Auto Action #1755

SUPERCARS SEASON PREVIEW EXPERT ANALYSIS SINCE 1971

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MOSTERT TCR BAN

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MOZZIE! LARKO ON MUSTANG VS COMMODORE

FABS VOWS TO REPEL CHAZ IN FIGHT FOR PENSKE DRIVE

PORSCHE PRINCE

And Tander’s tips on how to win title Stuttgart star targets Bathurst 1000

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Issue #1755

Feb 21 to March 6, 2019

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LATEST NEWS

RENAULT RISK WILL REWARD Auto Action’s F1 expert DAN KNUTSON explains why the more Daniel Ricciardo thinks about his switch to Renault, the less he thinks it’s a gamble THE LAST time a Renault chassis and engine combination won a grand prix was in 2008 with Fernando Alonso.

Red Bull chassis and Renault motors won 59 F1 races from 2009-18, with Daniel Ricciardo scoring seven of those successes.

So what does the Perth native think of moving from a winning Red Bull team to a Renault outfit that has not won in its own right (although as Lotus it had two victories with Kimi Raikkonen) in 10 years? “There is a bit of a gamble with it,�

Ricciardo admitted. “But the more I think about it, I don’t see it too much as a gamble. The thing is, here now we are not coming in with a team saying we are going to win, so the expectation and the bar are not initially very high. “Whereas Red Bull had built themselves up. Every year you kind of feel it’s going to happen and the risk is that you feel like you are going to be let down every year. “The risk if I’d stayed there was that it wouldn’t work again – and maybe with Honda that doesn’t happen – but the risk of failure is probably greater than

coming to Renault and having the risk of not winning. “But with risk comes reward and I feel that because the growth here is potentially a lot bigger, the reward can be bigger. The ability to become less frustrated is better here.�

Renault F1 Team is determined to continue the momentum it has built up during the past three years. “Since returning to the sport in 2016, Renault really has reached maturity now in F1,� said the team’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul after the 2019 Renault RS19 was unveiled last week. “After three years of transformation and regeneration of the team, we are now ready to challenge the top teams. “It will take a while, but those teams should be within our reach very soon.�

It’s a long reach, however.

Renault finished fourth in the 2018 constructors’ championship with 122 points. Red Bull, third, had 419 points, and champion Mercedes racked up 655 points.

Renault maintains it has made a considerable step in improving the horsepower and reliability of its power

unit, which lacked both last year. “For sure, that’s what I want to hear,�

Ricciardo said. “But obviously being pretty deep now in the Renault family, I have seen numbers and I know they are not just saying it to please everyone. “But race cars are race cars. You might put it on track and be like ‘Why is it doing that? We didn’t expect that!’ But so far what they’ve done, looking at the numbers they’ve done in previous years, it’s been a good step.

But by no means are they saying it’s going to be better than a Mercedes.�

It is a long-term project for both the team and Ricciardo. “In the next 12 months, I struggle to see anyone taking it away from Mercedes,� he said. “Ferrari, maybe, but to crack that top two is difficult.�

As for Red Bull-Honda, Ricciardo is not sure it will be a winning combination. “So accepting that I am not going to win wherever I am in 2019, then it was trying to be sensible and look at the long-term play,� he mused. “I really think this (Renault) can work for me.

Having a new environment, working with new people, just little things like walking into the factory and my eyes are wide open and it doesn’t feel familiar, so that is fun in itself.�

As for taking a risk, Ricciardo points out how Lewis Hamilton took a gamble on moving from McLaren to Mercedes. “I would love to have that same success that he had when he moved,�

Ricciardo said. “In many respects, it is like the vision I have here. “He did not immediately jump into a winning car. He won one race in 2013 and there was work to be done.

Maybe there is more work to do here, maybe not, but certainly some of my input will be required. “That for me is exciting. I am ready for that. I feel that there is not a reason why this team cannot be pushed towards the front. I do believe that they have the facilities and resources to do that. So we just have to put everything in the right areas.�

For the latest F1 pre-season testing, go to autoaction.com.au

The Last Lap – new offbeat look at racing, including ever-popular Stonie cartoon, is on page 58. Each issue, you’ll want to read the last page first!

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E V I S U L C EX

FAB’S FIGHTING WORDS MARK FOGARTY reveals l the th latest l t t in i the th undeclared d l d war between b t Fabian F bi Coulthard and Chaz Mostert for the prized second seat at Penske

A DEFIANT Fabian Coulthard has shrugged off persistent speculation that his place at DJR Team Penske is under threat from Ford rival Chaz Mostert.

Refusing to admit that this is the last year of his existing deal, Coulthard is committed to cementing his drive with a championship-contending performance.

There is a widespread belief that DJRTP has targeted Mostert, who is in the final year of his agreement with Tickford Racing, to join Scott McLaughlin from next year.

Questioned by Auto Action about the conjecture, Coulthard declared: “It’s speculation. I love speculation. I thrive on speculation.”

He added: “That’s fine. I’m OK with it.

At the end of the day, if I do the best job I can do and hop out of the car and go ‘Fabian, that was the best job you could have done’, what more can I do?”

Asked directly if he felt like he was driving for his future this year, Coulthard was emphatic: “No, not at all.”

He declined to confirm that he is out of contract at DJRTP at the end of this season, bristling at the suggestion that his situation was known outside the team.

“That’s speculation, you don’t know,”

4 AutoAction

he growled. “There’s speculation, but you don’t know. The people that know are America (Team Penske), Ryan (Story) and myself.

“Keep speculating. If I give you nothing, you have nothing.”

Coulthard maintained that he isn’t bothered that his future with DJRTP is being debated.

“Mate, it’s no different,” he said. “At every team at some point, you’re up for renewal. It’s just part of it. Motor sport is a business.”

Coulthard’s struggles last season, when he was overshadowed as McLaughlin defeated the combined might of Triple Eight to win the title, and Mostert’s frustration with Tickford’s poor form have cast them as rivals for the prized DJRTP second seat.

An extension of Coulthard’s contract was announced in mid-2017, but the duration wasn’t specified in line with Penske policy.

However, it is widely accepted that his deal is until the end of this season.

Coulthard, a proven race-winner and title contender for much of 2017, is confident he will rebound from becoming McLaughlin’s belated wingman at the back end of last year’s

campaign.

“We start again,” he said.

“Unfortunately, my championship last year went off the rails early. We start off with a clean slate. Scott’s car is prepared the same as mine and vice versa, and it’s up to us to extract the best from it.

“I think we had good pace the back half of last year. We had some good speed.”

The Gold Coast-based New Zealander was also encouraged by his pace at the Phillip Island pre-season test, indicating that the Shell V-Power Racing Mustang’s improved balance is better suited to his driving style than the strung-out Falcon FG X in its final season.

While many are convinced Mostert has already agreed to a multi-year deal with DJRTP from next year, the stymied star – rated the fastest Ford driver next to McLaughlin – and Tickford are playing their cars close to their chests.

Mostert deflected questions about his status from 2020 with the old chestnut of focusing on the new season ahead.

“I just want to get into this year first, that’s’ the big thing,” he told Auto Action.

“It is exciting times with the new model, new shape and all that kind of stuff.

“Last year was tough for us. Still got

a win and a couple of podiums, but we definitely lacked some form. We want to get back up there and get that mentality of fighting for a trophy every weekend.”

AA first reported that Mostert was looming as threat to Coulthard in midDecember.

Mostert joked that the rampant rumours and media conjecture improved his negotiating position for next year and beyond.

“The more speculation you guys do it helps my stock, so if you could keep writing about it that’s always good.”

Asked what he had to do to retain Mostert, Tickford Racing team principal Tim Edwards responded: “Provide him with a competitive car this year.”

Edwards played down suggestions that it would take a major pay increase to keep Mostert.

“Who’s to say he’s not on a big wedge already?” he quipped. “Time will tell, but seriously, Chaz wants to win and we need to provide him with a car that will do that.

“First and foremost that’s what makes him tick, not necessarily that he earns a dollar or a $1.50 – that we can give him a car that he can win the championship in.

“So that’s on us.”

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MUSTANGS CORRALLED FORD’S NEW CHALLENGER IN ITS VARIOUS GUISES

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Images: Ross Gibb and Insyde Media

MOSTERT’S TCR BAN Hyundai plan scrapped because of Tickford’s Ford links

BY BRUCE NEWTON TICKFORD RACING has barred star driver Chaz Mostert from contesting the inaugural Australian TCR Series.

Citing its newly re-forged official links with Ford, the team has told Mostert that a plan for him to saddle up in TCR in a Hyundai i30 N run by HMO Customer Racing is a no-go.

The decision seems a contradiction considering Mostert is allowed to contest GT races here and overseas for BMW, but Tickford Racing team principal Tim Edwards is having none of that.

“I can’t always be the nice guy and say yes,” Edwards told Auto Action. “To be fair, I have always supported Chaz driving other cars because I know that’s what makes him tick, that’s why he gets out of bed in the morning.

“But there are always the commercial implications of what he does.”

Mostert’s inclusion on the grid in TCR – which kicks off at Sydney Motorsport Park in May – would have been a huge boost for the series, something Edwards also acknowledged.

“It is a competitive championship up against us in Australia, so it is very different to him going to race an M8 [BMW] at the Daytona 24 Hours because that’s not a competitor to our championship.

“He is driving for a Ford team and we have to be mindful of what we are doing here and who he is driving for. We are a Ford-supported team now.

“You will notice his helmet has a Ford logo on it and his overalls have a Ford logo on it, and driving for another manufacturer wouldn’t be great in this market.”

Mostert has also been permitted to drive for BMW in the Bathurst 12 Hour, which is run by Supercars.

When asked about the TCR bar, the Mustang driver was cautious in his comments, but made it clear he

wasn’t happy about itit. The deal had been under development with the Morcom family, with whom he has a relationship through production car racing.

“No, I can’t do it, for reasons,” Mostert told AA. “I can’t say anything.”

He was bemused when told Supercars CEO Sean Seamer had earlier in the week dismissed any category-wide discouragement of drivers and teams contesting TCR. “I wish you could get that in writing for me,” Mostert said. “See if you can get that replicated by my team.”

Seamer told AA: “The teams and drivers run their own businesses. Our priority is Supercars and I think their priority is Supercars as well, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to do other things as well.

“Some teams have been running GT programs for a long time as well, so it’s nothing new.”

That’s the opposite stance to the early days of the Bathurst 12 Hour, when Supercars staged a two-day telecast pre-season test on the same weekend as the emerging GT sports car race in 2015, before taking a stake in the event.

Mostert is the only one of the 24 full-time Supercars as yet linked with a TCR drive, but a number of highprofile Enduro Cup co-drivers are hunting out the budgets for a program.

The only Supercars team to commit to the championship is Garry Rogers Motorsport, which has already announced 2017 Toyota 86 champion Jimmy Vernon will race one of its Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloces.

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Spot the differences: Road and race Tickford Mustangs

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MUSTANG WORK IN PROGRESS Aero pack and linear spring require more

BY BRUCE NEWTON

THE CATEGORY-wide challenge of tuning the newly mandated linear spring is as much an issue for Ford Mustang drivers and their teams as figuring out the new coupe’s aerodynamic package ahead of the Supercars championship opener in Adelaide next week.

That’s the verdict from last week’s test at Phillip Island in which the Mustangs starred, claiming four of the first five fastest time and all six finished in the top 10.

Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters headed the timesheets in the Monster Mustang with a late green tyre run, setting a 1 min 30.7265 time well outside the qualifying record, but undercutting the race lap record.

DJR Team Penske’s Fabian Coulthard was second and Chaz Mostert third in another Tickford entry.

The Mustang is intended to have a more rearward aerodynamic bias than the Falcon FG/X it replaces. Its large and muchcommented-on rear wing endplates should aid corner yaw, an area not tested under the VCAT homologation process.

The mandating of the linear spring and 20mm bump rubber is an attempt to cut costs and confusion. Teams have been running twin spring rear-ends for years, but the trend spread to the front of the cars and more recently triple-spring combinations have appeared and there have even been experiments with four-springs per corner.

Essentially, the multi-spring arrangement

Every race live on free to air TV is the past

style more to adapt to the linear spring,” he told AA. “I think the Mustang has a very similar balance for me compared to what I used to have. Where we ended up setup-wise is very similar for me how I feel the car.

“It was more me getting around what I had to give up, because with the twinspring you could combat some of the problems you had at one part of the corner.

“But now you have to have a bit more give and take; so I go ‘give me a bit more turn’ but then I get loose in the rear. So then I go ‘I’ll give you some of that turn back and give me some of that rear back’.

“So it’s a bit of a trade-off and you’ve just got to drive around it. I really enjoy it and that’s what I really like about this new technical thing.”

McLaughlin revealed the team had a focus at the test on developing the car for the Adelaide street circuit rather than trying to get to the top of the timesheets.

“We were just working what we could feel and trying out the hairpins because that’s going to be important for drive at Adelaide,” he said. “But we were having a crack everywhere else and I did spray it a couple of times just trying too hard.

“But I am happy, I’m excited and ready to go. The test was nice, we had a solid day and got through a lot of things we can’t try out at a race weekend.”

Holden teams take note

THE IMPRESSIVE performance of the Ford Mustang at the Phillip Island test has predictably triggered an undercurrent of concern among rivals.

But with forthright factory Lion team boss Roland Dane absent in the UK, there were no Red team representatives at the island willing to talk about the Mustang in anything other than positive terms.

There’s no doubt the Ford’s pace out of the box, its aerodynamic elements and all-composite bodywork have claimed much attention.

There is undoubtedly worry the Mustang’s extensive use of composites will enable a lower centre of gravity via ballasting, while the large rear wing endplates will deliver an advantage in cornering speed. The new car’s qualifying and race form in Adelaide could wind all this angst up further or calm it down.

With Supercars having just homologated the Mustang, something drastic like an eligibility protest is unlikely. But some bullish negotiating behind the scenes in search of performance concessions could well be attempted.

Red Bull HRT boss Mark Dutton’s view was typical of the public stance taken by Holden teams at Phillip Island.

“You look at that car and it’s a compact car so it’s going to slippery through the air for sure,” he told AA. “It’s the latest model to be made, so everyone learns off each other, everyone sees what works and what directions to go.

“They have done a really good job as we knew they would; Ford, Penske and the lads.

It’s going to be quick this year.” BN

STREAMING SUPERCARS THE FUTURE

ANYONE YEARNING for the good old days of watching every Supercars event live on free to air television is unlikely to gain satisfaction from the next media rights deal the category will negotiate over the next couple of years.

That’s the message straight from Supercars CEO Sean Seamer, speaking to Auto Action at the 2019 championship launch in Melbourne.

“I think there is a bit of a misconception that free to air will solve everyone’s problems,” he told Auto Action.

“It won’t, there is no silver bullet.”

Instead he argues Supercars must embrace internet streaming in the future if it is to attract fresh eyeballs to the category.

“We have to be able to bring new viewers into the sport and a lot of those new viewers are younger and they are on streaming

6 AutoAction

delivers more tunablity on the entry, mid and exit phases of the corner. Get it all right and there are crucial speed and tyre wear gains to be made. Get it wrong and a driver and his engineer can become utterly lost.

“We had a program we worked through to try and figure out the aero and what we needed to do with the twin springs going and all that stuff,” Waters told Auto Action.

“It was nice to finish quickest. I think everyone will have their own stories to tell.

They probably didn’t show their hands that much and I wasn’t completely happy with the car either.

“I think the Mustang is more stable midcorner [than Falcon], but you’ve got to work out which bit is the twin-spring and which bit is the wing endplates.”

Mostert said he felt the issues of aero and twin-spring “merged into one”.

“We definitely need to start thinking more outside the box of where the FG/X is,” he said. “We definitely still have a lot of work before Adelaide.

“If we ran the same package there as we did today we definitely wouldn’t be as competitive.”

Defending Supercars champions Scott McLaughlin was only eighth fastest but pleased with progress. He played down the rearward move of the aero balance and focussed on the impact of the linear spring.

“Personally, I can’t speak for everyone else, I had felt I had to change my driving

platforms and not necessarily free to air,” he said.

“They are not watching TV at all.”

Supercars is into the fifth year of its controversial $241 million six-year TV deal with Fox Sports and Network 10, where all sessions and races are live on pay-TV but only marquee events are televised on free to air.

Discussion about the merits of Supercars’ TV arrangements have reheated in the wake of the live FTA deal for the new Australian TCR Series.

The struggle to fund the teams and the drop from 26 to 24 cars on the grid in 2019 has also been linked to the reduced number of viewers watching races live, since the current deal commenced.

“Our current arrangement is what it is with

Fox and 10 and we are happy with,” Seamer insisted.

“We are doing the best we can to make sure we have a consistent rhythm on free to air.”

Seamer pointed to Fox Sport’s Kayo stand-alone sports streaming service as an example of the nontraditional telecasting opportunities the championship can exploit.

“We are watching very closely what happens with Kayo and we’ll be putting a lot of work into that,” he revealed.

“At $25 per month for all the sport you want - as well as some custom things we will be doing for Kayo viewers we’ll be able to talk about soon - that’s a really interesting proposition.

Seamer revealed the next media deal was yet to be structured.

“But if you are making assumptions, it is fair to assume there will be a combination of digital over the top delivery, free to air and cable.” BN

Combustion control is the latest cost containment move

BY BRUCE NEWTON

SUPERCARS now has the ability to cap how lean teams run the fuel-air combustion ratio in their V8 engines and could mandate a limit as soon as the Adelaide 500.

Introducing the cap is a cost containment measure designed to prevent teams from tuning engines ultra-lean in search of better fuel economy.

While that delivers a strategy advantage, it also quickly wrecks engine internals such as pistons and rings and drives up engine rebuild bills to a level only the best-funded teams can afford.

The spin-off will be a rethink for teams who have to run their engines richer, because they will have shorter stints or longer refuelling pit stops.

“The teams will always push to the maximum regardless of cost how aggressively they run their engines,” explained Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess.

“We are very conscious of how much it costs to go racing in this

SUPERCARS ECONOMY CAP sport and we want to help teams and sometime protect the teams in how aggressively they run the engines.”

The control, operated via the Lambda sensor, is one of many new features now available via the upgraded Motec ECU that has been tested pre-season and is mandatory from Adelaide onwards.

While Supercars is understood to have set the mixture limit and advised the teams, Burgess would not commit to an Adelaide introduction.

“This is a function we are slowly going to take control of,” he said.

“We are not decided yet whether this is going to be Adelaide. We are only going to introduce a rule when it is safe to do so and we can police it properly.”

Another feature of the ECU is a driver warning system, a part of which was trialled at the Bathurst 12hour. This system is expected to roll out in Supercars this year.

“There’s still a lot of work to go on in the background,” said Burgess.

“How we automate the marshals themselves and their flag posts and how that communication comes back to race control and then from race control into the cars. It’s quite a complicated process.

“We’ll introduce it as soon as we can, but we won’t rush it.”

Intriguingly the new ECU has the theoretical ability to allow external control of vehicle speed. For instance, slowing a car to 80km/h through a yellow flag zone.

Bur Burgess was adamant control of a car would never be assumed remotely by Supercars.

“That technology is available in places but it’s not our intention here at Supercars. It’s very dangerous and it’s complicated to take control of the car externally.”

After a significant amount of dyno and bench testing, the new ECU was tested out on-track by Triple Eight and DJR Team Penske during recent shakedowns and then rolled out to the rest of the field at Phillip Island

test last week.

There have been issues. One example was Mark Winterbottom’s new Irwin Tools Commodore dropped into limp mode when he left the Phillip Island pits on his hot lap.

“Yes it’s been a bigger change than we anticipated,” admitted Burgess.

“But it’s been a necessary change and that’s why you do it at the start of the year, because there are shakedowns we can test it with and have the test days as well.

“You can’t just roll it out at the first race and expect it to be trouble-free.”

Meanwhile, Supercars has mandated a maximum 31-disc rotors per season per car. That’s less than half the maximum number used by one team on a car in 2018, but more than many cars employed last season.

While primarily a cost containment measure it also erases the slight performance gain delivered by fitting brand new discs for every qualifying and race.

THE CUTTING EDGE OF MOTORSPORT BRAKE DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING

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SANDBAGGING? Was Triple Eight really in trouble at Phillip Island?

By BRUCE NEWTON

FIVE-TIME Paynter Dixon Touring Car Masters winner John Bowe has shown off the new sponsor and livery he hopes will lead to title number six in 2019. Bowe’s long-time supporter Paynter Dixon has stepped up to sponsor the Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars Torana A9X this season, which also means a slick new livery.

Existing supporters Rare Spares, Apex Steel, Payce, Doric and Liqui-Moly – the last two having supported Bowe for more than a decade – also return on the now-iconic Torana.

PORSCHE CARRERA Cup Australia enters its 15th season with a new title partner, PAYCE, with the series to be known as Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia. PAYCE has stepped up its involvement in the category after being a major backer of former champion David Wall, amongst other Porsche drivers. The company takes over from Wilson Security which pulled out of all its motorsport sponsorships, including Supercars squad Garry Rogers Motorsport, at the conclusion of the 2018 season.

BROC FEENEY is the latest Toyota 86 Racing Series graduate to announce he’ll race in the Kumho Tyres Super3 Series in 2019.

The 16-year-old will become the youngest driver to enter this year’s Super3 Series, joining Paul Morris Motorsports in the car last raced by Supercars driver Anton De Pasquale.

NOT ONLY does the Ford Mustang return to racing on Australian circuits in 2019, it will also lead the Supercars field as the Safety Car for this season.

Backed by Vodafone in what is its second of a three-year partnership as Safety Car sponsor, the new Mustang Safety Car was revealed this week at the Supercars launch in Melbourne.

AUSTRALIAN GT will benefit from extended and improved media coverage for the 2019 season, which will include both live free-to-air [FTA] television for the endurance rounds, coverage of every session from Supercars events and live streaming from CAMS Nationals endurance events.

Starting with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, AGT will enjoy a llive broadcast of at least one race during the Grand Prix weekend on Network Ten, with extensive additional behind-the-scenes coverage. May’s Barbagallo event, like the Gold Coast in October and the season-finale at Sandown alongside the Supercars, will have every session broadcast live through Fox Sports, with post-event wraps in delayed telecasts on Network Ten. FORMER FORMULA 1 driver Paul Di Resta will spearhead R-Motorsport’s Aston Martin attack on the 2019 DTM for the team’s debut season.

Joining Di Resta will be Bathurst 12 Hour polesitter Jake Dennis, who participated in two Formula 1 tests with Red Bull last year as well as testing a Mercedes AMG C63 DTM. R-Motorsport will announce the remaining drivers and reveal the new Aston Martin DTM shortly cars after this issue is published.

8 AutoAction

OUT OF balance or simply weighed down by sandbags? The perspectives on the Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s lack of pace at the Phillip Island Supercars pre-season test ran the full gamut.

“The cars are not in the window where we want them to be, so we aren’t happy with the balance,” declared team manager Mark Dutton after Shane van Gisbergen could only finish 14th and Jamie Whincup 19th, the latter having his first serious hitout in a brand-new Holden Commodore ZB. “We will learn a lot from the test but we will still be a work in progress in Adelaide.”

But Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards probably best-represented the more sceptical view that permeated much of pitlane.

“I won’t say they were sandbagging, but I didn’t actually see them do a time where they actually went past the [timing] beacons with green tyres on,” he said. “I would suggest the times on the timesheet for them are not representative of their pace today.”

No matter where the real truth lies when it comes to the factory team’s test results, there is no doubt it will still go the streets of Adelaide in the very first rank of favouritism.

Image: Insyde Media

Van Gisbergen hasn’t been beaten in the SA capitol in two years, delivering the ZB a perfect debut in 2018. Whincup tops the win-list at the circuit with 10, two ahead of his team-mate. They share the most poles with seven each.

Dutton pointed much of the team’s issues toward understanding the now mandatory linear spring and 20mm bump stop, which replaces the trapezoidal spring. Triple Eight is understood to have raced with twin springs for years, triple springs in the rear-end last year and even experimented with quad springs.

The trapezoidal spring delivers better tuning control through the different phases of the corner than a linear spring.

“The linear spring and bump stops have been a big change for us. The way we ran the twin – or more – spring set-up was very non-linear,” explained Dutton.

“Going to linear we’ve had to come back further

than some other people. Hence it will take a little bit longer to get our heads around it.”

As well as dealing with mandatory changes such as the linear spring, Dutton confirmed the team was testing its own updates that had been developed over the summer.

“Most of that ran really well … they were looking good,” Dutton said.

He did admit the team’s test focus was on car traits relevant to the Adelaide circuit, where there is more emphasis on 90-degree power-down and mechanical grip, than the high-speed aerodynamics of Phillip Island.

“You do spend most of the day trying to learn sensitivities, not actually tuning for the track,” he explained. “But having said that we did spend some time turning for the track and we didn’t go that fast at the end of the day, so we are not completely happy with the balance of the car.”

THE SVG STATUTE SUPERCARS WILL debut new pit stop rules in Adelaide to avoid the controversy and penalties that engulfed Red Bull and Shane van Gisbergen at key Supercars championship events late last season.

To avoid spinning wheels during pit stops it is now mandatory for all cars to engage the line-locker – or rear-wheel handbrake – until the car is back on the deck.

The driver will manually engage the line-locker – as some already do – but the teams must now introduce a system for it to automatically disengage.

Removing that responsibility from the driver should eliminate any chance of a penalty because the line-locker has been released too soon.

Van Gisbergen escaped a spinning wheels penalty during a pit stop in an incident-packed first race at Pukekohe last November and went on to win despite copping a five-second time penalty nerfing driver’s championship rival Scott McLaughlin out of the way.

DJR Team Penske unsuccessfully appealed van Gisbergen’s pit stop, during which the car’s rear wheels moved when he engaged gear and again as it was lowering to the ground.

Race results were not finally confirmed until hours before the second race on Sunday after hours

of debate and a flood of social media commentary and confusion.

Spinning wheels are a no-no because of the danger of hand injuries to mechanics. Stewards decided not to penalise van Gisbergen because the wheels did not complete a full rotation.

But Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess told Auto Action only a slight movement when the gear is engaged will be permitted in future. Any wheel movement beyond that will cop a penalty.

“We have got to protect the mechanics as much as we can,” said Burgess. “We are also protecting the driver.

“The automation of the disengagement is the part that will stop us ending up in the stewards room and all the stuff we don’t want to be reading about.

“It’s a clearer rule, more black and white. We’ve tried to remove the grey area from it.

“It’s better for the fans because

when the chequered flag drops and they show you the leaderboard that’s it, there isn’t any more hearings afterwards to spoil the show.”

In Newcastle van Gisbergen copped a 25 second penalty, lost the Saturday race win and a realistic shot at the championship because his car was judged to have been lowered to the ground during a pit stop with the fuel hose still attached.

Now the rule has been rewritten to make absolutely clear the fuel nozzle has to be decoupled from the car before the air spike is released.

“Before that wasn’t a rule and last year you can see how that happened,” said Burgess. “I don’t believe it was intentional – that’s only my personal view – and we have attempted to tidy that up and protect the teams and protect everybody from falling into this little grey area.

“It’s a little minefield we don’t

want to go into.”

Not only were van Gisbergen and Triple Eight furious about being found guilty, they were also aggrieved about the driver copping the punishment rather than a points penalty being inflicted on the team.

We don’t know if that penalty structure still applies in 2019 as Supercars, in conjunction with CAMS, is currently reviewing all sanctions. That will be finalised by the time the championship roars into action in Adelaide next week.

Also for 2019, it has been mandated that the replacement wheels on the hot side of pitlane must be located between the front and rear axles of the car and not at either where there is the potential for them to be hit by another car.

“It’s an attempt to protect those two guys and make it a cleaner and safer place for everyone to operate,” Burgess said.

Bruce Newton

REYNOLDS FIT AND READY No more physical failures for Lowndes’ championship favourite

XXXX Image: Ross Gibb

By BRUCE NEWTON

CONFIDENT HIS Bathurst 1000 physical failure was a one-off, David Reynolds has declared himself fit and ready for the 2019 Supercars championship.

Reynolds also heads to the Adelaide 500 next week buoyed by strong pace at the Phillip Island pre-season test and nominated as championship favourite by Craig Lowndes.

The Penrite Racing Erebus Holden Commodore ZB driver finished off 2018 in style with five consecutive top fives, including a win and fifth in the driver’s championship.

But he and Luke Youlden were also ontrack to successfully defend their 2017 Bathurst win from pole position until Reynolds’ dramatic late-race physical collapse.

Now having undergone a battery of medical tests in the wake of that and coping with a cool suit failure in the recent Bathurst 12-hour, Reynolds insists his October collapse was a one-off.

that I can do the race.”

Reynolds set fourth fastest time at Phillip Island last week in amongst a phalanx of Ford Mustangs.

Encouragingly, his Erebus teammate Anton De Pasquale was seventh fastest and third Holden.

As a linear spring fan Reynolds could have an early-season set-up advantage over much of the field, which makes the mandatory shift from trapezoidal springs in 2019.

Erebus also debuts a new front upright in 2019 intended to improve brake cooling and front tyre life.

But Reynolds doesn’t think those factors are why Lowndes nominated him as the favourite, theorising the category icon didn’t want to pick between his Triple Eight team-mates Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen.“He probably said that not be biased.

I can see right through this,” Reynolds joked.

“I got everything tested, it was an adrenaline collapse or something like that. I can’t remember it was a while ago now,” he said.

“It was when your adrenaline can’t keep up with the amount you have going on and you just end up [physically] crashing. Too little sleep, too much activity.

“I just have to do not so much media next time and try not to be on pole position. That was probably the worst thing for me at the time, because it comes with extra attention, extra media.

“Bathurst for me is the biggest race of the year and you want to win that more than anything. I just have to try and be a bit calmer this year.”

Reynolds said the 12-hour cool suit failure was tough: “It failed before I even got in the car. Those cars are ridiculously hot and I struggled in the first stint.

“But I have no worries in my mind

NEW NAME FOR SECOND BATHURST TRACK

By MARK FOGARTY

PANORAMA VALLEY could be the name of Bathurst’s second circuit, which will be an internationalstandard car and motorcycle track capable of hosting Supercars and MotoGP. Originally to be known as Velocity Park, the $52 million motor sport complex behind Mount Panorama fell foul of a trademark dispute with Virgin Australia.

The airline’s Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme raised an objection and the name was dropped by “mutual agreement”, according to Bathurst mayor Graeme Hanger.

“That’s been resolved and it’s no longer Velocity Park,” Hanger said.

He revealed that although still officially referred to as “the second circuit”, track creator Apex Circuit Design has christened it Panorama Valley in its documentation.

“For want of a better term – and it’s certainly not set in concrete – the second circuit is being called Panorama Valley [by Apex] because it’s in a bit of a valley behind a mountain,” Hanger explained. “But that’s not set. It’s for them to put on a piece of paper.

“There will possibly be other names that come up.”

It will be the Bathurst Regional Council, which is behind the new permanent circuit to augment the

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limited-use world-famous Mount Panorama course, that ultimately decides on what to call the multipurpose track.

Panorama Valley Raceway has a nice ring to it and certainly suits the site, which is amid undulating land to the west and behind the McPhillamy Park camp site at the top of The Mountain.

UK’s Apex has until early 2020 to complete the design of Panorama Valley’s 4.5 km main circuit and facilities, but the complex is not scheduled to be ready for racing until 2025.

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Subject to full funding – only about half the projected cost has been committed by the NSW and Federal governments – the track will be built to FIA Grade 2 and FIM Grade 1 specification.

Bathurst Regional Council has longterm designs on WSBK or MotoGP world championship rounds, but that would mean replacing Phillip Island, which rivals Mount Panorama’s world fame.

Mayor Hanger demurs on trying to lure either of the Island’s world title motorcycle events to Panorama Valley.

“We don’t say that at all,” he said.

“They have contracts. Let’s just see what the future holds.

“It’ll be ready and up to standard, and we’ll keep it up to standard in case something happens.”

However, BRC would be keen to host a Supercars sprint race round at the second circuit in addition to the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

“Distinctly possible, very possible,” Hanger said. “We’ve been in contact with them and there have been informal discussions, but nothing’s signed, of course.

“But it’s what they’re looking for and it’ll be available.”

For the full behind-the-scenes story on Bathurst’s proposed second circuit, see pages 42-43

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CHANGES FOR CLASSICS OLIVER SOLBERG, son of World Rally Champion Petter will emulate his father by competing with Subaru in the American Rally Association Championship alongside Travis Pastrana and David Higgins. The car features the familiar blue and gold livery that was the main feature of the WRX STIs his father and Colin McRae drove in the 1990s and 2000s. The 17-year-old with co-driver Aaron Johnston begin their campaign on March 15-16 in Missouri’s 100 Acre Wood Rally.

National legal hotline company 1902 A LAWYER will join Ian Woodward’s Fataz Racing to run a second car in the Touring Car Masters in 2019.

The car, a Holden HQ Monaro GTS nicknamed “Marilyn” will be driven by experienced racer Guy Gibbons. Gibbons has been driving for many years in historic racing and in the Australian Production Car Championship, tackling multiple Bathurst endurance races over the last 25 years.

The addition expands the Fataz Team to two cars, with Marilyn joining Woodward’s 67 Camaro which ran in the series in 2018.”

TA2 RACING Australia management has confirmed a six-round calendar for the 2019 TA2 Muscle Car Series. The series will visit five separate venues in four states, including the series’ maiden visit to South Australia at The Bend Motorsport Park. The season will commence at the venue of the 2018 finale at Sydney Motorsport Park, supporting the opening round of the Australian Production Car Series promoted by Sherrin Motorsport. The Bend’s visit encompasses one of three rounds headlining the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) program, with Morgan Park (round two) and a return to Sydney Motorsport Park for round five. The series’ sole visit to Winton will take place in mid-August at a state-level meeting at the regional Victorian circuit.

AHEAD OF its opening round at the Adelaide 500, Touring Cars Masters organisers have announced a pair of new initiatives.

The first is a new optional TCM category control engine to enable competitors that are without the ability to develop or aren’t willing to develop an engine. The control unit is a six-litre based on the Chevrolet LS block with control specification camshaft, dry sump, cylinder heads and carburettor.

The control engine pumps out 600hp and 650Nm of torque coming at a cost of $25,000 after dyno testing and sealing.

“The greatest challenge for all classes of motorsport, especially those competing as a national series, is containing costs,” said Touring Car Masters category manager, Tony Hunter.

“There’s only so much series

management can do about travel costs, and these are compounded by higher costs when competing nationally. It is important for our sponsors and partners to compete at the highest level – on the Supercars calendar – but at the same time entry and TV costs are proportioned accordingly.

“Offering assistance in technical areas can reduce the build and running costs of the cars and that is our focus.

“The new engine is a cost-effective way to produce the right level of performance these cars now require, without going to the expense of building your own engine. We have no plans to alter the specification and freedoms

already allowed, but offering this alternative can be a cost-effective way to compete.”

Technical regulations remain the same with only mild changes to allow further freedoms to the front and rear suspension.

The ‘Ladies Cup’ is the other new initiative for the 2019 season, joining existing classes ProMaster, ProAm and ProSports.

Lady competitors will still be able to fight for outright and class victories, whilst also contesting the ‘Ladies Cup’, which carries support from Burson

“We have had the privilege of having Leanne Tander, Amanda Sparks and Melinda Price competing successfully in Touring Car Masters in the past,” said Hunter.

“The TCM Burson Auto Parts Ladies Cup will be a prestigious part of the championship and we hope it can attract a full field. We are aiming for eight competitors in the long-term and while we know it will take some time to build, we want to start now.”

TCM cars will also sport stickers supporting ‘Say No to Family Violence’ raising awareness for the campaign.

Greg Crick, Barry Oliver honoured FORMER AUSTRALIAN GT and Sports Sedan Champion and inaugural Targa Tasmania winner Greg Crick, has been inducted into the Tasmanian Motorsport Hall of Fame along with fellow multiple Targa Tasmania winner, motorsport official and commentator Barry Oliver, at the Tasmanian Motorsports Award Dinner, held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart.

Greg Crick started racing at Symmons Plains in 1971 and won two Tasmanian Sports Sedan championships in the 1980s, before claiming the 1990 national title in a V8-powered Honda Prelude. In 1992, with navigator Greg Preece, Crick won the inaugural Targa Tasmania in a Honda NSX, with the pair going back-to-back the following year.

Crick was also a regular driver in the Bathurst 1000, making his first appearance in 1989, tackling the great race a total of 14 times, which included four top 10 results with four different co-drivers. In 2006, Crick also won the Australian GT Championship in a Dodge Viper GT3 ACR and also finished fourth in the 2011 Bathurst 12-Hour in a Porsche GT3 Cup S.

He subsequently raced in the 12-hour a number of times, with his best result coming in 2014 when he placed third in the Erebus Motor Sport Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3, co-driving with Will Davison and Jack Le Brocq.

During the race the car hit an errant kangaroo, which badly damaged the front spoiler and tore the right front guard off, not only upsetting the car’s aerodynamics, but causing him to suffer serious carbon monoxide poisoning, which eventually brought

his racing career to a premature end.

Barry Oliver’s first experience of motor sport was at age 11, when his father took him to the Longford circuit in 1955, making a life-long lasting impression. Twenty-five years later, his passion saw him given the opportunity to be course commentator at Symmons Plains for the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship round.

Over the next 11 years Oliver also commentated on circuit racing, karting, rallies, speedway and drag racing, and from 1992 to 2007 he was the series commentator for the Australian Touring Car-V8 Supercars Championship as well as the V8 Development Series. It was a very busy period, with additional commentary for the Australian Formula Ford championship and Rally Australia.

In 1993 Oliver navigated for Jim Richards in the second edition of Targa Tasmania and over the next 25 years the pair contested 78 tarmac rallies in Australia and New Zealand, only failing to finish on seven occasions, resulting in 21 wins (eight of those in Targa Tasmania) and 43 podiums.

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SUPER2 FIELD TAKES SHAPE

TCR GOES LIVE ON SBS

IN A move that bucks the trend of recent years, TCR Australia will be broadcast this year live and on Free to Air television after announcing a deal with SBS. SBS will broadcast each race of the TCR Australia season live in a move that could extend to further categories on the Shannons Nationals bill, according to SBS Head of Sport Ken Shipp, telling Auto Action “We wouldn’t rule it out� when quizzed about expanding its live motorsport programming. “SBS will always consider any proposals which will allow us to increase our coverage of live sport,� Shipp said.

SBS has a history covering motor sport through its long running Speedweek program, as the rights holder of the

Dakar Rally and was the official broadcaster of the Sandown 500 between 1992-1995.

Shipp stated that SBS’s commitment to broadcast live motor sport and in particular TCR, was based on the category’s rapid growth overseas and the potential to attract audiences that have had to tune into Pay TV to watch motor racing. “Sport is always best when you watch it live,� Shipp told Auto Action. “Live sport is one of the few remaining TV genre’s which attract large audiences and motorsport fans more than any others will always find coverage of live racing wherever its available. “TCR racing has been around in Europe for only a few years

and it has seen rapid expansion globally, and SBS is really excited for the opportunity to broadcast live coverage of this inaugural Australian series. “We hope that the TCR series is a huge success.�

The deal, negotiated between the Australian Racing Group, CAMS and SBS, is one that ARG Director Matt Braid is very proud of. “We have worked hard to confirm the best possible coverage for the inaugural TCR Australia Series for our competitors, and particularly for Australian motorsport fans, said Braid. “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with SBS who have a great heritage in broadcasting high quality, local

and international motorsport.�

It comes as CAMS announced that the Shannons Nationals will extend its live stream to cover both days of action, with other categories being covered by a post-produced program on SBS similar to what has occurred in previous years. “There is a real buzz about the Shannons this year, with new and existing categories set for a massive year on our extended seven round calendar,� Shannons Director Michael Smith said. “The two day stream will provide even more motor sport content for fans around Australia and the world.�

The livestream will feature on thenationals.com.au, cams.com. au and on social media.

Heath McAlpine

MW MOTORSPORT was one of the first teams to confirm its line-up for the 2019 season, with the Melbourne-based squad announcing a youthful line-up after the departure of experienced trio Garry Jacobson, Dean Fiore and Alex Rullo.

After placing 11th in the team’s third Nissan Altima in 2017, Bryce Fullwood comes back after a lacklustre year with Matt Stone Racing finishing 17th . He will be joined by relatively inexperienced duo Zane Goddard and Tyler Everingham.

Goddard returned from Europe at the start of last year and embarked on his maiden Super2 season with Brad Jones Racing, where he finished 14th in the points with a best finish of sixth in the final race at Newcastle.

For reigning V8 Touring Car Series (now known as Super3) winner Tyler Everingham, previous Supercars experience is going to be more than useful for the 18-year-old as he makes the leap into Super2. “It’s great,� Everingham told Auto Action. “It’s another step in the right direction with a well-known team and such a big commitment financially and competitively.�

It’s a natural progression for Everingham after contesting the V8 Touring Car Series with the team last year, engaging in a full-season battle with teammate Zac Best for the crown. He has undertaken a test in the Altima already, with the young driver identifying the key differences compared to his usual Ford FG Falcon. “The braking ergonomics are different,�

Everingham stated. “I will have to get used to the Dunlops and how they degrade, but I have previous experience that I can draw on. “I have an open mindset as the field is pretty competitive, but I’d be happy with a top 10.�

Ash Walsh is another driver that will contest Super2 as he replaces Fullwood at Matt Stone Racing for 2019. Walsh has competed in a full-time capacity in any category since he had a testing accident at Phillip Island just prior to the 2017 Bathurst 1000. HM

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SANDOWN READY THE OPENING round of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships will be held at Sandown on March 2-3.

Entries for the weekend top 240, highlighted by a whopping 66 Hyundai Excels and 42 Improved Production cars.

The thrilling Excels will host the return of previous champion Nathan Blight after an interrupted 2018, ready to take on Brendan Avard, Jordan Caruso, Marcus Fraser, Jordyn Sinni and Adam Bywater.

Luke Grech-Cumbo will kick off his title defence at Sandown ahead of a strong Improved Production field in his venerable HSV Senator, though Rob Braune and David Levy will uphold the BMW honour. Others to

Image: Rebecca Thompson keep an eye on include the Audi S3 driven by Adrian Taranto, Matthew Logan in his Holden Commodore and the ex-Jordan Cox Honda Civic to be driven by Stephen Zourkas.

A 35-strong entry is set to lineup in Sports Sedans headlined by the return of former champion Ian Cowley in his ex-Supercar Holden Commodore and the Honda Prelude

of Brett Dickie, while Ran Maclurkin will debut in the ex-Derek Van Zelm Prelude.

Formula Vee will have a solid 19car field and Formula Ford has 17, including the open-wheel debut of Ben Bargwanna.

The one-make Porsche 944s and HQ Holdens again each feature good fields as will the Saloon Cars and the

MGS, which includes the addition of the MG SV-R V8 of Rhys Howell. This car is built to early GT3 regulations, although it didn’t contest the main European series.

Admission fees including acess to the pits and grandstand are $20.00 on Saturday and $25.00 Sunday, Weekend pass $30.00. Children under 16 free.

$300,000 PRIZE POOL FOR PORSCHE JUNIOR IN PARTNERSHIP with Michelin, Porsche has announced a new-look Junior Programme for 2019 featuring a $300,000 prize pool.

Spanning both the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, the initiative now includes all drivers that meet the selection criteria rather than having just a few Michelin Juniors selected at the commencement of the season.

Across each series, each Michelin Junior round winner will receive free entry to the next round, while the top three placed Michelin Juniors will take home a set of free Michelin race tyres. Drivers that meet the criteria will take part in a driver education and training course in March, while a Michelin Super Round will take place at the Australian Grand Prix where the winning participant will

receive a trip to German to attend the Formula E Berlin e-Prix on May 25.

The Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme Shootout nomination will be the best placed Michelin Junior in Carrera Cup at the time nominations are open, giving the driver an opportunity to follow in the footsteps

FORMULA FORD DUO TO THE U.S. AUSTRALIAN FORMULA Ford series winner Hunter McElrea, along with rival Cameron Shields, are confirmed starters for this year’s USF2000 season, a category that forms part of the Road to Indy program.

After being awarded a $200,000USD scholarship for winning last year’s Road to Indy Shootout, McElrea will join two-time consecutive USF2000 champions Pabst Racing, a team that he has tested with previously when he was amongst the series frontrunners.

“I am extremely happy to be joining a top Road to Indy team such as Pabst Racing,” McElrea said. “I am really looking forward to putting the massive effort from the team and myself from the off season to use, and I will do my very best.

“The main difference from the Formula Ford I was driving last year is having a slick tire and aerodynamics. This obviously means a lot more overall grip, which I really like.

12 AutoAction

of Matt Campbell and Jaxon Evans.

“The Porsche Michelin Junior Programme is an important element of Porsche Cars Australia’s motor racing programme and we’re therefore thrilled to announce this new-look format for 2019,” said Troy Bundy, Porsche Cars Australia

Living in the U.S. this year is also a new adventure which I am enjoying a lot.

“I am looking forward to all of the tracks. Obviously, tracks with history such as Indianapolis, Road America and Laguna Seca are going to be special, but also experiencing street courses and an oval for the first time, will be a great experience. I can’t wait!”

Shields will participate in the series with Newman Wachs Racing, thanking his supporters including reigning Indy 500 winner and fellow Toowoomba native Will Power and his father Bob. “I am very pleased to announce that I will be joining with

Motorsport Manager.

“Our local Porsche Motorsport Pyramid has proven success, initially with Matt Campbell establishing his professional racing career in Europe. Then 2018 Michelin Junior Jaxon Evans followed two years later upon winning the international Junior Programme Shootout.

Locally, we’re immensely proud to have had these two incredible talents rise through our system and we hope that this programme gives the current cast of Michelin Juniors the best possible chance to follow in Matt’s and Jaxon’s footsteps.

“Such a comprehensive driver development programme wouldn’t be possible without the support of Michelin Australia, who sees the potential in current Australian-based Porsche drivers and the importance to providing a programme through which young drivers can realise their racing dreams.”

Newman Wachs Racing ahead of the 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship,” Shields enthused.

“It has been a very tough journey over the Christmas break to ensure that I could be on the grid this season.

Without the help of my parents, Will Power, Bob Power and Charles Crews, alongside every member of NWR, there is no way I would be returning to America, so I would like to sincerely thank each of them and all NTT IndyCar Series and Andersen Promotions personnel whom I have interacted with over the last six months, for the upcoming series championship.”

MAXWELL READY FOR PORSCHE CHALLENGE OVERSEAS RETURNEE Thomas Maxwell is eager to contest his first races in Australia since 2015, after the 20-year-old announced his participation in this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Australia with Sonic Motor Racing Services.

Maxwell last year contested the Formula Renault Eurocup where he finished 10th as part of the JD Motorsport team.

The Territorian is hoping to use Carrera Cup as a launching pad back to Europe, where he aims to follow the Porsche pyramid.

“We made the decision to come back, so not to exhaust all our resources, with the intention of returning to Europe,” Maxwell told Auto Action.

“For us it’s just biting the bullet and I’m fully confident I will be on the pace as I am with the best team in the business, Sonic. I will apply what I have learnt in Europe and see where I’m at head-to-head with these guys.”

Maxwell is excited by the challenge he will face, labelling Carrera Cup the strongest series as far as young talent. He will go in as a relative unknown but that doesn’t faze

him.

“It’s a good thing to go in as a darkhorse and fly under the radar with no Porsche experience, I’ll hopefully surprise a few people,” he concluded.

The Carrera Cup grid for the upcoming season promises to be the strongest in the

category’s history, with former Australian GT race winner Liam Talbot joining David Wall at Wall Racing, Maxwell teaming up with Jordan Love and Michael Almond at Sonic, Warren Luff returns for McElrea Racing and GT3 Cup Challenge runner up Cooper Murray makes the step up with Ashley

Seward Racing.

A multitude of last year’s grid including Dale and Glen Wood, James Moffat and Nick McBride not yet confirmed for the season, though Adam Garwood will not contest a second season due to budgetary issues.

Heath McAlpine

HDT CELEBRATION AT PHILLIP ISLAND THE 2019 racing season marks the 50th since the legendary Harry Firth-led Holden Dealer Team first hit the track, culminating in the 1969 Bathurst 500 victory for Colin Bond and Tony Roberts. The 30th Phillip Island Classic ‘Festival of Motorsport’ will celebrate this significant milestone and many more, as more than 500 entries contest the opening event on the 2019 historic calendar.

Another significant milestone to be celebrated will be the 50th anniversary of Formula Ford racing in Australia, a category which is still an important pathway for young drivers today. A huge field of 56cars will contest the event.

Other key anniversaries that will be celebrated over the course of the weekend include the 50th year of the Australian developed and built Bolwell Nagari, and the

60th year of the Morris Mini.

Also heading to the event are some of the top historic racing cars from Britain, headlined by the ex-Roy Salvadori CooperMaserati T61P that the Italian oh so nearly took victory in at Silverstone in 1964.

Joining the T61P is the Dulon Ferrari Dino two-litre V6 driven by Dr Keith Martin, and a now fully-restored 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 Mk1 which nearly ended its life in the late1960s before undergoing a full-rebuild.

Another 289 Cobra has also been entered,

which was driven by David Purley, and a Jaguar E-Type that can trace its history back to the U.S. in the early 1970s is also a feature.

Patron for the event this year is touring car legend Dick Johnson, who will be joined by an array of Australian motorsport royalty including former teammate John Bowe, Jim Richards, Allan Moffat, Fred Gibson, John French, Larry Perkins, Charlie O’Brien, Bob Morris, Peter Janson and former HDT mechanics Ian Tate and Frank Lowndes.

Over 1000 classic, veteran and vintage cars will be on show during the March 8-10 event.

2019 Admission Prices: Friday $30; Saturday $35; Sunday $45; Three-day $95; Friday/Saturday $55; Saturday/Sunday $70

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LATEST NEWS

FIRST LE MANS ENTRIES CONFIRMED THE FIRST 42 entries for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour race have been announced, with a further 18 entries and 10 reserve entries to be released on March 1st.

At this stage the grid will consist of eight LMP1 cars, nine LMP2 cars, ten GTE Pro cars and 15 GTE Am cars.

The current entries in the LMP1 class are made up of the eight full time World Endurance Championship entries. The class contains the #7 and #8 Toyotas, with the #8 Toyota to be driven by defending Le Mans 24 Hour winners Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. As well, there are the two SMPs, two Rebellions, a DragonSpeed and a ByKolles entered.

Last week ByKolles withdrew its entry from the 1000 miles of Sebring, but team principal Manfredi Ravetto says the team will be back on the grid for the 6 Hours of Spa and the Le Mans 24 Hour.

GTE Pro, like LMP1, is made up of full time WEC

entries, with two cars entered by Ferrari, BMW, Aston Martin, Ford and Porsche. Although at this stage only Ferrari and Porsche have confirmed all six of its drivers.

It is expected that a further seven cars will join this class when the additional entries are released.

The LMP2 class consists of the seven regular cars, which includes the two Jackie Chan DC Racing cars and the 2018 LMP2 class winners Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and André Negrao driving for Signatech Alpine. European Le Mans Series teams G-Drive

CHANGES TO LEXUS EUROPEAN EFFORT TECH 1 Racing and Panis-Barthez Competition will take over the running of the Lexus RC F GT3 race program from Emil Frey Racing in Europe this season.

Panis-Barthez Competition was founded by former French Soccer goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and Monaco Grand Prix winner Olivier Panis, who had previously driven for Lexus’ parent company Toyota in Formula One. The French team currently contests the European Le Mans Series and selected races in the Asian Le Mans Series. Tech 1 Racing was founded

by Simon and Sarah Abadie in 2000, and has contested many open wheel championships and is currently contesting the Formula Renault Series.

The two teams will link up to run the

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RC F GT3s in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe (previously known as the Blancpain Sprint Cup).

“Tech 1 Racing and Panis-Barthez Competition are delighted to join the Blancpain racing family, we’re well aware of the size of the challenge that awaits us,” said Simon Abadie.

In 2018 Lexus had a difficult year with Emil Frey Racing but did record its first race victory in the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard.

“It’s both a source of pride and honour to begin this adventure with a manufacturer like Lexus,” Abadie said.

“We’ll do our utmost to be equal to their confidence in this new challenge that the team can’t wait to tackle!”

Racing and RLR Msport are the only two additional LMP2 entries at this stage. The G-Drive car is set to be driven by Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne, Roman Rusinov and Job van Uitert.

The strong 15 car GTE Am field will contain the nine regular WEC entries. 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour winner Matt Campbell will again enter the race with Dempsey-Proton Racing, although the team has not confirmed who his teammates will be. A further six entries will join the class including the first Ford GT entry in the GTE Am class.

HARTLEY RETURNS TO WEC BRENDON HARTLEY will sub-in for Jenson Button at SMP Racing for the next two rounds of the World Endurance Championship.

After spending 13 months in Formula One driving for Toro Rosso, Hartley returns to WEC to race for privateer team SMP racing alongside fellow Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin.

“I’m very pleased to join SMP Racing for the next two WEC races at Sebring and Spa,” said Hartley.

The New Zealander, a two time WEC champion and 24 Hours Le Mans winner, has not raced in the series since Porsche finished its LMP1 programe at the end of 2017.

“The team have all the tools and a great driver roster so I think we have a big opportunity to fight for podiums. It marks my return to the WEC and I’m really looking forward to being back in the paddock

amongst many familiar faces,” an excited Hartley said.

Button is unable to race in the 1000 Miles of Sebring and 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as both races clash with his Super GT commitments. The 2009 Formula One World Champion will return to race for the team in the season ending Le Mans 24 Hour race.

In recent weeks Hartley has also been signed as a Ferrari simulator driver, a role he will share with Pascal Wehrlein.

The 1000 Miles of Sebring takes place on the 15th of March, the following day the IMSA Series will race the 12 Hours of Sebring.

AA’s peeved pundit regrets that his two passions – motor racing and tennis – create divisions in Australia’s sporting capital THINGS ARE looking good for next month’s F1 Australian Grand Prix.

Four weeks out, grandstand and corporate ticket sales are at their highest levels in six years. Interest has been piqued, according to the organisers, by Daniel Ricciardo’s switch to Renault and the prospect of the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastien Vettel continuing.

For diehard enthusiasts, the new aero rules to reduce downforce and improve overtaking opportunities – debatable though that is – and the possibility that the midfield will be closer to the front are attractions. So, too, is the return of the Supercars with championship round status.

New infield activities and more track action than ever over the four days from March 14-17 has also helped increase boosted pre-sales. The festival atmosphere around the AGP will be boosted by the first ever F1 season launch, which will be staged in Melbourne’s Federation Square on the evening of Wednesday, March 13.

The Australian Grand Prix is the biggest and most important motor sport event in the country, measured by attendance and international TV coverage. It is one of the nation’s biggest sporting events, up there with the Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, and the AFL and NRL grand finals.

On the global stage, the AGP is exceeded only by the twoweek Australian Open, one of the

four pinnacle tennis grand slam tournaments. The Oz Open is the darling of Melbourne’s portfolio of world-class sporting events, immune from any criticism.

Yet the Melbourne GP has been hammered about its annual cost to Victorian tax payers since – even before – it started in 1996. In recent years, the bill has peaked at around $60 million a year. Cost containment and revenue increases are set to hold it at that level in the foreseeable future.

It could – and should – be argued that for the worldwide exposure the AGP generates, it is pretty good value.

The Australian Open has cost the Victorian government billions since it switched from Kooyong to Melbourne Park in 1988, but its very different economic model allows it to avoid criticism.

I’m a tennis fan and was covering the game internationally when Melbourne Park was conceived, built and adopted. Great venue, great event, no doubt. But not without enormous cost.

I understand very well the economics of both the AGP and Oz Open, and it has constantly annoyed me that the Albert Park event is widely regarded as a burden rather than a benefit. It can’t be that unpopular because more than 100,000 turn up on race day alone – more than cram the MCG for the Grand Final.

The AGP is also playing an

important role in the future of F1. It is a model for Liberty Media on how to make a grand prix an entertainment event. The razzmatazz and constant activity that has been the AGP’s trademark since it was in Adelaide is how Formula 1 wants all races to be presented.

But right now, there is a serious disconnected between F1 the organisation and F1 race promoters.

This flared recently at a meeting of the Formula One Promoters Association in London, preceding talks with Liberty/F1 management.

Beforehand, FOPA released a statement criticising, among other things, F1’s move to pay TV broadcasting deals at the expense of free-to-air coverage. The Australian GP was one of the signatories.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation was represented at the meetings by chief executive officer Andrew Westacott and legal and strategy general manager James Rosengarten.

Strangely, though, Westacott would not confirm that the AGPC endorses FOPA’s indictment of Liberty/F1. “The Australian Grand Prix was present at the meeting,” he told me. “It’s not encouraged for individual promoters to talk about the inner workings of FOPA, and what are private and confidential meetings.

“So therefore what I’d say is that the promoters were divided on the position, but there was a majority position that agreed on the sending out of that particular statement.”

Westacott will not budge on which side of the division the Australian GP falls. “No, I won’t talk about the inner specifics,” he said. “But what I will say is that the Australian Grand Prix Corporation has had an unbelievably strong working relationship with Formula 1 all through the early days and also under the leadership of Liberty.

“But we also support the presence of a collaborative group called FOPA, which exists to further the cause of all

(F1 race) promoters. We support the presence of constructive interaction and dialogue between the promoters and F1, and we believe that out of all the meetings in London, there’s a very strong willingness to work together.”

Talking about hedging your bets.

There is clearly plenty of political intrigue going on behind closed doors as F1 tries to regain disaffected fans and attract new ones.

Despite the scathing FOPA statement, Westacott asserts that Liberty is committed to helping race promoters. “They are well and truly wanting to work with promoters and grow the pie,” he said. “We’re at the front of that and we’re well-positioned. “(F1 supremo) Chase (Carey) said very clearly that we’re on a path, we’re wanting to collaborate with everyone, we’re comfortable with where we’re heading.

“We spent a heck of a lot of time with Formula 1 covering off a huge amount of detail about our event and the F1 global season launch in Melbourne, which is being done for the first time.”

The season launch will be broadcast or streamed globally and locally.

Negotiations with Fox Sports and Channel 10 to show it are on-going.

Between 5000 and 10,000 are expected to turn up at Fed Square, with proceedings beginning at around 5.00-5.30 pm, building over a few hours to the introduction of all the drivers, who will interact with the fans.

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s w e n e n O Formula

CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENDER WHILE MERCEDES won the last five constructors’ and drivers’ Formula 1 world championships, the team is very wary of challenges from rival teams this season.

“There is absolutely no feeling of entitlement to be at the front,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

“The regulations have changed quite substantially. We have to start from scratch. We need to prove ourselves again against our own expectations and against our competitors.”

Initial work on the 2019 Mercedes W10 began 16 months ago. Mercedes technical director James Allison said that the major changes to the technical regulations give other teams the chance to build a better car.

“Regulation changes are both opportunity and threat,” Allison said. “They are an opportunity because all the old assumptions about what you need to have to be quick are swept away and, if you are fleet of foot and smart in dealing with that, you can do better than all the other

OLD AND NEW GOALS

WILLIAMS AND MCLAREN, the two oldest teams in Formula 1 after Ferrari, are aiming at Haas, the newest team F1, and beyond. Haas, meanwhile, has some very lofty goals of its own.

All three teams feature new liveries and sponsors this season.

Williams had a dismal 2018, finishing last in the constructors’ championship. McLaren placed sixth in the standings, but it was 31 points adrift of fifth-placed Haas.

Last year, Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin contributed considerable amounts to Williams’ budget. But they are gone, as is sponsor Martini. The team has a new title sponsor – telecommunications company ROKiT – and a new light blue, white and black paint scheme on the 2019 Williams FW42.

Robert Kubica, making his racing return to F1 after an eightyear absence, will also contribute money from his sponsors in Poland. He teams up with 2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell.

“Our target this year is progress,” said Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams. “We have to show that. In the shortterm we have to be targeting the top four again and work back towards getting on the podium.”

The last time a McLaren driver stood on the top step of the

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podium was in 2012. The team also has an all-new driver lineup in Carlos Sainz and rookie Lando Norris, new sponsors including BAT, Estrella Galicia and Huski Chocolate, and a new hue of the McLaren papaya orange colour scheme.

Last year’s McLaren MCL33 was, simply, a bad car, so the team is banking on the 2019 MCL34 being a significant step forward. McLaren is also banking on Renault’s promise of a faster and more reliable power unit.

Andreas Seidl, who ran Porsche’s WEC programme, takes up

teams that are tackling the same change. They are a threat because if you are not as smart and you didn’t see how to make the most of these new regulations, then you’ll certainly suffer in the coming season.”

A lot of effort went into how the W10 uses its tyres.

“We have worked hard on the suspension and aerodynamic characteristics to deliver a car that will be much kinder to its tyres, enough, we hope, to allow us to be competitive at all phases of the race and at each track

his post as the managing director of McLaren’s F1 team on May 1. Former Toro Rosso technical director James Key will have a similar role at McLaren later this year.

“We are in a rebuilding process and it is going to be a journey,” said McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown.

By contrast, Haas, now in its fourth season, has undergone few changes. The driver lineup of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen remains the same. Visually, however, the 2019 VF-19 looks different as the 2018 grey, red and black livery is replaced with the black and gold of new title sponsor Rich Energy. William Storey, the CEO of the energy drink company, said the goals are to “challenge” Red Bull, in the world of business and on the track. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said the team has to aim high.

“If you don’t try then for sure you don’t achieve it,” he said.

“Why would you do F1 if you don’t put your target high?”

And that target is very high indeed. Red Bull scored 419 points in the 2018 constructors’ F1 world championship. Haas earned 93 points. That is a difference of 326 points, which is the equivalent of 13 race wins!

The bottom line is that Haas, McLaren and Williams all have a long way to go to get to the top.

CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER

on the calendar,” Allison said.

Lewis Hamilton heads into the new season refreshed and ready to go.

“I completely switched off from racing for a while, trying to focus and re-centre myself and training hard for the new season,” he said.

Hamilton certainly was upbeat after his first laps shaking down the W10.

“For me it is crazy, because I have been racing a long, long time, it’s my seventh year with the team, but the excitement I had today was the same I had when I first got in an F1 car, which is really weird,” he said, “and I was not expecting that.”

Valtteri Bottas is also bouncing with energy.

“I am excited for the new season and that everyone starts with zero points,” he said.

“We are all on the same line and 2019 can bring anything. I’m going to go all-in this year.

There was quite a bit of criticism at some stages of 2018, but that’s actually been a positive thing for me because it’s given me an extra boost.”

The 2018 W09 won 11 races with Hamilton, and he and Bottas also had a combined total of 14 other finishes on the podium.

But that was 2018. Looking ahead to the new season, Wolff said: “Every team can have a shot at the title and we’re seeing all of them as a potential threat.”

LAST YEAR’S Ferrari SF71H was not a bad car. Indeed, it was quicker than the Mercedes W09 in about half the races. It was not the car but rather mistakes by Sebastian Vettel and the team – and virtually none by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes – that cost Ferrari the championship. Ferrari aims to change that in 2019.

Optimism is a standard part of a new Formula 1 season and the unveiling of a new car, but Ferrari has good reasons to be upbeat.

“We got close in the last couple of years, sometimes closer, sometimes further away, but I think overall things are moving in the right direction,” said Vettel, who is back for a fifth season with the team. He is joined by Charles Leclerc who spent his rookie season with Sauber.

The atmosphere in the team is different now that former technical director Mattia Binotto has replaced Maurizio Arrivabene as team boss.

“He has great leadership skills,” Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri said of Binotto, “and he knows the Scuderia. He’s a team player and he will make a huge difference at all levels. Serenity will prevail. We will work with creativity, talent and transparency.”

Binotto has a warmer, less belligerent management style compared to Arrivabene.

“The philosophy for next season certainly is try to enjoy (it),” Binotto said. “That’s something that we were maybe missing in the past. Certainly we are enjoying winning, but I think you can simply enjoy by trying to be teammates, something which we are trying to consolidate.”

What will really make the season enjoyable is if the 2019 Ferrari – called the SF90 in honor of the Scuderia’s 90th anniversary since Enzo Ferrari first started racing cars in 1929– is fast.

“In 2018 we got really good achievements, and this car is a development of last year’s car,” Binotto said. “It is not a revolution. We simply tried to push again to raise the bar, raise, the level, and try to be as extreme as we could. There are a few changes that are straightforward, like the front wing.

“But if you look at it in all the details, certainly we try to push very hard, being innovative.

The roll hoop is very narrow and very slim. And if you look at the bodywork at the back it is very, very slim, and that is thanks to the entire job, which you cannot see because it is below, in terms of engine installation and power installation packaging.”

A very visible sign of Ferrari pushing things to the extreme is the SF90s matte red paint finish, which was done to shave a few hundred grams of weight off the car.

Ferrari started 2018 as a championship contender but that fizzled out as the season progressed. The Scuderia needs to keep a mistake-free momentum all the way through 2019 if it wants to win its first championship in a decade.

THE HONDA CONNECTION HONDA WILL supply Toro Rosso and its new team Red Bull with the same specification power units this year.

“It is the most logical method and one which Honda feels is best, not to mention that the regulations state we must supply all teams equally,” said Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda’s F1 technical director. “But it’s not just a case of supplying the two teams with the same technical hardware. We will also treat them equally in terms of the resources we allocate to manage our operations and on the development side.”

While he was pleased with his first laps in the 2019 Red Bull Honda RB15, Max Verstappen remained cautious.

“I guess up until Australia you can’t really set goals,” said Verstappen who teams up with Pierre Gasly who replaced Daniel Ricciardo. “It’s a bit blind. In F1 it’s related to the package you get. So, I’m always quite easy going. That doesn’t mean I’m not always going to try to do as good as I can to get the best out of myself. But you’re so dependent on what you get as a package, you just have to wait.”

Unlike Haas, which buys as many components for the car as possible, Toro Rosso continues to do a lot of things inhouse. But now that Red Bull and Toro Rosso have the Honda

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connection, there is more synergy between the two teams.

And Toro Rosso can concentrate more on car performance by getting some standard parts from Red Bull.

About 400 people work for Toro Rosso, with 300 at the team’s main factory in Faenza, Italy, and another 100 in Bicester, England, where the team has its wind tunnel.

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“Having committed to a parts supply from Red Bull Technology, a lot of effort has to be put to integrate everything as well as possible and of course, this remains under the sole control of Toro Rosso,” Jody Egginton, Toro Rosso’s deputy technical director said.

“Synergy is a concept we as a team have embraced.

It has several positives which gives us the ability to refocus our design effort on other areas and resources that come with it, whilst receiving parts which are proven trackside.”

The last time Daniil Kvyat raced in F1 was the United States Grand Prix on October 22, 2017. He kept close to F1 by working for Ferrari and driving the team’s simulator last year.

“Even if you only drive in the simulator, nowadays they are very sophisticated, so you can practice and practice,” he said. “By driving a lot there, it’s kept me in shape and allowed me not to forget how an F1 car feels.”

Kvyat returns to racing this year in the 2019 Toro Rosso Honda STR14 with his rookie teammate, the Thai-British driver Alex Albon.

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Renault RS 19

THE SEASON IS GO

THE ANNUAL round of Formula 1 launches has seen nine teams reveal their 2019 weapons over the past fortnight, racers that they hope will finally enable them to take on Mercedes competitively. Meanwhile, the reigning champion silver arrows team has also taken the covers off its latest contender, aiming to win both the driver’s and constructor’s titles yet again. The scene is now set for another intriguing Formula 1 season, with testing set to commence as we publish this edition.

Haas VF 19

Racing Point RP19

McLaren MCL 34

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Torro Rosso STR14

Ferrari SF 90

Formerly Sauber, Alfa Romeo’s new car is yet to be named

Mercedes F1 W10 Xxxxx

Red Bull RB 15

Williams FW 42 AutoAction

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F1 INSIDER IT TAKES millions of dollars to operate a Formula 1 team.

In July last year, Force India had just a couple hundred thousand in the bank and millions in outstanding debts.

The team was about to be shut down.

“Without administration, we would have been done in August,” team principal Otmar Szafnauer revealed to Auto Action. “Managing the suppliers whom we owed money to was difficult. I spent a lot of my time managing suppliers and telling them about our financial status and when the money could be coming. Too much of my time really.”

After Force India went into administration the team was rescued by the consortium led by Canadian billionaire Laurence Stroll. In the shortterm, the money allowed the team, now called Racing Point, to finish the 2018 season. In the longer term, the team, based across the road from the Silverstone circuit, plans to build a new factory.

“One of the things we have to do is get everybody in the same place,” Szafnauer said.

“That makes a big difference.

Communication is a lot better, pulling in the same direction, having the same understanding of what we are doing because we are closer to each other, is a lot better.”

Currently the team’s wind tunnel is in a different town.

“So 100 of our employees are separated by 10 kilometres, which is not great,” Szafnauer said. “It is not far, and you have computers to send emails and face time. But it is still not

with Dan Knutson

MONEY MATTERS

Laurence Stroll and son Lance, Sergio Perez and Otmar Szafneuer launch their 2019 contender.

the same. Somebody once told me that 80, 90 percent of communicating is through body language. Not just the spoken or written word. Body language is important when you are trying to create a fast car and an efficient team.”

In the past, the team spent the off-season trying to find the money and sponsorship to build and develop its car for the next season. Many compromises had to be made, including carrying over certain parts from one year to the next. But now there is stability and funding.

“The change of ownership definitely affected the decisions we made last year,” noted technical director Andy Green. “It came a few months too late to affect the fundamental philosophy of the 2019 car, so we set out to work in the same way

“This momentum is going to continue throughout the season thanks to the money flowing.” we had done before, when the finances of the team were very lean. In reality we couldn’t expect a big inflow of cash until September, so we made certain decisions about the chassis and gearbox that allowed us to keep developing. Whilst all this was happening, we carried on adding some performance to the 2018 car by developing the parts we had. Often the upgrades never made it past the wind tunnel model, but we had to keep car development progressing at all times, otherwise we’d just fall further behind. It was the only way to work given the situation we were in.”

This momentum is going to continue throughout this season thanks to the money flowing.

“It’s been a massive change, and one for the best, with a real change in development philosophy,” Green said.

“This year, we will be bringing updates to the car as soon as they’re ready.

We won’t be waiting to put together bigger packages, but will focus on making incremental gains at every race. The improved financial situation of the team helps this strategy a lot, but this situation owes a lot to the change in regulations as well. A new set of aero rules

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means the development slope has become steep again.

The gains are not going to taper off into marginal increases this year, we are in a situation in which we will find significant performance at regular intervals. The model is developing at such a fast pace we cannot afford not to bring parts to the car as soon as we can.”

The car Racing Point will use in pre-season testing is what Green calls a “vanilla” model which will be used to get the basics sorted, like reliability and understanding the tyres.

And then there will be a significant upgrade for the season opener in Melbourne and more throughout the season.

All in all, the team has undergone a massive change, and this is just the beginning.

OPINION LOWNDES TV BACKLASH

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

Mark Fogarty

Deputy Editor

By MARK FOGARTY, Editor-At-Large

CONFIRMATION THAT Craig Lowndes will replace Russell Ingall on Fox Sports’ Supercars coverage triggered an uproar among fans on social media.

It was announced early on February 10 – a Sunday morning – that Lowndes is joining Mark Skaife and host Jessica Yates in the Fox Sports presentation studio during the non-enduro events.

While it was known that he would join the Supercars broadcast commentary team, Lowndes’s role hadn’t been defined until the furtive announcement.

We’ll get to that.

However, it was clear he was always destined to replace Ingall on the Fox Sports trackside hosting desk when the outspoken 2005 Supercars champion revealed earlier in that week that he’d been dumped.

Ingall had been informed weeks earlier that his services would no longer be required.

Fox Sports managements’ comments about the change were disingenuous and the announcement was badly handled.

It appeared out of the blue on the Supercars web site very early on a Sunday morning, with no communication to independent motor sport media.

AA was the first to question Ingall’s future with Fox Sports late last year, based on the logic that five-into-four wouldn’t work for airtime and cost reasons.

With Lowndes arriving, one of Mark Skaife, Greg Murphy, Mark Larkham or Ingall had to go. Given that a studio pundit role was most suitable for Lowndes and his situation, the casualty was obvious/inevitable.

And as the face of Supercars, there is no one more popular or recognised – except perhaps Dick Johnson.

However, Dick is probably too laconic for TV and his team co-ownership is a conflict – but you’d hardly know that.

Johnson says what he thinks, although he has his own agenda that requires circumspection about his comments.

In a story on Lowndes’s broadcasting future in late December, Supercars CEO Sean Seamer told AA that he didn’t know Ingall’s status going forward.

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

In hindsight, that appears to have been less than forthcoming, even if you allow for the fact that Fox Sports’ hosting panel is independent of the Supercars Media-produced simulcast coverage of the track action.

Publisher

Heath McAlpine

Creative Director/ Production

Jason Crowe

Special Contributor Bruce Newton National Editor

Garry O’Brien

Online Editor

Rhys Vandersyde

Contributing Writers Australia Garry O’Brien, Mark Fogarty, Bruce Newton, David Hassall, Bob Watson F1 Dan Knutson Speedway Geoff Rounds

The Fox Sports Supercars hosting team will look different this year - Craig Lowndes steps in to replace Russell Ingall.

It is difficult to imagine Seamer would not have known how Lowndes’s inclusion would impact the line-up of talking heads, but commercialin-confidence considerations may account for his obfuscation.

Reaction to the announcement that Lowndes had taken over from Ingall was swift and overwhelmingly negative.

Although his appointment is acclaimed in itself because of his popularity, fans are outraged that it is at the cost of Ingall, who followers regard as forthright and unbiased.

Ingall’s ouster is unpopular and on Facebook, at least two campaigns have been launched to keep him on Fox Sports.

Thousands of fans have signed petitions imploring Fox Sports to retain him, citing his devil-may-care comments.

The majority are supportive of Lowndes joining the broadcast team, but not at the expense of Ingall.

The outcry on social media also lamented a perceived Triple Eight team bias, with many commenters also accusing Skaife of being pro-T8/ Holden.

To be fair, the same scepticism could have been levelled at Ingall, who had co-driving gigs with Ford Performance Racing, Holden Racing Team and Nissan Motorsport in the early years of his Fox Sports pundit role.

But his candid comments alongside Skaife and Yates since 2015 have earned fans’ respect in an extension of his following as ‘The Enforcer’ when he was racing.

Lowndes’s alignments for the next couple of years are no secret.

Along with his two-year co-driving commitment, he is a Triple Eight team ambassador and also a Supercars representative.

Supercars Media – the confusing name for the category’s broadcast production division – supplies a common feed to Fox Sports and

free-to-air partner Network 10 for all practice and qualifying sessions, and races.

Track action commentary by Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife, plus pit reporting by Greg Murphy, Mark Larkham and Riana Crehan, is simulcast on both networks.

Judging by the social media reaction, Supercars has over-estimated Lowndes’s appeal as an impartial observer and under-estimated Ingall’s credibility.

Along with continuing questions by fans of Skaife’s pervasive presence, you have to wonder about the veracity of Supercars’ broadcasts.

The production and pictures are world-class, but compared with, say, the AFL’s simulcast coverage of games on Fox Sports and Seven, the telecasts lack objectivity.

Both Fox Sports and Seven air shows outside the games that are searching and controversial, calling the AFL to account. Supercars has no such broadcast scrutiny.

Supercars broadcasts are tame and unchallenging, with track action commentaries common to Fox Sports and 10 – the latter live at six major events, the rest highlights.

Otherwise, there is no questioning coverage. Last year’s Supercars Trackside pre- and -post event shows on Fox Sports were much better than previous efforts – and Ingall’s observations were entertaining – but they were still less than robust critiques.

Supercars is not subject to broadcast debate, with Ingall the lone voice to question the category’s decisions/ developments/direction on-air.

He is not the smoothest of presenters, but his willingness to call out injustices and speak his mind earned him the respect of invested viewers – and entertained casual watchers.

Lowndes will bring personality appeal to Fox Sports’ coverage, but

don’t expect contentious – much less, dissenting – opinion.

It is just not in Craig’s nature to criticise. While his broad analyses may be interesting because he knows the game, it is unlikely he will speak his mind because of his conflicted involvement.

He is, to his credit, the first to admit that he has a lot to learn about being a presenter/pundit and that it will take a while for him to become comfortable in this new role.

This is only natural and the fans will give him the time to develop as a broadcaster, according him the respect that his stature in the sport demands.

The fans love him and will be enthralled by his observations. But the more discerning will still take all but his racing analyses with a grain of salt because he is conflicted.

In my long experience, Craig doesn’t like controversy and will certainly avoid it while he is still racing. Long-term, that may change and he may grow into a more assertive role, especially once he has finished racing far into the future.

His deal with Supercars/Fox Sports is that that he will join Yates and Skaife in the Fox Sports trackside studio when he’s not racing.

Lowndes has a ‘get out’ clause for the Darwin round if he secures a drive in the clashing Le Mans 24 Hours, an event to which he has long aspired.

But even during the enduros, when he is racing with RBHRT, you can be sure he will be a regular on Fox Sports’ coverage.

According to Supercars supremo Sean Seamer, Lowndes’s broadcast role will develop as he transitions from part-time racer to complete retirement from racing.

“It will evolve over time, once he gets his feet under the desk,” Seamer told AA recently. “He’ll play an activate role in the season launch.”

This commentary was first published online at autoaction.com.au. It has been edited to fit this space.

Stonie has moved! Our veteran cartoonist’s popular satirical view is now a feature of The Last Lap – a light-hearted look at racing – on page 58.

Photographers Australia Ross Gibb, Rebecca Thompson, Mick Oliver, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Rhys Vandersyde, Dan McCarthy International LAT Images Cartoonist John Stoneham

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R O F S E S R O H S E S R U O C Can the Mustang and Scott Mclaughlin team up to challenge Triple Eight’s thoroughbreds? BRUCE NEWTON saddles up for the new Supercars season

T

HE FORD Mustang. As we enter the 2019 Supercars Championship, that’s the centre of attention and discussion.

The unique Gen2 racing version of the iconic pony car developed specifically for Australia’s only truly professional motor sport category makes its racing debut in next week’s Superloop Adelaide 500 – and with it comes a whole bunch of grist for the everchurning Supercars mill.

Firstly, it recasts the competitive balance of the The Red Bull Holden Racing Team pair will be keen to avenge last Adam De Borre and Chaz Mostert hold the key to Tickford’s championship, although which way we are yet year’s defeat. challenge. Image: Ross Gibb to find out.

Secondly, it signals the return of Ford to be too much to expect, although van Gisbergen bring home some chocolates on the good days is an ace. If Tickford can provide them with a car Supercars in an official capacity for the first time delivered precisely that for the ZB last year. But an and make good out of bad days. We’ll soon see capable of winning races, then look out. But that’s since 2015, resuming the decades-old factory battle uncompetitive debut is unimaginable. DJRTP and how you go.” no sure thing, based on a torrid 2018 when the with arch-rival Holden.

McLaughlin are too good at what they do to be lost The Gold Coast-based Kiwi’s other asset is raw, former Ford factory team fell off the pace and deep And if you’re in Adelaide, you’re going to know all in the wilderness. innate speed that’s matured into a blistering force: into DJRTP’s shadow. about it because Ford intends to paint a traditionally Remember, under that controversial skin, the 13 pole positions, nine race wins and 21 podiums Having all four cars in the top 10 at the prered town blue to coincide with the Mustang’s racing Mustang is a known package. Five of the six in 2018 alone. And, remember, qualifying is the key season test at Phillip Island is a good first step back debut.

Mustangs racing in Adelaide are re-bodied Falcons. to winning Supercars races – especially the sprints into the light.

Thirdly, Mustang has given Supercars a real Sure, aerodynamic behaviour is different, but with – because passing doesn’t come that easily.

And what of Mostert’s teammates? Entering his positive talking point for 2019, overshadowing multiple days of promising test results already So, the question is not whether McLaughlin, fourth year, feisty Cameron Waters – fastest in the negatives like the drop in the full-time grid from 26 under their wheels – combined with relentless work the Mustang and his innovative engineer Ludo test – will be determined to continue the climb 2018 to 24 cars and the commercial challenges that have on its Simworx full-motion simulator – Shell V-Power Lacroix will unlock pace. It’s whether they can interrupted, while new signing Lee Holdsworth is no caused that; Nissan’s pull-out; the ongoing debate Racing undoubtedly is getting a handle on that, too. do it consistently in both qualifying and racing. doubt hoping years of horrid luck are behind him. about the limited free-to-air live TV coverage of the Yes, they have to deal with the trapezoidal spring Remember, after SVG won in Adelaide last year, it Phil Munday’s customer entry for Will Davison series; and the retirement of all-time great Craig ban, the arrival of the Xtrac transaxle, a 15kg drop took him 16 races to stand atop the podium again. is intriguing. Still only 36, the championship’s Lowndes from full-time driving. in minimum weight, an updated Motec ECU, some So McLaughlin – tick. But how many other wanderer remains blisteringly fast when mood Finally, the arrival of Mustang also ends the era revision to qualifying and pit stop procedure, the Mustangs will pose a winning threat? and machine align. Being back in Campbellfield of local Australian-built vehicles – or racing variants imponderables of the Perth night race and the With the aero balance of the Mustang tipped with data to share and working with experienced inspired by them – contesting our premier touring challenges of an Enduro Cup that now commence further rearward than Falcon, and into the second engineer Brendan Hogan may give Davo fresh car championship. Yep, every year since the ATCC with the Bathurst 1000. year of his relationship with engineer Mark Fenning, impetus. commenced in 1960, there have been domestic But, then, so does the rest of the field.

Fabian Coulthard is expected to have a stronger A top five or two will not surprise. You just know models on the grid. But not this year.

McLaughlin himself identified the key to defending season. And, to be blunt, he’s driving for his Penske there are places like Symmons Plains where Of course, that was inevitable following the his first championship successfully. It’s consistency. career. The threat of extinction breeds motivation Davison will pop up. destruction of local automotive manufacture.

The points structure of Supercars rewards finishing in some and despondency in others, so it will be The same is true of Winterbottom. Embedded in But at least the last of the big bangers, the Ford over winning, which helps ensure the battle goes fascinating to see how the British-born, NZ-raised, a new one-car structure closely aligned with Triple Falcon FG X, went out in style, winning the driver’s to the final round. And McLaughlin – backed up by Aussie-based racer reacts.

Eight, the 2015 champion has a strong sporting championship in the hands of DJR Team Penske’s the slick pit work of his team – was a Swiss clock The driver commonly expected to be first in-line director in Phil Keed – back from a year’s gardening Scott McLaughlin in 2018. in 2018. to replace Coulthard at DJRTP is Chaz Mostert. leave after departing DJRTP – in his corner and It is this driver and this team that huge expectation “Our biggest thing last year was consistency,” he You can also expect him to be Tickford racing’s a fresh ZB Holden to figure out after 16 years in is placed on to extract the most pace from the confirmed. “We were always there, I think we were star turn – again. With Mark Winterbottom’s Fords.

Mustang and be first to get in the face of the factory once outside the top 10 all year and we didn’t drop departure to Charlie Schwerkolt’s recast Team 18, The biggest competitive challenge may be getting backed Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden a lap. It’s important that we finish every race, keep ‘Mozzie’ is now the senior member of this four-car the pit stop sequence working smoothly with Commodore ZBs of Shane van Gisbergen and out of trouble. squad – maybe not in age, but certainly in terms of new partners Tekno Autosports. But, no doubt, a Jamie Whincup.

“It’s the obvious things, but it is easier said than performance potential. revitalised competitive Frosty would heat up the A winning debut on the streets of Adelaide might done. Hopefully, we can just stay out of trouble, Mostert is a gun and his engineer Adam De Borre year no-end!

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2019 SEASON PREVIEW Scott McLaughlin is the one to chase in the new Mustang Images: Insyde Media

YOUTH OVER EXPERIENCE THIS YEAR’S Super2 Series signifies a changing of the guard. Many of the experienced hands of previous seasons have moved on leaving a largely inexperienced field of young upstarts ready to take on the streets of Adelaide.

The amount of experience lost is revealed by looking at the top three from last year’s series. Each will not return in 2019 for different reasons, Chris Pither due to a lack of budget, Garry Jacobson makes his long-awaited debut in the main series and Paul Dumbrell has stepped back from racing. Another to not return is Macauley Jones, who joins Jacobson in making his Supercars main game debut.

This has opened up the Super2 field considerably, with an influx of newcomers and a number of key changes expected to lead to another competitive field in this second tier series.

Last year’s champion team, Garry Rogers Motorsport has recruited Porsche Carrera Cup Australia runner up Dylan O’Keeffe to take over the seat vacated by Pither, alongside Mason Barbera.

Jacobson’s departure from MW Motorsport sparked a complete overhaul of the line-up, which is totally youth-based. Returning to the team is Bryce Fullwood after a fraught campaign with Matt Stone Racing that ended in a disappointing 17th, given that he finished 11th in 2017 after a part-season in the Altima with three podiums.

Joining the Territorian in the other two Altimas are reigning Super3 Series winner Tyler Everingham and recent European expat Zane Goddard, who had a difficult Super2 initiation with Brad Jones Racing last season.

The reigning Mike Kable ‘Young Gun’ Award winner Thomas Randle returns with Tickford Racing after a debut season that finished with two podiums on the way to 11th in the title. More is expected from the European returnee in his sophomore year.

Will Brown won the same award in 2017, but last year’s season was a If the bullish talk of improvement that’s come out of both camps over the summer translates to reality, then surely Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Scott Pye and James Courtney, and BJR’s Tim Slade and Nick Percat are capable of rostrums and perhaps even wins.

At WAU, Englishman Carl Faux’s technical leadership has shown promise and now enters a second full year. Up in Albury, the off-season has been similarly stable for BJR, with Brad’s son Macauley making the expected transition into the Cooldrive entry to replace REC owner Tim Blanchard.

disappointment for the Toowoomba native as a number of mistakes hampered his consistency. Although he finished sixth in the points, it was way off expectations.

Triple Eight are another returnee to the Super2 field this year as it hopes to transform its race winning form in the main game into another Super2 title. The team haven’t fielded an entry into the series since 2013, but after downsizing its Supercars Championship effort to two entries, it will field two Super2 cars for Kurt Kostecki and Brenton Grove.

Speaking of Kosteckis, the family team had step up in results last year off the back of older cousin Brodie as well as the addition of experienced engineer Geoff Slater. The eldest Kostecki is more than a dark horse to snatch the Super2 crown.

Matt Stone Racing will have the experience of Ash Walsh to rely on for 2019, though he hasn’t participated full-time in any category since his crash while testing at Phillip Island in 2017. He will pilot a proven quantity in the team’s Holden Commodore that took Todd Hazelwood to the Super2 crown in 2017, but it comes after a turbulent 2018 season for the team.

Others such as Aussie Racing Cars winner Joel Heinrich (MSR Falcon), Brad Jones Racing’s Jack Smith, Alex Rullo, Dean Fiore and Shae Davies are also sure to figure.

Heath McAlpine

And what will the seventh and final year of the Nissan Altima reap? Subtle tweaks have Kelly Racing more optimistic about their aerodynamic package and in Rick Kelly the team has a star driving asset.

Simona De Silvestro, Andre Heimgartner and rookie Garry Jacobson – who replaces Michael Caruso – can’t make the same claim. Heimgartner – yet another Kiwi! – shapes as the best of them based on a strong run of top 10s to finish 2018.

And, of course, there’s no doubting David Reynolds’ form. With one of the best technical and strategic minds in the game, Al McVean, quietly

providing guidance, the joker in the pack has improved every year at Erebus.

The serious challenge for Reynolds is to continue that trend and become the legitimate contender that the freshly-retired Craig Lowndes tips him to be. More than likely, Reynolds will fulfil the function of Holden’s best of the rest, just as Lowndes did for years.

Technically, Erebus charts its own course and that may deliver Reynolds an advantage. It has a lot of experience with the linear spring because he prefers it. And it is introducing a new front upright that is expected to increase front tyre life.

It will be intriguing to see how Reynolds’ teammate Anton De Pasquale performs in his second year. He wasn’t top rookie in 2018 (that honour went to Tekno’s Jack Le Brocq), but at times he was stunningly fast – most impressively on the big stage at the Bathurst 1000.

Richie Stanaway will also be heavily scrutinised. A hero in 2017, a disaster in 2018 and now searching for redemption at GRM, where he has replaced Garth Tander – much to GT’s surprise and the pleasure of Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane, who quickly snapped him up as van Gisbergen’s co-driver.

Certainly, the two Red Bull Holden Racing team entries, with Lowndes rejoining Whincup in the other car, already shape as the enduro favourites thanks to their stellar driving line-ups.

And considering the long distance races are often pivotal in the title race, it’s easy to argue SVG and J-Dub are on the first line of championship favouritism.

T8’s record is incredible, with eight drivers’ championships and nine teams’ title to its name.

Stunning speed and consistency is the Banyo squad’s mantra, but that crown slipped in 2018 with a series of late-season pitlane mistakes that cost Whincup and the now-retired Paul Dumbrell a shot at Bathurst and hindered van Gisbergen’s run at a second driver’s title.

The team says it has sorted out those issues over the summer. Based on poor Phillip Island pace it has a challenge to sort out the linear spring too, after running a triple spring set-up in 2018 and even allegedly experimenting with quad springs!

But no-one is about to underestimate T8’s crack engineering and driver line-up. In Whincup, this super-squad has the greatest Australian sedan driver of all time. And in van Gisbergen, it has perhaps the only driver capable of constantly matching McLaughlin for outrageous talent, sheer speed and laser-focus.

So it’s Triple Eight versus DJRTP once again. Van Gisbergen vs McLaughlin, with Whincup, Coulthard, Mostert and a bunch of other interlopers hard on their heels. Best of all, its Mustang versus Commodore.

And, of course, Ford versus Holden. The more some things change, the more some things stay the same.

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2019 SEASON PREIVIEW

LARKO’S VERDICT:

FORD MUSTANG

Strength: Slippery aerodynamic shape above 200 km/h Weakness: It’s new and teams need to learn about it

LARKO’S VERDICT:

HOLDEN COMMODORE

Strength: Fully sorted now at slow and fast circuits Weakness: Mustang has caught up, bridging aero gap

LARKO’S VERDICT:

NISSAN ALTIMA

Strength: Known package, slightly refined aero Weakness: Learning curve to maximise any gains

24 AutoAction

Images: Edge Photography/Mark Horsburgh

MUSTANG VS COMMODORE VS ALTIMA

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Larko on how they shape up head-to-head TV pit lane pundit MARK LARKHAM analyses the Mustang’s potential to change the game in Supercars

F

OLLOWING THE first serious track trials of the Mustang, broadcast boffin Mark Larkham has cast his trained eye over the new Ford and compared it closely with its established rivals.

Larko has examined their shapes and identified the key differences, and also scrutinised their on-track performances at the Phillip Island pre-season test to come up with the most authoritative technical analysis of the Mustang’s likely impact.

He delivers his succinct verdict on the debutant Mustang, sophomore ZB Commodore and post-grad Nissan Altima, as well as outlining their differences in more detail.

You’ll see a lot more of Larko’s deliberations, explanations and postulations – delivered in his inimitable style – during the trackside coverage of next week’s Superloop Adelaide 500.

Here are the earthy former driver/team owner’s expansive thoughts on how the Mustang’s post-ZB development has resulted in the next natural progression as Supercars’ first two-door coupe.

SHAPES SHIFTING

I very, very carefully overlayed three exact shots from the test day, because irrespective of all the measurements, until you see the cars lined up side-by-side, it’s really hard to get a grasp on what’s real and what’s perceived.

The four key points I’ve identified are aerodynamics, twin springs ban, ballast placement, and fuel usage. I’ll discuss them in detail as we go along.

First, some general observations.

The changes they’ve made to the Mustang have made it remarkably similar to the Commodore. The front undertray area, the rear of the bonnet, the windscreen angle, the height of the roof, the rear wing positioning, the scalloping around the rear of the front wheel – all of those things are remarkably similar.

As different as the car looks, they are remarkably similar.

But with the sloping they’ve done to the front of the bonnet of the Mustang, it does sit down lower than the Commodore at the front, which is kind of surprising when you think about the fact that one of the features of the Mustang road car is the big brash bonnet. They’ve obviously had to take length out of the bonnet to get the wheelbase right.

Interestingly, the Nissan is still substantially lower again at the front. But when we talk frontal area – and what the air sees when it hits the front of the car – it’s pretty much the same across all three cars. So where the difference really occurs is when we get from the centre of the roof rearward and there’s no question that the Mustang has a much nicer slope down to the rear wing.

Now, given that its rear wing is in a very similar position to where the Commodore’s is, and similar-ish size endplates,

you’d have to suggest it’s going to be a reasonably slippery car through the air, possibly going to leave a smaller hole in the air behind it.

The loser out of them all in this battle, to my mind, is the Nissan because its homologation is effectively six years old.

They’ve had some minor updates at this last homologation, but when you look at what the airflow’s got to do, there’s a lot of upper bodywork it has to pass over.

The roofline to get airflow to the rear wing is draggier, hence why that rear wing is set out much further rearward so there’s a level of equivalency between the vehicles. The aero testing would have been a real challenge.

The point I’m making is that, irrespective of the differences, from my understanding of the aero testing, talking to both the administration and teams, there are a lot of happy people about the way the aero testing went. The drag and the downforce of all three cars are now incredibly close. So there should be no concerns in terms of parity, but the caveat is that those tests are done on a certain setup, the same set-up, at 200 km/h downward in a straight line.

One of the great attributes of our sport is that when we take those vehicles and put them in the real world, they change. We’re seeing an increasing trend where the centre of pressure of the downforce, which is also measured on the vehicles, is moving more rearward.

I think that’s going to work really well with Mustang with that body shape. If you can move the centre of pressure more rearward, that says to me that they may be able to run the car a little more settled in the rear with that nicer airflow over the rear wing.

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MUSTANG MACHINATIONS

The Mustang’s shape will inspire confidence in the driver. If the airflow over the body’s nicer, feeding the rear wing a little nicer, and we don’t get so much movement or migration of that centre of pressure during changing speeds, and the rear of the car in particular is settled down in the faster stuff. That gives a driver great confidence at corner entry, both braking and turning. And if you don’t have corner entry confidence, forget the rest of the corner because it’s gone. I actually think this is going to bring the two cars closer together.

Of course, when we go to Adelaide, a lot of this doesn’t matter on all those right-angled corners, but it does matter at Turn 8, which is very high speed. So we might have a completely different outcome there.

Like the ZB last year, after Adelaide, it may take a while to get on top of the Mustang’s aero platform. However, a thing that’s really worked in Mustang’s favour in the timing of this introduction is the elimination of the twin springs. That’s going to work for them because other teams are going to

KNFILTERS.COM

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2019 SEASON PREIVIEW

Its age will work against the Nissan Altima, says Larko.

be considerably distracted circuit-by-circuit refinding their feet.

And arguably the team that was on top of twin springs the most, Triple Eight, is going to be the team that’s hurt the most by mandating linear springs, as we saw at Phillip Island.

This is a big deal. David Reynolds was fast at Phillip Island and it’s significant that Erebus didn’t do as much with twin springs as some other leading teams, so it’s not such a big change for them. Triple Eight has some catch-up to do after arguably leading the way before and I think that will be a challenge for them because it’s a really difficult area of our business. I think that’s going to drag them back a little bit.

The ZB last year raised the bar in terms of construction, with the liberal use of composite panels and structures in key areas. With that genie out of the bottle, it’s logical that Ford and its teams would raise the bar again and, also, with the Mustang being a new body design with allnew panels, it’s natural to assume it’ll be a better car because it’s a well-designed evolution.

So what ballast a Mustang is carrying and where it’s placed is a seriously significant performance issue. Absolutely, it should be a better car than the FG X and maybe a slight advance on the ZB in some areas. With Ludo Lacroix involved, I’d be very surprised and disappointed if it weren’t better.

I think the Mustang is going to take the category forward again. I think Nissan will struggle. I think the upside for Nissan is that they did quite a bit of single – or linear – spring running last year, so that will hold them in good stead as others work through that. After six years, the Nissans are very close enginewise and have traditionally been strong in slower, tighter corners.

AERO IMPLICATIONS

The whole art of being fast is being able to drive the car and manage the car at the limit of adhesion for as much of the lap as you can.

That’s as fast as you’re going to go. So when we think about just what difference a few extra kilos of downforce at one end or the other might make, it makes a profound difference. And profound in our world is a couple of hundredths of a second.

26 AutoAction

As I’ve already noted, if you have driver confidence on corner entry – and I suspect that’s one of the areas the Mustang will be very strong in – that means you might be able to carry five or six or seven kays an hour more going into faster corners. That then means a little extra downforce and so then you’re taking the limit of adhesion just a little bit further up the scale. It all works in together.

For all the great aero work we do in our category now – and we can all be comfortable that from 200 km/h down, there’s great equivalency – but the fact is a lot of the running we do is at more than 200 km/h. So we can do all the testing we like up to 200, but a big percentage at circuits like Phillip Island and Bathurst is over 200, which we don’t measure in parity testing. But we’re not oblivious to it and there’s a lot of CFD work being done for both the teams and Suopercars now by third parties.

Why this is all important is because the increase in downforce and drag as you go up in speed isn’t linear. At 100 km/h, let’s say drag is 50 kg, which is roughly correct. At 200 km/h, it’s 200 kg – so it Larko says the Mustang may well take a fuel consumption advantage into Bathurst.

Images: Ross Gibb

goes up four times. In other words, the increase is exponential and it’s the same for downforce.

This all becomes really critical when we’re talking about a few kilometres per hour here and there when you’re entering corners at 200-plus kays an hour or drag at 290 km/h.

A lot of the lap at our biggest race at Bathurst is spent at the upper echelon of speed. So this becomes really critical. If you have nice airflow to the rear wing and run a more settled car particularly on higher fuel loads and worn tyres, that means you may be able to run a slightly stiffer rear spring and maybe slightly higher roll centre, and what that does is put turn back into the front of the car. That’s nice!

By making the rear stiffer, you can put mechanical grip back to the front. That’s a nice thing for a driver to have. That’s relevant generally because while we do have the fast circuits that I’ve just talked about, across so much of the Australian motor sport landscape, so many of our corners are slow-speed mechanical grip corners.

The Mustang’s aero design may well lend itself to improved interaction between the aerodynamic

and mechanical balance across a wide range.

Good high-speed aero impacts fuel usage, which is particularly important at Bathurst. With that nicer airflow to the rear of the car at high speed up and down those big, long straights, the Mustang is looking like it would be capable of using a bit less fuel at The Mountain.

Those big rear wing end plates might be a bit of an eyesore, but aside from assisting rear wing performance, I can assure you they will be inimising drag.

One more thing about maximising the aero rules.

We don’t measure downforce or drag when the car is in yaw. That is, in cornering. When you turn a car into a corner, the front of the car is no longer the front of the car. The shape of the first thing seeing the air changes. There’s now side force from the airflow as well.

How the air flows over the side of the car in yaw is significant. There are significant benefits to be had within the rules as they are. I’m pretty sure Ludo and the Ford Performance CFD experts paid a lot of attention to that with all the fender shaping and scalloping going on there.

2019 SEASON PREIVIEW Garth Tander’s Championship win came in 2007.

TANDER’S TITLE-WINNING TIPS

Renowned relentless racer and former Supercars champion Garth Tander explains the 11 keys to winning the crown

for another. Your mental preparation can be wide and varied. It’s how you prepare yourself, it’s how you prepare in competition against your main protagonists, so it’s different for everyone. You need to go into the year free of any baggage that may have been hanging over your head in previous championship tilts and start at Adelaide with the clearest mind that you can.

If you’re running at the front of this championship, you have confidence, anyhow.

You have the belief – because if you don’t have the belief and you don’t have the confidence, then you’re not going to be in the top three in this championship, it’s as simple as that. It’s too competitive. So it’s not as simple as just having inner confidence and inner belief. It’s making sure you have the ability to access that in the heat of battle when something doesn’t go as you would like – you have a bad pit stop or the strategy isn’t playing out the way you want. It’s having that ability or that recall to be able to do that in the heat of battle – and not everyone can do that and that’s where your mental preparation is going to be different for everyone. Everyone will have a different way of accessing that.

always be looking to up-skill in any way they can that suits them. Simulators are becoming an increasingly important tool for that.

L

IKE MOST experts, semi-retired Holden hero Garth Tander nominates title-holder Scott McLaughlin, fellow Kiwi nemesis Shane van Gisbergen, deposed champion Jamie Whincup and outsider David Reynolds as the main contenders for this year’s Supercars championship.

Tander, on the sidelines for the new-look Mustang versus Commodore battle until he joins van Gisbergen in the enduros, is backing renegade Reynolds to vie for the title with just one reservation.

“The contenders are McLaughlin, van Gisbergen, Whincup and definitely Reynolds as a driver,” the 2007 champion and triple Bathurst 1000 winner said. “I think David’s driving the best he’s ever driven and, arguably, driving the best out of anyone at the moment.

“It’s just whether he has all the other aspects to go with it. The only real question mark is the team’s consistency, having a top three car and executing week in, week out.

“DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight have the runs on the board, whereas Erebus are yet to display that on a consistent basis. They certainly made a step up last year, but they haven’t yet displayed that consistency. That’s not to say they won’t this year, but they haven’t yet.”

Tander knows how to win a championship and his insight into what it takes to be a title contender is revealing. Auto Action Special Contributor Bruce Newton compiled the 11 key disciplines that determine a championship candidate’s fate and, according to GT, “They’re bang on – all that comes into it.”

Articulate and forthright, Tander describes the crucial elements of a title-winning campaign in illuminating depth and clarity.

MENTAL PREPARATION

IT’S DIFFERENT FOR each individual athlete because what works for one driver won’t work

PHYSICAL PREPARATION

IT’S EASY to say ‘Oh, you just need to be fit’ and away you go, but it’s not that simple. You look at Tim Slade, who’s arguably the fittest guy on the grid, but he doesn’t deal well with heat.

So Tim’s preparation would be more about heat, whereas someone else’s preparation will be more about physical endurance. Look at David Reynolds at Bathurst last year. He, too, is very, very fit, looks after his diet incredibly well, but still suffered from cramping in the biggest race of the year. So it’s about making sure that you understand your body and you know what your body needs – and not just at Adelaide, which is one of the toughest races of the year and we start there, but through the

year. What I’ve done in the past is you have a big pre-season so you have your fitness as high as it can be going into Adelaide because once the season starts, you don’t get any fitter. You just maintain that fitness through the year. You might have a bit of a push before the enduros, but you don’t get any fitter through the year. So it’s about knowing what your body needs to get through the season and making sure that’s in place here and now.

DRIVING SKILLS PREPARATION

THIS IS difficult because there’s so little seat time. One of the common misconceptions about being a Supercars driver is that the general public thinks you’re in the car three or four days a week. The stark reality is that it couldn’t be more opposite. It’s only two or three times a year other than the race weekends.

And, again, this is where everyone is different.

With the emergence of simulators, more and more of the younger guys are training on them and they’re getting more and more realistic.

Shane van Gisbergen and a few others were in the UK during the off-season with noted driver coach Rob Wilson, working on their driving technique. A lot of guys do karting, which is good for your hand/eye co-ordination because everything in a kart feels a lot faster than it does in a car, just because you’re so much closer to the ground. Karting’s also good for your fitness. So everyone is doing different things to hone their driving skills and it’s finding what works best for you. I’m a bit of a dinosaur – I’m not big on simulators at all because when I was in the development phase of my driving career, they weren’t realistic at all. They were just basically computer games. So I don’t get much out of a simulator other than learning a new track. Going to Adelaide, I wouldn’t be doing hundreds and hundreds of laps on a sim. I’d be running the track through my head because I’ve done so many laps there already.

Anyone who runs at the front of this series will

PERSONAL LIFE STRUCTURE

THIS IS a work/life balance thing, and this is more important than people give it credit for, and it’s one of the things I learned through my career that became more and more important.

It’s easy to bury your head into the series and into the championship, and that becomes allencompassing and all-consuming. Your whole life is the championship. And you do have to dedicate 10 months of your life to making sure that you’re focused 100 per cent on the series, but you need to find a balance because it’s not healthy to have nothing else in your life.

You can’t get to two-thirds of the way through the championship and effectively be burned out. So finding that balance is important as far spending time away from the workshop, away from the race team and away from the sponsor activities. You obviously need to do those things, but you need to find the right balance of being able to switch off and get away from social media and reset, if you like. Certainly, in the second half of my career, I always tried to do that at least two or three times a year – just having mini-breaks somewhere. It might be two or three days where you just literally turn your phone off. I think it’s probably more important now with the prevalence of social media. Social media is a fantastic tool to communicate and be close to your fans, but you also need to be able to switch off and get away from that allconsuming world.

CAR REQUIREMENTS

IT’S PRETTY simple, isn’t it? You need the fastest car. Of course, that’s not easy to achieve. And that’s why in reality, we’re talking about just two teams in DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight, and maybe the emergence of Erebus. But it’s really only two teams because

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2019 SEASON PREIVIEW those are the teams that have the resources, the personnel and the skill to be able to give their drivers cars that are capable of winning the race week-in, week out. All the teams in the series are at a very, very high level, but it’s so competitive that there are always going to be those couple of teams that are a little bit ahead of the rest. You want a car that’s not only fast, but is fast while being easy to drive and is kind to its tyres. I think finding that balance is going to be more important this year because it will have to be a pretty neutral car because of the ban on twin springs. It needs to be tuneable and comfortable to drive, which will be harder to achieve now because the twin spring was a significant tuning tool. It was a very quick tool to give you the direction in which you needed to go with set-up. You could even adjust it during the race. Without that, it’s going to be much harder for teams to find the direction in which they need to go set-upwise because they can’t quickly tune the car. So that’s why I say, more than ever, you need to have a car that’s pretty neutral from the start of the weekend. It’s not going to be as easy to dial the cars in this year.

TEAM REQUIREMENTS

THIS IS inter-related because it’s not just about the car. It’s pit stops, it’s strategy, it’s environment, it’s culture, it’s leadership. It’s easy to get bogged down in just making sure you have a fast car. This is probably where Erebus will come to the fore. Everyone is predicting Dave Reynolds is going to have a strong year and they’ve won a Bathurst 1000, so they’ve shown they’re capable of winning big races and performing on the big stage.

The real test will be whether they can do that week in, week out. When you’re talking about the teams that seriously have a shot at the championship this year, I think Erebus is the one that has to shine the most on all fronts.

ENGINEER SKILLS/DRIVER RELATIONSHIP

THIS IS vital. All the engineers up and down pit lane are incredibly smart, but it’s also to do with the resources that they have available to them and the back-up that they have. The

engineer is almost seen as the coach of the car, if you like. They’re the off-field coach, while the driver is like the quarterback – or in AFL parlance, the full-forward. So that relationship is obviously crucial because it’s symbiotic and communication becomes incredibly important.

I think the days of the drivers dictating the changes and dictating the direction of the car set-up are over. The role of the driver now is to come in and be as accurate and as succinct as they can as far as describing what the car behaviour is and identifying the subtle differences between changes. And then clearly the role of the engineer is to interpret that information from the driver, interpret the data from the car, correlate those and come up with the next step in the direction of the car set-up. So the communication between the two is incredibly important to make sure they are as close to 100 per cent accurate as they can be. Understanding the data is what moves you forward set-upwise.

PRE-EVENT RESEARCH

ALL OF this is part of your preparation. Having this information is a big part of your mental preparation. You want to have all that stuff in your head before you get to the track. The historical nature of races at a particular track is important as far as is it high-deg, is it low-deg, is it bumpy, do you use the kerbs a lot? The weather conditions, too. The influence the weather has on a track over the course of a weekend. You need to know all that before you get on the plane to go to a race. Being aware of your schedule is part of your preparation, knowing how busy the weekend’s going to be.

Some weekends are much busier than others from a promotional point of view, for example.

Having your head around all those things before you get there will have a positive impact on your performance. You want to have as few curve balls coming at you as possible across the weekend. They inevitably come your way, so if you can minimise them before you leave, that certainly helps.

RACE STRATEGY

THAT’S MAINLY a team thing, but the driver

Your relationship with your engineer, such as defending champion Scott McLaughlin with Ludo Lacroix at DJR Team Penske, is vital.

has to be adaptable. Often, you’ll go into a race with at least two strategies and potentially three, depending on how the first couple of laps play out, which is determined by your qualifying position. But when we’re talking about the top three or four guys, they’re normally going to be somewhere inside the top 10 in qualifying, so they will have a reasonable handle on what the strategy will be because it’s much easier to narrow it down when you’re starting in the top five or top eight. You’ll always have minimum two strategies, sometimes three that the driver will need to have a basic understanding of so that they know when to react, when to use the tyre, when to conserve the tyre. There’s no use having a strategy that you’re going to run long on a high-deg track and have a short

tyre stint to come home, and then the driver goes out and drives as if it’s a five-lap sprint until pitting, because you’ll wear the tyres off it and then within 10 laps you’re not achieving the lap time that you need to achieve to make the strategy work. But the top drivers will know that and work with their teams if the game plan changes due a bad start or a poor pit stop or an opponent’s better strategy, things like that.

OPPONENTS’ WEAKNESSES/ STRENGTHS

THIS IS vitally important. As a driver battling for the championship, you need to know what the strengths and weaknesses of your main opposition are. In fact, you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of every driver on the grid because, inevitably, you’re going to race everyone at some stage of the year. You need to understand that for all the drivers, clearly to exploit the weaknesses so you can pass them cleanly and quickly and move on. You also have to know what their strengths are so you don’t go looking to beat them where they’re strongest. That’s just wasted energy and wasted time. You definitely have to know your main opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, but I think as a real contender for the championship, you need to understand everyone’s assets and vulnerabilities. You also need to understand their strengths and weaknesses as people – their mental strength, where they’ve historically made mistakes because of pressure, for example, whether they’re strong in the wet or not. Anything you can potentially exploit. Having all that information on all your main competitors is important.

PLAYING THE MENTAL GAME

David Reynolds is driving better than ever, says Garth Tander.

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IN OTHER words, gamesmanship. And this is where understanding the strengthes and weaknesses comes in because then you can play the mental game away from the track, using the conventional media or social media or just general pit lane chat to

SUPERCARS SCHEDULE SUPERLOOP ADELAIDE 500 THURSDAY (AEDT) Practice 1 6:00pm-6:30pm

FRIDAY

Practice 2 12:10am-12:40pm Practice 3 3:20pm-3:50pm Qualifying - Race 1 6:55pm-7:15pm

SATURDAY (AEDT)

Practice 4 11:10am-11:40am Top 10 Shootout-Race 1 2:35pm-3:05pm Supercars Race 1 5:20pm-7:10pm

SUNDAY (AEDT)

Qualifying Race 2 11:00am-11:20am Top 10 Shootout-Race 2 1:15pm-1:45pm Supercars-Race 2 3:50pm-5:50pm

TICKET PRICING: SINGLE DAY THURSDAY get under someone’s skin. Exploiting an opponent’s weakness becomes a strength for you. What you need to understand is that, certainly as the year goes on and it gets tighter and tighter and it gets closer and closer to the crescendo of the championship, those things become more and more important. I thought last year at Pukekohe, whether he meant it or not, Shane van Gisbergen parking Scotty McLaughlin in was the most fantastic thing I’d ever seen! I was really, really dark that I’d never thought of that. It was great. Whether he meant it or not, it’s those sorts of small, niggly things that are really annoying and potentially destabilising. And what I reckon Scott

should have done, instead of saying anything, he should have just climbed out of the passenger side of the car, run around, shook Shane’s hand as though nothing had happened and moved on. That would have nullified it straight away. It’s those little games, while they look narky and they look petty, if you can do two or three of those things a year, inevitably it starts to grind on your opposition and they spend more time thinking about how to get you back or what you’ve done to them, than driving their race car fast. At championship-contending level, I don’t know if you can out-psyche them, but I think you can distract them.

General Admission: Adult $45/Student (15+) $35 Grandstands – Platinum Adult $92/Junior $49 Grandstands – Premium Adult $62/Junior $39 Grandstands – Gold Adult $52/Junior $92

FRIDAY

General Admission: Adult $89/Student (15+) $57 Grandstands – Platinum Adult $142/Junior $49 Grandstands – Premium Adult $102/Junior $39 Grandstands – Gold Adult $92/Junior $39

SATURDAY

General Admission: Adult $99/Student (15+) $79 Grandstands – Platinum Adult $192/Junior $59 Grandstands – Premium Adult Adult $152/Junior $49 Grandstands – Gold Adult $132/Junior $49

SUNDAY

General Admission: Adult Sold Out/Student (15+) Sold Out Grandstands – Platinum Adult Sold Out/Junior Sold Out Grandstands – Premium Adult Sold Out/Junior Sold Out Grandstands – Gold Adult Sold Out/Junior Sold Out

FOUR-DAY

General Admission: Adult $199/Student

(15+) $159 Grandstands – Platinum Adult $380 Grandstands – Premium Adult $315/Family $830/Junior (4-14) $110/Student (15+) $225 Grandstands – Gold Adult $270/Family $718/Junior (4-14) $99/Student (15+) $195

TELECAST TIMINGS

CHANNEL TEN (AEDT)

Friday: 2:30pm – 9:30pm (10 BOLD) Saturday: 1:00pm – 7:30pm Sunday: 11:30am – 6:00pm

FOX SPORTS (AEDT) Wednesday: 6:30pm – 7:30pm Thursday: 1:15pm – 6:45pm Friday: 11:00am – 7:45pm Saturday: 10:25am – 7:45pm (race start 5.20pm) Sunday: 10:00am – 7:00pm (race start 3.50pm)

ROUND 1 SANDOWN MARCH 1-3 PRESENTED BY THE MG CAR CLUB

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Double Le Mans champion Earl Bamber added to his Porsche pedigree by winning the Bathurst 12 Hour as a team owner and now aims to add a Bathurst 1000 victory as a driver

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N JUST two years, Earl Bamber went from a regional Carrera Cup racer to a Porsche LMP1 factory driver and winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Bamber’s first success at La Sarthe in 2015 was followed by victory there again in 2017, when he also shared the World Endurance Championship driver’s title.

It has been a remarkable rise for the Kuala Lumpur-based New Zealander. Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion 2013; Porsche Supercup champion 2014; Porsche sports car star for the past four years.

Bamber, 28, is now also a winning team owner at an international level, guiding his new Porsche 911 RS GT3 squad to first-up success in the Bathurst 12 Hour early this month.

Among his drivers was Australian Porsche rising star Matt Campbell, who has followed a similar path, winning the Carrera Cup in Australia, securing a junior driver scholarship and graduating to the factory GT line-up.

The story of Earl Bamber Motorsport’s rise in the Asia-Pacific region, while retaining its Porsche Carrera Cup Asia roots, further underlines the driver/owner’s versatility.

Bamber was impressively competitive as Shane van Gisbergen’s co-driver in the Supercars enduros last year. While you would expect a double Le Mans winner to be top-class, internationals don’t always adapt easily. He did, earning an open return invitation when he is available in the future for another chance to win the Bathurst 1000, which is a declared goal.

Bamber is expansive, outgoing and down-to-earth. This interview was conducted on the Saturday of the Bathurst 12 Hour and is highlighted by a cameo appearance by his former Porsche LMP1 teammate Mark Webber.

The banter between them during Webber’s unscripted interjection is entertaining and illustrative of their camaraderie.

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How did you come to be managing your own team at the Bathurst 12 Hour?

imagination of what they want, and to work with the engineers on that and you had more or less an open book.

The only limit was your imagination of what you could come up with to go faster. They were so open to ideas. It was incredible.

Maybe it’s a great idea or maybe I’m completely crazy. How it started is that my little brother William went into Porsche Carrera Cup and he needed some help to get in, so it started two years ago after a discussion at a café. I said to him “If you can find the budget to run, then I’ll buy you a car”. He found the budget to run, so I bought him a car and he did well – and then again last year, when we started to expand it. So we started up in Cup and then coming to Bathurst, there was basically a chance through Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific and some of our sponsors to do it. We’re probably a bit early for it, but we had the chance, so we took it. Sometimes you just have to run with an opportunity when it presents itself. So far, so good.

I’m learning on the fly, but so far it’s been pretty good. It’s quite enjoyable.

Coming from a racer’s point of view, you can get right into the details. It’s really, really cool to be involved this way. I’d love to be out there driving, but that can’t always happen. Obviously, racing in America for Porsche and stuff like that is pretty cool.

And just reinforcing your versatility and adaptability, you were competitive in Supercars last year as SVG’s co-driver. You just jumped in and went fast.

It has been a meteoric rise through the Porsche ranks for Earl Bamber, culminating in a pair of Le Mans victories.

You have a pretty full schedule as a driver, so will you have time to run your own team more often?

In terms of the team, it’s not like a one-shot wonder. We have four cars in Carrera Cup Asia full-time this year and also the goal to go to the Suzuka 10 Hour. We’d like to be there in the same sort of scenario as here at Bathurst and also to go to the Macau Grand Prix (GT World Cup) with at least two cars, which would be the first time I drive for my own team. So that’s our GT3 program and then we have other programs linked in with the family at the Porsche Driving Experience in Asia.

We’re quite heavily involved in that.

It’s an extension of your unusual path to the World Endurance Championship, isn’t it?

There weren’t too many opportunities in New Zealand at that time, so I moved up to Malaysia and managed to get a drive in Carrera Cup Asia, and that’s where my story with Porsche began. That first season was pretty crazy with an old 997, but I slowly built myself up there and then got to go to Europe and join the Porsche family there. But I still live in Kuala Lumpur and because I’m the only works driver that lives in that region, I’ve had other opportunities. It’s a big market and there’s a huge fan base, and I’m quite heavily involved with Porsche China.

The Porsche Club China started just a year ago and now there’s already 6000 members. So there’s a huge passion for the brand and it’s good to be in that region to be involved in that growth.

Mark (Webber) does a lot out there as well. It’s interesting and it strengthens our relationship with the brand.

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How has it been to go from driving the most sophisticated racers in the world in the WEC to racing in GT? To be honest, everyone talks about it being a step down, but if you look at GT racing – especially GTLM – I would say that in the world, it’s the last place – apart from Formula 1 – where there are proper works teams. You have Porsche, Chevrolet, Ford, Aston Martin, BMW – so you have five manufacturers with full works operations. They can choose any driver in the world they want, engineers, anything like that, and this for me is the most proper racing.

We still have ‘open’ tyres and there’s still a lot of development on the cars, so it’s real factory team racing. LMP1 is nothing anymore. There’s just one front-running car (Toyota), so you just race yourself. I think GT racing is the toughest competition in the world.

And GT-style racing was a pretty good grounding for you to get into LMP1, wasn’t it?

Exactly. It’s the perfect school. They’re mini-LMP1 teams now. There are 50 people on the ground and the simulator stuff we have to do, the tyre development, the testing, all that stuff – it’s all similar to the prototypes, just not on as large a scale. In LMP1, we just had more people, more guys looking at screens. It’s also a huge experience to be able to do what I’m doing here this weekend, trying to build up my team. It’s massive because I have that

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experience with Porsche in LMP1. I’ve seen what a team should operate like.

And also driving for a great team in Supercars like Triple Eight. Those are money-can’t-buy experiences if you want to run your own team because you then know how it should be done.

You see the systems, you see the regimes And you also got to race the most sophisticated sports car we’ve ever seen (Porsche 919 Hybrid).

To drive an LMP1 like that is a dream come true. I remember when I did my first meeting with Porsche to go into LMP1 and they asked me what I knew about hybrid systems. I said “Well, I drive a Cup car, mate”. It was a huge learning curve. But to be able to work with guys like Mark (Webber) and watch how he went about it was an amazing education. I was just a big sponge and it was amazing to be part of it. It was so cool. The team atmosphere was also great. It was just a good time and we won a lot of races.

We may never see the likes of that car again.

No, I doubt it, especially in how sophisticated it is. It was absolutely incredible. I mean, I can’t talk about what was in there, but it was at the world’s highest level. And what was also amazing is that a lot of people talk about engineers and stuff, but it was also about the drivers and the

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I thought I was OK. First of all, I think I’m lucky that the latest Supercars are not what they used to be. They’re different to drive, they’re quite sophisticated now. They don’t deserve to be called ‘big taxis’ anymore. I think it’s actually a very refined race car if you look at the restrictions of the regulations – the weight, the tyre size – and then the general technology of kinematic damping, all the roll bar control systems inside, even the layout of the cockpit. A lot of thought and a lot of hard work has gone into optimising the cars within the rules.

And they’re actually very quick. A good GT3 lap time here is a 2m3.0s and McLaughlin’s pole lap is a 4.9 on a hard tyre and 200 kilos heavier without any real aero, so mechanically it’s very advanced with a much smaller tyre. It’s even more impressive when you look at what GT3 cars cost (close to A$1 million). So some people think they’re this very mundane thing, but they’re actually very high-level. There’s a lot of engineering, there’s a lot of technology. I mean, Triple Eight is a world-class team. I think it’s one of the best that I’ve ever driven with.

Roland (Dane) runs a very tight ship and operation, and you can see why they’ve been so successful. We had our issues in the pit stops a couple of times, but the way they analysed that and debrief that also shows the strength of the team. It’s something to aspire to, and it’s just incredible the way they go about it and make a plan for the future.

You clearly enjoyed the experience.

You can’t do the enduros this year, but are you hoping to come back for them in the future when your Porsche race schedule allows?

My goal is I want to win the Bathurst 1000. So that’s a clear indication that if I can come back, I will definitely be back.

Do you have a loose arrangement with Roland that there’s a place waiting for you?

To be honest, I haven’t discussed that at all with RD. We talked about coming back this year, but I had to say no because I knew what my Porsche program was already in October. That wasn’t possible, but I would definitely love to be back. I’d definitely be calling Shane if it were possible to come back.

The series is great, the way the fans interact is something phenomenal. It’s

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Bamber mainly races in the GTLM category in the State, above. The Kiwi also impressed during his stint as Shane van Gisbergen’s codriver in last year’s Pirtek Enduro Cup, left. something we need to take from here and adapt it around the world because the fan interaction, the fan culture, is fantastic. The fan signing sessions were really, really proper.

you because you haven’t won the 1000”. That tells you how badly I know my history and he promptly said “Oh, yeah, I’ve won that already”. I’m like, what has that guy not won? But it was a really cool conversation, a good interaction, because he’s such a legend. To have the versatility across so many disciplines was amazing. [David Brabham is the only other to have won both, claiming the two-litre Bathurst 1000 in 1997 and the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2009]

You and Shane are good mates, aren’t you?

Yeah, we raced karts and Formula Ford together in NZ. Karts he wasn’t so quick because he’s too big – except when it rained, then he was just on another planet. We were racing each other in junior single-seaters – FF and Toyota Racing Series – and then he went to Supercars and I continued in single-seaters, so we sort of parted.

But then we raced each other in GTs overseas and it was awesome to be with him as co-driver in the enduros out here. The amount of knowledge that he gave me also accelerated my Supercars learning process. Some of the things he told me were 10 years of knowledge

of that he passed on to me. Without that knowledge, I would’ve been at the back. He’s an animal. He works so hard. People talk about Jamie Whincup’s work ethic, but Shane is a monster on the data, on all the details. He’s all over the top of it. So impressive.

GT series (in 2016). Actually, I pushed very hard at the end of 2017 to get him with us. In 2018, I was missing a co-driver because of clashes with the WEC and I was pushing Porsche very, very hard for Shane to come join me in the 911 RSR. I think he would be fantastic in that.

He’s also massively versatile and will race anything, anywhere. anyw

Only one person has won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Bathurst 1000 in a V8 …

Oh, you give him a steering wheel whe or even a set of handle bars and he’s quick on it. It’s It crazy. If I wanted to get critical, the one thing that’s that a shame is that every single sing big race in the world clashes with the Supercars cla racing.

Shane could be rac massively ma successful in sports sp car racing overseas.

Yo could plug-and-play You tha guy anywhere in the that wo and he was would world be successful. We saw that w when he did the Blancpain

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I know who has. Jacky Ickx (six-time Le Mans winner who co-drove Allan Moffat to victory at Bathurst in 1977).

I wondered if you knew.

I actually had a discussion with him about it because I was very excited about racing in the 1000 and I know Jacky quite well. He’s a legend. He’s won Le Mans, Dakar, everything. I was having dinner with him and I didn’t know this fact. I said to him “Oh, I’m going to Bathurst for the 1000, it’s one of the incredible races, and maybe I can get something on

Are you still a bit in awe of walking among legends like Jacky Ickx as a multiple Le Mans winner?

When you’re a kid growing up, your dream is to race with these guys or follow in their footsteps. I remember watching Mark (Webber) for so many years when I was a kid, getting up at 3 am when he was driving for Jaguar (2003/04). And when you’re a kid, especially from Whanganui, you would never imagine that that you would even get to know these people, to be able to send them a text or something like that. You kick yourself, being in the same team with them or get to know them or race against Fernando Alonso or Jenson Button. To meet Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell (five-time Le Mans winner), Tom Kristensen (nine times), all these guys, is just amazing. One of the best events I’ve ever done in my life is the Porsche Rennsport Reunion. It’s such a great celebration, with all these people from different eras mixing together, sharing each other’s stories and driving each other’s cars. It’s an incredible experience.

“My goal is that I want to win the Bathurst 1000. So that’s a clear indication that if I can come back, I will definitely be back.”

Alonso won Le Mans at his first attempt last year… [Webber, who was sitting nearby, chips in here] MW: He drove around in a one-horse race.

EB: Now he’s going to get into the political stuff.

Well, I was going to ask you, Earl, does that detract at all from his win?

I mean, winning Le Mans is winning Le Mans. You can’t take that away from him. It’s in the history book. I was surprised he said it was the hardest race and the best race he’s ever driven

because the Toyotas just drove around against each other. Could have come and had a race in 2015 (with Porsche) – that would’ve been interesting. When there were 12 factory LMP1 cars on the grid, that would have been harder. But at the same time, he’s done it and won it. He’s now won the Daytona 24 Hours as well and I would’ve said that was a harder one to win. He drove brilliantly at Daytona, hats off. In the wet, he was a monster. Hopefully, we’ll get some more top-level cars to Le Mans.

He’s going to do the Indy 500 again this year. Would you consider that?

There’s no way I’m going to sit in one of

those things, I can tell you that much.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Fernando ends up trying the Bathurst 1000 one day, especially with his connections to Walkinshaw Andretti United. [Webber is still listening and joins the conversation] MW: Probably, yeah. All this talk about Fernando winning different races… If (Juan Pablo) Montoya wins Le Mans, he’ll be up there as well. He’s won Daytona three times.

[Montoya has also won the Indy 500 twice and a Monaco GP versus Alonso’s two F1 world championships,

and single Monaco, Le Mans and Daytona wins. They are the only active drivers to have won two legs of the unofficial Triple Crown] EB: And he’s done NASCAR (winning two races in seven fulltime Cup seasons) and he’s won Indy twice. What he did in NASCAR was impressive as well. That is hard stuff.

MW: If Montoya can get a Toyota seat (at Le Mans), he’s in the running to have won four of the world’s biggest races. I like Fernando, he’s a good buddy, but gets on his perch about all that.

EB: I hope you wind him up about it.

Bamber’s early career was spent racing van Gisbergen in karts and open-wheelers, but then they went their separate ways. Bamber continued down that route and represented his country in A1GP.

MW: Of course! Especially after Le Mans.

Alonso was pretty impressive at Indy in 2017.

MW: Yes, he was.

EB: At Daytona (last month), he was awesome in the rain. That was really shit conditions and he was so impressive.

MW: It was awesome. That’s the competitor in him. Give him something to compete in and grab onto, and he just gets better and better and better and better. Over one lap, he’s not your man. But put him in a window where he can start chipping away at it, he is frightening. And never goes off the road. [Although enjoying the banter with Webber, Bamber has to leave to get back to overseeing his ultimately victorious team]

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COMMUNICATING

SUCCESS Under Toto Wolff’s leadership the Mercedes Formula 1 team has won five consecutive world drivers’ and constructors’ championships since 2013. Here he reveals to DAN KNUTSON and LIVIO ORICCHIO the secrets of that success and why Lewis Hamilton needs to be busy to go fast

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G

OOD COMMUNICATION is one of the keys to the success of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Formula 1 team and five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, according to Toto Wolff.

When Toto Wolff took on the role of team principal in January 2013, he had a long chat with Alain Prost.

“When the controversy between (Mercedes teammates) Nico (Rosberg) and Lewis (Hamilton) started to become difficult,” Wolff recalls, “I said to Alain why did you fall out with Ayrton (Senna). And he said it was because the McLaren team was not transparent with us. We never knew who was the favorite. We never knew if the team was behind you or your teammate.

There was always a little bit of insecurity, and then as a racing driver you become paranoid and you start to put the dots together and you make up your own reality. And then you lose the trust.”

Senna, incidentally said the same thing years ago.

“I tried to learn from that,” Wolff adds, “and from the first moment we were completely transparent with the drivers. Which is very

difficult because you need to say inconvenient things that hurt like team orders. When Lewis had a higher probability to go for the championship, I had to say Valtteri (Bottas) this is how it is, and you need to support him. We are very open with that. If it was the other way around and Valtteri was in the best position for the championship, we would also be like this and have Lewis support Valtteri. It is very difficult to make somebody trust, who by the sheer nature of his job cannot trust.”

Speaking of Bottas, everybody expected more from the Finn last season.

“I think he expected more from him,” Wolff says. “He had very good start to the season.

Baku was a big blow, when he should have won the race. But Kevin Magnusson colliding with Pierre Gasly put the debris on the track and it caused the puncture. In France, Vettel crashed into him at the beginning of the race.

And from then onwards he was always on the back foot. As a racing driver if you have no chance anymore for the championship you go c one level down. Deflated.” o Were there any characteristics of the c 2018 Mercedes that did 2 suit Bottas? s “No, it is the mind,” Wolff says. “He has all the potential to be successful. He just needs to have a season where it is all coming together, when the luck goes on his side.”

Hamilton by contrast just goes from strength The battle with Ferr Ferrari rar ai and Sebastian Vettel was to strength. Why? “Talking about a a worry to Mercedes near the halfway point of the personality is complex,” year, according to Wolff.

Wolff says. “It doesn’t do him justice if I say it is one thing. What is amazing about him is that he develops as a racing driver, and he becomes more complete as a person. We are giving him the environment in the team also to do this. At the end, we are all human, and we are in this crazy circus with each other where we spend 150 days a year together. We need to find out why somebody performs and how you are able to extract that performance.”

Has Wolff figured out what triggers the moments of brilliance in Hamilton? Is there a sort of thing which turns like a switch, a clicking point that suddenly makes him reach another level?

“There is no magic button, unfortunately,

Formula 1 power brokers: Cyril Abiteboul, Toto Wolff and Chase Carey

otherwise Lewis would push it every weekend!”

Wolff says. “But I don’t think it’s fair or accurate to say he reaches other levels in certain days.

His level of performance is always, always very high, and when conditions are difficult, like in Germany, or qualifying in Budapest and Spa, he keeps his level while others, possibly, drop a bit because they lack the confidence.

“We were worried because after Monza and before Singapore he went to Shanghai and then spent the next weekend in New York. But once he got to Singapore, he was just in a good headspace, he was happy, he was enjoying himself off the track and on the track. He needs to be busy. That seems to be the key for him.”

THE FERRARI FIGHT

FERRARI DRIVER Sebastian Vettel defeated Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix last year.

“We were very worried because Spa was a track where we performed well in the past, and Ferrari were clearly faster,” Wolff recalls.

As it turned out, Hamilton would go on to win six of the remaining eight races while Vettel earned no more victories.

“There is not always one single reason why a team gains or loses performance,” Wolff says.

“What we were trying to do was fight very hard on the track, and every team is stretching the innovations and is experimenting with things.

Sometimes a team will think: we don’t think it is legal. This goes back and forth. All the time.

That is part of F1. I am not in Ferrari and I don’t know why they had good and bad races. They had a very strong race in Austin, and a good race in Mexico, better than ours. There are many reasons why a team is competitive and it is not down to one reason.”

Hamilton finished third in Austin and fourth in Mexico.

“We didn’t have the tyres in the right window,” Wolff says. “We had some front graining that was massive, and when it grains you are like on balls. That was the reason in Mexico. In Austin we had to change the water pumps at the last-minute, Sunday morning, and we had some cross weights – that means the car was not balanced.”

LIBERTY’S CHALLENGES

LIBERTY MEDIA is starting its third year as the controllers of the Formula 1 business.

“Our conversations with Liberty Media are ongoing,” Wolff says. “They face the same challenges that they had before. There are some good markets, some good races, and some markets that are more difficult, and some races that are boring. It is normal. They are

“THERE IS NO MAGIC BUTTON, UNFORTUNATELY. OTHERWISE LEWIS WOULD PUSH IT EVERY WEEKEND” facing the complexity of free TV vs. pay TV. The way content is being consumed changes. It is not easy for them, but the sport is in good shape.”

What are the main things the teams are negotiating for?

“It is about revenue split, and the sport growing,” Wolff says. “We want it to grow and we want it to be in fantastic markets with more live spectators and more TV. And it is not easy. But all the teams will reach an agreement with Liberty in the end.

This is our joint platform.

And we want to have an agreement with Liberty.”

What is difficult to understand from the outside is that Mercedes won everything, yet the revenue from the Formula One Group/Liberty and the team sponsors are not

enough e to pay for it all.

“You are absolutely right,” Wolff W says. “This must change because b it is a loss-making enterprise. e But we generate almost 3.5 billion euros in advertising value. It is the largest global sport. We capitalize from this side. But in the future we should also be profitable. We are a normal company, we should be profitable. But the marketing value is enormous.”

Toto Wolff the racer (above) in days gone by and today with FIA President Jean Todt (left).

THE BUSINESSMAN

BORN ON 12 January 1972 in Vienna, Wolff would go on to become a businessman and a racer. He drove in Formula Ford and various types of GT cars. In 1994, he won his class in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He invested in a number of companies and became a millionaire. In 2009 he became a shareholder in the Williams F1 team but eventually sold his shares when he bought 30 percent of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. “Mercedes uses all my time,” Wolff says. “I am very lucky that I have some good people around me running the other companies. I enjoy the challenge; I enjoy the mix between the sport and the business side. I feel very privileged of being empowered by Mercedes to represent such a fantastic brand and be a co-shareholder with them. It is an opportunity that I have and that I enjoy. One day we will close the book and we will say if it was good fun or not. Was it successful

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Toto Wolff is a former racer himself, having won his class at the Nurburgring 24 Hours and competed successful in GT racing (above).The battle between ‘the big three’ - Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - is expected to increase in 2019, despite Red Bull’s change to Honda.

The new regulations leave Wolff intrigued to see which team emerges with the best package (right).

or not? And then we will decide to do something else.”

From the financial point of view was it worthwhile?

“If you are successful it is worthwhile.

If you are not successful there is also a big risk. F1 is no different to any other business. If you are successful on track you are able to generate more sponsorship, then you become more valuable as a team. If you are not successful, you have a spiral that goes in the other direction.”

LOOKING AHEAD

HAVING WON both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in 2018, Mercedes now has to gear up and try to defend both those titles in 2019.

“The fight that exists between Red Bull, Ferrari and us is tight among our great teams, and big brands, and the competition is extreme,” Wolff says. “More than needing more money, it is the innovation and motivation that you need to keep up. Ferrari and Mercedes are pretty much on the same level.

A few races one team has a bit of an advantage, and then it goes on the other side. It is a constant push.

“We also take Honda with Red Bull very seriously.

You could see that Red Bull with Renault had the strongest package on many circuits last year. If they become a true works team with Honda, they can be a contender for the championship. An integrated chassis/power unit always has more potential than being an engine client.”

Honda’s reliability has not been all that good

these past four years.

“The first step Honda will do is on performance and power, then reliability is going to come,” Wolff says.

While technical chiefs like Adrian Newey at Red Bull, James Allison at Mercedes and Mattia Binotto at Ferrari are in the limelight, there are many people working diligently behind the scenes.

Mercedes has a staff of 1000 on the chassis side alone.

“There are some very exceptional people at Ferrari and Mercedes and Red Bull and some of the other teams,” Wolff says. “They are not the ones that are very visible but the ones that find performance. Ferrari has proven in the past that

they have a good group of people. It will be curious to see how the 2019 performance race is going to end up because of the completely new rules. So which of the big three teams, or the rest of the teams, are going to come out with the best concept?”

That’s the cars. But what about the drivers? What did Wolff do personally and what did the team do to help Hamilton find himself in such a level of balance, personally, emotional, technically last year, and what will they do to get to those levels this year?

“We talk,” Wolff says simply.

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UNDER THE SKIN

RAISING the bar When the latest specification of Bentley’s Continental GT3 hit the track last year, it raised the bar much like the original did at its launch five years ago. Despite looking dramatically different to its road-going counterpart, the new Continental GT3 racer still shares many similarities as HEATH MCALPINE found out.

T

HE ENGINEERING team at M-Sport really did work wonders with its first-ever entry into circuit racing as a designer, builder and race team. It was a massive task to turn what was in effect a yacht with four-wheels, the Bentley Continental, into not only a competitive GT3 car, but also a race winner. The M-Sport team, better known for its ultra-fast rally cars, looks set to continue this with the latest generation of Bentley’s GT3 hero car.

At the recent Bathurst 12 Hour, Bentley was well in contention for most of the day.

However a bit of bad luck and a couple of mistakes, which marred the team’s 2018 Blancpain GT campaign, saw the big British brutes ultimately play little more than a supporting role.

It was M-Sport’s first trip to The Mountain with the new car but the current specification Continental GT3 already had a whole season of Blancpain GT under its belt, plus a number of one-off races at a variety of venues worldwide.

Reflecting on the car’s debut season, driver Steven Kane felt there were plenty of missed opportunities for the car to take its first victory, but the Brit is confident that this season will provide the breakthrough.

“We’ve been able to race it well (but) we’ve had some misfortune with driver errors and other errors that didn’t get us results we deserved. There’s quite a few times where luck wasn’t on our side,” Kane lamented.

“Spa, we should have won it, we had the car, both cars, we had the speed and I just picked up a bit of debris damaging the front radiator, just silly stuff like that. This year is a full-on attack to try to win races and win championships.”

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It’s the same opinion that was conveyed

by Chief Engineer Christian Loriaux, as the concern isn’t so much car pace but minimising the issues that afflicted the team last year.

“We didn’t have that much of a successful year, our best finish was second at Paul Ricard, we didn’t win any race. But we had a few amazing races and I think no one made a better comeback than us all season,” Loriaux told Auto Action.

“We had a lot of times where we started from the pit lane or pretty far back and we’d end up close to the podium so the pace has been good, (however) the reliability and team

had some bad luck, but we’re getting there.”

GT3 has moved along considerably since Bentley debuted the older-generation Continental GT3 in 2014, much of this was led by the M-Sport team.

When it developed the previous model for racing it had a lot of work to do and moved the goalposts considerably, becoming the first manufacturer to dramatically change the way GT3 cars were developed, as Loriaux explained.

“Obviously, when we were developing the old car it was quite a step. Before that, all the GT3 cars were a lot more closely related to the road cars and when the Bentley came out

everyone was shocked by it.

“Everyone said, ‘that wouldn’t work’, but obviously Bentley and M-Sport pushed the boundaries with the regulations, I think a lot of other manufacturers (then) realised what they could do with the regulations, where we can take it.

“The old Bentley kicked that off, so when a lot of the other manufacturers like Audi and Mercedes went and did their Evo 2 version of their GT3 cars, they were a lot more advanced than the old ones.”

Unlike the original Continental GT3, this new car was developed alongside a new road model meaning that many of the issues

M-Sport again suffered heartbreak at Bathurst, but proved that its latest model has the pace to take many more victories worldwide in 2019.

and difficulties that were encountered initially during the development run of the first generation had been removed, leaving M-Sport to focus on improving every component on the car, the main goal being 50-50 weight distribution.

“It’s a much better platform to build a race car from. The chassis is completely different, the way it’s manufactured, it suits more of a race car development on it,” Loriaux continued.

“We started running the old car and by doing that we learnt its limitations, we knew what we had to improve and the main thing we had to improve was weight distribution, to get the weight towards the back and still save weight to make the car lighter.

“That makes the little details better. The fact that you’ve got the opportunity to do a new car allows you to do that, because

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to gain three, four, five percent of weight distribution further to the back, now we’re close to (the) 50-50 you need to review everything.

“The new car with the bodyshell has got a completely new platform so that allows us within the limit of the regulations to move the engine to a better place, but as well we made a new transmission that is still transaxle, which is better for weight distribution.”

Bentley’s commitment to GT3 racing is demonstrated with the developments in its road car, as the manufacturer has moved away from focusing solely on luxurious models by also developing the performance side of the car as well. As mentioned, M-Sport’s engineering team had a better base to work off, starting with a much lighter shell.

“The new Bentley is mostly an aluminium bodyshell, it’s

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Images: Nathan Wong

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UNDER THE SKIN Images: Nathan Wong

A sign of the times, the second generation Continental GT3 features improved aerodynamics, which is demonstrated by the massive rear diffuser and flat floor (above). Alcon takeover from Brembo as Bentley's brake supplier (below left), isn't there a pedal missing? (below right)

aluminium and steel, so that’s allowed us to save quite a bit of weight, so we benefitted from the new technology of the road car,” Loriaux told Auto Action.

“We conducted a new aero program so we improved the aero. We worked on suspension geometry, where we wanted it to go, so it’s allowed us to improve everything really. The big thing is the weight distribution, the engine is pretty much the same. That’s where we nibbled and tried to make every little thing better, centre of gravity is lower, weight distribution is a big improvement for the back end of the car, the car is much more efficient than the old car.”

The improved aero program has developed a wild kit for the Continental GT3 with a tall rear wing, extensive rear diffuser, low side skirts and re-designed front bumper, which maximises the cooling through a variety of vents and grills. It also features a widened stance, providing an all-over more aggressive look and all made out of light carbon fibre.

The engine is one area that has experienced limited change led by M-Sport’s Nigel Armfield, who has developed many of the team’s World Rally Championship engines from scratch. A redesigned dry sump to again improve weight distribution, and re-designed intake and exhaust systems, enable the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 to pump out 550bhp unrestricted. However, turbo restrictors are placed as part of the Balance of Performance measures that are imposed on each GT3 model.

The gearbox is a six-speed sequential unit designed in a joint venture between M-Sport and Ricardo. This was a new partnership between the two and the first of a number

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BBS rims replicate those found on the road car (top). Large vents are a feature of modern GT3 cars (bottom). of key supplier changes between the two models.

“The transmission, we were with xTrac with the old car, but for the new car we wanted to do more and the xTrac transmission was pretty much a general transmission,” explained Loriaux. “We went to Ricardo and we designed a box, so a team of designers with Ricardo designed our own gearbox layout.

“We knew we needed to reach the target we had, we knew we had to design a very different transmission and xTrac don’t work

like that. We always design the transmission ourselves to really suit the car and we need a supplier to make that work.

“We’ve got a good relationship with Ricardo and good success, that’s for sure. But on top of that, we said to them we’re giving you a chance, but we want the price to be right.”

The dampers were also another major component to change, a lack of manoeuvrability from Ohlins provided Penske with its chance as Loriaux has worked closely to develop a four-way adjustable damper specific to the Bentley.

“If you look at the dampers, it’s a classic one where Ohlins, not bad dampers, but when I asked them to make a change, I said I wanted this and this and this different to eradicate those problems forever, and they said ‘Nah, this is the way it works, we don’t want to change,’ and I said we wanted different and they responded ‘Nah, nah it works fine," said Loriaux.

“I started speaking to Penske, I said, ‘Look guys, this is your chance if you want to jump in, but you have to do exactly what we want and not what you have on the shelf’. Tune with bits and bods to fit, (but) I wanted the thing made exactly for us to the specs and they excepted.

“But the dampers are more expensive so to compensate we have something that is absolutely perfect. The first thing is always getting the right specification, if you can do that and drop the price then you’ve got even more chance to go there. If not and it is better, you still have to accept to pay the price.”

This is a philosophy that is carried throughout the car with Alcon six-piston front

and four-piston rear calipers and ventilated discs replacing the Brembo units from the previous generation. The rim brand has also been changed from OZ to BBS to align with Bentley’s road car division, the only part of the car that is dictated by any commercial relationship the manufacturer has.

“Technically we want to have the best car, that’s the first step, so usually we try to work with a company that’s more open to develop a product specifically for us,” Loriaux said.

The redesigned cooling system can be attributed to a well-known Australian business. PWR supply much of the motorsport world’s cooling needs, but Loriaux has been a loyal customer to the brand even before the company grew to what it is now.

“I was one of the first to start with them in my previous job at Subaru 15-20 years (ago), I started working with them before anyone knew about them, now every Formula 1 team use them, MotoGP.” The interior is highlighted by a Formula 1-style steering wheel, and a body-hugging race seat and harness that has been moved towards the centre of the cabin slightly.

There's also a rear-view camera which is now essential for all GT3 cars, as the vision out the rear of these vehicles has become increasingly impaired. In another example of Bentley working to develop a product with a supplier, it paired with Bosch on its electronic power steering system, a proud achievement for the team as the German company was initially reluctant to get imvolved.

The growth of GT3 has been significant and will continue to be as more manufacturers develop and build cars for the successful

BENTLEY

CONTINENTAL GT3 ENGINE

4.0-litre direct injection twin-turbo V8, Cosworth engine management system Max power: approx. 550 bhp derestricted Oil System: Dry sump Transmission: Rear wheel drive, Ricardo six-speed sequential transaxle gearbox, AP racing clutch, steering wheel mounted paddle-operated pneumatic gear shift Drivetrain: Carbon fibre propshaft, limited slip differential

SUSPENSION

Double wishbone suspension front and rear, fourway adjustable racing dampers Steering: Electric power-assisted steering

BRAKES

Alcon ventilated iron disc brakes front and rear, Alcon six-piston front calipers, four-piston rear calipers, driver-adjustable brake bias Safety: FIA-specification steel roll cage, six-point FIA safety harness, onboard fire extinguisher, onboard pneumatic jack system Fuel system: FIA-specification ATL racing fuel cell Electronics: Race-specification Bosch ABS and traction control. Lightweight race battery.

Wheels: BBS Motorsport 18” x 13” rims Tyres: 355 / 705 R18

AERODYNAMICS

Carbon fibre front splitter, rear wing, diffuser and body panels. Lightweight, aerodynamicallyoptimised bumpers, bonnet, sills and fenders Length 4860 mm Width 2045 mm Height 1355 mm Weight 1275 kg

formula. The goalposts will continue to move as each car is updated and a new model is released, this is why the Bentley stretches the envelope considerably in nearly every single way.

“Manufacturers are pushing the boundaries the way we’ve put different chassis legs on the front, very similar to

the BMW, we’ve moved further back. It’s on the limit of the FIA wanting us to do that,” said Loriaux.

“It’s one of the best series in the world now with each manufacturer using it to advertise its cars. They are pushing the boundaries because, obviously they want to be the fastest to showcase what

they can do, so the regulations are being pushed at the moment. The thing is, every year the regulations are changing, so as long as we’re in this bubble and we stay as a manufacturer sport, when a new car comes out there will always be manufacturers that will push the boundaries a bit more, the FIA will allow

them this and won’t allow them to do that.

“We use those regulations and go ‘right, where’s the hole? Can we do this or do that?’ As engineers, that’s what we’re there to do, we’re trying to make the best of the set of rules and we’re there to make the best car under the regulations.”

wasn’t. There’s other packaging around the engine and the intercoolers, which is better, so we’ve got a more consistent car in different temperatures, just everything’s

better. The new race car has a bigger overall platform from the new road car, so that allows us lower aero for the floor.

“Overall, it is just a better car.”

The GT3 program came 10 years after the manufacturer last entered motorsport, which culminated in victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour in 2003. Its enthusiasm has been reignited by M-Sport’s Blancpain GT Series efforts over the past five seasons, according to Kane.

“Bentley hadn’t been racing for 15 years.

That DNA is now starting to bleed through the whole company, it’s really good.”

DRIVER'S VIEW THE BEST man to judge the transition from one generation to the next is long-time Bentley driver Steven Kane.

The vastly experienced Brit has been a part of the M-Sport line-up from the beginning and has stood on the third step of the Bathurst 12 Hour podium twice.

Kane explained the progression from the Continental GT3’s road car roots to its current stage.

“I think the DNA of the Bentley is still in our car. Even though we did a lot with the old car, it was still hampered by the old road car,” Kane told Auto Action.

“The new road car is an amazing piece of kit with what they’ve done with it and where it is. I think they’ve really taken on board that we’re going racing, which has allowed us to

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work as one. It took the old car, which had been going on for 10-12 years and we tried to make that into a race car. Now we’ve come together as one and you can see the improvements.”

These have run in parallel, enabling a much better consistency from the race car.

“From a driver’s point of view, the 50-50 weight distribution is a big step, and the way the package works. The engine is similar, there’s a different sump and they’ve moved the engine back, the chassis is different and they’ve aligned the weight distribution to be perfect,” Kane continued.

“That’s what we didn’t have with the old car. Some circuits it was really strong, while others it

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The preliminary design of the circuit second Bathurst circuit was revealed last July.

ROOS and

RACES

MARK FOGARTY visits the site of Panorana Valley, the planned second Bathurst circuit that is literally in the shadow of the famed Mount Panorama

A

MOB of kangaroos bounds through the scrub. There are 50 or more bouncing across the dried and dusty landscape in a valley that is just a few hundred metres from the hustle and bustle of Mount Panorama’s McPhillamy Park camp sites.

For locals, kangaroos leaping through the bush is not unusual. But for a city slicker who’s never seen more than a handful of ’Roos in the wild, it’s eye-opening.

As we descend into the small valley that will eventually become Bathurst’s ‘Second Circuit’, impressed by the undulating vista, the influx of kangaroos is startling.

We see the occasional ’Roo invade the Mount Panorama circuit during the Bathurst 1000 or 12 Hour, sometimes with catastrophic consequences, but to witness a mob in full flight not far outside the boundary of the majestic circuit is eye-opening for an urbanite.

Welcome to Panorama Valley. That’s the working title for the second permanent circuit planned to augment the main Mount Panorama track, which for most of the year is a public scenic road.

Auto Action was taken on a tour of the site for the second circuit – and it looks like a good place to race. It’s a natural amphitheatre with rolling hills and ridge lines that will give the proposed track layout composition and character.

The course is a little brother to the majestic hillside circuit, not a mini-Mount.

The intention is to make the full track of

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around 4.5 km challenging for drivers and entertaining for spectators.

Elevation change as the circuit swoops, twists and dips around the hills will be 40-50 metres. From most spectator areas, it is planned that 90 per cent of the track will be visible, with the number of corners to be in the mid-teens. The hillside pit lane and paddock will be a major vantage point.

The full course will be suitable for cars and motorcycles, built to FIA Grade 2 (anything bar F1) and FIM Grade 1 (right up to MotoGP) international standard. It will be a multi-circuit facility, with the track design to incorporate two shorter layouts.

Spectator capacity will initially be set at 50,000 to accommodate events as major as MotoGP and Supercars. It will herald the return of top-level motorcycle racing to Bathurst after an absence of 30 years.

However, the second circuit isn’t happening in a hurry because of a long design and construction process, plus the fact that funding for only half of the total cost of at least $50 million has been secured so far.

The 200-hectare site of Panorama Valley is over the back of the McPhillamy Park camping area, roughly to the west of the top of Mount Panorama. There’ll be a new dedicated access road off the Mid Western Highway on the Blayney side of Bathurst.

Noted UK track creator Apex Circuit Design won the tender for the $3.7 million design project, beating Australia’s iEDM and Italy’s Dromo. Apex’s portfolio includes the revamp of Sydney Motorsport Park, Hampton

From most vantage points, 90 per cent of the track will be visible.

Downs in NZ, Dubai Autodrome and a proposed motor sport complex at Keysbrook in WA. Apex was appointed last July and was given 84 weeks to deliver the track design.

That could be as late as the end of February 2020, with construction not due to begin until 2021.

The first race meeting, according to Bathurst mayor Graeme Hanger, is as far off as 2025.

While Hanger admits the timetable for the design alone is “a long time”, he maintains that the scale of the undertaking dictates a lengthy process.

“It’s a big project,” he insists. “It’s a work in progress. By the time the design is

completed and the contractors are appointed, we’re several years away from completion.”

But he is confident that Apex’s final circuit design will be worth the wait. “They’re pretty experienced people,” Hanger says. “They’ve been here, had a look at it and they’re excited.”

Bathurst Regional Council director of engineering services Darren Sturgiss, who is overseeing the project, also explains that government ‘red tape’ is a factor in the drawn-out procedure.

“The design documentation that we released also includes the approval process through the New South Wales State Government and that timeframe requires the completion of a full environmental impact statement, the necessarily public consultation and approval timing through

The preliminary design of the circuit second Bathurst circuit was revealed last July.

Bathurst major Graeme Hanger and chief engineer Darren Sturgiss at Panorama Valley.

“IT’S A VERY BIG PROJECT. IT’LL BE THE BIGGEST PROJECT IN REGIONAL NSW AND WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.” the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, given that it’s a state-significant development,” Sturgiss outlines. “All that timeframe is included in that 84 weeks (for the complete design).

“In terms of the size, it’s certainly challenging, but there’s not that much in the way of the complexity of the site that is really raising concerns with regard to the design process. We need to let that process continue and conclude, but there’s nothing at this stage that suggests that we’ll have a problem constructing the circuit on that site.

“The layout of the track is certainly Apex’s design and with that there will be input from various drivers and riders. Those opinions will be sought and included in the design process.

“There is flexibility in the track design that we’re aiming for to have a number of different motor sport events.”

Also unresolved is full funding of the project, to which the NSW and Federal Governments have committed $15 million and $10 million respectively – around half the estimated final cost.

Mayor Hanger – a decorated former school teacher – revealed that Bathurst Regional Council, which will bear most of the rest of the cost, is going back to Macquarie Street and Canberra for extra financial assistance.

“We’re still working with the federal government and the state government,” he said. “I mean, it’s a work in progress. We’re negotiating.”

Hanger also conceded that the final bill

Another view of the undulating terrain of Bathurst second circuit.

could increase. “It may well be $50 millionplus. Who knows? It’s a work in progress, and we’re working with both the State and Federal Governments to make sure that it’s financed – and it will be.

“It’s a very big project. It’ll be the biggest project in regional NSW and we’re looking forward to it.”

The big appeal of Panorama Valley is that it will give Bathurst a permanent venue that can trade on Mount Panorama’s global fame

all year round. The Mountain is a major economic driver, but the track’s full closure is limited to a maximum of five events annually.

Also, the location means there should be no noise issues, meaning it can be used for car and bike race meetings, plus testing and automotive industry activities, according to demand. Which is likely to be constant, such is the allure of an association with Mount Panorama.

“That’s the main attraction,” Hanger said,

who added that a new permanent circuit at Bathurst addresses the critical shortage of multiple-use tracks in NSW and beyond.

And a circuit that is interesting, challenging and visually appealing.

“One of the great advantages of this greenfield site is its topography and its undulation,” he said. “It won’t be like this table [indicating the flat surface] and that’s what we want.”

Allied to the Panorama Valley track is a longer-term plan to establish a motor sport/motor industry hub alongside the main Mount Panorama course, emphasising research and development.

It would be located on a large tract of vacant land behind the trackside Rydges hotel – which, incidentally, boasts enviable year-round occupancy rates because the circuit’s notoriety attracts non-car or racing-related conventions. This automotive industrial park would be linked to the second circuit by a road around the back of The Mountain.

“Council still has that plan,” Hanger reports. BRC works boss Sturgiss adds: “It’s a separate project, but certainly linked. It’s an active project, but the primary focus of council is the second circuit site itself”.

Panorama Valley Raceway – or whatever Bathurst second circuit ends up being called – still has a very long way to go.

But when it happens – if it happens – it will be worth the wait because the basics are there for a great permanent track.

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FORMULA E

DI GRASSI STEALS MEXICO EPRIX VICTORY LUCAS DI Grassi has shot into title contention after taking a last gasp Mexico ePrix victory at the line. Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein had led the race from pole position but ran out of electric power exiting the final corner, allowing di Grassi to slide up the inside.

Wehrlein had made a great start from pole, and covered hard into Turn 1 to ward off any potential move. Oliver Rowland started fourth but launched up the inside of di Grassi and Felipe Massa, to take second position.

On Lap 3 when fighting for eighth Nelson Piquet Jr looked up the inside of Jean-Eric Vergne on the approach to Turn 15. The two touched and Piquet rode up the back of the DS Techeetah and up into the air, hitting the back of Alexander Sims and crashing heavily into the wall. A red flag resulted.

The safety car led the field for two laps after the red flag, after which the top 16 drivers used Attack Mode.

The top three soon pulled a gap on Sebastien Buemi and Antonio Felix da Costa who fought hard for fourth.

Reigning champion Vergne’s day got Jerome d’Ambrosio finished just off the podium and retook the points lead.

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worse when fighting for ninth, Lucas di Grassi when he was turned around by claimed his second New Zealander Mitch Evans, Mexican ePrix dropping the Frenchman to victory.

17th.

Buemi and Da Costa caught the three car train for the lead with 12 minutes remaining. Da Costa in fifth blinked first and activated his final Attack Mode, Buemi did the same two laps later, just staying ahead of the Andretti BMW driver.

With nine minutes to go di Grassi also used his final Attack Mode, Rowland did so the following lap but on the rejoin the Englishman ran wide, allowing di Grassi into second. have to save as much energy as possible possible, to econd Heading into Turn 15 Buemi stuck his make it to the finish. nose up the inside of teammate Roland On the final lap heading into Turn 1 the and the two made contact, but the Nissans German defended hard, forcing di Grassi to continued. The following lap Wehrlein the outside, then at Turn 4 Wehrlein left a activated Attack mode but the German could sight gap which allowed the Brazilian up the not shake off di Grassi. inside and the two touched, with Wehrlein It was clear with two minutes to go that choosing to cut the chicane. Di Grassi tried Wehrlein and the Nissans were going to again at Turn 15 but the Wehrlein slammed

the th door shut. As they exited the final corner Wehrlein ran out of electric c power, allowing the Audi driver to sweep p through and claim his second Mexico th ePrix eP victory.

“I have to say, (it was) probably the best be Formula E race of my career today because it was a mixture of having the be patience to save energy in the beginning. pa Then Th because it was difficult to overtake, I had h to make the moves in the correct moment,” said di Grassi. m Wehrlein finished second but was given a W 55-second penalty for cutting the chicane on the final lap, demoting him to sixth, while bo both Nissans also ran out of power on the fin final lap and neither finished the race. All thi this meant that da Costa was second and Ed Edoardo Mortara took the final step on the podium. Jerome d’Ambrosio finished fourth after starting 19th and as a result, retakes the championship lead from Sam Bird, who finished the race in ninth.

POINTS: d’Ambrosio 53, da Costa 46, Bird 45, di Grassi 34, Wehrlein 30, Lotterer 29, Frijns 28, Vergne 28, Evans 28, Mortara 27.

NEW ZEALAND

LAWSON STEALS NZGP AND TITLE KIWI LIAM Lawson has taken a controversial victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild, which also delievered him the Toyota Racing Series crown.

Title rival Marcus Armstrong completed a pass that forced Lawson onto the grass during the closing stages of the Grand Prix.

The stewards deemed it unsporting and penalised Armstrong 5s.

Previous to that, it was a pure battle between the duo as five points separated the title combatants heading into the weekend in Lawson’s favour.

However, victory for Armstrong turned it into a one-point advantage his way after making a perfect jump to take a lights-to-flag victory, with Lawson second and Lucas Auer a lonely third.

Lawson and Armstrong had a tougher time of it in Race 2 as the top eight was reversed. Cameron Das and Petru Florescu were on the front-row, while all eyes were on the fourth row of the grid where Lawson and Armstrong started. The championship battle

took place in amongst the mid-pack alongside Australian Calan Williams and Kiwi Brendon Leitch. Lawson and Armstrong battled past Williams, but Leitch held on for fourth with the title contenders behind.

Up front, Das held off Auer and Esteban Muth to take his first win of the season and M2 Motorsport’s 100th TRS podium.

Next was the main event, the 64th New Zealand Grand Prix.

It was a chaotic race to decide the title with a number of Safety Cars, which aided Armstrong as Lawson had made a great start and was holding the lead.

This decided the event as on the second last Safety Car restart, Armstrong made an exceptional start and passed Lawson at Turn 1, but it forced the latter onto the grass., a move

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that the stewards frowned upon.

Dropping to fourth, Lawson was able to take second after the next Safety Car, sealing the title and the Grand Prix victory.

“It was a weird race and I reckon I fluked the start as I have been having a few issues with those throughout the season. But it all came together and I had already made the move I needed to secure the championship when I heard about Marcus’s penalty on the radio,” said Lawson.

“I was a bit emotional on the slow down lap. People were on the radio and I was getting some lovely messages. It’s very special.”

Williams was best-placed of the Aussies in the championship, finishing eighth, his tally from the weekend a fifth, a seventh and the victim of a sixcar pile-up in the Grand Prix. Jackson Walls rounded out the season with 10th and a pair of retirements, while Thomas Smith placed 14th, eighth and a DNF.

Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx

TITLE DRAMA AT MANFEILD JADEN RANSLEY has walked away with the penultimate round of the New Zealand Toyota 86 Championship, taking two victories and a 18-point lead over Jordan Baldwin after disaster for the latter.

Ransley converted Pole to victory, while Baldwin qualified in the mid-pack and was involved in a collision with championship debutant Campbell Stewart, which not only forced Baldwin into the infield dropping him down the order, but damaged a number of cars in the process.

It also meant the top four broke away from the chasing pack. Ransley led the lead quartet consisting of Callum Hedge, Arran Crighton and a charging Connor Adam, who overhauled the two youngsters easily to start a pursuit on Ransley. A 1.6s

margin proved too much as Ransley took the title lead with a comfortable victory.

It was a three-car war in Race 2, but Ransley overcame challenges from Hedge and Crichton to take another victory, extending his championship margin. Unlike the previous race’s 1.6s margin, it was just 0.2s in Race 2 as Hedge piled on the pressure, just as Baldwin was charging back from his opening race failure to take fifth.

“I had a terrible start, which put

me into second. We had a good battle with Arran [Crighton] and then managed to get past him,” said Ransley post-race.

“Callum [Hedge] was really coming along good too. Our car went off a bit at the end there, so there was bit of a fight to keep Callum behind me. Hopefully we can carry on with the same result in the next race.”

The final race of the weekend fell the way of Hedge as he withstood the pressure from Ransley – a reversal of Race 2 – with the duo duelling for the duration of the race. It was a maiden podium outing for Kaleb Ngatoa to round out the placings for the weekend.

The final round of the championship heads to Hampton Downs on March 8-10.

SMITH CONTINUES DOMINANCE SUPER2 DRIVER Jack Smith has sealed his dominance in the NZ V8 Touring Cars by taking another victory at Manfeild.

It didn’t start that way for the Australian as it was the Nissan Altima of Nick Ross who took the opening affair. The lead pair fought a tough battle, but the Altima driver was able to hold out the title leader driving the Hamilton Motorsports Holden Commodore, while third was teammate Lance Hughes.

Normal business was resumed for Races 2 and 3 as Smith continued his charge towards the NZ V8s title by taking both victories. The final encounter was made easier after Ross retired the Altima with radiator issues.

Priot to that, Ross was the only real challenger to Smith and led for much

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of second race before a successful pass swayed the advantage Smith’s way. Ross and Hughes again rounded out the podium in Race 2, while Hughes and Rob Wallace completed a Commodore cleansweep of the podium.

Smith is the favourite for the crown and should secure it unless he has a retirement, a fact he is very cautious of.

“The weekend was good. The DNF for Nick was unfortunate, but it re-

opens our gap in the Championship following our DNF at Teretonga last month.

“The Championship is there, but we could very nearly have a DNF like he did. There is a long way to go yet.”

Class Two was won by Matt Podjursky after a tough weekend for he and chief competitor Justin Ashwell.

The final round of the series takes place at Hampton Downs on March 8-10.

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WRC SWEDEN

TOYOTA’S OTT TANAK ON TOP IN SWEDEN IT WAS a dominating display in the Swedish snow from Ott Tanak that kicked off his 2019 World Rally Championship campaign.

Tanak not only secured a 53.7s victory over Esapakka Lappi, but also took over the points lead heading to the third round of the championship in Mexico.

“I know how hard my very good friend Markko was pushing to win here in Sweden and he was once very close. So, I’m happy that we finally did it and we have this win in the team now,” Tanak said, dedicating the victory to mentor Markko Martin.

The opening day closed out with a surprise leader, but even more of a shock was the retirement of Monte Carlo winner and reigning World champion Sebastien Ogier.

Ford driver Teemu Suninen led going into the second day of competition, though it wasn’t without drama as during the day’s final stage the Finn’s front light pod came loose, meaning he had reduced visibility and an obscured view over the 8.93km test.

He had built up a 13s lead over Tanak, who had led early before slipping back. But with the issues Suninen endured during the second stage, this margin was reduced to just 2s.

Tanak’s return up the leaderboard was aided by many drivers being caught out by the changeable conditions. The morning stages were conducted in perfect snow and icy conditions, but by the afternoon slush and gravel welcomed competitors.

Ogier was the first to encounter issues as he spun into a snowbank and remained stuck, forcing him into his first retirement since Portugal last year. Thierry Neuville was another to strike

48 AutoAction

trouble, spinning his Hyundai i20 twice and damaging the aerodynamic bodywork. Jari-Matti Latvala was another to spin out of contention, losing 25-minutes as he removed the Yaris from a snowbank.

Andreas Mikkelsen was Hyundai’s top hope in third, 17.8s off the lead, just ahead of Elfyn Evans as the M-Sport Ford Fiestas demonstrated swift pace in the snow, despite also having a spin. Esapakka Lappi was fifth, but he also had a

Esappaka Lappi was second for Citroen (above) while Andreas Mikkelsen was fourth for Hyundai (right).

Teemu Suninen (left) was a surprised leader on day one with commitment like this in his Ford, while erstwhile points leader Seb Ogier had a shocker in his Citroen.

misdemeanour that he was lucky to emerge from, however veteran Marcus Gronholm failed to see out the day as he fired into a snowbank, retiring from his first WRC event in nine years.

The second day was all Tanak’s, but only due to a pair of errors from Suninen which forced him into retirement. Toyota’s team leader overhauled the Finn on the day’s opening stage before Suninen buried his

Fiesta into a snowbank, but on the third of stage of the day worse was to come when hit a tree, severely damaging the rollcage and bringing to an end an impressive performance.

This handed Tanak a comfortable 30s lead over Mikkelsen, who headed a four-way scrap for second consisting of the Norwegian, Lappi, Evans and Neuville.

Ogier restarted and subsequently won three

stages, as did Latvala as he took a sole victory before once again spinning and getting stuck in a snowbank.

The final day of competition failed to trouble Tanak as he continued to hold a comfortable lead throughout, but the four-way battle for second continued to provide the action.

Mikkelsen had been level with Lappi heading into the final leg, but was unable to maintain the pace, with his Hyundai teammate Neuville

taking up the challenge.

Neuville fell short by 3s, but the day and the rally belonged to Tanak, who became just the third non-Scandinavian to win the WRC’s sole winter rally and take his seventh victory.

“Friday was a key moment where we had to get through to minimise the time loss in the conditions, but after this we just drove with a good rhythm and as little risk as possible,” said Tanak.

“We had a very good run and everything was working really well, so I was really comfortable in the car. We have a very strong team and it’s great for us to have this kind of result at the beginning of the season.”

The next round of the WRC is Rally Mexico to be held on March 7-10.

POINTS: Tanak 47, Neuville 40, Ogier 31, Meeke 21, Lappi 19, Loeb 18, Evans 13, Mikkelsen 12, Latvala 10, Greensmith 6.

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DAYTONA

J.D. GIBBS REMEMBERED WITH HISTORIC 1-2-3 DENNY HAMLIN led home a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3 to win the Daytona 500 just a month after the passing of the team owner’s son, J.D Gibbs at the age of 49.

Hamlin with J.D’s name on his #11 Toyota held off Kyle Busch to take his second Daytona 500 victory and his first race victory since September 2017.

The traditional Daytona Clash and two Daytona Duel races took place in the lead up to the Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona Clash despite some controversy, Johnson made a move on Paul Menard, who pulled across to block the move. This spun Menard into the wall and wiped out most of the field. The caution was deployed but before the race went back to green rain fell and the race was called.

Kevin Harvick won the first Daytona Duel, Johnson again was in the thick of the action this time turning around Kyle Busch. Afterwards defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano won the second duel.

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Denny Hamlin savoured victory for the second time as Joe Gibbs Racing clean-swept the podium (above). There was close racing for the duration of the 500 (left).

The Daytona 500 got off to a relatively trouble free start until lap 50 when Kurt Busch spun by himself before being hit from behind by Darrell Wallace Jr Stage 1 ended at the end of Lap 60 with Kyle Busch leading Alex Bowman and Joey Logano.

On lap 107, Casey Mears went up in smoke resulting in a caution, the top six all pitted but lost track position, it was Ryan Blaney, who led the pack when the race restarted on lap 112.

In the final laps of Stage 2 William Byron shot up from fourth to second but was unable to get through on Blaney, who held onto win the second stage, Aric Almirola was third and Brad Keselowski fourth.

When the final stage began both Byron and Almirola swept past Blaney to take the top two spots. The first half of the final stage was intense, but incident free and as the race remained under green flags conditions, the second half was

The big one that ended the race for more than 20 drivers in what was a chaotic Daytona 500.

Toyotas dominated the top results (below), though Martin Truex Jr was penalised for speeding in pit lane (left).

full of multi-car accidents and cautions.

The first was on lap 159 for a frightening incident in which Cody Ware ran into the rear of his teammate B.J. McLeod approaching pit lane, the pair then bowled into several cars in pit lane.

Most of the leaders elected to pit under the caution, this left McMurray in the lead from Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Bowman and Matt DiBenedetto. Martin Truex Jr had to start from the rear of the grid on the restart for speeding in pit

lane, while Jimmie Johnson was given a penalty for improper fueling.

Hamlin was able to make his way to the front before another caution was thrown for debris with 26 laps to go. This was followed by two caution periods one for Kyle Larson and the other for Keselowski, both spinning with flat tyres.

At the restart on lap 191 Menard touched the back of DiBenedetto triggering a massive pile up containing

over 20 cars, including Blaney, Johnson, Almirola and Truex. The red flag was flown and the race was brought to a stop for half an hour.

The race resumed on lap 195 and within seconds another multi-car accident occurred when Stenhouse and Larson made contact which collected six cars including Keselowski and Bowman.

With two laps to go the race went back to green before yet another accident,

Clint Bowyer pulled in front of Michael McDowell firing Bowyer into the wall and collecting Byron, Jamie McMurray and many others.

After this the race was forced into overtime, at the restart Hamlin held onto the win, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones were both able to overtake Joey Logano on the final two turns to reward JGR with a 1-2-3 the first time a team has locked out the top three positions at the Daytona 500 since 1997.

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s w e n Y A SPEEDW

KINGSHOTT WINS NATIONAL TITLE HOW IRONIC that the car number on Dayne Kingshott’s car would match the biggest and best win of his career.

Kingshott in the number 24 machine again showed his incredible talent to win not only his 24th feature at the Perth Motorplex but also his first in the 2019 Australian Speedcar Championship.

The Bunbury driver became the 13th Western Australian to claim the title in the 78-year history of the event, from four-time national winner Adam Clarke and American Jason McDougal, who grabbed third in the dying stages from Travis Mills in fourth and outgoing champion Kaidon Brown fifth.

His recent success came just days after he clinched his fifth WA Speedcar championship and his night at the national title was a perfect one, a dominant one in fact.

Kingshott won his three qualifying heats, the pole shuffle and started the feature on the front row and led every lap of the 40-lap title-decider to claim his maiden title.

“I think the key to winning was being the fastest and most consistent car. The feature actually went a lot quicker than I expected. My car was dialled in from the start and I felt like I was setting the pace all along.

“I cruised through the middle section of the race but when we had a restart with 15 laps to go, I knew it was time to step it up and put in the 15 best laps I could.”

Kingshott lined up on the front row alongside McDougal but it was Kingshott getting the jump and leading away immediately.

Mills was the big mover, using the low-line to race into second with McDougal third on the top of the track.

McDougal then raced back around Mills to be second by the end of lap one, but Dayne was already out by over a second, nearly two seconds ahead by the completion of lap two.

American Alex Bright found himself spinning in turn two with 13 laps down and the restart saw Brown pass Payet early at the cone, while Kingshott again pulled away from McDougal, with Mills and Payet fighting for fourth.

SMEES’ ROYAL RUMBLE IT WAS an historic 1-2 for the Smee family in the Speedcar Royal Rumble, with nephew Harley finally defeating uncle Nathan at Valvoline Raceway.

The pair staged a thrilling finish at the end of 30 laps at the Sydney venue in the feature dominated mostly

by Harley Smee.

He had to endure lapped cars as he chased his first main event and biggest win since joining the Speedcars class less than 12 months ago.

“It was a good race and it was also a bit of a wake up call with the lapped traffic in the final stages,” Smee said of his win.

His uncle Nathan was left to ponder what might have been after slipping off the edge of the track mid-race and dropping to fourth.

“Yeah, I stuffed it up. Hopefully we can get the car even faster, but it was a great win by Harley tonight,” Nathan said.

Further north in Australia it was Speedcar young gun Rusty Whittaker who won the King of the Ring at Toowoomba Speedway ahead of Brock Dean in second place and Scott Doyle home in third.

52 AutoAction

Payet tried to get through but couldn’t make the move stick, Mills again holding onto third as Brown closed on Payet again, the top five opening up a gap on the rest.

Clarke got going mid-race and made a move on Payet, the two making contact and this time Clarke came out on top, taking over fourth and setting out after third placed Mills.

Clarke did get Mills and was second on lap 24. Clarke dived under McDougal, then went high and took second, before Payet found himself coming to a stop in turn one after contact with the wall, ending his night early after a strong run.

The race resumed with 16 left, Kingshott leading away Clarke, with McDougal and Mills behind as Bright moved back through the field into fifth ahead of Brown, who also overtook Mills.

Kingshott survived a hairy moment with lapped traffic which hurt his lead as Clarke closed on him, the gap back down to just one second with seven laps to go.

But he again widened the gap and stayed well ahead to claim his first win in the national title in front of an ecstatic crew and large group of supporters.

“I was pretty nervous towards the end, I was listening to every noise the car was making and just hoping it would make the distance. When I got the chequered flag I was more relieved than anything. I feel like we have been close (to a national championship) a lot of times in the last five years, but I wasn’t sure if I would ever get one. To do it at home in front of my friends, family and sponsors was even more special. It really felt like it finally just all fell into place for us.”

Image: Gary Reid

Images: Richard Hathaway

ALL STARS 100 NOT OUT IT WAS fitting that one of the veterans of Sprintcar racing won the 100th round of the Mainline DynoLog Dynamometers All Star Series at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway.

Helping to celebrate the century of racing was Matthew Reed, who used his front row start to maximum effect to win the milestone round which also doubled as the seventh round of the Series.

He defeated Michael Tancredi who finished just 0.11of a second behind, then followed Jordyn Charge in third and Phil Lock, who has now notched up his 100th race in the All Stars.

Lock has been a common and popular thread in the annual tournament that commenced in 2007 and was won by Darren Hickman. A serious arm injury is what stopped Lock him having the perfect 100-race rounds record.

“It’s magnificent to reach a milestone like that. I enjoy it, it’s become my family,” Lock told Auto Action.

Image: Gary Reid

CHRIS DAVIS had waited a long time to win the Gold Cup

in the NSW Lightning and Litre Sprintcars but he’s finally won it. He took a commanding lead early and was never troubled over the 20-lap journey at Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway and would win from the event’s 2016/17 winner Jordan Binskin and Alex Mahoney.

Image: Dean Miller

“If it wasn’t for a broken arm a few years ago I’d be reaching the 100th round when the series does, but ah well, that’s racing.”

Series promoter Mandy Searle was determined to recognise Lock’s efforts and loyalty.

“We tried to make a fuss for Locky as this achievement is certainly one to be recognised,” Searle said.

Brayden Parr showed his talent by picking up the A-Main win in the following round at Moama’s Heartland Raceway.

He came from position five and would work through the field to take the lead on lap 19 off Paul Solomon, as runnerup Brendan Guerin and eventual third placegetter Kane Newcombe also made their moves.

FARMER BREAKS DROUGHT

A VICTORIAN sheep farmer has broken a long 36-year racing drought.

Ewan McKenzie, 66, of Peterborough recently won his fourth Victorian Super Rod championship adding to the three he collected in the 1980s.

The somewhat ageless grandfather-of-three McKenzie won his last title some 36 years until at Simpson Speedway he recorded a very narrow .47 of a second win over Colac’s Neville Gange and Inverleigh’s Corey Deglaitis, in the 25-lap final.

McKenzie collected his maiden state crown in 1982 and Image: Geoff Rounds saluted again in ‘83 and ’87. His best result in the title of late was a third in 2013 at Bairnsdale when he returned to the driver’s seat.

Speedway season, McKenzie said he’s always enjoyed racing in He said his recent victory was for all his friends and family who the popular V8 class. had supported him, including wife of 41 years Linda.

“Life is meant to be more peaceful at our age but it’s not. It’s a unique class, most people build their own cars and you can “It’s very rewarding building a car yourself and seeing it all exercise a fair degree of individuality. We run clockwise too when come together,” McKenzie said. most in the speedway world runs anti-clockwise.”

In another of the feel good stories of the 2018-19 Australian

GEE TO DICKSON MOTORSPORT THE VERY talented Mitchell Gee has been snapped up by one of Australia’s most passionate and prominent Sprintcar teams.

The young Queenslander was left without a drive when Titan Racing Team ceased racing earlier this year, has now joined Dickson Motorsport.

Team boss David Dickson was forced to sideline his son Jacob from driving duties due to back and neck injuries.

“We are pleased to announce that the V3 car will still be on track with dynamic Queenslander Mitchell Gee taking up the driving duties for the next few weeks,” Dickson said in a statement.

Gee said he was looking forward to continuing his racing with Dickson during the upcoming rounds of the Victorian SRA series. “(It’s an) unbelievable opportunity for me to be heading to Victoria to run for Dickson Motorsport. I am looking forward to heading to the Western Speedway, Hamilton and Moama part of the SRA Victorian Series,” Gee said.

DTM MOTORSPORT is currently on the lookout for a new driver after it split with Max Johnston.

The handy combination parted ways just weeks after contesting and winning the Best Presented Car and Team at the 2019 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

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Image: Gary Reid

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Image: Geoff Rounds

In a statement from DTM it said; “We are incredibly grateful to Max and the Johnston family for starting this journey with us from being 410 Sprintcar fans in the grandstand to now team owners. We wish Max all the very best both personally and in his professional motorsport career. We are now extending and invitation for professional, dedicated drivers to apply to ‘Drive for DTM Motorsport’ and continue our journey with us for the 2019/20 Sprintcar season.”

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ANTHONY BEARE overcame hot conditions at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway to win the annual Eliminator Cup for Street Stocks. In 40 degrees weather Beare was high in the points after 12 heat races but topping the pointscore was Lenny Bates, who then suffered with broken steering in the 35-lap final. Beare led all the way to win easily from Mick Dann, Mick Clark, Shaun Henry and Bates.

THE AUSTRALIAN FIM Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) will not be taking place in 2019. PSE (Paul Sergeant Events), the locally based promoter that BSI Speedway was working in partnership with in Australia, is no longer able to stage the event due to unforeseen circumstances, saying in a release. “The date and venue for the Australian event, which had been provisionally scheduled as the final round of the 2019 FIM Speedway Grand Prix series, was yet to be confirmed. BSI Speedway remains committed to bringing the event back to Australia, and is actively seeking a new local promoter to help stage the event in future years.”

Image: Ray Ritter

MELISSA CROUCH has become the first female driver to

win the South Australian V6 Wingless title at Riverland Speedway, Renmark and her strong form has continued with a third in the Des James Memorial, behind winner Nick Hall and Chris James at Murray Bridge Speedway.

DAYNE KINGSHOTT grabbed his fifth victory in the 71st Western Australian Speedcar Championship edging him closer to a unique record. He went into the meeting as the defending champion and cemented his name in WA Speedway history winning his third straight title to close on seven-time winners Neville Lance, Michael Figliomeni and Johnny Fenton. It was a hard-fought victory for Kingshott, having to fight off the advances of eventual runner-up Keenan Fleming and third was Travis Mills of Victoria in a race that went flag-to-flag for 30 laps at Manjimup Speedway.

CHRIS PAVLOVICH broke through for his first state title with a narrow victory in the 2018/2019 Speedway Sedans Western Australia Super Sedan State Title at Narrogin Speedway. The Mount Barker driver prevailed narrowly over Gary Higgs, who finished runner up in the event for the fifth time in his career with Kevin Bell rounding out the podium.

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Images: 44photography Image: 44photography

NEWLY-CROWNED Australian Sprintcar champion Andrew Scheuerle continued his winning streak at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway, winning the 10th round of the Queensland series from Brent Kratzmann who showed excellent car speed but not enough to defeat Scheuerle. Kratzmann had to settle for second while Allan Woods held off a hard-charging Peter Lack to secure the final podium position.

Image: The Art of Speedway

MARCUS DUMESNY scored his second feature win with victory in the 12th round of the NSW Ultimate Sprintcars Championship doubling as the Summer Slam at Valvoline Raceway. He raced from a starting position of seventh to defeat the in-form Robbie Farr and older brother Matthew Dumesny. The meeting was in doubt when just 24 hours earlier the Parramatta venue was lashed by wild weather which tore apart many of the track’s buildings apart.

Image: Ray Ritter

DEAN MCCARTHY had to defeat three current state titleholders to win the 2019 South Australian AMCA Nationals at Whyalla Speedway. From pole position he led all 30 laps of the final to defeat defending SA champion Dean Haseltine, Tim Reidy the current Vic champ and reigning NSW titleholder Jeremy Moore.

“It was just one of those nights where everything falls your way.

To say I’m over the moon is an understatement,” McCarthy said.

JASON KENDRICK is on track to win the 2018/19 Western Australia Sprintcar Series, after victory in his fourth feature of the season so far. “All of us race as hard as we can every week, so when those guys are here it means there are some more guys we can beat. We’ve been really good at the Motorplex. We have that home ground advantage and hopefully we can do it again this year.”

DARYN PITTMAN started the 2019 World of Outlaws Championship in perfect fashion with victory in the opening rounds at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida. The former Outlaws champion won his third DIRTcar Nationals at the venue and the first for his new Roth Motorsports team. He won the final night from Christopher Bell, Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet. “To do it with a different team makes it that much more special. For us to come out here and be as fast and consistent every time we hit the track just speaks volumes for the guys working on this team. You want to get off to a strong start. We’ll see what the rest of the year holds.”

NATHAN PRYOR won the third round of the BASC GLB Club Championship in his family’s owned Murphy Formula 500 at Nowra Speedway. An impressive drive in the feature race from Lachlan Caunt saw him claim the runner-up position and rounding out the podium in third was veteran Roy Urpeth.

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OLDFIELD IS NEW MAYOR IT MIGHT have been the best pass Luke Oldfield has ever made and it helped him to a cool $10,000 payday.

The Gold Coast driver would win the Mayor’s Cup at Toowoomba Speedway after taking the lead from Kerry Madsen with a superb outside pass move, just four laps from victory.

Oldfield dedicated the win to a close friend who had recently passed away.

“We have had a tough few weeks after the tragic loss of our teammate and close friend Nick Landman. It was a great feeling to put the Q17 on the top step with our tribute to Nick on the wing,” Oldfield said.

Madsen elected to start the A-Main from position two leaving Oldfield the plum pole position for the 35-lap journey.

It was Madsen who quickly took the lead, while Robbie Farr got the better of Sam Walsh and Jayden Peacock closed in fast on the group.

With six laps gone lapped traffic was a factor for the leaders and Oldfield capitalized, sliding straight underneath Madsen to take the lead but Madsen quickly fired back to regain control.

All eyes were fixed on the leaders as Oldfield began challenging Madsen for control once more and the pair traded places before

Oldfield raced around the top of Madsen for the win.

Sam Walsh was third then followed Peacock and James McFadden in fifth, after starting the race from position 16.

Tasmanian teenager Jock Goodyer was sixth across the line ahead of Lachlan McHugh, Robbie Farr, David Murcott, Steven Lines.

SCHATZ GETS HIS FORD A FORD engine looks finally ready to power reigning World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz this year.

Tony Stewart Racing, who Schatz drives for, has been developing a new Ford Performance 410 cubicinch Sprintcar engine for the past two seasons and is set to officially make its on-track debut soon.

The TSR team headed by Rick Warner has been working with engine builders Andy Durham and Ron Shaver to ramp up development, something that excites Stewart.

“We are really excited about the

new Ford 410 motor that the guys have been working really hard on over the last 12 months,” Stewart said in a TSR statement.

“I’m looking forward to getting the engine in the car this season. I can’t thank (enough) all the guys at Ford in Michigan, Doug (Yates) and Jeff (Clark) and their team at Roush Yates.”

Schatz has embarked on his 23rd season competing with the Outlaws in 2019 and is a 10-time Series champion, eight with TSR. He is coming off of his sixth consecutive season of 20 or more

wins and is ranked third on the series’ all-time win list with 283 victories.

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MOTORSPORT’S NEXT BIG THING

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Auto Action’s Geoff Rounds speaks to one speedway’s brightest prospects

USTRALIAN SPEEDWAY fans got to see the future of world Sprintcar racing in January.

It was a perfect scene at Avalon Raceway in southern Victoria during a warm summer’s night, when the much-anticipated debut of American teenager Giovanni Scelzi finally happened.

The 16-year-old from Fresno, California was pushed into the arena for his time trial session in the familiar colours of Indy Race Parts supremo Bernie Stuebgen and his trademark #71car.

The hype had already gripped fans around the youngest Scelzi, who was also supported on his tour by Geelong racer Domain Ramsay and Melbourne businessman David Dickson.

Gio is the youngest son of Gary Scelzi, a four-time NHRA Drag Racing champion who retired from racing in 2008 to concentrate on his business and the speedway careers of his sons.

Gio and older brother Dominic moved to Sprintcars when they were both 14-years old and quickly tasted success in their rookie seasons.

Sprintcar racing is a family business for the Scelzi family, with drag racing not a consideration for the boys, despite Gary’s outstanding successes.

“It wasn’t for me the drag racing, even though I went to the racing a lot with dad,” Gio told Auto Action.

“The choice for me was simple, just to race Sprintcars, really anything open-wheel was for me. I guess with what Dom and I were doing in Sprintcars pretty much was a new change from drags for Dad. “He’s always been a big Sprintcar fan, he’s always known so many in the game. It would have been cool to see how dad would of gone in one of them. He’s like me, he likes to go very fast, I guess we just go a different way.”

The backing for both Scelzi boys to race comes from a massive truck empire that is entirely a family operation in the USA. “We build around 400-450 trucks a month. We’re the largest in California and it’s something my dad and my uncle Mike started in 1979. It grew from just one building to over 25 acres with 400 employees.

“I guess it’s something that us boys can look to if needed or fall back on. My mum (Julianne) is I think the boss a lot of the time.

It’s a big business; we go through about 50,000 pounds of steel a day. It’s a credit to our family and I help out sometimes. Dad would say, though, that’s not very often.”

Scelzi made his debut in a 360 cubic-inch Sprintcar at Hanford, California in 2016 at 14, driving for Roth Motorsports. Just two years later at the world’s biggest Sprintcar meeting he really made his mark on the sport.

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At the 2018 Knoxville Nationals in Iowa last August, Scelzi became the youngest driver in its 58-year history to qualify for the 25-car, 50-lap A-main. He would eclipse the mark of the great American racer Jeff Gordon, who qualified for the finale in 1989 at age 18.

Scelzi started ninth and finished 14th behind winner Brad Sweet, and was awarded Rookie of the Nationals for his jaw-dropping efforts.

“That night was surreal. Just to be at the biggest race and come away with the result was something I actually always did dream about. It must be cool to win it,” Scelzi said.

Just a few weeks after Knoxville Scelzi would again put himself into the American Sprintcar history books.

In late September he would win the Preliminary A-Main event in the two-night National Open sprint car races at historic Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania, becoming the youngest feature winner in the 40-year history of the World of Outlaws at 16 years and 10 months.

This win was the springboard that got some influential Speedway people to consider bringing him to Australia.

Scelzi arrived in Australia a few days prior to competition at Simpson, Geelong, Mount Gambier and Warrnambool venues.

Scelzi made an immediate impact with a fighting second at Simpson in a 360ci show, beaten

by American compatriot Tim Kaeding.

The runner-up placing was quickly erased for Scelzi as he failed to weigh his car at the infield scales post-race and he was disqualified.

Four days later at Avalon Raceway Scelzi topped the time sheets in qualifying and raced in an epic wheel-to-wheel battle with multiple Australian champion James McFadden in the 25-lap feature.

He stuck to McFadden’s tail-tank until there was 10 laps to go. Scelzi would squeeze under in turn one to take the lead and grab his first international win. He celebrated with a trip to Australia’s most famous surf beach.

“To win at Avalon, that was pretty cool, it was my first 410 race here Down Under, it’s still even cool just to say that,” Scelzi said.

“I have always been fascinated with racing

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Despite coming from a drag racing family, Gio Scelzi continues to impress on the clay.

He was a winner at Avalon (above) where he battled toe-to-toe with Australian speedway champion James McFadden. Images: Art of Speedway, Geoff Rounds

in other countries and to get a win there was a tick off my bucket list.

“We went to Bells Beach where the surfing deal is big-time. That was pretty cool to relax a little bit ‘cos we’d been working everyday.”

His whirlwind trip came to an end at the 47th running of the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic just two hours up the road at the famous Premier Speedway, just outside the coastal city of Warrnambool.

It wasn’t his first visit to Warrnambool.

Scelzi had a first-hand look at the threenight Classic two years ago, when he visited Australia with Dominic. He now hopes to one day compete in the iconic race together.

The Scelzi team encountered a tough Classic being disqualified from some qualifying. He and his car weighed light and

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he was also stopped from competing in another heat with no compulsory arm ano restraints. rest Despite his frustration, the youngster De plans to return to Australia. plan “It would be pretty cool to come back and race together, for sure. I’d even like get dad on the plane here; I really think to ge he’d enjoy this part of the world.

“The racing in Australia is next level “T for me. The competition is really high and the gear these guys have makes it tough for anyone. Some of the guys I’ve seen and raced against in the States. This country could really challenge us at home, the way shows are run and how hard the racing is.”

The big question now will be if Scelzi’s future in motorsport will be just confined to the dirt.

“It’s hard to know now exactly where I might be by the end of 2019,” Scelzi said.

“I’d hope to maybe get some kind of pavement racing offers and maybe go to NASCAR or even in another open-wheel category. Things right now are up in the air.

I’m young and I’m just trying to stay relaxed.

I love Sprintcar racing and for now I am just enjoying life.”

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p ra w S L A N NATIO ON A BENDER AT HIGHCLERE VW PILOT Rod Bender started his Tasmanian Hillclimb Cup season in perfect style in tricky conditions at the Must Love Cars Highclere Hillclimb on February 9.

Organised by the North West Car Club, this event was the first in a new format for hillclimb racing in Tasmania this year. Instead of a championship series, it will be decided as a stand-alone one-day event, at Highclere in December. Rounds of the previous state title will now form the Tasmanian Hillclimb Cup series, over four rounds.

Showers on and off for much of the day was problematic for many competitors, with a break in the weather around lunch time allowing many fastest times to be posted in the sixth and final run after the course had dried out.

With reigning Tasmanian champion Stephen Mott choosing not to compete in the conditions, Bender took good advantage of the opportunity in his all-wheeldrive VW Golf R to win outright by almost 1.5s from Gary Van der Drift (Nissan 200SX) with Liam Hooper third just 0.51s slower in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Sheridan Budsworth showed the boys ys the way in her Nissan Skyline to win her class andd claim li fourth fastest outright, also being awarded the trophy for “driver of the day” for her impressive effort. Veteran and former Targa Tasmania competitor Kerry Luck came out of retirement and showed he still had plenty of pace in his

Image: RBR Australia

Porsche GT3, to round out the top five outright (and ( d secondd in i class). l ) Other notable performances came from Adrian Hodgetts (Datsun 240Z), sneaking into the top 10 outright and winning his class, while Leigh Ford (Honda Civic) finished 18th fastest outright, and was first in a switch of classes.

NEW THUNDER FOR AMRS THE OPENING round of the Australian Motor Racing Series is set to have a new category join its ranks at Wakefield Park on March 9-10.

The Thunder Sports Cup is the creation of John Ristevski and his wife Ana and is an extension of the former Extreme TT category. It will take in those cars as well as a wide variety of others including Sports Sedans, Time Attack, former V8 Supercars, ex-DTM and even Drift cars.

Thunder Sports Cars is open to some of the fastest classes in Australia with allowances for additional freedoms in capacity, bodywork and aero.

“I want to have a professional level for grassroots motorsport,” said John Ristevski.

“Thunder Sports will be run like a business – as the interest and entries grow, so too will the category expand. We will look to go to Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park in the future.

“Time Attack Cars get maybe five to six laps a year, now we can offer them more track time. The only change will be to their front splitter, which cannot be more than 125mm past

THE WARWICK District Sporting Car Club super sprints series kicked off on February 9 with Round 1 of the A series.

Seven runs were completed with each run consisting of three laps on the large 3km Circuit K in hot conditions.

There were some new competition cars as well as many regulars who dusted off their cars ahead of the new season. More open-wheelers made an appearance, with Vikki Paxton still the fastest in her V8 powered Dallara.

Paxton is the defending A series champion as well as the 2018 Australian Super Sprint Champion.

Budsworth B d h wasn’t’ the h only l female f l driver di to impress. Rookie Millie Brown, driving her partner’s Suzuki Swift GTi, improved with every run to be 24s faster in her sixth pass in her debut effort.

Martin Agatyn

Image: Judi McDonald

the bodywork.”

The March event will be the first round of four this year with The Bend Motorsport (June 1-2) and further appearances at Winton (September 1415 and November 16-17) filling out the 2019 calendar.

Thunder Sports will comprise two classes, based on lap times. Those that lap slower than a 1 min 29s at Winton and 2 mins 03s at the Bend will be Class B. Those that are faster will be Class A. Racing weights will be dependent on engine capacity and forced induction correction – from a minimum of 680kg for a front wheel drive naturally aspirated 1.6-litre, to 1125kg for naturally aspirated rear wheel drive 7.0-litre and 1290kg for 4wd turbo up to 7.0-litres. Forced induction powerplants above 4.0-litre will require an intake restrictor and four-rotor rotaries are allowed.

Ristevski asserts that this will not be a “run what you bring”

class. Mid-and rear-engine exotics and Le Mans/Daytona style prototype cars are not allowed.

There are no clashes with existing state Sports Sedan events which allows for crossover for those who wish to take in more meetings.

“We look like having 16 cars for the opening round and another six have expressed interest in joining after that,” Ristevski concluded.

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Vikki Paxton Jae Collins Ashley Bright Bryce Fullwood Peter Hancock Bill Norton Beau Hatton Tony Hatton Matt Allsopp John White

PAXTON STILL UNSTOPPABLE Starting for the first time and competing in the junior class was Billy O’Neil, who received a passenger run with David Reynolds around Morgan Park last year during the sprints fun day.

The sun belted down on everyone which may have contributed to a few incidents during the weekend. Recovery crew and officials were kept on their toes and The Pit

Exit Café helped keep everyone cool throughout the weekend by supplying food and refreshments.

Vikki Paxton now leads the Championship points followed by Jae Collins and Ashley Bright.

The B series is next for its first 2019 round which will be held on March 2-3 followed by Round 1 of the C series on March 23-24.

There was a variety of cars on show during the opening round of the A Series Supersprint at Morgan Park. Vikki Paxton was the winner in her V8-powered Dallara (main image), while others found the going tough including Michael Collins (top, left) and Jae Collins (bottom, left).

Billy O’Neil was amongst a growing contingent of juniors (middle, left).

Images: Trapnell Creations

Proudly presented by Warwick District Sporting Car Club Inc for more information visit www.morganparkraceway.com.au

Next Round: B Series Round 1 March 2-3

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MRA KICKS OFF

Brought to you by:

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MOTOR RACING Australia kicked off its 2019 with a two-day meeting at Wakefield Park, with racing for eight classes.

Held on February 2-3, the meeting featured several of the usual classes, with Australian Stock Cars making an appearance as well.

Todd Herring dominated Super TT (above), while Daniel Smith headed a big field of Pulsars during the opening round of the Motor Racing Australia Series at Wakefield Park. Images: Bruce Moxon

Super TT

TODD HERRING won three from three in his Mazda MX5, despite a tangle with a lapped car in the first race delaying him. Ashley Slavkovic (Nissan Sylvia/Chev) scored three second places while Greg Boyle in another Sylvia took third in race one.

He retired from the second and that left Mark Boudib (BMW M3GTR) third.

In the final, Herring won again from Slavkovic, with Saade next from Boyle, who’d come through the field, and then the first of the 2.0-litre cars, the Parry Anastakis-driven Peugeot 205. Stock Cars were included in the Super TT and all three races went to Brett Mitchell (Chev Silverado).

time after the rest of the grid, so Mitchell’s results were even more commendable.

Historic & Invited Touring Cars

British Sports Cars

SATURDAY’S THREE races also all went to Todd Herring’s MX5. David Loftus had taken pole on a damp track in his Toyota Starlet, but then spent the rest of the weekend unable to stay with the leader.

Loftus was second in the first race from Mitchell’s Silverado. In race two, Tim Herring in another MX5 was second from Loftus, while in race three, Mitchell was second from Loftus.

The Stock Cars had a rolling start some

MX5 Cup

ZAC RADDATZ took races one and two, with Jackson Copeman taking the other. Copeman filled out his day with second in the other races. Third places were shared by Terry Johnson, Rob Hay and Tim Herring.

battled to stay on track – not always successfully. Jackson Noakes qualified well but a first-corner melee saw him drop to the back. In trying to make his way back through the field, he clobbered another car and the resultant damage put him out for the day.

Meanwhile, Victorian Michael Clemente took three from three, Paul Quinn was second in the first two races and third in the final, behind Jessica Martin. Quinn had led the final race briefly, after repeated attacks.

He made a couple of big lunges at the final corner but was slow out, allowing Clemente to hold sway.

Pulsars

THE CONSTANT battle between Jac Cousin (Jaguar E-Type V12) and Nick Sebesfi (MG Midget) was enthralling. Cousin won the first two and Sebesfi the third, despite giving away four litres of capacity to the Jag. Colin Dodds and Peter Mohacsi shared the thirds in their Midgets.

ANOTHER VERY big field, for the first round of the APRA series, saw Daniel Smith take all three, but not without having to work for it.

Races one and two were straightforward, but in the final Michael Osmond got the best start and held the lead for the first few laps, until Smith was able to find a way past at the top of the track. Osmond never let him get away either and they crossed the finish line in close company, with Harrison Inwood third.

Excels

Superkarts

THE SKY opened just as the first race was about to start so the big field of Excels Tony Moit made a great comeback to take victory in Superkarts, before disaster struck in the final.

AFTER WINNING race one, John Pellicano (Avoig) didn’t start race two. There it was Tony Moit (Anderson) who won. He followed up with victory in the next outing, but broke down on the formation lap for the final.

What remained was a cracking race between the 125cc Avoigs of Aaron Cogger and Lee Vella, swapping places several times a lap. The result was in doubt until the flag, Cogger winning from Vella and a lonely Mark Robin (Avoig) third.

Mt Baw Baw Sprint, Tarmac Rally Championships Rd1, Mt Baw Baw VIC, Feb 23-24 State Circuit Racing Championships Rd1, Symmons Plains TAS, Feb 23-24 State Motor Race Championships Rd1, Wakefield Park NSW, Feb 23-24 Club One Car Sprint, Wodonga Logic VIC, Feb 23-24 Club Autocross, Willowbank Park QLD, Feb 23-24 Multi Club Supersprint, Morgan Park QLD, Feb 23-24 Thornton Short Course Off Road, HQ Private Property Thornton QLD, Feb 23-24 Multi Club Khanacross, Benaraby Motorsport Complex QLD, Feb 23-24 Multi Club Hillclimb, Boisdale-Newry Road, Boisdale VIC, Feb 23 Rallye Des Femmes, Tidbinbilla Forests ACT, Feb 23 George Woods Introductory Rally, Powelltown and Environs VIC, Feb 23 State Khanacross Championship Rd1, Heywood Football Grounds SA, Feb 23 CL Rudd Motorkhana, Ludenham NSW, Feb 24 Multi Club Hillclimb, Bryant Park VIC, Feb 24 Multi Club Hillclimb, Ringwood Park NSW, Feb 24 State Khanacross, Awabawac Park NSW, Feb 24 Superkarts, Mallala Motorsport Park SA, Feb 24 Dion Barnett Memorial Hillclimb, Mount Cooperabung Kempsey NSW, Feb 24 Summer Autocross Series Rd5, Perth Motorplex WA, Feb 27 Superloop Adelaide 500, Supercars Championships Race 01&02, Dunlop Super2 Rd1, Porsche Carrera Cup Rd1, Touring Car Masters Rd1, SuperUtes Rd1, Aussie Racing Cars Rd1, Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup, Feb 28-Mar03 Sydney 240, Australian Production Car Series Rd1, Radical Australia Cup Rd2, Prodsports Enduro Series Rd1, TA2 Muscle Cars Rd1, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Mar 01-03 State Off Road Championship Rd1, Perenjori WA, Mar 01-02 State Hillclimb Series Rd1, Mt Cotton QLD Mar 02-03 State Rally Championships Rd1, Mitta Mountain Rally, Mitta Mitta VIC, Mar 02 State Hillclimb Championships Rd1, Esses, Bathurst NSW, Mar 02 Club Motorkhana, METEC Driver Training Bayswater North VIC, Mar 02 Summer Skids Khanacross, Colo Off Road Racing Circuit NSW, Mar 02 Rally Experience & Introductory Rally, HQ Benarkin State School QLD, Mar 02 State Circuit Racing Championships Rd1, Sandown Park VIC, Mar 02-03 State Circuit Racing Championships Rd1, Barbagallo WA, Mar 02-03 State Hillclimb Championships Rd2, Mt Straight, Bathurst NSW, Mar 03 Multi Club Motorkhana, Geelong Traffic Safety Centre VIC, Mar 03 State Circuit Racing Championships Rd1, Sandown Park VIC, Mar 01-03 State Circuit Racing Championships Rd1, Barbagallo WA, Mar 02-03 Mitta Mountain Rally, State Rally Championships Rd1, Mitta Mitta VIC, Mar 02 State Hillclimb Championships Rd1, The Esses, Bathurst NSW, Mar 02 State Hillclimb Championships Rd2, Mountain Straight, Bathurst NSW, Mar 03 Multi Club Khanacross, Raleigh Raceway NSW, Mar 03 Multi Club Khanacross, Bryant Park VIC, Mar 03 Club Hillclimb, Fairbairn Park ACT, Mar 03 Multi Club Khanacross, Finke Desert Race Complex Alice Springs NT, Mar 03 Classic Festival of Motorsport, Phillip Island VIC, Mar 08-10 State Rallysprint Championships Rd2, Hastings NSW, Mar 09 Australian Motor Racing Series Rd1, Mazda RX8 Cup Rd1, Australian Formula 3 Rd1, Winton Motor Raceway VIC, Mar 09-10 Motor Racing Australia Rd2, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Mar 09-10

Clubmans

James Dick took the first two Clubman races before his PRB Widebody slowed in the final, allowing Josh Versluis (Birkin S3) to take the win. Ben Jensen (PRB Composite) and Josh Kroon (PRB S2) shared the third places.

Bruce Moxon

“Coming up at the nation’s action and spectator tracks” Wakefield Park

www.wakefieldpark.com.au

February 22 CAMS State Test & Tune Day February 23-24 CAMS State – Round 1 February 26 Speed Off The Streets/Test & Tune March 3 WPM Trackschool Track Day March 6 Speed Off The Streets/Test & Tune Track Day March 12 Over 65 Track Day – Goulburn Mulwaree Council

Winton

www.wintonraceway.com.au

February 22 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers February 24 Winton Sprint Series – Round 1 February 28 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers March 5 Performance Test Day March 8-10 AMRS – Winton March 15 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers

AutoAction

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Celebrating AA’s long history and looking at the lighter side of racing

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST FORTY EIGHT years later, Auto Action is still here. On February 24, 1971, the very first issue went on sale.

It was a Wednesday, unlike the more traditional every-second-Thursday publication. Somewhere in the maze of deadlines and distribution demands, it changed.

Mind you, so has the magazine and its frequency. It went weekly in the early 1990s and remained so until returned to its original format and fortnightly appearance under the current management in July, 2016.

The 48th anniversary of Auto Action is not significant in itself. We’ll wait till we reach 50 in two years before we really celebrate our unparalleled existence in Australian motor racing publishing.

We stress motor racing rather than motor sport because our former stablemate Australian Motorcycle News – a bastion of motorcycle racing coverage – can trace its lineage back to 1951. Now that’s impressive.

But so is AA’s longevity. No car racing magazine has lasted so long. We are the last regular printed publication left standing.

When Auto Action started, there was Racing Car News, the monthly racing ‘bible’, and Australian Motoring News (a motoring/racing hybrid).

Several others came and went in the intervening years. They’re all gone.

In early ’71, AA was a breath of fresh air.

Dynamic, competitive, opinionated. And how about the original masthead’s funky type face and 25 cents cover price writ large!

Psychedelic, baby!

Some of us still involved with the grand old girl were teenagers who eagerly bought and devoured the interloper. It is ingrained in our careers and our lives.

AA was the brainchild of then Age Publications managing editor Len Shaw, an accomplished journalist/rally competitor who saw a gap in the mag market.

It was published out of the third floor of the nascent magazines department of David Syme & Co, the publisher of the pre-Fairfax/ Nine The Age newspaper. How it came together each fortnight was stone-aged.

The original editor was accomplished photo/journalist Ian Smith, who became the pre-eminent motor sport photographer of the mid-1970s well into the ’90s. Smith, who was also a dab hand at rallying, still snaps for fun in between his award-winning late life career as a real estate agent.

Inaugural columnists were Ford legend Allan Moffat and contemporary rally star Bob Watson, who is still writing for us today with his entertaining historical perspectives.

Frank Gardner and rally ace Kilfoyle were on the folded cover. Gardner won the Tasman Cup round at Warwick Farm and Kilfoyle was starring in a Ford Cortina in rallycross, which was then a TV craze.

Ah, memories.

The fact that Auto Action is still here, not

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surviving, but thriving thriving, in a digital world only surviving is remarkable.

We continue to do the best we can to provide you, our readers – many of whom go way back in the day with us – with the most informative and in-depth coverage of racing.

We won awards that suggest we’re still well and truly in the game.

The point of this indulgence is that from next issue, we are going to celebrate our

long history every issue. Because we can.

No local motor racing masthead – digital or real – has our heritage.

‘From The Vault’ – working title – will recall our covers and top stories from 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago.

No one else in this business even comes close to continuously recording nearly half a century of car racing history.

THE POOR woman. Composed and TH pro professional as she is, Fox Sports Supercars ho host Jessica Yates came unstuck at the sea season launch in Melbourne last week.

Y Yates ‘dropped the mike’ – but not in the goo good way. It went flying when she took a sstep backwards and tripped on a step up to the next level of the stage, taking an ine inelegant tumble.

JJess picked herself up and continued with her usual aplomb, but it was an em embarrassing moment. Happens to the best of th them, though.How the incident hasn’t gone vira viral is amazing. What were all those smart pho phones doing? And Fox Sports/Supercars Med Media’s coverage? Strangely, we didn’t see that bit of the presentation.

Not to make fun of Yates’ miscue. But we No are. C’mon, when the presenter/MC goes arse-over, regardless of gender, it’s funny as. arse What’s more, it followed Scott McLaughlin Wh coming onto the stage after whacking his com head on the way up. Bleeding while he was interviewed by Ms Yates. Nice. inter Scotty was last seen heading – bad pun – for treatment of his wound. Attended to quickly, apparently, because he was later seen doing interviews. One. Tough. Kiwi.

We shouldn’t make light of these stars’ misfortunes. Oh, yes, we should. And we have.

The footage of the mayhem will eventually turn up…

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