Auto Action #1770

SUPER SANDOWN S5000 & TCR – LIFT-OUT GUIDE .COM.AU

SINCE 1971

N W A D W A NE Big Bangers are back!

Spectacular S5000s ready to rumble

ENFORCER LETS LOOSE INGALL BACKS TCR IN SHOCK INTERVIEW

SUPERCARS SCREW-UP NZ FIASCO FULLY EXPLAINED

Issue #1770

Sept 19th -– Oct 2nd 2019

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PLUS

FERRARI LEGEND RUBENS S

BARRICHELLO ON RETURN TO OPEN-WHEELERS AND OZ

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AERO AND POWER CUTS COMING Supercars confirms reductions to improve racing BRUCE NEWTON outlines the main technical changes for 2020 IMPROVE THE racing and cut costs!

That’s the double-banger benefit Supercars claims reduced aerodynamic downforce and engine power will deliver in 2020.

Supercars has confirmed the Ford Mustang, Holden Commodore and Nissan Altima – if it races again – will be subject to a fresh round of VCAT aero testing in the off-season designed to reduce downforce (and, therefore, grip).

Meanwhile, technical changes to the five-litre V8s are intended to extend durability and save around $50,000 per car per season while dropping output by an estimated 15 horsepower.

These two initiatives join the recently revealed revamped calendar, a control damper package that’s close to confirmation and a new Dunlop tyre package that should soon be announced as key planks of the Supercars racing strategy for next year.

Aerodynamics has been the most contentious area of debate in the Supercars pit lane this season.

The superiority of the new Mustang in high-speed corners has been a significant part of the disquiet, as well as the struggle drivers have to follow each other closely and make passes because of aero ‘wash’.

The Mustang’s aero package was signed off for racing during a multi-day VCAT test at Temora airfield in NSW last December. At the time, it was hailed as the closest-ever test.

But since the season started, all three cars have had at least one aerodynamic adjustment in search of the technical parity that underpins the category’s racing philosophy. There have been six changes in total.

But the Mustang has still gone on to dominate the season, with DJR Team Penske’s Scott Mclaughlin winning a season-record 17 of the 24 races conducted so far. “We will review VCAT at the end of the year and take a small amount of downforce off the cars,� Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess confirmed. “Long-term, it might be something we look at more seriously and take a larger amount away. “But at the moment, we are going to do it in such a way where we are not creating the need for teams to design new this and new that. It will be cost a saving, there will be less stress on the car. “It will get the playing field back where we want it.�

Auto Action understands these changes will be to undertrays and wings, not

bodywork.

Critical to developing a more thorough and reliable VCAT result is a new active damper package that will enable Supercars to test rapidly multiple ride heights.

Downforce levels change depending on ride height. “We can put the car in as many different ride height configurations as we want and we will paritise the cars across the full spectrum of ride heights,� Burgess explained. “It uses load cells so you can measure the force being generated and you can change the ride height of the car in 40 milli-seconds. “You can change front or rear ride height, so we will just measure a range of ride heights. It is something that’s been looked at in the past, but it wasn’t done to the degree of accuracy or repeatability that you would need. “We’ve been working this year on doing that and we have run a few times with our own car to make sure we are happy with the process and happy with the accuracy of it.�

Burgess revealed the engine durability changes revolved around a mandated maximum three rebuilds per season, versus the minimum four rebuilds most teams have been undertaking.

Central to that is a reversion to a cheaper piston ring and rocker specification that will cost about 15 horsepower and reduce engine wear.

Overall, eliminating one rebuild per year will save about $50,000 per car per year, Burgess estimated. “The rough numbers are the components parts of a rebuild are $30,000-$35,000 and then you add in some labour and you get to that $45-50K number. It’s different for different people. “It’s a really effective way for us to take some stress out of the engines and allow them to stretch them a little bit further than they are. “It is a bit of a mentality shift and adjustment shift and a culture shift for them.�

The maximum power limit for the category will be lowered to stop engine builders trying to reclaim the 15 bhp through other tuning methods.

UP COMING RACE EVENT CALENDAR Brought to you by www.speedflow.com.au FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX SEPTEMBER 22 SHANNONS NATIONALS SANDOWN RACEWAY SEPTEMBER 20-22 FORMULA 1 RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX SEPTEMBER 29 WRC WALES RALLY GB OCTOBER 3-6 WEC 6 HOURS OF FUJI FUJI SPEEDWAY OCTOBER 6

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ENFORCER SHOCK INGALL DECLARES THAT TCR COULD BE THE FUTURE! Outspoken hardman tells MARK FOGARTY why Supercars must watch out for challenge from global two-litre tourers V8 LEGEND Russell Ingall has warned that Supercars could face a serious long-term threat from TCR if changes aren’t made in a hurry to improve the premier category’s racing and attract a much younger fan base.

Ingall, 55, is continuing his ‘comeback’ with a fourth straight appearance in the TCR Australia Series at Sandown this weekend.

The hard-racing veteran is a big fan of the turbo two-litre front-drive racers, which are in stark contrast to the reardrive five-litre V8s in which he made his name, and predicts TCR could be the future of Australian touring car racing if Supercars stumbles.

In an explosive two-part interview, beginning this issue, Ingall offers controversial opinions on the Supercars versus TCR war that is waging in the background of the global tin-top category’s arrival in Australia this year, backed by the new Australian

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Racing Group’s deep pockets.

“I think TCR is going to give Supercars a good run for their money,” he declared. “The Supercars brand is still very strong, but I reckon the product isn’t very good.”

Ingall, a bastion star of Supercars for two decades, has deep concerns about the future of V8 racing, citing runaway costs, lack of close racing, absence of fierce driver rivalries and an aging fan following.

While he admits TCR is a long way from rivalling the Supercars show, he cautions that the return of multi-brand two-litre racing two decades after the V8 vs Super Touring civil war is a serious threat in the long-term.

“It’s a different animal,” Ingall said.

“I think TCR has a very good product, but the show isn’t very good. It’s going to take people a little while to get their heads around the cars because we’ve been so drunk on V8s for so long.

“But it could all change. The fans might decide they’d rather a good contest. I’d still rather see a good contest than the noise and flash and fanfare (of the V8s). So I think with enough quality drivers filtering in, there could be a shift of interest. And that’s what it’s going to need.

“TCR is going to need bigger grids and quality drivers – and quality teams running the cars. Once you get all of that, I think the product will be very, very strong.

“The job is then going to be trying to build the fanfare, build the show. Once you do that, I think TCR is going to give Supercars a good run for their money.”

V8 racing’s renowned hardman, dubbed ‘The Enforcer’ for his robust driving and outspoken views, has adapted to TCR surprisingly well in his return nearly five years after his retirement from fulltime Supercars competition.

Declaring that “I don’t miss” modern Supercars, Ingall has been a frontrunner in his Castrol-backed Audi RS3 LM since joining the TCR Australia Series at the third round at The Bend, scoring podiums at Queensland Raceway and Winton.

“I like the category,” the dual Bathurst 1000 winner and 2005 Supercars champion said. “I believe in the product. I’m enjoying the ride so far.

There’ve definitely been no negatives.

“But like I said, make no mistake, there’s a long way to go. However, if they (ARG) get on it hard and fast, they can short-cut the process.”

Ingall sees TCR in the future having more potential appeal to younger fans.

“If something else comes along that is more market relevant – that’s cool and hip, more recognisable and, more importantly, bloody good to watch – then Supercars is in trouble,” he said.

“TCR’s not at that stage yet. The races

HOLDSWORTH IN CONTRACT TALKS

By BRUCE NEWTON ROBBED OF silverware last Sunday, Lee Holdsworth at least has the silver lining that he and Tickford Racing have had their first conversation about his future with the Ford Supercars team.

Holdsworth told Auto Action the subject was “just touched on” immediately prior to last weekend’s Pukekohe Supercars event.

He said the conversation was “positive”, but he stressed there were no indications if his current one-year deal to drive The Bottle-O Ford Mustang would be extended.

“I haven’t gone into detail and I don’t know at this stage where it is all at,” he admitted. “But I am hoping to have a bit more understanding before Bathurst.

“I want to put that to bed and go in with a clear head.”

The 36-year old lies 10th in the championship after fifth and 15th places in the two 200km races at Pukekohe.

But it could have been much better on Sunday, after he qualified second only to be shuffled back by the flawed safety car restart.

“I feel I have a very good relationship with the team and the relationship I am building with my engineer (Sam Scaffidi) is very strong,” Holdsworth said.

“I feel Tickford has become a home. It has taken a long time for that to happen and I feel we are building with better performances every round.”

But as Holdsworth acknowledged, the quality of his performances will not be the only criteria on which his future at Tickford will be

Russell Ingall sees TCR having more appeal to younger fans. He’s pictured here with TCR teammate Aaron Cameron. Images: TCR Australia/Daniel Kalisz

are OK, but you wouldn’t be hangin’ off the fence, but it’ll get there.

“Again, it depends on numbers, teams and drivers. When that happens, I think the new generation of motor sports fans will gravitate towards them and that’s the problem I think Supercars is going to have.”

He added: “It’ll work if they (ARG) keep pushing it. They’re

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going to have to keep pumping money into it. ARG has the big backing and they seem committed to it, so watch out.”

Ingall also thinks a TCR enduro at Bathurst – which ARG has pitched for Mount Panorama’s fifth event – would be “pretty impressive”.

“It’s just a matter of the public getting used to the fact that TCRs aren’t physically as fast or

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as loud as Supercars,” he said.

“But forget that and think about the contest, and there’s your appeal.

“At Bathurst, those things could slipstream and pass two or three times a lap, like Formula Fords.”

Ingall Unleashes – see pages 20-23 for the first part of The Enforcer’s controversial interview.

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judged.

“There is a lot of support behind a lot of drivers with sponsorship and I am not one of those drivers with big support,” he admitted. “It comes down to whether the sponsors are happy, whether there is enough income into the team and obviously results count as well.”

One complicating factor in all this is The Bottle-O, which has been a long-term partner of Tickford co-owner Rod Nash. It is up for renewal at the end of this season.

“I have a good relationship with The Bottle-O and I feel they are happy with me, so that stuff has to sort itself out first before we go into the contract stuff,” he said.

Holdsworth will team at Bathurst with Tickford Dunlop Super2 star Thomas Randle, who has declared his ambition to be a main game driver in 2020.

That makes them potential rivals for a Tickford drive in 2020, something Holdsworth acknowledged.

“I understand how the game is played,” he said.

“There’s 24 seats and I have got one of them. Of course there’s a bunch of guys trying to sit in it.”

Holdsworth had some career advice from an unexpected source, when Holden factory team boss Roland Dane guested on The Loud Pedal podcast he co-hosts.

Dane told Holdsworth to hold out until the end of the enduro season, predicting strong results that would boost his future prospects.

“I appreciated his advice and I might live to regret not taking it,” laughed Holdsworth.

Lee Holdsworth remains hopeful of retaining his Tickford seat for 2020.

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‘Red wine’ jibe doesn’t go down well after safety car fiasco

WHINCUP FACES SANCTION

By BRUCE NEWTON JAMIE WHINCUP is expected to receive a please explain letter from CAMS CEO Eugene Arocca for his emotional outburst after Sunday’s safety car fracas at Pukekohe.

The normally reserved and politically astute seven-times Supercars champion’s anger and frustration boiled over after his chances of victory in race 24 were destroyed by the intervention of the safety car.

It is the second time in his career he has been involved in a major safety car controversy, following the memorable drama at Bathurst in 2015 that cost him a shot at race victory.

The letter will be the first step towards Whincup potentially receiving a sanction for his comments. He will be given a chance to respond to Arocca’s letter before any further steps are taken.

Whincup’s ire was aimed directly at race director Tim Schenken and his deputy Dave Stuart.

“It sort of looks pretty obvious from my point of view; it (the safety car) should have had green lights on. I’m sure in the rulebook somewhere, they’re allowed to keep the yellow on cause if there’s a car in the wall or in a dangerous position, but that wasn’t the case.

“It should have been green lights and I wasn’t the leader of the race. The problem is, you’ve got all the drivers, this is our life you know and we’re pushing bloody hard, you’ve got people making decisions that are you know cruising back, have a few glasses of red each night, you know, rock up to the track and their brain’s not with it.

“They’re not operating at the same level the teams are operating at. It was either stay behind and get completely screwed like the Tickford guys, I gave them an opportunity to put the greens on, I stopped and waited,

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waited, waited but they were all asleep so.”

The safety car was called on lap 14 when David Reynolds’ Penrite Racing Commodore slowed to a halt at turn eight. Ironically, it was restarted and made its own way back to pitlane.

Whincup received a drive-through penalty for passing the safety car when it had its yellow lights on. The safety car can only be passed when green lights are displayed.

But the reality is Whincup was stuffed either way. Stay behind the safety car and his race would have been ruined, just like every other driver who took the risk of short-filling early in the race, including his fellow front-row starter Lee Holdsworth.

Holdsworth, who didn’t follow Whincup past the yellow lights, ended up finishing in 15th one place ahead of the Red Bull driver.

The problem was if Whincup had stayed where he was he, would have been at the head of a queue of cars nearly a lap down to eventual race winner Scott McLaughlin.

Confused? You’re not alone.

The sequence goes like this: Before the yellow from lap seven onwards, nine drivers opted for the early-stop short-fill strategy. They were Whincup, Holdsworth, Cam Waters, Fabian Coulthard, Will Davison, Andre Heimgartner, Tim Slade, James Courtney and Andre De Pasquale.

Scott McLaughlin was leading those yet to refuel.

When the safety call came, the balance of the field led by McLaughlin filed into the pits, elevating the short-fillers back to the top of the order.

The problem arose because McLaughlin was still the leader according to official timing software when the safety car activated its yellow lights and tried to pick up Whincup.

Normally, Whincup and all the other shortfillers would have been waved past the

safety car while it waited for McLaughlin.

But race control does have the right to activate the yellow lights ahead of any approaching competitor.

Whincup retook the lead of the race according to the timing system when he crossed the line to start the next lap. Race control recognised that and the safety car then waved the obedient short-fillers past to correctly pick him up.

At the restart Whincup took off into the lead but was soon issued his drive-through penalty, condemning him to a finish deep in the pack with the other short-fillers, who had obeyed the safety car lights and waited to be waved by.

Once Whincup was penalised, McLaughlin moved back into the lead and went on to score his record-breaking 17th win this season.

When he was approaching the safety car the first time, Whincup was advised by engineer David Cauchi he was not the race leader. Knowing that sitting in behind the safety car would cruel his race, he elected to pass.

“I did not instruct him (to pass), I made it clear to him he was not the leader and the safety car should let him past,” Cauchi told Auto Action.

“I could not see the safety car, I could not see what colour light it had.

“At the end of the day Jamie passed it, Lee didn’t. Jamie ended up getting a drive through and finishing one place behind Lee. That’s pretty sad for those two cars, who were the effective leaders of the race.”

If the safety car process had been executed without drama, the race would have evolved in a very similar way to Saturday, Cauchi said, when Whincup and other short-fillers sprinted away from the field to try and erase the extra time they would be standing still at their second

stops.

“We would have been leading the race except we would have had Scotty and Shane (van Gisbergen) behind us with an extra 15 seconds of fuel and our job then would have been to gap the field.

“We had to try and gap those guys by 15 seconds if we wanted to race them for the win.”

CAMS has the right to activate the safety car’s yellow lights when the situation is unclear on-track, as Stuart explained on the Fox broadcast post-race.

“The rules are clear under Safety Car deployment; if the yellow lights are on, you stay behind the Safety Car. “By car 88 going past the Safety Car, we then lost the opportunity to be able to evaluate the situation in a calm manner and we needed to avoid the situation where we had half the field a lap down.”

Added Schenken: “The issue is that when we deploy the Safety Car in some circumstances – and this circuit… (is a) short circuit, long pit lane – you don’t know immediately who the leader is.

“So you’ve got to hold the first car that’s approaching. You actually determine where the leader is (at) the Safety Car 2 line, which is after the pit exit.

“That will determine and confirm to us who the actual leader is.

“Anything could happen in the meantime.

The leader could stall, what the people think the leader is could stall in pit lane, (or) have some issues.

“So we have to be confident that when we identify the leader, that we then pick up the right car.

“So that was the situation here. Hold the field, identify the leader, and wave any cars between the car behind the Safety Car and the leader through.”

ONWARDS TO 2030!

GEN3 SLIDES TO 2022

Reynolds declares he’ll fulfil his 10-year deal

By BRUCE NEWTON DAVID REYNOLDS is confident he will honour his unprecedented 10-year deal with Erebus Motorsport and still be a full-time Supercar driver when it expires in 2030.

Reynolds’ stunning contract renewal was announced just prior to the Pukekohe Supercars outing last weekend, following months of negotiation with team management.

“I could do this another 20 years,” asserted the Penrite Racing Holden Commodore ZB driver.

“The driving aspect is easy. It’s second nature, I have been doing it since I was six-years old. It just feels part of my everyday life. I have only been known as David Reynolds the racing driver.

“I will probably never be known as anything else, so for me it just feels second nature.”

But Reynolds, who will be 45 in 2030, says he would voluntarily step aside before then if he was no longer achieving results.

“If I was uncompetitive, slow, unmotivated, I would have to go for the good of myself and the good of the team and everyone around me.”

AA understands the Reynolds deal is to drive full-time for 10 years. There are no formal performance reviews built in at specific times and no stated switch-over point to co-driving. Nor is there an option clause that has to be exercised, such as a five-year plus five-year arrangement.

It is believed Reynolds made some sort of annual salary compromise – how much we don’t know – to ensure the length of the deal. He has

effectively prioritised long term job security over short term monetary gain.

He tacitly acknowledged that when it was pointed out to him contract renewals are a time when drivers do negotiate pay rises.

“Money can be a motivator for some people but for me it’s a big distraction,” he said. “At the end of the day if they said I could do this for free of course I would.

“I don’t like putting a dollar value on myself, I am not that sort of person.

It’s weird, it becomes a different type of contest and I don’t like it, I am not that sort person.”

Reynolds says not being mixed up in the driver market for up to a decade is definitely a big positive about this deal, but he acknowledges a potential downside too.

“The con part is I have welded myself to one car and one team only,” he said. “It depends on how good or bad they go that’s going to be my result.”

A key part of the team’s performance is technical chief Alistair McVean, who formed a strong bond with Reynolds and has played a key role in improving the team’s competitiveness, highlighted by overseeing the 2017 Bathurst 1000 win.

“If I am there for 10 years I want him there for 11 years,” Reynolds joked.

“We have some extraordinary people there who are fundamental to our performance day-in and day-out, the tunning of the car and the business, so Al is 100 per cent one of those people.

“We work extremely well together, I

don’t see him going to another car or anything like that. We don’t argue or bicker, it’s just about the numbers, the data and the performance of the car.”

As reported in Auto Action 1768 the length of the negotiations prompted rival teams to make enquiries to Reynolds and his management about his availability for 2020 and beyond.

“It is a nice feeling, but it’s also not a nice feeling because I don’t like change,” Reynolds said. “Then you have to picture yourself driving that car for that team in those colours with those sort of people around you.

“I am pretty happy where I am and that’s what it comes down to at the end of the day.”

Reynolds admitted he feared during the negotiations with Erebus he might not be driving at the team in 2020.

“That always crosses your mind at the end of any contract … you just never know what’s around the corner, they might have another plan.”

He confirmed the seeds for the 10-year deal were first planted by team owner Betty Klimenko back when he joined the team in 2016, even though in the interim

BTCC STAR LINKED TO WALKINSHAW Ash Sutton on the shortlist for a drive alongside Chaz Mostert in 2020 BRITISH TOURING car star Ash Sutton is a shock candidate to team with Chaz Mostert at Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2020.

European sources have confirmed to Auto Action the 2017 BTCC champion is on a shortlist of no more than four drivers to join the privateer Holden Commodore team’s 2020 driver line-up.

That group of prospects is also understood to include incumbent Scott Pye and potentially another international driver.

One of them seems certain to be team-mate to partner Mostert, who is understood to have agreed a significant deal with WAU to swap from Tickford Racing.

James Courtney has already confirmed he is leaving WAU for a new home in 2020.

The possible link between 25-year old Sutton and WAU came to public light at the Silverstone World Endurance Championship opener recently.

The Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Levorg driver was spotted in the garage of United Autosports, the UK team that is a part-owner of WAU and an entrant in the WEC LMP2 class.

United Autosports is part-owned by Zak Brown, who is also CEO of the McLaren Racing, while the other co-investor alongside the Walkinshaw family

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is IndyCar legend Michael Andretti’s Andretti Autosport.

While issuing an emphatic no comment when asked directly about Sutton, WAU coowner Ryan Walkinshaw was prepared to admit international drivers were on WAU’s consideration list for 2020.

“We are looking at all sorts of options,” said Walkinshaw.

“We see ourselves as a global team and that is what we want to portray ourselves as locally and globally.

“That opens up the doors with Zak in Europe and Michael in the US to opportunities with international drivers and of course we are exploring that.”

Asked about Pye, Walkinshaw confirmed the team was in “ongoing negotiations”.

“Scott is someone we are talking to. We have not made a call on that seat and we are not going to go into any details beyond what I have just said.”

Matt Stone Racing driver Todd Hazelwood has also been linked with WAU in recent weeks, but the young star who posted his best result in Supercars with fifth place last Sunday at Pukekohe, has also been connected with several other moves, as well as

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he signed a new two-year deal in 2018.

“Betty always said ‘you can drive for me as long as you want to’,” Reynolds explained.

“That original concept was a lifetime deal where I could drive as long as I wanted, as long I was competitive and motivated and all that other stuff,” he said.

“But when you write lifetime on a contract it kind of looks a bit different, so you kind of have to come up with a number and 10 years is long, it’s probably never been done before in sport.

“Besides, I’ve already been in the category 10 years and as I have been telling everyone since I joined this team, I could go another 10 years easily.”

Reynolds made the point that a driver staying at a team for an extended period of time in Supercars is not unprecedented, using Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes as examples.

“It’s just no-one says they are committing that early and for that long,” he said. “I am not sure why, I am sticking my neck out, I like it, I like being different.”

potentially staying where he is.

IndyCar driver Marco Andretti, the son of Michael Andretti, has also been mentioned as a possible team recruit, but that is regarded as being well wide of the mark.

Sutton has real appeal to WAU because of his obvious talent and his youth. AA understands there is strong belief in the team he could be moulded into an elite Supercars driver within a couple of seasons.

This year he runs the sixth in the BTCC and is clearly wringing the neck of a car that handles well but is down on straight-line speed compared to the rivals such as the 3 Series BMWs and Honda Civic Type Rs. Certainly, he has a fan in WAU technical chief Carl Faux, who designed the rear-wheel drive Levorg BTCC racer and was integral to Sutton’s BTCC success.

Faux told Auto Action in an interview earlier this year he rated Sutton amongst the best three drivers he worked with in his British and European career alongside Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato.

From Bishops Stortford in Essex, Sutton came to the fore in British racing with third place in the 2014 Formula Ford championship, before taking the Renault Clio Cup in 2015 and graduating to the BTCC in 2016. BN

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THE MUCH-mooted Gen3 Supercar has been postponed from 2021 to at least 2022.

Supercars managing director Sean Seamer confirmed fundamental research was currently taking place on the directions Gen3 could take and engineering development would flow from that.

But he promised whatever path emerged as the right one for the category to take, there would be some recognisable fundamentals.

“Fast and loud … the entertainment factor is important and we acknowledge that,” he said.

Recently re-appointed Supercar executive John Casey is leading the Gen3 process, Seamer confirmed.

“He has come back as head of strategy and product … he’s meeting with homologation teams, he’s meeting with manufacturers, he is consolidating an update of where we think the market is going to and what we think we need to do to achieve maximum market relevance.

“That is the number one priority.

Market relevance is the key piece and it will be engineering-delivered, not the other way around.

“The key thing we have to ascertain and try and land on and the hardest part is what cars are going to be sold in 2022 and how much longer will those cars be sold for beyond 2002.

“Therefore what underlying package do we need to be able to run those cars and have maximum market relevance.”

Seamer confirmed some initiatives originally earmarked for Gen3 had been fast-tracked to 2020, including a revised tyre supply arrangement with Dunlop, LED lighting displays on the cars and the almost certain introduction of a control damper.

“The reality on timing now is if there were to be a new car or a redesign of a car by the time you get that done, you get that tested etcetera, then 2022 is the most likely scenario,” said Seamer.

The Gen3 investigation had not reached the stage of deciding whether the current spaceframe chassis would be retained as the basis of a new car.

But Seamer was clear that whatever arrived in 2022 it would not abandon current equipment entirely, although changes would be required in the interests of market relevance.

As previously reported, Supercars continues to study hybridisation for Gen3: “Just as NASCAR and the British Touring Car Championship have,” he said. BN

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THIS YEAR will be the latest ever start to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the race will kick-off at 11.30am, 20 minutes later than in recent years. The later start is designed to maximise the sunlight in the afternoon and push it closer to the prime time television window. Fortunately unlike other Supercars races, ‘The Great Race’ does not have a time certain cut-off but daylight may still be a limiting factor if a lengthy red flag period occurs.

THE #27 Walkinshaw Andretti United wildcard entry containing IndyCar drivers Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe will be supported by naming rights sponsor NAPA Auto Parts. The company who are the naming rights sponsor of Rossi in the IndyCar Series will join Virgin Australia, WheresMyConcrete and Polaris Materials’ Orca High Performance Concrete Aggregates on the Holden Commodore. Both Rossi and Hinchcliffe will drive the #27 car in a three day test at Winton Raceway from October 1-3.

BOTH CARLOS Sainzs’ the two-time World Rally Champion and the current McLaren Formula 1 driver had a drive of the 2011 Bathurst 1000 winning car driven in the race by Garth Tander and Nick Percat. The car is now owned by McLaren boss Zak Brown who also got a steer of the VE Holden Commodore around the Circuito de Navarra in Spain spoke about how much the Sainzs enjoyed driving the car.

IT HAS been announced by Supercars that an additional prize will be awarded at the conclusion of the 2019 Pirtek Enduro Cup. A partnership with Volkswagen will see the driver pairing which gains the most positions during the four endurance races awarded with the Amarok V6 Hard Charger Award and a $15,000 prize.

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‘BATHURST WOULD HAVE BEEN A NON EVENT’

Holden downforce boost crucial to fighting Mustang at Mount Panorama

By BRUCE NEWTON THE BATHURST 1000 would have been a “non-event” for the Holden Commodore ZB without the aerodynamic update rolled-out at Pukekohe last weekend.

That’s the forthright position of Red Bull Holden Racing Team team manager Mark Dutton, who believes the fight is now well and truly on against Scott McLaughlin and the Ford Mustang horde for victory at Mount Panorama on October 13.

The potency of the changes, which effectively pushed the aero balance rearward by adding more downforce helped factory drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup score a pole position apiece, while van Gisbergen went 1-2 across the two 200km races and won his second JR Trophy. Other Holden teams also reported improved pace from their ZBs as a result of the changes, although the view on just how much impact they had varied. At the very least they reported improved “consistency” compared to the old package. After winning on Saturday van Gisbergen said the ZB was now more difficult to drive but faster.

That made him feel “very nice” leading into Bathurst. “Hopefully we can get a nice balance over the top and be able to keep up.”

The Holden teams still believe the Mustang has a downforce advantage.

Micro-sector timing showed a 0.1 sec

Images: LAT

CHANGES CONCERN While the ZB aero changes themselves were much discussed in the Pukekohe pitlane last weekend, the way they were implemented was also the subject of conjecture.

That’s because approval for the changes was made by the Supercars technical department as “the delegated authority of the Supercars Commission”.

Traditionally, the Supercars Commission, which is partly made up of team representatives, is intrinsically involved in these sorts of changes. Some have interpreted this change in procedure as an intentional bypass to avoid the package being watered down by rivals.

Kelly Racing co-owner Todd Kelly, a long-serving member of the commission, recently resigned and it is understood to be in part because of the way this process was handled. He has been replaced by alternate Ryan Story from DJR Team Penske.

Neil Crompton has also forecast he will step down at advantage for the Ford in each of the two fast turns on and off the front straight.

The Ford’s high-speed cornering pace has been apparent all year, so closing the gap is crucial for Bathurst.

“Without these changes Bathurst, unfortunately for Holdens, would have been a non-event,” said Dutton.

“That was the level of importance of these changes to happen for the category.

“We now have a test day before Bathurst and that’s where we will be working really hard … looking for speed. It will be even busier than normal.

“It’s exciting, the fact that we know there

October’s annual general meeting, but there seems to be some hope along pitlane the highly-respected broadcaster will change his mind. It is unknown why he has stepped down.

Supercars boss Sean Seamer insisted the commission was still central to the category’s management.

“The commission only a matter of weeks before had delegated authority to the motorsport department to manage those (Holden) changes moving forward.

“Due process has been followed, all the commission members had agreed to that and it was communicated to all the teams that would be the case in bullet points that were sent out.

“There should not have been any surprise.

“The commission is critical to the sport, the board are not technical experts and they play a very important role in governing the sport and supporting the board.” BN

is more to come.” Dutton said there was no doubt additional downforce was the way to go for Bathurst, even if it meant giving up a bit of straight-line speed, something always handy on the run up and down the mountain.

“Definitely happy to have the downforce,” he said. “These cars the amount of downforce they have has grown over the years, perhaps more than was originally intended and that’s across all marques.

“So that means it’s even more important to have as much as your opposition or as close to as much as your opposition, otherwise the lap times don’t compare.

“We’ll take the drag penalty for sure.”

Dutton said the Pukekohe results proved there had been an aerodynamic discrepancy between the various makes and debunked claims the differences were down to the mandating of the linear spring.

“I think you saw the Fords are still up there – they are a very strong car – but as soon as the gap was bridged our team and other Holdens were showing we hadn’t forgotten how to go fast,” he said. “There has been all this talk all year around ‘gee you can’t get your head around the single spring’, but we still don’t have as much downforce and look at the result.”

S5000 ADDED TO AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX SUPPORT PROGRAM S5000 WILL kick off its 2020 season at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix as announced on Tuesday by AGPC CEO Andrew Westacott.

A grid of 14-cars will contest the inaugural round of the series at Sandown this weekend headlined by former Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello. The field features a mix of youth and experience, which is expected to carry on through to next year’s opening round.

Westacott can’t wait to see the 5.2-litre V8 wings and slicks take to the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 12-15.

“There is always such a

strong appetite from our fans for exciting on-track activity, so having the exciting S5000 class at our event is the perfect fit,” Westacott enthused.

“AGPC is always looking to

involved.”

S5000 joins fellow Australian Racing Group-owned category TCR Australia on the AGP support bill with managing director Matt Braid thrilled that the new category will compete on among the highest level.

“The Australian Racing Group is extremely pleased to confirm that S5000 will be on the grid at the Formula 1® Rolex Illustration: ss Media Australian Grand Prix inspire the next generation 2020,” said Braid.

“These S5000 cars are going of drivers and being able to to be right at home on the Albert showcase a new Australian Park street circuit, and we look motor sport category not just forward to providing the best nationally, but globally, is such racing for the fans.” HM a fantastic opportunity for all

WARNING SYSTEM FOR BATHURST AN IN-CAR driver warning system will debut in Supercars at the Bathurst 1000 next month and then become a permanent safety feature.

The system has already been trialled this year without the lights being visible to the drivers.

It is the same package as the one used at the Bathurst 12-hour this year.

It was introduced at Mount Panorama in the wake of a horrendous collision in 2018 between Ash Walsh and John Martin that ended the event early.

The warning system is linked in to race control to alert drivers to the status of the track. “We’ll have yellow flag, green flag, red flag, safety car and blue flags,� explained Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess.

“If we can save one accident or a life across the top of the mountain then it’s paid for itself. “Safety is one of our utmost concerns at every track but clearly the nature of across the top of the mountain at Bathurst makes it worth the cost of the exercise just for that race.�

A potential secondary positive of the system will be more accurate and timely information to drivers on safety car status, potentially eliminating issues such as Jamie Whincup’s 2015 Bathurst penalty that cost him a shot at victory – and his repeat offence at Pukekohe just last weekend. “We’ll be able give drivers more accurate information from race control and messages we can put on the dash,� Burgess confirmed.

Only a section of the package will debut at Bathurst as Supercars awaits an updated timers that will add further capability from the end of the year. “When we have that then they will work hand in glove, give the driver more information, give race control better information and quicker communication to the car.�

The drivers will view the system via a second shift light module or on the dash.

Meanwhile LED panels, also tested in 2019, will be up and running for the 2020 season.

But the exact functionality they will be capable of hasn’t been locked down. Possible inclusions are the capability for the race number to change colour during qualifying signifying how speedy the lap is. BN

TKR BATHURST WILDCARD?

A REBORN Team Kiwi Racing is being touted as a third Bathurst 1000 wildcard and even a potential entry in the 2020 Supercars championship.

TKR had a high-profile presence at the Pukekohe Supercars event last weekend, with a display of vehicles and hospitality centre on the hill above the front straight.

One car listed its two drivers as question marks, hinting at the plans for Bathurst.

Both drivers are understood to be New Zealanders, although who they are is yet to be announced. Kiwi international Chris van der Drift, who contested the

Pirtek Enduro Cup for Erebus in 2016 has been rumoured as one of them.

It is understood TKR has approached Triple Eight Race Engineering to buy a Commodore to run at Bathurst and in 2020, but a deal has yet to be completed.

TKR’s original founder David John is behind the push for its return to Supercars.

He was working in the TKR hospitality area at Pukekohe but declined to comment when approached by <i>Auto Action<i>.

If TKR does make it to Bathurst it will join Kostecki Brothers Racing and

the third Walkinshaw Andretti United entry for Alex Rossi and James Hinchcliffe as wildcard entries, growing the grid to 27cars.

TKR was originally formed in 1999 by John â&#x20AC;&#x201C; actually an Australian from Adelaide â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and debuted in Supercars in Bathurst in 2000.

The team ran with various technical partners including Stone Brothers and Ford Performance Racing in Holdens and Ford until 2009 when John was

declared bankrupt and his REC was seized by Supercars.

TKR began racing again in 2010 and has contested a number of NZ and Australian categories but not returned to Supercars.

Well known drivers to race for the

team include Jason Richards, Craig Baird, Fabian Coulthard, Shane van Gisbergen and Paul Radisich â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who had to be cut out of the TKR Commodore after a horror shunt at Bathurst in 2006.

BN

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KELLY RACING has opted to sit its two Subaru WRX’s out for the remainder of the year after both cars suffered recurring driveshaft problems at the last round. One of the Subaru drivers Molly Taylor will miss the final two rounds due to clashing racing commitments with the Australian Rally Championship. The team will consider any future development of what are currently the only two TCR Subarus racing globally.

Image: Ross Gibb

THE KIWIS will once again invade Bathurst as an addition to the always popular Touring Car Masters Series. Some of the New Zealand competitors previously raced door-to-door against the TCM drivers when the Central Muscle Car Series visited Mount Panorama in 2016. In total 16 NZ based entries will add to the already 36-strong TCM field, when the series supports the Bathurst 1000 from October 10-13. DM

RENAULT AUSTRALIA has confirmed that it will continue to support the Garry Rogers Motorsport Motorsport team for the remainder of the season. The Dandenong based squad which fields two Renault Megane TCR cars for James Moffat and Chris Pither received increased support from Renault at the last two rounds and this will continue at both Sandown and The Bend.

FORMER NASCAR Xfinity Series winner now turned part-time Stadium Super Truck racer Greg Biffle has announced that he will be on the grid when the series returns to Australian shores for the Gold Coast 600 in October.

The American will join Dakar Champion Toby Price who previously announced his return to the series.

10 AutoAction

SYDNEY TEAM NOW FOR 2021 A SYDNEY Supercars team is in active negotiation but it won’t happen before 2021.

That’s the bombshell dropped by category CEO Sean Seamer who remains convinced of the merits of a Supercars squad based out of new facilities being developed at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“There are active discussions around a team in Sydney for 2021,” he told Auto Action. “The facilities won’t be built in time to base something out of Sydney Motorsport Park next year.

“The construction just won’t be done.”

Three different potential Sydney teams have been mooted. Telco millionaire Peter Adderton has been speculated to lead one start-up team and Sydney businessman and racer Rod Salmon another.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN’S stunning season has entered the record books, by taking victory in Sunday’s leg of the Auckland Supersprint. The Kiwi overtook former champion Craig Lowndes as the most winningest driver over the course of the season.

“It was unbelievable,” he said post-race. “I actually forgot that I had done it, I was wondering why [Craig] Lowndes was at the podium at the end there and then I figured it out, Murph [Greg Murphy] told me.

McLaughlin emphasised the importance of winning back home in front of his fans and that the record, which Lowndes set back in 1996 added to an already satisfying moment.

“Obviously going into the weekend, I would have loved to have had a win here at least, regardless if there was a record on the line or not, but to do it here

Current team owner Charlie Schwerkolt has also been linked with a Sydney move, but has previously stated he is keeping his operation based out of his current Melbourne premises.

“We’ve got a great set-up at the back of Waverley Forklifts there and, no, we’re staying in Melbourne,” he told media at Tailem Bend.

Seamer also made it clear to Auto Action that financial incentives were not being offered by Supercars to a prospective Sydney team owner, despite the widespread belief in pitlane this is the case – as reported in AA last issue.

“Supercars is not providing any financial assistance to that team, we have to treat every team equally,” he said.

Seamer reiterated the reasoning behind basing a team in Sydney and why Supercars

believed in it.

“We’re very supportive of Sydney Motorsport Park, we helped provide proof of concept for the lighting to go in there by running a night race under temporary lighting.

“We have been very supportive of getting the permanent lighting in there and part of our commitment to that is the long-term presence of a Supercars event in Sydney.

“With the desire to create a centre of excellence out there that connects into the local universities and industries we are aligned with ARDC (Australian Racing Drivers Club, operator of SMP) that we would love to get a Supercars team based out of Sydney.

“It’s a n untapped market and there is plenty of opportunity there. That’s obviously been proved by the amount of interest we have had.” BN

Image: LAT

17 FOR 17 is a proud moment,” McLaughlin continued.

“Hundredth round and just a special circumstance.”

It was a tough round for the reigning champion, he qualified season low of sixth for Race 23 and was started fifth for the second leg on Sunday with a lack

of dry Friday running hampering his progress on the partly resurfaced circuit.

“It hasn’t been a smooth weekend for us at all,” McLaughlin reflected.

“Everyone practically lost practice 1 because of the rain, then practice 2 we basically wrote

off as well. Things we tried over the last couple of days we really wanted to finalise that on Friday.

“We finally got to a point where the car was really fast throughout the whole race. It was a bit of a relief off the shoulders to just get some of that direction and not be lost in some ways.”

Explaining the lack of a celebratory burnout post-race, McLaughlin elaborated that it was a team call rather than officialdom that prevented a tyre smoking thrill for the home fans.

The engine is required for the next few rounds and it was not to be risked, however he again climbed the Pukekohe fence to embrace the fans.

“I did it last year, so I wanted to do it again,” McLaughlin enthused. “I wasn’t allowed to do a burnout, I did a little one but it was a bit soft, so I thought stuff it I’ll get out.” HM

Image: TCR Hub

FACTORY HONDA DRIVER FOR TCR SANDOWN HOT OFF the heels of Audi factory gun Jean-Karl Vernay undertaking a round of TCR Australia at Queensland Raceway, Honda hot shoe Nestor Girolami will compete with Wall Racing at this weekend’s event at Sandown.

Girolami currently drives for the ALL-INKL.com Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R and sits in sixth place after taking three wins this season so far. Wall Racing brokered the deal with Honda’s TCR partner JAS Motorsport with an engineer being supplied by the Italian team to support Girolami.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to race in TCR Australia,” said the Argentine.

“I’ve never driven at any Australian circuits before and I’m looking

forward to this new experience at Sandown.

“Wall Racing is an excellent team and already race winners this season and I’m sure I can work well together with John and Tony to deliver some good results, but it won’t be easy because the level is very high with many top drivers with experience of Supercars and GT racing and some promising young drivers.

“I know the Honda Civic Type R TCR very well, but the Michelin tyres are new for me, so getting used to the way this makes the car handle will be the big challenge initially.”

The Honda Civic Type R that Girolami will drive was first debuted at The Bend Motorsport Park by Jordan Cox before Kiwi Jordan Michels and Tim Brook took the wheel at the next two events.

For Wall Racing’s David Wall, it is an exciting addition to his team as Tony D’Alberto fights for third in the TCR Australia Series and comes after a lot of legwork to put the deal together.

“To have the factory driver out here is fantastic for us,” Wall emphasised.

“I’ve been working with Nestor for a while now to try and get something going. He has heard a lot about the Australian series and has been keen to see what it’s all about.

“He needs no introduction to these cars and has a great range of experience right across the world.

“Hopefully we can hit the ground running for Sandown and get him straight up the front and, no doubt, it’s going to have a positive effect on our regular drivers Tony (D’Alberto) and John (Martin).” HM

SUPASHOCK IN CONTROL AT SUPERCARS ALL SUPERCARS are expected race on an Australian Supashock control dampers from 2020.

While final contractual details were still being resolved this week, the Adelaide-based manufacturer has been confirmed to Auto Action as the successful competitive tenderer.

Supashock got the nod ahead of Ohlins after local ZF Sachs distributor Triple Eight Race Engineering withdrew its bid in late August.

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Supashock was founded and is now partowned by veteran engineer Oscar Fiorinotto, who is best known for his involvement in motorsport.

Supashock has just moved into new design and manufacturing facilities in Adelaide, employs 50 people and also supplies its technology into defence, 4x4, mining and commercial.

Erebus Motorsport signed on as Supashock’s

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motorsport distributor in early 2019.

It’s understood the control deal includes the supply and service of a relatively simple damper that will eliminate significant maintenance costs for teams, as well as tuning complexity compared to current units It also throws another set-up change for the teams to get their heads around next year, juts as mandatory the linear spring caused headscratching this year. BN

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FORMULA E driver line ups are being revealed thick and fast, with Nissan e Dams, Mercedes EQ and BMW I Andretti Motorsport all announcing drivers. The Nissan team announced that it would retain the pairing of Season 2 champion Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland. The BMW team announced that Maximilian Gunther would replace the departing Antonio Felix da Costa. Mercedes will make its debut in the series with former McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne and current Formula 2 championship leader Nyck de Vries.

WALKINSHAW DEFENDS MEGA DEAL ASTON MARTIN has confirmed that its Valkyrie hypercar will enter the World Endurance Championship as a non-hybrid powered car.

The brand reports that they will need to detune the road going 865kW 6.5L V12 engine to enter the series in 12 months. Toyota Gazoo Racing has decided to remain with hybrid technology.

SEATS ARE filling up for the remaining rounds of the World Rally Championship. Kiwi Hayden Paddon will make his return to WRC action in Australia as part of M-Sport Ford team, but prior to that will steer the team’s WRC2 car at Rally Wales. Pontus Tidemand will drive a third M-Sport Ford in Wales, where Elfyn Evans is expected to make a return from injury. In the Hyundai stable Craig Breen will return for Rally Wales, while nine-time champion Sebastien Loeb will drive in the Spanish event which he won last year.

THE 2020 IndyCar Series calendar has been revealed. The schedule is highlighted by a return to Richmond Raceway for the first time since 2009, replacing Pocono Raceway which has seen two major accidents in as many years. Richmond Raceway will host a race under lights on Saturday June 27. The season will begin at St. Petersburg for the 10th consecutive year and conclude at the famous Laguna Seca circuit.

12 AutoAction

We did our due diligence says WAU boss

By BRUCE NEWTON CO-OWNER Ryan Walkinshaw has defended Walkinshaw Andretti United’s collapsed naming rights deal with Mega Fuels, claiming it was subject to more due diligence by the team than any previous sponsor.

“We were very thorough as we always are but even moreso with Mega, which you would expect,” Walkinshaw told media at Pukekohe last weekend.

Mega came onboard as the team’s new primary backer for 2019 after earlier being involved with Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Racing’s GT program.

But the Queensland-based firm was placed into external administration with McGrathNicol on August 29 and WAUR terminated the multiyear sponsorship on September 6.

WAUR’s other naming rights partner Mobil 1 stepped up with additional backing for last weekend’s Pukekohe round, but the hunt is now on for a funding boost for the rest of the season and beyond.

“You have always got to be careful when you are working with a sponsor that has only been around for a few years,” Walkinshaw

said. “We’d known the founder Corey (Brown) through a smaller sponsorship on our car and he was very, very open.

“He explained the growth of the business and opened up - to a certain degree - the accounts to make sure we were comfortable with that.

“As late as June we’d seen a version of that which was pretty exciting. They were a profitable company with lots of money in the bank but … it looks like there were some issues that resulted in them going into receivership.”

Walkinshaw revealed the team had structured the deal to be heavily “front-loaded” – a lot of the sponsorship was scheduled to be paid early. That had helped soften the blow but still left gaps in the sponsorship of the team.

“I’m not going to pretend this isn’t a challenge, but putting aside the ordeal of having to go through a terrible injury for one of your people … the second worst thing that could probably happen is a sponsor going into receivership halfway through the season,” Walkinshaw said.

“Let’s be realistic about it, we are not going to shy away from that.

“The opportunity in it is we have had some time to go out and sell. There have been lots of good conversations ongoing with existing and new sponsors that we have been working on for a while anyway.

“We also have the best weekends of the year to sell. There’s nothing better than to go to a sponsor and say ‘hey would you like a good deal on a sponsorship for the rest of the season including the enduros and Newcastle.”

He also confirmed Mega’s termination did not impact on the team’s plans for substantial structural change for the 2020 season, when Chaz Mostert is being widely tipped to come onboard.

James Courtney has already confirmed his departure at the end of 2019 for an as yet unknown destination.

Walkinshaw confirmed the team’s international investors Zak Browne and Michael Andretti – both renowned sponsorship hunters – could assist in finding sponsorship, citing the NAPA deal coming from the USA to back the Alex Rossi/James Hinchcliffe wildcard at Bathurst as an example.

WALKINSHAW: ‘I AM PASSIONATE!’ RYAN WALKINSHAW has dismissed any suggestion his passion to take WAU back to the top of Supercars racing is lacking or has waned.

Walkinshaw was responding to comments made by departing driver James Courtney on Supercars Trackside after he was asked what was missing from the team.

He suggested WAU needed a leader like Triple Eight’s Roland Dane who is “there (with) passion and skin in the game”.

Courtney conceded he would probably regret making that statement, stating “Ryan does love the team”.

Walkinshaw took over the Walkinshaw Group in 2010 including

its racing operations, which have gone through several overhauls since. It lost its factory Holden Racing Team status to Triple Eight in 2016, and United Autosports and Andretti Autosport bought in to create Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2018.

The team has not won a driver’s championship since 2002 or Bathurst since 2011. After showing signs of revival in 2018, it has slumped back into the pack this year.

Its latest blow has been the loss of naming rights sponsor Mega Fuels just nine months into a multi-year deal.

“I wouldn’t have spent the last two weeks doing 12 hour days pushing to sponsors if I wasn’t passionate about

the team,” Walkinshaw told media at last weekend’s Pukekohe Supercars event.

“I certainly wouldn’t be flying out to Australia 30 times a year for it as well.

“We are working on it, we are working on a plan and we have some changes for next year and that’s part of it.”

He dismissed the Courtney comments, joking that it was a positive he wasn’t like Roland Dane.

“Overall he (Courtney) was very, very complimentary about us,” said Walkinshaw.

Courtney’s Walkinshaw career spans nine years with a best championship

finish of sixth in 2014. He is running 12th this year.

“I think James would say the same that together as a team that we haven’t achieved the potential that we hoped to achieve and maybe that’s one of the reasons we have both decided it’s best for us both to make a change,” said Walkinshaw. BN

AMRS GET NEW LEADER

FORMER WAKEFIELD Park venue manager Matt Baragwanath will take over from Keven Stoopman as series manager of the Australian Motor Racing Series with immediate effect.

Baragwanath will work alongside series administrator Prue Payne for the final three rounds of the 2019 AMRS season, with its next round taking place at Sydney Motorsport Park on September 28-29. He will also oversee the calendar and event planning for next year’s series with a round at Hidden Valley Raceway hotly tipped to feature.

Having been in management roles previously at Sandown and within the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, Baragwanath is enthusiastic to take up his new role.

“I’m really looking forward to reinvigorating my relationships with competitors and categories I got to know during my time at Sandown and Wakefield Park,” Baragwanath said.

“The AMRS provides an opportunity for drivers to experience the professionalism of national-level motorsport at an affordable price point, and the best thing is the variety of categories.”

Benalla Auto Club CEO Chris Lewis-Williams explained that Baragwanath’s previous experience placed him as the ideal candidate for the position.

RACE-WINNING HERITAGE QUALITY VALUE & SUPPORT Tilton Engineering strives to produce the best racing parts and service for drivers and racing teams dedicated to their sport.

“The AMRS management position presented an ideal opportunity for Matt to come back into the BAC Group, and we know from his time at Wakefield Park that he’s very capable of running events, and dealing with categories and competitors,” Lewis-Williams said.

“The Australian motorsport landscape has changed significantly in 2019, with the investments being made in some specific national categories, but we remain committed to ensuring the AMRS continues to grow and succeed.” HM

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WEEKLY USA TILTON AIR FREIGHT DELIVERIES

SANDOWN SAFETY CHANGES NEARLY COMPLETE MAJOR CHANGES have been made to the run off area on the outside of the incredibly fast Turn 6 at Sandown Raceway, in the lead up to this weekend’s Shannons Nationals event.

The changes have seen the grass run off area replaced by tarmac and the notorious armco barrier replaced by a safer concrete wall hidden behind tyre barriers wrapped in a conveyor belt. These safety upgrades were required to enable the circuit to remain on the Supercars calendar for the next three years.

“The asphalt, concrete barrier and tyre wall has all been completed and there are 400 tyres up there,” Brendan Stuart venue manager told Auto Action.

The changes were expected to be done in a couple of weeks, however due to the rain at the Victorian venue the upgrades have

taken over five Image: Bruce Williams weeks.

In recent days the conveyor belting has also been completed and leaves just a part of debris fencing still to be put in place, which will not be cranes up there and lift the rest completed in time of the debris fencing onto the for the penultimate round of the concrete barriers.”

Nationals Series.

Stuart told AA that other small “We just need to put in the changes have been made to the debris fencing,” he explained. circuit including tarmac repairs in “Fifty lengths of four metre debris fencing has to go up. We preparation for the national motor have only got 17 up so far, (but) racing events. we don’t need that until there are “On the left hand side of Turn 6 spectators behind there. we have put 20 metres of guard “We’ll be doing that early rail closer to the circuit. There October. We’ve got a caravan have been different areas around show on and once they aren’t the track where we’ve done a bit using the track, we will get some of asphalt repairs (too).” DM

Image: Rebecca Hind

ALL TO PLAY FOR IN FINALE THE CONCLUSION to the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships takes place at Phillip Island on September 28-29, as it doubles as the final round of the Australian Formula Ford Series.

It will be a close battle to become Formula Ford title holder in its 50th year in Australia between Angelo Mouzouris and Zac Soutar. The pair sparred in last year’s Victorian series and have continued that in the level above this year, where 28-points now separate the duo heading to The Island.

Mathematically, five drivers can

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take the crown, though Thomas Sargent, Lachlan Mineeff and Callum Hedge have to rely on the duo in front suffering bad luck to remain in contention.

The Kent class is an even tighter battle, as 15-points separate Tim Hamilton and Jarrod Costello.

The Hyundai Excels return to the Circuit Racing Championships in big numbers led by Ben Grice, Marcus Fraser, Brendan Avard, Nathan Blight and Cooper Webster.

Luke Grech-Cumbo’s HSV Senator will stretch its legs at Phillip Island in Improved Production, though he will

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renew his battle with the BMW E30 of Rob Braune, but an interesting entry is the Ford Sierra RS to be driven by Ben Dinnerville.

Dean Camm has been the man to beat in Sports Sedans driving his Chevrolet Corvette, but Chas Talbot (Chevrolet Camaro), Graeme Gilliland (Mazda RX-7) and the returning Ian Cowley (Holden Commodore VE Supercar) will challenge.

In a packed schedule Sports Cars, Saloon Cars, Porsche 944, MG & Invited British Sports Cars, Holden HQs and Formula Vees will also feature. HM

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AUSTRALIAN ALEX Peroni had a hideous accident in the opening race of the Italian FIA Formula 3 Championship round. After starting from 18th on the grid the Campos Racing driver made his way up to sixth with a handful of laps to go. However Peroni ran wide at the famous Parabolica turn hitting a sausage kerb which flipped the car into the air and then into the catch fencing. Unfortunately, Peroni suffered a broken vertebrae and as a result will miss the final round of the season in Russia.

PIASTRI TAKES ANOTHER WIN AUSTRALIAN OSCAR Piastri’s weekend in Hungary wasn’t as smooth sailing as the previous week’s races at the Nurburgring.

Piastri was scheduled to start the first race from sixth position but as heavy rain fell on the circuit, he was caught out on the installation lap getting stuck in the gravel unable to make the start.

This allowed championship rivals Victor Martins and Aleksandr Smolyar to finish first and second and regain some championship points on the series leader.

However, as only five laps were completed

the race was red flagged due to the worsening conditions all drivers were awarded half points.

On Sunday Piastri bounced back strongly taking pole position by nearly 0.5s and led off the line. On the opening lap Smolyar tried to take the lead off his R-ace GP teammate but was unable to make the move stick.

A safety car was called early to remove the stationary Arden Motorsport car of Frank Bird.

On the restart Piastri put in some good laps to build a lead on Smolyar, who was involved in a scrap with Martins. On lap 7 Patrick Schott and Xavier Lloveras came together and this once

again required the assistance of the safety car.

Again on the restart the Australian instantly took off, and was able to hold the lead until the chequered flag was thrown. Smolyar held off Martins by 0.4s at the line.

“We saw yesterday that the smallest error can cut into my lead, so we have to keep winning races and be consistently at the front in the final three rounds of the year.”

Piastri now leads Martins in the series by 37.5 points. The next round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya takes place on September 29-29.

AUSSIE JOSH CAR WINS US F4 TITLE IT WAS a challenging final two rounds of the Blancpain GT Endurance Series for Australians Nick Foster and Shae Davies. In the first race of Round 4 at the Nurburgring, Davies and Briton Tom Gamble finished 12th in Race1 and crossed the line 17th in Race 2. Foster and former Gp3 driver Steijn Schothorst finished 14th and 13th and in the final round at the Hungaroring they finished just outside the points in 11th in Race 1 and 13th in the following race. At the final round Davies and Gamble finished 20th in Race 1 and 18th in the last race.

WITH ANOTHER strong round at Sebring International Raceway Joshua Car did enough to clinch the US F4 championship with a round to spare, showcasing his potential.

The Australian started the first of three races over the weekend on the second row, but was able to move into second as the race progressed. He hounded race leader Jose Blanco until the very end but couldn’t find a way past, finishing 0.5s behind.

Race 2 was a quieter affair for Car who was in second but dropped down to fourth after a safety car.

With the championship on his mind Car stayed out of trouble and finished there, enough to win the title.

This lifted the weight off the young Aussie’s

shoulders for the final race in which he took an early lead. Despite a late safety car, the Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport driver was able to pull away from the field on the restart and win by over 4s. “It was a really good race, I started second and managed to stay second after the first restart. I was battling really hard with Christian Brooks and I managed to get a really good overtake on him,” Car said. “Once I was in the lead, I was just fully focussed on trying to drive away from the field and we managed to do that.” With the championship sealed, Car will be looking to finish the season in style at the Circuit of the Americas on November 1-3.

MAWSON STANDS ON MONZA SUPERCUP PODIUM THREE AUSTRALIANS entered the penultimate round of the Asian F3 championship at the Shanghai International Circuit. In the opening race Jack Doohan came home a disappointing fourth, Jackson Walls finished sixth, while Tommy Smith scored his first points of the season in ninth. In Race 2 Doohan improved to third, Walls scored another top six and Smith finished in the points again in 10th. In the final race Doohan started and finished second, Walls finished seventh and Smith 10th. Doohan’s championship rival Ukyo Sasahara clean swept the round and takes a healthy championship lead into the final round again in Shanghai on September 27-28.

IT WAS a superb weekend for the Australians at the penultimate event of the Porsche Supercup Series in Monza, Italy.

Australian Joey Mawson not only grabbed his first series podium but the 23-year-old also took his first Rookie Class victory in front of the passionate Italian Tifosi, also marking the first outright podium for Team Australia.

Reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Series winner and Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans took his first Supercup pole position at the head of the large 32 car field.

The Kiwi made a good start and led into the first part of the chicane, however Ayhancan Guven remained beside Evans into the left hander and made a forceful move to take the lead. The move dropped Evans to sixth and Guven was handed a 5s post-race penalty for the incident.

The chicane scuffle allowed Mawson to jump from

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Mawson held back championship leader Michael Ammermueller for 10 of the 15 laps, but a slight mistake allowed the German to catch and pass him in the closing laps. The Australian kept the pace up and finished within five seconds of Guven, promoting him to third, while Evans came home sixth just behind Guven.

“That was a fantastic race with a super result for me.

Unfortunately a minor error cost me second place. Still, I’m delighted to make it to the podium,” said Mawson.

In Pro Am Stephen Grove came home just 0.282s off a class podium place in fourth and 25th outright, two positions ahead of Team Australia teammate Marc Cini who came home in 27th.

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AA’s puzzled pundit wonders how it all went so wrong in NZ as he looks forward to a return to his youth at Sandown ONCE AGAIN, the sport of Supercars looks stupid. Never mind that it was CAMS officials that stuffed up at Pukekohe. It’s the sport that appears incompetent when race control loses track of the leader amid a safety car intervention.

For a start, don’t care how or why it happened. Such a fiasco should just never happen. End of. With all the electronic timing and track mapping, plus cameras galore, it shouldn’t be possible for the system to become confused.

But it did – or the race control officials did – and for the life of me, I can’t understand how it all went so wrong. Despite the best efforts of Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton, the telecast provided no meaningful understanding of what happened.

The explanations of race director Tim Schenken and assistant RD David Stuart were rule-quoting mumbo jumbo. Trying to deflect blame onto Jamie Whincup didn’t address the core issue that they lost the leader.

I just can’t conceive how that’s possible with electronic tracking of the cars, pit stops during the SC pause notwithstanding. Back in the pen-and-paper lap charting days – long, long ago – it was very possible to become confused or commit scoring errors, but not close to a fifth of the way through the 21st century.

If the system did have a seizure, then really big questions need to be asked and heads need to roll. Whose heads is the matter for debate.

Schenken and Stuart were unconvincing, but equally, they didn’t deserve the ‘red wine’ jibe from Whincup. That was beneath him and unfairly disrespectful of dedicated officials.

They do their best in a pressure-cooker environment. But they are human and can make mistakes. If they do or the system lets them down, they – and the sport – should own up to getting it wrong. Maybe even apologise.

And bewildered fans and robbed drivers – Holdsworth and Waters in particular – deserve an apology, as well as a comprehensible explanation.

Getting back to Whincup, he is rightly under threat of sanction by CAMS. His comments were unnecessarily personal and worthy of a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute.

Sure, J-Dub, show your emotion – something you rarely do – but where officialdom in concerned, play the ball, not the men (or women).

And this from an often-wilful competitor known to take on-track justice into his own hands. It’s not his decision to ignore the rules and pass the safety car when its orange lights are flashing, just because he doesn’t think race control is right.

As it turns out, he was wrong, compounding his sin, for which he was correctly penalised.

Had he held station, the field would have been – eventually – sorted and he and others might have got the big results their pace deserved.

But it wasn’t up to him decide. The rules on passing safety cars, as he well knows to his previous cost, are clear-cut. Ignore them and other hard-and-fast directives and chaos ensues. As it did.

However, Whincup is not to blame for this latest farrago. He just aggravated it. The fact is that race control should never have lost track, even if only very briefly. That hesitation had serious repercussions. Sorry, just can’t happen.

It’s not as if this is the first time such confusion has reigned – or even a rare occurrence. It happens with monotonous regularity. The system was found wanting – again – so just own up and find a fix. Fast.

Bathurst and Gold Coast – both vulnerable to confusion – are looming, so now is the time to ensure once and for all that embarrassing indecisiveness is no longer possible.

Just like the catchphrase of The Six Million Dollar Man TV series more than 40 years ago, “We have the technology”.

SANDOWN S5000 FEVER I’M EXCITED. I know, doesn’t happen very often these days, but I really am looking forward to

seeing the S5000s at Sandown this weekend.

It’ll be like the good ol’ days of my youth. Raucous V8 open-wheelers blasting around the fastst suburban circuit, circuit plus those manic TCRs slip-streaming down and up the long straights.

Back in the 1970s, big-bore single-seaters and top touring cars were regular bed mates at ‘Big Bad Sandown’ (say it in a gravely announcer voice and it sounds so right). Formula 5000 and Group C touring cars often shared top billing, and for a teen racing fan/reporter, they were awesome days.

S5000 is the modern version of F5000, hopefully strongly redolent of the hey day of the ‘big banger’ open-wheelers. Of course, they won’t be as unruly or as thunderous, but they should stir the soul of aging enthusiasts – and engage young fans.

It will be exciting to see former Ferrari F1 star Rubens Barrichello in action. Rarely does such driving class accompany the debut of a new category, especially one so quaintly at odds with the rest of the racing world.

Barrichello was unusual in the dog-eat-dog world of F1 in that he was – still is – a genuinely

man. But don’t mistake his nice man manners for lack of commitment. He will cane that V8 thing for all it’s worth.

I’m also hoping that the S5000s in league with TCR will draw an old-school crowd to Sandown.

That is, a healthy turn-out of several thousands.

TCR’s debut at Sydney Motorsport Park attracted a very decent attendance, but crowds at the rounds since have been, shall we say, sparse.

Winton a few weeks ago was possibly the most enjoyable and relaxed race meeting I’ve been to in decades, but the almost non-existent crowd was worrying. Seriously, there were many more people on the grid before the TCR races than in the spectator areas. Way, way more. Hopefully, the Melbourne faithful will flock to Sandown this weekend. With the promise of good racing in a relaxed, accessible environment while witnessing the birth of an appealing new category, why not?

I’ll be there, perhaps reliving some of the Sandown sensations that fuelled the childhood fascination that got me to where I am.

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s w e n e n O Formula THE MOTORSPORT community paid its respects to Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert who was killed in a frightening Formula 2 accident at Spa-Francorchamps.

Many of his friends including Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and George Russell attended the funeral of the 22-year-old on September 10. Others that paid their respects were FIA president Jean Todt, Renault advisor Alain Prost, Mick Schumacher and Jean Alesi. Juan Manuel Correa, also involved in the accident, has been placed into an induced coma.

MONZA FARCE AS A one-off, the farcical way qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix ended made for a good comedy.

Looking at the larger picture, however, it could have been dangerous for the drivers; it prevented the drivers from getting one last fast lap; and it robbed the fans from seeing a lastminute shootout for pole position.

Nine drivers – Kimi Räikkönen had crashed earlier – drove around slowly in a pack and manoeuvred for prime position during the final two minutes of Qualifying 3 at Monza. Only Carlos Sainz completed his warmup lap in time to be able to do a flying lap. Daniel Ricciardo was one of the eight who didn’t.

“The reality is no one wanted to be first,” the Aussie said when AA asked him how things had unfolded, “because you give everyone

else a tow and not yourself, so you bleed a couple of tenths (of a second). Yeah, you’ve got a clear track and maybe you can make a little bit in the corners, but I think it’s more knowing that you’re helping everyone else as well. I guess no one wanted to be that guy.”

This situation only arises at a few tracks such as Monza and Spa-Francorchamps, where using the slipstream is vital. Nico Hülkenberg reckons it is worth half a second at Monza.

The problem, however, is that the group antics can be dangerous. Officials red flagged the

PAUL LITTLE has been appointed as chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. The Victorian replaces John Harnden, who has left to become chief executive of the Melbourne and Olympics Parks Trust. Little was founder and managing director of Toll Holdings and served as chairman of the Essendon Football Club from 2013-15. Little recently stepped down from his position at Visit Victoria.

THE AUTODROMO di Monza has signed a new five year contract which will see the circuit continue to host the Italian Grand Prix for the next five years. The announcement was made in the lead up to the 90th edition of the Italian Grand Prix in which Charles Leclerc took the victory for Ferrari at home.

Monza has been on the Formula 1 calendar every year except for 1980, when the Italian Grand Prix was held at Imola.

TESTING OF the new 18-inch Formula 1 tyres took place at Paul Ricard in France last week and offered fans a look at the bigger wheels set to be introduced to F1 in 2021, while Formula 2 is expected to change make the change next year. Renault and McLaren reserve driver Sergey Sirotkin drove in the two day test for Pirelli in a modified Renault RS18 Formula 1 car.

16 AutoAction

FORMULA 1’s ‘YELLOW CARD’

A YELLOW card like system has been used in the last two Formula 1 races. But instead of an actual yellow card, a driver is shown a black and white flag also known as the Bad Sportsmanship flag.

The first time a driver is shown the flag – it is actually an electronic display board – is a first warning issued to him by the FIA’s race director – Australian Michael Masi. If the driver commits a similar offence, the issue is reviewed by the stewards who then decide what penalty to give to the driver.

Charles Leclerc was given the warning for his aggressive defence against Lewis Hamilton in

the Italian Grand Prix. Leclerc did not get a second warning, and therefore, did not get any penalties.

Pierre Gasly had been the first recipient of the new system, after he made an illegal move in the braking area during the Belgian Grand Prix.

During the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, the second race of the season, the FIA had a meeting with the team principals, drivers and team sporting directors about the FIA being more lenient in allowing the drivers to race each other more assertively.

Leclerc says he has been more uncompromising on track ever since Max Verstappen was not penalised for banging wheels with him to win in Austria.

Does Leclerc’s attitude change concern Masi?

“I don’t think aggression is probably the right word,” Masi said in a post Italian Grand Prix briefing attended

by Auto Action. “That might be his words. But I think it is hard racing.”

Will the use of the black and white flag change the dynamics of the racing?

“I don’t think they will act more dangerously,” Masi said of the drivers. “They may be looking at things (passing moves) slightly more, but they are on the border and you can step over that border relatively easily. The way it has worked and used so far, for me, I think it is serving its purpose.

“But you have to look at each and every incident on its own merits. I don’t think you can generalise across the board. You need to look at each and every single one.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is concerned.

“I think more cars will be touching and it will be more of a common practice,” he said after the Italian Grand Prix. “My opinion is that it will end up in a collision.”

Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve dislikes the black and white warning flag because it gives the drivers a free pass to do something stupid in a race.

“They’re going to start abusing it soon,” he said.

The warnings are issued on a race-by-race basis, so there is no carry over from one event to the next.

Formula 3 qualifying session at Monza for safety reasons and handed out grid penalties to 17 of the 30 drivers, mostly for “driving unnecessary slowly” on the racing line while other drivers were on their fast laps.

The stewards gave Hülkenberg, Sainz and Lance Stroll reprimands because they “played a significant role in the banking up of cars at a critical stage” of F1 qualifying. The stewards also told the FIA to find a solution to the problem.

Lewis Hamilton issued his own warning.

“If everyone is going out so late, it will continue to be an issue in places where you particularly need a tow,” he said. “It won’t be until someone crashes that they will change.”

Ricciardo said that the drivers should “get a talking to and make sure it doesn’t happen again (because) we miss out and the fans miss out.

“It was an anti-climax because the fans didn’t get a last lap,” he added, “but they saw something for the first time, so maybe it was exciting for them.”

The FIA’s race director Michael Masi discussed the issue with the drivers prior to qualifying at both Spa and Monza.

“Everyone in the room acknowledged there was not a single regulatory fix for it,” he said, “so we will have a more in-depth discussion in Singapore, and a few of the teams have come up with ideas on how that could be rectified.”

Images: LAT

WHAT RICCIARDO WANTED AUSSIE DANIEL Ricciardo earned his best race result since he joined the Renault team, when he finished fourth in the Italian Grand Prix. This was the type of result – solidly best of the rest behind the top three teams – that the Aussie and the team have been aiming for all season.

To round out Renault’s perfect day, Nico Hülkenberg finished fifth in the sister car. Renault’s result was aided by having both Red Bulls and one Ferrari behind them in the race for assorted reasons.

Ricciardo qualified fourth, which equaled his best starting spot of the season in Canada. He finished sixth in that race, which was his best result until the Italian Grand Prix.

Auto Action was there to hear what Ricciardo had to say after the race in Monza.

“I’m very, very happy with the weekend,” he said. “A bit like Canada, we executed the qualifying result into a strong race result. I felt that this one was a bit overdue. We finally got maximum points if you know what I mean. That is really pleasing.”

When Ricciardo drove the Renaultpowered Red Bull from 2014 through 2018, he said there was a lack of optimism in the team about racing at Monza because of the horsepower deficit.

But that is not the case with the latest Renault power unit.

“For them (Renault) to turn it around this year to make the gains and to put on this result here is special,” he said. “They deserve a glass of champagne tonight.”

It was not only the engine side, however, as Ricciardo praised the chassis side as well. Still, the Renault’s weak point is on high downforce tracks.

“For sure the package we have on these (low downforce) circuits (like Spa and Monza) is great,” he said. “So coming into (the next race on the high downforce track of) Singapore, there is a lot of things we can learn with the high downforce, and take something from that.

We definitely seem stronger on these high-speed flowing tracks, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t get it right on the low speeds. So we will do some homework and hopefully this is an encouraging result for the boys in Enstone as well, and particularly as I said for Viry.”

So was this the sort of race result Ricciardo signed up for when he decided to join Renault?

“Yes,” he replied. “Canada was not too deep into the season, but it has taken a bit of time to get this second big result.

This sort of stuff feels good. Obviously, it is not a podium, I don’t have champagne, but there is still a lot of self-fulfilment in this.

“Everyone works hard but I really feel we deserve this.”

HAMILTON TO CHANGE APPROACH CHARLES LECLERC got a warning but no penalties for his forceful defensive driving tactics against Lewis Hamilton in the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton is not upset, but he says he will now change the way he races, and he too will now be more aggressive.

“I knew it was on the limit,” Leclerc said, “but in the end, I wanted to give absolutely everything to have this win. I just gave it my all, tried to be at the limit of what is acceptable, and that’s what I’ve done.”

This was the first time Hamilton has raced wheel-to-wheel with Leclerc.

“With a new driver you learn how they approach different scenarios and maybe position your car differently next time,” Hamilton said. “Maybe I will do a better job next time.”

Since Austria, where Max Verstappen banged wheels with Leclerc to take the lead and the win, the stewards seem to have been more lenient in letting the drivers fight aggressively. Is Hamilton happy with that? Is there an issue with consistency in the way the stewards judge incidents?

“I don’t think there is an issue,” Hamilton said. “If that’s how we are allowed to race, then I will race like that. As long as we know

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that you are allowed to not leave a car width (of space for the other car) for example, as long as you are not contradicting us and there is a clear message.

“You are allowed to run wide even if someone is there, and you only get a warning flag (as happened with Leclerc in Italy). You only need that once to potentially keep the guy behind you. As long as it is clear that that’s the way moving forward, it’s fine. So I know how to go into battle, and it’s the same for all the drivers.”

Did Hamilton have a talk with Leclerc after the Italian Grand Prix?

“I haven’t spoken to him,” he said, “and we don’t have a problem. But if we get a moment together, we might chat, just reverse roles, and make sure that he is cool that if I am in that position and that happens and that’s cool and that’s how we are racing.

“There are no issues. From what I know going into the race you are supposed to leave a gap, now I don’t know if that is the case.

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But it’s good that we are able to race hard and today was a tough battle which is good.”

Hamilton also revealed that if he had already clinched the championship, he would not have taken avoiding action and would have collided with Leclerc.

AutoAction

17

F1 INSIDER

w

with Dan Knutson

IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN-IT’S A DANGEROUS SPORT MOTOR RACING is dangerous.

We all know that, but the accidents at Spa and Monza over the past two F1 weekends rammed home the fact.

Anthoine Hubert was killed in Saturday’s Formula 2 race at Spa-Francorchamps during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. It meant many people operated in a stunned state of shock for a couple days, and it was only when the Formula 1 circus reassembled in the paddock of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza the following Thursday for the Italian Grand Prix weekend, that they had had time to reflect.

Then we learned that Juan Manuel Correa, the other F2 driver involved in the accident at Spa who suffered injuries to his legs and spine, had now been diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome and placed in an induced coma.

The last driver to die as a result of an accident during an F1 weekend was Jules Bianchi, who crashed during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix and latter passed away from the head injuries.

“Time passes and you think the sport is getting safer and it won’t happen again,” Daniel Ricciardo said when he sat down to talk with F1 journalists including yours truly on Thursday in the Monza paddock.

“When it does, it is a shock because you do forget more or less, as time passes you think things get better.”

Ricciardo had doubts about racing on Sunday in Belgium

until he analysed that the doubts were not fears that he felt but sadness.

“Racing again this weekend I have no concerns with it,” he said in Italy. “(You) just try get back into the routine. And slowly move on, like we did with Jules, but we will always remember them and there is no disrespect by moving on. But for the health of everyone it is all we can really do.

“It is always difficult after an accident like this to not bring up safety again,” Ricciardo said of the Spa crash. “As I said, time passes and there hasn’t really been anything, and you start to think this track is a bit safe, let’s bring the walls in a bit closer, make it a bit more intense for us drivers.

“Track safety is really good at the moment. Car safety as well has improved. But we are still driving at 300km/h, so there is still opportunities and situations where we are maybe in a dangerous position because that is the sport.

Whether the track and the car are safe or not, you might still be in a position where you are in danger.”

In the movie ‘Le Mans’ the driver Michael Delaney played

by Steve McQueen, talking about the dangers of the sport and big accidents, says: “This isn’t just a thousand to one shot. This is a professional blood sport. And it can happen to you. And then it can happen to you again.”

Racing was a lot more dangerous in 1971 than it is today, but nasty crashes can

Image: LAT

happen, and then they can happen again.

Australia’s Alex Peroni had a terrifying accident in Saturday’s Formula 3 race at Monza. His car was launched high in the air after hitting a sausage kerb just off the racing line at the Parabolica curve.

The car landed upside down on a barrier, flipped into a fence and then turned the right side up on top of the barriers. He walked away but was later diagnosed with a fractured vertebra. It could have been worse, much worse.

“I know Alex a little bit,” said fellow Aussie Ricciardo. “I was watching the race and he got up to sixth or something. I was close to messaging him, like yep, awesome race, good on ya, and then I saw that (accident).

“It’s another lesson for us.

Even if it seems like nothing, I think at those speeds as well, if you get a little bit of turbulence under the car, it can take off.

It’s the famous (Mark) Webber crash in the sports car back in the day.”

Webber’s Mercedes did a

high-flying backflip during the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours and the sister car did the same.

At Monza I was really happy to hear that it has a new fiveyear contract to host the Italian Grand Prix. Spa’s deal for the Belgian Grand Prix runs through 2021. The safety at both these classic tracks, two of my favorite venues, has been improved over the years, but they are still old school layouts and they can still bite badly.

But then we all have to remember, motor racing is dangerous.

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OPINION A LETTER FROM FOGES

BY MARK FOGARTY Editor-At-Large

Dear fans, I love your passion and your interest. It may sound trite, but you are the reason people like me exist.

Motor sport journalists write to inform you. We are the conduit through which the participants communicate with you.

Serious reporters and writers – and there is a difference – work to take you inside racing and give you insight. We have privileged access and gain knowledge not available to the public.

That’s just how it works. You watch from the outside and your level of knowledge, no matter how deep, is informed by us.

Sure, we have a great time being ‘on the inside’ and dealing directly with the stars.

You can’t get that close.

Which I why it is our responsibility to expose the inner workings to you through our writings. No fear, no favour.

I can’t speak for all motor sport journalists, but the main ones operate without conflict.

They try to tell it like it is.

Let me tell you, that is not a popular stance. In the small world of Supercars, reporting the facts or informed speculation is not welcomed.

Bad luck. It’s what proper journalists do. It’s what I’ve been doing for nearly 50 years, annoying the good and the great.

But I’m still here because, well, I’m still here, and because I write what I think based on a vast accumulation of knowledge that covers

working in Formula 1, ATCC/ Supercars, BTCC, IndyCars, etc.

I’ve annoyed/challenged the best, from Senna to SVG and everyone in between. Why? To bring you the best, most incisive stories I can.

I never set out to be friends with the stars. Unlike other media types, they’re not my mates. Even the ones I get along well with and those who trust me, they know I won’t compromise on the story.

The best I expect in this business is respect. They deal with me, knowing they’ll get a hard time, but also that I have no sides.

It’s all about getting the best story, the most insight, for you, the reader.

Which is why I wonder at why you are so disrespectful of the motor sport media.

In your social media comments, so many of you treat us like fools or accuse us of bias.

The fact is, we know more than you. We can’t always report everything we know because there are such things as journalistic confidences, ethics and defamation laws.

We can’t just say what we think or what we’ve heard without justification or corroboration. You’re getting a free kick on Facebook and other social media outlets, but your mean accusations are vulnerable to legal action.

Your disrespect of our some of our stories is puzzling. We are right way more often than we are wrong, yet many of you castigate us for our informed speculation.

It particularly disappoints

me that so many of you see the pre-publication post of our cover and go off with illinformed comments.

Without actually going out and buying the mag, you rail against our content.

Folks, cover lines are designed to attract attention.

They are not the full story. You have to buy the mag to get that. If you did, you’d find the coverlines were justified.

Despite what you may think, we do not sit here dreaming things up. Every story is based on hard facts – or at least, informed interpretation.

We also don’t get information served up to us on a platter. The big news stories we regularly break, we have to dig deep for them.

So I would appreciate it if you gave us more credit for trying to tell you what is really happening, not just

Publisher

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

regurgitating the fluff that comes from teams and organisers.

I and my colleagues do our very best, but we don’t – and can’t – know everything.

And we can’t always tell you everything we know because we don’t have the full facts.

But we’re trying all the time.

My mission is to expose the inner workings of the sport to you. There is no other motivation.

That may sound sanctimonious, but it is true.

So when you sit there with your focused attention on the moment, realise that we have to look at the big picture and interpret it.

In isolation, yes, there are many more things you know.

But we have to be across everything and understand the nuances.

Seriously, you should respect what we do, not dismiss or demean it, because we are trying to help you understand and get more enjoyment from your favourite sport.

I haven’t been doing this for the best part of half a century to amuse myself. What I write is what I think is good for racing, consequences be dammed.

Think about that, please, before you write us off as sensationalist mugs. The cover is a taste, not the full, informed story.

Buy the mag, which is a bargain either online or at your local retailer, and then you are qualified – and welcome – to criticise.

Otherwise, pull your head in.

Yours faithfully, Foges .

Mark Fogarty

Deputy Editor

Heath McAlpine

Creative Director/ Production

Jason Crowe

Special Contributor Bruce Newton Staff Journalist National Editor Online Editor

Dan McCarthy Garry O’Brien Rhys Vandersyde

Contributing Writers Australia Garry O’Brien, Mark Fogarty, Bruce Newton, David Hassall, Bob Watson F1 Dan Knutson Speedway Geoff Rounds Photographers Australia Ross Gibb, Rebecca Hind, Mick Oliver, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Rhys Vandersyde International LAT Images

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We take a look back at what was making news 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago 1979: ALLAN GRICE was well on his way to collecting back-to-back Australian Sports Sedan Championships after placing second at Symmons Plains. Rival Tony Edmondson was still recovering from a near-career ending accident at Surfers Paradise, giving Grice the ascendency in his Chevrolet Corvair. It was four-times the celebration for Ross Dunkerton as he sealed a fourth Australian Rally Championship crown.

1989: BYE, BYE Fury? That was the question being asked after it was revealed veteran George Fury had not been offered a drive in the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship by the Nissan team. Brad Jones was the king of the Thunderdome despite a close call when Gary Cole spun across the circuit, while Nigel Mansell caused controversy by ignoring a black flag and taking out Ayrton Senna.

11999: DESPITE HIS impending rretirement, Dick Johnson felt he was far from fr a spent force and was confident of winning w the inaugural Queensland 500.

In what was his 200th start, Johnson was w confident of adding one more win w to his tally. Heinz-Harald Frentzen took to advantage of a mistake from Mika Hakkinen Ha to record his second victory of the season.

2009: 2 SUPERCARS CHAMPION Jamie W Whincup was preparing to take on the world’s best in the Race of Champions w eevent in Beijing, China. Motorcycle cconvert Troy Bayliss was eyeing a career in Supercars, after being announced aas an enduro driver. Recently crowned B British Formula 3 Champion Daniel R Ricciardo was heading to Macau before m mounting attack on Formula 1.

No part of this magazine’s content may be reproduced, retransmitted or rebroadcast without the express written permission of the Publisher and Action Media Partners.

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Cover images: TCR Australia/ S5000/Daniel Kalisz/LAT

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Russell Ingall doesn’t hold back as he reveals what he really thinks about Supercars, being dumped from the TV coverage and arch-rival Mark Skaife, and why he’s so happy back racing in V8 enemy territory

N

ONE OF us will ever die wondering what Russell Ingall thinks. Dubbed ‘The Enforcer’ for his robust racing early in his controversial V8 career, Ingall was always outspoken. s He still is. He retired from full-time Supercars racing at the end of 2015 and became the popular pundit alongside Mark Skaife on the Fox Sports desk. Then he was replaced this year by Craig Lowndes.

Ingall, 55, remains bitter about his axing – and more to the point, how it was done. He fought back with typical gusto, creating a fortnightly online show with fellow tell-it-like-it-is ex-driver Paul Morris. It’s a shoot-from-the-hip show that doesn’t hold back, especially on where Supercars is going wrong.

At his peak, ‘The Enforcer’ was the villain Supercars has long since lacked. His clashes with Mark Skaife were legendary, no more so than the ‘Shriek At The Creek’ incident at the 2003 series finale at the then Eastern Creek Raceway. It’s still among the sport’s most famous moments.

British-born, South Australian-raised Ingall won Bathurst twice with Larry Perkins and was runner-up in the championship four times before clinching the title with SBR in 2005 – staging the best tyre-smoking celebration ever!

Ingall is back in racing in, of all places, TCR. And he’s loving it.

Podiums in two of his three appearances so far in the Castrolbacked MPC Audi RS3 LM TCR have reinvigorated him, even if he is more ‘Instigator’ than ‘Enforcer’ these days.

He may have mellowed – slightly – on the track, but he hasn’t backed off on his opinions. In the first instalment of this explosive two-part interview, Ingall unleashes on Supercars and Skaife while revealing the back injury that nearly crippled his career.

D E C R O F RE-EN Did you ever think you’d be making a comeback in two-litre front-wheel drive touring cars?

Don’t think comeback’s the right term, is it?

It’s getting there!

Well, yeah. I mean, I probably would have pressed on in Supercars a little bit longer, but there were a couple of reasons why I didn’t. Number one was that the last gig I had with Walkinshaws was coming to an end with Supercheap and Supercheap were always part of the deal. I had a really good

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run with them, but we didn’t have a good run with Walkinshaws. If we had, I probably could’ve got another year or so out of it. That was one reason, but also I’d been carrying a back injury for about five years I reckon before that, which I’ve only just in the last 18 monthstwo years rectified that with a disc replacement and a few other things.

And that was actually hurting me a bit. The last couple of Bathursts I did, I went in and had a couple of epidurals done just to get through, and it was affecting my driving. So I had to leave it right to the end to have the disc replacement done and the fusion and tuned up – and,

honestly, since I’ve had that done, it’s just felt brand new again. I feel like I’m back on top of it again and it doesn’t hurt when I’m inside the car.

So when these opportunities came up – I didn’t think they would, but now they have, the difference that it’s made physically is remarkable.

I can train now before races and jump back behind the wheel feeling fit and strong. It’s made a big difference. The good thing about being free to do whatever I want is that I can take any opportunity that comes up. If it seems I’ll enjoy it, I’ll do it. Hence, the Stadium Super Trucks at Sydney Motorsport Park last year. I’d always wanted to do

that. Did that. Yep, that was good fun. The TCR rides came up. Did that, still doing it, loving it. And whatever else may come up, I’ll look at that, too, because, honestly, I feel I’m driving well. I mean, you can only gauge yourself on who’s around you, but there are a couple of decent steerers in there, you’d have to say, so to still be competitive is pretty enjoyable.

So if you’re not calling it a comeback, what are you calling it?

I wouldn’t call it a comeback. What could you call it? Reinventing?

the limits. It sounds corny to say stretching man and machine to their limits, but that’s what it’s about. That’s what I enjoy doing, getting the most out of machinery and having a good competition.

And having a good competition doesn’t necessarily mean winning a race. You can get out of a car having come 10th, but it’s been a bloody good battle. You’ve battled your guts out with good drivers and you still get the same enjoyment. But I hate it when you are constantly on your guard outside the car, looking over your shoulder to see who’s trying to undermine you, who’s trying to take your sponsor, who’s trying to take your drive. I know that’s all part of motor racing, but there was so much going on behind the scenes that it just wasn’t enjoyable towards the end.

What about when you were doing the Fox Sports punditry with Skaifey?

Russell Ingall is loving his ‘reinvention’ in TCR. Images: TCR Australia/Heath McAlpine.

It seems to be more than just guest appearances.

I’ve enjoyed not being part of Supercars, to be honest. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way because Supercars has been very good to me in a lot of respects. I did well and I made a good living out of it, so I don’t like to say anything bad against V8 Supercars. I’ll say V8 Supercars has been good to me.

Let’s put a big underline under V8 Supercars. But I don’t miss being at Supercars, if you get the distinction.

What don’t you miss?

The political side of it and looking over your shoulder because I’ve always been about the racing. I love driving cars, and it should be about competition and stretching

It took me longer than what I thought to get the not-racing thing out of my head. Doing the endurance races for the first two years helped. It helped a lot, actually. That was a good bleedoff process – and that was only by chance with the Courtney and Mostert accidents (2015) and then the Kelly thing came up (2016). And that helped put the nicotine patch on it, as I call it, to wean me off racing. Not that I’ve ever smoked, but I presume that’s what it’d be like. I enjoyed being part of the Fox Sports coverage, but it was really hard yards at the beginning. There was a lot of negativity towards subscription TV taking over and Fox Sports was very new to telecasting Supercars. Being part of building that was very enjoyable. It was a bit like tuning a race car – applying different set-ups, what works, what doesn’t, that sort of thing – but it was hard dealing with the hard-core fans, trying to convince them that they now had to pay to watch their favourite sport. We got a lot of flak from the fans at the race meetings.

We’d tell them “Sorry, that’s the way

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it is, but, hey, it’s going to be a better product, so wait for it, it’s going to be worth paying for”. That was always the message.

The fans that got their heads around it and watched the coverage responded positively to you, didn’t they?

I like to think so. I think there was a good balance there. You had the polished presenter (Jessica Yates), you had Mr Corporate and then you had the people’s man, I suppose. I was the one the viewers could identify with. So I think you had a good variety there.

You were replaced by Craig Lowndes this year. Did you see that coming?

No, not at all. I got a call over the Christmas break and it was totally unexpected. We got through the awards dinner and we started talking about what we’d be doing this year with (Fox Sports motor sport producer) James Harrison and everything was pushing forward. Then I went away up north on holiday with the family and it was just after Christmas that I got the call.

It was “We’ve had a change of tack and we won’t be renewing your deal”.

It was a bit like the Garth Tander thing (unexpectedly dropped by GRM). I was making plans and coming up with ideas, and I’d knocked back other things because I thought I was continuing with Fox Sports. And it was basically one call. What really annoyed me about the whole thing was that after four years of helping to build a product, I got a phone call. There was no come into the office, just a phone call – and not even from a senior executive. Gee, thanks.

You don’t blame Craig or hold a grudge against him, do you?

No. Mind you, he didn’t contact me, which if I were in his position, I would’ve done that. If it had’ve been the reverse, I would’ve contacted me, but there was no contact from Craig, which

disappoints me. He knew what the situation was and he knew who was getting shafted. But then again, there wasn’t a call from anyone else – to this day. I still haven’t heard from Skaife; haven’t spoken to him since the awards dinner last December. So that’s why I’m bitter. I’m not bitter at Craig, but I’m bitter at the way it was handled and disappointed in individuals who after all that time didn’t bother to contact me, as well as the person who took my position.

So let’s talk about you and Skaife on the desk. To a large extent, you made a joke of your fierce rivalry back in the day, but did you actually make friends with him?

It was a funny situation. I definitely saw another side of him and, oddly, there were a lot of things that we agree on in racing. We were both racers, we both had to fight to get where we were, so on a whole lot of things about racing and the direction it should go and all the rest of it, we actually had very similar ideas, which took away some of the rivalry that they were looking for. They were looking for us to rip each other apart, but it was actually hard because many of the things he said I actually agreed with and he often agreed with me. So that made it difficult to clash with him – and I wasn’t going to fabricate anything.

Where we used to butt heads was, Skaife being Skaife, he’d always have to have the last word, so I used to jump on him about that. We didn’t agree on everything, though, and I was one of the few who’d actually pull him up when I thought he was wrong.

The first year (2015) was a bit testy. It was a bit like those rams with the curly horns. They dance around each other for a while until they hit. It was a bit like that. We kept circling each other, wondering who was going to make the first move. So the first year was very much like that, then we worked each other out and got on pretty well on-air.

That side of it actually surprised me – and it probably surprised him, too. We got along.

Despite this friendly handshake, Ingall says he despised Skaife on the racetrack and would do anything to beat him. Images: LAT/ Edge Photography/Holden Motorsport.

Did you socialise with him?

Not outside the race meetings. I think there was still a fair bit of wariness there, even at the end. At the end of the day, Mark is Mark – he’ll do whatever’s best for him. There’s no doubt about that.

Well, he was the guy you loved to hate most of all when you were racing rivals, wasn’t he?

Absolutely. I despised him on the racetrack and I would do anything to beat him, injure him, wound him, whatever you like. No problems at all.

But as soon as you step out of the car, I’m not the sort of person who does underhanded shit to people.

I just don’t do that, simple as that.

Never have. If I have a problem with someone, I’ll rock straight up to them and tell them. I think that’s the difference between the two of us.

Back in the day, though, it was a strong rivalry that was great for the sport, wasn’t it?

Of course it was.

And what happened at Eastern Creek in 2003 is still probably the most famous incident in Supercars in at least the past 20 years.

Tony Cochrane should’ve been paying me royalties for that. I’d be a lot richer than I am now.

It’s a poor reflection on the sport now that the thing that’s got the most coverage happened nearly 16 years ago.

And the way it’s going, it’ll remain that way. The total landscape has changed just so much. But to be fair, Ingall with Skaife and Fox Sports host Jessica Yates. His clashes with Skaife weren’t as fiery as hoped.

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it’s not just Supercars. It’s happened with motor sport pretty much worldwide.

I think MotoGP is the only place that I see true rivalries – and desperate racing. And that’s why it’s probably the only motor sport in the world that’s actually had growth. It’s exciting and it’s unpredictable, and you have heroes and villains. In Supercars and Formula 1, there are no heroes and villains.

Clearly, you’re not happy with the direction in which Supercars has been going, are you? You’ve had a lot to say about, well, everything!

I’m not shy in saying what I think. That’s the reason we got our little online show going (Enforcer And The Dude with Paul Morris), which started as a bit of sport but is actually starting to turn into something. And that reason was to have a voice, simple as that, and not be regulated. And there was a lot of regulation that went on (in the Supercars-produced TV coverage) and that’s why I don’t agree with the sport doing its own telecast because it’s highly regulated. I believe that’s totally wrong. There were so many times that there were incidents on the track – for example, tyre failures at Phillip Island – and they got totally got smoked over on the telecast because “Oh, that’s not good for our sponsor”. Do you see any of that that happening in NASCAR? You can’t do that. It has to be like a news channel; you have to be able to report what’s happening. They try to regulate the people that report on the sport, too.

Tell me they haven’t tried to regulate you.

I know plenty of other journos that have.

You can say this and you can’t say that, and if you do say this, you’ll never get access again.

It’s an interesting point you’ve raised.

No one’s ever tried to muzzle me directly as a print journalist, but clearly I stood on the wrong toes when I was part of the short-lived

journo panel on Inside Supercars in 2016. We were told we livened up the show, but after one season, we were gone.

Exactly. I was on that show for a few episodes until something we said about Bathurst go cut right out between the time we did it to the time it aired (it was a pre-recorded show). So I picked up the phone and told them I would not be doing it again. And I was getting paid to do it, mind you, but I said I’d rather not take the money than be dictated to about opinions, which was what I was brought on the show for. I don’t like that because controversy and debate is what sport is all about. If you don’t have controversy and debate, you can’t engage the people that you’re selling the sport to. The world’s not a beautiful place. No one wants to shit in their own backyard, but it’s not about that. It’s about passion. Sport is a passionate thing and you have to have debate. To have that filtered, I didn’t like that and I didn’t like the fact that they always seemed to ask the wrong people for opinions about the racing side of it. I never professed to be a marketing genius. I think guys like James Warburton and Sean Seamer have done a helluva job to keep the commercial partners they have and

“I despised him on the racetrack and I would do anything to beat him, injure him, wound him.

No problems at all.” keep it commercially half above water – just – considering that I reckon the product itself is pretty flawed – and the product being the racing. I don’t have anything against them. I think they’ve done a pretty good job to keep the

whole fanfare because the brand is still very strong. So they’re doing a good job on that side of it, but the problem is that whoever’s guiding them on the racing side – the Commission and the team owners themselves – are doing a terrible

job. They’re so slow to react.

Next issue: Ingall gets even more explosive with his views on where Supercars is going wrong and why TCR could emerge as a serious threat.

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F1 STAR–Rubens Barrichello returns to V8 single-seaters SINCE 1971

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SUPER SANDOWN OFFICIAL EVENT GUIDE FEATURES S5000 DEBUT AND TCR TUSSLE

NEW CATEGORY G N TI CI EX E TH T OU AB OW KN INSIDE: ALL YOU NEED TO S5000 – Big Banger open-wheelers are back S5000 – Full technical review DRIVERS’ VIEW S5000 drivers share their feedback on driving the new-age racers

TURBO TERRIERS – TCR hot hatch battle

Sandown Preview September 20-22 S

THE AUSTRALIAN Racing Group has the pleasure to welcome Melbourne, Australia and the world to a truly history-making event at Sandown Raceway – the first event for our all-new S5000 class.

For too long, Australasia has been starved of topline, home-grown open wheel competition. Formula 1 coming here once a year is great, but as far as we’re concerned, it’s not enough. There’s a need for a highpowered, single seater class in our own backyard, and we feel that S5000 is the answer.

Motorsport is all about being raw and brave. It’s big sounds. Fast race cars that put the emphasis back on the talent of the drivers, rather than sophisticated electronic aids and aerodynamics. That is what S5000 is. There will be no mistaking this racing, and the fans are going to be the big winners.

It’s a massive coup for us to have Rubens Barrichello come out to compete in our first race weekend too.

Even when he was racing for a high-pressure team like Ferrari, Rubens was one of the most likeable, passionate drivers. And he is a racer. He hasn’t raced open wheelers since 2012 and at 47-years-young, you might think that his time at this level is done.

Think again. Rubens will be a benchmark for our young Aussie guys. Everyone is excited to see how Rubens fares at Sandown.

We’re also looking forward to seeing the Carsales TCR Australia Series on the grid for the first time at Sandown too. The racing this year has been exceptional, and the reaction from fans at the track or watching at home live and free on SBS has been very encouraging. These turbo-charged racers are a class that has cemented its place immediately, and ARG is looking forward to a big future for these touring cars in Australia and New Zealand.

It all makes for a great weekend ahead of us, and to this point, the S5000 journey has been colourful.

There’s been plenty of twists and turns, but in the end, as you’ll all see, we have a fantastic product that sounds great, looks amazing, the cars are cost effective and best of all, the safest that could be created.

Whether you are trackside or at home watching on SBS, we hope you enjoy the weekend.

Matt Braid Director, Australian Racing Group CAMS CHIEF Executive Officer Eugene Arocca is excited by the debut of the highly anticipated S5000 category and is proud that the Shannons Nationals is providing the platform for this historic occasion.

“We’re extremely pleased to witness the debut of another exciting category here in Australia, with the first race of the S5000 Series at Sandown,” Arocca said.

“All eyes and ears will be on the sights and sounds of the S5000 at Sandown this weekend – and everyone at CAMS is eagerly awaiting that first competitive race.

“The entire team at ARG and GRM should be proud of the work they have done to get this category off the ground and racing. We are particularly delighted that its debut comes on the Shannons Nationals card in what we expect to be one of the Shannons’ biggest crowds in recent history.”

F1 LEGEND IS STA Ferrari F1 hero Rubens Barrichello is the special guest star of S5000’s debut at Sandown, attracting global attention to the Aussie rebirth of V8 open-wheelers, as MARK FOGARTY explains.

HE FIGURED in one of the most controversial incidents in Formula 1 history and had the most enduring career of any F1 driver. However, there is much more to Rubens Barrichello than a moment of infamy and his longevity at the peak of motor racing.

Barrichello was a Ferrari driver at the height of the storied Italian team’s last era of domination in the early 2000s. That alone guarantees him a special status in the sport verging on legendary.

It was his misfortune – or fortune, depending on your viewpoint – that he joined Ferrari alongside Michael Schumacher, placing him in the shadow of one of F1’s all-time greats. Make no mistake, from his debut as a talented teenager in 1993, Barrichello seemed destined to follow Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson

Piquet and Ayrton Senna as the next Brazilian superstar.

But next to Schumacher, Barrichello was seen to be merely excellent rather than exceptional. A big part of that perception was the fact that he was the clear No.2 driver as Ferrari and Schuey ran riot from 2000-2005, becoming the ultimate wing man.

He was there to support ‘The Michael’, as the German’s McLaren arch-rival Mika Hakkinen famously dubbed him, and was only allowed to exercise his speed on the relatively few occasions Schumacher faltered.

Barrichello’s subjugation was at its most glaring when he was ordered

by Ferrari to concede victory in the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix to Schumacher. The last-lap exchange of places was obvious and offensive to fans, living on in F1 infamy.

The ham-fisted manipulation should not define Barrichello, whose talent was such that he was regarded as the natural successor to his close friend and mentor Senna as F1’s South American superstar. He had the ability, if not the personality, to excel, but fate put him in the right places at the wrong time.

Senna’s death in the 1994 San Marino GP at Imola, following his own narrow escape from a ferocious practice crash two days earlier, deeply affected Barrichello and perhaps thrust too much expectation on him too soon.

Barrichello, now 47 and still actively competitive in V8 stock cars in his homeland, is returning to Australia eight years after his last appearance in the 2011 Melbourne GP at Albert Park with Williams, in his farewell F1 season.

Images LAT and SS Media

Rubens Barrichello will feel right at home behind the wheel of his bright red Paynter Dixon supported V8 powered S5000

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Barrichello lived in the shadow of Michael Schumacher at the height of Ferrari’s domination in the early 2000s, but was still a star. Twice runnerup in the F1 world championship, he won 11 grands prix in a record 322-race career that fell short of his potential.

AR OF THE S5000 SHOW

Barrichello is still racing regularly in V8 stock cars in his homeland of Brazil.

He is the guest star of the racing debut of the new S5000 category, which marks the rebirth of V8-powered ‘big banger’ openwheelers in this touring car-dominated land.

His status as a winning Ferrari F1 driver will attract global attention to S5000, as well as showcasing the spec racer’s speed at the fast Sandown circuit, which once regularly reverberated to the rumble and roar of the V8 Formula 5000 single-seaters that inspired this new generation.

From 1993-2011, Barrichello contested a record 322 F1 races, winning 11. He drove for Jordan, Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn and Willliams. He was runner-up to Schumacher in the 2002 and ’04 world titles.

He hasn’t raced a powerful open-wheeler since his season in IndyCar in 2012, switching to the Supercars-style Stock Car Brasil series, winning the title in 2014.

He remains a front-runner in the popular tin-tops.

Barrichello is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of a big-bore open-

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wheel racer in anger, admitting piloting the 550 horsepower S5000 at Sandown will be challenging.

“I’m very excited,” he said from his home in Sao Paulo, before heading to Melbourne. “It’s something I hadn’t thought about doing but I’m honestly racing more often now than when I was in F1.

“I’m racing stock cars and I’m go-karting with the kids. The other day Eduardo (his eldest son who is racing in America) was doing a two-day test with the USF2000 (junior open-wheeler) and at the end of the day he was tired and I said I’ll drive this.

I’m always excited to drive a racing car.

“I never thought that at my age, I would be more excited than I ever was when I was racing in F1.”

When he was offered the S5000 drive at Sandown, he remembers “it took me two minutes to decide”.

His invitation was organised through Australian confidant to Brazilian F1 stars Greg “Pee Wee” Siddle, former manager of Piquet and accomplished F1 and

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Indycar racer Roberto Moreno.

“Pee Wee is a good friend for a long time in Australia,” Barrichello noted.

Although enjoying his racing is his main aim these days, Barrichello is taking his S5000 guest drive seriously.

“I drove go-karts this week a lot because I obviously want to be prepared,” he said.

“The stock car is not physical – it’s just so hot – so for me it’s going to be a test in many respects.

“I haven’t raced an open-wheeler for seven years, so it’s obviously going to take some laps for me to get used to it. I drove the Brawn (his 2009 F1 race-winner) at Goodwood (Festival Of Speed demo) three weeks ago and it’s like a riding a bicycle.

“But you never know. It’s going to take me some laps to get used to it.”

He has researched S5000 as much as he can, but admits he has only a basic knowledge of the high-speed 3.1 km Sandown course.

“I read all about [S5000] and I’ve seen all the videos and it looks fun to drive,” he offered. “It’s probably more power than grip, but I think it’s a good school (for young drivers). That’s pretty much it. I don’t know what else to say.

“But I’ve made a bit of an exercise in terms of looking into it and I just like it.

“I’ve only seen [Sandown] on paper. I didn’t have time to be in the simulator, so the first time I will be in the car I will also be getting to know the track. I don’t know much about the track.”

Renowned as one of the most likeable and easy going F1 drivers of his era, Barrichello was also notable for his humility. He has no qualms about being a target for ambitious Aussie talents to beat and claim a celebrity scalp.

“At age 47, winning races in stock cars like I’m doing, I can be happy with my performance within myself,” the diminutive

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dynamo said. “But life is about exceeding expectations and I’m very hard on myself on what I want to achieve, so I’m definitely not coming to Australia just for the sake of doing something.

“I want to do it well and I hope that Rubens at age 47 is still very competitive.”

Most of all, though, ‘Rubinho’ (Little Rubens, his nickname), is having fun.

He wants to do well at Sandown, but he doesn’t feel under any great pressure.

“I’m having a great time,” he enthused.

“It’s been fun all the way, with new things happening, and it’s a great time for me to just get in the car and have fun.

“I think that once you get to a certain age, you still feel competitive, but it’s a lot less pressure than you used to have. So it’s nice.

“I’m going there (Sandown) to be competitive, but honestly, I don’t know what to expect. So open-minded and, for sure, there are a lot of very talented young drivers who will be wanting to beat Rubens Barrichello.

“I’m just going there to have fun and give my very best. If that’s good enough for a win, I’ll be so happy.”

Barrichello also has a long-held ambition to race at Bathurst, thanks to his close friendship with former Williams F1 driver Max Wilson, who raced with distinction in Supercars full-time from 2002-2007.

They are former Stock Car Brasil champions and remain front-runners in the series.

“I’ve always told one of my best friends, Max Wilson, who drove there for such a long time, that I would love to be at Bathurst and do that race with him or with somebody there.

“So that’s on my bucket list, yes.”

To see a driver of Barrichello’s calibre in action at Sandown in a homegrown toplevel open-wheeler will be a privilege for local fans.

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Sandown Preview September 20-22 S UNDER U NDER T THE H E SK SKIN KIN

HOMEGROWN EVOLUTION

Auto Action took a look at the original Swift-based Formula Thunder 5000 concept just on three years ago but things have changed and a very different car now forms the basis of the S5000 racer. Speaking with HEATH McALPINE, Garry Rogers Motorsport team manager Stefan Millard outlines the progression to S5000.

IT HAS been a whirlwind nine months since Garry Rogers Motorsport took on the responsibility of turning a prototype race car into the final production S5000.

GRM had plenty of work to do to implement the devlopment of a production version of the S5000, after work had been kicked off by Borland Racing Developments.

Borland had undertaken the development of the original prototype of the Ligierbased car, alleviating CAMS’ concerns about chassis safety triggered by Chris Lambden’s original Swift-based FT5000 concept.

A noted-Supercars chassis constructor, GRM knew it had the workforce and the facilitiesnto achieve the task, but the timeline was short and modifications had to be made to make the car easier to produce while at the same time staying true to the original concept of utilising Australian-made componentry as much as possible.

The first port of call for GRM was to communicate with the various suppliers before his team went through the prototype chassis to identify components that could be changed to make it more user-friendly during the assembly process.

“Our first mission was to speak with all the suppliers and get an idea of where everyone was at with the project,” Millard told Auto Action.

“We obviously had the prototype there, which was the concept and the essence of what the end result was meant to be. Then from our point of view we went through it with a fine tooth comb; everything that needed to be tidied up and made into a production item was done, while keeping that original essence of the prototype car, and what the category was designed to be.”

Working with outside suppliers such as Holinger, MoTeC and Innov8 didn’t challenge Millard, as GRM has an ongoing relationship with most or had a previous relationship, enabling the team to convey what it needed for the S5000 project and set time constraints.

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“A lot of the suppliers we’ve worked with in the past – the motor sport community is quite small in Australia so, at some point or another, we’ve crossed paths with many,” Millard continued.

“We had to be very clear with the suppliers in terms of what our expectations were and set some deadlines as clearly as what we could early in the project. I’d say the suppliers have done a fantastic job – they’ve put more people on when more hands on deck were needed and to meet the deadlines.”

The undertaking by GRM to complete a production run of another 13 S5000s is a rarity in Australian motor sport – normally most teams build one, maybe two cars a season, but 13? It meant that efficiency also had to be considered, which Millard identified early on during the initial construction stage.

“I’ve said it a couple of times now, for a team in Australian motor sport to build 13 cars is almost unheard of – our core business is Supercars where on a standard year teams would probably build one car, if that,” Millard explained.

“To take that mentality and then decide to build 13 of them, 14 including the prototype, we had to think about how we were actually going to get everything made in time so that the final assembly was held up as little as possible.”

Although the base chassis has been changed, one constant has been the Coyote Aluminator engine since testing first began in 2016. Since the original unit was selected, the model has undergone a couple of upgrades – especially in terms of better cylinder heads and efficiency. Power remains set at 560bhp.

Development has continued in this area with Roger Higgins from InnoV8 designing a bespoke dry sump system, individual throttle body manifold and fuel injection system for the S5000, while the billet rocker covers are also an InnoV8 product and are integral to the structure of the car, as they form a part of the mounting system between the tub and engine.

Stefan Millard is the man charged with overseeing the build and final development of the GRM S5000 program.

Images: S5000/AA Staff

GRM staff hard at work assembling the final few S5000s in the days leading up to the series launch as Sandown.

Also adding to the structural strength of the engine mounting system is a pair of exquisite struts, machined from billet, forward from the bell-housing to the rear of the tub.

“The engine starts out as a ‘crate’ motor from the US, which is a 5.2-litre Aluminator V8, the top of the line Coyote engine,” said Millard.

“Higgins combines that with the specialised parts he has evolved in his workshop where it then gets dynoed and run in for a couple of hundred kilometres. Then it gets sent down to us where we complete final fit-out with auxiliary parts such as the exhaust system, Tilton carbon clutch, air box and K&N air filter ready to put in the back of the car.”

GRM’s fabrication team led by Howard Johnson have been busy constructing the twin radiators that feature in each sidepod, using an

ADRAD core and making the end tanks and hard line in-house. This is mated to a PWR bespoke oil heat exchanger.

GRM has also put meaningful time into the exhaust layout, which has been an interesting challenge as a number of considerations had to be met including packaging, cost and aesthetics.

“The biggest constraints were obviously the packaging around the engine, transmission and through the suspension arms,” Millard explained. “The exhaust itself went through a couple of iterations, which Higgins then ran on his dyno and made sure he was happy with them. It was something that was going to be mass-produced item so it had to be cost effective and easy to make in large quantities.

“It also had to be an elegant solution –

something where you take the engine cover off and it looks the goods as well. The biggest thing we’ve monitored with all of them is the consistency between the cars as well – it’s a control category so we’ve put a lot of effort into our repeatability, with our manufacturing jigs, and making sure the parts are coming out the same.”

Some outsiders question the idea of significant control components, but the category’s philosophy is results based on driver skill rather than the one with the most money or best resources, so another key element to developing the S5000 was to keep it simple and keep it low-maintenance. This is carried through to the electronics, which are a MoTeC-developed system, continuing the Australian-made preferences throughout the car.

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Sandown Preview September 20-22 S GRM's in house composite department are responsible for the engine covers.

UNDER U NDER T THE H E SK SKIN KIN

The key component mating the Onroak Ligier chassis to the engine is this superb adaptor plate, manufactured and fitted by Ligier US. It utilises the original rear-of-tub engine mounting points, plus some aero-quality adhesive to attach it.

The custom GRM developed steering wheel features paddle shift controls and a MoTeC dash display.

“Obviously we’re trying to really push that Australian-made technology – I think we do some pretty cool stuff in this country,” Millard enthused. “The brief from Garry was to make it as Australian as possible and MoTeC know what they’re doing.”

The MoTeC system is designed to have a minimal effect on the way the car is driven, again highlighting the skills of the driver. The desire for a paddleshift gearchange led to a lot of work being put into that part of the system, while drive by wire also features.

“There are basic driver inputs and not a whole lot else,” Millard emphasised. “There’s no traction control, no ABS, no launch control – it’s just straight up driver skill. I think a lot of people didn’t grasp that it didn’t have traction control....

“The brief from Garry was to try get the focus back on the driver rather than who has the best traction control setup and other aids.”

The bespoke wiring harness was designed inhouse at GRM with the chassis and transmission sections being made by Ryan Cawley of Proloom in Melbourne and the engine harness provided by Custom Wiring and Electrical, based on the Gold Coast and headed by former Perkins Engineering crew member Chris Archer..

The involvement of Melbourne-based Holinger Engineering in Lambden’s V8 open-wheel project was a given since its infancy, with the whole rear-end of the car being designed by the company in conjunction with Michael Borland.

From gearbox to differential to bell-housing, Holinger has designed a custom set-up for the S5000.

“Holinger has done a really good job – pretty much everything from the engine back is all Holinger,” Millard told Auto Action.

“Bell-housing, gearbox, differential is all custom for the S5000 and the gear set is an off-the-shelf item, but the actual castings for the case are bespoke for the S5000 and they’ve done a glorious job on it. The oil tank is integrated into the bell-housing, the catch tanks are as well, so it really makes a good package at the back of the car.

“They’ve been a good partner to have in the project.”

The Holinger MFT six-speed sequential gearbox, with reverse, features a pneumatic paddleshift gearchange with compressor.

Holinger supplies a 5 ½” carbon-fibre clutch from Tilton as well as the input shaft and rear axles.

A purpose-designed and built drop-gear is utilised to make sure the engine is as low as possible. Reflecting the control-spec nature of the category, gear ratios are fixed, as are the drop gears and diff settings.

“If we ever find ourselves in a position where at certain tracks we need different gearing or we find ourselves not in the window, it’s quite simple and cheap for us to just change the drop gears, which moves the whole window for the gear ratios,” Millard explained.

Ex-GRM employee Jacob Rayner of On Point Engineering has produced custom designed spindles that have been machined to match with GRM-designed uprights, which are interchangeable. As Millard says: “The upright bodies and spindles can be used on any corner of the car, which I think is going to be really good from a spares point of view and for when

The InnoV8 developed Coyote V8 features a bespoke dry sump system, individual throttle body manifold and fuel injection system unique to the S5000, while the billet rocker covers are also a InnoV8 product and are integral to the structure of the car.

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we start getting crash damage. Those little details make a big difference.”

A lot of the work suspension-wise had already been completed by Borland, so the S5000 retains the suspension geometry used before GRM were involved in the project. A component that has been modified slightly are the suspension arms, which were redesigned in-house at GRM with the aim of making the manufacturing process easier for mass production.

The S5000 features a traditional double wishbone and push-rod suspension set-up, a common arrangement on most open-wheelers.

The twin shock, linear spring configuration utilises JRi two-way rebound adjustable shock absorbers. These are dynoed by GRM to make sure they carry the exact same set-up, while springs are an Australian King Springs item, which were made in rapid time.

“We’ve dynoed every JRi shock to make sure that they’re all the same, it’s something we don’t envision the team’s having to spend development money on and they are a sealed unit from us,” Millard explained. “The regulations limit the number of spring options, which are supplied with all the cars. Mark King

The custom GRM engine radiators use ADRAD cores a acquisition systems. AP Racing brake calipers and ro

The S5000 wheels are locally-made by speedway legend Max Dumesny's MAX Wheels and Hoosier Tires supply the control rubber.

Safety first, the beautiful curved carbon body hides the full FIA-spec side intrusion panels

GRM put a great deal of time in designing the exhaust system for performance repeatability. The rear wing assembly, engine airbox and the floor of the car is made locally

by LC Race Composies

as the starting point before tanks are fitted in-house. MoTeC supply the ECU, PDM and Data otors form the basis of the control braking package which includes Performance Friction pads.

has done a great job in making 180 springs in quite a short time.

“We envision when racing one of these cars – whether it be leased or purchased – that it’s just a matter of there’s the car, there’s the set-up options and you’re ready to rock and roll.”

The front and rear anti-roll bars are adjustable, but not by the driver, and the options that are supplied with the car are the ones that must be used.

Stopping power for the S5000 is provided

by AP Racing, a company that has had a long association in Supercars competition, supplying the 4-pot calipers and vented rotors, which feature on all four corners of the car to again keep costs down and simplify repairs. Performance Friction brake pads are off the shelf Pf11s and are a control item.

“We wanted something that was consistent over a large temperature range and had a good modulation for the driver,” Millard added.

“Brakes are a consumable item, so it was important to keep the costs down in this area.”

The three-piece aluminium wheels for the S5000 are Australian custom-designed and constructed by MAX Wheel, headed by noted Speedway competitor and former touring car driver Max Dumesny. These will be wrapped in Hoosier control wets or slicks, 23.0x9.5R15 tyres at the front and 27.0x14.0R15 on the rear.

FIA-spec wheel tethers on all four corners of the car, a key safety feature the most visible of which is the halo. Although not a popular addition to open-wheel cars in recent years, the halo has proven its worth protecting drivers in a number of incidents since being introduced to Formula 1 last year. The halo comes supplied by OnroakLigier already fitted to the tub and GRM do not remove the device during assembly, which has created some minor issues.

“We haven’t worked on many openwheelers here but the halo does provide an issue for the mechanics, because it is quite hard to work on the inside of the tub,” Millard said.

Other safety features that aren’t obvious include the FIA-spec intrusion panels and protective headrest, while the chassis

Sandown Preview September 20-22 S UNDER U NDER T THE H E SK SKIN KIN

has been crash tested to the latest FIA safety standards.

The fuel tank is a 62L FIA-approved ATL bladder, supplied through Onroak with a single high-pressure fuel pump feeding the engine.

The core of the car, the Onroak-Ligier JS F3 carbon-fibre chassis, is actually manufactured in Italy for Onroak-Ligier (France) and then exported to Ligier (US) in Charlotte NC where it is used, among other things, for the Formula 3 Americas series. Because of its FIA-approved safety status, modifications to the tub/safety cell itself are totally forbidden, so in order to handle and distribute the S5000 V8 loads wider, an adaptor plate was designed co-operatively by Michael Borland and Ligier US design engineer Ken Anderson, and manufactured and fitted by Ligier US before the chassis leaves for Australia.

It utilises the original rear-of-tub engine mounting points, plus some aero-quality adhesive to attach it to the rear of the tub.

The result is an integral engine mounting system in which the engine itself is a semistressed element, ensuring the S5000 chassis is enormously rigid and strong – just what's required. It is an exquisite piece of engineering.

The tub itself, and the nose of the car, has undergone extensive and demanding FIA crash tests – frontal impact, rear impact, side impact.

GRM manufacture the suspension arms and brake ducts in-house. Tilton supply the pedal box, master cylinders, fluid reservoir and carbon clutch, JRi are the selected supplier for the control shock absorbers, while Kings Springs provide a selection of control springs used in the S5000.

all FIA-approved open-wheeler race car tubs, is an additional, virtually solid carbon plate fitted across the front of the tub, aimed at significantly increased protection for a driver’s feet. It provides a 25 percent increase in impact energy absorption, and follows on from British youngster Billy Monger’s horrendous crash into the back of another F4 car in 2017, which resulted in the amputation of the lower part of both legs.

The composites area of GRM, headed by Mick Mahendra, has been busy making the engine covers, brake ducts (front and rear) and dash panels, while the crew not far away at LC Race Composites in Mordialloc make the (modified for S5000) rear floors and rear wing, as well as the engine air box.

The rest, including the front wing, comes with the chassis, from Ligier US. Inside, the cockpit is as cosy as you would expect for an open-wheeler such as this – which means GRM had to be smart in how it fitted out the tub, installing all the key Holinger Engineering has been involved with the FT5000/S5000 project since day one and has supplied the bespoke six-speed transmission, bell housing/oil tank, suspension uprights and drive shafts are now used on components inside. the completed S5000 package.

“It hasn’t been too bad,”

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That whole process is a long and extremely costly one – and only viable commercially for cars that will be produced in significant numbers.

It is the single reason why production of this key element of any modern single-seater race car is simply out of the question in Australia because the cost and complexity makes it virtually unviable.

Of special note, and compulsory now on

Millard reflected. “Carbon tubs are notoriously tight to package due to the nature of them, because each is handmade, they are all slightly different, so you have to be clever with how you do your mounting, just to accommodate the small differences in each.”

All the MoTeC electronics are fitted under the moulded seat, while Sabelt brand FIA 2016 homologated belts are supplied. Further development by GRM has gone into the steering wheel, which is custom designed, featuring a MoTeC D153 dash and shift light module. The handle grips are a custom 3D printed item, while the rest of the wheel features the paddleshifts, pit limiter, scroll, alarm acknowledge and radio buttons.

To say the S5000 features the best of Australian race car ingenuity is underselling the efforts by GRM and each of the suppliers that have been involved in the project throughout.

S5000 is world class, an excellent endorsement of what can be and is still being designed and constructed in this country.

As Millard said to Auto Action during the chat; “I think that’s the thing that a lot of people haven’t understood. People think we’ve bought a kit from the US and are just putting it together.”

That is simply not the case.

It will be a proud moment for all involved in the project when S5000 takes to the grid this weekend – and to have of the ilk of Rubens Barrichello competing is an absolute credit to everyone involved in S5000.

Let the ground shake at Sandown!

TECH SPECS: S5000 ENGINE:

Based on 5.2 litre Coyote ‘Aluminator’ V8 quad-cam engine, adapted by Brisbane company InnoV8 for S5000 – including bespoke dry sump and cam covers (both part of the engine mounting system), and InnoV8’s individual cylinder fuel injection system. Key internal parts are replaced for further strength. Fly-by-wire throttle.

Rev limit: 8000rpm Max power/torque: 560bhp / 450ft-lbs Flywheel: S5000 spec, by Holinger.

Clutch: Tilton 5 ½”carbon-fibre.

Exhaust system: GRM designed and fabricated Radiators: GRM made using ADRAD core, PWR engine oil heat exchanger Fuel tank: 62L FIA approved ATL bladder. Single high-pressure fuel pump.

GEARBOX:

Holinger MFT six-speed sequential, with pneumatic ‘paddle-shift’ gearchange, features a bespoke, purpose-designed drop-gear. Gear ratios are fixed. External gearbox oil cooler (mounted between rear wing supports) manufactured by GRM. Bellhousing by Holinger, with integral oil tank, along with damper and suspension mountings. Driveline elements such as axles, input shaft are also supplied by Holinger Engineering

WHEELS AND TYRES:

Max Wheel custom designed 3-piece aluminium wheels, manufactured in Australia and supplied by MD Motorsport.

Hoosier S5000 control tyres – Front: 23.0x9.5R15 radial slick with control S5000 compound. Rear: 27.0x14.0R15 radial slick with control S5000 compound.

BRAKES:

AP vented steel rotors/four-piston 4-pot calipers on all four corners.

Control brake pad: Performance Friction 11

INTERIOR:

S5000 spec by GRM with integrated MoTeC D153 dash, SLM, paddle shift, pit limit, scroll, alarm acknowledge and radio buttons. Custom designed 3D printed steering wheel handle grips, Sabelt seat belts, Tilton pedal box

ELECTRONICS:

Both engine and car systems, including dash, supplied by MoTeC. Chassis wiring loom by Proloom (Melbourne).

SUSPENSION:

Uprights, wishbones, steering arms by GRM and spindles all Australianmade.

Dampers: (2-way adjustable) by JRi (US). Adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars.

CHASSIS:

Onroak-Ligier JS F3 fully crash-tested carbon-fibre Ligier tub (safety cell), nose including front wing element and side plates, side pods, side intrusion and rear crash elements – including the ‘halo’. Includes FIA-spec intrusion panels (front and rear) and headrest, FIA-spec wheel tethers. Bespoke billet aluminium adaptor plate designed by Borland Racing Developments/Ligier, fitted to the tub by Ligier. ATL fuel bladder.

BODYWORK:

(all carbon-fibre): Engine cover, brake ducts by GRM; Rear floors, rear wing and engine airbox by LC Race Composites, Melbourne.

WHAT'S THE BEAST LIKE TO DRIVE? AN S5000 is a truly unique, modern open-wheel racing car with a massive 5.2L V8 engine and limited downforce, but what is the monster like to wrestle around a circuit?

John Martin, a former Superleague Formula series winner and A1 GP driver, has tested the new S5000 ahead of its Sandown debut.

“Power, it has got a fair bit of that, similar to the Zytek powered A1 GP car, but it hasn’t got much downforce, you can’t carry the same corner speed as you could in them,” he said.

“It’s a halfway house, like a really high powered Formula Ford.

“It is definitely edgy, you can’t float it around like a Formula Ford car, but the way it moves around a lot is very similar,” he explained.

“The first couple of runs the thing was edgy and when I came in I said ‘I was actually scared, this thing is crazy.’

But we’ve made it a bit more compliant now, so it is not as bad,” he told Auto Action at the Phillip Island test.

Reigning Formula 4 champion Luis Leeds was also initially frightened by the amount of power the openwheeler had.

“I pooped my pants at the start because I wasn’t ready for how much power I was going to have, it was daunting, an absolute beast,” he told AA. “To experience the g-forces and the power, you’re constantly searching for the edge and it is by far the most fun I’ve ever had in a car,” Leeds said.

LMP3, Super2, Australian GT, there isn’t much Ricky Capo hasn’t driven. The 23-year-old drove one of the S5000 cars at the test and told AA that the speed approaching the corners was extreme compared with junior open-wheelers.

“You have to factor in that you are carrying so much more speed into the corners, you are going to have to brake a bit harder or lift off the throttle a little sooner,” he said.

“It is definitely a physical car, no traction control or ABS,

Luis Leeds and Ricky Capo (main image) both tested and were impressed with the new S5000 race package. man-handling it is the right term for it.”

Tim Macrow has been the S5000 test driver since its inception, and spoke to AA about a couple of key differences.

“It (now) handles slightly differently to the original iteration. We’ve (also) got a halo now so we are looking out through that but to be honest you don’t notice it after three laps,” Macrow said.

“To extract the most out of it you’ll have to have it move around and be fairly brave. They have purposely taken a lot of downforce off the car ,so it moves around a little bit and isn’t as affected in the wakes of the other cars, so we can race each other.”

He suggested that the car will require a unique driving style to almost any other open-wheel series.

“This is a point and squirt car, you’ll have to trail brake it in, get it turned and get it out using the power. It is a pretty different car to a lot of open-wheelers in that respect,” he said. Dan McCarthy

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Sandown Preview September 20-22 S

A DREAM TURNED INTO REALITY After more than three years build-up, one of Australian motor sport’s most anticipated new categories will debut at Sandown this weekend.

HEATH McALPINE sat down with S5000 creator Chris Lambden and technical partner Garry Rogers to discuss its debut and the future EVER SINCE the first announcement of a new V8-powered open-wheel category appeared in the news pages of Auto Action more than three years ago, anticipation and excitement has been high.

Though at times the concept suffered some setbacks, it wasn’t enough to stop former publisher and motor sport competitor Chris Lambden, who will witness his dream become a reality at Sandown this weekend.

It is fitting that the new venture kicks off at the circuit located in suburban Melbourne – it was five years ago that Lambden first shared his idea in conversation with Ross Stone, at the Sandown 500.

Since then, the journey has had its highs and lows. These range from the first test of the original Formula Thunder 5000, designed and overseen by Melbourne (Formula Ford) constructor Mike Borland, at Winton in the hands of Tim Macrow, to Supercars launching its own version of the same concept in 2017, a move that threatened the project.

However, a meeting with motor sport patron and businessman Brian Boyd put the project back on track. The FT5000 prototype then evolved into the 2018 FIA-approved OnroakLigier chassis on which the S5000 car is now based, which was launched last November, again engineered by Borland.

Then, in December, Garry Rogers Motorsport came on board as the category’s technical partner, to ‘productionise’ and build the cars – a significant undertaking. GRM inputed their own thoughts into the car and the first 14 are now ready to go.

Both Lambden and Rogers are quick to acknowledge the work undertaken by Borland and his crew, with the current S5000 featuring a lot of the components developed during that initial period – in particular the engine/gearbox rear end that transferred almost directly across from the original car.

But how did the idea come about?

A couple of years in a historic F5000 car planted

Although now replaced with a more modern chassis, the original FT5000 car was well recieved. Kiwi open wheeler legend Ken Smith is seen here behind the wheel at Pukekohe in 2017.

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GRM’s Garry Rogers and S5000 creator Chris Lambden. Two real motorsport people who have, with some solid support, brought the dream of big banger V8 open wheeler racing in Australasia to reality.

Images: S5000/AA Staff

Since the official launch of the revitalised S5000 car and racing program under the ARG banner, the Australian motosport industry has been anticipating this first race with great interest.

the seed for the idea that we see are about to on the grid at Sandown. The S5000 car is not a copy of an old concept, rather a modern interpretation using learnings from various open-wheel categories worldwide.

“When I sold my publishing business (Motorsport News), I had this ‘bucket-list’ thing about racing a Formula 5000 car, and I guess that’s where it began,” Lambden recounts.

“It just started the thought process of how cool it would be if there was a modern, decent, fast open-wheeler category in Australasia.

“It has never been about simply copying the old Formula 5000, it’s been about having a car that works in Australia. It has got to be a modern, FIA-spec, safe car. This is Australia after all, so you really do want to have a big V8 with lots of noise and a car with big tyres. The decision to incorporate a low level of aero is pretty obvious when you see the debates going on around F1 – we want to enable the cars to run close together.”

Reflecting on the S5000 journey since devising his concept, Lambden points out two key moments that were integral to getting the project off the ground.

“It has been an interesting time,” Lambden tells Auto Action.

“There have been a few speed bumps, but there have been two things along the way that have made it happen. The first was meeting up with Brian Boyd and the agreement that resulted in us all working together, going in the same direction, and that has been fantastic.

“And, most recently, the involvement of Garry and Barry (Rogers), who have come

The S5000 is a super modern and current FIA saftey spec race car, featuring a halo and wheel teathers. In the first incarnation of the FT5000 (right) the concept of a high-mounted airbox was considered as a visual connection to the Formula 5000 but has since been dropped. on board to build some brilliant race cars in a fairly short space of time. They have done a superb job of taking what we evolved initially with Michael (Borland) and turned it into what is ‘production possible.’

“There are some really good tweaks and everyone who has seen the car so far is thrilled by it.”

Garry Rogers Motorsport is going through an expanding period at the moment. Though Supercars is the team’s prime focus, there are Super2, TCR and now the S5000 programs currently being worked on in its Dandenong facility. Team owner Garry Rogers had spoken with Lambden about the idea three years ago, but it wasn’t until Boyd was on board that GRM became seriously involved.

“I’ve known Chris for a long time – he’s a genuine racing person, who understands racing,” Rogers explains. “Chris spoke to me three years ago about the original idea – I liked it. I saw that it had some legs but I wasn’t totally of the belief that productionwise it could be done without a lot of planning and organisation.”

Lambden’s meeting with Boyd, two years ago now, proved pivotal as GRM watched on, then became heavily invested in the project late last year, transforming it from concept to reality.

“Mike Borland can’t be applauded enough for all the work he did with Chris in those early days to get it to the stage that it got to,” Rogers says. “But we had not got involved until Brian Boyd approached us late last year about getting into the business of building these cars – because the idea was there, but it had to be carried into reality to get the cars produced.”

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Although GRM had a number of projects in the works, Rogers was confident that through using primarily Australian-based suppliers and GRM’s skilled workforce, the project was achievable.

“We knew we had the workforce and we figured with the in-house people that we had at our disposal, as well as some other leading engineering businesses supplying components and helping with the development we figured we could do it,” Rogers continues.

“It hasn’t been an easy road, but it has worked. We are now at a stage where we are able to put the cars together, and we have been able to have several tests with the cars.

At this stage, we still have a way to go to get to race weekend, but we will certainly have all 14 cars built.”

Alluded to by Rogers is the significant input by the Australian motor racing community in the project. Established names including Holinger, MoTeC and InnoV8 are among those that have made a significant contribution to the S5000 project, a feature that both Lambden and Rogers want to push.

“There are some really smart motorsport people in Australia,” Lambden emphasizes.

“The back end of the car is pretty much all Australian. We had to go with the internationally approved tub and safety elements, because you have to. But so much of the rest of it is Australian, with Holinger developing and building the six speed transmission and Innov8 who do the engines, MoTeC supply the ECU, data aquisition and the dash, even the wheels are made here now by Max Dumesny’s MAX Wheels.

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“And of course GRM has coordinated the whole thing – it’s been a massive undertaking ... It is just a masterclass in Australian engineering talent, which is really cool.”

Rogers agrees: “There are some really smart people in this country and I wanted to make it very clear, other than the tub, that everything from the exhaust pipes to the transmission and suspension, had to be realistically designed, produced and manufactured here in Australia.”

The major factor behind S5000’s successful development, according to Lambden, is that the key people behind it are, as he says, “motor racing people,” Australian Racing Group backers Brian Boyd and his right-hand man John McMellan among them. The drive that ARG has put behind the project combined with GRM’s engineering prowess has rapidly grown the project and developed it into a reality.

“Garry has been around motorsport for a long time, as have I and many of the others.

That makes a difference, in my view.”

Rogers concurs: “When Brian Boyd (who I got to know through the Wilson Security relationship we had in our Supercars program) spoke to me about it, it was clear he is a very enthusiastic motorsport person,” Rogers adds.

“Okay, he had to spend the money but he also had to spend a lot of time, effort and

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energy, as did Chris, Mike Borland and others. But the fact of the matter is that someone had to go out and spend the money to build the cars and we have done that.”

This weekend will have an air of relief and excitement about it, as a category that began as a chat between two motor sport friends thunders towards Turn 1, with none other than ex-Formula 1 race winner Rubens Barrichello among them.

“Rubens is an open-wheeler guy at heart – obviously, he didn’t go bad in Formula 1! – so he likes the concept and is coming to be part of it,” grins Lambden.

“We want Sandown as the launch event to go really well, and I don’t think we could have a better headline act than Rubens Barrichello!”

As for the future, Rogers believes S5000 will get bigger and is confident that international teams and drivers will be a fixture in years to come.

“We just have to get the right people driving these cars and, at this stage, it is looking very positive – I don’t think it’ll end at 14 cars,” Rogers enthuses.

“In my opinion, from the enquiries we are getting from not just local people but other parts of the motor racing fraternity around the world, I think there are more legs in this business yet!...”

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Sandown Preview September 20-22 S

YOUNG GUNS AND OLD HANDS Arguably the most anticipated debut of a new racing category in Australia in decades -eclipsing even the introduction of TCR earlier this year -- S5000 finally blasts off the grid for the first time this weekend at Sandown. We take a look at the field for this first event.

#22 Tom Alexander – AGI Sport #

NEW ZEALANDER Tom Alexander will get behind the wheel of N aanything from Utes to F5000s. The 25-year-old won the 2015 NZ TToyota 86 Racing Series and finished second in the 2016-17 NZ TTouring Car Championship. More recently Alexander has raced in AAustralia, finishing third in the inaugural SuperUte Series last year.

AAlexander often races historic F5000 cars both in New Zealand and Australia for mentor Ken Smith.

#27 Barton Mawer – Milldun Motorsport #

A OPEN wheel stalwart, Barton Mawer raced in both the AN AAustralian Formula Ford and Formula 3 Championships throughout the early 00’s. The New South Welshman finished runner up in the th F3 title in 2003 before moving to Europe, finishing second in the 20 2005 British Formula 3 National Class. Since then he has raced in the Toyota Racing Series and Champ Car Atlantic Championship.

#83 Matthew Brabham – MTEC Motorsport #

T GRANDSON of Sir Jack and son of Geoff, Matthew Brabham THE is a previous champion in the U.S. F2000 and Mazda Pro cchampionships, as well as finishing fourth in the Indy Lights SSeries in 2014. The 25-year-old has since participated in a couple oof IndyCar and Formula E races, before finding a home in the American Stadium Super Trucks, winning the series last year.

DDale Wood - Eggleston Motorsport

# CURRENT AUSTRALIAN Carrera Cup Series leader Dale #100 Wood will make a return to open-wheel racing for the first time W ssince he finished sixth in the 2006 Australian Formula Ford CChampionship. The former full-time Supercars Championship ddriver has recorded a podium finish in the championship at Winton iin 2014 as well as winning the Super2 Series in 2013.

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#8 Alex Davison – BRM #

F FORMER FULL time Supercars driver Alex Davison was the 2004 Australian CCarrera Cup Series winner, finished third in the 1999 Formula Ford CChampionship, but in more recent years Davison has driven a Porsche in the European and World Endurance Championships in the GTE Am class. th TThis year he is the TCR Australia driving standards observer and will once again pair up with his brother Will Davison in the Pirtek Enduro Cup.

# Michael Gibson – Australian Racing #11 EEnterprises

B BROUGHT UP in a well-known Australian motor sport family, Michael Gibson’s uncle Bevan was tragically killed at Bathurst M in 1969 driving an Elfin 400. Other uncles raced F2 and became FF1 mechanics and his father was a well-known sports car driver.

Michael Gibson has a background racing in Sports 2000 and M touring cars and has been an engineer for Apex Steel’s Joe Calleja.

The new S5000 team will be based in Melbourne at Apex Racing’s

#23 Tim Macrow – MTEC Motorsport #

#24 John Martin – AGI Sport #

A TWO-TIME Australian Drivers Champion and 2016 Australian Formula 3 Champion Tim Macrow is no stranger to fast open Fo wheel machinery, especially not an S5000 car. Macrow has been wh the test driver for the series since the prototype was created three years ago. ye

T AUSTRALIA race winner John Martin will feel right at TCR hhome when he gets behind the wheel of his AGI Sport S5000 ccar, as the 35-year-old spent many years racing open wheelers aaround the world. Martin won the Australian Formula Ford SSeries in 2006 before moving to Europe in the British Formula 3 CChampionship and Formula Renaut 3.5 Series. The New South Welshman also represented Australia in A1GP before winning the 2011 Superleague Formula.

#33 Tim Berryman – BRM #

#38 Will Brown – Eggleston Motorsport #

A SUCCESSFUL Radical Cup driver, Tim Berryman finished ru runner-up in the Australian series in 2014. As well as prototype ccars, Berryman has also had success in finishing runner up in the AAustralian Formula 3 National class in 2006. He also has F5000 eexperience with an historic Lola T332 car in the Tasman Cup RRevival Series and Phillip Island Classic, winning the category at The Island in 2016.

#92 Ricky Capo - Modena Engineering/ # VValvoline

A ALTHOUGH ONLY 23-years-old Ricky Capo has driven a large vvariety of racing cars around the world. From the Super2 and the AAustralian GT Championship locally, to the European Le Mans SSeries in which Capo won the 2017 4 Hours of Monza in the LMP3 class.

#111 Rubens Barrichello – BRM #

A FORMER Formula 1 driver who claimed 11 Grand Prix victories fo for Ferrari and Brawn GP. Over his 19 seasons in F1, Rubens BBarrichello racked up an incredible 322 Grand Prix starts, which is a record that has not been broken. In 2012 Barrichello competed iinn the IndyCar Series in which he won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie oof the Year Award. Since then, the 47-year-old has competed in the BBrazilian Stock Car Championship, taking the title in 2014.

C CURRENT TCR and Super2 Series driver Will Brown is dabbling in many different racing categories in 2019, the 21-year-old ccurrently leading the TCR Australia standings. The popular QQueenslander won the Toyota 86 Racing Series and the AAustralian Formula 4 title in 2016, as well as finishing runner up in the Formula Ford Series in the same year.

#97 Taylor Cockerton - MTECH #

A AFTER WINNING the 2015 New Zealand Formula Ford CChampionship in his debut year, Cockerton moved into the Toyota RRacing Series of which he has competed since. He continues to race in Asia contesting sports car and open-wheel events. ra

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A AUTO Action went to press a 14th and final driver hadn’t AS bbeen announced, but it was expected that the full allotment of SS5000 chassis would contest the inaugural round.

Illustrations: Scott Yorston SSMedia

A UNIQUE RACE FORMAT

DOUBLE DIPPING IT’S THE beginning of a busy month for Will Brown.

The current TCR Australia Series points leader is preparing to take his pilot’s test and for another Bathurst 1000 campaign alongside Anton De Pasquale in the Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore.

But before then, he will be undertaking double duty at Sandown contesting both TCR and S5000.

“It’s three years since I’ve been in an open-wheeler and like I’ve been saying all along, it’s like 2016 on steroids!” Brown exclaimed.

“I ran Formula 4 and Toyota 86 back then, but this time I’m running S5000 and TCR.” Brown is excited by the opportunity to race the S5000, which will be prepared by his Super2 squad Eggleston Motorsport and after having his seat fitting, is looking forward to racing one at the home of horsepower.

“It’s a beast isn’t it?” Brown told Auto Action. “For the amount of horsepower it has, for the amount of weight it is, this is going to be pretty exciting and provide good racing.”

Brown will arrive at Sandown with no testing under his belt in the S5000, but isn’t concerned as he returns to open-wheelers after winning the Formula 4 Championship in 2016.

“Eyes closed, head first, Brown told Auto Action about his approach for the weekend. “I’m not too worried to be honest, the S5000s from what I’ve been hearing don’t have heaps of aero, it’ll be very quick, but I think we’ll get used to them in no time.

Category founder Chris Lambden (right) oversees pre-season testing. Images: S5000/ Daniel Kalisz.

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Will Brown is looking to wrap up the TCR title at Sandown if he can, whilst also joining the field for the first-ever S5000 race weekend.

“I’ve driven plenty of cars, I don’t think it’ll be an issue and I don’t think a lot of drivers have tested it before, Tim Macrow and John Martin have done a little bit in them.

“I don’t see that being an issue and if we do a good job, we’ll see what comes of it for next year.”

Brown is also very close to sealing the inaugural carsales TCR Australia Series and can do so at Sandown, if he is able to extend his comfortable title margin by 17-points. It is expected however that Dylan O’Keeffe’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR will have a distinct straight-line advantage compared to the series leader’s Hyundai i30 N TCR, but Brown is up for the fight.

“We’d love to wrap it up next weekend, but one thing is that Sandown has a lot of long straights and the Hyundai is going to have a big BoP after Winton,” Brown explained.

“It’ll be a tough weekend.

“There aren’t as many corners at Sandown to catch that up. I don’t think it’ll be an issue, every where we’ve been able to qualify in that top three, so if we can stay in the top five and leave with good points then, hopefully we can wrap it up at Tailem Bend.”

Brown’s margin sits at 116-points heading into the final two rounds of the series. HM

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THE BRAND new wings and slicks S5000 Series will run a radical race format at Sandown that will feature a standard qualifying session and two qualifying heats, with those results setting the grid for the category’s Feature Race.

The one-of-a-kind qualifying system will be used and evaluated at the inaugural round at Sandown Raceway as well as at the following round at The Bend Motorsport Park in November, with the potential of using the format for the entirety of the 2020 series.

The open-wheel category will make its official on track debut on the Friday of the Sandown event with two regular 20-minute practice sessions.

A 20-minute qualifying session takes place on Saturday morning but rather than starting from pole position, the fastest driver will be given first choice of where they start the first race.

If that driver elects to start from pole, they will be sent towards the back of the grid for the second Qualifying Heat as the top 75 per cent of the grid is reversed.

Once the qualifying’s pole sitter has chosen their starting position, the driver who qualifies second will then get to select their starting position for Qualifying Heat 1 and this continues until the front 75 per cent of the grid is determined.

The bottom 25 per cent of qualifiers will start the first Qualifying Heat from the grid spot that they qualified. In the second Qualifying Heat the bottom 25 per cent of qualifiers will start in the reverse order of where they finished the first race.

The grid selections will be streamed on the Shannons Nationals broadcast shortly after qualifying, on Saturday morning.

“We want entertaining racing all weekend, so the idea is that for the Main Race, the person on pole has to earn it by racing and passing other cars,” said category founder and manager Chris Lambden.

Ten points are awarded to the standard qualifying session pole sitter down to one point for qualifying sixth. The two Qualifying Heat races are each worth 30 points for the winner down to one point for finishing 15th.

The driver with the most points collected over the three events starts from pole position for the Feature Race, with the winner of the final race taking the round victory.

Each driver is given two sets of the S5000 category control Hoosier tyres to complete all of the weekends sessions.

“The format is quite interesting and will add to the whole show,” said Matthew Brabham. “It will mean that whoever does win pole for the big race will have used some race skills and smarts to get there, and all that before the main race starts.”

The first 16 lap Qualifying Heat takes place on Saturday afternoon live on SBS, the second 15 lap Qualifying Heat begins early on Sunday morning and can be viewed on the live stream.

The 28 lap Sunday afternoon Feature Race broadcast live on SBS at the conclusion of the two TCR races. DM

FINISHING POSITION 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th

QUALIFYING 10 7 5 3 2 1

POINTS HEAT 1 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

HEAT 2 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

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September 20-22 ROUND 6

images: TCR Australia/Daniel Kalisz

The inaugural TCR Australia Series has been highly competitive but one driver has stood out WILL BROWN has driven a nearfaultless season in the HMO Customer Racing Hyundai i30N TCR and even when he has made mistakes, the ability for the Toowoomba-native to recover a good result is impressive.

Some might have thought his title tilt in jeopardy after colliding with James Moffat’s Garry Rogers Motorsport Renault Megane RS TCR at The Bend during practice, but even then second, first and fifth were his weekend’s results.

Queensland Raceway proved more of a struggle, after colliding with John Martin’s Honda Civic Type R TCR during the opening lap of Race 1, an incident he did fail to recover from.

Menawhile, his closest rival Dylan O’Keeffe has not had the series leader’s luck, having retired from two races and finished poorly in four others.

O’Keeffe’s race winning form has simply not been as consistent as his Hyundai rival throughout the year.

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR has highlighted its potential in the series, though, not only through

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TCR AUSTRALIA: The Story So Far

It has been all smiles so far this season for Will Brown, clocking up six victories and a hefty points lead. Back in the pack, the racing has been ferocious as demonstrated by former Supercars drivers Tony D’Alberto and Chris Pither.

O’Keeffe but also more recently in the hands of Jordan Cox. Cox is one of a number of young faces to duel with experienced campaigners, allowing Australia’s next generation of racers to shine. Cox took over from former Toyota 86 Series winner Jimmy Vernon, who had a fraught start to his season.

Other young drivers to impress including Aaron Cameron, Liam

CARSALES TCR AUSTRALIA ENTRY LIST

2 Aaron Cameron 3 Leanne Tander 7 Jordan Cox 8 Jason Bright 9 Dylan O’Keeffe 11 Nathan Morcom 24 John Martin 30 Will Brown 33 Chris Pither 34 James Moffar 35 Alexandra Whitley 37 Bryce Fullwood 38 Nestor Girolami 50 Tony D’Alberto 97 Liam McAdam 100 Russell Ingall 777 Andre Heimgartner

Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Audi RS3 LMS TCR Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR Hyundai i30 N TCR Honda Civic Type R TCR Hyundai i30 N TCR Renault Megane R.S TCR Renault Megane R.S TCR Volkswagen Golf GTI Holden Astra TCR Honda Civic Type R TCR Honda Civic Type R Audi RS3 LMS TC Audi RS3 LMS TCR Holden Astra TCR

WHAT IS TCR? WHAT MAKES IT WORK IN 2014, former World Touring Car Championship general manager Marcello Lotti announced his plan to create a new entry-level touring car series.

The result was TCR. Using the one-make Seat Leon Supercopa model as a base, the 2.0 litre engine formula matched with a standardised front splitter and rear wing, formed the beginning of the burgeoning class. The series adopted a method first used

by GT3 racing called Balance of Performance, whose premise is that all cars entered in TCR would be equal in terms of performance.

Currently 16 car models are homologated globally, but to make sure they match the performance of the original Seat Leon Supercopa performance prototype, the category puts every TCR model through extensive BoP tests.

Each model spends an hour in the wind tunnel where it is tested on ride height and the angle of the rear wing. The car is then put on a dyno to measure power and torque curves and from there the engine is connected to a data logging ECU and is tested in six different configurations, ranging from 102.5 per cent to 90 per cent. The final component of BoP is then a track

Carsales TCR AUSTRALIA SERIES POINTS Brown O’Keeffe D’Alberto Morcom Cameron

538 422 393 386 379

McAdam and Hamish Ribarits, who have kept experienced hands Moffat, John Martin, Tony D’Alberto, Jason Bright, Russell Ingall, Garth and Leanne Tander, and Chris Pither honest.

Moffat and Ingall have been frequent visitors to the podium, Bright has been a multiple race winner, while Martin is also on the winner’s list after a slow start to his campaign.

Five different drivers from as many manufacturers have each shared a pole position, indicating the closeness of thew competition.

The award for most unrewarded must go to Andre Heimgartner. Kelly Racing has been plagued by reliability issues and 17th position in the series is not a reflection of his pace. He has extracted

Moffat Martin Bright Ingall Tander

315 302 284 275 220

speed from both the Subaru Impreza WRX TCR and Holden Astra TCR where others haven’t, highlighted by qualifying second at Winton.

Guesting internationals have also played their part in the series, first Rik Breukers at Sydney Motorsport Park’s opening round, then leading WTCR driver Jean-Karl Vernay at Queensland Raceway. Vernay made an impact by winning on debut before not taking part in the rest of the weekend, while Breukers by contrast had an unhappy time, finishing a best of fifth.

Now the battle between Brown and O’Keeffe is set to heat up with just two rounds remaining, while a hungry pack behind is eager to spoil the party.

HM

test at Valencia. But BoP can also always be adjusted further, based on the performances of each model globally.

Each TCR category is able to run its own race format.

For example in Australia, practice is generally run over two 30 minute sessions on Friday. Saturday contains a morning Qualifying session where the pole sitter earns themselves two championship points and $1000 cheque from Michelin.

The first 30 minute race of the weekend is held on Saturday afternoon. A progressive grid structure sets the starting positions for the Sunday races 2 and 3, which are run back-toback with a 30 minute break in between. Cars are parked at a 45-degree on the pit apron between events, with no refuelling allowed as rthe cars have sufficient tank capacity to complete both races.

The winner of the first two races collects 40 championship points, with 50 points are awarded to the winner of the final event.

At every round each car is provided with 10 new Michelin hard compound tyres, with a new set required for Qualifying and two new tyres in each of the opening two races. DM

Since joining the series at Round 3, Russell Ingall has been very competitive and scored podiums at both Queensland Raceway and Winton. Dylan O’Keeffe (below) has a lot of work to do to catch Brown.

WHO TO WATCH AT SANDOWN THE INAUGURAL Carsales TCR Australia Series is nearing the finish line, as the little pocket rockets head to the iconic Sandown Raceway for the penultimate round of the 2019 contest.

With just six races remaining, Will Brown in the #30 HMO Customer Racing Hyundai i30N holds a comfortable 116-point lead and a chance to take the title this weekend.

If the young gun can extend his series lead by 17 points at the conclusion of the round, he will seal the maiden TCR Australia title before The Bend Motorsport Park finale in November.

The historic Sandown circuit with its long straights and fast corners should play into the hands of his title rival Dylan O’Keeffe driving the Ash Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. Balance of Performance will also

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be a factor as the Hyundai has had recent adjustments made due to its strong results not only here in Australia, but worldwide.

O’Keeffe sits clear of a three-way fight for third in the standings between DJR Team Penske Pirtek Enduro Cup driver Tony D’Alberto competing in a Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, Brown’s teammate Nathan Morcom and surprise packet Aaron Cameron in the Melbourne Performance Centre Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Just 14-points split the trio heading to Sandown.

Honda WTCR star Nestor Girolami will also be racing at Sandown in the #38 Wall Racing Civic, the Argentinian keen to show the Australians how it is done.

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Experienced campaigners Jason Bright and Russell Ingall can’t be ruled out either. Bright has fixed the front-end problems his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR has suffered since Phillip Island and went straight to the top at

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Winton, while The Enforcer continues to edge closer to victory in the MPC Audi RS3 TCR, another entry that should suit the long straights of the suburban Melbourne circuit. DM

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Sandown Preview September 20-22 S

AUTO ACTION’S Dan McCarthy takes a look at this weekend’s events. Run by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) the Shannons Nationals Series sees many national motor racing championships and series racing at the same events around the country. The Nationals was originally developed in 2006 between three parties, CAMS, the circuit promoters and national level racing

SUPER3

THE SUPER3 Series has been an exciting fixture on the Supercars support program and returns to the Shannons Nationals for the first time this year at Sandown, for its final round. This season, the series was officially recognised as the third tier of Supercars after previously running as the V8 Touring Car Series for 11 seasons.

The category is made up of decommissioned V8 Supercars, raced prior to the Car of The Future generation that was introduced in 2013.

Three classes compete in the series Outright, Kumho and Heritage.

Outright is awarded to the overall winner of the races and rounds, Kumho Cup is for privateer entrants and Heritage is for older model V8 Supercars that raced before Project Blueprint was conceived in 2003.

Mathematically five drivers can still win the outright title and each has demonstrated great potential over the course of this season.

Jumping out of the gates early was Toyota 86 graduate Broc

PORSCHE GT3

THE PORSCHE GT3 Cup Challenge is the proving ground for Australia’s next sports car stars, having kickstarted the careers of international drivers Matt Campbell, Jaxon Evans and more recently Jordan Love previously.

Consistent Queenslander Harri Jones carries a 116-point advantage to Sandown this weekend after finishing all 12 races in a podium position. The man chasing him is Aaron Love whose run has come late after winning the round at Phillip Island, sitting only eight-points ahead of Max Vidau.

South Australian Vidau was last year’s runner up and has been this year’s pacesetter, clocking up the most wins of any driver this season. However, retirements have hurt Vidau during crucial times

AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CAR SERIES

SANDOWN RACEWAY will play host to the penultimate round of the Australian Production Car Series, with Australian muscle leading the outright standings heading into the pointy end of the season. The HSV Clubsport driven by Chris Lillis and Nathan Callaghan leads the series points ahead of the BMW M4 of brothers Grant and Iain Sherrin, while Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey in a BMW M3 round out the top three.

The Australian Production Car Series has yielded solid grid numbers throughout this season representing a variety of

AUSTRAIAN GT ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

THE EXOTIC GT cars head to Sandown Raceway for the fifth round of the Australian GT Championship and the third and final round of the Australian Endurance Championship.

Every car in the series is a bedroom wall poster and are racing versions of Supercars and Hypercars, such as the Lamborghini Huracan GT3, McLaren 720S GT3, Mercedes AMG GT3 and Audi R8 GT3 LMS. This weekend the Endurance Championship is trialling a new race format. Rather than having one three hour race, the race will be completed over three one hour legs.

categories. Shannons jumped on board in 2007 as the naming right sponsor and has remained ever since. In 2019 the program will visit four different states and six race circuits across the seven rounds, with the penultimate to be held here at Sandown Raceway in Victoria this weekend.The large variety of race categories that run under the Shannons Nationals’ banner means that there is a category to appeal to everyone. Six racing categories will feature at Sandown, the Carsales TCR Australia Series, GT3 Cup Challenge, Super3, the Australian Endurance Championship, Australian Production Car Series, and the new wings and slicks category, S5000!

Feeney, who leads the series despite only winning one race, which was the season opener at Phillip Island. His consistency has been a hallmark of his season so far, but he will have to hold off a hungry bunch behind led by 2018 Formula 4 champion Jayden Ojeda.

The New South Welshman has made a seamless jump into Super3 competition and has hit form at the right time. Four race victories in the last three rounds meant he briefly snatched the lead of the series at The Bend, but is now just 11-points behind Feeney heading into Sandown.

Hamish Ribarits has dabbled in a couple of TCR events this year and enters the Super3 round third in the standings, an outside chance of taking the title, as is his teammate and last year’s runner up Zak Best. Best has taken more wins than anybody else this season but retirements have cost the MW Motorsport driver dearly, he sits fourth.

Nic Carroll has improved throughout the year recording numerous podium finishes but he needs to score maximum points to have any chance of winning the series in the final MW Motorsport entry. leaving him to hold off a close chasing pack for third.

This is led by reigning Class B winner Christian Pancione, who is hitting form at the right end of the year, while Ryan Suhle, Tom Taplin and Cameron Crick have all demonstrated promise during the season.

Three classes contest each race in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, the outright battle is called Pro, Pro-Am is the amateur class and Class B is for older specification 997 GT3 Cup Cars.

Sam Shahin, the owner and creator of The Bend Motorsport Park, leads the Pro-Am class from Brett Boulton and Ross McGregor.

While in Class B David Greig and Andrew Goldie are split by just six points. marques and models that represent the vehicles driven on public roads daily.

Four races make up the schedule for this weekend’s production car racing, kicking off with an hour-long affair on Friday before another race of the same length on Saturday and a 45-minute event in the afternoon. Sunday’s one-hour race concludes the round. The APCS requires at least two drivers to team up and race together at every round, in a bid to reduce the series costs.

There are six classes within the Production Car Series which depend on the cars’ performance and engine capacity, which results in a large variety of vehicles on every grid.

Two-time GT Champion Geoff Emery is well on his way to winning his third straight title, the Audi driver leading the series ahead of the two experienced Mercedes drivers, Max Twigg and Peter Hackett.

Emery is also leading the Endurance Championship along with his co-driver, 2007 Supercars champion Garth Tander. In the opening two rounds the pair finished first at Phillip Island and second at The Bend Motorsport Park.

Fraser Ross and Ryan Simpson in the McLaren 720S are second in the standings, ahead of Twigg and Tony D’Alberto in a Mercedes.

This round marks the first of two events this season that contribute towards the Sandown Cup, with the second a support to the Sandown 500 in November.

The Bend Motorsport Park will host the final round of the 2019 Shannons Nationals on November 1517, featuring the inaugural Carsales TCR Australia Series final, the second event for the big banger S5000s, and the crowning of the winners of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Australian Prototype Series, Australian Production Car Series and the Excel Nationals.

40 AutoAction

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Friday 20 September 9:10am–9:30am 9:40am–10:00am 10:10am–10:50am 11:00am–11:30am 11:40am–12:10pm 12:20pm–12:40pm 12:50pm–1:05pm 1:10pm–1:25pm 1:35pm–1:55pm 2:05pm–2:35pm 2:45pm–3:15pm 3:25pm–3:45pm 3:55pm–4:15pm 4:25pm–5:25pm 5:35pm–5:55pm

Production Car Series Super3 Series Endurance Championship TCR Australia Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge S5000 Series Production Car Series Production Car Series Super3 Series TCR Australia Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge S5000 Series Super3 Series Production Car Series Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge

Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Qualifying 1 Qualifying 2 Practice 2 Practice 2 Practice 2 Practice 2 Qualifying Race 1 Qualifying

Saturday 21 September 9:10am–10:10am 10:15am–10:35am 10:45am–11:05am 11:15am–11:35am 11:40am–12:00pm 12:05pm–12:25pm 12:30pm–12:50pm 1:10pm–1:40pm 2:20pm–2:40pm 3:05pm–3:25pm 3:35pm–4:35pm 4:45pm–5:05pm 5:15pm–6:00pm

Production Car Series TCR Australia Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge S5000 Series Endurance Championship Super3 Series Endurance Championship TCR Australia S5000 Series Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Endurance Championship Super3 Series Production Car Series

Race 2 Qualifying Race 1 Qualifying Qualifying 1 Race 1 Qualifying 2 Race 1 Qualifying Race 1 Race 2 Leg 1 Race 2 Race 3

Sunday 22 September 9:10am–9:55am 10:05am–10:25am 10:35am–11:35am 12:15pm–12:45pm 1:20pm–1:50pm 2:15PM–2:45PM 3:05pm–3:35pm 3:40pm–4:40pm 4:50pm–5:50pm

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge S5000 Series Endurance Championship TCR Australia TCR Australia S5000 SERIES Super3 Series Production Car Series Endurance Championship

Ticket Prices

Friday: Free Saturday: $30 Sunday: $30

Weekend Pass: $45 Kids under 16:Free

Race 3 Qualifying Race 2 Leg 2 Race 2 Race 3 MAIN RACE Race 3 Race 4 Leg 3

Tickets can be purchased online at www. thenationals.com.au/ tickets/ or cash only at the gate.

Shannons Nationals will send 10 per cent of all ticket sales to its charity partner Very Special Kids.

EXTEND DS TV TV COVERAGE SBS EXTENDS SBS HAS announced that it will dedicate more free-to-air television coverage for the final two rounds of the Shannons Nationals, to accommodate the introduction of the all-new S5000 series.

The new deal has seen both the Saturday and Sunday coverage extended by an hour, resulting in a two-hour telecast on Saturday and three-hours on Sunday.

Saturday’s broadcast will feature Race 1 of the Carsales TCR Australia

Series and the debut S5000 race. The Sunday coverage will contain two TCR races, and the all-important S5000 feature race.

All other track action will continue to be broadcast on the live stream on both Saturday and Sunday.

TV/Streaming Times

TV - SBS Saturday: 1.00pm-3.00pm Sunday: 12.00pm-3.00pm Streaming - www.thenationals.com. au/live/ All day Saturday and Sunday

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Formula One

Round 14 Italian GP

FORZA FERRARI Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc storms to fairytale Italian Grand Prix win Race Report: Dan Knutson Images: LAT

Pure joy for Charles Leclerc as he made it two on the trot in front of the Tifosi.

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ONE THING Lewis Hamilton has wished for while he has been relentlessly winning races – 11 last year and eight so far this season – is to regularly fight for the lead with someone other than his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton’s wish came true in the Italian Grand Prix when he had to battle with Ferrari’s new star Charles Leclerc in an on the limits, and perhaps over the limits, fierce fight for first.

Both Hamilton and then Bottas threw everything they had in their arsenals and that of Mercedes, to try and wrestle first place away from the 21-yearold Monégasque driver.

But they could not pry him from the lead.

And so for the second time in eight days, Leclerc started from pole position and won race.

His first ever Formula 1 victory, in Belgium the previous Sunday, was bittersweet as it came just one day

after his close friend Anthoine Hubert died at the same Spa-Francorchamps circuit in an accident during the Formula 2 race.

Victory number two was a scene of wild jubilation as tens of thousands of tifosi celebrated a Ferrari victory at its home track – the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza – also known as The Temple of Speed.

Monza’s podium is a platform out over the main straight and that straight gets flooded with fans right after the race. And this time they were celebrating Ferrari’s first victory at Monza since Fernando Alonso won in 2010.

“It felt amazing,” Leclerc said. “I’ve never been on a podium with so many people underneath it. And to see that the whole straight was full of people – mostly red – 99 per cent red – was great.

The Mercedes pair made mistakes, here Lewis Hamilton locks up in his pursuit of Leclerc.

Hearing them cheering, singing was just a lot of emotions.”

Bottas and Hamilton, second and third, joined Leclerc on the podium.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pit garage and hospitality building complex, Daniel Ricciardo was also smiling broadly after qualifying and finishing fourth. It was his best result since he joined Renault this season.

“We finally got maximum points if you know what I mean,” the Aussie said, referring to Renault being the best of the midfield teams. His teammate Nico Hülkenberg finished fifth. “That is really pleasing.”

He then glanced at a TV screen that was showing festivities on the pit straight.

“Wow, that is pretty cool, all the loyal fans,” he said. “Wow, I was one spot away from experiencing that!”

Leclerc led from start to finish, whereas teammate Sebastian Vettel spun out of contention early and hit Lance Stroll.

RESULTS ROUND 14: ITALIAN GRAND PRIX

The engine’s increased horsepower plus the chassis’ affinity for low downforce circuits, made the Renault quick at Monza.

Ferrari’s superior straight-line speed over Mercedes made it the car to beat at both Spa and Monza.

But the farcical qualifying at Monza helped Ferrari as well. Nine drivers headed out in the final two minutes, each determined to get a tow off other drivers while not being the driver out front creating the tow.

They did so much jockeying about that only Carlos Sainz made it around to start a flying lap before the session ended., and therefore the fast lap set by Leclerc earlier in the session gave him the pole.

Monza is all about high speeds, and so the cars are set up with very low downforce levels. That makes them a real handful in the corners.

Out in front in clean air from the start, Leclerc had the most stable car. By following Leclerc closely in the dirty air, Hamilton and later on Bottas struggled with what little downforce their cars had. Plus they had to use up more of their tyres trying to stay with Leclerc.

All three drivers made mistakes as the race went on.

Leclerc had to cut across the first chicane but kept the lead. Then Hamilton’s off at the first chicane handed second place to Bottas. And finally, a couple of bobbles by Bottas ruined his chances of getting close enough to take first from Leclerc.

Hamilton got very close to Leclerc a couple of times. Heading towards the second chicane

they were side-by-side, causing Leclerc elbowed Hamilton into the runoff area.

The FIA’s race director, Aussie Michael Masi, gave Leclerc the black and white warning flag – F1’s equivalent to a yellow card in soccer – for that move.

Then, at the Curva Grande, Hamilton was on the outside and Leclerc moved to his left.

“It’s just racing I guess,” Hamilton said. “I had to avoid colliding with him a couple of times, but I guess that’s how the racing is today. You just move forwards. There is zero issue with us; he did an exceptional job. I don’t have any problem with it, it is what it is.”

In contrast to his fleet Ferrari teammate, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel had a shambolic race.

He spun on lap six while running in fourth place, then tagged Lance Stroll’s Racing Point when he reentered the track having to then pit for a new front wing, and finally had to pit again for a 10-second stop-go penalty for that unsafe return to the track.

He finished 13th after being ingloriously lapped by the top eight drivers.

From the flowing high-speed tracks of Spa and Monza, the last races of the European season, the F1 circus now heads to the streets of Singapore where Ferrari’s straight-line speed will not give it any advantage.

But Leclerc is on a roll, and Vettel will be anxious to bounce back. Red Bull and Max Verstappen will also be very strong in Singapore.

So perhaps Hamilton and Bottas and Mercedes will be in the middle of another fight in the night race at Singapore.

Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 -

Driver Charles Leclerc Valtteri Bottas Lewis Hamilton Daniel Ricciardo Nico Hulkenberg Alexander Albon Sergio Perez Max Verstappen Antonio Giovinazzi Lando Norris Pierre Gasly Lance Stroll Sebastian Vettel George Russell Kimi Raikkonen Romain Grosjean Robert Kubica Kevin Magnussen Daniil Kvyat Carlos Sainz Jr.

Car Ferrari Mercedes Mercedes Renault Renault Red Bull/Honda Racing Point/Mercedes Red Bull/Honda Alfa Romeo/Ferrari McLaren/Renault Toro Rosso/Honda Racing Point/Mercedes Ferrari Williams/Mercedes Alfa Romeo/Ferrari Haas/Ferrari Williams/Mercedes Haas/Ferrari Toro Rosso/Honda McLaren/Renault

Laps 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 51 43 29 27

Gap 1h15m26.665s 0.835s 35.199s 45.515s 58.165s 59.315s 1m13.802s 1m14.492s 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 2 Laps Hydraulics Oil leak Wheel

Points: Hamilton 284, Bottas 221, Verstappen 185, Leclerc 182, Vettel 169, Gasly 65, Sainz 58, Ricciardo 34, Albon 34, Kvyat 33, Hulkenberg 31, Raikkonen 31, Perez 27, Norris 25, Stroll 19, Magnussen 18, Grosjean 8, Giovinazzi 3, Kubica 1 Constructors’: Mercedes 505, Ferrari 351, Red Bull-Honda 266, McLaren-Renault 83, Renault 65, Toro Rosso-Honda 51, Racing Point-Mercedes 46, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 34, Haas-Ferrari 26, Williams-Mercedes 1.

Max Verstappen started from the rear, damaging his front wing on the first lap on his way to eighth.

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OGIER STILL FIGHTING Seb Ogier put himself back in title contention, leading a Citroen 1-2 in Turkey as the Hyundais struggled.

Images: LAT

WRC SEBASTIEN OGIER has taken victory in Rally Turkey, one of the most dramatic World Rally Championship rounds in recent years, the result catapulting him back into championship contention.

Not only did Ogier win the rally but his Citroen teammate Esapekka Lappi finished in second to give the French manufacturer its first 1-2 finish since Argentina in 2015.

The men sitting first and second in the standings, Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville, had a disastrous rally scoring very few points.

On Friday the rocky Turkish terrain caused havoc, with drivers suffering punctures at almost every turn. Tyre

choice was also critical throughout the day and even more so on the penultimate stage when rain fell and those who chose the Medium compound tyres could not find grip.

Lappi took advantage of a good road position to find himself on top with a 17.7s lead. Ogier sat second and was one of the few drivers who chose the Hard tyres for the penultimate stage, while Neuville also jumped from seventh to third on the stage, finishing 0.7s off Ogier at days end.

Despite an opening stage spin Teemu Suninen was fourth ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen, who chose the wrong tyres for the final loop.

Dani Sordo recovered from an early

puncture to finish the day sixth ahead of Kris Meeke and championship leader Tanak, who lost 80s with a puncture in the morning.

On Saturday the drama began on the first stage when dust compromised Belgian driver Neuville’s vision, causing him to dribble off the edge of the road tipping the Hyundai i20 upside-down.

No real damage was done but 4 minutes were lost getting the car back onto its wheels.

Championship leader Tanak’s weekend went from bad to worse on the way to the day’s second stage,

RAST EASES TO SECOND CROWN RENE RAST has taken the 2019 DTM title with one round to spare after his championship rival Nico Muller struggled at the Nurburgring.

In the weekend’s opening race Audi driver Rast claimed maximum points from pole position, the German controlling the race from lights to flag.

His title rival and fellow Audi driver Nico Muller started third but received a drivethrough-penalty for jumping the start. This forced the Swiss driver to make an early stop in an attempt to capitalise on a safety car which, unfortunately for him, never came. A second stop resulted in him crossing the line languishing in 16th position.

It was a reasonable day for the BMW drivers with Bruno Spengler scoring his second podium of the season, ahead of Marco Wittmann who stormed through from 11th on the grid to finish third. Three of the Aston Martin’s finished just outside the points.

In the second race of the weekend Audi driver Jamie Green who took pole position

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with Rast starting second ahead of Mike Rockenfeller.

In a thrilling final few laps, Green held off an attack from brand mate Robin Frijns to take his first race victory since 2017, while the Dutchman in second recorded his fifth podium without a victory.

Behind them Rast became the seventh driver to win more than one DTM crown in just his third season in the championship.

“I’m mega-happy, of course. Until the end, I did not know if it was enough, because I did not know which position Nico Muller came to the finish. It’s a bit like the first title win that came unexpectedly,”Rast said.

“We had a great season and we were always competitive, now we can enjoy the finale in Hockenheim with the Super GT.” Audi locked out the top seven positions with Philipp Eng the best BMW in eighth and the highest placed Aston Martin driver Daniel Juncadella in 12th.

The final round of the DTM season takes places at Hockenheim from October 5-6.

DTM

when his Toyota Yaris’ electronic control unit failed forcing him out for the rest of the day.

Up front Ogier reeled in his teammate, eventually overtaking him on the day’s penultimate stage when Lappi briefly stalled the car.

Mikkelsen had a great day in his Hyundai, jumping to third 9.8sec ahead of M-Sport Ford driver

WTCR

WTCR FIGHT TIGHTENS

Suninen. Sordo was fifth ahead of Latvala, Meeke and Neuville.

Things were calmer on the final day, Lappi not pushing his championship contending teammate and consolidated second position for the team.

Ogier went on to take the victory by 34.7s. His first win since March sees him second in the standings 17 points behind Tanak.

“This win was really needed and our only chance to get back in the championship fight,” said Ogier. “We knew anything could happen because it’s a super-rough rally but the bad luck we had on the previous round in Germany was behind us.”

Citroen teammate Lappi suffered

a puncture in the final stage but the Finnish driver still brought the car home in second.

Mikkelsen rounded out the podium beating Suninen who finished fourth, Sordo was fifth ahead of Toyota duo Latvala and Meeke. A disappointed Neuville finished eighth ahead of Pontus Tidemand and WRC 2 Pro class winner Gus Greensmith.

The next round of the championship takes place in the forests of Wales, Rally GB from October 3-6.

Standings: Tanak 210, Ogier 193, Neuville 180, Mikkelsen 94, Meeke 86, Latvala 84, Suninen 83, Lappi 80, Evans 78, Sordo 72

Rene Rast won his second DTM title in just three seasons.

Image: LAT

IT HAS all closed up at Priaulx clung on to the the top of the standings lead until lap 12 when in the World Touring the three-time World Car Cup (WTCR) Touring Car champion after three exciting picked up a front-right races at the Ningbo puncture. Michelisz, International Circuit in unaware of the leader’s China. issue, hit the slowing The veteran Yvan Lynk and Co which Muller took two of the allowed Gabrielle Tarquini weekend’s races while t slip into the lead. to Norbert Michelisz However Tarquini claimed the other. w told to allow his was Muller made a strong c championship fighting Norbet Michelisz start from pole position teammate Michelisz celebrates in China, while in the opening race as through to take the race Jean-Karl Vernay was Mikel Azcona harassed victory. in the off track action.

Images: TCR Hub Ma Qinghua for second The Hungarian took the position. win and the championship Ma quickly escaped and put pressure lead, ahead of Tarquni, with Muller on the leader Muller. rounding out the podium.

The intensity increased throughout In Race 3 Muller again controlled the the race with Ma throwing the kitchen race from pole position, beating home sink at the Frenchman, who did not his nephew Yann Ehrlacher who made crack under pressure and went on to it a Lynk and Co 1-2. take victory, his first of the season and Chaos ensued behind, resulting in delivering the Chinese car brand Lynk only 15 of the 26 starters greeting & Co a victory on home soil. the chequered flag. Augusto Farfus Ma in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta emerged from the drama in third but let finished just 0.263s behind Muller, his Hyundai teammate Tarquini through Azcona completed the podium in his to take the final spot on the podium.

Cupra TCR, holding back a train of Both Michelisz and Guerrieri were Norbert Michelisz, Nicky Catsburg and among the many drivers not to make Aurelien Panis. the finish and saw Muller close to within Championship leader Esteban 17 points of the championship lead.

Guerrieri in the Munnich Motorsport “Fantastic weekend, all the boys and Honda Civic Type R TCR endured girls at Cyan Racing Lynk & Co deserve a disastrous race after his fire this,” Muller said. extinguisher was triggered on the grid, “We had a hard summer thinking forcing him to start from the lane and about what we needed to do, we despite a charge through the field, he stayed focus and this weekend we failed to finish inside the points. have hit our target. Everything is The Argentinian’s weekend got no possible.” better, either, as was one of six cars The next round of the championship which failed to complete the opening takes place at the famous Suzuka lap of race 2 when they spun into the Circuit from October 26-27. barriers.

As a result, a long safety car period Standings: Michelisz 247, Esteban was required to clear the track, after Guerrieri 232, Yvan Muller 231, Bjork which reverse grid pole sitter Andy 209, Azcona 188, Girolami 186, Priaulx struggled to hold first place as Ehrlacher 177, Tarquini 156, Vervisch Michelisz piled on pressure.

150, Farfus 141

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TRUEX WINS FIRST PLAYOFF RACE NASCAR THE FIRST race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs began at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in which Martin Truex Jr. took his fifth race victory of the season.

Truex took the lead with 20 laps remaining in the 267 lap encounter and held on to take the victory earning him automatic qualification into the Round of 12 playoffs.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver only led 32 laps on the way to his 24th NASCAR Cup Series career victory.

“The magic was back today, that’s for sure,” Truex said after the race.

“Thanks to everybody back at the shop. We took a gamble and qualified

24th and for a while there we weren’t looking too smart.

“We got the right adjustments at the end and had a great car all night long, I want to thank everyone who makes this happen for us. We’re on our way to making a championship run, we’ll get a lot of points and go to the next round.”

Kevin Harvick finished second in the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, 4.173s behind Truex Jr. Brad Keselowski in the #2 Team Penske Ford rounded out the podium in third.

Chase Elliott was the highest placed Chevrolet in fourth ahead of Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron,

Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman who completed the top 10.

All top 10 finishers were playoff contenders with Jimmie Johnson in 11th the highest placed driver who wasn’t.

In the race several of the key playoff contenders encountered problems in the first of three Round of 16 playoff races in sweltering 40 degree temperatures.

Kurt Busch caused a caution on lap 187 when the left front tyre on his #1 Chip Ganassi Racing car went down, resulting in Chevrolet slamming hard into the outside wall.

Busch made contact with Truex

BTCC TITLE FIGHT HOTS UP THE FIGHT for the 2019 British Touring Car Championship has been blown wide open as Northern Irishman Colin Turkington had a tough round at the Knockhill Racing Circuit.

Rory Butcher, Andrew Jordan and Jake Hill each won a race and closed in on championship leader Turkington.

The day began with Scotsman Butcher claimed a victory in front of his home crowd. Butcher made a mistake on the penultimate lap which allowed Jordan into the lead, but he quickly fought back to win the race by 0.268s from Jordan, the consistent Dan Cammish rounded out the podium ahead of Turkington.

In Race 2 the title race took a turn as Jordan claimed victory in race two, while Turkington was forced out of contention during a podium fight Race 1 winner Butcher.

Butcher lost the lead off the line to the fast starting Jordan, Cammish further demoted the Scotsman down to third on lap 6.

Team BMW’s Turkington briefly took third from Butcher as they fought through the first sequence of corners. Butcher forcing his Honda Civic Type R back down the inside of the Turkington with contact made. The BMW ended up in the gravel trap while Butcher was able to continue.

That is how it remained with Jordan taking the win from Cammish and Butcher who received a 5-place grid drop for Race 3.

In the final race Hill took his and an Audi S3’s first victory in the BTCC, Hill commanding the race with a peerless lights-to-flag

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BTCC

Jr. on the restart for the final stage which caused the tyre to rub on the bodywork resulting in the tyre going flat and him ending up in the wall. His car sustained too much damage in the impact forcing him to retire from the race.

It was a disastrous day for the other Busch brother also, very early on in the race, on lap 5 Kyle Busch hit the wall. The #18 Toyota driver pitted six laps later for repairs which put him a lap down, Kyle Busch went on to finish 19th.

At the same time as this, Daniel Suarez slowed while driving in front of Team Penske driver Logano.

MONTOYA AND CAMERON CLOSE TO TITLE JUAN PABLO Montoya and Dane Cameron have extended their lead in the IMSA Sportscar Championship with a dominant win at the famous Laguna Seca Circuit.

Cameron led home an Acura Team Penske 1-2 beating the #7 Acura driven by Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves Acura by 9.7s.

In the 2 hour and 40 minute endurance race Montoya

performance. Hill kept Josh Cook at bay throughout the race with Adam Morgan completing the podium positions.

“It was a pleasure to have such a quick car beneath me. It was the first time I led for a restart in the BTCC. It’s the monkey off my back now and I wanted to win so badly,” Hill said.

This time it was Jordan’s turn to retire, Turkington recovered brilliantly from the Race 2 drama to finish in 10th. Leaving him with a ten point advantage in the standings over Jordan, with Cammish only a point further back.

The penultimate round of the championship takes place at Silverstone from September 28-29.

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Martin Truex Jr scored his fifth win of the season, securing a spot in the next round of Playoffs.

Kevin Harvick (right) raced to second.

Suarez then made contact with the right outside of the #22 22 Penske Ford, causing substantial damage to the car that had led 105 laps and won the races opening stage.

Erik Jones suffered throttle trouble on the Stage 2 restart as his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was stuck in second gear. He entered the pit lane on lap 87 for repairs, he returned to the track on lap 102 15 laps down, he

Images: LAT

would go onto finish 36th.

Pole starter Clint Bowyer dropped steadily back through the pack during the race he would eventually finish in 25th.

The next round of the NASCAR Cup Series takes place at Richmond Raceway in Virginia on September 21st, with the Round of 12 playoffs beginning on October 6.

and Cameron’s third victory of the season enabled them to extend their points lead out to 12 points.

“Today was really good,” Montoya said. “We had a fun weekend, we were first or second in every session, it was good.”

“We did what we needed to do all weekend, and for the points, it was amazing.

Now we’re going into the Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron were victorious in the Penske Acura. last race with a 12-point Nunez in sixth. advantage, so that’s huge.

In GTLM Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand took their first Cameron took control of the race after his second pit stop at the halfway stage, briefly surrendering the lead class victory since Lime Rock Park in July of 2018. as the pit-stop sequence played out.

“I’m not going to lie, that feels really great,” Mueller Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr rounded out the podium said. “It’s a sweet victory but it wasn’t an easy one.” in the # 31 Cadillac, the pair snatching an important “We got in the car the first session here and it was final spot on the podium in the final 15 minutes of the pretty bad,” Hand said. “It was not good, we fought race as the duo sit second in the standings. our way from the worst car we ever had here to the Renger van der Zande and Jordan Taylor were the best car we ever had here today in the race.” unlucky pair to be overtaken in the closing stages but The #24 BMW M8 GTE car of Jesse Krohn and John still came home fourth ahead of Joao Barbosa and Edwards crossed the line 20s later in second position Filipe Albuquerque. The highest placed Mazda team and Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in the #3 was the #77 car driven by Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Corvette just 2.5s behind the Ford.

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RACE REPORT Pukekohe (NZ) Races 23 & 24

Report: Heath McAlpine Photos: LAT

HOMETOWN HEROES THERE WAS an heir of expectation heading to New Zealand that the weekend was another set to be dominated by Scott McLaughlin. It was a track at which he held fond memories of after taking his maiden Supercars victory at the circuit in 2013, but victories had been few and far between since then.

On the other side of the ledger, the Red Bull Holden Racing Team has a superb record at the historic Pukekohe Raceway. Eight victories have been taken since McLaughlin’s historic first win and the controversial new aero adjustments were sure to help RBHRT’s cause.

Tickford Racing were also hitting form with all four drivers, but would it continue over the ditch? Erebus Motorsport were in the same boat, but leader David Reynolds - fresh from signing a 10-year mega deal - was coming off another disappointing round at The Bend Motorsport Park, while young teamster Anton De Pasquale outshone his more experience teammate substantially.

Although a fair whack of points behind McLaughlin, van Gisbergen still had a sniff of a second title and placed his RBHRT Commodore on pole for race 23, but behind was a brace of five Mustangs led by Tickford’s Cam Waters.

Then where was the championship leader?

He wasn’t on the second row as Tickford Racing

associates Will Davison and Chaz Mostert locked that out, next was Fabian Coulthard, then starting a rather disappointing sixth was McLaughlin.

Erebus was there too, in seventh for Reynolds and ninth for De Pasquale, who was ahead of the consistent Nick Percat on his birthday.

One driver not mentioned to this point was Jamie Whincup. It was to be the start of a tough old weekend for the seven-time champ, he started race 23 from 12th.

At the start it was a perfect jump from van Gisbergen, but pressure was forthcoming from Waters who led a train of Tickford Mustangs with Davison snatching third from Mostert. Behind, McLaughlin was also making moves on his teammate at Turn 8, but this hampered his exit, allowing Reynolds to sneak through.

Whincup was battling through the pack, but while attempting to pass Scott Pye at Turn 8 there was an incident which affected the result of his race. It didn’t involve Pye but rather birthday boy Percat, who was tapped into a spin by Whincup, giving him a 15s post-race penalty.

Coulthard had recovered from his tardy start to be putting Mostert under his blowtorch, but it was Reynolds who was making all the moves early and overtook DJR Team Penske’s number two at Turn 8.

Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin both got to celebrate in front of the home crowd at Pukekohe.

Scott McLaughlin was out of sorts in Race 23, finishing fourth.

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Jamie Whincup looked good to win race 24 until the Safety Car confusion.

Chaz Mostert collided with his teammate Cam Waters in race 23 but bounced back onto the podium in race 24.

Last minute parity adjustments made a big difference to the speed of the Commodores, with RBHDT cars on pole for both races. Andre Heimgartner was quickest Nissan again, while Will Davison was fast for Tickford.

De Pasquale was the first to pit on lap 9, followed by Coulthard and Whincup on the next lap, which kickstarted his run of extraordinarily laps that harvested the fastestever lap of Pukekohe, a 1m 02.54s.

When the safety car was deployed on lap 14, Whincup was perfectly placed to attack his teammate.

But why was the safety car out?

Surprisingly, it was a fuel issue for Team18’s Mark Winterbottom. A fault with the scales on the fuel rig was the cause of the issue, and he lost five laps in the process.

The safety car period allowed the leaders to fill to the brim, meaning only a short stop was required later in the race to meet the minimum fuel drop, placing the drivers who pitted early, namely Whincup, De Pasquale and Coulthard,

at a disadvantage.

For Whincup, his pace in clean air nullified this issue and he emerged as a contender for the win. Although he was third at the restart, he quickly moved toward the lead, as De Pasquale dropped further back with a recovering Andre Heimgartner charging through in his usual position as lead Nissan.

Whincup’s charge was further enhanced when James Golding’s Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore had a power steering pump fail, which left oil on the circuit which leader Coulthard hit it at Turn 4. He managed to save the slide, but Whincup moved through to the front.

RBHRT’s Kiwi charger was having an easy run, but the gains Whincup had made were clear to see when van Gisbergen exited the David Reynolds celebrated his new Erebus contract with a podium in race 23.

pit lane after his second stop, now with his teammate right on his tail. Sense prevailed as Whincup was told to ‘hold position, hold position’ by engineer David Cauchi.

That wasn’t the case for Tickford. Waters and Mostert were bickering behind for the final podium position and it was getting willing.

The pair had joked on social media about the Bathurst clash last year, but it got real on lap 40 when Mostert hung around the outside at Turn 4 and tried to do the same at the next corner. There wasn’t enough room, however, plus Waters locked up, leading to contact.

It was critical damage for Mostert as his Mustang suffered a broken steering bracket connection to the upright ... all team principal Tim Edwards could say was “shit happens”.

It then got worse for Tickford when Will The Safety Car intervention in race 24 turned the result upside down.

Davison was handed a 15s penalty for speeding in pitlane.

Out front, van Gisbergen made inroads on McLaughlin’s lead and placed himself in prime position to take out the weekend’s main prize, the Jason Richards Trophy.

Second was not clear cut, though, with Whincup’s penalty not called until after the race, dropping him to sixth.

This elevated Waters to second and Reynolds to third, while McLaughlin and Holdsworth were other benefactors of Whincup’s earlier clash with Percat, who ended the race 12th.

Qualifying on Sunday for race 24 was an interesting affair. McLaughlin made a rare mistake and ran wide out of the final corner, completed a full 360 spin across the start-finish Simona de Silvestro got a lucky break with the Safety Car in race 24, finishing 7th.

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RACE REPORT Pukekohe (NZ) Races 23 & 24

Lee Holdsworth was strong for Tickford in race 24, starting on the front row and running strongly until the Safety Car fiasco.

line in what was the ‘save of the year’ so far. Reynolds was not as lucky, in a Commodore that wasn’t working through the Turn 2,3,4 sequence, he went off into the sand trap at Turn 3, bringing out the red flag.

A sublime lap from Whincup in the Top 10 shootout gave him pole for the final 70-lap event, while Percat was penalised for arriving late at pit lane, though this only demoted him one spot, elevating Winterbottom.

Tickford had DJR Team Penske’s measure, well in qualifying at least.

Holdsworth put his Mustang on the front-row with Waters and Coulthard behind, while McLaughlin had to make do with sixth, though that was still ahead of van Gisbergen, a place further back.

Replicating his teammate’s start from the previous day, Whincup charged to the lead at the start clear of Holdsworth, setting himself up to dominate the afternoon.

The two Kiwi title combatants clashed in a thrilling duel on lap 4, when van Gisbergen made a better exit out of Turn 8 and completed the pass at the following corner, though there was a hefty nudge between the duo denting the passenger door of the RBHRT Commodore.

First to pit were Holdsworth and Coulthard on lap 5, which was to prove detrimental to their races, thoughh this was not known to the anyone at this stage.

The day for Reynolds became worse when a bolt in the throttle linkage worked its way loose, which forced the car to stop at Turn 8 on lap 13.

This is where the race got turned on its head.

A safety car was deployed, but in amongst the confusion of pit stops the safety car picked up the right car, but on the wrong lap and what followed was a mistake by driver and race control.

Whincup was picked up by the safety car, but a lap too early, which disadvantaged the teams that had already pitted.

Realising this, the RBHRT driver overtook the safety car but crucially no green light was displayed, triggering mass

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RACE RESULTS RACE 23 70 LAPS 1 Shane van Gisbergen 70 laps 2 Cameron Waters +12.649s 3 David Reynolds +15.429s 4 Scott McLaughlin +16.089s 5 Lee Holdsworth +16.891s 6 Jamie Whincup +17.363s 7 Fabian Coulthard +21.383s 8 Andre Heimgartner +21.996s 9 Will Davison +24.822s 10 Richie Stanaway +25.927s 11 Tim Slade +26.661s 12 Nick Percat +31.849s 13 Scott Pye +32.280s 14 Todd Hazelwood +37.850s 15 Anton De Pasquale +38.320s 16 Simona De Silvestro +38.586 17 James Courtney +39.985s 18 Garry Jacobson +42.178s 19 Rick Kelly +47.031s 20 Macauley Jones +57.902s 21 Jack Le Brocq 69 laps 22 Mark Winterbottom 65 laps 23 James Golding 60 laps 24 Chaz Mostert 56 laps FASTEST LAP Jamie Whincup 1m 02.5421s

Nick Percat also pipped Chaz Mostert for third in race 24, which Scott McLaughlin won won. Todd Hazelwood benefitted benefitted from the Safety Car issue to finish a fine fifth.

confusion that disadvantaged a number of drivers.

McLaughlin emerged as the race leader ahead of van Gisbergen, Mostert, Percat and Todd Hazelwood, who was just one of several drivers to be advantaged by the situation.

The championship leader then held his comfortable margin all the way to the flag.

The battle for the minors was keenly contested, first for second by van Gisbergen and Mostert, then later in the race Percat was hounding the rear of Tickford team leader. It was a thrilling dice that went down to the line, however Percat could do nothing to oust Mostert from third.

In the end, McLaughlin buttoned off and took his 17th victory of the season by 1.2s, to break the longstanding record for most wins in a season held since 1996 by Craig Lowndes.

The safety car fiasco enabled a number of drivers to take career or season best result including Hazelwood’s fifth, Simona De Silvestro’s seventh and a welcome double top 10 for GRM, Richie Stanaway coming back from an accident in practice to seal a pair of top results.

Heading to Bathurst, a 598-point margin separates the Kiwi pair at the top, but neither have enjoyed great success at The Mountain previously. Mostert, Whincup and Reynolds on the other hand…

0 0 ▲4 ▲2 ▲3 ▲5 ▼2 ▲8 ▼6 ▲4 ▲2 ▼2 ▼2 ▲6 ▼6 ▲7 ▲2 ▼1 ▲3 ▲1 ▲3 ▼7 ▼5 ▼ 20

RACE RESULTS RACE 24 70 LAPS 1 Scott McLaughlin 70 laps ▲4 2 Shane van Gisbergen +1.898s ▲4 3 Chaz Mostert +6.043s ▲4 4 Nick Percat +6.566s ▲6 5 Todd Hazelwood +31.654s ▲ 6 6 Scott Pye +43.751s ▲ 11 7 Simona De Silvestro +44.932s ▲ 14 8 Mark Winterbottom +47.365s ▲ 1 9 Richie Stanaway +50.136s ▲ 7 10 James Golding +50.952s ▲ 5 11 Rick Kelly +53.074s ▲ 9 12 Fabian Coulthard +53.406s ▲ 8 13 Will Davison +53.864 ▼ 5 14 Cameron Waters +54.160s ▼ 11 15 Lee Holdsworth +55.603s ▼ 13 16 Jamie Whincup +55.969s ▼ 15 17 James Courtney +58.177s ▲ 1 18 Tim Slade +58.733s ▼ 6 19 Andre Heimgartner +61.575s ▼ 6 20 Anton De Pasquale 69 laps ▼6 21 Garry Jacobson 69 laps ▲2 22 Macauley Jones 68 laps ▼3 23 Jack Le Brocq +79.180 ▲ 1 24 David Reynolds +44.300 ▲ 2 FASTEST LAP Jamie Whincup 1m 02.5421s Points: McLaughlin 3008, van Gisbergen 2410, Mostert 2327, Coulthard 2317, Whincup 2140, Reynolds 2048, Waters 1975, Percat 1894, Davison 1811, Holdsworth 1704, De Pasquale 1665, Heimgartner 1526, Winterbottom 1516, Courtney 1510, Slade 1458, Pye 1360, Kelly 1302, Hazelwood 1291, Golding 1217, De Silvestro 1129, Le Brocq 892, Jones 891, Jacobson 854, Stanaway 734, Smith 285, Caruso 222, Pither 159, Randle 108, Blanchard 93

Pukekohe NZ Touring Cars

CHESTER’S PERFECT WEEKEND IT WAS Nick Chester who clean swept an action packed non-championship round of the New Zealand Touring Car Championship.

Chester’s Holden held off fellow Commodore driver Simon Evans in all three races over the Auckland 400 weekend.

In Race 1 Chester led the formation rolling start away and led into Turn 1. Further back exiting Turn 4, British Touring Car Championship star and Queensland 500 winner Paul Radisich spun out of third position. This allowed Tim Edgell into that spot but he didn’t make it to the next corner before losing the place as his car began to slow, which promoted John Midgley into third.

On lap 2 Chester was forced to start defending from Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy driver Evans, at Turns 5 and 8. This continued for the remainder of the race with Chester holding on to take the win from Evans by 0.77s. Lance Hughes finished third 42s back after taking the place off Midgley just before half race distance.

Race 2 was run on Sunday morning in mixed conditions. Chester went out on wet tyres while Evans went out on slicks, but a last minute change of plan saw Evans change tyres on the

Nick Chester dominated the non-championship weekend at Pukekohe. Image: NZTC

warm up laps resulted in him starting from the lane. When the race went green Chester shot into the distance, while Evans made his way up to third in three laps and to make light work of Hughes.

At the midway stage of the 16 lap race, Evans caught Chester and looked destined to get through, however the former NZ Touring Car champion could not find a gap.

On the final lap of the race, Chester ran wide into Turn 5 which allowed

Evans to have a go around the outside of Turn 8 but he was unable to pull it off and crossed the line 0.19s behind the winner. Nick Ross in a Nissan Altima finished third after he made a spectacular move around the outside of Hughes at Turn 1.

The final race was much the same.

From the only standing start of the weekend Chester led into Turn 1, while Hughes took third from Ross.

Edgell made an aggressive move into Turn 4, making contact with

Hughes and giving the Race 1 top three finisher a puncture. However Edgell himself was caught and overtaken by Radisich in the closing stages.

Chester held back Evans once again with some robust defensive moves in the closing laps, taking the win by less than 0.8s from Evans with Radisich 40s back.

The 2019-20 NZ Touring Car Series begins at Pukekohe Park Raceway on 29 November–1 December.

ROUND 5 - PHILLIP ISLAND - SEPT 28-29

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s w e n Y A D E E SP Image: Declan Brownsey

RYAN MCNAMARA locked down his first-ever major Sprintcar victory at Mareeba Speedway in North Queensland and created a slice of history. The likable Brisbane-based racer was the first Sprintcar winner at the venue for 40 years in the opening round of the Queensland Double Down Series.

The last time Sprintcars raced at the venue was during a day meeting in 1979. McNamara is the son of Ken from KRE Race Engines and he led home Ryan Davis from Winchelsea and Kevin Titman, also of Brisbane. Other winners on the night were Mark Alba (Super Street Sedans), Jye Corbet (Jnr Formula 500s), Kayden Iverson (F500s) and Johnno Collins (Modified Saloons).

Image: Declan Brownsey

CAM WATERS is trading in his Ford and will slip behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz for upcoming competition in the Modified Sedans category in 2019-20. The V8 Supercars star has enlisted he brother Jarrod to build the groundbreaking new car and they’ll race it in conjunction with close friend Travis Shore of Red Cliffs. “We’re hoping to have the Merc ready to race at our home track at Timmis Speedway (in Mildura) in November. It should be a bit of fun and I’ve got a few dates I’d like to race at, including the Australian title in Tasmania,” Cam told Auto Action.

LISMORE SPEEDWAY promoter David Lander is hoping to attract American drivers to his venue in early 2020. He will conduct a Speed Week tournament from January 11 when the World Series Sprintcars are due in town on the 14th. “It’s a great opportunity to utilise the availability of many drivers, keen to run as many meetings as possible throughout January. Each of the three races are top events and especially with the return of the World Series Sprintcars for a round of their championship trail, this automatically means some of the biggest Sprintcar names in the country will be seen in action at Lismore,” Lander said.

A LAST-minute decision by Warren Oldfield proved right as he raced to victory in the Street Stock Classic at Pithara Speedway, doubling as round four of the 2019 SSD Gold Cup Series. He claimed two heat wins and Damon Lyall the other, the duo sharing the front row for the 20-lap feature.

Oldfield led every lap and won from Lyall, Josh Martinelli and Chris Skipworth.

Image: Geoff Rounds

KYE BLIGHT has created history in one of the world’s biggest Late Model events, becoming the first Australian to ever win a heat race in the 49th running of the World 100 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway. Blight of Western Australia, driving a car for Paul and Alice Stubber’s also of WA, was up against 97 teams from America and Canada. Blight got as high as eighth in the first B-Main and eventually finished 12th, missing the final field of 30. The eventual winner of the prestigious 100-lap race was Jonathan Davenport, who became a three-time champion.

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TAKE YOUR SEAT DRIVERS

SHAUN DOBSON has dusted off the helmet and will be racing again this season, after a hiatus on the sidelines for the past 16 months.

The likable Tasmanian chose to spend the past season focusing on family and business commitments, and is now looking forward to making his season debut in his home state for the first time in numerous seasons.

“The stint on the sidelines has done me a world of good,” Dobson said.

“We’ve got a fairly exciting schedule lined up, we’re keen to get the season underway and get back into the swing of things.”

He and father Andrew will run their own package of a Cool chassis and KRE 410ci powerplant, and will again be joined by very experienced team crew chief Shane Finch for the entirety of the season.

Dobson, 26, will hit Australia’s mainland for racing at Premier Speedway, Warrnambool in December and race mainly at New South Wales and Victorian venues.

They are also eyeing off racing in South Australia and Queensland, before returning to the Apple Isle for the Australian Sprintcar Championship in early February.

Meanwhile, Dobson’s former team Dickson Motorsport will welcome 2018 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic champion Corey McCullagh to their team for the upcoming season.

Image: Geoff Rounds

He will drive the 410ci Sprintcar and Jacob the 360ci powered VA3 and both will have Michael Parry as crew chief for the season.

McCullagh will be keen to add a consecutive SRA championship to his impressive resume.

One of the busiest drivers over the coming months will be 21-year-old Gold Coast rising star Lachlan McHugh, who has been named the new driver for the John McLellan - owned WA #60 Sprintcar.

Western Australian Kaiden Manders was originally set to drive the car but has decided to take some time off from racing.

McHugh has already forged himself a fine reputation in Sprintcar racing over the past four seasons, and he will contest 50 nights of racing.

He has competed in the World Series Sprintcars competition over the last two seasons and finished a creditable eighth in

IT’S AUSSIE TITLE TIME THE SOUTHERN and western regions of Australia will be the main destinations for deciding the majority of national championships for the fast-approaching 2019-20 Speedway season.

The 57th running of the 410ci Australian Sprintcar Championship is set for Latrobe Speedway in Tasmania from January 31, 2020 while Victoria’s Simpson Speedway is set for its biggest-ever meeting, when it hosts the 360ci Australian Sprintcar Championship from March 7.

“It’s obviously a very exciting time for the club,” said Simpson Car Club president Alan Symons.

“If it didn’t stand up businesswise then we wouldn’t take it on, but I think we probably stand to make the event pay for us. We just think as a club we are ready to do it.”

Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway is the only NSW venue to host a national title next season, with

the total pointscore on both occasions, with a best of third at Latrobe during the 2017-18 season.

He was named the WSS Hard Charger of the Year and also raced from 10th position to win the Queensland Sprintcar title at Toowoomba in May and grabbed eighth in the Australian Sprintcar Championship in 2018.

The J&S Drilling team intends to contest the 2019-20 World Series Sprintcars competition with a decision pending if they are to contest the Australian 360 & 410 Sprintcar titles as well as some of the country’s other majors.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity,” McHugh said.

“John was looking at someone young to take over the seat from Kaiden, and John’s close friend Dave Horrell recommended me, so I’m really grateful to Dave for the recommendation and can’t wait to repay John for the opportunity.”

Image: Richard Hathaway

the ground-pounding V8 Dirt Modifieds for two nights from February 21.

A week later Warrnambool’s

Premier Speedway has the Australian Speedcar title from Feb 28, and the Wingless Sprints drivers will be looking

for gold at their national championship on the same weekend in Kalgoorlie.

Kye Walters was a standout last season and won his first national title and will be looking to Carrick on March 20 to retain his Australian Modified Sedan Championship.

The Super Sedans are at Mount Gambier from March 7 and Speedway’s burgeoning stars of the future will feature in one of the first titles of 2020, as the Junior Sedans hit Collie from Jan 11, while the Late Models race in Perth on the same weekend.

Image: Lee Greenawalt The first championship to be decided for the new season will be the Formula 500s, also at Simpson from December 20.

The AMCA Nationals are set for Mildura from the 10th April and on the same weekend Latrobe is where a big field of Street Stocks is expected. During the ANZAC Day weekend Ellenbrook Speedway holds the Production Sedans and Bordertown is for the SKAA Karts.

Speedway’s newest division, the Modlites, will head west to Broome Speedway for the final title of the year from August 7.

p ra w S L A NATION

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THRILLER AT MANNUM

Image: David Batchelor

IT WAS a nail-biting finish for Chris and Colin Johnson who won in the final round of the South Australian Multi Club series at Mannum on September 7-8. In their ProLite Custom/Mitsubishi they battled with class rivals Matt Curtis and Bradley Traynor (GCR Rhino/ Nissan) throughout, just managing to take victory despite a last lap surge by Curtis.

There was a big gap back to third placed Mick Surfield and Craig Matthews (RIDS Joker/Nissan) who were out front of a Super 1650 freight train with Simon and Kyle Tucker (Ratbagz/Toyota) next followed by Sam Vanstone and Larissa Jeffery (RIDS Joker/ Toyota).

Matthew and Sean Waye bought their Chev V8-powered Hilux home sixth and collected the Extreme 4WD win after Matthew Witmitz and Danny Judge broke the steering in their Landrover Discovery. Still Witmitz fought back to come home 11th and second in class. John Smith and Grant Manion notched up another Extreme 2WD win in the Nissan Patrol slotting in seventh outright.

Haydn and Neil Vanstone (RIDS Joker/VW) led another group of Super 1650s to be next across the line, ahead of Mark and Ryder Taylor (Cobra/Mazda) who had found some luck after a frustrating year. They even managed to pick off Nick and Alex Burt (Rivmasta/ Toyota) on the final lap despite a misfire.

David and Nathan Hall (Murphy/Nissan) led the opening lap and before a puncture on lap two let Toby Whateley and Keely Pampling (Can-Am Maverick) through. The Halls went out with broken steering in the next heat and Whateley’s luck also evaporated when a broken axle went through a tyre and bent the steering.

Nev Day and Danny Tulla (Mantiss/Mitsubishi) finally got a finish although it was 12th after breaking an axle on Saturday. Peri and Joe Guidolin (Can-Am Maverick) were next home and grabbed the Superlite A win and were well in front of Sportslite winners Gavin Chant and Adam Smith. Jeff and Jai Loader only managed one quick heat in the Chevara before it broke a shocker. David Batchelor

Image: Ian Colley

Image: BrettW Photography

BROADFORD TIGHTENS TITLE CHASE

AMOS QUICK AT MT COTTON

THE TRYDEL Victorian Hillclimb Championship returned to challenging Broadford for round six, after the venue had been missing from the calendar in recent times. David Mahon was the outright fastest on August 31.

Although designed as a motorcycle track, Broadford has proved to be an ideal car Hillclimb track by reversing the direction of the course.

Four-time champion and points leader Garry Martin (Martin a16) held a narrow lead over Mike Barker (Hayward 06). But after setting an impressive target of 40.49s, Martin suffered engine issues and Barker responded with a 40.43s which was 4.1 seconds under his previous personal best.

Barker said he was using a different line in the difficult turn 2 than most drivers, which he believed was a huge help but Mahon had studied the line and used it himself to post a 40.34s in his Ninja GA7

THE MOUNT Cotton meeting on September 7-8 proved to be a bonus for Dean Amos as not only did he take the outright fastest time at round five of Carric Accounting & Business Services/Tighe Cams Queensland Hillclimb Series, he also headed the Top Six shootout.

At the wheel of his Nicolson-McLaren V8powered Gould GR55B, he produced a FTD of 36.94s and went fractionally quicker in the Top Six to be just a 0.11s off Dean Tighe’s outright and Formula Libre Over 1.3-Litre course record.

Second overall was class rival Warwick Hutchinson in his turbo charged OMS 28 RPV03, while third went to Michael Von Rappard (turbo Hayabusa Dallara F392).

Jim Milliner (OMS 2000M) was fourth and

and rob Barker of victory. Still, Barker was able to edge one point ahead of Martin in the championship chase with a round to go.

Michael Bishop (Hayward 19) took fourth outright ahead of Wim Janssen (Radical) who completed the top five. Bishop has a one-point advantage over Mahon in the battle for the third in the championship.

Mark Baldwin (Honda Civic) was fastest tin top in seventh outright, allowing him to close the gap to Stephen Lambrick (Proton Satria GTi) to just one point, setting up another close fight at the final round.

In Production Sports 2001-3000cc Maurice Harper (Toyota Corolla) took the class win ahead of Ian Grinter (Mini Cooper S). Mark Homer and Norm Goodall are level in the points in their Porsches, as are Darren Odgers (Cooper S) and David Cantwell (Civic). Gary Hill

topped the Formula Libre Under 1.3-Litre class but had an accident later which brought the meeting to a premature end after six runs.

His time was good enough to finish ahead of David Quelch (Honda DPQ Special) and Paul van Wijk (OMS Hornet). Seventh went to Stan Pobjoy in his F/L O1.3L VW Special in front of Brett Bull (turbo Van Diemen RF03K).

Ninth place was taken by Greg Tebble in his Group R Van Diemen FF2000 and Rod Jones was 10th in his F/L O1.3L Norris Hawk II. Sports Cars filled the next three places with Ainsley Fitzgerald (Arrow Clubman), Michael Larymore (Toyota MR2) and Brian Pettit (Westfield SE). Best of the sedans was 16th placed Scott Anable in his BMW 325i. GOB

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CRUNCH TIME FOR CHAMP ASPIRANTS BESIDES HOSTING round six of the National Formula Fords, Wakefield Park on September 7-8 was the venue for the penultimate round the NSW State Race Championships, an important outing for aspiring champions.

relegated him and promoted Geoff Bassingthwaigh (Thomsen).

IMPROVED PRODUCTION U2L

HQ HOLDENS

ROUND FOUR was one-way traffic with Brett Osborn well and truly on his way to back-to-back championships following a trifecta of victories. His nearest rival was Chris Molle who had the early lead in race one before being passed and settling for second. Molle followed through for second in race two, again ahead of Stuart Lillee who managed to relegate Molle to third in the last.

David Allan was fourth in race one, just holding off Duane Cambridge, after David Proglio faded to eighth with a loss of engine power. The latter was able to come back for fourth in race two, ahead of Cambridge, Allan and Glen Deering, and would have scored another fourth in the last but for a post-race penalty.

SUPERSPORTS

IT WAS domination for Alex Kenny and his Juno. In each of the three outings he accounted for Darren Barlow (Stohr).

Peter Clare (Radical SR3) was third in the opener but pulled out on the warmup lap of the second race. Stephen

Images: Insyde Media, Riccardo Benvenuti.

Champion held off fellow Radical racer Paul Braico for third in both race two and three.

FORMULA RACE CARS

ALL THREE events were won by Greg Muddle in his Dallara F3. In races one and two Phil Morrow held off fellow Dallara driver Robert Rowe for second despite the latter’s every effort to get past.

Rowe’s persistence was rewarded in the third as he finally found a way by. But this time it was for third. Series points leader coming into round four, Aaron McClintock missed race one, coming through for fifth in the next outing and finished second in the last.

PRODUCTION SPORTS CARS THE FOURTH round encompassed

two 30-minute races which Brad Schumacher in his Porsche GT3 Cup won comfortably. Simon Hogg (Lotus Elise) speared off at turn three on the first lap of race one, resumed in last, before coming through to second and was within two seconds of the lead, moments away from the end, before retiring with a bent valve.

That race also saw the retirement of Craig Burgess (Ginetta) with steering damage following contact with Justin Levis (Porsche), and Casper Tresidder (Porsche) with front end damage after running off track. Valery Muzman (Lotus Exige) would be a non-starter for race two also, due to an on-going shoulder injury.

For the entire first race Valmont Racing team mates Sergio Pires and Marcel Zalloua duked it out for second

and third, finishing line astern with the former just in front. The pair continued their thrilling dice in the second race, which was resolved when Zalloua spun at turn two with just minutes remaining.

Zalloua was able to recover to again finish third.

FORMULA VEES

IN A depleted rollup for the final round, points leader Aaron Lee won the three encounters to secure the championship title, winning each over fellow Jacer racer Craig Sparke. In the first two encoutners Lee led all the way before the pair swapped the front running several times in the last.

Stephen Butcher (Stinger) scored two thirds but spun himself down the order in race two, where Luke Collett (Polar) was third until a post-race penalty

THE FIRST encounter was won by David Williams (Honda Civic) as the front runners fell by the wayside.

Harrison Cooper (Honda Integra) went out with a driveshaft failure, Graham Bohm (Honda Civic) stopped with an ECU issue and Ryan Jagger (Holden Barina) went out with a broken gearbox.

Kurt Macready (Nissan Silvia) followed his second place in the opener with a win in race two, where Cooper came from the back for second and won the third ahead of Macready and Bohm.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION O2L

DRAMAS IN qualifying for Michael King (Mitsubishi EVO) when the dipstick blew out and fears of an engine meltdown were alleviated when he stormed through from 11th to win race one ahead of pole sitter Trevan Spiteri (EVO) with Peter Hennessy (BMW M3R) third.

King lowered his own class record in the following races as he continued his winning way, ahead of Spiteri. Hennessy scored another third but retired from the last with a broken driveshaft, which saw Mitsubishis take the top four places through Scott Tutton and Steve Engel securing third and fourth. GOB

MOUZOURIS EXTENDS FF LEAD A SECOND and two wins enabled Sonic Racing’s Angelo Mouzouris (Mygale) to win round six and extend his points lead in the National Formula Ford Championship at Wakefield Park on September 7-8.

Cody Burcher (Spectrum) scored his first race win in the series and finished second overall, while third overall was Zac Soutar (Mygale) who maintains his outright second place with a round to go.

Callum Hedge (Mygale) was the fastest qualifier, yet Mouzouris led race one at the start.

Hedge took over the lead on lap two and held it until Burcher grabbed the front running late and held on, just ahead of Mouzouris and Hedge.

Soutar crossed the line fourth, in front of Tom Sargent (Mygale) and Jake Donaldson

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(Spectrum), the pair surviving a three-way clash at turn 10 that put Jay Hanson (Mygale) out.

Courtney Prince (Mygale), Spencer Ackerman (Mygale) and Ben Bargwanna (Spectrum) followed ahead of Lachlan Mineeff (Mygale), fighting back after spearing off out of turn 3 on the opening lap. Cody Donald DNF’d as a result of a kingpin failure which also sidelined Cooper Allen when he hit the Donald’s prone Spectrum.

Mouzouris led the second race from the outset, never troubled despite a safety car following Donaldson suffering a brake failure and spearing off at turn 2. Soutar passed Burcher before the safety car and stayed ahead to the flag while CHE team mates Sargent and Mineeff were next ahead of Prince, Ackermann, Janson, Hedge,

Images: Insyde Media Bargwanna and Donald.

Soutar led the last away but was shuffled back to fourth within a couple of laps, as Mouzouris took the win ahead of Burcher and Sargent. Hanson relegated Soutar to fifth while they were chased by Mineeff, Hedge, Prince, Ackermann and Donald.

Donaldson had contact with Zach Bates (Mygale) which brought a safety car and a 30s penalty.

Amongst the Kent cars Scott Tidyman (Mygale) scored two wins over Nick McLeod (Van Diemen) who did cross the line first in race two before pinged for overlapping on a restart. GOB

Images: Russell Windebank

The Zamels Plate for Formula Vee was a tight affair. Images: Mick Oliver.

ONE MAKES AND MORE AT MRA MOTOR RACING Australia’s seventh and penultimate round was held at Wakefield Park on August 24-25, with several of the one-make categories taking the limelight and an enduro to finish off.

SERIES X3

VEES AND F1000S VIE FOR MORE THERE WERE additional trophies up for grabs in the form of the BM Graphics Zamel Plates and the Kostera Cup, at Barbagallo’s eighth round of the WA State Race Championships on September 7.

MX5 CUP

FORMULA VEES

THE OPENING race for outright was tight with David Campbell holding on ahead of fellow Jacer drivers David Caisley and Austin Pearson. Ron Lisson was in the mix until he spun his Sabre in the esses. Less than half a second covered the top six in race two.

Campbell was again the winner with Pearson topping Caisley for second.

The third race was for the Zamels Plate and six cars were in a lead bunch throughout.

Early on it was between Campbell, Caisley and Pearson, with Mark Horan (Stinger), Lisson and Lachlan Beresford (Stinger) in close pursuit.

Lisson took the lead with a couple of laps left but was passed by Caisley on the penultimate circuit. Horan put in his bid at the last corner and won the charge to the flag ahead of Pearson, Caisley, Campbell and Lisson, the five covered by 0.2s.

Among the 1200s, Franz Esterbauer (Ribuck) won race one ahead of Brett Scarey and Mackenzie Matthews. Esterbauer got the jump in the second and was closely followed by Scarey, who snared victory on the final lap.

Wrestling for third, April Welsh (Jacer) spun at the final corner and Matthews pipped Kathy Lisson (Sabre) at the line.

The Plate race was tight where Scarey and Esterbauer exchanged the lead numerous times as Andrew Lockett, Welsh and Mathews pursued closely. Scarey held on to take the win with Lockett sneaking by Esterbauer for second while Welsh was a close fourth.

Stuart Kostera took out the Kostera Cup.

SERIES LEADER of the Hyundai Excels, Wil Longmore scored a clean sweep of the three races. Pole sitter Paul Quinn led each away at the start only to be chased down by the eventual winner. With around 30-cars running, Dean O’Neill was a clear third in race one and repeated the effort in the second, but only just ahead of Jackson Noakes. It was a similar tale in race three for third, where they were joined by Preston Breust in a three-way stoush.

Michael Sciorio dominated Improved Production.

F1000s

THE NAMESAKE Cup was won by Stuart Kostera in a Stohr, his third win for the meeting with three victories over Adam Lisle (Stohr).

Kyle Gurton (Stohr) was third in race one but was beaten for the minor spot in race two by Aaron Love (Radical SR3RS).

The third race was red flagged on the first lap when Madeline Stewart (Stohr) and Stewart Burns (JKS) came together in the esses, leaving Burns stranded. Quick repairs to the undertray of Stewart’s car allowed her to make the restart where Lisle and Love filled the minors.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

GREAT STARTS, courtesy of four-wheel drive produced three race wins for Michael Sciorio (Subaru Impreza WRX). Reuben Romkes (Holden Monaro) crossed the line second in race one ahead of Nik Mitic (BMW M3). In race two Steven Turpin (Holden Commodore) was second until Romkes and Mitic passed him.

Later Romkes retired, leaving Mitic second ahead of Turpin. In the last Mitic was again second with Romkes coming through for third.

EXCEL CUP

AFTER SITTING on the bumper of Dean Hill

throughout race one, Robert Landsmeer slipped through at the last corner to win while Cooper Smart was third. Mason Harvey took an early lead in race two where the top 10 started in reverse order. By lap three Hill was in the lead with Landsmeer closing and going ahead on lap 7. Carlos Ambrose chased them home for third. In the last, Landsmeer defied Hill’s every attempt to get by as Smart placed third.

SPORTS SEDANS/SPORTS CARS

FORD FALCON driver Grant Hill topped the day with two wins. He was second in the opener where Ron Moller (Chev Camaro) took the honours, as Ryan Humfrey (Falcon/Chev) filled third place.

Malcolm Niall (MARC Focus V8) set the pace in the reverse grid race two until Hill went past on the final lap. Moller was next ahead of Humfrey, with the latter coming out on top in the last as they diced for second and third.

Porsches dominated Sports Cars with Richard Bloomfield taking the win from Neville Stewart and Walter Epple. Stewart got the better of Bloomfield in the next two races with Epple taking the third places.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

JOHN BONDI (Holden Monaro) led from start to finish to take the first race from Stuart Young (Holden Torana XU-1) and Simon Northey (Ford Mustang). Starting at the front in the reverse grid race two, Lance Stannard (Mini Cooper S) led from start to finish to head Chris Change (Alfa Romeo) and Ken Waller (Volvo 142S) third. Bondi returned to winning in the third with Young second. Third position was a race-long duel between Don Behets (Ford Galaxie) and Northey, who eventually gained the upper hand. Mick Oliver

THE HERRING brothers Tim and Todd hogged the attention at the front. The latter was fastest in qualifying, but his brother won the siblings’ firstup race meeting by 15s with Curran Brennan third. Following his success in the opener, Tim Herring also claimed the honours in the second ahead of Brennan and Rod Hay, while Todd Herring retired with a diff issue. Starting from the rear, the latter was on a mission in the last, storming through to eclipse his brother for the win as Hay netted another third.

CLUBMANS

DESPITE BEING fastest in qualifying, Ivan Srejber (Birkin S3) was shown up by James Dick (PRB Widebody) who was best off the start in race one, going on to victory over Srejber with Ben Jensen (PRB Composite) third. In the second outing, Srejber soon grabbed the lead off Dick, who did eventually regather the front running for the win while Jenson was again third.

Dick and Srejber raced nose-to-tail in the third race with Dick getting his third win. Jenson was challenged throughout by Graham Roberson, who slipped his Locost through to third on the last lap.

PULSARS

FOLLOWING THROUGH from qualifying quickest, series leader Harry Inwood was pushed all the way in race one by Josh Craig, taking the victory as Michael Osmond trailed in their wake for third.

Craig jumped best in the second and pulled away while Inwood had to fight off Osmond and Daniel Smith before drawing clear. Smith ultimately finished third, snaring the spot on the last lap.

Craig and Inwood battled intently during the last race with Craig taking the win. Third this time went to Tim Colombrita ahead of Smith.

SUPER TT

TODD HERRING (turbo charged Mazda MX5) was unstoppable after out qualifying the 26-car field and then taking out race one over Benny Tran (Honda Civic), with Tim Herring (MX5) in third place. Herring backed up to take out the one-hour endurance race, leading from start to finish ahead of Tran and Drew Hall (Civic).

Russell Windebank

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HISTORIC FATHERS’ DAY Images: Sportz Fotos

ON THE Fathers’ Day weekend, Wakefield Park conducted the Goulburn Workers All Historic Race Meeting & Car Show – a combination of car and bike racing, and regularity runs.

The four-wheel contingent was mainly focussed on pre-1960 machines but with some concession to the post era as well and was divided into three groups.

Les Wright and his evergreen Dalro Jag dominated the opening two races for the first group, taking a pair of race wins ahead of Shane Bowden (Prad Sports) and Dick O’Keefe (Photon Lotus Eleven). Fourth place in the opener went to Ross Hodgson (MG TC) who was just in front of Greg Snape (Cooper BMW), Alan McMaster (Nota) and Mal Brewster (HDL Holden Special).

Snape was fourth in race two, half a second ahead of McMaster with Hodgson next. Brewster was seventh before coming

out to take the first handicap ahead Snape and Hodgson. McMaster won the second handicap while Snape and O’Keefe were almost side-by-side in the race for second.

O’Keefe followed up with a win in the final sprint from McMaster.

In the second group, Robert Lesslie (Nota Minx) opener with a win over Barry Bates (Thompson Special) and Mike Gosbell (Sabakat Lotus). Bates won the second where Garard Miller (Plymouth) and Robert Langdon (Austin Lancer Special) were tight in the fight for second.

The Handicaps went to Graham Hawker (Kammg) and Neil Murdock (MGB TB), with wins over Eric Cossich (Aust Special Flying) and Chris Komor (Austin Healey 100) respectively. Miller took out the finale over Murdock and Komor.

Geoff Fry (Vulcan Sports) was a first up

BRIGHT SEALS THE DEAL THE FOURTH and final round of the Warwick District Sporting Car Club A Series Super Sprints was a nail biter, but it was Ashley Bright who prevailed after a three-way tussle.

Bright, Vikki Paxton and Peter Hancock went head-to-head on the 3km K configuration in the fight for the 2019 A Series Super Sprint Championship.

However, mechanical maladies scuppered the campaigns of Hancock and Paxton, leaving Bright to take victory by a single point in his Holden VZ Commodore V8 Supercar. Hancock in his Cobra finished third in points, just behind Paxton in her Dallara F3.

Held on Father’s Day, the second day of competition celebrated the fact with a warm breakfast and hot cup of coffee, before the action started. Some lucky fathers were competing and had an increased cheer squad in the form of their children, in some cases competing against each other.

The ever-improving juniors were

winner in the third group, over Mal Reid (Sulman Singer) and Ian Motley (Austin 7). None of those placegetters made it through race two, where Bentley Powell (Riley RMB) won ahead of Craig Carlson (MG TC) and Steve Denner (Cooper Mark 5).

Denner scored winning success in both the Handicaps, over Rees Mackay (Riley 9-14) and Motley respectively before Powell won the last ahead of Mackay and John Murn (Morris Major). GOB

Ashley Bright guided took a onepoint victory.

XXX

There was plenty of drama at the final A Series event of the year. Images: Trapnell Creations

a highlight as they demonstrated continued progression and learning ahead of next year’s sprint campaigns.

Registrations for the 2020 Super Sprints are now open. Head over to the Morgan Park website and follow the links. 2020 super sprints entries are limited, so first in, best dressed.

Spectator entry for all the super sprints is free of charge and are a fantastic action packed weekend, with a large variety of different cars competing. For more information and for what events are coming up, visit www.morganparkraceway.com.au

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE Ashley Bright Vikki Paxton Peter Hancock Beau Hatton John White Tony Hatton Bill Norton Adam King Matt Allsopp Ryan McSwan

Proudly presented by Warwick District Sporting Car Club Inc for more information visit www.morganparkraceway.com.au

Next Round: C Series Round 4 October 11-13

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169 168 151 147 143 142 137 124 119 112

Images: Rebecca Hind

PI ACCESS SUCCESS

Images: Tim Nicol

WEST AUSSIE TURN UP HEAT IN SALOONS

THE ANNUAL Saloon Car Nationals event was held at Hidden Valley just outside Darwin on September 7-8, where West Australians Grant Johnson and Nick Hanlon were crowned the winners.

It was Holden Commodore VT driver Johnson’s second success, taking his first two years ago and adding to his two V8 Ute titles, while in the older class Hanlon (Ford Falcon EA) tasted his first victory after two seconds in the past.

Johnson won all four of his heats in the Pro class of the Rightway Industrial-support event and the 20-lap final after several laps dicing with Queenslander Jamie

Furness (Ford Falcon AU) who ultimately slipped off at turn 1.

That allowed Brock Boley (VT) also from WA to take second while Furness was third despite a 5s penalty for a jumped start. Garry Hills (VT) blew an engine on the Friday and had several gearbox issues. He was the runner up in several heats and initially held second in the final until slight contact with Furness put him out with a broken tyre valve stem.

Johnson’s team mate Matt Martin (VT) was fourth ahead of Falcon drivers Rob Marcon and Rick Gill. They were followed be Tom Walkom, Vince Ciallella and Reg Ralph

in their Commodores.

Hanlon won three of the four heats and took out the Pro-AM final. He was 5s up the road from the first heat winner Carl Fanderlinden, who started from the rear of the grid.

Dylan Ritcher made it a Falcon trifecta with third.

Denied a podium by just 0.15s, fourth placed Chris Kneafsey also came from the back, headed a fleet of Commodore VNs which included Justin Chaffey, Brock Ralph, Nash Harris and Jim Linehan.

COMMODORE CUP ENDURO

THE EVENT was new for the NAMSC in the Top End and

it was taken out by Brad and Bryce Fullwood. The father and son combination were the team to beat throughout the two-driver, two-part, two-hour race, winning both legs.

With a second and a fourth, David and Steven Ling were second overall ahead of day one third-placed Peter Brown and Phillip Aitken, who followed up with a second in a rented car they hadn’t laid eyes on before the weekend.

Fuel pick-up issues put Geoff Cowie and Christian D'Agostin three laps down in race one before staging a strong comeback for a race two, third, that made for fourth in the overall result. They finished ahead of Alan Langworthy and Eddie Austin, Ian Roots and Tony Newport, and newcomers Jason Robson and Anthony Barr in a new car.

There was just one safety car period when the Gavin Pocock and Shane Kapitula entry stopped on track, during which time the Glen and Brett Holdsworth Commodore ground to a halt as well.

A very early casualty were Gary Dempsey and Geoff Emery after just one lap with broken diff mounts before a strong run to fifth in race two.

GOB

PHILLIP ISLAND’S August Access was another event all about entry level racing, with the focus on the competitors getting on-track, and sharpening their skills.

The non-public event on August 17-18 featured Vic V8s Round 3, the fifth round of the BMW Driver’s Cup of E30 Racing, and the Access 111 for the Invited Sedans Access Enduro. From interstate came the NSW Supersports for their fourth round and the National Festival of Superkarts had over 70 entries.

Among the Vic V8s, polesitter Brian Finn (Holden Commodore VH) held a narrow lead over Mark Kakouri (Commodore VH) right up to the last lap of race 1. Kakouri slipped under the leader at turn 4 and when Finn tried to retrieve it at MG, he spun. Kakouri went on to win ahead of Victor Agento (Ford Falcon XB). Craig Eddy (Commodore VH) was third and Finn recovered for fourth.

The latter went out before the second race started, slipping off and into a tyre wall that damaged a rear sufficiently enough to end his weekend. Agento led all the way while Kakouri slipped off the road at turn 1 just after a safety car. Eddy was second with Mark Houeix (Commodore VY) withstanding the challenge from Daniel Timewell (Commodore VF) for third.

Agento continued on his winning way in the following races where Kakouri was second in both. Timewell got the better of Eddy in race three before he came back to down Timewell in the last.

Starting at a distance behind the V8s were the BMWs where, with three rounds under his belt, Jeremy Payne scored his fourth weekend success of the season with four straight victories. Alex Jory, the only other round winner, was second on three occasions but missed out in race three where a poor start relegated him to the rear of the field.

In the first race, Brian Bourke was third as there was virtually nothing between Simon Shiff and Jesse Bryan, who pipped Bourke for third in the second. Bourke just held off Bryan for second in race three. Bryan just snared third in the last ahead of Shiff for third overall.

The Access Enduro, held at the end of the day in the wet over 25 laps, went to John Angiolella in his E36, finishing well clear of Jory who teamed up with Graeme Bell in an E30. A lap down were Paul and Simon Shiff (E30) with Ross Donaldson (Hyundai Excel) fourth.

In Supersports Darren Barlow (Stohr) clean swept the three races, leaving Peter Clare a clear second over fellow Radical SR3 drivers Stephen Champion, Rowan Ross and John Beck. The third race was shortened when Beck spun off and couldn’t restart because of a fried starter motor.

Heading the Superkarts was Anton Stevens taking two wins and two seconds in 250 International. Kristian Stebbing won the opener but DNF’d the second and didn’t resume after that. Tim Clarke won the final. In 250 National Raff Pironti won two heats to get some points.

Jordan Ford and Nick Schembri squared the results in firsts and seconds while Geoff Lawrence was third overall ahead of Blake Purdie and Troy White who finished equal fourth. The other classes went to Russ Occhipinti (Rotax Light) with firsts in every race, Jarrod Sanfilippo (Rotax Heavy), Jim Gorman (Stock Honda) and Harley Thompson (Rotax Junior). GOB

“Coming up at the nation’s action and spectator tracks” Wakefield Park

www.wakefieldpark.com.au Sep 21 Track Day Club Sep 22 NSW MX5 Super Sprint RD 6 Sep 23 MX5 Club Day Sep 27-29 HSRCA Oct 2 Defensive Driver Training

Winton

www.wintonraceway.com.au Sep 20 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers Sep 21 Open Pit Lane Sep 22 Modbox Sep 25 Performance Test Day Sep 27 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers

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EUREKA FOR WINDUS AND BRICK

Images: Wishart Media WITH VICTORIES in nine of the 10 stages, Aaron Windus and Daniel Brick won the Hino Geelong Victorian Rally Championship part of the Pedders Eureka Rush, run in conjunction with the Australian Rally Championship on August 24-25.

They took their Subaru Impreza WRX STi to victory by 4mins 44s ahead of 2WD winners Justin Walker and Dave O’Neill (Ford Escort RS1800), with Ivan Regester and Paul Humm (WRX) third just 2.7s away.

It was the perfect weekend for the state round five winners who extended their points lead and if they had entered the ARC as well, would have seen them hovering around a podium postition.

Starting out strongly were Darren Windus and Joe Brick with second on the opening stage and a win on the second. But their

Volkswagen Polo blew its engine on the start line of stage three.

Aaron Windus was the heat one winner ahead of Walker, with Luke Sytema and Adam Wright (Escort) third ahead of Regester. The latter put in strong performances to snare third overall.

Sytema finished fourth overall ahead Warren Lee and David Lethlean (Mitsubishi EVO 9) and Aaron Bowering and Heath Weedon (WRX), who were pacier and fourth in heat two after seventh overnight.

Among the eight competing in the Hyundai Excel Series, Lochy Reed and Will Murphy had a huge lead until a slipping clutch, a time penalty and a puncture threw a spanner in the works. Their grief allowed Joel Perkins and Tom Brennan to capitalise ahead of Matt Raymond and Brett Williams, and David Stiles and Hayden Crib. GOB

NEARLY IN THE BAG TIM AUTY and Jon Mitchell have virtually wrapped up outright victory in the Dunlop Motul Tasmanian Rally Championship, after the fourth and penultimate round, the CJR Enterprises Rocky Cape Sprint Rally on August 31.

The 70km six-stage one-heat sprint format event was held in the Rocky Cape and Forest area on the North-West Coast, where they used home ground knowledge to ensure a solid third place.

Reigning champions Bodie Reading and Mark Young (Subaru Impreza WRX-STi) won the rally by 1min 18s from Kade Barrett and David Guest (Plymouth Fire Arrow), who again stunned the opposition in their ageing 2WD machine.

However, Reading/Reading was the team to beat, posting fastest times on five of the six stages. The only time their colours were lowered was on the sixth and final stage, with Auty/Mitchell (Mazda 323 GTi) winning it by 4.1s. Barrett and Guest took the fight up to their more fancied rivals and apart from being fourth fastest on the final stage, posted either the second or third fastest times on every other stage.

Auty and Mitchell finished a further 13s behind with Troy Johnson and Aaron Saunders (Subaru Impreza RS) a distant

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Image: Angryman Phtography fourth, which secured enough points to advance them to second in the championship, 66 points behind, with 80 points available in the final round.

Importantly, it also gave them a class victory, and they have also now established a commanding lead in the onemake Buckby Motors Subaru RS Challenge Series. Class rivals Tim O’Connor and Jimmy Norton finished one place

behind after a tight battle.

Three cars failed to finish, with Elliott Ritchie and Doug Austin striking fuel problems on the third stage, while Leigh Ford and Nick Browne (Honda CRX) also pulled out on the same stage. Mark Kyle and Daniel Davies were forced out on the very next stage with steering damage in their Datsun 1600. Martin Agatyn

Brought to you by:

racefuels.com.au

Images: Angryman Phtography

THE WHITES PREVAIL JASON WHITE and his co-driving uncle John White have bounced back from a disastrous Targa Tasmania to win the Targa Great Barrier Reef.

White in his Dodge Viper Extreme came under intense pressure but held on to claim the second edition of the Tropical North Queensland event, defending his crown from 2018.

The Dodge Viper duo entered the last day with an 11s lead over the chasing pack, then during the day’s six stages the Tasmanians extended their margin out to 53s by the end of the rally, taking a massive 23s on stage 14 alone.

“We definitely had a plan on how fast we had to go based on last year,” Jason White explained.

“The stage times we were doing up until Kuranda were pretty much on par with what I planned was required to win.

“But obviously Paul (Stokell) had done a bit of work and pushed us out of that comfort zone a bit.”

Targa Tasmania winners Paul Stokell and Kate Catford couldn’t quite reel in the rally

winners but still brought the nimble Lotus Exige home in second, with Mark Cates and Declan Stafford in their Nissan GTR R35 rounding out the outright podium in third.

Driving a 2015 Subaru WRX, Australian Rally Championship driver Luke Anear and his co-driver Alan Stephenson came out on top in the GT4 class, edging out Tony Quinn and Dale Moscatt by 31s.

Anear’s strong drive resulted in the New

South Welshman being classified fourth outright.

In the Shannons Classic GT class Mick Downey and Jarrod van den Akker in their 1979 Holden Commodore VB cruised to an impressive 3m win over Anthony Genocchio and Scott Hamilton in their Holden HDT Commodore.

The final round of the 2019 Targa Series will be the 10th anniversary of the Targa High Country, which takes place in Victoria from November 8-10. DM

CLASS WINNERS

Outright: Jason White/John White (Dodge Viper Extreme)

Adelaide Hills Rally, Australian Rally Championship Rd5, State Rally Championship Rd4, State Clubman Rally Series Rd3, Mt Barker SA, Sep 20-21 Shannons Nationals Rd6, Production Cars Series Rd4, TCR Australia Series Rd6, Australian GT Championship Rd5, Porsche GT3 Cup Rd5, Super 3 Series Rd5, S5000 Series, Sandown Raceway VIC, Sep 20-22 Blast from the Past Historics, Baskerville TAS, Sep 20-22 Prodsports Enduro Series Rd3, The Bend Motorsport Park SA, Sep 20-22 ARB Off Road Racing Championship Rd3, Millicent SA, Sep 20-22 State Rallysprint Championship Rd7, Bondo Forest NSW, Sep 21 Club Day/Night Autocross, Rollinson Reserve Kyneton VIC, Sep 21 Multi Club Supersprint, Phillip Island VIC, Sep 21 Multi Club Khanacross, Tepon Raceway Kalunga QLD, Sep 21 Australian Khanacross Championship, Awaba NSW, Sep 21-22 State Hillclimb Championship Rd7, Mt Leura Camperdown VIC, Sep 21-22 Top Gear Venture, Multi Club Motorkhana, Mafeking Rover Park VIC, Sep 21-22 Tarmac Rally Championship Rd3, Snowy River Sprint, Lakes Entrance VIC, Sep 21-22 State Hillclimb Championship Rd8, Huntley Hill NSW, Sep 21-22 Yarra Valley Stages, State Rally Championship Rd6, State Rally Series Rd5, Toolangi VIC, Sep 22 State Supersprint Championship Rd5, Wakefield Park NSW, Sep 22 CAMS Club Challenge, Multi Club Hillclimb, Bryant Park VIC, Sep 22 Multi Club Supersprint, Phillip Island VIC, Sep 22 Club One-Car Sprint, Oakburn Park Tamworth, Sep 22 State Motorkhana Championship, Willowbank Raceway QLD, Sep 22 Multi Club Motorkhana, New England Traffic Education Centre Armidale NSW, Sep 22 Multi-Club Khanacross, The Quarry Bathurst NSW, Sep 22 Club Autocross, Beverley Off Road Motorsports Motorplex WA, Sep 22 Multi Club Motorkhana, Luddenham Field NSW, Sep 22 Club Motorkhana, Geelong Motor Sport Complex VIC, Sep 27 Multi Club Motorkhana, Metec Bayswater VIC, Sep 27 Australian Motor Racing Series Rd4, Mazda RX8 Cup Rd4, GT-1 Australia Rd4, Formula 3 Rd4, TA2 Muscle Car Series Rd5, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Sep 27-29 State Motor Race Championship Rd3, Morgan Park QLD, Sep 27-29 Club Quarter Mile Sprint, Maitraya Airstrip WA, Sep 28 State Supersprint Championship Rd5, Sandown Raceway, Sep 28 Historic Spring Race Meeting, Wakefield Park NSW, Sep 28-29 State Off Road Championship Rd5, Three Springs WA, Sep 28-29

GT2: Jason White/John White (Dodge Viper Extreme) GT4: Luke Anear/Alan Stephenson (2015 Subaru WRX) Classic GT: Mick Downey/Jarrod van den Akker (1979 Holden Commodore VB) Early Modern: Liam Howarth and Larry Howarth (Nissan Skyline R35) Handicap: Peter Gluskie/Samantha Winter (1985 BMX 325i) GT Sports Trophy: Mitchell Ringuet/Darryl Ringuet (Lotus Exige Sport 350) Thoroughbred Trophy: Tyson Cowie/Celise Cowie (Ford Escort Mk1) TSD Trophy: Peter Taylor/Tristan Taylor (Lotus Elise S)

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CRYSTAL BALLS SEBASTIAN VETTEL was asked during the Italian Grand Prix if the Tifosi would be celebrating a Ferrari victory on Sunday night. night The four-time Formula 1 World Champion jokingly replied: “I don’t know, I can’t predict, I’ve got balls but none of them are crystal.”

His answer put the Formula 1 media pen into hysterics. Joking aside, I bet the German wishes he did have crystal balls because his weekend and season might have played out very differently.

For starters he probably wouldn’t have used as much kerb at the Ascari chicane, which flung his Ferrari into a lazy spin during the race at Monza.

With the crystal spheres of his, he may have been a little more patient in trying to catch the Silver Arrows ahead of him.

They certainly would have warned the 52 time Grand Prix winner about a dangerous re-entry onto the circuit and thus the German may not have rrejoined the track into the path of Lance Stoll.

To be honest the Canadian Racing Point driver needed a set of crystal balls himself because his return to the track into the path of Pierre Gasly was as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than Vettel’s re-join.

Vettel came home in 13th, pointless, while his young team mate Charles Leclerc claimed his second consecutive Grand Prix win, made better

by the adoring Italian crowd. The German could only watch the podium wishing he had a time machine also.

I think we all wish we could see what the future of Sebastian Vettel holds. Will he remain at Ferrari? Will he be reborn next season? Will he become a number two driver? Or could he retire?

Who knows, but those crystal balls sure would be handy for Sebastian Vettel right now.

DM

HDT Crossword Answers 1 – Down – Monaro 2 – Down – six 3 – Across – Mobil 4 – Down – John Sheppard 5 – Across – Commodore 6 – Down – Moffat 7 – Across – Johnson 8 – Down – Peter Brock 9 – Down – Firth 10 – Down – Phil Brock 11 – Across – twenty eight 12 – Down – Bond 13 – Across – Torana 15 – Down – three

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28th The Thunder Returns

October 25-27th 2019 Images Courtesy Damian Petrie Poster Design ~ Terragrafix 0419 874 299

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