member of the F1 fraternity who has had a lung transplant. Mansour

Ojj h the h CEO off TAG which hi h Ojjeh, owns 21 per cent of the McLaren Technology Group – which includes the McLaren F1 team – has also had the operation.

The 1976 season ended in the rain and fog at Japan’s Fuji circuit. At the time, I thought Lauda was, well, a chicken to pull off the track after just two laps of the sodden race because he thought the conditions were too dangerous.

“It was the right decision,” Lauda says in his book My Years With Ferrari. “It easily could have been fatal in the first laps, with dead and injured and the race abandoned.

The danger was so obvious that it is immaterial whether these accidents happened or not. The possibility of a

h was simply i l too great.”” catastrophe Even though the rain soon stopped, Lauda was still sure he had made the correct decision.

His withdrawal set the stage for Hunt to finish third in the race on a drying track and clinch the world championship by a single point over Lauda. But my attitude has changed about Lauda’s decision.

Now I think it was an incredibly brave thing for him to do. Whether coming back from accident injuries, a lung transplant or refusing to race in heavy rain, Niki Lauda is all about true grit.

Note: Since this piece was written Niki Lauda has returned to hospital with pneumonia but is expected to make a full recovery

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Spoilt for choice or just too much?

IT HAS not been uncommon for state-based circuit racing categories to go interstate or for some to get a one-off gig at a high-profile meeting.

Improved Production has been, in the past and into the future, an exhilarating addition at the Darwin Supersprint and with the Supercars in Adelaide, as well as at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Defying its relegation to state level by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports, Formula Ford has emerged not only as a national series, but also found itself on the Supercars program and taken in several rounds of the Australian Motor Racing Series under rival sanctioning.

In the case of Formula Vee, the state groups have managed to get together and put on a national series of their own. Last year the Formula Vee National Challenge took in Lakeside Park, The Bend, Sydney Motorsport Park and Barbagallo.

The good news is that this four-round series is again in place, and furthermore kicks off at Symmons Plains where they will be a support to the Virgin Supercars Championship at the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint.

The category which is more about race craft than outright speed, will then take in rounds at The Bend,

Sandown and Sydney Motorsport Park.

Production Sports Car competitors is another category to embrace the concept of racing outside their home state, with the recent announcement of the ProdSports Enduro Super Series.

Each round will comprise two one-hour races and begins on March 1-3 at Sydney Motorsport Park, where they will join the opening round of the Australian Production Car Series and round two of the Radical Australia Cup. It makes for an alluring program, with the only question mark being why have it on the same weekend as the Adelaide 500 where all the interest will be directed?

The new ProdSports series will follow up at Mt Panorama over Easter with round two, a The Bend in September and culminate at Phillip Island in early November.

It will be a busy year for enthusiastic competitors as there is also a four-round NSW championship with two 30-minute races at each, five rounds for Victorian-based competitors, plus rounds with the GT-1 Australia at AMRS rounds.

Incidentally the Bathurst round will also be a round of the GT-1 Series, which will provide an opportunity to score points in both.

That makes for a total of 18 race meetings for those

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that can muster the energy, infrastructure and finances.

But wait – there’s more.

The CAMS Australian GT Championship will embrace the GT Trophy Series in 2019 rather than run the two classes at separate events.

Defying its relegation to state level by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports, Formula Ford has emerged not only as a national series, but also found itself on the Supercars program So that’s another seven opportunities for older car owners to go racing.

Included in the rounds will be the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, plus the traditional 501 meeting at Phillip Island, another chance to tackle The Bend and also get to compete on the streets of the Gold Coast. However, as one would expect, there will be date clashes.

Likewise, the Australian Production Car Series will

have a rival too in the shape of the new Production Car Australia Championship – created and run by the same folk that put together last year’s successful GT-1 rounds.

While the APCS will have a couple of its five rounds done and dusted, the PCAC won’t kick off until late June, opening at The Bend before heading to Queensland Raceway, Sydney Motorsport Park, Wakefield Park and Winton.

It is looking a viable alternative or possible addition for Production Car racers who want to compete at more meetings. The new series will also have a price cap of $100,000, which will exclude the really quick Lotus and BMW cars. The organisers have simplified the classes to just five as well as having a Balance of Performance clause, should it be needed. Furthermore each round will offer two sprint-type races, followed up with a one-hour event with a compulsory pitstop.

A tester for this new series will be the final round, which will clash with the APCS. Obviously who competes at what will ultimately depend by where they sit in the respective points standings.

So in naming just a couple of the categories, the choices for 2019 are immense and firmly in the hand of the guys and gals racing the cars.

GARRY O’BRIEN

Bruce Williams 0418 349 555 Associate Publisher Mike Imrie Editor-At-Large

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Ford hero Scott McLaughlin takes on the traditional champion’s interview with Foges with typical enthusiasm and candour, explaining how he withstood the pressure of expectation to clinch his first Supercars crown after another thrilling title fight

N O I P M A McCH is lovin’ it S

COTT McLAUGHLIN is lugging a large metal packing case across the car park at Penske Power Systems in western Melbourne.

It’s his last stop before heading home to Brisbane after another day of postchampionship meet-and-greets with DJR Team Penske corporate partners.

The case is for the Supercars Championship trophy, which has hardly left his side since he won the title in the very last race of 2018 in Newcastle. It says a lot about Scott Thomas McLaughlin that he is hauling the trophy around rather than leaving it to his minders.

McLaughlin gets a celebrity welcome from the staff at PPS’s Australian headquarters.

Clutching the Supercars trophy, he addresses them with his usual personable informality and then poses for selfies.

The Australian-raised New Zealander is a popular champion. He is certainly the most popular Supercars titleholder since Craig Lowndes in 1999. Think about that.

In the interim, Mark Skaife, Marcos Ambrose, Russell Ingall, Rick Kelly, Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup, James Courtney, Mark Winterbottom and Shane van Gisbergen have been crowned. None approaches McLaughlin’s appealing personality.

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Near the end of his exhaustive champion’s tour, he sat down to reflect on his breakthrough title success. He came oh-soclose in that dramatic finale on the streets of Newcastle in 2017 and rebounded last year to see off fellow gifted Kiwi van Gisbergen in an eventful final encounter.

McLaughlin is undoubtedly Supercars’ fastest driver. He won a record 16 pole positions in 2017, and wrung his Shell V-Power Racing Falcon FG X’s neck to snatch 12 poles and nine race wins in 2018.

The title-winning performance, achieved almost single-handedly against the frontrunning three-car might of Triple Eight, confirmed his superstar status. It also almost certainly guaranteed a big future with Team Penske in the USA further – but not too far – down the track.

But chatting with McLaughlin in an office at the unprepossessing Penske facility at the end of a long day of corporate pleasantries, you would never know he is destined for much bigger things.

He is humble, honest and genuinely overawed by his achievement, yet his inner confidence and determination reinforce why his ascension has been inevitable since his race-winning rookie season with Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2013.

You’ve had a while to think about it now, so what are your thoughts on being the Supercars champion?

When it really started to sink in was when I visited Penske companies or Shell and, in general, just seeing photos of me with the trophy. At home with the family, it was kind of just business as usual, but when I went to see the guys at the shop and then our corporate partners, that’s when it hit home. The best thing for me, what’s very cool, is that I’ll always be a champion. I’ll always get introduced as a champion and that’s very special. But now it’s all about trying to go back-to-back.

How exciting is it be the Supercars champion?

Oh, it’s everything I wanted it to be.

Everything that I thought it would be, what I dreamt of, what I’d do, the parties I’d have, it’s all how I imagined it would be. And the vibe in the team has just been so cool. That’s probably been the one thing that’s surprised me, just how much it means to everyone at the team. You put a lot of smiles on a lot of people’s faces and that’s the really cool part.

Do you get up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror and say “Yes, Supercars champion!”?

I’m not going to lie, I have gone, “Yeah, you’re the champ now!” It’s a huge relief, it really is. It’s a monkey-off-the back type thing and I’m like, “Far out, done that, that’s one goal ticked.” It’s everything my career so far has been aimed at.

And after what happened in 2017, it was just so important to win it this time, wasn’t it?

Yes, he read AA’s recent cover story, and he would like to do more with Penske globally, but McLaughlin is still committed to racing in Australia.

Oh, for sure. I’m a big believer that whatever happens, happens for a reason, and it just wasn’t meant to be. We weren’t meant to win that championship in ’17 for whatever reason, whether it was to learn and move forward, I don’t know. But we got over it as a team and we learned from it, and I felt like we came back really strong. And we had to because Shane was immense. He was very consistent, like me, and it was very cool to battle with him right till the end.

You had to learn from what happened in ’18 because you needed that

lesson and more to hold off Giz, didn’t you?

Oh, absolutely. I needed to find another gear, I needed that extra one per cent.

I was certainly, I guess in some ways, putting a lot of pressure on myself, making sure I didn’t make any mistakes – and he certainly wasn’t, either. But I knew that if we could put pressure on them as a squad, we could beat them.

There’s a reason we won the Pirtek Pitstop Challenge two years in a row.

I feel we’re the best in pit lane. We’re also very strong with our strategy. We did a really good job with it all.

You had to lift because Triple Eight also lifted, plus the ZB Commodore raised the game, didn’t it?

It was an absolute rocketship. We all knew that and it was obvious to see, and we had to find another gear. We had to make our cars better, and while doing that we were building the new car for this year. So it was pretty flatout from the team’s perspective – and stressful for me at the same time. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, but also they gained a bit of momentum around Tailem Bend and Sandown. I remember coming back to the shop and saying to the guys, “Let’s not stress, it’s still a bit too early to be worried”. So we wanted to try to build from Bathurst onwards, and I really think from Bathurst moving forward we were really strong in the mind drivingwise and team-wise, and we built slowly from that point.

It was a big turnaround because at Tailem Bend and Sandown your speed just disappeared.

They were so fast. I remember coming out of Sandown convinced that we had to find another gear.

And Tailem Bend was just a bad

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round. We just didn’t have the speed and then there was obviously the problem with the gearbox (wrong drop gear fitted in qualifying for the Sunday race). But when we go back to Tailem Bend, I feel like we’ll know where we went wrong. We’re pretty excited to go back there, actually, but looking back on the season, it was annoying because that was the one speed hump in the road that without it could’ve made things a lot easier in the end.

Once again, it was an absolute fight to the finish. Going into that last race, were you nervous, were you feeling the pressure?

I was nervous on the outside, but I knew that as soon as I got into the car I’d feel good. I knew what would be, would be – I just had to go out and do the best I could. It sounds simple to say, but that’s all I could do. I knew I didn’t have to win the race. I knew what I needed to do, and it was just all about going out there and just ticking the boxes.

Even before you learned Shane had that penalty, were you confident you’d beat him?

If felt like every time we went headto-head – and Pukekohe was a major example of this – I managed to find an extra gear and so did the team. At the end of the day, we just did our normal thing on the Sunday (at Newcastle) and were still fast. We didn’t think about anything else. We just focused on that one goal. We had a fast car on Sunday and I was being very careful with it in the last stint. In the middle stint I was pushing and we pulled away. So it shows how good the thing was, and if we’d had to battle Shane for the championship in that race, we would have been pretty strong.

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You rolled out of it near the end of that last race. Did you have to (to save fuel) or were you just playing it really safe?

I think with 30 laps to go, I knew if there was a safety (car) then, it’d be a mix-up. There’d be people pitting, some not pitting, tyres and all that sort of stuff, so I was just trying to lessen the risk and I backed off in regard to not taking mirrors off (running close to the walls) and stuff. That was when Dave (Reynolds) caught up with me. Dave was fast, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to take anything away from him, but compared with the second stint, I was definitely a little more cautious knowing that I had to bring it home.

So you didn’t have to save fuel to make the finish?

No, that was just me being cautious. I knew what I had to do. I didn’t have to run away by 10 seconds – I just wanted to be safe.

You and Giz looks like the new great rivalry in Supercars.

I’m excited by it – and I think he is, too.

We race each other hard, and between the two teams it’s a huge rivalry. But Shane and I have always had that respect for each other. We do what we have to do for our squads and worry about it later. It’s a heathy rivalry. I want to beat him as much as he wants to beat me, but I wouldn’t say there’s any angst. It’s just a pure diehard rivalry and that’s very cool. I think it’s good for the sport – Ford versus Holden, me versus him. It’s going to be very cool in the future.

There’s just enough friction between you two, isn’t there?

Yeah, there’s that little bit of edge, that dog-eat-dog approach. We’ll race hard and we’ll bang doors if we need to, and if he does something to me, I’ll give it back and vice versa. But there’s also plenty of respect so that if, say, he throws it down the inside, he’ll give me enough room, but not too much. And I think that’s what’s very cool about the whole thing. So there’s respect between us, but the want to beat each other is ridiculously high. Well, for me it is. I want to beat him and that team – and Jamie – more than anyone.

So was the park-in incident at Pukekohe just a bit of gamesmanship on Shane’s part? He said it was a mistake, but you didn’t seem convinced.

I’m pretty sure he knew what was going on – and I’m pretty sure I didn’t align myself incorrectly with the board. You have to make your own mind up, but

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Friends and rivals (above), but relations were stretched over the famous ‘parking in’ episode at Pukekohe (right).

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

He either wasn’t concentrating or whatever, but it turned into a shit-fight probably more than he wanted and he came out of it worse whether it was a mistake or not, so he might need to concentrate more in the future if it was a mistake.

Well, it clearly annoyed you.

It pissed me off and it pissed the team off, whether it was a mistake or not. I was fine with him after our battle. I knew we’d raced hard. I’d blocked with 10 to go and I deserved to get hit up the arse.

I knew it was coming and I actually didn’t think that was what the penalty I got was for until after the race. But when he parked me in, that ignited me.

Roger Penske rates you very highly and he’s open about the fact that he sees a future for you with Team Penske in the USA. He’s talking about making plans to give you a run in some road course racing over there.

Do you know when that’s going to happen?

Bull in a Shell sandwich. “I want to beat that team more than anyone,” McLaughlin admits.

I’m trying not to focus on it. I know if I keep doing the job down here, it’ll happen. They know my ambitions.

[I point to the cover of Auto Action #1750 and the headline “McLaughlin Headed For Penske Superstardom”] Yeah, I read that [laughing].

They know my ambitions, they know what I want to do and where I want to go, but I also have goals to achieve. I have goals for what I want to do with this team. We’ve won a championship, yes, but we need to do this consecutively to be proper, and I’d like to add a few more before we go anywhere. I need to be fully focused on my job and what I’m doing, and then hopefully at the end of it good things will happen. I love Supercars and I love racing here. I think it would cool to dabble in some other stuff, but my heart is in racing here. If it does take

me somewhere else, I’ll just go with the flow.

Surely a guest appearance in, say, a NASCAR Xfinity road course race would be very tempting?

I’d love to do it – and I’ve told them I’d love to do it. But I understand they have drivers over there already and they’re sorted, and at the end of the day I’m employed here. I don’t push the barrow, I just go with the flow, and if I ever get the call-up, then I’ll think about it. I’ll just wait for the phone call.

What about the Acura sports car program and an event like the Daytona 24 Hours?

Honestly, Foges, I’d race a wheelbarrow! You know me. Anything

McLaughlin says he has found a good balance in his personality now that he has reached the ripe old age of 25. Foges appealed, but didn’t get to check for grey hairs... sponsor appearances and all that – and I’ve learned a lot from him. It’s very cool to have him as a teammate.

Speaking of the Penske way, you’ve had to change the way you present yourself and what you can say. Now that you’ve won the championship, will we see a bit more of the old Scotty Mac again?

excite Having the Mustang definitely excited. a puts another bone back in the body.

Every Everyone just wants to get on with it and g get fighting. course, the battle’s going to be on Of co again with Triple Eight. Do you expect Fabian to be in the fight a lot more Fabia this year?

that was put forward to me, I’d love to do just have a crack. It’s the KiwiAussie thing that you’ll have a crack at anything. I wouldn’t say no to anything.

anything about cars with a lot of aero.

So you’d have a go in an IndyCar?

Yeah, 100 per cent. Where I’m employed is where I see my future. At this stage, that’s my future.

I’d love to, yeah, if it was ever offered to me. If the call came and Roger says, “Hey, do you want to drive this, do you want to drive that?”, I’d be an idiot to say no to anything. But I have to keep doing the job here to get that opportunity.

I mentioned IndyCar because you don’t have any background in openwheelers.

No, exactly, but I’d love to have a crack. You’re right, though, I have no open-wheeler heritage. I’ve done three Formula Ford races and I’ve only done one GT race, so I don’t really know

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So for at least the next few years, you see your future firmly in Supercars?

As you said earlier, your target in 2019 is to retain your title and you’ll be trying to do that with the new Mustang. What’s your gut feeling about how the Mustang will go?

I’m feeling really good about it. The car ran faultlessly in all the aerodynamic testing, so we actually got a lot of testing done, good and bad. We found a nice balance. It was kind of what we wanted. But there are still a lot of unknowns for this season with set-up and all that sort of stuff. But I’m really

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At the th end of last year, Fabian was there. there He sacrificed a lot of results for me m to be where I am. And if it weren’t for Fabs, I honestly wouldn’t wer have been in the position to win the championship.

He helped me at the cha Gold Gol Coast; he was very fast there and he sacrificed a win there. For me, I’m sure su he’s going to be strong. I think the Mustang will suit him. He was fast at M the test. Fabs had a lot of bad luck last year and if he gets it on, he’ll be right.

It’s all about momentum, and I think when you have a couple of those bad results at the start of the year, whether it was his fault or not, it knocks you around. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be bouncing back pretty hard when we all start on zero points.

You two work particularly well together, don’t you?

Yeah, he’s the best teammate I’ve had.

We get along well. There’s never really been any issues. Of course, we’re race drivers, we want to beat each other as much as we can, the same old teammate thing. But we get along well and we understand the Penske way, and that’s a big thing. Fabian is absolutely unbelievable with the commercial side –

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[Laughs] I’ve found a good balance, Foges. In 2017, I was very straight up and down. I probably took it too far and I wasn’t myself – maybe a little bit more stressed off-track. But last year I was definitely a bit more myself and enjoyed it more. It was a nice mix. I told Ryan (Story, DJRTP team principal) and Tim (Cindric, Team Penske president) that I wanted to be a bit more chilled-out and they were good about it. They just want me to be myself. They never told me to be something else; I took it upon myself in 2017. I was more myself in 2018 and that has a lot to do with where I am now.

The fans loved your outgoing personality and one-liners in the GRM Volvo days.

I’ll still have some one-liners, but I’m not going to go “F***, yeah!” on TV. I’m not going to do any of that. There’ll be a couple of little things like “Holy guacamole!”, but that’s about it. I’m growing up, too. When all that happened I was a teenager. I’m a ripe old 25 now, 26 this year.

Have you let the trophy out of your sight since you received it?

No. Actually, I didn’t have it for a week, but I got it back and took it home. As you can see, it’s still with me [gestures to the trophy beside him during the interview].

I sleep with it next to me on the bedside table! The team are taking it home to put it on display at the shop. I think we get it all year and then we hand it back. I can’t wait to get my name on it. That’ll be really cool. I think I get a replica. I hope I do. Jamie’s probably got seven of those puppies somewhere.

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ula 1 Fernando Alonso and Form other – have bid farewell to each n’s F1 at least for now. Auto Actio ON looks correspondent DAN KNUTS career back on the Spaniard’s F1

L L E W E R A F

O D N A N R E F O NE OF the most notable moments of Fernando Alonso’s F1 career came during the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix. He had already clinched his first world championship when, zooming along at over 330km/h, he passed seven-time world champ Michael Schumacher around the outside of the daunting 130R bend.

It was a moment of transition from one great driver to a future great driver.

The pair battled for the world title again in 2006 and Alonso won. But, as the record books show, Alonso never won the world championship again while in the ensuing years Sebastian Vettel earned four crowns and Lewis Hamilton five.

Schumacher, Hamilton and Vettel were often with the right team at the right time, whereas it was the opposite for Alonso.

Alonso or Hamilton could have won the championship in 2007 but for their interteam battle that handed points to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. After falling out with McLaren boss Ron Dennis, Alonso moved to Ferrari in 2008. Alonso was in contention for the championship in 2010, 2012 and 2013 but ended up second each time. No Ferrari driver has been champion since 2007, but Vettel was a contender in 2018.

Alonso went back to McLaren in 2015. The Honda package might have been potent but turned out to be very uncompetitive, and the 2018 McLaren-Renault was also slow.

Is there any resentment in Alonso’s heart knowing he could have been world champion five or more times?

“Well, we all could have a run in championships like Lewis or Sebastian,” he says. “Sebastian won four

championships (with Red Bull) and he had a half second or one second advantage to the next car. That was the right time at the right moment in the right car.

“You need to be in those places to win that amount of championships. But it is up to each driver to be happy with your performance, to deliver your best result every time, and have the confidence nce of the teams to keep racing with them in the following years and chase your dreams. F1 is a tough sport, and you need to be in the right time.”

THE FANTASTIC VOYAGE

INSTEAD OF being bitter about missed opportunities, Alonso calls his career in F1 “fantastic”.

“It’s going to be a good memory, the whole package in Formula 1, all will be a fantastic journey,” he says. “From a very young age until now, fighting always in any circumstance, in any car, and achieving a lot of success that I never expected.

“I came from a country with no (racing) tradition. My father was not a racing driver, so it (racing) was all by surprise and it was all welcome. So happy for that.

“It has been good consistency – always fighting for points, sometimes in a competitive car, sometimes not in a competitive car – but I have never given up.

Proud for the amount of points and proud of racing for the best teams in the world – McLaren, Renault and Ferrari.”

THE FIRST AND LAST

ALONSO MADE his F1 racing debut in the 2001 Australian Grand Prix driving for the underfunded Minardi team.

“We could not test the car before Australia,” he recalls. “The team was disappearing at one point, it was bankrupt, so Paul Stoddart came in at the last moment and flew the car to Australia.

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Farewell Fernando, it’s been a heck of a ride (right).

Records beckoned after he took his second title at the age of 25 (below left).

“We “W studied di d the h steering i wheel h l on Wednesday and Thursday of Australia. I remember going out of the pitlane in FP1, and there was a queue of cars at the end of the pitlane because there was still a red light. I nearly crashed with them because I could not find the neutral button. That was not the perfect start!”

His 312th and final F1 race was the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. (Only Rubens Barrichello, with 323, has more F1 starts.)

“The race was a normal race, fighting for the tyre management, the fuel saving, all these things, and fighting for points until the end, until the last lap,” Alonso said just after his final race.

“I had really no time in the weekend. This (race day) morning has been the busiest morning ever in a grand prix. I tried to sit down and check my telephone and after 30 seconds (McLaren press officer) Silvia (Hoffer Frangipane) was coming, or someone from the team knocked on

Alonso made his Formula 1 debut at Albert Park in 2001, but almost crashed in the pit lane going out for his first practice session because he couldn’t find the neutral button on the steering wheel. “It was not the perfect start!”

the door and I had to say hello to a new person. It has been very, very busy, so I need two or three days to check and realise all the things that I lived this weekend. It will always be in my heart.”

THE FINAL FOUR

GIVEN THE way his F1 career fizzled out with no chances at wins and podiums, Alonso could have been forgiven for being resentful as his 17th and final season wound down. But he was not. Instead, he enjoyed and savored the moments on track driving such awesome cars.

“I’m ready to enjoy the time in the car,” he said prior to the US Grand Prix, the leadoff race of his final four in F1. “I jump in, even an installation lap, I try to enjoy it, like feeling the G forces here in the first sector.

They (the last four races) are going to be emotional, fun races. Each of the remaining circuits has something special and fans that are quite passionate. I’ll miss that when I’m not in F1. That is on track. Off track I will probably not miss much about anything!”

Alonso was asked how much he cared

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about earning points in the final four races to move up in the drivers’ championship.

“Zero,” he replied. “Nothing. Minus zero.

It is more about helping in the constructors’ championship for McLaren.”

As it turned out, Alonso’s final points in his F1 career came when he finished seventh in the Singapore Grand Prix. He finished out of the top 10 in the remaining six races.

He crossed the line in 11th place, just out of the points, in the Abu Dhabi season finale.

Rather appropriately, he also finished 11th in the drivers’ championship in his final season in F1.

THE FUTURE

AS IS well known, Alonso’s goal is to become only the second driver – Graham Hill was the first – to win the unofficial Triple Crown, with victories in the world’s three most famous auto races: the Monaco Grand Prix, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500. He already has the first two in the bag, and he will return to Indy this year racing for a new IndyCar team set up by McLaren. He will also continue to compete with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship.

He enjoys racing in the US. “It is always special to be

THE YOUNGSTERS

FERNANDO ALONSO was 19 years and 219 days old when he made his F1 debut with Minardi in 2001. At the time he was the third-youngest driver to start an F1 race after Mike Thackwell and Ricardo Rodriguez. Recently there has been a proliferation of young F1 drivers led by Max Verstappen, who made his F1 debut at 17 years and 166 days. Daniil Kvyat, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon were 19 when they started. Pierre Gasly was 21. Lando Norris, George Russell and Alexander Albon will be 19, 21 and 22 when they make their F1 debuts in Australia this year.

“It is the direction F1 has gone in n for a decade,” Alonso, who turns 38 on July 29, says of F1’s youth movement. “It is just different, with some positives and some negatives. Positives – the young generation and talents that arrive in F1 are very prepared and ready to be in F1 because they did a lot of preparation and were in driver academies. Plus they do a lot of simulator work.

“On the other hand, when I was a kid, I looked at F1 drivers as heroes. When an F1 driver

A youthful Alonso starting out on his F1 jo journey (above). The youngest driver to start aan F1 GP at the time was Kiwi Mike Thackwell (l(left).

walked through the paddock or an airport wa or wherever and you saw him, there was big respect because those guys were ab racing those amazing cars at that speed rac and with that danger. Now you if you see an 95 percent of drivers on the grid walking in tthe airport, nobody recognises them because they are teenagers and don’t bec seem like F1 drivers.” see

in America because we love racing there,” he says. “The philosophy of the sport there is a little bit different compared to Europe.

There (the US) it is a little bit more about the show and the spectators. It is a great thing and probably the direction F1 will go in the future. Now with Liberty (running F1) the show will be the main priority.”

But he does not want to do a full season in IndyCar. And he really does not want to do a full season in NASCAR. “Not NASCAR – they have even more races!” he says.

This year there will be 36 NASCAR races, 17 IndyCar races and 21 F1 events.

Asked late in 2018 what his complete plans were for 2019, Alonso replied: “I’m still deciding and finalising some of the projects. More or less they are all in my mind now, so it is just a matter of signing and confirming everything before they are announced.

“It’s going to be a quiet season in a way

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after 2018 with 28 races. I will not have 28 races, but will have enough races, and important ones, that it will feel okay for me and hopefully for the fans as well.”

Alonso will reassess things as this year progresses. He has not ruled out a return to Formula 1.

“For 2020 I don’t know exactly what I will do or what will be the plan,” he says.

“Further away, it’s impossible to think. Who knows? Life is long and beautiful. I like F1.

I will always love F1. If I will be (in F1) in the future as a driver, as a father, as an FIA boss or whatever… I will think (about it).”

“The door is difficult to close 100 percent because you never know what the future will bring,” he adds. “But right now, I consider this (Abu Dhabi) the last race, and the future we will see.”

So F1 and Alonso have bid farewell to each other, at least for now. Instead of farewell, however, it is better to say au revoir – goodbye until we meet again.

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2001 Rookie season driving for Minardi.

2002 F1 test driver for Renault.

2003-2006 Race driver for Renault.

2003 Earns his first points by finishing seventh in the season opener in Australia.

The first of his eventual 22 poles and 65 podiums (excluding wins) come at the very next race, in Malaysia, where he finishes third. The first of his eventual 32 victories comes in Hungary, round 13.

2005 World champion.

2006 World champion. Gets his 15th pole and 15th win.

2007 Moves to McLaren alongside debutant Lewis Hamilton.

2008 Switches to Ferrari after an ill-fated season at McLaren.

2008-2014 Ferrari driver. His final pole was at the 2012 German Grand Prix; final win was at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix; and his final podium was for third place at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.

2015-2018 Back to McLaren. His best finishes in the final three years of his F1 career were a pair of fifth places in 2016 and a fifth in the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.

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Seven seasons at Ferrari did not bring the success expected, but he was championship runner-up three times.

SUPERCARS

First event: Adelaide 500, February 28-March 3 THE BIG news is the much-anticipated arrival of the Ford Mustang, replacing the Falcon FG X. Six Mustangs will join the reduced 24-car field – two from DJR Team Penske and four running out of Tickford Racing.

The grid will be the smallest ever in the Supercars era because Triple Eight and Tickford each handed back a Racing Entitlement Contract. Those RECs will be put out to tender for sale for a possible return under new ownership in 2020.

While Ford Australia returns, Nissan is out, leaving Kelly Racing to run its four mildly upgraded Altimas independently.

Major driver changes are Mark Winterbottom and Lee Holdsworth swapping between Tickford and Team 18, while superstar Craig Lowndes e Now that the festive break is over, it’s tim has retired to e the commentary to anticipate the coming new season. Her re sto in s box except for nge cha the of are the highlights the endurance for major local and international racing races. Still undecided: who joins Rick Kelly and Simona de Silvestro in the other two Altimas.

The championship has been reduced to 15 events and reshuffled. Sydney Motorsport Park

The

YEAR AHEAD

takes a break, with resurfaced and renamed Barbagallo Wanneroo Raceway taking over the SuperNight slot. Pukekohe swaps places with the Sandown 500, which becomes the final leg of the Enduro Cup in November following the Bathurst 1000 and still twin-race Gold Coast 600.

Following a new-look season launch in Melbourne on February 13, the major preseason test switches from SMP to Phillip Island on February 14. Queensland teams have the option of doing their pre-season hit-out at Queensland Raceway. The list of nominated tests tracks has expanded to include Phillip Island and SMP as well as QR and Winton.

Tyre allocation at each event increases slightly due to losing one round from the schedule.

Locally made Albins transaxle replaced in the main game by imported Xtrac unit, while twinspring dampers are banned, making it easier for Super2 teams to field wildcard entries at selected rounds.

Hawk-Eye all-angle video monitoring will be used more extensively to aid officials to make fast in-race decisions on contentious incidents.

V8 Touring Cars rebranded as Super3, officially joining Supercars’ development pathway.

For the few who have upgraded to Foxtel’s IQ4 set-top box, more events will be available in 4K ultra-high definition.

MARK FOGARTY

FORMULA 1 F

First event: Australian Grand Prix, March 15-17 F F FRESH FROM winning his fifth Formula 1 world championship, LLewis Hamilton will be gunning for a six-pack of titles during the 221-race 2019 season.

Not only does Hamilton have momentum, he and the Mercedes team also have continuity. Of the 10 teams, only M Mercedes and Haas retain their same driver line-ups from 2018.

M The most intriguing driver change to watch is Perth native Daniel Ricciardo’s move from Red Bull Racing, where he earned D sseven victories, to the works Renault team.

Although Renault finished fourth in the 2018 constructors’ cchampionship, it trailed far behind the big three: Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. There is a lot of work to do.

F Another fascinating switch is the talented Charles Leclerc’s ttransfer to Ferrari after a single season with Sauber. How soon will it be before he starts challenging the veteran Sebastian w Vettel? And can Vettel and Ferrari maintain a season-long V cchampionship challenge instead of fading away like last year?

Three rookies make their F1 racing debuts in Melbourne: George Russell with Williams; Alexander Albon at Toro Rosso; and Lando Norris for McLaren. Meanwhile, Robert Kubica stages an incredible comeback as a F1 racer at Williams after a long layoff because of his rally accident in February 2011.

Gone, but not forgotten, is the highly rated Fernando Alonso, who has left F1 to pursue a victory in the Indianapolis 500 to go with his wins in the Monaco Grand Prix and the Le Mans 24 Hours, to complete the fabled Triple Crown.

Finally, as for the F1 cars, there is a raft aerodynamic rule changes – including the rear wing and a much less complex front wing – to improve overtaking. The idea is to reduce the turbulence so that the trailing car can get closer to the car in front.

Albert Park will provide the first opportunity to see how effectively – or not – the new configuration works.

DAN KNUTSON

BATHURST 12 HOUR/ AUSTRALIAN GT

First event: Bathurst 12 Hour January 31-February 3/Australian GT March 14-17 THE SOUTHERN Hemisphere’s premier GT race again steps up a level this year, continuing the elevation of its international status.

The Bathurst 12 Hour marks the opening round of SRO’s Intercontinental GT Challenge, which has become a huge hit, with GT3 manufacturers Bentley, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes and BMW all committing to the global series.

Add entries from Aston Martin factory team R-Motorsport, a pair of high quality Asianbased Ferraris and a strong – albeit small – Australian contingent, and the Bathurst 12 Hour grid features a record-equalling 10 GT3 manufacturers spread over 28-cars.

The growth of the IGTC has meant that some of the world’s best GT3 drivers will grace Mount Panorama, including former Australian GT champion Christopher Mies and fellow German stars Christopher Haase and Markus

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Winkelhock representing Audi, plus Spaniard Andy Soucek, Belgian Maxime Soulet and Brit Steven Kane for Bentley.

Former DTM drivers Augusto Farfus and Martin Tomcyzk headline BMW’s attack, while Nissan makes a welcome return with 2015 12 Hour star Katsumasa Chiyo leading KCMG’s attack. Reigning DTM champion Gary Paffett and former Supercars driver Maro Engel will carry the hopes of Mercedes.

Augmenting the international factory pilots are Supercars stars Chaz Mostert, Garth Tander, Nick Percat, David Reynolds, Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup, Tim Slade, Lee Holdsworth and Todd Hazelwood.

Van Gisbergen, Whincup and Lowndes are combining in a Triple Eight-run Mercedes GT R,

forming the ‘dream team’ of the event.

Porsche protégé Matt Campbell heads an impressive list of Aussies returning home, joined Josh Burdon, Nick Foster and Kenny Habul.

In mid-March, the Australian GT Championship gets underway as a support category at the Australian Grand Prix. Amid the uncertainty of a change of ownership during the 2018 season, a solid core of competitors meant the title went down to the wire for the

championship’s last trip to New Zealand.

The AGT schedule again features a mix of Supercars and Shannons Nationals events, with Barbagallo returning along with the Gold Coast.

A second trip to Sandown concludes the year.

With new GT3 machinery recently released, expect the likes of the latest McLaren 720S to join the field.

HEATH MCALPINE

INDYCAR SERIES

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

First event: Grand Prix of St Petersburg, March 9-10

THE INDYCAR Series flips the calendar to 2019 with Australasia very much in its focus.

From Scott Dixon defending his title to Will Power seeking a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory to purposeful discussions for a return to the Gold Coast in 2020, IndyCar has much to offer fans Down Under.

Dixon returns to Chip Ganassi Racing in pursuit of a sixth series championship, which, if attained, would draw him even closer to the all-time record of seven season titles held by the legendary AJ Foyt.

With the fifth IndyCar crown secured last September, Dixon moved past Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti, each of whom won four titles.

Dixon will have a new teammate in 27-yearold Swedish standout Felix Rosenqvist, one of five highly anticipated newcomers to the series. Compatriot F1 refugee Marcus Ericsson will take the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports ride held for much of last year by Robert Wickens, who continues to recover from the August crash at Pocono Raceway.

IndyCar’s other rookies are Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta at Harding Steinbrenner Racing, and Santino Ferruci at Dale Coyne

First Event: Monte Carlo Rally, January 24-27

Racing. Ferruci made four IndyCar starts in 2018; O’Ward and Herta made their debuts at the season finale in Sonoma, California.

Power, the 2014 IndyCar titlist, returns to Team Penske for a 10th full season. The Toowoomba native won three races last year, pushing his career total to 35 – eighth all-time. He will again have fellow series champions Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2017) as teammates.

Seventeen races are scheduled for the upcoming IndyCar season, which begins March 10 with the street race in St. Petersburg, Florida. New to the calendar is the Circuit Of The Americas on March 24.

In May, Fernando Alonso will make his return to the Indianapolis 500 with McLaren Racing.

As for a potential return to Surfers Paradise as soon as 2020, it is high on IndyCar’s New Year’s to-do list. Both sides consider a rejuvenation of this event a priority if details can be worked out.

CURT CAVIN

AFTER AN off-season highlighted by key driver changes, the 2019 World Rally Championship promises another exciting season.

An expanded calendar, which again starts in Monte Carlo this month and concludes at NSW’s Coffs Coast in November, takes the WRC to Chile for the very first time.

Since the WRC ended in dramatic fashion on the gravel roads that surround Coffs Harbour, with Sebastien Ogier snatching the crown, there have been big changes – and none more so than for the six-time champion himself.

A major coup for Citroen team sees Ogier return to the struggling French manufacturer, which has failed to match Ford, Hyundai and Toyota. Looking for a return to its Sebastian Loeb-led glory days, Citroen has upped its game to assist Ogier’s unprecedented bid for a seventh WRC crown with a third make.

With rising Finnish star Esapakka Lappi partnering Ogier in a more focused two-car effort, Citroen is serious, although it may take longer than one season to challenge for the title again.

Ogier’s move leaves Elfyn Evans as team leader at M-Sport Ford in what is a young and inexperienced driver line-up that has scored just one WRC victory between them. Joining Evans are Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tideman, who are both recent graduates from WRC2.

Ott Tanak was the star last year in his debut season for Toyota and is again joined by JariMatti Latvala in the second Yaris, but replacing the Citroen-bound Lappi is the often erratic but extremely quick Ulsterman, Kris Meeke.

Meeke had a disastrous run of crashes that culminated in the Citroen team terminating his contract mid-season last year, with Toyota then throwing him a lifeline. Team boss Tommi Makinen has taken a big chance, but don’t be surprised if Meeke grabs it with both hands.

Toyota is aiming to not only go back-to-back in the manufacturers’ title, but also to deliver Estonian Tanak his first driver’s championship .

Korean manufacturer Hyundai also pulled off a major coup during the off-season by signing nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb to a partial WRC comeback in a six-rally deal.

Loeb’s presence will be a spur to Thierry Neuville, who lost last year’s title at Rally Australia after leading for most of the season.

The casualty of Loeb’s arrival is Kiwi Haydon Paddon, who failed to impress Hyundai management enough to be renewed, leaving Dani Sordo and Andreas Mikkelsen to back up team-leader Neuville.

The Hyundai team’s serial failure to win a world title has also resulted in new management.

HEATH MCALPINE

TCR/ S5000

First event: Sydney Motorsport Park May 17-19 BOTH NEW categories are eagerly anticipated and spearhead what CAMS hopes is a renaissance for its flagship Shannons Nationals series. After launching late last year at Sydney Motorsport Park, the circuit will host the opening rounds for both series in May for what looks like a promising start.

S5000 had a difficult birth, but interest in a spiritual revival of the popular 1970s F5000 V8 open-wheelers has been sustained. Project leader Chris Lambden can now see the finish line as Garry Rogers Motorsport awaits 13 Onroak-Ligier Formula 3 chassis to arrive to begin building the first batch of S5000s.

Just as S5000 gets off the ground, so too does TCR, the lower-cost formula that has rejuvenated global touring car racing. Talks of the class

hitting Australian shores started in 2016, but ramped up two years later as the touring car version of GT3 quickly gripped the world.

Volkswagen, Audi, Honda and Hyundai are the brands that have been officially confirmed, with others set to join. Supercars drivers and team owners were interested onlookers at the launch, with many seeing it as a further opportunity to expand their businesses.

The category also caters for young drivers that cannot raise the budgets to contest Super2, Carrera Cup or GTs, while also providing an opportunity to race overseas.

Hyundai appear to have the numbers, with four i30 TCRs already confirmed for the inaugural series.

HEATH MCALPINE

NASCAR

First event: Daytona 500, February 10 THE 2018 NASCAR Cup Series provided another breakthrough winner in Team Penske’s Joey Logano, following the success of Martin Truex Jr with the small Furniture Row Racing squad in 2017.

Logano delivered Team Penske its second NASCAR Cup crown and will be aiming to defend it, starting at the Daytona 500, which will be the beginning of a new era for the Ford teams as they switch to the Mustang, just like the Blue Oval brigade in Supercars.

It was a turbulent 2018 for Truex Jr after it was announced that Furniture Row Racing were pulling out of NASCAR, citing

lack of sponsorship, leaving him as a free agent. In November it was announced Truex had signed a deal with FRR technical partner Joe Gibbs Racing to continue his association with Toyota.

Kurt Busch remains at JGR, having narrowly lost the title last season, while brother Kyle left Stewart-Haas Racing and signed on for one year with an option of a second at Chip Ganassi Racing.

The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series regulations are aimed at fostering closer racing through slowing the cars, with a tapered spacer in the engine restricting horsepower from 770bhp to 550bhp. A

bigger rear wing, larger radiator pan and splitter are also part of the new package.

These speed-restricting changes replace the restrictor plate used at superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega since 1987.

The February-November NASCAR Cup calendar remains the same, although the Sonoma road course race will be run on the full 4.7 km circuit.

There is speculation Scott McLaughlin may be rewarded by Roger Penske for his Supercars title success with a trial outing at a road course event in the second-tier Xfinity Series.

HEATH MCALPINE

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THE YEAR OF

Y L S U O I T U A C G LIVIN After his first season at the helm, Supercars boss Sean Seamer tells MARK FOGARTY about his master plan for the future

H

e couldn’t have picked a better year to come on board. Just weeks into his new reign, Ford’s return with the Mustang was announced. It was such big news and so popular that it overwhelmed the news a few weeks later that Nissan was pulling out. Nobody cared. Mustang in, Altima out. No contest.

Neither development had anything to do with newly appointed Supercars chief executive Sean Seamer, but as the man in The Big Chair, he was able to bask in the Mustang glory and side-step Nissan’s withdrawal.

It’s all about timing. And Seamer couldn’t have wished for a better time to take over the running of Supercars from James Warburton.

Although both came from media sales backgrounds, they couldn’t be more different.

Warburton was a quick-fix showman. Bailed Supercars out of deep trouble and charmed the media. The strategy was chaotic and knee-jerk, but the headlines were exciting.

Seamer is a slow burn. Deliberate, methodical and results-orientated. Initially, he didn’t want to talk about anything until it was a done deal.

Kill-joy.

But more than nine months since he officially took control at the Adelaide 500, Seamer has learned quickly and loosened up. Following some tense moments with the media, he warmed to talking about issues and future

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After the success of racing under lights last year at Sydney Motorsport Park, Supercars will be lighting up the night at Barbagallo this year.

plans. Still restrained and measured, but that may not be a bad thing as Supercars enters an era of transition.

Consolidating Supercars’ place in the Australian sports market is the new priority. In a rapidly changing media landscape, futureproofing V8 racing is the aim.

As he plots where Supercars will be early next decade, Seamer has benefitted from one of the most exciting and controversial series ever. Another that went down to the wire, as fanfavourite Scott McLaughlin snatched title victory in the very last race.

Seamer also oversaw the consolidation and reshuffling of the calendar for 2019, switching the night racing to Perth, benching Sydney Motorsport Park and swapping Sandown and Pukekohe to accommodate the teams’ demand for less racing to save money.

Many other marginal reforms under his new reign have chipped away at spiralling costs. But there were no big-ticket advances. Warburton’s dream of Supercars becoming the star support act at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix, along with a twinned appearance nearby in Asia, appear to be abandoned.

Under Seamer, it is Australasia first. Weed out the weak local rounds before looking north.

Winton, Phillip Island and Queensland Raceway, are you listening?

Forty-something Seamer – his minders won’t reveal his age, which is clearly youthful by previous Supercars CEO standards – is unexciting and cautious. His calculated approach may be sensible, but he is also under pressure to deliver big financial gains to owner Archer Capital, which wants to recoup some of its over-priced investment.

Team-player Seamer regards his first season in charge as a big effort by his staff, which is split between North Sydney and Southport on the Gold Coast.

“I’m blown away by what we were able to achieve – 17 events in a year including the Bathurst 12 Hour,” he said in a year-end review interview. “Not just rolling things over, but doing things like the Sydney night race, adding in Tailem Bend, and working through Craig Lowndes’ last season as a fulltime driver.

“There was a lot in there. It’s been a frenetic pace, but I’m pretty proud of what everybody’s been able to achieve over that timeframe.

“From outside, to come in, you certainly build an appreciation for everything that goes on behind the scenes that you don’t necessarily have when you’re working on the other side of the fence on behalf of sponsors and media, as I was.”

Seamer acknowledges that, despite the boost in interest the Mustang’s arrival will generate, the sport has to capitalise on its gains in 2018.

“That’s the challenge,” he said. “You can’t stand still. You always have to be better than what you were last year. We’re always going to keep pushing things forward.

“We also have some other interesting stuff coming up. We’ll probably do some more 4K work – we’re finalising which rounds we’ll be doing in 4K, but you can expect Bathurst to be in 4K again as well.

“Then we’ll keep on pushing through the digital and eSeries work that we’ve been doing. There’ll be a lot more eSeries rounds throughout the year off the back of the success in 2018, and then everything else we have going on with Super2 and developing young drivers and the driver pathway.

“So plenty to come and then, obviously, we also have Lowndesy joining us on the broadcast team as well, which will be great.”

Seamer says Supercars is open to sharing the bill with IndyCar on the Gold Coast.

Seamer, sharing a microphone with Lowndes, is looking forward to having the fan favourite working on TV this year (above). The Supercars CEO has spent time talking to top NASCAR officials.

Lowndes’ post-fulltime retirement role as a broadcaster will be more clearly defined later this month, when his overseas ambitions have been sorted.

Amid murmurings of an impending sale by owner Archer Capital and pressure on him to increase sponsor and other commercial revenues, Seamer asserts that income is rising.

“We’re really happy with the renewals from sponsors – key partners like Coopers and Coates Hire are staying with us moving forward, which is great,” he said.

“We’ll continue to build on new partnerships that we have with the likes of Volkswagen, so plenty of good momentum in that space.”

He has a long-term plan for the future, which will be outlined later this month.

“We’re starting to lock down the direction in which we’re going and we’ll be presenting that to partners in January. But the headline on that for now is we’re putting a plan in place

to reach more Australian households in more ways than we ever have before, so using our entire product portfolio – whether that’s eSeries, digital, the events, the concerts – to engage more Australians in more ways.”

Other challenges Seamer faces this year are the initial serious negotiations for the crucial next broadcasting rights from 2021.

“We’ll certainly start to get ready for it,” he said. “We also have other things coming up next year – the Bathurst 12 Hour rights come up, our international distribution rights come up as well – so there will be more activity in the space than what there has been.”

On the primary Australia and New Zealand TV rights, he added: “We have to start preparing for 2020 next year.”

Better and more free-to-air coverage on Channel 10 is also in the offing, along with the provision for altering race start times to avoid adverse weather. As the Surfers Paradise

debacle last year highlighted, Supercars is committed to scheduling races shown live on 10 to finish as a lead-up to the network’s weekend evening news.

“We’re looking at it,” Seamer said. “Those discussions are ongoing at the (rule-making) Supercars Commission. Obviously, it’s a very, very difficult thing to do because you have to reshuffle all of your support categories as well.

“We spend a lot of time developing relationships with support categories, and bumping them and making those sorts of changes are very, very difficult operationally and also with race control.

“We’ll continue to look at it, but it is very difficult, particularly with the stacked schedules that we have.”

Seamer, who is about to return from a holiday/ fact-finding mission in the US, is open to the idea of sharing top billing at the Gold Coast 600 with IndyCar, which is interested in a return in 2020.

While his discussions are focused on NASCAR, whose top officials he met in Daytona last week, he was also due to also catch up with IndyCar officials in Indianapolis.

His stance is that he is waiting on Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) – the government agency that supports the GC600 and with which he will be in renewal talks for next year and beyond – to let him know about talks with IndyCar. “There’s obviously a lot of interest and a lot of activity around it, but the pace at which things are moving I couldn’t comment on because I’m not involved in those discussions. TEQ is keeping us up-to-date, but as it relates to pace of discussions I don’t think we can expect anything until the New Year.”

Major technical and eligibility rule changes for 2021 onwards are also on Seamer’s agenda this year, in line with his mantra that updates should be introduced as soon as practicable rather than a set timetable.

During the course of last year, Seamer became more amenable to discussing the future – and Supercars’ often inscrutable technical regime – with the media.

He will never be as comfortable with the media as showman leaders like Tony Cochrane and Warburton, but his initial reluctance to engage was at least founded on good sense.

“Until you have your feet under the desk, it’s best to keep your mouth shut,” he said.

Expect to hear much more from Sean Seamer in his second season as the Supercars supremo.

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31

PIERRE LEVEGH

so near and yet so far

vegh Leve rree Le Piieerr 52 Le Mans 19

In the second of our Great Drives series, we recall a valiant attempt to drive the Le Mans 24 Hours solo that almost ended in an unlikely victory

T

By BOB WATSON

he name Pierre Levegh will forever be associated with the terrible tragedy that shook not only the world of motor sport but the entire world. Levegh was the driver of the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR sports car that crashed into the main grandstand in a ball of flame at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours, killing himself and 89 spectators. As a result, car races were cancelled all over the world, and Switzerland banned motor racing completely and has never resumed it. The tragedy caused Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from the sport until it returned to sports car racing and eventually Formula 1 some 40 years later The terrible accident was debated for years afterward. The circumstances were that Mike Hawthorn, driving a factory Jaguar, had just passed Lance Macklin in an Austin Healey and then made a late move to stop in his pit. Macklin swerved to the left to avoid Hawthorn’s car and was hit from behind by the overtaking Mercedes of Levegh, who in turn was about to be passed by Fangio in another Mercedes.

The ramp-like slope of the Austin Healey’s tail launched Levegh’s Mercedes into the air, and it flew over the safety barrier into the crowded grandstand and burst into flames. The race was barely two hours old.

In a letter to British magazine Motor Sport, well-known driver Paul Frere, who was waiting in the pits to take over from his co-driver, described the accident from what he saw and after viewing photographs from an 8mm film of the accident taken by a spectator: “What probably happened is that Macklin did not recognise early enough that Hawthorn moved to the right (to enter his

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The horrific scenes at Le Mans after Levegh’s Mercedes crashed into the public area lining the narrow pit straight, killing himself and dozens of spectators.

pit) and braked. But there was a good reason for Macklin not to notice. For him the much faster Jaguar was past and away, and his concern was the two Mercedes coming up behind him. It was important to him because normally he would have moved to the left to enter the

Levegh at speed in the F1-based Mercedes 300SLR (above).

Happier times for Levegh and Mike Hawthorn (right).

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Levegh drove an heroic race at Le Mans in 1952 at the wheel of a Talbot Lago (above). In 1955, Macklin’s wrecked Austin Healey came to rest in the pit lane (right).

Dunlop Curve under optimal conditions.

“Macklin was looking to his rear view mirror to decide whether he should give way to Levegh or had time to take his proper line. Under all normal circumstances it was the right thing to do. However, while he watched what was happening behind he did not notice that Hawthorn’s Jaguar had slowed and when he looked forward again he was right on the Jaguar’s tail and had to swerve to the left to avoid hitting it. That this was a panic move is shown by the fact that the Healey swerved wider towards the middle of the road than was actually necessary.

“While all this was happening Levegh apparently did not take any avoiding action and continued on his set line. Most probably he was concerned about what was happening behind him. He certainly did not want to get in the way of his teammate Fangio, who was chasing the Jaguar, and he also looked more to his mirrors than to the road. When he took his eyes back to the road it was too late even if it seems that there still would have been enough space for the Mercedes to be driven between the Austin Healey and the edge of the track.”

Paul Frere was a highly respected driver and journalist, and his explanation is probably the best available.

But the dreadful accident that cost Levegh his life is not the purpose of this story. Instead we will look back to the Le Mans race of 1952.

Pierre Levegh (pronounced ‘le-veck’) was born Pierre Bouillin and was a good all-round sportsman, excelling in skating, tennis and ice hockey in his youth. He started racing in the late 1930s, adopting an assumed name in tribute to his uncle, who was one of the pioneers of the sport. World War II interrupted Levegh’s career and by the end of the war in 1945, when motor racing resumed, he was already into his 40s.

Levegh raced in six Grands Prix in 1950 and 1951 in an uprated

34 AutoAction

pre-war Talbot Lago, but the car was never competitive and he never scored any points.

However, a run in the 1951 Le Mans 24 hour race proved more successful and he finished 4th (behind, as it happens, Lance Macklin, who was driving an Aston Martin DB2). The following year, at the age of 46, he came back with a unique aim. No driver had ever succeeded in completing the 24-hour race alone, and Levegh was determined to be the first man to do it.

Levegh was competitive from the start in his 4.5 litre Talbot Lago T26GS Spider, and as the race moved into its final hour he was holding the lead, although he was exhausted. Still, the thought of the finish almost in sight spurred him on.

His pit crew and his wife realised he was in a state of exhaustion and begged him to get out of the car and let his co-driver finish the race. At this point he was four laps ahead of the second car and a driver change would still have given them victory. But Levegh refused to give up the wheel, knowing he was on the verge of a unique achievement.

Then, half an hour before the finish, the Talbot’s engine blew up. It was reported that the engine failure was the result of a missed gearchange owing to driver fatigue. He was eventually

e favoured Tragedy at Le Mans. Threw from thd wi Mercedes team ), leaving the race (and the sportwin. to ar gu Ja s Hawthorn’

Levegh refused to give up the wheel, knowing he was on the verge of a unique achievement. Then, half an hour before the finish, the Talbot’s engine blew up classified 24th, having covered 265 laps of the 13.5km track, a distance of 3577km. Germans Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess took the win in a works Mercedes 300SL. Sections of the French press criticised Levegh for throwing away a victory for France in pursuit of what they saw as an egotistical quest for individual glory. The truth is that the engine failure was never proven to be anything other than sheer bad luck.

Levegh’s determination to win the event single-handed is seen

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as being less about ego and more about the desire to achieve something that no one else had ever done. Motor racing history is the poorer for the fact that he did not quite succeed.

These days, no driver may be in the car for longer than a specified amount of time, and with the enormous amount of downforce generated by the cars it is not unusual to have four drivers sharing the task, which makes Levegh’s drive all the more remarkable and his goal unobtainable for all time.

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35

G N I T T E S JET

S E I S S AU A number of young Australian drivers flew the Southern Cross with distinction during the 2018 season in all parts of the globe

T

By HEATH McALPINE

HE NUMBER of Aussies trying their hand overseas is at an alltime high and across the board it was a successful year. Asia and Europe both witnessed Australians taking the silverware. In this season review, Auto Action reflects on last year’s successes overseas.

FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP

AUSTRALIA WAS again well represented in Europe’s leading junior development series, despite Luis Leeds, Thomas Randle and Zane Goddard returning home as Oscar Piastri made the step up

36 AutoAction

from British F4 with Arden Motorsport, rt, joining the established Alex Peroni and nd Thomas Maxwell.

Peroni switched teams to MP Motorsport, while Maxwell moved too the small MP Motorsport team hoping too build on their debut seasons.

Piastri kicked off his debut seasonn perfectly with a double-points finish at the opening round of the season at Paul Ricard and went on to score three more podiums, including second at the penultimate round at the Hockenheimring, which sealed eighth and lead Aussie in the standings.

However, it was Peroni who stole the headlines after winning in Monaco, though it was an admittedly disappointing season for the Tasmanian, with mechanical issues and incidents hampering his challenge. He finished ninth.

Vast improvement from Maxwell was demonstrated by his 10th place and consistent points finishes. The Territorian finished the first five races in the points, but a trip to the podium eluded him, scoring a best finish of fourth at Spa.

JOEY MAWSON

AFTER A tough season in European Formula 3, Joey Mawson was hoping to have a better run of it in GP3, and it could be said he did.

When Mawson qualified well, he was able to match it with the top contenders.

However, qualifying was a struggle for the young Aussie as his Arden International team also suffered a lacklustre season.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Mawson, as he managed to take two podiums; third at Paul Ricard and second at Sochi were proof that, with a bit of luck and strong qualifying pace, Mawson could compete at the top level.

A championship position of 13th isn’t representative of Mawson’s potential.

JACK DOOHAN

JUST LIKE Oscar Piastri, Jack Doohan

chose the British F4 Championship to kick off his European campaign and he did it successfully.

Doohan not only walked away with fifth in the standings, but he also edged out teammate Dennis Hauger for the Rookie Cup. It only took Doohan two races to reach the podium, finishing third at Brands Hatch, and his first victory came at the fast Thruxton circuit.

He added another two wins at Snetterton and Silverstone to further entrench himself within the leading contenders, as did consistent podiums.

The battle between the two Red Bull Juniors was captivating all season long, with Hauger and Doohan battling close together. This was reflected in the final championship standings, as only a solitary point separated the pair, which fell the way of the Norwegian.

Alex Peroni celebrated a milestone victory at Monaco (top), while Calan Williams was a consistent points finisher in the EuroFormula Open series (above).

Clockwise from left: Joey Mawson made the podium twice in GP3; James Allen had a tough second season in the European Le Mans Series; Chaz Mostert competed for BMW with success in both America and Asia; Driving a red Ferrari and carrying number 27, Nick Foster took two wins in the Blancpain GT Asia series, earning him a start in the Bathurst 12 Hour; Highlight of Matt Cambell’s year was a class win at Le Mans; Jack Doohan won the Rookie Cup in British F4.

CALAN WILLIAMS

AFTER WINNING last year’s Australian Formula 3 Series, Calan Williams headed to Europe to contest the EuroFormula Open series with Fortec Motorsport.

Williams had a challenging first season in Europe, but Spa proved the breakthrough, as he finished seventh and was among the leading contenders. This kickstarted a run of six points finishes from eight starts to finish 11th in the championship, despite missing the final two rounds.

It was a strong finish from Williams and he continued to show steady improvement ahead of a tilt at the highly competitive Toyota Racing Series title over summer.

JAMES ALLEN

ALTHOUGH 2018 proved to be a tough second season in the European Le Mans Series for James Allen and the Graff Racing crew, it offered a chance to race in a higherspec machine and gave Allen a taste of what could be next.

Despite being in race-winning contention in 2017, his car featured an unstable driver line-up during 2018 and it proved costly. A best finish of seventh and a championship position of 12th fell well short of expectations.

However, an opportunity arose to drive Dragonspeed’s BR1 Gibson LMP1 chassis in a pair of World Endurance Championship races. Partnering Ben Hanley and Renger van der Zande, Allen finished a best of sixth in his final start at Shanghai in what was an impressive performance.

MATT CAMPBELL

DESPITE A penalty for his team, it has still been an extremely strong debut season in the World Endurance Championship so far for Matt Campbell.

The penalty for manipulating the FIA data logger to alter the refuelling times annulled

the points the team had collected up to Fuji, the penultimate round of the 2018 leg of the WEC Super Season.

The highlight for Campbell was taking class victory at Le Mans at his first attempt, but this was followed by wins at Silverstone and Shanghai, which meant that, until the penalty, Campbell and co-drivers Christian Ried and Julien Andlauer were comfortably in the championship lead.

With an expanded Porsche program for 2019, it promises to be a busy year for the Queenslander.

BLANCPAIN GT ASIA

AUSTRALIAN NICK Foster had a season to remember in Blancpain GT Series Asia, nearly taking the title after a strong back half of the year.

Foster was part of a large Aussie contingent that contested the series, although the only all-Australian entry was the AMAC Motorsport team in the Am division led by Sydneysider Andrew

MacPherson and partnered by Ben Porter.

Foster took two wins and a second with Kiwi Jono Lester to narrowly lose the title to Martin Kodric and Dennis Lind, but his success has led to an entry from the HubAuto Ferrari team in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Teammate in the series was Supercars pilot Tim Slade, who partnered team owner Morris Chen, but results didn’t go the pairing’s way.

MacPherson and Porter finished runner-up in the Am Class after taking class victory in the finale at Ningbo.

Shae Davies and Aidan Read struggled as part of the Craft Bamboo Racing squad.

Although Davies took second at Suzuka, it was the only joy for the team as Read struggled to score consistent points.

Tasmanian Josh Burdon made a great start to the season as part of the crack Absolute Racing Audi team, finishing second at Sepang before results dropped off towards the end of the season.

OTHER REPRESENTATIVES

JAKE PARSONS took a clean-sweep of class wins and challenged the newer F3 machinery in the Japanese F3 Championship.

Former Super2 driver Richard Muscat joined fellow Aussie Ben Gersekowski in racing Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia and enjoyed considerable success, taking third in the series.

Chaz Mostert also represented BMW in Asia and America, taking two wins in the Asian Le Mans Series in a GT3-spec BMW M6 and finishing the season-ending Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta in third driving the factory Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW M8 GTE in the GTLM class.

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s w e n l a Internation LOGANO CLAIMS HIS FIRST CUP SERIES TITLE JOEY LOGANO has taken out the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series title by winning the title decider in Miami from Martin Truex Jr and Kevin Harvick.

In the Championship 4 Playoff round, the contenders’ points are reset; whoever finishes highest of the four lifts the title. These contenders were Logano, Truex, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

All four drivers stayed up the front and out of trouble all day, but as the sun set things started to heat up.

Kyle Larson was in contention to win the race, running second when he touched the wall, resulting in a puncture with 74 laps to go. The incident resulted in a Safety Car that saw all the title contenders pit. Logano led the restart ahead of Truex and Harvick, while Busch dropped to ninth with a slow stop.

Busch fought his way back up into the top four in 14 laps. With 49 laps remaining, Truex took the lead off Logano, Truex having better long-run pace, while Logano had superior speed after the restarts.

In the final green flag stops, Truex’s Toyota fell off the jack and lost valuable time. Logano and Harvick had faultless stops, while Busch elected to stay out – until a Safety Car was deployed when Brad Keselowski hit and spun Daniel Suarez. All contenders elected to pit and Busch emerged leading Truex, Logano and Harvick, the Championship 4 in the top four positions with 15 laps to go.

On the restart, though, Busch dropped back to third.

Truexnow led Logano, but with Logano’s superior restart pace it was going to be hard to keep him behind.

With 12 laps to go Logano swept around the outside of Truex, holding the lead to the finish and taking his maiden championship.

Team Penske celebrated yet another title, as Joey Logano took his first NASCAR crown

TARQUINI ROLLS

Tarquini fends off Muller, both driving Hyundais, in the exciting WTCR finale at Macau.

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THE INAUGURAL WTCR season was a great success, the series being a very closely fought affair with both the drivers’ and teams’ championships going down to the wire. The championship also yielded 15 different race winners in 30 races, proof of the series’ success.

The ever-youthful Gabriele Tarquini started the season strongly, winning three of the first six races, however in the following six races Tarquini failed to score a single point.

It was clear early on that his main rivals were going to be Yvan Muller and Thed Bjork racing for Muller’s own YMR team.

Muller, making his return to racing after a one-year retirement, was immediately on the pace. Consistency was Muller’s

Marciello crushes Blancpain opposition THE BLANCPAIN GT Series stepped up another level this year, featuring dozens of quality drivers such as Audi drivers Christopher Mies and Kelvin van der Linde and former Formula One drivers Will Stevens and Christian Klien.

This year’s championship was won by former GP2 and Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello for the AKKA Mercedes team, which also lifted the teams’ championship.

Marciello’s co-driver, Michael Meadows, also deserves credit for the title win, as he drove alongside the Italian for most of the season, finishing third in the standings.

The first endurance race, on home ground, was a disaster for Marciello, who finished 11th at Monza. But this was the only round in which the Italian finished outside the points.

The pair’s strongest challengers were the two Belgian Audi Club Team WRT cars.

The Monza race was won by Mies and Alex Riberas driving the number one WRT Audi R8, and the Audis had as much, if

not more, pace than the Mercedes AMG during the season. But a few non-scoring races cost the them in both the driver and team standings.

Extra points were on offer for the 1000km of Paul Ricard, as well as at the six-hour and 12-hour stages of the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, where both of the WRT cars failed to pick up a single point in either race, whereas Marciello scored 34 points.

Mies and Riberas scored four wins during the season, more than anyone else, but failed score in six races, which cost them a chance to win the title.

Marciello showed his strength as a GT driver in 2018, finishing with 164 points, 34.5 points clear of Mies and Riberas.

Without the mishaps in the two major endurance races, it could have been a completely different season for the Audi pairing.

The Endurance Cup went to Mercedes AMG’s Yelmer Buurman, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz, with Marciello finishing second in the enduro standings.

Turkington joins greats with third BTCC

BACK THE YEARS IN WTCR strength throughout the season, rarely finishing outside the points. The only major blip came in the fourth round in Holland where he failed to score.

Bjork, the 2017 World Touring Car Champion, had the pace of his teammate and won four races compared with Muller’s three, but he lacked consistency. Bjork failed to finish in the top seven in the last nine races of the season, and as a result finished seventh in the standings.

There were only two likely title winners heading into the final round in Macau, Tarquini and Muller.

Tarquini only needed to pick up a few points and stay out of trouble in the final round to take the title.

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In the first race of the weekend the Italian veteran finished fourth with Muller second. However, in the second race he was involved in a first-lap incident, retiring from the race, while Muller finished second.

That set up a thrilling finale to the season. Muller needed to finish on the podium with Tarquini finishing out of the points. He found himself in fourth position and tried everything to get third, but to no avail. Tarquini picked up a solitary point to put it beyond doubt.

The 56-year-old took the title by just three points, his first championship since 2009.

Muller’s YMR team took home the teams’ championship.

Auto_Action

THE 2018 British Touring Car Championship was as action-packed and fiercely fought as always. It was a competitive field, with no clear favourites early on – as shown when 12 different drivers stood on the podium in the first four races.

As the season unfolded the title contenders became a little more obvious.

Josh Cook (Vauxhall), Adam Morgan (Mercedes) and Tom Ingram (Toyota) were the only multiple winners in the first three rounds, though only Ingram was able to fight for the title, while Cook and Morgan dropped away as the season progressed.

2017 championship runner-up Colin Turkington (BMW) had a slow start to the season, finishing in the top eight just once in the first two rounds.

After this, however, Turkington put together a string of great finishes to find himself right in championship contention.

Defending champion Ash Sutton (Subaru) also started the season quietly, with no

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podium finish in the first three rounds. Then his season turned on like a light switch when he won the following two races and put together a remarkable run of results.

Sutton was right in contention until being disqualified from the second race at Knockhill, the third-last round, knocking the momentum out of his title charge. He eventually finished his title defence a disappointing fourth, though he did manage to win more races than anyone else with five.

Tom Chilton (Ford) had a quiet year but snared third overall, his best BTCC result, after scoring in 25 of the last 26 races.

The final round, around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, saw Turkington go in with sizeable points lead over Ingram.

Turkington had his worst round of the season, scoring just four points, but the deficit was too much for Ingram to reel in.

Turkington won his third BTCC despite taking only one race win, and next year shoots for a record-equalling fourth title.

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S R E T T I L G T ALL THA While his first trip to Indianapolis didn’t include the sights and sounds of the iconic Indianapolis 500, Autoo Action’s publisher BRUCE WILLIAMS instead took inn the world’s biggest motorsport industry event, the 31st st annual Performance Racing Industry Show which was as held in December 2018.

I

ndianapolis is in the mid-west state of Indiana and is known as a motorsport mecca. While the biggest crowds visit the city to attend the Indy 500, it’s the annual PRI Trade Show that really gets the world’s motorsport industry people together.

Indianapolis is a nice city to visit and it’s usually warm and sunny in the month of May when the annual 500-mile classic is run. Along with the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race and the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Indy 500 is arguably the world’s most famous car race. The Indy 500 is also one of the biggest single-day sporting events in the world, with hundreds of thousands of fans traveling from all over the world to attend.

And while the city also has the annual Brickyard 400 NASCAR race and other major events to bring in the fans, it’s the PRI Show held in early December that draws the global motorsport industry to Indianapolis. Many race teams are also based in the city, so it makes sense to run the event in a location which is roughly in the middle of America.

The PRI Show is a massive event.

Exclusive to the motorsports industry and with nearly 1200 exhibitors, PRI is without doubt the biggest trade-

42 AutoAction

only show whose single focus is motorsport rsport and the industries that support it.

It’s a major event on the international al motorsport calendar and its timing in early December coincides with the conclusion sion of most of the big motorsport series held around the world. So that makes it easy for motorsports industry buyers, racing professionals and manufacturers from across the U.S. and around the world to gather in the one location to conduct business for the upcoming racing season and to discover the latest innovations and d technology in

motorsports.

The show is spread over the h massive ive Indiana Convention Centre site, located in downtown Indianapolis. The centre has three main halls as well as some smaller spaces, all jam packed with exhibitors including a huge hall full of motorsport trailers and transporters and another separate hall which is dominated an and fabrication by the latest in machining an equipment. equipme you’ve never been If you’v PRI Show then a to the PR simple way w to describe it it’s the motorsport is that it’ equivalent to a kid being equivale locked in a candy store shop to Aussies) and (lolly sho three days of walking after thre (about 220 km in total) and talking, I still only saw about 75 per ccent of what I wanted to see.

It all kicked off early on Thursday morning with motorsports legends Al The PRI Show Unser Sr. and Al Unser Jr. is a meeting joining veteran motorsports place for journalist and broadcaster the global motorsport Dave Despain on stage for industry. the PRI Trade Show’s 2018 opening breakfast. It was an interesting and entertaining conversation between Despain and the Unser’s about their motorsport lives and was a great way to kick off the show. It was a BIG room and I have never shared breakfast with so many people.

The show has just about any piece of equipment you might need to go racing in whatever style of racing you want to do it in.

Given it’s a trade-only show and not open to the general public it’s amazing how many

people attend, and you could see that there were many deals being done by serious people.

There were massive displays from manufacturers and suppliers of speedway parts and components, with everything from mud scrapers to full chassis cars of various categories, all ready to go.

Every major racing driveline and braking systemand shock absorber manufacturers had a display, with engineers and sales people on hand to discuss needs and technical information.

All the big names in race apparel and helmet manufacturers were showcasing their products, so it was the place to sit down and do a deal.

If you’re a serious engine builder the PRI show is a must. All the hard-core engine components suppliers were on hand as well as demonstrations of the very latest in CNC engine machining centres. Also on display were the latest in engine and chassis dyno systems including the Australian-made Mainline high horse power hub dynos, which were getting lots of interest.

I didn’t realise just how many cylinder block, CNC heads, crankshaft, piston, conrod and valve train suppliers could be in the one place at the one time. So, if you had questions about engine parts and you needed the latest in go fast bits, it is a place you can save a lot of time and get straight to the people you want to talk to.

Having said that, many of these manufacturers have fantastic suppliers and distributers based here in Australia, and they are the ones to deal with and put a lot of effort into getting the best deals for Australian distribution.

PRI GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS PROGRAM

Crankshafts and just about every other engine component possible is on display at the PRI Show ... which brings together the industry, teams and suppliers from around the world. Australian products and industry identities have an increasing participation in the event every year.

The scale of the PRI Show is enormous, from the opening breakfast (above right) to the huge variety of products and technology on display , to the global media interest. Auto Action was an invited guest to join the judging panel for the PRI Global Media Awards program.

It’s significant when you consider the number of Australian companies that go to the PRI show each year. It’s a big trip for them all, but it obviously makes a big difference to be able to talk face to face and do business directly with the major component manufacturers. And of course, most of the big brands we see distributed locally have impressive displays all showcasing new and innovative products.

It was strange to be so far from Australia and yet bump into so many familiar faces, many of these people representing companies that are regular Auto Action advertisers.

Some of these people included Bill Mann from Performance Wholesale, Bill Nitschke and Matthew Clarke from Precision International, Adam Bressington of Fabre, and Racer Industries MD, Ryan McLeod.

These guys are serious Australian engine and motorsport component distributers and do many long-term deals when they visit the PRI show each year.

Ryan McLeod, apart from owning Racer Industries which is one of the significant motorsport apparel and accessory retailers in Australia, also manufactures the MARC Car race cars that are sold and raced around the world. He told me that for him the PRI Show is a must do trip each year.

“For example, we are building five new MARC Cars now. We need brake systems, driveline components, engine parts and I want to be able to use the latest components available. I want to use the latest innovations in race car technology and the best products available, so it’s important to be able to discuss directly with a component manufacturer my needs, as well as any issues I might have. It’s amazing how much you can

sort out in an hour of direct conversation with the component engineer who is sitting right in front of you,” McLeod said.

As one Australian performance and race parts distributor told me; “While it’s a pretty hectic few days, I can see more people and do more deals in these three days than I would spending weeks traveling the USA. Trying to coordinate meetings with suppliers across the USA can be a nightmare. But here I can have a coffee or a dinner and get some serious business done. Its always better doing deals face to face, so it’s well worth the trip.”

As another Australian distributor said; “I can stay on top of what new products are coming up rather than finding out about it after it has happened. And because I’m here talking face to face, people take you much more seriously than by trying to negotiate sending emails or trying to get the timing right with late night phone calls.”

And of course, it wasn’t just Aussies on the lookout for new products and deals to be done, there were a significant number of Australian manufactures of performance and motorsport related products on hand to showcase some of the best innovations from down under.

Australian motorsport and component companies with their own stands at the 2018 PRI show included Tighe Cams, Ice Ignition, Yella Terra, Bullet Race Engineering, Pfitzner Performance Gearboxes, ACL Race Bearings and Extreme Clutch, just to mention a few.

Australian motorsport component manufacturers also had strong presences with their local distributors on hand to promote and offer technical advice. These included Weddle Industries, who are the USA

distributors for the Albins Engineering trans axle systems. Haltech Engine Management Systems USA, MoTeC USA, Holinger America, Noonan Race Engines, Pedders Suspension and Turbosmart, as well as several other Australian-based brands which had space on local distributors stands.

Leading Australian supplier PWR Performance had a very impressive stand in size and appearance, with Kees Weel on hand to discuss lots of thermal exchange opportunities.

It was also amazing to catch up with a few great mates, including lthe arger than life and well connected Rob Herrod of Herrod Motorsport. Rob was busy doing lots of deals with Ford Performance. Sprintcar guru, J&J Auto Racing’s Jack Ellam, was also on hand showing his latest sprint car chassis, supported by his Australian distributor Dave Challons, who is well known to local sprintcar people.

So, the long and the short of it is the PRI Show is motorsport nirvana for a person like me who has been involved in the industry for a long time, wth some much great stuff in the one place at the one time!

So, if you’re looking for the latest innovation or you want to showcase your brand and products to the motorsport world, then you should get into touch with the team at the PRI Show and investigate getting involved.

But make sure you take plenty of warm clothes as it gets bloody cold in Indianapolis just prior to Christmas!

For further info visit: www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow

FOR THE first time as part of the 2018 Performance Racing Industry Show, expert journalists from motorsport industry publications around the world were chosen to be part of the esteemed Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Global Media Awards judges panel.

Auto Action was recognised as a one of the world’s most significant motorsport media outlets and along with other publications and media outlets including Race Tech Motorsport Engineering, Inside Track Motorsport News and Pit Talk Asia participated as judges in the PRI Global Media Awards program.

The motorsport media were asked to identify products entered in the Featured Products Showcase at the PRI Trade Show that could have the greatest international appeal and this selection included some of the hottest new products in the motorsports industry. Each judge was asked to select 10 products they felt would succeed as motorsport industry products in their home country.

Manufacturers of those chosen products received a PRI Global Media Award.

Several Australian manufacturers received Awards, including Bullet Engineering for its aluminium billet 2JZ engine block, Pfitzner Performance Gearboxes for its PPG T56 - MAGNUM - TR-6060, 6 speed, helical synchro gearset, and PE Racing Products for its modular billet brake pedal box assembly, which is also available with a throttle system.

Other great innovations that would be applicable to Australia included the Koolbox ICE electronic helmet cooling System.

With the LS engine family being a significant powerplant option for motorsport across many categories these days, LS engine builders and tuners in Australia will see the potential benefits of a new piston from JE, the “Ultra Series” to suite GM Gen III-IV LS and V LT1.

Another well engineered product that could save a few headaches is a fuel cell surge tank from Radium Engineering.

Disclosure - Auto Action was a guest of the Performance Racing Industry Show

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FORMULA E

ELECTRIC BMW TAKES FIRST BLOOD

ANTONIO FELIX DA COSTA has given BMW a debut win in Formula E, taking the flag in a thrilling season opener in Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of the fifth season, the organisers announced a new Gen2 chassis that boasts significant advances over the previous generation Spark-Renault SRT 01E, including a power increase to 250kW, producing a claimed top speed of 280km/h. The most crucial advancement, however, is a longer battery life – so there is no longer the necessity to change cars mid-race.

Formula E has also continued to welcome new manufacturers. BMW has formed an alliance with Andretti Autosport, Mercedes motorsport partner HWA with Venturi, and Nissan replaces Renault at DAMS. New drivers include Formula 1 refugees Felipe Massa, Pascal Wehrlein and Stoffel Vandoorne, while notable GT driver

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Alexander Sims and DTM champion Garry Paffett were also among the debutants.

The series is held exclusively on street circuits, with Saudi Arabia making its first ever appearance on the calendar and kicking the season off in the city of Diriyah.

It was an action-packed 45-minute race that heated up with less than four minutes to go as suspension issues struck down the Geox Dragon entry of Jose Maria Lopez, bringing out Da Costa was jumping for joy after winning in Saudi Arabia, the first victory for Formula E newcomer BMW. the Safety Car and setting up a battle to the finish “Thank you to everybody! I’m delighted

by Vergne as he recovered from a drivebetween polesitter da Costa and through penalty to be right in the mix at the – for me, that I’m back at the top of the reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne. podium again after such a long time, final restart. He disposed of the Mahindra The new ‘Attack Mode’ was utilised by of Jerome D’Ambrosio almost immediately, but primarily for the team. We have most at the restart, but most effectively always had the same goal, to get to this but a further attack on da Costa proved point. And each of us gave it our all. costly as he lost time and enabled the “Days like this make it clear, it’s worth Portuguese driver to take a 0.462s win. all the effort! Many thanks to everyone D’Ambrosio rounded out the podium, who played their part in this win. just ahead of Kiwi Mitch Evans for “But we still have a lot of work Jaguar-Panasonic Racing. to do. Vergne was incredibly fast, Drivers to strike trouble included it was really close at the end, my Edoardo Mortara not long after the heart rate went through the roof. start when he locked up and slammed But in the end, I did enough.” into the wall, severely wounding the The next round of the 2018/19 Venturi, though he continued.

Formula E season takes place this Debutant Paffett also crashed out, while weekend in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist stopped on track after the team had repaired POINTS: Da Costa 28, Vergne 18, his car due to a qualifying accident, d’Ambrosio 15, Evans 12, Lotterer 11, both joining Lopez as retirees.

Buemi 8, Rowland 6, Abt 4, “That’s a great day for me, BMW and the di Grassi 2, Piquet Jr 1. whole team,” said an elated Da Costa.

NEW ZEALAND

SMITH TAKES PUKEKOHE SUPER2 DRIVER Jack Smith has taken the NZV8 Championship lead after winning the second round of the series at Pukekohe.

Smith converted Pole Position into victory in Race 1 in what was a hard-fought encounter. The Brad Jones Racing Super2 pilot dropped to third after a poor get away leaving the Nissan Altima of Nick Ross in the lead, but only marginally over Australian Brenton Grove.

The trio enjoyed an intense battle for the lead before a mistake from Ross forced the Nissan into second and gave Smith an opportunity, which resulted in contact between the duo as positions remained the same.

Grove enjoyed a short time in the lead as a electrical gremlin dropped the Toyota Camry out of the lead and the race.

Ross regained the lead, but a further mistake at the hairpin gave Smith the win ahead of Lance Hughes and Rob Wallace.

Jack Smith leads the Championship now (top) while Nick Ross won the final race (above).

Ross recovered from his spin to finish eighth.

A further race win and second on Sunday confirmed Smith as the round winner and championship leader, as teammate Hughes took second after a consistent accumulating runner up position by

finishing third in the final two races.

Third for the round was a recovering Ross, who took the final victory of the weekend.

It was Smith who was smiling, the Australian pleased with the improvements made since Round 1.

“Great weekend. At the first round here last month we didn’t exactly struggle, but we didn’t put it all together. This weekend we’ve gone close to maximum points,” said Smith.

“I had bit of a shocking start in that last race and let Nick get away and into the lead and onto the win. But the Championship lead was what we’re after and we got it. It’s been a good weekend.

“The car has been good all weekend, we haven’t changed it much at all. My guys Luke and Aaron have done a really good job tuning it up.

“Really looking forward to getting down to Highlands in Cromwell in the New Year.

It’s a new circuit for not only me, but a lot of the others drivers, so it should be a good leveller.”

In Class Two, Justin Ashwell finished ahead of Matt Podjursky, courtesy of two race wins compared to the latter’s one.

15-YEAR OLD TAKES ROUND CALLUM HEDGE has taken his maiden round victory in dramatic circumstances during Round 2 of the NZ Toyota 86 Championship at Pukekohe.

15-year-old Hedge (pictured right) started fifth on the grid for the feature race and stayed among the lead battle, working his way to second by the penultimate lap. This set him up to attack race leader Jaden Ransley, which he did at the hairpin, to give himself a carlength margin heading into the final lap, taking the win.

“Jaden was blocking pretty hard and once he moved I gave him the big dummy,” explained Hedge, “I let off the brake and sailed on in through the inside. I’d had a go at Turn 4 and he’d shut the door but I wasn’t

really close enough, so that was fair enough.”

Behind Hedge, there was an almighty scrap for the remaining podium spots that fell the way of Jordan Baldwin. Ransley had to settle for third, but only after a 15s penalty was given to third across the line Arran Crighton.

Baldwin’s drive was impressive as he struggled with differential and gearbox issues across the weekend.

Ransley had won the opening race of the weekend after fighting off the advances of Crighton and Polesitter Peter Vodanovich, while Hedge took the second ahead of Vodanovich and the struggling Connor Adam.

Hedge holds a 14-point lead over Adam heading to Hampton Downs, which is to be held this weekend.

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WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS - SPEEDWEEK

Auto Action’s Geoff Rounds was on hand to cover all the action at the opening rounds of the 2018/19 World Series Sprintcars

LINES BREAKS WSS DROUGHT STEVEN LINES broke a three-year drought with a hard-fought win over defending Speedweek champion Kerry Madsen in the first round of the 2018-19 QSS World Series Sprintcars at Murray Bridge (SA).

Lines, who won the 2013-14 WSS title driving for Hall’s Motorsport, came from the second row for the 35-lap A-Main, albeit with heavily damaged wings after a collision trying to avoid a clash with local Aiden Hall, who spun.

Polesitter Madsen was also caught in the drama.

American Cory Eliason threw a hard challenge to Madsen early after both coming from the front, until Matt Egel arrived to upset the battle and try his hand at a pass for second, allowing Madsen to open up a sizable and potential racewinning gap.

Going into the final 10 laps the order of Madsen, Lines, Eliason and Egel settled slightly. But Lines was not content following Madsen and made his move late to take the lead.

Egel passed both Eliason and Madsen to hit second spot, until both repaid the move. Madsen

clawed back to second with one lap remaining and Eliason made a last corner pass to claim back third.

Lines emerged with his trademark beaming smile and quickly praised his car and crew.

“We’re really starting to get a handle on this car now and (crew chief) Dave Sharman and the boys really had it sorted tonight for the second half of the race when it counted. I can’t thank them and everyone at Horrell Motorsport enough for the opportunity,” Lines said.

Madsen, driving for his new team, Krikke Motorsport, and as a firsttime contracted WSS driver, was less enthused.

“That’s really hard to lose like that, especially when you’ve led it for most of the race.

“Steve just outsmarted me in those final laps and you just can’t give him those sorts of opportunities,” Madsen said.

Defending World Series Champion James McFadden finished fifth.

Sixth was Daniel Pestka, while Brad Keller came from 15th to finish seventh.

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Image: Ray Ritter

Madsen charges to victory while (inset) Rusty Hickman rolls.

Images: Ray Ritter

MADSEN CLOSE TO PERFECT KERRY MADSEN had a near perfect night and took back the QSS World Series Sprintcars series lead with victory at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway (SA).

The reigning Speedweek champion made the most of his pole position to grab a big haul of points to win from reigning Victorian champion David Murcott and a deserving Grant Anderson.

This was the 427th round of the nationwide competition that began in 1987 at the Claremont Speedway and again delivered, just as racing did all those years ago.

From pole position, with Corey McCullagh next to him for the 35-lap feature, Madsen tried many lines on the popular “bullring” venue.

The four-time Australian champion eventually moved back to the top of the track, where he comfortably led the race though misjudging American Cory Eliason’s exit off Turn 4, squeezing the Diamond

There were incidents galore at Murray Bridge.

Images: Ray Ritter

Bay Motorsport #26 into the front straight wall.

McCullagh did not fare well, as Murcott and Anderson quickly passed him.

Aidan Hall tagged the wall in turn two in the second lap to bring about the first stoppage.

With the field reset for the restart, it soon became evident that James McFadden was intent on reeling in the leaders, advancing from 11th to sixth as local hero Steven Lines slipped four spots back from 14th and looked gone.

Just a handful of laps were completed before Rusty Hickman and Jamie Veal stopped the race with contact entering Turn 1, retiring both and triggering another opportunity for Lines to overcome

his poor start.

Eliason continued his forward charge, while McFadden advanced to third, seemingly out of nowhere.

With 12 laps remaining, Madsen reaffirmed his grip on the lead on the restart, while Murcott and

Anderson locked in the minor positions.

WSS champion McFadden settled for fourth and Lines miraculously stormed back to fifth, to complete the 35-lap journey.

“I feel bad for Cory because no

one wants to win races by hitting another car, but I just didn’t see him or hear him and he obviously had more speed than I thought.

We’re really starting to make some progress with this combination,” Madsen said.

WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS - SPEEDWEEK

ANDERSON’S HISTORIC WIN GRANT ANDERSON led from start to finish to win his maiden World Series Sprintcars feature race and create Australian speedway history.

The Albury won the third round of the QSS WSS at Premier Speedway, defeating David Murcott and Corey McCullagh in the 35-lap feature.

Anderson now joins his father David in the history books, becoming just the fourth father-andson duo to claim World Series wins.

George and Brooke Tatnell, Ray and Brett Lacey, and Max and Mitchell Dumesny are the only other father-and-son feature race winners of the series.

“These races are the toughest in the business to win … it’s got the monkey off the back for me now,” Anderson said.

“Adrenaline is still running high, and to beat the best in the business I know how hard it is.

“I grew up watching my old man race all these races and I have huge respect for all my competitors. I just know how hard it is to drive one of these cars and I know the big guns

do make it look easy but it’s not.”

Anderson qualified secondfastest with a 10.146s lap, behind a staggering 9.986s lap from McCullagh.

Murcott claimed pole position after the Gold Shootout but elected to start on the outside of the front row, forcing Anderson to start from the inside.

Anderson immediately took advantage of the opportunity to start from pole and was never headed.

In a ferocious drive, Anderson was into lapped traffic after just seven laps and raced to what was an emotional win for the hardened racer.

“I’ve got the reputation as a slick, smooth track specialist, they believe I can’t run on the heavy stuff, but anyway I proved a few critics wrong because that was a hookedup, fast race track and we led from start to finish,”

Four-wide salute at Warrnambool (right).

Anderson and crew celebrate the win (below).

Images: Geoff Rounds

Anderson said.

“Now I know I can win on the heavy stuff and the slick, so the confidence is up.”

McCullagh also enjoyed a personal milestone, recording a career-best fastest lap, describing his stunning nine-second lap as “perfect”.

“It is the quickest I have ever been around here.

“It was literally one of the (most) perfect laps I have ever done and also one of the fastest.

“I think my previous (best) one was about two years ago when I was 10.26 (seconds), so to knock three-tenths off that is pretty cool,” McCullagh said.

VEAL’S AVALON LUCK JAMIE VEAL again proved his liking for Avalon Raceway, taking an impressive albeit lucky win in the fourth round of World Series Sprintcars.

From the third row for the 35-lap A-Main, Veal’s march towards eventual victory was also a test of his patience. He eventually took the win ahead of Darren Mollenoyux and James McFadden.

Brooke Tatnell added spice to the evening, driving the Ray and Ash Scott Cool, having

landed in Australia only hours earlier from America after enduring flight delays.

Mollenoyux and Cory Eliason claimed the quickest times of the Gold Shootout and took the front row for the feature, then left the field behind while setting their quickest times of the race in the first three laps.

Mollenoyux stole the lead on lap seven, until Eliason took over at the front and opened up a gap. Meanwhile, Veal and McFadden pressed forward as WSS Speedweek

Avalon ace Jamie Veal took the win (right).

Lines leads Brooke Tatnell, who arrived from the US only hours earlier (below).

Images: Corey Gibson

contender Steven Lines struggled.

McFadden and Mollenoyux traded numerous passes while Eliason established a handy lead and looked like running away with the win and the $10,000 first prize.

Then the race changed, when Eliason clipped the infield tyre barrier in Turn 3 and instantly dislodged the front end of the Diamond Bay #26 with just 12 laps remaining.

Veal inherited the lead over Mollenoyux andd McFadden, M F dd andd despite d it some close l calls ll the entire top 10 order remained unchanged, leaving Kerry Madsen in fourth and Tatnell fifth.

Veal’s win made him the fourth winner in Speedweek 2018-19 in as many rounds, and the sixth different winner at an Avalon WSS event in the past six years.

“I’ve come close a few times here at Avalon, and it’s been a good place for me over the years,” Veal said.

“To get a World Series win here, especially when I’m leading the track championship, makes it a good night.

“I’ve raced ‘Molly’ enough in my career and he’s a clean racer, so it was god fun.

“But the top five cars were real good cars tonight. It’s just awesome to come here and have Avalon put on an awesome racetrack, and have so many people enjoy the show.”

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WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS - SPEEDWEEK

McFADDEN, LINES WIN AT WARRNAMBOOL

Images: Geoff Rounds

JAMES MCFADDEN produced one of his best drives to win the fifth round of QSS World Series Sprintcars after starting ninth and using the Premier Speedway high line to his advantage.

The Monte Motorsport driver and defending WSS champion took the lead with three laps to run from American Cory Eliason, who led the majority of the race despite a series of restarts.

Eliason finished second in his Diamond Bay Motorsport machine, with Steve Lines in third. Lines’ result was enough to collect the Speedweek crown and the $10,000 bonus.

“To get a win on the last night is huge. I am pumped,” McFadden said.

“Qualifying is what we really need to work on ... because we’ve finished well with four top fives this week, but we only made the shootout once, so if we can get better at the

start of the night, I won’t have to work so hard at the end.”

Lines entered the night with a 60-point championship lead over Madsen, with a further 55 points back to McFadden, forcing the Mount Gambier ace to race hard to secure his lead.

Madsen opened the night with a solid drive from the inverted eighth spot on the grid to win heat one, while Lines spun in his opening heat, managing only seventh.

In round two, the tables were turned somewhat, as Lines and McFadden claimed fourths, while Madsen could only manage seventh, re-closing the points gap.

The Top Eight Shootout was where Lines gained a huge advantage, by turning his seventh qualifying position into a front row start, advancing from the Bronze to the Gold Shootout, joining Eliason in discharging

Madsen and Jamie Veal of their original front row positions.

The 35-lap A-Main was where Eliason excelled. He controlled the top spot for 32 laps, as McFadden picked off cars at will and was coming.

Slowly but surely McFadden used the high line to carve through the field, reaching fourth behind Madsen and Lines on lap 19, before both Lines and McFadden dislodged Madsen on lap 24.

McFadden then claimed Lines two laps later, setting out after Eliason, who had put in his quickest lap early and looked to be slightly fading in the closing stages.

With three laps to go McFadden made his move on Eliason, claiming the lead and holding it all the way to the finish.

McFadden became the fifth winner in five rounds of this year’s series.

BUTCHER CARVES OUT MAJOR BEN BUTCHER has set up an exciting season by producing one of his best drives to win the annual Sprintcar Muster at the Perth Motorplex, which doubled as a 360 Sprintcars Series round.

He is now looking forward to some major racing in Esperance during January.

Butcher qualified fastest in his group and grabbed a stunning win in his opening heat by half a lap, then backed that up with a creditable third to claim a front row start for the all-important A-main.

He commanded the 20-lap race after getting the jump on polesitter Todd Davis and was

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never headed, showing the way to win from Ben Van Ryt and Sam Borlini.

Butcher was elated with the victory and admitted he’d felt a little down after coming close early in 2018.

“This is my biggest win since last season in the Bonza Bradford Memorial race,” Butcher said.

“This is our first win for the season – we’ve been close many times already this year and it was great to seal the deal on the weekend. We will now look to finish the season competing in this 360 championship, running the 360 Australian Title and the Krikke Boys Shootout.”

Image: Richard Hathaway

Lines was beaming as he looked back on his hectic week, where he never finished outside the top six and won the title by 56 points from Madsen.

“I’m just relieved it’s all over to be honest.

You need a bit of luck on your side and I think we had both sides of that this week,” Lines said.

“When Kerry got past me, I was doing all the sums in my head working out where I had to be to win Speedweek. But after I got past him, I was actually not too bothered when James passed me because I knew we’d done enough and I just wanted to hold my ground.”

WSS Speedweek final standings: Lines 1329, Madsen 1273, McFadden 1262, Eliason 1087, Anderson 1026, Keller 988, Hickman 982, Murcott 968, Veal 966, Dillon 809.

s w e n Y A W D E SPE Image: Geoff Rounds JAMIE VEAL overcame all sorts of challenges to win the annual Sprintcar Gold Cup at Avalon Raceway. Veal and his opposition were left in darkness when the venue’s lighting went out, but from position two he led all 15 laps of a shortened A-Main that also doubled as the sixth round of the SRA Series, defeating Tim Van Ginneken and Grant Stansfield.

AUSTRALIA WILL have two representatives at the 33rd edition of the annual Chili Bowl in Oklahoma this weekend. Sydney’s Mark Cooper will drive an Esslinger-powered Spike against more than 300 other competitors from six countries under the Tulsa roof. He will be joined by Victorian Mike Griffiths, who will be in his Gaerte-powered Eagle, and both will face some tough and notable open-wheel campaigners including Kyle Larson, Shane Stewart, Daryn Pittman, David Gravel, Rico Abreu, Sammy Swindell and Christopher Bell, the latter aiming for his third straight win.

DUMESNYS SCORE HISTORIC 1-2 BOXING DAY was the perfect time for two famous brothers to have an on-track festiveseason battle and create speedway history.

Marcus Dumesny, the youngest son of Max and Melinda Dumesny, raced the high line of Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway to execute a brilliant last-lap pass on elder brother Matthew, to win the annual Australian Sprintcar Grand

Prix and record his first feature race victory.

In front of his extended family, Marcus raced his brother hard for the historic win. They became the second lot of brothers to win at the venue after Kerry and Ian Madsen (in the 2017 Australian Sprintcar Championship).

“I’ve been trying to do this for four years. To finally get

here on one of the big nights and race wheel to wheel with my brother... I’ve got no words,” Marcus said.

Polesitter Troy Little led the opening laps until Robbie Farr assumed the top spot and held form for the next 20 laps.

The Dumesny boys made their presence felt after a restart on lap 23, when Matt Dumesny made a dive for the lead. The current NSW

Sprintcar champion opened up a handy lead, with Marcus making his move for second and going on the hunt after his brother.

A frantic race to the finish saw Marcus in his #47 machine sweep around the outside for the win over his brother, with Farr, Reidy and Little rounding out the top five.

Max Dumesny added to the family affair, finishing 11th.

KENDRICK WINS WA SPEEDWEEK TWO FEATURE race wins helped Jason Kendrick win the annual USA v WA Sprintcar Speedweek Championship.

Of the four nights of racing, Kendrick grabbed wins at Perth Motorplex and Bunbury Speedway to narrowly win the mini-series by just eight points, from American Parker Price-Miller and brothers Brad and Jamie Maiolo.

In the final 30-lap race at Bunbury, Kendrick beat Americans Mark Dobmeier and Price-Miller.

Heading into the final round, Kendrick was 12 points behind Brad Maiolo, with both starting on the front row for the last race.

Maiolo was the early leader in the final until on the 15th lap he clipped a slowing Chace Karpenko in lapped traffic, ending his night.

Kendrick inherited the lead and opened up a

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Image: Gary Reid

MATT JACKSON has raced to another win at Valvoline Raceway in the 25-lap New Year Derby for Speedcars. Unfortunately, the race will also be remembered for a violent crash involving Michael Stewart that saw him hospitalised for observation, but we’re happy to report he is okay. After this crash, Jackson had a free run to the chequered flag, defeating Dan Biner and Harley Smee.

DARREN KANE finished 2018 in a sweet way with a flag-to-flag victory in Super Sedan Summer Slam at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway. From pole position, Kane led all 35 laps and was chased hard by Matt Pascoe and Mark Pagel, with passing opportunities proving difficult. Kyall Fisher held fourth for all but the last lap, when Sean Black made a pass to take the position after coming from eighth.

REIGNING GRAND Annual Sprintcar Classic champion Corey McCullagh might have the defence of the prestigious race on his mind, but another title could be waiting. McCullagh, from Warrnambool, has a huge 399-point lead in the Sprintcar Racing of Victoria Championship, pretty much the equivalent of a round win. The recent rounds saw two of the series’ regulars win. Fivetime SRA champion John Vogels used his local knowledge to master the tight Simpson Speedway, while Jamie Veal took the chequered the previous night at Avalon Raceway. Standings are: McCullagh 2013, Daly 1614, Parr 1611, Charge 1496, Hunter 1492, Jones 1465, Milburn 1463.

Image: Richard Hathaway

commanding advantage for the run to the finish.

Dobmeier impressed in the final, coming from position seven to finish second after posting two DNFs and a fourth in the series.

Over the four nights of

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the series, Price-Miller had a second, a fifth and a pair of thirds for 572 points – just eight points behind Kendrick’s winning tally of 580.

Despite his DNF, Brad Maiolo was third overall on

MITCH GLYNN claimed back-to-back wins in the annual Neville Pike Cup for Junior Sedans at Premier Speedway on January 1.

With a second place and a win respectively in his two heat races, Glynn came from the front row to defeat Kasey Garlick and Darcy Micallef. “Towards the end Darcy started gaining on me so I had to move down on the track where the quicker line was,” Glynn said.

568 points - thanks to two wins and a second leading into the Bunbury round.

Series points: Kendrick 580, Price-Miller 572, Brad Maiolo 568, Jamie Maiolo 562, Manders 546, Dobmeier 540, Milling 532.

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WALSH SALUTES SKIP

SAM WALSH withstood a number of challenges to convincingly win the Salute To Skip at Valvoline Raceway and grab his first feature race win of the 2018-19 season.

The win by Walsh, over Matt Dumesny, Robbie Farr and Marcus Dumesny, helped his push towards victory in the Ultimate Sprintcar Championship NSW pointscore.

The night celebrated Australian Sprintcar legend Skip Jackson but it was fellow USA resident Brad Sweet who created his own highlights reel.

Sweet, the reigning Knoxville Nationals champion, ran the tough ‘speedway alphabet’.

The American missed qualifying earlier in the night and was forced to start at the rear of the C-Main, then progressed through the

B-main to make the last transfer of the 24-car field to the A-Main.

Sweet’s efforts in the 35-lap feature race were remarkable.

He moved his way through the field to finish fifth in what was one of the best-ever drives witnessed at the Parramatta complex.

Walsh took the lead from early race leader Lynton Jeffrey, who was having his first race on home soil in Sydney and finished sixth, and eased away to take the win.

“Finally got a win. Cool to do it on a night that honoured Skip Jackson.

I had a solid car all night and the nut behind the wheel didn’t stuff up,” Walsh said.

“See if we can back it up. I think there may be a little more fire from a guy that won a particular race in Iowa a few months back...”

SWEET LIGHTS UP SYDNEY

SYDNEY SPEEDWAY fans were given a lasting reminder of the talents of Brad Sweet on the first day of 2019 as he waved goodbye to Australia.

Before returning to the United States to ready himself for the 2019 World of Outlaws season, which includes defending his Knoxville Nationals title, Sweet claimed the Firecracker 50 at Valvoline Raceway in very hot conditions.

Sweet, who has been coming to Australia since 2005, raced from the front row with polesitter Alex Orr to take an early lead on a dry, slick surface, but Orr’s night ended quickly as he spun out of contention.

Just three laps shy of the halfway stoppage, Dumesny slid under Sweet for the lead until lap 33.

Sweet then resumed in front and stayed there to win by a very narrow margin from a fast-finishing Lynton Jeffrey.

In-form Sydney brothers Matt and Marcus Dumesny were next.

“It’s nice to be out here in the heat and get us ready for the rest of the season ahead. We would like to knock Donny (Schatz) off this year. As I get older I think it’s my time to shine,” Sweet said.

Image: Gary Reid

JEFFREY WINGS IT TO NSW TITLE

Image: Gary Reid

50 AutoAction

LYNTON JEFFREY staged a heart-stopping last-lap pass around American Brad Sweet to win the 61st New South Wales Sprintcar Championship at Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway.

The jaw-dropping win over the gun American driver and Robbie Farr was Jeffrey’s first feature-race win at the venue. Jeffrey now lives in the USA, where he runs his world-famous Vortex Wings business in Iowa.

Matt Dumesny led early in the 35-lap title decider, but Sweet grabbed it on lap three and used lapped traffic to his advantage to open a

healthy gap.

The battle behind Sweet raged between Dumesny, Jordyn Brazier, Farr and Jeffrey.

Brazier’s night soured, spinning out of contention and allowing Jeffrey to advance again.

With just five laps remaining, Jeffrey was on Sweet’s tail, and on the final corner it was make or break for the two American residents.

Jeffrey made the outside pass stick and swept past the 2018 Knoxville Nationals winner to snatch victory from the hot pre-race favourite, to record a very popular win.

SPEEDWAYnews

SCHATZ WINS NINTH AUST OPEN WORLD NUMBER one Donny Schatz kicked his 2019 season off in style, winning his ninth Australian Sprintcar Open at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway.

The 10-time World of Outlaws champion from North Dakota (USA) left his best for the final night of competition, which doubled as the sixth round of World Series Sprintcars, and he won from Pennsylvania’s Logan Schuchart, Kerry Madsen and tournament leader Steve Lines.

Schuchart was the early race leader in the 50-lap A-Main and opened up a gap over Schatz and Madsen, while Lines, Rusty Hickman, Carson Macedo, Luke Oldfield and Jamie Veal battled hard for

the minors.

On lap 21 Schatz finally made his move for the lead and displaced Schuchart.

From there the field remained unchanged for the majority of the race as lapped traffic became a challenge and the track took rubber on the pole line.

To that point it had been a non-stop race until previous night’s feature winner Rusty Hickman made an attempt to lap Jack Lee into turn one, but both cars made contact and went into the fence with only three laps remaining.

Schatz would lead the field home from the restart and was thankful to again win the Brisbane event.

19-year old Rusty Hickman shocked the Sprintcar world by beating the best to win his first WSS feature. Images: 44photography

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“This will look fantastic in the trophy room at home,” Schatz said.

“The Australian Open is always a tough race to win and you appreciate it when you do. I’m just so fortunate to get to do this with great people and experience so many highlights in my career.”

The drive of the night was Lachlan McHugh who came from ninth in the lastchance B-Main to finish sixth and win the hard charger award.

THE NIGHT prior saw one of Sprintcar racing’s best young racers win his first WSS feature in the Preliminary feature.

Bendigo-based 19-yearold Rusty Hickman stunned the Speedway world with an outstanding drive to beat home Jamie Veal, James McFadden and Donny Schatz to win.

“I can’t even remember my other wins to compare to this one now,” Hickman said.

“This is absolutely the

highlight of my career so far. I am just so thankful to my mum and dad for this opportunity and my crew for working so hard to get me through a pretty tough night on a unpredictable race track, to be able to bring it home tonight.”

At the conclusion of the round Lines maintained the WSS lead on 1712, over Madsen on 1653 and McFadden a slender 47 points behind on1606.

Donny Schatzxwon his ninth Australian Sprintcar title.

p ra w S L A N NATIO

‘WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS’ It was a big year for Australian motorsport as Auto Action celebrates the winners in national and state competition over the course of the 2018 season

2018 NATIONAL TITLE WINNERS Excels Nationals – Michael Clemente Formula 3 Premier Series – Harrison Jones Formula Ford National Series – Hunter McElrea Formula Vee Nationals 1200cc Nationals – Mathew Pearce Formula Vee Nationals 1600cc Nationals – Michael Kinsella Formula Vee National Challenge – David Caisley Group S Capricorn Cup – Wayne Seabrook HQ Holden Nationals – Rod Raatjes Improved Production Under 2.0-litre Nationals – David Waldon Improved Production Over 2.0-litre Nationals – Ray Hislop Qld Endurance Championship – Trent Laves Saloon Car Nationals – Joel Heinrich SXS Championship – Simon Evans Targa Championship, Driver – Paul Stokell Targa Championship, Navigator – Malcolm Read Tarmac Rally Championship – Tim Hendy Truck Racing – Steve Zammit

Image: Neil Hammond Image: Rebecca Thompson

Paul Stokell and Malcolm Read took the chocolates in the Targa Championship (above), while Steve Zammit took out the Trucks again (left).

2018 VICTORIAN CHAMPIONS BMW E30 – Chris Bell Extreme TT – Cory Gillett Formula Ford Fiesta – Nathan Herne Formula Ford 1600 – Brendan Jones Formula Vee – Heath Collinson Historic Touring Cars – Michael Miceli HQ Holdens – Andrew McLeod Hyundai Excel – Ben Bargwanna

Improved Production Over 2.0-litre – Luke Grech-Cumbo Improved Production Under 2.0-litre – Velibor Tomic MG & Invited British – Philip Chester Nissan Pulsar – Steve Cannizzo Porsche 944 – Jamie Westaway Production TT – Cooper Cappellari Saloon Cars – Daniel Johnson Sports Cars – Ryan How Sports Sedans – Rick Newman Super TT – Carl Gibbs Superkart 250cc Int Champion - Matt Bass Superkart 125cc Rotax Light Champion - Russ Occhipinti Superkart 125cc Rotax Heavy Champion - Darren Ridd Superkart 125cc Gearbox Champion - Geoff Lawrence Vic V8s – Victor Argento Hillclimb – Garry Martin Motorkhana Champion - Aaron Wuillemin Off Road, Driver – Alan Dixon Off Road, Navigator – Johnny O’Connor Off Road Club Series, Driver – Craig Button Off Road Club Series, Navigator – Adam Button Rally, Driver – Ben Hayes Rally, Navigator – Catherine Hayes Rally 2WD, Driver – Grant Walker Rally 2WD, Navigator – Steph Richards Supersprint – Gregory Lynch

Image: Neil Hammond

52 AutoAction

Ben Bargwanna was top of the pops in the Excels (above left) and Victor Argento powered to the Vic V8s win (left).

Audi driver Daniel Gaunt shared the Production Sports title with Valery Muzman.

Image: Sportfotos

Glenn Brinkman and Harvey Smith took the rally title.

Image: Bruce Moxon

2018 NEW SOUTH WALES CHAMPIONS Formula Ford Fiesta – Nathan Herne Formula Ford 1600 – Shane Baumer Formula Vee 1600cc – Michael Kinsella Formula Vee 1200cc – Bernie Cannon Formula Race Cars – Nathan Gotch Historic Touring Cars – Alex D’Onofrio HQ Holden Racing – Brett Osborn Improved Production Over 2.0-litre – Michael King Improved Production Under 2.0-litre – Harrison Cooper

Nissan Pulsar – Daniel Smith Production Touring – Daniel Smith Production Sports (equal) – Daniel Gaunt and Valery Muzman Series X3 – Wayne Vinckx Sports Sedans – Steve Lacey Super TT – Jimmy Tran Superkart – Lee Vella Supersports – Mitchell Neilson Hillclimb – Doug Barry Motorkhana – Corinne East-Johnston

Off Road – Scott Brown Rally Driver – Glenn Brinkman Rally Navigator – Harvey Smith Rally 2WD Driver – Thomas Dermody Rally 2WD Navigator – Eoin Moynihan Southern Cross Rally, Driver – Chris Jaques Southern Cross Rally, Navigator – Kate Jacques Supersprint Type 1 – Andrew Kendall Supersprint Type 2 – Warwick Morris

Supersprint Type 3 – Scott McKune Supersprint Type 4 – Adrian Wilson Supersprint Type 5 – Richard Perini Supersprint Type 6 – Nik Kalis Supersprint Type 7 – David Gosling

The Saloon Cars title in WA belonged to Grant Johnson (left), while Marc Watkins was victorious in HQs (below).

Images: Mick Oliver

2018 WEST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS

Formula 1000 – Aaron Love Formula Classic – Michael Henderson Formula Ford Gold – Bryce Moore Formula Ford Silver Star – Matthew Lyford Formula Vee 1600cc – Austin Pearson Formula Vee 1200cc – Danny Cerro Historic Touring Cars Na-Nb Under 3.0-litre – Cono Onofaro Historic Touring Cars Na-Nb Over 3.0-litre –

Laurie Lapsley Historic Touring Car Nc Under 3.0-litre – Martyn Piercey Historic Touring Cars Nc Over 3.0-litre – John Bondi HQ Holdens – Marc Watkins Hyundai Excel – Brock McGregor Improved Production Under 1.6-litre – Tim Riley

Improved Production Under 2.0-litre – Ron Coote Improved Production Over 2.0-litre – Reuben Romkes Saloon Cars EA/VN – Nicholas Hanlan Saloon Cars AU/VT – Grant Johnson Sports Cars – John Roderick Sports Sedans – Grant Hill Street Cars – Brad Cuss

Street Cars Under 2.0-litre – Kelvin Sharp Motorkhana – Scott Bennett Off Road, Driver – Jared Percival Off Road, Navigator – Darryn Beckett Rally, Driver – John O’Dowd Rally, Navigator – Michael Wood Rally 2WD, Driver – Alex White Rally 2WD, Navigator – Lisa White Speed Events – Peter Morley

AutoAction

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

2018 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONS Formula Vee – Paul Kellaway Historic Touring Car – Matthew Clift Excel Cup – Brett Parrish Gemini – Michael Dawes Formula Ford 1600 – Tim Hamilton HQ Holden – Nathan Locke Hyundai Series X3 – Frank Mammarella Improved Production Over 2 Litre – Royce Gregson Improved Production Under 2 Litre Car – Jason Clements Italian Challenge – Joel O’Farrell QR Sports & Sedans, Sports –

Dean Amos raced to the hillclimb crown (above), while Matt Clift took out Historic Touring Cars (below).

Image: Trapnell Creations

Image: Ian Colley Aidan O’Kane QR Sports & Sedans, Sedans – Shane Rushton QR Sports & Sedans, Utes – Stephen Cook Production Touring – Justin Anthony Production Sports Car GT – Wayne Hennig Production Sports Car 2B – John Prefontaine Production Sports Car 2F – Shane Freese Qld Touring Cars A1 – Murray Kent Qld Touring Cars A2 – Stuart Walker Qld Touring Cars B – Mark Hyde Racing & Sports Car – Jason Hore Saloon Car – Gary Beggs

Sports Car – David Barram Sports Sedan & Invited – Geoff Taunton Superkarts – Chryss Jamieson Trans Am Australia – John English Hillclimb – Dean Amos Motorkhana – Brant Rayment Off Road, Driver – Brett Thorn Off Road, Navigator – Martin Cameron Rally, Driver – Ian Menzies Rally, Navigator – Robert McGowan Rally 2WD, Driver – Brayden Wilson Rally 2WD, Navigator – Blake Wilson Supersprint – Vikki Paxton

SSage Murdoch won Sports CCars (below), while Todd LLehmann was top dog in ooff road (left).

IImages: David Batchelor Im

2018 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS

Circuit Excel – Michael Clemente Formula Ford Duratec – Matthew Woodland Formula Ford 1600 – Sean Whelan Formula Vee 1600cc – Brian Pedersen Formula Vee 1200cc – Rod Kowald Historic Racing, Sports & Clubman – Andrew Ford Historic Touring Cars – Brett Munns HQ Holden – Dave Smith

54 AutoAction

Improved Production Over 2.0-litre – Adam Poole Improved Production Under 2.0-litre – George Gutierrez Production Sports Cars – Marty Ewer Saloon Cars – Peter Holmes Sports Cars – Sage Murdoch Sports Sedans – Haydn Clark Hillclimb – Dean Tighe Off Road, Driver – Todd Lehmann

Off Road, Navigator – Aaron Bermingham Off Road Series, Driver – Ian Barkla Off Road Series, Navigator – James Anderson Rally, Driver – Peter Schey Rally, Navigator – Kate Catford Rally 2WD, Driver – Andrew Gleeson Rally 2WD, Navigator – Fred Brewer

2018 2 018 NORTHERN TERRITORY CHAMPIONS Commodore Cup – Brad Fullwood HQ Holden – Marion Bujnowski Improved Production Over 2.0-litre – Barry Smith Improved Production Under 2.0-litre – John Newman Motorkhana Series – Tavis Humm The Improved Production tiddler class was taken out by John Newman (left), and Brad Fullwood was victorious in Commodore Cup (above).

Images: Barbara Te Iri

Leigh Forrest took another Improved Production title (right), while Nino Bocchino did likewise in Formula Vee (below).

Images: Angryman Photography

2018 TASMANIAN CHAMPIONS Formula Vee – Nino Bocchino Historic Touring Cars – Warren Bryan HQ Holdens – Phil Ashlin Hyundai Excel – Peter Kemp Improved Production – Leigh Forrest Sports GTA – Scott Smith Sports GTB – Tim Mann Sports GTC – Mick Williams

Hillclimb – Robert McIntyre Motorkhana – Nick Yaxley Off Road – Chris Branch Rally, Driver – Brodie Reading Rally, Navigator – Alex Malcolm Rally 2WD, Driver – Stephen Turner Rally 2WD, Navigator – Mitch Newton Supersprint – Brett O’Shea

AutoAction

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

Rob McIntyre finished runner up at Highclere, but sealed the title.

Image: Angryman

MOTT MASTERS CLIMB, McINTYRE’S TITLE SUBARU DRIVER Rob McIntyre took out the 2018 Tasmanian Hillclimb Championship after a solid second outright in the fifth and final round, the BJR Engineering Highclere Hillclimb on December 8.

In the lead-up, McIntyre and James Lonergan (Nissan Skyline) were tied on equal points. However, it wasn’t meant to be for Lonergan with a gearbox failure after only the first run. In some consolation Lonergan had amassed

enough points to hang on for second outright in the championship.

Despite finishing well down in 23rd at Highclere, Scott Wyman (Honda Integra) had banked enough points to hang on to third outright in the championship.

However, Michael Bellinger (Datsun 240Z) put in another strong performance to finish eighth outright, to share third outright in the championship with Wyman.

Fifth round honours went to Highclere

track specialist Stephen Mott in his Quoll MB01 open-wheeler, recording the fastest time, just outside his own outright course record. But he was not in contention for the championship.

Organised by the North West Car Club, the event attracted 35 cars with six runs each and not a single crash or spin during the programme. The only delay came at the start of the fourth run when Adrian Hodgetts’ Datsun 240Z blew a clutch on the start line, but not before the

TARGETING TWILIGHT WHITEWASH PHIL HEAFEY and John Boston piloted their Lancer Evo6 another step closer to a clean sweep of the Whiteline Twilight Tarmac Rallysprint Series on December 6, at Sydney Dragway. At round three Heaphy faced stiffer opposition from Michael Caine (Mazda RX7) and Neal Bates (Celica GT4).

A cooler day promised a bit more power from the denser air and the roads were clean. Heafey opened up with a brilliant run of 1m57.1s – to be the second- fastest run of the night, so much for taking it easy early on. He was running green tyres which may also have been a factor.

Bates (with Coral Taylor) was next, 2.4s back, then Caine (with Mark Newman) in the 2WD Mazda.

Heafey’s second run was the fastest of the night, 1m56.8s and his third 1m58.5s, which Bates equaled.

With the best three runs (of five) to count for the results, Heafey was looking very good. Bates took fastest on the final two runs, but Heafey had more

56 AutoAction

experienced Hodgetts had posted the 10th best time.

One of the drives of the day came from Darren Anderson in his triple-rotor Mazda RX-7, recording the third fastest time and a personal best for the course.

The event was also the final round of the North West Car Club Black Tack Series which was won by Garry Van der Drift (Nissan 200SX) who recorded the fourth fastest overall time.

MARTIN AGATYN Phil Heafey and John Boston continued their domination.

Image: Bruce Moxon

than enough in hand, to run out the winner by 3.5s.

Heafey and Bates were the only two drivers to go under 2mins for the 3.5km course. Caine was consistently fast, but couldn’t match the traction advantage of the Lancer and the Celica. Caine was third, a further 7s back on Bates. Jake Lambie and Tom Donohue took their immaculate Evo5 to fourth, from Jeff Morton and Jarred Kershaw (Lotus Exige)

and Stephen and Paul Muller (VW Golf).

Hyundai were back again, this time ARC winner Brendan Reeves (with photographer Aaron Wishart calling the corners) headed the Korean charge in their i30N at 21st fastest overall. In another, more standard i30N was former ARC winner Wayne Bell, with Geoff Fear in the navigator’s seat, and they finished 48th.

BRUCE MOXON

NEW SURFACE NEW RECORDS

Image: Off Road Racing Tasmania

OFF ROAD TITLE A FIZZLER

Image: Elgee ON THE new surface at Bryant Park, Wim Janssen produced FTD at the Twilight Hillclimb and a new class record on December 8.

Hosted by the Gippsland Car Club, the racing on the short clockwise layout started at noon and continued as long as there was enough light and enough competitors. It was the first meeting held since the resurface on the track that was built 10 years ago.

That and the good weather accounted for a turnout of 85 competitors, all keen to try the new surface, anticipating new records

would be set. That was certainly the case for outright winner Janssen in his OMS Formula Libre, who claimed the over 2.0-litre class record with a 35.56s effort on his fifth and final run.

Former class record holder Fred Galli finished second overall and was well under his previous best in his SYGA-CGA. David Casey completed the podium with his SC16T just under 3s off the pace.

Keith Wilson was hot on his heels in his Hayward-built Ninja BH1 and just ahead of Daniel Rikken, taking fifth outright. Rikken was the fastest

tin top in his Nissan and took almost a second off the Sports Sedan over 2.0-litre class record while Stuart Haverkort (Honda Civic) finished sixth, also taking a Sports Sedans (1.6 to 2.0-litre) record.

It will be interesting to see in future events whether the records continue to tumble, and if it is the surface that helps. As with most motorsports the hillclimbing enthusiasts continually speculate if cars and drivers have reached the limit for a track. For the time being it appears not.

GARY HILL

DAY’S DAY AT WILLUNGA A WEEK after winning Time Attack at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, Dan Day has taken his Subaru Impreza WRX STi C-spec to an emphatic victory in the Shannons Willunga Hillclimb on December 9.

Held on the 2.8km steep, winding road leading south-east out of the picturesque McLaren Vale heritage township of Willunga, the event attracted a capacity 130 entries.

A favourite for tarmac rallies, the Old Willunga Hill Road had also been used as a stage on the Shannons Adelaide Rally a week and a half earlier.

On aggregate of the three runs, Day finished a whopping 15.6s and 19.6s respectively ahead of Henry and John Beasley in a pair of Mike Dale-prepared Mitsubishi EVOs. Having rolled his Subaru on the first run last year, Day set a new record

Image: NBAPhoto

O’SHEA SHINES AT SYMMONS

Image: John Lemm on his final run of 1min 17.97s, more than 6s quicker than his nearest rival. It was Day’s second win in the hillclimb, having also won in 2016, making him the only multiple winner in the event’s six-year history.

Fourth and 3.6s behind the senior Beasley was Damien Brand (Subaru STi Type R), just over a second ahead of Martin Farkas in his tarmac rally BMW M3 E46, narrowly edging out Tony

THE TASMANIAN Off Road Racing Championship has been decided in an anti-climax, with the sixth and final round being cancelled due to lack of entries.

With car numbers in Tasmania at their lowest ebb for many years, this year’s six-round championship ended up being a three-round series, with rounds one, two and six scrapped.

Only 13 drivers scored any championship points at all for the season, with many more cars left in the shed.

With rounds three, four and five effectively making up the championship, Chris Branch (Hornet/Nissan V6) scored a second, a win in round four and a third, to take out both the outright and ProLite titles.

In a superb giant-killing effort, Michael Stalker (Yamaha YXZ) finished second outright with a fourth place and two seconds. Third place outright was shared by Scott Rockliff (Rocka A-Arm/ Subaru Pro Buggy) and Michael Donohoe (Evo Tech/Nissan SR20DET Pro Buggy). The latter pair only made one appearance each, but each scored a win, at the third and fifth rounds respectively.

With such poor numbers this season, it would be fair to say some degree of uncertainty now surrounds the 2019 Tasmanian Off Road Racing Series.

MARTIN AGATYN

Wallis (Nissan S13) for 2WD honours.

Completing the top ten were Alan Driver (Subaru 555 ra), Paul Knopka (WRX), Nathan Dale (Ford Fiesta ST) and Andrew Campbell (Nissan S14).

There was a delay on the second run as a result of Matt Reed (Amaroo Clubman) having a crash and subsequent visit to a hospital with a neck injury. He has since been released.

JOHN LEMM

AT THE running of the 2018 Tasmanian Supersprint Championships held at Symmons Plains on November 25, Brett O’Shea was the outright winner.

Not only did the Holden Commodore VH driver post the fastest time of the day at 55.3102s but also took out Class D for cars of eight cylinders or more, and supercharged and turboed rotary and six cylinder machinery.

His best was 2.8s fastesr than second placed Dave Bingley in his Porsche 911 – the only other combination to lap in under a minute. Third was Nathan Oliver (Mazda RX8) ahead of Chris Boyd (Nissan Skyline), John Bennett (Holden Torana V8), Peter Pisko (Audi TTRS), Sheridan Budsworth (Skyline), Adrian Cassdy (Torana V8) and Peter Roberts (Skyline).

Tenth place went to Honni Pitt in a Lotus Exige.

That combination took out Class C for rotaries and six cylinder cars as well as turbo charged under 1600ss engined cars. Pitt’s nearest class rivals were Rod Budsworth (Nissan 180SX) and Stephen Guy (Subaru Impreza WRX) and they finished 14th and 16th respectively.

Class B, for cars between 1.6 and 2.0-litre as well as force induction to 1.6-litre, was won by Aaron Bugela, and Rick Burt (Mitsubishi Mirage) headed Class A for cars up to 1.6-litre.

“Coming up at the nation’s action and spectator tracks” Wakefield Park

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January 12 WPM Trackschool Track Day January 15 Fifth Gear January 16 Speed Off The Street/Test & Tune January 17 Speed Off The Street/Test & Tune January 18 RaceAway Track Time – Open Pit Lane January 23 WPM Trackschool Track Day

Winton

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January 18 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers January 23 Performance Test Day January 26 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers January 27 Winton Fun Day January 31 CAMS & AASA OLT February 1 Test & Tune – Cars and Open Wheelers

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57

NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie co

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UNBEATABLE RENTSCHS TAKE CAMS TITLE IT DIDN’T come any better for Shannon and Ian Rentsch as they took out the BFGoodrich CAMS Australian Off Road Championship for drivers and navigators. The son and father combination completed a clean sweep of the three rounds in their Jimco Aussie Special/Nissan V6 twin turbo Pro Buggy, for their ninth national title.

“It was almost perfect,” Shannon Rentsch said.

“It’s good to see all the hard work over the years has paid off.”

A late charge saw the Rentschs win the first round, the St George 399 in Queensland. They were over three minutes behind Toby Whateley and Simon Herrmann (Can-Am Maverick) heading into the final section.

Herrmann ultimately placed second in the navigators’ stakes alongside Tony Whateley, second in the driver’s points.

The Rentschs passed Whateley but with only seconds between them on overall time, the result depended on when Whateley finished. It never

eventuated, as Whateley had a fuel pump issue and limped to the chequered flag. Rentsch took the win by over 3mins ahead of Whateley, as Phil Lovett and Paul Guenthen (Can-Am Maverick) secured third.

Finishing fourth was the Tatum AK47/Chev LS2 Pro Buggy, crewed by Ryan Taylor and Neville Taylor, Luke Shadbolt and Ryan Hensen (CanAm) were fifth.

For the sixth time, the Rentschs won the Tatts Finke Desert Race, the second round of the championship. They were fastest in the prologue and over both the 226km legs of the Alice Springs to Finke and back classic – something they had not done before.

Second were Dave Fellows and Mark Bergamin (Extreme 2WD Geiser Bros Trophy Truck/Nissan TT) while third went to Jack Rhodes and David Pullino (Pro Buggy Jimco/Nissan TT). Talbot Cox and Andrew North (Pro Buggy Racer Engineering Carbon Series/Toyota V8) finished fourth with

Michael Marson and Chris Colbourne (Racer Engineering Carbon Series/Ford Windsor V8) fifth.

Second out of Finke, Toby Price and Jason Duncan (Geiser Bros TT/Chev V8) were still second at the first checkpoint, but succumbed to power steering failure. Another front runner in Greg Gartner (with Jamie Jennings and Mark Hanaford navigating the Extreme 2WD Geisler Bros Ford Raptor TT/Ford V8) failed as well.

At the third and final round, the Rainbow Desert Enduro, the Rentschs topped the prologue, easily headed the Top Ten Shootout, won Saturday’s first two-lap section and placed second in Sunday’s second five-lap 375km section.

Second for the round went to Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt (Geiser Bros Trophy Truck/Chev V8 Extreme 4WD) and Mark Burrows finished third, winning the final section with Colin Hodge and Mathew Burrows sharing the navigating in his Jimco MBR/Holden Alloytec Pro Buggy.

MARTIN A CLASS STAR FOR TITLE WIN TAKING IN all six rounds helped Brent Martin win the AASA-sanctioned 2018 ARB Australian Off Road Racing Championship where the best four results (outright and class points) determined the series win for the driver only.

Second went to Brett Smith ahead of Dean Meginley.

Talbot Cox and navigator Andrew North (Unlimited Class Racer Engineering Carbon/TRD V8) took out the Stackpole 400, the opening round at Griffith in NSW. They finished ahead of Shannon and Ian Rentsch (Jimco/ Nissan V6 Turbo), with third going to Dale Martin and Adrian Rowe (Class 1 Tatum/Nissan V6).

The second round provided two victors with its twogroup format. Tanner James (Alumi Craft/GM) and Jack Rhodes and David Pullino (Jimco Aussie Special/Nissan V6 Turbo) were the respective winners.

Overall Rhodes/Pullino won the dusty Sunraysia 400 on amalgamated times. They clocked in ahead of Martin and Jimmy Boyle (Class 1 Jimco/Nissan V6). Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings (Class 4 Ford F150/SVO V8) were running second until a flat tyre knocked them back to third.

With just half a lap to go, Cameron McClelland and Kane Louttit (Class 1 Jimco/Nissan V6) grabbed the lead and won the third round at Sea Lake. They passed the stranded Unlimited Class Jimco Aussie Special/Holden AlloyTech TT of Glenn Owen and Matt Ryan to take out an event McClelland had been trying to win for 22 years.

Brad Chasemore (Jimco/Nissan SR20 Turbo) crossed the line second. However after time credits were given to him and Jamie and Tom Robinson (Jimco Aussie Special/Chev L98 V8) for assisting at a rollover, they were awarded third and second

58 AutoAction

Image: Show and Go respectively Thick dust and a high attrition kept everyone in suspense at the Riverland 300 fourth round before Gartner and Jennings won. The fight for second was close with Martin and Doyle just 43s ahead of Craig Martin and Ben Dawson (Alpha/Chev).

It took until the final lap for Danny Brown and George Apted (Alumi Craft/Chev V8 Unlimited) to take victory at the Goondiwindi 400 fifth round. Danny’s father Andy with Ross McNab (Saber/Nissan V8) had oil pressure issues on the final

lap and finished second as Martin and Boyle continued to chalk up points with third.

Matt Hanson and Nigel Pendlebury (Jimco/Ford Ecoboost Turbo) cruised to a comfortable win in the Pines Enduro round six. It was Hanson’s third win in the event where Mark and Matthew Burrows (Jimco/Holden) kept out of trouble to claim second. Garry and Tamara Turnbull (Aceco/Chev) were unlucky as a misfire slowed them in the last few laps, having to settle for third.

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OLDEN H S ’ Y T S O R F FIRST LOOK

COMMODORE CTOR’S 2019 AT FORD DEFE

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SINCE 1971

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IN McLAUGHLOR HEADED F PENSKE RDOM SUPERSTA

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TCR OZ INVASION BEGINS

u ction.com.a www.autoa Issue #1750

Nov

8 29 to Dec 12, 201

.50

$7.95 NZ $8

LL EWD E R A F , IS N G ONALCON, LOWNDES AN SAN SOBL YE TO F GOOD

PLUS

SEASON PREVIEW, FAREWELL S V8 MASTERPLAN F FERNANDO,

TO YOU IN A!W PROOF BAG

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